Fan the Flame (Zuko X Reader)

new and improved cave

     "(Y/N), would you hurry and wake up already?" Sokka grumbled. "We don't have all day."

     My eyelids struggled to stay open as I stared at the roof of the cave. My back was sore, which is what sleeping in cave after cave will do to you after a while. The five of us had been undercover in the Fire Nation ever since the fight in Ba Sing Se, camping out in secluded areas, praying we wouldn't be discovered. 

     The memories of that night in Ba Sing Se refused to leave me alone. I'd be reminded of it against my will, even in my dreams. I wanted to forget more than anything. To forget Zuko and the words he said that night. And, more than anything, I wanted a good night's rest.

  "Yeah, yeah, I'm getting up." I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, or at least attempted to. "Don't you think it's a little early?"

   "First of all we are fugitives, (Y/N)." Sokka crossed his arms over his chest. "Second of all I was planning on waking you all up an hour earlier, but lucky for you I'm a nice person."

  "How kind of you, Sokka." I snarked. 

  "What can I say? it's who I am." He grinned, not picking up on my sarcasm. I grab my satchel and pull a my hairbrush out.

  "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up." I admit, brushing through my hair. "Do we really have to live like this until the invasion? And what about our supplies? We're kind of running low here." Our plan to infiltrate the Fire Nation and for Aang to overthrow the Firelord wasn't too far from now, but will we be able to make it till then if we don't come up with some other way to stay hidden?

  "What we need is to find some new clothes." Katara stated, gesturing towards her dirtied blue dress. "That way we can get the supplies we need and go unnoticed at the same time."

  "Yeah, blending in is better than hiding out." Aang said. "If we can find Fire Nation disguises, we'll be just as safe as we would be hiding in a cave!" He smiled.

  "Plus, they have real food out there." Toph said from her corner where she sat leaning against a rock. "Unless anyone wants to stay here, sitting in the dirt and eating cave hoppers."

  "Definitely not me." I said with a laugh. "On the way here I saw a man hanging up some clothes to dry in his backyard. Maybe we could...grab some?" I had never stolen before, and the thought of doing it made me anxious. In a circumstance like this, though, stealing is something I'm willing to do if it means getting out of this dirty cave.

   "Well, let's go get some clothes." Sokka said, And the five of us grabbed what we needed and left the cave.

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  We hid behind some rocks, gazing at the rows of drying Fire Nation clothes. The owner of the house sat in the doorway, his head drooping. He was asleep, which meant this was the perfect time to get what we needed. 

  "I don't know about this." Aang said, his nervousness presenting on his face. "These clothes belong to somebody-"

"I call the silk robe!" Katara shouted before dashing to grab it. My eyes lingered on an off the shoulder crimson dress with a golden sash around it's waist.

  "The dress is mine!" I yelled and ran to grab it from off the clothes line. I glanced over at Sokka who was carefully examining a the tunics, before picking one with a smile and racing off. 

When the five of us had finished dressing in our Fire Nation clothes, we started along a path that would lead us to a small village, which I could faintly see in the distance. I hoped that our disguises would work, and more importantly, I hoped we wouldn't run into Zuko or any of his friends.

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    After we had gotten what we need from the village, we managed to find another cave to take refuge in. This one was significantly cleaner than the last, and more spacious as well. I unraveled my new sleeping bag and placed it along the side of the cave. Hopefully this one would be more comfortable. Waking up with neck pains was seriously getting old. 

  "I'm worried about Aang." Katara admitted. "He's been gone ever since he left to go find food for himself. I hope he hasn't been captured." 

   "Knowing Aang, I'm sure he'll be fine." I reassure, Katara. "You and I both know that he's not helpless. He can handle himself." 

   "I think you might be right, (Y/N)!" Sokka said. I beamed at him.

   "Thanks, Sokka! Advice isn't really my forte so it means a lo-"

   "No, I mean he's here!" He pointed to just outside the cave, where Aang waved before happily marching in. Oh, that's what he meant.

   "Where have you been?" Katara snapped. "We've been worried sick!" 

   "I enrolled in a Fire Nation school!" He said excitedly. "And I'm going back tomorrow." Sokka and I wore matching dumbfounded looks on our faces. What was this kid thinking?

   "Enrolled in what!?" Sokka exclaimed.

    "And to think I said you could handle yourself." I said melodramatically, shaking my head. "Aang, why would you do something like that?" 

   "Every minute I'm in that classroom I'm learning new things about the Fire Nation! I already have a picture of Fire Lord Ozai." He pulled out a picture of the Fire Lord from his pocket and held it up to us. I almost gasped at how much Zuko resembled his father, but in many ways they also looked very different. I wondered where he was right now. What he was doing, and whether or not he was content with the decision he made that night in Ba Sing Se.