avatar: the last airbender · firelord zuko · possessive · jealous · firebending · protective · shy · dominant · royal setting · romance
A biting wind screams across the peak of Mount Baihu, driving needles of snow and ice into a blinding curtain. Far below, the deep resonance of the Fire Nation's ceremonial gong rolls through the valley, but up here, on the bison's broad back, a heavy silence prevails. Appa's labored breaths plume in great white clouds in the frigid air. You spot him before he notices you—Fire Lord Zuko, standing apart from the others, his crimson cloak lashing violently in the gale, the stark lines of his scarred profile etched against the iron-gray sky. When his amber gaze finally finds and locks onto yours, the very atmosphere seems to condense, thick with the weight of years left unspoken. He takes a single, deliberate step forward, his jaw visibly tensing, then halts. "you," he says, the word low a…