Peacekeeping- Zuko

Sick

We took Zuko to Iroh's tea shop, being the closet place we could call home. Everyone else had stayed back, fixing the chaos. "Iroh, has this happened before?" I asked. I was trying to heal him, but it wasn't working. This didn't seem like a normal type of sickness. It was more of a battle with inner demons. Iroh looked away. "Iroh?" I asked, more pointedly. Iroh sighed, eyes turning back to mine. "Once. In Ba Sing Se." Zuko's hand clutched at my arm. "I'm right here," I breathed, placing a hand on his cheek. That seemed to work. "He'll be fine in a couple days, he just needs to res-" "A CoUple DayS?!" I yelled in disbelief. Iroh nodded. "I'll go make some tea for you. He may wake up in the middle and go back to sleep, but tell him he has to drink water first." I smiled at him, nodding. He turned to leave, "Hey, Uncle. Thank you."

Iroh paused, eyes getting teary. "What's wrong?" I asked, not realizing what I accidentally called him. Iroh shook his head, "I know you two have had another fight, but I feel this one will teach you something." And with that, he closed the door to the room. "What?" I mumbled to my self. Zuko shifted in my lap, clutching at my arm again. I weaved my fingers through his hair. "I'm still here," I breathed. This was the third time I reminded him. Zuko's breathing evened. The moon was pouring into the room, through the open window, bringing a cold breeze with it. I shivered, eyes getting droopy. I brought Zuko's head up from my lap and onto the pillow, settling down on the one beside him.

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The next time I woke up, it was the middle of the night, and Zuko was shivering, cuddled up next to me, and clutching at my arm again. "I'm still here," I breathed. He became a literal baby when he was sick. It was really really cold, the window carrying in the freezing night air. He blinked his eyes open, still shivering. "Do you want your shirt?" I whispered, looking at the extra Fire Lord robe in the corner. Zuko shook his head, snuggling closer to me, having forgotten about the fight. "You're warm," Zuko breathed, throwing a leg over my thigh, and an arm around my waist. Oh, okay. I guess I'm cuddling with my ex. He fell asleep again, me raising a tattooed hand to shut the window with airbending.

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It was early in the morning, and Iroh had left to get some tea leaves and what not, Zuko still asleep in his room. I was serving some customers who had decided to wake up early in the morning. Birds chirping entered the room through the open windows, bringing light in. I hid a yawn behind my hand, sleepily setting the tray down on the table of a bunch of weird teenagers, around my age. One of them, with wavy brown hair and piercing green eyes, perked up, "Hey, are you the Protecter girl?" I nodded, hiding my airbending tattoos behind my back since they were staring at them a little too closely.

Zuko stumbled into the room, staggering towards the table on the left, crashing into it and startling the people. Are you kidding me? I leave him for fifteen minutes out of twenty hours of cuddling and that's the exact moment he decides to wake up. I headed over to him, leaving the tea tray. "What happened?" "Y-you weren't there,"Zuko sighed. Oh my Raava. This clingy boy- "Go back to sleep," I said, interrupting Sorla. Zuko paused, staring at me with wide, innocent eyes. I sighed, realizing what he wanted. "Zuko, I can't snuggle with you forever, I have customers to serve."

Iroh walked in, dropping his tea leaves onto the table. "Nice job, Y/N," Iroh smiled, looking around the tea shop. "I didn't do anything." "Well, you didn't murder anyone or burn the tea shop down, so I consider it a job well done," Iroh shrugged. His eyes turned to Zuko, "You should be in bed, Fire Lord Zuko." The teenagers from before perked up again, "Wait, that's the Fire Lord!?" I dragged Zuko away, leaving Iroh to deal with the strangers. He flopped onto the bed instantly falling asleep. I turned to leave, Zuko grabbing my hand. "I thought you were asleep!" "I thought you said you wouldn't leave!" This friking child- Sorla groaned.

I settled down beside him, throwing a blanket over him. He would unconsciously clutch at my arm every five minutes to see if I was still there, enough till the point I had placed his head in my lap, so he knew I was there without me having to send whispers of comfort to his sleeping self.

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Zuko had finally started to feel better and judging by the fact I wasn't snuggling with him anymore, his head had cleared enough to remember the fight. "Thank you for bringing him to me. He really should have come earlier, on his own. Sometimes he forgets that he always has a place here. He may be Fire Lord now, but he is still a stubborn boy," Iroh sighed. Aang had showed up, checking on Zuko every other day. We sat down at a table, the shop empty besides for us, me and Aang in front of Zuko. "I feel like I've been asleep for a week," mumbled Zuko. "It was four days. You don't remember anything, do you?" "No but that's no-"

Aang jumped in before we started another argument, "The Earth King's agreed to talk. When you're ready, we'll meet him in Yu Dao. A small group of the city's residents are gonna join us, too. Whatever happens, though, Yu Dao can't stay a Fire Nation colony." "It can't go back to being an Earth Kingdom city, either," Zuko said. "I know. It has to be something new." "But what?" "That's why we need to meet, doofus," I scoffed. "On the way to Yu Dao, I had a dream. You and I faced off against each other on a mountaintop. Wind and rain and lightning raged all around us. Behind me was Ozai, and behind you-"

"In yours, did you...end me?" "Yes." "You know what I felt, just as you did that...right before I woke up?" "Zuko, I-" "Relief. I was wrong to ask you for that promise, Aang. I've struggled for so long to do what's right-to even know what's right. Then when the war ended, I thought the struggle had finally ended, too. I thought I'd won for good. A visit to Ozai in prison changed that. I realized the struggle was actually just the beginning. I didn't think I could handle it, so I asked for your help. But asking you to end me if I went bad-that was like asking you to figure out right and wrong for me. I didn't just want you as my safety net. I wanted you as my escape hatch. I can't put that on you. I understand now. The struggle isn't something a Fire Lord can escape. I'm sorry, Aang."

Yeah, okay, now say sorry to Y/N to make up. Sorla, shut up! Okay, okay, chill. "You don't give yourself enough credit, Zuko. Deep down, you've always known what's right. I mean, you were right about Yu Dao," Aang smiled. Zuko returned the smile, "Yeah. I guess I was." "...So when you feel into that chasm I created...did you feel...relief...then, too?" "No. As soon as my foot slipped, I knew somehow that you wouldn't let me die." "Because I'm a flawed Avatar." "Don't get me wrong! I'm grateful that you-" "Roku told me you're his great-grandson." "That's true." "Since Roku's my past life, in a way you're my family, Zuko. And no matter how hard I've tried, I've never been able to detach myself from those sorts of bonds. It's a flaw, I know, but it's one I've decided to accept. For this life, at least."

I groaned, "All this lifetime stuff is confusing." "It's probably because your the first Protecter. Your next lives will be able to talk to you, though," Aang explained. "You're not the one who's flawed, Aang. Why can't the struggle get easier for me? Even just a little? Sometimes I wonder how long I'll last. You know, in that dream, a woman stood with us on that mountaintop, watching from the shadows. I think she was my mother." Iroh leaned over the counter, "Sometimes, dreams are the way a person's spirit reveals the answer to his own problems. But then again, sometimes they are just the result of eating spicy food before going to bed."

"Maybe finding my mother would connect me to a part of my heritage that isn't so murky and confusing." "You mean Roku's bloodline? I don't know..." "Maybe then, I'd finally find peace. I never told either of you this, but right after I became the Fire Lord, I sent out search party after search party looking for her. I even hired June and her shirshu. They all came back empty handed. What can I do now that I haven't already tried?" "It's a new world, Zuko. You need to take some new risks. We all do."
Iroh set down a tea tray, startling us all, "Speaking of risks, why don't you two try this brand-new beverage I invented? First, I cook balls of tapioca until they're soft and tender. Then I put them in tea, where they sit like little pearl-sized snacks at the bottom of each cup! Add a little milk and-ta da!-A revolution in tea is born!"

We all picked up our glass, Zuko spitting his out as soon as he tried it, "Ptah! What is that trying to sneak into my mouth?!" Aang looked like he was about to puke, "I've never had a tea that's quite so...chewy." Iroh turned to me, a bit discouraged. I sipped it, "it's....different." I didn't like it. Iroh sighed, "I am a man ahead of my time."