#Azula never meets Yue but I’ve seen it shipped and it’s done well!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

atlabeth · 3 years

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everything happens for a reason part 11 - zuko x fem!reader

Memories, where'd you go?

part 10 | masterlist | part 12

a/n: alternative name for this fic: y/n gets a crush on every pretty girl she meets. yue, katara, and now suki. she can't help it (and she questions why they're all connected to sokka in some way lmaoo)

anyways, this is kind of filler but it establishes some more with relationships and finallyyy gets us into ba sing se at the end. i know it's a lil annoying because there's a lot of episode-to-text writing, but i promise it'll get more freeform as it goes on

also i know that i just posted something yesterday but i have literally zero patience. like i cant hold chapters i have to post them as soon as i write them loll

wc: 5.3k

warning(s): some feels over zuko as per usual, but overall a pretty tame chapter

chapter title comes from memories by panic! at the disco!

Zuko could barely sleep anymore.

He didn’t know when his life became so complicated, but he wasn’t a fan of it.

Back when it was just him, his crew, and the open sea — it was simple. He had a job, a straightforward mission. Find the Avatar, capture him, return home to the Fire Nation and regain his honor.

Now, the waters were more muddied than ever. Now on the run from the Fire Nation just like the boy he was chasing, all he really felt nowadays was anger.

Angry at the world for setting him on this path, angry at the Avatar for refusing to see what was necessary, his sister and her friends for turning against him, angry at the waterbender for making things so damn hard.

He didn’t want to hurt her. A part of him wished that she had never come back into his life, if it meant he wouldn’t have to constantly be fighting against her. He hated himself for the thought, but maybe it would have been easier for her to remain a memory of a lover than his active enemy.

Late at night, when he was reaching fruitlessly for sleep that would never come, he saw her face. The carefree energy from their childhood morphed into the shock and disappointment from both the North and their fight with Azula, and…

It made him wonder what in Agni had happened to them.

He—

He didn’t know. The way he felt about her, it was different than anything he had experienced before. Zuko didn’t know what it was, but he understood that it was special. And now… it felt like he had just thrown it all away.

Zuko couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened with her in that town — what he had done to her.

He had burned her to try and get to the Avatar, and he hadn’t even allowed a glance back at the damage he had done. He had heard her cry out in pain, pain he had caused, and he didn’t even look back.

What had happened to them? What had happened to him?

He kept telling himself that the mission was the only thing that mattered. And it was, wasn’t it? Capture the Avatar, regain his honor, get his old life back and finally be enough for his father. He didn’t have time for friends, or for these feelings he had, or— or for anything but capturing the Avatar. Because the Avatar was the key to everything, to his honor, and that was all that mattered.

But now…

Now, he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He didn’t know what was right, or what was wrong, or what path was the one he had to take.

Zuko just wished things could be like they used to be.

~~~~~~~~~~

She didn’t really know when everything had become a mess again.

It all started out fine, like it usually did. Toph had become fully integrated into the group, any past squabbles put to rest in the name of a stronger friendship emerging between all five of them. Katara continued to work on Aang’s waterbending (oftentimes Y/N joining them in their sessions) while Toph slowly but steadily beat earthbending into him — literally.

They had all been working hard for so long that, by decree of Aang, it was ‘vacation time’. They would all get to pick out places they wanted to spend as a break, and after it was over they would get back to work.

Aang had chosen some sort of field with musical groundhogs, and Y/N had opted to revisit an Earth Kingdom village that she had passed through on her journey to the North. Sokka had complained the whole time about how they were ‘wasting valuable planning time’, but had finally conceded after the promise of ‘all the planning his heart could desire’ from Katara after their mini-vacations were over.

Y/N was actually feeling somewhat relaxed for once, but she had forgotten the golden rule — never let your guard down. Everytime she let her guard down, something bad happened without fail. So it shouldn’t have been any surprise with what happened in the desert.

Because after one trip to the Misty Palms Oasis and a journey into the desert with a professor to a long lost library, Appa had been taken by desert raiders.

It was… less than favourable. During their escape from the library, Professor Zei had insisted on staying behind, and now the five of them were stuck in the middle of the desert with no way out and zero guidance. Add some brewing tensions between Aang and Toph because of her being there when Appa was taken, and they had a recipe for a huge disaster.

And a disaster they had. Multiple disasters, actually.

There was only so much she and Katara could do to hold the group together, but by some miracle, they made it out of the desert with only one Avatar State mishap.

(And an incident with cactus juice, but… she didn’t really want to talk about that.)

....at least they had the information about the Eclipse. That was about the only thing keeping her together at the moment.

They had to get the information to the Earth King so they could formulate an attack with his warriors, but without Appa, they had to resort to more traditional methods of travel. Add in one passport problem, and that was how Y/N found herself braving the Serpent’s Pass alongside a refugee family with a baby on the way.

It was… intimidating, to say the least. Despite being surrounded by her element, Y/N didn’t feel any safer from the challenge that faced them. She took a deep breath, trying to tamp down on her fear the way her mother had taught her, as she followed the group, but her thoughts were soon interrupted.

“Hey.” She turned to see who the voice belonged to and was greeted by the girl that had teased Sokka early — Suki, if she remembered correctly. “I haven’t seen you around; are you with the Avatar or that family?”

“I’m with Aang,” Y/N explained. “I’m from the North, and they offered me a spot with them after they helped us defend our tribe against the Fire Nation. I’ve been with them ever since.” Suki nodded as they settled into a comfortable stride.

“That’s cool. Are you a waterbender?”

She gestured to her waterskin and smiled. “Yeah. I’ve been training with Aang and Katara ever since I left.” Y/N then turned her gaze back to Suki, raising an inquisitive brow. “Your makeup — what’s it for? I heard you talking about the Kyoshi Warriors back there; is that some kind of thing with Avatar Kyoshi?”

Suki grinned, her every expression heightened by the sharp reds and blacks above her eyes. “We’re a group of all-female warriors that use the teachings of Avatar Kyoshi and her partner Rangi to defend our home and the place she founded, Kyoshi Island. I’m the leader of our village section.”

“Wow,” she murmured, her eyes falling to the ground for a moment before finding their way back up to the warrior. “That’s really cool. You’re really cool.”

She laughed and shrugged. “Thanks. I’ve been training as a warrior for almost my whole life, so it just comes naturally. I like being able to protect people, and there’s no better way to pay back my home for all it’s done for me like protecting the whole village.”

“Wow,” she repeated with a small laugh of her own. “That’s really brave. I gotta say, I’m kinda jealous — I would love to see what would happen if Master Pakku met you all. Katara literally had to beat the sexism out of him in order to train to be a master.”

Suki chuckled. “Sounds like what I had to do with Sokka. Guess it’s a thing with Water Tribe guys, huh?”

At the mention of Sokka, she internally laughed. There had to be some kind of connection between the two of them, the way their interests kept aligning. “Sokka… he’s had it hard. I can’t blame him that much for any kind of attitude he had before he met you. Pakku, on the other hand? He had to have had something better to do than fight teenage girls.”

“You would think so, right?” Suki agreed. “And Sokka… I know. He’s got a heart of gold underneath all that, he just needed a little push to get it out.” As Y/N glanced over at the girl, noticing a slight pink tint under the white makeup, she gasped.

“La’s fins, are you two a thing?” she exclaimed with a grin.

Suki flushed even harder as she suddenly became very interested in the ocean around her, but she couldn’t help the smile on her lips. “No! I mean— yes— but… but—” she stopped to gather her thoughts before making eye contact again with a sheepish smile. “We’re not… really a thing, but… I do like him a lot. I didn’t really think I was going to see him again after they left the island, so this is really nice.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Y/N asked. “I can already tell that he cares about you — have you seen how careful he’s being with you?”

“Well—” Whatever kind of excuse Suki would’ve made up was interrupted by a rock falling out just under Than, one of the refugees they were with, saved in the nick of time with Toph’s earthbending.

“I’m okay!” he reassured, but no sooner had the words left his mouth before the Fire Nation ship in the distance started firing.

“They’ve spotted us!” Sokka yelled. “Let’s go, let’s go!”

Aang flicked his glider open and deflected the blast, and Katara grabbed Y/N’s hand as they all began to run. Another blast rocked the mountain, causing several boulders to fall just above Suki. Y/N didn’t even have time to shout out a warning before Sokka tackled her out of the way, but it was ultimately more of Toph’s quick earthbending that saved him.

“Suki, are you okay?” Sokka brushed dust and pebbles off of her uniform as he examined her, and once he was satisfied he grabbed her hand and helped her up. “You have to be more careful! Come on!”

As the two of them caught up to Y/N and Katara, she gave Suki a knowing look. The warrior only blushed once again and glanced away.

After hours of navigating the pass, they were only about halfway through. Sokka made the executive decision to set up camp for the night to give everyone time to rest, and then they would get up at the crack of dawn to finish their trip. It only took a few minutes for Y/N to get a fire going, and soon everyone had settled in with their sleeping bags. Sokka got up from his spot as Suki wandered closer to the edge, and Katara nudged Y/N with her shoulder.

“Hey. How are your hands doing?”

“They’re fine,” she answered with a small smile, flipping her hands over as proof. Where there were once red burn scars on her palms only tiny white marks remained — one benefit to healing via waterbending was that most injuries were able to fade away completely after enough sessions. Her burns weren’t very serious and she was able to heal them almost immediately, so both her and Katara were sure that the marks would be completely gone soon.

The mental scars wouldn’t fade as easily.

“That’s good. And you’re taking care of them, right? Like, you’re not beating up people while we’re not looking?”

Y/N grinned. “No. I think I’ll leave that to Toph.”

Katara chuckled and nodded, turning her hands over in a final examination before nodding. “Good,” she repeated. The silence between them, although comfortable, stretched out for a little too long before she spoke again, this time much quieter. “He did this to you.”

“Katara…”

“I know,” she said. “I know you probably don’t want to hear this from me, or really at all, but… I’m worried about you. Zuko isn’t good for you. Every time we’ve run into him, he’s hurt you. And you deserve so much more than that.”

“You don’t understand,” she countered. “You don’t know Zuko like I do. You weren’t there when I was. I know you think I’m insane for still believing in him, but I— I can’t let go of him, Katara. I know the Zuko I love is still in there somewhere, and I have to try and find it. For me and for him.”

Katara’s eyes were full of nothing but sympathy as she sighed — it was obvious she didn’t believe her words, but in true fashion she was still trying her best to be supportive.

“Okay. I don’t understand it, but… I don’t think I can change your mind.” Y/N chuckled sadly and nodded, Katara’s piercing gaze meeting her own once more. “It’s just… Why are you playing with fire when you know you’re going to get burned?”

And for once, Y/N didn’t have an answer for her friend.

~~~~~~~~~

The night went by quickly, which Y/N was thankful for. It meant that the nightmares didn’t last as long.

After a quick headcount to make sure no one had fallen off the pass overnight and an even quicker gathering of their things, they set off to finish their journey.

It went just as well as she had expected — a giant serpent, the namesake of the pass, had attacked them while crossing through an underwater section. Thankfully, she was able to aid Katara and Aang in defeating it with waterbending with no casualties

But in the wake of one disaster there was always another, and before Y/N knew it a baby had been born. She was mostly there for moral support — Katara had it all handled, and Y/N didn’t expect anything less.

But finally, they had made it across the pass, and they were so close to Ba Sing Se that she could almost smell the city air. Sadly, though, that meant it was time for them to part ways — Aang to find Appa, and Suki back to her warriors. After some sad but hopeful goodbyes with Aang, it was time to bid farewell to Suki.

“Are you sure you can’t travel a little longer with us?” Y/N questioned, apparently not above pleading to try and get the girl to stay. “You’re— you’re amazing, and we’d really love to have you with us.”

“I can’t even imagine what travelling with the Avatar would be like,” she smiled, causing Y/N to get her hopes up for just a moment before they fell back down. “But I can’t stay. I have to get back to the Kyoshi Warriors.”

Y/N sighed, her gaze falling slightly downcast. “I get that. I just really wish you could stay. Or that I could meet your warriors. You seriously don’t know how cool you are, Suki.”

“Well, if you’re ever in town on Kyoshi Island, find us. I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out and do you one better than just meeting them all,” she said with a grin. “I think it’d be pretty cool to have the first waterbending Kyoshi Warrior.”

Y/N was unable to prevent the heat rushing to her cheeks as she smiled shyly, once again averting eye contact. “That would be amazing. I’ll have to find my way back there after the war.”

Suki bumped shoulders with her, causing a startled laugh to spill from her lips. “We’d love to have you.”

“Wait, why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye to her?” Sokka questioned as he walked up to the two of them. Y/N winked at Suki and gestured at him with her head, walking off before Suki could protest to find Katara.

The conversation the two girls were sharing was an extremely thinly veiled excuse to eavesdrop on the lovebirds, and when they kissed Y/N actually had to hold back a scream.

Sokka deserved this. She knew how much he beat himself up over every little thing that went wrong, and it was about time he got to relax even for a moment. She only hoped that Suki would be in their corner of the world sooner rather than later.

What could she say? She was already fantasizing about life as a Kyoshi Warrior.

~~~~~~~~~

Although they had parted ways, they soon found themselves reunited with Aang to stop yet another Fire Nation threat.

“For the love of Kuruk,” Y/N murmured as she stared into the distance, her eyes wide at the sight of a large mechanical drill. “That was Ty Lee who just took down all those soldiers. And if she’s here, Mai and Azula are with her too. Guys, It’s one thing to stop this drill, it’s another thing to take those three down with it.”

“The question is, how do we do it?” Aang questioned.

“Why can nothing ever be easy?” Sokka lamented. His gaze remained trained on the drill for a moment before he realized theirs were on him. “Why are you all looking at me?”

“You’re the idea guy,” Aang said.

“Wait, so I’m the only one who can ever come up with a plan?” he protested. “That’s a lot of pressure!”

“And also the complaining guy,” Katara muttered, drawing a chuckle out from Y/N.

“Now that part I don’t mind,” Sokka admitted.

“Well, Sokka— you were a huge help in the North, and you figured out a way to defeat the Fire Nation during that eclipse at the library! Plus, there’s all that stuff that Katara told me you did before I joined.” She patted him on the back. “If anyone can figure out how to take that thing down, it’s you.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, his ego only slightly bolstered. “...okay. I think I can do it.”

“That’s the spirit!” she said with a smile.

Unfortunately, that smile faded as a young guard came running up to the wall. “Excuse me, Avatar and friends — I’ve heard that you’ve dealt with that… that pink girl down there before.” They nodded and he continued. “It would do us a great deal of help if you could come down and look at our injured soldiers, then.”

Y/N and Katara nodded in unison and started to follow the guard, the remaining three trailing after them. They ended up inside the wall, in what looked like an infirmary of sorts with all the cots and soldiers lying around, and the two waterbenders exchanged looks.

“You know what to do?” Katara asked.

Y/N hummed in acknowledgment, and they both knelt down next to separate cots. “This definitely looks like Ty Lee’s work,” she murmured as she bent water up from the pot and molded it over the man’s arm.

“What’s wrong with him?” the general questioned. “He doesn’t look injured.”

“His chi is blocked,” Katara explained. “Who did this to you?”

“Two girls ambushed us,” the soldier said, moving his arm as he regained feeling. “One of them hit me with a bunch of quick jabs and suddenly I couldn't earthbend anymore and I could barely move. Then she cartwheeled away.”

Katara sighed as she bent the water back into the pot. “You were right, Y/N. That was Ty Lee — she doesn’t look dangerous, but she knows the human body and its weak point. It’s like she takes you down from the inside.”

As if struck by lightning, Sokka lit up. “Oh, oh, oh! What you just said — that’s how we’re going to take down the drill; the same way Ty Lee took down all those earthbenders!”

“By hitting its pressure points!” Toph exclaimed with a grin.

The breakthrough brought a steely determination to Aang’s features as he looked out into the distance. “We’ll take it down from the inside.”

~~~~~~~~~

Like everything they did, it seemed so simple on paper. But now that she was actually inside the drill, it felt a lot more nerve wracking. Toph opted to stay outside where she could see and try to slow down the drill with the earth at her disposal, which left the four of them to somehow take it down from the inside.

Sokka led them through a hallway with a myriad of valves and pipes as he thought out loud. “I need a plan of this machine — some schematics that show what the inside looks like. Then we can find its weak points.”

“Where are we gonna get something like that?” Aang asked.

Sokka thought for a moment before he took his machete out and hacked a valve off a pipe. Y/N instinctively took a step back and shielded her face from the hot steam. “What are you doing?” she cried. “Someone’s gonna hear us!”

“That’s the point!” he exclaimed. “A machine this big needs engineers to run it, and when something breaks—”

“Someone will come down to fix it!” Katara finished with a smile at Aang, a sentiment the boy returned happily.

It was surprisingly easy to take down the engineer once he arrived — with a little bit of frozen mist on Katara’s end, they had the plans they needed. Sokka’s expertise combined with the blueprints got them to the beginning of the outer shell.

“Wow,” Sokka muttered. “It looks a lot thicker than it does in the plans. We’re gonna have to work pretty hard to cut through that.”

Katara crossed her arms. “What’s this ‘we’ stuff? The three of us are gonna have to do all the work.”

“Look, I’m the plan guy!” Sokka explained with a gesture to himself. “You three are the ‘cut up stuff with waterbending’ guys. Together, we’re Team Avatar!”

Katara and Aang looked wholly unamused while Y/N chuckled. “Team Avatar. I like it.”

“Thank you,” he smiled. “At least someone appreciates my genius.”

“Tui’s gills, why do you have to keep boosting his ego?” Katara complained. “Let’s just get this done before it gets worse.”

The three of them got in position — Katara and Aang on opposite sides so they could pass the stream of water between them, and Y/N making the point of the triangle to work on the other side on her own. They were hoping it would be more efficient being able to cut through both sides at the same time, but it was proving to be much more difficult than they had imagined — halfway through the three of them were already exhausted.

By some feat of strength they were able to completely cut through the brace, but their hard work didn’t pay off in quite the way they had imagined — when the beam only shifted a few inches she groaned.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” she breathed as she wiped sweat off of her forehead.

“At this rate,” Katara paused to inhale deeply, “we won’t do enough damage before the drill reaches the wall.”

“I don’t know how many more of those I have in me,” Aang said sadly.

A large creak suddenly rang throughout the large chamber, and they all looked up for the source.

“Did you hear that?” Sokka asked, already backing up to make an exit. “We took it down! We gotta get out of here, fast!”

Just as they reached the door on the other side, a crackle followed by the sound of a man’s voice dashed their hopes. “Congratulations, crew. The drill has made contact with the wall of Ba Sing Se. Start the countdown to victory!”

A collective silence hung in the air between them, the threat now even more imminent as their situation sunk in. Mai and Ty Lee had proven effective in taking down any Earth Kingdom threat posed at them, and despite Toph’s skill they knew she couldn’t take down something like this on their own.

They either had to figure out a way to destroy this drill, or the Fire Nation was going to make it into the city.

Sokka ran back over to the brace and pushed against it, putting all his strength into the feat but to no avail. “Come…. on! Move!”

Katara started pacing around in a small circle, crossing her arms again as she tried to think of something. “This is bad. This is really bad.”

“Sokka, that’s not going to work!” Y/N didn’t mean to snap, but the grinding of metal on metal combined with her nervousness got to her. She sighed and ran her hand over her face. “I— I’m sorry. But it’s still not going to work.”

He groaned as he leaned against the brace. “We’re putting everything we have into busting these things, but it’s taking too long!”

Suddenly, Aang jumped up from the ground with stars in his eyes. “Maybe we don’t need to cut all the way through! Toph — she’s been teaching me that you shouldn’t put a hundred percent of your energy in any one strike. Sokka, get in a fighting stance.”

Sokka complied and as Aang talked through his points, he demonstrated it on Sokka. “You've got to be quick and accurate. Hit a series of points and break your opponent's stance. And when he's reeling back, you deliver the final blow. His own weight becomes his downfall, literally.”

As Sokka fell over from the attack, Katara lit up. “So we just need to weaken the braces instead of cutting all the way through—”

“—then I can go to the top of this thing and deliver the final blow!” Aang finished.

Y/N helped Sokka up from the ground, his spirits not dampened at all. “Then boom! This whole thing goes down!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Y/N asked, flexing her fingers to refresh them for all the bending she was going to have to do. “Aang, Katara and I can handle the braces. Focus on getting up to the top before anyone sees you.”

He nodded and they all met each other with determined eyes. “Everyone inside that wall, the whole world — they’re all counting on us.”

“Here, take this. You need this more than I do. ” Katara took her waterskin off and handed it to Aang. “Good luck. And be careful.”

Y/N noticed a slight blush on her cheeks and she had to hold back her smile. That was definitely something she was going to tease her friend about later — when they weren’t trying to stop the Fire Nation from breaking into Ba Sing Se.

“I will,” he assured. Aang slung the strap of the waterskin around his shoulder and took off, and Y/N and Katara got to work breaking through the rest of the braces.

With the knowledge that they only had to cut through half of each column and the revitalization that came from having a plan, their work went by much quicker. Just when they finished the final brace, it all went wrong.

“Good work, Team Avatar!” Sokka cheered. “Now we— Y/N, duck!”

She didn’t question Sokka as she immediately dropped to the ground, something she was immensely thankful for as a blast of blue fire seared past her. Her eyes snapped up to the source of the attack and narrowed in recognition.

“Of course they’re here,” she growled as she pulled herself back up. “We gotta go, now!”

Katara and Sokka nodded and they all started running. Bringing up the rear, Y/N was able to hear Azula’s words right before they split off into an intersection:

“Follow them! I’m going to find the Avatar.”

Sure enough, when she allowed a glance back, Mai and Ty Lee were closing in on them. She flicked open the cap of her waterskin and bent some out, managing to freeze it at just the right moment to block the incoming daggers from Mai. Still running, she melted it quickly and let it fall to the ground before freezing it again, creating some ice on the ground that would hopefully give them a few more seconds of leeway.

“That should give us some time!” she yelled as they turned a corner, finally turning her attention back to the path in front of them. “Any idea how we’re gonna get out of this thing?”

“Maybe!” Sokka yelled back, slowing to a stop as they came to a dead end, a large hatch the only thing at their disposal. He started tugging on the wheel in an attempt to open it, and when Y/N joined in they were able to wrench it open.

“Slurry pipeline?” Katara frowned as she read the sign on the wall and looked at Sokka. “What does that mean?”

“It’s rock and water mixed together,” he explained as they looked into the rushing liquid underneath the hatch. “It means it’s our way out!”

Katara nodded and climbed in, Sokka following close after. The sound of metal footsteps got closer and closer, and Y/N ducked inside just as Mai’s knives clanked against the hatch. Never before had she been so happy to be floating in a stream of slurry.

The rest of their mission went by surprisingly easy — at least, on their end. All it took was some waterbending — earthbending, when Toph joined them — and encouragement from Sokka (though unappreciated by Katara). Whatever magic Aang was working at the top of the drill had done its job, because soon enough the drill had collapsed in on itself.

And now, they had reunited on the top of the wall overlooking the sunset. After the chaos that had been their day, it was nice to just relax for even a moment. And there was no better way to do so than with her friends.

“I just want to say, good effort out there, Team Avatar!” Sokka exclaimed as he threw an arm around Y/N’s shoulder.

“Enough with the ‘Team Avatar’ stuff,” Katara said dryly. “No matter how many times you say it, it’s not going to catch on.”

“I like it, Sokka,” Y/N smiled. “I’ve liked it this whole time.”

“You always appreciate my genius, Y/N,” he mused. “That’s why I appreciate you.” She laughed and leaned her head against his shoulder as he continued to list off names.

“How about… the Boomeraang squad! Eh? See, it’s good because it’s boomerang, and it has Aang in it—”

“Yeah Sokka,” Toph interrupted. “We got it.”

Aang grinned and scratched his head. “I kinda like that one.”

“The Aang Gang. Ooh, the Fearsome Fivesome!”

“You’re crazy,” Toph muttered as she walked away.

“Wait, Sokka—” Y/N pulled away from him and held up her pointer finger. “Aang Gang — what if we combine it, so it’s just the Gaang? But still with Aang’s name?”

And at that moment, Sokka looked more proud than ever. “Oh, you— you are a genius.”

“Oh, spirits,” Katara groaned. “Why do you insist on encouraging him?”

“You’re just jealous of our name-making abilities,” Sokka said haughtily.

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “You two are completely ridiculous, you know that? Let’s just get into the city before the trains stop running.”

Y/N and Sokka winked at each other as they all started walking, unable to keep the smile off of her face. She always thought it was amazing — they went through insane things every day, but at the end of it all she was always able to smile because of them. And as her gaze drifted towards the city in the distance, she hoped it would hold true.

She had no idea what Ba Sing Se had in store for her.

shit is gonna happen next chapter so i hope you all are READY bc im not

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#zuko x reader #zuko x you #zuko x y/n #zuko #zuko fic #prince zuko #avatar #avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar fic #atla fic #avatar the last airbender fic #avatar x reader #avatar the last airbender x reader #atla x reader #sadie writes

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melzula · 4 years

Text

Date Night

pairing: Zuko x Princess!reader

notes: you have no idea how excited I was when I saw this request in my inbox

request: Could you write a Fire Lilies blurb about Princess! Reader and Zuko watching the Ember Island's play about their adventure with Aang and the others?

~ part of the fire lilies series ~

When Sokka and Suki had revealed that the Ember Island Players were performing a play about your little group, you had actually been really excited to go. Constant training and preparation for Sozin’s comet was physically and emotionally draining, so a night at the theater with your friends was exactly what you all needed- even if your boyfriend wasn’t too thrilled about the prospect.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun! Think of it as a date night,” you try to convince him as the two of you take your seats

“Kind of hard to do that when it’s not just the two of us,” Zuko grumbles only for you to shush him, hugging onto his arm and snuggling up close to his side the moment the curtains draw. He lets out a small sigh and rolls his eyes as the train wreck of a play begins, but there’s a faint blush on his cheeks from how close you are. Despite how terrible he knows this is going to be, he does appreciate being your boyfriend again.

The play is really... something. Though it isn’t exactly what you expected, it’s still entertaining nonetheless. You were nearly brought to tears at the portrayal of Aang, laughing the hardest you ever have in your whole life. Things took a turn though once you and Zuko were introduced. You aren’t a fan of their distasteful take on Uncle Iroh, and Zuko isn’t too thrilled about their portrayal of himself either.

“They make me look totally stiff and humorless,” he complains.

“Actually, I think that actor’s pretty spot-on,” Katara teases smugly.

“How could you say that?!”

“Let’s forget about the Avatar and get massages,” actor Iroh then suggested.

“How could you say that?!” “Zuko” yelled in response, prompting your boyfriend to sink down in his seat with a frown. At that moment an actress emerged from the interior of the ship. She wore a tacky but very large dress with a poorly put together crown made of icicles, swooning at Zuko’s feet and kissing the ground he walked on; the actress was you.

“Oh, how I long to settle down in Ba Sing Se like the selfish, spoiled Princess I am!” She sighed dramatically. “I’m a dirty water rat that betrayed my people so I can follow my true love!”

You wanted to gag at how corny her acting was, but you also wanted to melt into the floor and hide forever at how embarrassing the portrayal was. You try to ignore the quizzical glances your friends send your way, choosing to shield your profile with your hand instead to save yourself from further embarrassment.

“Zuko, pay attention to me!” The Princess on stage whined only for Zuko to keep her at arm’s length.

“Nothing is more important to me than the Avatar!” Actor Zuko rebutted.

“You know, you’re a pretty bad boyfriend,” Sokka points out, and Zuko scowls.

“I wasn’t that bad... was I?” He asks guiltily.

“Umm... you had your moments,” you defend weakly, and Zuko deflates at your response.

“Even though you ignore me I will stay by your side because I’m desperate!” the Princess proclaimed, wrapping herself around Zuko. “And I won’t even use my water bending to help you restore your honor because I’m useless!”

“Oh, boy,” Toph laughs, “it’s like I’m actually there!”

“Still excited about the play?” Zuko whispers to you, and you merely grumble irately in response as you wrap yourself up in the lower half of his cloak.

It’s safe to say the majority of your group finds the play unbearable. From turning Aang into a whimsical immature child to making Katara overly dramatic and emotional, the performance butchers your characters in every way possible. You especially weren’t fond with the siege of the North segment where your selfishness and desperation for Zuko’s love were emphasized the most. They especially loved to highlight the fact that you paled in comparison to Yue as Princess, leaving a bitter taste in your mouth that lasted all the way to intermission.

“So far this intermission is the best part of the play,” Zuko grumbles from where he’s leaned against the railing. You sit by his feet on the stairs, angrily chewing on Sokka’s fire jerky.

“I’m not desperate,” you mutter through a stuffed mouth, “and I’m not selfish either. I’m a great Princess!”

“At least your actress kind of looks like you,” Aang argued. “I’m a woman!”

“Listen friends, it’s obvious that the playwright did his research,” Toph buts in. “I know it must hurt, but what you’re seeing up there on that stage is the truth.”

“Easy for you to say, you haven’t seen how they’re going to butcher your character yet,” you mumble.

Of course Toph ended up being the only member of your group to give her approval to the actor portraying her. You have to admit though, being played by a buff guy is pretty cool, but you could’ve done without the sonic scream. At this point, Zuko’s cloak is now yours as you worm your way underneath it to block out the sound.

“Oh, Zuko!” Actress you cries suddenly. “My mind is telling me that being with you is wrong, but my heart tells me that there’s still good in you! I want to settle down in Ba Sing Se with you and have weird, mutant bender babies!”

You nearly choke on your own spit at the thought of “mutant bender babies,” groaning as your friends begin to laugh. Zuko’s mind is still trying to process the word “babies.”

“My honor has prevented me from keeping you happy, so now I will succumb to your bewitching good looks and live in a dirty earth kingdom city to please you,” the Zuko on stage replies dramatically.

“Bewitching good looks?” Suki teases your blushing boyfriend with a raised brow.

Things start to get uncomfortable with the start of crystal cave scene.

“I’ve had eyes for you since the day you first captured me,” actress Katara swooned, causing both you and Aang to stiffen in your seats.

“I’m sorry, did you flirt with my boyfriend in the crystal caves?” You glare over at Katara before turning your angry gaze to Zuko. He smiles at you sheepishly, frowning when you remove yourself from his cloak and scoot a few inches away from him.

“Well brother, what’s it going to be? Your nation or a life of treachery?” Azula asked.

“Zuko, don’t do it!” The Princess cried. “I love you!”

“You’re a water rat and you’re annoying and also I don’t love you anymore!” The actor yelled in response. The actress playing you bursted into tears before turning them into a “powerful wave” that knocked Zuko off his feet.

“Is that really what happened?” Katara asked the two of you gently, both of you refusing to meet her gaze. He tries to reach for your hand to comfort you only for you to pull it away. It isn’t a pleasant memory to revisit, and seeing it played out for you again makes things tense.

The second intermission is even worse, though a little boy dressed as Aang does tell you that you’re so much prettier than the real Princess y/n, so that’s a plus. But the ending of the terrible, horrible, awful play leaves your group shaken. You can’t seem to stay mad at Zuko anymore, not after watching his “death” on stage.

“Oh, Zuko,” you murmur softly at the sight of him being consumed by the flames, and your boyfriend wraps a comforting arm around your figure in response. He’s equally just as shaken.

Your group is mostly silent as you leave the theater, Zuko and yourself trailing behind just slightly as you walk along the sand.

“Are you alright?” He asks gently.

“The other stuff I was mad about was stupid, and I know things are different now. But... watching you die?”

“I know,” he murmurs thoughtfully.

“Remind me never to go to another Ember Island play ever again,” you groan, smiling weakly as he drapes his cloak over your shoulders and presses a kiss to your cheek.

“Gladly.”

| tags: @oddment-niwit-blubber-tweak @thebluelcdy @royahllty @the-firebender-girl @coldlilheart @ilovespideyyy @titaniafire @dekahg @emberislandplayers s @kikaninchen-2 @sokkas--boomerang @eridanuswave @royahllty @lozzybowe @izzieserra @melacholy @music-geek19 @thia-aep @thyunnamed @kittenthekat1234567890 @haylaansmi @nataliahaslosthershit @coldlilheart @idkdude776 @aangsupremacy @thirstyforsometea @ihaveaproblem98 |

#zuko #zuko x reader #zuko imagine #prince zuko #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko imagine #zuko and the princess #avatar the last airbender #atla #atla x reader #fire lilies #princess reader #request

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army-of-mai-lovers · 4 years

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ATLA Fic Recs part 2!

part 1 (consider this link a re-rec of everything I recced in part 1, bc those fics are still amazing and at this point many of them that weren’t complete are finished now which is cool!)

So I’m structuring this fic recs list a little differently than I did the first one. First one was just “fics I like” with no regard to how popular the fics were and a little bit of thought as to balancing gen fics with ship fics and trying to have a diversity of ships listed. This time, I am paying attention to how popular the fics are, and while I’m probably still going to rec popular fics/fic authors, I’m hoping to also expose people to some new authors with this list (as well as exposing people to work from their favorite authors that they may not have read)! Expanding your horizons is a really good thing, it’s how I’ve found basically every fic I love, and I hope y’all will love each of the fics I’m reccing as much as I do! In no particular order:

1. her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you by @aangsblush I said that I was going to rec this a couple days ago and here I am doing it because HOW ON EARTH IS THIS FIC AS BRILLIANT AS IT IS AND NOT LIGHTING THE FANDOM ON FIRE RIGHT NOW. I’ve genuinely never read a fic like this before. Never in my life. It’s a collection of vignettes, mostly dealing with Hakoda and Sokka’s various experiences of grief with Kya and Yue (and there’s a little bit of cute bakoda and sukka sprinkled in there as well). Like I said, the chapters were vignettes, some of them as short as two or three sentences, and yet somehow I was crying after every single chapter???? The author uses language so sparingly and so impactfully and I truly cannot get over how brilliant this is like bruh. who gave you the right. Who. Who. Tbh I could make a whole post about this fic (and I have!) but instead, I’m going to direct you to the fic, bc really, it speaks for itself.

2. laughter lines by @bi-suki To be completely real, I tend not to read sad fics, or seek out sad media in general, but I read this fic and I’m so glad I did. It’s a modern au about Sokka and his family moving to Anchorage, separating him from his childhood best friend, Yue. Make sure you read the tags before you read this fic, please. It’s really sad. I started tearing up while writing out just that quick summary. Keep a box of tissues handy. I’ve read a lot of this author’s fics and they all have a habit of sticking in my head long after I’ve read them, but this one really packs a punch. Sokka’s grief and his friendship with Yue is written in such an intimate and beautiful way, and yes, I literally am crying right now thinking about it. I do think it’s hard to pull off writing yukka, especially in a modern au, while giving appropriate depth to both Sokka and Yue, but this fic really managed it so well. Even though this fic made me sad, I don’t regret reading it one bit.

3. call it fate by @bluberry-spicehead y’all are really converting me into a maiko shipper and honestly I’m so here for it. Mai’s one of my favorite characters in ATLA, and the care that the fic takes in portraying her perspective as well as her relationships with Zuko, Azula, and Ty Lee (despite the fact that Zuko isn’t even there when the fic takes place)--I mean, it’s honestly just incredible work. I’ve seen a lot of joke-y posts about “oh what if x happened with Aunt Wu instead of what happened in canon?” but never with Maiko and never quite the way this fic describes it. It’s really original and really carefully done, with all the complexity and nuance of their relationship infused into the details of the fic. And the way that Mai is written is both in character for her and expands on existing canon in a way that I really believe works for her. The writing is so immediate and really roots you in the world and in Mai’s head and I love it I love it I love it!

4. i am your savior, your last serving daughter by @gays4korra *sokka voice* SUKI! Bruh. BRUH. The amount that I love both Suki and Kyoshi cannot be overstated, they’re both such fascinating and complex characters, and yet some people (*cough* the fandom *cough*) don’t want to see them in their full and complete brilliance. Enter this fic, which shows Suki and Kyoshi meeting, like someone saw my wildest dreams and was like “hey that’s a cool fic idea!” The TEARS I cried reading this fic (yes, I am aware that this is the fourth time I’ve mentioned crying over a fic in just this one post, these fic authors are incredibly talented and I have three planets in Cancer, fight me) Suki and Kyoshi, icons themselves, conversing across time???? iconic. simply iconic. And then the fact that Sokka orchestrated the whole thing because he wanted to make Suki happy? I love them, your honor. And Kyoshi being happy that Suki looks up to her because really Kyoshi’s a fluffy dork with self-esteem issues.... I’m crying again it’s so beautiful I’ve looked at it for five hours now. Gosh. read this fic.

5. Balance My Heart in The Palm of Your Hands by @spookysukki ok while looking for this person’s tumblr I found out that this was their first work in the fandom and can I just say pal you POPPED OFF with this one fic and I hope that you write more because this was. This was awesome. Mailee is def in my top 5 (possibly top 2) ATLA ships but unfortunately I have a hard time finding content for it. Fortunately, every time I do find content for it it’s incredibly cute and this was absolutely no exception. It’s also the rare Mai & Sokka friendship fic which is not something I knew I needed in my life but is a concept that I am completely obsessed with having read this. Basically, Mai’s jealous of Sokka because Ty Lee keeps talking about Sokka being attractive, and shenanigans ensue. And you know me, I love shenanigans. This is also a Mai perspective fic which is awesome because as I said earlier, I love love LOVE Mai, and she’s so sweet and broody in this lsfjskdfjk I love her so much what an icon.

5. earth system history by @pianjeong I have read this fic. So many times. I could honestly probably recite it from memory (jfdksjflsd ok that’s not true but at this rate I probably will be able to soon). It is an absolutely stunning fic. It’s like all my favorite parts of college condensed into one story (running around buildings you probably shouldn’t be in in the middle of the night with the person you have a crush on, coming out to your professor who is also gay, all iconic college moods). I’m simply obsessed with the way each character is written, and it’s so clear that the author knows what she’s talking about when it comes to geology, and that in general this fic was written with a lot of love for the characters of ATLA and also for rocks. It’s that love that keeps me coming back to this one. Cannot recommend it enough.

6. the end is barely beginning by @katarahairloopies gosh I don’t even know where to start with this one other than I cannot believe that it almost wasn’t posted and I’m so glad that it was because you truly can never have enough father/son moments between Hakoda and Sokka and I care them. I care them so much. Also can I just say Hakoda not remembering all of Sokka and Katara’s friends’ names and having to really think about it is such a dad mood. I can’t remember a single time in my life where my dad could remember all of my friends’ names (and there were points in my life where he would have only had to remember one name and yet. and yet.) I really love ATLA fics that are character studies because they tend to really retain the complexity of the characters as they’re depicted in the show (or make them more complex) and this one is no exception. There were so many lines of this that were just really poignant and beautiful. Again, cannot recommend it enough.

#atla fic recs #gosh so many of these are hakoda focused bless #hakoda #sokka #yue #suki #yukka #sukka #mai #maiko #kyoshi #zukka #mailee #ty lee #caps tw

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zkfanworkweek · 4 years

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ZFAW Content Creator Interviews: OwedBetter

Hey everyone! We hope you’re all excited for ZFAW, and to honor (ha!) ZFAW’s commitment to supporting and celebrating fan content creators in the Zutara fandom, we’re going to be rolling out a series of interviews with well-known and widely-beloved content creators over the next few weeks. We’ve got artists and fanfiction authors, some names you recognize as well as a few phenomenal up-and-coming talents, and we can’t wait for you to meet them all!

I’m super excited about this one! For the sixth (incredibly delayed, I’M SORRY) interview in the cycle, we have Jo, aka @owedbetter. Best known for the absolutely iconic Zutara fanfiction “I’m Still Here,” Jo’s works can be found at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12312357/chapters/27990618

Tell us about how you came to ship Zutara. What does this ship mean to you?

To use one of my favourite lines from Jane Austen, "I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun." I started watching Avatar: The Last Airbender when I was just a tiny little baby child at 10 turning 11 years old. I do know for a fact, however, that Zutara had simply always been it for me from the very beginning. I believe it was during "The Storm" that I just knew that there was more to Zuko than what was at surface level. As a brown girl trying to make her way into positions of leadership as a child, Katara's strength, rage, and bravery paved the way for me to survive in the way I have. As a survivor of child abuse myself, Zuko remaining kind and gentle and good was of paramount importance. Together, they were the joining of two souls that met in conflict and chaos but through merit, equal standing, and forgiveness, they were exactly what each other needed. They are not opposites nor two halves of a whole; they are the sky and between them is only the world. Everyone has the need to feel truly seen and understood as they are by another, and Zuko and Katara do exactly that. Other stories come and go, but they're the story I come back to and will continue to call home every single time. I will never tire of them.

2. What inspires you to create Zutara fanworks?

I've been a professional writer for the last ten years. It's my job to imagine and create stories. I also love consuming stories through every medium possible. The well never dries when you keep it full to the brim. When you do the work I do and you consume as many stories as I do and you've lived a long enough life and paid attention to the life around you as I have trained to do, to be inspired is second nature. For Zutara, however, these are voices that have lived in my brain for fifteen years. When I get an idea for a story, literally any story, it's like my subconscious is naturally attuned to their dynamic that every prompt I come up with is automatically a Zutara prompt. Such is the way. If I ever publish a novel and/or lead my own show/movie, you can bet that it's probably Zutara if you squint.

3. Be selfish - if you could request one fanwork based on your own art/fanfic, what would it be? What would you absolutely love to see someone create?

To this day, "i'm still here" is probably the single greatest thing I've ever done in my whole stupid life. It would be the greatest honour to see my work interpreted visually. Genuinely, I'd love to see certain scenes as comic panels or something. Katara's realisation at the beach over who she is and she thinks about Yue, her mother, and her grandmother. Zuko and Katara's mutual understanding. The scene that started it all: baby Zuko taking care of baby Azula at the beach. Katara and Iroh talking in Chapter 7. Toph meeting fear for the first time. The entire ending of Chapter 6. As of writing this, I haven't updated the sequel yet but I would love to see visual interpretations of incoming Original Characters because they've been fun to create. I don't even know. If anyone wants to draw something from "i'm still here", I would like to see it. Please let me see it. I will cry. But also, I would like to see visual interpretation of Zutara in my modern quarantine pandemic AU because I would like to see long haired 28 year old Zuko wearing autumn-wear in a public park filled with flowers with 26 year old Katara basically wearing anything I wear because I am projecting in that story for a reason.

4. Any words for people who are new to the fandom and/or nervous about sharing their work for the first time?Buddy, we're all just a bunch of nerds who are creating things for our enjoyment and the enjoyment of likeminded individuals. Do things for you and because they bring you joy, first and foremost. Everything else can be ignored if you want to ignore it. You're doing great.

5. What is your favorite Zutara-related thing you’ve made and why is it special to you?

Again, "i'm still here" is literally the greatest thing I've ever done in my life. Something I get commended for a fair amount with ISH is how I handled Zuko being a child abuse survivor, and his conflicting emotions with his violent abusers because he's still a child who wants his family to love him. That comes from an extremely personal place for me and it means the world to know that other survivors out there resonated so well with it. Also, Masterchef Zuko with that chicken adobo meant me getting a LOT of people saying they tried out the recipe themselves and I can feel my grandmother radiate with pride over knowing I'm so great a cook that I can convince people to want my dish just by writing about it. I'm so proud of everything I did with ISH. I worked really hard on it and I'm so happy to know it means a lot to other people too.

6. What’s an idea for a fanwork that you have but haven’t gotten around to making?

I have this one modern AU involving dogs that I've put on the backburner since 2017. One day... one day!!! I'm a bit of a workaholic, though, so most of the things I want to do, I just do 'em.

7. Are you participating in ZFAW? If so, want to give us a hint as to your plans? 👀

I am! I have a draft ready based on one of Hayley Foster's animatics and I'm very excited. Tumblr user hayleynfoster, I owe you my entire life.

#zfaw #zutara fanworks appreciation week #interviews #zutara #owedbetter

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