A Hand to Hold (Zuko x Reader)

2. Employment

Laying back in your bed, you lifted your head after feeling a difference in the movement of the boat. Instead of its constant forward motion, you immediately noticed that something has changed. Getting off of the thin mattress of you temporary bed, you hurried to the window, eyes widening after seeing the surrounding harbour. Tonnes of Fire nation warships were lined up, Fire nation souldiers gathered on the dock. It took a moment for you to register where you were, fear being apparent in your eyes after completely taking it in.

You were in the Fire nation, very far away from home.

You quickly snapped your head in the direction of the door as the sound of footsteps caught your attention. You knew they were Fire soldiers and as they drew closer, their muffled voices became more apparent. Wanting to get away, you pressed your back firmly into the headboard of your bed, your eyes meeting with a Fire soldier's as they positioned themselves in front of the door. The door opened, one of the Fire soldiers entering and beginning to approach you. Feeling afraid, you braced yourself as you were grabbed by the arm and pulled to your feet.

"What are we doing with the brat?" he asked another Fire soldier who had followed him in. The other shrugged his shoulder, the pair completely ignoring the fact that you were there.

"I don't care, just as long as she's off our hands," he grumbled, turning around to walk away.

"Yes, sir!" the one who held you announced, dragging you along as he made his way off the ship and onto the wooden port. You tried your best to keep up with the Fire soldier but his long strides made it difficult, occasionally making you trip up. Luckily enough for you, he didn't walk far, stopping in front of one of his Fire soldier companions.

"What do you think we should do with her?" he asked, their hand still holding onto your arm tightly. But you noticed how his grip had loosened significantly after stopping, no longer needing to drag you along. The other Fire soldier gave the question a moment of thought, his dark eyes briefly scanning your small figure.

"Find a place to put her to work but if you can't find anything we'll have to kill her, we have no need for a water brat," he answered, not caring that you were right there. Hearing that you would be killed, you began to panic. You didn't want to die now, you still had your whole life ahead of you. You weren't sure how yet but you were confident that you would return to the Water tribe, returning to the future that was set for you. Seeing an opportunity to get away, you quickly slipped your arm from the Fire soldier's grasp, beginning to run as fast and as far away as you could.

Dashing across the dock and into the town, you panicked as you looked around, trying to quickly decide which direction to go. Hearing the Fire soldiers call after you, you knew that you needed to act quickly. Turning to the right, you kept running, turning your face back to see if you had gotten very far from your pursuers. But taking your eyes off the road ahead was a bad idea, your body colliding with another before you could react and move out of the way. It took you a moment to recover before you realised you had crashed into an elderly woman. The force caused you to fall back onto the ground, leaving the woman disorientated for a moment before she realised what had happened.

"I-I'm sorry," you said in a panic, not wanting her to be mad yet still being in a hurry to get away from the Fire soldiers that were hot on your trail. But you were surprised by her reaction, almost relaxing as she let out an entertained chuckle. Bending down, she helped you to your feet, dusting the dirt from your clothing.

"It's fine, dear," she answered, petting your head once she knew you were okay. Her attention shifted to the two Fire soldier as she approached, calling out to her.

"Ma'am, don't let that brat getaway!" one called out, the pair stopping before her. Before they could grab you, you ducked behind her, peeking around her at the larger males.

"Oh my, what has the girl done?" the woman asked, adjusting her glasses as she looked up at the Fire soldiers.

"That brat is from the Northern Water Tribe, we've been tasked in finding her a job," one of them informed her. She thought over it for a moment before nodding in understanding.

"And what might happen to her if you're unable to find her work?" she asked, her curiosity surprising the soldiers.

"Well, she will be executed in that case," the other Fire soldier spoke up. The older woman then arched her neck to look down at you, registering the fearful expression on your face and the way you gripped desperately at the skirt of her dress. Having the sight tug at her heartstrings, she let out a quiet sigh.

"Don't worry about her, I'll give her a job," she told them. Their eyes widened after hearing her, quickly thanking her before leaving. You were shocked to see them walking away, feeling a lot better now that you knew that you weren't going to die. 

"Thank you," you managed to say, finally letting go of the woman's dress and moving in front of her. She smiled gently down at you, reaching out to pet your head once again.

"It's fine, dear. Now, let's head back to the palace," she said, beginning to walk. You quickly rushed to walk by her side, taking her bag as she offered it to you.

Hearing that you were heading to a palace, you wondered what kind of work they would want you to do there. You hoped that the people were nice, but had doubts because you knew how people like that could be. Your parents were important political figures and very wealthy, giving them a high social status. You hoped that the owners of the palace wouldn't be as cold and harsh as they were, feeling even more fearful since this was the Fire nation.

But this opportunity had been given to you, saving you from a possible execution. So all you could do was try your best and hope that one day, your hard work would pay off and allow you to go home to live the life that had been set for you since the beginning.

It's been a while but I really wanted to get another chapter out. Zuko will appear soon, the first few chapters will just be introducing the reader, how they feel about everything and then their job. Zuko will be with us soon for some really wholesome and fluffy stuff. I can promise you that.