Rift
Waking, he had no reason to discern why. All he knew was he was alone, face throbbing as it was wont to do these days and a fleck of moon beam brightening the spot before him. He startled. A pair of uneven gold stared down at him. It was on the tip of his tongue to yell, but he knew better at this point. Instead, he gazed up into the face; expecting to meet his death in silence. But, he found that it was familiar-leaner, yet marred still. He saw it for what it was. An echo to his own.
"Am I happy?" He asked.
There was a pause. "Our story is not a fairy-tale," the echo answered rather.
Calmly composing himself, he gave the other a painful, wan smile. "It never has been." More urgent, he reached out grasping for the other. "Is life worth living?" He demanded.
"Yes," they reply after a moment of thought. Rough, adult hands extracting his supple fingers from his sleeve. "It is not a dream, but it is pleasant enough."
Relaxing, he shimmied back beneath his blankets. "Mother? Is she dead?" He inquired now that his previous question had been fulfilled.
"She is not," the echo sighed. "She lives with us in the palace once more."
His gold eyes drifting close, he murmured; "So...so I do get to go home..." He felt a hand brush down his unblemished cheek.
"You do," they replied as they began to blur in that haze between wake and sleep. "It will be a strenuous and sometimes terrifying journey, but you will regain all that you have lost."
"Not my face, though," he argued. "No one can fix that."
A low chuckle left his echo. "No little prince," he concurred. "But in time you will not hate it."
Releasing his final breath of wakefulness, he whispered; "Thank you..."
"Sleep."
And Zuko does.
(For years and years and years he'll believe it to have been nothing but a dream, but then he'll step through his bedroom door in the late of night into the room of his youth aboard that dreaded ship and he will know).
Just a short little scene, depicting a time travelling Zuko meeting with his younger self. I have no plans to continue, but even so, you can let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading, please review :)