A/N: A prompt list for Zuko/OC. Slight hint of Lu Ten/OC and Maiko.
i - Firsts
They bond over yam soup after she saves his life.
ii - Mutuals
They're not really friends; Lu Ten is the string.
iii - Ballroom
She fights with the grace of a water lily, Lu Ten with none; they are dancers on a battlefield.
iv - Seconds
Lu Ten gets busier, and Zuko is a second choice but she never makes him feel that way.
v - Secrets
She says she has a pet komodo rhino not even Lu Ten knows about; he doesn't believe her.
vi - Favourites
The komodo rhino's name is Ping for apple - her favourite fruit - and he adores her more than Zuko does.
vii - Problems
He wonders if Mai hates him - she can't ever really look at him - then wonders if he's just ugly.
viii - Spirits
She falls ill on the Winter Solstice; Lu Ten spends every day by her side.
xi - Naïve
Zuko asks Lu Ten if he wants to marry her, then says he can't - they'll never accept her for who she is.
x - Understood
She's eager and quiet and afraid of something that may not come, and Zuko understands better than anyone because it is the same way he feels about his father.
xii - Satisfied
He likes her a lot but even he knows Dad won't let him marry her if Lu Ten claims her first so he talks to Mai and falls for her instead (or so he thinks).
xiii - Surprise
Turns out, Mai doesn't hate him.
xiv - War
They're off to fight at the front lines - they'll be the first to break through the walls of Ba Sing Se.
xv - Loss
Only one of them comes back.
xvi - Consequences
The string snaps and they are strangers again.
xvii - Broken
She takes off with Uncle and doesn't really come back ever again.
xviii - Grievance
After the Agni Kai, it is her face he sees first and it is her warmth he nearly craves.
xix - Remembrance
He misses her laugh more and more until it aches as much as the loss of Lu Ten.
xx - Alone
She dances like a widow to the Tsungi horn.
xxi - Support
He learns the meaning of her ring but it is she who holds him until he falls asleep.
xxii - Desolation
He promises a day where she'll be happy; she tells him that a day like that will never come again.
xxiii - Solitude
She leaves without saying goodbye; Uncle tells him she'll be fine but somehow he doubts it.
xxiv - Ancestors
Her father is a governor, but her mother is another story.
xxv - Righteous
The next time he sees her is by his side with the waterbender and her brother.
xxvi - Defiance
He asks her to come back and she has the nerve to say no as if their past meant nothing.
xxvii - Echoes
She does not follow the Avatar and Zuko does not give up on his mission for honor but sometimes, he wishes he could hear her voice.
xxviii - Sated
They find each other again and the warmth he craves is in his arms at night and though it is gone by morning, he takes when he thinks he deserves.
xxix - Happiness
He thinks maybe he could be happy, in the tiny tea shop where her smiles are frequent and her eyes are bright; his mind says otherwise and his heart is unsettled.
xxx - Destiny
At the crossroads of their destinies, she chose her path and he chooses his.
A/N: Prelude/stand-alone to a work I'm going to post as soon as I finish writing it.