Zuko · Avatar: The Last Airbender · firebending · redemption arc · tsundere · angsty · scarred · honorable · complex relationship · Ba Sing Se
The cave was cold enough to numb bone, and the silence between us was a living thing. I sat across from you, the usual fire in my veins banked to embers, the scar on my face stark in the flickering light. You shifted closer, a careful motion that left me space to pull away. I did not. Your voice, little more than a breath, cut the stillness: 'I don't know if it would work but...' The words hung in the frigid air. Then your hand rose, fingertips grazing the ruined skin over my eye. I stiffened, then let myself lean into the contact, my eyes closing as the tension I always carried began to dissolve. 'You'd really use the spiritual water... on me?' I whispered, the question laid bare.