#aang could not find the light of energy bending until he sat with the dark of the past avatars advising him to kill

[medicatedcountertop]

Hey you know what would've be a cool plot for Korra Season 2? If Korra's anger and punch first vibes had been exacerbated due to all the events in season 2, and deciding to split her anger away from herself in an effort to become more like Aang and to "master airbending" which causes the creation of Vaatu. Because that lines up more with the concept of balancing yin and yang and the issues with cultivating a pure yin or pure yang spirit.

#is this tumblr #i got distracted #atla #legend of korra #second season was just not it mythologically speaking #it can also lend itself to being a stronger reason as to why korra loses all the past avatars #because we have seen aang be dark and chaotic as well #and the fact that she rejected a main aspect of the avatar spirit means that she accidentally rejects the other avatars as well #aang could not find the light of energy bending until he sat with the dark of the past avatars advising him to kill #and had he been in another situation where the air nomads were alive or if he was older #maybe aang would have killed ozai #but he hung onto that light in the dark #and korra has to hang on to the dark in the light

[raewritez]

Airbenders

let’s all take a moment to appreciate our windy boy🙌

based on this request: Can you do Aang x airbender reader? When Aang and Katara found out that she hid from them that she could bend ? Please!

warnings: aangsty

It hurts.

Aang’s body felt like it was on fire, and he supposed it was. It seemed like electricity was still flowing through his veins, consuming him with needle points and flame. With Katara’s healing he was slowly gaining back his memory - visions of white glow, of the royal siblings, of waves, and of falling. There was something else, too, it was-

“Ow!”

Katara grimaced, removing her hands from his back. “Sorry, Aang. There’s a lot of energy built up in here.”

He winced, curling in on himself. “It’s ok.”

She stares at him worriedly, heart aching for her friend. He felt so awful, so consumed by guilt and failure, and she found herself having trouble coaxing him out of his thoughts. There was one person that could, but they were nowhere to be found. Aang noticed.

“Where’s Y/n?”

Katara breathed shakily, pulling at the edge of her tunic. “Aang…what exactly do you remember from Ba Sing Se?”

He tilted his head, furrowing his brows. "I remember Azula, and I remember I went down. You saved me."

She nodded. "Is that all?"

He leaned into the bed, running a hand through his hair (hair? how long has that been there?). "There's something else."

Katara looked nervous, as if preparing for him to do something awful. It made him confused. He searched his mind, digging through flashes of memory until he found what he was looking for. He inhaled sharply. Oh. Right.

They were outnumbered, Dai Lee agents advancing on them from all directions. Katara's water whips were no use, broken and splashed across the ground by shields of rock and crystal. Aang fought tirelessly, earth and water spinning around him in a flurry of movement. The earth benders only moved forward - creeping slowly upon the Avatar until they were thrown back by some powerful force. Wind. Aang looked down at his hands, he hadn't done that, right? The agents rose to their feet but their eyes weren't on him, rather on something that lurked behind. Turning, his gaze fell upon what had drawn their attention.

You.

Your arms were outstretched, an uncertain expression on your face. You glanced down at your palms in surprise - you certainly hadn't expected that to work so well. His mouth fell open, mind swarmed with confusion. His grey eyes widened, and your gaze met his. You couldn't tell if that look in his eyes was one of betrayal or pure shock, but you felt the guilt you'd been harboring over keeping this secret hit you full-force. Your own eyes were surprised, and they softened as they fell upon him. In them he could see the swimming emotions, and an apology. You raised your arms again.

"They're...they're an Airbender."

Katara looked at the floor, silently affirming his words. He stared at her, then he stood. His body ached and his legs wobbled, but he didn't care. He grabbed his staff, and leaning on it, began to make his way towards the door.

"Wait, Aang," Katara exclaimed, attempting to calm him. The look on his face was foreign; eyes glinting with sadness and something she couldn't quite decipher. And anger. It was a rare emotion to see displayed by the boy, but it was there now, although faint. She was nervous for you, her own anger since passed and replaced with a sort of resigned understanding. Sure, she was upset, hurt that you didn't trust her with this secret, but she guessed she understood. At least she tried to.

"Aang, your injuries are still healing. You can't-"

"I'm fine, Katara," he spoke, and she felt a chill run through her bones at the sternness. "Let me go."

He pushed past her, holding in his groans at the effort. He walked as quickly as he could down the hall, mind pulsing with adrenaline and determination. He didn't have to ask where your room was, he knew where it would be: at the end of the hall by the windows, so you could see the ocean. He limped his way down, the silk robe threatening to fall off his shoulders. In front of your door, he stopped. He breathed, and then he entered.

You were seated on your bed, staring blankly at the wall. You glanced tiredly at the intrusion, eyes widening when you saw it was him. You stood abruptly, almost tripping over yourself and if the circumstances were different he would've laughed. You missed his laugh. Instead he gazed at you, expression neutral. You felt nervous, unfamiliarly awkward under the Avatar's stare.

"Hi, Aang."

He kept his eyes trained on you, eyebrows furrowed. He was silent.

"Um...h-how are you feeling?"

"You didn't come to see me."

Your eyes widened. "W-what?"

His gaze never faltered. "You didn't come to check on me."

"Oh," You breathed, casting your eyes to the floor. "I didn't...I didn't know if you'd want me to."

He didn't speak, and you could feel him scrutinizing you. As if he didn't know what to make of you, as if he wasn't sure what to think. And in all honesty he probably didn't. You didn't know what to think of yourself, either.

"You're an Airbender." It wasn't a question, just a statement. An observation.

You breathed. "Yeah."

He stood a little taller, and you could finally make out an emotion. Anger. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than him acting as if you were Koh the freaking Face-Stealer. His voice was low. "Why didn't you tell me?"

You swallowed nervously, fingers coming to play with the fishing-line bracelet he'd made for you that rested upon your wrist. "I don't know."

He scoffed, beginning to pace around the room. Well, as well as he could considering his condition. "That's not an answer. How could you keep that from me?!" There was a desperation to his tone, and his eyes were glassy. You looked away, unable to deal with the shame.

"Aang, please, I-" You didn't know what to say. You truly didn't quite understand why you'd hidden it, the secrecy just fading into habit. "I was...I was scared. I didn't know what to say or- I'd never told anyone before! And then you came and I..."

"And you didn't tell me."

His face was darkened, so different from that sunshiney demeanor that you'd grown so goddam fond of. But behind his anger was a certain brokenness - a disbelief. And that hurt more than the rage.

He didn't give you time for an explanation, and you weren't sure you had one to offer anyway. He simply walked away, sparing you one more hurtful glance. Then, he left, taking the light and hope with him. You felt tears sting your eyes, but you forced them away. You didn't deserve to cry. You were the one who'd hurt him, who'd betrayed his trust. And now you weren't sure if your best friend would ever trust you again, ever allow you a second chance. So, instead of crying, you simply laid in the dark warmness of your bed, rocked to sleep by the swaying of the ocean with an ache in your chest.

///

A week.

That's how long it'd been since the two of you talked, since Aang had so much as glanced in the direction of his best friend. You were in the Firenation now, having assumed the role of undercover criminals. It was kind of exhilarating, and you knew you and Aang would be milking the drama of it for all its worth. But instead you sat alone, sidled in the corner of the cave as your friends danced.

Aang had somehow managed to enroll himself in a Fire Nation school, and had invited his classmates to your hideout for a dance party. You wished you had enough energy to participate - to twirl around with Katara or do the limbo with Sokka, but you were drained. Just like you'd been for days. Your hope was waning; you were becoming less and less sure that Aang would find a way to forgive you - that he would return to his best friend with that lopsided smile and endless generosity, the way he came to you all those times before. Now, he was dancing, shoulders brushing against that Fire Nation girl's - On ji? Something like that - while the rest of the kids laughed and cheered. It send an ache to your heart. He seemed happy with her - happier than he's been with you. He was sporting that contagious grin, that boisterous laughter, that-

"Wow, you really are mopey."

You were snapped out of your thoughts by Toph. "I'm not mopey," you grumbled.

She snorted. "Uh, yeah you are. I can practically feel the pitifulness radiating off you."

"Gee, thanks a lot."

You were silent for a moment, and she seemed to soften. "You know, he's not mad at you anymore."

You glanced over, a scoff escaping your lips. "Yes he is, Toph. He hates me."

Her eye-roll was about the biggest you'd ever seen. "Don't be stupid, Sap. That kid loves you. It's so obvious it's gross."

You sighed, shaking your head. You pulled your knees to your chest. "Not anymore. I lied to him."

She nodded, seeming thoughtful. "Well, yeah, that kind of sucked. And obviously he would be kinda mad about that. But he's not anymore, trust me. I can feel it."

"You can feel it?"

"Mhm. He's mopey, too. He misses you."

You looked over to the center of the cave, where Aang was demonstrating some bizarre dance movement. You smiled fondly.

"Seriously, Y/n. You should talk to him."

You nodded, breathing in your resolve. "I will soon."

Toph groaned loudly. "Well, I guess that's as good as we're gonna get."

///

Spirits, you were exhausted. A day of cleaning out a river will do that to you.

It'd been a few days since the dance party, and your time had been occupied with Appa's "sickness" while you stopped at a local fishing village. It was pretty gross, but with your friend's help and Katara's fancy costume, you were able to leave it better than it was when you arrived.

Now, you found yourselves at yet another designated campsite - a patch of ground near the cliffside, overlooking the valley. You were tired, and so much as walking around felt like a chore.

Your eyes fell on a silhouetted figure perched on the edge of the cliff. Momo sat on his shoulder. You breathed, body growing alight with nervousness. You made your way over, Momo launching onto you when you got closer.

You chuckled, petting his furry head. "Hey, Momo," you said softly. You eyes flickered upwards, latching onto Aang's. He turned away. You sighed, setting Momo down and moving to sit next to him. You inhaled deeply, bracing yourself for impending rejection. You fidgeted with the edge of your shirt - a movement that his eyes quickly locked onto.

"Um, I know you probably don't want to talk to me, and that's ok, but I need to...I need to explain myself."

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see him nod slowly.

"My whole life I had to keep my bending a secret, and nobody's ever known except my parents. And when I met you...I don't know. I guess I was just scared. I thought I was going to be the last one for the rest of my life. I'd been hiding and denying that I was an Airbender for so long, and I guess I just...felt safer to keep doing that."

He was silent, staring at you intently with concentration and an emotion you couldn't decipher. You continued.

"The point is, I should've told you. And I'm so, so sorry that I didn't. I don't know if you could ever forgive me, but I-"

You were cut off by the press of his lips against your own. Your eyes widened, and you sat rigidly still. He chuckled breathily at your shock, moving his hand to gently caress your cheek. You relaxed, leaning into his palm and letting your eyes fall shut. After a moment, he pulled away.

"I'm not mad at you, Y/n."

You were still frozen with pleasant surprise. "Oh...ok."

He laughed, reaching to brush a strand of hair behind your ear. He smiled adoringly.

"But wait - how aren't you mad? I kept this a secret from you, and I-"

"Well, I was mad," he cut you off. "But I'm not anymore. If there's anything that we can take away from this, it's that you're not the last Airbender. And neither am I."

You smiled at that. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

He pulled you into his side, keeping one arm around you while he performed random tricks; like making a whirlpool or air or sending a small tornado Sokka's way. You leaned into each other to muffle your giggles when he fell. You felt happier than you had since Ba Sing Se - filled with the happiness that only Aang could provide you. You had his trust, and his guidance, and you weren't alone. Neither of you were.

#avatar the last airbender #prince zuko #atla #fire lord zuko #aang x reader #legend of korra #sokka x reader #zuko x reader #avatar #avatar: tla #aang #avatar aang #avatar x reader #avatar imagine #team avatar #the gaang

[itsmoonpeaches]

The Ocean Meets the Sky

Chapter 5: Stitches

Please note: Every prompt for this Kataang Week connects into an over-arching story.

Prompt: Healing

Story summary: After his battle with Fire Lord Ozai, something lingers within Aang's spirit. Katara is the one that pulls the seams back together. No matter what, Aang and Katara find each other.

Chapter summary: Aang’s vision swam. He was Kun, then he was Kureno, then Samaya, then finally himself again. One moment he was Yangchen, then Kuruk, Kyoshi, and Roku. The next, he fell into his body like a stone sinking to the depths of the sea.

-

Or, Aang tries to escape.

TW: implied/referenced suicide

Written for @kataang-week

Read on ao3 or ffn.

---

In a hazy, far-off lifetime that Aang could not quite recall, he was once a boy named Kun. A boy the people called a little too lanky, a little too tall, especially for his age. He had a mop of brown hair and a sprinkle of freckles splattered across his tanned nose. His eyes were a bright forest green that turned hazel with just the right amount of sunlight.

He was playful, sociable, a teenager through and through. He liked to make jokes about the way old men babbled about everything and nothing, and how the iguana parrots that the sailors insisted on taking with them on voyages in the fishing village he lived in squawked nonsensical things. He had a best friend who he deeply cared for that would laugh with him and play pranks on passerby on the docks, a best friend that understood his awful jokes.

“You’ll never become a respectable fisherman with that attitude, Kun,” his friend would scold him. “You gotta remember that the iguana parrots are the key to success!”

Kun would laugh and pat his friend on the back. “Who says I want to be a respectable fisherman? I want to be a pirate! I want one of my two front teeth to be made of solid gold!”

He was only fourteen, and no one took him seriously, least of all the adults. That is, until he accidentally bended the element of fire when he tried to protect himself from a scoundrel who he had dumped a basket of day-old fish on. An elder had seen him and that was that.

His world fell apart.

“You’re the Great One, our protector,” said an elder of the village. “You cannot live with us anymore. The trivialities of the human world should never touch you. You are too precious, the reincarnation of Yuka of the Water.”

He had tried to protest. “All because I can control two elements?” he questioned. He had felt the desperation as it caught in his throat, the absolute need to be wrong. But he knew in his heart of hearts what would happen. The same way he instinctively knew how to create flame, he knew who he was.

He was not human.

As Kun, Aang was taken from his family to a grand estate atop a mountain that had been built a lifetime ago. The walls were high, the hallways winding, there was hardly a person in sight.

They came to train him, to cower and grovel to him. He stayed there, knowing what had to be done because it was the way of things.

He stayed there because he had to. It was his duty, his purpose.

And he stayed locked away in a room with slats of light that streamed through the rice paper walls and sliding doors while the people told him that they adored him. They worshipped him.

He was, beyond all else, one of the spirits.

Yet, there was one who called him by name, who snuck around the guards when dusk fell, who threw a pebble at his window every other night.

“Are you there?” a voice would call for him from below, just above a whisper, just enough so he could hear. “I’ve missed you.”

So as Kun, Aang latched onto what he had left. He kept ahold of this person, this wonderful best friend of his. But one day the elders found them.

“You are meant to let go of all worldly possessions, as your other incarnations have!” they shouted at Kun. More than berating him, they said words that stung. “To have connections is to have possessions! You must never love!”

His best friend had disappeared the next day. He was told that they had gone somewhere far away, somewhere he could not follow.

He told himself that he could not love again. He was not human, not like the rest of them.

He continued his duties with diligence, with detachment, and the world knew peace for years.

Aang’s life as Kun was weary, and he remained weary. He had mastered three elements when he had held the plain porcelain cup in his hand. The warm liquid inside glistened. He took a moment to watch the yellow powder settle to the bottom, and then he raised it to his lips.

-

Aang’s vision swam. He was Kun, then he was Kureno, then Samaya, then finally himself again. One moment he was Yangchen, then Kuruk, Kyoshi, and Roku. The next, he fell into his body like a stone sinking to the depths of the sea.

His palms were sore and swollen. There was grime underneath his fingernails. A smear of dirt slashed across one of his cheeks. Remnants of his attempts to dig himself out of the Tree of Time dusted his clothes.

He had no bending to assist him, and no amount of spiritual energy could get him past the barrier that separated him from the rest of the Spirit World.

He did not know how long he had been inside the hollow of the tree. He sat there, silent. Visions of the past continued to flit by him, but he was used to it now. The words and phrases that the images buzzed became background noise, the kind of thrum that lulled someone to sleep. Nevertheless, it was also a persistent nuisance.

Over and over, he was forced to hear and see snatches of time. In a loop, in a never-ending cycle.

“I am sorry, Aang,” Raava murmured gently from somewhere inside his head. “I am truly sorry.”

He felt a brush of energy on his shoulder, as if someone was comforting him there. Something stirred inside him. It was a tingling sensation, a rush in his ears.

“Though perhaps, light always has a friend,” Raava added, softer this time.

The visions that drifted about him stuttered, stopped, restarted. Illumination flooded the tree hollow, and he heard someone calling for him.

“Aang? Aang!” they shouted. It echoed through the space. He knew that voice. He knew it like the back of his hand, like the wood grain of his glider staff, the tufts of hair on Appa’s back.

He blinked, and he was somehow outside looking in. He was standing just outside the barrier, and he peeked inside the tree. Someone else sat there instead of him, a familiar person. A girl wearing blue.

No, no, no. Not her. Not here. It was all he thought, all he could muster.

He pounded a fist on the barrier that separated them, and the sound pealed out across the realm.

In one, clear ring, everything became dark and blank. All of a sudden, he was floating in a world of bleakness, of nothingness. A void he did not comprehend. There was a constant ebbing and flowing of energy that engulfed him. Strings of different colors that made up pieces of him, pouring out of his heart like an unravelling tapestry.

Blue strings led to his left, his right. Yellows went above him. Greens squiggled to a place he did not see, for it was too far beyond him. Black and pink, lavender and orange, they tangled and furled from the opening in his chest.

“Give him back to me!” the voice bellowed again. It was louder now, coming closer.

Out of all the strings that drifted from him, there was a single red one. It led straight from his middle and outward, into a burst of yellow and gold.

Katara, in all her beauty and grace, reached for him across the expanse on the other side. Her arm outstretched from far away. She was a dot upon a distant horizon.

She grabbed a handful of strings, and then another clump of them, yanking him forward. Her hands moved in quick succession, and the strings started to detangle from the knots in which they came.

Katara was as dazzling as purifying light. She stitched his seams back together and told him how to heal.

#kataang week 2021 #kataang #kataangtag #itsmoonpeaches fanfic #katara #aang #atla #ata fanfic #avatar the last airbender #tw: implied suicide

[double--plus--good]

I Still Love You - Chpt. 2; A Zutara Fic

Thank you to those who liked my first chapter! I was happy to see that some people liked it!

Here’s chapter two! So far everything’s just kind of setting up to the actual adventure so I’m sorry it’s taking forever but hey, the anticipation is half the fun, right?

Chapter Two

The next day, true to his words, Zuko was sitting out in the sand gardens, meditating just before the sun began to rise.

He heard some footsteps approaching him from behind and he prepared to hear Aang’s voice greet him. However, to his surprise, it wasn’t Aang.

“Good morning, Zuko”

Katara took a seat next to Zuko, crossing her legs and placing her wrists gently at her knees. Zuko peeked an eye to watch her and shut them immediately when she looked at him, smiling.

“Good morning.” he greeted in a hushed voice. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

Katara laughed softly and turned her head up slightly, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath.

“Aang got a letter early this morning. An earth kingdom village got into it with one of the trading villages on the river just outside the Earth Kingdom training base.” She shook her head. “He left with Toph shortly after but they’ll be back in time for lunch. He goes there at least three times a year. It’s kind of exhausting”

Zuko took a deep breath and opened his eyes, looking at the colors slowly changing in the sky.

“Yea, I know the exact village. He’s told me a lot about the small fights he’s had to put out and Toph can’t get enough about complaining how they’re a distraction to her trainees. I’m surprised they’re not dragged into arguing about it too.”

The two shared a small laugh.

“Who knows? They probably have it out everytime they go to subdue the masses.” Katara managed between her giggles.

“That’s probably how they get everyone to calm down. Cause a bigger ruckus that needs to be broken up that people forget about their own differences.” Zuko joked, laughing a little to himself then shut his eyes again and took in a deep breath.

Katara gave Zuko a smug smile. “Looks like Sokka and Aang have trained you in the fine arts of banter-bending. It’s an interesting look for you.”

Zuko opened an eye to look at her, raising his brow. “Well, I told you I’m not stiff and humorless.”

He shut his eye again and let out one final deep breath before laying down in the sand, staring up at the sky that was now light by the sun. 

Katara laid back too, folding her arms over her chest and chuckled softly to herself. “Not entirely at least.”

Laid in silence, staring up at the sky and taking in the gentle breeze that brushed sand against them.

“It’s beautiful out here so early.” she remarked in a soft voice. “You watch the sunrise everyday?”

“Almost.” He ran his hands through the heated sand. “Sometimes I go in early or meditate a little later in the morning. But I try to watch it as often as I can. I can feel it’s energy grow as it rises. It almost feels like it’s helping my body charge and prepare for the day.”

“I understand that feeling. It’s how I feel when the moon comes out. It’s like they’re giving you their strength.”

Zuko sat up and looked over to Katara, smiling warmly. “Yeah” was all he could manage to say.

Katara met Zuko’s gaze and smiled back at him.

They sat in a comfortable silence for the remainder of the sun rise before jumping to their feet and patting sand off of their clothes. 

“I guess we should go see if Suki and Sokka are awake.” Katara suggested, letting her hair out of its ponytail and fluffing it out some. She ran her fingers through the tangles and began to make a braid.

Zuko looked around the garden for a moment, hiding his disappointment [miserably] and sighed softly to himself. “Sure.”

Katara looked up at Zuko, stopping her braiding and crossing her arms over her chest. “What?” she asked sternly.

Zuko looked over to her. “What?” he repeated back, genuine confusion in his expression now.

They maintained unbroken eye contact for a while but before either one of them could say another word, Sokka greeted them from the gate of the garden between yawns.

“Looks like they’re awake.” Zuko stated plainly, making his way towards Sokka with a small wave and nod.

Katara furrowed her brows a bit and watched somewhat sourly as Zuko and Sokka began to make conversation. She pulled her hair out of her braid and tied it back again, sighing to herself.

‘Come on Zuko. I know you better than that.’ she thought to herself, making her way to the gate. ‘Just say it.’

The three of them made their way to the dining hall, catching up with Suki on the way and spoke over tea and breakfast. Sokka did most of the eating and talking of course, waving his arms excitedly and making noises for added effect. Suki and Katara laughed along and made sure to poke plenty of fun at home plot holes in Sokka’s retellings. Zuko mostly sat with his tea in his hand, nodding politely during conversations but not engaging too much.

“So, Zuko” Sokka managed between bites of his bread and custard, “Since Mai’s gone, do you have any plans on bringing in a new Fire Nation princess? Or prince? We’re not judging you know”

Sokka flashed Zuko a suggestive eye wiggle which did not amuse Zuko in the least.

“I haven’t really thought about it.” Zuko admitted, setting his tea down and looking down at the reflection in it. “I’ve been so busy with other stuff. I don’t know how I would even go about it.”

“Well, couldn’t your advisors put up a wanted ad and interview them? I mean, at this point, speed dating the Fire Lord seems intimidating” Sokka laughed loudly at his own banter and wiped a tear from his eye.

Katara and Suki laughed to themselves and looked over to Zuko who remained unamused with his arms crossed.

“I honestly doubt my advisors would go out of their way to find me someone to join the throne. It’s not as if I’m required to have a suitor to be Fire Lord. It’s a waste of time.”

Just then, a line of advisors made their way to Zuko’s side, smiles across their faces as they greeted everyone.

“Good morning your lordship. We have a matter that needs to be discussed in private if you would follow us to the study?” Said the eldest advisor, Sota, as he placed his ancient and cold hands gently on Zuko’s shoulder.

Zuko nodded and stood from his seat. “If you’ll excuse me. Feel free to roam the palace and village. Once Aang and Toph arrive, we can join at the square if you’d like for a show.”

Everyone nodded and watched as they hastily swept Zuko away. 

Katara had difficulty hiding her disappointment which Sokka so kindly pointed out, poking her cheek. 

“So, are we going to ignore the fact that you haven’t taken your eyes off of him or are we going to sit here and admit a few dark things?”

Katara swatted Sokka’s hand away and began to sip at her tea. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sokka.” she muttered as she pressed her lips to the rim of the cup and stared at the table with a pensive look on her face.

Sokka and Suki looked at one another and frowned a bit.

--

Zuko sat at the head of the table in the study with Sato at his side and watched as each advisor took their seat. Once everyone was settled, Sato turned to face Zuko, holding his hands together as he spoke.

“My lord, we have entered a time of peace among the nations. You and the Avatar and your friends have all brought us a new era in our world and for that we are all grateful to you.” he turned his attention to the other advisors for a moment then back at Zuko, who seemed to be growing impatient already. “However we cannot ignore the possibility of something happening to both you and our nation. It is because of this that  we believe it’s the right time for you to be considering the search for a companion. You’re going to be 22 soon and this is usually the time the Fire Lord or their heir begin preparations for marriage so that a new heir can be made.”

Zuko’s impatient face morphed now into one of disbelief and bewilderment as his cheeks started to become rosy in embarrassment. He was left speechless with his mouth slightly agape at the very idea so another advisor, Yuto, spoke.

“My lord, we know this may be a shock, but the nation needs to see that they will have an heir in case of your untimely death or if war were to break out. A princess could be a sign of hope and at the very least, if you aren’t able to procreate an heir, the princess can assume the throne as Fire Lord until one is found or made. There is a lot to consider especially with your closest living relative within age and ability is locked away and unable to assume the throne.”

Zuko stood immediately and slammed his hands on the table, speaking with fury at the table of advisors. 

“How dare you even conceive the idea of another war! How dare you speak ill against me and the work the Avatar and our team has done! Our nations have worked tirelessly together so that we can maintain peace amongst ourselves and it had nothing to do with political marriages and rightful heirs. It has only been six years since the fall of Ozai and we are still in the midst of rebuilding and healing and yet you come in with the notion that we’ll be facing such a tragedy so soon? I won’t have it.”

Sota stood up immediately after Zuko and placed a hand on his shoulder. “My lord, we may be at peace with the world, but that is no reason to let our guard down. We must be prepared for anything that may happen. There will always be evil in the world and our nation and even the world depends on everyone to make sure they have a plan. We must secure the throne before someone else might.”

Zuko brushed Sota’s hand off his shoulder and shook his head, unable to respond.

Yuto stood as well, looking among the other advisors before turning to Zuko.

“If you are unable to find a suitor yourself, preferably one of high position, we will make the decision for you. We have a list of wealthy and powerful men and women who would make excellent partners in-”

“Leave me immediately.” Zuko interrupted between gritted teeth. “What you have suggested has put me in a foul disposition and I won’t hear it. Whether I look for a suitor or not is my decision and mine alone. We don’t need an heir to bring people at ease, we need action which we have taken. If I feel the need arises that we do, I will discuss it then. But I plan to rule alone for a very long time and feel no shame in doing so.”

The advisors looked amongst themselves again before bowing their heads and, one by one, exited the study. 

Sota allowed everyone to leave the study before saying one final thing to Zuko, whose head was bowed as he tried to calm his breathing.

“My lord, we meant no disrespect. You are doing an excellent job especially for such a young ruler. But we are concerned that you are beginning to isolate yourself too much. The whole heir business aside, we want to ensure you are happy and that you don’t live out your days punishing yourself for actions of the past.” He placed a firm grip onto Zuko’s shoulder. “I have watched you grow for a very long time, sire. Seeing you slowly fall into a lonely void worries me.”

Zuko gave no response and Sota sighed, walking towards the door without looking back.

Before shutting it, he spoke over his shoulder “The Avatar and General Beifong have returned. I’ll see to it that they are prepared for the tour of the kingdom.”

“No” Zuko responded in a softer tone. “Just keep them in the dining hall with the rest. I’ll join them shortly and take them myself. I don’t want any guards or advisors with us.”

Sota sighed and nodded, gently shutting the door behind him.

Zuko lifted his head up and sighed. “Ridiculous.” he muttered to himself as he traced the intricate gold embellishments on the ceiling with his eyes. “I’m not isolating myself.”

--

In the dining hall, Aang and Toph joined the others at the table and picked out the remaining breads and fruits to snack on while they waited for Zuko.

Katara placed a gentle kiss onto Aang’s cheek and rested her hands on his shoulder. “How’d it go?” she asked both him and Toph.

Toph groaned and lifted her bare feet onto the table, biting into one of her custard breads. “Annoying as ever. It’s the same crap every time.” She wiped her mouth and gulped some tea. “Oh, the army boys always leave a mess; oh the river traders are never fair; oh the villagers are cheapskates; oh me oh my” she mocked.

Aang sighed and leaned against Katara’s touch, lifting his tea cup and warming it up himself in his hand. “Honestly, I hate to agree with Toph but she’s right. They bicker over the smallest problems and it lasts for days, maybe even weeks. The river traders refuse to trade with the village and the village refuses to serve the military men and the military men harass the river traders. Every year it’s the same nonsense. I don’t understand why they need us to break apart something so childish and yet when they have to respond to something larger like a natural disaster, it’s as if they forget their animosity towards one another.”

Sokka shrugged his shoulders and laid down on Suki’s lap, picking out bread from his teeth. “You clearly suffer from only child syndrome, Aang. This is exactly how they act. It’s not surprising they keep calling on you to fix it for them. You and Toph go every time, at this point it’s a natural response. You’re both basically their parents.” He made eye contact with Katara and laughed a little. “Every time one sibling gets special treatment, the other is going to whine until they get special or better treatment. It’s a vicious cycle and some people don’t grow out of that need and self important attitude. Plus, add on top of all this, the small space they’re working with, the rebuilding process, and all of the other factors affecting them as individual communities and they’re going to take it out on one another. There’s probably an underline problem they don’t really comprehend that’s beyond themselves or one another.”

Aang and Toph both groaned loudly. Aang pinched the bridge of his nose and Toph held her head in her hands.

“Nope, I think they’re just brats.” Toph scoffed.

“I’m going to have to agree with Toph on this one,” Aang responded as he gently brushed Katara’s hands off of his shoulders and leaned back against his hands. “There were a lot of restrictions lifted for each of them and land expansions. At this point, they’ll either have to up and move or create borders and if we’re being honest, none of those things are going to happen.” 

Sokka shrugged again. “I don’t know, it sounds to me like they’re aggressive about something beyond land occupation and taxes.”

Just then, Zuko made his way to the table and motioned for everyone to follow him out of the palace.

“Are you guys ready to tour the kingdom?” he asked, mostly rhrtorically but also knowing Sokka would probably need to run to the little boy’s room before going.

The team nodded and all stood up, stretching their bodies in preparation for a lot of walking and possibly climbing. And, as he had predicted, Zuko pointed out the nearest relief area for Sokka and told him where to meet the rest of the team when he was finished.

He led the rest of the group toward the entrance of the palace, walking alongside Aang as the others walked a little slower behind them, catching up with one another.

Aang stepped a little closer to Zuko and leaned over to whisper into his ear, asking for a private place for them to have a talk.

Zuko nodded and left the girls at the entrance of the palace before leading Aang to a nearby, empty hall where they could talk.

“Is everything alright?” Zuko asked as they paced slowly down the heavily decorated hall.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Aang reassured him with a smile. “I just wanted to ask you for a favor.”

He stopped walking and began to rummage in his robe while Zuko watched patiently with some anxiety in the back of his mind which he didn’t really understand.

Then, when Aang pulled out the item in search, Zuko’s eyes widened just slightly as he realized why he was so anxious.

In Aang’s hand was a beautifully carved, moon shaped stone necklace with intricate waves depicting air flowing through the moon, strapped freely onto a velvet navy choker. The Avatar’s cheeks burned red and he began to rub his neck nervously. Zuko’s eyes soften slightly but the grip he held in his fist without realizing tightened so much, his knuckles turned white.

“I’m going to ask Katara to marry me and I’d like to find the right spot. We got together at the end of the war here in the Fire Nation after your coronation. I thought it was only fitting that I gave it to her here as well.” Aang looked at Zuko, pretending not to take notice in the Fire Lord’s sudden tension building in his body. “Would you help me plan something amazing? I’m useless when it comes to these kinds of things honestly. The necklace itself took me almost 100 tries to get right. Not to mention having to work up the courage to ask both her father and Sokka for their blessing. It was a mess.”

Zuko stared intensely at the necklace, allowing for a long pause of silence as feelings of sharpness and cold raced through his body. His thoughts wouldn’t be quiet enough. It was a lot to process for him.

Aang frowned and waved a hand in front of Zuko’s face. “Uh….Zuko? Did I say something?” He gasped. “Is the necklace bad? Ugh, I knew I should have done a round stone!” Aang smacked his own forehead, groaning. The noise snapped Zuko out of his trance and the tension began to subside.

He smiled small and shook his head. “No, the necklace is beautiful” he said between a gritted, tense smile. 

‘Not beautiful enough for her. It’s not my idea of a betrothal necklace.’ he thought to himself, bitterly. 

“I’ll help you how I can. Maybe we can plan a surprise somewhere along the shore or in one of our gardens at the edge of the village.” he said, placing a warm [literally] hand on Aang’s shoulder.

Aang perked up and cheered, hopping up and down like a child on a sugar high. “Oh thank you, thank you Zuko! I want it to be absolutely perfect!” He took one big leap, spinning through the air cheering one last time before floating gently back down, a large grin on his face. “She’s going to be so surprised.”

Zuko smiled an awkward smile and chuckled without much humor. Then, they turned back towards the entrance to meet up with the rest of the group just in time to beat Sokka to the front. 

Sokka and Suki took the lead in leaving, followed by Toph who walked close behind them, then Katara and Aang.

Zuko watched as Aang took Katara’s hand firmly and kissed her cheek, lingering near her ear when he was done and whispering something into it that made her blush. 

He watched as Katara smiled softly at Aang and hugged his arm, giggling lovingly as he pulled her close. 

He watched them walk ahead of him, leaving him alone at the entrance of his empty and quiet castle burdened by feelings he thought he had overcome long ago.

#zutara #zutara fic #fan fic #fan fiction #atla #atla fic #zuko #katara #aang #toph #suki #sokka #romance

[royaltealovingkookiness]

30 Days of Zutara - Day 19: Dragons

“I hate you,” the little princess yelled at his brother and ran towards the house with tears running down her face.

“What’s going on, Ziyi?” Both children stopped at the voice of their grandfather who was watching them from the doorstep. The girl stepped closer and he crouched down to the level of the children, drying her tears.

“Iroh is telling me that only firebenders can be dragons,” the little princess cried.

“Is that true?” Zuko turned to his grandson with a stern gaze.

“Well, dragons are the original firebenders. That’s just how it is,” shrugged the boy.

“It’s true that dragons are firebenders, but they are so much more than that,” the former fire lord explained, “They are creatures of storm and lightning.”

“What do you mean?” the boy frowned.

“Have I ever told you the story of Druk’s birth?” Zuko asked his grandchildren.

A pair of golden and a pair of blue eyes looked at him curiously. “No, grandpa, you never told us.”

“Well, it started with the pirates,” he smiled as they sat on the steps of the small courtyard of the Ember Island summer house.

“You are telling it all wrong. It started before that…”  Katara interrupted with a tray of cool watermelon juice.

“Who’s telling this story?” Zuko frowned.

“You are obviously not telling it right, Zuko,” grinned Katara.

“I’m telling it just fine,” he grumbled. “So there I was on the pirate ship, trying to find the stolen treasure, then suddenly I was surrounded by at least ten pirates.”

“What did you do?” asked Iroh, eyes wide with excitement.

“I pulled out my swords,” Zuko sprang to his feet, demonstrating the stance waving his imaginary dao blades.

“And then I saved you,” interrupted Katara.

“I was doing just fine,” he glared back at her.

-0-

Dragontail Bay, 35 years ago

Zuko crept along the ship, silently like a spirit. Well, he was the Blue Spirit again, even if for just one night. The voice of the pirates, drinking and singing echoed over the water. He crawled to the level below the deck, and sure enough, he found the treasures stolen from the sun warriors in the little storage room next to the kitchen. He pulled out his sack and packed the precious stones inside it. He used his sword to take the golden egg-shaped stone, remembering the glue-flood from the previous time he touched it.

He tied up the sack, and inched back up to the deck, trying to climb down to the small boat that he paddled out to the pirate ship. As he was about to lower himself with the rope, he found himself eye to eye with the ugly green lizard-parrot. The hideous creature screeched. Suddenly Zuko was surrounded by pirates. He dropped the sack on the floorboard and pulled out his dao swords, ready for action.

Before he could attack, a figure covered in black jumped in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere.

“I’ll save you from the pirates,” her voice was gently mocking, as a pair of big blue eyes shined at him through the slit of her mask. She raised her hands and two giant waves crashed over the pirate ship, sending the pirates into the water.

“I was handling them...” Zuko grumbled. “How did you know I was here?”

“I have my ways,” she grinned. “Suki told me.”

“I’ll fire her,” muttered Zuko. This was his chance to get out and do something other than tedious paperwork and endless grin-and-shake. He begrudged the women in his life treating him like some helpless damsel-in-distress.

“I guess that’s why they call you the Fire Lord,” Katara retorted.

Zuko rolled his eyes. “Leave the jokes to Sokka. Or you know what, you are both equally terrible…It must be that South Pole moonshine…”

Katara shrugged and looked around. “So what are we looking for?”

“I already found it,” Zuko motioned to the bag. “The stolen sun warrior treasure. Can you bend the ship northeast?”

“You see, you do need me,” she smiled, visibly pleased with herself as she started to steer the ship in the direction Zuko pointed at.  “So what are these treasures?”

Zuko opened the bag. “I’m not really sure. But the sun-warrior chief was pretty worried. When I last touched one of them, I spent the night glued to a window with a very grumpy Avatar.”

“I’m sure that was an enlightening chat,” Katara laughed.

“Well, Aang complained that he had to pee the whole time.”

Katara made a face. “Eew, thanks for oversharing. I really didn’t need to know that.”

Zuko grimaced at the reprimand and pulled out the golden egg-shaped gem. “I think it was this one. It felt alive.”

Katara touched her hands to the stone, then her expression became puzzled. “Because it is alive, Zuko. I can feel a heartbeat inside.”

-0-

“So you returned the treasures, then what?” asked Ziyi.

“Then came the interesting part. Because as it turns out the treasure with the beating heart inside it was the first viable dragon egg in many many years.”

“But since your grandfather was the first…” Katara interrupted again.

“You are telling it wrong.” Zuko looked at her with a frown and turned back to the children. “Since I was the first one to touch it, I was the only one who could hatch it.”

-0-

Sun Warrior Island, 35 years ago

Zuko honestly expected a bit more fanfare as he returned to the sunwarrior island with the sack full of treasure. Ham Gao unceremoniously snatched the sack out of his hand, and peeked inside. He took out the egg-shaped gem with a frown on his face and handed it over to the Chief.

The Chief held it in his hand for a long moment muttering to himself and looking rather worried. Then he turned to Zuko. “You have to hatch it, otherwise it will die.”

“What do you mean hatch it? Like a turtleduck? Sitting on the nest?” he squeeked.

-0-

Katara imitated Zuko’s grimace and the children giggled.

“I did not say that,” Zuko protested.

“Oh, yes you did.”

“I thought, I’m telling the story,” he grumbled.

“Just continue, please!” exclaimed Iroh.

-0-

The sun warrior chief looked at Zuko like he was suggesting to dress the dragons in pink kimonos.

“No.” He said on his booming voice. “Dragons are born in storm and lighting.”

Zuko looked at the bright blue sky. “But it’s a clear day,” he said matter-of-factly.

Katara interrupted. “I can try to bend the clouds for you.” Zuko sighed. Of course, she could.

The sun-warriors for the first time seemed to notice her presence. Zuko muttered a belated introduction. “This is Katara from the Southern Water Tribe. She’s a friend.”

Ham Gao looked at them with a knowing grin. “If you say so.”

“There is just one problem,” Zuko stared at his feet, as if the black boots could reveal a solution to his dilemma.

“What?” He squirmed uncomfortably under the gaze of the Chief.

“I don’t know how to make lightning...” he admitted quietly, feeling horribly inadequate and cursing all the spirits that Katara was a witness to his humiliating defeat.

“Well, that’s just great,” Ham Gao sneered.

“Let me talk to him,” Katara told the sun warriors and pulled Zuko aside. “What do you mean you don’t know? Everyone in your family knows,” she whispered.

“Well, I don’t - OK?” yelled Zuko and all the sun-warriors stared at them. The Chief shook his head. “Actually, I know in theory, I could just never do it,” Zuko added on a lower voice.

“Have you tried?” Katara put her hand gently on his shoulder, her blue eyes looking at him with concern as if she was trying to calm down a toddler throwing a tantrum

“Of course I tried,” exclaimed Zuko again.

“Fine, just asking, don’t bite me. What does your uncle say?” she asked.

“He said that I had to get rid of the turmoil inside me. Which is ridiculous, because I don’t have any turmoil,” Zuko continued with agitation. “I mean, we ended the war, things are getting better, everything should be fine now. I should be able to do lightning, and still….” his voice trailed off.

Katara listened to his tirade then grabbed his hand. “I think I can try to help you with that.”

“How?” Zuko sighed.

“Do you trust me?” she asked and he nodded silently. “Then let’s go.”

They climbed the stairs all the way to the top of the bridge that connected the dragon lairs and laid down the egg in the middle.

Katara waved her hands around rhythmically, until dark clouds gathered over their heads. Zuko watched with amazement the dancing girl and the gathering clouds. She made it look so effortless and he couldn’t even make a tiny miserable lightning. Struggling made him stronger, but he wished lately that he didn’t have to struggle quite so much with everything.

“Ready?” Her voice interrupted his internal monologue.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he grimaced.

She stepped closer to him and whispered, “Close your eyes.” Zuko obeyed. A moment later, he felt her lips brushing his softly, almost chastely. Zuko leaned into the kiss. It was sweet like mango and salty like sea prunes. It felt like home with warm fires and cool water, everyone eating dinner together and nobody challenging each other to agni kais. It felt like being complete.

“Do you feel calmer?” her voice filled him with confidence.

“I do,” he rasped, resting his forehead against hers.

“I believe that you can do this Zuko,” she whispered and squeezed his hands.

Zuko reluctantly broke the contact. He stepped back, took a deep breath and concentrated on her kiss, that suspended moment of complete calm, like the sea before the storm. Like the blue of her eyes.

“Bend the clouds,” he told her.

The moment he felt the raindrops falling on his face, he circled his hand and surrendered to the energy coursing through his veins. This was it -  the collision of water and fire. The messy soup of creation. He watched himself almost from the outside, as a bright blue electric spark zigzagged from his fingertips, straight to the egg.

The eggshell broke, and moments later a little red scaly face peeked out from the golden fragments, blinking curiously with golden eyes.

Zuko smiled as he kneeled next to the baby dragon. “Hi, little one.” He softly caressed the scaly head with his fingertips. The dragonskin felt warm and dry, just like the rubbery surface of his own scar. Zuko felt exhilaration; if dragons could be brought back from the edge of extinction, maybe there was hope to undo the rest of his family’s dark legacy.

“He’s adorable,” giggled Katara. “Congratulations, you got yourself a baby.”

“You mean, we got ourselves a baby,” Zuko corrected her. It was both a question and a plea.

“I guess.” Katara conceded. “What shall we call him?”

“Druk. Thunder dragon”

“I like that,” she linked her fingers into his.

-0-

“So you see? That’s why dragons are children of both lightning and storm. Waterbenders have as much claim to them as firebenders.” Zuko finished the story.

“Especially when it comes to midnight feedings,” Katara injected.

“And since Ziyi is waterbender, just like your grandmother,” Zuko smiled at Katara, “she has as much right to be a dragon as you, Iroh. I don’t want any more arguments about it. You understand?”

The boy nodded solemnly. “I promise.”

Ziyi smiled proudly. “Grandpa, can we go dragon-riding tomorrow?”

“If your grandmother agrees…”

“Sounds fun…” Katara hugged her grandchildren. “More watermelon juice?”

Full collection - AO3

#atla #atla fanfic #30daysofzutara #zutara month 2018 #zutara #zuko #katara #druk #brusselssprout writes #post-series AU #mother and father of dragons

[secret-kkh-fics]

Set Fire to the Rain  | Chapter 2

Due to this not being posted anywhere else yet, please like but DON’T REBLOG my fics.

Chapter Summary:

Future Dream - You swap places with your future self to a time when you and your soulmate are most content.

Author Note:

I honestly love this AU. It’s really fun to work with and I usually chuck children or pregnancies in there. It was also really fun to come up with what their future world would look like, at least directly within their little circle of the morning.

What the Future Holds 

The driving rain felt like a thousand tiny pinpricks, stabbing at her and stinging her skin. She could barely see as they fell heavily in her eyes, and she was too exhausted to waterbend them away. Not that she would be able to see much anyway, it was late, and the sky was so dark with clouds you couldn't see the moon or the stars. She doubted you'd be able to see far through the rain anyway, but she didn't care, she just kept driving Appa forward, her mind reeling.

"Katara." Zuko's voice sounded like it came from miles away, but his hand coming down on her shoulder grounded her, snapping her back to reality. "Katara, I think it's too dangerous flying in this weather. We don't know where we're going, and neither does Appa. I think we should land." She looked up at him dumbly for a moment, seeing the concern in his molten gold eyes, then nodded. He smiled in relief. "Okay, there's a small island just down there. There's not much, but there might be some shelter, and at any rate, it's somewhere to land and rest until this storm has passed." Again, she nodded, but didn't move from the position she was in. The concern grew in his eyes and he squeezed her shoulder. "Do you want me to fly." She nodded her head numbly, and he sat down beside her, taking the reins from her frozen hands.

She was barely aware as he guided Appa downwards. As he took Appa around the perimeter of the island, looking for some shelter, she replayed the day's events over and over in her head. The look on his face... That face.

She didn't move until Zuko found a cave that was big enough to fit the giant bison and landed as far in as he could. He gently helped her up and guided her off. She was shocked back once more when Appa shook, splattering her with water and she smiled as Zuko groaned in annoyance, holding his arms out at his sides, as if he weren't already wet.

He looked about a bit and sighed before turning back to her. "Do you think you could bend the water out of our clothing? We need to get warm, and there's nothing here I can make a fire with."

"Oh, yeah, sure," she said, before pulling the water from their black clothing and dumping it on the ground. Then she turned to Appa and did the same to him to get the last of the water off his fur. He let out a soft growl, and she could tell he looked much happier.

Zuko smiled in relief, happy to be dry again and went back and sat on Appa's tail. He looked up at her expectantly, and she joined him. Once she was sitting, he created a fireball, large enough to fit in both hands, and placed it on the ground.

"I thought you said you couldn't make a fire here," she said, glad to have the warmth of its glow. It was much easier to see in its light.

"I can't, or at least, not a proper fire. I can keep a fireball lit, so long as I concentrate on it, but it won't last. The moment I stop channelling energy into it, it will disappear."

"Oh, I see."

Zuko seemed to hesitate a moment, his mouth open slightly before he actually managed to get anything out. "Katara, are you alright?"

"I don't know," she answered. "I... I don’t know what I feel. I hate him. I hate him so much, but I just couldn't kill him. But he deserved it. And I just... I don't know if I made the right choice."

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm proud of you," he told her.

Katara scoffed, scowling at the fire. "Why? Because it was right not to kill him?"

"No, because you did what was right for you," he told her gently. "Despite what Aang said, despite what I said, you confronted him, and you chose the path that was right for you."

"I didn't forgive him" she spat. "I could never forgive him."

"I didn't expect you to, and I would never ask you to. This wasn’t about forgiveness, and it wasn’t about revenge either. It was about closure. You never got the chance to confront him when you were younger. You never got the chance to say goodbye to your mother like I sort of did, so all you could do was look her killer in the eye. But you didn’t have the strength or the means, and without that, all you had was anger. But you did it. You faced him, and you made your choice. No one else’s, yours. It's hard to confront those who have wronged you, those who have taken away ones you love, but you did it."

Finally, she looked up at him to see a gentle smile on his face. He sounded as if he were speaking from experience and her head tilted in curiosity.

"Have you ever confronted the person who took your mother from you?" She asked him.

"Yes," he replied. "But that was difficult for a whole other reason. Mostly because I was telling him he was a terrible father and that I was betraying him to join the Avatar. He only told me about what happened to her because he wanted to stall me until the eclipse was over."

Her eyes widened in shock. "Your father made her disappear?!" He nodded solemnly. "I really shouldn't be surprised. What happened?"

Zuko let out a heavy sigh, staring at the fire ball, making his eyes look like flickering flames themselves.

"Years ago," he started, "my Uncle Iroh was leading an assault on Ba Sing Se that lasted 600 days. But then, on the 600th day, his son, Lu Ten, was killed on the front. On that day, Uncle realised that the war was pointless, and called off the siege. With his wife and son gone, he lost all joy for life and ended up going on a journey through the spirit world to find meaning again. Grandfather was angry, but I think he understood. Father and Uncle had a middle brother who died before I was born...

"But because of this, my father thought that Uncle was weak,” he practically spat the statement out, his fits tightening in anger. “One night, after a family gathering, Father stayed behind to talk to Grandfather, and Azula and I hid in the curtains to listen. He told Grandfather that Uncle was not worthy of being Fire Lord. That Uncle's line had ended, while he still had two children. He asked that he be made Fire Lord instead, and Grandfather became angry. He yelled that Father dare betray Iroh, and told him that Iroh had suffered enough, but his suffering had just begun. At that point I got too scared and left, but Azula stayed.

"When she came back, she started teasing... well, tormenting me again, telling me that Grandfather had ordered Father to kill me."

"What?!" Katara gasped in shock.

"I thought she was lying at the time, she did things like that a lot to upset me. But during the eclipse, Father told me it was true. He’d told him to kill me as punishment for trying to usurp Iroh, so that he would know the pain of losing a son."

"That's horrible!" She exclaimed.

"That's my family," he sighed in resignation. "Still, at the time I refused to believe what Azula said and shouted at her. Mum heard the fighting and came to see what was happening. She left, dragging Azula with her. Later that night, she woke me up to... well, to say goodbye, telling me everything she's ever done has been to protect me, and not to forget who I was. I guess I kind of did. I was half asleep and didn't realise what was happening... That was the last time I ever saw my mother. The next morning, I woke up and she was gone, Grandfather was dead, and my father was crowned Fire Lord."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Father told me that after she found out what Grandfather had told him to do, she came to him and begged him to spare me. In the end, they struck up a deal. She killed my grandfather so that my father could become Fire Lord. Probably poisoned him... she had a way with herbs. My father immediately banished her for it. She's alive somewhere, hopefully... I just have no idea where."

Katara placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "You'll find her one day," she told him. "I promise. After this war is over, we can find out everything we can. Find out where she is."

"W-we?" He stuttered, surprised by the word.

"Yes, we. I don't know about the others, but I am going to help you. I will do anything to help you. I won't stop until we find her, Zuko. You will be with your mother again."

Zuko just stared at her with an open mouth, unshed tears glittered in the firelight. And suddenly, he threw himself towards her, wrapping his strong arms around her and enveloping her in a hug. He pressed his face into her shoulder, holding her tightly. After a moment of shock, Katara smiled and hugged him back.

"Thank you," he whispered hoarsely. "You have no idea what that means."

"I think I have a small idea," she told him, stroking his back. She would do anything to have her mother back, and she wouldn't wish what she had upon anyone. She would willingly help anyone if she could help them reunite with their mother. And after hearing just how bad his family was, how they had been all along, she doubted that such an offer was something he was used to.

She suddenly felt guilt wash over her. Zuko had not had an easy life. He had a horrible family who tried to kill him and banished him, and then tried to kill him again. And from what she had seen when he was hunting them down, he always faced constant adversity from both the people of the Earth Kingdom, and his own people. And she had been no better, so angry at him since he had come to help them. He had just been trying to redeem himself. But she was so angry, so scared of being hurt again that she opposed him at every turn.

But that was over now. She was beginning to understand why he did the things he did, even if she didn’t agree with them. She understood his desperation to return home and be accepted by his family for once. And she was beginning to see that he needed a lot of love and care in his life. She was willing to help him with that. From now on, things were going to be different between them.

Zuko finally drew back, sniffing and subtly wiping away a stray tear. "W-we, ah... We should sleep," he said. "We need to rest and wait for the storm to pass..."

She nodded, and Zuko let the flame go out. She heard him lay back and try to get comfortable on Appa's tail and she did the same. Without the flame, it grew cold quickly, with the icy wind still blowing in from the cave entrance. She tried snuggling deeper into Appa's thick fur, but it wasn't long till she was shivering. She found it ridiculous. She was from the South Pole, for crying out loud! She was born on ice, she should be used to this. But still, she shivered and her teeth chattered in the cold wind. Then again, back home they’d had thick furs laid over them, and even on the ice it could get too hot. But here, she had Appa’s fur below her, and the rest of her was entirely exposed. The small cave may be enough to keep them dry, but the bitterly cold wind still whistled in and chilled her to the bone.

"Come here," Zuko said quietly.

"Huh?"

"Snuggle back towards me."

Katara didn't even think before she did it. She knew that body heat would help keep her warm and she quickly moved to the nearest source of heat. Zuko. Only she didn't expect him to be quite so warm and gasped the moment she made contact with his body.

"You're so warm!" She gasped.

He chuckled at her surprise. "Firebender, remember. Fire is internal. I can raise my body temperature when needed."

"That would be really handy back home. Sure, we have furs, but being your own source of heat would be better."

"And yet we live in the hottest part of the world," he chuckled. "Being able to bend water and blow ice would be incredibly wonderful in the Fire Nation, especially in summer."

Katara giggled. "We almost need a swap of powers... Almost. I wouldn't give up my waterbending for anything."

"Neither," he whispered. "You know, I wonder... you can freeze water by lowering its temperature. Can you boil it by heating it up?"

This made her pause. "I don't know... I've never tried it before. I know I can unfreeze ice, so I don’t see why I can’t… I don't know if anyone has tried before. Hard to know when you’re the only waterbender from your tribe."

"You've got a point there... it would be interesting to try, though."

Katara smiled, but ended up shivering again, despite her proximity to the human heat pack, and Zuko frowned in concern. After weighing up how likely she was to punch him and how much she needed to be warm, he slowly reached over and looped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, so she was flush up against his chest. He felt her stiffen in his arms, and he didn't movie for a moment, the awkwardness of it making him blush. But then she relaxed, snuggling down into him as much as possible, a soft sigh escaping her. Zuko smiled.

Katara tried to hide a smile herself, trying not to let him see just how much it affected her. She tried to quash down the fluttering in her stomach that made her feel as if there were a thousand bumbleflies in there. She tried to ignore how nice it felt to be pressed up against Zuko. And she would deny with her last breath that she ever thought the words 'I could get used to this'.

And so, curled up together in a cave, sheltered from the raging storm outside, the two benders fell asleep.

  When Katara woke, she was nice and warm. A gentle breeze blew across her face, making her smile. She stretched in her half-asleep state, her fingers brushing smooth, silky sheets. Her eyes blinked open in surprise. Silky sheets? She had fallen asleep on Appa. The last time she’d slept on silky sheets had been back in Ba Sing Se.

Surrounding her was so much red that for a moment, she thought she was back in the Fire Nation. She sat up, and looking around she was struck with the strange realisation that the Fire Nation was the only place she could be. Most of the room was decked out in red and gold decorations, with the only exception being items that were clearly from the Southern Water Tribe. Even the wood and marble were red or black in colour. The bed she was in was large and soft, with a giant canopy of sheer red fabric and dragons carved into the wood. Off to the side was a large open door that led out onto a veranda. Sheer red fabric fluttered in where the curtains framed the door. And through the doors she could see a sprawling city of red rooves and past the crest of the rim of the giant crater the city was built within lay the sea sparkling in the distance.

This was the Fire Nation!

She almost thought she was dreaming, but if it was a dream, she felt very awake and very aware.

She jolted up to her knees quickly in alarm and confusion. The light, silky blanket slipped off her, revealing that she was naked under the sheets and... pregnant?! Even more alarmed, a hand flew to her stomach to find that, yes, there really was a baby bump there. She would guess that she was around six or seven months along.

“What the fuck!?”

She jumped from the bed, still staring down at the swell of her stomach in utter shock. She didn’t have long to ponder her odd situation, though, when she heard footsteps coming her way. She instantly took up a defensive stance as a girl around her age came running in. She was dressed in nice, but simple Fire Nation robes, and looked surprised when she saw Katara ready to fight.

“My Lady, are you alright?” she asked in alarm. “What’s wrong? Do I need to call the guards?” She looked at her once more, and seeing no signs of injury, she averted her eyes.

Katara faltered. “N-no, I…”

“Did you have another dream, My Lady?” the girl asked quietly. When she didn’t answer, the girl walked over to the side of the room and opened a large closet. Inside Karara could see many beautiful dresses of different styles. From casual to incredibly fancy, but even the casual clothes seemed nice and high quality. Most interesting was the colours and styles. She could make out a decent blend of reds and golds, but also blues and whites and the occasional bit of fur. The girl grabbed out a two-piece set of blue fabric, then ushered her towards a divider. “How about we get you dressed? Your husband is already at his first meeting, but he wanted me to tell you he wished to have breakfast with you when you woke.”

Katara started when she mentioned ‘her husband’, but said nothing. This was a dream, right? It had to be a dream. That or somehow, she had forgotten a very long amount of time in which a lot of very unlikely circumstances happened.

When the girl handed her the clothing, she slipped into them without question. There was a large sheet of silver backed glass on the wall that served as a mirror and her eyes widened in shock. She was clearly older, at least by five years or more. She was taller and had filled out more, though, it was hard to tell how much considering she was pregnant. She took a moment to study herself, and then her head tilted slightly as she studied the outfit. It was beautiful, made of multiple layers of sheer fabric with gorgeous embroidery. It was set in two parts, a crop top and a long skirt, keeping the roundness of her stomach exposed. Her stomach had patterns stained into the skin and for a moment she thought that she had a tattoo. But the ink wasn’t the black-ish green she had seen members of her tribe with. It was more of a redish-orange and she could see parts that looked more faded than others, like dye being slowly washed away. She remembered seeing something like this while they were at a festival in one of the Fire Nation colonies. It was a herb that was turned into a paste and used to dye the skin. Her stomach was covered in in it, making her look like a work of art. The most curious thing about the garment was that though the colours were clearly Water Tribe, the style was undoubtedly Fire Nation. She also noticed that the skirts were designed in a way that it was easy for her to wrap around her hips, instead of struggling to bend.

Once she was done, she came out from the divider to see the servant girl standing by a chair and a vanity with a carved bone comb in her hand. It didn’t take much for her to know what to do, and she sat in the chair. The girl instantly began to brush her hair and started chattering away about some friends of hers and something silly they had done the night before. She watched the girl work as she quickly and efficiently brushed out all the knots and styled it into a half-up-do with a top knot and her signature ‘loopies’. Then she grabbed a hair piece from a shelf of them and pinned it into the top knot. It was a Fire Nation crown, though more intricate than what she’d seen Azula wear... And instead of gold, it was made from carved bone. Altogether, her look pulled off the perfect blend of Water Tribe and Fire Nation cultures.

“You’re very quiet today, Lady Katara,” the girl suddenly said, looking down at her in concern. “Are you alright? You seem a little out of it.”

“O-oh, yes. Sorry, erm… Thank you. I’m just tired,” she lied.

The girl sighed heavily. “And here we let you sleep in and everything,” she teased. “Let’s get some breakfast in you.”

She helped Katara from the chair and led her from the room. Not knowing where she was going, Katara tried to keep in step with her. Considering the girl was a servant and was calling her ‘Lady Katara’, it probably wouldn’t look right with her following behind. Or at least, she guessed it wouldn’t. The girl was giving her a strange look.

“Katara!” a somewhat familiar, husky voice called out.

She whipped around to see Zuko moving down the hall quickly towards her. He seemed to have just come from one of the rooms that they had just passed by, and she could see people coming out of the room behind him. He looked older, more muscular and broader in the shoulders, his jaw was squarer, and his hair was neat and pulled back off his face in a top knot, and he was also wearing formal robes. Though, the outfit had been modified from the robes she’d seen depictions of his father wearing while they had been in the Fire Nation into something more modern and sleek. It looked a little more like a combat outfit than what she and her brother had once referred to as a ‘night dress’. The outer robe, instead of one long piece to the floor, wrapped across his chest and fell to his knees in three panels, tied with a thick, gold belt. And instead of the wide, stiff and pointy shoulders from the other robes, this outfit had black and gold pauldrons made from soft leather that sloped gently down his shoulders. He looked good, and for a moment she felt her heart stutter in her chest.

However, she didn’t have much time to reflect on that reaction as she was overcome with relief at seeing someone familiar, even if he was very obviously older. His appearance really backed up her idea that she had probably somehow forgotten a good few years. She would have to try and get him alone and ask him what the hell was going on. There had to be some explanation for this insanity. Maybe she’d been in an accident and gotten amnesia, or maybe it had something to do with the spirits and-

Her thoughts were silenced when Zuko reached her, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Her eyes widened in surprise and her breath caught. The kiss was rather chaste, but it was searing. If she could even think at that moment, all she would probably be able to think would either be ‘Spirits, he’s kissing me!’ or ‘frozen hell, this is the best kiss of my life’.

When he pulled back only a few seconds later, she was left breathless in shock, staring up at him with wide eyes. She barely had time to regain her breath when he looked down at her with a brilliant smile. She had never seen him smile like that before – heck, she wasn’t entirely sure if she had seen him smile before – and it made her knees weak. He had a stunningly beautiful smile. And once again, she found her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. She could imagine that if Toph was here right now, she would be cackling her ass off.

“I have been waiting all morning to do that,” he told her with a grin. “It was not a very fun meeting.” When she didn’t say anything and just continued to stare at him, his brow furrowed, and he cocked his head slightly.

“Ah, Lady Katara has been a little… off this morning. I’m hoping some food will get her back to normal,” the girl said to him holding a hand to the side of her mouth as if that would stop Katara from hearing her.

“Ah, good idea, Azara, food will be exactly what she needs.” His grin was almost cheeky, and he pulled her even closer to him, one hand on her cheek and the other sliding around from her waist to the swell of her stomach, caressing gently at the taut skin. “Is baby brain getting to you again, Kat?”

She let out a nervous laugh, deciding to play along with whatever insanity she had found herself in. “Yeah, must be.”

He chuckled in response. “Right then, shall we? I’m sure everyone else is already there.”

Her eyes widened, worried about who ‘everyone else’ could be, but kept her mouth shut, forced a smile on her face and nodded. He looped his arm through hers with a wide grin and led her through the palace halls until they came out into a sunny garden. It was clearly still inside the palace somewhere, surrounded by high walls, but it was filled with exotic flowers she had never seen before and a sprawling expanse of grass with a pond and some large trees. The trees had some lanterns still hung in them from some other time of celebration, and turtle-ducks swam happily in the pond. On a patch of grass not far from the pond, a small group of people sat around, preparing a light meal. She immediately recognised Zuko’s uncle, General Iroh, who was brewing tea for six. Beside him sat an older man and woman she didn’t recognise, but they were old enough that their hair was beginning to streak with grey. Around them, a young girl of about 10, perhaps a little older, was laughing gleefully as she fed the turtle-ducks.

“Zuko! Katara!” the woman greeted happily when she saw them approaching. “You finally made it!”

“Sorry, Mum. The meeting went a little later than it was supposed to.” He bent down and kissed his mother on the cheek before sitting down, supporting Katara down with him. As he did, a few servants began placing down platters of fruits and bread and cheese. With a thank you, the royal family began to grab the food and begin their breakfast.

“What is so important that those stuffy old men had to keep the Fire Lord from breakfast with his family?” Iroh asked as he began to pass the cups of tea around to everyone.

“Mostly celebration preparation,” he told them, taking a sip from his tea and smiling. “Ah, jasmine tea, thank you, Uncle.”

“Yes, I would imagine that with the 10-year anniversary of Ozai’s defeat, the end of the 100-year war, and your coronation, the celebrations will be quite large this year.”

Zuko nodded. “Since they are both considered important events here, they want to have the main celebrations here in Caldera. The United Nations agree, though it’s been rather hard trying to sway Lady Guan. She’s been arguing that the celebrations should be held in the Earth Kingdom as originally scheduled. Thankfully, Sokka worked out something like a swap to appease her. So, the Earth Kingdom will be hosting next year instead of us. And then the cycle goes back to normal.”

“So then, we can expect the whole gang to come visiting in the next few months?” his mother asked hopefully. “And the rest of Katara’s family?”

“Absolutely. I was thinking Katara and I could send out personal invitations today. Maybe spend a week at Ember Island with everyone before the celebrations commence. Like old times.” He grinned over at her, raising his brows cheekily.

“Does that mean Suki is coming back?!” the young girl cried excitedly, cartwheeling over to them. “And Ty Lee?!”

“Yes, it does, my little Kyoshi warrior!” the man said, grabbing her up in a hug and making her giggle as she tried to squirm away.

“Dad!” she cried, a little annoyed but still giggling. “I can’t be a Kyoshi warrior. I’m a bender! And I’m going to be the best bender, like Zuzu! And then I can teach the little one when they start bending!” She surprised Katara when she rushed over and excitedly placed her hands on her stomach. “Right, baby?!”

Iroh chuckled. “And what if your little niece or nephew turns out to be a waterbender?” he asked her. She pouted as she tried to think that one over, making Zuko laugh as well.

“It’s fine, Kiyi. This one is going to be a firebender and you can teach him as much as you like,” Zuko told her. “It’s Kya who will be the waterbender… third one is still a surprise, though.” Katara stared at him in surprise. He seemed so certain, but it wasn’t possible that he could know that. Yugoda had told her that not even the most experienced and skilled water healers that specialised in being midwives could tell the gender or bending ability of a child before it was born.

“Is Azula coming?” Kiyi asked apprehensively. At her question, everyone in the group grew a little grimmer.

“No, sweetheart,” Zuko’s mother told her gently, reaching out for her. The girl came willingly and sat in her lap. “She has been doing better over the last year, but I don’t think she will want to come to a celebration of the day that she-”

“Of when Katara kicked her ass!!!”

“Kiyi!” she abolished.

“What? She did!”

“Kat’s incredible bending aside, I don’t think she would be particularly happy about the celebration,” Zuko told his sister, his lip quirking up.

“Are you alright, Katara?” Iroh’s soft voice grabbed her attention. “You’ve hardly touched your breakfast.”

“Oh, no, I’m fine!” she said quickly, her voice higher than normal and she grabbed a slice of mango and took a bite. “Just fine! Thank you, Iroh. Just feeling a little…” Confused. Overwhelmed. Lost. Out of her element. Not herself. The words she wanted to say would likely only bring up more questions. And she didn’t want to draw attention to herself and how out of her depth she was. She was hoping that she could make it through this without anyone noticing and just get through… whatever this was. Spirits, she really hoped this was some kind of strange dream and not that she’d somehow forgotten the last ten years.

She looked back up from the piece of fruit she’d been staring at blankly to see everyone looking at her in concern. And, though he was clearly concerned too, Zuko’s eyes were narrowed slightly in a way she knew meant he was suspicious of something.

Quietly, he stood, and panic rose in her once more, terrified of what he was going to do. But all he did was hold his and out to her. When she just stared at his hand uncomprehendingly, he rolled his eyes and jerked his head in a ‘come on’ motion, a soft smile touching his lips. Hesitantly, she placed her hand in his, and he helped her to her feet, then began guiding her off. They moved a little deeper into the garden, but not too far. Just enough that they were out of earshot of everyone else. He took her to a spot on the far side of the pond, just underneath the red leaves of cherry blossom tree. It was beautiful and calming here, but she felt anything but calm as he turned to face her once more.

“You’re acting weird,” he said. She pursed her lips and looked away, unsure how to answer that. Her hands drifted up to tug anxiously at a lock of hair that hung over her shoulder. “Kat, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” she finally told him.

He reached up and gently pried the hair from her grasp, pushing the hair over her shoulder, his hand lingering against her skin as he did. Then his hand came up to cup her cheek and found herself leaning into it for comfort. “I know you, Katara. This isn’t just hormones. What’s going on?”

Tears welled in her eyes and her voice shook as she spoke. “I don’t know!” she said honestly. “One- one moment we’re curled up in that cave on Appa’s tail going to sleep, and then I wake up here. And it’s suddenly ten years in the future and everything is different and strange. And I don’t know if I’ve forgotten all that time, or if I’m going insane, or if this is just some crazy dream. But I have no idea how I got here!” Her voice began to rise in pitch with her distress, and she glanced over at the rest of his family, worried that they would overhear. But they were all laughing joyously, and she got the feeling that Iroh was intentionally keeping up a loud, entertaining conversation for their sake.

At first, Zuko looked startled and almost scared by what she’d said, but then a look of realisation came across him, followed by a fond smile. “Ah, so that’s what’s going on,” he said, a slight tone of amusement in his voice. “That would explain it.” He guided her to sit down in the grass with him and she followed him down, sitting awkwardly because of her large stomach. He didn’t let go of her hands, instead holding them between them, his thumb stroking soothingly at the top of her hand. “You’re not going crazy, Kat. I promise. And I don’t think you’ve lost ten years either. At least, you haven’t had any injuries or spirit encounters lately that would justify it.” He shot her a wry grin.

“Then what’s going on?” she said shakily. “I don’t understand.”

“You’re probably right about it being a dream. A special one, gifted to you by the spirits.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because I had one too back when we were young. I went through the same thing, waking up eighteen years in the future and freaking out because I had no idea what was going on. But you – future you – told me it was soulmate dream.”

“A soulmate dream?!” she cried in astonishment.

She’d heard of soulmate dreams, of course. Her grandmother had told her about them. Not everyone would have a soulmate dream in their lifetime, and it was believed that not everyone had a soulmate. But they were common enough that you often heard tell of people marrying their soulmate or mentioning the dreams that the spirits bestowed upon them. It was said that the dreams were given to you the night you first begin to fall in love with your soulmate, and during the dream you would see a day in your future where you and your soulmate are most content and happy. It was even said that the spirits would place your soul in your future self’s body for that time, as there were plenty of stories of people waking up confused about suddenly being in the future, just as she had done.

But, if this was a soulmate dream, then that would mean that she and Zuko were soulmates! She and Zuko! And not only that, the fact that she was having this dream meant that… she was starting to fall for Zuko. But that was ridiculous! She wasn’t even sure if she’d stopped hating him yet!

“Mm-hm.”

She shook her head in bewilderment. “This is…”

“Overwhelming? Confusing? Strange? Terrifying?”

“Yeah.”

“I remember.”

"When did you have yours?" she asked him curiously.

"I had mine back after Ba Sing Se, the not long after the catacombs..." he told her softly.

Katara stiffened and only just stifled a squeak. "So, he already knows?!" she said, her voice high pitched with distress. This seemed to make Zuko chuckle.

"Not a bit," he said. Katara's brow furrowed in confusion. "The night I had my soulmate dream, it was the first night in over three years I had spent at home in my own bed. I had just betrayed my uncle, the man who cared for me more than my own father and saw me as his own, which landed him in prison. I had betrayed and disappointed the nicest girl I know, right after gaining her trust." He looked at her pointedly. "I had just started dating Mai. And as far as I was aware, Azula had just killed the Avatar. In the dream, I woke up in what I knew to be my father's rooms, woken up by two beautiful children calling me dad, next to you. People called me Fire Lord, they spoke of time 'since Ozai's defeat', my uncle joyfully greeted us for tea, and my mother played with her grandchildren by the pond. You figured out that I was having my dream pretty quickly, I guess I probably looked so bewildered. And you tried to tell me that it was a soulmate dream, but I didn't believe you. I still didn't, in your time. Also didn’t help that I didn’t know that soulmate dreams were… well, a thing at all. Since royalty rarely ever marry for love, we’re generally raised not knowing of the existence of them so arranged marriages weren’t ruined by them. I didn't even entertain the idea it could be true till well after we won the war. Not until I had my uncle's forgiveness, a kiss from the prettiest waterbender, my father was behind bars, I was crowned Fire Lord, and my mother found."

"I'm really glad you found her," she said, looking back at the others. “And some others, by the looks of it.”

Zuko looked over the other side of the pond too, smiling fondly at the sight of his sister excitedly telling the adults something with exaggerated gestures. He seemed so content, so comfortable in who he was now. And far more relaxed than she had ever seen him, despite the fact that he was now ruling an entire country. He looked happy. “Best family I could ever wish for,” he said softly. “And I know it’s only going to get better.” He reached out and touched her swollen stomach once more, his warm hand on her bare skin bringing the pregnancy back to the front of her mind.

It was a strange and overwhelming sensation to suddenly be two thirds of the way through a pregnancy when you certainly hadn’t been pregnant when you went to sleep. She’d seen many pregnancies before, and even helped deliver many children. But she’d never experienced it herself. It was bewildering, feeling the movements within her, knowing that there was a small life growing inside her. A life that she and Zuko had created. And that thought, in itself, was completely overwhelming. And came with a whole other realisation she had not been prepared to deal with right now. If she was pregnant, that meant that she and Zuko had had sex. They were married! They’d probably had sex many times!

“I can’t believe that this might all be my life one day!” she cried, burring her face in her hands to hide the rising blush. “It’s just all so insane. Living in a palace, kids, being in love with you! No offence.”

Zuko snorted, but a wide grin remained on his face. “You don’t have much room to talk. You’re the one having this dream right now,” he teased.

“Ugh! Don’t remind me! How embarrassing. And apparently, I become Fire Lady?! How did that even happen? I didn’t think a waterbender could ever be the Fire Lady!”

“Honestly, it almost didn’t happen,” he told her, growing serious for a moment. “It wasn’t easy and took a lot of work. I almost abdicated the throne to Uncle Iroh, but that brought the line of succession into question. If I wasn’t eligible, the only person left was Azula, and very few wanted that. Thankfully, the fact that you’re one of the heroes of the war, your initiates to clean the lakes and rivers of the Fire Nation and installing healing hospitals in all nations, as well as being  a princess of your own nation helped quite a bit in the end. We managed to pose it as an alliance between the Fire Nation and Southern Water Tribe.”

“Ah… I’m not a princess.”

“Your father is a chief, you are equivalently a princess.”

“But we’re not like the Northern Tribe. Chief Arnook is the chief of the entire North Pole, but my father is just one chief of many in the South Pole. He-”

“Was temporarily made head chief during the war, but that is an elective title amongst the chiefs of the South in times of need where the tribes need to band together,” he finished in a bored tone, as if he had heard this all many times before. “I’m well aware. But in your time, your father is currently the head chief of the South. And after the war, you, your brother and your father worked on restoring the South Pole. With input from Master Paku, you did take a lot of Southern influences, though, and the chiefs of the South decided to appoint your father Head Chief permanently. Ergo, you were a princess, and now you are a queen.”

“Okay, okay,” she said, rolling her eyes in fond annoyance. “I get it. You clearly know these things better than me… How many times have we had that argument in the last ten years?”

“Too many times to keep count,” he told her, shaking his head in amusement. “Even now you struggle to accept the mantle of nobility, but you wear it so well. I swear you were born for it. You should see the things you will do, Katara.” He was looking at her with pure admiration, and she almost felt like shyly hiding away from his intense attention. “The things you’ve helped rebuild, or build, the things you’ve done to help people. You’ve achieved such amazing things, you’re a compassionate humanitarian, a wonderful, respected politician, a… Well, I won’t give too much away before you get to it yourself. But you’ve done so much that has earned the love and respect of everyone. Here, back in your home. In every nation. You’re so beloved by the entire world and I’m so glad that I’m the one that gets to keep you.”

“I… I have no idea what to say to that,” she admitted. “This is all so much! Knowing that this will be my future. That I’ll end up here with you and do all these amazing things! I… I’m just a fourteen-year-old girl. I’m still fighting in a war most kids don’t have to join, let alone practically lead the fight! And yesterday I didn’t even know if we would make it out of it alive. But now there’s just this whole other future before me, and I can’t…”

“Katara, this dream can mean whatever you want it to,” he told her, his voice low and serious. He placed his hands on her shoulders, gently running his thumbs over them soothingly. “Just because we’re soulmates, doesn’t mean we have to instantly be in love. Like I said, I didn’t even realise my dream could be true until much later. Not for years after the war. And even though I fell in love with you, I didn’t think you liked me back and kept those feelings hidden. Even from myself, at times. What you see here and now doesn’t have to shape and dictate every moment of your life from then until now. Don’t let it stop you from doing whatever it is that you truly want to do. Look what’s happened in the last year for you, a lot more can happen in ten years… Ugh, I should leave the philosophical stuff to Uncle. I guess what I’m trying to say is… Well, I’d say ‘try not to worry about it too much’… but I know you too well.” He grinned at her, then leaned forwards and placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Thanks, Zuko,” she said, looking up at him, her eyes shining with gratitude and affection.

Suddenly, she felt horribly lightheaded, the world spinning around her and black dots dancing in front of her vision. Her lids grew heavy and she had to grip tightly onto Zuko to remain sitting. She knew that pregnant woman sometimes experienced fainting spells, especially if they sat the wrong way for too long as it blocked the blood vessels. But she’d never experienced it until now.

“Katara! Are you okay?” Zuko said in concern, holding her up with one hand and frantically checking her over with the other. His hand pressed against her forehead and cupped her cheek, his face close to hers, his golden eyes so full of worry her heart truly went out to him for a moment and all she wanted to do was bring back that gorgeous smile he’d been giving her so much in this dream.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” she told him. “I think it’s just… pregnancy… dizzy spells…”

As she spoke, the dizziness returned once more, overcoming her completely and blacking out her vision. Amongst the horrible sensation of vertigo, she was vaguely aware of the sensation of falling forwards into Zuko’s arms before the darkness consumed her completely.

   When Katara’s eyes blinked open, she was met with the hazy, early morning light and an empty spot beside her on Appa’s tail. Her hand went down to her stomach, finding that her stomach was flat and clothed in thick black cloth. A heavy breath of relief escaped her. She was back!

A small part of her was also relieved to see that Zuko wasn’t beside her, mostly because she had no idea how to deal with the dream she’d just had. Especially if he was right there. But the larger part of her was worried by his absence.

Sitting up, it didn’t take long at all to spot him. He was just outside the opening of the small cave, easily within view. The rain had thankfully stopped, though the ground was still wet, and she could see the sun still coming up over the horizon behind him. He had stripped down so he was only wearing the black pants from his outfit, and was going through his bending forms. It was almost a sort of ritual she’d noticed of his. On mornings when she woke up early enough, she was able to catch him at it. One time she’d been woken up at the crack of dawn, hearing him sneak off. She’d been suspicious of him sneaking about so early in the morning and had followed him to make sure he wasn’t getting up to anything devious. Instead, she had seen him sit down at the edge of a secluded section of the temple and mediate as the sun rose before him, then proceeded to practice his forms. She’d caught him doing it several times since, and she soon got used to him rising at dawn to bend. She remembered him once telling her that he rose with the sun, and she imagined that he felt a similar pull to the sun as she did to the moon.

Watching him, the thought crossed her mind about how good he looked. His forms clean and precise. His pale skin covered in a slight sheen of sweat, glowing warmly in the sunlight. His bending magnificent and beautiful. Normally she wouldn’t call firebending beautiful, seeing as she’d had nothing but bad experiences with it. But watching him now, she couldn’t help but think that it was beautiful. He was beautiful. And such a powerful bender.

That thought took her back to a moment months back now, in a small town, sitting with Madam Wu as she told her that she would marry a powerful bender. A blush rose to her cheeks as she thought about it. At the time Sokka referring to Aang with those exact words, she had thought for a moment that perhaps Madam Wu had meant him. A thought that she had thought once more after Aang had kissed her before the siege. But Madam Wu had never specified what kind of powerful bender she would marry. And it seemed like she would end up married to him. It was a strange thought.

He was her soulmate. A fact that he both knew and was ignorant to. A fact that apparently wouldn’t be addressed for years, but one she couldn’t stop thinking about now.

 Shaking herself from her thoughts, she stood and began to stretch, walking out to the mouth of the cave to breathe in the relaxing scent of the sea air. She could hear ottergulls calling out above them, and looked out to see them diving down into the ocean for fish to catch.

After a moment, Zuko seemed to notice her standing there, and brought his practice session to a close, stopping and pushing his hands together and down from his chest to his stomach, as if releasing the energy. Though it was more ridged, and a different sort of action to what she did, she recognised it as the same sort of action she did at the end of practice.

“Morning,” he greeted her.

“Yeah, morning.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you” he said, walking over to where she stood, picking up his shirt from near her feet and pulling it back over his head. “I thought I’d get some katas in while you slept.”

“It’s okay,” she told him. “I know you do this most mornings. You didn’t wake me up this time.” Zuko nodded.

“I have some good news,” he said.

“What’s that?”

“I recognise where we are. We’re on a small uninhabited island in the archipelago. You can see Ember Island from here. It gave me an idea. My family have a holiday home on the beach. No one’s been there since I was a kid. Actually, last time Azula and I were there, we didn’t even stay in the house. We just broke in and burnt a bunch of stuff. It could be a good place to hide. It’s isolated, and most locals don’t know its location so that security didn’t have to be so high while we were on holiday. It’s big and comfortable, and more than enough space to train with all elements. And it’s close enough to the Caldera that we don’t have to travel very far to face my father when the day comes. There’s a market not too far away, so we wouldn’t have to forage for food either.”

Though Katara knew he was pitching the place as a hideout, she couldn’t help but wonder if they had used it other times in the future. She remembered future him saying something about spending a week there with everyone ‘like in the old days’. An isolated beach holiday home sounded like paradise. Had they spent their honeymoon there? Had they taken their kids there to get away from the pressures of ruling a country for a while? Did he take his mother and her husband and Kiyi there? Would Kya enjoy bending the waves at the beach as much as she found she did?

“Katara?” Zuko’s voice snapped her from her thoughts, and she realised she must have been lost in thought too long. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she assured him. “It sounds like a great idea. We should do that.”

He nodded. “Okay. How about we go there now. We can get changed and grab something to eat. Then, if you want, I could go back and grab the others. That way you don’t have to deal with being stuck in a bison saddle with everyone hounding you for hours. I’d probably be back by the afternoon. Unless, you don’t want to be alone or anything, because if you don’t, you don’t have to stay behind. We could go get the others together.” At first what he’d been saying had almost been posed as a question, but the rest had come out in a nervous rush. Katara just smiled at him gratefully.

“Thanks, Zuko. I’d like that. I could use some time to just…”

“Decompress?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” He gave her a hesitant, gentle smile. It was the first smile she could recall seeing this him give, and it set her heart fluttering. Spirits, maybe she really was starting to fall for him. “Let’s go.”

  A few extra notes about this AU:

🌙     This story is still mostly canon compliant. The rest of the show plays out as shown, with a few more ‘moments’ between Zuko and Katara. But Zuko still ends up with Mai, and because of that, Katara decided to give things with Aang a try, reasoning that she knows Zuko is her soulmate, and she was just going to wait and see how things went, trusting in the dream the spirits had given her.

ƒ     The comics is where it starts diverging from canon. For one thing, I like Katara being happy, so she didn’t miss out on all the projects she wanted to work on. She either convinced Aang to take her, went herself, or the project waited for her. These are things like helping rebuild her home, leading the lakes and river clean-up programme, and beginning on opening hospitals and medical clinics worldwide.

🌙     She does feel a little bit like she’s losing herself, with Aang so insistent on the things he wants to do and his way of live, along with his discovery of the Air Acolytes. She remembers how in the dream, even though she lived in the Fire Nation, everything about her life seemed to be a mix of her own culture and another. Life with Aang is very Air Nomad centric. And knowing where she is going to go in life, it does not seem as worth sticking through the issues. When things aren’t going so well between them, they have a small argument, making her suggest they break up. Aang tries to defend that she is his ‘forever girl’, to which she gently tells him she’s not. She tells him that she had a soulmate dream and knows that it’s only a matter of time before the events of the dream start falling into place. Aang is very upset, and storms off for a bit, but he does understand and eventually agrees that they should split, telling her he’ll always love her anyway. Out of curiosity, he asks who her soulmate is. Because he’s already grudgingly come to accept shew had a soulmate, and knows she is very close with Zuko, he isn’t too upset to find out it’s him.

🌙     When the events of ‘The Search’ happen, Katara is a much more active participant. Having lost her own mother, she knows the pain of being without one and does all she can to help Zuko get her back, especially since she knows that he will find her. The reveal happens a little faster, because when they meet Kiyi, Katara recognises her, and calls her by name before she introduces herself. It startles everyone that she knows the girls name, but Zuko most of all. He didn’t instantly recognise her, because his soulmate dream was set around 8 years after Katara’s, and Kiyi was 19. He thought she looked familiar but didn’t place her until her name was said. (He did, however, recognise Ikem, and was hopeful about following him for this reason). This also brings up questions of how she knew Kiyi’s name, which she brushes off and it gets forgotten in the following revelations about Ursa.

🌙     With Ursa back, and a hint that Katara knows about Kiyi, this is where Zuko finally starts to believe that his soulmate dream could have been just that, instead of a delusion. This is also around the time that things become rocky with Mai again. In the few years they’ve been together, they have always had a bit of an on and off again relationship, since their personalities aren’t exactly the best for each other and clash quite a lot. And realising that Katara might be his soulmate, they agree to break up again.

🌙         This is around the time that Katara starts up the hospital project, as well as the beginning of events of ‘Smoke and Shadow’. So, he invites Katara along with Aang and Suki to help with the New Ozai Society situation. It’s here that he finds out that Aang and Katara have been broken up for a good few months now. There is the addition of an almost successful assassination attempt which she heals for him. And their relationship begins to build from there. Azula is also recaptured at the end of ‘Smoke and Shadow’s events and is receiving psychological therapy.

Author Note:

I would actually be REALLY keen to explore this world more.

[firenationember]

Destruction, Everywhere (OC Fic)

12/?

Authors note: I was going to end this where the show ends, and then I read the comics. So expect more chapters to come!

Previous Chapters

We arrived just in time for Azula’s coronation, seconds away from being crowned Firelord, when Appa landed with a thud. Zuko was the first to jump down, quickly followed by Katara and I. We stood next to Zuko, staring Azula down as she kneeled on the ground. I’ve only seen Azula a few times, and every time I did, she was the poster child of a proper princess, “not a hair out of place” I remember Zuko saying about her once. This Azula in front of us was… not that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her hair so disheveled, her eyes dark and heavy as if she hasn’t slept.

“Two girlfriends, Zuzu? Really? Isn’t that a bit ambitious?” She cackled, before dropping the fake amusement from her face when Zuko said that he was there to become Firelord instead of her. She stood up and challenged Zuko to an Agni Kai, claiming it as “the showdown that was always meant to be”. When Zuko agreed and it seemed to have shocked Katara as much as it shocked me, since we both snapped our heads towards him. I knew we mimicked each other’s troubled expression, and I’ve never been more thankful to have Katara because I couldn’t find my voice to speak when I thought about Zuko fighting Azula. Zuko was aware that Azula was trying to split us up, knowing she couldn’t take all 3 of us at once (as Katara mentioned), but even he pointed out that something was “off about her”.

“I noticed that too, she looks exhausted.” I agreed, suddenly finding the right words. “I know you can do this Zuko. We’ll be here when you need us.” Katara nodded with an understanding expression, face ready to fight. We stood off to the side, far enough away from the flames yet close enough to watch. Katara and I stood next to each other, watching the siblings as they take their places on the courtyard to face off. I knew I had nothing to worry about and yet there was this pit forming in my stomach, the thought of something happening to Zuko looming. Azula was the first to throw her flame, the blue as blinding as it was scorching. Zuko’s orange burst of flame collided with hers and I watched as the heat radiated into my skin. I felt Katara’s hand find mine, only realizing it had been shaking when her steady grip found it. I glanced at her with a soft smile, the sweatiness of my hand apparent against her cool palm. I retuned my attention to the Agni Kai, not wanting to lose sight of Zuko. I was thankful we were standing where we were, until I saw how many buildings were on fire around us. Fire really does do nothing but destroy. I watched as their flames collided over and over, reaching the air around them, but never touching them. The fact was, they were both incredible fighters, and this could be anyone’s fight. Zuko hit Azula with a hit so fierce that it knocked her off her feet, causing her to tumble to the ground and lose what little control she had of her hair. It fell around her face as she stood up, breathing heavily. I felt Katara start to walk forward and I pulled her back.

           “Katara, what in the spirits are you doing?” I hissed at her, and I hoped my face showed how confused I was.

           “What do you mean? We have to help him, look at her! She’s so angry, she’s about to explode. Don’t you want to help him?” She asked, firmly pulling her hand away and walking out onto the courtyard before I could respond.

           “Katara!” I snapped at her, reluctantly following her out. Zuko yelled something about lightening to Azula, causing her to work up a huge electrical spark. I was too busy tugging on Katara’s arm and trying to get her off of the courtyard considering they’re in the middle of an Agni Kai for spirits sake. I noticed that Katara was stuck in place, eyes wide while she stared in awe, so I followed her gaze to see the brightest flash of blue blinding me, its crackling getting louder. In a split second, Zuko was jumping through the air between the bolt of lightning and Katara and I, unsure where exactly the bolt was going.

I felt myself cry out, yet I don’t know what left my mouth, as the electricity crashed into Zuko. His voice rang out as he flew, his “No!” echoing with my yell. I watched as his body slid and crumpled to the ground, the burst of lightening that bounced off his body glaring. He curled into himself, holding his chest with one arm, before rolling to his back. I tumbled towards him, leaving Katara behind me, and I was able to reach him in a few strides; I refusing to let anything- or anyone- stop me from being with him. I slid down next to Zuko and grabbed the hand that was lying on the ground with mine, caressing his cheek with my free hand. I was rubbing my thumb nervously on his cheek as I stared into his face, a wince contorting it as he clutched his chest where a wound splayed on his skin. Destruction, everywhere. The nations, the buildings, Zuko. I blinked my thoughts and tears away, focusing all of my energy on Zuko, who needed it more.

           “Zuko it’s okay. You’re okay. Everything is goi- “, I heard Azula cackle before I felt the heat of the fire whip behind me, cutting Katara off her course. I turned my head to see if Katara needed my help, when I felt Zuko’s hand tighten around mine with as much strength as he could muster, weakly pulling me back to him. I turned to face him and saw his bleary eyes staring back at me, wincing as he spoke.

           “Stay with me, please.” He croaked out, pain clear in his voice. My heart felt heavy, holding back tears at the sound of his fragile tone which caused a phrase that would normally make me feel light make feel rooted in place instead. I squeezed his hand and moved closer, holding his cheek with a firm hand.

           “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.” He gazed into my eyes as long as he could before the pain took over and he clenched his body in discomfort. I looked behind me to see Katara and Azula fighting- water and fire flying through the air. I knew Azula could care less that I was here with Zuko, she was just happy to keep Katara (a waterbending healer) away from him. I was just another firebender, not even a small threat to her. I felt as Zuko tried to sit up and I turned my attention back to him, helping him get up without hurting himself further. His torso couldn’t handle his weight quite yet, and we settled with his body leaned up against mine as I sat on my knees. I rest his head against my collarbone, his back against my chest, and I placed one hand tenderly in his hair. I started absentmindedly playing with his dark soft locks as we watched the fight rage on.

Katara and Azula ended up across the courtyard, and we watched as they made their way under the archways that surrounded the courtyard. Suddenly, they were both engulfed in ice and I held my breath- Katara is by far the best waterbender I know, but to consume themselves completely? She skillfully unfroze herself, floating around Azula as she bound her wrists before letting the ice melt and drop below them. She tightened the chains to ensure Azula couldn’t escape before running over to us. She grabbed some of her bending water and held it over the wound on Zuko’s chest. I felt his body ease a bit, some of the painful tension clearly resolving with Katara’s healing.

“Thank you, Katara.” He said, his voice finally deflating from the pain and his body sunk into me as exhaustion seemed to wash over. I brushed his hair out of his face lightly and place my cheek on top of his head, as Katara kneeled next to him crying from everything that just happened.

Katara and I helped Zuko stand up and he wrapped his free arm around my shoulders; I wasn’t sure if it was for support or comfort, but I was happy to be close to him all the same as I wrapped my arm around his waist. We all watched as Azula began sobbing, her body wracked with wave after wave of emotion. She quickly became a mess of tears and blue flames as she sobbed, and it became obvious to me that she had been holding all of this in for so long. I felt Zuko’s arm tense around me, and I pulled him closer, my fist full of the fabric from his top.

                    _________________________________________

 The rest of that night blended together once we met with the others, catching up in rotations as Zuko and Sokka received medical attention (Sokka ended up hurting his leg when stopping the airship fleet, and had to walk around with a crutch for a while). Zuko had chosen the proper placements for his father and sister, Ozai in a Fire Nation prison and Azula in a mental institution. Aang told us about the lion-turtle and how it showed him how to bend another’s energy, finally finding his answer to defeating the Firelord without taking his life.

The day of Zuko’s coronation was bright, the sun shining in the sky without a cloud in sight. I was waiting in an open hallway of the palace for Zuko to finish cleaning up, his robe draped over my crossed arms. Considering he had to bandage up his chest and shoulder, I knew he’d need help with it anyway. I was wearing the fanciest robe I think I’ve ever worn in my life, that was the prettiest shade of red I’ve ever seen with the lightest gold swirls in the fabric. The sunlight lit the room up in an orange gold, making the regal décor look like a dream. I heard unfamiliar footsteps, surprisingly light for anyone I knew, and I turned around to come face to face with someone I’ve only seen in passing. She was tall, slender, and has sleek black hair with two buns that sit on the back of her head. She wore long, crimson robes with white accents, and stood in the archway with her arms crossed over her body. She glanced at Zuko’s robe in my arms, her face flat.

“You must be the other… firebender. Draya, was it?” As soon as she spoke, a calm dull tone, I knew who she was.

“You must be Mai. It’s nice to finally meet you.” I decide to say, not sure what else there’d be to say. I bow my head slightly in greeting, her flat face never changing.

“Whatever, I just wanted to know what you look like.” She said, looking away from me suddenly and walking up to the balcony, placing her hands on the edge as she looked out. “I guess it makes sense why he chose you.” Her infliction was as flat as her earlier statement and yet it was filled with more poison somehow.

“He didn’t choose anyone except himself. He chose his nation.” I say, feeling suddenly defensive except I wasn’t sure if it was for me or Zuko. I didn’t know what Mai was here for, so I chose what I said carefully. “He cares about you Mai; you’ve known each other since you were kids and have been through a lot. He told me that he’ll always care for you. I hope you forgive him for being an idiot that only leaves a goodbye letter.” I looked over to see a slight twinge on her face, a ghost of a smile, maybe? She let out a long sigh before turning to walk away.

“I just wanted to say hello. Let him know I stopped by.” She said as casually as she could, although I heard a hitch in her voice when she mentioned Zuko. She had just walked back through the archway she entered through when Zuko walked down the hall from the other side of the luxurious hallway, a smile on his face as he got closer. I gave a small smile in return and held his robe out for his as he approached. I helped him shrug it on, and I noticed that he flinched slightly when he rose his shoulders. I didn’t know how else to bring up Mai’s brief appearance.

“Mai stopped by. She said hello.” I said, focusing on tying Zuko’s robe instead of looking up at him. When It was neatly done, I glanced up, his amber eyes already studying my face. I shrugged. “She seems nice.” This earned a small laugh from him.

“That’s not typically a word people use with Mai, but she is… once you get to know her.” I wrapped my arms around his waist gingerly and softly placed my head on his chest. I listened to his heartbeat as he gently draped his arms around me. I felt him rest his cheek on my head as he let out a content hum.

“Firelord Zuko… it has a nice ring to it.” I say, feeling his body rumble as he chuckled, and we pulled apart so we could look at each other. My hands lingered on his hips and his on my upper arms.

“So does Queen Draya.” I tried to let out a real laugh, but given the soft expression he gave me, I could tell it wasn’t convincing. I sighed and shook my head, smiling up at him.

“Zuko. I want to be with you, I can’t imagine not being by your side. You’re going to need all of the support you can get as you rebuild the Fire Nation, and I plan to be next to you every step of the way.” He smiled at me and I softly placed my hand on his cheek. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that, but I am ready to be your girlfriend… if you still want to be together.” His hand covered the one I had on his cheek, pushing his face into my palm and his free hand found my hip.

“We have the rest of our lives, I’m in no rush. As long as you’re with me, anything is possible.” I leaned forward and met his lips with a soft kiss. His hand snaked behind me as he pulled me closer, deepening the kiss with a smile, making me savor the moment that much more. When we pulled apart, I laughed nervously.

“That’s good, because I was looking at the damages done from the Agni Kai and… there’s a lot.” I gestured to the buildings around us before bringing my hand in and delicately dragging my index finger down Zuko’s torso, trying to only touch the fabric so I wouldn’t hurt him. “You’ll need enough time to heal before you really get out there too much.” He grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers, walking towards his bedroom to finish getting dressed up in his Firelord attire. “Fire does tend to leave a lot of destruction in its path.”

“Do you remember when Aang and I went to the Sun Warrior ruins? Spirits that feels like so long ago. Aang said something while we were there that stuck with me. He called the fire he held a heartbeat. Fire does destroy, it also breathes and lives. The Fire Nation will soon be able to live and breathe freely the way fire should, and soon firebenders won’t be known for their destruction.”

“You haven’t even been officially crowned yet, and you already sound like the wisest Firelord I already know you’ll be known for. That is a nice way to think about firebending, though.” We stopped in front of his room and I heard voices coming from inside. I raised an eyebrow to him, and he chuckled, pulling me into his room. There were a few men, making sure Zuko’s robe and armor look perfect as it hung on a mannequin, who turned at the sound of us entering. They all started speaking at once and Zuko smiled at them.

“We were beginning to wonder when you’d show up to get ready for the coronation, Prince Zuko!” One of them said with a smile.

“Oh, I can help him get ready… if that’s okay with you?” I said, turning my head towards Zuko quickly as the words tumbled out of my mouth without thought. He gave one nod to me and looked to the men.

“Draya will help me, thank you for preparing my clothing.” He said, his noble demeanor slightly endearing. They all bowed to him, and then me, before shuffling out of the room. We walked towards the mannequin and he shot me a smirk. “Have you ever helped dress someone in royal garb before?” I pursed my lips and nodded my head in little quick nods.

“I only exclusively help dress people in royal garb.” We laughed and I removed the top layer of armor, carefully laying it on the bed. “I just thought you could help me figure it out.” I helped him slide the heavier robe over his arms and secure it in place. I never thought something as simple as helping a healing Zuko get dressed could be a memory I want to cherish forever, thinking to myself how I never want to forget the gentleness in his voice or the softness in his touch.

                                _________________________________________

           We were all lounging in Iroh’s tea shop, and it was amazing how it felt to really relax without too much worry for the future. We could really just enjoy this moment; the soft music Iroh was playing that reminded me of the old man who used to play music on his porch every night in my home village, the sight of Aang happily played with Momo on the ground and Toph lazily sipped on her tea, sitting with Katara and Suki at the Pai Sho table as they explained how to play. Zuko had walked up with a glass of tea for each of us, which caused Sokka to groan from across the room.

         “Drayyyya, tell your boyfriend to stop moving so much. I'm trying to capture the moment!" Sokka's comment made me smile, because I couldn't deny it this time: Zuko is my boyfriend, and nothing made me happier than he did. We all walked over to see Sokka’s artwork and immediately started questioning his artistic creativity.

           “Well, I think you all look perfect!” Toph chimed in, causing us all to laugh. Aang walked outside to feed Appa, disappearing onto the balcony, and was soon followed by a rather confident looking Katara. I smiled to myself, silently celebrating with her in my head because finally. I stood next to Zuko, wrapping one arm around his torso as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. He pulled me in closely and I placed my free hand on his chest, resting my head above my hand. I could hear his heartbeat, a reminder that we made it and we’re here, Zuko’s here with me, and Sokka is cracking jokes with Toph while Iroh plays more music and everything about this moment is perfect.

Life wouldn’t magically be easy after this, easier yes, but there’s still a lot of hard work to do. We can rebuild the Fire Nation, rebuild their reputation with the world; the seven of us have gotten through so much and I knew we could get through more, together. I knew that, with Zuko by my side, anything would be possible. There might be destruction everywhere, and now it’s time to rebuild something beautiful from the rubble.  

#avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #avatar: tla #a:tla #atla #avatar: the last airbender fanfic #atla fanfic #original character fic #oc fanfic #zuko x oc #aang #katara #sokka #toph #suki #azula #mai #iroh