Ban, Not Banishment

Zuko woke several days after the Agni Kai with his father with a throbbing head and a pit in his stomach. He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position on the bed with a low groan. The door creaked open and Zuko shifted his gaze to it, to the left. For a horrifying moment, he thought he couldn’t see out of his left eye, but when his hand shot up, he realized that there was bandaging over it. "Zuzu! Pssstt!" His sister was the one at the door. Azula came in front of him, and Zuko immediately noticed that she was avoiding looking at the left side of his face. "Azula." Zuko’s voice had a slight rasp to it, something that hadn’t been there before. He was going to add something else, but his voice lapsed into coughing instead. "Zuko. I.. Father told me.. to bring you to him. Once you woke up." Azula fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke, looking nervous. But Zuko stumbled to his feet, trying to mask the fear in his mind, in his chest, in his entire being. "Let’s not- eugh, I’m fine- keep him waiting then." —_—_— "For refusing to fight me in the Agni Kai, Prince Zuko, you have disgraced yourself. You have proven to be WEAK. You are clearly not worthy of the powers you possess. Because of this, you are officially BANNED from ever using your firebending EVER AGAIN!!" Zuko didn’t flinch. He stayed where he was, knelt on the ground at his fathers feet, bowing. No bending.. he’d be suppressing a part of himself. But he already did so much of that, just to fit into his father’s expectations and desires. It was all he could do not to cry.