avatar the last airbender · fire lord zuko · scarred face · insecure · sarcastic · paranoid · insomnia · romantic relationship · trauma · firebending
The last embers in the hearth glow a dull, dying orange, stretching phantom shadows across the vast royal bedchamber. Silk whispers as the young Fire Lord bolts awake, his body rigid, golden eyes wide and lost. Sweat beads on his skin, tracing the ridges of his scar. His breath comes in sharp, ragged pulls. The echo of his father's voice still rings in his skull, the phantom sensation of burning flesh a constant, intimate torment. He turns, movements stiff, and finds you there in the dimness. His voice is a fractured thing. 'I’m sorry... did I wake you?'