Fic: settle our bones like wood [ATLA, KuZu, Amnesia]

[quillpunk]

• Rating: T
• Categories: M/M
• Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Relationship: Zuko/Kuei
• Characters: Zuko, Kuei
• Additional Tags: Ficlet, Amnesia, Fluff
• Status: Complete
• Wordcount: 1150
• Published on AO3: 2020-10-20

Notes: For Monthly KuZu Mini-Prompts 2020 September: Temporary Amnesia

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any associated trademarks.

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Kuei stumbled to a stop. He had no idea where he was. Pushing his glasses up his nose, he surreptitiously glanced around; he was in the middle of a street full of people who looked haggard and tired. Most of them had scars too, and he even saw a few without the ideal number of limbs. Licking his lips, he moved to the side of the street so that he wasn't in the way.

He couldn't remember how he got here.

He could only remember the confusion and the sense that he needed to go somewhere; before that his memory was empty. He had no idea where he was, who he was (he had vague memories of a boy with an arrow painted on his skin calling him 'Kuei' but could he really trust that?) or what he was supposed to be doing here. Yet here he was. The people around him gave him odd looks and wary glances and when he looked down, he saw that there was a clear difference in the clothes he was wearing. The quality was much better, and the color was such a stark green that it stood out seamlessly.

His fingers started worrying the edges of his long, sweeping sleeves almost on reflex, and he moved out of the way of the people on the street. The sky was blue and the buildings around him were all various shades of brown. There wasn't a plant or tree as far as his eyes could see.

Kuei swayed a little on his feet; should he stay put and wait for somebody to find him? He was dressed so nicely, surely there must be someone out there looking for him. And it made sense, if he wanted to be found, he should stay in one location. But did he want to be found? Probably, there was no reason not to. Still, waiting by the side of the road didn't seem very productive. And he was taking up space, and interrupting the flow of the street goers, and surely there was the threat of being mugged, wasn't there? So he should go inside and wait.

Nodding to himself, Kuei looked around, craning his neck to see as far as he could. His eyes lit up when they landed on a nicely lit up place not far. The people exiting it looked pleased, so it couldn't be all that bad, even if the rest of the street was kind of iffy. No, it was rude of him to call it iffy, perhaps downtrodden was a better word? He grimaced. Was he a person that cared what things looked like?

He held his robes up as he walked over the street so as to not get mud on it, so, likely. Kuei hurried across the street and toward the entrance he had spotted. What little he could see through the windows seemed nice enough. And the glow from inside said that it would be warm; if he had to wait hours to be found he didn't want to freeze. The robes were thick, yes, but he didn't know how cold it would get during the night. And come to think of it, what season was it? He hoped summer; he didn't want to get trapped out in the snow.

Kuei let his robes go once he stepped inside the shop. He blinked at the light, his eyes shifting over the people sitting at the numerous wooden tables. There was a bar to the side behind which stood an old man with a long grey beard who was making tea. The atmosphere was lively; the sound of chatter and laughter filled the room.

A young man in an apron approached Kuei. "Pick a table," he said, frowning at Kuei. The motion made his scar drag, though it was still stiff and unmoving. The thought occurred to Kuei that there had to be a lot of nerve damage with such severe scarring. Where the knowledge had come from, he didn't know. The short, dark hair was ruffled and fell around his face, making Kuei's gaze focus on his eyes. They were the most startling shade of gold; the kind of gold that was brighter than the gold on Kuei's robes.

Kuei nodded and sat down at the closest empty one.

The young man followed him, his gold eyes glinting in the light. Clearly a server of some kind, he asked Kuei, "What do you want?"

"Oh," Kuei furrowed his eyebrows. He searched his memory but couldn't come up with anything that would help him in figuring out what was served here and what he might like. In the first place, what kind of ship was this? He cleared his throat and his fingers gripped his robe on his lap. "What would you recommend?"

The server shrugged. "Jasmine tea," he said and wrote it down on his notepad before Kuei could say anything.

Well, it would probably be fine.

Kuei couldn't help but stare at the server. The young man had to be the prettiest person that Kuei had ever seen. His gold eyes only shone brighter when he smiled, and his crooked half-smile made something squirm in Kuei's stomach. As the server relayed the order to the man behind the counter, Kuei brought his hand up to his face and tried to feel if he was blushing. It didn't give him any answers.

His fingers fiddled with the edge of his robe again as he sat still. When the server came back with the smoking tea, Kuei felt his stomach jump. It tingled as he watched the server put the teacup down on the table in front of him. Kuei licked his lips and said, "Uhm... your name— ah, what's your name?"

"Li," the dark-haired young man answered. His skin was pale, so pale compared to everyone else that Kuei wondered if he was ill. And the clothes were in so poor quality that Kuei could see the outline of his body; he was very clearly well-trained. He walked like he knew how to fight, too.

And he was warm.

Something about his presence made Kuei feel as if he was standing in sunlight.

Kuei picked up the tea. "Thank you," he said. He took a sip and found, to his pleasure, that he liked the taste just fine.

Li smiled at him, the movement quick. It disappeared quickly from his face, but Kuei had already been lost. There was just... he was so... Kuei couldn't...

The beauty was too much for him! His heart couldn't handle this! Somebody, find him soon! He had to figure out how people courted! Ah, but he had seen a dismal-looking flower stall on the way here. Surely, that was a safe bet? Nodding, Kuei downed the rest of his tea, dropped some of the coins on the table, and left to purchase some flowers.