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

Screams of the Sea

Oka rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Ah, thanks..."

Yue chuckled and smiled, "No problem, you forgetful dummy."

"I might be a bit forgetful, but dummy? You think we're on the same level?" Oka asked, pointing to the training dummy.

Yue laughed, covering her mouth with her sleeve before saying, "Well, you certainly have a lot of charm."

Oka's face turned pink and he cleared his throat, chugging the drink Yue gave him in one quick go.

Kharok grinned. Oka and Yue had been friends ever since they were little.  Kharok then paused for a moment.

Ever since his father's death, Oka had trained relentlessly to one day become chief of the North.

She then smiled. Surely, he would.
____

It was later into the day. A full moon was drifting across the dark blue sky. Oka and his mother were on their way home after a long day of training.

"Oka, what would you do if you were chief?" Kharok asked.

"If I were chief? I'd allow women to fight." Oka said.

"Oh? Why's that?" Kharok questioned.

"They can be powerful benders, too. It's like we're wasting potential game changers. And I really want to learn healing, too." Oka sighed.

"Game changers? Chief Arnook said he planned to stay out of the war." Kharok said, tilting her head, "I don't want you to be in danger. I've already lost your father."

"Mom..." Oka smiled, "I'm strong. I won't get hurt. I can sense that the Moon smiles towards me."

"But that doesn't change the fact that you won't fight in the war." Kharok stated.

"Then maybe I could establish my own group of fighters. The Fire Nation needs to go down. Ozai, Azulon, Sozin... They're all powerful. I could learn from them." Oka whispered.

"Oka, now what do you mean by that?" Kharok asked, grabbing her son's wrist.

"Father was killed because of them. He died of sadness, being away from our Sister Tribe. He died because he had to flee from the Fire Nation. The anniversary of his death is in a month." Oka mumbled.

"Mom... I want justice. I want to make the Fire Nation pay."

"...Do you so desperately want to fight?"

Standing in front of his home, he walked forward, his back facing his mother. He nodded, a wistful look in his eyes.

"They need to go down."

"Then... Perhaps I can ask Chief Arnook to allow you to form the group you spoke of."
__________

"No. It's far too dangerous." Arnook stated.

Oka's eyes widened. "Chief Arnook, I–"

"Oka, I'm sorry. I understand where you're coming from, but we need to keep our strongest weapons here."

Kharok sighed and shook her head, "Come on, Oka-"

"Weapons for what!? For what!? People are dying and we're doing nothing. Our sister tribe is dying, and we're doing nothing. My father died, and we're still doing nothing!" Oka yelled.

"Oka, you are still a child!" Arnook declared.

"But I'm strong! There's so much I could do! I'vetrained my whole life for this!" Oka retorted.

Arnook shook his head, "You could die."

"I'd rather die than sit here doing nothing." Oka spat.

Arnook stared at Oka blankly before standing up, "You are not just a child in age, but a child in mind. The only thing mature about you is your strength."