Title: Of All the Things I've Done
Prompt: #078 Regretful
Notes: Um…I like this one. I like it a lot.
Of All the Things I've Done
Aang is dashing off, down the tunnel to somehow unknown place. The place he came from to save her. She realizes she should follow. Her brother, her surrogate sister, hell, all of Ba Sing Se, is in imminent danger. Nevermind Aang, who really does need someone around constantly to keep him out of danger.
So she follows. She walks toward the dark tunnel, wonders what lies at the end. But she finds her steps slowing, finds her head turning to look back at the man-boy who she had bonded with barely minutes before. Who she had touched barely minutes before.
As if responding to the memory, her palm tingles. It seems to say, "I remember. I remember the rasp of burnt skin and the gentle brush of his breath against my fingers. I remember how in that moment, I felt like a girl in love."
But she can't stay. The world absolutely depends on her going. On her leaving him behind.
Zuko will never know. As he talks with his uncle, as he chooses his path in life, he will never know.
He will never know that leaving him is the hardest thing she has ever done.