Disclamer: I don't own the characters of Avatar. Akiko belongs to my friend Kelseyalicia, the song this life is mine belongs to Rooster teeth
Zuko didn't say a word as he sat by the mirror, staring at the pale face that looked back at him with wide eyes and fear. He was only 13, and yet, and yet this was what he had control over: What he could do in his room, what he could do to hide.
It was hard, but it was a way to stop the loneliness.
He grabbed the locks of hair that fell to his shoulder, and pulled them back, humming to the mirror in an attempt to talk to someone.
"Mirror… can you hear me?" he sang softly. "Do I… reach you?" He took a rubber band from the desk, wrapping it around his hair to hold it back. "Are you even list'ning? Can I… get through?"
He sighed, turning to the face in the mirror once more. A boy with a gaunt face, thin shoulders, arms like twigs… Nothing like what his father wanted from him.
Just his luck.
He looked down. "There's a part of me that's desperate for changes… Tired of being treated like a pawn…" He looked up, at his face. Nothing helping him out there. "But there's a part of me that stares back from inside the mirror, part of me that's scared I might be wrong… That I can't be strong…"
He sighed, and stood at last. "I've been afraid, never standing on my own… I let you be the keeper of my pride!" He picked up a family picture, one where he looked at his mother with awe and amazement. While he could only look at his father with fear.
He had seen what his father had done to both his mother, and sister Azula, and he couldn't believe his father would do that any longer. Zuko put the picture on his dresser again. "I believed you when you told me I was nothing on my own!" He sang to himself, loudly and proudly for once in his life. He grabbed a bag from upon his closet door, wrenching it open. "Listen when I say, I swear it here today: I will not surrender! This life is mine!"
He threw as much as he could into the bag, trying to carry the books he needed and the clothes he should have. He added in a bar of soap, his journal and a pencil, just in case, grinning to himself in the mirror. A pale face smiled back, a bit too wide. But he didn't care. He didn't have time to care: He had to escape before his father could find out that he was going to.
"Amazing how you conquered me, chained me in servility…" He sang, moving slowly and quietly down the hallway. Towards the door- Towards escape. He carried with him a blade he had stolen from the kitchens.
His father was the most likely offender, he decided. His love, at least, had a heart.
He crept down the hallway. "You made me see… The world you way you told me to, but I was young and didn't have a way to know the truth…"
A voice nearby made him freeze.
"Boy, why are you awake."
"I'm not," Zuko replied softly, his voice shaking. He turned around to see his father his eyes focused on Zuko's face.
"What's with the hair."
"I… I thought-"
"You don't need to think, boy. You need to listen and follow orders 'til you're old enough to understand."
"And what if I am old enough, father?!" Zuko snapped, then slapped his hands over his mouth in horror. There was a silence in the air, but it was followed by a slap to his face.
His father was right before him.
"F-Father?" He breathed. "I'm sorry, I just-"
"Don't talk back to me, Zuko."
Zuko nodded frantically, but his father grabbed his hair, dragging him along.
"I've dealt with your inadequacy for too long, Zuko.
"I'm not just born to live your legacy," Zuko mumbled.
"What did you say, Zuko?" his father demanded.
"I don't exist just to fill your needs."
His father grabbed him by his hair, pulling him along.
"Stop!" he begged. But his father didn't listen. He dragged him to the room Zuko had stayed in for so long, threw him in, and locked the door.
Yet again, it was just Zuko in his room by himself. He sighed, and collapsed on the bed.
"I'm just a casualty of this so-called family that you have turned into a travesty…" He sang softly. "But I don't intend to suffer any longer. Here's where your dominion falls apart!" He jumped up, grinning again. "I'm SHATTERING the mirror that kept me split in pieces!" He smashed his fist into the mirror, wincing, and made himself stand up straight again. "That stood between my mind and my heart… This is where I'll start!" "I'm not your pet, not another thing you own…" he mumbled. "I was not born guilty of your crimes…" his father, entered the room and taking a blazing piece of wood from the fire in the room, he smashed it against Zuko's face. Hot flames burned his face, he screamed in pain, and knew in his heart Akiko was feeling his pain as her own.
Zuko sank to the floor trembling and shaking, as he cradled the side of his face that had been burned. "Your riches and your influence can't hold me anymore, I won't be possessed, burdened by your royal test, I will not surrender, this life is mine." He sang his voice growing louder and steadier with each word.
After his father left Zuko pulled the journal he always wrote in from his bag, pulling the pencil out began to write;
Dear journal,
My father did the unthinkable, he burned my face, I think the scar it will leave behind will be permanent, a constant reminder of this despicable man. This is not right and I can't stand his abuse anymore. That's why I've decided to go to Akiko, cause I know I will be happy with her. I'm going to leave even if I must use force.
-Zuko
Zuko closed the journal and placed it back in his bag where it would be safe from his father's eyes. "I need to take back my life, or at least figure out who I am." He said with confidence he didn't feel. "Shame that it took so long to rescue me from the guilt you used to tie me to your family tree, I guess your training failed you're not in charge I'm free. Your patriarchal prison won't hold me." Zuko muttered to himself.
Zuko walked over to the shattered mirror and looked at his broken reflection. " Now this conversation's finally over mirror mirror,now we're done I've pulled myself together now my mind and heart are one, finally one."
And as if being shattered, Zuko began walking away. His father calmly stood outside his door.
"If you do this, you will no longer be a part of this family. Do you understand? You will lose your name, your life, your legacy you want to oh so uphold, all of it!"
Zuko turned his body, getting a glimpse of the man he had called father his entire life. "Goodbye, Mr. Ozai I hope we do not cross paths again." With a flick of his wrist he grabbed his bag and left with a regal attitude, as he was taught so long ago, Zuko left behind the life he had, and began searching for the one he wanted. He began his journey to his love, his Akiko. His hair fell loose, the ponytail undone.
"I'm not your pet, not another thing you own I was not born guilty of your crimes, your riches and your influence can't hold me anymore I won't be possessed, burdened by your royal test, I will not surrender, this…life..is..mine." He sang walking out of his prison, and into freedom.
A.N. I've decided to enter this story into a contest so I need to put this stuff at the end ignore it if you will.
Team: Fire Nation
Round: 3
Category: themed
Prompt: song
Word count: 1,385