The ice wall parted, and Zuko's head jerked up. Yue caught his eyes from the doorway and held them as she crossed the floor of his room and sank down to her knees beside him. "Zuko, what were you thinking?"
He dropped his eyes and glowered at the floor.
"Don't be like that." Grabbing his chained hands and cupping them in hers, she tried to catch his eyes again. "You had to know it wasn't going to work. What were you going to do when the cotton-poppy juice wore off?"
He stubbornly refused to look at her, and it made her unreasonably angry. He was the one who had run. He was the one who had left her alone.
"Zuko, it's me." She rubbed the back of his hand through his mitten. "Talk to me."
"What was I supposed to do?" Finally he met her eyes again, and his own were wide and unhappy before he narrowed them. "I never even had a chance to go home before, the Avatar- I never really believed he was real before, and now..."
Yue kept rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. All day, she heard people talking about it. She wondered if the guards talked about it in front of Zuko, now that he was chained up again and harmless, or if they had stopped talking in front of him at all and consigned him back to the bubble of silence that had surrounded him when he had first been captured. She didn't know which was kinder, and she hoped that mattered to the guards, at least a little, enough for them to consider it.
They never had ever had a chance before either, not really. Nobody talked about it, because nobody wanted to remember, but they all knew that the only thing keeping the Fire Nation from their door was that they just weren't worth the struggle, at least not while the Earth Kingdom was around, richer, and easier to pick away at. But that wouldn't last forever, and everybody knew it.
It was usually much, much easier to forget about all of that when she was with Zuko, to forget that out there, it was Zuko's nation that was creeping ever closer to swallowing them whole. "Do you think your father really would have loved you again if you brought him the Avatar?"
"He does love me!" The ice under him hissed as it melted and boiled all at once. "I just have to-"
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branchandroot
Holding This Breath - The aftermath of kidnapping Aang 1/2
Date: 2012-12-03 04:57 am (UTC)He dropped his eyes and glowered at the floor.
"Don't be like that." Grabbing his chained hands and cupping them in hers, she tried to catch his eyes again. "You had to know it wasn't going to work. What were you going to do when the cotton-poppy juice wore off?"
He stubbornly refused to look at her, and it made her unreasonably angry. He was the one who had run. He was the one who had left her alone.
"Zuko, it's me." She rubbed the back of his hand through his mitten. "Talk to me."
"What was I supposed to do?" Finally he met her eyes again, and his own were wide and unhappy before he narrowed them. "I never even had a chance to go home before, the Avatar- I never really believed he was real before, and now..."
Yue kept rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. All day, she heard people talking about it. She wondered if the guards talked about it in front of Zuko, now that he was chained up again and harmless, or if they had stopped talking in front of him at all and consigned him back to the bubble of silence that had surrounded him when he had first been captured. She didn't know which was kinder, and she hoped that mattered to the guards, at least a little, enough for them to consider it.
They never had ever had a chance before either, not really. Nobody talked about it, because nobody wanted to remember, but they all knew that the only thing keeping the Fire Nation from their door was that they just weren't worth the struggle, at least not while the Earth Kingdom was around, richer, and easier to pick away at. But that wouldn't last forever, and everybody knew it.
It was usually much, much easier to forget about all of that when she was with Zuko, to forget that out there, it was Zuko's nation that was creeping ever closer to swallowing them whole. "Do you think your father really would have loved you again if you brought him the Avatar?"
"He does love me!" The ice under him hissed as it melted and boiled all at once. "I just have to-"