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a-simp-20 · 1 month

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locksmith

pairing: zuko x reader

word count: 2657

summary: "if in ten years time i'm still on your mind, could you call and say you want this? no matter where we are you still have my heart cause i locked it and i promise you're the locksmith" - sadie jean

atla masterlist :)

an overwhelming mix of emotions swirled in your chest as you watched zuko walk out in his royal attire, his hair tied up into a top knot he'd had you do for him. the people around you cheered loudly and you smiled, but he held a hand up, halting the claps for a moment.

"please. the real hero here is the avatar."

aang walked out with a hesitant, humble smile and you smiled as you clapped, leaning around your father to glance at katara. her smile was gentle and a soft blush coated her cheeks as she stared up at aang, his eyes resting on her as well. you nudged sokka with a laugh and he grinned.

"today, this war is finally over."

cheering again.

"i promised my uncle i would return honor to the fire nation and i will. a hundred years of fighting has left the world scarred and divided. but with the avatar's help we can get it back on the right path and begin a new era of love and peace," zuko said and you smiled at the thought.

a fire sage stepped forward with the royal fire lord headpiece in the shape of the fire insignia and zuko knelt down, his eyes closing for a moment.

the sage slipped it into his top knot and zuko stood.

"all hail fire lord zuko!!"

all at once your heart dropped and jumped and you couldn't help but feel so overcome with emotion that you were stood still.

you could hear the soldiers and commoners cheering, you could feel your father's elbows hitting yours as he clapped, see sokka hold his hands to his mouth to whoop loudly, but you were frozen in shock.

hakoda nudged you, concern in his eyes.

"y/n?"

instead of responding, you just clapped, whooping alongside your brother. aang joined zuko's side, which only encouraged your positive response.

you met zuko's eyes, your heart stopping for a moment as his smile grew. you put on a supportive smile, continuing to clap, but it didn't reach your eyes. he faltered, knitting his brows together as he asked a silent question. of course he could tell you were upset. he always did know how to read you best.

you shook your head as the cheers began to die down and before your father could say anything, you ducked under his arm and made way for the nearest door into the palace.

katara caught your arm, staring at you with furrowed brows. "y/n?"

"i just need a second," you breathed out, tugging your arm out of her grasp and walking hastily through the crowds of people. it was easier to get out without notice as everyone began conversing again, the nations intermingling. your family was still stood at the front along with the other leaders of the war, katara and sokka watching you with worried eyes before suki and toph caught their attention.

you breathed deeply through your nose as you hurried to the quarters that had been assigned to you. you reached the heavy oak doors, throwing them open and bursting through, resisting the urge to cry as you began to pull at the braids threading your hair. suddenly, your door was thrown open again.

"y/n?"

your heart stopped and it was even harder to keep the tears at bay.

"what happened?"

you went barreling into zuko's arms, something he immediately reciprocated. he held you tightly, your arms wound around his neck so tight he could hardly breathe but he didn't care.

"i'm so proud of you," you whispered. "i'm so proud."

"then why did you run off? we're supposed to be celebrating," he said softly. "but instead it's like we were just at a funeral, not a coronation."

"it was both," you breathed out with a sigh, pulling away with a remorseful look.

"what?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

"nothing," you said quickly. "i'm sorry. now's not the time. you should enjoy your day, you deserve it."

"no, tell me what's going on," he told you.

"zuko, it's fine-"

"it's obviously not," he said, stepping towards you to take your hands in his. he looked at you earnestly. "you can tell me."

tears threatened to spill over as he smiled softly and you gripped his hands even tighter as you steeled yourself for what you were about to do.

"we can't see each other anymore."

his face fell as he stared at you with wide eyes. "what?"

"i can't be the girl you need right now," you continued, sniffling as a tear slipped down your cheek. "you're the fire lord and a lord needs his lady. but i - i can't be the fire lady right now, i've got my own people to take care of. we're going to have a lot of work to do in the south and as the eldest child of the chief i have my own duties to attend to that i couldn't if i was in the fire nation and-"

"just because we have different jobs doesn't mean we have to break up," he said, his brows furrowed deeply. "you don't need to be the fire lady right now, i've just barely become the fire lord. we don't have to do anything for a few years."

"but what if it takes longer for my tribe to build up? what if i'm needed there for longer than that? that's not fair to you," you protested.

"it's perfectly fair," he argued. "if i'm asking you to eventually give up your life in the south to be here with me, it's perfectly reasonable for me to wait."

"but, you know how elders are. your advisors will be pressuring you for a wife, i'm sure of that. and-and as much as i would hate to see it be anyone but me, maybe you need someone that isn't me-"

"don't say that," he said sternly, pulling away and glaring. "don't you dare say that. you are the only one that i need, the only one that i want. why can't you see that?"

"because you're the fire lord and i'm the water princess!" you cried exasperatedly, your hands flying out as another tear escaped. "i rise with the moon, you rise with the sun, remember? it doesn't work halfway across the world."

"you don't know that!" he was desperate. "we can try! we can always try! it's us, we've always gotten through hard things!"

"sneaking away to see you in ba sing se doesn't count-"

"i'm not talking about ba sing se," he said. "i'm talking about how badly i screwed up there and how you still forgave me. how we managed to break you out of prison. how we saved each other while fighting azula. how we helped aang win the war! we've done hard things, y/n, and we've always made it through. what's the difference now?"

he was crying.

you'd rarely seen zuko cry and your heart broke now seeing it. you stepped forward, cupping his cheek gently as you offered him a watery smile.

"zuko," you breathed out. he hiccupped, taking a deep breath in before sighing shakily.

"i know."

he understood. it wasn't realistic and you both knew that. and frankly, he'd wondered if dragging you to be with him in the fire nation would ever be fair to you, if he wanted to do that do you. he knew it wasn't going to work. but, that didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

he pulled you into his arms, crying into your shoulder as sobs shook your body. you both sank to the floor, crying harder than you had in a while.

"i'm sorry."

"me too."

you cried harder as his hand came up to rest on your cheek, a tear slipping as he shut his eyes, his forehead on yours.

"i love you."

"i love you too."

over the next two years you spent a lot of time with hakoda helping oversee new projects and efforts to unite with not only the northern tribe but with the rest of the world as well. you'd been offered the position to represent the south in international ordeals, but you'd swiftly declined, the job immediately and rightfully going to sokka.

for a while, though, you didn’t exactly leave the fire nation. the rest of the gaang stuck around for a while, and with major fomo you decided to stay too. that and you were scared that once you left your relationship with zuko would be gone forever.

you both agreed to keep sending letters and you, along with every fire nation elder there was, pushed zuko to find himself a wife. it pained you to write the words, but you encouraged him to try again with mai - if not for his own well being, but so you yourself wouldn’t be so weighed down with guilt.

and so, in an effort to get back at you, he told you to date around your home tribe as well. so, both of you did and zuko began dating mai and you began dating a boy named din, the son of your father’s chief advisor.

well, din was dry and you didn’t click, so you were quickly single again. the only boy you looked forward to hearing from was zuko, politely turning down village boys and trying to keep their eyes off you the best you could without having zuko there to scare them away.

despite your attempts, hakoda still got a lot of requests for his daughter's hand, a lot of propositions to unite the southern water tribe with the rest of the world through marriage. but, he refused; international connections weren't worth your happiness.

and so you just went about life working and helping people, the latter the only thing that brought you true joy other than your family.

after packing up your papers and inkpot into your seal leather bag, you began your walk back home. it'd been a long day and you were ready to just eat some food and get into bed.

but a figure in deep red standing in front of your door caught you off guard.

you stopped in your tracks, a gasp slipping from your lips.

"zuko?" you asked.

he turned to you, his lips a light shade of purple as he offered you a sheepish smile, shivering even in his thick coat.

"hi y/n."

"oh my spirits," you breathed out a laugh. "let's get you inside."

you pushed him through the door and he immediately lit a fire in the fireplace, sitting down on the sofa with his hands next to it as you began piling blankets over his shoulders and lap. you moved to sit next to him, resisting the urge to chuckle at the sight of the freezing fire lord.

“so, what are you doing here?” you asked, back pressed firmly against the arm of the sofa as you faced him. he sighed briefly, snuggling further into his blankets.

“i uh, i have something for you.”

“you do?” you asked with knitted brows. “what is it?”

“um, well just - here.”

he averted his eyes as he stuck his hand out, something blue sticking out of his fingers. you watched curiously as he unballed his fist, revealing a beautiful blue necklace resting in his palm.

“katara helped me find the fabric and everything. i, uh, i hope you like it.”

a small wooden circle was carved into the sun and moon, waves and fire adorning the edge. you noticed how some pieces were burnt, likely from some frustrated moments trying to carve it, but it added to the charm.

“zuko,” you breathed out. “do… do you know what this means? what you’re asking?”

“look, i know it’s been years, but there hasn’t a day gone by that i haven’t thought of you. i already talked to your father and he’s given me his blessing. he even said that the tribe is really well off and that, if you wanted of course, you’d be fine to leave with me to the fire nation,” he said quickly, meeting your eyes for a few moments before glancing around your living room hesitantly.

“i-i,” you didn’t know what to say. “i don’t know what to say.”

“yes,” he answered simply, meeting your eyes with desperation filling his amber irises. “please. please just say yes. say you’ll marry me. because i really want to marry you.”

you opened your mouth to speak, but he anxiously cut you off.

“you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. you’re the light in my dark, you’ve brought me back from places i didn’t think i could come back from, you’ve made me who i am and when i’m with you i’m the happiest man alive. these past two years have been hell without you and i can’t imagine living the rest of my life like that. so please, marry me, be with me, love me and let me love you and make you the happiest woman in the world. please let me do that for you.”

he was desperate. you’d seen this look in his eyes before. but, last time you denied his wishes, last time you ran off because you thought it was better for the both of you.

turns out it was the worst decision you could’ve made.

as you stared at zuko’s bundled up figure, you began to smile. you reached forward, taking his hand in yours.

“yes.”

he lit up. “yes?”

“absolutely yes, oh my spirits,” you said as you lunged forward to wrap yourself around him. as he wound his arms around you and his blankets fell into you as well, you began to melt in his hold, realizing for the millionth time just how much you’d missed him. “i’ve missed you, zuko. i’ve been hoping you’d randomly show up like my prince charming for a while now.”

“really?” he laughed. “how long?”

“two years,” you mumbled, causing him to chuckle again.

“and i’ve been working up the courage for two years.”

“well, i’m glad you finally did,” you said with a smile. “here, help me put it on.”

you carefully removed your grandmother’s necklace and turned to let zuko replace it with his own. his fingers were warm despite his shivering, the fire in him warming you up too, but the necklace was cold as he clasped it around your neck. you held the pendant in your hand as you turned, smiling widely. he quickly leaned forward and kissed you.

a few months later, you were sailing to the fire nation. aang offered to fly you, but you liked the water and you liked the cultural significance of taking the time to sail to your future husband and your new life.

but it would be a lie to say you weren’t rushing off the boat once you docked.

zuko was waiting, his arms open and a grin pulling at his lips. you practically ran into his arms, katara and aang smiling to each other as they watched. sokka rolled his eyes.

“what?” toph asked him, standing next to her friends with her arms crossed. she’d arrived only a few hours before they had and had travelled to meet them with zuko.

“we could’ve done this years ago,” he said with an exaggerated sigh. “but of course they had to get married this year on the same weekend of the boulder bash.”

“a pro-bending tournament is no where near as important as your sister and your best friend’s wedding,” katara said.

“you’re right. it’s way off the scale of importance but you just had to drag me here,” he sighed again.

zuko looked at him with a laugh. “what, you’re not happy to see me?”

“you’re actually the only reason i’m here,” sokka replied, stepping forward and dramatically fixing an imaginary tie. “i have to fulfill my duties as best man, don’t i?”

“i thought i was the best man!” aang exclaimed.

you laughed, patting zuko’s chest as his eyes widened. “you have fun with that, honey.”

“y/n, come on-”

“zuko, you can’t just give my position away to a kid! he started shaving last week!”

“that’s not true! zuko, you promised-”

you giggled as zuko groaned, katara catching up to you and rolling her eyes as you both headed towards the palace, eager to get ready for the dinner rehearsal.

zuko looked back at you desperately as you skipped along.

“y/n!!”

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