Little Soldier Boy

Overtime

"No.. stop!" Zuko bolted from his bed with a scream, clutching his blankets under him as he trembled. Sweat rolling down his face and back while he stared at the blank wall in front of him, shaking as he felt frozen.

He panted softly as if he was holding his breath before, forcing himself to move was harder, pulling his knees up and resting his chin on top, his arms hanging around his ankles.

"Fuck," he rasped still shaking. His limbs felt like stone when he tried to move.

Gold eyes peered out of the window to see if the moon was still out. It was high in the sky.

"Fucking hell," Zuko grunted rolling back over to sleep. Pulling the blankets high to his nose with a shiver, listening to everything around him, people outside that dared to walk at night, animals, but it was still to quiet.

He didn't know if he could go to sleep again.

—

Hai walked through her tea shop with a soft hum while her cane tapped against the hard wood floors. She went to unlock the door as she turned the sign around to open, she opened the door due to the day being warmer already.

She noticed a being against her shop outside and squinted to recognize the body.

"How long have you been waiting?" Hai raised a brow seeing Zuko sitting against the wall.

"Since the sun came up, I couldn't sleep," Zuko rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"That was stupid, you better not slack off today," she put a piece of wood under the door to keep it open.

"No ma'am, I won't," Zuko mumbled standing up and followed her inside.

Hai pitied the child seeing how exhausted he seemed, she tsked and went to put the water over a small fire.

"Come sit, I'll make you some tea, give you some energy," hai patted a table for him to sit at. It was a slow morning.

"Are you going to tell me why you couldn't sleep? I need my workers well rested," she scoffed getting a tea cup out for him as they waited for the water to boil.

"No," Zuko grunted.

"Was it home?" She asked in a softer tone this time.

"No, it was nothing," he glared.

"Bah you can bullshit me all you want but I can see a little boy that's getting bad dreams," hai rolled her eyes and Zuko scowled.

"So what? It doesn't matter," he snapped a little, maybe cause he didn't sleep much last night.

"It does," she sang smirking.

"I don't want to talk about it," Zuko repeated in a harsh tone.

"Then drink your tea and give the customers a smile kid, you'll get forehead wrinkles before your eighteen with that scowl," hai poured the tea and hobbled over to set it in front of the teen.

"I didn't have no children just to get a grumpy teenager that I'm stuck with, so buck up kiddo and loose the glare," she poked him frowning, Zuko glared scooting away from her reach.

He didn't say anything and sipped the tea, hai went back upstairs to leave him in his thoughts and his tea. Zuko groaned a little rubbing his head, he was so sick of the nightmares. It was one thing just to be restless and unable to sleep but when memories of his past suffocate him in his sleep makes it worse.

"Here," hai dropped two bean buns on the table for him.

"You look like a skeleton, your haunting this shop with your ghostly aura," she grunted.