AN: Idea prompted from a classmate of mine. She's always giving me ideas to write down into a story. This is long overdue, but at least I'm doing it. Zuko POV throughout, for a change. I'm trying something new. About the title: multiple inspirations. Internet cookies to those who can guess what they are.
Dedication: Said classmate/idea woman.
Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or any themes relating to it.
"Aaaahhh!!!"
As I heard the screams of the two other members of my alleged "Love Triangle" as that demon-spawn put it, I seriously felt a sense of nostalgia. I wanted to see my sire, and answer to him a phrase he often uttered.
"Azula was born lucky. You were lucky to be born."
Said demon-spawn started cackling maniacally.
No, Ozai, I would say. I was not lucky to be born. At this moment, I seriously wish I wasn't at all.
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It had all started out as a regular day in the life of the Fire Lord. I was at the Palace, waking up from another fitful night of sleep that contained dreams of the past, the present, and even on occasion the future. Dreams that constantly retold my faults, my insecurities. Dreams that showed the Avatar, the gang, Uncle, Mother…
My recollection of dreams and my thoughts on my place in the universe were interrupted by a knock on my door. The servants coming to help me dress. It was just after sunrise, and my morning was peaceful. I had taken this acceptance of life and happiness with myself for granted. And of course I would be in for a rude awakening later.
But until then, I ate, met with advisors, went through paperwork, and basically performed my daily obligations as Fire Lord. At a late lunch due to a meeting with the Agricultural Minister that ran late, a messenger came in, bearing the news that would doom me.
"My Lord! The Avatar and his friends have arrived!"
And my peaceful day was shot down with a gust of wind signifying the arrival of my formal pupil and teammates.
"Aang…guys…what a surprise to see you…"
"Sifu Hotman! Look at this!"
And the childish Avatar proceeded to start bending fire and air at the same time for some trick before he was whapped over the head by the demon spa—I mean Toph.
"Save it, Twinkletoes, we got important business to do here!"
I rubbed my temples, sighing. Great, another meeting. So much for peaceful. Especially with their antics.
"Where are Sokka and Suki?" I had bothered to ask before things became even more of a headache.
"At the South Pole. Suki thought she'd teach the Water Tribe kids some Kiyoshi Warrior moves, and you know Sokka…" Katara offered, the sanest of the Gaang members.
"Hey Sparky, where's Gloomy Girl?"
Toph offered back to me, a smirk lighting her face up in a foreshadowing of things to come that I had obviously overlooked.
"Mai should be—"
"I heard my name." Her emotionless voice sounded behind me, and I turned to see my girlfriend approaching us, as expressionless as ever.
"Perfect." Toph almost purred. Toph, purring? Not a good sign at all. "How about you take us to the training grounds, Sparky, so we can get things started!" She then commanded us. And I had no choice but to comply.
I fell in step with Katara, farther ahead of the group as I led them outside, even though they knew perfectly well how to maneuver the palace.
"So what's this surprise visit about?" I asked Katara, as she seemed like the most reliable and trustworthy person to ask.
"No idea." Katara replied, glancing at me with a look that says "You know Toph" and then looking right back in front of her. "She just announced to Aang and I one day that we had urgent business with you here in the Fire Nation, and had to leave. Both Aang and I tried to question her, but she wouldn't spill."
"Great. Do you have a sinking feeling about this? Because I've had this feeling since you walked in the door."
"Yes, I actually do. This can't be good. We better be on our guard."
"I've got your back, Katara." I smiled playfully, and she returned it, eyes staying on mine.
"I think yours is the one that needs watching."
And before I could comment once more, we were at our destination.
"Here we are—"
"About time! Now Sugar Queen, Gloomy Girl, get over here! Aang, I need you to stand over there." And Toph pointed to the farthest portion of the grounds away from us. I should have known this was not good at all.
"But—"
"Just do it!"
Aang begrudging stalked over to his corner, no longer full of sunshine and happiness and all the Anti-Zuko stuff.
"Now the rest of you, let's play a game…"
And that brings us to the present.
"Sparky, you can only save one of them! Choose quick!" Toph bellowed over to me, and I could hear the laughter in her voice.
The Avatar was apparently encased in Earth, and even as I registered him breaking free of it, they were falling too fast for him to save anyone.
I did the one thing any sane man would do: I panicked.
Mai and Katara was catapulting straight down faster than I could think, and I let my instincts take over.
I landed in a heap with a groan, the wind knocked out of me from the girl piled on top of me.
"Why are you always the one jumping in front of me and saving me?" Katara asked as she eased off me, hopping up and rolling her shoulders carefully.
I dusted the dirt off my casual robes, ones just like what I'd worn back at the Western Air Temple (except bigger, of course).
"Why are you always in need of being saved?" I glared into her oceanic eyes full of fire…does that even make any sense?
"I could have landed perfectly fine myself!"
"Sure you could have…" I retorted with my favorite weapon of my arsenal: sarcasm.
Our noses were brushing, as through our argument our faces had gotten closer. Of course now, in mid-glare, do I realize the predicament. And just as I could feel my face starting to heat up, as well as Katara's eyes widening in realization, I was plunged into the earth.
If my back hadn't been hurting before, it was killing me now.
Katara just sighed, thumping her head on my chest once.
"Um, Katara, would you mind getting off me?" My voice echoed, and I came to wonder how there was some sort of underground tunnel or cave or something beneath my palace that no one had bothered to inform me of.
She scrambled off, kneeing me in a few choice places by accident in the dark that made us blinder than the demon cackling above use somewhere.
I lit a fire in my palm, using my elbow as leverage to sit up. We were in a circular came roughly the size of the one Katara and I had been imprisoned in at Ba Sing Se. Minus the creepy green glowing crystals, of course. It was just pure brown earth. I wouldn't put it past Toph to have made this herself and have been hatching some grand-master plan for months now. Payback for not having some special "Zuko Field Trip" before the Comet came.
I was trapped in a cave alone with Katara. Again.
Great.
My life officially sucked more than it did five minutes ago.
"Uh, earth to Zuko? You've been having the strangest expressions on you face for a while now, and it was kinda creeping me out."
"Uh, sorry?" Wow, this wasn't awkward at all.
"Yeah, sure you are." She mumbled, looking at our surroundings. "Hey, do you think that—"
"Yes, this place has Toph's name written all over it."
Katara groaned, throwing herself onto her back to stare into the darkness above. "So what do we do now?"
"I don't know about you, but I'm not going to let Toph finish whatever scheme she's got going on…"
I stood up, walking around in circles as I tried to invoke my inner-Iroh/Sokka/Aang/hell even Toph in getting out of the situation…it didn't take long for me to plop down next to Katara.
"Any sparks of enlightenment, Sparky?"
"…You should leave the jokes to Sokka and Toph."
"…You're the second person to tell me that…"
I didn't reply, and everything was silent. What was Toph waiting for? Just bring us back up, already!
I threw a fireball at the wall in frustration.
"Zuko! What are you doing?!" She was incredulous.
"I don't know! I'm frustrated!" I countered back. And it was anything but a lie.
"Well me, too, but you don't see me attacking things! What if the cave would have collapsed?"
"It wouldn't have. Toph may be evil, but she wouldn't kill us." I turned my head away, which had gotten mere inches in front of her in our argument.
"…You're impossible." She whispered it out, not at all angrily. I turned again to look at her, a remorseful look on her face as the shadows from the fire danced across her features.
Great. Mood-swingy women. Just what I needed.
"Um…"
"You never answered my question before. Why exactly did you jump in front of me over Mai?"
Joy. I thought I'd evaded this one before…no matter what way I answer this thing, my ass if going to get whooped.
"Um...well…you see…Toph hit you into the air at an angle you couldn't recover from, but Mai could…?"
Katara raised an eyebrow.
"And Mai is like a ninja. But we did have that ninja mission to find Yon Ra…"
Katara's other brow raised.
"What I'm trying to say is…I just chose you, okay!"
I turned my face away from her, blushing like I used to around girls in that "awkward phase" I'd thought I'd grown out of. This was almost as bad as my attempt at juggling with that Earth Kingdom girl…
"Uh-huh." Katara answered, suspicious.
…Except Katara is more perceptive…much more perceptive.
"You weren't thinking me…weak…were you?" The icy tone made me shiver, but it would have been a hell of a lot worse if she'd have known my real reason.
"Of course not Katara. You? Weak? You've kicked my ass plenty of times to show you're not weak!"
The fire in my hand was making weird shadows play across Katara's face. I didn't like it at all.
"But I wasn't strong enough to land?"
"Well, I mean…shouldn't you be flattered? I chose to catch you over my own girlfriend." The implements of this statement had me blushing before Katara's eyes could widen and look to the floor, and was that a blush on her face as well? I couldn't tell, it could have just been the shadows.
"Well then, I guess I should thank you…" Her eyes shifted to look into mine in what looked like a nervous way, and she inched closer to me. My breath hitched. The fire in my hand went out. My eyes closed. Her lips touched me…on the cheek.
Wait.
What was that?
Well, damn.
"Aw man, Sparky and Sweetness, you can't do anything right!" Toph's bellowing voice could be heard above us, and Katara and I pulled away from each other fast.
"Ahhh!" The earth under us catapulted up, the force throwing us onto the ground, and in a moment we were back in the sunlight.
As I blinked at the sudden change in lighting and my eyes adjusted thoroughly, I was looking into a pair of angry eyes. I cringed, looking away from the Avatar to look into a pair of even angrier eyes. Those of my girlfriend. Or maybe now ex-girlfriend.
"Remember what I warned you on the day of your coronation, Fire Lord?" Mai said in a chillingly unemotional voice. Instantaneously her throwing daggers were in her hands. I scrambled up, and into a run.
"Mai, it's not what you think!" I yelled between dodges of her weapons. I could hear the cackling of my war-friends behind me.
And so goes another day in the life of the Fire Lord.