• Rating: T
• Categories: M/M
• Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Relationship: Zuko/Kuei
• Characters: Zuko, Kuei
• Additional Tags: Ficlet, AU - Arranged Marriage, Fluff, Character Study, AU - Canon Divergence
• Status: Complete
• Wordcount: 4000
• Published on AO3: 2020-07-11

Notes: This was supposed to be PWP. That did not pan out :)

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

---

Staring up at Zuko’s face, twisted in pain and self-hatred, Kuei felt something in his chest go cold. He lowered the hands that were on the way toward Zuko and instead, he tried his best to smile. ”You don’t really believe that, do you?” he asked, but even as he did so, he knew the truth.

Zuko was a bad liar. And Kuei had spent far too much time studying him not to pick up on his tells.

Feeling the coldness spreading, he rose from his seat on the bed and took a step closer toward Zuko. Zuko didn’t flinch, but from the look on his face, Kuei thought that it might have been better if he had.

He knew. He knew that this wasn’t Zuko had wanted. That this wasn’t something that Zuko ever would have chosen for himself. He knew that he was not enough, that he wasn’t worthy, that he wasn’t what Zuko deserved. But this was the answer he and his court had been working on, ever since the Avatar broke the news of the war to Kuei and allowed no-one to forget about it. Zuko didn’t want to be here, but Kuei had hoped…

Well, he’d hoped for a lot things, once.

He stopped. Took a breath and tried to smile again. He held out a hand toward Zuko and said, ”I am honored to have married you.”

”Don’t lie,” Zuko snapped out. He took a step away from Kuei almost instantly, only to immediately step forward again. Kuei saw how Zuko squared his shoulders, straightened his back and pressed his jaw tightly shut. The young man stalked over to Kuei and stared him straight in the eyes.

Kuei swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth, keeping his eyes from straying to the best of his ability. Still, he couldn’t quite stop them from peeking at the scar on Zuko’s face.

He saw the moment when Zuko realized what he was looking at. Zuko’s face shuttered, and before Kuei could say anything—what, he didn’t know—Zuko had already shut him out. Kuei lowered his gaze to the floor, his hands clenching tightly by his sides, and the words were out before he could stop himself: ”We don’t have to do this.”

”Yes, we do,” Zuko sneered out, his scar stretching with the motion.

Kuei itched to touch it. He wanted to know what it felt like. But Zuko bristled every time that Kuei even looked at it, and Kuei was not so insensitive as to force touch on a place it was not wanted.

But in some cases, even he had no options.

”My father wants proof,” Zuko ruthlessly acknowledged what Kuei had been consciously not thinking about, ”that we’ve consummated our marriage.”

Kuei’s hand wandered up to his braid, his fingers intwining with the end of his hair. He gulped, his eyes flickering to the wall behind Zuko, a sense of unfairness having settled over him. It was petty, he decided. It was petty of him to feel like this. This was obviously not something that Zuko wanted in any way, yet Kuei found himself hurt to be so easily disregarded.

Pettiness. That was what it was. This desire in him, to be wanted.

He sat back down on the soft bed. The sheets were made of silk, the green a comforting color to Kuei, but undoubtedly just another reminder of what was happening for Zuko. The mattress was so soft that it should be illegal, moulding to his weight expertly. The many, many pillows were scattered all over the bed. The only thing that lit up the room were a smattering of candles on the bedside tables and torches on the walls. The shadows stretched far across their wedding chambers.

Zuko stared at Kuei, his face lined with determination, his gold eyes hard and unforgiving. It felt like they could see right through Kuei, every nook and cranny naked on display for the younger man. Kuei’s hand fiddled with the fabric over his lap, the edges of his sweeping sleeves and the robes he was wearing. He was the first one to break eye-contact, his gaze moving down to his feet resting bare on the carpet. He wiggled his toes a little.

The dull thud of clothes hitting the ground made him look up again. Zuko was in the middle of pulling off his outer layers. ”Wait—” Kuei’s throat closed up around the other words.

With the outer layers gone, he could see Zuko’s muscular form more clearly. As Kuei watched, entranced, Zuko picked up the clothes from the floor and folded them before putting them on the table along one of the walls. Then his pale hands moved to the top of his head and removed the headpiece attached to the topknot. Zuko pulled the topknot apart at the same time as he removed the headpiece.

Kuei licked his lips as the long hair fell over Zuko’s shoulders. But even while Kuei watched, unable to make his eyes look in any other direction, Zuko continued to disrobe. Until finally, he was standing there in only his underwear.

”Well,” Zuko said when he turned around and faced Kuei again, ”Aren’t you going to get undressed?”

Kuei stood up on his feet at once. Guiltily, he stared down at the floor while he mechanically pulled off his clothes, one layer at a time. When he was down to his underwear, he picked up the clothes he had been piling up on the bed and moved toward the table where Zuko had placed his. Once he had carefully placed them on the table, he took a deep breath and turned to look at Zuko.

Zuko, who was in the middle of climbing onto the bed.

Kuei felt his heart stutter to a stop in his chest for a terrifying moment before his ability to breathe returned to him. When it did, he forced himself to take shuddering breath and walked back over to the bed, stopping before it and swaying on his feet.

For all the lectures that he had been given on how male-on-male sex worked, nobody had actually told him how one began. Was he just supposed to climb onto the bed and what, attack Zuko?

Zuko had settled himself onto the middle of the bed, surrounded by a virtual army of pillows, his knees folded under him, and was sitting with his back straight while Kuei had his moment of severe doubt. Inching his feet toward the bed slowly, Kuei sat down on the edge as soon as he was close enough and moved his body so that he was crawling forward. The bed was easily three meters wide, a size that he had never before seen, but he was now grateful for. Kuei bit down on his lip and removed his glasses, putting them gently down on the bedside table.

”Ehm…” he sat down on his hunches and wrung his hands on his lap. The completely unimpressed look that Zuko gave him made Kuei hunch in on himself involuntarily. The silence was so all-encompassing that he found it impossible to say anything.

It was suffocating.

Finally, it was Zuko that made the first move.

Zuko’s warm hand settled on Kuei’s thigh, below the edge of his underwear. For a second, his mind was blank and all he could do was stare at that pale hand. It was scorching against his bare skin, and Kuei stared down at it. He didn’t take a breath until his lungs constructed so tightly in his chest that it was painful. Then, his eyes rose back up and he examined Zuko’s face.

Zuko was frowning. His eyes were staring down at his own hand, and his lips were dragged downward in an expression Kuei didn’t know how to decipher. But he knew one thing.

They were married.

The ceremony had been distinctly Earth Kingdom in nature, a blow he suspected had done more damage to Zuko than perhaps any other thing tonight, but it had been legally binding in both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. As of four hours ago, Kuei and Zuko were married.

And Fire Lord Ozai expected to see proof of their consummation in the morning. Something that he had gone out of his way to mention first in the aftermath of the wedding, when they were in the middle of celebrations. And as soon as he had, Zuko had stiffened by Kuei’s side, his hands clenching so hard that Kuei was surprised that he hadn’t pierced his skin.

It was petty of Kuei. That he made Zuko be the one to take the first step. That he forced Zuko, through his own inaction, to be the one to move toward him.

Taking a steadying breath, Kuei dropped one of his hands to rest on Zuko’s where it still laid, unmoving, on Kuei’s leg. He would not force Zuko to be the one taking the first step. He would not force Zuko to reach out to him.

Kuei leaned his upper body forward, and he kissed Zuko.

Chastely, it was a simple peck on the lips. Shortly, he moved his head back a handful of centimeters and stared breathlessly at Zuko’s face. He saw Zuko’s eyelids flutter, his mouth pulling taunt only to relax again. His heart thumped so loudly in his ears that Kuei thought he would go deaf, yet the sound of his own breaths were overwhelming.

He saw the muscles in Zuko’s neck flex, and he knew the instant when Zuko had made up his mind. Kuei curled his hand around Zuko’s, entwining their fingers together and squeezing his hand gently. His other hand he rose up to Zuko’s face, and waited until Zuko nodded before he touched.

Kuei’s hand drifted in the air along the edges of Zuko’s face, his fingers skimming the dark hair hanging loosely around it, and when he finally settled his hand on Zuko’s cheek, it felt like lightning was racing up his arm.

He swallowed a lump of air and scooted a little closer to Zuko. Under his hand, Zuko’s skin was warm, and so soft that Kuei had to take a moment to just acknowledge what he was doing. He was about to have sex with Zuko. Zuko, former Crown Prince of the Fire Nation and Kuei’s new husband. Kuei was about to consummate his marriage, about to be able to proudly claim that he was the husband of the most beautiful man in the world.

Trailing his thumb under Zuko’s eye, his hand cupping Zuko’s cheek, Kuei felt his heart squeeze in his chest. Without noticing it, he leaned even closer to Zuko, his breath ghosting over Zuko’s skin. He felt, in his heart, a heaviness that made it hard to breathe, a pressure on his chest that had him feeling like he was suffocating. He forced himself to drag in a ragged breath, his body shaking as the hand on Zuko’s cheek wandered higher, pulling Zuko’s hair behind his ear and drifting shortly across his neck. Kuei’s eyes followed the motion of his hand, powerless to stop himself from shifting forward.

Gently, he pressed his mouth against that smooth cheek. He felt Zuko shiver against him, and Kuei closed his eyes, staying like that for a breathtaking moment.

”Tell me if I hurt you,” he pleaded against the skin.

Zuko twitched. He moved his head back until their eyes met, gold facing green, and then Zuko nodded. He looked away first, his hand squeezing Kuei’s so hard that Kuei feared his blood wouldn’t be able to reach his fingers. Kuei’s other hand danced along the contours of Zuko’s head, his fingers sweeping through the fine hair.

”I’ll be gentle,” Kuei promised, like this was something that he had done before. Like he knew what gentle meant in this context.

Zuko nodded once, a hacking motion that made his hair sway, and Kuei could no longer stop himself. He moved forward, his hand moving to the back of Zuko’s head, and pressed their lips against each other.

The softness was what made his breath catch in his throat. The warmth was what made him sigh into it. He tilted his head to the side so that their noses didn’t clash, even as he pressed his mouth harder against Zuko’s. Kuei breathed in through his nose, a harsh breath that made his chest shudder, and his fingers clenched down on Zuko’s hair.

On his lap, Zuko’s hand hugged Kuei’s tightly.

For a minute, Kuei simply pressed their lips together. He got lost in the sensation, the warmth that was building in his chest, the butterflies bursting to life in his stomach. He pulled in another ragged, hacking breath, and squeezed Zuko’s hand in return.

Angling Zuko’s head for a more comfortable position, Kuei lifted the hand attached to Zuko’s, feeling Zuko startle against him. Kuei broke the kiss to nuzzle his nose against Zuko’s, mumbling, ”It’s okay,” under his breath. Zuko’s hand spasmed in his grip before he slowly let go, and Kuei settled the now free hand against Zuko’s hip.

He felt Zuko’s hand settle on his shoulder, and the warmth of it shot straight to his stomach. There was no way that he would be able to go back now, back to a life where he didn’t have this.

The hand on Zuko’s hip moved slowly across Zuko’s back, until Kuei had his hand squarely on Zuko’s back, pressed against his spine. He gently dragged the hand over the warm skin while he kissed Zuko harder, trying to distract him from what was about to happen. His fingers trailed along the spine, and Zuko shivered against him; Kuei could feel the goosebumps at the bottom of his back. His other hand massaged the back of Zuko’s head, and Kuei did his best to ease Zuko’s obvious tension. He had been told repeatedly that the more relaxed one was, the less painful it would be.

Releasing Zuko’s lips, Kuei moved his head back slightly, and faced with those half-lidded golden eyes, his lips quirked and he asked, ”Alright?”

Zuko nodded. Kuei was pleased to notice that it was not an as abrupt movement as earlier. Kuei’s smile grew and he leaned forward to press their lips together again, this time gathering his courage and deepening the kiss.

When his tongue swept over Zuko’s lip, he could swear that he stopped breathing. when Zuko let Kuei’s tongue into his mouth, Kuei wasn’t even sure he was alive anymore. But it was fine. If he died kissing Zuko, that was perfectly fine. His eyes slipped closed, and a low groan slipped from him. The embarrassment didn’t last long though, not when his tongue was met with Zuko’s.

Actually, Kuei pulled his tongue back. He broke the kiss and this time he was gratified to see that Zuko’s eyes were closed, his eyelashes casting shadows over his cheeks. Kuei hugged Zuko tighter, moved his legs so that they splayed out on both sides of Zuko.

Zuko’s face was distressingly open. It was not expressionless like it had been all through their ceremony, it was not that hard look like he had been wearing during the celebrations. Kuei licked his lips, and felt his face heat up when he encounter the saliva he was sure was not his. His chest heaved and he was startled to realize he felt winded.

”Is this okay?” he asked again. He had to know. He needed to be sure that this was not… that he was not a monster, that this was not a nightmare to Zuko. He needed to ensure that Zuko knew that Kuei would stop, if he asked. If Zuko truly didn’t want him. Suddenly, it was of the gravest matter, that Zuko know this. Kuei babbled out, ”I don’t care what Ozai said, I’m sure there are ways to fake this. We don’t need to do this.”

For a heart-stopping moment, Zuko didn’t say anything. He opened his eyes and he stared straight at Kuei, meeting his eyes and holding steady. Then he shook his head, once, a small movement that Kuei almost didn’t catch. ”No,” Zuko said, his voice so lacking in emotion Kuei wondered if he was even here. ”It will be seen as an insult, if we don’t do it. A lack of respect. That you don’t take the treaty seriously.”

”But—”

”No.” Zuko shook his head again. He frowned, and his hand on Kuei’s shoulder squeezed painfully tight.

Kuei lowered his gaze to Zuko’s knees. He felt his braid swinging with the motion before it laid still over it his back. He said, ”It doesn’t have to be you, though. I could do it.”

Zuko’s hand spasmed on his Kuei’s shoulder, and Kuei looked up again. Zuko had a look of focus, concentration, on his face. He was staring straight at Kuei, looking for something in his expression. Kuei didn’t know what, but he stayed still and let Zuko look. Eventually, Zuko hook his head and said, ”It’s fine.”

It was very obviously not.

Kuei frowned and he shifted his hand so that it was cupping Zuko’s smooth cheek again. His other hand let go of Zuko’s back to rise to Zuko’s other cheek, the one scarred so heavily that Kuei almost flinched when he first saw it. It was unbelievable to him, that Zuko would be allowed to be hurt like this, very clearly damaged by fire to such an extent that the scarring reached from his eye and down his cheek, back over his ear and along his neck. It looked painful. He wondered, again, if Zuko could see out of that eye.

”It’s not fine,” Kuei insisted. He knew that it wasn’t. Why they were dancing around the fact was suddenly lost to him. It was important, that Zuko knew that he had a choice. He could say no. ”You don’t want this,” Kuei said.

Zuko opened his mouth, about to say something, but Kuei was not interested in hearing more empty platitudes. ”Don’t lie to me,” Kuei said, his hands resting on Zuko’s face lightly. He eyed them, and continued, ”You don’t want this. But you feel like you have to. You think your father will break the treaty if you don’t. You think the treaty depends on this.”

Kuei leaned forward, and nuzzled his nose against his Zuko’s neck, breathing in that scent of firewood and smoke that always followed the younger man. ”It doesn’t,” Kuei whispered against the skin. ”The Earth Kingdom is not that weak. And your father is not that powerful.”

He felt it, when Zuko sagged against him. He felt Zuko’s hands curl around his back and squeeze tightly. He felt Zuko’s head press against his hair, Kuei’s hands slipping over Zuko’s shoulders with the motion. He felt Zuko’s chest shudder with the force of his breaths, saw the all the torches and candlelights’ flames spark in the same rhythm. He felt Zuko’s nails digging into his back and he could hear the sound of his pulse in his throat.

Again, Kuei whispered, ”We don’t have to do this.”

Zuko pulled in a ragged breath and shook his head, messing up Kuei’s hair in the process. ”But my father—”

”Is going to have a talk with me, first thing tomorrow,” Kuei interrupted.

Zuko’s hands relaxed and he leaned back. Obediently, Kuei let go of Zuko as well and moved a little, giving Zuko the space he desired. Zuko was frowning, more heavily than Kuei had ever seen him do before. His eyebrows were drawn together, his mouth bent downward and he was looking at the duvet like it was the most interesting thing in the room.

Kuei rearranged his legs so that he was sitting crosslegged. He waited for Zuko to say something, to make a decision. This was not something that he could choose for him. Still, his hands clenched in his lap and he licked his lips, vividly remembering what it was like, kissing Zuko.

Kuei was a petty man. Even now, he hoped that Zuko would choose—would let Kuei have sex with him, let him consummate their marriage.

He wanted it. He wanted Zuko.

But he would not do that to him.

He counted minutes passing before Zuko said something again. When he did, Kuei had almost fallen into a meditative trance, and he started.

”If…” Zuko licked his lips and squared his shoulders, his gold eyes staring straight at Kuei. ”If we do not… would it… really not affect the treaty?”

”No,” Kuei said and shook his head.

”Then… if I don’t…” Zuko scowled, his hands moving on his lap like he was looking for a weapon.

Kuei knew what he meant. He shook his head, ”If we don’t, it will not hurt anything. If you don’t want to, we simply won’t. We’re still married.” He ducked his head, but he couldn’t be dishonest about this. ”I would like to. But if you never want to, that’s okay. I would never force you.”

”Kissing you was… not horrible,” Zuko said and Kuei’s head snapped up.

A trembling smile spread on Kuei’s lips and he bent his head down, staring at his naked lap. He held out his hand toward Zuko, determinedly not looking up at him. After a heart-stopping moment, Zuko placed his hand in Kuei’s and Kuei—felt something in him relax. He gripped Zuko’s hand tightly, bending his head forward and pressing their hands against his forehead.

”Thank you,” Kuei mumbled. He took another steadying breath and continued, ”If I ever hurt you, tell me?”

”Yeah,” Zuko muttered.

Kuei brought their hands down and sat up straight again. He spent a minute just staring at the younger man sitting across from him. His pale skin, his well-developed muscles, his golden eyes… Kuei couldn’t believe that he had married this perfect man.

In the days leading up to the wedding, he had done all the research that he could on Fire Nation marriages, on Zuko as a person, on what would be expected of him. But the time from the signing of the treaty to the actually wedding had gone by surpassingly fast and he was sure that he hadn’t managed to learn all that he should have. Doubtlessly he didn’t know enough about the Fire Nation or its inner workings. And he didn’t know enough about Zuko to truly say that he loved him either, though he suspected that he was close.

He reluctantly let go of Zuko’s warm hand and crawled to the top of the bed. There, he had to throw about twenty pillows off the bed in order to find the top of the covers and start pulling them down.

”It’s been a long and trying day,” Kuei said. He tried to smile reassuringly at Zuko. ”Why don’t we go to sleep and deal with the rest of this in the morning?”

Zuko’s eyes were like flames in the candlelight; glittering gold and shining with an inner light. Kuei thought he had never seen a gem or jewel able to rival them in beauty.

Zuko shrugged. He moved up to the top of the bed and clambered beneath the covers in quick movements. Kuei looked at him, laying under the sheets and staring intently at the ceiling. When Kuei rolled under the covers as well, Zuko showed no reaction at all.

With his heart in his throat, Kuei placed his arm in the space between them and held his hand out. He waited patiently for Zuko to either reject or accept his offer.

Just when he was on the verge of falling asleep, he felt a hand curl around his own. Warm, with callouses that Kuei associated with swordsmanship, and Kuei selfishly hoped that he wouldn’t let go. He curled his fingers around Zuko’s hand, and felt hope blossom to life in his chest.

Kuei fell asleep with a smile.

• 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.

---

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.

• Rating: T
• Categories: M/M
• Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Relationship: Zuko/Kuei
• Characters: Zuko, Kuei
• Additional Tags: Ficlet, AU - Arranged Marriage, Fluff, Dorks in Love, AU - Role Reversal
• Status: Complete
• Wordcount: 1059
• Published on AO3: 2021-02-04

Notes: For Monthly KuZu Mini-Prompts 2021, January: Arranged Marriage & February: Dorks in Love

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

---

The sound of something falling brought him out of his reverie and Zuko blinked, startled. He turned around and asked his fiance, "What's wrong?"

"Ah, I just slipped," Kuei answered, worrying his bottom lip and looking forlornly down at the mess by his feet. In his defense, the glass floor they were walking on was absurdly slippery, and he was a little bewildered that such a part of Wan Shi Tong's infamous library had such flooring. It meant they had to walk at a weirdly slow pace, but Zuko could already see the end of the hallway coming up. Soon, they'd be back on common flooring.

Perhaps it had been a mistake to take his fiance on a journey to Wan Shi Tong's library; it hadn't been easy reaching it, after all. Going incognito had made it even harder, and the constant threat of escalating battles now that the Avatar had been found had only made it more dangerous. But looking at the enraptured expression on Kuei's face every time the teenager got to look at yet another new scroll ages-old, Zuko found there was no regret in him. Instead, he was filled with a strange feeling of pride—pride, that he had been the one to make Kuei have that expression. It made his chest go tight, and he had to look away before he did something foolish.

This wasn't what anyone had intended, he knew, when he had been engaged to the Earth King. They had used it as a way to get him out of the running for the throne, for no Fire Lord could be married to a non-firebender, much less a man. It had been a way to send him into exile without having to phrase it that. They had surely expected the teenage king to annoy him, for him to find it all a humiliation.

But Kuei was sweet.

That was the first thing about his new fiance that struck him—Kuei was incredibly sweet. He was young and naïve and yes, downright ignorant of the world. He'd been painfully shy at times, and yet shamelessly forward at others. And Zuko could still vividly remember how excited Kuei had been when he discovered that Zuko didn't mind spending hours in silence with him in the ridiculously huge library.

To his father, this was all a farce. But to Zuko, it was a gift.

They reached the end of the glass corridor and the doors before them opened automatically, without anyone having to touch them. He heard Kuei gasp, and had to force himself not to look over. It would be fine—he'd have a thousand more chances to see the wonder on Kuei's face.

Maybe it was strange, how quickly he'd gotten attached. But he'd been trapped on a ship for over a decade, banished in all but name. He'd sailed every corner of the Fire Nation, never settling down anywhere for fear of sparking his father's rage, and then when he was finally shipped off to a place and told it would be his home... well, Zuko wasn't a statue. It was inevitable, that the warmth Kuei so thoughtlessly provided would draw him in.

Wan Shi Tong's library was gigantic, too gigantic for mortal minds to really comprehend. It bent in on itself, and after only two hours in this place, Zuko was already lost. The fact that Wan Shi Tong had even let them in was already beyond his imagination, and letting them traverse it like this was beyond hope.

"Come, come," Kuei snagged his hand as he flew by, dragging Zuko along as he pointed at the shelf ahead of them. Zuko didn't know what he'd seen, but he curled his fingers around Kuei's hand and soaked up the sensation. He allowed himself to be led by a boy nigh eight years his junior and didn't protest as his arms were immediately loaded up with books once they arrived.

While Kuei continued to look through them, Zuko looked around, spotted a corner that looked nice enough, and carted the books off to it. He gently put them down, not wanting to know what Wan Shi Tong's reaction would be if they damaged the books—it wasn't a risk he was willing to take. Done with that, he wandered back to Kuei's side, tracing his eyes over the books in search of something interesting as he went.

He heard Kuei exclaim over something, and saw the teenager shoot off for the corner Zuko had already prepared. Zuko let him go, content in the knowledge that Kuei would call for him if he needed something.

Meanwhile, he found some things he himself was interested in.

It was hours later, the candlelight rapidly depleting, that Zuko looked up and found his young fiance nearly asleep by his side. Zuko blinked, exhaustion having started weighing him down as well, and he moved closer to his fiance, scooting over on the floor to his side. "Kuei," Zuko said, falling to silence as he tried to think of what to say. Kuei looked over at him, his eyes on the edge of closing, and hummed quietly in response.

"You need to sleep," was what Zuko ended up settling on.

Kuei blearily gazed at him, in the end only nodding. He yawned, not bothering to cover it up, and scooted close enough to Zuko to lean on him. Zuko's arm curled over his back and hugged him tightly, feeling the slight trembling Kuei was trying to suppress.

He hoped this journey had helped settle Kuei's heart. After Zuko told him what was really going on with the world, Kuei had retreated into himself a little bit. Not visibly—but when they were alone, he would sometimes fall silent, trapped in his own thoughts. So Zuko hoped this journey had soothed him, that getting to see for himself what life was like outside Ba Sing Se had settled something in him. It seemed like it, sometimes.

Zuko repositioned them on the floor, pulling out the sleeping gear as he went, and laid down on it with Kuei. Like always when they slept together, Kuei clung to Zuko; seeking the warmth his body always provided. Zuko treasured it—coveted it, almost.

It was warm under the blanket with another body laying next to him.

He fell asleep within minutes.

• Rating: T
• Categories: M/M
• Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender
• Relationship: Zuko/Kuei
• Characters: Zuko, Kuei
• Additional Tags: Ficlet, Sugar Daddy Kuei, Established Relationship
• Status: Complete
• Wordcount: 554
• Published on AO3: 2021-06-18

Notes: For Monthly KuZu Mini-Prompts, 2021: May - Sugar Daddy

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

---

Zuko squirms below Kuei's gaze. His eyes are trapped by the gift in his hands and Kuei forces down the urge to squirm as well. They're in his office, waiting for his advisors to arrive so they can finish planing their tactic for the upcoming diplomatic visit with the Fire Nation. But the advisors aren't here yet and they've been so busy lately, running to and fro. It seems like every time they turn around, there's a new problem to be dealt with.

Not right now, though.

Right now, it's quiet.

"You didn't have to," Zuko says, his gold eyes still not moving from the gift-wrapped package in his hands.

Kuei shakes his head, "It's a trinket, not a hardship. Please accept it, Zuko."

Wetting his lips, Zuko looks up. He's already wearing lots of Kuei's "trinkets", bracelets, necklaces, earrings... not to mention his clothes. But Kuei had nothing to do with the clothes, that was the advisors' unified decision! They thought it'd look better if Zuko incorporated some of the more Earth Kingdom fashions into his clothing, just so that it would be clear where his loyalty stood.

Kuei has never doubted it. Not since he first met Zuko in that teashop, flitting from table to table like a beautiful butterfly—a deadly one. But still absolutely breathtaking, perhaps even more so because of it.

Zuko opens the gift. The red wrapping is uneven and odd; Kuei isn't used to doing it. But he wanted to give his beloved a proper gift before they're swept up in formalities and bureaucracy and such things will be inadvisable. More important things require their attention. (Kuei can't fathom how anything could be more important than making Zuko happy, and trinkets like these, no matter how useless they are, always seem to at least make him happier.)

He keeps his hands steady on his lap as he waits for Zuko's reaction. It doesn't take long; it starts with a small widening of the eyes. Then he licks his lips again. He tilts his head to the side, his long hair falling over his shoulder and Kuei's eyes are inevitably drawn to the myriad of earrings decorating both of Zuko's ears. Long ones that almost reach his shoulders, short ones that are mere bulbs. All of them are gold. All of them draw Kuei's gaze once more to Zuko's expressive eyes.

"Where did you..." Zuko looks up at Kuei, his eyes brightening bit by bit.

Kuei shrugs. "A swordsmith to the south," he says, unable to continue meeting those eyes. They are too much; too bright and bold and alive and happy. They make his stomach do flips, make him unable to breathe.

How can anyone look at Zuko and not lose their breath?

Zuko smiles, softly, gently, and it's like the sunlight on a clear day, the sun roaming free of the clouds. Kuei leans forward before he can think, just wants to sit here and bask in that light. Zuko, who is kind and beautiful and the greatest person to have ever lived, simply leans forward the tiny bit of distance between them—perched as he is on Kuei's desk—and presses his mouth gently to Kuei's own. It's a caress, a soft motion that is too quick to truly feel.

Kuei's heart skips a beat.

• Rating: T
• Categories: M/M
• Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender
• Relationship: Zuko/Kuei
• Characters: Zuko, Kuei
• Additional Tags: Ficlet, First Meetings, Pre-Slash, Pre-Relationship
• Status: Complete
• Wordcount: 1047
• Published on AO3: 2021-08-17

Notes: For KuZu Week 2021: Day 2 - Horror

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

---

Overwhelming.

That was the only way to describe the presence blanketing all of Zuko's senses. Overwhelming. Overpowering. Drowning him in sensations and feelings that weren't even his. It beat up against his heart, pounding in a rhythm that he could almost convince himself was his own. It drifted through his veins, seeking out his every organ and nestling in it like a parasite looking for a place to make a home. Over and over again, the feeling surrounded him.

"Are you okay?" Kuei asked, his voice anxious as a mouth formed in the shadow beside his head. The mouth on his face hadn't moved.

Zuko took a deep breath and let his fire move through him, burning the shadows to a crisp. Kuei shuddered, his mouths snapping closed. Zuko said, "I'm fine," and he even meant it.

Sure, it was strange that instead of getting killed for breaking into the Earth King's palace and finding that the Earth King was some kind of spirit, he was dragged to the library and spent a couple of pleasant hours studying about the Avatar. But it hadn't done him any harm, and this was his fifth visit to the palace. Sometimes he wondered why Kuei kept welcoming him back, beaming at him every time he appeared, but he also didn't want to change it.

It was nice, reading in the library.

Even though Kuei was a literal monster that had eaten Long Feng when the man attempted to brainwash Zuko, it was still nice.

Eyes blinked at Zuko from the corners of the library, staring at him from every possible angle. Zuko was used to this by now, and so he merely waved at them. The eyes widened and the internal light coming from them shone brighter. At least with eyes that bright, one barely needed lamps to read.

"Good, good," Kuei bobbed his head and it fell off his neck, tumbling to the floor as Kuei's arms flailed in the air, trying to catch it and failing epically. The monster in human skin—literally—cursed softly and picked up the head, a new one already forming on his neck. The old one crumbled into dust, falling apart in Kuei's hands. Zuko winced a little, not quite used to that yet.

Kuei stared at his empty hands for a minute, frowning, before he snapped his new head around to look at Zuko. He blinked, then grinned. "I'm glad you came back," he said, walking over to sit next to Zuko on the floor. Zuko pointed to the cushion before Kuei sat on the stone floor again, and Kuei immediately changed tracks to sit on it.

"I told you I would," Zuko frowned.

Kuei nodded, his head staying on this time. "Yes, but... a lot of people say they'll come back." Unspoken went but no-one ever does.

A mouth bit down on Zuko's swords, and he irritably slapped it away. Kuei didn't react—Zuko was half-convinced that he barely knew what his own body parts were doing. Evey stared at him from shadows, mouth forming out of them to whisper words he couldn't understand in a language he didn't know. The darkness around them soared, hiding them away between shelves and scrolls and old memories of lives long-since forgotten.

Zuko breathed in the scent of ink and paper that always seemed to linger around Kuei. The air around the man twisted, reality seamlessly bending to Kuei's will. A table made of shadows popped into existence in front of them, and Kuei gestured to it. Zuko, already knowing what the man wanted, placed his scroll on it so he could read easier.

Kuei scooted closer with every passing minute until he was sitting with his side touching Zuko's. Zuko didn't move, didn't twitch away from the cold or the sudden knowledge that he was buried fifteen meters underground and was slowly suffocating to death. Instead he stayed still, allowing his fire to burn brighter, hotter, until smoke was leaving his lips in time with his breaths.

"How is your uncle?" asked Kuei, sometime later.

Zuko took a moment to register that he was being spoken to, and then another moment to recognize what had been said. He looked up from his scroll and to Kuei—dispropriate body and all. "Yes," he said, "He's enjoying his new teashop."

Kuei smiled at him, his thousand eyes glittering with joy. The mass of existence that was probably supposed to be Kuei ended below his chest now, fusing into the shadows surrounding them. A void existed there instead, a lack of existence that made Zuko's head hurt. He forced his eyes away, rubbing them slightly to stop the spots of darkness from eating up his vision.

"I'm glad," said Kuei.

Zuko smiled at him, his smoke smelling like burned charcoal.

There was no-one else near them. The area around the library was always abandoned when Zuko came to visit, always left to rot on its own. And it was rotting, he was sure. The scrolls and books and bookshelves were losing form, bleeding shadows and ink staining the floor. Dark plants ate their way into the foundation of the stone, shadows settling into the cracks like spiders. The darkness ate up all light, every candle useless in here. Zuko's firebending was the only reason that he could read in here at all.

He allowed the shadows to embrace him, allowed them to hug him until he looked as black as any other shadow in here. When he looked at his own hand, he could scarcely see it. Ignoirng the unconscious beat of instinctive fear that nearly swallowed him whole.

Kuei's hand curled around his, their fingers slotting naturally together. The fear eased back into something more manageable—Zuko had always been very good at ignoring his instincts. At ignoring the voice in his head telling him that he was making a mistake, insisting he would regret it. It was easy enough to push those voices aside now, too, easy enough to curl into Kuei's darkness and let his fire breathe freely through them. Easy enough to smile, and turn and trust that Kuei wouldn't hurt him.

Zuko had made a lot of mistakes in his life, but he didn't think that this was one of them.

• Rating: T
• Categories: M/M, Gen
• Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Relationship: Zuko/Kuei
• Characters: Zuko, Keui
• Additional Tags: Ficlet, Pre-Slash, Pre-Relationship, AU - Merpeople
• Status: Complete
• Wordcount: 1123
• Series: Part 7 of Monthly KuZu Mini-Prompts
• Published on AO3: 2022-05-04

Notes: Monthly KuZu Mini-Prompts, 2022: May - Merpeople

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

---

Zuko slipped through the reef, twisting and turning to get around them with as few ripples as possible. His breath was high in his throat, fans sweeping out and retracting just as quickly. He spun, up and down and right and left. Sunlight shone through the top of the ocean, a seemingly never-ending torch cutting the water in two.

He searched, gold eyes glowing. His gaze swept around as he continued to push onward, his lips curling in displeasure and his body tensing further.

The pearl was gone, though.

He couldn't find it, and he'd been searching for what felt like ages now, unending misery curling through him. He was tired and sore and so fucking disappointed. The pearl was his mother's, after all, and it was all he had left of Ursa.

He scowled, shaking his head as he cut through the water with quick, efficient movements. No, the pearl had to be here. It was the last place he'd had it, so he just had to keep scouring the surfaces. It would have sunk, wouldn't have floated away, he thought.

Pressing his mouth tight together, he swam deeper and deeper. Further out and deeper than he'd ever gone before, the light decreasing in increments, a slow delay that eventually just turned to pure darkness. There was no sunlight down here, but Zuko couldn't give up. He refused to give up.

His body slowly began to glow, a soft light that allowed him to see even this deep. It was foolish, stupidity—it'd only draw predators to him. But. Well, but how else was he to search?

He licked his lips, saltwater meeting him. Eyes wide, the darkness enveloped him entirely, cutting him off from the rest of the world. He tried to make his body as small as possible, tried to reduce the light he gave off to the lowest possible, but he wasn't sure it'd make a difference.

And soon enough, he knew it didn't.

There was a moment of stillness, where the waves froze and the water seemed to sink. Then there was a great buoying, a great push. Zuko tumbled through the water, spinning around and frantically trying to claw his way out of the sudden current. But then it ceased, again. The water calmed, a far more natural stillness.

It took him a long moment to realize that there was a figure before him, now. Zuko's heart skipped a beat, and he hissed, drawing himself up into his biggest form. Fans swayed out, and he banished his claws in the water, cutting right through it.

The figure swam closer, the water shifting and pushing Zuko back again. In a fit of madness, Zuko let his glow increase once more, wanting to see who it was that was before him.

And—fuck.

They were big. Gigantic. The tail alone was at least twice as long as Zuko's, and the claws were bigger, too. This was... not good.

"Who are you?" Zuko demanded, voice cold. He was still trying to appear bigger, but it made him feel foolish, like a child trying to appear an adult. Still, he needed all the advantage he could get if he was going to scare this merman off.

What even was he? Not fire, not like Zuko. There was no great heat coursing through the other merman's veins, no glow to his eyes.

The other merman moved closer to him once more, tails lazily pushing him forward. Zuko's lips peeled off his teeth, a snarl erupting from his stomach. He bared his teeth wildly, raised his hands before him and made sure that he was ready to claw at the first thing within reach.

But. But, the other merman stopped before that. He gazed at Zuko from eyes the color of seagrass, dark hair locked into a long plait. He stared at Zuko for a long moment, long enough for Zuko's heartbeats to count to thirty, and then held out a hand. The bigger merman coughed, and then he said, "This is yours."

There laid a sparkling, white pearl in his hand. Zuko's eyes widened, and he darted forward before his mind caught up with his actions, grabbing the pearl before it could be hidden.

"Mine," Zuko said, baring his teeth as he launched backward, tail moving wildly to get him out of range.

The other merman nodded. "I know," he said, voice mild. He clamped his hands together before him, and he added, "I saw you lose it. I looked for it. I'm glad you got it back."

"Looked for it?" Zuko's eyebrows furrowed. He asked, "Why would you look for it?"

"It's important to you."

"Oh," Zuko's mouth pulled down as he thought, hand clenching on the pearl. (It wouldn't break, strong as it was.) He still couldn't make sense of it. Why would it matter to a stranger, that the pearl was important to Zuko? Why would he care? Even bothering to look for it? What could he possibly get out of it? (Zuko wasn't even the heir to the Fire Nation anymore.) He shook his head, demanding, "Well, what do you want in return?"

"Ehm," here, the strange merman ducked his head, swimming lower in an attempt to be smaller and, presumably, less intimidating. It didn't really work. The merman continued, fingers fiddling, mumbling, "You're very pretty."

Zuko blinked. He stilled, his tail propelling him closer to the other merman (again) against his better judgment (also again). He licked his lips, drinking in the salty taste. "Okay," he said.

"Okay?" the merman made a strange noise, a kind of strangling in the throat. "Okay, what?"

Zuko shrugged. "My name is Zuko," he said, finally remembering that they hadn't introduced themselves. "You can court me," he added.

"Court—" The other's mouth snapped shut. It sounded strangled again. It repeated, "Court you? You'll let me court you?"

"Sure," Zuko shrugged again. It wouldn't last, anyway. He'd been courted before, by Mai and other lesser important people, and it always ended the same way. They got tired of him, got tired of being an outcast in the Fire Nation, or realized that he was never going to get his title back, and they all left. This one wouldn't be any different, so really, what was the harm?

He'd leave Zuko soon enough.

"I'm Kuei," the other merman said, breaking Zuko out of his thoughts. He had a strangely determined look on his face, and he said, "I'll work hard," very seriously.

Zuko's lips twitched, despite everything. He began to swim away, but he couldn't help peek glances behind him. Kuei was still looking at him, gloating motionlessly in the dark, and Zuko wondered vaguely what that strange tingle in his stomach meant.