your love is my oxygen - Zuko x reader

Bitter Work

Y/N's POV
Iroh started to stir and Zuko leaned forwards, "Uncle? You were unconscious. Azula did this to you, it was a surprise attack."

I helped Iroh sit up as he replied, "somehow, that's not so surprising."

As soon as he was sat up and leant against the wall, Zuko handed him the cup of tea he had prepared, "I hope I made it the way you like it."

Iroh's eyes softened as he took the cup from his nephew, but winced when he took a sip, pulling it from his lips, "mm- good." He downed the rest of it quickly, "That was very... um, bracing."

Zuko poured him another cup before handing one to me and pouring one for himself; in the time that Zuko was distracted, Iroh emptied his cup out of the window behind him.

I held my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing and Iroh places a finger over his lips, mouthing, "shh."

I nodded and pulled my fingers across my lips like a zipper.

I took a sip from my cup, it wasn't the worst tea I had ever had, but it certainly wasn't the best.

"So, uncle, I've been thinking, it's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced fire bending if I wanna stand a chance against her- I know what you're gonna say: 'she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her.'"

Iroh placed his cup down, pulling himself up to his feet, "no. She's crazy, and she needs to go down. It's time to resume your training."

Iroh left to gather herbs for tea, whilst Zuko and I were instructed to stay put- I did offer to gather them for him, but he insisted. 

"Oh, yeah, Zuko! You know that little Earth Kingdom girl that helped us corner Princess Azula?"

He nodded.

"Your uncle and I actually met her earlier, she had tea with us. She's a lot like you, she has this silly idea that she has to do things alone, and she hates flying!"

He scoffed, "I don't hate flying, I just don't trust your flying."

I rolled my eyes, smirking, "there's not many air benders left, you can't be picky about who's flying you trust."

"I'm not being picky, I just don't have a death wish."

"Consider me offended! I bet you'd trust your little boyfriend, Aang. Damn, chasing him around the world just for a ride on his glider, when I'm right here- the pain!"

He rolled his eyes, ignoring me.

There were a few moments of silence between us before I decided to ask the question that had been playing on my mind since we had arrived, "Zuko, you know your sister?"

"Uh- yeah?"

"Why's her fire blue?"

He exhaled, "it's just the temperature of the flames, blue is the hottest form of fire; Azula is just really good at everything she does. Even her fire is perfect."

I sat up, "woah, that's so cool! In my hundred-and-sixteen years I have never seen a fire bender make blue fire! What a time to be alive!"

He sighed, standing up to peer out of the broken wall, "you're so weird."

—

When Iroh returned to us, I decided to give the two of them space to train and left to gather food.

I was on a tree branch, searching for any fruit or nuts the tree might've had, when a bolt of lightning flashed through the sky.

That's weird.

I returned a few hours later to find Iroh alone, worry evident on his face.

"Hey, Iroh, is everything alright?"

He sighed, "Zuko ran off into the mountains to find some lightning- he is upset that I refused to shoot lighting at him after teaching him how to redirect it."

I thought back to the night of the terrible storm, when I watched Iroh demonstrate the technique that he had just spoken of; it made sense.

Instead of dwelling on it, I dropped my bag of food and sighed, "I'll be back soon."

—

"YOU'VE ALWAYS THROWN EVERYTHING YOU COULD AT ME! WELL, I CAN TAKE IT. AND NOW I CAN GIVE IT BACK!"

It sounded like Zuko was stood on top of one of the mountains, screaming at the sky as lightning struck the surrounding mountains.

"COME ON! STRIKE ME! YOU'VE NEVER HELD BACK BEFORE!"

I could barely see as I tried to glide through the storm, following the sound of his distressed yells.

He yelled out one more time before I found him on his knees, with tears streaming down his face, defeated.

I hesitated before slowly making my way in front of him, and squatting down, placing my glider on the floor.

He didn't look up at me at first, but when he did, he quickly glanced away, not saying a word.

He was in so much pain.

I dropped forwards onto my knees and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him close. At first, he didn't return the gesture, he just tensed up; though after a few moments, his tension melted away and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling himself closer and squeezing me tighter.

I could feel his shaking breath, as I ran my hand up and down his back, doing my best to soothe him.

After a little while, he pulled away and I offered him a jokey smile, "let's get back, we wouldn't want his highness to catch a cold, now would we?"

He furrowed his eyebrow at my glider, "I am not getting on that thing."

I shook my head, "oh, Zuko, don't be daft. You think I'm risking gliding with another person in this weather? Besides, I'm not just going to leave the ostrich horse here."

I wasn't always the best at dealing with people's emotions; I often found it difficult to empathise with them.

But when I was travelling with Iroh, he told me something; 'sometimes people simply want somebody to listen to them, other times people seek advice, but often, when somebody doesn't want to speak, they just need to know that somebody is there, and that they are loved.'

I hope that I was able to do that for Zuko