A/N: Warning! This chapter includes a non-explicit sex scene between two males. It's an incredibly watered down and tame version of the actual chapter, edited to fit within the rules of FFNet. If you'd like to read the full and sexually explicit version of Chapter 2, you can always go to my livejournal, hikuni, where the story was originally posted.
In the darkness, Aang had a lot of time to think. Mostly, he thought about Zuko.
Aang had no idea why Zuko had always tried so hard to capture him all those years ago. He had always assumed it had something to do with Zuko's nobility - that maybe Zuko was trying to prove himself as worthy of the Fire Throne. Or maybe Zuko had just been bored with lounging around the Fire Nation palace. Sokka had argued for the latter.
"Who knows why Fire Nation people do the things they do," Sokka had scoffed when the topic of why Zuko was chasing them came up. "It's probably boring being a spoiled rich kid, and Zuko has nothing better to do."
But Aang hadn't thought so then, and he didn't think so now. He didn't have any proof to dispel Sokka's theories - just little fleeting moments that hinted at something deeper going on within the Fire Prince - like the look of desperation that wrecked Zuko when Aang had escaped his ship in the South Pole, or the harsh determination that took over Zuko whenever they had fought. Aang knew there had to have been something bigger behind Zuko's many, many capture attempts.
During their travels, Aang had heard rumors about Zuko being banished from the Fire Nation. Although they had been just rumors, Aang couldn't shake the feeling that those rumors were true, and somehow, Zuko's banishment had something to do with capturing the Avatar.
It was funny then, almost ironic even, that once upon a time, Zuko's face had instilled so much fear in Aang. Now, it was the only source of comfort the airbender had left.
Aang had never given Zuko's face much thought before. He had never had the time to think about the prince's features, since seeing Zuko was usually immediately followed by angry jets of fire blasted his way. But now, in a prison cell in a Fire Nation stronghold, Aang had nothing but time.
You know, Aang mused, the scar isn't so bad, really. Yes, it looked painful, and yes, it hurt Aang to see it, but once you got past the scar, there was so much more to Zuko's face. Exhaling, Aang pictured Zuko's high, regal cheekbones, as much a mark of the firebender's nobility as his title had been. He pictured Zuko's piercing golden eyes, one normal and guarded, the other marred and tortured - both irritatingly unreadable.
Zuko was almost… beautiful, in a way. Not in the way Katara was beautiful, or the way that the Kyoshi Warriors were beautiful, but Zuko had a certain air to him that Aang really liked. Sincerity. Maybe that was it. Zuko seemed tortured and confused, but he always seemed to act with sincerity. When the firebender made a choice - whether it was a right one or a wrong one, a smart choice or an incredibly stupid one - at least he did it sincerely and with his all.
Time passed pleasantly as Aang thought about Zuko. Apparently, trying to picture every minute detail of Zuko's face made the hours fly by. Soon morning came, and with the morning came another meal.
Zuko wasn't the soldier who brought the meal, but Aang tried not to worry about it too much. Zuko had said he'd be back for dinner, after all, not breakfast.
Somehow, time seemed to slow down to a crawl between Aang's first meal and his second one. Dinner couldn't come fast enough. Several times an hour, Aang found himself wondering what time it was. Spirits, what he wouldn't give for a window in his cell, or any indication of how time was passing by outside.
Aang was going to go crazy from waiting. It seemed like days were passing instead of hours. Weeks, even. And then, finally, finally, just as Aang thought he would explode from impatience, the cell door began to open. His evening meal had arrived.
Aang swallowed. Let it be Zuko. Let it be Zuko. Please, let it be Zuko.
But it wasn't Zuko that night.
And it wasn't Zuko the next morning.
Nor the next evening, nor the next day, nor the day after that, nor the day after that.
Aang grew listless as he counted the meals that passed by. By his count, a week went by, and still, there was no sign that Zuko would return. Several times, Aang had to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from asking the guards about where Zuko was. As if that would work out. "Hey, so, Zuko, you know, the ex-prince of the Fire Nation? Well, he sneaks into my cell to bring me stolen food. Do you happen to know what happened to him? He hasn't stopped by in a while." Yeah, right.
And still, Zuko didn't come.
As the days dragged on, Aang began to lose hope that he'd ever see the firebender again. The monks had advised that one should abandon hope - that hope was an illusion, and what mattered most was reality. The monks believed that it was more important to see things for the way they truly were, instead of forming expectations of the way you wanted things to be.
So Aang, ever the obedient student, obeyed his teachings. With a deep breath in and a deep breath out, Aang circulated the feeble air energy throughout his body, and he abandoned his hope. And as days past without Zuko, it wasn't even that difficult to do.
The hiss of bolts unlocking didn't faze Aang anymore. He had fallen back into numbness, a great distance between him and his worldly senses. It was the exact opposite of what Aang should have been trying to accomplish. The goal of the Air Nomads, after all, hadn't been to reject oneself from the world - the goal had been to achieve such a level of connection with the universe that one's individuality seemed insignificant, inconsequential. Sure, that did take some level of detaching from one's worldly desires and cares, but the goal was one of unity, not separation.
The groaning sound of the cell door grating didn't stir Aang at all.
Footsteps approached, but the airbender didn't bother looking up. The faceplates the guards wore were all identical, giving Aang the impression that it was the same soldier that came to his cell everyday. It wasn't, of course - some soldiers were tall, some were short, some fat, some thin - but it was like that mask took on an identity of its own, becoming some nameless, faceless, person - the anonymous face of the Fire Nation.
Suddenly, Aang found himself staring at that very same mask as the soldier's faceplate fell to the floor with a sharp clang of metal on metal. Aang frowned. Why would a Fire Nation soldier remove their faceplate? Aang wondered dully. That was dangerous, and foolish, and it must have violated a dozen army rules. So why would they do it, unless… unless they were…
Aang's voice pierced through the air like a blade. "Zuko!"
"I'm sorry," Zuko burst out, his teeth gritted together to keep any emotion from pouring out. "I tried to come sooner, but Admiral Yu was beginning to get suspicious of me. I had to stay away for a while until he lost interest."
This time, the sound of Zuko's voice really did make Aang cry.
"I thought I'd never see you again," Aang choked, taking a deep, shaky breath to fight back the tears that already stung his eyes. "I thought maybe they'd caught on to you, I was afraid you were locked up, or that you left me, and-"
Zuko kissed him.
Well. Aang hadn't been expecting that. But as he felt the firebender's breath, hot against his own, he realized that was what he'd been hoping all along.
Zuko pulled away and his eyes scanned Aang's face, searching frantically for signs of any torture or mistreatment inflicted upon the airbender in his absence - but the Avatar looked about the same. Maybe a little thinner than when Zuko had left him, but it was hard to tell when Zhao kept Aang so undernourished.
"Zuko," Aang murmured, suddenly longing to be kissed again, longing to feel the firebender's lips against his own…
But Zuko pretended not to hear. Without warning, the firebender stood up abruptly and walked away. Panic flooded Aang for a moment as he watched the firebender's back retreat, an irrational fear surging in him that Zuko was about to leave. But then a soft clanging of metal sounded somewhere behind him. Of course! Zuko had left Aang's side only so he could work on the chains that bound the airbender's arms.
A violent swishing of banging of metal sounded, and suddenly, both Aang's arms plunged downwards. The momentum of the fall carried the rest of the airbender's body with it, and with a thud, Aang collapsed onto his knees.
Zuko reappeared, still silent, his face set in an impassive frown as he observed the state Aang was in. As he stared at Aang, he seemed to decide something.
"I have to get you out of here."
Aang frowned. "It's impossible," he replied, rubbing at his left wrist with the fingers of his right hand. "You said so yourself. You said you'd be killed and I'd just end up captured again."
Zuko shut his eyes and a small crease appeared in the center of his forehead as he grimaced. "I know," the firebender groaned. "But there has to be some way."
"I wouldn't be able to help," Aang added quietly. Spirits, he knew it was insane and irresponsible, but right now, the last thing he wanted to think about was escape. All he wanted to focus on was getting Zuko's lips back on his. "I'm too weak to airbend," Aang went on, "I'd be useless against the soldiers."
The firebender considered this for a moment, the creases on his brow increasing in number and severity. "I'll get you your strength back," Zuko said at last. "Until then, I won't leave you to those soldiers and that shit they pass for food."
"Yeah, please don't," the Avatar said meekly.
With a huge sigh, Zuko fell onto his knees in front of Aang, his slumped position mimicking the airbender's. Then, slowly, tentatively, Zuko leaned in, and rested his forehead against the airbender's.
Aang had never seen Zuko so close before. Aang quickly discovered that he had been right: Zuko was beautiful, in his own hardened way. Aang admired the prince's long eyelashes, his thick eyebrow, the place where the rough, dark scar met smooth, perfectly porcelain skin.
Slowly, the tension began to leave Zuko's face, as if maybe Zuko got as much comfort from being next to Aang as Aang did from being next to him. The creases on the firebender's brow smoothed out until they became nothing more than small worry lines. Zuko's jaw relaxed until his mouth went slack, revealing a row of perfectly straight teeth within. With fluttering eyelashes, the firebender inhaled a deep breath and exhaled the stress out of his body.
"I missed you," Aang ventured cautiously, unsure of how the prince would respond.
Zuko's closed eyes twitched, but his face didn't tense up again. "I know," the firebender murmured.
"I couldn't think about anything else," Aang continued, speaking slowly, worried that if he emphasized even one syllable wrong, he'd send Zuko into a rage - or worse yet, he'd send Zuko running away.
Zuko's eyelashes fluttered. "I know," he repeated again.
A smile tugged at the corners of Aang's lips. "I'm really glad you're here."
At last, the firebender opened his eyes. With his gaze fixed on Aang, Zuko breathed, "Me too."
This time, it was Aang who started the kiss.
He pressed his lips to Zuko and found no objections from the firebender. Aang had never really kissed anyone before, and so he didn't really know how to - but with Zuko, he didn't seem to need to know how. It was like their bodies moved instinctually, so at ease with each other, as if they'd done this a thousand times before. Zuko's tongue ran along Aang's, no, Zuko's tongue moved with Aang's. They came together and pulled apart, over and over until Aang was all but helpless to the voice in his head that chanted, more, more, more.
It was Zuko who broke the kiss, leaving both benders gasping for air.
"I need to go," Zuko said stiffly.
"No!"
"If I stay for too long, Zhao's men might come looking for me."
"No…"
Zuko smiled, and Aang was right again - a smile worked wonders on the firebender's face. It completely softened all of Zuko's hard features, erasing the frown lines and the tenseness. Somehow, it even made Zuko's scar look less prominent and menacing, less like a tortured reminder and more like another feature as natural on Zuko as the arrows on Aang.
The firebender reached out a hand, and delicately, he pressed his palm to Aang's face. Aang's fingers flew up to the warmth of Zuko's hand to hold it there.
"I won't leave you again," Zuko said firmly. "Trust me."
Aang shut his eyes and focused on the heat radiating from Zuko's hand. With difficulty, the airbender swallowed the lump of fear in his throat. "I do."
After Aang was chained up and the pillar fires were extinguished, Zuko made his way to the exit. "I'll be back," the firebender promised quietly before disappearing behind the giant steel door.
This time, Zuko kept his promise. He visited Aang nearly every meal. Some days the meals Zuko brought were extravagant: traditional Fire Nation dishes fit for an officer. Other days, the meals were simpler: nothing but seasoned rice, or a bowl of cold noodles. But really, Aang couldn't have cared less about how good the food was - the highlight of these meal visits was not the meal itself, but the stoic firebender that brought them.
Slowly, the two began to establish a pattern: Zuko would arrive with a meal in hand. He'd set it down on the floor before the captive Avatar, then quickly work to loosen the chains that held Aang. When that was finished, Zuko would sit and wait as the airbender ate. When Aang was finished wolfing down the food, they'd talk. Well, mostly they kissed. Ferociously, feverishly, as if they were both dying from sickness and the only way to cure their illness was to indulge in each other.
In Aang's opinion, the kissing part never lasted long enough. Zuko always ended it before it drew out for too long, before it could move beyond heavy kissing and shy touching. Zuko's excuse was always the threat of soldiers, the looming danger of being discovered. Then, seemingly more reluctant each time, Zuko would get up to re-tighten the chains that bit at Aang's wrists. Sometimes Aang got a kiss good-bye, but other times Zuko just barely made it out of the cell before other soldiers arrived to check on the Avatar during their rounds.
But one day, after an exceptionally delicious meal of soy noodles and a dessert of fruit tarts, Zuko didn't leave right away. While they were kissing, Zuko's hands travelled across Aang's body, following the path of energy the blue arrows traced. Zuko was getting bolder, braver, and now the firebender trailed his fingers down Aang's shoulders, down the airbender's arms, examining the new muscle that had developed on Aang over the weeks.
The meals Zuko had been bringing were finally beginning to produce results: Aang no longer had the too-thin appearance of a starving prisoner. Instead, he finally began to resemble a regular boy of his age: a young man of lean muscle and smooth edges - no longer a twelve-year old, no longer a starving teenager.
Zuko brought his hands around to the arrow on Aang's spine. Delicately, his fingertips like feathers, Zuko traced the tattoo as far down as the airbender's hips. Aang shivered as a wave of excitement pulsed through him. Through the haze of pleasure, he wondered why Zuko hadn't left yet. Normally, the former prince would have been gathering his helmet by now. Not that Aang was complaining - the longer Zuko stayed with him, the better.
Aang turned his head to press his lips against Zuko's temple, right where the rough edges of the scar met unharmed skin. Zuko made a sound like a sigh, and Aang's heart caught in his chest. "Zuko," he murmured breathlessly. He wrapped his hands in Zuko's hair, the thick chains attached to his wrists clinking together as he did. "Zuko, I want you."
Zuko pressed his head against Aang's shoulder, hiding his unburned face in the fabric of Aang's robes. Over the weeks, Aang learned that turning his uninjured face away was a gesture Zuko always did when the firebender was faced with unpleasant emotions: fear, or anger, or regret, or shame. Aang couldn't see the firebender's expression, but the thick muscle in the firebender's neck hinted that Zuko's jaw was clenched tight. Maybe it was too soon. Maybe Aang should have waited to ask for it, but - no, no, Aang had never been clearer on what he wanted. And what he wanted was Zuko. All of Zuko.
Slowly, the firebender unclenched his jaw and turned towards Aang, just barely, just so Aang could make out the slit of Zuko's scarred eye. "Are you sure?" Zuko asked, his voice low and even. No arguments. No excuses.
"I'm sure," Aang whispered into Zuko's skin.
Zuko sighed and tilted his face towards Aang's a smidge more, and now Aang could see the porcelain skin of the prince's nose.
Showing his face, even just a little, was such a sign of trust from the firebender, that it solidified Aang's conviction. This was right. This was the most natural thing in the world.
Aang and Zuko pushed and pulled together, sank and soared as one. It was easy, almost air and fire were right next to each other on the spectrum, after all.
With his fingernails digging into the skin of Zuko's back, his mind whiting out from pleasure, Aang gasped again, "I want you,".
The firebender ground his teeth together and pushed into the airbender harder, faster, with less and less control each time he moved his hips.
"You have me," Zuko moaned, "You have me."
And then it was like those words were magic, because Aang was coming, and nothing in the world could have been better. Aang wrapped his arms around Zuko's neck either to pull himself up or to pull the firebender down, and then the airbender's jaw went slack and his eyes squeezed shut and his body tensed, every muscle in the airbender's body tensed, and then Zuko was coming, too.
They came together, as loud as they dared, harsh pants and heaving chests and shaking bodies until Aang was dry and Zuko had to stop moving to keep from overloading on sensation.
Aang was afraid that Zuko would pull out immediately, that he'd be left empty and alone before he was ready. But Zuko stayed there, his strong arms still wrapped around the airbender, clutching Aang to his chest as if that were enough to protect the airbender from anything that would harm him.
"I need you," Aang said at last, and Zuko slipped out, too soft to stay in any longer.
Zuko pressed his face against Aang's. "I know," the prince murmured. "I need you too."