Flames Of Fate (Zuko X Reader)

Chapter Thirty Four; Coconuts and Scattered Sand.

This chapter is dedicated to Mochi0Bunnie ✨👑

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Through the entire time they spent together, Zuko did not wanna ask about what happened. It was just something both of them knew they wanted nothing to do with.

Zuko knew Azula was right but a part of him did not want to believe his father was capable of doing something like that. He knew it wasn't the right thing to do, to be in denial like that but accepting that fact meant facing up against everything he believed in; the legacy he would follow, the Throne which would now have been tainted, a totalitarian regime he'd oppose, a father he would hate. It was too much.

Being around (Y/N) was simple. He could be himself and not worry about all that. He could be happy.

(Y/N) also ignored the elephant in the room. Talking about it meant reliving it, and she wasn't ready. Not yet. Not after waking up to the sight of a half dead man in her arms. All she needed now was silence. Her thoughts were too loud and painful, she craved silence now more than ever.

So here they were, sitting by the beach beside each other.

They both stared at the sunset in a comfortable silence. It was getting late, but neither of them cared. The sea was gentle, flowing with soft waves against the shore. The sky was painted golden and bronze and (Y/N) had never seen anything prettier.

Behind them they heard rustling. They both turned and saw Hisashi walking over to them with coconuts clamped between his teeth.

He walked over to the two and dropped it in front of them. Then he sat between them and stared at the sunset. (Y/N) grabbed the coconuts and it didn’t take her long to crack the top open. She offered the other to Zuko and he took it.

They drank the coconut water in a peaceful silence as they sat leaning on either side of Hisashi.

Zuko smiled. This was the most fun he’d had in his entire life. Hisashi’s fur felt soft and warm. He wondered how it would be if he had a dragon of his own. How it would have been if his family hadn’t made dragons into a sport.

As much as he loved his family and the legacy his grandfather had built, some things they did just weren’t right and he was old enough to know that. His loyalty was to his people and his family. But was that didn’t justify the lines they crossed.

He glanced to his right and saw (Y/N). She was curled up and leaning against Hisashi’s fur. She had a small content smile on her face and her soft gaze reflected the orange and yellow streaks painting the afternoon sky.

(Y/N) wasn’t in deep thought, matter fact this was the closest to being free she had ever gotten in the last few years.

She leaned back and felt an indent in Hisashi’s soft fur. Curious she turned and saw a gashing scar to his side; the fur never grew back so it was a patch of rough skin.

That scar…it was from that night five years ago. Her calm mind flashed and the picture of Hisashi locked up in a cage covered in blood crippled her for an instant.

Her smile dropped and she looked down, eyes glazed over. Strands fell against her rosy cheeks as she pressed her face against Hisashi’s fur. Her jaws were set, and her breathing came out shaky.

Was she so pathetic she couldn’t even save him?

Her teeth clenched and she felt a lump in her throat as these flashes kept blurring through her mind, the harder she squeezed her eyes shut the faster each memory of him in pain seared through her head.