Dai Li's Personal Spy

Chapter 22: "Miss me?"

I found myself somehow alone with Zuko on a small table on the deck. We both had cups of tea and were watching the sun melt down into the sky, painting the clouds with brilliant orange. I was originally having tea with Iroh, having finished my work. He saw Zuko at the other end of the deck and called him over, making it sound urgent. He then told him to sit, poured him a cup of tea and disappeared, having yet to reappear. It felt like a setup.

"I've tried to pick up the Avatar's trail again, but we have been delayed by the-"

"Can we not talk about the Avatar?" Zuko said, interrupting me halfway through my boring report, which even I was thankful for.

"Oh, sure. What do you want to talk about?" I asked, a little uprooted by his choice not to talk about the one thing that consumed his life. He sat in thought for a little, obviously scrambling to come up with something.

"What do you like...to do?" It sounded like the sentence was choking him before he could get it out. I looked at him with humour.

"Are you asking me about my hobbies?" I said, half-laughing. He rolled his eyes, nodding.

"Well, I like to read, and I don't mind dancing," I answered. He looked at me, and it felt like he was looking at me for days. I felt slightly warm and desperately found something else to say in the awkward silence.

"But I mainly like to fight," I said, taking a long sip from my cup. He looked at me and then finally spoke, which I was very thankful for.

"You don't like tracking?" He asked, almost innocently. I smiled from my cup, placing it down and facing him.

"Not really, it's work, and it's rewarding, but I'd rather fight," I answered truthfully. He seemed to think about what I said and then nodded.

"What about you?" I asked, which seemed to of stumped him. We sat there in silence for a minute before he spoke again.

"I like talking," He answered, which made me quirk a brow.

"You like talking? You're a man of few words," I said, laughing slightly in surprise. He didn't scowl or glare at me, he looked at me to what appeared thoughtfully.

"I mean, I like talking to you." He elaborated on his original point, emphasising the 'you'. I could feel myself blush and turned away from him, burying my face into my cup, chugging the tea. I drained the cup and glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He was smiling.

I put the cup down, still refusing to make eye contact with him. I could still feel him staring at me, and I finally addressed it.

"What is it?" I asked, giving him an annoyed look to cover up the fact that I was probably going red.

"Your ears, what happened to them?" He asked, still looking at me. I slinked away in embarrassment, pulling my hair in front of them.

"You don't need to look at them, they're hideous," I said, trying to laugh it off, but it was a pretty poor attempt. He shook his head.

"There's nothing about you that's hideous," How could he be so smooth when he wanted to be? Or was it unconscious, and he thought he was being normal? I felt very warm and cleared my throat.

"It was a... training accident," a complete and utter lie, but how would he respond if I asked him about the scar on his face? Probably not well. He didn't seem satisfied with the response but didn't push any further either. I traced the rim of my cup lazily, remembering it was music night.

"Will you come to music night Zuko?" I asked, looking up at him. He looked guilty, and I already knew he would say no.

"It's really not my thing-"