Fire You Are (Zuko Love Story)

Incoming

It's been so long since I've last had or even been able to wield my scimitar that now it just feels sloppy. I used to be so skilled with it, but now, I feel as if I'd just started learning it once more. Here I am, in the middle of the courtyard swinging it around, trying to perform the combinations I used to, but not really feeling any of them right.

"Need some help?"

I turn around to see Sokka standing there with his arms crossed.

"Yeah," I say. "I'm awful at this now."

"Here," He says walking up to me. I find that he takes out a sword of his own, and it calls my attention since the metal of the blade is black.

"Where did you get that?" I ask him.

"I made it myself," he answers proudly. "I learned with a master over at the Fire Nation."

"Yeah," Toph says, "because he felt too bland not being able to bend."

"That's not true!" Sokka yells.

I laugh. "Well, then, let me see it!"

Sokka hands me his sword and I look at it carefully. The craftmanship is amazing, the detail on the hem is beautiful. 

"The blade has metal from a meteorite," Sokka explains. "That's why it's black."

"And so light despite what anyone would think," I say.

I hand him his sword but notice he's busy looking at my scimitar.

"Yours isn't bad either," he says.

"Yeah..." I reply. "Zuko gave it to me a long time ago. It's come in very handy. There have been times in which I haven't been able to firebend openly. This scimitar was the one means of defense I had."

"Too bad that jerk was the one to give it to you," Sokka tells me.

"It doesn't bother me that much," I reply to him. "After all that's happened, the sword feels like mine, not his."

"And how did it survive all of... you know?" Sokka trails off without wanting to mention my dark history these past months.

"When I escaped the prison in Capital City, I ran into him," I explain. "He had the scimitar with him and I took it before leaving him."

"Savage," Sokka says. "But enough talk about that creep. Fight me!"

I chuckle. "Sokka, you saw me swinging the sword around like an idiot. Seriously, go easy on me."

"Don't worry," he says. "It'll be like a walk in the park."

Sokka begins sparring with me, correcting my posture and overall execution. While he does, my mind starts to wander back to that night I escaped, and why I ran into Zuko. Even when I saw he had the scimitar with him, I didn't question why he had it. No one could have known I was going to escape, they were all too busy preparing for the day of Black Sun, and everyone went into hiding, but Zuko was outside. It was as if he knew he'd find me.

As if he wanted to find me.

The thought just makes me angrier. I'd say Zuko does seem like someone who would have tried to break me out as a peace offering, but it makes my blood boil that he couldn't have acted good sooner. 

As a reflection of my anger and overthinking, I begin fighting Sokka more intensely.

"Whoa, whoa," he says. "What's going on?"

"I got too distracted," I say.

"You seemed pretty focused to me," he says.

"It doesn't matter," I dismiss the whole thing. "Here, let's start again."