Blazing: An Avatar AU

Chapter Sixty-Five

Katara glanced at me as I collected everyone's dinner plates and went to wash them.

   "When you're done do you want to watch TV before we sleep?"

   "Yeah," I finished washing my last dish, "Let's go. Toph," I turned around to face her, "Do you want to watch too?"

   "I can't really see the screen, so I think I'm going to go train outside."

   "You could always hear- never mind," Katara sighed. 

Katara and I headed to the living room and she switched on the TV to the news. 

I groaned, "Why are we watching the news?"

"Because! Aang and Zuko have this plan for a united city filled with all benders, and I want to see if it's been released to the public yet."

"I'm telling you, it hasn't. They're not even halfway done with that yet."

"Now, moving on to celebrity news," the anchor said, "Do you guys remember our favorite power couple? The Fire Lord and the Bibender?"

Katara looked uncomfortable, "You know what, I think you're right. Let's change the channel," she reached for the remote. I raised my hand and blood bent her hand to its spot. 

   "Hey! (Y/N)!"

   "Shh. Now I'm interested,"  I let her go.

   "Fine," she rolled her eyes.

"As you all know, and if you don't you must be living under a rock, The Fire Lord and the Bibender broke up, after being voted the Top Couple of the year. In case you forgot, the Avatar and Katara of the water tribe are in second, and in third we have General Iroh and his tea shop."

   I laughed and Katara blushed. 

"Now, after this devastating breakup, the Fire Lord and the Bibender went on to... well, I think it's better if I just show you," the screen changed to Zuko and I yelling at each other on the stage of the school.

Katara and I flinched. It was pretty hard to watch. 

"Yeah," the news anchor said, "Crazy, right? Anyway, we have breaking news. Fire Lord Zuko and (Y/N) are rumored to be back together. Starting this morning they have been blowing up the internet, with the release of these two pictures, that are confirmed to be taken yesterday," a picture of Zuko and I hugging in front of our house flashed onto the screen. Katara looked outside the window, clearly worried. Another picture appeared on the screen, it was of Zuko and I in the Ferris wheel. It looked like he had pinned me down and our faces were so close that it looked like we either were about to kiss or had just kissed. The picture looked like it was taken from afar. 

Katara looked at me and cocked an eyebrow. I turned off the TV.

   "It's a misunderstanding! The Ferris Wheel Capsule rocked and he bumped into me. That was just taken at just the right moment," I put my hands up defensively. 

   "Hm," Katara glanced at me, "Nothing happened?"

   "No!" I exclaimed.

   "Why not?" She sighed.

   "What do you mean, "why not"? We're not together anymore."

   "But you want to be."

   "No, I don't!" My face heated up. 

   "Then why is your face bright red? You and Zuko are made for each other (Y/N). It's fine if you still like him."

   "Maybe I do, Kat. But, it doesn't change the fact that we don't work."

   Katara sighed and got off the couch, "Call him. And can we hire someone to watch our house? That picture was taken in front of this house. That's scary," she started walking away. 

   "I'll try," I called after her. 

I walked up to my room and laid down on my bed.

   "Do you know what today is?" I approached Zuko at his desk.

   He glanced up, "Sunday?"

   "Well, yeah... but- wait. It's not even Sunday. It's Tuesday."

   "Listen, (Y/N), I have a lot of things on my plate," he ran his hands through his hair, clearly frustrated. He looked up and smiled at me, "Let's talk later, okay?"

   "Zuko, how old am I?"

   "What? 18," he said, "That was a dumb question."

   I sighed, "No. Not anymore."

   "Wha-?" his eyes widened, "Oh my god. (Y/N)-"

   I started to walk away, "Have fun with your Fire Lord duties."

   I heard him scrambling to get up, "(Y/N)! Wait-" 

Okay, so he forgot my birthday. In his defense, he didn't even remember the day of the week. He was working on the school, and he had just gotten into a fight with Aang regarding the Earth Kingdom colonies. 

   "Zuko!" I ran up to him. He was at his desk, as usual. 

   "What, (Y/N)?" He sounded pissed.

   "Why are you mad?"

   "I'm not mad at you. I just have so much work to do."

   "Maybe you should take a break. You're overworking yourself. Calm down."

   "A break? You want me to take a break?! I am the Fire Lord! There are no breaks for heads of state."

   "You're still young! And isn't the point of making a school, so you can have a break from Fire Lord Duties?!"

   "That's then! Not now! I have so much to do! How do you not understand this?!"

   "Zuko, I understand. Obviously I understand," I walked up to him and put a hand on his face. His eyes looked back into mine. His eyes were glossy, his hair was messy, and it looked like he hadn't slept in days. "I just think you should calm down. Breathe for a second. You're overworking yourself."

   "Can you leave?" He slapped my hand away. 

   "Zuko-"

   "I have a lot of work left. You're distracting me. Leave."

   I laughed dryly, "As you wish, Fire Lord Zuko," I bowed and turned around. 

   "(Y/N)-"

   I turned around my eyes glossy, "What, Zuko?"

   "I'm sorry- I'm just so stressed and-"

   "And I'm adding to your stress? I get it. You don't have time for me, but you have time to kiss Mai, right?"

   "What?" His eyes widened, "I never kissed Mai. She kissed- I told her-" he struggled to form his words.

   I laughed, "I'm sure. Well, Fire Lord Zuko, you no longer have to worry about me being a distraction or the cause of your stress."

   "What? What do you mean?"

   "It's over. We're over."

    "(Y/N)! That's not what I wanted. Please- I-" his voice broke, "Please. Don't leave-" His eyes glazed over.

   I turned around so he wouldn't see my eyes start to water, "Goodbye, Fire Lord Zuko."

Maybe I was too harsh. But so was he! I get that he was the Fire Lord, but he made a promise to me too! He didn't have to be so rude about it! Ugh. This is making my head hurt. What am I supposed to do?

   "I love you (Y/N). Always have."

I hate this.