your love is my oxygen - Zuko x reader

A Lonely Night

Y/N's POV
Prince Zuko showed me to a spare room as night fell, "Tomorrow, we're going to have the repairs made on my ship. You're gonna need to wear that," he pointed at some Fire Nation armour on the wall, "and umm... the tattoos, you're gonna need to... just don't take off your helmet, okay?"

I nodded and thanked him before bidding him goodnight and falling back into my new bed for the time being.

When I had settled into bed, finally alone with my thoughts and the sound of the sea, I stared up at the ceiling and felt the tears begin to spill down the sides of my face.

Everyone's gone.

Oogi's gone.

The bison, the lemurs, the wildlife.

Gone.

All because Aang had a temper tantrum.

After a while of tossing and turning, I pulled myself up and made my way to the front of the ship, looking out at the blurry line between the ocean and the sky.

The moonlight twinkled beautifully on the water as the waves gently bobbed the ship up and down.

—

"What are you doing out here?"

I turned to face Prince Zuko before snapping my head back around and quickly wiping the tears from my face and smiling, "I guess a hundred years of sleep has left me wide awake!"

He walked up beside me and leaned against the railing, he spoke softly, and sounded sincere, like a completely different person from the Prince I had met earlier, "You know, uh- Y/N, it's okay to grieve your loss. I get it, when-"

I snapped, "no, you don't. How could you get it? Your nation still stands." I sunk down onto the ground, hanging my legs over the edge of the boat and murmured, "I should've been there. Aang should've been there."

Prince Zuko was stood beside me, but was much higher up than I was, as I sat weakly on the ground.

"Oogi's gone... he must've been so terrified without me... he must've believed that I abandoned him. That I left him there to die."

The Prince hesitantly asked, "who's Oogi?"

I took a deep breath to stop myself from balling my eyes out, but my voice cracked as I replied, "my best friend... my flying bison."

He scrunched his nose and remarked, "why would you name your bison Oogi?"

I defensively snapped, "it's cute."

I could swear that he slightly chuckled before responding, "it's stupid."

I rolled my eyes before standing up and glaring at him, "well- well, Zuko is a stupid name."

"Well, I didn't name myself, you named your bison." He looked away from me and sighed, "it might not be worth much coming from me, but I'm sorry about what happened to your people."

I exhaled before joining him in leaning on the railings, "it's not your fault. If I had just done my job properly, maybe I wouldn't be in this mess right now."

"Your job?"

"Officially, I'm the avatar's mentor- but in reality I'm just his babysitter; he has monks that teach him about the avatar stuff and air bending. I don't think he liked me very much, but I was the only person he had that was somewhat closer to his age. He ran away last night- well, the last night I remember, there was a terrible storm and I rushed after him... and because of that, neither of us were there to protect the temple..."

He tried to reassure me, "but what could you have really done? They had masters and armies there, at least you got to live to continue the air nation..."

I defensively raised my voice, "firstly, the air nation had no armies. Secondly, I am a master, did you miss the tattoos all over my body? And thirdly, you don't know what I could've done."

He didn't say anything for a moment before asking, "so what's your problem with the avatar then?"

"He just- his stupid temper tantrum is the reason we're in this mess. Oogi is gone because he couldn't just accept his responsibility and leave. And- I don't know... ugh. As I said, Aang never really liked me anyway, he wasn't too happy when he heard that I'd be mentoring him. What about you?"

"I don't have anything against him, I need to capture him."

"Why?", I turned to watch the sun slowly light the entire sky, letting it's sparkles dance across the water.

He exhaled, "I was banished from the Fire Nation, I need to bring the avatar back to my father to restore my honour, my place on the throne and regain my father's love."

"Wow, word must travel fast then. We only woke up yesterday."

The Prince sighed and hung his head, "actually, I've been searching for almost three years."

Zuko's POV
Y/N mumbled an "oh," before she continued, "you know, Prince Zuko, I sort of know how you feel."

I flicked my eyebrow up almost sarcastically, "oh?"

"I'm not from the Southern Air Temple, I'm from the Western Temple; I was kicked out too, sent to the South to babysit the avatar... fun, right?"

She was banished, too?

"What did you do to get kicked out?"

She turned to leave and yawned, "honestly, I don't think that's something you actually want to know about me. I'm heading back to bed, see you in a few hours."

I nodded to her and she disappeared into the room she was staying in.

I had no reason to keep her on my ship, I also had no reason not to turn her in to the Fire Nation- but there was something about her that I just wanted to keep around a little while longer.

She reminded me of myself.

It didn't make complete sense to me yet, but it was about the way she carried herself, the way she sat so peacefully crying when she thought no one could see. The way she was so straight to the point when decided she needed something from me. Her persistence and... something else, something I didn't understand.

But it was there.

And she made me feel that perhaps, I wasn't alone- that somebody might understand, she was banished, too.

She was also without a country, without a family.

In a different way, but still, alone.

Just like I was.