[Fanfic] Avatar TLA - Too Precious To Lose
Title: Too Precious To Lose
Rating: PG
Pairings/Characters: Zuko, Sokka, mentions of Mai
Warnings: None
Word Count: 300
A/N: Written for avatar_contest. (Prompt: Fortune)
The zeppelin has long since left the Boiling Rock behind, but in his mind’s eye he’s still looking out of the gondola, watching a girl take down a prison’s worth of guards.
It’s painfully beautiful. Better than what’s actually in front of him. He’s not sure which one’s harder to stomach - Sokka’s obvious delight as he holds Suki close, or the Kyoshi warrior’s sympathetic smile.
“Zuko, my man! What are you still brooding over there for? You should be celebrating!” Sokka’s voice is really starting to rankle.
“You realize,” he responds flatly, not looking at Sokka, “there’s only one reason we made it out alive.”
There’s a long, awkward silence.
He hears footsteps, and then Sokka is beside him, leaning so that his face is directly in front of Zuko’s.
“I’m sorry about Mai. We owe her, but -”
“I know. We couldn’t have gone back.” Zuko glances away. “We’d just have wasted the chance she gave us.” A gift she’d be paying for dearly.
“Yeah.” Sokka pauses. “Doesn’t make it any easier, does it?”
Not helping. “Sokka,” he says, trying not to lash out. It’s not his fault. “I need some time alone, alright?”
“Oh. Sure. Go ahead and do your whole broody thing. I’ll just be over there - ”
“Sokka.”
“I’m gone.”
He hears Suki rebuking Sokka, and tries to ignore them.
Doesn’t make it any easier, does it? As if leaving her could ever have been anything but hard. But -
He remembers the moment she turned back to glance at the gondola before facing the enemy once more. A reminder - she’s doing this for him.
He’s never thought of himself as blessed, but at that moment, he realized - this is more than I deserve.
He silently prays she’ll still be there for him to come back for.
Rating: PG
Pairings/Characters: Zuko, Sokka, mentions of Mai
Warnings: None
Word Count: 300
A/N: Written for avatar_contest. (Prompt: Fortune)
The zeppelin has long since left the Boiling Rock behind, but in his mind’s eye he’s still looking out of the gondola, watching a girl take down a prison’s worth of guards.
It’s painfully beautiful. Better than what’s actually in front of him. He’s not sure which one’s harder to stomach - Sokka’s obvious delight as he holds Suki close, or the Kyoshi warrior’s sympathetic smile.
“Zuko, my man! What are you still brooding over there for? You should be celebrating!” Sokka’s voice is really starting to rankle.
“You realize,” he responds flatly, not looking at Sokka, “there’s only one reason we made it out alive.”
There’s a long, awkward silence.
He hears footsteps, and then Sokka is beside him, leaning so that his face is directly in front of Zuko’s.
“I’m sorry about Mai. We owe her, but -”
“I know. We couldn’t have gone back.” Zuko glances away. “We’d just have wasted the chance she gave us.” A gift she’d be paying for dearly.
“Yeah.” Sokka pauses. “Doesn’t make it any easier, does it?”
Not helping. “Sokka,” he says, trying not to lash out. It’s not his fault. “I need some time alone, alright?”
“Oh. Sure. Go ahead and do your whole broody thing. I’ll just be over there - ”
“Sokka.”
“I’m gone.”
He hears Suki rebuking Sokka, and tries to ignore them.
Doesn’t make it any easier, does it? As if leaving her could ever have been anything but hard. But -
He remembers the moment she turned back to glance at the gondola before facing the enemy once more. A reminder - she’s doing this for him.
He’s never thought of himself as blessed, but at that moment, he realized - this is more than I deserve.
He silently prays she’ll still be there for him to come back for.