Working Title:Handled.
Summary:
Dystopian AU, set 2 years after Sozin's comet.
Disclaimer:Based on Atla Characters.
Warnings: 18+. Brainwashing. Character death. Despair. Violence. Alcohol use.
Credits: Special thanks to Gilva Lepista for beta-ing.
0000~0000
"Bury your dreams, shackle your will, and bow to your oppressors. Then wait, quietly, until the dams of your hearts break and drown your enemies in a thousand floods the torrents of your unleashed rage."
They were alone at last, and when the water bender turned to address him, she promised fruits forbidden; she offered Vengeance.
"But... this city did save my life," he objected, unsure.
"And which would be more important: your life or your freedom?" her hand landed on his, invading his personal space.
He scowled down at that hand, and then redirected his gaze towards the young woman's face, stating flatly:"They both seem unequal to the trouble taken."
She chuckled, a seductively light sound. "That is because you've had so little of the first, and none of the second. Now, tell me," she whispered as she leaned in; too close, like a seashell to his ear, a breath with the voice of the ocean. "What do you feel like doing?"
It was a fair question, yet it had a warning undercurrent. Water quenched fire; she could easily douse his flame.
Still, he had lived, suffocated under this earth-city too long to fear that. He'd happily choose a quick steam-explosion over this slow, crushing oppression. At long length, he admitted: "Like burning something."
Another chuckle, soft even this close to his ear, but reverberating through her frame as she pushed up against him. "Good. See? Now, who would you think deserves to be burned?"
It was not vengeance she offered, but Justice.
Zuko closed his arms around her, trying to capture and hold close her promise. "I'd like to go out," he breathed into her hair. "I'd like to go out there and burn my sister and her armies to the ground. Then I'd like to come back here. Raze this bloody prison of a city to the ground."
She laughed: a throaty, sexy sound. "And then?"
"Then, I'd go home."
"And then?"
Zuko grinned, spinning the girl so he could hook an arm with her. "Where are my manners? Katara. Would you like to honor me by drowning my father?"
The water bender patted his arm, eyes twinkling with mischief. "Oh, Little Flame. I thought we were talking about your needs here? What would make you happy?"
"No, no!" the prince of the Fire Nation decided, "watching you drown my father is exactly what I need."
"Aw, Zuko. You say the sweetest things."
He took a slow breath, relishing in the honey-coated words from her forked tongue. The creature he'd become didn't know if this sweet snake was honest, but truth and lies had blended for both of them in such a way that it hardly mattered.
"Do you think we can do it?"
"Of course." Katara smiled, gesturing back at the sky where Appa hovered, lowing softly. The two figures on its back looked stoically towards the horizon. "We are the Avatar, after all."
Context:
This is a spin-off based loosely on 'Little Green Lies', which I have returned to its one-shot status. Intrigued? Review for the wuf!
"Handled" by theAsh0, edits by Gilva Lepista; April 23, 2013; chapter 1 (prologue), page 2/2