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absolutelyfizzing · 3 years

Text

cruel and spiteful

anon - If you take requests, can I have Zuko X reader, where Zuko tells them about his scar?

description - zuko tells y/n how he got his scar. he also has a very important question to ask her. (established!zuko x reader)

warnings - fluff, some tears, description of violence and abuse (no more vivid than is in the show), no connection to the content after the original series, some kissing, zuko is aged up (probably 20-24 years old)

word count - 1700

a/n - I tried on this one but I make no promises that its good

MASTERLIST

You stayed in peaceful silence next to your boyfriend as you read and he worked. Your leg was draped over one of his so you could have some contact but not enough that either of you would get distracted. You often thought about how thankful you were that you could have moments like this. That you had been together long enough and were comfortable enough with each other that you could spend evenings like this.

Zuko fidgeted a bit in his place and you glanced over at him. He had bags under his eyes and they looked red. You knew that he had been overworking himself lately and not getting enough sleep. Many nights he would come to bed after you had fallen asleep and then leave before you woke up simply because there was so much for him to do. You also knew that you wanted to take care of him and to let him know that his mental well-being was just as important as getting his list of tasks done. At that thought, you closed your book and sat up a bit.

"Zuko?" you asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace in the room.

"Hm?" he hummed out but he did not look up from his work.

"Zuko, honey, you have to stop working for a minute." You tried to reason but he just huffed. You didn't say anything else but you slowly moved to take his things off of his lap, giving him time to finish reading the paragraph he was on. He let you slip the papers into your hands and you placed them on his nearby desk. You stood silently and grabbed his hand to pull him up.

He didn't complain or make any indication that he didn't want to get up as you led him to your shared bathroom. You had him brush his teeth and you pulled his hair into a bun for him before you both headed back to bed, this time in your pajamas and with the intent of going to sleep.

"Actually, can you mess with my hair?" he almost whispered. He requested you touch his hair every so often because he loved the feeling of your fingers carding through it.

"Of course, my love," you assured and he smiled at you.

You sat on the bed, your back against the headboard. He laid next to you so his head was on your lap and you were looking down at him. You began to brush through his hair with your fingers, running your nails along his scalp. His eyes closed at the feeling as he sighed. You could tell that the anxiety of the day was leaving him.

After you had been brushing through his hair for some time and his breathing had evened out, you moved to run your fingers over the lines of his face. You just assumed that he was asleep from how calm and still he seemed. Your fingers traced along his brow lines and his eyes. You moved them down towards the shape of his nose and then his jaw. When you moved back up his face, you traced along the edges of his scar. You never asked him about it and you didn't actually know how he got it. You were from the earth kingdom and had never heard any conversation around the palace about it so you assumed that he was in some sort of accident. You knew that he would eventually tell you how it happened if he wanted to. As you were lost in thought you hadn't even noticed that his eyes were open, gazing at you from your lap. When you accidentally met his gaze, you flinched, like you had been caught doing something wrong.

"You can touch it, it's okay." He whispered out to reassure you and you hesitated before tracing it again. "Have you already heard the story?" he questioned. He knew that you hadn't known much about him when you met and that stories around the palace had ceased, mostly because it was old news and he no longer seemed self-conscious about it.

You shook your head shyly.

"Do you want to?"

You made eye contact with him. "If you don't mind telling it." You tried to make sure that he knew he didn't have to. He smiled up at you and sat up from your lap. He moved so that he was sitting in front of you, legs crossed under him to match yours. His knees were touching yours and he pulled your hands onto his lap. He looked up into your eyes and felt anxiety despite your non-judgemental gaze. He paused for a moment.

"My father did it." He started, looking at your face as you gasped a bit but you tried not to react, wanting him to continue uninterrupted. "When I was younger, I think I was thirteen, I sat in on a war meeting with my father and his advisors." His gaze had drifted down towards where your fingers were tangled with his.

"I disagreed with something, I spoke up. One of the generals had recommended sacrificing men as bait for a trap and I felt like I had to say something. It was seen as an act of disrespect so my father told me I would be fighting in an agni kai to settle the matter."

You kept your gaze on his face. You had only seen one agni kai in your time in the fire nation and it was not something you wished to see again. You struggled to believe anyone would expect a thirteen-year-old to fight in such a match.

"When I showed up, I had assumed I would fight the general, that was who I disagreed with. Instead, my father stepped forward to fight me. I knew I couldn't have won but I also didn't want to fight him because he was my father and I didn't want to show him violence. I got on my knees and asked him to forgive me but he saw it as a sign of weakness."

Zuko took a deep breath. He hadn't had to tell this story in a while and remembering the traumatic fight made him feel emotional.

"He burned me for my vulnerability. I was then exiled by my father, my scar a brand to let the kingdom know of my shame, and he sent me on my impossible mission to find the avatar. To find Aang." He finished, looking up to your gaze again. He was a bit surprised to see tears streaming down your face and he immediately cooed at you, shushing you and wiping your tears away.

You let out a broken sob and he brought his hand to the back of your neck to pull you into him so your face rested against his shoulder. Your fingers moved so that they were latched onto his shirt. You cried quietly for a few minutes, Zuko's hand soothing you by rubbing along your back.

"I'm so sorry." You whispered out. Zuko didn't respond immediately, thinking about his answer. For a while he would have said 'it's okay or 'i had it coming' but he now knew that it wasn't true. That it was cruel and he shouldn't have had to go through that.

"I'm okay now." He decided on and you nodded against him. You sat up a bit and moved your hand to cup his jaw on the side of his scar, your thumb just barely grazing over the edge of it.

"You are beautiful." You breathed out and Zuko was surprised by your words but they almost brought tears to his eyes. "Your father was a cruel and spiteful man and for him to have taken his anger out on his own child when you were just a kid is heartbreaking. I'm so sorry you had to go through that and I am so proud of you for having become such an amazing man in spite of your cruel upbringing."

You wiped away the single tear that trailed down his face.

"Will you marry me?" He whispered out, surprising himself a bit. He had of course been planning on proposing to you but he had a plan set up months from now. It was elaborate and romantic but as he sat in front of you, he wanted to be able to say he was your husband as soon as possible. Your face cracked into a smile and you giggled a bit. Zuko wanted to hear that sound for the rest of his life.

"Of course I will, Firelord Zuko." Your words reminded you of your future and your face paled a bit. Zuko was ecstatic that you said yes but worried as your face showed anxiety. "I'm going to be royalty." You choked out, your fear showing. You had, of course, hoped that you would be spending the rest of your life with Zuko, but you had never given your future rank much thought. Zuko let out a laugh at your realization.

"You already are." He added and you quirked your eyebrow in question. "You are the person I care for the most in the world, you are my closest advisor and you help me in all of my decisions, you are under my protection at all times. You are already queen in practice, just not in title. You will rule by my side as an equal as you already do. As you have done for the last 2 years."

You smiled at his reassurance and leaned forward to pull him into a searing kiss. You hoped that he could feel all of the emotions you were trying to express through it. He hummed against your lips and brought his hand up to rest in your hair. When you both pulled away, out of breath, he leaned his forehead against yours.

"I love you." He mumbled out and you smiled.

"Nowhere near as much as I love you." you replied easily.

#zuko imagine #zuko x reader #zuko fluff #zuko x reader fluff #zuko x reader imagine #prince zuko #zuko x y/n #avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar x reader #ATLA imagine #atla fluff #atla x reader fluff

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zoethespiritwolf · 3 years

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I love her, damn it!

______________________________________

Part 2 (Part 1 here)

Ship: Sokka x f!firebender!reader

Warnings: swearing, injuries, captive abuse, a bit of angst, but it ends well

Genre: angst-to-comfort

Fic type: Scenario

A/n: This is part 2 of the "I love her, damn it!" miniseries. Sorry that it took so long and I apologize to those who have sent in their requests. I've seen them and am already working on them. You can expect them to be completed in about a week.

Other than that, I hope you enjoy and have a nice day!

______________________________

(Y/n) was sure she had lost the perception of time at this point. All the blood loss, torture, and generally not being able to see the sun in the freezing metal cell had made her head fuzzy and not being able to recall what day or time it was.

She didn't know if it was hours, days, maybe weeks, or even months since she had been captured, but it didn't really matter at this point. (Y/n)'s main goal was to survive and possibly get out of the base to safety.

Just then, (Y/n) heard footsteps outside of her cell. Rhythmic, meaning it was probably another Fire Nation soldier that had come to either 'beat the traitor' or deliver scraps of food. The firebender heard the footsteps stop near the door and the rhythmic tapping of the keypad of the side of the cell door.

When the captive heard the high-pitched beep of the keyboard, signaling that the correct combination had been entered, (Y/n) threw her head back and groaned, her bound hand tugging at the metal chains around her wrists immobilizing her.

The metal doors to her cell slid open and a cloud of mist rose from the doorway. The girl sighed and through her nose released a mist cloud similar to the doorway and swung her head back in front of her to see who had decided to come to visit her. (Y/n)'s eyes widened when she had set her gaze on the visitor, before quickly relaxing and raising her brows.

"Princess Azula," (Y/n) addressed her, "To what do I owe the pleasure that you personally come to visit a poor firebender like myself in these circumstances?"

"You and I know very well that you aren't just another poor firebender," the princess smirked in reply, crossing her arms behind her back, "You are far more important than those disposable soldiers in this base."

"I suppose so, your Highness," the captive sighed and furrowed her eyebrows when she felt her energy depleting, "However, I would be far too hopeful to think that you've just come here to talk to your old friend. What do you want?"

"Always to the point, as usual," Azula replied as her smirk widened and she turned to slowly walk around the cold cell, "But you are right. You would be far too hopeful to think I've just come to see you."

"And as to what I want," the princess continued "I want to give you a choice."

(Y/n) raised a brow in question as the corners of her mouth started to tug downwards into a grimace at Azula's speech.

"Swear absolute loyalty to me and join the Fire Nation again as a general," she proposed, "And you will walk out of this cell a free woman. I'll arrange it so that no trace of this incident ever exists, and everyone will forget that you were a traitor to your kind."

"And if I refuse?" (Y/n) asked, her eyes locking onto her former friend's own amber ones.

"You'll stay here before you will be brought out by the firing squad to your execution," Azula replied.

"So you're making me choose between two evils. Execution or you." the captive smirked tiredly as her head swayed from side to side, barely managing to keep it up.

"Precisely," the princess turned on her heel to face the captive.

(Y/n) bowed her head, making some of her stray hairs falling in front of her face as she slowly started to laugh. The girl's laughter became louder with each second and she once again tossed her head back before breathing in deeply to calm herself, a huge grin settling on her face.

"Do you really have to ask for my decision? You already know what it will be, Azula," (Y/n) leaned forward as much as her chain bound hands would let her so that she was face to face with the Fire Nation princess before whispering, "My death will at least be without much suffering."

"So execution it is," Azula growled as her grin disappeared from her face and a frown came instead. The princess looked at the triumphant grin on the captive's face before turning away and swiftly walking to the doors of the cell and walking past the guards at the entrance.

"Have the firing squad ready for her execution," Azula commanded one of the guards.

"Yes, your Highness!" the guard replied and closed the cell doors.

(Y/n) sighed as her grin started to fade away. She knew that she couldn't escape this, but in no way did the girl regret her decision. The former general was aware that Azula would exploit her and break her if she had agreed.

And then her thoughts shifted to her friends. Aang, Katara, Toph, Zuko and...Sokka.....

The memory of the water tribe boy's brilliantly blue eyes flashed in her mind, the hand he had reached out to try to help her into the escaping jeep despite their disdain for one another.

"I'll never see him again," (Y/n) sighed out as her hopes shattered, "they won't be able to come for me."

Just as her thoughts started to become deeper into the pit of memories, the firebender's ears picked up the faint sound of footsteps running and shouting outside of her cell.

"Have I really become insane now?" (Y/n) pondered as she felt faint and black spots started to appear in her vision from how tired she felt, "Am I hearing things now?"

The girl's consciousness started to flicker as she supposedly heard footsteps coming closer down the corridor. And for a brief second, (Y/n) thought she could hear Sokka shouting her name and the sliding metal door being busted open with force.

And there they were. Those same sea blue eyes she had gazed into before she had been shot at. And now those blue eyes were the last thing the firebender saw before she had blacked out.

-------------------------------------------------

Sokka felt his heart stop the moment he saw (Y/n) passing out just as they had made it inside her cell. His widened eyes then zeroed on the countless bruises on the girl's body, all of them varying in different sizes, and Sokka felt his blood starting to boil.

"Toph, release her from the chains!" Zuko commanded the blind girl, making the water tribe boy snap out of his thoughts.

"On it!" the girl replied and used her metal bending to crumple the chains around the captive's wrists.

Just as (Y/n) started to fall to the floor, Sokka leaped forward and caught the passed out girl in his arms. Immediately the fingers of his right hand flew up to the left side of the girl's neck, right above an artery, and upon finding the steady beating of her heart sighed in relief.

"Sokka!" Zuko called out to his friend, "We have to go! Now!"

The Fire Nation prince had come closer to the pair and was about to grab (Y/n) out of Sokka's arms to carry, but the younger boy clutched her body closer to his.

"We don't have time for this!" the firebender insisted and reached out for the girl, "Give her to me so that we can get out!"

"No!" Sokka replied stubbornly, "I can handle this myself."

"For fuck's sake, why are you being stubborn about this!" Zuko questioned angrily, "If you give her to me, I can carry her out faster-"

"Because I love her, damn it!" Sokka yelled back at the firebender and hoisted (Y/n)'s limp body up in his arms.

Zuko's eyes widened at his friend's outburst before his brows furrowed in concentration and after a pause spoke.

"Alright," Zuko said calmly, "Get her to the Rendez-vous point. I'll cover for you. Toph, go in front of them and scour out any enemies in front of us!"

"I can feel none so far," the blind girl replied as she started running in front of the group, Sokka following shortly behind with (Y/n) in his arms.

"Hold on, (Y/n)," Sokka thought to himself as the group made it out of the building.

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A soft surface under her. That's the first thing (Y/n) noticed when she started to regain consciousness. The second thing the girl felt was a calloused hand clutching her own. A finger slowly and gently ghosted over the hand and she felt the hand tighten.

(Y/n) turned her head to the side where the hand was coming from and started to slowly blink her eyes open, squinting a bit when the hospital room's bright light burned her eyes. But nonetheless, the firebender noticed the dark skin of the hand holding her's and looked up.

The girl felt warmth spread through her chest when she realized that Sokka had come to visit her and fell asleep. (Y/n) slowly wiggled her hand out of his grasp and gently traced his face with the back of her hand, making the boy groan in his sleep and the hand clutching her's previously grabbing her wrist.

"Mmmm, what?" the water tribe boy blinked as he took in his surroundings and with sleep clouded eyes looked at (Y/n), still clutching her wrist gently.

After a brief pause, his eyes widened and a large grin appeared on his face when he had regained enough consciousness.

"You're awake!" Sokka exclaimed happily and dived in the bed to hug the girl, "Holy shit, you're awake!"

"Slow down, water boy!" (Y/n) wheezed out as she slightly pushed at Sokka's chest, "You're suffocating me!"

"Sorry!" the boy quickly apologized before looking the firebender over to see if he had hurt her accidentally.

"It's fine, I'm fine," the girl laughed and Sokka's cheeks gained a reddish tint to them.

After a brief pause, the boy shook his head, the warmth from his face disappearing before his brows furrowed and he stared angrily at the girl in front of him.

"Why the hell would you think it was a good idea to try to stop the Fire Nation soldiers on your own!" Sokka scolded the firebender, "It was absolutely reckless and stupid, and-"

"Well, what else was I supposed to do?" (Y/n) angrily replied, "Allow them to capture us all? "

"You were supposed to stay safe!" the water tribe boy pressed.

"Since when was saving the world from the Fire Nation ever safe?" the firebender questioned.

"What I meant was that you were supposed to not get hurt," Sokka explained himself, "You placed yourself in unnecessary danger and you got hurt because of it."

"Since when do you care that I get hurt?" (Y/n) tsked.

"Since I found out that I love you," the words slipped out of Sokka's mouth and the girl's eyes widened in shock.

"You.. love me?" She cautiously questioned.

"Yeah, I do," he sighed, bowing his head and waiting for rejection, "Look I know you don't feel the same way, but I wanted you to know so th-"

Sokka never managed to complete his sentence as (Y/n)'s lips locked on to her former rival's. The boy tensed before slowly relaxing and leaning into the kiss. The girl's lips started to pull back, but the water tribe boy dived back in for another kiss.

No way was he gonna let her go now.

#x reader #sokka x reader #sokka x you #sokka #sokka fanfic

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yandere-dark-cupid · 3 years

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If you’re requests are open can I get a Yandere Zuko x fem reader where after the war he looks for his darling by making his guards track her down but without anyone knowing bc he doesn’t want ppl to think that he’s back into his old ways again and keeps her in the palace

Ok Angel 💜👌💜. If you want, I could continue this as a mini part to part scenario series if I have the time T.Angel. There is just so many ideas worming around this concept and just think of the crazy things the darling and Zuko is going to go through, while also keeping both of their identities on the veeery low-key. Just let me know Angel 😊☕💜.

Also everyone is going to be aged up to 18+ Btw.

Side note: For the sake of this scenario, the darling will be from the Southern Water tribe. If this Angel decides to let me continue this as a mini scenario series, then the both of us are going to talk about if the darling can be a Waterbender or not.

Warning ⚠!!!: Their is going to be some slight Nsfw in this.

Yandere Zuko: A Dragon's treasure

Five weeks. It has been five weeks since you've went missing. Once the war has ended, Zuko was planning to propose to you. But every since his coronation of being crowned the new FireLord, you just up and vanished. It was like you were never there in the first place. And Zuko has been scattering everywhere in the palace and Fire nation to find you or some type of clue. But nothing. There was nothing there. You really covered your tracks, didn't you?

Right now Zuko was in his thrown room. He was fuming- No steaming with rage. If anyone were to walk in to the room, they'll notice it was boiling in there. He tried to look everywhere in the palace. Even outside the palace. But to no avail. Zuko couldn't find you. You've made it clear that you don't want to be with him or any where near him with this type of stunt you've pulled.

Zuko took a seat on his thrown. His hands was on his head, just about ready to pull his hair out and shout in frustration. But then a knock on the door stop him. " *Frustrated sigh* State your name and your business." Zuko said with spite and a hint of venom in his voice. The person behind the door flinched at his tone of voice. "It's me Sir. The guard you put in charge of the search party for Ms.Y/N". Zuko perked up at the mention of his missing lover's name. " Come in. " said Zuko. With out a second thought, the guard entered the room. She bowed down in respect for her FireLord.

" FireLord Zuko I have an update about Ms.Y/N's whereabouts. " Said the guard. She almost stuttered. The guard noticed how extremely hot it was in the thrown room. It was a clear sign that FireLord Zuko was pissed out of his mind. " Well, " Zuko said in annoyance and anger. Zuko was beyond angry at this point. He was a whole entire cluster fuck of emotions right now. " M-me and m-my crew found some people who could be connected to Ms.Y/N's disappearance , your majesty. " Stuttered the guard in slight fear. Zuko quirked up an eyebrow at what the guard said.

Ah. So the guard managed to find the ones responsible for his darling's vanishment, or at least had some part in it. " Bring them in. " Zuko said. The guard only merely nodded, not wanting to meet the FireLord's intimidating gaze. The guard got off their knees and went to call the other guards, to bring out the people that played some part of the darling going missing. The other guards quickly brought out four other people. Those people was tied up, bounded, and blind folded. The people was visibly quivering in fear. They were very confused and scared on what they did to upset the FireLord.

The four guards forcefully pushed the four people down to the floor. Each guard took off each person's blind fold. In front of the four people, there sat the FireLord in all his glory. FireLord Zuko glared down at the 4 people in a burning gaze. So these disgusting pathetic excuses of human was responsible for his darling going missing. Zuko scoffed at the thought. After a painful intimidating stare down, Zuko finally spoke. " So your the ones held responsible for Y/N's disappearance. " Zuko spat out to them with his voice dipped in poison.

" I-if y-you're talking about a someone that has (h/c), (e/c), and (s/c) then t-they came to m-my store to buy clothes." The woman stuttered in fear. Zuko stayed quite and only listened. " If you're talking about the same person; they came to my food stand and brought some food. " the old man said quickly in fear of what the FireLord would do to him if he took so long to explain himself. Zuko only merely quirks his eyebrow. " Y-yeah, that same person came to my Shop and bought some bags and extra equipment as his they were going on a trip. " The man said while sweating nervously. " The same person came to shack a-and brought some w-weapons. " Said the short lady in fear. Zuko only hmmed at what they said.

" So you're telling me the lady you just described went to all of your stores and shops to buy something. " Zuko said still glaring down the four people. " Y-yes. " the woman squeaked in fear. The old man only nodded quickly. " Mhm. " both the man and woman said. Zuko got up from his thrown and began to walk down to his stand. " What should we do with them you highness? " Said one of the guards. " Bring them to the dungeon. I will decide what to do with them later. " Said Zuko. " I-I don't understand what did we do wrong. " Stuttered the woman in fear and nervousness. Zuko quickly turned to the woman, the woman quickly shuts her mouth. Zuko then begins to slowly walk towards her.

Zuko shot one of his hands out and grasps the woman's face in a painful grip. The woman squeaks in surprise and fear. Zuko just merely just glares down at her. His eyes is filled with a flaming rage. " You all are held responsible for the disappearance of Y/N, " Zuko spat out in anger. Zuko releases his hand from woman's face. Zuko steps away from the woman and is now in front of the four bounded people. " Since you all play a part in my- err Y/N's disappearance, you all will be punished accordingly. " The four people only shook even more at FireLord Zuko's statement. " All of you take them away were they'll never see the light of day again. " Zuko said with venom dripping from his voice.

The four guards only bowed and said a quick " yes sir ". With that they took the four people away. Now Zuko was once again left in his thrown room...... alone.

Zuko let out a sigh of frustration out. He walked towards a window that was in the room. He stared down at his people, he was thinking about something. Based on what the four people said, Zuko can conclude that his darling is no longer in the Fire nation. Zuko dug into his pocket and took out something. It was a necklace. A betrothed necklace to be more specific. You see his darling was not from the fire nation, no no no. You were from a Water tribe, the Southern Water tribe to put it. While Zuko was on his trip to help Aang defeat his father and help him master firebending, Zuko found out from Katara on what her necklace means. He found out that from the Water tribe in order to marry someone, you have to make a betrothed necklace and give it to that special someone. When Zuko found out about this type of information, he instantly got rapped up about it. Ever since he's joined team Avatar he was thinking about what life would be like when he becomes FireLord, then his thoughts were drawn into marriage. He can't help but think, his darling would make the perfect FireLady. His FireLady.

And they'll have children. They'll be lovely children. With his darling swelled up with another one of his heirs all while holding another one of their children. It'll truly be a.. delicious sight to see ~ Zuko hmmed in delight at the thought of his darling bearing his children. But... that's if he witness such a darling sight. Zuko groaned at his mood being dampened and soured. But he knows it's true. Zuko knows if he doesn't act fast, he'll lose his darling. And that lovely little scene that played in his mind, will be nothing but a mere fantasy. Besides, he doesn't want to get himself accidentally sexual frustrated.....

With that aside, Zuko begins to start planning and strategizing. Zuko walks away from the window. He calls a servant, he orders them to get one of his best generals. The servant was slightly hesitant and confused, but never the less terrified. Wasn't the war over? They pushed their question aside, because they know now wouldn't be the best time to question the FireLord. He hasn't been acting himself lately and has been been flaring up at anything these past few weeks. With out much of a second thought, they did as they were told and went to see if someone could get one of the generals FireLord Zuko was talking about.

Zuko on the other hand, went back to sit on his thrown. He knew it will take time for the general to get here, so he decided to sit and be patient for him to get here. All while doing this, Zuko began to plan out in his mind on how he was going to get his darling. He was thinking about getting some of the Fire nation's best spies to help track down his darling. Sending out a whole search team and alerting the public while cause some type of panic. Not only that but he's trying to show that He and the Fire nation has turned over a new leaf, that and he doesn't want people and the other members of team Avatar know he's basically going back to his old ways. Since everybody knows the history on how he went to the ends of the earth to find and Capture the Avatar, and he's basically doing the same for his darling. It'll put a bad name on him and an even worse name on the Fire nation. So he'll lay as low as possible and keep shush shush about it, so he doesn't rise suspicion and ruin all the hard work he's been putting in the past time he's became FireLord.

With all those thoughts in mind, Zuko decides to call the same servant from before. So he can see if his message has been delivered. The Servant said they already sent a messaging hawk out to see if they can reach the general. Zuko only hmmed and dismissed them, and told them to report back to him once the massage has been delivered. With that the servant left, leaving Zuko in his thrown room. Zuko dug into his pocket again. He took out the Betrothed necklace out. He gently creased and rubbed the engraving and creases. He took so many hours and very much effort into making this for his darling. Looking at it always made him feel calmer, it made him happy knowing that his darling will be wearing it soon. But then his darling ran away from him before he can give it to them. Zuko pushed down on the purple garnet at the thought of his darling running away from him ( the rest of the necklace's gems are made up of smaller bits of Rudy and sapphire ). Zuko let out another sigh of frustration. He began to think. Once is darling is back with him he's never letting them go...........

My God, this was a boom ass idea. Not only that, but an idea of Zuko having a bit of a breeding kink has been floating around in my mind for some time now. I had a lot of fun with this. Like I said before T.Angel, If you want me to make a mini scenarios series about this let me know 😆! Well I hope you enjoy it. Until next time my Little Tainted Angels, see you soon ~💜❤💜

#yandere avatar the last airbender #yandere #yandere Zuko #avatar: the last airbender

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reinerispretty · 4 years

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rotations. (zuko x f!reader) pt 14

hi everyone!! i hope you’re doing super well :) thank you so much for reading rotations and for sending me so many kind words!! you all mean the world to me and i rlly mean that bc i am a very emotional person hehe

pt 1

pt 13

pt 15

There were enough rooms in the house for everyone to have their own and, out of habit, (Y/N) picked the room that had once been hers whenever she stayed with the royal family. It was eerie how little it had changed. It was like it had been frozen in time since she had been eleven. Half-finished letters to her friends on the mainland remained on the desk, their scrolls crinkled at the edges with age. An old painting of her and Zuko hung at her bedside. She took it down immediately and shoved it into a desk drawer.

“This place is amazing!” Sokka yelled as he ran up the steps of the beach house. After being attacked by Azula and being forced to flee the Western Air Temple, at Zuko’s suggestion, the group decided to fly to Ember Island to hide in plain site among the Fire Nation. On their way there, Zuko and Katara had gone on a separate mission to track down the man that killed her mother. While (Y/N) understood the necessity of Katara finding closure, she disapproved of her doing it with Zuko. She especially disapproved of how friendly the two seemed when they returned. Katara had always been her confidant in disliking Zuko and it seemed he had won her over, too.

(Y/N) stopped at the end of the stone path, looking up at the ornate designs carved into the wood that symbolized to who this house belonged. The last time she had been here was years ago, but it felt like it was a lifetime away. So much had changed since then.

Katara nudged her shoulder with her own. “Everything okay?” She asked, a small smile etching into her features. (Y/N) pursed her lips. Katara was the first person that she had ever told the full story of her past. She remembered choking on her words a lot because she was unable to find the happiness in her once good memories. Now that they were back on Ember Island, it was like everything was flooding back to her at once.

“Yeah,” she said with a nod, but it was just a second too late to convince Katara that she was being honest. “Being back here just weirds me out.”

Everyone had once again changed back into their Fire Nation clothes and while (Y/N) was comfortable, she felt completely exposed. Like anyone could recognize her at any moment. She had to keep reminding herself that it had been years since these people had seen her.

She dropped her bag and began taking the sheets off the bed so she could wash them. A flash outside of her door caught her eye and she leaned back to see what it was. In the room across the hall, Zuko was hanging clothes in his wardrobe. She tensed. How could she have forgotten that their rooms had been across from one another? It would be doubly difficult to avoid him now.

She tried to talk to Zuko as little as possible if it could be avoided. It made her upset, seeing that all of her friends were gradually becoming more friendly with him. She had been happy before he had entered their group and she would be happy again once he went away. All she had to do was wait it out.

Quickly, she gathered her bedsheets into a bundle and darted out of her door, down the hall, and down the stairs, where Katara had already set up buckets of water and soap to wash their clothes. She silently sat down beside her friend and began scrubbing.

“You’re gonna rub a hole into those if you keep scrubbing so hard.” She looked up to see Katara raising an eyebrow at her.

“These haven’t been used in years, I just want them to be clean.” In reality, she wanted to scrub those sheets free of the long, sleepless nights she had spent thinking about her future with Zuko.

“I’m surprised that Zuko wanted to come back here,” Katara said in an effort to start a conversation with him. “The last time he was here, he was with Azula and those two girls.”

“Mai and Ty Lee.”

“You knew them?” (Y/N) nodded.

“I went to school with them. They were all a grade below me. Ty Lee ran away and joined the circus and Mai had the biggest crush on Zuko.” She frowned and Katara must have noticed it, because her friend giggled. “What?”

“Are you jealous?”

“Why would I be jealous? Zuko can date anyone he wants. I don’t care.” Katara hummed knowingly and (Y/N) splashed her with soapy water. It irritated her that friends were always trying to act like they knew something she didn’t.

After they had finished doing laundry and eating lunch, the entire group wanted to sit on the back steps of the house to enjoy the nice weather. Despite being in the Fire Nation, Ember Island was beautiful and its weather was almost always temperate. Everyone besides Aang and Zuko sat while the two boys practiced their firebending. Aang was getting better with each passing day, but (Y/N) noticed he was still holding back. With firebending, you have to give it your all, or else your flames would be weak. She told him this as he ran back to the steps for a water break.

“I want to be able to be in control of my fire,” he said. He glanced over at Katara, who looked away. She knew he still blamed himself for accidentally burning her.

“You can be in control and still put your whole being behind it. Firebenders attack with their whole self, because we have fire inside of us. You have it too, you just need to let it out.”

“(Y/N) knows what she’s talking about,” Zuko said. “She was one of the best prodigies back in the Fire Nation.”

“Don’t do that,” she snapped at him. Zuko looked at her, surprised. “Don’t just bring up the past like we’re reminiscing on good times.” She stood so she was eye level with the former prince. “And you’re crazy if you think you can get back on my good side just by complimenting me.”

“(Y/N)-”

“No! You’ll let me speak. For years I tried to reason why you would just drop me like I was nothing to you. Like we didn’t spend ever summer for years on this island, together, and that I didn’t spend almost every waking moment of every day at your side. You left me in the Fire Nation and even after our fights, even after you captured me to take me back to the Fire Nation as a war criminal, I still believed that there was some good in you. You sure fooled me! You had been fooling me for years and I just never realized it. And then, after everything I said to you in your uncle’s tea shop, you betrayed me. You ran home to the people who had been nothing but evil to you from the moment we met and left me in a prison to rot!”

This was the most she had spoken to Zuko since he had joined their group. The fire that raged in her eyes was apparent, and Katara was close enough to see the flames dancing on her fingertips.

“And then you want to come here and act like everything is fine? You want to befriend my friends, the people that cared for me when you didn’t, and bring up the good times we had and just completely forget that for the past three years you treated me like I was nothing! Every fight we had, I held myself back because no matter how hard I tried to, I couldn’t hurt you!”

She shot a fire ball at him that missed by a few inches. Zuko stepped back as (Y/N) walked down to the beach. “You want to be here so badly? Prove it! Fight me!”

“(Y/N),” Zuko began.

“I challenge you to an Agni Kai!” The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them. She and her friends realized the weight of what she had said quickly. Zuko set his jaw, his fists balled at his sides.

She regretted what she had said as soon as it came out of her mouth. She was just so angry and as she looked at Zuko, it was hard to not get angrier. Angry for leaving her behind in the Fire Nation, angry for betraying her in Ba Sing Se, and angry for being able to fit himself back into her life so easily.

(Y/N) made the first attack, which Zuko dodged. She shot flames at his head, body, and feet and their friends watched in astonishment as they jumped, flipped, and kicked their way around each other.

“It’s like they’re dancing,” Suki said. Aang narrowed his eyes.

“He’s on the defense,” he said.

“What?” Toph asked.

“Zuko isn’t fighting her back.”

Their friends could feel the flames get hotter as her anger toward Zuko eventually took control. She was getting sloppy with her movements and instead chose to shoot fire at Zuko every chance she got. Katara stood to diffuse the situation, but Sokka grabbed her arm.

“They have to do this,” he said.

(Y/N) was ruthless. She knew she didn’t want to hurt Zuko, but she couldn’t stop herself. Years of anger were reaching their boiling point in this battle.

“I don’t want to hurt you!” Zuko shouted at her.

“You already did!” She shouted back, jumping into the air and smacking her fists to the sand, sending a wave of fire at him. The flames had spread around them, encircling them in a ring of fire. Her fists were lit with fire blasts. “Fight me back!” She screamed, shooting balls of fire at him. He had been dodging her attacks and slashing through her flames. Not once had he shot fire at her. “Do something!”

“I won’t!” Zuko shouted over the roar of the flames. “I don’t want this!”

(Y/N) could feel the tears streaming down her face. If he fought her, she would have a reason to retaliate. She would have an answer for hurting him, just like he hurt her. Zuko’s amber eyes stared in to her own.

“I won’t fight you.”

She was twelve again, watching with tear-filled eyes as Zuko knelt to the ground in front of his father, begging him for mercy. She remembered the fear in his voice and the way he screamed when his father burned him right after he had said the very same words he was saying to her. “I won’t fight you!”

The flames died down instantly. (Y/N) brought her hands to her mouth and slowly fell to her knees, her body shaking with sobs. Her tears hit the hot sand around her.

She felt strong arms wrap around her and pull her body close to theirs. Zuko rested his chin atop of her head and rubbed her back, his own tears sliding down his cheeks. She pulled away to look up at him. Her eyes were red, her cheeks puffy from her tears, and her bottom lip quivered as she held in a sob, but Zuko still felt his heart skip a beat.

“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I didn’t mean--I didn’t want--”

“I know,” was all Zuko said. She wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him tightly, tucking her face into his neck like she had when they were kids. They sat like that for what felt like hours, until one by one, they felt their friends wrap their arms around them.

---

Tag List!

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#atla #avatar #zuko x reader #sokka x reader #aang x reader #aang #katara #sokka #zuko #azula #iroh #toph #suki #momo #appa #the last airbender #writing #fanfiction

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jaceyneedsabetterusername · 4 years

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I’ll Never Be The Moon

Pairings: Sokka x Reader

Summary: It’s hard to get someone to notice you when you’re competition is the moon but Aang’s always there to make you feel better.

Warnings: Talk of death, Aang says ass

Word Count: 2000

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Every night, there was always a little pocket of time when the camp was uncharacteristically silent and Sokka was sitting to the side, staring up at the night sky instead of cracking jokes and telling stories. It was your least favorite time of night because it was a constant reminder of what you’d never be. Katara, Aang, Toph, and you all usually talked amongst yourselves, used to this routine. Everyone knew why Sokka got like this, though, so nobody bothered him about it. Not even Toph. There were just some things that you didn't joke about and Yue’s death was one of them.

But on some nights, like tonight, it got to you. Every single night, you watched the man you’d been crazy about for so long stare up at the moon, yearning for a lost love. He looked up at the moon like it held all the love and beauty in the world. He looked at you like you had mud on your face.

You sighed and pushed yourself up from your seat by the fire amidst a story Toph was telling, “I’m getting warm. I’m gonna go get some air.” You excused yourself, ignoring the little comments of acknowledgement from the group.

The view was beautiful here in this little piece of the Earth Kingdom. Camp was set up on the edge of a large pristine lake that was surrounded by a thick luscious forest. The mountains on the opposite side of the lake were reflected perfectly on the still surface of the water through the moonlight.

Beauty always came back to the moon.

You spotted a fallen log on the edge of the shore and found a home on it, just far enough away from the group to be allowed to have your own thoughts. But from here, you could see Sokka sitting there on the ground, his arms wrapped around his knees as he gazed up at the celestial being, mesmerized by her beauty.

“I’ll never be the moon…” You mumbled to yourself sadly.

“Everything okay?” Aang’s voice asked from behind you. You spun around to see the boy walking up the path you took.

“Hm? Yeah, I’m alright.” You lied, tucking your knees in and resting your chin on it.

Aang walked around and moved to sit on the log beside you, “Are you sure? You said something about not being the moon?”

You chuckled sadly. That must have sounded either psychotic or pathetic to him. “It’s nothing. Just talking to myself.” Were you even trying to not sound crazy?

“About being the moon?” He questioned with a hint of humor in his tone. You didn’t know how to respond. All you’d done was make yourself sound dumb and you already felt inadequate tonight as it was. You weren’t exactly eager to continue that so you only responded with a shrug. “This is about Sokka, isn’t it?” Aang put the pieces together. But honestly, it wasn’t that hard to tell. Your crush wasn’t blatantly obvious or anything but if you paid attention, like Aang had found himself doing for the past few weeks, the signs weren’t difficult to see.

You looked over at Aang with pleading eyes, “Please don’t tell anyone.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” He crossed his fist over his heart with a confident smile. But when he saw that you were still down, he shrunk down to match your demeanor, “So I’m guessing it’s Yue, since you’re talking about the moon, right?”

You nodded, cheeks squished up against the palms of your hands as you leaned over onto them, “I never had a chance compared to her. She was a princess! And she was absolutely beautiful and kind and selfless. I’d never seen Sokka so entranced by someone. I'm just me. A girl from a poor family in a small Earth Kingdom village. Sure, I can fling rocks but it’s nothing compared to being a beautiful princess. And who would want the Earth when you could have the moon?”

“Y/N, you are beautiful, kind, selfless and more! And I really don’t think Sokka liked her because she was a princess. Yue wasn’t better than you; you two are just different people and that’s not a bad thing.” Aang comforted in his honest way.

Crickets began to chirp around the two of you in the clearing. “I don’t know… I just… I know I’ll never be her.”

“Why would you want to be her?” Aang asked, “I like you as you.”

“Because she has Sokka,” You started before you chuckled and a small smile appeared on your face despite your down mood, “But thank you, Aang.”

Aang leaned back on his arms against the log, “Well, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but she doesn’t really have Sokka anymore. I mean, she’s the moon. It’s kind of hard to date the moon.” He pointed out the obvious observation.

“That’s what I don’t understand! I know how bad that sounds. But… she’s gone.” You finally allowed yourself to say that dark little point (well, honestly, it was a pretty big point). Gosh, why did you feel like such a monster for saying that? “I know how terrible that sounds but when it comes down to it, Yue is literally the moon now. They can’t be together unless Sokka pulls some stupid hero stunt and gets himself blasted into the spirit world too but that seems pretty unlikely. I completely understand that her dying doesn’t take away his feelings for her or the hurt that came with losing her but it just hurts. It hurts me to see him hurting but it also hurts me to see him pining for a girl he fell in love with after three days when I can’t get him to give me a second glance.”

Your gaze fell on where the moon was reflecting in ripples on the water and followed its light back up to its large celestial source with a small sigh, “Even in death she’s beautiful. No wonder he’ll always love her.”

Aang stood up with a sense of finality, “No,” He crossed his arms before grabbing your hand and forcing you to stand up, “I won’t allow this. You don’t get to think you’re worth less than someone else just because she was a princess or part moon spirit. Come here and look in the water.” He led you to the shore and leaned over the water with you until you saw both of your reflections. “Now what do you see?”

Your face twisted as you made eye contact with your reflection, “Me? You? Us?” You guessed, not sure what he was getting at.

“No, I want you to look at you and tell me what you see.” Aang insisted, pointing at your reflection.

This time, you really tried to see what Aang wanted you to see. Though the reflection was dark from the limited light, you could still make out enough of your image. You just looked like you. Your hair was actually in place for once, which you attributed to not flying on Appa for the last few hours. You did have a smudge of ash on your cheek that you must have accidentally swiped across your face after moving a burning piece of wood back into the fire pit earlier. A small splice at the tail of your eyebrow was healing up but still visible, a "trophy", as Toph called it, after a run in with some Fire Nation soldiers the other day. You wore a green top that covered your shoulders and crossed around the front, held together with a tan tie. The top of your dark brown pants were visible but those looked a little ragged too. The wrappings that started around your thumb and went around your forearms, up to your elbows were getting dirty as well, more tan than off white now. Coming from the outer villages that were run by Earth Kingdom "soldiers", if you could even call them that after all the extortion, it wasn't exactly like you joined the group with super nice clothing to begin with.

"I see a girl with a busted eyebrow, a dirty face, and clothes that she needs to wash tomorrow." You huffed a little, beginning to pull away before Aang pushed you back to stay where you were.

You rolled your eyes before he started talking, "I see someone who fights for what she believes in, someone who didn't come from much but is going to help change the world. Someone that doesn't need to be a princess to be awesome or beautiful. Sure, you got a little scuffed up and you got ash on your face but who cares? I know Sokka sure doesn't. Besides, Sokka needs to do his laundry tomorrow too… he’s starting to smell kind of bad." You snorted as you stifled a laugh. Aang wasn’t necessarily wrong though.

Before he continued, he looked over your shoulder to make sure you two were still alone. When he ensured it was still just the two of you in ear shot, he leaned in close, putting his arm around your shoulders and whispered, "And between you and me, Sokka was practically drooling over you when you took out those Fire Nation soldiers the other day. He thinks the badass thing you've got going on is super attractive."

You turned your head to him with a skeptical look on your face, unsure if he was just saying that to make you feel better but when you thought about it, you didn't think you'd ever actually heard Aang lie before. That probably meant he wasn't lying now, though. "Really?"

Aang nodded, "Yeah, but don't tell him I told you. He'll kill me."

You couldn't help but smile at your friend. All he ever did was try and help people, even it was just dumb stuff like making a friend feel better about a boy. "Thank you." You reached over and pulled him into a side hug.

When you pulled away, you looked back over to camp to see that Sokka had returned from his nightly mourn. He now sat on top of his sleeping bag, a stick in his hand, as if he'd been poking the fire, but instead of doing that, he was actually looking at you. It was only for a brief moment that your E/C eyes locked with his brilliant blue ones because he quickly looked down at fire, a tint of pink rising in his cheeks.

"Told you," Aang hummed, "He's been looking over at you for the last few minutes."

A small glimmer of hope rose up in your chest but it felt tainted somehow, "Maybe he just zoned out…" Defeat already laced your voice, "I mean, if he likes me, why doesn't he say anything? He's never been exactly subtle with girls he's liked in the past."

Aang stood up and walked around the log to the other side of you, "I think he just feels conflicted. A part of him still loves Yue even though he knows he can't have her, but he really likes you too." He put a hand on your shoulder, "I'm gonna head back to camp. But just give him a little more time, okay? I have a feeling that things are actually going to work out between you guys and my feelings are almost always right." He gave you a wink with childish confidence.

Your gaze followed Aang as he jogged back to the camp, ready to follow suit, figuring the gang would start pestering you about being moody if you didn't return soon. Though you started watching Aang, you couldn't help but allow your eyes to flick over to Sokka again, just out of curiosity (okay, fine, maybe just because you really liked to look at him). Sokka's bright blue eyes were already trained on your firm when you glanced over but this time, instead of pretending to be burning a stick, he made a big show of reaching behind him to grab his boomerang, trying just a little too hard to look 'natural (if you could call it that). A warm smile crept up on your face and you giggled to yourself as you finally stood up from the log to make your way back to camp. Maybe Aang's feeling could be right after all.

#sokka #sokka x reader #sokka imagine #sokka blurb #Avatar The Last Airbender #atla #I'll never be the moon

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merakiaes · 5 years

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Borrowed Shirts And Shy Kisses - Zuko

Pairing: Zuko x reader

Requested: By @skiving-snackboxess

Prompts: #58 from the fluff-list, #23 from the smut-list.

Warning/notes: You didn’t specify if you wanted a whole smut scene or not so I ended up making it fluffy instead. I hope that’s alright and I hope you like it!

Wordcount: 1393

Summary: You share your first kiss with Zuko. Flustered, awkward Zuko <3

You had spent the entire morning washing your clothes in a nearby stream with Katara while Zuko and Aang practiced their firebending, Sokka and Toph having gone off in search of a market to buy food.

You couldn’t deny it had been a bit hard to keep your eyes off the shirtless Zuko while he ran around, muscles tensing and flexing with his every move, but after Katara had caught you watching, you had forced yourself to just focus on the laundry, knowing that you would never hear the end of it if you let her catch you a second time.

It was around noon when you finished up in the stream, finally being able to put your clothes back on. But of course, with your luck, or lack thereof, Appa had sneezed all over you only a second after you’d stepped into your campsite, drenching you with his snot and saliva.

Katara had found it hilarious, of course, as she had just stood to the side and laughed at you while you scolded the flying bison for making your freshly washed clothes dirty again. But obviously, it wasn’t as amusing for you as you now had to wash your clothes a second time that day.

Sokka and Toph had yet to return, Katara leaving you to re-wash your clothes to go look for them. It was with hunched shoulders and broody steps that you walked back to the stream, muttering under your breath as you stripped down to your underwear and got to work.

As opposed to the first time you had washed your clothes, you showed them no mercy this time, scrubbing the fabric harshly and with quick motions to get it done faster. You stood there, knee deep in cold water, until you were sure that your clothes were completely clean from Appa’s snot, only then stepping back onto land.

You heard the sounds of Katara, Sokka and Toph talking in the distance then, making you realize you didn’t have enough time to let the clothes air dry this time and deciding you would have to bring them to Aang for him to dry.

The problem? You didn’t have any spare clothes and you refused to walk into camp half naked and embarrass yourself. Luckily, you spotted Zuko’s shirt on the ground a bit closer to camp, and rushed over to grab it, slipping the maroon piece of clothing over your head.

Hopefully, he wouldn’t mind that you borrowed it for a minute or two while Aang dried your clothes.

Heading up the small hill towards where Aang and Zuko were firebending, you let out a whistle to alert them of your presence, not wanting to sneak up on them and accidentally get burned. The two of them instantly stopped bending, a bright, wide smile rising to Aang’s face, while Zuko’s mouth fell open at the sight of you.

“Is that my shirt?”

You glanced between Zuko and the shirt you were wearing and gave him a sheepish smile. “Appa sneezed all over me so I had to wash my clothes again. Your shirt was the closest thing I could find, I didn’t want to come up here half-naked. I hope you don’t mind.”

Zuko quickly shook his head. “No, uh…” He rubbed his neck. “It’s fine.”

“Thanks, Zuko.” You offered him a grateful smile, before turning to Aang and holding out the wet clothes. “Would you mind helping me dry these off? It sounded like Sokka and Toph was back so I don’t have enough time to let them air dry a second time.”

Aang stepped forward, nodding. “Oh yeah, for sure. Just hold them up.”

You smiled brightly and did as told, holding your clothes up and watching as the young Avatar sent out a gust of air, successfully drying the clothes in less than a second.

“Thanks.” You smiled, before turning to Zuko and pointing a thumb to the woods. “I’ll go change; I’ll bring you back your shirt in a minute. Thanks for the borrow.”

Without waiting for an answer, you turned around and walked in the direction you had pointed, making sure you were covered by the trees before putting down your clothes on a rock and getting ready to change.

As you gripped the bottom of Zuko’s shirt and moved to lift it, however, a pair of hot, rough hands were placed on yours, causing you to stop dead in your tracks and jump around in fright. You put a hand to your chest, eyes wide and breathing heavily as you looked at Zuko.

Slapping his bare chest, you glared. “Don’t sneak up on me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack.”

Zuko rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry. I just, I needed to tell you something. Something important.””

You slowly felt yourself relax, your head nodding. “Okay, go on.”

“I, uh… I…”

You raised an eyebrow at his sudden change of behavior, not at all being used to this kind of Zuko. The Zuko you were used to was the one who took control of every situation, was straight forward and determined.

But then again, this was probably the first time you’d had a private conversation with him since he joined Team Avatar, in the first place, so maybe you just hadn’t gotten to see the real him yet.

“Yes?” You edged him on, causing him to let out a shaky breath.

“Well, I don’t really know how to say this but uh, just, seeing you in my shirt made me feel some kind of way. I’ve never wanted anyone this badly before, and I don’t really know how to act or what to say without making a complete fool out of myself.”

You felt your face grow hot at his words, your hands instantly starting to fiddle out of habit. “Oh.”

“Oh.” Zuko repeated, hoping you would say something else, a strong blush dusting his cheeks.

“I mean.” You cleared your throat, offering him a shy smile. “I didn’t know you felt that way about me. I don’t really know what to say other than… that I think I feel the same way… for you.”

A small smile appeared on his lips, his eyes peeking down at you from under his fringe. “Really?”

You nodded nervously. The next second you were moving closer to each other and you soon found your back pressed against the rock holding your clothes while you leaned in, and the next thing you knew, his lips were brushing ever so softly against yours, testing out the waters.

When you didn’t show any signs of not wanting it, he leaned in and closed the remaining space between you, fully pressing his lips to yours in a kiss. It was short and sweet, but enough to set both of your bodies on fire and leave you wanting more.

But as Sokka called out your names from the campsite, probably done with the food, you had to push your yearnings back, breaking apart from each other much sooner than you would’ve wanted.

Zuko took a step back and rubbed his neck awkwardly, and you had to bit the inside of your lip in order to keep the huge smile that was threatening to break out off your lips at the sight of his flustered and nervous face, finding it the most adorable thing ever.

“Well I’ll, uh, I guess I’ll leave you alone to get changed.” Zuko smiled softly, taking a step back. “You can keep the shirt in case you ever need a spare, I have another one.”

You glanced down at your feet before looking back up and offering him a gentle smile of your own, your heart still beating hard in your chest from the moment you had just shared. “Thanks. I’ll see you back at camp?”

Zuko nodded, gave you a long look and offered you one last smile, before walking back the way he came from, leaving you behind to get changed. You quickly put on your own pants, but when you got to your shirt, you opted to just keep wearing Zuko’s, breathing in the sweet scent of his soap that still lingered in the fabric.

You carefully folded your own top and picked it up, before turning around and walking back to camp with a wide smile playing on your lips, the only thing running through your head being ‘Thank you Appa’.

Tagged: @edarene @nekodemon73

(If you want to be tagged, send me a message with the character and/or fandom you want to be tagged for)

#avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar zuko #avatar: tla #zuko x reader #fire lord zuko #prince zuko #zuko imagine #zuko one shot

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gaangadventures · 4 years

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Soulmates

Part One / Part Two / Part Three

Feel free to request!! c:

You used to meditate alone in the mornings, although after the Southern Air Temple, the airbender himself would start to join you. You thought it was nice and it had somewhat reminded you of how you had done the same with your brother.

But you had yet to find out what they thought of your scar, mostly keeping it covered with your armor. You almost hadn’t wanted them to find out either, since a firebender having a burn scar was practically unheard of.

However they may think of you, you at least wanted them on your side. Where else would you go now? Your brother thought you were a traitor, and your father had banished you years ago. Thinking of Zuko had brought a small frown to your face, even though you tried to keep your expressions neutral for the most part.

“You have no idea where you’re going, do you?” Sokka remarked, fiddling with the very same map that you had been tempted to burn on more than one occasion. Mostly because you couldn’t be bothered to read it.

“Well, I know it’s near water.” Aang answered, before turning to the lemur on his shoulder.“Momo, marbles please.”

At the moment, you had been attempting to help Katara with her sewing. Although it was mostly just her trying to teach you since you had never done it before. There had been no need for you to do so, and you never learned. “How does that work?” You muttered, mostly to yourself, biting the side of your lip in concentration.

“You’re doing it backwards.” Katara tried to explain, showing you how to start again, and you let out a huff of frustration.

“How does Sokka even get so many dumb holes in his pants?” You were almost ready to give up, but hadn’t really wanted to since the only other girl was actually starting to get along with you.

“Here, like this.” She tried one more time, and you had finally understood it somewhat. Attempting to patch it, you had actually managed to sew part of it, even if it did not look as good as what Katara had done.

“Hey Y/N, Katara, check out this airbending trick.” While continuing to sew, he attempted to catch your attention, but you knew that if you looked away from this, you would not be able to continue it.

“That’s great, Aang.” You spoke up, pulling the thread and tightening the patch.

“That’s really nice.” Katara followed, having not looked as well as you.

“Neither of you even looked.”

“That’s great.”

“But I’m not doing it now.”

“You need to give girls space when they do their sewing.” He was in for it now.

“What does us being girls have to do with sewing?” She asked, and you could tell by the edge of her tone that there would be an argument and it almost made you want to laugh. The last argument you had gotten into with your own brother had actually been about his obsession with the avatar, and with that thought, you began to wonder if more siblings were like you and your own or more like Katara and Sokka.

“Simple. Girls are better at fixing pants than guys, and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It’s just the natural order of things.”

“All done with your pants, and look what a great job we did.” You couldn’t help but laugh when she threw the pants and it had hit him in the face. He deserved that one.

“Wait! I was just kidding! I can’t wear these! Katara, please!” He pleaded, showing how bad the hole was by putting his arm through it. “Y/N?” You only shook your head, feeling oddly satisfied at this.

“Relax, Sokka. Where we’re going, you won’t need any pants.” Hearing Aang talk, your satisfaction had been replaced with concern.

“What exactly do you mean by that?” You asked, raising your eyebrow as your worry and concern only grew. “Aang, where are we going?”

“You’ll see!” You only got an excited response and a grin, and you hoped that this sort of thing was optional.

When Appa had landed onto the ground, you could safely say that you could sew a patch now and you were more excited over the fact that Katara was actually talking to you. Did she forget you were a firebender or something? You assumed so and it wasn’t like you liked to show off your ability much, if at all.

“We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn’t we get a little more flying done before we camp out?” The water tribe boy mentioned, as everyone was getting off of the bison.

“He’s right. At this rate, we won’t get to the North Pole until spring.”

“But Appa’s tired already. Aren’t you, boy?” At Aang’s sentence to his companion, he let out a low grunt. “I said, aren’t you, boy?” He repeated, lightly elbowing Appa, and the bison began to yawn.

“Yeah, that was real convincing. Still, hard to argue with a 10-ton magical monster.” Sokka spoke up, and you pet Appa before beginning to follow the rest of the group as they walked towards the water.

You had heard of these from your brother, but actually seeing the giant fish leap out of the water was another thing.

“That’s why we’re here--elephant koi, and I’m gonna ride it. Y/N, you’ve gotta watch me.” Once you realized just what he was doing, you immediately turned your gaze, your cheeks most likely turning pink. Did he not own a swimsuit or something? You did, but you had left yours back at the palace since you no longer needed it. That, and you had outgrown that one by now.

Your gaze was brought back to him however when you heard a splash and a “Cold!” Now seeing him on top of the elephant koi, you couldn’t help but be in awe. And also maybe a little jealous since you wanted to do that too and it looked so cool!

“He looks pretty good out there.” You commented, only for Sokka to put his two cents in.

“Are you kidding? The fish is doing all the work.”

“No, Appa! Don’t eat that!” You cried out, hurrying over to get the bison away from it, he was most definitely not supposed to be eating that.

“There’s something in the water!” Sokka yelled, catching your attention before you hurried back to the shore, listening to Momo chatter out his worries as well.

“What’s wrong?”

“Aang’s in trouble.” Katara informed you, and all three of you began yelling at him to come back. Whether he could hear any of you was another thing however.

It seemed like he didn’t quite understand since he waved at you guys before the giant koi had sent him flying into the water, only moments before another giant creature rose its large fin from the waters. What even was that? Once Aang could see it, he was quite literally running across the water. You were just glad that he had run into Sokka upon reaching the shore instead of you. That had to have hurt.

“What was that thing?” Katara was quick to ask, your gaze flickering from each sibling and then Aang.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, let’s not stick around to find out. Time to hit the road.” Sokka placed his input, and you were thinking of something to add to the conversation when all of you were overtaken before any of you could even try to use your bending.

Being blindfolded and having your arms bound at the same time was not a pleasant feeling.

“Or we could stay a while.” Sokka added to his previous statement, while you were thinking of ways to escape. You could burn your way through, but you weren’t sure just how many there were or if you could even get the others out. So for now, you supposed you’d let this play out while being practically dragged along by some strangers.

“You four have some explaining to do.” A man said, the four of you now bound to a pole that you were itching to burn. But you weren’t exactly up for hurting your companions, as your control wasn’t that great yet.

“And if you don’t answer all our questions, we’re throwing you back in the water with the Unagi.”

“Is that what that thing is called?” You couldn’t help but mutter, mostly ignoring whoever was talking. You couldn’t see them anyway.

“Show yourselves, cowards!” The water tribe boy shouted, before all of your blindfolds were taken off. Blinking your eyes to adjust to the light, you could see that they were all women with a similar uniform, and you bit your lip to keep most of your excitement from bubbling out. These were the Kyoshi Warriors! You had read about them after sneaking into the royal library one night and had accidentally stayed up too late that night, you had been absolutely dreadful at training the next day.

At the faint memory, you looked down at your covered wrist. It hadn’t left as bad of a scar as the latest one had, nearly limiting your range of motion.

“Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?” You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. All of you were meeting spectacular warriors, of course Sokka had to be sexist about it. How did Katara put up with him for so long?

“There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?”

“Wait a second. There’s no way a bunch of girls took us down.”

“I think you’re forgetting your sister is stronger than you.” You remarked, hoping to knock him down a couple pegs.

“A bunch of girls, huh? The unagi’s going to eat well tonight.”

“No, don’t hurt him! He didn’t mean it! My brother’s just an idiot sometimes.” Katara interrupted, while you hadn’t said anything in his defense.

“It’s my fault. I’m sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi.” Aang spoke up, a mildly sad tone to his voice.

“How do we know you’re not Fire Nation spies? Even one of you is dressed like Fire Nation.” The man in blue mentioned, pointing at you.

“Yeah, sorry, I didn’t exactly have any spare clothes.” You commented, your own voice holding a ruder tone than you had meant to. “I’m not a Fire Nation spy.” You carefully answered, having almost said that you weren’t Fire Nation, but that would be a lie. You didn’t agree with the nation and such, but it was your home. You couldn’t deny that part of yourself.

“Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far, and we intend to keep it that way.” You assumed the man was the leader of the island, and you couldn’t say you liked him much but you could at least respect him for not having hurt any of you. Yet.

“This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi.”

“Ha! How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She’s been dead for centuries.”

“I know her because I’m the avatar.”

“That’s impossible. The last avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago.”

“That’s me.”

“Aang, now’s a good time to do some airbending.” You added, looking at both Sokka and Aang to make sure you weren’t touching either of them before closing your eyes and heating up your hands. You had to be precise with this.

“Throw the impostor to the unagi.” The leader cried out, and suddenly the ounce of respect you had for him was gone as the Kyoshi Warriors drew up their fans and you had very carefully burned the rope through without even setting the rest of it alight.

At the leader’s command though, the monk had broken out of the ropes by flying into the air and you slipped out of your own at the same moment.

“It’s true. You are the avatar.” The leader finally agreed as Aang floated down to the ground.

“Now, check this out.” He said, before grabbing the marbles out of his shawl and spinning them in between his hands without touching them, which you had to admit was pretty cool. And apparently the people of Kyoshi Island agreed, cheering for him, and even one guy was foaming at the mouth. Was he okay? You blinked, looking at the now unconscious man in concern.

You stretched, somewhat worried about what the people would do if they found out you were a firebender with a high status. Would you be cast out? Or would it be worse when they found your title? Princess Y/N, banished princess of the Fire Nation. They couldn’t use you for much, seeing as you were banished, your father wouldn’t accept a ransom. Practically trapped in your thoughts, you hadn’t noticed when everyone else was awake after a night in one of the empty houses on Kyoshi.

You also hadn’t noticed that you had started pacing some time ago, your gaze switching from the floor and to the statue of avatar Kyoshi being repainted.

“All right! Dessert for breakfast! These people sure know how to treat an avatar. Mm! Y/N, you’ve gotta try these.” Aang exclaimed after a few people had brought over practically a feast of pastries, and he was quick to try a few as they left. Katara was hesitantly tasting a puff of some sort on his left. You weren’t even sure if your stomach could handle anything yet, as you had been bubbling with nervousness, but you caved at his look.

“Maybe just a bite.” You answered, carefully sitting at his right before reaching and taking a puff that looked somewhat similar to what Katara had picked up. You glanced over at the rest of them before taking a bite and being pleasantly surprised at the taste of it.

“Sokka, what’s your problem? Eat!”

“I’m not hungry.”

“But you’re always hungry.”

“Since I’ve known you, you’ve complained more about food than anything else. Are you that upset about being beaten by girls? My sister and I used to beat my brother all of the time.” You spoke up, making sure not to talk with any food in your mouth.

“They snuck up on me.” Sokka retorted, only for his sister to mouth off as well.

“Right, and then they kicked your butt.”

“Sneak attacks don’t count. Tie me up with ropes.. I’ll show them a thing or two.. I’m not scared of any girls. Who do they think are, anyway?” Sokka exclaimed, before beginning to leave the room muttering to himself, then promptly turning around to grab a few desserts.

“What’s he so angry about? It’s great here. They’re giving us the royal treatment.” With that, you held back a wince. You did not want to be a royal anymore, not that you really did in the first place.

“I disagree. I think I prefer camping out in the woods.” At least then you wouldn’t have to worry about failing your firebending training or if you’d done too well to the point of upsetting either sibling.

“Hey, don’t get too comfortable. It’s risky for us to stay in one place for very long. Especially with Y/N and her brother on our trail.” At Katara’s comment, you only nodded in agreement, although you were saddened at the thought of your last meeting with your brother.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine. Besides, did you see how happy I’m making this town? They’re even cleaning up that statue in my honor.”

“Well, it’s nice to see you excited about being the avatar. I just hope it doesn’t all go to your head.”

“Come on, you know me better than that. I’m just a simple monk.” He said, standing up and looking out through the open window, immediately hearing girls cheer.

As he left the house, he had been chased around by his fangirls while you had been helping Katara ready with things she was more accustomed to. Holding a jar as she picked out the ingredients wasn’t difficult, you thought as Aang had managed to excuse himself from his fangirls for a moment.

“Hey Aang. Can you help carry this back to the room? It’s a little heavy.” Katara asked, while you just bit your tongue to keep from saying anything rude.

“Actually, I can’t right now.”

“What do you mean, you can’t?”

“I promised the girls I’d give them a ride on Appa. Why don’t you two come with us? It’ll be fun.”

“Watching you show off for a bunch of girls does not sound like fun.”

“Well, neither does carrying your basket.”

“It’s not my basket. These supplies are for our trip. I told you, we have to leave Kyoshi soon.”

“I don’t want to leave Kyoshi yet. I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something I really like about this place.”

“Oh, I could tell you what it is.” You muttered, eyes narrowed at the mob of girls already forming not too far away.

“What’s taking you so long, Aangie?” One of them yelled at him, and if you were almost tempted to throw a ball of fire at her. That was your soulmate she was talking to like that!

“Aangie?” Katara asked, and you were so very glad that she happened to be saying pretty much everything that you wouldn’t.

“Just a second, Koko.” He turned around, giving her a smile and a wave.

“Simple monk, right?” You remarked, before forcing yourself to somewhat relax upon seeing a bit of steam coming from your hands. You had to be calm before you set something ablaze, but at least you were practicing your self-control lately.

“I thought you promised that this avatar stuff wouldn’t go to your head.” Katara said

“It didn’t. You know what I think? You two just don’t want to come because you’re jealous.”

“Jealous? Of what?” You almost scoffed, although you were pretty sure that he had hit the nail right on the head there.

“Jealous that we’re having so much fun without you.” Aang responded, but you hadn’t said a word this time.

“That’s ridiculous.” Katara agreed with you, placing one more ingredient in the heavy jar.

“It is a little ridiculous, but I understand.” Aang said, causing you both to huff and walk off, heavy jars in each of your arms.

Heading back to the room, the two of you put the jars not too far from the entrance so that you wouldn’t have to carry it too far when the group would leave.

“He was right, wasn’t he?” Katara coolly commented, leaving you to almost babble in surprise, before ultimately giving up.

“Yeah.” You answered shortly, letting her speak as you began your stretches as she started to practice with her waterbending.

“Is it his name on your wrist?” To which, you nodded, taking a layer of clothing off as you finished them and began your firebending training.

“I doubt it’s my name on his though.” You admitted, feeling like you had actually managed to make a friend without either Azula or Zuko being friends with them first. It also happened to be the first time anyone had seen the majority of your scar apart from the physician.

“Y/N, when did that happen?” Katara asked, a bit of concern seeping into her tone for her newfound friend, once she could see the extent of your scar that covered your shoulder and all the way down to your right wrist.

“It happened three years ago.” You said, feeling a bit of shame for being a firebender with a burn scar, but mostly anger at what your father had done to both of you because the two of you disagreed with him in different ways.

“Oh spirits. . Y/N.. I didn’t know. I’m so sorry that happened.” You weren’t sure what she was thinking of when she fell quiet.

“Hey, Katara, it’ll be okay.” You murmured, before continuing, unsure of whether or not you should hug her.

“Can I ask, who did this?”

“My father. But I left, and I don’t plan on going back.” You answered, stiffening for a moment when she hugged you, not having expected it.

As you each turned back to your training, having bonded more than either of you expected, in walks the avatar himself.

“Y/N, remember how the unagi almost got me yesterday?

“Yeah.” You answered curtly, creating a flame in your hand as you balanced yourself on one leg. This was about control, and you needed to practice. You made the fire curl like as if it was water around your hands.

“Well, I’m gonna go ride it now. It’s going to be real dangerous.”

“Good for you.”

“You’re not going to stop me?”

“Nope, have fun.”

“I will.”

“Great.”

“I know it’s great.”

“Well, I’m glad you know.”

“I’m glad you’re glad.”

“Good!”

“Fine!” The two of you bickered back and forth, your own flame growing in size but before you lost control, you dispelled it so you could calm down.

“Are you sure that it’s not your name on his wrist?” She teased, your cheeks growing hotter as you dropped your flame again.

“I’m sure!” You exclaimed, although you hoped that she was right.

“Okay, then go see him when you’re done and see how he reacts, and I won’t be going.”

“He likes you, not me, Katara.” You remarked bluntly, glancing over at her to see her just shaking her head. You would go to see him alone, and you’d be proven right, of course.

You always liked to be right, and this would be no different. Or maybe you just couldn’t imagine someone liking you for you. You shook your head at the thought of it. Now you couldn’t focus, and you ended up leaving earlier than you usually would have finished your training.

You ended up arriving at the shore just in time as his fangirls were leaving, secretly being quite satisfied with that fact, not that you would admit that.

“Y/N, you showed up!” You noticed that he happened to be quite excited, but you chalked it up to it just being because you were his friend.

“Yeah, I wanted to make sure you didn’t get eaten or anything. I was worried.”

“Back there you acted like you didn’t care.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me, too. I did let all that attention go to my head. I was being a jerk.”

“Alright jerk, now get out of the water before you get sick.” You joked, knowing that he wouldn’t take that seriously.

“On my way!” He yelled back, before swimming back as you noticed the unagi behind him. Within moments, the creature had caught up with him, lifting him out of the water on its scales only to spray water out of its mouth at him, but you noticed he was at least alive when he was screaming and holding onto its whiskers, being flung around like a ragdoll. You hurried towards him when he had finally let go, landing in the water. For a moment you wished you could bend water instead when you grabbed onto him and the unagi leaned down to see you, but you shot a ball of fire at it. You missed and it was quick to spray where you were, creating a wave and knocking the both of you backwards.

The two of you had been lucky when you washed up a bit behind rocks, having a natural cover, and the serpent hadn’t seen you. Upon looking out at the sea again, you could see the metal Fire Nation ship and you instantly knew it was Zuko’s. Skillfully hiding behind some rocks as komodo rhinos walked onto the island, you moved Aang to wake him up.

“Y/N. .” He coughed out, while you let out a breath of both exasperation and relief. “Don’t ride the unagi. Not fun.”

You had been quick to help him up onto his feet and head back to the town,

“Hey avatar, these little girls can’t help you now.”

“Hey, over here!” Aang yelled out to your brother, as you tried your best to control the flames burning the houses. He kept him distracted as best as he could, and you couldn’t help the village as it began to burn down, with even the repainted statue of Kyoshi burning.

“Look what I brought to this place.”

“This isn’t your fault.”

“Yes, it is. These people got their town destroyed trying to protect me.”

“Zuko will leave Kyoshi to follow us if we leave. I think it’s the best way.” You attempted to comfort him, while you were helping Katara keep kids away from the flames.

“I’ll call Appa.”

The three of you and Momo were on Appa, helping Sokka onto the bison, as you glanced down at the flames and you could see your brother in it all. You probably wouldn't have noticed, had it not been for his hair.

“I know it’s hard, but you did the right thing, Aang.” You spoke up, noticing the look on his face. “ Zuko would have destroyed the whole island if we stayed.” You couldn’t help but think that it was partially your fault, remembering the betrayed look on his face when you had gone against him and helped the avatar. Blinking the memory away, you quickly saw him jump off of Appa, simply falling into the water only to come out riding the unagi. Letting your shoulders drop for a moment, you couldn’t say you were entirely surprised when he used the serpent’s ability to spray water to help the village.

You were at least glad when he jumped back up and Appa had managed to catch him just in time.

“I know, I know. That was stupid and dangerous.”

“Glad to know you’re learning.” You said as he came back, before giving him a momentarily awkward hug.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #atla fanfic #avatar fanfic #aang x reader #aang #katara #sokka #momo #appa #zuko #female reader

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zutaraangtastic · 4 years

Note

I have a prompt idea! This idea fits into more of an Aged up Zukataang headcanon. Drunk!Katara preferably interacting with both Zuko and Aang. On the Fluffy side. I think it would be amusing and cute.

hi! if you're still doing prompts, may I offer "little spoon zuko" ?

Combined these two prompts, accidentally went overboard and wrote more like a whole fic than a drabble! (Can be read without context, but for the best experience, read as a missing scene from ch. 10 of Heartlines by kuchi/Mod K.) - Mod J

There’s always been casual touch between them and Zuko: Katara’s instinctive hand holding, borne of navigating her village with her family during fierce white-out blizzards; Aang’s penchant for hugging him like a panda on a tree, which became all the more comically ridiculous when he outgrew Zuko.

But it had taken Zuko time to adjust to those habits, even when they meant only friendship. Katara knows to expect some hesitation, now that they’re adding another layer of love to their actions. They’ve agreed to take this slow, ease into the newness of being able to show their full affection.

It’s a good thing, too, because he seems almost overwhelmed just by this, sitting with them in the near-dark as they take turns playing with his hair, leaning into his shoulder, kissing him.

When Katara breaks their latest, lingering kiss and looks up at Zuko, his pupils are wide, shaken, though she’s already lost track of how many times she’s done this. How many times Aang has. They’ve been in too good a mood for any lingering nerves to interfere. With Zuko’s enthusiastic—if stumbling—assent, it’s hard not to kiss him, and hard not to do more.

Talk has dwindled, but they’ve been here for hours and said all they possibly could. About their feelings, about their future, about everything. It’s a relief to finally let loose after the whirlwind the past few months have been.

The sweet palm wine helps, leaving Katara pleasantly fuzzy-headed. She’s come to suspect Aang doesn’t mind the secondhand taste of it on her tongue, or Zuko’s, nearly as much as he pretends. And she doesn’t mind watching them, feeling the bloom of nervous warmth in her gut, almost like the old eagerness of first-time teenage exploration with Aang.

The lantern’s firelight blurs a fraction when she tilts her head, gaining sharpness only in the twin reflections between Zuko’s and Aang’s eyes, which flicker open as Aang pulls back to let Zuko catch his breath. Katara notices the subtle tell of Zuko about to flip the script, the stubborn squint a moment before he takes the back of Aang’s neck and yanks him in, harder this time. Aang makes a muffled, surprised sound. The warmth in Katara’s stomach drops into a tense thrill, like when Appa plummets suddenly during flight.

Aang is the one left breathless this time, and it’s more than a little impressive, considering he’s an airbender. After a moment, the fierceness in Zuko’s posture eases, and the delightful tension fades. His voice is raspy when he murmurs, glancing to Katara, “Stay. It’s gotten late.”

It wasn’t initially part of their plan, but Katara nods, smiling over the rim of her glass. She’s game if they are, trusts that they can all handle themselves—it’s wonderful that Zuko thinks so too. They’ve shared beds as pairs before, though that was without this passion simmering so openly between them.

“Is that your way of saying you’re ready to take us to bed?” Aang asks, grinning and wiggling his eyebrows. Katara might have to think twice about it, in that case, because he’s the only one who hasn’t been drinking, and poor Zuko’s gone strawberry-red.

“Not like that, I’m not – I mean, no pressure, only if you want—”

Nothing will come of it yet, rationally speaking; Aang’s a flirt, but when she thinks back on it, he said things like that to Zuko even before confessing his undying love for him, so Zuko must know better than to take him seriously.

Then again, nothing feels serious right now, everything perfectly light and crystalline and dreamy, all the weight of secrecy lifted from her heart. She can’t help but laugh. It infects Zuko, too, his embarrassed glower slipping and lips twitching into a smile as he shakes his head at Katara.

“So much for waiting for our honeymoon at the palace,” she says, leaning across him to poke Aang accusingly in the chest.

“Okay, okay,” Aang says, glancing at Katara as he nuzzles into the crook of Zuko’s neck with playful smugness. In return, Katara sticks her tongue out at him as she wraps herself around Zuko’s arm. “Maybe His Royal Hotness just doesn’t want to admit he’s getting sleepy.”

Zuko rolls his eyes, but he makes no move to escape them. “I changed my mind. I’m kicking you both out.”

“Too late!” With a huff of air, Aang sends himself flying backwards and lands sprawled on the nearby mattress, making himself at home.

Katara’s laughter keeps bubbling up like a running stream, trickling off only when she curves her arm around Zuko’s head and pulls him into another kiss of her own. When she stands, she’s only a little unsteady on her feet, and takes hold of both of Zuko’s hands to pull him with her. He goes to snuff out the lantern, while Katara sits on the edge of the bed and starts to let down her hair for the night.

Aang helps without being asked, taking extra care to disentangle the ties painlessly. Katara closes her eyes with a pleased hum, enjoying his familiar hands massaging her scalp.

Yawning, she cracks her eyes open again to find Zuko still crouched by the lantern, watching her and Aang with something inscrutable in his expression, something both fragile and ardent. The low-burning light casts half his face in a mellow orange glow, until he shakes himself from his reverie and puts out the candle’s flame.

“Come on, I promise I won’t let my husband jump you,” she says, patting the space beside her.

“Hey, I’m not planning to do anything indecent!” Aang protests. Katara glances over her shoulder to find him pouting and giving Zuko his best innocent Appa eyes. “I am staying in the middle, though. Unless you want to?”

Zuko shakes his head, drifting closer but still hesitating. “No, it’s just – three’s a crowd, right? I can take the sofa, and you two can have the bed, if it’s easier.”

There’s a point to that—this bed is probably meant to comfortably accommodate two at most, and Aang might as well be a person and a half, all lanky arms and legs everywhere, but Katara’s not about to let that stop them. “Zuko,” she says, with the specific kind of misplaced authority she gets only around the time that tiredness overtakes tipsiness for her. “After everything we’ve said, you really think we’d even think of stealing your bed without you?”

Zuko opens his mouth, closes it again, and eventually says, smiling, “That barely makes sense.”

“C’mere,” Aang says, and finally, Zuko does.

He’s still awkward when he sits next to Katara, still stiff and uncertain when Aang wraps his arms around them both. She doesn’t know whether to call it silly or sad, that Zuko has such trouble letting his guard down, letting himself accept their love, even after admitting he’s wanted this for a long time. That he never thought he would have it. Maybe that he never thought he deserved it?

She’s reached the point where she wants to cry a little bit, but she doesn’t, just presses her forehead together against his and Aang’s and lingers in the quiet intimacy of the moment. Everything she wants is right here in this room.

Eventually, Aang reaches for Zuko’s casual evening robes, with a gentle “Can I?” As he helps Zuko out of his clothes, Katara unwinds the ribbon securing Zuko’s topknot and adds it to the pile of her hair bands on the bedside table. She smooths out his hair before shrugging out of her own outer layers, down to sarashi. Normally, she likes the freedom of sleeping without the wrappings, but she figures they’re trying to maintain some propriety for Zuko’s sake, both he and Aang keeping their loose pants on.

Katara runs her hands lightly over Zuko’s bare shoulders, presses a kiss to his collarbone and then his cheek. “I’m glad we’re here with you,” she says sincerely, raising her hands to cup his face. “Earlier, I thought, we could be ruining our friendship, that we’d be forcing our feelings on you. And if you ever don’t feel what we feel, we can always stop, or—”

“Katara, please,” he whispers, and it’s a genuine entreaty, his lips ghosting against the side of her thumb. “It’s not – it’s just me, I’m not…good. At any of this. But it’s not that you’re forcing anything, I promise.”

“Hey, you are good,” Aang says, taking both of Zuko’s hands in his. “You’re amazing, in fact. You’ve changed our lives in so many ways.”

Zuko exhales a shaky breath, a hint of a self-deprecating laugh. “Not always for the better.” He pauses, looking everywhere except for them. Katara and Aang exchange a stricken look; it’s always heart-wrenching, to hear the way he mistrusts himself. “I just worry I’ll…what if I mess it up? Everything you have, it’s already perfect, and I don’t want you to have to sacrifice that for me. What if it’s not worth it, what if I’m…not?”

Wordlessly, Aang pulls him into a tighter hug. Zuko makes a slightly distressed sound, but holds on when Aang starts to let go in confusion and worry. With his nails digging into Aang’s arm, Katara can’t help but think he looks almost like a scared animal, utterly incongruous with the Fire Lord she knows, the image of confident power he projects. In a way, she’s always known it to be a projection, at least in part—that beneath the surface, there’s still the old volatility, like a riptide beneath a calm stretch in the waves.

He’s grown so much, but there’s still something lost about him, something hunted. As if he still doesn’t think he’s earned his peace, and makes himself restless with doubt in recompense.

Katara’s throat closes up, and she blinks through the wateriness in her eyes as she twines her fingers with Zuko’s. He squeezes her hand so tightly it trembles.

“Listen,” she says with difficulty, “I’d gladly sacrifice plenty of things for you, I know we both would. But it is so much more than that, it’s – it’s hoping, and it’s knowing you better every day, and knowing Aang better through you, and seeing you both in everything I do for the rest of my life. You’re not taking anything away from us.”

“You’re giving us so much,” Aang finishes the thought for her, perfectly on the same wavelength. “We’re figuring this out together, all three of us. Maybe it won’t always be the easiest thing, but it is the most freeing. It already makes me so happy, just being able to be close to you. And if this makes you happy, too, then it’s so worth it. You’ve just gotta let yourself trust in it. Do you trust us?”

Zuko nods slowly, but unhesitatingly, and the nervous hunch of his shoulders starts to relax. He loosens his grip on Aang and Katara with an apologetic glance. Noticing her tears, he reaches up to brush them away, and when he meets Aang’s eyes, Katara can tell Zuko’s really seeing him again. He kisses Aang’s knuckles, then hers, softly.

“We all have to leave in the morning, don’t we?” he says. “It’s probably time to sleep.”

Katara sighs and sinks back into the mattress, and Aang follows, pulling Zuko with him. “I wish we had more time,” she murmurs, resting her forehead against Aang’s back.

“Someday we’ll have all the time in the world,” Aang says, and he sounds so assured that Katara almost finds it easy to believe the same.

“Maybe when we’re retired,” Zuko says with a small snort.

“Hey, lucky you, you get to retire! ‘Avatar’ is a lifelong job title, Mr. Fire Lord.”

Zuko musters a chuckle, and Katara props herself up with one arm beneath her head, so she can look at him over Aang’s shoulder. He’s lying on his side, facing her and Aang, bathed in the moonlight pooling in through the window.

It’s not the first time she’s noticed their matching lightning scars, the wounds she healed for each of them. These days Zuko is only shirtless during sparring matches with Aang, though, and those are always a blur of acrobatics and heat—not that she ever complains, when she gets the chance to watch. But it’s rare to observe them both so still together. Katara can trace around the familiar, messy red sprawl midway down Aang’s spine that interrupts the line of his tattoo, and almost be able to reach out and touch Zuko’s, sharper and neater on the edges, maybe from his partial redirection back then.

She resists the urge, not wanting to dwell more on the turmoil of the past when they’ve worked so hard to focus tonight on the shining bright future ahead of them. For now, she can content herself with knowing that they’re both safe, here with her.

Aang’s breathing is deepening into near-sleep, one hand extended and tangled with Zuko’s. Katara stretches her arm to join the hand pile, though Aang’s is inconveniently longer and in the way. Zuko scoots closer to accommodate, offering up his other hand to her. His long lashes sweep in a slow blink, but he’s still awake. For the first time, she notices those are mismatched in the same way as his eyebrow, never regrown on the burned side.

“You know, you have to actually close your eyes to sleep,” she says softly.

Zuko gives her a faint smile. “Yeah. I just don’t want to open them again, and find out I’ve been dreaming.”

“Aww, you’d—” Aang interrupts himself with a wide yawn “—you’d dream about us?”

“Hah, you have no idea.”

Aang laughs, and Katara raises an eyebrow with interest. But again, they’ll have to leave that for another time.

“It might help if you get comfortable,” she says, before Aang can tease Zuko further. “Turn over.” After a moment, Zuko complies, but just stays there, facing away. “Not like – I meant, turn over, and come closer, too.”

“Like spoons,” Aang adds helpfully, as Zuko shuffles into cuddling range, his back close to Aang’s chest.

Katara curls her arm across them both. “There. Now, relax. We’ve got you.”

It takes several minutes of hesitant shuffling, tiny adjustments, tensed muscles beneath her palm. While Aang’s hand rests automatically around Zuko’s middle, Katara moves hers up, reaching for his hair to thread her fingers through it, trying to soothe him. Surprisingly, it seems to help. Zuko leans his head into her touch, eases back against Aang, and breathes out a sigh that sounds…relieved.

“Love you,” Aang mumbles, almost asleep for real now. Katara knows he doesn’t intend it just for her, but she kisses his forehead, making him hum pleasantly and tangle one ankle with hers as he secures his gentle hold on Zuko.

As she’s drifting off, she hears Zuko murmur, “I –” and hesitate, his quiet swallow audible in the stillness of the night. “I’ll be better at this next time,” he says eventually. “I promise.”

Katara lays her hand over his heart. It’s still beating too fast for him to be totally at rest, but slowing, little by little. “I love you too, Zuko.”

#zutaraang #zutara #zukaang #kataang #atla #zutaraangdrabblechallenge #mod j #Anonymous

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just-another-author-i-guess · 5 years

Text

Bets:

Requested: yup

Warnings: she/her pronounced reader, mentions of hickey’s because I’m gross

Pairing: Zuko x reader

A/N: so this was a request, and I’ve been really excited to make it! I hope it turned out okay! In this, you’re Zuko’s secret girlfriend, you’re also Katara’s twin. Even though you and Zuko have been acting like two fools in love lately, the gaang still seems completely oblivious to the fact that the two of you are dating. You get tired of the gaangs obliviousness, and decides to make a bet. Who will win?

“When the war ends, I swear, the first thing I’m gonna do is buy us a sofa,” Zuko complained, back tired and bruised from having laid on the hard dirt all day. You giggled at his statement, and shifted your legs, trying to make him lay a little more comfortably in your lap. He hugged your leg tight, pouting into it at the discomfort.

“You’ll buy us a sofa? Wouldn’t that mean we’d have to live together?” You cheekily replied, heart beating as you looked down to meet his soft eyes.

This was the first time, he had ever really brought anything with the war up. You both knew it was coming to an end, of course, you both believed in Aang to end it. But never had any of you discussed what to do after, you couldn’t keep your relationship a secret forever.

Zuko would have to go back and claim his right to the throne of the fire nation, and you had to go back to your village. Of course you missed gran gran, and all your old friends, but the thought of having to leave Zuko was almost unbearable.

“Of course we’d have to live together, don’t think you can escape that easily,” Zuko replied, tone soft as he looked up to meet your sparkling eyes.

He wanted nothing more than to marry you, he wanted you to be his fire queen, but he didn’t know how his people would react. After all, you were a water bender and you were from the southern water tribes, and not only did he have to worry about his people, he had to worry about your family too.

He knew your relationship with your siblings, especially your twin sister, was very strong, and he wasn’t ready to get his ass kicked by the water tribe siblings just yet, even though you had been acting awfully much like a couple lately.

You saw the furrowing of his eyebrows, and gently reached a hand down to cup his cheek, making him look up at you.

“What’re you thinking about? You look so worried..” you trailed off, brushing your thumb gently over the burned skin of his cheek.

“Do you think they’ll accept me?” Zuko asked lowly, eyes nervously searching yours.

“I have done so much damage to your village and your people, if it was me I wouldn’t be ready to forgive me just yet-“

“Zuko,” you interrupted, making him stop his little rant.

“It’s fine, I could forgive you, so can they,” you said, determined to keep the worry away from your handsome prince’s face.

Zuko let out a grumpy sigh, indicating he didn’t believe your statement to be completely true. You merely chuckled at his antics, and gently brushed some hair out and away from his forehead, to plant a light kiss there.

“We can’t keep it a secret forever,” he mumbled, as you gently kissed his cheek.

“I know,” you sighed, when suddenly an idea lit in your head.

“Tell you what, we could make a bet out of it? Who do you think will notice first?” Zuko sat up, hair a mess from when you had buried your fingers in it earlier, and another pout stretching his pretty lips out.

“y/n, that’s a stupid idea,” he complained, and you rolled your eyes at the grumpy prince.

“Don’t be such a party pooper, it’ll be fun! Now, who do you choose?” He narrowed his eyes, knowing he had already lost the battle to your stubborn self.

“Choose?” He asked, a slight whine to his voice as he talked, and you rolled your eyes yet again.

“Who do you think will notice first, dummy,” you said, tone slightly annoyed as it was now Zuko’s turn to roll his eyes.

Zuko sighed, but finally gave an answer, “I choose..Toph and, uh, Sokka-“ you had to keep yourself from laughing too loud, at the mention of your older brothers name. He couldn’t possibly be serious, could he?

“What?” Zuko asked, shooting you a glare, but quickly changing his frown into a little smile, when he saw your laughing face.

“You can’t be serious, Sokka wouldn’t even know love if it slapped him in the face,” You wheezed, waiting for the moment Zuko would say he was joking, but it never came.

“I’m just saying, the guy has a girlfriend and all, I’m sure he’ll catch on to it soon enough,” Zuko tiredly explained, and you held up your hands in mock surrender, while still giggling like mad.

“Alright then, that leaves me with Aang and Katara, be prepared to loose,” you teased, thinking Zuko had already given up, you could never have been more wrong.

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t hear you over my victory,” he teased, a cheesy grin breaking out, making him look oh so adorable.

“Fine then,” you giggled, leaned forward to plant a sweet kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“Let the game begin.”

Next morning, had started with Zuko going out of his way to make you sit next to him at breakfast, even going as far as draping his arm lazily over your shoulders.

Not even a single stare had been thrown your way, as everything just went on as normal. Both you and Zuko decided, that it was time to try something more risky, and so you did.

After dinner, you practically glued to Zuko’s side, you cleared your throat.

“Goodnight guys, we’ll head to bed now, sleep well..” you awkwardly said, stretching your limbs as you talked, Zuko quickly standing up to wrap his arms around your waist.

“Goodnight guys! See you tomorrow!” Aang happily waved goodnight, innocent as ever, and you groaned in frustration as you turned to walk away, still with Zuko’s hands and arms all over you.

Nobody even questioned why you were going together, nor did they seem to notice the hungry stare Zuko had been sending you the entire evening. This was going to be way more difficult than you originally thought.

As the two of you entered his tent, Zuko let out a frustrated groan, falling onto his sleeping mat.

“How can they be so dense? We’ve literally done every single thing, and there they are, just waving goodnight to us like nothings happening,” he buried his face in his pillow, as you let your body drop down next to his, and bury your face in his warm back.

“Mhm,” you answered, eyelids already feeling heavy, as you relaxed into him.

Zuko tiredly sighed again, and turned around, to cuddle you, wrapping his arms around your waist and letting you bury your face in his hard chest.

Suddenly your lips were moving, smirking into his chest.

“Sokka and Aang sleeps in here too, right?” You asked, looking up at him from under your eyelashes, hoping he was catching on. The smirk that stretched across his lips, told you he already knew what you were saying.

“Yeah, it would be a shame if they were to walk in on something,” he said mischievously, just as he bend his head down, so his lips could catch yours.

The next morning, you had woken up snuggled tightly and comfortably in Zuko’s arms. The sunlight had hit your face, and you had realized that both Aang and Sokka were in the tent.

Quickly, you removed yourself from Zuko’s sleeping form, hearing his small sleepy protests, as you red faced went out to help Katara with breakfast.

“You and Zuko seem to be getting awfully close,” Katara mumbled, as you were standing besides her, washing the dishes in a river nearby.

“W-What do you mean?” You asked cheekily, thinking you were about to win the bet, you and Zuko had made earlier.

“You know, you didn’t use to be alone together this much, I’m happy that you’re becoming friends and all-“

“What?” You interrupted your twin, making her shoot you an annoyed glare, you knew how much she hated getting interrupted.

“You think we’re becoming friends?” You asked, eyes wide, as the realization sank in. They all just thought you were good friends. How ignorant can they be?

“You guys aren’t friends?” She asked, head tilting as she talked, confusion lazing in her words, and you realized how your sentence must have sounded to her.

“No-I mean, yeah, but no,” you began to explain, almost choking down your own words, as she looked at you funny again.

“What?” She asked, and stopped cleaning the dishes for a while, when she was too busy trying to figure out what you were saying.

“Just-I’ll- nevermind,” you said, cheeks aflame, as you started to wash the dishes in a furious pace, almost breaking a few plates.

Sitting by the campfire, everything went on as it normally did. Nothing more.

That was until Aang accidentally touched your hand, when shifting in his seat. Instantly Zuko’s not so discreet jealousy shined through, and he almost growled at the poor avatar, before pulling you into his lap, your back flush against his chest.

Your cheeks flushed with red, but quickly died down again, when the others didn’t even lift their gaze to look at you, except for Aang, who gave you a funny look but soon brushed it off.

At the ignorance, Zuko let out a low, frustrated growl into the junction where your neck meets your shoulder. The little action, cause shivers down your spine, as you looked nervously around at the others.

Your reaction didn’t go unnoticed by Zuko, and soon he was gently kissing at the spot, causing more shivers to run through you.

“Z-Zuko,” You rasped, trying to get his attention, and trying to stop him before he got carried too far.

It was already too late, and after hearing your little protest, you could feel him smirk as he bit down a little harder on the spot, causing a slight whimper to escape you.

That whimper would be the doom of you, as Sokka’s ears instantly perked, and he looked over to you and Zuko. It was already too late, and when he pulled away, there were already a big, dark hickey forming, very visible to everyone who would even dare to look your way.

“Flameo is dating my little sister!” Sokka wheezed out, face instantly going red and expression changing from everything between happiness and devastating horror.

“Seems like I won, then,” Zuko said, tone cocky as you glared at him and quickly pulled your hair in front of you, to try to cover the hickey as best as you could.

“y/n, is this true?” Katara asked, tone slightly panicked and a judging look resting on her features.

“Uh-I-I-“ You stuttered, suddenly loosing the ability to talk, as you could feel Zuko let out a huff off air behind you.

“Yes, that is true, I’ve known for a couple weeks now, they’re really getting at it guys-“ you slapped a hand over Toph’s mouth, looking at her with shocked eyes, face turning redder by the second, as you felt Zuko stiffen behind you.

“You’ve known?” He asked, horrified, and Toph licked your palm, making you quickly retreat it as she answered.

“Yep, it’s impossible not to know, considering how much you guys-“

“Okay, I think we heard enough!” Katara cut her off, looking at the two of you with a horrific expression, you and Zuko looking back at her with equally terrified expressions.

The rest of the night was spend teasing the two of you, until your faces were so red, they could very likely explode. Actually, the next few weeks were spend that way, but hey, at least you didn’t have to keep it a secret anymore.

#i hope this is okay #zuko x reader #prince zuko #avatar the last airbender x reader #avatar the last airbender #avatar toph #avatar katara #avatar zuko #avatar sokka #avatar aang #prince zuko fanclub

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presumenothing · 4 years

Text

call it what you want

the toph and zuko fic that absolutely no one but me asked for (but i asked very nicely so here it is)

beware probable inaccuracies to canon and in descriptions of blindness

(AO3)

On the third morning in a row they wake up like this, they don’t even need to exchange a look before agreeing (though any literal looks would have been one-sided and therefore admittedly moot, considering).

“Emergency measures?”

“Emergency measures,” Zuko confirms, and he doesn’t even startle at the way his voice comes out anymore. It does still take more concentration than it should to shift his feet into position – at least he remembers to go barefoot, now. “Uncle’s already up, I think that’s him in the tearoom upstairs.”

Toph punches him in the arm. Fortunately there isn’t anyone around to witness the (apparent) act of Fire Nation brutality, but also: ouch. “You’re gonna have to do better than that, Sparky, I have a reputation to maintain!”

“You’re the one with the firebending now,” Zuko grumbles, not at all under his breath. “Besides, I had to stop you from accidentally sparking off about four separate international incidents yesterday alone, so – hey!”

Toph doesn’t stop pulling Zuko along the corridor, but at least she does slow down, and he suspects the stride hadn’t even been intentional to begin with, just habit from usually being the shortest one in their group.

“Wouldn’t want you forgetting how to do your job, o great Lord Not-Sparky,” she retorts, but there’s no heat in it besides her customary snark, and despite everything Zuko finds himself weirdly grateful that it’s the two of them stuck in this situation and not anyone else.

(That doesn’t stop him from gleefully whispering I told you so! when Uncle turns out to be right where he’d said he would be, but Zuko figures he’s entitled to that much.

And if Toph is rolling her eyes, at least she does it silently, so. It’s a win-win, really.)

ii.

The first morning, Toph wakes up with the feeling that something is off, but it isn’t until she opens her eyes (not her first priority upon waking, for obvious reasons) that she realises how off.

It takes her three tries to swing her legs off the side of the bed and onto the floor – how the hell is her depth perception somehow worse with vision? – and the chill of unfamiliarly-patterned tile is what drives it home for her.

Not that the rest of it hadn’t been enough already: Toph knows the dimensions of her own body very well, thank you, because she’d always be running into walls otherwise. And then there’s the matter of not so much what she’s seeing as the fact that she’s seeing it at all, and not in the way she usually means the term.

But anyway. This definitely isn’t the room she fell asleep in, because that one had been heated and this one isn’t at all, because apparently firebenders were above needing or wanting things like cozy heating when they slept, however comfortable it might be. Which means that this is a firebender’s room… unsurprising, since they’re in the Fire Nation and all, but Toph is also starting to suspect that this is Zuko’s room. She’s still trying to figure out the shitton of information her eyes are suddenly tossing at her, but she’s pretty sure that what she eye-sees matches the layout she’d mapped out before with her earthbending – which by the way is definitely missing and not just her feet being temporarily numbed by the cold floor, and it’s not like Toph is freaking out or anything, but.

But. Okay. One thing at a time, Toph decides, and looks around until she spots something that has to be a mirror, hanging on a wall halfway across the room because of course it is.

Several false starts later, she eventually settles on memorising the distance and direction to it, before squeezing her eyes almost shut as she walks so that only a narrow band gets through because honestly, too much information. No wonder sighted people were always so distracted.

Toph only opens her eyes again once she’s finally standing in front of the mirror, and – holy fuck, she thinks.

Not because she’s Zuko. Or not just that, rather, not even that, because she is somehow in a body that she’s certain has to be Zuko’s the same way she’d known this was his room.

She’s heard that the scar on his face is bad, had even felt it for herself – how big it was, how much of his face it covered, raised ridges and unnatural smoothness that she would’ve recognised as wrong even if she hadn’t touched anyone’s face before, but.

But now that she’s seeing it, the scar stands out far more than she ever thought it did, a livid patch stark against the rest of his features that she struggles to tear her gaze away from, and if this is what it means to have sight, have colours, Toph thinks she might not want it anymore.

Which is when she realises that if she’s here in this body it has to mean that – shit. Zuko.

(The first morning, Zuko had woken to utter pitch darkness that refused to abate or even change no matter how many times he blinked or frantically rubbed at his right eye. He’d probably have fallen spectacularly on his face if he’d moved to stand – but Zuko hadn’t even tried to. Couldn’t, not with the blackness pressing down on his limbs like far-too-physical fear.

He’d managed to simultaneously convince himself that Ozai had locked him in some windowless cell for good and thrown away the key, or that he’d finally lost his vision to the burn damage like the medic had warned Uncle might happen all those years ago, in quiet harried words where they thought he couldn’t hear.

Then a hand had landed on his shoulder, and Zuko would’ve startled if there’d been anything left in him to startle, but then a voice – his voice? – had hissed by his ear, and he’d made out the words “Sparky” and “come on” and –

And that hadn’t magically made everything better except in the ways it had, because he still couldn’t figure out what it meant but at least he wasn’t alone in the darkness anymore.)

iii.

Really, it’d been plain luck that Toph had woken up so much earlier than usual. Or not, because apparently firebenders woke with the sunrise and she’s a firebender now, and this is already shaping up to be a pain, didn’t Sparky or Uncle ever want to just sleep in until noon?

Apparently not, judging from the way Sparky had already been awake (awake and well into panicking) by the time she located the set of guest rooms that she’d been sleeping in just last night. Firebenders, honestly.

(“It’s habit, I guess?” Sparky had explained afterwards with a sheepish look, so okay, maybe this was more a Lord Rise-and-Shine thing than a general firebender thing.)

Anyway. Whatever the reason, it gives them enough time to figure out a plan before the rest of everybody wakes up, at least once she finally gets Zuko to calm the hell down.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, still breathing in that careful firebendy pattern which would’ve been a dead giveaway to her. But at least he looks not-freaked-out now (in Toph’s definitely nonexpert opinion, anyway) and she figures they can probably depend on most people around them to be as unobservant as they usually are. “Any idea how this happened?”

“Nope. We could always take the day off, see if this fixes itself by tomorrow,” she offers with amazing generosity.

“Absolutely not!” Zuko answers immediately, because – oh yeah, right, workaholic tendencies are another firebender and/or Sparky thing. “I – you – we have a meeting with all the major Fire Nation officials this morning, and there’s that delegation from the colonies after that, and then – ”

(Toph sighs. Couldn’t blame her for trying, at least.)

They end up settling on having Toph-as-Zuko lead Zuko-as-Toph around for now, because Toph has standards, and she refuses to let herself be seen bumping into walls all day long.

Plus, even waking up early hadn’t given them enough time for more than a superspeed crash course on Fire Lording, so of course Zuko insists on staying with her so she doesn’t mess up and offend all the world’s leaders or something.

“One wrong word could – could restart the war,” Zuko squawks like the baby turtleducks that the kitchen staff pretend not to see their Fire Lord regularly stealing bread for.

“Heard you the first twenty times, Your Shortiness,” Toph says breezily, patting his head – and just to be clear, she’s still not gonna forgive Sokka for all the times he’s used her as an elbow rest, but she (or her body, at least) is really just the right height for it.

(There are a few raised eyebrows when the Fire Lord doesn’t walk into the meeting chambers alone, but it probably helps that basically everyone present has other much higher priorities, and most of them are already resigned to the Avatar’s group acting weird by default anyway.

Which is to say that no one questions the arrangement until they break for lunch, and then not even until Aang bounces over to join them from who-knows-where, because Toph’s pretty sure that the A in Aang (and airbender, and Avatar) stands for audacity. “Toph, are you holding on to Zuko’s shirt?”

Toph – actual Toph – opens her mouth to give a bullshit answer, but Zuko beats her to it. “Duh. See, somebody here lost a bet, which means he’s gotta be my seeing-eye person until I say so. Right, Sparky?”

Toph’s reluctantly impressed. Not only had Zuko clearly thought about this, he’d even said it with all the snark she would have, complete with a disturbingly wide grin (she’d looked).

She gives one of those indistinct-but-not-really-upset grumbles that Sparky uses a lot around them, and gradually falls behind the rest of the group so she can elbow him with her own rock-sharp grin (because she can confirm from experience that it’s audible, even if not visible). “I didn’t know you had that in you!”

“Yeah, well.” Sparky rubs the back of his neck, his gaze darting away then back, and there’s no aura of sass about him now. “You handled the meeting pretty well, all things considered. Especially that… Minister Takagi.”

“You can just say ‘asshole’, y’know, it’s not like you’re the Fire Lord right now.” Besides, it’d be way more accurate, with the deliberate way that minister had said something oily and barbed about Ozai that’d gone right over her head but still hit home anyway, judging from the way Zuko had tensed in the seat beside hers.

Toph had simply blinked slowly before savouring the brief but utter look of confusion as she responded to the rest of his speech while outright ignoring the comment like the completely irrelevant bait it clearly was.

Too bad, Minister Asshole. Better luck next time!

(And if her cheeks are vaguely warm from the compliment in the way she knows means a blush, Sparky can’t see right now anyway, so it’s all fine as long as she doesn’t spontaneously combust from embarrassment.

…or from being a firebender. Is that even possible? Hopefully not.)

iv.

“But of course,” Uncle says as he refills their teacups. “I would be glad to be your regent while you are on vacation, nephew. You scarcely needed to ask.”

“Like I said, we’re just going to Gaoling to speak with the Beifongs, and so Aang can do his Avatar thing before we route any of the withdrawing troops through there,” Toph says, and Zuko can practically feel the annoyance rolling off her even if it’s for entirely different reasons than his own would’ve been, in the same situation. (It does make for a more convincing act though.) “It’s not a vacation.”

“Of course it isn’t,” Uncle replies with great equanimity, while Zuko tries to figure out if his tea is cool enough to drink now that he can’t judge by the steam rising from it. “It is good to see you taking better care of your health in spite of your heavy responsibilities, nephew. I hear that the clerks are overjoyed to have paperwork delegated to them again!”

Probably about as ecstatic as Toph herself was when she’d heard about that option, Zuko thinks to himself, and snorts at the thought.

(Honestly, it’s not like the paperwork that reaches the Fire Lord’s desk is anywhere near as complicated as the incomprehensible hell of requisition forms Zuko had constantly wrestled with aboard his ship, but Toph had still cheered when all of it got carted away to the clerks’ office. “Why would you go through all that if you didn’t have to? You should’ve done this ages ago!”

“How else was I gonna learn the details of what’s going on?” Zuko had muttered, but he couldn’t blame Toph for this one, since – well. Reading and writing hadn’t been a big part of her education, as she’d put it. “I’d offer to do it myself, but…”

He’d trailed off, then buried his face in his hands because he was not finishing that sentence, because Toph Beifong might be the greatest earthbender of all time but she’s also the worst influence to ever exist and apparently Zuko isn’t even good at cracking blind jokes anyway. And he didn’t even know whose expense it’d be at, right now.

Toph had just cackled like she’d known what he was thinking anyway.)

They manage to make their escape from Uncle almost one and a half pots of tea later.

“Is it just me,” Zuko begins hesitantly once they’re a safe distance down the corridor, “or did you also get the feeling that – ”

“He knows?” Toph sounds like she’s frowning. “Yeah. I mean, I guess it’s not a big deal if he of all people finds out – but how, though? He’s barely even been around the palace since this started!”

“Maybe he could… see it or something, I dunno.” Zuko shrugs. “Uncle’s been to the Spirit World before, he did say some stuff about it changing his awareness of things.”

“But he’s not the only one who’s been there,” Toph points out, before they both contemplate Aang for a moment. “Though maybe the only one without the attention span of a catterfly, yeah.”

(“Which reminds me, when’s Sweetness due back from the North Pole?”

“Katara? In another ten days, if everything goes to plan. Why?”

“Because I’m gonna have her fix this shitty heartbeat of yours, I don’t even care if we’ve swapped back by then! I already thought it sounded weird after the whole lightning thing, and you keep saying that it’s fine but this is really not normal, we’re just lucky you haven’t had a heart attack doing your morning exercises or something equally ridiculous–”)

They tell Aang what happened once Appa is up in the air and en route to Gaoling, but the airbender still sounds disbelieving for once, even after they land early to train and set up camp.

“Okay, you got me, very funny, no way you actually switched b– huh.” Aang pauses, even keeps still for a moment. “Huh. You’re being serious.”

Zuko doesn’t need earthbending to recognise the sound of Toph tapping her foot, and probably crossing her arms too. “Care to enlighten us, Twinkletoes?”

Aang bursts out laughing at that, so the nickname probably sounds as weird to him in Zuko’s voice as it does to Zuko himself, though he goes back to being thoughtful afterwards. “I can see it a little if I concentrate, yeah – maybe it’s an effect of the energybending, I dunno. Your colours are a little different to the usual earthbender and firebender ones, and I don’t think they were like that before.”

Zuko’s pretty sure Toph is thinking the same thing he is (that still doesn’t explain how Uncle found out) but out loud he only says, “Can we get started now, if you’re done talking Avatar stuff?”

“Right!” Aang agrees with an enthusiastic bounce, and Zuko now really understands why Toph gave him that nickname. “So Zuko, you need me to teach you how to earthbend like you’re actually Toph, and not you pretending to be Toph and earthbending like how you think Toph earthbends–”

“Yes, Aang,” he interrupts, trying to sound longsuffering instead of laughing, then points unerringly at where Toph is lifting a foot. “And you’re not going barefoot, Toph, I have a reputation to maintain!”

“It’s not like anyone’s looking,” Toph mutters, but her shoes are still on when she puts her leg back down.

(“Honestly, Zuko, I’m really impressed,” Aang says as Toph lights the campfire for dinner, and this probably shouldn’t feel comfortingly nostalgic but it does. “I mean, it’s obvious now that I know what’s going on, but you’ve actually been navigating really well? I think I’d have taken way longer to adapt if I had to see by earthbending alone, and I already know earthbending.”

“It’s surprisingly intuitive once you get the hang of it. And I think Toph’s muscle memory stuck or something, otherwise I’d probably still be running into walls. Well, more walls,” Zuko amends. “Besides, I guess it’s sort of like when I was adjusting my newly shitty vision, after – after what Ozai did.”

Zuko’s briefly proud of himself when he barely even stumbles over that last part, until he realises that Toph has gone still across from him, and there’s an alarming flash of heat that probably isn’t the campfire.

“Uh.” Aang sounds alarmed, and like he’s staring. “Toph…?”

“Are you seriously telling me,” Toph grits out between her teeth, “that my depth perception is so fucked up because you only have half your vision left.”

“It’s really closer to seventy percent,” Zuko answers on reflex even as he facepalms both internally and externally because how in the name of Agni had he forgotten to tell Toph about this? Yes, it would’ve been obvious to anyone else, and it’s simple fact to Zuko by this point, but of course Toph of all people wouldn’t have realised that his eyesight was abnormal seeing as (ha) she’d never had vision before.

The ground trembles from sudden stomping. “That’s it, forget Gaoling, we’re going back to the capital now so I can kick Scumbag Lord’s ass all over again – and no using earthbending against me, Twinkletoes!”)

“Do you miss it?” Zuko asks, later that night.

No answer comes for a long moment, and he’s starting to wonder if Toph’s fallen asleep when he feels the rustle of her turning over.

“Which part, the earthbending? Or being a blind and helpless twelve-year-old girl?” The air quotes around those words are perfectly audible even if he can’t see them, but neither of them have ever been much for rhetorical questions anyway so Toph barrels right on. “One more than the other, and you’re damned lucky I’m well-educated nobility or I’d have thrown up all over your court etiquette by now.”

Zuko tries to imagine Katara or Sokka (or possibly worse yet, Aang) trying to act as the Fire Lord and winces – they’re amazing people and Zuko cares for them more than he knows what to do with, but he’s also heard all about Sapphire and Wang Fire by now, and just. No. “Thanks for that, Toph, you’ve been doing a great job.”

Toph punches him in the arm instead of saying you’re welcome like a normal person. “No need to sound so surprised. You?”

“Hm?” he asks, before his brain catches up with his mouth a moment later. “Oh. I…”

Does he miss it, being the banished prince turned Fire Lord? Being not just Zuko but Zuko, son of Ursa and Ozai and everything that meant?

Does he miss having people look at him and see the scar on his face before everything else, see the pure golden eyes and assume everything it implied? (Not that he knew for sure how people looked at him now, not literally – but he’d seen enough of how they looked at Toph before, and it was always underestimation rather than exaggeration. And if it’d been just a year ago he would’ve been furious at that but now? Now, he’s still offended on Toph’s behalf because it’s not fair, it really isn’t, but he’s… surprisingly okay with it, otherwise.)

Does he miss fire dancing on his palm, sun-warm but never burning?

“…not as much as I expected,” Zuko says finally, and he doesn’t know how much time has passed but he can feel Toph listening for an answer anyway. “Except for the firebending, but I guess earth’s not too bad either.”

(Zuko doesn’t think he’s ever going to react anything but poorly to people touching him without warning no matter whose body he’s in, it’s a fact he’s fairly resigned to – but Toph’s earthbending means that pretty much no one but airbenders can really take him by surprise, and there’s only one of Aang. Fortunately.)

Toph snorts in a manner unbecoming of either lady or Fire Lord. “Well, fire sucks. If this keeps up, I might just have to become the greatest firebender of all time, too.”

Zuko laughs. “I look forward to it,” he says sincerely – this is the earthbender who’d learned from badgermoles, after all, even if she’s also busy snickering at his unintentional pun. “Tell Aang to bring you to go meet the dragons sometime, I think you’d love them.”

“Please. I’d rather ask Uncle instead, Twinkletoes would just be distracting.” Fair point. “And you’re coming with.”

The Sun Warriors might sooner feed an earthbender to the dragons rather than grant an audience with them, but Zuko nods anyway. “Alright. Good night, Toph.”

“Night, Sparky,” comes the mumble in reply, already half-asleep, and Zuko closes his eyes.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #toph beifong #zuko #fanfiction #mine #listen i love these two okay #also this was supposed to be like 1.5k i dunno what happened

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druddigoon · 4 years

Text

Snippets of ATLA wips I hate too much to finish that I like enough to post on Tumblr

I know most of my followers are from Pokemon nowadays, but I still do post some atla stuff. Also this is probably like 4k+ words of complete shit so I’m putting them under the cut

Brother, Son

“How do you play Pai Sho?” Ozai asks, peeking over the low rim of the Pai Sho table. He’s almost four now, toddles his way around the palace clinging the legs of the staff, parroting official declarations from the leverage of a chabudai. Their parents barely acknowledge his younger brother - Azulon is busy countering earthbender resistance on the eastern front, and Ilah handles military campaigns to the Water Tribes. As loyal Fire Nation citizens, their duty rings like a mantra: Nation beyond family, personal sacrifice for the greater good.

And Ozai is left alone.

Iroh idly twirls a lotus tile beneath his finger. “You’ll learn it when you’re older,” he says, pulling the trick their mother always used on him. Iroh is fifteen; old enough to join the army but not in the front lines, not yet anyways. It drives him mad.

Ozai pouts and starts whining an ear-grating whimper. That kind of noise usually gets him a backhand and a harsh scolding from their father, but he’s smart enough to realize that Iroh would never hurt him in that way. He tugs on Iroh’s sleeve, puffs his chubby cheeks into a pout. “Please?”

When Iroh doesn’t respond, Ozai stumbles his way to his brother and collapses around his waist. Small arms try, and fail, to wrap around him. “I humbly request assistance regarding certain matters of conduct that appear to be beyond my comprehension. Would you care to enlighten me?”

If Iroh had been drinking tea at that moment, it would be coming back up through his nose. He ends up bursting out laughing, because did Ozai not realize how sarcastic that was? His brother rolls off, confused, but ends up giggling along.

After their laughter petered off, Iroh wipes the tears off his face and grins. “I suppose that can be arranged.” He gestures at the tiles while Ozai bounces up and down. “Now watch, my disciple; Pai Sho is a game of strategy…”

Ozai fails to grasp the finer points of Pai Sho, but Iroh discovers that he didn’t mind. He likes watching Ozai; the boy has an awful poker face, and Iroh can differentiate the multitude of emotions that manifested in his expression. Confusion, in a crooked tilt of his eyebrows and a crease on his nose. Contemplation, in a furrowing of his forehead and intense glare of his eyes. Glee, in the way the corners of his mouth curved like a shy little thing. Iroh begins giving him little loopholes just to see that smile more.

Curt raps at his door snaps Iroh out of his contemplation. Ozai casually moves another tile. “Come in.”

A servant enters. “Prince Iroh, your firebending lesson starts at noon. It’s been two hours.”

Iroh looks at the sun outside his window, surprised to see how low it hangs; he’s never been the one to lose track of time. He glances back at Ozai, who has his head turned away from him as if he’d trying not to meet his gaze. “I’ll be out in a minute. Wait outside.”

After the servant leaves, Iroh grabs his brother’s shoulders and turns Ozai towards him. “What’s that matter?”

Ozai’s face looks crestfallen. “I-” he stops, purses his lips, and continues with the simple honesty of a child, “-I don’t want you to leave, that’s all.”

"No.”

So this is what having a brother feels like. Iroh smiles at Ozai, who looks back incredulously. "We’re princes. The servants listen to us, not the other way around.” He makes his move with a flourish. "Your turn.”

Oai’s grin was the widest he’d seen yet, and their game fades well into the evening.

--------------------------------------

Ozai cannot please their father, Iroh’s learned, and not for the lack of trying. The boy wakes up hours before the sun rises, rehearsing through his katas illuminated by the cusp of dawn. Stands a little straighter in court meetings, gleams with a pomp of authority when in the general vicinity of the throne. He loves Azulon with every fiber of his being.

Azulon hardly notices.

He can feel the flames of rigor flare in his brother’s chi as he watches Azulon address his troops, the wisp of smoke that escapes through clenched fists. They were royalty; lavished with care, laden with gifts, and yet he still yearns, yearns for something that he will never reach. (They have a habit, the Fire Nation, of aiming the arrow further than the bow can shoot.)

Because Ozai is flawed, and very much so. Despite his rigorous training, he is naturally clumsy, as if his chi is innately unbalanced from the moment of his birth. At the age of six he still possesses the incoordination of a toddler, tripping over his own feet and fumbling with objects enough that he’s been banned from the royal archives from accidentally dropping a candle. His fire burns strong, but not strong enough for someone of his bloodline. By the time Iroh was his age, he’d already mastered four more sets than he did. By the time Iroh was his age, he could recite the names and dates of all important battles (all Fire Nation victories, of course) and pinpoint them on a map. By the time Iroh was his age, he had earned the respect of his father of his country.

Ozai is the second-born; less talented, less needed. He bears the scars of the uncontrollable on his skin, reminders of their father’s fury and the love he can never own because of his succession at birth.

(And perhaps that was why, when Azula came to the world with infernos in her eyes and lightning at her fingertips, Ozai named her after his greatest desire, and reached out for her like it never did.)

--------------------------------------

Shortly after Lu (and he should think my son instead of just his name, like he’s a pawn on a roster, just a tally amidst the casualties, but it hurts too much when he’s used him like a soldier instead of loving him like a father) Ten’s death, Iroh receives a letter stamped with the royal insignia, addressed specifically to him. The person who brings it is one of his closest servants, one of the few he allows in his tent anymore; he bids him leave with a jerking sweep of his hand, and Iroh is alone.

The precise calligraphy of words is heartwrenchingly familiar, and yet the letter’s contents read like a stranger’s. His brother’s tone is formal, clipped. Ursa and I are sorry for your loss it reads, and the rice paper starts to smolder around its edges. I have decided to return this back to you. I no longer have any need for it.

There is a bundle attached to the message, heavier than expected, and inside Iroh finds the Prince’s crown. He knows that this means. He knows his brother too much and not enough, because they are worlds away and he is losing him.

His troops looked startled when they saw their general exit his tent for the first time in months, clad in the dark linens of a mourning man. When asked where he was leaving to, Iroh replied simply: “Home.”

--------------------------------------

(“Ozai used to be my brother.” Iroh mentioned once, offhandedly, the night they first camped at the Western Air Temple when he found Zuko wide awake. He was standing in the central pavilion (with its sweeping murals amidst pallid marble, that probably wasn’t built to be so empty) leaning out from the balcony to catch the passing wind on his arm. The other was wrapped up in a cast.

Zuko looked at him. He seemed confused; he could see it in the familiar crooked tilt of the brow, the way his nose wrinkled just so. “But Father still is.”

He says it with such sincerity and innocence despite the bandages obscuring his left visage, and later when he falls asleep, Iroh weeps. Because after all Ozai did to the boy, he still loved him like a son to a father, a brother to a brother.)

Azula Week Day 7 (AN: Never thought of a title for this haha)

“I did not consent to this,” Azula says, after she recovers from the initial shock.

Her only reply is a burble. Izumi is one year and five months old and still communicates in phonemes. Zuzu seemed to be slacking in supplementing her development; by her age, Azula was just beginning to recite classic Fire Nation poems.

She resolves not to mention it in front of him. “I was also under the impression you had alternate babysitting options that didn’t drastically increase your child’s risk of mortality.”

Zuko, who had barged into her household unannounced (“You know there are strict punishments for home invaders under Fire Nation law, right?”), has the grace to act sheepish. “And those ‘alternate babysitting options’ are out of reach now, unfortunately.” He unceremoniously dumps his daughter onto Azula’s lap; Izumi’s shirtfront is damp with slobber and immediately wets Azula’s robes. “Iroh’s tending to his teashop in Ba Sing Se, and Ursa left with Noren to visit their old village for a couple weeks. Mai—not that I consider her a babysitter, she’d kill me—is coming with me, and none of my friends except you and Toph are in the Caldera right now.”

Azula raises an eyebrow, still managing to look skeptical with a toddler drooling against her robes.

“Please?” Zuko pulls a puppy-cub face, the one he used when they were children to get what he wanted from their mother. Azula has no idea why he believes it’ll work on her. “I have an urgent meeting with Aang in Republic City, and I can’t bring Izumi—or Kiyi for that matter, she had school—along with me. I don’t trust the palace staff to take care of them.”

Funny how Zuzu trusts her more than the people hired to serve him. Azula relents. “Fine. You better come back for them in four days like you promised, or I’m putting both up for adoption.”

Zuko ignores the jab (it had no heat to it anyway) and showers profuse thanks, pulling her into a quick, uncomfortable, and consent-violating hug. He sweeps out of the apartment before Azula can retaliate, most likely in a way that would burn her house down.

The door swings shut behind him.

Not long after, Toph walks in, clad in her official ambassador’s attire and looking utterly bewildered. Azula takes mercy and fills her in.

“We’re impromptu babysitting for my brother. I have Izumi, and Kiyi’s already upstairs brooding or something.” Kiyi is pushing into her teens and is already doggedly stretching her independence, as well as everyone’s patience. (Azula likens it to jumping off a cliff and hoping to fly.) She had bolted for their guest bedroom the moment Zuko arrived, in an attempt to avoid the “grown-ups” below.

“Oh. Huh.”

“We’re stuck with them until Zuzu comes back from his meeting.”

“Huh.” Toph sits down on their living room couch, still processing the information. Azula tugs a bowl of fruit out of Izumi’s reach. “Huh.”

“Remind me again why I decided to make nice with him.”

Toph shrugs. “Beats me.” ------------------------------------

Azula has brought down armies, made lesser men bow beneath her feet; she overtook Ba Sing Se in a day’s coup without killing a single person, something her ancestors been trying for eons without success; she almost killed the avatar, and had once stood against him and three other master benders (because Zuko wasn’t one) to come out unharmed. She was a prodigy firebender and manipulator, capable of getting almost whatever she wanted.

If any of those achievements transferred to present day, it means that she is capable of feeding a drooling toddler.

“Eat.” Azula commands, pressing a spoonful of rice congee against Izumi’s unyielding lips.

She once had the unfortunate privilege of watching Zuzu feed her—saying “heeeere comes the dragon!” in a disgustingly sugary voice and cooing whenever Izumi took a bite—and refuses to replicate his technique. So far she’s managed to get one mouthful in, only for Izumi to spit it all out onto her bib.

An ungroomed Toph walks into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing her eyes. Whereas Azula always rises with the sun, the earthbender prefers to sleep in. She sticks a finger up her right nostril. “Everything alright here, Thunder?”

Azula takes the opportunity to remove herself from the warzone, stepping over to the sink to wash the stickiness from her fingers. “Just peachy. The infant seems determined to starve herself and I’ve just about given up trying to stop her.” She glares up indignantly when Toph has the audacity to laugh at her. “Hilarious, isn’t it? You try shoving congee up her mouth.”

“Heh, sure,” It’s too early in the morning to engage in their snarky banter, so Toph just picks up the brush on the counter and grooms her boarqpine’s nest of a hairdo. Izumi starts making babbling noises, bits of congee still dripping past her lips. “You go wake up Kiyi then. The clock on the wall behind me says there’s only an hour until she has to go to her classes.”

------------------------------------

“How did waking the sleeping beast go?” Downstairs, Toph seems to have successfully allocated half the bowl into Izumi’s stomach. Her amusement tapers off as Azula sweeps into the kitchen like a brewing storm. “What’s wrong, Thunder?”

(It’s sweet that Toph can detect her moods and episodes through the way she carries herself and know what to do without Azula having to tell her outright. Right after the war it had been a sign that she was slipping from perfection, but nowadays Toph’s gotten sharper and Azula’s learned that there’s strength in vulnerability.)

“Not well, unfortunately. I stuck a hand in its mouth and it bit back.” She occupies herself in wiping Izumi’s face, hoping that Toph is familiar with her moods enough to know now is not the time to pry.

Toph’s not happy about that (she can see it in the way she blows at her bangs, how her nose wrinkles just so) but decides not to pursue. “Well I think that’s all Izumi’s eating today. We should probably change her diaper now. I smelled something funky while I was feeding her.”

“I’ll do it. Agni knows how you wipe your own butt.”

“If you want, I’ll let you do it for me.”

Azula mimes a shudder, and Toph snickers. “I did not need that suggestion. Next time you make such a scandalous request, I’ll sleep in my own bed for the next month.”

“Pssshh. As if you’re able to hold out that long.” Azula is pulling Izumi’s linens out from under her when she hears Toph set another bowl of congee on the counter. She looks over her shoulder to see Kiyi creeping near the table, timid as a sparrowmouse. The girl quietly takes Toph’s offered spoon but ends up clinking it against the ceramic, looking up at Azula in guilt. Toph tilts her head expectantly.

She sighs, strolling over to the pile of supplies Zuzu left her and picking out some clean linens. “I understand that some adolescents are incapable of regulating what comes out of their mouths, and will not hold it against you. Now stop acting like a kicked puppycub.”

------------------------------------

One questionably wrapped diaper later, Izumi is bouncing on the carpet with Azula holding her for support. The toddler is drooling (again) and making infant noises and what suspiciously sounds like “A-zhu-a”. Babies are a peculiar thing, high maintenance with rolls of fat, soft cheeks and a bulbous head. This one has come out of Mai’s vagina, after… no, best not to think about it. Azula can never imagine herself this gross and vulnerable.

An infant babbling Azula’s name on repeat is somewhat unnerving, so she procures a wooden rattle to occupy Izumi, only to remove it when she starts gnawing. Izumi starts pouting and making little distressed noises, so Azula returns it.

Toph has sent Kiyi off with some well wishes and a hearty slug to the shoulder. Now she settles on the carpet, listening to the rhythm of Izumi’s stomps.

“She should be close to walking by now,” Azula says, “Both Zuzu and I learned to walk by our thirteenth month.”

Toph shrugs. “Give her time. She might be a late bloomer; I didn’t walk by myself until I was well over two years old. It’s probably why my parents didn’t see me as a good earthbender, us being familiar with the ground and all.”

A pause. Toph leans in, contemplative. “...Do you think Izumi would let me touch her face?”

It isn’t like Toph—headstrong, stubborn Toph, Avatar’s sifu, greatest earthbender in the world—to speak with a quiet waver in her voice. In a way, her uncertainty makes Azula feel better about her own insecurities right now. They are navigating new territories, but they are doing so together. “I don’t think she’ll mind much. Be gentle with the top the head though; I’ve heard that the skull isn’t too developed there.”

It brings Toph out of her contemplation. She scoffs. “Yeah right, who do you take me as?”

“Someone who punches holes in the pavement when she’s angry and smashes boulders with her head when she’s bored,” Azula reminds her.

“Also someone who’s a master metalbender, which asks for, as you like to say about your crazy fire katas, ‘utmost finesse’.”

Despite her braggadocio, Toph reaches for Izumi’s face gingerly, cradling her cheek against calloused fingers. Izumi wrinkles her face but, to their surprise, does not cry out.

Azula watches as Toph’s hands explore Izumi’s face: cresting over her nub nose, ghosting past her eyes, combing the downy black hair without ever touching the scalp. Toph herself is in a trance, her brows furrowed in concentration. After a brief eternity she withdraws with a fluid motion as if finishing the tail end of a meditation.

“Hello, I’m Toph,” she tells her.

Izumi claps her hands.

‘She’s squishy.” Toph says, turning to Azula. Izumi is repeating “Tawh, Tawh, Tawh” while bouncing in Azula’s arms. Entranced, Toph reaches over to grab her hand. “Can I hold her?”

Yes, they’ll get through this together.

“Can’t know if you don’t try,” Azula says when Izumi leans forward into Toph’s arms.

Ember Island Blues (AN: This was a test thing gone wrong and I hate it a lot)

Azula has only gained a few inches after the war, making her shorter than Katara. Her hair, once lustrous black, has greyed prematurely; her eyes, while sharp, now have a haunted look to them - a sun’s wavering reflection on deep ocean. Still she walks with grim poise and posture, her royal robes replaced with a traveler’s attire that reminds Katara eerily of that decisive Agni Kai. They lock eyes, and the waves rock just a little higher.

--------------------------------------

She wakes to floorboards creaking, Aku’s muffled hiss as she bumps into the dining room counter. There’s a distinct click of a lock, an agonizingly slow creak of the door as someone tries to silence her sneaking out only to prolong the sound she makes. Only when it stops does Katara sigh and get up. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes and tamping down a yawn, she steps outside.

Despite the heat wave indicative of Fire Nation weather, Ember Island’s mornings are surprisingly chilly. It’s still dark outside, the sun a sliver of pink beyond the horizon. Katara expects to find Aku fooling around before quickly returning home as the temperature gets to her. What she doesn’t expect is to find her at the edge of the ocean, practicing katas with a single-minded intensity that she hasn’t seen since Zuko joined their group during the war.

She clears her throat, notices Aku’s breath hitch, like she’d been surprised. The girl looks at her with a wide expression. “Good morning, Auntie Katara.”

As if she has done nothing wrong waking up and causing a racket at the crack of dawn. Katara clicks disapprovingly. “Kya and the others are asleep.” You should be too.

“Can’t.” Aku says. She draws her arms and legs toward her body, lowering and exhaling and relaxing at the conclusion of her kata. The entire move is precise, not a hair out of place. “It’s a firebender thing.”

Firebenders rise with the sun, Katara knows. They get their power from its rays, just like how her blood thrums a little bit stronger, her movements a little more fluid, under the waxing of the moon. What she doesn’t consider is how it affects their sleeping schedule.

No wonder she never sees Zuko asleep in the mornings.

“Well, be quieter next time, okay?” She says. Aku nods before resuming her practice. Katara sits down on the spray-soaked crags to watch.

Since the conclusion of the war, Katara’s waterbending had taken a backseat. Nowadays she mostly uses it to heal the scrapes and cuts on her children, to do the laundry. Her real waterbending (the hardening of blood against flesh, puppets straining under a master’s reins) is always - has always - centered around combat, and there is little need for that in an era of peace.

It surprises her how Aku practices without stopping—her little brow furrowing in utmost concentration—until the sun fully rises from sea to sky. If Aang had been this disciplined at this age, he’d have defeated Ozai before the start of summer. Occasionally she breathes, little tongues of flame leaping off her palms, her mouth, weaving fiery blue filigree in the shadowed dawn.

“Were you cold out there?” Katara asks, when the air starts heating up and they are on their way back to the villa. “Do you do this every day?”

“Um.” Aku looked perplexed. “No and...yes? All firebenders have an inner fire, which they have to maintain so it won’t die or get out of control.

"Mine keeps me warm, I guess. We practice katas every morning so we don’t accidentally burn something or someone.”

For such a destructive element, Aku’s explanation hinges a lot on precision and control. Perhaps that is why they need it, Katara thinks. “Do you like firebending?”

“Mhm.” A turtlecrab pops out of the sand, and Aku stops to observe as it burrows back inside. “Mommy always says that bending is a gift. Something that should be used to its fullest extent.”

Of course Azula would say that. “And what about you?”

“I don’t think it’s a gift.” The house is still silent and dark as they enter, the three other inhabitants soundly sleeping away. When Katara closes her eyes, she can feel the pull of her element, Aku smoldering softly by her side. “I think it’s a part of who you are, as a person, I mean. When you neglect it, you’re neglecting part of yourself too.”

Aku gives her one last smile, the ripe innocence of a child, then heads back to her room with the floorboards creaking behind her.

The next morning, Katara rises with the sun and leaves for the seaside.

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When it comes to her daughter’s appearance, Azula has clearly gotten the upper hand. Aku looks aristocratic: pointed nose, tapering chin, pale porcelain skin. The only outward resemblance to Sokka is her hair. Instead of jet black locks, Aku’s are dark and wavy, like the seas her father had once called home.

Sometimes Katara sees snippets of her brother in Aku’s mannerisms. How she seamlessly segues from a noble strut to stumbling over nothing, how she demands “scientific proof and evidence” when accused of not eating her vegetables, how she inhales information like it is going out of style, how she seems to eat more than Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin combined.

There are times when Aku is just Aku. Her demureness is all Azula with none of the underlying malice. Instead she’s hesitant, almost shy. Asks permission for almost everything she did. Speaks formally, and only formally, to Katara and her children untilasw Bumi decided to ask about her adventures with Uncle Sokka. She is—as Katara discovered accidentally, when she’d seen her sketching the sea on a notepad—an excellent artist. Katara has no idea who she gets that from. Certainly not Sokka, that’s for sure.

Her children are already familiar with the Fire Nation princess, having been babysat together quite a few times. Back when Tenzin was too young to bring to the Air Nomads, when Katara had actually accompanied Aang during his excursions around the world.

Tenzin is more wary than anything. Katara could distinctly remember Aku being there for his birth, but they never had the chance to bond as much as her other kids, what with Tenzin constantly being out with Aang. His father’s absence is clearly stinging; he’s more stiff than usual, takes his glider to coast the drafts first thing in the morning and doesn't return until dusk.

To Bumi, Aku is another playmate he can rope into playing with. As the sole non-bender of his family, he practically idolizes his Uncle Sokka. Aku soaks up the attention, telling (probably embellished, definitely exaggerated) tales of his conquests, later acting them out with theatrical flourish. She’s even carved out a replica of his boomerang out of driftwood, which now rests on Bumi’s bedside when he sleeps.

Kya is immediately taken to her. The girls both love to read, spending hours upon hours on the couch while Bumi and Tenzin play on the beach, curling up against each other with a battered book propped up between them. When not reading, she leads Aku around a tour of their villa and the surrounding beach, pointing out little pools and deltas she uses to practice her waterbending. Aku is fascinated, and on nights when Katara is too tired to enforce the curfew, the shoreline roils with flame-touched waves and steam.

Aku’s flames still give Katara a bitter taste in her throat, the pain of a could-be scar blooming against her chest. She remembers being at the receiving end of two pointed fingers, blue fraying at the edges, the same fingers her brother later kisses at his wedding. Aang is twelve years old again, wrapped in her arms; Zuko is seizing uncontrollably, the world is at war.

But this girl, the result of their union, is not born in war, has never carried the wounds or shed the tears or bore the frigid chains against metal grate bars. Just like Zuko shouldn’t be blamed for the deeds of his forefathers, Aku never asked for her parents’ histories.

Somehow, watching her stumble in the sand, Katara finds it easier to forgive every day.

--------------------------------------

“It’s funny,” she murmurs, “Daddy laughs more to strangers than he does to Mommy, and Mommy acts better to officials I know she hates than she does to Daddy."

"But when they’re alone with me, Daddy can frown and yell all he wants and Mommy can throw fits and cry. And I’m glad. To be part of that. It means they trust me with their weaknesses, in a way.” And perhaps there’s a quiet strength in that too.

Aku reaches over to grab Katara's hand (the girl's skin is gritty with clinging sand, soft with an innocence her aunt’s never had; Katara wonders if she’s ever been burnt before) and their fingers touch with silent truce. "I trust you too, Auntie Katara."

--------------------------------------

Bending is an art. Aku performs it with the steady tenacity of a wolf-warrior, an ice-dodger at the prow of a sailboat. Energy is never lost, only converted. Even firebenders must give to take.

#drudwrites #ATLA #avatar the last airbender

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kristallioness · 7 years

Text

Smile for the camera

Summary: Aang and Katara discover the pros and cons of the camera.

Word count: 1,270

Author's note: Written in less than 4 hours. I like how the idea for this prompt slowly developed. When do people usually smile or ask someone to smile? Right, when getting their picture taken. What happens when everything doesn't go as planned? Uncensored footage appears, comedy ensues with the people who accidentally get their hands on it. I'm not sure who has a dirtier mind - me or Katara. And about the ending, Katara and Aang decided it'd be best to bring the second photo and the slightly disfunctional camera back to Sokka. He asked Aang to burn the photo with his firebending. They promised to keep the incident between themselves.

----------x----------

"Do you wanna put this one on top?" Katara asked her 1-year-old son. Bumi looked at the wooden block in his mother's hand with his big light greyish blue eyes. She handed the toy to him and let him place it on top of the tower that already consisted of three others. The toddler screeched with joy and clapped his hands together once he'd accomplished his goal.

"Yay! You did it, sweetie!" Katara mimicked her son and clapped along. She was playing with him in the living room, sitting on her knees on the rug where several toys were scattered. The waterbender rolled a finger across the big red ball by her side.

"Oh, Bumi!.. Catch the ball!" she gave the ball a gentle push and rolled it towards her son, who grabbed it with his tiny hands once it'd stopped between his legs. He gurgled.

"Again, mommy!" Bumi declared, attempting to give the ball a similarly strong push to roll it back to his mother. Katara pulled it closer halfway, pushing it a bit further away from Bumi this time. He happily turned around and began crawling after the toy that had bumped against the couch and stopped a few feet away. The little one screeched again once he'd caught it.

"Good boy, Bumi! Now bring it back to mommy! Come on, bring it back!" Katara praised and coaxed her son to approach her. Bumi gave his red ball small bumps with his forehead to keep it rolling in front of him while crawling back on the carpet where his mother was sitting. Once he'd made it close enough, Katara picked him up and peppered his cheeks with kisses.

"Who's my adventurous little boy, huh? You are! Yes, you are!" she cooed and rubbed their noses together as Bumi went into a giggle fit. Their playtime was interrupted when someone knocked against the wooden frame of the doorway three times.

"Oh! Hey, Aang!" Katara noticed her husband and put Bumi down in front of her. He continued rolling the ball around her. Aang remained standing at the door in an unusual pose, but he smiled at the sight of his wife spending time with their son.

"Hey, Katara!"

"What took you so long? I thought the meeting was supposed to be over an hour ago."

"It was, but I took a little detour through the suburbs. Sokka wanted me to come with him so he could show me another new invention."

"Oh, great.. What is it this time?" Katara rolled her eyes, but couldn't hold back the smirk from the corners of her lips. Aang finally stepped inside the living room, revealing a rather big box he'd been hiding behind his back.

"Ta-da!" he grinned and took a few steps closer so the waterbender could see the weird-looking device better. She eyed it from every visible side and quirked an eyebrow.

"Okay.. What is it?"

"It's called a camera! It takes pictures and immediately prints them out from this opening down here. You know how we'd usually have to see a professional painter to get a painting of our family done?"

Katara nodded.

"Well, now we can capture every moment we want, whenever and wherever we want! No sitting around or standing still for hours while the artist finishes the picture. Just a few seconds and the picture is done for us. Sokka thought that we might wanna test this prototype."

Katara still seemed a bit distrustful of the thingamajig, so Aang offered.

"Do you wanna see how it works?"

"Well.. alright. What do I have to do?"

"Umm, just be yourself? Or, if you want, make yourself pretty and be natural. Oh, maybe hold Bumi in your arms! That'll be cute!" the airbender proposed excitedly, taking a few steps back to look through the lens in order to get an idea of how the photo would look like. Katara lifted Bumi onto her lap, but he became upset and started to fidget in her embrace. He was trying to reach his red ball, which was too far away from him. The waterbender gave the toy a slight push to roll it closer to her knees, the little one immediately calmed down once his fingertips could touch it again.

"Like this?" Katara slightly tilted her head and looked at Aang.

"Hmm.. Yeah, that's great! Just.. one more thing," he pondered and squatted down in front of her. Bumi held out his hands, hoping to receive a hug from his daddy. Instead, Aang pulled a nice lock of Katara's long loose hair onto the front of her chest, running his finger over her cheek as well. She followed his movements intently and blinked at him once he was finished, a loving smile decorating her lips.

"There.. Perfect!" the airbender declared, taking a few steps back to place the camera at the right angle and distance.

"Smile!" he said a moment later. Katara did smile and watch how Aang pressed a button, which made the camera flash a bright light.

"Ow! What was that!? Oh my gosh, I have spots in front of my eyes!" she jumped after having a slight scare and released Bumi to begin rubbing her eyes since she hadn't anticipated the blinding flash. Her son didn't seem to mind at all as he continued playing with his ball in her lap.

"Oops! Sorry, sweetie! I forgot to mention the flash. It's supposed to brighten up everything during the moment the camera takes the picture. But now, let's give it a few seconds and the picture should come out right.. here!" Aang waited while the camera printed out a black-and-white photograph. He grabbed the white edge of the photo and pulled it out, smiling proudly once he saw the nice shot he'd taken of his wife and son.

But then, his smile turned into a confused frown. He slightly folded the corner of the photo and noticed another similar white edge below that one. Careful not to drop the camera in his right hand, he slid the pieces of paper between the fingers of his left hand to reveal the second picture. Aang's face turned red and his grey eyes grew wide. Katara's smile faded away, too.

"Sweetie, what's wrong? Does it look nice? Did I blink?"

"No-no! You two look beautiful, but.. I'm pretty sure the camera isn't supposed to take two different pictures at the same time."

She gave him a puzzled look. Aang slipped the lower photo between his fingers so they could see both properly while Katara put Bumi down on the carpet, stood up and stepped beside her husband. Her mouth fell wide open and a similar blush creeped up on her cheeks.

"Woah..." Katara gasped, slowly raising a hand to point a finger at the second photograph.

"Is that..?"

"Yup.. your brother and sister-in-law," Aang gulped. It was taken in Sokka and Suki's home, in their bedroom to be exact. The intimate moment that'd been captured in the picture was definitely something nobody would ever want to be revealed. The camera, which was most likely placed on the nightstand opposite to their bed, must've gone off by accident and taken the embarrassing photo. Sokka did mention there were some bugs that needed to be fixed, but he must've missed this one since the photo hadn't even come out properly. Aang and Katara simply stared at it in complete silence for awhile.

"I didn't know guys could bend that way," Katara commented.

"Uh-uh.. me either," Aang slowly nodded in agreement. Another moment of silence before Katara added.

"Aang.. we've gotta try that move."

#Kataang Week #smile #Kataangtag #Kataang #the Kataang family #Aang and Bumi II #Katara and Bumi II #Aang #Katara #Bumi II #ATLA and TLOK #my fanfiction #mine #shards of Kristal

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reinerispretty · 4 years

Note

What if Zuko's S/o was a fire dancer, like they use their fire bending with their dances, and they dont tell zuko because their scared he would judge them or something, but one night Zuko and the gaang go to one of their shows and sees them

thank you so much for sending this in!! i hope i was able to do your idea justice :)

---

Meeting the Fire Lord’s son had been a chance encounter that (Y/N) could have never dreamed in a million years. While she had grown up on a small island off the coast of the mainland, she spent most of her days on Ember Island. Her dancing troupe performed for different travelers every weekend. They combined firebending with their dances and dazzled the crowd at each performance. She ended shows with fire lilies being thrown at her feet and a crowd standing outside of her dressing room door, waiting for autographs.

She had met Zuko while she was shopping in the market. She eyed her grocery list and reached out for a papaya only for another hand to collide with hers. Her eyes trailed up to find its source: a boy with dark hair, golden eyes, and a scar covering the side of his face.

“Oh, sorry,” she apologized. “Did you need that?”

“Kind of,” The boy had said, shrugging his shoulders. “But it’s not a big deal if you need it.” She pursed her lips. While she knew her fellow performers might be annoyed with her for not bringing back what she asked, she felt bad taking from others. She picked up the papaya and handed it to him.

“You take it. I’ll just get a mango.” She picked up the other fruit and plopped it into her basket. “I like the taste of mangoes better anyways.”

“Me too,” the boy said, offering her a small smile. She returned his gesture with a smile of her own. “I haven’t seen you around here before.”

“I’m here pretty much every day. I think it’s you who I haven’t seen around here before.” She offered her hand for a shake. “I’m (Y/N).” He shook her hand firmly, but didn’t introduce himself.

“It’s nice to meet you.” She nodded.

“Well, I gotta get going. Shen closes the shop at sundown and I have to be quick if I want to get some goji berries.” She gave him a small wave before turning on her heel.

“Wait!” He called out. “Shen’s goji berries are overpriced for what he offers. I can take you to a different place, if you’d like.”

“I’d love that! Shen’s berries cost me an arm and a leg.” She followed the mysterious boy through town, down some back alleyways, and along a dirt road. Even if he was a stranger who hadn’t given her his name, (Y/N) wasn’t scared of him. (Plus she was a pretty good firebender, so she liked to think she could take care of herself.)

He led her down to a part of the beach that she had never been: the royal neighborhood. It was the part of Ember Island where the most elite families lived. (Y/N) had always been far too afraid to ever go near this side of the island. She liked staying near what was comfortable.

The boy led her into the backyard of one of the houses. There, goji berry bushes grew in the dozens. Each bush had bloomed with bright red berries that made her mouth water. She looked up at the boy.

“Take as many as you like.” She shook her head in disbelief.

“No way! I don’t want to steal from anyone.”

“It won’t be stealing,” he said calmly. “I live here.” Her mouth nearly dropped open in shock, but she stopped herself. His face was kind and she could sense that he was being sincere. So, reluctantly, she began picking berries and dropping them into the basket.

“I think they ripened just the other day, so you can try some if you want.” He plucked a berry off the bush and popped it into his mouth. (Y/N) eyed him cautiously before chewing on her own berry.

“These are the best goji berries I’ve ever tasted,” she said as she stuffed more into her mouth. The boy laughed.

“I’ll be here for the next few days if you’d like to grab some more.”

And that is exactly what she did. (Y/N) returned each day to pick more goji berries and each day the boy joined her in the backyard, eating until he was full. They talked about anything and everything under the sun. Where (Y/N) was from, how they were both benders, and what their favorite part about the island was.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” (Y/N) said one day as they sat in the grass together. She plucked another berry from the bush. “But if you live here, that means you must be the son of some big public official, right?”

He sighed, plucking some grass from the ground and dropping the blades back down. “Yeah, you caught me.”

“Zuko!” Called another voice. From inside the house emerged a girl with dark hair and intimidating eyes. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Who is this?”

Instantly, (Y/N) had realized that she had been so, so stupid. She didn’t know why the scar wasn’t a dead giveaway, or the fact that he lived in the royal neighborhood. The boy that she had been spending so much time with recently was Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation.

“This is (Y/N),” Zuko said to the girl. “She’s my friend.”

“I don’t know of any (Y/N)’s that went to the Royal Fire Nation Academy for Girls,” the girl drawled, leaning against the doorframe.

“That’s because I, uh, didn’t.” (Y/N) grabbed her basket and stood. “I really think I should go?”

“And maybe don’t come back,” the girl said, a smirk painted on her face.

“Wait!” Zuko grabbed her hand before she could walk away. “I’m leaving soon. Can I visit you somewhere?”

(Y/N) looked between him and the other girl, who she assumed was Princess Azula. And while (Y/N’s) profession garnered her tons of fans, not everyone was so accepting of it. Many times, uppity reach people had told her to get a real job and stop wasting her life away. She feared she would receive the same treatment from the members of the royal family.

“I have to go,” she said again, before quickly running away.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been months and Zuko hadn’t returned. She had watched from behind barrels as his ship left the royal port. She was sad that she had lost a friend but was relieved that she wouldn’t have to worry about him finding out who she really was. She wasn’t just a commoner, she was a performer, and the latter rarely got taken seriously in the Fire Nation.

As the months went by, she found herself thinking of Zuko more frequently than she would have liked. Their friendship had only progressed over the course of a few days, but during those days she felt like she could tell him almost anything. The conversations they had had in the goji berry bushes were some of the most intimate conversations she had had with anyone. Despite herself, she missed him.

Zuko returned to Ember Island with his new friends a few months after he had last been there. They had hidden out in his family’s old beach house because he knew it was the one place Azula wouldn’t think about searching.

“We should go!” Sokka said one evening as he held up a flyer to their group. It was an advertisement for a local group of firedancers. Despite living in the Fire Nation for the majority of his life, Zuko had never seen a firedancing show, so he and his other friends eagerly accepted. Satisfied with their response, Sokka put the flyer down on the table before walking away. Zuko eyed it for his information and noticed how the painting of one of the firedancers looked strangely familiar. It wasn’t until they arrived at the show that they realized why.

At the forefront of the stage stood (Y/N), the commoner girl he had befriended the last time he was there. She smiled at the crowd and waved to a few returning fans before doing a backflip and producing fire from her feet. The crowd, including Zuko and his friends, were absolutely delighted by the choreography of the production. The firedancers spun quickly around each other, yet none of them were accidentally burned.

“This is amazing!” Suki exclaimed. Toph grunted.

“Yeah, if you could see it.” But all Zuko could really see was (Y/N). He thought her moves to be far more beautiful and elegant than her peers. She combined challenging dances and challenging firebending skills to create a fantastic show. She was truly talented.

After the dancers had finished their set, Zuko requested that his friends follow him to one of the dancers’ dressing rooms. “Looks like Zuko’s got a crush,” Katara giggled, but he brushed her off.

He reached the door at the end of the hall that had (Y/N’s) name written on it in fancy script. He knocked. “Just a second!” He heard her shout, before the door flung open to reveal her in a silk robe and her hair in a knot, her makeup being half scrubbed off. “Oh no,” She said once her eyes landed on him. She shut the door quickly.

“What was that about?” Aang asked. Zuko lifted up a hand to signal his friend to be quiet. He knocked again.

“Just another second!” She called. From inside the dressing room, (Y/N) made quick work of brushing out her hair and washing off the rest of her makeup. Her heart was racing, partially from the show she had just put on, but mostly due to Zuko showing up at her door unannounced. She supposed that even if he had wanted to announce, he wouldn’t know how, but she was still incredibly nervous.

Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she opened the door slowly and smiled sheepishly up at him. “Hi.”

“You didn’t tell me you were a firedancer.”

“In my defense, you didn’t tell me you were Prince of the Fire Nation, so I think we’re pretty even.” Zuko chuckled, shaking his head.

“Yeah, but I was hiding my identity so you wouldn’t act weird around me. What’s your excuse?” She pursed her lips, looking at the ground.

“I thought that if you knew, you wouldn’t take me seriously. A lot of you rich folks come around and criticize me for what I do, so I guess I was just...scared.” She shrugged at the end before noticing the group of people standing behind Zuko. “Oh, hi! I’m (Y/N). I used to eat Zuko’s goji berries.”

Collectively, the group raised an eyebrow.

“I would never criticize you!” Zuko exclaimed. “What you did out there was absolutely spectacular. I thought you were the best dancer out there.” (Y/N’s) eyes widened and she covered his mouth with her hand.

“Don’t let the other dancers hear you saying that! They get crazy jealous.” Zuko wrapped his hand around her wrist and moved her hand down.

“Do you want to grab dinner sometime?” He asked. (Y/N) smiled.

“Yeah, I’d really like that. Let me just change into something that isn’t a robe.”

---

permatag list!

@aroyaldarknessblr , @harryisthesunshine

#atla #writing #avatar #zuko x reader #sokka x reader #aang x reader #katara #toph #suki #aang #zuko #sokka #iroh #azula #momo #appa #fanfiction #request

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