A/N: Random one shot for a friend who gave me the prompt "Fire Light". There is not any where near enough season one Zuko in the world.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, but I sure do love to make the puppets dance.
The fire glowed softly in the palm of Zuko's hand. He held it out in front of him in a vein attempt to see where he was going.
"Hey cool! Fire!"
"Make no mistake about this, Avatar. Once we are out of here, you are coming back with me to the Fire Nation. You are my prisoner, so don't get any ideas," Zuko said trying to sound harsh.
"I'm awfully free for a prisoner," Aang said in his usual care free manner.
"Shut up."
Zuko held the fire ball glowing in his hand up. He used his free hand to brush against the cavern wall. It seemed rocky. He looked up to the hole he had fallen through chasing Aang. There would be no climbing the wall.
"Do you know where we are?" Aang asked.
"Somewhere outside of the Water Tribes, but not quite in the Earth Kingdom. Now, shut up," Zuko replied.
The boy had at least been kind enough to save him from breaking anything during the fall when he grabbed him and bended them softly to the ground, but being stuck in a cave was far from ideal. He had saw himself finally managing to capture the boy and return home as a hero play out in his head. He could almost hear the words of praise at finally doing something right. Yet, here he was screwing up all over again. He closed his fist, putting out the fire ball and punched the cavern wall.
The cave was thrown back into darkness. Only the faintest light came from moonlight that shone down into their cavern. Zuko let out a sigh of frustration.
Zuko looked up again at the hole.
"Um, Zuko. It's dark," The Avatar's quiet voice called.
"It's night and in a cave. What do you expect?" Zuko said trying not to snap.
"That you might do that fire trick and we can have some light."
"Its not a trick! You're supposed to be the Avatar, you should know that."
"I know that when you do it, its not dark in here any more."
Zuko let out another sigh of frustration. With a quick motion, he created another fire ball. It was better to just have the fireball then to have to deal with the constant chatter.
"Can't you just fly out of here?" Zuko said.
"No, its too high," Aang answered.
He looked suspiciously at the boy. Zuko could have sworn he had seen the boy jump higher then that in their previous battles. Either way, if the Avatar wasn't leaving it meant he was sticking around which meant he might have to deal with more of his incessant talking, but he might also have an opportunity to capture him. That was one chance he didn't want to pass him by. He wasn't going to just sit around though and let someone else get the credit. Zuko turned his back on the boy and used his free hand to guide him along the wall.
"Where are you going?" The Avatar asked.
"This is a cave of some sort. It doesn't seem just like an open pocket in the earth. If we follow it, then in one direction or the other there should be an exit," Zuko explained.
"Shouldn't we wait here for the others?"
"Which others are you implying?" Zuko asked in return.
"Katara and Sokka of course."
"Your water peasants are probably hiding. By now, Uncle is sure to have gone back to the ship and will soon have men crawling all over this place looking for me," Zuko pointed out.
"Then shouldn't we wait for your men?"
"I don't wait on anyone."
Zuko kept walking. He could hear rustling as the Avatar moved from where he was sitting. Aang hurried up to walk near Zuko. They walked in silence, but Zuko noticed a strange trend. The Avatar seemed to be slowly getting closer to him. He would walk a bit closer, then look at him, only to then look at the floor and repeat. When the boy came within arms reach, he didn't even try to hide it any more. He was openly staring at him. Zuko thought at first that it must have been his scar, but realized the boy was on the wrong side for that.
"If I were an earth bender, I would trip you," Zuko said.
"Why?" The Avatar asked.
"Because you keep staring at me. Watch where you are going."
"But you were watching where you were going and we still wound up in here. Besides, what is wrong with looking?"
Zuko tried to calm his nerves. He knew that frustration in this situation wouldn't get him anywhere. He took a deep calming breath and didn't feel very calm, so he took another.
"I don't think there is any reason to stare," Zuko said.
"But you were staring back at me."
He opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again.
"Fine. We shall both look at the floor," Zuko grumbled.
Zuko cast his eyes to the floor and willed himself not to look over when he felt eyes watching him. He made a few steps farther willing them to stop staring at him. He knew that they continued to watch him. He tried to tell himself that it didn't matter. Soon enough, they would be out of the cave and the boy would be bound for Fire Nation. He would be accepted back home once more. What were a few stares compared to finally going home? He walked on. Then came the slight bump on his elbow. He looked over to realize that the Avatar was not just within arms distance, but was literally right beside him staring up at him. Zuko tried not to jump out of his skin and the sudden closeness.
"What?" Zuko asked.
"I'm cold. Just trying to get close to the fire."
He tried to reason with himself and believe that it wasn't just some excuse, because the words "Pay attention to me" were practically plastered all over the Avatar's face. He tried to reason that his armor kept him warm, the cave might actually be cold. That the Avatar clothes might not be as thick as they looked. His brain wasn't buying it. He moved a step to the side away from the boy.
"How about the truth or you are going to get a whole lot warmer."
"I'm thinking that if I tell you I'm bound to be barbeque for sure," The Avatar said quietly.
"Looks like you're toast either way, so just tell me already," Zuko said impatiently.
"It's the fire light."
"What about it?" Zuko asked feeling curios
"Its just that the dark erases everything."
Confusion filled Zuko's mind and he said "I don't follow."
"The sun is bright. Some times, it makes you think you see things too clearly. You look and you think you know something. In the darkness though, its like everything is gone. You can't see it. Nothing is there. In the fire light, things soften. It's this mix of light and dark that changes everything. You see them with the light, but the dark takes off a lot of the harsh edges," The Avatar explained.
Zuko stopped and held up the light staring down at the Avatar. He could see the light reflected back in the silver eyes that stared at him. He could only just make out the Avatar tattoos. He seemed more like an ordinary boy lost in a cave with him.
"Your not toast over that. Just say that sooner." Zuko grumbled.
Before he could turn around and go back to walking, Aang caught a hold of his wrist. Zuko froze at the sudden contact.
"That wasn't why I thought you would roast me. Its because I was thinking that the fire light looks really good on you."
Zuko eyes widen. He knew there was a trap about to play out, but he couldn't get his body into action.
"However, I'm sure you think the darkness suites me best," The Avatar finished.
Zuko felt the fire ball go out. He could hear a gust of wind and in the quick moment it took him to bend another fireball, but the Avatar was gone.
Footnote: I feel so dirty. I used the most horribly over done ~Trapped in a cave~ though one of them really wasn't.