"I Needed Her First." Zuko X OC

Grip (Part 29)

(TW: Mentions of rape!)

Shiloh's <POV>

I awake just before the sun rises, the sky is still dark but I can see my surroundings. I attempt to move but I am stopped by a pair of arms holding me close.

I look over my shoulder to find a sleeping Sokka. His skin warming up my body as he lets out small snores. Somehow I forget about Zuko for a few seconds, as I nuzzle into Sokka's grip.

His hold is comforting, and my mind quiets down a bit. I stroke his hair before moving slowly out of his grip and back into my bed.

I toss and turn for a while in my spot, before falling back asleep for a few hours.

Zuko's <POV>

"You drugged me... Shit... Shiloh thinks we had sex!"I scream clutching my head as I panic.

"Yeah— Aren't you happy though? Azula's trying to let you come home."

"How in the world would you expect me to be happy, when my girlfriend thinks I cheated on her?!" I let out a angry sigh "Just go Mei..." I signaled towards the door. She scoffed before leaving.

How could I be so careless, it doesn't matter if I did it or not. Shiloh must still be hurting, and I can't be there for her.

I already miss her touch, her smell, the way her voice has a higher pitch when she gets excited.

Do I even deserve her..?

She's perfect, in all of her flaws she's beautiful.

I need to get her back to me and tell her the truth.

Shiloh's <POV>

I stayed awake for the rest after that night, I think I got enough sleep. So I started making breakfast, selling the necklace Zuko got me I was able to get 1K gold pieces, which rounds to about 100K copper pieces.

To be honest, the price shocked me but Iroh did prefer to spoil me while I was there so it wasn't too surprising.

I bought some supplies for Aang, Sokka and Katara. I also bought meat, including bacon for breakfast.

As I'm cooking I notice the boys rising out of their sleeping bags from the corner of my eye.

"Good morning Shiloh." Aang mutters as he rubs his eyes, slowly stretching to wake himself up:

"DO I SMELL MEAT?!" Sokka awakes immediately, which took me by surprise because he's typically the one to sleep in.

"Yeah haha... I had some extra money so I got a bit of meat." I say turning the bacon over the fire, Sokka sneaks up behind me and peeks over my shoulder to smell to meat better.

"Aang I'm making a separate fried tofu, with peanut sauce for you." Aang smiles widely as he made his way over.

"Ah I haven't had peanut sauce since I was a kid!" Aang gasps.

"You still are a kid." Katara giggles, as she untangles her hair with a comb.

"wHo CarEs abOuT PEAnUtS WhEN ThEReS MeaT"
Sokka yells practically drooling as he watches the bacon sizzle.

I let out a chuckle which sends Sokka into a blushing mess, which he attempts to hide with his hands but Katara nudges him. Revealing his red face.

"How did you pay for all of this?" Katara says as she inspects the food. I give her an awkward smile as I respond.

"Oh... I sold a necklace Zuko bought me..." My heart somewhat aches thinking about it. It felt like some sort of betrayal, less to him and more to myself. I felt like I betrayed the love I had in my heart for him.

"Geez, that must've been a good necklace in exchange for this juicy meat!!" Sokka exclaimed.

Serving the plates to them, Sokka chews down on it desperately immediately after I hand it to him. His face fills with pleasure.

"Yeah haha... I actually still have 1K left..." I mutter as I fix my hair.

"1K copper, thats amazing!!" Katara yells in excitement.

"No... uh 1K gold..." I watch as their reactions turned to completely disbelief as their jaws dropped. Their responses were a mix of gasping.

"1K GOLD HOW?!" Aang and Sokka switched glances as they ran up to me, and Katara looked like she was about to faint.

"I— Uh... I'm giving you guys most of it before I leave." Katara and Sokka yelped in excitement, while Aang listened more to my last line.

"What do you mean leave, your not planning on going are you?" Aang questions, tucking my loose strains of hair behind my ears to see my expression.

"I'll be too much of a burden." I argue giving him a sympathetic look. Aang's eyes get defensive probably thinking of reasons for me to stay.

"No you won't!! You can be my earthbending teacher..." I was about to respond but he cut me off "And I know you don't have anywhere to go!! You have that same broken look in your eyes you did back years ago after that night with your teacher when we were children!!"

My heart drops, I wanted Aang to forget about it. I didn't want him to remember, I didn't want him to think i'm disgusting.

"Shiloh wait I'm sorry I shouldn't of brought that up—" Aang starts but I cut him off with a pained smile.

"I'm sorry you remember that..." I say as I turn around to go take a little walk. Aang reaches out but retracts his hand.

Flashback

"Don't run from me little bitch!" The professor yelled, dragging my leg through the hall. My skin being scratched by the unsteady metal.

"I wasn't done!!" The voice yells reaching up my thigh and practically ripping off my panties. I screamed and cried, scratching my own skin as punishment.

The day after, I stuck in my room completely silent. I was too scared to leave, my body kept on trembling. Aang found me under my desk table crying, with bruises and ripped clothes still on me.

Immediately he knew what happened, I wasn't able to tell anyone. And Aang knew that, so we kept silent.

End of Flashback

"Shiloh...?" Aang said as he walked towards me. I didn't turn around... too many tears were flowing down my shaking pupils.

He lifted a hand to me, but in a moment of fear and trauma I slapped it away. I realized seconds after it was Aang and I jumped into his arms sobbing apologies.

He held me close for a few seconds before bringing me to talk about it. Talking about it years (or 100 years) after it occurred helped me feel more secure.

Aang was always a good listener, and I knew I could trust him with anything.

That's why I love him.