Drowning in Ba Sing Se
First actual fic with the skypirate!AU. Yay!
Summary: The city of Ba Sing Se is underground. Firebenders need the the sun. Zuko panics.
The writing itself is a bit... chaotic. We're in Zuko's head, and it's not a fun place to be.
He's washing dishes. The store is quiet, the small fire for heating the tea is dead. The room has no windows, except to the customer area (why bother with windows underground?) Floor, walls, ceiling made of rock.
Zuko had spent three years (almost) on an airship. Where there was lots of air, and sunlight, and space and he could breathe and, spirits, had he mentioned sunlight? Ba Sing Se did not have these. It did not have space, the air was stale and tasted like dirt, and it most definitely did not have sunlight.
Two weeks here, and every minute the walls seemed to get closer.
So this is how it feels to drown...
Zuko knows why they are here.... He just doesn't understand why they're here.
He has to get out.
He finishes the dishes and there are no new customers. He looks at Uncle, who nods, before going out the door.
Now he's outside, except it isn't, except that there's still no sky, no sun, and the air is still stale, and Zuko is surrounded by people who can't even imagine the amount of light on the surface, who would go blind to see it (and what does that mean for him, that he's the only one who notices it and can't breathe).
Even the north pole wasn't this bad, even cold(frozen) and filled with ice, it had fresh air, there were no bodies crowding him, stealing the air, pressing him into a corner.
Uncle's head sticks out the door and break is over (how long was he out here?), but that's okay because one more minute outside(it's not outside) and he might do something stupid.
Back inside, back serving tea to the people who don't know what sunlight is, it's busy again, and he's almost into a rhythm(first table, second table, grab the cups, step around, don't trip over the kid...) when he gets distracted by a mop of hair and a grin, and it's that boy from the ferry.
"What?" he asks, and he's surprised at how hoarse he sounds. It's the stupid air that smells like dirt, he decides, it can't be healthy, before turning his attention back to the grinning kid.
"What, I can't just say hi?"
"No."
"Fine. How's Ba sing Se so far?"
"It's okay" he says, but he's lying and it's funny how the kid(Jet?) could tell because he loses the grin and says
"Right. So you wouldn't be interested in a chance to visit the surface, right?"
Zuko stares, but it's the first time in two weeks that he can breathe.
Summary: The city of Ba Sing Se is underground. Firebenders need the the sun. Zuko panics.
The writing itself is a bit... chaotic. We're in Zuko's head, and it's not a fun place to be.
He's washing dishes. The store is quiet, the small fire for heating the tea is dead. The room has no windows, except to the customer area (why bother with windows underground?) Floor, walls, ceiling made of rock.
Zuko had spent three years (almost) on an airship. Where there was lots of air, and sunlight, and space and he could breathe and, spirits, had he mentioned sunlight? Ba Sing Se did not have these. It did not have space, the air was stale and tasted like dirt, and it most definitely did not have sunlight.
Two weeks here, and every minute the walls seemed to get closer.
So this is how it feels to drown...
Zuko knows why they are here.... He just doesn't understand why they're here.
He has to get out.
He finishes the dishes and there are no new customers. He looks at Uncle, who nods, before going out the door.
Now he's outside, except it isn't, except that there's still no sky, no sun, and the air is still stale, and Zuko is surrounded by people who can't even imagine the amount of light on the surface, who would go blind to see it (and what does that mean for him, that he's the only one who notices it and can't breathe).
Even the north pole wasn't this bad, even cold(frozen) and filled with ice, it had fresh air, there were no bodies crowding him, stealing the air, pressing him into a corner.
Uncle's head sticks out the door and break is over (how long was he out here?), but that's okay because one more minute outside(it's not outside) and he might do something stupid.
Back inside, back serving tea to the people who don't know what sunlight is, it's busy again, and he's almost into a rhythm(first table, second table, grab the cups, step around, don't trip over the kid...) when he gets distracted by a mop of hair and a grin, and it's that boy from the ferry.
"What?" he asks, and he's surprised at how hoarse he sounds. It's the stupid air that smells like dirt, he decides, it can't be healthy, before turning his attention back to the grinning kid.
"What, I can't just say hi?"
"No."
"Fine. How's Ba sing Se so far?"
"It's okay" he says, but he's lying and it's funny how the kid(Jet?) could tell because he loses the grin and says
"Right. So you wouldn't be interested in a chance to visit the surface, right?"
Zuko stares, but it's the first time in two weeks that he can breathe.