Blazing: An Avatar AU

Chapter Sixty-Four

"Come on, (Y/N)- Aang told us to wait outside for him," Katara yelled from downstairs. 

"Alright," I said, closing my laptop and getting off the bed. I grabbed the house keys and slipped it into a small bag, which I also kept my cards and extra cash in. I walked downstairs, and Toph and Katara were by the door. We exited the house, locking the door behind us. 

   "So," I started to say, "Any word on where we're going?"

   Katara shrugged, "I think Aang mentioned something about an amusement park."

   "Fun," I said, "Oddly enough, I've never been to an amusement park."

   "Me either," Katara replied. 

   "Same," Toph sighed, "My parents thought they were too 'dangerous'."

   "Oh," Katara pointed at a limo approaching our house, "I think that's Aang."

   "Why did he bring a limo?" I asked. 

   "I don't know," Katara shrugged. 

Aang stepped out of the limo, "Hey guys! Apparently being the Avatar gets you a lot of free stuff so look! I got this really long car!"

"... You mean a limo?" Toph asked. 

"Precisely," Aang grinned, and gestured for us to all get in the limo. Zuko, Sokka, and Suki were already inside and I got into the limo first, causing me to sit next to Zuko. 

   "Hey," he smiled. 

   "Haven't seen you in a while," I replied. 

   "I saw you this morning."

   "I was being sarcastic."

   "I knew that!"

Once everyone was in the car, Aang bounced in his seat like a little kid.  In my eyes, he was a little kid, but he was dating Katara, so I guess he's not as small as I see him. Besides, he did defeat the Fire Lord and save the world. Small details.

   "We're going to an amusement park!" Aang exclaimed. 

   "We know," Toph replied. 

   "Oh," Aang hung his head, "I just wanted to tell you guys to be careful... I asked the park owner to keep the press away, but you never know. I mean, I'm the Avatar, Zuko's the Fire Lord, (Y/N)'s the Bibender... and the rest of you are pretty famous too. I guess."

   "Ugh," Zuko and I said at the same time. 

   "Pretty famous?" Toph exclaimed, "I am the best Earthbender of all time."

❊❊❊

We got to the park, and Aang thanked the limo driver, who promised to pick us up in a few hours. Aang looked at the park in all it's glory. I was pretty amazed too. This was the kind of stuff I had missed out on as a child, and I didn't mind experiencing it now. Besides, I probably wouldn't be tall enough for all the rides when I was like seven. Aang dragged Katara to a tilt-a-whirl, and Toph went to try her hand at bumper cars. 

   "Toph, you can't see the wheel," I said. 

   "I see with my feet! The cars are metal! I'll be fine!" She ran off. 

Suki and Sokka went to do their own thing, and that just left... Zuko and I. 

   "So," Zuko said, "Wanna... do something?"

   "What did you have in mind?"

   "Come on," he grinned and grabbed my arm. 

   "H-hey! Where are we going?"

   "You'll see," he smiled. 

Zuko dragged me to a small stand that sold dumplings. 

   He smiled, "See? Dumplings! We used to get these all the time, do you remember that one shop in Ba Sing Se that we got dumplings and ramen from?"

   "You really know the way to get on my good side. Food!"

   "You had your "I would kill for some food" face on."

   "I lo-" I stopped myself, "Thank you."

Zuko didn't seem to notice my slip up. He ordered us dumplings and we sat on a nearby bench and ate them. I noticed Zuko staring at me. 

   "Whaf's uff?" I swallowed my last dumpling and cleared my throat, "What's up?"

   Zuko laughed, "Nothing! It's always astonishing how much you like your food."

   I glanced at the dumpling in his hand, "Are you gonna eat that?"

   "This?" He held up the dumpling.  

   "Mhm."

   "Do you want it?"

   I nodded. 

   "Hmmm," he pretended to think about it.

   "Zuko!"

He took a bite of the dumpling and then offered me the rest. I laughed and took the rest of the dumpling, finishing it pretty fast. 

   Zuko sighed, "Let's go on some rides."

   "Like?"

   "The Dragon," he pointed to a roller coaster that looked like it was moving faster than a bullet train. 

   I got up and started sprinting, "Last one to the roller coaster has to buy the other one another dumpling!"

   "Hey! Not fair you got a head start!"

I laughed and made it to the line, faster than Zuko. He caught up to me, completely out of breath. 

   "You," he struggled to catch his breath, "You cheated."

   "That sounds like something a loser would say."

❊❊❊

The day had been fun, to say the least. Zuko and I hung out basically the whole time. And there were limited run-ins with the press, thanks to Aang.  Aang texted in the group chat to meet at the entrance to the park in 10 minutes. 

   I glanced at Zuko, "Do you wanna start heading back?"

   "There's still time for one more ride."

   "Which one?" I asked.

   "Ferris wheel," he smiled. 

I followed Zuko to the ferris wheel. We got on and the wheel turned. I looked out the window of the capsule we were in. The sun was starting to set. 

   "It's beautiful, right?" Zuko glanced passed me.

   "Yeah, I think after all we've been through, I really learned to appreciate moments like these."

   "(Y/N)?"

   "Yeah?" I turned around to face Zuko. I exclaimed in surprise when I realized how close his face was. 

   His eyes skimmed me, "How do you feel about me?"

   "What? What an odd thing to ask. What do you mean?"

   "I mean, do you still love me?"

   "Zuko I-"

The capsule came to a screeching halt, causing Zuko to lurch forward, knocking into me. He wrapped one arm around me and used the other arm to cradle my head, making sure I didn't hit my head on the wall of the capsule. I stared up at him, my face warm. 

   "Are you okay?"

   I nodded. 

A park employee knocked on the window, "Ride's over."

Zuko's face turned red as he looked down at me. We pulled away and walked out of the capsule. We walked back to the limo in silence. I glanced at Zuko. 

   The answer was yes.