Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Sibling Fire: Azula and Zuko Ficlets ❯ Red Moon ( Chapter 1 )

AN: Spoilers for Season Three. Written for the "Lies" theme at AvatarContest on Livejournal.

 

Red Moon

 

He shut his eyes tightly as red moonlight soaked into his bedroom while he tried to sleep.

 

His skin itched. He hadn't been comfortable in his own body lately; not since he betrayed Uncle - and certainly not since he'd taken his sister's side and threw everything away to join her.

 

You know he's alive, droned a whisper inside his head. He gritted his teeth, trying to embrace the darkness of slumber. His muscles were stiff, strangled by his fear and shame.

 

Azula's laughter crowed out, vibrating against his ears. Eyes wide open, he saw that she wasn't there. His room drummed with stale silence, but she haunted him in thought just the same. Zuko sighed heavily, and the air felt cold against his lips.

 

Azula knew the Avatar was alive too; Zuko could just feel it in the way she looked at him, smirking as her lips twitched to the energy of birthing fallacies. She'd sashay over to him, and his body would instantly tense. That was what she did to people; intimidating them in the way she carried herself, deceptive and dangerous. The air would charge with her presence, and he'd feel the prickles of her power skip over his flesh - tearing at his nerves for control.

 

Zuko slammed a pillow over his head. He didn't know if he could endure this facade any longer, not when his father always chose Azula over him.

 

He'd deluded himself into taking their side again, betraying Uncle only to be caught up in their usual games. He'd realized too late that he'd never get what he really wanted - it wasn't his path and never was. And if he thought he'd been any closer to his father's love by now, he knew he'd just be lying to himself.