realityshifted | fourth flame [these miles have torn us worlds apart]

[Zuko is back! Not that he ever really went anywhere. He's been training pretty hard on and off the Plane recently, but royal life has picked up a bit too. Plans for an epic garrison battle are being set in motion, at least in the purchase of supplies and heightened activity around the palace. It's made him antsy, and Azula isn't helping. Recently, he found himself unable to resist an old pastime, especially since he needs a break.

This pastime involves something so simple, it might go unnoticed. He made sure to place himself somewhere adjacent to Ammy's forest so that it doesn't seem so out of place... and it's good cover, too. Zuko crouches at the edge of a small, man-made pond lined with round stones and filled with lilypads, as well as turtleducks. They're small and cute and ducky, except their middles are ... turtleshells. A shady tree suited for sub-tropic regions stretches out over it, shading the pond halfway. Zuko himself is wearing some variation of his royal robes, but it completely clashes with his shaggy (yet newly trimmed!) hair.

He tosses bits of bread into the water every once in a while, causing a frenzy of quacks as the baby turtleducks scramble for food. However, his mind is elsewhere right now.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Petting Haruki] I guess that's true.

... Yeah.

But people wouldn't like it either, mostly, would they?

I didn't have a choice.

Oh, I just meant that-- [Waitaminnit] What do you mean?

[flatly] I was banished for three years. That's why I don't have any pets.

Banished? [Ffffffffwhat.] But you're just a kid!

I disgraced my father, and he thought it was inexcusable. [His eyes harden.] And I am not a kid anymore.

[Haruki whines. Misaki flinches and looks away, not sure why she feels like she's done something wrong.]

[Zuko has that power. Sorry, Misaki. He looks away, lapsing into silence.]

[Starts petting Haruki again.] A man like that shouldn't get to be a dad.

He wasn't the one who raised me.

Your mom did? That's sort of the opposite of me.

My mother left before I was banished. My uncle raised me after that.

She... really? How... how old were you?

I was ten.

My mom left when I was a baby.

I don't know why my mother left. My father... didn't even care.

Edited 2008-10-03 15:59 (UTC)

I don't know why mine left, either. [Rests her head on her knees] No offense, but your father's kind of awful. He reminds me of my friend Alice's dad.

[Zuko looks away, touches his scar self-consciously...]

... At least he let me live.

[asdjsalkjdwhat. Her hands dig into the forest grass, twisting into fists.]

There's no point in getting angry over it. The only one who can do something about it is me.

What're you going to do?

I can't tell you.

Just... be careful. [Gives him a look that's not pity or apprehension, just a sort of... shared determination.] And before you do it, whatever it is, just tell me, okay? So I know to keep an eye out for you coming back.

(no subject)

firedprince.livejournal.com - 2008-10-04 18:50 (UTC) - Expand