Traitor - Zuko X Reader

Chapter 32 (part one)

The sun was vacant from the sky, the stars blinking into the horizon one by one as the moon slowly rose. Aang and Zuko had returned from their trip to find the roots of firebending last night. They had shown us all the 'ritual' (though it seemed more like a dance to everyone else) they had learned while at the Sun Warrior's temple. They were both able to reconnect with firebending and discover its true meaning, now nothing was holding them back from unleashing Aang's full firebending potential. Tonight, everyone was enjoying themselves by the fire, idle chatter filling the crisp air. I looked at the people around me and smiled. Aang was rambling to Katara about something I couldn't quite hear, but could tell he was doing so from how his arms moved about excitedly. Toph was regaling the other boys with tales of her Earth rumble 6 tournaments, to which they all listened intently with starstruck expressions. I was sitting beside Sokka, he had a sullen look on his face and when I attempted to make conversation, he just gave me a one-word answer and continued staring into the fire ahead. I had decided to leave him be for now, figuring I'd ask him about it after everyone had gone off to bed. I shifted my gaze to where Zuko was preparing everyone's tea and tried to fight the warm smile that threatened to cross my features.

Things between Zuko and I were beginning to be like it was back in Ba Sing Se and I hoped that, with time, we would go back to how we were when we were friends in the palace. There was still some lingering awkwardness and uncomfortable silences between us if we were left by ourselves, but instances of them grew further and further apart as the days went by. Everyone else seemed relieved me and Zuko made up. I was afraid the GAang would think it wasn't a good idea and that I had made a mistake forgiving him so easily. I often struggled with convincing myself that I had done the right thing in forgiving him. It was clear he was of no danger to us anymore, but a part of me was scared that I had let him off the hook too easily. But, despite my personal worries, everyone was very accepting about me and Zuko being friends again. Well, all besides Katara. Katara still held her disdain for Zuko proudly before her, always making rude remarks towards him or glaring at him from across the fire during dinner. Things seemed to get worse between them after she saw I had forgiven him. I had tried to assure her that I forgave him because I wanted to and tried to coax her into seeing the good side of Zuko, but she was insistent that he was going to betray us. I decided not to press her any longer, hoping she would come around in the end. She had a lot more deep-rooted issues with Zuko that I knew went past her anger at his betrayal.

"No one can make tea like Uncle. But hopefully I learned a thing or two." Zuko's voice broke me out of my thoughts and I watched as he poured the tea into the teacups, "Would you like to hear Uncle's favorite tea joke?"

Aang perked up, "Sure, I like jokes!"

"Okay, well, I can't remember how it starts," Zuko began as he passed out everyone's tea, "But the punchline is, 'Leaf me alone, I'm bushed.'" Everyone stared at him in deadpanned silence and I couldn't help but crack a smile at his awkwardness, "Well, it's funnier when Uncle tells it."

"Right, maybe that's because he remembers the whole thing," Katara said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. Everyone laughed at her comment and Zuko let a tiny smile break across his face.

"It's nice to get a chance to relax a little. It hardly ever happens," Toph commented as she sipped her tea and everyone nodded in agreement.

Zuko made his way over to where I was sitting and handed me my tea. As I reached out to take it his hand brushed gently against my own and I looked up to see him staring at me with a warm expression. I tried to avert my gaze, but those amber eyes were turned into a pool of honey from the firelight and I couldn't help but become trapped in their warm embrace. My gaze shifted to the rest of his face, admiring his sharp features and the way his face was illuminated by the warm glow of the fire. His hair had grown out more and I mentally slapped myself for wondering how soft his hair would be under my fingertips. I tried to urge myself to pull out of whatever trance this boy had put me in, but the world seemed to still around me as I looked up at him.