An Innocent Spark [Zukka]

Chapter 64: Amongst the Ashes

The ashes fell from the sky like snow during a blizzard, blanketing everything in a dark haze. Zuko found each breath more difficult than the last. As the air escaped from his lungs his vision became filled with spots. The building was collapsing around him, but he had hold of the old man and that was what mattered. If he had escaped it would have meant disaster for the capital. Still, with each desperate inhale it became obvious neither of them were getting out of the man's deplorable restaurant alive.

"You will die and your kingdom will die with you," the old man coughed out with a pride that Zuko would have beat out of him if he had the strength.

"At least the innocent people you tried to abduct won't have to be subjected to your torture," Zuko struggled to say. The metal beam that had fallen on them during their fight was heating up as the fire drew closer, and it wasn't clear what would kill them first, the fire or the pain from the hot metal.

It had been foolish to stay in the burning building and go after the old man, but after finding out what he was planning to do with the wealthy elite of the Fire Nation from one of the restaurant staff he couldn't let him get away. The old man wanted to turn these people into science experiments to try and bring back the air benders. No matter how much Zuko hated the fact that his family had been the reason for the air nomad's almost total annihilation, the thought of his people being subjected to cruel experimentation made his stomach turn.

None of that mattered now, the flames were nearly too them and Zuko could barely breathe, smoke filled his lungs and there was no oxygen left for either of them. As he faded in and out of consciousness, all he could think about was Sokka.

The sarcastic and stubborn water tribe boy meant everything to Zuko. They had once been enemies, Sokka no more than a nuisance for Zuko and an obstacle getting in the way of earning his father's approval. Then they gradually morphed from enemies to friends. Sokka was Zuko's first real friend, and it took a long time to realize his feelings were stronger than just friendship.

Sokka was the only person other than his uncle and his mother who had made him feel loved. He had never known what love was like with someone who wasn't family, and even that was somewhat foreign to him given how abusive his father had been. He couldn't believe he thought what he and Mai had was love. While he didn't regret the time they spent together, he did wish he had gotten to know Sokka a lot sooner.

Ever since Sokka and Katara first came to visit him over a year before he had been happier than at any other point in his life. Now he only wished they had more time to spend together. Being on death's doorstep brought a clarity to his thinking, and he realized in that moment that a life without Sokka was no life at all. If only he could get out from under this metal beam, then he could tell Sokka just how much he meant to him. The dots overtook his vision, and the last thing he saw was what looked like an angel walking out from the flames.