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☀⛇ hope is something you give yourself
Mar. 25th, 2020 03:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flammatory[ Zuko occasionally needs to run off and be himself, alone, for a while. Needs to. It might seem overly dramatic, but he wouldn't characterize it as stress relief - it's more like keeping his sanity. Being Fire Lord is so much more than he'd ever expected, and honestly, Zuko hadn't tried to imagine actually being Fire Lord since before he was banished.
It was hard to imagine something he wasn't sure would ever be true. Now it's true, and it's... well. A lot.
By now, Iroh has convinced him to alert his staff to his sudden disappearances (he causes a mass panic one time!) and with this accommodation he's managed to wrangle a full week for himself through the simple expedient of bullishly refusing all attempts to talk him out of it. Or to schedule anything during that week. There has to be some kind of advantage to being an imperial dictator.
He does not need to have another formal dinner. Honestly. What he needs is some time alone practicing firebending and meditation and embarrassing himself without his crown, just so he can stay human.
As much as it riles his staff that Zuko doesn't feel like he needs personal bodyguards while he goes out, they can't exactly gainsay the Fire Lord, either, so he ignores the dangers and goes as incognito as it's possible for him, dressed in red so dark it's almost black and with his hair loose and without a crown or top knot. A simple pack is slung over his shoulder. After years of traveling on a ship and then meandering sullenly through the Earth Kingdom, then running around with Aang, Zuko travels extremely light.
Between his lack of physical burdens and his natural stealth, Zuko is fairly inconspicuous slinking through the woods. There's a lot of whispered rumors about this place, which just says to Zuko that no one else is going to be there. He isn't afraid of spirits after befriending the Avatar and meeting the dragons. If he meets one, fine. They seem more likely to leave him alone than people, these days...
Zuko goes deeper into the woods day by day, sleeping on a thin bedroll under a tiny pop-tent at night, largely scavenging for his own food and water. ]
It was hard to imagine something he wasn't sure would ever be true. Now it's true, and it's... well. A lot.
By now, Iroh has convinced him to alert his staff to his sudden disappearances (he causes a mass panic one time!) and with this accommodation he's managed to wrangle a full week for himself through the simple expedient of bullishly refusing all attempts to talk him out of it. Or to schedule anything during that week. There has to be some kind of advantage to being an imperial dictator.
He does not need to have another formal dinner. Honestly. What he needs is some time alone practicing firebending and meditation and embarrassing himself without his crown, just so he can stay human.
As much as it riles his staff that Zuko doesn't feel like he needs personal bodyguards while he goes out, they can't exactly gainsay the Fire Lord, either, so he ignores the dangers and goes as incognito as it's possible for him, dressed in red so dark it's almost black and with his hair loose and without a crown or top knot. A simple pack is slung over his shoulder. After years of traveling on a ship and then meandering sullenly through the Earth Kingdom, then running around with Aang, Zuko travels extremely light.
Between his lack of physical burdens and his natural stealth, Zuko is fairly inconspicuous slinking through the woods. There's a lot of whispered rumors about this place, which just says to Zuko that no one else is going to be there. He isn't afraid of spirits after befriending the Avatar and meeting the dragons. If he meets one, fine. They seem more likely to leave him alone than people, these days...
Zuko goes deeper into the woods day by day, sleeping on a thin bedroll under a tiny pop-tent at night, largely scavenging for his own food and water. ]
