Up All Night [ closed ]

[100yearsgone]

Who: 100yearsgone & deconflagration
What: How to save a friendship
When: Late Friday night
Where: The hangar
Warnings: None

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[deconflagration]

[ He's been quiet, too, unsure if what he's feeling right now is acceptance of their doomed fate or not. He hopes not; he's never been one to lie down and accept defeat and he didn't want to start now.

When Aang speaks, Zuko silently listens, failing to respond at first. What can he say to that? No, 'that's rough, buddy' doesn't cut it. He presses the back of his hand against his forehead as if that will stimulate his brain into producing better ideas. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't work.

And he continues his silence, even as bits of hair fall out of his messy topknot. ]

I don't...

[ He frowns. No. That wasn't how he wanted to start it. He uses the distraction of undoing his topknot for time to think of a better way to start his sentence. By the time he's redone the topknot (which is hardly any neater), he finally has something. ]

You're right. There are some things in life that never get easier no matter how many times you experience them, even if they're similar in nature.

[ He looks away, wishing Iroh was here. His uncle would

[100yearsgone]

[ As long as they might die, there are a few things Aang thinks he needs to get off his chest. It's not something that's easy to do though.

Smiling in response to what Zuko says, Aang lets more silence pass between him. This time he feels awkward while he tries to sort out everything he wants to ask and confess.

Aang sits up and pets Momo on the head when the lemur stands in front of him. He finally settles on an easy question. ] You think about being Firelord, don't you? [ He shrugs casually. ] What sort of things do you think about?

[deconflagration]

Sometimes.

[ He kneads his forehead with his hand again. ]

It's... not something I think about often. It's hard to picture myself as Fire Lord when I wasn't even there for my own coronation. You know?

[ Zuko pauses for a long moment to gather his thoughts again. ]

I think about my uncle. My father. My sister. Mai. My mother.... And I wonder how my people would think of me as their new Fire Lord. They must still see me as a traitor, the banished prince. Even Mai said I was a traitor.

...And I think about my shortcomings as a person, not just as a prince or the Fire Lord. I think about my mistakes. Especially this past week or so. Maybe facing a likely death has that kind of effect on a person.

Why? What kind of things do you think about, Aang?

[100yearsgone]

[ Aang can't help but be a little surprised. He didn't really think Zuko would give him such a good answer. Assuming he usually didn't decide to be so honest with everyone, Aang is touched. To him it shows how much Zuko values their friendship. He wants to feel the same. All he can do is listen to every word his friend says, thinking that even though their paths in life were very different, he can understand where Zuko is coming from, at least a little bit anyway. ]

I ask, because I think about you as Firelord. [ He sighs, trying not to think too much about what he wants to say. ] I won't lie, there were a lot of people who weren't happy, but the majority of the Fire Nation citizens were. So many of your people were serving in the military, it was nice to see a lot of those families reunited. Not to mention, a lot of your own people were living in poverty because of the war. Things only got better. For everyone, and you helped. [ He won't mention that one assassination attempt. Besides, one after a couple of months as Firelord isn't