Forged In Fire || ATLA

Lovely

The Awakening - Continued.

"Oh, I hope someday I'll make it out of here, even if it takes all night or a hundred years. Need a place to hide, but I can't find one near. Wanna feel alive, outside I can't fight my fear. Isn't it lovely, all alone, heart made of glass, my mind of stone. Tear me to pieces, skin to bone. Hello, welcome home." - Lauren Babic ft. Seraphim

🌊⛰️🔥🌪

Aelita felt like she couldn't even trust herself and here Zetzu was asking her to put what little bit of faith she had left in anything at all in him. She considered the boy staring intently at her for a moment, thinking just how different this Zetzu was from the one she had grown up with.

But she couldn't deny that he was here, and no one else was. The likelihood of her friends coming for her was slim to none, no matter how much she swore they had loved her back. Not when she was on her way back to a country that she was certain hated all of them nearly as much as they were bound to hate her. But Zetzu was here with her, and no one else was. Not Mai, not Ty Lee and certainly not Zuko. Aelita was here left all alone with her demons and this new Prince she wasn't sure she really knew anymore.

She wanted to give up, but he wouldn't let her and more than that, something else wouldn't either. That something desperately wanted her to keep going. It kept ringing in her ears and speaking in her dreams. She looked away from Zetzu, his face undeniably handsome even with the unnerving third eye tattoo that seemed to always be watching her, and looked out the broad porthole that she often used to watch the scenery passing by. Her eyes drifted to the nearly full moon that illuminated the sky and for a heartbeat, she almost swore it spoke to her.

"Endure. Survive. Please."

She didn't trust him. Aelita didn't trust herself and she damn well knew she didn't trust him but she knew if even the smallest part of her wanted to survive she'd have to either learn to let him in or think that she had.

"I will."

Zetzu's stare softened and he let out the breath he had been holding. He would've been more surprised and maybe even the smallest bit disappointed had she just said yes. If he could break her down just enough to mold her into want he needed while still managing to keep some of that spark that had first drawn him in, all the better.

"It's a start. Now," He said as he reached inside of his robe for a set of keys and moved for her the shackle around her wrist closest to him. "I have more than just dinner in mind." He explained as he unlocked the metal, gently rubbing her bruised skin after it fell away. "But, you'll need to take this first." His hand drifted inside his robe again to retrieve a small glass vile full of metallic liquid.

Aelita recognized the poison that rendered her damn near helpless and wracked her entire body with mind-numbing pain. Twice a day the brew was poured down her throat, no more, no less, and certainly with none to waste until War Minister Quinn and his men could create an even more effective replica but Zetzu was quick to keep that information to himself.

"I know, I know," He sighed as he saw her eyes darken. "I don't like it either, but you know the Fire Lord as well as I do and I doubt even I can save you from a proper trial."

"It won't be a trial," Aelita countered, her voice horse and raspy. "Your father doesn't do trials. It will be Agni Kai or it'll be immediate execution. If you're going to keep my body full of this shit, it might as well be the latter cause right now I stand no chance."

"It will be a trial, or it will be an immediate pardon, and I know which one I'm hoping for." The Prince countered. "You're the girl that single-handedly defeated the Avatar, something that not even Sozin could accomplish. Ozai may be confident, but he's no fool, and he wouldn't dare challenge the Akira head-on unless his victory was guaranteed, not when you can still be of so much use to him."