|•|W I T 卄 E R||•| Zuko X Reader ⚠SLOWBURN⚠

Tears Fall Behind

"I noticed that he seems to be pushing away his emotions to be more "mature" and "'Avatar-like.'" Do you have any idea why he'd do that?" Katara furrowed her eyebrows. "I think I do." She turned to you, "But... I'm not sure how to confront him about it."

You thought back to your time in the Fire Nation, and how you acted around Zuko when you first met him. "...The best way to confront someone who feigns strength is to make them aware of the fact you know of their pain. But make sure they know it'll be okay to receive your comfort. Make sure they know you care."

Katara stared at you in surprise.
"Pfft. You sound like a wise old lady." She chuckled. "Wise old lady, huh...?"
Saiyaka...

"Perhaps I can bestow my wisdom unto you. What's wrong with that compass?" You asked. "Well, according to my charts, this needle isn't pointing north."

Suddenly, Sokka appeared once more, prepared to confer his almighty knowledge. "Take it easy, little lady. I'm sure the sand folks who built this baby know how get around here."

Katara flicked his forehead, and once again, Sokka ragdolled backwards with a stupid smile.

You looked away from your siblings to see a massive, strange stone, standing alone. "Maybe the compass is pointing at the rock over there?" You said, fanning sand off your face. Toph was the most excited, "A rock!? A rock!? Score!"

"What? The rock? I never knew the
BOULDER had a cousin!"

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You decided to stand guard as the group entered the mysterious cave on top of it.

The sun graced you with its bright, beautiful lights. For a moment, you basked in the sun, your worries melting away. An odd familiarity pierced your heart.

You saw something red fly beside you. Looking down, you saw a butter-fly. Before you question how and why a butter-fly would live in the desert-
"Something's coming for us!"

As Toph, Aang and your siblings ran out of the cave, dozens of buzzard wasps chased after them. You wrapped a lasso of ebony around one of them, making it collide with another group wasps. While they were stunned, you formed a sphere of void, sealing around five wasps inside and shooting them away.

"What are you doing!? That rock almost crushed me!" Sokka yelled. "Sorry, I can't tell where they are in the air!" Toph explained. "You can see things on the ground and I can see things..." An idea entered your head as Aang took off after Momo.

"Toph, can I see your feet real quick?" Toph gave you a concerned grimace.
"Not in a weird way- I just need to test something!"

"This better do something cool." You placed your foot on top of Toph's, and focused.

For a second, everything stopped.

The buzzard wasps stopped their crude humming. Toph was frozen with shock.
"I-I... I can see them! I can see them in the sky!" She exclaimed. You noticed bright purple cracks running down your leg. "It's a little murky, but...!" Toph launched five rocks in different directions, still using her seismic sense to attack things behind her.

You, on the other hand, could see the wasps inside the cave flying out. You sealed the cave with a wall of void as Toph created large fissures of rock to hit the wasps coming towards the two of you. "No time to waste, we can discuss later. Let's get out of here!" Katara declared.

"How did you do that!? My earthbending felt stronger, but also weaker. I could feel the wasps in the air, but they all looked like flowing lines of energy." Toph said. "What if you could feel the minerals within the wasps themselves?" Sokka questioned. "Maybe... But why would that weaken her earthbending?" Katara asked, leading you all down the stairs of stone Toph created.

"It wasn't stable." Toph answered, piquing your curiosity. "I was the same as ever, but Y/N... You don't have the mindset of an earthbender. You aren't firm or exactly deadset on fighting. You're hesitant to make a move."

"..." All eyes landed on you. She... Toph was right. "I tried to see if I could... Well, see you. But I couldn't exactly pick up on your presence using that power 'boost.' But with the wasps, I could sense their intent and determination inside of them. It's weird... You're like an enhancer, but with really interesting side effects."

Aang landed beside you all as a large amount of sandbenders stood in front of you.

Not good. Not good at all.

"What's are you doing in our land with a sandbender sailer? From the looks of it, you stole it from the Hami tribe." A man said. "We found the sailer abandoned in the desert. We're traveling with the Avatar. Our bison was stolen and we need to get to Ba Sing Se." Katara said.

"You DARE accuse our tribe of theft while you ride in on a stolen sand sailer!?" A boy, probably the man's son, stepped forward with a scowl. "Who said you guys stole anything? We were only informing you of the situation." You hummed. The boy was taken aback, but kept his angry expression.

"Quiet, Gashuin! The young lady is correct. No one accused our tribe of anything. If what they say is true, we must give them hospitality." The man scolded his son, Gashuin. "I recognize the son's voice." Toph said. Her surprise quickly morphed into anger, "He's the one who stole Appa."

"Are you sure?" Katara inquired.
"I never forget a voice." Toph scoffed.
"You... Stole Appa?"

Aang approached Gashuin, a dark look on his face. "What... What have you done to him?" You could tell he was holding back his rage. "Aang..." Katara made a sympathetic frown, biting her bottom lip. You knew she wanted to help Aang, but didn't know what to say. You squeezed her hand, doing your best to comfort her and focus on the situation at hand.

"They're lying! They're the theives!" Gashuin shouted, cowering backwards. "What have you done to my bison?" Anger was starting to plant itself in Aang's words. His question sounded like a statement as he clenched his staff, trying to keep everything inside.

"What have you done, Gashuin!?"
"I-It wasn't me!"
"You said to put a muzzle on him!"

Aang froze. Frustration, anger, and loss bubbled deep down within him. And then... It erupted.

"YOU MUZZLED APPA!?"

His eyes and tattoos began to glow white as a strong blast of wind launched sand particles into the air. "Just get out of here, run!" Sokka shouted, grabbing your wrist. You could feel the winds hitting your back and flowing through your hair.

You turned around, barely able to see what was going on. You focused and saw Katara muttering something to Aang. It was impossible for you to hear as the wind was far too loud. But whatever she said, it worked. She held Aang close, both of them in tears.

The winds became calm, and you realized...

You had been locking away your emotions, too.

Katara... She acted. And instead of Aang being hurt...

You understood.

Risks...

If Katara didn't take that risk, who knows what would've happened.

If you didn't take the risk of going onto that Fire Navy ship, you wouldn't have met Zuko.

If Ursa didn't take the risk of leaving the Fire Nation, who knows if you would've ever seen Zuko again.

If Lso didn't take the risk of rewinding time, that relic wouldn't have existed.

If your mother didn't take that risk...
You could've lost your only sister.

The lingering words in your head, the beast which shamed you and your actions. It silenced.

You had learned.

Now you had to heal.