Everything is dashed to dust when his sister finds them. He can't not fight her, pride demands that he stand against her despite that he has only one new move in his Firebending repertoire. He fails, he falls ( Read more... )

Shaken after the soulgaze with Carlos and then running into Makita, Zuko was less enthused about taking his dear sister to Yorkshire then he had been when he came up with the idea. Still, he had things for her, and a chance to possibly strand her in another world. Still, it was worth it to hand her clothes and explain their wearing. (Bar had ( Read more... )

He works at the forge until his arms ache; it doesn't dull the ache that rests in other muscles, nor the pain that rips through him with each heartbeat that matches the clang of the hammer ( Read more... )

Sulking gets old after a while. Zuko can maintain it for quite some time-- the deep and abiding irritation, the brooding aura, the scowl over his maimed face. He really gets into it ( Read more... )

His place was still clean; mostly because he had barely been here since she had seen him last. The dogs followed thme up, happily padded over to the pile of blankets, and dropped down into them once Zuko had reached a kitchen chair and sat down ( Read more... )

The suite has gone to the dogs--only the dogs are gone. But there are things that are not quite right. Couch cushions rumpled. Things piled on the table. Dishes, unwashed, in the sink. Stale food, left to spoil ( Read more... )

Zuko doesn't go down into the Bar unless the pain has moved to a place he can manage. Today, it settles in his legs, making walking agony-- he lays back on the couch, panting, panting--

--thinking of the dogs, tongues dangling out, the summer they got them when they were great, grey fluff balls, full of wonder and love and innocence despite that ( Read more... )

Zuko recovers; his color gets better, he moves more, gets more active.

Within a day or two, he's under his uncle's watchful eye again -- this time helping with the planning of the Jasmine Dragon's decor. He has a remarkably keen eye for aethetics, something that makes his uncle most pleased. (He does not realize that Zuko has merely learned his ( Read more... )

The fever breaks; it is a cause for joy in his uncle, and for Zuko, it means a full day of deep, restful (dreamless) sleep. It is the sleep of the empty ( Read more... )

They returned to the same. old. grind. The same old arguement. The same old tea ( Read more... )