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faangirl101 · 4 years

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Burning Heart: Pt 1

Burning heart masterlist

Pairing: Zuko x reader, Zuko x y/n

Tags: Enemies to lovers, slow burn

Summary: Raised mostly by yourself, you made a living for your youth years as a maid in one of the richest families in Ba sing se, Beifongs. There Toph, a blind young rich girl, taught you earth bending and also became your new family. Not that you would admit that to her. Together you escape Ba sing se on the back of a flying bison with the Avatar, in a mission to take back the world from the fire nation. But on the journey you didn't plan to team up with the Fire prince himself, and you definitely did not plan to get butterflies around him. But you couldn't possibly catch feelings for a fire bender right? They ruined your life and took everything of value from you. But you couldn't lie to your burning heart.

Warnings: swearing

The Western Air temple

The sun's streaks felt like fire licking our exposed arms. The heat evaporating from the cracked surface under our feet was almost as hot as the burning shame in returning empty handed on foot from the eclipse battle. “This is humiliating”, Katara mumbled with her head low. Her voice sparked a familiar annoyance within but I kept my mouth shut. Sokka looked up at her from under the wolf helmet “You mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?”. Katara looked him up and down before shame forced her head down again “Both”. Aang let his hand slide through Appas fur, as if to reassure him that it was not his fault. His forever love for Appa didn't fail to turn my frown. Aang mirrored my weak smile “Sorry guys, but appa gets tired carrying all these people”. “Or maybe it's just Toph who’s heavy”, Not even one of my snarky playful remarks seemed to get the group in a good mood. But I did get a half smirk for Toph that was good enough. “I wonder how the rest of the troops are”, Teo pushed his wheelchair with sweaty hands as he looked up to Haru. I had never met Teo before the battle, but Aang had mentioned him before. He was hella smart and outshined an entire army. But it was clearly not enough to beat the fire nation. I let my eyes wander to Haru instead. I remember the stories of him and his father in prison. A deep weighting feeling decided to settle in my stomach. My father would have never risked everything for me like Haru did for his dad. I guess I was never a family person. I pushed the hurtful thoughts away the best I could by focusing on Haru. “They’re probably on their way to a prison. Seems like my dad just got out and now he’s going back in”. The group fell quiet, and I wanted to feel empathy for Haru. I wanted to understand how much it would hurt to lose a parent after just getting one. I wanted to hug him. Instead i just put a supportive hand on his back “He got out once, we will figure it out”. I didn't know if my words made a difference but I dropped my hand anyways. “I miss Pipsqueak”, The duke, a small boy muttered. Sokka ignored his tiny friend's words “I miss not having blisters on my feet”. I leaned down to Toph's level “Question, when you get blisters, does it feel like if i got something in my eye?”. Toph grunted in response which I decided to take as a yes. Suddenly Toph made a halt stop which almost made the rest of the group fall over. She stamped down, similar to a rabbit, before her face cracked up in a smile. “Hey, We’re here! I can feel it!”, she raised both her hands forward showing us….. nothing. Ahead of us was the same ground that we had walked on for hours on end. The only difference was a precipies splitting the ground open like a wound. “uhhhh….I think your feet need their eyes checked”, Katara stopped beside Toph with a wrinkled nose. “No! She’s right. We are here!”, Aang’s voice didn't sound in defeat as before. Sokka took one look behind his shoulder as if he missed the “giant temple” Aang had described before shrugging his shoulders. “Wooow”, Toph placed her hands next to her feet, truly taking in her surroundings “It's fantastic!”.

The western Air temple was breathtaking. How we got down was a mystery, but well down. I had no words. It was everything Aang had described. Stone walls reached over our heads, clinging for its life on the cliffs surrounding us. Ivy painted the entire place green. With tired feet and a heavy head I slumped down on the bench around the fountain. The comforting noise of water pooling swallowed my pouding head in ease. “It's so different from the Northern Air Temple. I wonder if there are any secret rooms”, Teos eyes were glistening like a childs. Haru had clearly stopped worrying about his dad as he took a leap forward with a smile “Let’s go check it out!”. Teo and The Duke are quick on his feet as they sprint off to explore. Aang is about to catch up with them, excitement clear in his flaring arms, before he’s cut off my Kataras grip. “You guys go. I think we need to talk about some things”, she urges the boys to continue their exploring without Aang and they don't need much convincing. “I'll race you, Duke”, Teo is already taking off. The Duke whines as the kid he is “i told you, It's The Duke!”. The three disappear behind the temple but their voice echoes for another couple of seconds. Aang's looks after the boys with desperation in his grey eyes “Why can’t I go?”. I get up on shaky legs and make my way over to them. “We need to decide what we’re gonna do now, and since you’re the Avatar, maybe you should be a part of this”, Katara sits down on a fallen stone block. “Fair enough. So, what’s the new plan?”Anyone could easily detect the evidence of annoyance in Aang's voice as he slumps down on another stone block. But Katara was right, no matter how much I hated to admit it. Sokka placed a hand under his chin, mimicking an old philosopher “Well, if you ask me, the new plan is the old plan! You just need to master all four elements and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes.” They way Sokka phrased it was as if it was not that hard. As if it was just a cup of tea, which clearly struck a nerve with Aang.“Oh , yeah. That’s great. No problem. I'll just do that”, Aang threw his words in irony. He started playing with a rock beside him with furrowed eyebrows. He had never looked more like a child. “Aang, no one said it’s going to be easy”, Katara’s voice clinged in empathy. It irritates me how she always complains about being the mom of the group as if she didn't take on that role by herself. But I know a mother's empathy is exactly what Aang needed right now. I easily earth bended a rock under me to lift me up on the high cliff Toph was sitting. The familiar vibrations of earth moving under me filled me with calm. I threw my legs over the edge and slumped down next to Toph's much smaller frame. “Well I am hot but I can't fire bend. Where are we supposed to get a firebending teacher?”, Sokka couldn't help but smile at his own joke. I let out my low hanging bun, ignoring how my baby hairs are slicked down my face by sweat. “You hot? You're hot when Bisons can fly”, I shot him a flirty smile which resulted in Sokka snorting playfully. Katara ignored our remarks “We could look for Jeong Jeong!”. Aang didn't hesitate to shoot her idea down “Yeah...right”. He slumps down his body over the rock without care “like we’ll ever run into Jeong Jeong again”. Me and Toph look curiously at each other “Who’s… oh”. Toph, annoyed by how the group didn't tell us anything crossed her arms “never mind. If it's important I’ll find out”.

The further the sun moved down the horisont, the more Aang started to avoid talking about a plan. He flung forward Appa on his staff, gliding smoothly over the winds. Both me and Toph clung onto the Appa, not liking being this far above the ground. Sokka was always the comic relief but even him had taken on a mom role “Aang, i think we should be making some plans about our future!”. Aang bluntly ignored his words as he landed next to the fountain, the glider still in his hand. Aang watched us land Appa next to him “Okay, we can do that while i show you the giant Pai Sho table! Oh you’re gonna love the all-day echo chamber!”. He was about to sprint away from us again, away from his responsibilities when Toph trot after words. Her demeanor turned serious, which it rarely does “i think that’ll have to wait”. Toph shrugs as she points behind herself. Everybody quizzically tries to see what she’s talking about as Appa’s huge frame moves to the side revealing a shadow. As the late day light falls upon him there is multiply gasps within the group. In front of us is a teenager, probably around my age, a head taller or so. What captures me first is his face. His scar to be exact. A scar the size of a palm extends from his ear and over his eye. It leaves a nasty patch of skin the color of a bonfire. It looks as if he has tried to hide the scar with strands of hair but the hair has a life of its own. It's long, uncombed and falls down his face only to reveal a couple of intense eyes. The color was the same as pooling honey dripping down a warm cup of tea. He was insanely attractive, making my heart skip a beat or two. But he was also screaming to be remembered in the back of my mind. His identity on the tip of my tongue. His honey eyes turn to me for a second but that's enough to spark a part of my memory. Brown eyes mean fire nation. Which makes my eyes quickly take in the obvious fire nation clothing hanging over his long slender body. The previous shock within the group quickly turns into anger. The boy hesitantly raises his hand and gives us a wave, which would be adorable from anybody except a fire bender “Hello”. He tries on a careful weak smile “Zuko here”. That's all it takes for me to take on a fighting position. My hand raised above my waist, fingers vibrating ready to bend the earth to swallow him up. Zuko, The fire prince himself. The gang had told me and Toph stories of his repeated attempts to kill them. His awful actions and how he took katara's necklace. Well, maybe the necklace part doesn't make me that angry. Toph copied my defense, but her motions seemed hesitant. Zuko opens his mouth to reveal a smoother voice then i expected “Hey, i heard you guys flying around down there. So, i just thought i’d wait for you here”. Appa growled and whatever i thought the bison was going to do, it was definitely not that. He reached out his dark tongue just to lick the boy. The boy let out a eak as he protected his face from the saliva. I didn't exactly recall the first time I met Appa that clearly, but I'm pretty sure he never did that. In the corner of my eye I see Aang's conflicted eyes as he lowers his staff slightly. He trusted Appa with his life, so I understood his internalized battle. But I was unaffected, hand raised protectly. Appa’s tongue slicked up the prince's face again, Messing up his hair even further. Zuko didn't protest this time, he just wiped off the excess mucus. With one last wipe he looked up at us again “I know you must be surprised to see me here”. Sokka looked at him in rage with furrowed eyebrows “Not really, since you’ve followed us all over the world”. Zuko seemed embarrassed as he looked down his feet “Right. Well,uh….anyway…. What i wanted to tell you about is that i’ve changed, and i, uhhh, i’m good now, and well i think i should join your group, oh, and i can teach firebending to you”. I didn't know what to say. The shock seemed to resemble the rest of the group. Zuko seemed to catch on as he opened his mouth again “see i, uhhhh”.Toph didn't give him a second to explain himself further “you what now?”. I had never seen katara as angry as now “You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you? I mean, how stupid do you think we are?!”. Sokka continued her rant “Yeah, all you’ve ever done is hunt us down and try to capture Aang!”. All they were saying was true, but there was a sudden doubt consuming me. It rang warning bells in the back of my head for sure, but there was something I couldn't put my finger on. This couldn't possibly be the evil boy they had described? They told me he had an almost shaved head, just a ponytail. That he hated Aang with no shame. That he would do anything to destroy the gang. The boy in front of me was nothing like that. He was shy, hesitant. Ashamed. He was ashamed over everything he had done. But he couldn't just turn good like that, that's not how it works. This must be another fire nation trick, or so I had to convince myself. Zuko seemed hurt, in desperate need to defend himself. “I've done some good things! I mean, I could have stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That’s something!”. His words seemed true since appa licked him again (much to his surprise). I remembered how hurt Aang was when he lost Appa, is it really possible that zuko saved him? No it couldn't be, he was from the fire nation. Toph had already dropped her defense “Appa seems to like him”. The water tribe siblings turned to her in anger. “I can understand why you wouldn’t trust me, and i know i've made some mistakes in the past”. The rest of the sparr is a blur to me. I could see lips moving but I couldn't hear a thing. My eyes were stuck on Zuko as I blocked the rest of the world out. I tried to find any mistakes in his clearly made up character but he was spot free. either he was an amazing actor, or everything he said was true. Aang did need a firebender, but the thought of a member of the fire nation, the royal one at that, made my blood boil. What broke my focus was Zuko falling down on his knees. He made himself vulnerable, head bent downwards and hands raised in surrender. “If you won’t accept me as a friend, then maybe you’ll take me as a prisoner”. The words shocked me to the core. If he was really out to kill us he would never have let down his guard like that. Katara seemed to see right through his game “No, we won’t!”. Her little flask dangling by her leg burst open as she water bended a flood against him. It wasn't hard enough to make him go flying off the cliff but it was hard enough to break his position. He fell over, protecting his face. “Get out of here, and don’t come back! And if we ever see you again, well, we’d better not see you again”. Defeated, wet from tip to toe, he moved away from us. As my friends around me started to yell to each other, about how much Zuko was lying. How they would never accept him into the gang. I followed his figure with my eyes. The slumped forward body, the dragging of the feet. I wonder which powerful fire nation person he was going to tell he failed his mission to get into our gang. Because of course it had to be a mission. He could never change… Right?

The next morning seemed slow. My head was pounding from a sleep fof worrying. It didn't help that Toph had disappeared. I knew that Toph could defend herself better than anybody, but I also knew she wouldn't go anywhere without telling me. Katara handed a bowl of breakfast to The duke “Has anyone seen Toph?”. I was surprised that she had even noticed Toph was gone. They weren't exactly close. Sokka yawned and cracked his back from the morning sleep “I haven't seen her since she stormed off yesterday”. Against my will I started to worry. Since yesterday? Had she been out the entire night? I had been grumbling so much over Zuko I hadn't even noticed. I swallowed down the lump of guilt together with a spoon of rice. Katara actually seemed worried for real “I think we should go look for her”, Sokka slumped down next to his sister “Let her have her fun with rocks, i'm in no rush to have her yelling at us again”. I ignored the anger busting up with another spoon of rice. The silence was quickly replaced by the occurrence of a large rumble. Toph comes flying down onto the ground by a pile of rocks that she created from a wall. I rushed over to her, my breakfast thrown in pieces on the ground. “Toph, what the fuck happened?”. Toph slingered across the ground “My feet got burned!”. Katara rushed forward to inspect them “Oh no, how?”. Toph annoyance from Katara's question quickly turned into shame “Well, I kind of went to see zuko last night”. It looked like Aang had been kicked in the gut “You what?”. Without another thought my legs carried me away from the scene. Their voices became a questionable noise as I took off. I only had one thing playing in my mind: Find Zuko and kill him.

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