i told you so, an all canon compliant silent love story

The first time he walks into her tent, he starts a fight. She has not yet forgiven him so his gentle interruption results in a blow out of emotions. She rips into him, elongating the wounds of his mistakes and failures, never letting him leave them too far behind. He ducks his head as he exits, not speaking a single word, but he gets what he came there for. Now, he knows there is no hope for redemption with her or his Uncle. The prince sleeps flat on his back, staring into the far away glow of the stars, wondering if all of the metaphoric comparisons of family being distant, but luminous mean anything at this point. Before he shuts his eyes, he realizes his family doesn't shine like the stars; they burn out quickly until they turn into a void of darkness, a black hole in the galaxy. He quietly thanks the waterbender.

The next time he dares to venture into her tent is the sundown of the day following their journey together. She has spoken her forgiveness and he likes to believe there is a hope for his future, but still he steps within the tent. She doesn't even turn around to face him so he curves his body along hers innocently, his nose tickled by the fresh scent of her hair. "I can't face him yet," the prince says, so she turns and burrows her face into his chest. "You're an idiot." She doesn't have to say anything else for him to understand. She brings her hands to tangle in his hair, shifting beside him so he leans against her chest now. They are not as physically close, they think, as they are emotionally close. This is just a consolation between friends, but the prince can't help the level of intimacy that comes with hearing another person's heart beating underneath your own flesh.

Her tent expects him this time. She is sitting and staring up at the red rim of his golden eyes. He doesn't speak, just wearily walks into the tent and sinks to his knees in front of her. She raises her hand to cup his cheek and she frowns as she thinks. The prince leans into her touch gently, enough to strain the chasm of friendship into the great, complicated mass beyond. After silence, she speaks up. "I didn't know you could even cry out of this eye." Her fingers trace the ridges and peaks of scar tissue. He flinches and closes the damaged eye, but he knows there is no callousness to her words. He leans forward, pushing her hand aside, and rests his forehead on her shoulder. She smiles, but he can't see it. He can hear it, though, when she speaks, "I told you so."

The last time he walks into her tent, he all but burns it down. "This is it," he says resolutely, his fists balled at his side. This is their last moment of peace before they go off into battle and he either dies as a prince or renews himself as a ruler. He hadn't hesitated in choosing her to come with him, offering no one else an explanation except for her. "You need to be there," he says when she asks him why he chose her. She knows well enough that what he means to say is 'I need you to be there' so she smiles. But now, he is nervous and frightened and he doesn't have to say it, but she knows. She pulls him down to rest his head on her shoulder and kisses his cheek, then his jaw, and then his temple. "She won't win," she tells him, knowing that beneath these words are the promises that he will prevail, that she won't die in battle and leave him alone, and that she believes in him. The prince presses his face into her shoulder and inhales the scent of her hair again. "You better be right." You better not leave me. She doesn't need him to say it. She pulls back and presses a kiss to his lips, knowing that the bonds of their friendship are slightly shattered in the place of this newfound silent understanding of each other. "I'm always right."

Before he gives his speech, there is a knock on the door. As he approaches to answer it, he hears, "I told you so," on the other side. He smiles.

notes: inspired by the prompt "imagine your OTP being able to tell what's wrong with each other with just a few words." happy zutara month!