Disclaimer: Don't own. Obviously.
Candle Light
"And that would be my game," Ursa laughs, smiling across the Pai-Sho board at her brother-in-law.
Iroh grins back at her, rubbing a hand across the rough graying beard on his face.
"It does appear that you have beaten me, Lady Ursa," he says, leaning back in his chair before the fireplace. The two are seated across from one another in one of the sitting rooms designated for the royal family, and have been engaged in their game of Pai-Sho for at least an hour now, completely absorbed; they haven't noticed that the littlest prince and princess have wandered in and settled themselves on the sofa to watch. Zuko's voice surprises them when he asks:
"Mother, are you done now?"
He is tired, and it is clear in his voice, as is his irritation.
"Azula fell asleep on me, and won't move. Can you get her off me?"
Ursa turns to take in the sight of her children sprawled on the sofa. Zuko, age six, has a book wedged between him and his sister, where she's slumped into his lap. It is one with pictures, and easier words than he requires, so she assumes that he was reading to Azula.
This is a rare sight nowadays, she muses, with the two constantly getting into worse and worse arguments. Someday, she fears, they might say something irrevocable, or hurt one another. But that day isn't now, and she bats the thought away and stands to go and help her son. Then, stooping, she scoops up Azula and takes Zuko's hand, leading him off of the couch.
"Goodnight, Prince Iroh," she murmurs, looking back over her shoulder at the man who is still seated by the fire.
"Goodnight, Uncle Iroh," Zuko echoes, and Iroh wishes them both a goodnight as they leave the room.
Zuko trails after his mother into Azula's room, and watches as she tucks her in. She kisses the princess on the forehead, and stands, turning to her son.
"Do you want to say goodnight to your sister?"
Zuko shakes his head, before hesitating and darting forward to peck Azula on the cheek. He makes a face at his mother's smile, but takes her hand again as she leads him across the hall.
"Come now, into your pajamas, and into bed with you," she says, handing him his nightclothes. Zuko yawns and shrugs his robes off, tugging the nightshirt over his head. He pauses, and Ursa picks him up and settles down onto the bed with him on her lap.
"Did you have a good day, Zuko?" she asks, carding a hand through his hair.
"Mmmhmm," he murmurs, smothering a yawn with one hand, "Lu-Ten played with us, and I only had lessons for a little while. An' Azula wasn't that annoying today."
Ursa chuckles.
"Well, that's something, isn't it?"
Zuko nods, and his head takes a while to come back up again.
"Sleepy?"
"Nuh-uh," he protests, before his eyes droop and he admits defeat.
"Uh-huh."
"Alright then," Ursa says, easing him off of her lap and tucking him under the covers, "I'll see you in the morning."
She pulls away, and with a whispered "sweet dreams," she shuts the door. Zuko's eyes close to the night and he falls asleep.
When he wakes up, it isn't morning. His room is deathly silent, except for the pounding of his heart like war drums, and is cast in shades of black and grays from the moon. Zuko breaths as quietly as he can, sure that any second the beast from his dream will spring out from behind his bed curtains and snatch him up. He knows, just knows, that it's going to grab him and eat off his fingers one by one unless he stays quiet enough that it won't know he's here. So, frozen, he waits, eyes wide in the dark, as eternities pass by until his heartbeat slows. His breath comes easier, but just barely.
Then there's a creak in the hall, and his stomach jumps up into his throat again.
"Mother," he whispers, managing to work his throat. But his mother is halls away, and wouldn't hear him if he yelled. So he gulps, purses his lips, and leaps from the bed, throwing the covers off in one quick motion.
The floor is frigid, and he practically jumps across the room to the door, eyes wide and darting around for any sign of movement. When he reaches it, he hesitates, and then yanks it open.
There is a guard at the end of the hall with a flame cupped in his hand, and he looks up as Zuko opens his door. No longer quite alone, even if the man is a stranger, the prince runs toward him and the guard meets him half way.
"Is everything alright, Prince Zuko?" the man asks attentively, leaning down to meet his eyes.
Zuko fidgets, looks at the floor, and whispers, "Can you get my mother? Please?"
The guard blinks and nods slowly before turning to make his way through the halls to his mother and father's room almost nervously. Zuko dashes back to his bed and dives under the covers, where he waits, tense as a cobra-gator poised to strike. Jumping at the slightest groaning of the palace, he jerks upright at the sound of footsteps.
When his mother enters the room she pauses, her eyes roving over him for a moment, before she seems to droop and she makes her way to his bed. Zuko shuffles back under the covers and rolls onto his stomach, hiding his face in the pillow.
"Zuko," his mother's voice is soft, "are you alright? What's wrong?"
Taking her hand as she sits on the bed, he murmurs, "I had a nightmare."
He doesn't see her expression as she sighs, "Oh, honey, it's alright, it was just a dream…."
He accepts her hand running over his back and buries his face into the pillow.
"Do you want to tell me about it?" Ursa asks after a while, and Zuko shakes his head.
"It was—it was just a monster."
Ursa hums.
"There are no such things as monsters, you know," she says.
Zuko nods.
"I know."
"There's nothing to be scared of, here. You're home, you're safe, there are plenty of guards, and your father and I are right down the hall."
"I know."
They remain like that, Zuko snuggled under the covers, and Ursa rubbing a hand over his back, until she thinks he's asleep.
Slowly she pulls away and eases off of the bed, but Zuko catches her hand before she can stand.
"Don't go?"
"Zuko," she sighs, "you don't need me here, and your father's waiting for me."
"Please?"
She strokes his hair, before drawing back. Once standing, she pauses, before moving to his dresser and withdrawing meditation candle.
Settling back down on the edge of his bed, she lights the candle with a touch and lifts it for Zuko to see.
"Zuko, look. This is my flame; it will light the dark and chase away any monster at all. I'll give this to you tonight, alright?"
The candle casts the room in a warm, flickering orange, and he watches her smile at him. He smiles back.
"Yes, Mother."
Ursa leans down to kiss him on the cheek, and replaces the candle on his dresser as she leaves.
"Goodnight, Zuko."
"Goodnight."
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.
She lights a candle for him every night from then on, until the last.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.
Zuko only realizes how much he treasures the candles as he watches the light dwindle away. He wants to transfer the flame to another wick before it goes out, but it would be wrong somehow; it wouldn't be the same.
So, knees pulled his chest, Zuko sits on the bed watching as the flame finally sputters out. It won't protect him from the monsters anymore.
AN: The end...
Um, please let me know what you think? I had this idea last night, and wrote it all in one sitting. I've re-read it many times, so I think I've caught any mistakes, but if you see something, please let me know~!
I thought the idea was cute;too cute to resist. Thus, this story. :D
...Alrighty! And now, I leave you with just a tidbit more...
Omake:
As the guard nervously transverses the hallways to Prince Ozai and Lady Ursa's bedroom, he wonders why he ever took this job.
...After all, he has to wake them up.
Arriving at the door, he hesitates, before knocking. After a moment, he hears the creak of bed springs, and then the sound of footsteps.
Please let it be Lady Ursa.
It isn't.