Traitor - Zuko X Reader

Chapter 22

It had been three days since everyone had parted ways. It was also the day that I would face Zuko after realizing my feelings for him. Just the thought of seeing him again made my body freak out. My stomach would gain that weird fluttering feeling. My heart would quicken its pace. My face would heat up. And my knees would grow weak. I would definitely need to calm myself down before I head over there, to somewhat get my emotions in check. I didn't want to make my feelings obvious since I was pretty sure Zuko would shoot me down if he caught onto my romantic feelings for him.

To keep myself from getting too swept up into my thoughts, I decided to clean around the house. Even though it was already pretty clean, I made everyone's beds and tidied up the kid's rooms. Even though they had barely been gone a day, I missed the light chatter that would fill the house. Katara had left earlier after breakfast to go meet with the king, so I was left all alone. As I took the trash outside I took note of the sun's position in the sky which told me it was past noon, I would have to head over soon if I wanted to be there before closing.

I continued the last bit of my cleaning by hanging up my laundry outside and went back inside to gather my things to head over to see Iroh and Zuko. I was going to visit their new tea shop here in the Upper Ring and was excited to see how the place looked. I knew this was a huge moment for Iroh and wanted to give him my support in any way I could. As I stuffed some coins into my bag, my hands were shaking from my nerves. A part of me was scared Zuko would be angry at me. Why? I had no idea. Maybe he would be mad that I lied about Aang not being in the city. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the thought and exited the house. I took a deep breath and began the first steps of many to the Jasmine Dragon.

I had gotten directions from a kind older woman on the way there and, within no time, I was standing in front of the tea shop. It was magnificent compared to the one they had worked at before. The Jasmine Dragon was a deep shade of jade with gold and brown accents all around. A few people bustled around outside by the large fountain right in front of the shop.

I inhaled and the familiar scent of jasmine tea made my nerves settle. I wiped my sweaty palms on my legs and stepped through the threshold into the tea shop. The inside was decorated with many simple-looking brown tables, but had very intricate and delicate dragon designs on the large green rug that cut through the middle of the shop. There were quite a few more customers than I was expecting as I looked around the room to see happy families and elderly people enjoying their tea. Turning my gaze to the back of the dining area I saw Iroh standing proudly as he gave a close-eyed smile at the entering customers.

Once he opened his eyes, he immediately saw me and rushed forward, "(Y/N)! I am so glad to see you, I was beginning to worry you had left Ba Sing Se."

I hugged Iroh tightly before pulling back, "No, no we just had to take care of some things. I'm glad I'm here now though! This place is amazing, Iroh. I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you. Running a place like this has always been a dream of mine and with you and Zuko here with me, it's perfect," Iroh's eyes were slightly teary as he spoke.

I smiled and ignored the rapid hammering of my heart at the mention of the boy who had been living in my mind rent-free the past few days. I took another deep breath before asking, "Speaking of Zuko, where is he?"

"Oh he's in the back, taking a break. He was actually sick the past few days," Iroh frowned and I grew worried. "But he's fine now and is adjusting to our life here better than ever."

"What was he sick with? Do you think-"

"(Y/N)!"

I was cut off by Zuko's voice over the murmur of customers. My body froze and I tried to fight the urge to look at him, but it was no use, my eyes moving to the door to the kitchens without my consent. There he was, standing in the doorway with an uncharacteristically large grin plastered on his face. My stomach erupted with butterflies which only increased when I took note of his new uniform. It was a long green robe with little details on the edges and was paired with a pair of semi-baggy brown pants. He looked . . . gorgeous. At this thought I felt my neck heat up and tried my best to act casual, which was almost impossible as Zuko approached me. I opened my mouth to greet him but he cut me off with a warm embrace.