Fire Queen

Chapter: 10

**

"Ryu?" His voice hit me, I am sitting at the top balcony of the ship, I always liked to sit on the cliff at night, this is close enough, "Lord Zuko" I was about to get up, "No stay seated" he sat next to me,

"When I was in exile this was my favorite place too, I use to just sit here all night" I looked at him and he is staring ahead, "That must be so hard for you, I can't imagine being that young and going through all that", "It was okay, I had my uncle" he chuckled little, making me smile,

Then the silence took us over again, he seemed trying to find the right words, he is still not looking at me, "I am sorry" he is sorry fire lord is sorry to me,

"It's okay, I understand I would try not to lie again" if he made a step forward I should too, I promised grandma,

"Next time you can just tell me you don't want to talk about it, and I will let it go" he seemed to be setting terms, and I liked those terms, "Okay"

"So?" he asked, "So?" I replied, "Your uncle would you like to tell me?" he is being patient, I can tell he is not good at being patient but at least he is trying,

"there's nothing much to tell, he is a drunk, angry man who hates me, it wasn't as bad as you would imagine, just a few burns or bruises here and there accompanied by some cruel words, but eventually I learned to stay out of his way at all times, then I got stronger than him and he left me alone after that, actually that slap your friends told you about was the first time he hit me in two years" I explained, by now he was looking at me, all worried, he didn't seem to like what he heard,

"Why no one helped you?" he asked, "Because they didn't know, only Kai, Jiang and Bao knows, I make Jiang and Kai promise they wouldn't tell and Bao just simply didn't care, he liked uncle anyway"

"Why did you do that?" he asked more shocked, "Well because we are dragon family something like that would affect our reputation, other was that if I told grandma she had to exile him, she already lost her daughter, she wouldn't able to handle losing her son too"

"So you didn't tell anyone?" he repeated the question like he didn't want to accept the answer, "we Fire benders should know how to take a burn, he just made me stronger, now I know I can take one without being scared other than that I did what needed to be done"

"How old were you?" he asked, "Well it started when I was ten and ended when I was about fifteen"

"So you let him hurt you for five years?" he raised his voice, "I did what was needed to be done" I raised mine too, letting him know I am done with this conversation,

Silence came back, but after few seconds he broke it again, "I want to try to make this work"

"Me too" I could feel him staring, "So why don't we start again from the start" I looked back at him and raised my eyebrow, "Hello my name is Zuko" he raised his hand for me to shake, "Hello Lord Zuko my name is Ryu" I shook his hand,

"You don't have to use my tittle," he said, "And why's that?" I asked, "Its new start I don't want you to think of me as your king, I want to be your friend, call me by my name"

"Nice to meet you Zuko" I corrected, it feels weird now, to just say his name, I am so used to saying lord, his smile came back the smile that Is mine came back, I like to believe he only smiles like that for me,

I laid back, so did he next to me on the cold metal floor, looking up at the stars, I like this, just silence him and me, I can get used to this, but like all the good things this has to come to an end, with another question, he does ask too many questions for my liking,

"So that was your first kiss?" that pushed me over the edge, I am ready to jump off this ship, and be a part of this ocean forever, at least the ocean wouldn't ask me a question like this,

"I can't believe Kai" I sat back up, so did he, "She didn't, don't kill that innocent for nothing"

"Then who did?" Jiang would never, "Toph," he said with that smile of his, oh right the sleepover,

"So?" he asked, "So?" I replied, he got his answer didn't he, "Was it?" he wants to hear me say it, goddam I think I am going to jump after all, "Yes" his smile grew bigger, I got up to leave before he hit me with another question,

He stopped me by my hand, to hit me with another, "Why did you?" he asked, that's it, I think I will die without jumping off, his questions will kill me,

"And don't tell me to throw me off, I know that's not the complete truth" his grip tightened a little, not to hurt me just so I don't run away,

He is trying to play a game well let's play it, "Because you wanted to but didn't have the guts, so I helped you out" I smiled, his grow even bigger, I didn't think that was possible,

"Don't act like you didn't want to" I never really focused on his burn on his left eye before, I wanted to touch it, but I stopped myself, "I never said I didn't" I got myself free from his grip, and left for the door,

"Good night Lord Zuko", "It's Zuko to you" he yelled back as I left him sitting there,

**

The next day we are sitting on the deck, "we will be there by this evening?" Zuko said walking out, Sokka is cleaning his sword, it is black,

"I love your sword" I commented, "Thanks" "What makes it look like that?" I asked, "It's made from space rock"

"That's so cool" I took it from his hand to admire, "I made it myself," he said proudly, "You did a good job, it is really hard to make it this sharp, you did a great job hammering it down" I ran my finger next to the blade,

"You know how to make a sword?" he asked shock, "Yes I know how to make a sword, not just swords, I make arrows and bows, throwing knives and spears"

"That's amazing where did you learn all that," Katara asked, "My mother believed that I should know all the skills, and well she also believed that the only way you can lead people is by feeling their pain, so you can understand so she made me work with other workers in the kitchen, in fields, in construction"

"That's amazing so what can you do?" Katara asked,

"I can cook, I once grew whole rice crop by self that was so tough I use to have bad sunburns, I make weapons, know how to embroidery, I worked in construction, I even know how to make jewelry"

"How does that help you be a leader?" Sokka asked, he is also goanna become chief of his tribe, he told me that on the first day we met,

"I have been in those people shoes, I understand their pain, their struggles, I can make better decisions for them, I was raised to be a leader, that was my only purpose, after my mother died, my grandma took over, she took it to the extreme, my mother made me help harvest the crop my grandma made my grow and harvest one on my own" I laughed little thinking about old times,

"It must be so hard leaving it behind, after training for the position your whole life," Sokka said, I know he can understand it, "Yeah" I looked up at Zuko who was silently standing on the corner hearing the whole conversation,

"Well fire nation will have a humble queen," Katara said trying to find good in it, Zuko seemed a little disturbed like he didn't even think about my pain before, well now he can see it, I hope he values it too,

"Tell me about the palace," I asked looking at him, I changed the topic to make him feel better, "What do you want to know?" he asked taking a seat next to Katara,

"How is it", "It is big, red with golden carvings on the walls, you will love the gardens" he described,

"How does it feel like to live in it?" I asked, he thought about my question for a second, "Comfortable but lonely, it is a very big palace with only one residence" he smiled little, it seemed to be a sad one, so our lord is lonely, I don't like that, the person who has everything, who sits on top of the whole world is lonely, actually, that makes sense

"You won't be alone anymore" I returned his smile, "We can be lonely together"