Okay, this is my first Zukaang fanfiic; I hope I did a good job at it! I was inspired by this song; ( youtube /watch?v=vTThyYf8zlg) It has been on repeat while writing this one-shot and I think it fits perfectly.
Thanks to the amazing FullMetalPrincess for beta'ing!
Please let me know what you think? Since it's my first Zukaang, I would really like to know if I did a good job on it or not! I hope I did, of course. Okay, enough blabbering;
Enjoy! c:
It was a warm night; Aang's head was full and wouldn't let him sleep. He'd been lying awake for hours already, doors to the balcony wide open, allowing the cool night air inside. A heavy sigh slipped through the airbender's lips as he threw his feet from the bed, on the floor. He sat up and rested his face in the palms of his hands, elbows resting on his knees, desperate for some sleep. Then he stood up from the big bed and walked towards the balcony, his torso bare, the only thing he was wearing right now was a pair of short pants he always wore for bed.
The chilly night air welcomed Aang outside, it felt pleasant on his warm body. He looked over the city that was completely dark and deserted, everyone was probably fast asleep, everyone except Aang. Another sigh left his mouth as he rested his lower arms on the railing of the balcony, hands turned to fists. He was angry with himself, but not entirely, more angry with his body and mind. 'Why can't I just fall asleep? I could use the rest, I'd do anything for some sleep right now…' his thoughts absorbed his awareness of his surroundings. He didn't hear, see or really notice anything outside of his body, completely drowned in his mind that was filled with an endless train of thought.
"Can't sleep…?" A voice that came from behind Aang startled him and Aang spun around to see who it was. When he saw, his body relaxed and he even managed to smile. Aang shook his head and the smile disappeared from his face again.
"No…" he answered as he closed his eyes with another sigh, he really didn't understand why he wasn't able to fall asleep and it frustrated him. "But, what about you? I didn't wake you, did I?" Aang asked, afraid that he had. Guilt started to creep into the pit of his stomach, to be awake and not able to sleep was one thing, but to wake someone else and keep from sleeping… He didn't want to bother anyone. It wasn't their fault that he couldn't fall asleep.
"No, you didn't wake me up. Don't worry, I was awake already." Aang looked up, the question apparently visible in his eyes. "I couldn't really fall asleep either, after this odd dream I had…"
"Oh…" Aang whispered softly, barely audible. Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around Aang's torso, hands resting on his lower back. The airbender's body stiffened in surprise, but quickly relaxed and leaned into the embrace, grateful for the arms around him that made him feel less lonely. "Thank you," he whispered and returned the embrace by wrapping his arms around the body that was now pressed to his.
"There's no need to thank me, Aang. Anytime." Aang looked up and smiled, gratefulness written all over his face. It felt nice, not being alone. This wasn't the first time he wasn't able to sleep, it always made him feel very lonely as the whole city except him was asleep. But now he wasn't alone, this time there was someone else awake with him in the middle of the night.
"Do you want to tell me what you dream was about?" Aang asked curiously, not really expecting an answer.
"It was about… About you…" That kind of surprised the airbender; he didn't expect that as an answer. But he smiled, feeling a little flattered. But then he realized that he didn't even know if it had been a nice dream or not.
"About me?"
"Hmhm, yeah. I dreamed about you, you were wandering through the city's pitch dark streets in the middle of the night, all by yourself. I called out for you, but you didn't hear me, or maybe pretended not to hear me. So I went after you, trying to catch up, but no matter how long and how far I ran, I never got to reach you… It was as if the streets stretched out, making it impossible for me to reach you…" Aang listened with eyes wide in amazement; the dream hadn't been too far from reality.
"But I'm right here, you did reach me," Aang said in a soft voice and rested his head against the warm shoulder in front of him. "You did reach me, Zuko," Aang whispered again and rested his forehead against the firebender's neck, under his jaw.
"Yeah, I did. I did reach you, Aang. And I'm here now," Zuko answered soothingly with a smile, caressing the Aang's back and shoulders with his right hand. The airbender's skin was cooling off in the cool breeze of the night, Zuko was glad about that; the airbender had been glowing from heat when he first laid his arms around him. He'd been worried about his friend, as he'd been noticing Aang's lack of sleep lately. Zuko had been having trouble sleeping a little while already, so he most of the times been awake when the airbender had been, too. The firebender was already as good as used to the lack of sleep, but he felt bad for his friend now having sleepless nights more often as well. A sigh slipped through his lips and Aang leaned away to look up to him, wondering what had caused Zuko to sigh all of a sudden.
"What's wrong?" Aang asked while looking into golden eyes, trying to find the answer. Before Zuko answered his question, Aang kinda already knew.
"I'm just… How long has it been going on, Aang?" Aang's eyes widened in panic, but before he could put it into words, Zuko went on. "How long have you been lacking sleep already?" Aang's eyes showed relief as he breathed in to answer his friend.
"A month, I think?" he said as he looked down to his bare feet on the stone ground of the balcony. Zuko sighed and placed his thumb and index finger on the airbender's chin, forcing Aang to look at him again.
"I'm worried about you, Aang… I knew that you had sleepless nights more often lately, it gnaws at me, because I see how it's affecting you."
"You don't have to worry about me! I'm fine!"
"Yes, I do Aang. And we both know that's not true." Aang looked into Zuko's eyes again now, his grey eyes started to get watery and Zuko squeezed his arms a little tighter around the younger boy's body. "Please tell me what's going on, Aang. Please tell me what's keeping you up at night," Zuko whispered, having a hard time to swallow back the tears now himself. But right now Aang needed him; he had to be strong now, for Aang. The airbender's mind was racing, somewhere deep down he knew Zuko was right and that there was something bothering him; but he had been pushing it away all this time. He didn't want to bother others with it, especially not Zuko, who was such a dear and good friend to him. But Zuko's eyes almost begged him to tell what it was, he couldn't refuse those eyes filled with worry and care.
Aang dropped his arms, leaving them to his sides, making Zuko raise his eyebrows in confusion. Aang's shoulders dropped, hands balled into fists and biting his lower lip to hold back the tears that were about to spill. Suddenly he raised his left arm, punching a gush of air over the railing of the balcony. It felt good to let it out. Zuko looked at the airbender, worry growing stronger within him; he hated to see Aang like this.
"Aang…" Zuko tried, but Aang shrugged, making Zuko drop his arms to his sides as well.
"I'm sorry," Aang whispered, frustration clearly sounding in his voice.
"Don't be, Aang. There's nothing to be sorry fo—"
"I'm worrying you, that's everything to be sorry for!"
"Aang—" Zuko tried again, reaching out to the airbender, meaning to lay his hand on Aang's shoulder. But he stepped away, tears now rolling down his cheeks, causing Zuko to feel as if he got punched in the stomach. It hurt. He couldn't bear to see Aang like this…
"Aang…!" Before Aang could step away further as he intended to, Zuko got hold of him and pressed his lips on the airbender's. Aang's eyes widened and his whole body froze in surprise, absolutely not expecting this to happen. Zuko's hands rested on Aang's shoulders lightly, his heart pounding so fast and hard in his chest that it almost hurt. When he leaned away and opened his eyes, he looked right into the grey ones of the airbender. He started to breathe faster when he noticed that Aang's eyes were wide with shock, fear and panic creeping up. 'Oh in the name of Agni, what have I done…?!' Zuko thought, angry with himself for what he just did. His vision blurred and his head started to spin inside when Aang suddenly pressed his lips back on Zuko's. This time is was Zuko whose eyes widened in surprise, but then his body took over control; his body relaxed, his eyes closed and his attention was fully focused on Aang's lips pressed to his. 'Am I dreaming again?'
Aang pulled away and laid the palm of his hand on the side of Zuko's face, partly covering the scar there. A smile appeared on the airbender's face, tears still in the corners of his eyes. Zuko looked back into Aang's eyes and couldn't help but smiling as well, moving his hands to Aang's face and neck. They stood there on the balcony in the middle of the night, under a dark sky filled with stars, just looking at each other; smiling. Zuko gasped softly as he saw new tears rolling down Aang's face.
"What's wrong? Did I do anythi—"
"You didn't do anything wrong, Zuko. I'm just…relieved. I didn't even exactly know myself what it was, I always pushed it so far away… Now I know…" Aang interrupted the firebender and leaned over; shifting his weight to the balls of his feet, since Zuko was a little taller than him, then pressed a kiss just beneath Zuko's eye where the scar marked his face. Zuko was touched by the gesture and felt a single tear escaping the eye marked by his scar, but with a big smile plastered on his face. When Aang leaned back again, Zuko carefully laid his hands on the sides of Aang's head, softly moving it toward him; he pressed his lips on the light blue arrow that was tattooed on Aang's head.
"Thank you, Aang," Zuko whispered and felt how Aang shook his head.
"No. Thank you, Zuko." Aang whispered back and laid his arms on Zuko's shoulders and around his neck, causing Zuko to let out a muffled chuckle. Zuko wrapped his arms around Aang's torso again, hands resting on Aang's back.
"Let's get you inside, before you catch a cold…"
"Won't you keep me warm than?" Zuko chuckled warmheartedly and put his arms around the airbender a little tighter in response.
"Of course I will, if you want to, I will." Zuko would hold him the entire night if he wanted to, he'd even use his fire bending if necessary, to keep Aang warm.
"Could you please sleep with me tonight?" Aang asked, cheeks turning crimson when he noticed his mistake. "I mean, just sleep. Please stay with me tonight, Zuko…?" he corrected himself and tried to hide his face is his shoulder, embarrassed. Zuko let out another chuckle, smiled and made Aang look at him again.
"I would love to, Aang. I will stay with you tonight, until you fall asleep and even after that I won't leave your side," Zuko answered softly, pressing another kiss on the air bender's lips. They both enjoyed the kiss, which was soft; tender and caring.
Zuko held up the thin sheets on Aang's bed, allowing Aang to crawl under them. Once the airbender was lying down, Zuko followed. Aang suppressed a yawn as his eyelids started to feel heavy, it seemed like he wouldn't have any trouble with getting to sleep right now. But now it finally came, he didn't want to.
"Sleep, Aang. Don't force yourself to stay awake, just let it come over you—"
"But I don't want to, not now you're here…" Zuko sighed with a smile, feeling flattered.
"Go sleep, silly. I'll still be here when you wake up, okay? I promise…" Zuko whispered and pressed a kiss on Aang's forehead, on the tip of his arrow tattoo.
"Promise?" Aang yawned, barely understandable. Zuko laughed softly and nodded.
"I promise," Zuko promised Aang and wrapped his arms around Aang's body, who curled up against Zuko's torso and finally letting his eyelids drop.
"Goodnight, Zuzu." Aang mumbled, taking Zuko by surprise at the name.
"Good night, Aang." Zuko whispered and watched the slightly younger boy fall asleep and following him not much after that. He was convinced that they both would sleep without difficulties tonight, or any night after this one, if it was up to the firebender.