Hello everyone! I'm so glad ffnet is working again! Did everyone see the new episode Friday night? I've been lurking on a lot of LJ commnities and there has been a lot of comments on Zuko's stealing and leaveing his Uncle, but I noticed something that I haven't seen anyone mention yet. Yes stealing is bad, and Zuko shouldn't be doing it, but not once did we see him touch or use anything of the things he stole, it all went to his Uncle. The only thing he used at all was the bird-horse thing (which I wish they would give a name so everyone can stop calling it thing). And I just loved the way he said "Do you like your new tea-set?".
Anyway, enjoy!
Pillows
Few knew of Prince Zuko's love for pillows.
Before his banishment his bed in the palace had been covered in them. Even after being banished many a crew member would find a pillow or two missing when it was time to take inventory. Not once did the thought that it was, in fact, their hardheaded prince stealing the cushions cross their minds.
Pillows were safe.
Pillows provided warmth and comfort without asking for anything in return.
Pillows were his mother's arms, his uncles loving words, his sister's once innocent smile and his father's acceptance.
Pillows were the only comfort that our lonely prince allowed himself to indulge in.
When his ship was blown up by the pirates his pillows were also lost to the flames and he found himself unable to sleep without them surrounding him. For weeks he searched for a replacement but was unable to find anything softer than the moss growing on of the cold hard ground, and there was never enough of it in one place to make a decent bed out of.
Later, after he teamed up with the Avatar, he was always the last to sleep and the first to rise. Everyone assumed they knew why, even his uncle thought it was just because he couldn't sleep throughout the night due to nightmares, but they were all wrong.
Prince Zuko, former heir to the Fire Nation throne, had made some friends.
Some animal friends.
In fact, when he was debating on whether or not to join the Avatar it was the thought of snuggling with that huge fluffy beast that had been the deciding factor.
It had not been easy to get the bison to trust him; he had burnt a few patches of his fur in the past after all. The first time that he had tried to approach the shaggy creature had not gone so well and he ended up having to stay awake the entire night in order to make sure that it didn't try to kill him… again.
After about a week he discovered that the key to the big beast was the smaller one. He found that all it took was a little food and that little guy was your friend for life.
Zuko wasn't sure how the two communicated but somehow Momo, because he also established that calling them by name made a huge difference, had gotten the message across to Appa that if he was feeding them then he couldn't be all that bad. From then on Zuko was permitted to burrow into the soft white fur which was better then any pillow the prince had ever owned. The added comfort of Momo sleeping on his chest was an unexpected plus.
This went on for months with none of his traveling companions ever suspecting a thing. The closest anyone got was Aang, who once wondered aloud why the lemur was no longer sleeping with him. Zuko just shrugged, determined to keep this weakness a secret.
Unfortunately for Zuko, Appa found that he liked the Zuko who was with him at night much more then the Zuko who put on an act during the day. He decided it was time to do something about it.
One night in early-spring Katara was awoken by a bump to the head. Looking up to see what had hit her she found herself staring to the wide green eyes of Momo, who quickly ran off, his job done. Katara sat up, thinking to get some water, when she noticed that there seemed to be a person missing.
'Honestly, does that boy ever sleep?' She stood up; intent on finding out what he could possibly be doing so late at night when she noticed a shadow against Appa's fur. Curious, she made her way over and gasped as she saw who was sleeping there.
There was Zuko, Prince Zuko, nestled into the gentle down of Appa's fur, looking every bit the part of a child with his favorite, albeit big, stuffed animal.
'Well, maybe not so much the image of a child.' She thought as she noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt, and even in the dark she could see his well defined muscles reflecting off the light from the moon. She stood there for what could have been hours but was more likely just a few minutes, just looking at him; taking in this new side of Zuko that seemed so… innocent.
Katara was broken out of her trance when Momo suddenly ran up to the sleeping prince and took his normal place on his chest. She grinned as Zuko's lips curled into a small smile as his hand automatically came up to stoke the lemur's fine fur and his molten eyes started to open.
His smile didn't disappear right away when their eyes locked as he tried to register the girl that was standing over him in his sleep-fuzzed mind. Katara felt her heart skip a beat as he directed his contented smile towards her and marveled at how it made him look, well, like a normal seventeen year old boy.
All too fast Zuko's brain caught on to the fact that he was, indeed, awake and that wonderful smile vanished, much to Katara's disappointment. Zuko made to get up, but found that the lemur had settled down on top of him and gently picked him up, placing him gently on the bison. The tenderness in his action had caught Katara's attention and she shuddered as the thought of what those hands could do passed though her mind before she could stop it.
Zuko stood and could feel his anger rising at having been found out but before he could start yelling or making up some kind of excuse she broke out of her trance and asked just one simple question.
"Doesn't it get cold?"
Zuko started at the sound of her voice, "What?" No teasing? No ridicule? No calling him weak or pathetic?
"I mean, I know it's spring and that Appa is warm but don't you get cold without a blanket or something?"
"No. I'm a firebender." He said with every ounce of princely confidence he could manage. "Firebenders never get cold." She gave him a look that clearly told him she knew he was lying.
Without a word she turned and walked back to where her things were and picked up her sleeping bag. As she walked back over she unfastened the side, turning it into a blanket. She marched right past the immobile boy and took a seat against Appa, spreading the bag out to cover herself and the empty spot next to her.
"It's been a long time since I've slept with you, hasn't it Appa?" She asked as she snuggled into his fur. She then turned her attentions back towards Zuko who was trying to get the words 'slept with you' from turning into a more visual sense in his brain.
"Aren't you going back to sleep?" When he still didn't move she sighed. "Look, I've already caught you. It's not like you aren't going to wake up before everyone else anyway, you can just get up like you always do and no one will know any differently." After a moment he took a hesitant step forward and she smiled as she moved to give him room.
It became their secret ritual that Katara would fall asleep against Appa alone and after everyone else went to bed Zuko would join her. On cooler nights Zuko would wake to find that he had pulled her close for warmth and would quickly jump away, afraid of what she would say if she found out.
This pattern went unbroken until the pair was spilt from the group after a rather brutal battle against his sister. That night it was Katara who snuggled up to him before dozing off on the unyielding ground that made up the floor of the cave they had found to use for shelter. It was in the moment before sleep overtook him that Zuko realized something.
He didn't need pillows or a huge flying bison anymore.
He had her.
And she was all he needed to be at peace.
If you haven't noticed I think that Zuko's mother was someone that he really loved. Until I'm proven wrong this will be something that might pop up here and there.
And thanks for all your wonderful reviews! I'll try to keep things as original as I can!
Raika
