Full Title: The Symptoms of a Crush (Took you long enough.)

Rating: PG

Canon-Compliant

"Hyah! Hggh! Haa!"

Zuko's grunts practically echoed throughout the forest clearing as he and Piandao practiced sword fighting.

The swordmaster suddenly ended it abruptly by disarming Zuko and knocking him to the ground, before aiming his blade in his opponent's face; keeping him in that position.

[Piandao]: "That was an amazing show of skills Zuko! I can tell you didn't quit practicing after we took a pause on your training with me years back."

The pause being his banishment.

"You've only improved as time passes. At a few points this hour you almost caught me off guard, and even got me to move back a few steps. At this rate I predict you'll be a full-fledged master by thirty; and with his own pupils, if you have the time as Fire Lord that is."

He sheathed his blade and held a hand out to Zuko.

Zuko weakly smiled with backhanded pride at the old man and grabbed hold of his hand to be pulled up.

"Uh, thank you. I have been practicing quite a lot actually."

[Piandao]: "I'm sure of that."

He had an unreadable look on his face, but it seemed smug, as though he knew something that he probably wasn't supposed to know about.

"I think now would be a good time to take a break, don't you? I could use a quick cup of tea. And we could maybe catch up some more too, while we're at it."

Zuko had never been much of a tea sort of guy, but it had begun to grow on him. He liked how it reminded him of Iroh and their moments together, which he cherished. Plus he'd grown much better at brewing it and always appreciated compliments on his teamaking. Perhaps he'd get a chance to make it for both Piandao and himself today.

[Zuko]: "Sounds like a plan!" He answered happily.

They sat at a small, finely-crafted wooden table on porcelain, cylindrical-like benches while sipping their freshly brewed tea.

[Piandao]: "Wow Zuko, this tea tastes fantastic. You sure Iroh wasn't hiding in the bushes giving you tips?"

Zuko smiled and lightly laughed.

"Haha nope, all me."

It felt so good to be complimented and appreciated.

[Piandao]: "Mmm." He sounded after he took another sip.

"So Zuko tell me, while you're here with me now having a spar and some drinks, who's back at the palace running it?"

Zuko paused mid-sip.

"Oh. Uh, well, it's actually...Azula watching over everything while I'm away."

Piandao waterfalled the tea in his mouth onto the table.

"Come again?!"

[Zuko]: "Yeah, she's watching over it. I know that probably sounds kinda bad—"

[Piandao]: "Sounds kinda unbelievable. You fought her for the throne, didn't you?"

[Zuko]: "I know–I know but, hear me out. The war is over. The Fire Nation doesn't really have much to gain by restarting it again and, well, we sorta didn't lose much of anything to begin with. We have barely any damage within our borders, and what is there, she knows how to deal with, among other things...and we're focusing on how to help rebuild other nations that are still struggling from the effects, as well as how to rebuild our relationship with those nations. We've more or less made up over everything and are on the same page now, and she already helps me with everything short of dressing...usually. So this is just another job of hers she accepts without protest and handles with care."

[Piandao]: "So you've let her do this before?"

[Zuko]: "I have."

[Piandao]: "And she hasn't gone power hungry on you yet?"

[Zuko]: "Heh heh...uh, no." He awkwardly chuckled.

"I...don't think that was ever really a concern with her, to be honest. She just needed some time off after the end of the war to rethink her views and...be herself again. It looks like with the right cause in mind, she can do amazing, world-changing things for the betterment of all. Like many others I guess."

Piandao noted how positively he spoke of her in word and tone. It sounded—affectionate, actually.

[Piandao]: "Well sounds like you two must have decided to bury the hatchet and patch things up if you trust her this much. I'm actually glad to hear that. I wish I could've fixed things with my brother."

[Zuko]: "You don't have a good relationship with him?"

It was then that Zuko realized that despite training with this man for over three years, he'd never asked about Piandao's family. And Piandao had never mentioned them. Crazy.

[Piandao]: "Unfortunately not. Last I checked, he's one of those people who throws fits over every little perceived slight against them, and who loves being miserable, so will hold it over your head until the day one of you dies."

[Zuko]: "Oh, well that sounds unpleasant."

[Piandao]: "Yup. I mean, sure I accidentally broke his leg once, and lied to everyone at school that he wet his bed until he was twelve, and would often eat all the rice balls before he got even one and things like—"

[Zuko]: "That also sounds pretty unpleasant."

[Piandao]: "Yeah? You're probably right. But I apologized and attempted to make up with him every time. The problem is, you could never really tell if he'd truly forgiven you unless he had an outburst where he blurted out something you did thousands of years ago—figuratively speaking of course. And, often, he wouldn't even tell me what he was mad about when things seemed alright! So how could I know? He had a bit of a passive aggressive streak, sadly."

[Zuko]: "Your younger brother sounds like a huge jerk."

[Piandao]: "Believe it or not, I'm the younger one."

[Zuko]: "Oh…"

[Piandao]: "Yep. You know, hearing that your sister is such a good sport about being helpful to you, reminds me a lot of my dear wife."

Zuko almost spit his own tea out.

"Wife!"

[Piandao]: "Yes. She's been deceased a while now, but I hold her near and dear to me always. She was quite the ballbuster, as Fire Nation women tend to be."

Ballbuster? That didn't sound good to Zuko.

[Piandao]: "But she also had a very gentle side. She was always there for me when I needed someone. Sometimes she'd be the only one there, riding the rough waves of life with me, giving me advice on things I wasn't sure about. And goodness did she love to make fun of me, even during those moments. It was non-stop with her."

[Zuko]: "Ughh, Azula's the same way towards me. Even now. It's always been like that too."

[Piandao]: "Oh yeah? Hmm...now that I think about it, I believe you may have told me about it before, years back. But I can't quite remember what examples you gave."

[Zuko]: "Well one example is when she—"

(F/M)

"ZuuZuu, you almost look super attractive today."

He thought he looked the same as he usually did.

"Almost? And don't call me that!"

"Yeah, almost."

"What would make it an actually?"

"I don't know, maybe me pushing you?"

"Huh?"

She pushed him hard enough that he fell on his butt.

"Azula, why'd you do that!"

She only pointed and cackled at him.

(F/M)

[Piandao]: "Haha really? That really sounds like something my wife would have done to me."

[Zuko]: "Yeah, and there was another time where—"

(F/M)

"Ha, I won the last round! That's four in a row, so I won the game too!" She shouted at him.

It was an enigma how, even at rock, flame, wind, drop, she found a way to beat him a majority of the time.

"Alright, fine. What do I have to do?"

"Give me your hands."

"Uhh...okay then?"

He reluctantly held them out to her, and she grabbed them, holding them tight.

"Pucker up."

"Wha—?"

She kissed him on the lips, then pulled away in an instant.

"Whuh! Azula—?"

She only responded by doing it again, then ran off giggling.

He was left standing there in the garden, pink-faced and befuddled.

(F/M)

[Piandao]: "Is that so...? Well…"

He slowly took a sip from his teacup.

[Piandao]: "...it turned out that when we were younger and my wife did things like that to me, it was because she was into me."

[Zuko]: "Really? So why act that way?"

[Piandao]: "Beats me. Who actually knows why women act the way they do around men they have feelings for?"

Zuko looked down into his teacup, halfway finished. He didn't know if there was a real answer.

[Piandao]: "So, got any more funny stories about the two of you?"

[Zuko]: "Hey! They weren't funny to me!" He declared indignantly.

[Piandao]: "Sorry, sorry. But do you have any more?"

The young man began telling Piandao all sorts of comical or outright strange stories about himself and his sister. All the way up to the present day.

When he finished, Piandao grabbed the tea pitcher and refilled his teacup. Then he took a very slow, very long, unbroken sip from it until his cheeks were puffy, before swallowing and putting the now empty cup down, then saying his part.

[Piandao]: "I see. All those stories really do come across as retellings of my past romance. That's pretty interesting, if you ask me."

[Zuko]: "Heh heh yeah, pretty interesting."

The only thing he found truly strange about their conversation so far was the way Piandao had just drank his tea.

[Piandao]: "I mean really: Pushing you and laughing, pulling pranks, kissing you on the lips out of nowhere, tying you up and forcefully tickling you, blackmailing you into wearing each other's clothes? And the last one happened again, only last month? If it had been any other girl doing this to you, it would be uncalled for and grounds for punishment, sure, but it would also scream 'I'm attracted to you', wouldn't it?"

[Zuko]: "I guess?"

Piandao repeated his action from earlier and once again filled his mouth with tea.

Zuko watched, perplexed, while thinking over the man's words. Then suddenly it hit him.

His eyes then grew large, almost jutting out.

"Uhhh I think there's something I need to do soon."

[Piandao]: "How about right now?"

He needed to relieve himself anyway.

[Zuko]: "Yeah, thanks. Gonna run back to my sloop now, see you later!"

With that he took off, making sure to grab his dual broadswords and travel pack on his way out.

"Yes, ZuZu? What is it?"

He was inside her ill-lit bedroom now and standing across from her. She was sitting by candlelight in front of a mirror in her restroom chamber, bathrobe on and door wide open, combing her hair.

It seemed she never would grow bored of that nickname, he noted long ago.

[Zuko]: "Azula...I wanted to ask you something."

He was behind her now.

She stopped grooming her hair and lowered the comb. She looked through her gold-encrusted mirror into him.

[Azula]: "You mean you're about to ask something else of me."

It was a statement, not a question.

[Zuko]: "I just really wanted to know...I mean, how would you feel if for some reason I started to think a lot harder about the things we did when we were younger especially?"

Her curiosity was piqued now.

[Azula]: "Mm? What about our childhood has gotten you worked up now?"

They'd already shared their apologies for things they did, didn't do and couldn't do, hadn't they?

[Zuko]: "Well, this is probably going to sound strange, I'm sure. But, I had to know: Did you possibly, even just for a second, ever feel something not, ya know...sisterly or…more than sibling-like towards me, when we were younger?"

Azula sat still for a moment, eyes burning into the glass, before standing up from her stool, turning, then walking right up to him; her toes to his, and both arms crossed.

Her voice lowered to a faint, almost funereal whisper.

[Azula]: "...And what if I did?"

His mouth slightly gaped once her words hit him. He was stunned and not quite assured, but took a gamble. His hand hesitantly but surely found its way around her waist and lower back. She allowed this without argument.

[Zuko]: "Then...it would be ridiculous for me to wonder if there's a chance you still feel that way, wouldn't it?"

She uncrossed herself and placed one arm on his own embracing her body, and allowed her other to hover over his neck's rear. The hairs on it now pricked her fingers and palm.

She then moved her head close to his, enough that he sensed it when she blew a gust of warm air over his lips.

She whispered again to his face now; same tone, but a flirtatious edge.

[Azula]: "...And what if I do?"

All these years, they'd just been playing truth or dare. Their little game.

Note: Do you think Piandao was telling the truth here when he claimed to have a brother and wife? I still can't tell. (Not sure if he reads like the show-version either, but you can be the judge.) As always, I appreciate reader comments/reviews. Thanks~