Fire and Ice

Acceptance.

Small recap:
"Okay, one more question." "Go right ahead." "How do you know Zuko?" Klare was a bit thrown off by the water tribe girl's question, but hesitantly responded. "I... was a servant girl at the palace when we were much younger before Fire Lord Ozai took power." She seemed to reluctantly accept Klare's answer and both relaxed, the boy still amazed by the ball of ice.

Klare turned to face Zuko, their hot and cold eyes clashing as they stared at each other without speaking.

'This is going to be a long night...'

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Everyone sat around a campfire once the sun was completely gone and only the dim light of the moon was left. Well... everyone except for Klare, who sat at quite a distance from everyone else. Zuko and the avatar, Aang, took notice of how she chose to sit on the opposite side of a pillar facing away from them. Rin watches the both of them and scoffs, effectively catching their attention.

"The fire probably reminds her too much of the Phoenixes' burial ceremony... or it could have something to do with her recent behavior changes since I brought her back to the shrine." Zuko stares at him in confusion, focusing more on the second part while the others were shocked by the first. Before the others could state their questions, Zuko made sure to have his answered. "What do you mean 'recent behavior changes'?" "Ever since she returned home, she slowly became withdrawn and when she received her mark, all of her emotions seemed to disappear one by one. Honestly, I've seen more emotions from her in the last half hour then I've seen in weeks. It's all because you, Zuko. I hope you're aware of that."

The amber-eyed boy stared at the pillar that the girl sat behind. After a few moments, he gave up on trying to keep his distance, which he had planned to do if they met again after what happened. Zuko stood up and made his way to the pillar, ignoring the stares from around the fire.

He crossed his arms as leaned back on the pillar, standing next to the snowy haired girl. "Hey." She looked up at him with the same earnest blue eyes that he grew up with. "You know, ... We didn't exactly separate on the best terms..." The girl sighs and puts her head back on her knees. Zuko frowns, never being good at handling these kinds of situations.

"You're.. not going to talk to me. Are you?" "Can I fly to the moon?" She whispered, much to Zuko's confusion. "No.?" Klare didn't say another word as she watched the moon. The banished prince finally realized what she had meant after a while. Not sure what to do, he groans under his breath and follows her gaze to the moon. They just stayed there in silence until Zuko heard the soft voice of his childhood friend speak out to no one in particular.

"The moon is a fascinating thing, is it not? It creates such a powerful impact on every life form in some way or another, yet the moon itself is simply a reflection of the sun. ... You see, we look at it in all its beauty and forget that if it wasn't for the presence of the sun, there would be nothing to illuminate the night quite like it. Most of us cherish one or the other, disregarding the fact that one thrives solely on the other. Each one is so different, so independent, that we disregard their similarities, their connections." Zuko was amazed at what she said after realizing that it was true.

Zuko went to say something, but quickly stopped as the soft voice spoke again. "People are no different. The only change is that we base nearly every negative emotion on our differences. Fear, hatred, disgust, those are all preconceptions we have based on differences without even accounting for each other's similarities. We hardly ever account for everything when we make our judgements. We always miss something..." She let out a rather forlorn sigh. "What does it matter though? I wronged you for so many years, any other phoenix wouldn't care and would move on, so why not me? So many emotions are welling up in the back of my mind, yet I can't seem to properly express them. These things keep replaying through my head and I don't know how the stop it."

Klare grasped her head, hair hiding her eyes from view. Zuko, not knowing what else to do, knelt down and lightly pulled her to him as he maneuvered himself into a sitting position. The teenaged girl didn't fight against him as his warmth seemingly engulfed her. The familiar feeling brought her a calming sense of nostalgia that caused her to relax into the embrace.

Looking down at the figure within his arms, Zuko's mind was cleared from his previous uncertainty. Klare had lied to him about her past and other things, but despite all that she was still the same girl he had cared for and thought about for years. The male bowed his head down enough to whisper into her ear, saying words that brought tears to Klare's eyes.

"I forgive you."

The salty drops began slipping down her cheeks and onto Zuko's shirt. His arms tightened around her seemingly weak frame and he said nothing more as the girl sobbed, finally releasing years worth of tears that were never shed.

The others by the fire stopped their conversation at the sound of crying. Rin quickly began glaring at the pillar that the pair was sitting behind. It was clear to the group that the white-haired boy was internally struggling just to keep himself from interfering with whatever was happening on the other side of that stone column. In Rin's mind, he felt as though he should do something to stop his sister's tears, but at the same time he knew that being able to release her pent up emotions may be best for her. This also brought up another issue for Rin. He hated Zuko's very existence for all the problems he's caused and other reasons, but what Rin hated even more was that he had to admit that Zuko could do many things that he can't. He didn't know who he was truly mad at now, Zuko or himself. He didn't want to accept any of this, Zuko being close to Klare, Klare taking part in two prophecies, and himself being virtually helpless to it all. However much he disliked it all, he knew that he had to accept it anyways, just as Klare and Zuko seemed to have finally done.

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I'm so sorry!!!! Please forgive me for such a wait!! I still can't believe that I completely skipped a month on this story and didn't finally update until now, almost at the end of a second month and only about 5 or 6 days before my birthday!!!! Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!
Klare: ...Well someone is a serious procrastinator.
Oh hush! Just wait until exam time! That's the worst...
Klare: Isn't that-
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiizzin! That's starting soon!!
Klare: Yeah... Like within this last week or sometime in this last month of school...
That means band practice too...
｡ﾟ(ﾟ'Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡
Klare: ...Oki, well I apologize for Author-chan's idiocy, Reader-chans. Thank you for those of you that are still with us after so long.
I'm supposed to be the one that says that!!
Klare: Too late! Now say the closer before I do that one too!
Noooo!!!! Okidoks, Reader-chans!!
Like, comment, vote, follow, all that fun!!!! And as always!!!!

Until next time!~

Ali🌹