Two teenagers sat on the dock, their shoes in the water and their heads tipped towards the sky. Fireworks bloomed in the air and lit up the sea, vivid orange cutting through the thick darkness of night.

"They're beautiful,"

He glanced at her as she said it, her cobalt eyes illuminated orange and a smile on her lips. He looked away.

"They're in celebration of Sozin's comet, since it's in two days," he told her, following the light with his eyes. "If you look closely, you can see that they all fade out into comet shapes."

She pulled her eyes away from the sky, smile fading.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to ruin them for you. I mean, they are beautiful,"

"It's okay, it's not your fault. War has a way of ruining beautiful things."

The statement hung in the air; it was true, painfully so. He wondered what kind of world he could've lived in if he was born in a different time, what kind of life he would've had. Maybe his sister would have kept loving him, maybe his mother would have stayed, maybe there would be no meeting to speak out in, no scar and no banishment and no-

No what? No learning from his uncle, no realising his mistakes, no joining the avatar? Maybes were pointless - he doubted his father would've been a loving man if there was no war, and even if he was, contemplating it wouldn't change anything.

"You're scared, right?" She asked, head suddenly turned towards him and eyes wide, resembling a child's. It hit him right then how young she was, how young they were; teenagers, fighting in a war started by an dead man.

"Of course I am," he said, meeting her gaze. "I think we all are."

"I knowI just- everyone's acting like they're not scared; you, Sokka, Toph. I mean, I'm acting like that too, for Aang, but... I just wanted to make sure I'm not the only one who's scared."

He thought back to the last time he showed he was scared: he was thirteen, and the lesson that fear was weakness stayed with him long after that day.

"I am scared - I know I'm not one to show it, but I am."

Her eyes softened slightly, lingering on his own for slightly too long; it was moments like these, with their gazes locked on each other in the dead of night, that made Zuko wonder if she returned his feelings. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind as quickly as they came, though - they were in the middle of a war, and getting into anything would only make it hurt more if- well, if one of them didn't come back.

She looked away, staring at her shoes before slipping her hand into his. He glanced at her again; she seemed nervous, as if she wasn't sure whether she should've done it. He squeezed her hand, hoping it was comforting in some way.

"I don't want to die." She whispered, voice shaky and eyes fixed on the water. He paused, unsure of what he could say to make her feel better.

"I don't either." He said, stopping for a moment before continuing, "and I can't tell you that we're definitely going to win or aang's definitely going to kill the fatherlord or we're all definitely going to come back. But I think- I think if anyone can, it's us."

There was a moment of silence and he bit his cheek, hoping he hadn't made her feel worse, when a faint smile appeared on her face.

"The firelord," She said, smile growing; he gave her a confused look. "You said fatherlord. It's firelord."

He furrowed his brows. "I know it's firelord, I said that."

"Sure," She teased, smile still plastered to her face for a few moments before it faded slightly. "Thank you, though - really."

His lips curved upwards. "It's no problem."

He looked back up at the sky, unaware of how her eyes were locked on him. Silence filled the air for a few moments as she watched him, hair wafting on the breeze and lips slightly parted. His eyes looked like the were on fire, orange light in the sky reflecting onto his irises.

Before he could quite grasp what was happening, her fingertips were brushing his jaw, slightly unsure, and her lips were on his cheek. It barely lasted a second, but her lips were soft and her hand was warm and Angi knew his heart was pounding out of his chest right now. He stared at her, eyes widened in surprise and mouth slightly gaping, and she immediately pulled her hands away.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that, I just- I needed to before the comet, in case... in case we don't make it back."

His eyes were still on her, expression now less shocked and more unreadable. Her cheekbones and the tip of her nose were illuminated by the fireworks and a coral colour dusted her cheeks; his gaze brushed over her, following the waves of her hair and the arch of her brow, catching on her lips.

He reached up to cup her chin, eyes catching hers before he leant in, letting her close the gap between their lips. It wasn't a rough kiss by any means, no tongue or teeth or anything of the sort, but it wasn't quite chaste either; their lips moved together, his hand moving to cup hers again and before they pulled away.

They both stared at each other for a second, silence filling the small space between them until he spoke.

"In case we don't make it back."

She grasped his hand a little tighter.

oo0oo

SO first entry of zk week and it's already late.. sorry yall this isn't my best writing but enjoy I guess ?? I'll try my best to write more for this zutara week, I'm super excited about some of the prompts!