Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor am I making money from this ficlet.
"Summary" (or enticing take-away sentence): A blend of wood smoke and jasmine tea leaves, that's the way Zuko smelled to the Avatar.
Warning(s): Heavy shounen ai. A little profanity. Mention of nudity (nothing really all that graphic).
Rating: Very Light M
Theme(s) used: 30-hugs (LiveJournal), Zuko/Aang, #29 silhouette; My own prompts: Firestorm; hard to love
Author's Notes: This is another of Saku's drabble wars winnings. She wanted Zuko/Aang. I'd say this time that she actually got the pairing she wanted, and I just had to tease her with this, too. Hm. There was actually rebels mentioned somewhere in the ATLA/LOK universe, but I can't remember where or what the exact details were. This one-shot is less about the insurgents and more about Zuko and Aang. I'm not gonna say this thing is the greatest, but I did try this time. Harder than usual. And NO I'm not continuing this, unless Saku specifically asks and has a vague idea of where she might want me to go with it.
WC: Approx. 1,570
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Of Captures and the Embrace of Wind and Flame
By Yo's Subordinate
Completed on 5/28/13, Posted to ffdotnet 8/15/13
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Their backs pressed together as they were surrounded by enemies. They were sweating and panting. Zuko's swords were drawn and raised. Aang's staff that doubled as a glider was held out defensively in front of him. They were taut, waiting for their enemies to strike. These crazy Fire Nation rebels had kidnapped Zuko, and Aang had tried to come to his rescue. But they'd been caught.
"I don't want to kill them," Aang hissed to his companion.
"Well, we need to capture one for interrogation if possible," Zuko replied, annoyed at Aang that they were giving away their "plans" to the enemy.
"This is kind of a déjà vu moment, you know," Aang said.
Zuko elected not to respond, but he knew that the Avatar was referring to the events of a little more than three years ago when he'd still been so obsessed with capturing the Avatar and not in a good way. It was the event where he'd rescued the Avatar from Zhao's men as the infamous Blue Spirit.
Zuko was eighteen now—Aang, fifteen—and had been crowned Fire Lord for nearly three years; he and Mai had gone their separate ways about this time as well. The insurgents—the idiots they were having a standoff with at present—had been active for about that long too. They were loyal to Ozai and loathed that a banished prince had the throne…that the former Fire Lord and princess were locked up tight and would never to see the light of day again.
They'd finally managed to capture Zuko from the palace. In his sleep. It was infuriating. Though, he was honestly surprised they hadn't immediately killed him…
"Well, you rescued me that time, so I guess this really isn't déjà vu."
"Shut up, Aang!" Zuko finally thundered and struck with his swords, leaving Aang no choice but to weave and dance with Zuko if they wanted to remain back-to-back and not break their formation.
They ended up making the first move, rather than the enemy. For moments there was only the sound of steel clanging, the roar of flames and wind, until suddenly everything just stopped and there was the cracking sound of ice freezing the men around Zuko and Aang.
Katara had arrived.
"Aang! Zuko! You're okay," Katara exclaimed, sweeping down over the iced men and landing right next to the pair on the floor.
Zuko had barely even had the chance to sheathe his swords before she swarmed the Avatar. Zuko hmphed while Aang gave the waterbender an enthusiastic kiss in reply, his glider clattering to the floor so that he could also wrap his arms around Katara. The Fire Lord gave them both a nasty glare before jumping up and out of the ice "hole" the three of them had been almost squished in.
I do not want to see that, Zuko thought and began walking toward the exit of the building he'd been trapped in for the last couple of days.
He tried desperately to ignore the pain slicing through his heart because of the pair at his back. He was weary, hungry, and sore from the fighting and being bound tight in ropes…he was emotionally raw too…
And he still had to deal with interrogating the idiot insurgents, among other things, back at the palace…or maybe he could throw it all on someone else…
No, he would take care of what he must.
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It was very late when he slipped into his bed, but he still couldn't sleep. Zuko laid awake, staring at the dark ceiling that would be splashed crimson in the daylight. One of his hands was curled under his raven head of hair while the other was resting on his stomach. The crimson sheets slid down and nestled around his waist.
It was cool tonight, for a summer night anyway. He was left colder than he should've been as a gentle breeze wafted in through his open window. The vast size of his bed wasn't helping his sleeplessness either. Empty and cold, that's how he felt, and those feelings wouldn't let him sleep.
He was rescued only hours ago—The idiot insurgents had nothing of use for him! The interrogation was fruitless, so he'd just had them imprisoned by the Royal Guard in the end—and he'd been so exhausted from that ordeal. But yet…now that he had the chance to sleep, he couldn't.
"Aang…" Zuko whispered, not even consciously aware he'd let the boy's name slip passed his lips.
"What?"
Zuko jerked up in his bed and hunted frantically for the source of the voice in the dark. His golden eyes found Aang's silhouetted shape in the window seat. He was staring up at the moon, full and glowing white-silver in the sky.
"Why the hell are you in my room, Avatar?" Zuko growled, clenching the sheets close to his chest, his cheeks reddening as he instantly became very aware of how naked he was.
"It's Aang, Fire Lord. I thought I broke you of that habit," Aang retorted, turning with his dark eyes sparking, toward Zuko on the bed. "I was worried about you, but you disappeared right after Katara saved us. And then your stupid guards wouldn't let me see you, so I snuck in. You haven't been paying attention for a long time. No wonder those morons captured you."
"Get. Out. Aang." Zuko grit each word out at the teen, pissed that the Avatar would insult him—It took all he had not to snap at Aang or whack him upside his bald head.
"What's with you? I came to rescue you earlier, and I didn't even get a thanks."
As Aang moved closer to the Fire Lord's bed, Zuko shoved himself back against the headboard.
"Thanks. Now get out before I have you thrown out," Zuko threatened.
Aang didn't even bat an eyelash at his threat. Now, the teen was crawling on top of the sheets, almost slithering, toward Zuko, until finally the teen was inches away from Zuko's mouth. Zuko hadn't dared to breathe the entire time, not even as the Avatar claimed his mouth in a firestorm of desire.
Zuko could only blink. He was so numb with shock he couldn't even respond. Frozen. He was frozen beneath the Avatar's ministrations. Frozen like ice, that thought made him remember Katara; just as the teen was about to slip a tongue into his mouth, Zuko wrenched hard away from Aang and shoved the teen with all his might.
"How dare you! This whole damn world isn't yours to play with. You have the water tribe wench. You don't need me, too! Get the hell out of my room if you want to have any hope of retaining our friendship," Zuko exploded.
He hadn't even realized he was standing beside his bed naked in the dark in front of the Avatar, the sheets pooled at his feet—he had somehow managed to move himself away from being on the bed.
Aang sat at the edge of his bed, wide eyed. Frozen.
"Get out! I'm not going to repeat myself," Zuko said, suddenly aware of his nudity again, his skin flushing deep at the realization.
"Zuko, I told her goodbye. I ended things with her today. Yes, I kissed her. But it was the last one. She…hates me now. Please…please don't hate me, too," Aang pleaded, edging off the bed and inching closer to the Fire Lord.
Stumbling away from the sheets trying to entwine around his feet, Zuko moved back a step for every one the Avatar took forward, until finally the Avatar had him caged against the wall. The teen's hands ended up lightly resting on Zuko's shoulders. Aang's body, still clothed, was mere inches from being molded against Zuko's. The thought caused Zuko's breath to hitch and his heart to pound an uneven, sharp staccato rhythm against his ribs.
"I'm…I'm not your rebound," Zuko wavered, clenching his eyes shut—He was half torn between hoping the teen would disappear and half hungering for this moment with Aang to be true.
To stop himself from reaching out to hold the teen close, Zuko wound his hands into tight fists against the wall…so tight that his palms began to trickle blood from the force of his nails raking against his flesh.
"Zuko…" The Avatar murmured, closing the distance between them.
Aang's action wrested gasps from both of them.
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Aang brought his arms up and wrapped them around Zuko. He pulled the Fire Lord away from the wall and rested his head in the crook of Zuko's neck and breathed in his scent. A blend of wood smoke and jasmine tea leaves, that's the way Zuko smelled to the Avatar.
Aang was able to finally embrace the one he'd given his whole heart to, but even so, it had taken every ounce of his courage to end things with Katara earlier today…
I can't lose you, too, Aang thought, shutting his eyes and praying Zuko wouldn't shove him away again.
He sighed in relief when Zuko's arms slowly wound around his waist, somehow meshing them impossibly closer.
They held each other like that for several moments, until Zuko broke the silence, "So, you're finally mine, then?"
"Yeah."
"I'm not ever letting you go."
Aang just grinned and reached up to capture the Fire Lord's mouth again. This time his advances were accepted and reciprocated full force.
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Owari