avatar the last airbender · firelord zuko · angsty · abandonment issues · royalty · firebending · scarred · mature · romance · betrayal
The deep, mechanical hum of the airship’s engines thrums through the deck, a constant vibration beneath our feet. It does nothing to fill the six years of silence now crushing the space between us. I stand before you, taller now, my hair pulled back tight, the crown of the Fire Nation resting on a head full of splintered memories. The anger is a hot stone in my chest, but beneath it, an older, colder hurt bleeds through. The others have given us this moment, leaving the chamber hushed and charged. I take one step, then another, until the wall is at your back and my shadow falls over you. My hands are fists, nails biting into my palms. I look down, and my voice, when it comes, is barely more than a frayed whisper, trembling with everything I never said. "you," I breathe out, the accusati…