Within Shadows (Zuko x Reader)

Chapter 3

You slapped a hand over your mouth to prevent yourself from laughing. But dropped it when you saw a strange boy. Bald head, blue arrow tattoos, brown eyes and clothes you couldn't exactly pin point. That was, until Zuko tried attacking the village and the boy deflected it with Air Bending. Zuko continued to try and attack with the air bender continuing to defend. You stepped out into the light. "Zuko, enough." You demanded. Though he ignored you and sent an attack that was very close to hurting the citizens. "Zuko!" You called out more sharply but the air bender stopped and stood in front of Zuko bravely.

"Stop. If I surrender myself to you, will you leave these people alone?" The boy spoke. Eyes locking with Zuko and no signs of the kid pulling any tricks was evident.

"Aang... No..." You heard a Water Tribe girl speak softly.

"Come with me, Avatar." Zuko grunted as guards went over to grab him and tie his hands together and pushed him towards the ship. Everyone entering and soon, the ramp closed up and Aang made final eye contact with the Water Tribe girl. You glanced at the boy and made brief eye contact and soon enough, the guards dragged him to the cell area of the ship. "I finally did it... I can finally go home and get my honor back." Zuko spoke once the guards and Aang was out of sight. You glanced at him.

"Congrats, Zuko." You pat his shoulder with a small smile on your face. "All we got to do, is make sure we get him back to the Fire Nation without fail."

"So... What will we do when we return and get accepted back home?" He asked you. You bit your bottom lip and glanced away from him.

"I think... I'm probably going to split. Try to live my own life." You spoke truthfully. He seemed a little hurt by your words but you brushed it off for now and departed from him. Figuring you'd take a nap to kill some time. You had gotten as far as to strip your jacket off before some guards started yelling and rushing around the halls. You let out a groan and rush out your room and out to the deck to see something absolutely terrifying. Aang had a tornado of water under his feet and his tattoos and eyes glowed white. "What the hell?" You gasped out. He landed on the deck and began to maneuver the water around him flawlessly only to whip everyone, even yourself in one fowl swoop. Zuko getting knocked off ship and into the water while you let out a grunt of pain. The boy then collapsed and the glow went away. The flying beast landed on the ship as the two Water Tribe people rushed over to him. You on the other hand were struggling to get up.

"Are you okay?!" The girl asked, practically cradling the boy in her arms. He fluttered his eyes open and looked at the two of them.

"Hey Katara. Hey Sokka..." He groaned out. "Thanks for coming..." They spoke a bit more and you finally got to your feet but clutched your stomach in pain. Sokka rushed over to grab the staff that Aang carried around but let out a yelp of surprise and struggled to pull the staff. The others were beginning to make their escape and you tried stopping Katara from doing so but she mustered up her water bending but froze Sokka by mistake. You chuckled and was about to do your attack but you got frozen up to your neck.

"Hurry up Sokka!" She demanded and got on the flying beast.

"I'm just a man with a boomerang. I didn't ask for flying or magic." The boy grumbled to himself as he hit the ice one last time, finally freeing himself from the ice and making a break for the beast. The beast took off over your head, just as you melted the ice off of you. Iroh had now finally awaken and helped Zuko on the ship.

"Shoot them down!" The prince demanded and both you and Zuko worked together to create a large bast in their direction. However, Aang redirected the flame into the side of the ice burg beside the shop and the snow began to come crashing down. You immediately tackled Zuko out of the way before he'd get buried in the snow. You opened your eyes and flushed at how close your face was to Zuko's. Though Iroh saved the embarrassment only slightly by clearing his throat. You pushed off him and stood up while brushing your clothes off.

"Well then. Now we know that the fire nation's threat is just a kid." Iroh spoke with a slight chuckle in his tone. Though Zuko didn't seem to pleased or humored by it in the slightest.

"I don't know if you've noticed, Uncle. But that kid, just did all of this." He growled. Gesturing to all the snow piles on top of the deck. "Shovel us out of this and follow them!" Zuko demanded the guards. You punched his arm and nudged your head towards the guards. "Uhm... After you unfreeze yourselves."

"I'll handle it for now while the guards are unfreezing themselves." You offered and turned to the ice and took a deep breath. Using a large flame to begin melting most of the snow.

~~~

The shipped finally docked for repairs. The warmer air sent a smile to your face and you took a big inhale of the fresh, comfortable air. "Finally out of the cold." You spoke happily and walked alongside Zuko with a content smile. Though the boy completely ignored your words.

"Remember what I talked about..." Zuko muttered just so both you and Iroh could hear.

"I know... Keep whatever happened a secret. I got it." You whispered back to Zuko.

"Good. I just want to get these repairs done quick and then be on our way." Zuko muttered but stopped in his tracks once Commander Zhao stood in front of the three of you.

"Well if it isn't the failed general, banished prince and his half assed bodyguard." Zhao spoke with a snarky smirk to him. You shot a sharp glare his way and clenched your jaw. "Your ship has quite the damage done on it. What happened to it?" The older man asked. And of course Zuko began to stutter a little bit so you spoke for him.

"We were going a little too fast and accidently crashed into an ice burg. A pretty big one at that too. Isn't that right Prince Zuko?" You spoke fluidly and gave Zuko a light nudge with your elbow.

"Uh y-yeah." He stuttered out causing you to mentally face palm.

"That so? Well I'm sure the three of you would love to tell me the story over some tea." Zhao offered. You knew he was up to something and you could tell Zuko could too.

"No thanks. I need to get a move on-"

"Zuko show some respect for the commander. Zhao we'd love to have a cup of tea." Iroh interrupted Zuko. You mentally groaned out in annoyance. Zhao gave a sinister smile.

"Wonderful. Let's get going shall we?" And with that, Zhao lead the way. Your body tense, not wanting to have to deal with this but what choice did you have at this point? You all sat together but you could feel the tenseness within the room. It was almost suffocating at this point. Zhao urged Zuko and you to tell them the full detailed story of how the ship got damaged. You didn't add much to the conversation and you even blanked out until the mention of Agni Kai. You snapped your head up and it had now just clicked that Zuko and Zhao challenged each other. You let out a sigh and followed Iroh up to the deck to watch the two men duel. Zhao had the upper hand at the start but Zuko was quick to bounce back and even got Zhao to get off balance and fall. Zuko was quick to be over Zhao with a sharp glare. "Go ahead. Do it!" Zhao yelled with a snarl. Zuko growled and punched a flame but hit the floor beside his head.

"It's over." Zuko simply said and turned to head over to you and Iroh but Zhao growled and got up to attack Zuko but you were quick to step in by grabbing his ankle and kicking his chest to make him fall. Zuko turned with a growl and was about to attack Zhao some more but you placed your hands on his bare chest to stop him.

"Zuko, no. It's not worth tainting your victory. Don't give in to a sore loser." You urged him. His golden gaze was soft then he glanced at you but held a sharp glare at Zhao.

"I think it's time for you to leave, commander Zhao." Iroh spoke as he stood beside you and Zuko. Zhao scoffed and eventually did take his leave. You dropped your hands and shook your head.

"We should be cautious continuing on. Zhao is clearly onto us so he will be following our trail to get to the Avatar. And as much as I'd hate to say it, he's going to try to get him before us. So we just need to be one step ahead of Zhao." You advised Zuko. He gave a small nod and left to change out of his Agni Kai attire. You ran a hand through your hair and helped Zuko out by ordering the ship to make a move on and continue on the trail of the Avatar.