Work Text:
After two weeks worth of sailing, the Earth Kingdom is nothing but a hop, skip and throw away.
The final obstacle to your destination is a narrow waterway that the typical hulking Fire Nation ships cannot physically pass through. You think that’s why the Fire Lord insisted on embarking with the smallest ship in the nation’s fleet.
It was a point of heated debate, you heard. His advisors persistently pushed the ‘proper’ and ‘traditional’ ship fit for the King of the Fire Nation, the imperial ship followed by a convoy of smaller, military ships. A grand display of the nation’s sovereignty and capability to recover from Fire Lord Ozai’s reign of terror. The young Fire Lord is steadfast in his decision though, albeit a little rough around the edges, you respect him. Even in times of peace, what the ships symbolize still stand. The last thing the Fire Lord wants is to destroy the peaceful diplomacy he worked so hard to cultivate.
That’s also why you’re here.
You are a fire dancer. Molding the shape of your firebending to the rhythm of your body. It's a thrilling experience; the heat, the light, the embers surrounding you when you perform makes you feel alive. You twirl, twist and sway to the spark and lick of your fire. Fire is beauty, fire is life, it is also the most dangerous art form to practice—you’ve suffered countless burns from the flames licking too close to your vulnerable skin.
It started off as just for you, but with the changes in perspective and the new era of peace that the avatar and his crew ushered in, you’ve gone on to share your art with others. You dance in the town center, adrenaline pumping through your veins as people are enraptured by your performance. That adrenaline rush has kept you coming back for more and more, until two weeks ago. Now you’re here.
You lean over the metal railing of the deck, eyes tracing the bustling market of the port. The air is fresh and smells of salt and the intermingling scents of delicious fruit local to the Earth Kingdom. Your mouth waters, attracted to all the appetizing goods. If you have to eat another ration of dried meat and salted egg, you think you might throw up.
All this waiting is making you feel restless, being cooped up on a boat for that long and now that the sweet, solid ground is practically grazing your fingers, you can’t help but want to get off more and more desperately. In a few minutes, a convoy composed of you, a few of the imperial advisors, the ambassador to the Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Lord will disembark and continue the last stretch of—almost a month of your life—in small Earth Kingdom canoes through the canal.
In the two weeks you’ve spent onboard the ship, you barely crossed paths with the Fire Lord. Or, you’ve tried to deliberately stay out of the way. He seemed to be in a perpetual state of terrible mood when your gaze inevitably landed onto him. It could be the advisors and crew members flocking around him at all hours of the day, though. You never see the Fire Lord unattended or if he was, he was training on the open deck of the ship.
You never picked up fire bending in the offensive way that your Fire nation schooling attempted to mold you into. It never interested you, either. But the way Fire Lord Zuko wielded flames was… mesmerizing. His muscled torso moved with intention and power, each movement was precise and sure. Fire billowed and puffed around the deck, bright but not enough to burn.
He was dedicated to his bending. Nothing had ever been more fascinating. Or attractive.
Other than watching the Fire Lord train, you had just been counting down the days.
As soon as you disembark the ship, your feet gravitate to sweet melon slices on sticks that you’ve been eyeing even on the ship. You buy two. Of course. You join your little group and make your deeper into the port, you stand to the wayside. Gaze sweeping from booth to booth, to the Earth Kingdom people in their natural element, to the Fire Lord speaking to his advisors and Earth Kingdom escorts ahead of you. The sweet melon is cool and sweet on your tongue as you people watch—or watch the Fire Lord. Fire Lord Zuko furrows his brow, listening intently to whatever the escort is telling him at the moment. Though you can only catch fragments of their conversation.
Two by two, Fire nation officials step into the boats. You wait by the side, watching all the boats motor on, thinking you’d share one with the Earth nation escort while the Fire Lord keeps his own boat. As would be expected. You drum your fingers across your folded elbow, absentmindedly waiting for the Fire Lord to board on and propel forward.
But then the Fire Lord turns to you, expectantly gesturing for you to get into the boat. You blink at him at first, rooted to your spot. You stare at each other for a beat before the escort awkwardly coughs into his fist. Code for: hurry it up. Before you know it, you’re standing before the Fire Lord. For the first time, after two weeks of sailing together.
“Fire Lord,” you bow, heart beating with nervousness.
“Please call me Zuko,” he smiles and you attempt to smile back. The Fire Lord tips his head to you to step into the wooden boat before him. You murmur a thank you, slowly moving past him to sit on the painted wood panels. He follows soon after, stepping in and sitting next to you, a mere inch between you and the Fire Lord. You watch in silence as he starts the small motor attached to the boat and it sputters to life. Whirring you forward through the water.
It’s silent for an excruciatingly long time. You dare not move or do anything that would draw attention. The boat rocks with the water, droplets occasionally landing on your skin. The sun is dipping low in the horizon ahead of you, bathing the sky in pinks and oranges. It’s almost romantic.
When the boat jostles a little harsher with the current, you lurch to the side, colliding with the side of the Fire Lord. Almost immediately, you snap back with apologies flowing out of your mouth. Even if all your brain could focus on is how solid and muscled he felt, your face erupts into flustered flames.
Gosh, this cannot be more awkward.
The rest of the Fire Lord’s advisors are in similar boats ahead of the one you share with him. Other than that, there is nothing but water and foliage, and the Fire Lord, boxing you in at every side.
“I—”
“You—”
“Ah—sorry, you can go first.” you fluster. Eyes stubbornly fixed past him. You cannot bear this, looking at anything but the Fire Lord. Heat starts to prickle at your cheeks, and not the type you like.
“I wanted to say that my advisors were too intimidated to stay in my presence for long that's why they sailed off first,” he says, folding and unfolding his arms across his chest. “And, well, I didn’t want you to ride a boat on your own.”
That’s… very considerate of him. You blink. “Oh…”
“And while we were aboard the Fire nation ship, you seemed to be alone, a lot.”
You bring your arms closer to yourself, tracing the hem of your clothing. Curse your fluttering heart. “Ah, yes. Thank you, Fire Lord Zuko.”
“Please,” he says again, “just Zuko is okay.”
You observe him, there’s a tinge of desperation in his eyes. Like the title is too heavy for him to hear from your voice. Slowly you taste the word in your mouth, “Thank you… Zuko.”
Zuko smiles, his demeanor shifts in a way that you can practically see his shoulders slackening in relief. Your head tilts at that, maybe he’s exhausted from acting as the essential authority ceaselessly while you were on the ship. And, well the two of you are quite similar in age.
After that, pleasant small talk would fill in some of the silence. He asks how the trip was for you. You ask how he handles that many people hounding him all the time. It’s a simple back and forth of conversation.
“How about before the trip? Anything memorable?” he asks, a few times in your conversation his hair would whip up in your face. Zuko was apologetic every time, but you really don’t mind. at all.
“Well, I do like dancing. It was just something I did in private before, though. With all the restraints and all.”
Zuko’s lips tighten into a line. And for a moment you think bringing up life under Fire Lord Ozai’s rule was too much of a sore spot. You ready a change of topic on the tip of your tongue when he then turns to you again.
“If it’s fine with you, could you tell me more about it?”
You have an inkling that Zuko is trying to gauge your life under his father's rule. You nod, shuffling through your memories.
“I lived farther away from the capital city so I had a little less constraints,” you recount your younger days to him. “My grandma liked to watch me dance, so it was to entertain her at first. That was before I learned how to dance with my fire.” How you found the momentum of your firebending and molded it to the twists and extensions of your body. How natural moving in tandem with the flames instead of forcing it on the offensive.
It feels odd, sharing the mundanity of your life to someone like the Fire Lord, he’s been on more adventures than you can count and is friends with the literal avatar. But Zuko nods along, eyes darting from you to the passing foliage along the river. He smiles when you tell him about your moody teenage days, listens intently when you talk about the development of your fire dancing.
“Have you watched one of my dances?”
“No—not me, I, ah, someone recommended I bring you along to the Earth Kingdom with me.”
Nodding along, you blink…You can’t say you aren’t disappointed.
“One of your advisors?”
He pauses, body rigid. You think he is slightly awkward personality wise, unlike your previous preconceptions of him, Fire Lord Zuko is just as normal as any other person. Fire Lord or not.
“Uhm, my friend, Aang.” he laughs awkwardly. “You might know him.”
You gape at him. Might know him? You would need to live under a rock or also be frozen for a 100 years to not know the avatar.
“The avatar—the avatar, avatar Aang, told you about me?” you gasp, eyes widening. A proud smile curls on his lips, a cute little dimple forms on the right side of his face, when you forgo your restraint. “How?”
Zuko relaxes, body slackening as if the mere mention of his good friend—the avatar—is enough to make the fond memories replay in his head. “Aang’s been everywhere and has practically seen everything. He told me he saw you dance at a cave party years ago. He was there too, undercover. It seems hard to imagine how he covered up those tattoos, though.”
You blink, thinking about your rigid school days.
“...Kuzon?” a disbelieving scoff pushes past your lips. Thinking back on it, he did bear an uncanny resemblance to the avatar. He was such a character, you wouldn’t ever forget his oddities. To think you danced with the avatar in elementary school!
You let out a disbelieving laugh, eyes alight with mirth. “I… I can’t believe it. That’s why he disappeared so suddenly in the middle of the year.”
Zuko scoffs lightheartedly, “He does tend to bounce from one place to another.” You chuckle at his tone, how fond he is of the avatar.
You sit with the realization silently, twiddling with your fingers. In the span of a few hours, the Fire Lord has successfully gotten you comfortable and laughing along with him. You’re sitting closer than you’ve ever imagined being to him. Ever. But the thought prickling at the back of your mind suddenly sits at the tip of your tongue.
“But why?” you ask.
“Hm?” Zuko tilts his head slightly, tucking a lock of his hair behind his ear. Your eyes follow.
You angle your head away, caught off guard. Seriously, what is going on with you?
“When I got the message from the imperial palace, I thought I would be entertaining for one of the festivals or something. But now, I’m here in Earth Kingdom territory…” Zuko nods along, patiently listening. “My dances are displays of twirling fire.” Clearing your throat, you continue. “So why bring a fire dancer? It is a diplomatic meeting, isn’t it? Wouldn’t they be put off by such a daring display of flames?”
Zuko pauses, his eyes drag up to the darkened sky above the two of you. The moon shines full and bright. You keep looking at him, the sound of cricket-moths and firefly-beetles filling in the silence. The small boat motor rumbles behind, propelling you closer and closer to your destination.
“People have to see firebending past its capability for violence and destruction,” he breaks the silence, eyes fastened on the twinkling lights overhead. You follow the line of his gaze, constellations are splattered across the sky. “Otherwise that will be all they think our nation is capable of.”
You hum, tracing the invisible lines of Ursa Minor to Polaris. The starlight reflects like silver on the calm river waters. Then your eyes sweep to the Fire Lord—to Zuko. The moonlight illuminates him, long dark hair reflecting light like polished obsidian. He looks lovely, without his elaborate imperial robes, strong hands skimming the water on the side of the boat, and with his head tilted up to the skies. You stare, gaze sweeping the picturesque vision of your nation’s king to commit it to memory. This is the closest, you think, you’ve been to someone who’s changed the world for the better.
You tell him such. Stifling a laugh when his face snaps to yours. Zuko flusters, mumbling something about honor and you grin.