#and not for nothing but i think if anyone called zuko buddy (such as aang for example) he would melodramatically groan or something

[comradekatara]

to me, the funniest thing about “that’s rough buddy” isn’t the fact that sokka says something patently insane with zero context seemingly out of nowhere, or the fact that zuko clearly doesn’t know how to respond. it’s the completely incorrect use of the word “buddy.” zuko would obviously like to be friends with sokka, but sokka is not, in fact, his friend. this is the most time they’ve ever spent together, and it’s because zuko invited himself to tag along on sokka’s suicide mission. at this point in the episode, sokka still hates this guy, perhaps less than he did a week ago, but he still hates him enough that he didn’t bother forcing zuko to stay home, which means he still didn’t really care whether or not zuko lives or dies. which, considering that he had tried to kill zuko multiple times in the past, is not all that surprising. this entire episode is essentially just zuko forcing his friendship onto sokka while sokka is legitimately too depressed to care. so when zuko calls sokka “buddy,” there’s a spirit of dogged optimism characterizing that epithet, because in no possible realm would sokka consider zuko his buddy at this point in the episode. and that’s something we miss when noting the iconicness of this exchange, simply because, by the end of this episode, they are buddies, so in our minds looking back on these lines, the implication of friendship doesn’t feel out of place at all. and really, it isn’t out of place, but only because zuko’s tenacity and determination (in this instance, his determination to befriend sokka) has always hugely outweighed his ability to read the room.

#and not for nothing but i think if anyone called zuko buddy (such as aang for example) he would melodramatically groan or something #by all accounts this is not a word he would ever use #but this is his first time even mildly successful socializing with a guy his age #and hes like ‘this is how males communicate right?’ #‘if i call him buddy it shall establish camaraderie. which is the first step to marriage’ #zuko #sokka #sokkaxzuko #90% of my zukka posts are about how sokka hates zuko and wants to kill him #but i think that’s an important contribution to the zukka ecosystem . perhaps even the most important

[raewritez]

Still | Pt. 2

continuation of this request: I’m thirsty for a love triangle. Maybe Sokka and Zuko fighting for the reader’s affection. And she chooses ____!

warnings: simping, jealousy, obliviousness, she/her pronouns

Sokka’s ending

Zuko felt guilty.

The Water Tribe boy had been sulking for days now, grumbling under his breath and sending pointed glared Zuko’s way. The jokes he would’ve usually made around the campfire remained unspoken, replaced instead by uncomfortable silence and heavy sighs. Zuko knew Sokka well enough to know this wasn’t normal, and though Sokka had denied any accusations of moodiness or changes in behavior, Zuko had a hunch as to the reason for his despondency.

He’d recognized it when he’d first arrived. The affection that seemed to follow the two of you like an aura didn’t go unnoticed by the Firebender, and though he’d tried to ignore it he knew that wasn’t fair. Not to Sokka, not to you. Zuko knew you were upset - he saw your worried stares that lingered after the boy and the way your fingers extended towards him as if they were pulled. You’d been quieter, too, Sokka’s hostile demeanor wearing you down and inflicting you with endless confusion and longing. Zuko saw, and he knew. No one could deny it, the care you had for him. It was as obvious as Sokka’s care for you.

Zuko rose early - with the sun, as he liked to say - awakening with birdsong and peeking sunlight. He strained his eyes open with a yawn and a stretch, rubbing his palms along his face. Exiting the tent, he was surprised when his eyes fell on a figure perched atop the cliffside. They were hunched over, their head in their hands and their hair loose from its usual tie. Zuko exhaled, sparing a glance towards your tent before heading Sokka's way.

The awkwardness crept up on him, growing with each step and seizing his limbs in the way it would feel to walk through cold water. The ground crunched under his boots and the sound drew to him blue eyes that darkened upon sight, turning away and returning to their gaze resting upon the valley. Standing behind Sokka, Zuko shuffled on his feet before deciding to sit. His legs hung over the rocky terrace, hands prickled by gravel. Mustering up his courage, he spoke.

"Um, you're up early."

Sokka barely spared a glance, opting to focus on the array of pebbles lining the ground. "Yeah, I guess," he said. "Couldn't sleep."

Zuko nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, for sure."

A moment of silence, and Zuko felt like caving in on himself. It hadn't been this tense between the two boys for a while, not since before Zuko chose good. They were friends, choosing each other's company on errand runs or fishing trips, bonding over sparring and the mere companionship of another friend like themselves. There hadn't been this awkwardness, this distance. But that was before, before you became something more and playful banter had become unspoken competition. But it wasn't ever a competition, not really, and Zuko had realized that. Because the means of your affection were unchallengeable, and Zuko knew who they belonged to. And though the heart of his childhood self may have once longed for yours in return, it simply was not him.

"Sokka," he said, shaking away his uncertainty. "There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

Sokka's eyes met his, and Zuko became aware of the soft resignation in his expression. He mustered a smile, that charming grin that always managed to sooth the group's worries, that could put any mind at ease.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Zuko. If this is about what I think it's about, then there's really nothing to talk about. It's all you, buddy."

Zuko's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

"It's all you. You know, you don't have to fight me or anything. I get that you guys have history and I can respect that, you don't -"

"Sokka, what are you talking about?"

His brows furrowed, confusion glossing over him. "We - we're talking about Y/n, right?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then it's fine. You can go and tell her how-"

"Sokka."

"-you feel and it'll be totally fine. I mean, I don't care like, at all. If she's happy I'm happy, y'know? And besides, you guys-"

He was talking rapidly now, hoping his words could make up for the hole in his chest. He was loosing you, he just knew it. And to Zuko, no less. Spirits, he did not want to see you with him, didn't want to see you with anyone but himself alone. But you were more important than how he felt, and if you loved Zuko then that's-

"Sokka!"

His rambling was cut short, and he found himself panting a bit from the lack of air. The look on Zuko's face was disbelieving - some sort of stupidity-laced astonishment accompanied by a mischievous grin.

Sokka swallowed. "Yeah?" he croaked out.

"It's not me."

He shook his head. "Zuko-"

"It's not," Zuko spoke. His words were firm, final. His prince's voice. "Maybe at some point I wanted it to be, but it's not me. I know how you feel about her, Sokka. And I know she feels the same."

His mouth fell open at his commanding tone, at the puncturing decisiveness of his words. The meaning of them set in a moment later. "Are you- are you..."

"Yeah," Zuko smiled. "I'm sure, Sokka."

His blue eyes stared once again across the valley, gleaming with vulnerability and cautious hope. After a moment, he grinned, a breathy laugh escaping his lips. "She feels the same." He spoke it like a child, giddy with excitement and whispered like a prayer. Zuko couldn't help the tug of his lips.

"O-kay, buddy," he said, standing and stifling a chuckle at Sokka's dreamy expression. "I'll leave you to it, then."

He began his way back to the campsite, his friends finding their way out of their tents and filling the air with the beginnings of morning greetings. A second, then a call.

"Zuko!"

He turned, finding Sokka appearing much more like his old self. "Thank you."

Zuko nodded, and with bittersweet content walked down the slope.

///

The sun was a red shadow across your eyelids, and the muscles fought to strain it out. You could make out faint chattering, scuffling feet and an aroma emanating from the fire that lured you to your feet. You stretched and yawned, muscles sore from days of traveling and mind clouded with an exhaustion that went deeper than could be made palatable by the nourishment of sleep. You were tired of Sokka's attitude and you had half a mind to excuse him from the luxury of your kindness. Whatever. You weren't going to let him ruin your morning.

Mornings with your friends always held a certain domesticity that never failed to bring a smile to your face. Katara stood, as she usually did, above a pot that no doubt held some delicious combination of fruit or steaming rice. Aang was tending to Appa, sending a smile and a wave your way with a call of "Good morning, Y/n!". You smiled and waved back, offering a call of your own. Toph was still sleeping, and Zuko...was talking to Sokka? Strange...you could've sworn they were fighting at the moment.

You walked over to Katara, winding your arms around her waist and placing your head on her shoulder. "Morning, 'Tara," you mumbled sleepily. "Whatcha making?"

"Rice, and some meat we got from town," she replied, chuckling a bit at your affection.

"Sounds good."

From atop her shoulder your eyes met Zuko's, and he offered you a smile. You peeled yourself off of her and made your way over to him, sparing a glance at Sokka's figure still hunched over the cliffside. "Hey," you said.

He stopped in front of you. "Hey."

You peered over his shoulder. "Sokka's up early."

He straightened up suddenly, eyes brightening. "Uh, yeah! You should go talk to him! You know, just the two of you."

You raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because! You guys are friends, and friends should talk to each other. Maybe he has....something really interesting to say?"

He was just about bouncing on his feet now, and you were extremely confused as to why he was pushing you to go talk to Sokka. Sure, you wanted to, but he definitely didn't. And...why was Zuko acting so weird?

"I guess?"

He nodded reverently, placing his hands on your shoulders to steer you behind him. "Yeah! So go, um, have fun!"

He walked away briskly, and you were left in confusion. You turned to where Sokka sat, leg bouncing and hair loose, just how you liked it.

You guessed it couldn't hurt, right?

Walking up the sloping hill, the view of the valley below pooled out in front of you. Endless green kissed by sunlight, sounds of glistening streams playing like a far-off song. Your eyes fell on Sokka, and your heart tugged. You missed him. You had longed to speak with him, to be alone together in perfect contentment like you used to, but he 'd either shut you down or you'd loose the energy to try again. But maybe Zuko knew something you didn't, so you mustered up the courage and sat down next to him.

His eyes darted to you instantly, widening as he sat up straighter.

"Hi," you muttered, picking gravel from the earth to sift through your fingers.

"Hi," he breathed.

You turned to him and he stared, heart beating rapidly in his chest. He wondered if you could hear it. Your eyes were curious and hesitant, and he felt suddenly shy under your gaze.

"How're you doing?" You asked him, absent-mindedly drinking in the sight of him cloaked in all his morning glory.

"Good," he answered quickly, sharply. "H-how're you?"

"I'm good," you said softly. He stared, seemingly lost in thought, before shaking his head as if in awakening and turning away. You sat there next to him, bathed in silence and uncertainty. For once, you didn't know what to say to him. A moment, then another, and you began internally berating Zuko for his "advice". You were reaching the conclusion that maybe this wasn't a good idea, when an intake of breath from beside you stilled your thoughts.

Sokka's mouth opened and closed, and a war was painted on his face. He wanted to say something. He looked to you, and at meeting your eyes he seemed to grow more secure. He scooted closer, shuffling across the ground so that your knees were but a breath away and you could feel the enchantment of his warmth.

"Y/n," he bit his lip, searching. Spirits, how was he supposed to do this? These were not the conditions in which he'd imagined the truth would arise, but here he was. "Yes?" you questioned, and he calmed. You would listen, you always did. You wouldn't leave, you never had. Finally, he breathed. "I'm sorry."

Those words were out, and everything else followed after.

"I'm so, so sorry. I've been awful to you. I didn't mean to be, but I guess I was just...jealous? I mean, you and Zuko....no, that's not fair. I know you guys are friends and were friends for a long time, but I guess I just...I mean, you were my friend, and then he came and I only realized it then, and then I was upset because you were with him and not with me, and I couldn't even tell you that I realized it because I was being so stupid, and-"

"Realized what, Sokka?"

He paused, mouth snapping shut. Your expression was questioning, a bit lost from his ranting, and he was implored to confess.

"Y/n, I-" He met your stare once again, those e/c eyes that he had fallen so deep into. Deciding words were not for him, he did the only other thing that could possibly convey what he felt, and how much he felt it. He moved forward, grasping your face between his palms. He leaned in slowly, awaiting any signs of discomfort or rejection. When he found none, he pressed his lips to yours.

It was surprising, how soft his lips were. They seemed to carry every bit of warmth that he'd ever shown to you, every ounce of love he carried in his body. He moved smoothly against you, and you melted. Your eyes slipped shut, arms winding around his neck and fingers running through his hair. He kept you pressed firmly against him, and you would have no complaints if you were told you were trapped there forever. His palms cupped your cheeks, thumb stroking the skin. Air was not thought of until it had to be, and you pulled away, though not more than a whisper.

He kept his forehead pressed against yours and you smiled, a laugh pulling forth from your lips. His chest rumbled with yours, stealing another peck from you with a wide grin.

"That's why you were ignoring me? That's dumb, Sokka."

He chuckled. "I know, I'm sorry."

You smiled, leaning up to press against him once again. "It's ok," you said. "You can make it up to me."

—————-

taglist: @satans-bae-and-queen

#avatar the last airbender #prince zuko #atla #fire lord zuko #aang x reader #legend of korra #avatar #avatar: tla #sokka x reader #zuko x reader #sokka #sokka x y/n #sokka x you #zuko x y/n #zuko x you

[firelxdykatara]

Katara hated Zuko. It was a plot point. Sokka never did--and their "friendship" in the show was close to becoming something more--so they were on equal footing and had hinted romance. Zutara is misogynistic--why are you forcing Katara into a relationship with someone she hates? Choose Toph or Suki if you really believe Zuko isn't gay.

there’s so much to unpack here, and i know i should really throw out the whole suitcase, but i just can’t help myself

and please, i beg of you, picture someone laughing so hard that tears are streaming down their face because that’s me right now, reading this ask. i about choked on my eggnog, so thanks for that!

point the first: sokka hated zuko every bit as much as katara did in the first two books. it was a plot point. sokka wanted to leave zuko to die because saving him wouldn’t have been worth the trouble--he was pragmatic and deeply distrustful of anyone who wasn’t in his immediate circle, and that went especially hard for anyone from the fire nation. including the birds!

point the first part two: sokka’s easy acceptance of zuko into the gaang had less to do with any budding friendship or caring for him (since there was none to speak of until the boiling rock episodes), and more to do with a lack of any personal grudge. aka: there was no tension there. nothing to really dig into--no true development of feelings. because aang needed a firebending teacher, zuko was around and willing to take on that role, and also he was a prime roasting target, so sokka was happy enough to let bygones be after he helped them take down combustion man.

which, of course, isn’t to say shipping them isn’t valid. there are plenty of ships that have little to no canon basis but a lot of fandom support, and that’s usually fine....until the fans start getting uppity about it and insisting that there Is Canon Basis Really, and then insisting that the ‘rival’ ship is misogynistic when their alleged ‘canon basis’ requires stripping everything meaningful from the girl’s relationship to the boy and giving it to her brother instead. which is exactly what you’re doing here, but i digress.

point the second: how on earth was sokka and zuko’s ‘friendship’ in the show (and why the scare quotes? were they not actually friends? are you really sitting in my inbox right now devaluing their platonic relationship because you don’t think it exists outside of your belief that they really wanted to fuck the whole time, despite sokka being in a happy relationship with someone else?) ‘close to becoming something more’? when did they ever have a single, solitary conversation that hinted at any ‘deeper’ feelings? sokka spent most of their buddy cop adventure to boiling rock mooning over his girlfriend (heh, get it? mooning? because he- oh, you get the point), to the point where he had literal hearteyes the instant he saw her--and zuko’s purpose there wasn’t to deepen his relationship with sokka so much as it was to reunite sokka and katara with their father, and to see an example of what a healthy paternal relationship actually looks like.

(one of my favorite shots in the show is zuko’s soft smile when sokka and katara are hugging hakoda)

so already your claim that they ‘had hinted romance’ falls incredibly flat, because there was absolutely nothing in the show that was ‘hinting’ they had romantic feelings for one another--in universe or out of it. sokka was happily in love with suki, and even the one scene that i can imagine might make shippers scream--when zuko popped into sokka’s tent late at night--sokka was about to have sex with his girlfriend, and when he asked zuko ‘what’s on your mind’, the first words out of his mouth were your sister.

(and then, as soon as zuko left, sokka was calling for suki again. the next morning, he was making a flower necklace--or a lei. because he got lei’d. it’s amazing the things you pick up when you rewatch the show as an adult lmfao.)

point the third (and this one is really where your argument blows up in your face): your insistence that zutara requires ‘forcing katara into a relationship with someone she hates’ reveals your own ignorance, because it’s demonstrably not true--unless you’re trying to argue that katara hated zuko all the way through to the end of the show, which??? i suppose makes it make more sense that you think zuko and sokka had a hinted romance in the text, because viewing comprehension clearly isn’t your strongsuit.

why are yall so quick to dismiss katara’s own feelings in the name of calling a fictional, noncanon ship ‘misogynistic’? because katara said, in the text, ‘but I am ready to forgive you’--and then she hugged zuko, called him into a group hug with the gaang later, joked (and even flirted) with him on ember island, helped talk him through his anxiety about facing his uncle, and happily agreed to go with him to face his sister, where she saved his life after watching him take a literal bolt of lightning to save hers.

if any of that had happened with sokka, yall would be calling it demonstrable evidence that zuko and sokka are in love. and yet when we use that canonical buildup and the deep bond of friendship and trust zuko and katara have by the end of the series to imagine them getting into a romantic relationship because of feelings developed during these events......you call us misogynistic? really? because we’re ‘forcing’ her into a relationship with someone she ‘hates’....except she didn’t hate him by the end of the series, they were very close friends and had gotten over and had closure from their personal baggage, and that’s the kind of stuff that provides excellent fuel for envisioning a romantic relationship developing!

so what was your argument again?

ETA: i was so busy deconstructing the bulk of your argument that i forgot to address that laughable last line--toph or suki? who had much, MUCH less relationship development with zuko than katara did?? ‘if you really believe zuko isn’t gay’???? im sorry that you can’t recognize a whole bisexual when you see one, but as a bi myself, i know that zuko’s dual-wielding ass couldn’t ‘pick a side’ if his life depended on it. and he had more romantic coding with both jet and katara than he ever had with sokka--that’s just a fact. sorry if the truth hurts, anon!

#atla #zutara #zuko #katara #zukka salt #zukka fandom salt #just covering my bases #sokka #salt for ts #asked #Anonymous

[milkypompon]

𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 | Gaang x Earthbender!Reader

𝕀𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚��𝕖 | What’s life like with the Gaang when they include another Earthbender? Well to everyone’s surprise, it’s quite calm… sometimes. Y/N’s ability is unlike the hard-core Metalbending, Sandbending, and tradition Earthbendingof Toph. Yes, they’re fully capable of doing all that if they truly wanted to. But Y/N chooses to help out in their own way, giving life to nature and indirectly to their friends too.

𝔸𝕦𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣'𝕤 ℕ𝕠𝕥𝕖 | You can deem these as Character x Reader or just some adorable platonic love with the wonderful team! On another note, for some reason, I LITERALLY WRITE SMALL STORIES INSTEAD OF HEADCANONS LMAOOO. Still hope you got a lil something out of this.

𝔼ℕ𝕁𝕆𝕐

【𝔸𝔸ℕ𝔾】

Puns. That’s it puns.

The crew sat around a flickering fire dead in the night. Wind whistled into their ears and leaves swirled about their hair. Despite the chill weather, everyone chattered and laughed wildly. Sokka began yet another high tale of his that was supposedly dating back to his childhood. His arms flailed wildly, receiving cackles from Toph. While Katara and Zuko fell onto their side, legs kicking the air sporadically.

Y/N sat next to Aang who suddenly grabbed their shoulder and said firmly, “We need to talk.”

Everyone stopped their shenanigans.

Aang deepened his voice, “Y/N… for what’s Earth, you are the team’s most down to planet person ever.”

Y/N snorted, “IT’S DOWN TO EARTH. NOT PLANET”

Well… at least he tried.

Competitions on who can pull out the most potatoes out of the dirt. Let’s just say the Gaang ate potatoes for a week thanks to Aang. And an astonishing two week thanks to Y/N.

When they have heated arguments, which weren’t often, but the team sure as hell stepped on the gas when it did happen, Y/N would offer Aang some pretty nasty food. Nothing dangerous or poisonous, well Aang would actually describe the apple inhabiting worms he took a bite out of last week.

【𝕊𝕆𝕂𝕂𝔸】

Absolutely without a doubt calls you many nicknames

Exhibit A

Sokka poked Y/N’s cheek, he received a smile in return. “Hey, uh… plant nanny, could you swing by at my place and take a look at the vegetables Katara planted? They’re already wilting…”

Y/N giggled, “You planted them didn’t you?”

“Wha- of course I didn’t. FINE, I did!”

Exhibit B

“You just stepped on the chamomile flowers that just started sprouting!” Y/N squealed at Sokka.

“Oh SHIT-” Sokka ate a mouthful of dirt right after Y/N hit him hard in the back of the head with a tree branch. “I’m sorry I upset you Sweet Pea…”

Asked the Gaang as to why Y/N doesn’t perform traditional Earthbending and just received, “Why don’t you ask them yourself?”

Sokka was downright afraid, not because of Y/N’s personality, but he didn’t want to poke through their past. Obviously, curiosity got the best of him!

“Well, I just like the smell of flowers and the taste of organic food more than hurling rocks at people,” Y/N simply shrugged.

Sokka nodded, there was nothing more to it.

“But, sometimes I do like creating my own cliffs and pushing enemies off of it. It’s more meaningful if it’s from rocks I formed myself,” Y/N stared at him dead in the eye.

Sokka’s eyebrows arched high.

That was the last time anyone saw Sokka :0

【ℤ𝕌𝕂𝕆】

Many stories as the two planted flowers in front of the Fire Nation palace

“Y’know, Y/N, this reminds me of this one time Uncle made tea out of a white jade bush,” Zuko snickered.

Y/N eyes widened, “ISN’t THAT POISONOUS?? ... Or was it not??”

“Oh trust me, you would not want to be trying white jade bush tea,” he smirked.

Tends plants with Y/N because it reminds him of the peaceful days of when he served tea at Ba Sing Se

BUT, poor Zuko easily becomes sunburnt when he helps with Y/N’s garden

Y/N heard a knock at their bedroom door.

It was Zuko behind the door saying, “Uh, Y/N could you help me-”

When they swung the door open they were greeted with a scorched man with peeling skin. “HOLY SHIT! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!”

Quickly, Y/N led Zuko to the bathroom and in the corner sat a mini fridge. (He always wondered what was in it. Snacks?) When Y/N opened it, there were stacks of aloe vera leaves snuggled next to each other.

“Why do you have so much-” Zuko began.

“Let’s just say Aang was my first patient…” Y/N laughed under their breath. They gently applied the aloe onto Zuko’s body, which earned them hisses from the dramatic Fire Lord.

“That takes care of it!” Y/N clasped their hands proudly.

“Uh, Y/N. I’m feeling a bit… itCHY!” Zuko yelped.

That’s when both of them found out that Zuko was allergic to aloe vera. Congrats, now Y/N has to call the doctor.

Every weekend, Zuko swing by for new flowers for Ursa (if she returned to the palace... )

“Knock, knock!” Fire Lord Zuko greeted Y/N with a bright smile.

“What brings you here on this fine morning, Your Highness?” Y/N teased.

“Mother’s been nagging me to ask you for help to create a bouquet for each of the rooms in the palace,” Zuko stated.

Y/N’s voice hitched, “EACH ROOM??”

“Don’t worry! I’ll help you pick the flowers and arrange them!,” he offered.

“Oh, like you’d be of any help,” Y/N giggled.

“I swear I’ll be more careful this time,” Zuko rolled his eyes.

But, uh… this time ended up just like last week, Zuko set the flowers he was arranging on fire…

【𝕂𝔸𝕋𝔸ℝ𝔸 】

Basketweaving… attempts by Katara

On Ember Island, the Gaang was able to laze around for a few days (well until Zuko gave the team a big beating that Sozin’s comet was going to practically destroy the world).

Y/N sat under the shade of the swaying palm trees, undisturbed by the squealing of Sokka as his supposed sand sculpture resembling Suki was destroyed. Y/N hummed as they weaved the palm fronds into little baskets.

Katara approached them and commented, “Y/N that’s beautiful! I wish the Southern Water Tribe could make these. Sokka and I were kept busy creating pots with Gran-Gran.”

Y/N timidly scratched the back of their neck, “I could teach you if you’d like! Then we can use it to hold the fish we’ll catch later with Sokka.”

Y/N used their earthbending to pull down the leaves from the palm trees and their work began.

After the fishing trip of the wonderful trio, Katara carefully placed the fish they caught in the basket she wove. As they neared the sandy beach Aang took notice of their disgruntled state. He commented, “Why do all three of you look-”

“I TRIED OKAY! THE FISH GOT OUT OF THE BASKET I WOVE,” Katara defended herself.

“AND IT SLAPPED ALL THREE OF US BEFORE IT JUMPED BACK IN THE WATER,” Sokka yelled.

Katara tried, okay!

Flowercrowns

Many flowercrowns were made for the Gaang with the help of Katara

She may not be that great at creating baskets, but you can bet that Katara doesn’t stop at making crowns: She’s made necklaces and bracelets for Appa and Momo.

Potion making!

Katara would use her waterbending to mix the little potions that Y/N created They’d walk around rolling hills that contained many flowers and herbs that could be used for healing potions and in some cases caffeinated tea!

【𝕋𝕆ℙℍ】

Usual Toph shenanigans

“Ugh, some clerk just charged me over the usual price for these seeds we’ve been needing!” Y/N grumbled.

“Well, we could do something about it…” Toph smirked.

Y/N searched for some termites around the forest and Toph helped transport them around the clerk’s house.

- A few days later -

“Uh, Aang,” Zuko tugged at Aang’s sleeve. “Wasn’t there a house there a couple days ago?”

“I think you drank some cactus juice, buddy,” Sokka simply shrugged.

“Actually, I think there was…” Aang scratched his chin in confusion.

Toph offered Y/N a high-five, “A job well done, if I do say so myself!”

Some brawls that should have clearly not have started in the first place

“Y/N fite me!” Toph marched up to Y/N.

“No,” they stated bluntly.

“WHy! It’s kinda a thing for all us to train together,” she defended herself.

“Fine, but don’t get angry at me if you end up with a splinter or two,” Y/N rolled their eyes.

By sunset, Toph’s head was stuck in between a tree for a couple hours. Even Y/N couldn’t get her out. Or maybe they could…

Y/N teaches Toph “Treebending”, which was a challenge for both of them

“You have to be gentle with these plants Toph!” Y/N’s forehead was forming a red square from all their facepalms caused by Toph.

“I’M TRYING!” She quipped. “It’s kinda hard to be gentle when I’ve been practicing metalbending these past few weeks.

【ℝ𝔼ℚ𝕌𝔼𝕊𝕋 𝕋𝕆 𝔹𝔼 𝕆ℕ 𝔸 𝕋𝔸𝔾𝕃𝕀𝕊𝕋 𝕋ℍℝ𝕌 𝕄𝕐 𝕀ℕ𝔹𝕆𝕏 𝔸ℕ𝔻 ℝ𝔼ℚ𝕌𝔼𝕊𝕋𝕊 𝔽𝕆ℝ 𝔸𝕋𝕃𝔸 𝔸ℝ𝔼 𝕆ℙ𝔼ℕ】

𝔼𝕟𝕕𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕖 | THESE WERE SO FUN TO MAKE! Also, thanks again for the people who’ve been supporting my “Extra Hot Sifu Hotman: Zuko x Reader” fic! I’m taking a small break just to layout how I want the story to go and I’m trying my hand at doing headcanons/requests from my inbox.

#zuko x reader #zuko #zuko imagines #sokka x reader #sokka imagines #aang x reader #aang #aang imagines #katara x reader #katara #katara imagines #toph x reader #toph #toph imagines #atla #atla imagines #avatar #avatar imagines

[f0xfordcomma]

re:union (kataang week 2021) DAY SEVEN

prompt: the sea and the sky

re:union

chapter seven: reunions

rating: T

words: 2529

summary: "He had fought hard for this unity. Had spent countless hours in courtrooms and offices arguing with dignitaries and representatives about the benefits of a United Republic. He had spent long nights drafting up documents and looking over contracts. He had dreamed of finally seeing this day, finally seeing this unity. All he could see tonight though, was a yellow flower drifting around the crowded room on an intricately braided head of ochre hair."

read it on ao3

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

chapter seven: reunions

By the time Aang had handled Councilman Zhu’s dumpling crisis, he had lost track of Katara.

“She went to get changed for the feast,” a familiar, though deeper than he remembered, voice sounded from behind him.

“Sokka!”

“Hey buddy! It’s good to see you.”

They squeezed each other in a bone-crushing hug. The first one, Aang realized, he had gotten since his return. Aang held on a little harder at the thought.

“Where’s Suki?”

“Getting ready with the rest of the warriors. They are playing a special part in the performance tonight.”

“Wow! I can’t wait to see that!”

“Heh—yeah, me too.” Sokka’s voice went somewhere dreamy. “But, uh, I think it’ll be hard to watch with your head buried in my shoulder like this…”

“Oh right! Sorry… just happy to see you.”

“I missed you too buddy.” Sokka squeezed Aang’s shoulder reassuringly. “Now, you should go get ready! Can’t have the guest of honor stinking up the place tonight.”

“Guest of honor…” Aang grumbled, rolling his eyes in exasperation at Zhu’s exuberance. Still, he broke away from Sokka, giving him a nod as he made his way towards the room’s egress.

“Oh, and Aang?” called Sokka from near the food tables where he was stealing an hor’s d'oeuvre from under a cloche. “She’s not seeing anybody, in case you were wondering.”

Aang stopped still, his ears burned, his head swam. He hadn’t realized how much the question was plaguing him until he had heard it vocalized. She’s still single. There’s still time. He had let her go once, had regretted it every day since. She’s still single. He had no idea if she still wanted him the way he wanted her. But she’s still single. He resolved to try and change that fact by the end of the night.

He opened his mouth to speak but only a low whine came out. He cleared his throat but ended up coughing around the words as he forced them out. “I—is that… is that so?”

“It is.” Sokka snorted.

“That’s uh… thanks Sokka!” Aang shouted in salutation as he rushed out the door, needing to hide his burning blush and, as everyone had insisted, finally get cleaned up.

⬭

He wore a new set of robes. The pants dyed a dark amber with northern saffron. The belt and sash a sunny terra-cotta color that complimented the blue of his tattoos.

He surveyed his face in the mirror, taking in the scruff along his jawline, the tan around his temples, the laugh lines near his lips. He hadn’t spent much time looking at himself over the past few years, hadn’t had a mirror at any of the temples. The only time he would look at his reflection was when shaving his head, and even then, the refraction of the water made it difficult to examine his countenance with any detail.

Aang had never much minded the way that he looked--hadn’t had much use for vanity when living with the monks, hadn’t had much time for insecurity when running from the fire nation, hadn’t had much need for self-consciousness when being loved by Katara--he’d always thought his face was friendly enough, his body was strong enough. Something about looking at himself now though, fully a man, strong and steady and serene in a way that he’d never seen himself before, made his chest swell with confidence.

“I look good, huh buddy?” He directed the question to Momo, who had joined him in his room after an afternoon spent swooping around Cranefish City in search, no doubt, of sweets from strangers.

In reply, the lemur flew over to perch on his shoulder, scratching through the stubble on Aang’s chin with a squawk.

“You really think she’ll like it?” He scratched Momo between the ears and produced a plum from the pocket of his pants.

Momo took the fruit eagerly between his paws and greedily gobbled it down.

“Aw buddy, you flatter me.”

“Well babe,” a feminine voice dripping with thinly veiled amusement sounded from behind him, “it looks like we’ve officially lost him.”

“You’d think so, but he’s been talking to the lemur like that for as long as I’ve known him.”

“So what you’re telling me is, he has always been insane?”

“Pretty much.”

Aang’s face was beet red (he had lost count, at this point, as to how many times this had happened today) as he spun on his heel to face the Firelord and Firelady, who were standing in his doorway in their formal robes and appraising him with mirth-filled expressions.

“Uh, hey guys… how, uh… how long have you been standing there?”

“Oh, long enough, hot stuff.” Mai shot him a wry smile with a raised eyebrow before turning and pecking her husband on the cheek quickly as she took her leave. “I’m going to go make sure the kids are ready. We leave in ten, boys.”

Once Mai was out of earshot, Zuko burst into laughter and walked over to throw an arm around Aang. “Anything you want to talk about there, Aang?”

“Yeah! Why is it that I don’t see any of you for three whole years, and the first thing anyone does is tease me.”

“That’s not true! The first thing I did was put you on babysitting duty.”

“You’re not funny, Zuko.”

“Hey! Now who’s teasing whom?”

Aang scowled. Zuko, trying to school his face into a slightly more serious expression, straightened up and stalked a few paces across the small room.

“I’m going to give you some unsolicited advice because Uncle isn’t here to do it for me.” Zuko pantomimed stroking his beard and affected a strong accent that, ultimately, sounded nothing like Iroh. “Follow your heart.”

“Follow my heart? That’s it? No tea metaphors? No floral imagery? You make a pretty rotten Iroh, Zuko.”

“Hey, I tried.” Zuko shrugged. “I don’t know, man. You’re still in love with Katara, right?”

Aang flushed but nodded his head, eyes fixed on the floor.

“Are you going to do something about it?”

Aang met Zuko’s eyes determinedly and nodded again.

“Good. You’d better.”

“Thanks Zuko.”

“Any time. By the way? I agree with Momo, the beard really suits you.” At that, Zuko strode out of the room, chuckling softly to himself.

⬭

“So, Sugar Queen,” Toph plopped herself on Katara’s bed with a huff, swinging her bare feet up to rest on the adjacent wall so she could still feel what was happening. “You seemed pretty cozy with our Prodigal Son back there. Locked that down yet?”

“Toph!” Katara spluttered, pulling her paintbrush away from her lips.

“That’s a no, then?”

“Wha--no, not a… he just got back! And I don’t even know if… it’s none of your business, anyway.”

“Right, right. So you guys haven’t talked about your feelings, like, at all, yet? What the heck was all that flirting on the beach then?”

“What flirting? We were just hanging out. As friends! Being friendly! We were friends before we were ever anything else, Toph. You know that!”

“Uh huh, uh huh. Good point, Katara. Your definition of ‘friendly’ has always been a little bit off when it comes to Aang…”

“Toph! I will kick you out.”

“No, you won’t. Want to know why?”

“I have a feeling you’re going to tell me anyway.”

“You know me so well, Sweetness. And you aren’t going to kick me out because I know you very well and if I’m not here in, oh, seven minutes when you inevitably start second guessing yourself, to give you one of my patented Toph Beifong pep talks, you are going to freak out.”

Katara grumbled something crass under her breath and scowled at Toph’s reflection in the mirror, but ultimately, she knew her friend was right, so she obliged the company while she finished putting on her makeup.

Katara rarely wore makeup. It hadn’t really been a custom among the women in the Southern Water Tribe growing up, and during the war there hadn’t been time to worry over such trivialities. Afterwards, though, she had been the victim of many a makeover by Ty Lee. Had been the guest at many formal galas that required a bit of dressing up. Had been gifted a set of Kyoshi warrior paints by Suki. Had spent an afternoon wandering around the market in Caldera hunting down the exact right shade of lipstick with Mai and learning everything that she could possibly hope to know about knife maintenance.

Aang had always gotten incredibly flustered around her when she wore makeup. That was, perhaps, her favorite part of the process.

It had been years since she had put any makeup on her face. Her face was different now. Her eyes crinkled a bit at the corners when she smiled, her cheeks were less plump, more defined, her lips were fuller—perhaps the lipstick made her lips look too full? Perhaps it wasn’t the same color that she had used that one night in Omashu when Aang had ended up wearing more of it than she had? Perhaps she should wear something pinker? Redder? What had Mai said about skin undertones?

“You look fine.”

“You really think so, Toph?”

“No idea.” Toph deadpanned. “But I’m sure that even if you look like an armadillo-hog, Aang will still forget his own name when he sees you. That is your goal with the facepaint, right?”

“Uh…”

“Of course it is, don’t try to lie to me, Sweetness. Listen, I know two things: that boy’s heartbeat has always only ever been impacted by you, and a lot of other men have also had hammering heartbeats when they talk to you. Wanna know what that tells me? You ain’t ugly. In fact, I assume you’re pretty hot. So, chin up, shoulders back, let’s go get you your man back.”

Katara spluttered and blushed. “Oh… uh, okay.”

“You don’t sound confident yet. You are still in love with him, right?”

“Yes.” She whispered.

“Obviously. Then get your pretty little butt out of here and go do something about it. Chop chop, girly!” Toph, still laying on Katara’s bed, started snapping at her while she squared her shoulders in the mirror and gave herself one more once over, nodding at her reflection and resolving to talk to Aang as soon as she had the chance.

“Right. Okay. I can do this. Thank you, Toph.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“Aren’t you coming?”

“Eh, yeah… I told Yugi to meet me here so we can head over together. Or wait… was it Satoru? Toklo? I don’t know, some guy is picking me up. Can’t show up to a stuffy formal function without someone to talk to all the boring people for me, now can I?”

“You do know all of your friends are going to be there tonight, right?”

“I said what I said.”

Katara rolled her eyes as she hurried past Toph and prepared to leave. “Whatever, just lock up when you leave, okay? Mrs. Shao is out tonight so I’m the last one in the house.”

⬭

The ballroom was lavishly decorated. The colors of all four nations draped around the room in every detail. Tapestries hung on the walls with the new seal of Republic City, flanked on either side by the insignias of the four nations. The tables were lined with dishes from across the world. The floral arrangements featured regional blooms from all over. In a ballroom in a government building in a sleepy corner of the Earth Kingdom continent, the entire world was united in one beautiful display.

He had fought hard for this unity. Had spent countless hours in courtrooms and offices arguing with dignitaries and representatives about the benefits of a United Republic. He had spent long nights drafting up documents and looking over contracts. He had dreamed of finally seeing this day, finally seeing this unity. All he could see tonight though, was a yellow flower drifting around the crowded room on an intricately braided head of ochre hair.

From his seat onstage next to Zuko, he watched her make her way around the room hugging and smiling and laughing and chatting. Her sleeveless blue dress was modern but carried traditional nods to her water tribe roots. Her lips were a dark cherry red. Her hair was braided. He had braided it. A yellow flower sat at her crown and winked sunshine at him whenever she turned her head. She was beautiful. Of course, he already knew that. But she was beautiful.

“Aang? Hello… Aang??”

“Huh, what?” Aang was drawn from his stupor when Zuko nudged him with his elbow.

“You’re up.”

“Oh.”

Zhu introduced him. He somehow made a speech. There was roaring applause.  Her eyes were blue, her lips were red, the flower was yellow. She was blushing.

He took his seat next to Zuko. Her eyes were blue . There were performances. Her lips were red . Suki shot finger guns at him in greeting as she and her warriors took the stage. The flower was yellow. Music started up and the gathered crowd dispersed to make way for dancing. She was blushing.

“Excuse me.” He rushed off-stage and into the crowd, chasing a glimpse of yellow in ochre, a swish of blue chiffon. She was pushing her way through the crowd, too. Her eyes were blue. “Katara, I--”

“Dance with me?”

She was offering him a hand. The tsungi horn rang out a familiar song. He took it. “Of course.”

They knew this dance by muscle memory. It was as familiar as their own names, as each other’s name. He flew around her in swirls. She swam around him on waves. They were the sea and the sky and there could not be one without the other. He lifted her, she spun around him. He dipped her, she glowed. She was the sun and he was the moon. She illuminated his sky. He compelled her tides.

The music ended. They were breathing heavy, faces inches apart, hearts still hammering the now silent drum beat.

“Can we go somewhere?”

⬭

The sound of the party flooded the streets of Republic City. Everyone seemed in good spirits, bustling about in a dance as they went about their evening errands. The cicada-crickets sang along to the Tsungi horn. The air was hot, heavy with humidity. They watched the waves from a rooftop. Their hands were intertwined.

Out across the bay, the sea and the sky collided in a canvas of colors. The green and yellow and red and orange of twilight reflected on the water’s dusky blue blue blue. The colors blurred together, obscuring the horizon line, obscuring the separation between their two elements. Out here, there was no sea, no sky. No air, no water. No Aang, no Katara. Just them. Just together. Just finally.

They made promises to each other. They held on. They did not let go.

“Sweetie?”

“Hmm?”

“I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

He had to lean every so slightly down to kiss her.

Her hands in his hands.

Blue. Grey.

Sea. Sky.

Their city had a new name.

They were here.

They were home.

⬭

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

It's done! It's done!

So sorry for the delay in posting this! I could've squeezed it out yesterday but didn't feel like doing so would wrap up all the things the way that I wanted to so I needed to take a bit more time on it and, obviously, this chapter grew to be quite a bit larger than the others.

I have had SO MUCH FUN participating in Kataang week this year and hope to do it again next year maybe? Also I /might/ have a little storm brewing for Maiko week so... be on the lookout for that at some point?

The love and support that I've gotten for this fic this week? OH MY GOD like wow it's been so lovely! Thank you all for reading.

And a million thanks to @foxy-knowledgeseeker for being an absolute angel and beta-ing this sucker for me. I'm gonna apologize for my choas just once more. (Sorry! Thank you!)

Bwah! Okay, time for a nap <3

@kataang-week

chapter one

chapter two

chapter three

chapter four

chapter five

chapter six

#kataang week 2021 #kataang #ao3 #foxford writes words #avatar the last airbender #atla #katara #aang #zuko #sokka #mai #toph #momo #the sea and the sky #re:union

[stitch1830]

What’s your zombie apocalypse survival plan?

Also, who out of the GAang would survive a zombie apocalypse (with and without bending)? Who would die first? Who’d get bitten and not tell anyone? Who would be the first to kill a human because of course people will be terrible during an apocalypse?

Savage! Lovely to see your icon in my asks, and ho boy... this is the question, isn't it? Buckle up...

I personally don't have a survival plan. I've got some friends and family that are preppers and that I'm close enough with that I can take shelter there... Otherwise, I'll probably do the whole run, hide, fight until I got nothing left in the tank lmao.

For the Gaang....

Toph would be able to know who is lying if someone got bit, so she'd call them out if they lied. But they wouldn't lie, they're too honorable. And they would all kill a human if that person tried to attack the group in self-defense. Aang probably wouldn't, but he'd get very close to it.

Aang: He might die first only because of his pacifist take on life. Even the undead life is precious, you know? But he would defend his friends until the bitter end, probably even sacrifice himself to make sure that his buddies got away safely. Maybe even some Avatar State action? lol. If he wasn't a bender? He's a goner... poor cinnamon roll just wouldn't be able to deal.

Toph: She definitely killed the first zombie in the group. I can see her lasting a long time, only because she's pretty no-nonsense. But if she separated from the group, I can see her survival rate decreasing due to the fact that the group balances each other's weaknesses out. And in a modern setting, she'd definitely need friends to help her and protect her since she's blind. She's not useless and has a ton of fight and motivation in her, but it's not an ideal situation.

Sokka: The strategist of the group and the planner, if he bites the dust, things will get disorganized. Sokka is the quiet glue of the zombie apocalypse operation, because he sets itineraries, makes schedules, and has a plan of how to get out of the situation alive. He will do what it takes to keep his friends alive, and he knows what's at stake. He'll make the hard decisions if he has to. And he trusts no one. He probably kills a lot of people ngl.

Katara: The healer and mediator. She keeps the group alive (literally). And she's a bold fighter too. But, the group has enough hotheads as it is, she keeps a pretty chill temper unless absolutely necessary to blow up at her brother, but it's not often. The Gaang probably rely on her maternal instinct a little too much, she shoulders that weight well. She lasts a long time based on her skill and kind of out of necessity. If one of them died, she'd be the one to regroup the team and help them refocus. The same would go in a modern setting I think. She's a Swiss Army knife full of skills and capabilities.

Suki: A fighter and neutral party. She normally is a leader in group settings, but she knows there are a lot of leaders in the group. She doesn't refute plans unless she has to (which isn't often, Sokka knows what he is doing and she often agrees with him). She's a soldier at heart and knows when to get her hands dirty and fight. She'd last the longest simply based on experience. And because others before her would be hotheads that just spiral after a bit. She wouldn't.

Zuko: Bit of a paternal figure, but he is a fighter and a quiet optimist. He knows chances of survival are slim, but he fights and survives until the bitter end. Many come to him for additional support, and he often has words of wisdom to offer (and emergency tea). He wouldn't be the last to survive only because he'd sacrifice himself for his friends first.

And... I think that answers all the questions... In short, Toph kills first, Suki and/or Sokka survive the longest, and Aang and Zuko are the ones that sacrifice themselves for the team.

Thanks for the ask, Savage! This was fun haha. Hope your day is great!

(And feel free to send more asks, lmao).

#atla #gaang #aang #toph #sokka #suki #katara #zuko #zombie apocalypse au #headcanons #my asks #thanks for the ask! #savage #i went a bit all out... ope #lmao needed to grab my computer for this ask #this was fun tho i don't usually think about zombie apocalypse stuff #pickleball bitches #almost forgot that tag lmao

[seyaryminamoto]

Matching Heartbeats: Sokkla Saturdays 2020

Day 9: Sokkla is painful for Zuko

On FF.net//On AO3

A beam of light fell upon the woman. It didn't seem out of place, yet that spotlight appeared to say she was… alone. She projected a massive shadow… so strong it might consume her completely. She glanced at the darkness that poured from inside her warily, fearfully, perhaps knowing it could overwhelm and consume her.

But then that bright light changed, shifting not in nature, but in form. And where her darkness touched him, his features became clear. Where his light touched her, she became real. And once their lips joined, it was as though all the darkness and light in the world had stopped battling, but instead had accepted their true meaning and duty: to work together, to be tied to one another for infinity, to shed light and cast shadows on equal measure, always at a perfect, matching rhythm…

Light and shadow that enabled the onlooker to finally understand what he was looking at… or rather, who he was looking at.

A loud gasp, a yelp, and then he sat up with a start. His chest was heaving, his heart racing, beads of sweat clinging to his body. What he'd just witnessed… it couldn't be. It seemed so unlikely, so uncanny, but he had seen it with his own eyes…

"What… what's wrong?"

The female voice beside him called for him, reaching for his bare arm. She always liked sleeping with the covers rolled down to her naked waist, for the Fire Nation's heat bothered her at nights. Surely by now, her violet eyes had opened as she sought to unravel whatever had startled him so badly… but in such a dark room, it was impossible to tell if she could see him yet.

"Hey…" she called again, cupping his cheek: he was still breathing loudly, heavily, and still refusing to talk. "A bad dream?"

"B-bad…? I guess it wasn't bad…" he admitted, swallowing hard.

"Then what is it?" she asked, sitting up fully beside him: she hugged him, her breasts pressing against his arm. He wanted nothing but to return to what they had been doing earlier that night, before falling asleep in each other's arms… but he couldn't. Not when he was so shaken up. "Come on, love… you can tell me anything."

"You might think I'm crazy," he said. "I… I don't know. You'll probably think I am, actually… d-don't worry, Suki, really…"

"How can I not worry when you wake up in the middle of the night like that?" she asked, pressing a soft kiss to his shoulder, trailing up to his neck. "What is it? You can tell me…"

"Y-you're sure…?"

"Of course," Suki said, and he could nearly hear the smile in her very face. He released a breath slowly.

"W-well, I… saw two people, in my dream. Two people who were… well, connected! Drawn together, it was some strange metaphor on darkness and light? And I thought it was beautiful, but then I realized I knew who they were and… and that's when I woke up."

"Then… you knew those two people?" Suki asked, caressing his hair gently.

"Yeah. I did," he said, breathing out slowly. "And they… were kissing."

"Was it us?" she asked, amused.

"Uh… that's where you'll think I'm crazy."

"Uh-oh. Dreaming about another girl, were you?"

"No, I wasn't! Suki, it was… it was Azula and Sokka."

All her teasing behavior ended abruptly then, and she pulled away from him to no doubt give him the most skeptical stare of all time, even if imperceptible in the dark room.

"You… were dreaming about your sister kissing your best friend, Zuko?"

Zuko groaned and dropped on the bed again, and Suki just sat in place in the darkness, all her interest in soothing her lover's concerns with her body suddenly frozen cold: that wasn't at all what she had expected to hear.

"I don't usually think about my sister kissing people! I mean, objectively? The idea of anyone kissing my sister is gross," Zuko groaned, covering his face with his hands. "And I'm sure the idea of anyone kissing me makes her sick too, so we're even!"

"Well, I don't know. She never seemed to mind Mai much, did she?" Suki reasoned. "And she hasn't given us a hard time or said anything about finding us disgusting, her teasing is usually… not quite about that? So… I guess you're the weird one. Must be your dream was your subconscious mind, betraying that you need to stop being so childish and accept your sister can have relationships of her own. Right?"

"U-uh… huh," Zuko frowned, his hands slipping down his face as he pondered her words. "Then… I should accept this? I guess I am unfair, aren't I…? I've been with you for two years as it is, so… maybe you're right. Maybe… maybe that's what my dream was telling me. But maybe it was also telling me something else."

"Like… what?" Suki asked, blinking blankly.

"That… the one Azula should be with is Sokka," Zuko said. Suki's jaw dropped.

"Z-Zuko…? Is it really up to you to decide that?" she asked. "I mean, it's good if you're going to accept that your sister can have relationships without making a fuss about it, she's a grown-up now, after all, and she should make her own choices… but that's part of it too, you know? Maybe she'll choose someone other than Sokka…?"

"Well, why should she?" Zuko sat up again, casting his room's lantern aglow with a quick flick of his hand. Suki's confusion was apparent underneath the new light, more so when Zuko stared at her intensely. "See this? Light! That's what he will be, for her! And she has a darkness that he can temper with his light, while her darkness gives him shape and focus! So…! It's actually the best match of all time! Suki, you see it too, right?! Don't you?!"

"Zuko… it's literally three in the morning," she pointed out. He swallowed hard. "Don't you think all the Fire Lord pressures are getting to you…?"

"No! This is…! I'm absolutely serious here, Suki! I… I wouldn't have dreamt this for no reason," Zuko determined, with certainty. Suki sighed. "Visions are real! Aang would tell you so, too!"

"Sokka once told me Aang dreamt your father wouldn't fight him because Aang wasn't wearing any pants," Suki said, looking at Zuko skeptically. Zuko swallowed hard.

"Okay but that's not the kind of dream I meant…"

"The next time, he was going to give Aang a math test. And then? He was riding a flying hippocow while telling him he had slept in on the day of the invasion," Suki continued, with a sarcastic grin. Zuko's cheeks heated up more with every new retelling of Aang's dreams. "My point is, Zuko, sometimes… dreams are just dreams! And it's not up to you to decide what Sokka or Azula should do in their love lives, okay? They're their own people, they make their own decisions. Okay?"

"Fine…" Zuko pouted. Suki laughed and kissed his cheek.

"I do love it when you get passionate about things, but… you need perspective sometimes, sweetheart," she laughed, pulling him down on the mattress again and cuddling against him.

Yet Zuko's mind and heart couldn't seem to stop racing. Even as Suki embraced him, and he turned off the lantern with another flicker of his hand, he knew what he'd seen was no chance, no mere coincidence: his sister had a soulmate, and after all the mistakes he had made in their relationship so far, he refused to make another one now. He would help her find love… and then, hopefully, Azula would find the happiness she deserved. This was the right thing for a good older brother to do, and Suki would understand by the time his new venture bore the right fruit…

...

Breakfast wasn't a particularly formal occasion in the Fire Nation Palace ever since Zuko had taken the throne. People would come and go to the dining room at whatever time they could afford to, depending on what their duties required them to do. Of course, if you were too late, the food would likely be cold, or you could end up skipping breakfast altogether and wind up eating lunch instead… the cold part was never a problem for Zuko, as he could warm his own food if need be, and he made a point to join Suki whenever she had a late breakfast due to her shifts, in case she wanted a hotter meal than she'd gotten. It was funny sometimes, Zuko had to admit, that he'd made such a fuss when Iroh had warmed up his tea in Ba Sing Se… but nowadays he was doing the same thing with many meals, and for more people than just himself.

Suki wouldn't be joining him today – she'd had an early start that morning, eaten her own meal in a rush and headed out to patrol the Palace. And while people were likely to come and go through the morning, Zuko intended to take the day as easy as he could… namely so he could wait for two very important people to stop by at the dining room.

Sokka was the first to arrive, yawning loudly as he entered the room with his usual nonchalance. After being a lanky Water Tribe boy when they had been fighting together in the war, he had even surpassed Zuko in height, and sported muscular arms with which he could likely crush someone's neck if he tried. It was, perhaps, a dark thought to be had about his friend, Zuko had to admit, but it seemed to him Azula would definitely appreciate a lover as physically strong as Sokka had become across the last years.

"Oh, you're still here, Zuko? Thought you'd be lording over your subjects by now," Sokka said, taking his seat by an available breakfast set and smiling with mischievous glee. "Woah, looks like a feast today! So much breakfast meat!"

"Thought you'd appreciate that," Zuko said, smiling. "I wanted to switch up our menus a little? If that's alright by everyone. I suppose the only risk with giving you more meat during meals is that you'll decide you want to stay in the Fire Nation for good, right?"

"And what's so wrong with that?" Sokka retaliated, grinning. "You said I'm a pretty good ambassador for the Southern Water Tribe, right?"

"You have been," Zuko nodded. "So consider this, uh… a gesture of appreciation?"

"You're weirdly generous all of sudden," Sokka said, raising his eyebrows. "Got to wonder if you have an ulterior motive, buddy…"

"W-what?! Why would I have an ulterior motive?!" Zuko exclaimed, unnecessarily loudly. Sokka inched away from the table, eyeing his friend warily.

"Umm… no reason?" he said, awkwardly. "I was just messing around?"

"Oh. Uh, sorry," Zuko smiled too. Sokka blinked blankly as he started eating, still glancing at Zuko with unease. "Sorry, I guess I'm a little on edge? It was a strange night…"

"Is that so…?" Sokka smiled awkwardly. Zuko flinched.

"I-I don't mean because of, well, Suki? Though… sorry. I know I shouldn't talk about this…"

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop worrying about it, Zuko?" Sokka smiled. "It's been like… what, seven years since she and I called it quits? And it was a mutual decision too. I'm happy you two are happy together, though I do think you should make it official eventually, you know…?"

"You know it's not easy, not even for a Fire Lord," Zuko sighed, but Sokka's change of subject brought an idea to mind. "Though… I guess I shouldn't involve myself in your love life, but you haven't really been with anyone since Suki? Or have you?"

"Uh…" Sokka's eyes shifted at Zuko before returning to his meal. "Nope. No one."

"Don't you think, maybe… you should try dating someone?" Zuko asked, with an awkward smile. "It could be good for you…"

"Dating someone?" Sokka repeated, with a light grin. "Yeah, well… I'm not sure I need to date anyone right now, but thanks, Zuko. Though you really don't have to worry about my love life when yours is so complicated, pal."

"Mine's not complicated, what's complicated is being Fire Lord," Zuko sighed. "B-but anyways, Sokka…"

"Yeah, must suck being Fire Lord," Sokka nodded. "So much to think about, so many problems to solve, and even then, you're trying to help me. You're way too nice this morning, Zuko, but you probably shouldn't be? I'm fine as I am, buddy, I promise."

"But…"

His protests would go interrupted when a new arrival stepped across the dining room… or stumbled across it, actually. Both Sokka and Zuko glanced quickly towards the archway, and Sokka even jumped to his feet, upon glimpsing Azula clasping the wall as she awkwardly made her way to the table.

"Azula?!" Zuko exclaimed, staring at her in astonishment. Sokka had raised a hand as though to help her, but upon noticing his gesture, the Princess raised her own as though to stop him: instead, Sokka wound up sliding his fingers through his hair, eyeing her worriedly. "What… what's going on? Are you okay?"

"I… shouldn't have taken up Mai and Ty Lee's invitation for a night of drinks in town…" Azula explained, stepping closer to the table. "I don't even remember… half of what happened? Don't ever drink enough to black out if you can avoid it, Zuzu…"

"You need help…?" Sokka offered, and Azula smiled.

"Gallant, but no. I'll make it to the table on my own, thank you very much…" she said, supporting herself on the many chairs around the table until she finally found a seat before which still stood a full breakfast waiting to be eaten. "Ugh, I'm not quite hungry, but… I know I should eat."

Sokka only sat down again after Azula did the same safely, groaning still as she tried to ignore the lingering pain. Zuko eyed her warily, as she sat only one chair away from him, holding her head up with a hand.

"Was it… fun, at least?" Zuko asked, with a small voice.

"I wish I knew," Azula smiled. "Might be I met my heart's true desire last night and I just forgot completely."

"No way!" Zuko laughed off, and Azula raised her eyebrows at his reaction at first, until she frowned again over the headache. "I mean, you wouldn't forget something that important, would you?"

"You underestimate the amount of alcohol I drank," Azula said, bluntly. Sokka could only laugh across the table. "What's so funny to you, Upstanding Ambassador?"

"I'm just wondering if you're blocking it all because you did something embarrassing. Like… I don't know, danced on a pub's tables? Or sang the whole repertoire of one of the Ember Island Players' musical theater plays…?"

"Ugh! No way I did anything that stupid!" Azula said. "I… hope."

"Fine, fine," Sokka laughed. "Though, you know? I think I know of a hangover remedy. I can ask the kitchen staff to fix you one, if you need it."

"Hmm… if the food doesn't fix this, I'll appreciate that," Azula said. Sokka grinned.

"No prob!"

Such a simple, friendly exchange… and yet they weren't simply teasing each other: Azula was willing to accept Sokka's help. She seldom was ready to accept anyone's assistance, but while she had changed over the years, this was unexpected… in the best of ways.

Only, Zuko's excitement over the matter had to be quite obvious, for he suddenly realized Sokka was staring at him… judgmentally, it seemed. Zuko froze, swallowing hard before returning to his own meal. Oh, Sokka would think he was going mad, wouldn't he…? But he wasn't. He knew what he was doing, and he'd get it done: his sister would be happy, and no longer lonely, and Sokka himself would appreciate it greatly once Zuko's deed was done.

"Eh… I'll go get your order in already, just in case," Sokka told Azula, smiling awkwardly before rising from the table.

He shot Zuko another strange stare as he made his way to the kitchens, while Zuko tapped his food with his chopsticks as a scolded child might. But once Sokka was gone…

"You, uh, really think you might have met someone last night?" Zuko asked.

"Didn't you hear I don't remember anything?" Azula said. "And why are you taking so long finishing your food? Need someone else to fill in your shoes while you waste your valuable time in the dining room, Fire Lord?"

"I decided today would be a lighter day for me, that's all," Zuko said, raising his hands defensively. "And I'm just saying… I'd be fine with it if you do meet someone, Azula. If you ever find someone who makes you happy…"

"And how would that be any of your business…?" Azula asked, rubbing her brow before casting Zuko a quick glare from the corner of her eyes. "This better not mean you're planning to marry me off to some foolish noble you need to get along with…"

"No! Never! I'd never do something so awful to you!" Zuko exclaimed. Azula huffed.

"I should hope so. I've said I won't be a threat for your rule anymore, but if you try something like that, I absolutely won't keep my promise," she said, sipping her morning tea.

"That's not my point, I'm just saying…" Zuko said, gritting his teeth. "That I haven't been very supportive of you for years, so I thought I'd change that, if I could…"

"Pfft, I'm perfectly used to our rhythm and relationship as it is. I don't need a doting, protective older brother… and I don't need to date anyone either, if that's what you were about to say next," Azula smiled dryly. "You have enough to worry about as it is, Zuzu. I'll live my life, you live yours."

Zuko scowled, watching bitterly as Azula continued eating without a care in the world… and his outrage only increased further once Sokka returned, setting the hangover cure by her tea.

"Hmm, thought you'd be gone already, Zuko," Sokka said, eyeing Zuko's plates. "You're almost finished eating, right?"

"Right," Zuko huffed, shooting a quick glare at Azula. "Well? Won't you drink your hangover cure?"

"I… guess," Azula mumbled. "Thank you for bringing it, Sokka."

"Don't mention it," Sokka grinned, returning to his seat "Though… it tastes like hell. Just so you know."

"Ugh… fascinating," Azula said, bringing the drink to her lips and grimacing noticeably once she tasted it. "Oh, hell, are you trying to kill me, savage?!"

"Not at all! I tell you, it works!" Sokka laughed.

"It's disgusting!" Azula roared, setting it down again and focusing on the food instead.

Zuko huffed, eating quickly as he pondered the situation some more. Both Azula and Sokka were adamant that they didn't need a relationship, didn't need his meddling, and that he had much bigger problems to worry about. Well… maybe they were right, but his dream wasn't wrong, he was sure of it. And clearly, going by all their arguing, they were still completely unaware of the fact that they were a perfect match. Yet… Sokka's willingness to help Azula was a good starting sign. While Zuko guessed it'd take a long time before they finally saw things his way, maybe he should focus on the positives and not lose hope: Sokka wasn't in a relationship, neither was Azula, and as much as they bickered, they likely were fond of each other on some level… for Azula wouldn't even acknowledge his existence if she didn't like him at all. So, there was still hope, if just a sliver of it. He could do this. He absolutely could do this…

It took him a few hours to come up with a solid plan, one that would once again show Azula how reliable Sokka was. The first stage of the plan was to ask all servants and Kyoshi Warriors to stay clear off the roofed, open corridor that led to the communications tower in the Palace for about thirty minutes, around noon. Once that was done, he snuck there, picked up one of the wall's lanterns, and shattered its oil compartment: he dropped the damaged lamp on the floor, watching with approval as the liquid spread across the corridor, all the way to the corner that led to the tower. Perfect.

After that, he hid in nearby bushes, watching quietly, knowing they'd arrive sooner than later: Sokka always had the routine to ship off his mail, whether to Republic City or to the South Pole, at these hours. As for Azula, Zuko sent her a message with a servant, asking her to give him a hand by sending some documents he allegedly didn't have time to ship off to the outer islands himself. It was a childish plan, he supposed, but it was bound to work anyways…

Sokka appeared first, and Zuko smirked: the pool of oil had spread across an intersection of two corridors, and there was no way either of them would be able to cross the halls that led to the communications tower if they didn't walk by that very intersection. He had known Sokka would come from the one where he had dropped the lantern, and Azula was set to arrive through the other corridor any second now…

The acrid smell of the oil brought Sokka out of his ruminations and papers: he raised his head to find the shattered lantern, and the pool of oil, right before his eyes.

"Woah… that's a weird accident," he said out loud, before stepping carefully towards the pool of oil.

He appeared to want to pick up the lantern, perhaps to inspect if it was damaged beyond repair or if he might have a chance to patch it up. And then… footsteps. A new set of them, down the other hall. Zuko's smirk widened as he glimpsed his sister's silhouette: she was as focused on her papers as Sokka had been, but the lantern wasn't within her line of sight, and with any luck the scent wouldn't reach her until she was too close to slow down, and then…

Then Sokka would have to jump out, wrapping his arms around her, ensuring she wouldn't slip and fall on the floor. And once he rescued her from what could have been a terribly dangerous fall, Azula would finally understand just how reliable Sokka was… she would fall in love with him before she even knew it! It was perfect!

She was so close now, a couple more steps… Sokka was already reacting, his eyes wide as he realized those footsteps meant someone might slip and fall over the oil…

"STOP!"

Zuko froze. Azula did, too, with a start.

Sokka gritted his teeth as he traversed the oil pool carefully, ensuring to step on as little of it as possible, before glancing over the corner to discover the person he had just saved from a bad slip over the oil was none other than Azula. She raised her eyebrows questioningly once their eyes met, and he smiled awkwardly, running a hand over his hair, before pointing at the pool of oil at his feet.

"This lantern broke for some reason? There's oil all over the place," he said.

"Oh… I see," Azula took a step back, eyeing the zone of disaster with confusion. "No wonder I thought it smelled like oil. Can you call someone to clean this up? I was supposed to send some mail…"

"I'm supposed to send some too, but this mess could be dangerous for anyone who walks around here," Sokka admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I'll go send mine after you're done, I'll take care of this…"

"I can send yours for you, if you want," Azula suggested, stretching a hand towards Sokka. He blinked blankly before grinning.

"That'd be a lot of help! Thanks, Azula!" he said, handing her his letters by stretching over the pool of oil until Azula could take the documents in her hands. "I'll go get someone to clean up right away, then."

"No problem. Try to be quick about it," Azula said, making a point to avoid the oil… and restarting her way to the communications tower indeed.

Leaving a frustrated Zuko to fume within the bushes he'd been hiding in. Great. Just… great. The one time he didn't want them to communicate like rational people to resolve their problems was the one time they decided to do it. Leave it to those two to sabotage his every enterprise, whether consciously or not…

Oh, but he wasn't done. He wasn't anywhere near done. Azula and Sokka were in for a surprise or many, depending on how many of his plans they forced him to enact.

...

"You called, Zuko?" Sokka's voice drifted from the door of Zuko's office at sundown. Zuko turned with a bright grin, perhaps too bright, for Sokka gave him that awkward stare again. "Uh… Zuko? You okay, buddy?"

"I was hoping you'd come. I have… a favor to ask you," he said, beaming as he picked up a package that had been resting on his desk. Sokka raised his eyebrows, puzzled. "It's for Azula."

"For… Azula? You bought her a gift?" Sokka asked.

"Well… yeah, but I don't want her to know it's from me," Zuko said. "I want you to give it to her? But, remember, no telling her it's from me. I… am just trying to do what you always told me, you know? Make efforts to repair the burned bridges and whatever figures of speech you used…?"

"I guess I did say that, but… what's the point of buying her a gift and not telling her it's from you?" Sokka asked. "How's that going to help?"

"If I'm not eager to take credit, she'll think my efforts are more genuine," Zuko said, with his practiced response, the one he'd decided on giving Sokka as he pondered how this encounter would unfold. "I think you two are getting along pretty well lately, right? So…"

"Are we?" Sokka asked, with an awkward smile. "I thought the incident with the hangover cure at breakfast yesterday would make her hate me forever? Is it your sister's fine with people who get her to drink things she hates?"

"No, but I meant…" Zuko started, but he held back: he couldn't reveal he had seen the lantern incident, the report he'd received about it merely stated Sokka had dealt with the matter, and Azula wasn't mentioned at all. As far as Sokka was concerned, he wouldn't have known they met at all, unless he had been there, too… "I meant you two could sit together and have breakfast anyway. It's good progress."

"Uh-huh…" Sokka said, skeptical again. Zuko snarled.

"Just give her the gift! And don't tell her I sent it!" he said, pushing the luxurious box into Sokka's arms.

"Fine, fine, whatever you say," Sokka sighed.

Zuko waited shortly before following Sokka across the Palace's corridors yet again. He moved stealthily, cautiously, hiding behind every statue that could conceal him, waiting patiently whenever Sokka got distracted, or whenever he glanced back, as though aware that someone was chasing after him. Finally, though, he reached Azula's room and knocked the door…

In a matter of five seconds or so, the door swung open. Zuko bit his thumb, watching them impatiently as Azula appeared to stare at Sokka with utmost confusion.

"Hey! Uh, someone sent you this," he said, simply, biting his lip. Zuko grimaced, hoping that'd be enough for Azula to mistake Sokka for being the one responsible for the gesture…

"Someone? What sort of prank is this?" Azula asked, skeptical, raising her hand to brush her bangs from her face elegantly.

"It's… hopefully, not a prank? To be honest, I should've checked the inside myself…" Sokka admitted, tugging the bindings of the box loose. Azula raised an eyebrow, watching him cautiously. "It's probably nothing that bad, but I can't be sure…"

"Are you unfamiliar with the sender? Took up a job delivering packages on the side? Here I thought being an ambassador paid well…"

"It does," Sokka smiled. "I'm just doing someone a favor, that's all…"

"Someone?" Azula repeated, skeptical.

Oh, it was working. It was absolutely working, she'd see the gift and assume it was Sokka's. Everything would go exactly as planned this time, Zuko was sure of it…!

"Alright… step back, in case there's some weird explosive?" Sokka smiled at Azula. She scoffed.

"I can control an explosion with my bending if need be. Just do it," she said. Sokka shrugged and obeyed.

He raised the lid of the gift's box only to find a silken dress with blue colors and white highlights. Azula raised an eyebrow, and Sokka's jaw dropped: it looked like a Water Tribe-themed dress, for sure. And the only Water Tribe person in the Palace, at the moment, was standing right next to Azula. Surely, all the suspicion would fall to him…

"Woah," Sokka said, scratching his head. "That's… fancy. Way fancier than any of my tribe's clothes…"

"Is that so?" Azula asked. Zuko nearly jumped in glee: she didn't believe him! She didn't! Had he succeeded this time, for sure…? "Well… to be honest, assuming you sent this would imply you have great taste in clothes, so…"

"Hey! I DO have great taste in clothes, mind you, and… wait, that sounds like you like it? A blue outfit, Princess? You're sure? People might start thinking you like my culture of savages, eh, eh?"

"No one would assume that, the color may be similar to your tribe's traditional colors, but the cut, and the design, are completely Fire Nation," Azula explained, unfolding the dress gently. "So, the question is… who has the means to commission a dress as fancy as this one, and request one of the most uncommon dye colors in the Fire Nation for it?"

"Eeeeh…" said Sokka, with an awkward smile.

"Not you, that's who," Azula said, sighing and shaking her head. "Whatever. Thank you for bringing it anyway."

"Not a problem," Sokka grinned, offering her a thumbs up after he handed the box to the Princess. "See you around!"

Azula nodded, and Sokka walked away. And Zuko was left crouching by the statue he'd been hiding behind, snarling yet again: why did it have to be so difficult? If he didn't know better, he'd assume they were making fun of him by playing dumb to this extent… ugh, it was infuriating.

But again, he wasn't done: something would work eventually. There was no way the two smartest people he knew would be this thickheaded and this resistant to the obvious, blatant, clear fact that they were MEANT for each other…

...

Another council meeting should be another opportunity to make the Fire Nation a better place, if Zuko was asked… but that's not how reality worked. Instead, it was merely another chance for his lords and military heads to continue antagonizing each other, constantly attempting to prove they were the most talented, the most loyal, the most impressive of his subjects. Getting anything done was, actually, as good as impossible.

Azula eyed him warily once the meeting was adjourned, waiting for him to climb off the throne, looking more drained than ever.

"Are they really getting to you that badly?" she asked. Zuko sighed and shrugged.

"I guess?" he said. "It's a drag. I thought we could make things better, you know? That a new era would begin with my rule, and it has, but… I could do so much more if I didn't have to go through so many protocols for even the smallest project."

"I suppose, but that's the way it works," Azula shrugged. "You need to learn how to slither through the cracks to achieve whatever you're setting out to do, Zuko. Most political challenges can't be handled through straightforward means, you understand…"

"I know, but it sucks," he groaned. "I… guess I just need to relax."

"What? Not getting it on enough with Suki lately?" Azula teased him. "Don't tell me you've already bored her…"

"N-no! That's not…! You shouldn't even ask that sort of stuff!" Zuko exclaimed, blushing. "Though… well, Suki's pretty busy most the time organizing patrols and working to keep the Palace safe. And ever since we got together, well…"

"You deliberately spend less time together in public so you won't alarm the wrong people about your relationship, I know," Azula recited, nodding. "You just want to see more of her, then?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm not that unreasonable, I know it can't always happen," Zuko sighed. "When I said I needed to relax, I meant more like… the royal spa?"

"Ah… sure," Azula said, nodding. "I guess you could visit it more often."

"You go a lot, right?" Zuko said. "In the mornings? Or do you go in the evenings? I just want to make sure I don't go at the same time as you, could be awkward and all…"

"So considerate," Azula said, raising an eyebrow. "I tend to go at ten in the morning, and I stay for around an hour, if you really must know."

"Cool. I'll go at eleven, not ten. Eleven, not ten. Eleven, not ten…" Zuko started, stepping towards the throne room's archway. Azula scoffed as she watched him leave.

"Keep saying that, and you'll end up mixing up the times!" Azula growled.

"I wouldn't do that! It's not at ten, but at eleven!" Zuko said, nodding. "See? I got it! Totally got it!"

Azula's judgmental glare followed Zuko, he could tell… but he could also tell she wouldn't see the mischievous smirk on his face as he left the premises, knowing exactly where he'd go next.

Sokka was training with a sword in the palace grounds when Zuko came across him. He smiled and waved at the Fire Lord, who grinned innocently right back at him.

"Say, Sokka… have you been to the royal spa lately?" Zuko asked him, once Sokka lowered his sword.

"Oh, hello, Zuko! Nice to see you too!" Sokka teased him. Zuko rolled his eyes.

"I just haven't been going often lately, is all," he continued. Sokka huffed. "It's a little weird, getting into that habit, but I think it'll help. I haven't been feeling like myself lately…"

"Yeah… you're a bit off," Sokka admitted, smiling awkwardly. "I don't really use it much, myself, but why do you ask?"

"Just thought it might be a little less awkward if I go with someone I can chat with?" Zuko said, smiling weakly.

"Really? But you've never been all that talkative" Sokka chuckled: Zuko's stomach, of course, sank. "Oh well, I guess that's why you don't like the spa, because you have no one to talk with while the procedures are being done? I suppose I can help, then, but… why me and not Suki?"

"Suki is probably busy at the only hour of the day I can afford to do this" Zuko said "I'd much rather go with her too, you know? But what can I do…? Besides, the staff members might suspect, and then everyone will know…"

"Zuko, I'm pretty sure most people already know about you two," Sokka smirked. Zuko flinched.

"Well, but it isn't official! Just rumors!" he pouted. "And I'm not ready to go public yet, neither is she. So… you know, I'd rather keep suspicions to a minimum."

"Whatever you say, whatever you say…" Sokka sighed. "What time do you want me to be there, then?"

"At ten?" Zuko smiled, again with a hint of mischief he couldn't quite contain. And it grew stronger when Sokka merely nodded positively.

"Alright. Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, let's see how it goes for one day, right?" Zuko said, casually. "Keep up the good work."

"Sure! Thanks!" Sokka grinned.

Oh, at this point he'd do better not to have high hopes, but he crossed his fingers and begged the universe inwardly to allow this one to bear some kind of fruit. If only they stopped resisting so much, damn it all… this was for their own good! It was worse than trying to get a toddler to swallow medicine, really…

On the next morning, his hiding place was the outside the Palace building itself: he stood in the gardens, surveilling the spa from a large window that allowed a perfect view of the spa's doors. He stood in place, ten minutes in advance, waiting patiently, clad in an inconspicuous black robe with a hood that should conceal his identity and hide him in a shroud of darkness, even if his sister or friend noticed he was around… he bit his lip, waiting still, knowing they'd both arrive eventually – Azula hated being late to any appointments, and Sokka wasn't the type to reject any chances to laze around and be pampered.

If all went well, they'd enter the spa together. Perhaps they'd bond… perhaps they'd do more than that, an idea that, despite Zuko's resolve to accept his sister's love life was none of his concern, was slightly unnerving to consider. All things considered, though, the two of them were too smart, and fully aware of how dangerous it could be to take a relationship too far while unprepared. They knew self-restraint, of course they did. They would, at most, go as far as to kiss… and then they'd decide on how to progress with their relationship in a responsible manner, until they eventually chose to marry, and by the time the wedding happened, everyone would be laughing as they shared the story of how their relationship began because Zuko, oh, silly Zuko, had given Sokka the wrong time for a spa visit, and Sokka had attended it with Azula instead…

Busy imagining such a joyous occasion, Zuko was snapped out of his daydream suddenly when a shadow crossed his line of sight: he shrank instinctively, but then glanced through the window once more… it was Azula. Good. If she went in now, Sokka would follow, neither knowing the other was inside, and then…!

Azula had reached for the doorknob but stopped cold suddenly… glancing at her left. Zuko grimaced. That couldn't be good.

With difficulty, he pushed the window open lightly, just enough to hear any conversations within that hallway, not enough to make noticeable noise, while watching as Azula toyed with a strand of her hair…

"… You're here? Why?"

"Uh… because Zuko told me he wanted to meet up with me for a visit to the spa? He told me to come at ten…"

"Ugh, the Dum-Dum mixed up the time, exactly what I told him he'd do! I warned him if he kept being foolish he'd end up coming here at the same time I did and… ugh, what would you do if you had a brother as forgetful as mine, Sokka?"

"Probably take advantage of that forgetfulness and prank him until he lost his mind?"

"That… isn't half bad an idea, actually. Good thinking."

"Anyway, I'm thinking Zuko just told me ten but meant eleven? You can go ahead, I'll wait for him out here."

"Thank you. Whenever he shows up, please kick him in the shin for me."

"Sure thing!"

Zuko huffed: this was impossible. They were impossible! What the hell was that?! They'd just respectfully chosen to go separately to the spa?! What was wrong with them?!

Oh, it was the last straw. He couldn't take it anymore. He was too young for all this stress, his hair would turn white, his heart was going to fail him… he couldn't stand it. He felt humiliated, despite no one had mocked him directly, but it seriously appeared as though those two knew exactly what they were doing to him. And he was definitely not amused.

"Screw it. Screw them, this is just…!" he rambled, shutting the window quietly again as he snarled. "They don't deserve each other! That's the truth! They want to die alone, fine, they can just go ahead and do that! I'm tired of trying to do right by anyone, it's a complete waste of…!"

"Zuko?"

He nearly screamed upon hearing someone addressing him directly. He didn't manage to hold back a light yelp, and a jump… as he turned to look at Suki. Who stood behind him, her Kyoshi Warrior uniform as impeccable as ever, her unyielding scowl judging Zuko as harshly as could be.

"U-uh, I… I can explain," he said.

"Right! You certainly should explain why you're sneaking around your own palace, dressed in a black hood as though you were a criminal, breaking into the place!" Suki smiled sardonically, crossing her arms over her chest. "For a minute there I seriously thought I should fling my katana at you. Be grateful I reconsidered and decided to figure out who you were, first."

"Sorry! I didn't meant to… ugh, Suki, it's just…" Zuko said, tense. "You know what it is."

"Uh, no, I certainly don't," she said, dryly.

"Well, you were there! You know, when I had that dream?" Zuko said. Suki's face was a mask of confusion until realization sank in. "Y-you know, the one about…?"

"About Sokka and Azula?" Suki finished, and her confusion was only further enhanced… while paired with not a moderate amount of outrage. "Zuko… have you lost your mind?!"

"I… hey! I'm fine, I'm not crazy, I'm just…!"

"Tell me, right now, that you didn't spend the last three days being so scarce, so distracted, disregarding your duties, simply because you were coming up with every strategy you could think of to matchmake those two without their awareness."

Zuko opened his mouth, and then closed it. Suki released a breath, covering her face with her hands as Zuko started chortling awkwardly.

"I-it's not that bad, is it?! I mean…! They get along enough that if they just give each other a chance, they'll see…!"

"Zuko: it's THEIR lives!" Suki exclaimed, stepping up to him and grabbing his shoulders. "You can't just try to manipulate people into doing whatever you want them to! That's not you, that never was you! For crying out loud, Zuko, just… be reasonable, can you? Whatever you saw in your dream doesn't give you the right to interfere in two people's lives this way!"

"But I'm not doing it to hurt them!" Zuko exclaimed, acutely aware that he sounded like a child throwing a tantrum. "Look, I just…! I want Sokka and Azula to be happy the way I am with you! I never imagined I'd care this much, but it turns out I do! And I know I sound and look like I'm losing my mind, but I just really think this could make their lives so much better! My sister has been through so much, Sokka appears to have outright given up on love because it never works for him… isn't it a good idea to help them regain hope through each other?"

"It's not a bad idea, no. But it's not up to you to decide this, Zuko," Suki sighed, taking his face in her hands. "And all this sneaking around… it's not going to help."

"I know. I know…" Zuko sighed, lowering his gaze.

Yes, the sneaking around probably was only hurting his cause further. But maybe that was the extent of the problem… maybe he just had to stop beating around the bush, and tell the pair of fools the truth, blunt and honest. If he did, surely they'd understand… hopefully, they'd test the waters of a relationship together, and that was all he really needed and wanted from them. Everything else was secondary.

"You need something else to focus on other than work, I bet," Suki sighed. "And that's why you're so hung up on this. We'll find you another hobby, Zuko, a less troublesome one than matchmaking…"

"Fine, but… I'll tell them both the truth," Zuko said, startling Suki.

"You'll… what?"

"Tell them, outright. I know they'll be the ones to decide what to do, I get it, they might say I'm crazy and that they never want to be with each other…" Zuko sighed. "But even then, I think I should tell them what I think, let them know I'm okay with it… if that makes sense."

"Well, I suppose it is better than sneaking around," Suki sighed, shaking her head. "You be careful though, Zuko. Make it clear you're not forcing anything on them, and that you just want to help. And if they reject that help, you'll put this aside, and go on with your life. Are we clear?"

"We're clear," he said. Suki sighed, pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

"I know you mean no harm. I hope they'll know it too. Just… you're too good for your own good sometimes, Zuko," Suki said, caressing his cheek. Zuko sighed, wrapping his arms around her body and dropping his head on her shoulder. "Though… well, I know I started it, but we probably shouldn't be doing this in broad daylight, should we…?"

"Meh," Zuko said, tightening his hold around her. "Just a little longer…"

She helped him ground himself, that was a certainty. With Suki's comforting presence he could come back to his senses, perhaps, and understand he'd gone too far… and that he needed to stay in his lane from now on. It was the best thing to do, the best way to proceed…

But first, he'd tell them the truth. And he knew the chance to do so would arrive within an hour.

...

"Ah, if it isn't the fancy Fire Lord, the guy who gives me the wrong time for our big spa visit!" Sokka announced, as Zuko entered the spa's corridor, five minutes before Azula's hour was up. "I nearly went in there with Azula instead, you know? She's still inside, but I think we can go after she's…"

"Sokka. We need to talk."

Sokka blinked blankly, his hand still gesturing at the spa's door. Those words were quite ominous, Zuko supposed, but perhaps if Sokka expected something too awful, he'd be much more receptive to the idea of being set up with Azula for a date, at the very least…

"What, exactly, do we need to talk about?" Sokka asked, with a slowly widening awkward grin. "I mean, you said you wanted someone to talk with while you were in the spa, but I didn't think you needed to talk while we're outside it, too…"

"Enough rambling," Zuko said, dismissively. Sokka pouted, hands on his hips. "I have something serious to talk to you about, Sokka. At least, it means a lot to me, and I hope it'll mean something to you too, once I'm done."

"Well, you're not being ominous at all," Sokka said, rolling his eyes. "Is this why you've been acting so weird lately?"

"Yeah. You could say that," Zuko admitted, breathing in. "Look, you… you're one of my best friends. And while I guess you could be satisfied with life as you are living it now, I also think there's a chance you're not satisfied at all, and you just don't want to burden the rest of us with the truth…"

"Uh… I'm not? I mean, thanks for the concern, Zuko, but I'm actually fine…?" Sokka said, eyeing his friend warily.

"Look, I'll just… come out and say it," Zuko said, breathing deeply. "I… had a vision. You were in it. With… someone."

"With someone?" Sokka repeated. "What kind of vision? Are you getting spirit-y visions these days too, kind of like Aang used to? Or is this sort of thing common for you…?"

"I don't know, I don't know, maybe I'm just losing it, maybe dreams are just meant to be dreams but this one spoke so clearly about things that I…! That I never even thought about," Zuko said, looking at Sokka almost pleadingly. "And I think it opened my eyes to the truth that… that there's someone out there who might just be everything you'd needed, Sokka. And if that's how it is, then I… I want to encourage you to go for it, I give you my… my blessing? As weird as it sounds."

"Dude… what the hell is going on here?" Sokka asked, inching away from Zuko warily. "You said you'd come out and say it, well, nothing you've said so far makes sense. Are you telling me I should date, or heck, even MARRY, someone… just because you saw them with me in a vision?"

"Well… yes!" Zuko exclaimed, with full conviction. Sokka's eyes narrowed.

"And… who, exactly, are you talking about?" he said, allowing himself a weak, sarcastic smile as he waited for Zuko's answer "Who's this person I should be with?"

Zuko breathed deeply, wishing he weren't so nervous upon uttering those syllables… but he was strong enough to do it. He hadn't come this far in life by being a coward: he'd absolutely do it.

"I'm talking about… about Azula," Zuko finished.

Sokka froze, his eyes widening in amusing, slow motion. It was as though realization was dawning on him, regarding each and every one of Zuko's actions as of late, and Zuko felt like a fool, but he didn't care. No, if this meant his sister would find peace and happiness, he'd endure whatever Sokka dared throw at –…

Sokka covered his mouth with a hand, and snorted. Zuko's eyebrow twitched.

"Did you just…?"

Another hand, and another chortle. Zuko's outrage was on the rise.

"Sokka?! Are you… are you LAUGHING?!"

There was no containing the Water Tribesman anymore: he dropped his hands and laughed so hard the entire Palace was likely hearing him. He doubled over, hugging his stomach, tears springing in the corners of his eyes…

"Y-you just said…!" he managed to utter, with a threat of a voice before he was overtaken with laughter again. "Oh…! Oh, no, I'm not gonna…! I can't…! I'm… AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

With a strange posture, with his legs awkwardly twisted together, Sokka started jumping away, no doubt suggesting the laughter was strong enough to trigger certain, impulsive, bodily reactions that excessive amusement could sometimes result in. Zuko watched him shrink in the corridor, listening to the ongoing laughs, and shaking his head in outrage.

"YOU KNOW WHAT?! I TAKE IT BACK! YOU DON'T DESERVE THIS! YOU DON'T DESERVE HER! SCREW YOU, SOKKA!" he shouted, impulsively, angry enough that fire danced in his tight fists. Oh, how dared he laugh…? And laugh that loudly, too! Curses, he hoped to get a similar dream soon, of Azula with just about ANYONE else, and then he'd set up those two instead, and Sokka would learn, the bastard…

"And what the hell is the matter with you?"

Zuko froze: he had forgotten, completely, that he was standing at the spa's entrance… and that his sister was merely five minutes away from stepping out of it. Perhaps his outburst had even compelled her to leave sooner, and while her hair was shiny and her skin was bright and clear, her countenance betrayed she was most displeased by Zuko's loud shouting. Zuko swallowed hard, turning towards his sister apologetically.

"I… I'm sorry. Oh, hell, I really am sorry," Zuko growled, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. Azula crooked an eyebrow.

"You're sorry…? Is this a multipurpose apology?" she asked. Zuko flinched and stared at her in chagrin.

"Why would it be a…?"

"Well, you see, I'm still waiting for a lot of apologies from you," Azula confessed, raising her eyebrows. "All the times you tattled on me as children, that time you ate my dessert and claimed it wasn't you, that time you locked me in an asylum, too…"

"H-hey, that's not…! No! I am apologizing for a specific thing here!"

"Ah! Then you truly aren't sorry for any of those things, to this day? Shame on you, Zuzu," Azula said, shaking her head dismissively. Zuko growled.

"I'm sorry because I was doing something I hoped would help you in the long run, but clearly I was wrong!" Zuko huffed. "That bastard… laughing like that? Who the hell told him he had any right to laugh at this?! I actually had to wrap my head around this idea, and to put aside my natural older-brother instincts of disgust at the thought of my sister with anyone, and he just LAUGHS?!"

"Uh… what did you just say?" Azula said, with an awkward smile… not too different from Sokka's own, earlier. "You wrapped your head around the idea that… I could be with someone?"

"I did!" Zuko exclaimed. "And then he just… threw it back in my face! Like an idiot!"

"He? Who's… he? The person you're trying to set me up with?" Azula asked, and her discomfort only seemed to increase. "Or is it just someone you were sharing your marvelous ideas with…?"

"Well… both," Zuko admitted, almost pouting now. "But I'm sorry. He's not worthy of you. Someone who hears about this and laughs like that is just… Ack! I should kick him out of the palace in your behalf…"

"I still have no idea who you're talking about," Azula reminded him. Zuko breathed deeply and huffed to release the air, averting his gaze from Azula's own:

"It's Sokka."

Azula fell silent. Zuko glanced at her quickly, wondering if she'd be disheartened, disappointed that that fool would be so dismissive of her potential as his love inte–…

She covered her mouth with both hands, and snorted.

"What…? WHAT?!" Zuko shouted, and just as before, Azula nearly lost her balance as she was overtaken by the strongest laughter spree he had ever heard from her. "OH, YOU KNOW WHAT?! YOU KNOW WHAT, YOU TWO ASSHOLES, I'M DONE! I'M DONE! SUKI WAS RIGHT, I SHOULD'VE NEVER TRIED TO HELP! YOU'RE JUST AS BAD AS HIM! I'M SO DONE WITH THIS! I'M NOT GETTING INVOLVED WITH YOUR PERSONAL LIFE EVER AGAIN, AZULA!"

He stormed off… and her laughter only seemed more intense as he left. Oh, he was seething. He was absolutely seething: what on earth was so funny?! What was wrong with those two?! He couldn't stand it. He had done his best by them, and they had laughed and thrown all his efforts in his face… how could they do this to him? He had been nothing but kind to Sokka, especially after he broke up with Suki, and even more so once Zuko was drawn to her, years later… he had been as generous with Azula as he could be, learning to be more patient, to offer her more opportunities to help run things in the Fire Nation, to find a purpose…!

And yet the pair of bastards had just laughed at him and all his efforts. The worst part was that their damn reactions had been as good as copies of each other: they were, in the end, completely perfect for one another. There was no sense in feeling bad for Azula, not when she had thought the idea of being with Sokka was just as laughable as, apparently, Sokka thought being with her was. So, they truly were as bad as the other… they truly were. It should further confirm they were perfect soulmates! But no, they'd rather just forsake all their chances at finding love… and truthfully? He was done caring. He was absolutely done. They could do whatever they wanted. He wouldn't even THINK about this nonsense anymore…

Or so he intended to convince himself of, but by nighttime, he laid in bed, arms crossed over his chest, still fuming as he went over the morning's events in his head. Suki sighed as she slipped into bed, reaching to massage Zuko's chest gently.

"You do realize you're as good as self-destructing over this, while those two are completely unaffected by what happened?" Suki asked. Zuko huffed and shook his head.

"They'll be affected enough when they die alone. Pair of idiots," he said. "So much for trying to be a good brother for Azula… or a good friend for Sokka. Is it too much to ask that they'd just take the possibility seriously? And I mean, even if they hate the idea, they could just… respectfully say "No, Zuko, I don't think it's a good idea", and that's it! Problem solved! But noooo, they just laughed like the mere image of them together was the most hilarious joke in the history of the world…!"

"I don't really know why they'd laugh that much, Zuko, but dear… I mean it. You need to stop thinking about this," Suki said, cupping his face, her fingers gently touching his scar. "We're all adults here, there's no reason why any of us ought to make choices for anyone else. I'm sorry they were so stupidly rude but…"

"Ugh. It's their loss," Zuko growled, wrapping his arms around his lover and pressing his face to her shoulder. "I just wanted to help, but…"

"Not everyone wants help," Suki reminded him, caressing his hair. "But you do want some, right?"

"What do you mean…?" Zuko mumbled quietly, glancing up at Suki to find her smiling slyly at him.

"I think I have an idea or two on what to do to get this nonsense off your mind…" she whispered, leaning closer, her hand sliding lower than his chest…

And she was right about that idea, for sure: Zuko smiled for what felt like the first time in the entire week, taking her into his arms…

...

Sweat trailed between the heated bodies that swayed, thrusted, shifted together. Their rhythm only accelerated, despite her body was already weakened by a previous release… but her lover was not only generous, but resilient. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, thrusting harder as he leaned over her, nibbling on her neck, kissing her cheek whenever he eased up, embracing her from behind while relentlessly driving and plowing forward. She held herself upright with difficulty, her elbows trembling, same as her spread legs…

"I'm close… I'm close…!"

"Come for me, then… Just for me…"

Words spoken with a throaty growl sent her very soul reeling: the hand that had been fondling one of her breasts now snuck lower, finding her clit and prodding it mercilessly: cries of blissful desperation tumbled from her lips, and there was no holding on, no endurance that could withstand the rushing onslaught of pleasure. And yet she knew he wasn't done: no, he didn't like finishing this way. She shuddered and nearly collapsed, but he held her closely anyway, groaning as her walls squeezed him delightfully.

"That's it… that's my girl…"

Anyone else saying those words would have been outrageous, but not him. He tore down all her defenses, all her dignity and decorum, and she damn near thanked him for it: it was blissful to let go of all pretenses, to bare herself fully to someone, for she knew he was doing the same with her, too. As soon as this had started between them, the whole world had started taking a different shape… as though they were seeing it with clear eyes, for the very first time. As though each of their matching heartbeats resounded together, dismissing every hint of fog that sought to hinder their hearts until they had found their true selves upon finding each other…

He withdrew, but not completely: only enough to turn her around, so she could lie upon his bed's many disorderly sheets, cushions and pillows. She looked luxuriously beautiful amidst them all, her hair an unkempt mess that guaranteed she'd need another royal hair-combing on the next morning, as it ever did…

"Azula…" he whispered, setting her down carefully: only his tip lingered inside her, as his face hovered inches from her own.

Her weak arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him in for a long kiss, in which they exchanged long, throaty groans, and their tongues caressed and toyed together as much as they pleased. Wordlessly, she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer, forcing him to enter her fully again… this time, facing her. He'd definitely finish now, the way he always liked to.

"Make love to me, Sokka…" Azula said, her voice weak between so many heartfelt kisses. "I'm yours… I'm yours…"

He groaned in response and thrusted: she whimpered and moaned, and he thrusted again and again, regaining his lost rhythm in her, following suit with her rolling hips. They joined their bodies powerfully, delighted by the synched thrills that coursed under their skin…

So powerful he was, so strong with that physique worthy of a god, that he knew exactly how to hold back, how to last longer, as long as he could until she came undone around him at least one more time… and she was close to doing so, so overcome by pleasure she couldn't help but show him her most honest façade, with no lies, no deceit, no masks to hide away who she truly was… or what he truly meant for her.

Just so, he showed her his deepest self, the devoted protector, the man who only thought of others ahead of himself. The one who couldn't ever seem to think of his own pleasure, for he was that set on providing as much of it as he could to her. So many underestimated him, failing to see just how strong, how soulful he could be… but not her. She knew him, saw him for who he was, and loved him just as much as he loved her.

And so every kiss they shared was a blissful height, just as every chance to link their bodies, every caress they exchanged, brought their hearts further together, blending the limits and boundaries that existed between them, as though they were becoming but one soul, one being…

His release was impending: he let her catch her breath for mere seconds before trapping her lips again, thrusting as frantically as she did, both their bodies as good as melting together once a resounding, potent climax tore through their systems, nearly powerful enough to break their kiss… only nearly. He held on, wanting to feel her, every inch of her, and she clung to him just as well, her nails raking his back, her pelvis meeting his own with the power of their desperate thrusts.

They didn't slow down their kisses, not even when their rolling hips finally eased to a halt. Their exciting bliss lingered, as good as blinding them to anything else in the world… to the mess they'd made of the fancy bed – the servants had given both of them the stink-eye for that often, as they switched between meeting in his or her room. There was no doubt in either of their minds that the evidence of their transgressions was too obvious for the maids' eyes: they knew what the two of them they were doing… and even then, they had kept their silence, fortunately.

Or, at least, they had thought it was a fortunate thing until today. Perhaps the events of that morning had a hand in the wild tryst they'd just indulged in… but even now, a sudden burst of laughter crossed Azula's face, and Sokka didn't even need to ask what was so funny: he simply joined her too, kissing her brow softly as he indulged in the beautiful, blissful sound of her voice.

"I… I can't believe we were hiding all along… thinking he'd make such a fuss if he knew, and instead…" Azula started, before a strong spree of laughter overtook her anew.

"It's not entirely his fault that he was so clueless. You just made a very convincing hungover Princess that other morning, who would've thought you could barely walk for a much more exciting reason…?" Sokka teased her, kissing her deeply, taking advantage of her ongoing laughter to taste her smiles fully, and respond to them with his own. "I'm sorry you had to drink that mess of a hangover cure unnecessarily, though. I really thought he'd have left before I returned with it…"

"Well, you owe me seven more rounds of this before I can forgive you for that," Azula declared, haughtily. Sokka snorted.

"I thought we had agreed the fee for my terrible crime was ten orgasms, not ten rounds…" he said, nibbling on her lower lip. Azula snickered.

"Absolutely not. Ten rounds, full rounds. No half-assing it, my handsome stud," she said, slapping his asscheek lightly, and yet the spanking sound seemed to resound across his room.

Sokka laughed, kissing her again, repeatedly, a thousand times if he could. Oh, he'd give her ten rounds… and then ten more. And then a million, and even more than that… his ever-growing love for her overwhelmed him, and he was decidedly addicted to showing how much he cherished her physically. If only he could stay in bed with her for a whole week… no, even that wouldn't be enough. For a lifetime, at best… and even then, he'd want her again, on the next one, and on the next. Their very souls were bonded together, and that was how he wanted them to remain, for good…

"It's just so funny because… the maids always know," Azula interrupted his spree of kisses and train of thought, dragging her hands lavishly over his back.

"Most of the servants figured us out forever ago," Sokka confirmed, laughing. "And Toph… she knows too. I told you she started messing with me by mentioning you suggestively ever since that day at Air Temple Island…"

"Heh. And somehow your sister still hasn't unraveled the truth," Azula smirked. "I bet Toph outright told her about us and she decided it was impossible."

"Yeah, sounds like both of them," Sokka acknowledged, grinning. "But apparently our code worked perfectly, right? The hair thing… seems Zuko never even noticed it's our special warning for every suspicious situation, right?"

"He'd never be sharp enough to understand our superior intellects, are you really surprised?" Azula smirked, still basking in the sensual strength of his muscular back. "The question is, though… how, exactly, are we going to break this to Zuko now…?"

"Yeah, well…" Sokka said, chortling again, laughing as he pressed his brow to hers. "I seriously thought he'd want to kill me. I never imagined he'd… say he'd even give us his blessing?"

"He told you that?" Azula laughed. Sokka smiled and shrugged.

"Your brother's a bit silly, but I guess he does mean well. And… your question still stands," Sokka said, raising his eyebrows. "How will we tell him we've been going at it like rabaroos for about…"

"Five years?" Azula finished, closing her eyes with a proud smile. Sokka snorted and laughed against her chest. "I don't know how he never suspected it, frankly. You literally congratulated him and Suki, didn't even look like it bothered you at all once they told us…"

"Yeah…" Sokka smiled. "Because it didn't. As soon as I got close to you, I knew where I belonged. And it's right here, with you."

"Hmm, not necessarily here," Azula teased him. "You were looking into whatever excuse you could to spend time in the Fire Nation once we got started… and when Zuko asked me to be his representative in Republic City, you just happened to move there too. And now, oh, how shocking, you became ambassador for the Water Tribe in the Fire Nation exactly a week after I was brought back home… so, well, it can be anywhere, as long as we're together."

"Exactly," Sokka grinned, pressing a soft kiss to her upper breast. "You're my home. I'll chase after you wherever you may go."

"Sounds good to me, because you're mine too," she whispered, slipping her fingers through his smooth, loose hair. "Though that still doesn't answer how we'll ever tell him the truth."

"Hmm. How about we tell him we thought things over and realized he was right, and…"

"And let him believe he set us up successfully? Oh, but that's too considerate towards him…" Azula smirked. Sokka laughed against her chest again, shaking his head. "No, no, no. Letting him think he discovered we're soulmates when we first realized and acted upon it five years ago is just no fun."

"I guess," Sokka chuckled. "He was just so outraged…"

"Well, if he wants us together so badly, he should be thrilled once he finds out that we are," Azula smiled. Sokka grinned mischievously at her. "Regardless of how he finds out. Or what we say to explain…"

"We should just upfront announce our wedding," Sokka decided. Azula snorted and laughed yet again. "Oh, you think it's funny? C'mon, don't play coy now, you said you'd marry me…"

"I'm just imagining his face if we show up at breakfast tomorrow and blatantly announce we're engaged," Azula laughed, tightening her embrace around her also-laughing lover. "Though it's probably not a great idea, he'll assume we're making fun of him again…"

"He always assumes that. Your brother is hopeless," Sokka smiled. "Well, you know what? I think… we just have to stop hiding. As in…"

"Oh, I don't think I'm ready to have sex in a public place, but if you really think that's a good idea…"

"No!" Sokka laughed, shaking his head and kissing her lips. Azula snickered, letting him tickle her in retaliation for her teasing. "I mean… let's just stop avoiding each other or acting as aloof and distant as we usually do during the day. We'll just… walk out of here together in the morning, no sneaking around. Lots of hand-holding, and public displays of affection…"

"And not quite in his face, we would be doing it casually, so people start talking, and rumors reach him…"Azula smiled slowly.

"And then when he sees us being stupidly, embarrassingly romantic, he'll either be smart enough to know we've been at this forever and that we only laughed yesterday because the irony of the situation was overwhelming…" Sokka chuckled. "Or he'll be silly enough to think we got together over our shared laughter at his ideas, and assume he's the entire reason our relationship began."

"Hmm… that is a good idea," Azula said, smirking. "Then, when our wedding arrives, we can talk about how long we've truly been together in our vows… and then he'll lose his shit in the middle of the temple."

"See? Perfect. We always have the best ideas, Azula," Sokka chuckled, kissing her again.

"That's what happens when two ridiculously smart people are as compatible as we are," Azula whispered, trailing her fingers over his cheek. "Ah… I guess a new life begins now, huh? If we'll finally be out in the open about our relationship…"

"Ready for it?" Sokka asked. "I know there will be some backlash, but…"

"But if I'm the trailblazing, controversial royal who marries a foreigner first, it might help Zuko, when his time comes," Azula said, smiling a little. "Putting up with whatever judgment the people may make of us should help everyone prepare for… well, what should come one day, as long as those two stay together."

"Which means, we're even doing them a favor. Perfect," Sokka grinned. "Ah, I can't wait for tomorrow now… pretending I'm single is a pain when all I want to do is scream to the world that I love you."

"I'm glad you feel like doing that…" Azula said, caressing his arm as she pulled him higher on the bed. "Though, well, I can't promise I'll join you in screaming that way. It sounds, eh, a little embarrassing…"

"Just a little?" Sokka asked, prodding her nose with his own playfully. "That's fine by me, if it's really just a little. I'll assume it's the shouting that embarrasses you, and not saying you love me"

"Indeed," Azula grinned, resting her head against his. "Tomorrow, then…?"

"Yeah… we'll see things through by tomorrow," Sokka said, taking her hand in his, to press his lips to her knuckles. "May the world know a Princess has conquered me completely."

"And may the world know a mighty warrior has conquered me," Azula grinned. "I don't really know how big a change this will be… but I think I'm ready for it."

"So am I," Sokka said, leaning close to kiss her softly.

Whether or not their truth would sit well with Zuko once he understood it in full remained to be seen – knowing Azula's overdramatic brother, he'd probably take everything the wrong way, or at least, he would until he saw irrefutable proof that they were happy together… that they had been, for a long time. That they would still be happy, no matter if their families, or friends, or the whole world, weren't ready to accept their love yet. For their bond was theirs, and only the two of them could decide its beginning or end… though, as things stood, the latter was simply unlikely to happen at all.

For in every kiss, in every breath, in every heartbeat they shared, their love was renewed, strengthened, cemented into their hearts and souls. And on the eve of the day that would certainly bring many changes to their lives, it was doubtless that they would continue to spend a lifetime falling in love with each other, drawn together without restraint, finding belonging and peace in each other's light and darkness, weaknesses and strengths, calms and storms alike. And as much as their relationship had already blossomed across five years, it seemed to the two blissful lovers that their journey was only just beginning…

...

Zuko smiled brightly as he made his way to his office, after receiving the petitioners of the day and dismissing them with either accepted or rejected requests, depending on how reasonable they might have been. Whether they were unpleasant or not, however, his mood appeared to be impervious to anything right now, all be it the result of the most successful distraction he could have hoped for, on the previous night. He wasn't usually so cheerful, anyone would confirm as much, but Suki certainly had ways to make a brightly happy man out of him, like no one else did…

Though as lost as he was in his own thoughts, delighted by remembering the events from the previous night, he caught the voices of whispering servants just before stepping into a corridor near the gardens.

"… Are you serious? They're really doing that in broad daylight?"

"Why do you think it happened? They always keep their mischief for nighttime, what do you think changed this time?

"Beats me, but I saw what I saw, if you don't believe me you can go watch them yourself…"

"Excuse me?"

The two gossiping servants squealed and squirmed away from him by sheer instinct: the male one appeared to have been the one to witness whatever they were discussing, so Zuko glanced at him.

"Where, exactly, are you saying you saw… whatever you saw?" he asked, with an awkward grin.

"J-just… over there? By the cherry trees you planted last year, Lord Zuko," said the man, swallowing hard as he pointed in the right direction. Zuko smiled and nodded.

"Thank you."

He turned smoothly… and then stormed off at haste. How happy he'd been, his mood completely soothed, his heart rejoicing in the love of his life… and now this. That pair was up to no good again, it had to be them, they had to be doing some sort of wicked scheme together to mock him after he tried to pair them up…!

He stormed through the corridors until the cherry trees in question were in sight. There were a few more onlookers within those corridors, one who sported the familiar Kyoshi Warrior uniform, and beautiful auburn hair. Zuko snuck up to her quickly, placing a hand on the small of her back despite he probably shouldn't have…

"What's going on?" Zuko asked her, unwilling to glance at the trees just yet.

"What's with that face?" Suki asked, teasingly. "And here I thought this was exactly what you wanted…"

Her words gave him pause, and he glanced impulsively at the cherry tree…

To find Sokka and Azula were underneath its shade, sitting comfortably on the ground: Sokka's legs were spread open, enabling Azula to rest against his body, curled against him with a blissful grin on her face. And when petals fell upon her frame, Sokka would fish them out – and she returned the favor too, all between quiet laughter.

"W-what… what is…?" Zuko gasped, his eyes impossibly wide. Suki, beside him, giggled.

"I guess some dreams do come true, Zuko," she said, though she had to loop an arm around his waist quickly when it looked like he might outright lose his balance. "Zuko?"

"Th-those two…" he said, blinking repeatedly, then rubbing his eyes, as though to ensure it wasn't just a dream…

And of course, he couldn't even pretend it was anymore, not when Azula pushed herself a little higher to kiss Sokka fully, boldly, with such shameless abandon it was clear she wanted the whole world to see it. And yet… the intimacy, the way they held each other, suggested that this was no prank, no attempt to make fun of Zuko for his failed attempts to match them on the previous day. No… there was no way they'd smile at each other so earnestly if they weren't serious. He had never seen such a genuine, honest expression on his sister's face… or such a heartfelt, tender one on Sokka's. They only seemed to stop kissing to gaze at each other, and then they merely took to kissing anew, whispering words softly to each other, as though no one else was welcome to intrude… despite, as it was, most everyone in the Palace was either hearing about this or already rushing to see it with their own eyes, much as Zuko had.

"Zuko…?" Suki called him, smiling. "You okay?"

"It… it's fine. I'm fine. I… I was right," he chuckled. "Those two… they do belong together."

"I'm sorry you had to suffer so much to make sure it happened, though," Suki smiled awkwardly. "I still think it would be less rude not to intrude in people's personal lives, but… it didn't turn out so badly, did it?"

Oh, but perhaps it wasn't Zuko's doing, he had to acknowledge as much: the way they acted… it suggested a familiarity, a comfort that wasn't normal in blooming relationships. The way they had laughed the previous day… Zuko had assumed they were ridiculing him. But what if that wasn't it? What if the source of their laughter was actually that their relationship had been happening already, without his awareness, and they were relishing in such an ironic situation?

It was a possibility, most definitely. A rather blissful possibility, in his honest opinion. He'd have to ask them for more details later, he guessed… but as he watched them embracing lovingly, he knew that the most important part had happened already: his sister and his best friend had forged a unique bond, through which they had found true belonging, and genuine happiness. And he could only smile proudly for it, for this was exactly the blissful way of life he had known they could find in each other.

...

Alas, it is done! I thought I'd close my stories with a more humorous oneshot this time, rather than a wildly ambitious one. I honestly hadn't planned on going as crazy as I did with this event... but I regret nothing x'D Writing all these prompts was a blast. I'm grateful to everyone who has been supporting and enjoying my oneshots! I won't deny it, a lot of them warranted being more than oneshots, but because of a certain other fanfiction pursuit that takes over my entire existence, I'd never had the chance to flesh out ideas like Evil Ursa AU, or Azula joins the Gaang AU, or, of course, Aang breaks out of the iceberg many years earlier and saves the world with the parents of the traditional Team Avatar instead. This event presented many opportunities for me to finally put those ideas to good use, and I really think I'm satisfied with the work I did, which is easier said than done for a writer.

Thank you again for all the support, and special thanks to everyone who had a hand in making these Sokkla Saturdays a complete success. I'm beyond proud to have been worked alongside all of you, and I hope I continue to do so for many years to come! Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this iteration of Sokkla Saturdays 2020!

#sokkla saturdays #sokklasaturday #sokkla #sokka #azula #zuki #zuko #suki #while the other entries didn't really focus much on him #had to throw in the sister ship #for the one that did #:D #this one was a lot of fun #less crazy as far as plotting is concerned #but a lot of fun #hope you all enjoy it! :D

[sacredlittlespace]

Love Language

A little high school AU where Aang is having trouble asking Katara to the homecoming dance. There’s a side plot of Sokka asking Suki to the dance, too! Hope ya like it.

Aang looked across the courtyard with intent. Katara was laughing currently, her head tipped back slightly and her smile wide. The sound came from her gut, and even though it wasn’t a cutesy laugh like some other girls had, it was still Aang’s favorite sound in the world. 

“You’re staring again.” Zuko’s even tone annoyed Aang for a reason he couldn’t place. He looked back at Zuko, who had a juice box hanging out of the side of his mouth, and frowned. 

“I can’t do this,” Aang said in frustration. 

“Of course you can! It’s just my dumb sister, it’s not like you have to ask out the toughest, smartest, most beautiful girl in the school,” Sokka added. 

Aang saw that Sokka’s gaze was set on where Suki was sat next to Katara a few tables away from their own. He knew that Sokka was also nervous to ask Suki to the dance, but to Aang, Katara was all of those things, and it terrified him. Especially since they’d been friends for years and nothing ever happened between them. Sure they shared a few moments that made Aang question if Katara did feel the same, like in middle school when they were playing spin the bottle at Suki’s birthday party and the bottle landed between Aang and Jet, Katara had chosen to kiss Aang even though technically the bottle was more pointing at Jet. But what if they were just really good friends? Aang could never tell. 

“Look, Katara is popular enough that if you don’t ask her soon someone else will. So you’d better make a move or forget about it,” Zuko said. He leaned back and tossed his empty juice box into a nearby trash can as if he was throwing a basketball into a hoop.

“Easy for you to say,” Aang grumbled. “You and Mai have been together since you were like twelve.”

“She still made me prompose, or whatever you call it for homecoming,” Zuko said, his even tone changing into one of concealed annoyance. 

“And the dance number was great, buddy,” Sokka said, leaning across the table to pat Zuko’s shoulder. “Now I have to top that with what I’m going to do for Suki.”

Aang could barely hear the conversation continue with Zuko asking Sokka what he had in mind. Instead, Aang was back to looking at Katara. She was so beautiful, sitting on the top of one of the outdoor tables, the sun hitting her at a perfect angle to make her hair shine but not make her face scrunch up from the brightness. Even though that would also be cute. Every time a guy stood up or walked near her table Aang’s heart would pound. He kept feeling like any second he’d lose his chance to ask her out. 

“...and that’s where the smoke bombs come in…” Sokka was saying, animatedly leaning towards Aang and Zuko, who looked beyond bored by whatever he was hearing. 

“I’ll be back,” Aang said, not even waiting to hear the rest before standing up. He adjusted his headband and ruffled up the hair that he was still getting used to. Nervous habits. Just start walking, he told himself, and he did. Like a robot he somehow made it to Katara’s table. When he did, the entire group of girls quieted down, and Aang noticed several of the girls smirking. Suddenly his mouth went dry and his palms turned into oceans. 

“Hey Aang,” Katara said softly. She looked at him with her head tilted in a way that made her gaze look like a mix between shy and sultry, and Aang felt his heart beat harder. “What’s up?”

“Hey - Katara,” Aang said, stammering on the words. The girls around them giggled and started whispering to each other before Suki shushed them. Aang’s hands started to shake. “Um, I was just wondering, um…” What are words?? Aang thought in a panic. How do sentences work again?? Oh God, I’ve been quiet for too long, I’m being weird, I have to say something -!

“Yeah?” Katara prompted, leaning closer to him. Her cheeks were turning a light pink, and Aang found himself unable to stop fixating on that detail. 

I’ve got to do this! Now is my only chance, Aang thought, clenching his fists and squaring his shoulders. “I...was wondering...do -”

The lunch bell rang. Suddenly all of the girls were standing up around Aang, pushing him slightly this way and that as they walked around him. Suki grabbed Katara’s arm, and quickly started leading her away. Aang stood still, his mouth still open with the rest of his words in his throat, ready to escape into an empty room.

Katara looked back at him after a few steps with an apologetic look. “Sorry Aang, let’s talk on our way home from school!”

“S-sure,” Aang said, even though he knew Katara was too far to hear. His face fell with disappointment. There were still four more periods left in the school day. There was no way Katara wouldn’t be asked out by then. 

A buzzing in his pocket made Aang focus on something other than the heavy pit in his stomach. When he pulled his phone out of his pocket, he saw that he’d gotten a text from Zuko in their group chat. “That’s rough buddy” was all it said, and then Sokka quickly sent a bunch of laughing emojis in response. 

Groaning, Aang shoved his phone back into his pocket and quickly walked back to his table to get his stuff. 

                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aang didn’t walk home with Katara and Sokka like he usually did. Sokka was off somewhere with Toph getting something ready for his homecoming promposal for Suki, and apparently it was Katara’s job to keep Suki occupied so she wouldn’t catch wind of any of this. So, Aang walked home alone. 

When Aang got to their house, he went straight to the kitchen. There was only one thing on his mind: comfort food. He grabbed a bag of his favorite spicy chips and sat down on the sofa like a bum. Spending the rest of the school day nursing his disappointment had made him somewhat numb. He was still snacking and mindlessly watching TV when Katara walked in a half hour later. 

“Hey, I’m home,” she said brightly. Aang just grunted a response, which made Katara’s face fall. “What’s with you?”

“Nothing. How was distracting Suki?” Aang asked instead, still not looking at Katara and focusing instead on the TV in front of him and the pain in his mouth from eating too many spicy chips. He kept eating anyway. 

Katara huffed and threw herself onto the sofa next to Aang. She was just slightly closer to him than what would be considered normal, and Aang glanced at her out of the corner of his eye in response. “Exhausting! I’m sick of constantly keeping Suki away from Sokka. She already likes him, and she knows he likes her so it’s not like she DOESN’T know he’s going to ask her to the dance. He’s just being ridiculous and now I’m stuck in the middle of it.”

Aang nodded sympathetically. He knew Sokka was going overboard and was asking Katara for too much help. He was happy Sokka hadn’t asked him for anything - yet. “Did anyone prompose to you yet? Or do you know who’s going to?” Aang asked, his tone still even, concealing his hurt feelings. Seeing Katara with someone else...it would wound him like nothing else could. But what could he do?

Katara shook her head. “No one has promposed, thankfully. I would be so uncomfortable if anyone did. A couple guys have asked me to the dance through DMs, but I left them on read.”

Katara quickly looked away after speaking, her cheeks quickly turning dark pink. That piqued Aang’s interest. “How come?”

“Well…” Katara trailed off and paused before continuing. “I’m waiting to see if someone else asks me.”

“Who?” Aang asked, sitting up a little. Now he was curious. He wanted to know who would be the cause of the greatest hurt he would ever feel. 

“A...guy. He’s a friend, actually. A really good friend. But, I don’t know, I guess without realizing it I started to like him as more than that. Sometimes I think that he does, too, but then other times he seems like just a goofy kid who isn’t even interested in girls like that.” Katara sighed. “I guess I’ll just wait and see. If he doesn’t ask me, I don’t mind going alone.”

Aang wanted to offer to be a backup date, but decided that was super lame. Instead he asked, “So if he does ask you, how would you want him to? Since you don’t want a huge promposal.”

Katara’s eyes lit up with an emotion Aang didn’t recognize. Her face softened around a small smile and she dropped her gaze to the sofa cushion, busying herself with picking at some tiny balls of lint. “Well, it’s a school dance so it’s totally not important. But, if I could choose, I would want something small, private, and meaningful. Something that only the two of us could share.”

Katara looked up at Aang as she said the last sentence, and his breath caught audibly, making him slightly embarrassed after the shock of the moment wore off. He looked away, and decided not to think anything of it. It was just a coincidence. He couldn’t find it in him to form an actual response, so he just nodded, eyes focused on the TV.

                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Aang couldn’t sleep. He kept replaying those moments with Katara in his mind, and fantasizing about the possibility of her actually talking about him when she said all of those things. Aang didn’t want to let himself hope too much, but he did have a nagging feeling in his chest that wouldn’t go away. He felt it physically pull him out of bed, and before he knew it he was sitting at his desk, fiddling with a necklace he’d made Katara but never gave to her. Without thinking, he pulled out a blank sheet of paper and started writing. 

Dear Katara,

Remember that time you, me, and Sokka went fishing, but I stole the string off his fishing rod and he got so mad that he accidentally fell off the dock and into the lake? Haha, that was such a good time. It’s still funny. Anyway, Sokka was super upset because he thought I just took it to weave a random knot pattern, but it was more than that. Around that time, you’d lost your mother’s necklace, so I actually wove you one to hold its place until you found it again. But, that night your dad came home with the necklace, and I never gave you this one. But, I still want you to have it. The thing is, I always think about you, everything reminds me of you in some way or another. Like that string on the fishing rod, it made me think of you immediately and I took it without thinking. Honestly, I would do anything for you without a second thought. I’d even give my life. Maybe that’s weird, I don’t know. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I like you. I know you’re hoping some guy asks you to the dance, and he probably will because he’d be a special kind of stupid if he didn’t. But if he does turn out to be a special kind of stupid, I hope you’d accept my offer and go to the dance with me instead. I hope this isn’t super lame. I kind of feel super lame after writing this. Anyway, I hope you like the necklace. 

Aang

A sigh escaped his lips as he read over the letter. It was super lame, but since he already wrote it, he decided to give it to Katara anyway. Before he folded the paper, he remembered something, and started looking through his books until he found what he needed. A pressed flower. 

It was in the early days, shortly after Aang’s adopted family was killed and Katara’s father took him in. Aang would get sad often, but thought he did a good job of hiding it. Apparently not, though. Katara had found him on one of his lonely walks and fell into step next to him, not saying a word. There was a tree at the edge of their backyard, and Katara stopped under it, making Aang stop too. She told him that she thought it was fate that she found him unconscious in an alley next to his old home, and that he belonged with her, and her family. Then she looked up at the flowers blooming from the tree above them, and in the wind, one fell down and caressed her face before falling onto the ground in front of Aang. He’d picked it up, intending to keep the flower as a reminder of where his new home was: with Katara.

In the present moment, he moved the flower carefully from the book it was pressed into to the letter he’d just written, and folded the paper over it, keeping the flower safe. Then he quietly left his room and walked down the hall to Katara’s room. He stopped outside the closed door and took a deep, silent breath before bending down and carefully leaving the letter and necklace on the floor beside her door. As he walked back to his room, Aang could only wonder how tomorrow would go. 

                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Aang woke up the next morning, he was filled with regret. Why would he write her a letter? Who does that anymore? I’m so stupid, he thought to himself, jumping out of bed to grab the letter before Katara found it, but he was too late. The letter was gone. 

Panic. Aang didn’t know what to do now, frozen in the hallway just staring at the empty space where his pathetic letter used to be. It was five thirty, so an hour before anyone else would be awake. Aang decided to get ready and leave before everyone else. It would be easy to avoid Katara in school, not so much when they were in the same house together. 

After a quick shower and blindly getting dressed, Aang all but ran out of the house. In fact, once he was outside, he broke out into an all out sprint. The doors to the school building didn’t open to students before seven thirty, but Aang knew a place that was always open to him. 

“Aang, nice to see you so early,” Roku said, smiling. He opened his front door wider, allowing Aang to come in. Even though Roku was Zuko’s great grandfather, he’d always had a special bond with Aang. It’s like the two could always talk about anything and always understand each other on a deeper level. 

Roku placed a cup of hot tea in front of Aang. They sat in silence at Roku’s kitchen table for a long moment. Finally, Aang broke the silence. 

“Roku, I did something really stupid,” he said, his face pulling into an anguished frown. 

“Illegal stupid, or normal stupid? I can only help you with one. Kyoshi could probably help you with the other. She killed a man once.”

“Ugh,” Aang groaned in frustration. “Enough about that. Just normal stupid. I wrote a letter to Katara confessing my feelings for her but now I regret it and it’s too late. What do I do??”

“Ah.” Roku looked away from Aang and took a long sip from his tea. “Did I ever tell you how I managed to get my wife?”

“Yeah,” Aang nodded. “You were a total loser but she liked you anyway.”

Roku laughed. “Something like that. Love gets easier as you grow older. You learn what’s important and what isn’t. When you’re young, the surface, the appearance of it matters so much. You say things and think, ‘oh, why am I so stupid! Why did I say that and not this??’ When you get older, you learn that with the right person, there’s never a wrong way to say how you feel. They speak your love language fluently, and accept your awkwardness and vulnerability.”

“But how do I know she’s the right person? What if she doesn’t speak my...language of love,” Aang said, forgetting exactly how Roku had phrased it and making up the closest thing he could on the spot. His brows were pulled together so tightly that his forehead actually started hurting. 

“You will know when you find the right person,” Roku said. He watched Aang while he sipped his tea. “Listen Aang. There is no shame in expressing how you feel. We feel things for the exact reason to express them. Your feelings will guide you to the right path; when something fills you with anxiety, you know that’s your spirit telling you that path isn’t for you. When something brings you happiness, you know that’s your spirit telling you that whatever it is that makes you happy is bringing you closer to your authentic self. And when you feel peace, that’s your spirit finding its home. If you don’t accept and express your feelings, you will only become lost. You like this girl, you told her; her response will lead you to your correct path.”

“What if she rejects me?” Aang asked softly. 

Roku put his tea down, and looked Aang straight in the eye. “Then you’ll get closer to who you need to be with.”

                                               ~~~~~~~~~~

While at school it was easy to avoid Katara. She was a year above him in school, so they had no classes together. And usually they didn’t sit anywhere near each other at lunch; that was Katara’s girl time. That started when Suki wanted to talk to Katara about Sokka alone, and then it just stayed that way. Aang skipped lunch today just to be safe. 

Roku’s words kept going around and around in his mind the whole day. The right person. Who you need to be with. Whenever he thought about those things, all he saw was Katara. If she rejected him, he’d be totally lost. 

Maybe she would reject him quietly. Or maybe she would pretend the letter never happened and spare him. Aang was hoping for the latter when he got home, knowing he couldn’t avoid Katara forever. 

“Aang?”

He’d barely entered the home before Katara called his name. “Yeah,” he called back, busying himself with taking off his shoes before entering the house. His voice had cracked slightly with nerves, and Aang cleared his throat, hoping she didn’t notice. 

“Can we talk?”

When Aang turned around to walk into the living room, the first thing he noticed was the woven necklace around Katara’s neck. His heart started pounding immediately, but then he looked up and saw Katara’s upset face and his entire body went cold. 

“Where were you today? You left early, I didn’t see you at school, and then you weren’t around after school either.”

Aang looked to the side and started playing with his hair nervously. “Sorry, I couldn’t sleep last night, and then Roku asked me to come by this afternoon and help him with some housework. I guess I should have told you and Sokka I would be home later.”

Katara’s face softened. “I couldn’t sleep last night either,” she said, delicately touching the necklace she was wearing. Aang swallowed so hard he swore Katara could hear it. Her face fell back into a frown, and then she said, “Why doesn’t Zuko help him, he’s actually related to him.”

Aang laughed nervously and shrugged. “They have a complicated history. Plus I enjoy spending time with Roku.”

Katara hummed softly in response, and looked away. Her cheeks were turning pink again, and she started nervously playing with her necklace. Aang remembered what Roku had told him, and tucked his fear away for now. Either way, he would come out of this closer to where and who he needed to be. 

“I see you’re wearing the necklace I made you, I hope that means you like it,” Aang said. He figured he’d step up and approach the situation head on. He was the one who wrote the letter, he had to be ready for a response. 

“I love it, it’s beautiful,” Katara said, smiling at the ground. “And that flower...it was from that day…”

Aang scrunched up his mouth with nerves and started playing with his hair again. “Yeah...you’d said if someone asked you to the dance you’d want it to be meaningful and something only the two of you could share. I figured that was a good choice. I know I’m only a backup date, but I still wanted to do that for you.”

Instantly Aang regretted saying that. He didn’t want to be the backup date, he wanted to be her first choice and he should have fought for it. He worked up the courage to look back at Katara and found that she was already looking at him. 

“You know, you really are a special kind of stupid,” she said, smirking. 

Aang’s face twisted. “Huh?”

Katara took two steps towards him and smiled. “You’re the one I wanted to ask me to the dance. Suki and I were actually planning a way for me to ask you. I’m glad it happened this way, though.”

“Uh, what,” Aang said, blinking. He felt like Katara was speaking another language. Like he could hear sounds coming out of her mouth, but not words. 

Rolling her eyes, Katara closed the distance between the two of them and wrapped her arms around Aang’s shoulders, letting her hands cradle the back of his head. “I like you, too, Aang. Everything you said in the letter, I feel the same. It’s more than the dance, too. I,” she said, ducking her head a little, her cheeks bright pink, “I want to be with you, Aang.”

He didn’t know how to respond. The best possible outcome just happened, and he felt his soul leave his body anime style. He felt like fainting, but instead he leaned forward and kissed Katara. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her even closer to him, something he’d always wanted to do, and they stayed that way for a long moment. 

Suddenly the front door burst open, and Sokka walked in, lower lip trembling, eyes filled with tears. Katara and Aang jumped away from each other, not sure if they wanted Sokka to know just yet. 

“Sokka?” Katara asked, clearly concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“It was a disaster,” he wailed. Sokka started ticking things off his fingers as he spoke. “The hot air balloon canceled, the acapella group ended up just being one guy who weirdly smelled like pickles and couldn’t even sing - he did have an impressive range of armpit fart sounds, but that’s besides the point! All of the letters I wrote her to be delivered before each class ended up getting sent to some girl named Zuki instead?? And the scavenger hunt clues didn’t match where Zuko actually hid anything. And we didn’t even get to the second part of the promposal yet! The smoke bombs were duds - or so I thought until they went off five minutes later and basically suffocated me -”

“Sokka, stop! We get it, this super over the top, way too many ideas mashed into one promposal didn’t work. Now skip to the part where Suki reacted; what did she say??” Katara asked, and Aang leaned forward too, just as interested to hear. 

“I don’t know!” Sokka said, throwing his hands up. He groaned and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I was so humiliated I just ran home. Suki will never want to see me again, I’m a failure!” Sokka was just about sobbing now, but then the doorbell rang, interrupting him. He paused and frowned, turning towards the door. “If this is that weird acapella guy, I’m not paying him.” Sokka angrily swung the door open, and his face instantly lit up. “Suki!”

Aang moved a little so that he could see Suki, who was standing in the doorway with roses in her arms, amongst several bags. She was beaming right back at Sokka. 

“Hey Sokka. Zuki gave me all of your letters, and the roses, and Zuko gave me all of the gifts you got me. Someone from a hot air balloon company gave me a free ride coupon, too. Oh, and some guy who smelled like pickles performed the Ave Maria with armpit fart sounds?” Sokka’s face fell and he dropped his face into his hand. Suki just laughed. “But I also saw the dance performance you came up with, or at least the backup dancers. They said it wasn’t the same without you, and the lyrics you wrote for me, but they ended up giving me the lyric sheet and I loved it. I don’t know what else you had planned, but it was all amazing Sokka.”

“Wait. Wait here. There’s one more thing.”

Suki’s face fell a little, and she tried to stop him. “No, Sokka, I -”

“No, seriously, I’ll be right back.” Sokka’s sincere voice convinced Suki, who just smiled adoringly at him and nodded. 

Aang looked at Katara after Sokka ran up the steps, but she just shrugged. Aang guessed Katara didn’t know this last part of the plan either. Only a moment later, Sokka was running back down the steps. He approached Suki with a teddy bear in his hands. It was wearing a shirt with a picture of Sokka and Suki printed on it, and tucked into little straps on its hands was a little case. 

Sokka rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, looking at Suki with a blush on his cheeks. “This was how I was going to originally ask you. There’s a flash drive inside the case of songs I picked out for you. The lyrics of the songs spelled out a message you were supposed to decode, asking you to the dance, and...to be my girlfriend. 

“But once I saw Zuko’s promposal to Mai - who’s already his girlfriend - I panicked. Especially since it’s you. I thought this wouldn’t be enough. But now I see I kind of went way too hard on the promposal. I’m sorry.”

Suki dropped everything in her arms and jumped towards Sokka, grabbing his face in her hands and kissing him. Aang looked away, feeling embarrassed for some reason, and saw Katara do the same. They shared a look and giggled, both happy that Sokka hadn’t seen their kiss moment. 

“Sokka, everything you did was so romantic. I love how passionate you are about things that matter to you, and I love that I’m one of the things that matters to you. I would want nothing less than to go to the dance with you as your girlfriend.” Suki’s smile was wider than Aang had ever seen it, and the only thing that distracted him from it was Sokka’s knees buckling and him fainting to the ground. 

                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aang looked across the hall with intent. There Katara was at their table, laughing and talking with Suki and Mai. Aang smiled at her, even though he didn’t know what was making her smile, he just loved to see it. 

“You’re staring again,” Zuko teased. He filled up a plate of desserts for both him and Mai, and on the other side of him Sokka was doing the same. 

“Yeah, at my girlfriend,” Aang said, and couldn’t help the little laugh that followed. The words still made butterflies erupt into flight in his stomach. His girlfriend. How would life ever get better than this?

“I still can’t believe Suki said yes to being my girlfriend,” Sokka said, turning around to gaze at the table of girls. 

“I still can’t believe you fainted when she did,” Zuko said, his voice back to its even tone. 

Sokka frowned. “I had low blood sugar! I hadn’t eaten all day because I was working to get everything ready and -”

“Yeah yeah,” Zuko said, waving a hand towards Sokka. It was nothing they all hadn’t heard before. “Let’s just get back before Mai turns into a dragon and bites my head off for taking too long to get desserts.”

Aang quickly finished filling his plate with fruits, but grabbed a few pastries last minute in case Katara wanted those too. When they got back to their table, Katara immediately started eating the fruit off of Aang’s plate. 

“Thanks for getting me fruit,” she whispered to him. “I’ve been dying for them all night, but forgot to tell you to grab some when you got up. You just read my mind.”

“I do what I can,” Aang smiled, watching Katara fit so many pieces of pineapple into her mouth that she looked like a chipmunk. Then he brushed her long wavy hair off of her shoulder toward her back, letting his fingers brush the necklace he’d made Katara that she still hadn’t taken off. “I can make you a better one,” he said, looking at the cheap string it was made out of. It was all he had at the time, but she deserved better.

“I already love this one,” she said, shaking her head. 

“I love you,” Aang said automatically. Once he realized what he’d said, his smile dropped and his eyes widened. He’d said it without even thinking, and now he was afraid he’d scared Katara off for good. 

For a moment Katara’s eyes widened too, but then her face softened into a dreamy smile, and she leaned forward, pressing a kiss onto Aang’s lips. She tasted like pineapples, but that wasn’t the reason Aang had a hard time pulling away.

“I love you, too.”

#kataang #kataang fanfic #katara and aang #katara x aang #aang x katara #sokka and suki #sokki #sokka x suki #suki x sokka

[pepperidgefarmremembers]

Here’s the next chapter!

Journey Through The Chakras - Chapter 3

Confidence

A sluggish Zuko literally bumped into Aang and Katara on their way back inside the dining hall. "Sifu Hotman, glad to see you're feeling better," the smiling airbender said with a bow. Just as he has done since the beginning of their friendship, he yells, "Don't call me that!" The happy couple giggle but quickly stop after seeing the firebender's golden eyes narrow. "Sorry, Zuko, I do hope you're feeling better. We thought we lost you after the second jug of wine," Aang said trying not to smile. Zuko paused, looking more pale than usual, before speaking firmly, "I'm okay, I just need a minute to warm up. Perhaps some friendly fire, Aang?" The sun had set for the evening while Aang and Katara shared a knowing smile. Her eyes telling her husband "It's okay, stay here". He watched his wife walk into the dining hall when Zuko announced, "Show me what you got on the count of three!" "One..two...three!" The long time friends firebended flames in the palm of their hands. While Zuko's flame was big enough to warm everyone in the dining hall, Aang bended a tiny, flickering flame in the palm of his hand. Zuko scoffed, "What is that?! After all this time, you're still producing these small flames. What's going on?"

Aang looked at his flame with a confused face. He turned to his firebending master and spoke in an agitated tone, "I don't know what you mean. You said fire and I made fire. What's the problem?" Zuko shook his head, almost pitying his friend. "There's nothing else you're worried about? Nothing that happens on the night of the wedding?" the firebender asked. Aang blew a defeated sigh and his flame extinguished. The airbender sat down without a noise and Zuko followed his lead. After a few moments of silence had passed, he spoke to his friend in an almost whisper, "How did you handle the wedding night with Mai?" "I knew he was nervous," Zuko thought, but refrained from smiling. Mirroring Aang's hushed tone, Zuko replied, "I just thought back to the talk Iroh gave me when I started dating Mai. He was more my father than my actual father ever was. When I thought about the wedding night, I thought about how I usually do when I'm firebending. When I firebend, I think about what I want and I feel confident. I'm aware of my power to achieve anything." Aang traded his confused face for a frown and asked, "I never had anyone to talk to about this and I think that's the problem. I was too young when I had Gyatso and the only experienced guys I'm around are related to Katara. Ughhh what am I gonna do?"

Zuko thought for a moment and asked his friend, "Well...um...how much do you know?" Aang's eyebrows furrowed, "I know how it works, Zuko!", then his voice lowered to a whisper, "But, what if it's bad? What if I'm bad? What if she hates it and regrets it? I-" His rambling was cut off by Zuko, "Whoah whoah okay, you need to find your breath". After Aang took a few deep breaths he felt his qi flow freely in his body. He continued, "Listen, I'll tell you what Iroh told me. 'No one is good their first time.'" Aang, still frowning, asked, "How's that supposed to help? Just expect to be bad? No offense, but I thought your Uncle was wise?" He smiled ever so slightly and replied, "He is, but what he meant was don't put pressure on yourself for something that almost nobody gets right the first time. You need to be confident and feel powerful, like when you're firebending. Think about what you desire and how you can make it happen." Aang sat in silence, his face becoming pensive. Suddenly Zuko bends a huge flame in the palm of his hand, pulsating with vitality. After nodding to the airbender to copy him, he says, "Think about what you want and how you want things to be. What do you desire? How do you want Katara to see you? Now, go!" A burst of red, hot flame appeared in the airbender's palm, almost identical to Zuko's. The airbender laughed in exuberant excitement, "Zuko look! I did it!" Zuko, giving a half smile to his friend, slapped Aang on the back in reassurance. "Now, think like THAT and things will go well, even when you might be bad at it. And you probably, definitely will."

Aang's mind turned over the teachings from the monks about power and desire. It felt like everything he had learned was in direct conflict of what it means to be a firebender. He never wanted to desire anything because that would lead to unhappiness. He disliked the idea of power and even has run away from it many times. But then again, Aang wondered, "I will never reach enlightenment because I'm the Avatar." He knew that by being the Avatar, he would have to subscribe to earthly attachments in order to keep balance. He chose Katara over mastering the Avatar State because of his attachment to her. He remembered all of the times he felt pain because of his strong attachment to Katara. He wanted to make her happy and wanted to please her. After this thought came to his mind, he felt energy flowing from his abdomen to the rest of his body. He desired Katara and more importantly, wanted her to desire him. He brought his mind back to the external world. Aang bended water and put out his ball of energy. He smiled at the firebender, "Thanks, Zuko! That helped a lot. I think I'm ready to begin my night as a married man." The friends stood up. Zuko laughed and began to walk inside the dining hall with Aang, "You got this, buddy."

*The next morning*

Katara fluttered her eyes open to see her husband sleeping soundly next to her in their bed. Her eyes followed the amber headboard to where it met Aang's head. Memories of their first night together as husband and wife danced through her mind. She felt exhausted but wanted to feel that way again and again. Resting her head gently on Aang's chest, he squirmed and began to open his eyes. "Oh no, I'm sorry I woke you up," she said with a frown. Aang beamed with a smile, "Don't be sorry. Can I only be woken up by your beautiful face for the rest of my life?" Her cheeks flushed red as she smiled at him. She sighed dreamily, "Is this going to be every day? I think I will die of a sweet tooth if you keep that up." "I will try to make you feel this way every minute of every day. I never want you to forget what you mean to me." Katara's cheeks became almost hot and she could not contain her smile. "I think you're on the right path if last night is any indication. I have never seen you like that except in battle."

Aang's smile faded and became serious, "So...um...are you saying you would do it again?" "Of course I would! That was amazing. I was worried at first from the horror stories I was told, but you made me feel safe. You were caring, strong, and passionate. Where did that come from?" He jokingly rolled his eyes and lifted his nose in the air, "Please, Katara, I'm just a simple monk." Katara burst out laughing into Aang's chest, "I don't think simple monks act like THAT". His aloof facade faded into his usual big grin, "I just thought about you and what you mean to me. I wanted to make you feel how you make me feel every day. You deserve the world." She looked into his grey eyes and kissed him gently. He deepened the kiss. Much to her excitement, the kiss continued for a few minutes. He finally broke away from the kiss, "When I'm with you, I feel like I can do anything. Thank you, Katara. I love you." She continued to stare at her husband with a half-lidded expression. She ran her fingers across Aang's chest and whispered, "I love you, too."

#atla fanfic #aang x katara #avatar the last airbender #avatar fanfiction #aang #katara

[lykegenia]

The Things We Hide Ch. 28

Chapter 1 on AO3 This chapter on AO3 Masterpost here

-------

The cove where Appa landed a day later glittered under the setting sun, sugar-fine grains of sand cast the colour of molten copper as the last of the light bled from the sky. Like it was a melon rind, the water ate at the sweeping curve of the beach, biting it back further and further towards a line of thick, luscious jungle. Foliage rippled in the evening breeze, while bright flashes of colour dipped between gaps in the canopy as birds flew home to their roosts. It was the building complex overlooking the beach that drew everyone’s attention, however, a sprawling wooden construction of grand pillars and verandas under steeply sloped gables of yellow-glazed tiles.

“How did you know about this place?” Zuko asked as Sokka slithered to the ground beside him.

“Grand Master Iroh gave us directions,” came the reply. “He said it would be the best place to hide out until we meet our contact. Looks like he was right – all that storm damage is at least a year old. Nobody’s been here in a while.”

“Not for years,” Zuko muttered, still staring, though the words went unheeded as the others groaned and stretched out their cramped muscles. “There should be enough space for Appa in the main courtyard.”

“How do you know?” Aang checked.

The fire prince scowled. “This is the royal family’s dry season retreat. The weather’s milder than in the Caldera.”

“We’re staying in the Fire Lord’s house?” Sokka let loose a whoop of laughter. “Imagine the look on his face if he found out!”

“We should hope he doesn’t,” Katara retorted. “And we should get Appa off the beach before he gets spotted by a patrol.”

Aang nodded. “Good point. Come on buddy, just one more short hop and you can have a nice rest – see you guys up there!”

The sky bison grumbled as his master leapt back into position by the reins, hauling himself to his feet. At the avatar’s bright command, he struck off from the ground and veered towards the mansion, though he barely went high enough for his toes to clear the trees. It left the rest of them with a short walk up the slope, while overhead, the first stars glittered in a violet sky. Zuko led the way, both because the path was at least a little familiar to his memory, and because his firebending proved the perfect tool to light the path and sear away the overgrown jungle. He was grateful for the tired silence behind him. When they reached the gate, and the pair of stone lion-turtles that guarded it, he felt eyes on the back of his head, but he pushed on into the compound with his shoulders squared.

Aang greeted them with his usual enthusiasm, waving them over to where he was already unpacking their bags. “And look at this cool flower I found,” he added to Katara as she approached. “I think they’re nightbells – the petals only open after the sun goes down.”

“Thanks, Aang,” she replied. “I remember these. They grew in my garden in the capital, under the mangingko.” She plucked the bloom from his open palm, answering his smile with a smaller one as she recalled the long, hot days by her pond, minding lessons and reading the poetry Ursa had gifted her.

“You shouldn’t pay so much attention to him,” said a voice at her side.  

She narrowed her eyes at Zuko. “What’s it to you?”

“He’s not serious about it, he’s just flirting for the fun of it.”

“I know.” She blinked. “But it’s still none of your business.”

“I just – fine. Have it your way,” he snapped, and stalked away to follow Toph into the house.

While they waited for Iroh’s contact to meet them, they trained. They had to be careful, in case a passing fire navy patrol caught sight of activity in the supposedly empty house, but the walls were high and the jungle thick enough to mask all but the showiest bending forms. Zuko refused to teach Aang, but grumpily accepted the avatar’s presence while he practiced his own forms after Katara pointed out it would take less energy than continually chasing him away. In between these practices, they prepared for their journey to the Caldera, poring over maps and plans and schedules for hours at a time, working out rest points where they could hide Appa during the day. If worst came to worst, they could submerge again to avoid the central patrols, but Appa’s dislike of being underwater, coupled with the toll it took on Katara, meant it would be a last resort.

“We’ll need more supplies if it’s going to take us that long,” she pointed out on the fourth day as they gathered in the courtyard. “Someone’s bound to notice us if we keep stopping of at every town market we run across.”

Her brother scoffed. “Who says we need to go into towns at all – master hunter here, remember?”

“We would have to if we wanted to avoid the city guards chasing after us for poaching,” Zuko replied. “You need a permit to hunt.”

“You aren’t serious?”

“These are islands, with delicately balanced ecosystems,” he explained, drawing himself up into full regal bearing. “If everyone took what they wanted, populations wouldn’t be sustainable and people would starve.”

“It would make more sense to get supplies now anyway,” Suki interrupted, to forestall Sokka’s response. “We don’t know what delays we’ll run into out there.”

Sokka shot her a soppy look. “Have I mentioned how smart you are today? Alright, new plan. Katara, you know what we need – take Toph and Zuko to the village and stock up. We should have enough money to cover it. Aang, you should probably stay here in case someone recognises you, so you, me, and Suki will –”

“Aw can’t I go?” The avatar’s eyes widened like a moose-lion cub’s. “I haven’t seen the Fire Nation in a hundred years, I want to see what’s changed!”

“There’s a bounty on your head, for one thing,” Toph grunted.

“What if I covered my arrow?”  He pressed a hand over his forehead and grinned. “No one would recognise me! Besides, since I’m the oldest I’m technically in charge. I wouldn’t want to leave you all unsupervised,” he added with a sage nod of his head.

“You’ll just sneak out if I say no, won’t you?”

“Probably.”

Sokka groaned. “Fine. You go with the others, and me and Suki will repack what we do have.”

Toph smirked. “Suuuure that’s what you’ll be doing.”  

Sokka ignored her. “It can’t be worse than having the prince of the whole nation prancing down the street.”

“I don’t prance,” Zuko grumbled. “And they probably wouldn’t recognise me either.” His fingers twitched in his lap, resisting the impulse to touch the left side of his face.

“Well yeah,” Katara supplied next to him. “Last time you went among the people you had half a battalion of royal guards with you.” Her smirk jolted him from the dark spiral of his thoughts, back into the memory of that outing to the market, where she had charmed all the stallholders and offered mercy to the veteran who had tried to strike her. He might have replied to her teasing, but he was too aware of all the curious eyes on them, the silence that had fallen around the circle.

“When do we leave?” he asked instead.

The market was held under brightly coloured awnings in a paved square at the centre of the village, and spilled out along the streets leading down to dozens of rickety piers where the fishermen tied their boats. At one end, fruit sellers vied with florists for the attention of the crowd, calling and offering samples to show the beautiful ripeness of their wares, while the butchers and fishmongers stood at the other, downwind, swishing ostrich-horse-tail flails to keep flies off their produce. In between were clothiers, bean sellers, leatherworkers, smiths, carpenters, sweet merchants, and cooks selling hot snacks, all with vibrant displays designed to catch the eye.

“This place is great!” Toph announced as the strolled up the main street. “My feet are can see so much stuff – and what’s that smell?”

“Sun cakes,” Katara and Zuko replied in unison, then quickly glanced away from each other.

“What was that about? Your guys’ heartbeats just shot waaaay up.”

Katara cleared her throat. “I was expecting something a bit more rural.”

“Ember Island caters to a lot of the Fire Nation nobility trying to get away from the formality of court.” Zuko shrugged. “They like playing at being commoners, so a lot of them do their own shopping.”

“And get totally ripped off, I bet,” Toph snorted.

“Probably. My mother used to bring us here when we were kids.”

“Are you sure you won’t be recognised?” Katara asked, peering around them. The knot of tension in her shoulders eased as she noticed how many foreigners dotted about the place. It would be easier for them to blend in, even if Zuko’s pale skin would mark him instantly as someone of high rank.

“It’s too early in the season for anyone important to be here,” he answered, but nevertheless drew the hood he was wearing lower over his face.

“We should split up,” Aang suggested brightly, most of his attention already on the sweet sellers. “That way we’ll be done twice as fast, right?”

“Well...”

Toph grabbed onto his arm with far more enthusiasm than she had shown for anything so far. “I’m with Twinkle Toes! No offence to you, Sugar Queen, but he’s way more fun.”

Katara rolled her eyes, aware that agreeing would mean she was left alone with Zuko. It was going to be so... stilted.

“Fine,” she sighed, and tore their shopping list in half to hand to them with a fistful of coins. “You’re in charge of the medical supplies. Just don’t draw attention to yourselves. You need to get everything on here, and I swear if you spend it all on sweets instead, when you get sick I’m going to stand there and say I told you so instead of healing you.”

“Ugh. Yes, Mom.”

There was a beat of silence as the pair raced away, looking thankfully like an ordinary boy and his kid sister in their borrowed Fire Nation clothing, and the bandana that covered Aang’s head. The rest of the shoppers barely spared them a glance, but Katara’s nerves were still too high to really appreciate it.

“What?” she snapped at Zuko.

He turned away quickly. “Nothing. We should get going.”

They started with the dried food, beans and rice and jerky that they could pack lightly and would last for weeks. For Aang, they also bought jars of marinated tofu, and dried honey-lotus roots to go along with the long-lasting vegetables that would form the bulk of their meals. It meant they were burdened down very quickly, but Katara found it worth the ache in her arms to watch Zuko trying to look like he knew how to handle money.

Even so, there was a tension to their interaction as they both skirted difficult topics, and she was glad to set it down with the shopping when they stepped into the shade of a noodle shop for lunch. She had missed the vibrancy of the Fire Nation, the spices in the air and the liveliness of the people, and even the way the midday heat was stripped of its wrath by the calming sea wind. She smiled at the server as she ordered from a board of illustrated dishes, then followed Zuko back to their table to wait off her feet. Without the shared distraction of their task, silence settled awkwardly around them again.

“We’ve got most of what we came for,” she tried. “We should go and find the others and get back to the house.”

“Right.”

“The food smells good.”

“It usually is.”

“You’ve eaten here before?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Not for years.”

“Right.”

She picked at a loose thread in her tunic, and his gaze slid past her to a poster fixed to the opposite wall. It was a relief when the elderly server called their order and brought over two steaming bowls of soup, with a smile and a wish for them to enjoy their meal. Before she could leave, however, Zuko caught her attention and pointed to the poster, where ‘Suntide Circus’ was proclaimed in gold above illustrations of lion dogs, dancing poodle-ponies, and at the forefront a pair of shadowed figures back to back against a crowd of unseen enemies.

“What happened to the Ember Island Players?” he asked.

The server glanced at the poster. “Oh, they’re still around, just taking a break before the season starts. Those guys pulled into town yesterday, but they’ll move on soon enough.” She peered at Zuko suspiciously. “You sound like you’re from the capital – you’re a bit early.”

“My family are merchants,” he replied, though his smooth tone was betrayed by a wash of crimson rising up his face. “We travel all over.”

“Shame about that burn, for a merchant,” the old woman continued with a nod, and turned to Katara. “I bet he was pretty as paint before, eh? Bet he could charm all the young ladies out of their coin.”

It was Katara’s turn to flush. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Sure you don’t, girlie. You know, I heard that exiled prince had a pretty big scar on his face – you could do impressions if business goes south. Ha!”

“I heard Prince Zuko’s scar was on the other side,” Katara answered with a frown. “Thank you for the food – it looks delicious.”

Still chuckling to herself, the server winked at the dismissal and set two pairs of chopsticks on the rickety table before shuffling off to greet a new customer, a local man by the look of him, who had a small horde of children following him in through the door. She left a sharp silence in her wake, and Zuko didn’t look up as he reached for his chopsticks to mix the soup and noodles in with the condiments.

“Hey...” Katara ventured after a tense moment. “You shouldn’t pay too much attention to what she said – about your scar, and about...”

“We should just eat and find the others,” he interrupted. “It was a bad idea for me to come here.”

She bit her lip to keep from voicing aloud the words that rang in her head, knowing they wouldn’t be appreciated. She had enjoyed the time they spent together that morning, had appreciated his tacit offer to carry the supplies, and the way they worked together to find the best produce. It was the most normal she had felt since before the comet, and certainly the most relaxed. And yet, it was too close to that other day they had spent together, wandering the markets of the Caldera, their rapport overformal but growing fonder, until it had ended with him giving back her father’s hunting pouch. Was that the same person sitting before her? Sokka had told her to keep an eye on the exiled prince, to make sure he stayed away from any guards or ‘sneaky-looking jerkbenders’ in case he tried to sound the alarm and betray them, and she hated that part of her agreed with the precaution. She had kept parts of herself hidden through the whole of her incarceration in the Fire Nation, intending to betray him all along – it was too easy to imagine he might share similar motives now.  

She sighed, stirred her chopsticks around her bowl, and looked up again, words poised ready to try for conversation again – but a loud squeal echoed through the small room, and she looked around to see a small, lithe girl around her own age in the doorway. The stranger was wringing her hands, hopping between her toes with so much energy her long braid flickered behind her like a whip. And she was looking straight at them.

Katara started to rise. Her hand twitched, already calling for the water in the soup bowls, her thoughts racing ahead to the best way to get Zuko out of the room without revealing his identity – they would have to find Aang and Toph on the way, hope Sokka and Suki had done at least some packing while they were in the market, hope that they could escape on Appa before the mob had a chance to reach the house. It all flashed through her mind’s eye in an instant, but in the next, Zuko had risen with her, and instead of alarm, his voice registered shock and even a thread of happiness. It stopped her in mid-stance.

“Ty Lee?”

The girl squealed again and darted forward to wrap the astounded prince in a rib-bruising hug. “You remembered me!” she cried as she let him go. “And here I was going to come looking for you this afternoon. You saved me a trip out to that crusty old house, you know.”

Katara cleared her throat. “I don’t mean to be rude, but who exactly are you?”

“Katara, this is Ty Lee,” Zuko said hurriedly. “An old friend. But – what do you mean you were looking for me?”

“Didn’t you know?” Ty Lee beamed. “I’m the contact – well, Shuren is – he’s the ringmaster. Your uncle sent us to fetch you. For the circus?”

“The circus?” he repeated, rubbing the back of his neck. He passed a helpless glance to Katara, who still had yet to completely lose her mistrust of the newcomer and only frowned back.

“Of course the circus! We’re on tour, and we’re heading to the capital – it’s pretty convenient, right?” Ty Lee paused and blinked, as if noticing for the first time that the three of them were alone. “Where’s the rest of your group? Are they back at the house?” Her eyes shot wide and she cupped her hands over her mouth. “Have I interrupted a date?”

“What?”

“No!” Katara turned away from Zuko, hoping the heat in her cheeks didn’t match the mortification rising to the tips of his ears. She searched for the glacial calm Hama had taught her, but it remained elusive. “We are not on a date. We were buying supplies for – wait, you know what? Let’s go outside.”  

A crowd was beginning to form, attracted by the commotion, and the elderly server had paused taking the young family’s order to once again peer at them with more interest than was helpful. She left her bowl of mostly untouched noodles, ignoring the sullen grumble of her stomach as she tugged on Zuko’s sleeve and herded the newcomer ahead of her. Ty Lee glanced between them as they stepped out into the sunlight, but followed obediently as they padded back among the throng to search for Toph and Aang.

#zutara #zuko #katara

[moonraccoon-exe]

I am in love with the last thing you wrote! It was phenomenal. I love Avatar and the episode with the play is so funny. And you converted it to Final Fantasy amazingly! Now just imagine they going undercover like in that episode where Aang and the group dressed as fire nation people and Aang goes to school there. XD -Peridot

HEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, PERIDOOOOOOOT!!! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ

Thank you SO MUCH for this lovely comment, dear Peridot!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Not many people read it, and that’s okay, I understand it’s very long! But I do admit that I wish more people would have given it a go and found it funny, like you did!! Most certainly because I had LOTS of fun writing it myself, the mental images were absolutely ridiculous and I had to put it into words even if that meant re-writing the whole of the FFXV story parody style XD

I was mostly having fun with Ravus because he fits SO WELL with Zuko, so I could basically watch the ATLA episode and imagine him in Zuko’s place just FINE, and it really, truly gets SUPER RIDICULOUS and hilarious!! ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡

That ATLA episode is truly a gem. A classic! So really, Amontillado was GENIUS with the prompt, haha!!

Seriously, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your comment, buddy!!! I’m so happy that you gave it a go, and happy that you found it funny. Thank you as well for thinking I did good at converting it to the FFXV gang! I’m very, very happy to know you think so positively of it all, aaah. Thank you so much!! :3

ASLKFKADLGJA KLSDJAS GKLADGJKALDJF AKJD

AHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHA

AAAW MAAAAN!

To be honest I don’t quite remember that episode when Aang goes to school (at least not as freshly as I remember the Ember Island Players), but I do remember that I had LOTS of fun with it, and some visuals. 

Honestly, the idea of the FFXV good guys disguised as Nifs is already hilarious enough. I’d like to think that they could come up with NICE outfits (and let’s admit it, Ignis particularly would make a SUPER HANDSOME imperial, in white outfits and whatnot aklsdjalkgjdakgl). But the guys disguising as Nifs to go around doing stuff they REALLY SHOULDN’T BE DOING, AHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAH AH!!  ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡

Imagine Noctis going into a Nif school but not because they mistook him as a student that skipped school, but rather because he wanted to OMG NO, NOCTIS!

There goes the tiny thing, trying to merge among the Nif students. Dear Noctis growing bored of having nothing to do and going “HEY, in the meanwhile, I guess I’ll just get some white clothes and dye my hair blond and go check out that school FULL of imperials, what about that?”

I imagine Ignis looking at him with the best poker-face to have ever existed and in dead, long silence before just asking in a low murmur “why”.

To which Noctis, of course, replies with a shrug and a “I’m bored”.

And Ignis won’t even fight it. He stares with the same poker face at Noctis, thinking about how Noctis’ face is known by almost everyone in the world for being the heir of Lucis, how they’re in enemy territory and it’s best to just hide, that he shouldn’t be throwing himself into a place that has like 1,000 Nifs in it alone…but really Ignis just won’t fight it. Noctis will just do what he wants no matter what anyone says. Why should Ignis worry, why does he even try, he’ll just go take a hot bath and try to ignore his duty because his duty is an impossible stubborn little prick with no common sense and Ignis is so done with his shit, bye Noct, don’t forget a pen to take notes.

AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡

So there goes Noctis, with a horrible-quality blond wig to go take classes to the nearest Nif university because WHY NOT, AM I RIGHT?

Noctis starting classes and not expecting that before the class they had to recite this oath to the emperor and the empire itself so he’s just mumbling it, then gets in troubles for it XD

IGNIS AND GLADIO FAKING TO BE HIS PARENTS WHEN THEY CALL FOR PARENT-TEACHER MEETING AHAHA HAHAAH AHAHA!!!!!!

Aaawmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! THIS WOULD BE EXCELLENT.

Also gives me such a giant necessity to rewatch ATLA all over again hnngnhng. I swear, that show will NEVER get old, it’s maybe my favorite! IT’S JUST SO GOOD! 

ANYWAYS, PERIDOT!

Thank you SO MUCH again for this lovely ask!! It made me so happy to read that you liked that thing I wrote for that prompt! :3 

Also, I’m trying to catch up on your two previous asks, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long! Aaahhhhhhh

BUT YEH! Thank you for your nice comments and for the nice mental image, too, now everytime I see the ATLA guys doing something stupid I’ll think of the chocobros XD

I hope you’re having a most FANTASTIC night, Peridot! Talk to you soon, my dear friend!(ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ

#coonreplies #peridot

[avengers-nextgen]

Interview Session #4

Questions from @shewolf7t

Q: Interview question for the kids, which is their favorite person to hang out with? And who is the person who most inspires them or who they admire most?

Nathaniel: “Uh, probably the best to hang out with-for me anyways- is Alex and James. Those two always get into interesting situations that I am ashamed to say I love being a part of.”

Alex: “Aside from my brother I love hanging out with Nathaniel and Piper. The two knuckle heads make sure I get my daily dose of fun.”

James: “Scout. If I ever need a break from a quick day I hang out with him and things slow down.”

Thalia: “Siyanda and Nathaniel. It’s balanced, I have a calm person, and then I have a fun person!”

Siyanda: “Piper and Thalia. Piper is very intelligent and I love talking about designs with her. Thalia because she’s very much a dork. It’s amusing.”

Orion: “Nathaniel because he’s my fun buddy, Alex because she’s very calm and chill about most things, and Scout because his voice always nags at me not to do something stupid.”

Scout: “Piper, Alex, and James. Piper because for some reason we bonded. Alex because she’s very much a calming presence that lets me do what I want. James because he’s one of he only other voices of reason.”

Sage: “Bianca. She’s the only one that likes me.”

Bianca: “Sage...I haven’t gotten to know anyone else that well.”

Fox: “I got nothing.”

— — —

Thalia: “I admire James! He’s always stoic and level headed. It’s very impressive.”

Alex: “Nathaniel. One hundred percent. He has the most experience and the most crucial positions on the field. He calls out shots and locations and without him we’d be lost half of the time.”

James: “Scout, he always has a resourceful solution. His powers are very intense but he manages to control them which is something difficult to do.”

Scout: “I personally admire Alex because she takes most of the brute force during fights.”

Piper: “I second that. I also admire Thalia because the same goes for her. I’m only in a suit so I have no right to say I’m better.”

Siyanda: “I beg to differ. Your aerial maneuvering is very well done.”

Orion: “I like Piper and Siyanda as well. They’re developing state of he set piloting gear which I can’t wait to test out.”

Bianca: “I believe I admire everyone the same.”

Sage: “Admire...I don’t admire anyone here really. If I had to pick someone it would actually be Natasha.”

Alex: “My mom?! Why?”

Sage: “I find her violence very elegant. She’s collected, mature, and she’s not some clean cut goodie two shoes.”

Fox: “I admire Tony Stark because he’s the only one here with enough balls to say he’s Iron Man and get away with it.”

— — —

Q: And for you, how did you come up with these kids?

Overlord: “Oh boy. Well, I was originally writing a Romanogers fiction series on Wattpad. I lost interest not because I ran out of ideas but because I was transitioning into high school at the time and I didn’t have room to write. I had planned on the third book to focus on their kids. So, I’ve had the idea for Alex and James for ages. I started to think what it’d be like if everyone had a kid, so to speak, and they sort of fell into place. I wanted them to be similar to their parents, represent aspects of them, while still being very much their own person.”

Q: Which is your favorite to write about?

Overlord: “This may come as a surprise but Sage. One hundred percent she’s my favorite to write. I’ve had her character planned for years and I’ve wanted her in my writing verse(s) for so long but never did it. She was just fittingly someone I pictured as a child of Loki. For me, she represents a lot of different things I think media now-a-days lacks. She’s villain with an actual purpose-not someone evil to be evil. Sage is someone who is definitely not a hero archetype but still human with emotions and feelings and needs and wants. I’ve always been enthralled with the slow decent into madness. It sounds cruel but when I was younger I used to watch Avatar The Last Airbender, and one of the things I loved about the characters was how absolutely 3 dimensional they were.

They all changed over time. You had Aang the happy go lucky kid hardened by war who still kept his smile and humor. Or Sokka a sexist and impulsive boy who became a gentleman and a very successful strategist. Zuko’s journey to becoming a hero after being so hell bent on being someone his father would love.

What always amazed me most, however, was Azula’s character. When little I just wrote her off as evil. Looking back and having rewatched the show with my little brother I learned how wrong I was. There were a lot of deeper forces working inside of her to make her the person she was.

It helped me formulate the complexities of Sage’s character. She’s been part of me for so long I’m actually really attached to her concept and this blog is the first time I’ve ever gotten to explore her in depth.

From her time as a kid when she was happy and innocent, to her time as a confused and vengeful teenager, to where she’s at now where she’s just lost and full of self loathing and hate for herself and other people. And when you look deeper at it, she’s not bad, she easily could have done horrible things to nurmeorus people already.

She could have killed Fox in the alley way.

She could have hurt Alex on numerous occasions.

She actually let Thalia comfort her.

She could have hurt Enzo in front of Loki.

So something inside of her-however small it is-has a moral compass. It’s just shrouded by the bad things she does do.”

#avengers #avengers next gen #marvel #interview #mcu

[marsreds]

I'm the anon that messaged you about the meta, and to answer your question, no, I didn't send you any ask before that. I found your blog through the meta and I'm not following you. I am also NOT sending hate (if either of my two asks showed any kind of hate, please feel free to tell me. I was merely disagreeing and stating how I felt when I read your tags.)

“You’re just trying to make me shut up. Because how dare I engage critically with media I love?” I did not say that, please don’t put words into my mouth? I didn’t even imply it. I sent the message because I found the particular tag disrespectful towards those who don’t view the same thing. So about this tag: #bryke changed their mind bc money and self insert hero has to get the girl Do you have a source? That they changed their mind and they were supposed to fall in love.

(3/3) The cave and the color scheme of the lovers or whatever were a coincidence, and if you can get parallels from that for your OTP, great. But also insisting that the creators changed their mind and claiming that they were supposed to fall in love, AND even going, #like#what show did you watch?

Previous ask here, the meta in question here.

“I’m the anon that messaged you about the meta, and to answer your question, no, I didn’t send you any ask before that. I found your blog through the meta and I’m not following you.”

That wasn’t my question, but I don’t care, it makes zero difference either way.

“I am also NOT sending hate (if either of my two asks showed any kind of hate, please feel free to tell me.”

Never accused you of it. Sending hate is when you attack someone personally, not their opinions. You didn’t do that, not in this conversation.

“I was merely disagreeing and stating how I felt when I read your tags.)“You’re just trying to make me shut up. Because how dare I engage critically with media I love?” I did not say that, please don’t put words into my mouth? I didn’t even imply it. I sent the message because I found the particular tag disrespectful towards those who don’t view the same thing.”

Well, that’s nice buddy but how am I supposed to glean that out of, what amounts to, an one-sided conversation? It’s not on me to read your mind and guess that you are actually reacting out of hurt feelings and not being a passive-aggressive asshole.

I wasn’t even being disrespectful or anything, what is this bullshit?

“So about this tag: #bryke changed their mind bc money and self insert hero has to get the girl Do you have a source? That they changed their mind and they were supposed to fall in love.”

As I said:

“The creators are liars. They have repeatedly backtracked, flip-flopped and contradicted themselves. This is all available information, some of which I already talked about, but I’m not willing to go out of my way to convince you.”

I will say that I have an anti bryke tag (though that one‘s mostly me calling them petty), and feel free to search my blog for /ehasz or /aaron-ehasz, I’ve definitely reblogged firsthand accounts from people who’ve talked to him about Avatar. You could also bother to click on that link that I already included in my previous answer to you. Again, I won’t do your research for you.

“The cave and the color scheme of the lovers or whatever were a coincidence, and if you can get parallels from that for your OTP, great. But also insisting that the creators changed their mind and claiming that they were supposed to fall in love, AND even going, #like#what show did you watch?”

Okay, I had this whole snarky response thought out for this one, but then I realized that you might actually, really, genuinely think that. And not know why you are completely and utterly wrong.

Here’s the thing: I’m a professional in the field of visual communication. I’ve spent years studying color. Calling those color choices a coincidence would be like if they had Aang run around for a full episode with red arrows. With no explanation. Just, have his arrows be red, and have no one comment on it. Just have them be like that, for a full episode. That’s the order of magnitude of coincidence/accident we’re talking about here.

Color consistency is a foundation of visual communication.

That’s why, no matter where in the world you go, “stop/forbidden” signs are red, “warning/caution” signs are yellow, and “go/allowed” signs are green.

That’s also why even when companies, especially big ones, change their logos, they keep the color scheme (See: Windows, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Nickelodeon, etc.)

It’s also why brands like Barbie, Tiffany, T-Mobile, etc. trademarked their colors. Because people don’t really need to see anything beyond Barbie Pink to know it’s Barbie.

Again, color consistency is a foundation of visual communication.

I know this very well. The people who made Avatar know this better.

In the Avatar-verse we have distinct color schemes for each of the Four Nations: Blue-Water, Green-Earth, Red-Fire, Yellow/Orange-Air.

By making Oma and Shu red and blue, they have irrefutably linked them to someone who we’ve already seen have that color scheme. Because, again, color consistency is a foundation of visual communication.

Now, had we only been given red-blue, it could’ve been anyone who fits: anyone Water Tribe and anyone Fire Nation.

But it was Zuko and Katara who had a moment in a cave of glowing green crystals.

And this again goes back to consistency: The Catacombs could’ve looked like anything. Anything at all. But they chose to have them resemble The Cave of Two Lovers.

Someone wrote that. Then someone sketched it out. Then someone did a color key for it. Then someone drew it in full. Then someone, or rather a whole team of someones, animated it.

To say any of this was a coincidence is to basically call the production team of one of the most lauded animated shows ever a bunch of amateurs.

They’re not. For all I complain about Bryke, and the decline in writing quality in Book Three, I have almost nothing but praise for the visual development of this show.

And here you are, trying to convince me that it was a coincidence?

No, my friend. Things like that don’t happen without intent.

(This last part is available on it’s own here, since I believe it to be significant enough to stand without me answering a three-part ask above it.)

#zutara #avatar #atla #avatar the last airbender #a:tla #m avatars #m metas #m asks #Anonymous