More Zuko drabbles

Prayer

He goes to bed every night and prays that what he's doing is right. That chasing the Avatar is a good thing—that, in the end, it's for the best. For at the moment, he must seem rather selfish. Chasing the Avatar to the ends of the Earth in a desperate hope to reclaim the honor that was never his to begin with? To win over the love of a father who hadn't loved him since they found Zula to be a prodigy?

Maybe he is selfish, he thinks, but maybe he's entitled to be a little selfish. After all, his father doesn't want the Avatar dead, so there must be some reasoning behind this hunting, even if he can't see it. But until he figures it out, he prays. He prays that what he's doing is right. But above all, he prays that someone else will realize he's not the bad guy: he's tired of being the only one who knows that.

Honor

This isn't the honorable thing to do, he thinks. The honorable thing to do would be to wait---they are far too young for this. They should wait. Wait until they marry, wait until they're older, wait until this damn war is over. That would be honorable.

She kisses him, though, and all other thoughts betray him. If this is dishonorable, then let me wallow in my shame, for I would take that a hundred times more for another kiss from her.

Promises

He promises he's going to marry her, when it's all said and done. That he will do what is expected of him, to take her hand and to join her soul with his in holy matrimony. He whispers these promises in her ear during their nights, for the night is the only time they have---when her brother or his uncle or that damn Avatar do not interfere with their love. It's the only time when their together as lovers should be, and he can't help but fear that these nights that he lives for are coming to an end. The war is brutal, people are dying, and any day now he may have to fight her again, and he wonders if he can fight her with a straight face and empty heart as he use to, or if his soul will shatter on the battlefield next to her.

She mutters that she would like that, and he wonders if he hasn't just made another promise he can't keep.

Weak

He is not weak, but compared to her, he feels as though he is. Perfect Zula, flawless Zula, Daddy's little princess, and the heir to the throne.

If she can get rid of him. He isn't dead yet.

She slams her foot against his back as he loses again, smearing her heel into his flesh as hard as she can. "What's the matter, big brother, can't get up?" She taunts as she kicks him again.

He is not weak, but compared to her, he feels as though he is.

Flight

The one thing Zuko wanted more than anything else was to fly.

It was this horrible, awful, gut-wrenching feeling deep inside of him that wanted to fly. It looked so…so, dare he say it? Fun. A part of him scolded himself for being so childish. He was on a mission, he did not have time for fun.

That doesn't stop him from wishing, though, as he watched the flying bison escape once again.