Within Shadows (Zuko x Reader)

Chapter 1

"Fire Lord Ozai... I wish to take a moment of your time to speak with you. It's... Important to me." You spoke once you stood up straight.

"What is it that you wish to speak about?" You gulped before speaking.

"The night that I had first arrived, I came here to steal something pricey to sell and then use that money to buy my sick mother medicine and a doctor to help her." You informed.

"And how does this concern me?"

"Well I... I wanted to ask permission to visit my mother. To make sure she's okay. She's the only family I have left." Silence fell in the room. Your nerves only riding the longer the silence went on.

"Very well." He finally spoke. You beamed at his words.

"Thank you so much-"

"However. I'm sending a guard with you in case you decide to pull something."

"I understand my Lord. I shall be back soon enough." And with that you bowed before him and left with a guard trailing behind you. Following you out the doors of the palace and through the woods to your small and slightly broken down hut. Your gut twisted. Terrified as to what you may see once you entered her room. The guard told you he'd wait outside the house and you gave him a nod before heading in and hesitating outside your mother's room. You gulped then pushed past the door to see your mother there. Your heart hammering against your chest. "M-mother?" Your voice spoke out. Cracking slightly, trying to get her attention. However she didn't respond, making you even more nervous than before. "Mom?" You question once again. Voice raising as you approached her. Your vision began to blur and your body trembled. It was when you were close enough to see that her chest is wasn't rising or falling that made the wet trails began cascading down your cheeks and droplets falling off your chin, landing on the blanket that covered her still body. "M-mom no... No no no!" You exclaimed as you gripped her shoulders tightly and shook her body just a little bit. "No! No this can't be happening!" You bawled out. You whimpered in defeat and rested your head against her stomach while your fist balled up and gripped the blanket tightly. The guard eventually came in. Hesitant on speaking.

"I'm sorry for your loss. But we need to get going." The guard spoke. You ignored him and got up looking for something to take. Your eyes landing on a necklace that your mother always wore and was very important to her. You grabbed it with some delicacy and scanned the engraved fire nation symbol on the main piece. You pushed your hair to the side and put the necklace on. Your finger tips brushing against the symbol lightly. "(Y/n)-"

"I know... Let's go." You spoke coldly and made way back to the palace. At a bit of a slower pace than when you had left the palace to see your mother. Once you entered through the tall, heavy doors of the palace, Zuko, Tai Lee and even Mai tried talking to you and to try talking to you once they saw you return with blood shot and puffy eyes. However you ignored them all and continued to push to your room to just allow yourself to think and breathe. The last thing you needed was someone trying to get you to tell them what happened. You slammed the door behind you and pressed your back against it only to slide down slowly and let the tears come running back down your cheeks. You heard footsteps leave your door once they heard your quiet sobs. However, one person stayed behind. Wishing they could comfort you as best they could. They were hesitant to speak and eventually respected your wishes and left you be.

~~~

You knew you couldn't stay in your room forever. Especially not in the eyes of the Fire Lord. So you were up and our your room but your eyes were still puffy and even more red then before. Zuko looked at you with a worried expression as well as Tai Lee. Azula looked unamused and Mai just looked jealous at all the attention Zuko was giving you. "A-are you alright?" He finally spoke. Your eyes gazed at him and you didn't speak a word. You moved past them all and made way to the gardens. Hoping that mediating there would ease your mind a lot better than refusing to leave your room. The others just simply watched you leave them. You took In a deep breath of fresh air and went over to sit under your favorite tree to sit down and meditate. Allowing your senses to focus on the soft rush of the waterfall and the quacks of the turtle ducks happily floating in the water. You focused on making your breathing steady and attempting to clear your mind and allow your chi to flow freely as it did once before. The others watched you from a distance. Each of them worried in their own ways. Though you stayed out there for hours and eventually you fell asleep up against the tree. You exhausting yourself from all the crying and closing your eyes to meditate was a slight mistake. As you slept, you could have sworn you felt a blanket drape around your body and a small comforting rub on your arm.