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chapter sixteen
the rest of the night was filled with music, laughter, and lots of dancing. Yanmei gave in and danced with Sokka the second they were left alone again. they slow danced to a couple songs, but then a few melodies played that she knew from her homeland in the Fire Nation so the girl obviously had to show Sokka the moves to, which led to him failing miserably and he had to get assistance from Zuko.
"isn't this fun, Sokka?" Yanmei laughed as she watched Zuko teach Sokka the dance moves like he was a child.
the non-bender groaned, "so not fun! I want to dance with you instead"
"you have to learn how to dance first, dumbass! and at least let me dance with her for a song so you can see how it's done," Zuko grumbled, annoyed with his friend at how terrible he was.
Sokka immediately stopped in his tracks and gave Zuko a mean look, "are you trying to steal my woman?"
Zuko scoffed, "I have my own woman, but she's not into these kind of things," he said referring to Mai who stayed back in the Fire Nation while Zuko came to Cranefish.
Yanmei chuckled as Sokka gave her pleading eyes, "one dance with Zuko and then i'm yours for the rest of the night, alright?"
"fine," Sokka grumbled under his breath, but still gave Yanmei a short but sweet kiss on the temple before walking towards the tables full of food.
the two firebenders walked further onto the dance floor and began to join other people in an upbeat waltz common to all.
as Zuko twirled the girl he noticed something shimmering on her wrist, a pair of charms to be exact. the Firelord paused and brought her wrist closer to him so he could get a better look.
"is this... the bracelet..."
"you and Iroh got me for my birthday? yep. when I woke up on the beach it was still there. It's been a sort of a good luck charm lately... whenever i'm nervous or scared I hold onto it and think about you two, and then things end up being alright"
Zuko nodded and smiled softly, "I'm glad you still have it... and i'm glad you're back," his smile then faltered and Yanmei gave him a worried glance.
"what's wrong?" she asked.
Zuko looked at the bracelet again before looking into her eyes, "you're my best friend, Yanny, and I love you. but I... we can't be around each other anymore"
Yanmei furrowed her brows, "wha-what are you talking about?"
he let go of her hands and took a step back, "seeing you again after all these years... it just messes with my head," his face takes a form of seriousness, "I'm doing better. I'm the new Firelord, i'm leading differently from my father, and I just... I need to move on from that life. I need to move on from the way I used to feel about you"
