Blow Away The Ash- Prologue
Pairings: Sokka/Zuko, Azula/Zuko
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: self hatred, self harm, incest, sexual abuse, rape, victim arousal, eating disorders.
Summary: Every night, Zuko cries in his sleep. Sokka, who shares his tent, attempts to ignore it, but eventually he cannot, so he wakes Zuko to comfort him. Zuko tells Sokka all about what happened to him when he was young, and Sokka yearns to help him to heal.
Notes: There isn’t any Zuko/Sokka in the prologue and the first part. There will be more in later parts. Please do heed the warnings: this is probably the darkest fic I’ve ever written in terms of its content, and is more explicit than what I would usually write.
Blow Away The Ash
“Oh, the things I did, and oh, I was just a kid,
Burn me now, like an ant, with a magnifying glass,
Leave me charred and let the wind blow away the ash.”
- Burn, Admiral Fallow.
Prologue
When Zuko sleeps, he cries.
He is quiet for a while after falling asleep, but before long he is muttering and twisting his head this way and that. Soon he starts to cry, at first little trickling tears but then wracking sobs, and he begins to thrash and kick, fighting away the demons in his dreams. At first, Sokka just tries to ignore it. He attempts to block out the murmurs of “no” and “father” and “Azula”, and just doesn’t look at the young man sharing his tent, until the dreams end, and the tears stop falling, and Zuko is silent again.
But one night, when Zuko howls his sister’s name, begging her to stop, Sokka can’t stand it. He turns over, sits up, and shakes Zuko vigorously to wake him. His eyes snap open, shining with tears, and he jerks upwards. He stares at Sokka in bewilderment, then realises what must have happened, and his face drains of all colour. All at once, Sokka’s heart swells with pity and he pulls his former enemy into a tight hug, stroking his ragged hair and hushing him gently.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Sokka soothes, thinking that Zuko will pull away and be angry: but the prince’s hand clutches a fistful of Sokka’s shirt and doesn’t let go.
“I’m sorry,” Zuko says hoarsely.
“Don’t be,” Sokka replies, “Zuko, what the fuck happened to you?”
Zuko shuts his eyes, and takes a deep breathe, and knows that it’s finally time to tell.
*
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: self hatred, self harm, incest, sexual abuse, rape, victim arousal, eating disorders.
Summary: Every night, Zuko cries in his sleep. Sokka, who shares his tent, attempts to ignore it, but eventually he cannot, so he wakes Zuko to comfort him. Zuko tells Sokka all about what happened to him when he was young, and Sokka yearns to help him to heal.
Notes: There isn’t any Zuko/Sokka in the prologue and the first part. There will be more in later parts. Please do heed the warnings: this is probably the darkest fic I’ve ever written in terms of its content, and is more explicit than what I would usually write.
Blow Away The Ash
“Oh, the things I did, and oh, I was just a kid,
Burn me now, like an ant, with a magnifying glass,
Leave me charred and let the wind blow away the ash.”
- Burn, Admiral Fallow.
Prologue
When Zuko sleeps, he cries.
He is quiet for a while after falling asleep, but before long he is muttering and twisting his head this way and that. Soon he starts to cry, at first little trickling tears but then wracking sobs, and he begins to thrash and kick, fighting away the demons in his dreams. At first, Sokka just tries to ignore it. He attempts to block out the murmurs of “no” and “father” and “Azula”, and just doesn’t look at the young man sharing his tent, until the dreams end, and the tears stop falling, and Zuko is silent again.
But one night, when Zuko howls his sister’s name, begging her to stop, Sokka can’t stand it. He turns over, sits up, and shakes Zuko vigorously to wake him. His eyes snap open, shining with tears, and he jerks upwards. He stares at Sokka in bewilderment, then realises what must have happened, and his face drains of all colour. All at once, Sokka’s heart swells with pity and he pulls his former enemy into a tight hug, stroking his ragged hair and hushing him gently.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Sokka soothes, thinking that Zuko will pull away and be angry: but the prince’s hand clutches a fistful of Sokka’s shirt and doesn’t let go.
“I’m sorry,” Zuko says hoarsely.
“Don’t be,” Sokka replies, “Zuko, what the fuck happened to you?”
Zuko shuts his eyes, and takes a deep breathe, and knows that it’s finally time to tell.
*