Day 1: Amongst the Fire Lilies
Rated K
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender
It was after his mother left that she appeared in his dreams. A young woman, he had guessed looked about fourteen years of age. Beauty he never laid eyes on not even among the loveliest of women the Fire Nation had to offer. No. No one compared. Her cerulean eyes were what drew him in. They brought him comfort, told him he was safe. Whenever the cruelness of his father or whenever his sister demoralizing him began to weight down on his being, he could always escape to that place.
He would close his eyes and say her name and in a spilt second his dark world began to change into that of a place filled with an endless field of fire lilies going out far beyond what the eye could see and a pair of cerulean eyes.
As years went by he noticed her appearance never changed. But he never questioned it, she was the image of his sanctuary and he didn't want her to change. From the time he was ten years old through the three years he was banished, she would allow him to lay his head on her lap, telling him stories of wherever part of the world she came from or she would listen to his troubles as she combed his hair with her fingers.
Zuko could stay here forever. Reality was just too cruel. He never showed weakness in the real world but for her, his walls would crumble, and his heart would be consumed by a flame he couldn't quite figure out yet.
The days went by and still no sign of the Avatar. Waiting for night to fall proved to be too long and he would force himself to sleep. Even going as far as using medicinal powders and substances to force his body to shut down.
Then he noticed a change in her behavior. She became distant and silent. Her words of encouragement and inviting smile contorted into a face of sheer disappointment.
Not her. Not the only thing in this Agni forsaken world that gave a shit about him besides his uncle. His anger overtook his logic and he claimed a hatred for her in his heart. Her brilliant blue eyes widened. Approaching him for the first time in a matter of weeks, she gripped his hand and the hurt in his heart subsided. Never breaking contact with his eyes, she stood on her toes and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
Dumbfounded, yet relieved, he returned the kiss. Zuko always imagined it would be gentle, instead, a spark struck between them. A shock ran through him from the touch of her lips down to the core of his very soul. Then their world, the world in which they shared together for the past six years, shattered like glass and he hadn't seen her since.
The Fire Nation ship had arrived in the South Pole. The air stung his exposed skin and he called the fire within himself to relieve the intensity of the chills running through his body. It had been a week since he last seen her. Looking toward the icy tundra ahead of him, he recalled a place like this being part of one of the many stories she told him in his dreams.
He opened his chapped lips, warmth escaping his mouth, and closing his eyes he whispered her name as the wind carried it away like a sweet prayer.