Boys of Summer

The road was as wide as it was empty. Normally Zuko loved this, envied it even, especially when sitting in hours of traffic, but now... Another car on the vast expanse of highway would certainly be a welcome sight.

He supposed that meant that the beach he was heading towards was just as barren, not that that would be much of a surprise. A cold front had just come through, making it just a tad bit too cold, even for those who preferred the cooler days.

The summer was over. Just like that.

A cold front like this was a bit unusual, especially this early in the season. The temperature typically dropped gradually, a few degrees at a time. Almost never by 15.

Zuko's fingers hovered over the knob that controlled the temperature in his car as he flew down the empty highway, beach-bound. The sudden cold of the last few days was tempting him to turn on the heat.

I guess this means that summer's out of reach.

In the back of his mind, he can see her tan brown skin shining in the sun. Oh, how it would shine. He would swear that she was glowing and she would laugh, combing her fingers back through her gorgeous wavy hair.

"Zuko," she would say, sliding her sunglasses on over her cerulean blue eyes that matched the ocean, "I think the heat may be getting to you." And they would laugh and he'd say something about being a firebender and growing up with the heat. It shouldn't bother him.

When he finally reached the beach, it was completely barren, as expected. A stark contrast from what it had looked like during those days with Katara, nearly every available space taken up by tourists, some playing kuai ball, others building sandcastles. There was one exceptionally good one that he can recall that somewhat resembled the palace in Caldera.

She would walk slowly along the beach, stopping to smile at everyone she passed, especially the children, occasionally stooping down to talk to them, her smile especially wide. Sometimes he would stiffen a bit when she would stop to talk to another guy their age, one who was usually visibly laying on the charm. She would still smile at them, but then she would look back at him and wink with a slight smirk, as if to let him know what was waiting for him once the sun dipped behind the horizon.

It was easy to think of their nights spent together, when she was ruled by the moon and boy did she let him know it. Although what they did was generally the same, she still found ways to make him crazy every time. And boy, did he find ways to make her scream. Sometimes on this very same beach.

But she could also make him crazy in other ways, ones that made him heat up inside in a very different way.

He'd be burning, feeling the fire burn him from the inside as they'd occasionally have those rare heated discussions that sometimes lead to him contemplating burning down everything in sight. Those usually had to do with exes, his family, or his childhood.

But he'd rather not think of those things, even now. Still, he found himself exhaling wisps of smoke as he approached the sea, which was oddly calm.

He was expecting to hear words from his uncle pop up somewhere in his mind at that moment, something about calming himself and working to find inner peace, but they didn't come.

For some reason, words from even further back lapped at the edge of his mind like the waves that brushed against his toes in the sand.

Like waves washing away the footprints on the sand, Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate. Ember Island reveals the true you.

Zuko snorted aloud, not that anyone was around to hear. He supposed that Ember Island did reveal the true him, as she was one of the select people he could be his full self around without fearing any judgement.

He really had convinced himself that he knew about love, whether it was from his mother's stories or maybe from that summer, but really, what did he know? Clearly nothing, looking at where he was now, standing alone on that very same beach several years later on the cusp of seasons.

A rogue wave swilled at the hem of his jeans, causing Zuko to sigh and back up on the sand. He should have seen it coming, just like he should have seen the end of his and Katara's relationship, rather than it blindsiding him. Maybe that was a theme in his life.

Similarly to how he would disappoint people. His father, Jin, maybe his uncle on the rare occasion, probably Mai, and of course, Katara. Another theme, he supposed.

And here come Uncle's words...

***

Not long after that, Zuko had cleaned off his feet, shoved his still damp feet back into his shoes, and was once again streaming down the highway, opposite direction this time, trying to push the image of a certain person with tanned skin who would smile and sing along to the radio, sometimes as loud as she could, sometimes under her breath, thinking that he couldn't hear. Those were his favorite times, especially when she'd close her eyes as she sang, becoming one with the music.

A silver Cadillac, seemingly coming out of nowhere, zipped by him, flying down the highway at a speed that must have been near 100 miles per hour. Somehow, as the high-end car flew by, Zuko managed to catch sight of a Grateful Dead sticker, of all things, on the right side of the vehicle's bumper.

He couldn't help but roll his eyes. A hippie band sticker on such an expensive car.

Don't look back, you can never look back.

He shook off the little voice. No, maybe he shouldn't be looking back, but he would, just for a little while.

So he did. He decided that maybe it was time to face this part of his past. He'd be damned either way, how much worse could things get?

So he drove.

The sun was setting - does the sun go down alone? It was certainly how he felt some days.

Zuko frowned as he arrived at his destination. No dark blue car in the driveway.

It wasn't a surprise, really, he knew that it was unlikely that she'd be home right now. Yet here he was, circling the block one, two, five times before finally pulling over in front of the small house with blue siding.

Would he have bothered to come if he knew she would be home?

Zuko set the car in park, not caring that his bright red car stood out like a burnt thumb in front of the property belonging to what ended up only being a summer fling.

Stupid, stupid- I still can't believe I let her slip through my fingers. I have to get her back, show her what I'm made of.

But there's no way for him to do that now, it's far too late, months, years even. He has no business sitting in front of her house, as if he's waiting for her to come running back to him. Even if she was happy to see him, it's not like she'd jump in the passenger seat and they'd speed off together into the sunset.

Clearly, there was at least a bit of a lingering pipe dream living in the back of his mind.

Those days are gone forever, I should just let them go, but-

"Zuko?"