White Hot Flames (ZukoxOC)

1

        The day was a fairly calm one. The waves were gentle against the hull of the boat and they didn't hit any ice. The last time it happened, Zuko just about lost his mind. Rezalia giggled at the memory, legs swinging from her perch on the railing of the ship.

"If you keep doing that you're going to fall," Zuko says gruffly as he walks up behind her to lean on the railing beside her.

"Careful, Z. People might begin to think that you actually care for me," Rezalia teases in response. Zuko scoffs. The girl tips her head back and delves back into her thoughts.

Zuko was socially awkward. He didn't show it, usually he hid it by barking orders and hiding in his room. But anyone who grew up the way he did would have issues with social growth, it only made sense. Unlike Azula, Zuko had been in training to be the next firelord nearly his entire life so he had never really had friends. Azula had Mai, Ty Lee, and, to an extent, Rezalia. The girl was kinda fun to hang out with when she wasn't being a raging psychopath.

However, Rezalia often snuck out of boring hang outs in the garden in favor of seeking out the young prince. He wasn't a fan of this but he eventually grew to understand that his unhappiness didn't deter her in the slightest. Zuko could usually be found in his room after he accepted this fact. Rezalia suspected that he enjoyed her presence because after a while she stopped having to pick the lock to gain entry.

Every time without fail, Rezalia would fling open his door and collapse on his bed before rambling about anything and everything. She had long since given up on getting him to participate in the conversation. As they grew older, he began talking more and more to her. He was still fairly quiet by nature but that didn't stop the girl from filling the silence by talking about her favorite type of bread.

Rezalia quickly grew to become Zuko's closest friend, though he would never tell her that. Oddly enough, he liked to listen to her rants about that idiot in school who brought a turtle duck and he always missed her when she had to leave. Not only did he enjoy Rezalia's company, Zuko respected her. She was the only person he had ever seen openly defy his father.

Ozai hadn't been happy when he learned of Rezalia's adventours and had demanded that she stop instantly. The young girl, only six at the time, had told the Firelord no and had continued to stow into the young prince's room to tell him about how she was pretty sure the baker across the street was an alien.

That was something about Rezalia that Zuko would never tire of. Her endless stream of conversation topics, they were more often than not outlandish and they never failed to raise Zuko's spirits. Rezalia stuck with Zuko like glue no matter how hard he tried to be rid of her. She managed to slip past any and all guards, she could pick the lock on any door he locked, and he had managed to worm her way past his walls. So for better or worse Zuko and Rezalia were a package deal.

Perfectly demonstrated when Zuko was banished. According to Iroh, Rezalia had stormed into the Firelord's chambers and demanded that he cease his banishment immediately. He had, of course, refused. Rezalia had exploded, something very uncommon for her, and had gotten herself banished as well. Of course, Rezalia didn't really care. She hadn't liked it much in the Fire Nation anyway, according to her.

But she supported Zuko in his desire to return to his homeland. She didn't understand it, but she wouldn't get in his way if that was what he wanted. So for years she recommended places to look and joined Zuko in looking for an Avatar that might not even exist. She joined him on what she believed to be a wild goose chase and told him to relax when he got a little crazy. Which was more often than not and she more or less had to force him to take a breath.