Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
Wow. Updating twice in one night! I guess you guys deserve it since I made you wait so long for the last chapter!
Zuko ran his thumb over the smooth, cool stone. His fingers stroked the blue velvet.
He pretended not to notice his growing addiction to the strange piece of jewelry.
He pretended not to see his slight obsession with its foreign carvings.
He pretended not to be intrigued by the peculiar girl who it originally belonged to.
Really, it shouldn't bother him this much. Why should he care so much about the story behind this necklace? Perhaps it was that being on a ship with nothing to do but train and yell at the crew became quite boring and gave him nothing else to focus on.
It confused him. The girl had mentioned the necklace as being her mother's, and it obviously was important to her, so why had she refused the chance of getting it back? It was strange to him how she was pining after the necklace at one moment, and then telling him to jump into a river the next.
The Prince inspected the stone carefully. He traced the designs with his finger, attempting to figure out what they meant.
He wondered where the girl's mother was now. He thought of her devotion to her friends, especially to the Avatar. He puzzled over how she was able to devote herself so easily to his cause. Was it out of obligation? Did she do it out of hatred of the Fire Nation? Was she in love with the little monk?
All these questions and thoughts swirled around his head, only serving to confuse him more. Vaguely he wondered why he even cared, why this peasant girl and her necklace held so much of his attention. Maybe he was only curious because of her acquaintance with the Avatar. Possibly, he was interested in her waterbending ability, seeing that he had never really met a waterbender before.
Perhaps it was her looks. Her dark skin, wavy hair, and bright eyes that were so different from the ones he was used to seeing, yet oddly pretty in a girlish kind of charm. Although she was so obviously foreign, Zuko did not find her repulsive. In fact, the Prince found her quite attractive, though he would never admit that to anyone.
He tugged lightly at the soft material, lost in thought. He wondered what their relationship would be like if there wasn't a war. Would they be enemies? Friends? ...More?
"Prince Zuko, we have the Avatar's bison in sight." His Uncle had appeared in the doorway to his room. "Perhaps you would like to join the crew and I on the deck?"
Zuko shoved the necklace into his sleeve, hiding it from his Uncle out of unnecessary embarrassment. "Yes, Uncle. I'll be right there."
The old man disappeared and Zuko was left to reconstruct himself. He was glad that his Uncle had intervened when he did. He had been treading on dangerous ground. What had he been thinking? Why would anything like that possibly concern him at the moment?
Zuko shook his head, heading for the door. "Hormones. Always blame the hormones."
The necklace was still clasped around his wrist.
Well, it's currently 5 in the morning, which means I pulled an all-nighter... Sheesh. The things I do for you guys. ;)
Review if you feel like brightening my day!
Also! Just so you know, if you like these drabbles, check out my story What Could Go Wrong?
MI3