Burnt Out - Zuko x OC

Double Date Pt. 2

"It's.. complicated." He responded, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, "What about Genji, what was wrong with him?" Zuko asked, not really caring to hear her answer.

She shrugged, "Nothing, he was fine. Perfectly.. erm, down to earth, you could say."

"But..." Zuko said, pressing her further.

"But I tend to like my guys a little.." She rolled around a few adjectives in her head, trying not to describe Zuko to a T. Assholish? Footloose? Spoiled fucking rotten? No, none of those, "Rough around the edges, I guess."

Zuko took note. What said rough around the edges better than a giant fucking scar that covered a quarter of his face? He dipped his hand down briefly into the water that circled around the fountain, jerking his hand back quickly after feeling how chilly it actually was.

"Here, I got you." She said, waving her hand across her chest. The water separated from his skin like he was made of oil and it couldn't wait to get away, "It's the coins at the bottom. They're dirty. Remember what I told you, at the hot spring?"

How could he possibly forget stumbling upon this girl that he for a moment thought was stark naked in the middle of the woods, of course he remembered. She dropped the tiny, rotating ball of water back into its home.

"Your master teach you that trick, too?" He asked.

She laughed, Bumi might have given her the tools to learn how to seemingly bend water, but her father would've never allowed such a thing. Not on his camp, "Oh no, I'll give him the credit where it's due — but even he wasn't that good. That one was self taught."

They sat in silence for a moment. A cool summer breeze blew through the garden, it brought a small shiver over Zuko's hot skin. Every time he found himself in Kai's presence he was reminded that she was still a stranger — a stranger that he was growing unnaturally fond of. He knew so little about her, yet their personalities meshed like they'd known each other for a lifetime.

"So, what was it like.. growing up how you did." He asked, subtly trying to dig deeper into who she was.

Kai looked down into what was left of her drink, the liquid flowing freely. But it wasn't truly free, it had such a tiny home compared to the vast world that it didn't know existed.

"It was fine for a while, when I didn't know that life outside of the base existed." And it had been fine, until her training turned against her father. By the time she hit her "rebellious" streak, she was much too agile for him to handle. So much so that half of the time, he didn't even know she was being rebellious at all. She'd sneak into the mountains and explore the caves with just the souls of her feet to lead the way. Or she'd sit upon their highest peak and watch the villages and cities below her light up. She didn't know what they lit up for, but she knew it was more than what was going on there. Or when she'd visit Toph, and she'd get the chance to sneak sweets into her mouth, instead of the usual fruits, veggies and meats that her father had her on a strict diet of. All of that had been just out of reach for her entire life.

"But it was lonely." She continued, "And I didn't even realize it until I was gone."

"That sounds.. depressing, I'm not gonna lie." Zuko said, lightening the mood instantly. She smiled up at him and asked the same, "What about you, what was Capitol City like?"

Thinking back on his childhood, it seemed at the time like there was nowhere else that Zuko had wanted to be. Why would he need to be anywhere else but upon his royal throne? But now.. he was reconsidering. It was like Iroh told him, life happens wherever you are — and a lot of life had happened to him over the course of three years. He'd let a lot of landscape and people pass him by without giving them a second glance, but he couldn't let his eyes just roll over where he was now. He couldn't let his eyes just roll over her.