your love is my oxygen - Zuko x reader

The Necklace

Zuko's POV
I clenched my jaw and exhaled sharply, "That's- why do you even care?"

She folded her arms and shrugged, "honestly, I just think you're kind of interesting. And it'd be nice to know what kind of person I'm currently living with, you know?"

I was lost for words for a few moments before quickly snapping, "well, you were banished, too! You've not told me anything about that and I'm the one who let you stay on my ship!"

Her expression quickly dropped and she mumbled, "there's no need to be so angry about it... I was only asking."

She used air bending to bring her staff up from the floor before opening it into a glider and leaving me without a goodbye. At first, I thought she was actually leaving the ship, but she just flew onto the roof and slumped herself there grumpily.

I rolled my eyes and made my way back inside.

Uncle was sat playing pai sho with a member of the crew, as I passed him I stated, "I'm going to meditate."

—

I sat in my room with my eyes shut, breathing in and out, controlling the flame of the candles in front of me as I did.

I needed a clear mind.

I needed to go home, to my father, to my throne- I needed my honour.

I had never been so close but so far from finally achieving what I've spent years trying to reach.

After a while, I grabbed my telescope and made my way to the front of the ship- I wasn't going to get anything done sitting around in my room.

But as I walked through the hallway, I could hear the sound of rain bucketing down on the ship.

How inconvenient.

I wandered back to my uncle and asked, "now, what? It's been an entire day and we still have no idea where the avatar is!"

He exhaled, "we have no idea where Y/N is either."

For a moment it felt like my heart stopped, I turned to the door- is she out there? In the storm?

I gritted my teeth and stormed towards the door, swinging it open and looking up to the roof, but she wasn't there.

The harsh waves almost tossed me backwards, but as they shifted my feet, I saw something moving at the top of the watch tower.

"Y/N!?"

She pulled herself up and looked down at me rolling her eyes, "you know, Prince Zuko, you should really get inside. I wouldn't say that we're really in your element."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm out here because you're foolish enough to be out in this weather, might I remind you that this isn't exactly your element either."

She scoffed, "might I remind you, we're always in my element."

That girl and her stupid comebacks really irked me sometimes.

I clenched my fists and yelled up, "Y/N can you just get inside! It's dangerous up there."

She gave out a long exhale before she grabbed her glider and jumped from the edge of the watch tower, slightly getting caught in the wind as she gritted her teeth trying to bend her way back down. When she got close enough, I grabbed her leg and tugged her down, dragging her inside by her arm.

As I slammed the door behind us I yelled, "what is the matter with you!? You're so dramatic! You could've died!"

She rolled her eyes, "don't be daft, Zuko. I'm fine. You're the one being dramatic, running out in the rain like that," she smirked and pulled a baby face at me, mockingly, "his highness could've caught a cold."

I felt my fists clenched together as I clenched my jaw, "what is your problem!?"

She raised an eyebrow at me, oblivious to what I was talking about, "I didn't do anything, what are you talking about?"

I folded my arms, "why were you just sitting in the rain at the top of the watch tower like an idiot!?"

She sighed, "it's not like I have a problem with you. I just needed to think about some stuff, I like the rain- that's all."

I relaxed my tense body slightly and muttered, "whatever, I'm going to find uncle."

—

Two days had passed and I still had no idea where the avatar had gone, Y/N wasn't being of any help and uncle was clearly uninterested.

I was sat in my room going over the map, trying to figure out where he could've possibly gone when I heard a knock at the door.

"AGH, WHAT DO YOU WANT!?"

Y/N pushed the door open and slid in, "someone's in a bad mood today, huh?"

I hung my head and sighed, "what do you want?"

"Nothing," she hummed, "but I think I have a tiny idea on where Aang might be?"

I sat up and turned to her, "what? Where?"

She walked over to behind me and leaned over my shoulder, pointing at the map, "well, I'm not sure but there's been news of some sort of disturbance or whatever over here, in the Earth kingdom, there's a shipyard that's used as a prison for earth benders, it's made of metal so they can't leave."

I glanced up at her rather bluntly, "so?"

"So, if there was any trouble it couldn't have been an earth bender since they can't bend anything. It had to have been an air bender or a water bender, and we know that Aang is travelling with a water bender- ugh, I don't know- I just thought that perhaps it was an alright lead."

I paused for a moment before nodding to her, "yeah... it actually is, that makes sense. Uh- wait here a second."

I jumped up and went straight to the captain, commanding him to change our course and heading back to Y/N.

"Thanks for that, I didn't think you were even tracking the avatar."

"I'm not! Well... I wasn't. I thought that maybe... you looked so down, I wanted to cheer you up a bit."

I inhaled, feeling the slightest bit of warmth rush to my cheeks as I processed that, "oh... well, thank you."

—

As we approached the shipyard, everything was in ruins and it was almost empty.

I stepped off of my ship to find the warden and Y/N grabbed her glider, soaring ahead of us into the prison.

Before I could even enter the prison myself, Y/N circled back to me and handed me a blue necklace with an engraved pendant dangling from it, "I found this among the damage up there."

I examined it before concluding, "this belongs to the Water Tribe girl travelling with the avatar, you were right, Y/N, they were here."