Hey guys, I was rewatching ATLA one last time before school started up again and I got hit by a truckload of inspiration, so here you all go, my peeps!
I dunno, folks, I just really wanted contemplative, angsty Zuko and the rest of the GaAng being a big bro to Aang and just, everyone taking care of each other and finally finding some happiness after everything they've been through.
(Just... It's after a war and all. I don't think there's anything that needs a precise warning, but keep in mind that it's a war torn world and everyone is still recovering. )
...
It was hard, Zuko imagined, to be thirteen.
Or, more specifically, he imagined it hard to be thirteen and in charge of putting together and keeping the peace of a war torn world.
Of course, he himself had never been in such a position. In his early teenage years, he had been banished and scarred and left to find his ridiculous honour by his evil father, a ball of utter anger toward the entire world. If Zuko had been given such a task at that age, he probably would have snapped, and probably would have had all four nations at war again within a week.
Luckily, Aang was far better at anger management issues, and at peace making, and at placating both sides of an argument, and at mediating, and at, well, everything that Zuko was still struggling with but also getting better at.
(It was a work in progress.)
And it was lucky that Aang was the Avatar, because only Aang could have the patience and empathy to be so understanding and willing to work with literally everyone.
Zuko wasn't sure how the kid did it, keeping a smile on his face at all hours of the day. He knew that any thoughts of a good mood normally evaporated by the first hour, for himself.
And yet there Aang was, calmly listening to an Earth Nation delegate as the man explained his troubles about Fire Nation soldiers still remaining in their posts at the various military encampments within his small off-shore city. It was a big trouble, one that offered valid concern, and Zuko got that, he did, but did the man really have to complain so much? He just went on and on and on, and then spealed off into a rant about the evils of the Fire Nation, despite the fact that he was sitting right there.
Aang suddenly leant forward across the table, smiling his little crooked smile that somehow managed to stay sincere despite the mild annoyance presented in his eyes, and grasped at the map that the man had brought with him, tugging it towards himself.
"Mr. Teing, we greatly appreciate how you were willing to come all this way to share your concerns, and I'm sure Firelord Zuko will attempt to call back the troops as soon as humanly possible, but you must understand that it can take time, 'cause there's still a lot of clean up going on and healing from a war doesn't happen in a day."
Zuko did his part, trying for a smile and nodding. His facial muscles felt weird, doing so, but he had to try, even if the guy was being rude to his face. Even then.
"I'll be sure to send a falcon their way as soon as I can, or even personally visit if I can manage."
How did Aang look so freaking open and earnest and sincere? How could he do it when Zuko could only ever manage speaking through gritted teeth? How?
The conversation took another half an hour to wrap up, hundreds of little formalities working their way through before the delegate finally left, and the minute the green robed man was out of sight Zuko could feel the woof of air Aang released as he slumped in his chair.
The nation representatives and the rest of the crew were coming in to try and decide the next big step on the whole peace making business, what clean up would be going on and what treaties needed to be signed and what tributes needed to be paid and such. Those meetings were always exhausting, each nation leader trying to garner the best opportunities for their own peoples, each nation leader frustrated and suspicious with the other ones, each individual almost always working for their own gain.
And each person calling for the Avatar to fix things, to make things right, to somehow magically make everything better.
Calling for Aang to do those things, even though he was probably younger than a lot of the delegate's own children.
The first meeting, at the very beginning, two or three months ago, when Aang had been making a very reasonable suggestion on the water supply within the Earth Kingdom- there was a small Fire Nation village with families and mothers and kids and lives located within the land, and while it had been decided that it would be allowed to stay because it was a good source of trading and jobs, the Earth Nation village across the way wasn't so happy in sharing the water reservoir that spilled in between the two locations- someone had snapped at him, angry and defensive when things weren't going her way.
Why should we listen to you, Avatar? You were missing for an entire century, you left us abandoned and you left us for the dead, and now you come back and you're still not even willing to side against the fire nation who tried to kill us all. You're a coward and a horrible-
The delegate hadn't gotten farther than that, because Aang had been doing his wide eyed, I'm taking this to heart and it's hurting me look and Sokka was standing up- and most of the time Zukko looked on the Water Tribe boy and saw someone goofy and smart and fun to be around, but in those moments the boy had been scary- one calloused palm gripping his sword.
Zuko and Katara had stood as well at almost the exact same moment, and he could feel the moment the delegate realized that she had fallen into a deep mess because her eyes had widened and her fists had clenched and her brown orbs had flickered back and forth between the now standing members of the meeting, all other delegates falling silent at the sudden tension.
Toph had done the honour of shoving the woman's chair back with a wave of her hand and demanding the lady leave that very instant. The woman had looked like she was about to argue, but Mai had started sharpening her knives and she had left silent.
They had all sat down, Aang looking resigned and embarrassed and a little grateful and a little awkward and so ridiculously young- they were all so ridiculously young- that Zuko's heart had hurt just a little bit, because the kid shouldn't have to deal with it- none of them should have to deal with this- not when he had already given up so much and lost so much and had suffered so, so much. Not when they all had done and suffered so, so much.
And it was moments like this where Zuko wished more people were like Aang, understanding and bright and willing to learn and love and forgive. Willing to look at them and see a group of teenagers far too young to deal with all their troubles.
Sokka had informed the rest of the group that any more offensive or unregulated behavior would be treated with the same rapid dismissal, and the meeting had continued on after an awkward silence, and no one had brought it up again.
But no one had insulted Aang again, either, and it had been quickly learned that there was an absolute zero tolerance policy to any unnecessary hagglers when the same treatment was given to someone who had called Toph too uneducated and simple and blind to be more than a liability to the negotiations after the younger girl had insulted the guy's stuck up, selfish ways, and again when some other random Fire Nation delegate had insulted some other representative from the Water Tribe.
Now the meetings were just exhausting and frustrating instead of plain miserable.
Looking at Aang from the corner of his eye, Zuko was glad of it. The boy looked exhausted, heavy bags under tired grey eyes and a slumped posture, as if the Airbender wanted to curl up and sleep right there on the uncomfortable chair. His fingers kept twitching, tapping slightly in Aang's constant need to keep in motion, but he wasn't talking, only flashing Zuko a small smile when he caught his eye.
Aang looked like he needed to curl up in a bed for at least five years.
They had maybe five minutes.
Apparently, Aang had also officially given up on managing even the slightest resemblance of decorum, as he was resting his head against the tabletop of the circular platform, slumped forward in his chair. Both he and Zuko had been up all night going over the maps, trying to figure out all the villages in the Earth Nation still holding fire nation soldiers; some factions refused to accept Zuko as their ruling regiment. The night before that, Zuko was pretty sure that the Airbender had been out with the girls to one of the major refugee camps in order to create a temporary- and possibly permanent- village to live in, setting up some earthen abodes and a massive water reservoir and some farm land. And the night before that had been a different meeting with various Northern Water Tribe delegates, trying to figure out what resources could be spared for the South.
When had been the last time Aang had slept a full eight hours? Four nights ago? Five days ago? A week?
Zuko felt his own exhaustion creep onto his shoulders. It was like this, day after day after day. Constant work. Constant complaints. Constant problems and constant miniature rebellions and constant doubts and fears and-
It was almost starting to feel like too much. Like it was never going to end. Like the Hundred Year War was going to take a thousand years to clean up
And it was moments like this that Zuko felt tired. Where he wished for his uncle. Where he wished for some imaginary older sibling who could take the he wished things weren't always so much.
And Zuko just had the official responsibility of the Fire Nation, what if he had the entire world as his responsibility? What if he had been only thirteen instead of seventeen?
There was a knock on the large emerald doors; the delegates and the rest of the gang had arrived.
Slowly, Aang sat up and rubbed at his eyes, looking more like a kid about to head upstairs to take a nap instead of an all powerful Avatar about to commence in an all-important meeting.
He gave him a few small pats on the back in sympathy while staring directly ahead, calling for the guard to let everyone in. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the slightly amused look Aang shot him.
The delegates entered the room, followed by their friends, and from some unimaginable source Aang found his thirtieth wind and st up straighter, a grin working onto his face as he gave a wave to them.
Zuko managed a nod, resisting the urge to completely slump out of his chair and bang his head against a wall somewhere; he didn't want to sit through another dull meeting, even if it was with Toph and Sokka- whose snarky one liners were often surprisingly amusing- and with Mai, whose presence always made things far more tolerable.
It was moments like this that Zuko felt frustrated, because he wanted to be with them. He wanted to be with his friends. But without the stuffy delegates leaning over their shoulders and without the politics and without the stress, and he knew that he couldn't really have that, not anymore- or, at least not for very long- because this was his life now, this was all their lives now, but that didn't mean it still wasn't fair.
The delegates were seating themselves, except one of them was making a fuss about the seating arrangements- a firebender, Zuko was ashamed to notice- and claiming that he ought to be seated closer to the front, despite the fact that the conference table was a freakin circle.
He made a mental note on his mile long list to talk to the man later about proper decorum, or at least find someone to do so.
He traded deadpan looks with Katara as the girl seated herself next to her brother and another Southern Water Tribe warrior- What was his name? Oh, right, Bato- a few seats down from him. As one of the main representatives of their tribe, the pair often had seats close to himself, as he was the ruling monarch of the Fire Nation, and in turn then he was close to Aang, who, of course, was the Avatar.
Suki was seating herself somewhere by an old man from Kyoshi in her full green uniform, face paint and all. She gave him a strained smile when he caught her eye; she wasn't really one for politics, but always ended up roped in them anyways.
Toph was sitting next to Aang because… well, there was no reason, really. She wasn't a major representative or anything, she just kind of sat wherever she wanted and everyone else sort of shifted to deal with her placement, which varied day to day, and today was next to the Avatar. Of course, the name of Beifong did hold some weight, so there was always that…
Mai sat down next to him with her usual expressionless serene face and Zuko flashed her his own small smile. The meeting was bound to begin soon; no time for words or pleasantries.
That was another reason Zuko hated the meetings so much. There was never any time to just… exist beyond the realm of politics, even if it was to trade a simple hello.
And yet…. And yet… he couldn't help but have a brief moment of pride as he stared at this big meeting hall with people and prominent figures from all over, from the small Fire Nation villages to the big representatives from Ba Sing Se, people from the South and people from the North and people from the Swamps. Earthbenders and Firebenders and Waterbenders and- and Airbender.
Airbender. No Airbenders. Just an Airbender.
And it was moments like this in which he felt sad. Sad because this was the price of war, the most precious gift of all, life.
He buried the twitch of guilt in his gut. It wasn't his fault. He hadn't even been alive when it had happened.
As if summoned to speak by his thoughts, Aang raised his small pale, tattooed hand, waving it to catch everyone's attention.
"Um- Actually, I have a bit of- a bit of a request that I would like to go over first, before we get too into our official meeting and our," the kid's eyes flickered over the many scrolls being placed in the center of the table, all topics of discussion that various peoples of interest wanted to go over, "um, suggestions and debates."
Zuko blinked. That was unexpected.
Aang was fidgeting with the bottom of his tunic, looking a little embarrassed and a little anxious and ever so slightly hopeful.
"I- I wandered if- not now, of course, but maybe later, after everything's settled down a bit- well I was wondering if I could have the other nations support in preserving the Air Temples?"
Immediately, there was pandemonium. Zuko himself almost slapped his own hand to his face. Why hadn't he thought of it before? It could never make up for what was done, of course, but maybe in this small way he could help preserve Aang's legacy. His people's legacy.
He looked over to his right in order to tell the airbender that he had his full support, hoping the other would hear him over all the others probably saying the same thing.
But Aang wasn't looking at him. Aang was staring out across the table, his eyes furrowed and sad and tired, tired, tired.
It was in those few moments that he realized the pandemonium wasn't everyone agreeing, trying to figure out how to put together resources or how to help. People were talking about how much money it would cost, how much effort it would take, how much time would be spent. About simple trivial things that were so stupid, so, so stupid because Aang was all alone. Aang was all alone and-
He was thirteen. He was thirteen, and this was what he had to deal with. Stupid delegates more intent on committing discussion on petty situations like what was customary and polite and the cost of things in gold when his entire bloody culture was on the line.
And it was moments like this that Zuko felt angry. Angry at the world to whom they had given so much, only to be turned away when they were the ones in need.
Judging by the rest of the gang's faces, along with a few other random, kind souled delegates, Zuko wasn't alone in his assessment.
Loudly, so that he could be heard over everyone else, Zuko scraped his chair so that it was a little closer to Aang's.
"I think that's a brilliant idea, Aang. You'll have the Fire Nation's full support, I'm sure."
Aang smiled up at him, eyes suspiciously wet.
And tired. Aang's eyes were so, so tired.
"Thanks, Zuko. It means a lot."
After what appeared to be a very hushed, very angry and threatening conversation with an elder man of the Southern Water Tribe- one in which Sokka's hand slipped to his sword hilt- Katara spoke up as well, her voice trailing off guilty towards the end.
"The Southern Water Tribe will be willing to do what we can, as well, though it probably won't be much…."
Aang smiled at her as if she had hung the moon and stars themselves.
"That's perfect, thank you so much, Katara."
With the two promising to help, it wasn't long before the other nation leaders felt as if they had to offer their services as well in fear of being outdone or seeming uncharitable.
Aang smiled again, as if everyone had decided to help through their sheer good will alone instead of their need to hold a good reputation.
"Thank you, guys. That's really great. Now… who's up first…."
Zuko resisted the urge to groan, sat up a little straighter, and felt the first little twitch in his eye as seventeen different delegates began to talk at once.
Six hours later, the sun had long since gone down, and the meeting continued.
Besides him, Aang's eyes were still open, but only just, and the boy looked exhausted- they were all exhausted- and this thing really had been going on for far, far too long and the kid couldn't keep going like this- they all couldn't- it wasn't healthy, it wasn't right and-
And Zuko made a decision.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid that it's getting rather late. We should adjourn our meeting and continue at dawn. Any objections?"
A few people opened their mouths, including the woman who had been in the middle of her proposition.
Zuko glared.
The meeting adjourned.
Aang looked up at him like a Gator Deer caught in a fireblast, blinking rapidly to clear his previously glazed eyes.
"Why'd you do that? She actually had some pretty good points, I thought…. In fact, I liked the bit-"
"I was tired. C'mon."
He could hear Mai snort behind him. He chose to ignore it.
Aang rubbed a hand over his bald head, a habit he had apparently picked up from his brief stint with hair and had yet to break. His shoulders were ever so slightly hunched in on themselves, movements a tad too slow and reaction times all out of whack, words rambling and long and disconnected.
"Well, I suppose Appa'll be happy. I did promise I'd give him a flight tonight and it'll be nice to get out-"
"You're not doing it."
Aang frowned.
"But Appa-"
"Sokka's going to do it instead."
Sokka, who had been meandering over and had opened his mouth to ask some random and probably obnoxious question, froze.
"I am?"
"He is?"
Zuko nodded, continuing his Avatar herding duties as they migrated towards the door.
"He is."
Sokka looked down at Aang as the smaller boy stared up at the pair of them, confusion and exhaustion written all over his young face, and the Water Tribe warrior nodded decisively, apparently figuring out that Operation Make Aang Sleep was ago and in action.
(And yes, there had been a meeting about it. And yes, that was the stupid name they had come up with. And yes, Zuko wasn't sure how he had gotten wrapped up in the meeting in first place or why he was the one to implement the plan after all his complaining, but there you go. That's how it happened.)
"Okay, yeah, yeah, I am- Wait, what am I doing again?"
Sighing, Zuko opened a small side door that would lead him to his personal section of the palace. It was technically a servant's passage way, but Zuko hated the carriers with a burning passion, and so more often than not he would use the small corridors within the palace walls instead, reserving the small human-carried tents for solely occasions of utmost importance and tradition.
"You're flying Appa around for an hour or two. Have fun."
And Katara said he couldn't be social. Take that, Katara. Two whole words in the social department, Have and Fun.
Sokka sighed but looked accepting enough as Zuko quietly closed the door behind him, only for his blue boot tipped foot to catch the wood at the last moment.
"Wait- Can I bring Suki?"
The firebender opened his mouth to answer, and then hesitated, unsure as to what would be the right answer. He glanced at Aang, who continued to look more confused than anything, the bags under his eyes even more prominent and hallowing in the odd lighting.
Aang shifted, lightly swaying on his feet, arms coming to clasp at his stomach and to tug at his robes before settling back down by his sides.
"I- um- Sure?"
Sokka grinned.
"Great, thanks."
And then he was gone.
"Zuko, what's going on? Where are we going? If I can't go be with Appa, I promised Toph and Katara that I would-"
"Nope."
Aang dug his heels in the ground, shifting himself out of Zuko's grasp before the firebender even realized it with one of his magical airbending moves that no one could ever quite get right, no matter how hard Zuko tried to master them; he was getting annoyed by the lack of answers, and would not move until they were received.
"Zuko."
Sighing, he took back the young airbender's shoulders and started guiding him along the tunnel once more.
"We're gonna go to my place. We're gonna go there and… hang out."
He cringed at how fake and wrong the words sounded on his own lips.
Aang blinked up at him again, and then- apparently satisfied by Zuko's less than stellar excuse; the boy must have been more tired than he thought- allowed himself to be led onwards.
When they finally got to Zuko's space, he deposited Aang on the couch and determinedly marched to the kitchen where he made them a cup of tea each, something his uncle had officially gotten him addicted to...
When he came back the Aang was sitting cross legged and staring glaze-eyed at the flickering flames in the fireplace. He looked half asleep already.
"Soooo… Is there any particular reason you wanna 'hang out'? Or is it just random, cause, you know, I did essentially just spend all day with you. And I do have stuff to do."
Zuko blinked at him. Aang blinked back. The kid's words were slurring, that's how tired he was. It was definitely worse than he thought.
Unsure as to what to say, Zuko gave Aang his tea.
"Like- seriously, Zuko, I'm uber busy. 'M the Avatar. I- I've gots lotta stuff to do. Like- whole world's depending- hmmm, this tea is good."
Zuko did a small double take at the sudden subject change.
"Is it?"
Aang took another long sip of the the drink, blinking drowsily as his shoulders slumped heavier into the cushions.
"Mmhmm. Yup. 'this is good tea. Lot's better than before. Good job."
Nodding, Zuko himself took another sip of his own tea. He wasn't sure what exactly was going through the airbender's mind, but he was pretty sure that he didn't really want to know.
Aang brought his cup to his lips and took another large gulp, only to pause as soon as he swallowed and turn to stare at the brownish liquid as it quivered in his shaking hand.
He looked up.
"Did you drug this?"
Zuko stared. It was moments like this that he thought Aang wasn't as over their previous relationship of I'm going to kidnap you and bring you to my father in return for my honour back as he had thought, and that he was still suspicious of him. However, even if that was the case, Zuko couldn't blame him. Especially considering it had probably been at least several days since the kid had last slept.
And so, instead, he simply let out a slight sigh.
"No, Aang, I didn't drug your tea."
Aang blinked heavily at him, slowly, and then turned away from him and back to his cup.
"Oh. Okay."
Someone knocked on the door and Zuko stood up, eager to leave the awkward conversation. Except… except….
"You gonna be okay?"
Aang looked up at him, tea in his hands and legs folded tight beneath him, eyes tired and shoulders slightly slumped after a day of sitting up straight, and yet somehow still managing to look utterly deadpan and completely innocent all at once.
"I'll be fine. Go see who it is. 'll just be… here. Waitin' and stuff."
"Okay…"
He opened the door that led to the small hallway and was met with Katara's own tired eyes.
"He's here, right?"
Zuko blinked, stepping to the side as she brushed past him.
"Yeah, yeah, he's just on the couch around the corner."
The waterbender smiled, her free hand gesturing slightly to the door she was leaving behind her.
"Okay- I, I thought so, 'cause Sokka had told me 'Operation Make Aang Sleep' was go, but I wasn't sure. And Aang had told me and Toph that he would help us out with-"
"I know. He mentioned it."
Zuko didn't really know, but Aang had said something about it, and Katara, whenever she got absorbed into one of her projects, became a chatter monster to compare with Aang himself, and he honestly didn't think he could deal with even the slightest bit more of politics or planning, unless it was a plan as to what he could eat for a really, really late dinner.
Tugging at the end of her braid, Katara huffed one of her hair loopies out of her face, giving him an apologetic look.
"Sorry, sorry, I just get- worried."
He smiled, one of the small ones, the ones that only his weird, amazing friends were able to draw out of him.
"It's no problem."
It was moments like these where Zuko sat back in his mind and marveled at change. The change in himself, the change in others, how wonderful it was, because here he was, having a friendly conversation with a girl who had hated his guts less than a year ago.
They turned the corner and both froze at the sight that greeted them.
Because Aang was curled up on the couch, half empty tea cup on the floor besides him, somehow managing to have fallen fast asleep within the two seconds Zuko had been gone, his breaths coming out slow and easy. He looked small, crammed up in a tiny ball of imbs and practically disappearing into the cushions, and vulnerable, and far too young to be taking down a powerful terrifying tyrant or be ending wars.
Katara had conflicting emotions on her face, as if deciding between cooing at the admittedly adorable- not that he would ever say it out loud- scene or frowning in worry.
Worrying won.
She frowned.
"Wow… he must have been really tired."
And Zuko wasn't very good at this. At this comforting thing. At, at socializing. He wasn't really sure how it worked, and most of the time he liked best sitting at the sidelines and watching as all the others scrambled about in their insanity, but there was no one else and so he tentatively placed a hand on Katara's shoulder.
"He'll be fine. He's got us; we'll take care of him."
She smiled up at him, and it was moments like this that Zuko wondered. He wondered how life could have worked out for him if something had went different, if something had gone wrong. If he hadn't spoken out, if he hadn't been scarred, if he hadn't turned away from his father, if he hadn't had his uncle.
If he hadn't had this. If he hadn't had his friends.
Katara left soon after, and Mai entered a little after that, coming to stand besides him and stare at the sleeping, far too young, Avatar.
(Most began training when they were sixteen. Aang had saved the world three years in advance.)
Mai wasn't like Katara. Mai was snarky in every sense of the word. Mai took one look at Aang and then looked up at Zuko.
"Sooo… I see that 'Operation Make Aang Sleep' was a success."
Her words were drawled out and sarcastic, just as they had been when she had first walked in on one of their 'meetings', but her eyes were light and teasing and her smile was small but real, and Zuko himself tried to keep up his mock annoyed front as he pulled her in for a hug and settled his chin on top of her head.
"Oh, shut up, you."
"You don't mean it."
"Yeah… yeah, I know."
Eventually, Mai went home to her parents and left Zuko alone to deal with Aang. Eventually, after much deliberation and conflict, Zuko ended up grabbing the tea and tossing it outside an open window. Eventually, after even more rigorous mental exercises, Zuko decided to leave Aang where he was on the couch instead of risking waking him by movement and threw the closest duvet over the boy's slight frame.
Eventually, he flicked off all the small glowing fires in the room and left it in darkness, heading off to get some well deserved rest himself.
He woke up to the sight of a collection of grinning faces staring down on him.
Slowly, to make sure he wasn't dreaming, Zuko blinked.
The faces were still there.
"What are you doing in my bedroom?"
The widest smiling face, Aang, grinned at him, grabbing his forearm and pulling him up into a sitting position. He was a mess, hair askew and clothes crumpled, and missing a shirt, but he had spent more than few long months on the road with the group in front of him, and they had all seen worse.
And Aang was still grinning. The kid was beyond energized, practically bouncing on the mattress.
Apparently, all it took was one good night of sleep to bring Aang back up to his cheerful, normal self.
"Well, as you and I had our 'hanging out' yesterday and they didn't, it was decided that they're gonna join us for breakfast! It'll be just like old times!"
Sokka intervened, his own hair still sleep mussed and messy.
"Well, except, you know, without the whole 'Firelord trying to take over the world thing' and no camping and stuff. But still, just like old times."
They all turned back to him, grinning. Toph was smirking at the doorway, arms crossed, and Mai was leaning against the bedpost.
"Zuko, you're friends are weird."
Zuko sighed.
"I know. And they're your friends, too, Mai, so you can shut up."
Everyone continued to stare at him.
He tried to resist. He honestly did, but...
"Alright, let me up, let's do this."
Aang cheered, honest to goodness cheered, and streamlined out of the room, the rest of the group following soon after, chatting and laughing and content in their knowledge that he would follow soon behind.
It was moments like this that made Zuko smile. That made him feel happy. That made him feel as if everything was going to turn out alright, even though everything had been so, so wrong.
And half an hour later, they were all sitting around the table after Sokka's truly disastrous attempt at cooking something he had seen a street vendor make the other day, eating from the dishes brought in from the palace kitchens. Katara and Suki were talking about.. something, and Toph was explaining her idea of creating a metal bending school to a listless Sokka and an enthusiastic Aang, and Mai was sitting besides him, and there were meetings to attend and places to be and thing to do and-
And it was moments like this that made being young and alive and free so incredibly worth it, and Zuko could care less about politics. The delegates could wait for this. They've been through hell and back fro the sake of the world, for the sake of everyone else, and they continued to do so, and really it was only fair for it to give them this in return. It was only fair for it to give them these precious moments and leave them uninterrupted and precious and safe.
Toph had realized that Sokka wasn't paying attention. Toph had realized, and she was sliding her heel across the ground, and the Water Tribe boy's chair was sliding with it, sending his face into his porridge.
For a moment there was silence as the sticky mush dripped down his face.
(And it was moments like this when Zuko remembered silences that were not so enjoyable. That hurt and stung and hanged over him like a heavy blanket.)
And then Aang laughed, high and happy and as free as the air he was born from.
At least, he was until Sokka grabbed two massive bushels of grapes and split them in between Toph and Aang's head, smashing them soundly so the squelchy juice would burst and get everywhere.
Toph gave an indignant cry and Aang cackled again, swiping juice from his eyes even as the earthbender stomped her foot, sending a platter of what appeared to be scrambled eggs flying directly onto Katara's tunic.
And of course their nice, simple meal would develop into a food fight. Of course it would. Because they weren't on the road, there was no need to ration or to be discreet, those moments had passed. Because his friends, all of them, were essentially two year olds at heart. Because Toph was smashing watermelon juices down Sokka's back and Suki was shrieking as she dodged Katara's bowl of melon and-
And it was a mess, of course it was, it was a massive mess that would have the cleaners screaming at him the minute they entered the room and now Aang was making mini tornadoes of food and pie to send across the table, claiming that he was the master of food fights and then squealing out in laughter as Suki viciously dumped a platter of some sort of squelchy salad on him.
And Katara was turning on him, a tray of tiny little tarts in hand, and Zuko should say No. He should duck for cover. He should up and leave the room, as Mai had. He should remind everyone of their duties, of the meeting they were supposed to be attending.
But he wasn't. Instead, he was grabbing at a custardy dessert breakfast food and sending it flying.
The meetings could wait. These moments were far more important.
And Katara was yelling for revenge for her hair and Toph was screaming out battle cries and cackling as she sent the platters made of clay flying everywhere, and Sokka was squawking indignantly as Suki nailed him with some of her own mush and Zuko had tart jam smeared on his cheek and Aang was still laughing and laughing and laughing, looking happy and free and thirteen, right where he should have been the whole time, and they were all looking like that, they all looked so happy and it made his heart swell up with something undeniably good and warm as his own soft laughter rung in his ears.
Where would he be, without moments like this?
...
Boom! All done!
I hope you enjoyed reading Moments Like This, thank you for taking the time to do so! All reviews/help/favorites/follows are greatly appreciated and will be treasured forever. Thank you, my peeps!
Until next time,
Mashpotatoe Queen