"Do you think we could've been friends too?"
The voice of the Avatar rang throughout Zuko's head. He couldn't seem to focus on anything else the whole way back to his ship. The idea was ludicrous, of course, but the banished prince couldn't help but wonder. Stupid Avatar, why did this boy's words plague his thoughts? Zuko honestly didn't know which bothered him more, what the Avatar had said, or the fact that they had this effect on him.
Zuko tossed in bed, miserably failing to fall asleep. He had had a long night. He shouldn't have much trouble falling asleep, but he was too consumed in thought. This didn't help his nerves any. He tried to think about other topics, like where the Avatar may be heading next, and a new plan to capture him, especially with Zhao so close behind. Unfortunately his mind seemed to wander back to the Avatar's foolish story about his childhood friend.
"Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzan."
Thinking about the Avatar speaking about his childhood friend brought back so many painfully happy memories Zuko had managed to push into a corner of his mind. He thought about his closest childhood friend, his mother. His mother was his first friend, and all the times they spent together were full of laughter and encouragement from her. Zuko tried specifically to fight off this memory. It was especially painful. He had no idea where his mother was, and hadn't seen her in so long.
He turned face down, his head buried in his pillow trying to fight off thoughts of his mother before he went insane.
"The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together."
He thought of his cousin Lu Ten. Lu Ten was a younger version of his father, the great General Iroh. He was smart and light-hearted. He would help Zuko pull pranks on Azula, and they'd hangout all the time when he wasn't bringing home a girl. He tried to give Zuko tips on how to pick up girls, but at the time Zuko wasn't very interested. Zuko had only begun his crush on Mai about a month before Lu Ten left for war.
He clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to fight off tears from appearing at the thoughts of his late cousin. His mother and his cousin were two people he'd never see again, even if he did regain his honor and return home.
"He was one of the best friends I ever had…"
He thought briefly of his friends from the Royal Fire Academy for Boys. He thought of how they could almost always make him laugh, whether they were making fun of something or someone, or trying and failing to hit on a girl.
As he went through a list of his friends, he lingered on the one of the shy, stoic girl who had an odd effect on the prince. He remembered how their relationship started with quick glances and nervous blushes, and how it grew into a close, unexplainable friendship that grew overtime. He thought about their last embarrassing and awkward encounter. The memory of himself nervously fumbling and planting a kiss on the poor, dumbfounded and flustered young girl almost brought a smile to his face. Almost.
It had been over two years since she'd seen him. She had definitely moved on. She wasn't the type of girl to hopelessly wait for his return. She probably had a lot of guys wanting to court her. She was beautiful and came from a respected family, why wouldn't they? That wasn't why Zuko was so fond of her, well her being beautiful was part of it, but he just found her so interesting and amazing. She wasn't like his sister or her giggly counterpart; she was unique. He'd never met anyone like her.
He rolled over in bed again. This was why he never thought about them. It always hurt when he'd realize he wouldn't have them back. Ever. During his exile, he'd work so hard trying to forget about them, focusing solely on finding the Avatar.
When the Avatar came back into the world, it made it so much easier, but now it was the Avatar who had caused these memories to resurface, and made Zuko hate the boy even more.
"...and he was from the Fire Nation, just like you."
Zuko laid on his back and looked at the Firenation banner hanging on his wall.
"If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?"
No. They would never be friends.
Obviously takes place after the "Blue Spirit." Turned out a lot better than I thought it would. Hopefully I'll update at least one more time this week. The next one will take place in season 2 probably.
Concerning "Finer Feelings"-I probably will only update once this week. I'm having such writer's block with it. The time I usually get to use to think about what I'm doing with it I've speant reading "Twilight" which is surprisingly awesome and addictive.
And Thanks. Danke. Gracias. Arigato. Merci. to everyone who reviewed. Much appreciated guys.
