#and zuko almost decides to change for the better right then but he gets scared and turns back and canon happens idk | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mangekyuou · 1 year

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Hey Mange!! May I get a Zoro x crewmate where his friend is a kind person who wields a sword and never uses them for wrong, until he loses control of his feelings and lashes out, almost hurting somebody in the crew

After such a thing happened reader’s been too scared to wield a weapon again, they cant spar or defend themselves because they don’t have any trust in themselves that it wont happen again and they dont wanna hurt anyone

Just Zoro comforting them, telling them to have some trust and such

Hope u have a good life please and tyyy!

⟡ ֺ 𓂂 now playing , lost and found.

!! pairing! . . . gn!reader x roronoa zoro.

!! type of love! . . . for you to decide :)

!! cw(s)! . . . mentions of violence. mishandling of a weapon. no pronouns used. not proofread.

!! wc! . . . 0.9k.

!! notes! . . . wasn’t sure if this was meant to be platonic or romantic, so it can be read either way. but i really liked this request !! thank you so much for requesting !!

!! this has happened a few times so i want to address it here in case you see it again, please don’t call me mange, that’s a skin disease that mammals have 😭😭 zuko or z is fine !!

You did it, you finally blew it all over again. Freezing up in a fight, nearly getting yourself killed. And that is what would have happened had Zoro not jumped in front of you, taking down your opponent with ease. He wasted no time to turn on his heel, facing you. You could make out many different emotions in his expression. A little confusion, a bit of anger, and even some disappointment.

He opened his mouth to say something. To ask you what the hell was wrong with you. To ask why you didn't move, why you didn't pick up your sword and defend yourself as a swordsman should!

But he stopped himself as he saw your face. That frightened look in your eyes, tears of fear welling in the corners, as if you'd seen a ghost.

You hadn't stopped thinking about the incident since it happened. To be a swordsman is to always remain in control of yourself and the blade, to never lash out and lose sight, or else things could go very wrong. And that day, things did very wrong.

You lost control of the blade, nearly gouging out one of your captain's eyes. Your own saving grace was Luffy himself, being able to react fast enough.

You'd never forgive yourself, retiring your blade to the corner of the training room. You haven't touched it since and you never planned on picking it up again. Luffy was alive and well, smiling and hopping from wall to wall like he always did. But he almost lost an eye because of you, that was nothing something you could just let fade away.

Rather than training as you used to, you'd spend your afternoons in the back of the Sunny, leaning against the railings as you looked out at the sights that the Grand Line had to offer. Just anything to take your mind off of the incident even if it was for a brief moment.

"Are you going to talk about what happened or are you just going to continue to sulk by yourself?" The green-haired swordsmen's voice sounded from behind you.

You didn't even answer. Your head fell in shame, in disappointment. You wondered if he was still disappointed in you as well, too afraid to look him in the eye as you recalled his expression after he saved your ass.

Zoro took his place right next to you, letting his back rest against the railing. He folded his arms across his broad chest, letting his head fall slightly, closing his eye.

There was a silence between the two of you. The only sound that could be heard were the high winds from above and the sounds of the waves crashing against the ship from below. It felt like you were waiting forever for him to say something, anything was better than this cruel silence. You had no idea what he was thinking, if his opinion of you had changed, if he had even considered you a friend anymore.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see him move, picking his head up and opening his eye, looking up at the white clouds. "Talk to me, ( y/n )," He began, finally looking at you, "Whatever it is you're feeling, what you're going through right now...just tell me."

Slowly you picked your head up, facing your fear of seeing the disappointment in his gaze. But there was no disappointment, there was no anger. There was worry, there was concern, there was care. Expressions of which you haven't seen much from him. He was always so calm and collected, a man to admire. But the Zoro before you, you had yet to see.

"I feel...lost," You started, looking down at your hands, "I feel like...I don't know who I am anymore. I...I almost hurt...Luffy. I can never forgive myself for that."

"Accidents happen. They happen to all of us. You are not a bad person for making a mistake. You are human," He noted.

You shook your head, "I lashed out. I lost control. And it almost took someone else's life! And then when I stop using my sword, I freeze up and I'm utterly helpless! I'm no better than a fish out of the water! I'm too much of a risk to be a part of this crew. You all have done nothing but care about me...and this is thanks I give you all."

Hot tears ran down your face. You were angry at yourself for all of this. "Everything would just be better if I left―"

"Don't finish that sentence." His voice was firm, "Never say that about yourself. We would not be the same without you. I wouldn't be the same without you. Mistakes happen. It is up to you whether or not you allow it to define who you are. And if you asked me, I know that you are better than that. You're a great swordsman and an even greater person. Never, ever forget that."

His words were warm and comforting. The look in his eye confirmed that he was genuine.

"Thank you for listening to me. I can't even begin to tell you how much it means to me," You thanked him with a small sniffle, wiping away the streams of tears from your face with the back of your hand.

He shrugged his shoulders, "Don't mention it. And ( y/n ), don't rush yourself to pick back up where you left off. Don't feel pressured to pick your sword back up just yet."

"How do you know if I'm going to pick it back up at all?"

He thought for a moment, "Call it a hunch. All you need to do is find yourself and your trust in yourself. Take it easy until then and don't be so hard on yourself, yeah?"

You nodded.

Zoro placed his hand on top of your head, a small smile forming, "I believe in you."

#one piece #roronoa zoro #zoro #zoro x reader #zoro oneshots #zoro scenarios #zoro imagines #zoro headcanons #one piece x reader #one piece oneshots #one piece scenarios #one piece imagines #one piece headcanons #☆ — MY LOVE MINE ALL MINE.

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beifongsss · 4 years

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jealousy [sokka]

Pairing: Sokka x firebending!reader

Summary: You like Sokka. Like, reaaaaally like him. However, any time you feel like you’re ready to confess your feelings, it seems as though he finds himself wrapped up in yet another romance.

this was originally the first atla fic i ever wrote and it was inspired by Dreamer Boy’s song “Puppy Dog”!

.masterlist.

The first time you decided to tell Sokka how you felt about him was when the Gaang had finally reached the Northern Water Tribe. You had been debating over whether or not to confess to Sokka for weeks, ever since you had visited the village where Aunt Wu resided. She had told you that you would be a powerful bender and that your love life would be immensely successful because you were meant to end up with a guy with a heart of gold and the spirit of a warrior. When she had added that he would be a nonbender, you had just known it was Sokka and all the skipped heartbeats and butterflies you felt around him finally made sense. As the waterbenders opened the gate and Appa drifted through, you had asked to talk to Sokka. Katara and Aang were distracted by the snowy city around them and Sokka had obliged, sitting beside you as you took a deep breath to ready yourself.

“Sokka,” you began, nervousness coursing through your veins as you took a deep breath. “Listen, I li-”

“Look!” Katara interrupted, pointing at an ornate looking building. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

Sokka, who had been leaning over Appa’s saddle to get a better look at what his sister was pointing to, sighed dreamily as his gaze settled upon a teenage girl in a gondola. “Yeah, she is.”

Following his line of sight, you sighed in defeat before bringing your knees up to your chest and hugging them.

You decided not to bring your feelings up again until the Gaang got to Ba SIng Se safely. You were feeling more confident by the minute, at least you were until you reached the ferry station.

Your confidence dropped back down when you discovered that Suki and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors were there as well, noticing the way the pretty girl looked at Sokka. The whole time you spent in the ferry station and the beginning of your journey through the Serpent’s Pass was spent in silence, causing Katara to worry. Eventually, she had coaxed your secret from you, looking at you with a mix of amusement and repulsion when you told her you liked Sokka.

“Really? Him?” Katara asked, looking at her brother who was currently arguing with a twelve year old. You blushed fiercely and looked away. Noticing your expression, Katara quickly tried to fix her words. “I mean, him? Yeah, he’s a dream.”

You stifled a laugh as you noticed Katara’s pained expression. “It’s alright Katara, you don’t have to be nice about it. We can’t control who we like.”

“I’m sure he likes you too,” Katara said softly. “He’s just a little slow. Plus, you’re pretty good friends, he wouldn’t know how to approach you romantically.”

You opened your mouth to reply but instead found yourself letting out a sharp yelp as the ledge you were standing on gave out.

“(Y/N)!” Katara screamed as you plummeted, making everyone stop and turn around. “Toph, do something!”

Your fall came to an abrupt stop as you landed on a flat piece of earth. You felt the slab of rock begin to slide upwards as Toph brought you back up to where everyone else was standing. Silently, you walked up to Toph and engulfed her in a hug, shaking slightly from all the adrenaline. The hug didn’t last long however, and you were soon pulled away from Toph and brought into another tight hug.

“Are you okay?” Sokka whispered as he hugged you. “Geez...what happened? You scared me to death!”

You didn’t reply, instead meeting Katara’s eyes as she gave you a knowing look. Cheeks blazing, you pulled away from Sokka and brushed yourself off. “I’m fine. Let’s keep going. We can’t waste any more time.”

After making sure that you truly were fine, Aang encouraged everyone to continue. Eventually, night fell and you all decided to stop and rest for the night. You placed your sleeping bag down next to Katara’s, only to find it being ripped away from you.

“Not too close to the edge (Y/N/N)!” Sokka exclaimed, laying your sleeping bag right next to his. “You have to be more careful.”

You rolled your eyes before walking over to him. “Ok Sokka. Whatever you say.”

“Wait!” Sokka screamed suddenly, holding his arm out to stop you from moving forwards.

“What?” you asked, slightly exasperated.

“Oh, nothing,” Sokka replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I thought I saw a spider.”

Shaking your head, you curled up in your sleeping bag, once again rolling your eyes at the way Katara was looking at the close proximity between you and Sokka. “Good night everyone.”

You struggled to fall asleep, tossing and turning until you felt Sokka get up from his spot next to you and walk off. Turning once more, you noticed Katara waving at you and trying to catch your attention. When she got it, she motioned for you to go after Sokka. Quietly getting up, you began to walk off, ignoring Katara as she whispered, “Go confess!”

Nervously wringing your hands, you made your way over to where you knew Sokka would be, once again building up your confidence. When you finally got there, your heart dropped as you saw Suki and Sokka inches away from each other.

“Oh!” you gasped, loud enough to draw their attention. They flew apart immediately, turning to look at you with wide eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t- I didn’t know.”

“(Y/N), wait!” Sokka shouted, looking after you as you fled. You didn’t go back to the campground, instead choosing to wander off on your own. You could feel your palms heating up, faint curls of steam escaping your nostrils as your emotions overwhelmed you and caused your bending to act up. Breathing deeply, you sat down and looked up at the moon. You stayed there all night, sighing softly and suppressing your fire as the moon seemed to glow a little bit brighter.

After walking in on Sokka’s almost-kiss with Suki, you decided to give up on confessing your feelings. You had all been quite busy anyways, what with trying to tell the Earth King about the upcoming solar eclipse, running from Azula, and trying to come up with a plan to invade the Fire Nation. With all that had happened, you and Sokka had drifted apart, the sudden distance between you two a little intentional on your part. Maybe it was for the better, at least that way your heart wouldn’t ache every time he smiled at you after telling you one of his jokes.

Eventually you began to wonder if Aunt Wu’s prediction was wrong. Or maybe you just hadn’t met the boy with a heart of gold and the spirit of a warrior that you were meant to end up with.

After the Day of Black Sun, the younger members of the invasion army found themselves settled into the Western Air Temple. It was there that everyone unanimously voted to have you become Aang’s firebending teacher. You had initially refused, not wanting to teach Aang firebending the way you had learned it; by depending on your emotions. You tended to have trouble controlling your fire when you allowed your emotions to take control, which wouldn’t help Aang in any way. You had only agreed to teach him after stating that you would only do it if they allowed Zuko to teach Aang as well.

Sokka had been the loudest to complain about Zuko joining your group, claiming that he was evil and that they didn’t need another firebender running around. You had been slightly offended by his comments and continuously vouched for Zuko, seeing that he had truly changed and that he wanted to help Aang. As a result, you ended up spending most of your time with the prince, offering him friendship when no one else did. A problem soon arose however, when you actually began to teach Aang how to firebend.

~ “Listen everybody, I have some pretty bad news. I’ve lost my stuff,” Zuko announced, walking into the courtyard where everyone was. You were trailing behind him quietly.

“Don’t look at me,” Toph said immediately, raising her hands in defense. “I didn’t touch your stuff.”

“He’s talking about firebending,” you stated, laughing at her words. “And he’s not the only one.”

Katara’s snickering stopped as she looked at you with wide eyes. “Not you too!”

You shifted uncomfortable as everyone stared at you. “Well, I can still bend. The issue is that my flames are too big and destructive. I’m having quite a bit of trouble trying to keep them controlled.”

“Wouldn’t big flames be a good thing?” Sokka asked. “Just teach Aang how to do it and he’ll burn the Fire Lord to a crisp.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” you said tiredly. “A lot of firebenders draw their energy from their emotions but when they’re too strong, their bending gets too dangerous and out of hand.”

“Strong emotions?” Sokka whispered, his heart speeding up slightly as he stared at you.

“Yes,” Zuko answered. “For me, it used to be anger and hatred. For (Y/N), it stems from great love or sadness.

“Zuko!” you hissed, flushing as you faced him. Zuko stared back at you, a teasing smile on his lips. You shot him an alarmed look before glancing at Sokka.

When he first arrived, Zuko had had no trouble figuring out your feelings for the Water Tribe boy. Much like Katara, he had been put off by your feelings, always having thought of Sokka as nothing more than an immature boy.

Sokka, on the other hand, had not seen the panic behind the look you had aimed at Zuko and he felt an uncomfortable feeling settle in his chest at the way the prince was smiling at you. He kept noticing the glances you were sending towards Zuko, unaware that you were actually trying to burn a hole into the side of his head with your glare. In Sokka’s head, your recent aloofness towards him was starting to make sense.

“Look,” Zuko said, drawing the attention back to him. “I don’t want to rely on anger and hatred anymore. There has to be another way to regain my bending.”

“You’re gonna need to learn to draw your firebending from a different source,” Toph said, leaning back on the rock she was sitting on. “I recommend the original source.”

“How’s he supposed to do that? By jumping into a volcano?” Sokka asked, sounding way too happy.

“No. Zuko and (Y/N) need to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is,” Toph stated once again. “For earthbending, the original benders were the badgermoles.”

You and Zuko exchanged uneasy looks before you spoke. “The original firebenders were the dragons.”

“And they’re extinct,” Zuko added, annoyance creeping onto his face when Aang mentioned that Avatar Roku used to have one. “But maybe there’s another way. The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors.”

“Yeah, but they died thousands of years ago,” you said, cutting Aang off when he began to speak. “But their civilization wasn’t too far from where we are now.”

“Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins!” Aang exclaimed.

“So what?” Sokka asked, standing up. “Maybe you’ll pick up some super old Sun Warrior energy just by standing where they stood a thousand years ago?”

“More or less,” you replied quietly. “Either we learn a new way to firebend, or Aang has to find a new teacher.”

In the few days that you had been gone with Aang and Zuko, Sokka had been in a rotten mood. Everyone else had noticed it and Teo and The Duke had even started a game to see who could annoy Sokka the most without making him explode.

It was only when Momo began to avoid him as well that Katara had finally had enough.

“What is going on with you Sokka?” Katara finally exclaimed. “When Haru tried to ask if you wanted some meat, you threw your boomerang at him!”

Sokka grumbled something under his breath, causing Katara to roll her eyes.

“You’ve been acting this way ever since (Y/N) and Zuko-” Katara trailed off as a smirk spread across her face. “You’re jealous!”

“W-What? No!” Sokka exclaimed, stumbling over his words as his face turned bright red. “Why would I be jealous? Who would I be jealous of?”

“Zuko,” Katara stated dully. “You’re jealous of Zuko and (Y/N)’s relationship.”

“They’re in a relationship?” Sokka screeched as he jumped to his feet and began pacing.

“No!” Katara said. “I was referring to their friendship.”

“Oh,” Sokka breathed, coming to a stop and running his hand through his hair, pulling it out of his warrior’s wolf tail in the process. The more he thought about how you and Zuko interacted, the more bothered he got. Katara watching him struggle with his emotions with amusement, wiping the smile off her face when he finally spoke. “I guess...I am jealous.”

Katara rolled her eyes before standing up and facing her brother, her expression becoming serious. “We know. When she gets back, just tell her how you feel. Remember, we’re up against the Fire Lord and things can change in a matter of seconds. Don’t leave things unsaid.”

Sokka sat back down and pushed his hair away from his face, thinking about Katara’s words. He stayed there for a while, smiling when he looked up and saw Appa’s silhouette growing closer and closer. Taking a few breaths, he began to hype himself up.

“Ok Sokka,” he whispered to himself. “You got this. Just tell her how you feel and everything will work out.”

He leapt up when Appa landed, immediately climbing up to reach his saddle. He was shaking with so much nervousness at what he was about to do that he didn’t notice Aang looking down at him.

“Sokka!” Aang whisper-yelled, shooting him a bright smile. “Where is everyone else?”

“They’re in the sleeping hall. It’s pretty early,” Sokka replied normally, only to be shushed by Aang as he finally reached the saddle.

“Don’t be too loud,” Aang whispered, motioning to you. Sokka felt his heart drop to his stomach as his eyes landed on you. You were sitting next to Zuko, the two of you curled up against Appa’s saddle.Your head was resting on the prince’s shoulder, his head resting on top of yours as you both napped peacefully. One of Zuko’s arms was wrapped loosely around your waist to make sure you didn’t topple over, not that Sokka was aware of that.

With a hurt expression, Sokka climbed off of Appa, dejectedly making his way into the sleeping hall. Noticing his downcast expression, Katara made her way over to him. “What’s wrong Sokka?”

“What’s wrong?” Sokka repeated sadly, walking past her. “What’s wrong is that I was too late, Katara. She likes Zuko.”

Katara looked at Sokka in confusion as he curled up in his sleeping bag, turning to face the wall. She straightened up as she heard voices approaching and turned to face you and Zuko, who was smiling at something you had said as you rubbed at your eyes sleepily.

“You’re back!” Katara exclaimed, making her way over to you. You hugged her tightly before replying.

“Yeah, we are. It was an interesting trip,” you said, smiling softly.

“It was!” Aang exclaimed, walking in. “It really helped (Y/N) and Zuko bond over these last few days!”

Sokka grumbled faintly at Aang’s words, not turning to face the group.

“We also learned a new way to firebend,” Zuko added. “A more traditional technique.”

“You should show them!” Aang said excitedly, turning to face you. “Please?”

You hesitated before nodding, not being able to deny Aang anything. Zuko agreed when he saw you nod. Quietly, the two of you made your way to the courtyard, followed by everyone else. Even Sokka had joined, being dragged along by Katara.

“Alright,” you breathed. “Here goes nothing.”

You and Zuko stood a few feet apart, breathing deeply before launching into the perfectly practiced routine you had learned from the dragons. The routine went smoothly and it was dead silent in the courtyard, apart from the occasional huff from you or Zuko. The routine came to an end when you and Zuko ended up chest to chest, the two of you breathing heavily as you looked at each other. With a small squeal, you launched yourself at him, smiling widely. You threw your arms around his neck and he grabbed your waist, stabilizing the two of you.

“We did it!” you exclaimed, only to hear soft claps from everyone else. You pulled away from Zuko in time to see Sokka storming off. Everyone’s clapping died down at Sokka’s departure, an awkward silence taking over.

“Go to him,” Katara said softly, urging you out the door. You looked back hesitantly, only to see Aang waving you off and Zuko giving you a thumbs up. You awkwardly shuffled off to where you expected Sokka to be, finding him in the sleeping hall where he was throwing his boomerang around.

“Sokka, are you okay?” you asked quietly, approaching him slowly. You’ve been acting weird and everyone’s worried about you.”

Sokka caught his boomerang once again and put it down, standing up from where he had been sitting. “What? No I’m perfectly fine.”

His response was short and you couldn’t help but flinch slightly at his sharp tone.

“You can go back to your good ol’ pal Zuko.”

Your eyebrows furrowed at his words and you crossed your arms in front of you. “Is this what this is about? Zuko? Are you really still upset over the fact that we accepted him into the group?”

Sokka stayed silent as you started walking closer to him, waving your arms in exasperation as you spoke.

“Why can’t you just accept that he’s changed? He’s clearly not the same person he used to be and now Aang has a firebending teacher. Him joining us is a good thing and you’re over here acting like-”

Your words were cut off as Sokka cupped your face in his hands. The words that were on the tip of your tongue died down as you looked into his bright blue eyes.

The two of you stood in tense silence for a minute. You felt your cheeks heat up under his touch, neither one of you saying anything as you looked at each other. Sighing softly, he rested his forehead against yours. You closed your eyes, your whole face now burning brightly from the close proximity between the two of you. You felt Sokka nudge his nose against yours and you opened your eyes to see him raise an eyebrow, an unspoken question hanging in between you. Closing your eyes once again, you nodded softly, your head spinning as Sokka’s hands began to tremble slightly before he pressed his lips to yours.

You held your breath, not fully believing what was happening. The kiss was nothing more than a brush of his lips against yours, over way too quickly as Sokka recoiled and let his hands drop before turning away.

“S-Sokka, I-” you began, stumbling over your words. Your heart was racing as you gently touched your lips, wondering if he really did feel the same way you did.

“Save it,” Sokka replied, his tone softer than earlier. “Go back to Zuko and forget I ever did that.”

“I can’t,” you replied softly, walking over to him. “I can’t forget you did that Sokka. I’ve been waiting for a sign that you might like me back for the longest time and now that I finally have it, you want me to forget about it?”

Sokka turned around, disbelief clear on his face. “You like me? N-No. You like Zuko.”

Your face softened at his words. “Is that why you’ve been in such a mood? Because you thought I liked Zuko?”

Sokka bowed his head down in disappointment. “He’s a prince (Y/N). He’s a prince and a firebender and how could I ever compete with that?”

“You don’t have to,” you replied immediately. “I like you, not him. I’ve liked you ever since I joined you guys on your journey. Zuko and I got close because we’re both firebenders and because we know what it’s like to be considered traitors to our nation, not because we like each other.”

“You don’t like Zuko?” Sokka asked dumbly. You shook your head.

“No. I already told you, I like-” you were cut off yet again, this time by Sokka pressing his lips to yours in an urgent manner. You wasted no time in kissing back, your hands coming up to rest on his chest as he grabbed your waist tightly, pulling you impossibly close. The kiss was desperate and slightly messy, the two of you pouring all of your emotions into it. You could feel his heart pounding underneath your hands and you were almost certain that he could feel yours as well.

Pulling back, you kept your eyes closed as you hesitated to ask the question on your mind. “What about Suki?”

Sokka kissed you once more before answering. “I don’t like her. I love you.”

Sokka’s eyes widened at his unexpected proclamation and he looked at you in panic. Your eyes shined brightly and you replied quickly before he could try to stutter out an excuse.

“I love you too.”

You hugged him tightly before kissing him yet again, his arms winding around your waist again as he responded enthusiastically. This was what you had been waiting for, and the safety that the two of you felt in each other’s arms was comforting.

“It took us long enough,” Sokka muttered against your lips, causing you to laugh softly.

“You talk too much,” you replied before reconnecting your lips.

The two of you only pulled away when you heard Toph’s voice, followed by multiple footsteps.

“I found them! They’re in here kissing, my feet can feel it!”

taglist!

@musicalkeys, @mywigglybaby, @bubblebars, @iguessthefloorislava, @dekahg, @boxofteenageideas

#sokka x reader #atla sokka x reader #sokka #atla sokka #zuko #prince zuko #atla zuko #aang #katara #toph #haru #teo #the duke #avatar #avatar: tla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar x reader #atla

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that-was-anticlimactic · 3 years

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after the war ended, Toph returned home for a little while, hoping that things may be different, that her parents wouldn’t think of her as some weak child anymore. one of the most terrifying thoughts that crossed her mind as she was hanging off of an airship during the comet was “what if i never see my parents again? will they even know i died?” they weren’t the best parents, and she was mad at them. but she wanted closure and she wanted to patch things up. Aang made her believe in family again.

things did not get better. she held out as long as she could, but they made it difficult. her mom continued to try and stop her from bending, preferring the perfect child who is seen but never heard. she told her that metalbending wasn’t real, that she needed to stop making things up for attention, even after Toph showed her.

her dad, on the other hand, wanted her to continue bending... to profit off her name. her didn’t introduce her proudly as his daughter but as “yes, this is the Toph Beifong, the one who travelled with the Avatar, invented metal bending, and saved the world”, but it never felt like a compliment or praise; it felt more like she was a product her father was selling.

she had to witness the destruction of her parents’ marriage, wondering if she was the one who got between them or if it was inevitable. was it the fact that she ran away and made a name for herself as the blind bandit, as Toph and not the blind Beifong child? was it because her dad wanted her to bend and her mom wanted to pretend that her daughter played no part in saving the world?

or was their marriage destined to fall apart? Toph had heard the screamed fights when she was a child, she knew that their whole family was built on lies—that their life was an act, a stunt to uphold the family name.

according to her father, now that she was more mature, she had to deal with more and be more of an adult—when she was younger, she didn’t get to be a kid because she was blind and couldn’t act like one in public, now she doesn’t get to be one because they want her to pick up their problems. they sheltered her so much as a child that she lost her childhood and they expected her to go from helpless, reserved child to being an adult with no guidance.

if she can handle the war, can’t she handle her mom telling her how idiotic and ignorant her dad was? can’t she handle listening to her dad go on and on about how disrespectful and coquettish her mother was? about how much they both hated each other?

after meeting Aang and Katara and Sokka and Suki and Zuko, she learned what it was like to be alive, to have a purpose, to have a family, and that’s all she wanted. she thought that maybe things would change after the war, that they would realize that she could handle herself or that she didn’t have to be ashamed or scared of blindness. or maybe even her parents would have been worried about her, maybe they would have realized their daughter had been fighting in the midst of a war and could have died and that now was the chance to tell her that they loved her, to become a family.

Toph hoped that would happen. she tried. she tried so hard. she listened to her parents, she listened to her mom berate her for fighting, she listened to her dad explain how they would capitalize on this and what events he set up for her to attend, what she needed to say and how she needed to act. she listened to them fight and listened to them hating each other, but she still showed up at the dinner table, even when her parents were late or only one of them would show up.

she respected her mother’s silent treatment for a week, she told them that she loved them, asked them if they wanted to hear stories from her travels. it was always “not now”, “i’m busy”, “stop thinking about the avatar, it’s time to move on”. she never used to ask, but Sokka taught her that she had a voice and she was allowed to use it—she didn’t have to be afraid of rambling or spluttering nonsense. he always listened to her, she hoped her parents would too.

Katara had taught her the power in being vulnerable, of allowing herself to feel things and express any emotions she had, that it was okay to be upset and it was okay to ask for help. she still struggled with it, but for one of the first times in her life, she wanted to try and share and be vulnerable with her parents, she wanted to tell them how scared she was when the only thing keeping her alive was her faith in Sokka, how she almost drowned... for the first time, she wanted to make things right.

but they didn’t. she always knew her parents weren’t that great, but she thought she could salvage the little bits of family she had. she couldn’t. she told her parents they should get divorced, and they berated at her for suggesting it. good, proud families don’t get divorced.

so, she ran away again. because that’s what she always does. she snuck out of her house to lose herself in probending, she ran away from Aang, Katara, and Sokka when she got agitated, all she knew how to do was run away.

she ran away to the palace, to stay with Zuko, Sokka, and Suki. they welcomed her with open arms. they gave her big hugs, they made her feel seen. eventually, Aang and Katara came to visit, and she finally felt like she was home, that her family was wherever these idiots were.

they actually noticed that she was upset, they noticed and acknowledged her feelings. when she opened up, they didn’t dismiss what she said. they listened. Katara and Zuko decided to adopt her. Katara told her that she would always have a family with them, that she didn’t ever have to go back there unless she wanted to. it always made Toph laugh, how much Katara hated her parents. when she told Katara about them hiring someone to kidnap her and bring her home, she thought the waterbender was going to implode. it was comical to watch Katara pace around and yell about how wrong and cruel that was.

maybe it was so funny to her because she still had trouble processing that her parents would do something like that. maybe it was funny because no one had ever cared about her that much.

Toph is proud. Toph is strong. Toph is brave. but she’s young, she’s lonely, she’s scared. and i love her.

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catsintei · 3 years

Note

I'm terrified that they'll make Mercury the new Adam for Emerald in Volume 9. I don't want Mercury to be villainized if he feels like Emerald's abandoned him but I don't want him to be JUST fine with her leaving and joining the good guys.

I feel you 100% anon; but I think that in order to answer your ask properly and to put into context my words and feelings regarding it, I first need to talk about Emerald’s “redemption arc”.

This is a long post so...

Basically, it was not good to put it lightly. The buildup towards Emerald leaving Salem was certainly there, if only just barely. I’m not going to deny that the writing was on the wall from the beginning, but it was very, very, sparse in regards to an actual full fledged redemption arc. A few sad and scared looks here and there, an “it's almost sad” said in the face of a brutal massacre of innocents, and an “I don’t know if what we're doing is right because Cinder isn’t here”, do not a solid foundation for a redemption arc make.

This barebones buildup would have sufficed had CRWBY decided to make v8 the very beginning of Emerald’s path to redemption, instead of ending it as soon as it started. This totally could have happened, as I said previously, the buildup to Emerald leaving Salem was there, and hell, they had it down initially; Emerald didn’t leave Salem because she saw the error of her ways and decided to change for the better. She only escaped because her life was in immediate danger, not because of some sense of morality, and I think that’s a good thing, it's completely in character for her! Emerald through her actions is neither a nice nor good person. This could have been built upon further if the writers chose to go for the “strained alliance the enemy of my enemy is my friend” angle, in which Emerald, after working closely with the protagonists to survive; building a bond with them in the process, realizes the true error of her ways and puts in the work to better herself.

Unfortunately, nothing of the sort happened. Emerald instantly seemed to become besties with Team RWBY & Co. smiles and giggles all around even after she uh, tried to murder Penny mere hours before. I hate to constantly compare each and every redemption arc to Zuko’s, but in this case I think it’s a good example of the general structure of a redemption arc. Emerald at the end of v8, does not feel like a Book 2 Zuko, just starting to realize the error of his ways. Emerald decidedly feels like a late stage Book 3 Zuko, minus the character development. It doesn't feel like the beginning of a redemption arc, it very much feels like the end.

Now that I have that off of my chest, let's get to the main point.

I don’t see Mercury being made into Emerald’s Adam, that honour goes to Cinder (which is why I would really like for there to be a Mercury and Emerald vs. Cinder confrontation/fight sometime in the future). Mercury has been shown to care about Emerald A Lot, making him out to be her Adam would be the biggest pile of bullshit in any form of media known to mankind. Mercury’s and Emerald’s relationship with each other bears absolutely no resemblance to what Blake’s and Adam’s relationship was. Decimating the great relationship that Emerald and Mercury have would be an insanely stupid move.

However, I can certainly see Mercury being villainized, both in show and chiefly by the fandom, if he has a negative reaction towards Emerald leaving, especially if he feels as if she left him. Mercury has already been blatantly villainized by the fandom post v8, I have seen many posts detailing how Mercury is “the villainous counterpart to the hero, Emerald”, how he cannot leave Salem because he is “in too deep” and has gone too far. Most of these posts ignoring the fact that it has been pointed out directly and indirectly through his body language and dialogue, that Mercury is actually deeply uncomfortable with working for Salem but is too afraid to leave her and the only life he’s ever known, and frankly I can’t blame him for that.

In general, a negative reaction from Mercury in regards to Emerald’s “departure” from Salem’s cabal is to be expected, especially because Tyrian literally threatened to hunt down and kill both of them if they dared to betray Salem, which Emerald has now done, and also Tyrian is like… right there… with Mercury… whoops. Nevertheless, in my opinion, Mercury would understand why Emerald escaped Salem and where she is coming from but he wouldn't be just fine with Emerald leaving for the aforementioned reasons; because he cares about her and everything she has done so far went against the self preservation agenda Mercury carries, and could get her very swiftly killed.

I don't think we will see much of Mercury and Emerald in v9, but when they do eventually show up and reunite, I could see there being some (hopefully swiftly resolved) conflict between them concerning their respective decisions, with them coming to a mutual understanding. However I doubt that Mercury will double down on staying with Salem, if the entire “Salem is gonna destroy the world :)” thing from Tyrian didn't change his mind then the hours-long plane ride with him probably has.

So yeah, I really hope that Mercury is treated well going forward, I think he deserves positive character development, I think he deserves to leave Salem, I think he deserves the opportunity to live his own free life, and I want his character to be done well and for his story to end on a positive note.

I had a lot more on my mind that I wanted to say here, but decided to keep it on the shorter side. Thanks for the ask and the opportunity to ramble, feel free to send more ^-^

#rwby #mercury black #emerald sustrai #cinder fall #my posts #asks #this might be a bit rwde also? but i don't think so

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scarletemeterio-thesecond · 4 years

Note

hello!! just finished reading failed expectations and it was so good!! i enjoyed it v much :) i was wondering if it would be possible to request a part 2 to it?? thank you 💕

I'm finally here with a part 2! Thank you so much for requesting, I never thought people would like failed expectations that much lol, hope y'all like it!!

Also, yes, it's reader's birthday because it's my birthday hehe

•••

Falling (Zuko x Fem!Reader)

Warnings: none.

Genre: Fluff, a bit of angst.

Fandom: Avatar, The Last Airbender.

Summary: You're in an arranged marriage with Zuko, but he hasn't been very friendly and now he's trying to be better.

Word Count: 1525

part 1 | part 3

Zuko hated himself. He'd been so focused on being the Fire Lord that he had completely neglected you. He hadn't noticed before, but now it was very obvious that you were acting different towards him. You weren't rude or anything, just very distant; just like he'd been since the start.

It had been a few days since your interaction near the turtle duck pond, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. He could see in your face how hurt you were with the entire situation, and it made him feel horrible that he was the reason you were feeling that way. So he decided he had to do something, he had to be better.

He took some baby steps at the beginning. He would smile briefly at you, or just stand closer to you than he used to. He'd also try to talk to you a lot more, mostly about things related to the Fire Nation since he didn't really know how to approach you, but he wanted to show you that he didn't hate you or anything.

At first, you didn't understand why he was being so nice to you out of nowhere, but clearly, it didn't bother you. It was nice to feel at least a little more welcomed, especially since you missed your family so much. You were allowed to see them, obviously, but you couldn't do it every single day.

After a few weeks, he finally built the courage to ask you to spend the day with him. However, he had a meeting in the afternoon, so the first time, he only asked you to spend the morning with him.

When he asked that, you seriously wondered if somehow, you'd dreamt everything that happened during that whole month. But if it was a dream, you didn't want anyone to wake you up.

When you got out of your room, you both stood there, looking at each other. He licked his lips and scratched his neck before speaking.

"Hey... How did you sleep?" He asked, wondering why he'd said the first thing that came to his mind. He was nervous, and you could definitely tell, but, to be honest, you felt the same.

"Uh, fine. What are we gonna do today?"

"I arranged everything for us to have breakfast near the turtle duck pond, I know you like spending time there," as he said that he spread out his arm, inviting you to start walking.

"That sounds really nice, Fire Lord Zuko," you didn't realize it, but he cringed a bit when he heard how you called him. He didn't say anything, but it made him feel a bit bad that you always called him like that.

When you got there, you saw that a very nice picnic had been organized, and once again you wondered if you were asleep. The both of you sat on the ground and started eating in silence.

"Wait, save some bread for the turtle ducks!" You said to him. He couldn't help but smile as he put some bread to one side.

"You know, when I was little my mother and I used to feed them too," he commented. You looked at him with a questioning expression on your face since you couldn't believe he was talking to you about his childhood, but you quickly smiled at him, waiting for him to continue. "You remind me of her," he admitted.

"Well, I'm flattered, Fire Lord Zuko."

"You know you can just call me Zuko, right?" He asked.

"I, uh, I just didn't know if it was okay for me to call you by your name."

"Of course it's okay, there's no need for formalities between us," you looked at him in the eye and smiled at his words. He was about to keep talking, but the two of you were interrupted.

"Fire Lord Zuko, your guests are here."

"Already?" He asked to himself. He didn't want to go, he wanted to stay there with you, listening to your sweet voice. You looked at him and decided to grab one of his arms.

"It's okay, I understand." He let out a sigh and started getting up.

"We'll feed the turtle ducks later. I promise." You nodded and watched him walk away.

It had been almost five months since the two of you got married, and it had been three months since the last time you saw your family, but even though you missed them, with every passing day you felt a little more at home in the palace. Your relationship with Zuko was still a little weird, but it definitely was a lot better than before. At least now you could say that you were friends, not best friends, but it was a step in the right direction.

However, you were a bit worried since your birthday was coming. You thought Zuko didn't know, and the thought of spending your special day away from the people you loved made you feel sad. But what you didn't know was that your husband was aware of the upcoming day, and he'd been preparing everything for your family to visit you.

You'd noticed that he was acting different, he was avoiding you again and whenever you talked to him, his responses were short and cold. You thought that maybe you'd finally woken up from that beautiful dream, and that everything was over. For a while, you felt sad, but then that sadness was replaced by anger. You just didn't understand Zuko, one day he was your friend and the next one he barely talked to you. You stayed in your room for the next few days, hardly leaving your chambers, which actually ended up making things a lot easier for Zuko.

It was your birthday, and when you were woken up by one of the maids, you thought that it was your mother for a second. However, as soon as you opened your eyes, you remembered where you were, and that your mom wasn't there with you.

"Lady (Y/N), here is your breakfast," she informed you.

"Wait, I didn't ask for breakfast," you told her, thinking that she was confused.

"Oh, Fire Lord Zuko told us to bring it to you." You looked at her, completely perplexed. She didn't give you any time for you to ask questions since she quickly started to walk away. "Happy birthday, Lady (Y/N)," she said before closing the doors.

You wondered how she'd know that it was your birthday, and then you realized that the answer was your own husband. You looked at the food and you recognized that it was your typical birthday breakfast from home. A brief smile was planted on your face at the thought of your family, and even though you were mad at Zuko for all the mixed signals, you enjoyed the dish. Nonetheless, when you were done, you got changed and got out of your room to go look for him.

You ran into him since he was heading to your bedroom, and when you realized it was him, you got even angrier.

"What's going on with you?" You asked. "I truly don't understand, Zuko. One day we're friends and then you don't even look at me for a whole week," he tried to grab your hand but you didn't let him. "And now you pretend that nothing happened and bring me breakfast for my birthday? Like I want to know-."

"Just come with me," he interrupted you. He grabbed your arm and made you follow him. You still didn't understand what was happening and wanted to argue with him. When you got to the throne room, he let you go and turned around to look at you. "Happy birthday, (Y/N)."

"Zuko, what-?" And then you saw them. Your parents and your sister were just a few meters away from you. You looked at Zuko with some tears already threatening to fall from your eyes. "You did this?" He nodded while smiling at you.

"We've been preparing this surprise for a while now, and that's why I've been acting so weird around you. I didn't want you to find out, and I was a bit scared that I'd end up telling you, so... Yeah." As soon as he said that you wrapped your arms around his neck and he wrapped his around your waist.

"Thank you so much, Zuko," you whispered in his ear.

"You're welcome, (Y/N), I'm glad you're happy."

You two pulled away and you got rid of the tears from your face. You went to your family and hugged each of them with the biggest smile on your face. You were so happy that your thoughts about Zuko were wrong, and you realized that maybe spending your days by his side wouldn't be as bad as you thought it would.

Zuko looked at the four of you with a smile on his face. He loved how much you loved your family, and he loved seeing you smile. Right there in that moment, he realized he was looking forward to the rest of his life with you, with the girl he was falling in love with.

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the-firebender-girl · 4 years

Text

Thick As Thieves (Zuko x Reader)

-> In which Azula got her redemption arc and gets to be the cool aunt.

Zuko has been equally dreading and anticipating this day for months. The day his sister will finally be released from the asylum on a nearby island. She was continuously monitored and deemed stable now, safe enough to roam free again and insert herself back to society. His last encounter with her a few years back wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience so he doesn’t know what to expect now, will it go awry again? or has she really turned a new leaf? guess he’ll find out sooner than later.

His worries extend far beyond his own discomfort of facing his deranged and misguided sister because he also has others to worry about, he’s got his own family now. A wife, a daughter, and a son. His wife had briefly met Azula when she tagged along with him at one of his visits but he can’t say the same for the younglings. Izumi and Isao, the new beloved princess and prince of the Fire Nation, his pride and joy.

Being a father suprisingly comes natural to him despite his dreadful childhood and having no father figure to look up to. He learnt a lot from watching Hakoda though, he owed that man a lot. Especially now that the closest thing that he has to a father is gone. Uncle Iroh decided that he had done all he could in the material world and chose to ascend to the Spirit World, leaving his mortal body behind and letting his soul make a new home there.

It was a decision that Zuko supports wholeheartedly, but still sometimes he wishes that Iroh is still around to guide him with his wisdom. Now he has this world of ruling and fatherhood that he has to navigate on his own, hoping that he won’t mess it up.

“Love, are you ready?” Y/N’s gentle voice broken his train of thoughts, pulling him back into the real world.

“Yeah... just thinking about... things” He replied lamely, reaching out for her hand which she gives. He always love playing around with her fingers, the contact brings him comfort.

“Don’t get lost in your head too much, okay?” She said, giving him a tender smile.

He stares back at the love of his life appreciatively and gives her a sure nod.

“I just... I don’t know how to feel, it’s like i’m scared of expecting anything if it’ll just put myself up for a disappointment. You know how much of a wildcard she is” Zuko said timidly, looking small and more vulnerable than he has been for years.

“I know Zuko, this must be soo confusing for you, i’m scared too but we’re in this together right? I’ll be with you every step of the way” Y/N assure him, trying to subdue his worries as much as she could. Rubbing comforting touches at his shoulder.

“Spirits, Y/N. What did I ever do to deserve you?” He leaned his head back a bit so that he can nuzzle it into her stomach.

She hums, “I don’t know, you must be a hero or something with what a great catch I am” She grins teasingly, easing up the tension.

She considers it as a triumph when her husband lets out a scoff of disbelief, “Woman you are unbelieveable” Shaking his head at her.

“Part of the charm, love”

To that he can’t help but burst out laughing.

Oh the married life.

———————————————————————

Azula stood on her own two feet, no longer bounded by straitjacket nor in a wheelchair. She stood as a free woman now. She wouldn’t go as far as to say ‘free and changed woman’ because some things just scarred too deep too remove but the therapies she undergo definitely did some good. So was the time she spent away from the capital and from the expectations she used to bear.

Now she stands face to face with Zuko, all out in his Fire Lord regalia. It suits him, not that she would admit that out loud, her pride is still very much intact after all.

“Should I bow to you now?” Her voice sends a cold chill running through Zuko, despite being locked away it seems that his sister managed to keep the bite in her.

“According to formalities you should, but no” He replied, feigning indifferent.

“Whatever you say, Fire Lord Zuzu”

Zuko’s composure cracks at the sound of his childhood nickname combined with what is now his title, one of his eyes twitching in annoyance. From his peripheral vision, he saw Y/N raising one of her hands in front of her mouth to hide her growing smile and a laugh that threatens to escape.

Even the guards who are standing by and thus being a part of this reunion seems to have trouble doing their part after witnessing this exchange. The sound of giggling little voices reaches his ears, at this he softens and put his hands on Izumi and Isao’s shoulder.

“Now who might these be?” Azula said as she redirects her line of vision to the source of noise, raising both of her eyebrows expectantly.

“This is my children, Izumi my eldest....” Zuko said while patting her head lovingly then he moves to do the same to his son, “And Isao, her younger brother”

Azula’s eyes roamed over them, taking in every features as if sizing them up, then she stops when she reaches their faces. Molten gold meets its exact pair, a courtesy of the royal family (superior) gene pool if she say so herself. That eye color might as well be their trademark after all.

“Well hello there little ones, i’m Aunty Azula” She said as she carefully took a step closer towards them. The guards almost block her away but Zuko raised his hand to signal them to be at ease and let her pass.

Izumi shrinks back, scared but at awe at the same time at her aunt’s cat-like movement. It’s soo smooth she looks like she is gliding across the floor and now she’s in front of them in no time. She may be 7 but she’s old enough to understand things, things that she heard people say in a whispers about her aunt whom she never met before. And that is enough to make her reluctant.

Izumi looked to her right at her little brother but Isao doesn’t show the slightest hint of being unfazed. In fact he looks intrigued.

There was a small awkward silence moment before a huge grin bloomed on Isao’s face, making his puffy cheeks even more prominent.

“Hey there aunty! i’m sooo pumped to meet you” He said innocently, excitement oozing from his very being.

Azula is caught off guard by such a welcoming reaction, this is not something that she expected at all. She never even realized her inadequacy in dealing with children until she’s finally forced to face one. What’s the first thing that she should even do? feed them flaming fire flakes? use them as target practice? Agni, Zuzu better not do anything stupid like leaving her with any of them.

Y/N watched as her sister in law seems to be frozen in place, looking at her son as if he’s an alien being. Who knew that the great Azula will one day be stupefied at a mere interaction with a 4 years old child? well the more you know.

“Sooo... lunch, anyone?” Y/N said, a pathetic attempt to break the ice.

Azula just walked past them without a second glance. Making her way inside the palace that she once called home, with Isao tailing behind. Small feet attempting to catch up to her long strides. Zuko and Y/N shared a glance at each other, to which he just shrugs and they too follow after her.

———————————————————————

A week has passed since she came back and Azula is adjusting pretty nicely, well people still cower at the sight of her and most of them stay as far as they can but not that she mind that.

Well everyone except this little bugger called Isao aka his brother’s second spawn. He loves following her around and looking at her with those annoying big round eyes, think that would work on her too huh? too bad she hates children. He really doesn’t know what’s good for him.

Tonight they’re having a family dinner. To formally celebrate her coming back or whatever. At least the food is good. The mouth-watering scent of smoked sea slug, roast duck, komodo sausages, extra spicy fire noodles, and fruit tart filled the air. It’s starting to look more and more like a feast instead of a nice and quiet family dinner. Trust her brother to always make a spectacle out of everything.

Azula was minding her own business, scooping bits of this and that into her plate when the empty chair beside her got dragged back by a pair of small hands. Isao’s round face greeted her as she watches his sorry attempt at climbing the chair. Grumbling, she picks him up and put him securely on top of it before he hits his head on the side of the table or something.

“Thanks Aunty Azula!” He said, giving her his signature wide grin.

“Ughh whatever kiddo”

Azula turns her attention towards the head of the table where Zuko and Y/N are currently sitting, haven’t yet realized that their son has disappeared from his designated chair.

Azula clears her throat, that successfully got their attention.

“Zuko, Y/N would you mind giving some help over here? it’s trying to bond again” A hint of awkwardness creeps into her voice, face scrunching, she’s even shifting left and right in her seat.

Y/N rolls her eyes, “It’s got a name, Azula and he’s your nephew so play nice”

“B-but....” Before she could voice her protest, the couple has already turned their attention away.

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, Isao’s curious stares burning into her.

Once she opens her eyes again, the boy is already stuffing his mouth full of sausages.

“I guess i’m stuck with you then” She said defeatedly as she watches him happily munching his food down.

———————————————————————

“You know you look exactly like your father when he was little” Azula said to the boy whom she’s babysitting, it pains her to even think about this. What were Zuko and Y/N even thinking when they decided that leaving their son to her care for the day is the best idea. Does she look like she’ll make a good nanny? Spirits, the audacity.

This carbon copy of Zuko is currently sitting beside the pond, with two little feets dangling in the water, creating small ripples here and there. The turtle ducks happily swam around him, waiting for him to throw in another good measure of breadcrumbs.

“Yeah I know that! Grandfather Iroh used to say that a lot” He said to which Azula scoffed and tsked under her breath, “Grandfather Iroh”

“Of course of course....” She said while lazily drawing patterns on the grass, “Good ‘ol Grandfather Iroh”

Isao stops his feeding session and crawled to where Azula is sitting.

“Do you know that my name means ‘honor’ or ‘meritorious’ ? How cool is that huh!? father picked that out himself” He said, wide eyed. Visibly bouncing in his seat while giving her this piece of information.

Azula lets out an incredulous chuckle as she shakes her head, “Of course Zuzu would choose something like that as a name, your father was obsessed with his honor” Drawling out the word obsessed to make her point clear.

“But I think it suits you, little one. So there’s that” She said giving him a shrug. That earned her a smile and Isao makes an exaggerated air fist pump, clearly pleased.

Azula reached out for the picnic basket that Y/N has earlier prepared for them, taking out the wrapped mochi and some tea. She then gives it to Isao, right on time as she hears his stomach rumble.

“Hungry are we? the mochi looks delicious but too bad the tea is already cold”

“Not to worry about that Aunty Azula! I got a little trick I can show you”

Imagine her surprise when fire sparks out of his fingertips, dancing on the bottom of the teapot, warming it quickly to a nice temperature.

“What?!?! how did you do that?” She said still pretty much in shock, watching as the fire slowly dies down.

“I once watched Grandfather Iroh do it, I haven’t figured out how then but now I can do it on command”

This boy really has no idea that he just executed a firebending trick perfectly didn’t he? warming up tea is a complicated form of art, it has to be done perfectly for the leaves and spices to fully release its essence. Such a raw talent in someone so young.

Come to think of it, even if he knows, he wouldn’t have thought about it too much nor dwell on it. If Azula got it right, Zuko’s eldest is a non-bender so Isao most likely or not has no experience in watching a firebending training.

“Kiddo, you can firebend? is there any other tricks that you can do?” Azula asked in an encouraging tone, this attitude is unusual coming from her but even she can’t deny that she has developed a soft spot for her nephew.

“I can create little fire here and there or warm myself up if I needed to but that’s all” Isao replied, looking her straight in the eye.

Azula hums as the gears in her brain is starting to turn, “Would you like me to teach you some things?”

Isao jumps up and down in excitement, this is all soo exciting! he is actually bonding with his aunt.

What an interesting turn of event indeed.

———————————————————————

They are in the middle of a rather pleasant dinner that night when Azula decided to break the news to her brother and sister in law.

“Do any of you know that your son is a firebender?”

The reaction that she earned is priceless, Zuko starts choking on his food whereas Y/N’s jaw dropped open, mouth forming a perfect O-shape.

“He hasn’t shown any sign of firebending abilities, we thought he’s a non-bender like his sister” Y/N answers for her husband because Zuko is still trying to clear up his air pipe.

“Firecracker, why don’t you show the trick that I taught you earlier?” Azula said to Isao, beckoning him with her fingers.

He excitedly nodded and turns to face his parents. He took a deep breath and concentrate, sparks of fire lights up from his fingertips. Slowly he guides the fire into forming a small circle in front of him, the circle then starts to take shape into a dragon, a fire dragon.

Y/N gasps as the shape becomes more and more prominent, flying across the dining hall but never too hot to burn anything. It’s an incredible thing to watch, she is indeed a proud mother. Even Izumi is enjoying the show, her eyes following the dragon’s every movement. Zuko is at loss for words, he can’t believe that his 4 years old son not only can firebend, but he’s damn good at it too. Azula may have discovered his potentials, but of course it’s up to him to mastered it.

Isao can only holds the form for 5 minutes before the fire burns out, after all he’s still young and has a lot more to learn, but that display is enough to make everyone clap their hands.

“Firecracker, you are marvelous! told you they’ll love it” Azula said as she moved one of her hands to tussle his hair teasingly.

Both Zuko and Y/N rushed from their seats to engulf Isao in a hug, Y/N peppering little kisses all over his face, meanwhile Zuko looks as if he’s high on cactus juice.

“Father, mother...stop....I can’t breathe” Little Isao complaints as he attempts to break free.

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Y/N said as she bends her knees so that she can be at head level with her son.

“I want to do it right, mother. That’s why I learned some new tricks first before I showed it to you. I don’t want to accidently burn something” Isao replied.

“And you will do it right, son. I’ll make sure of it” Zuko said as he gaze at his son fondly.

“Yeah! you’ll be a great firebender, brother” Izumi joins in and smiles encouragingly.

Azula can’t help the small smile that tugs at her lips. This is a scene that she and the palace walls never got to witness before, a loving and supportive family. Zuko has done it right.

———————————————————————

That night as Azula makes her way down the corridor of the Royal Wing and passes by Isao’s slightly ajar bedroom door, she can’t help but sneak a peek.

The little boy is being tucked to bed by his mother, Y/N who sensed the presence of someone else turns her head around and gives her a small smile.

“Would you like to wish him goodnight, Azula?” Y/N asks her, inviting her in with a nod.

Azula nodded back and let herself in, meanwhile Y/N stands up and gives Isao a kiss to his forehead, “Sleep well my little prince” Azula can hear her whispers the word softly.

After that Y/N walks out of the room. Azula took a few steps closer to the bed and sit at the edge. Hands rubbing comforting circles at his blanket-covered feet.

“You know you’re literally a mini Zuko but I like you much much better than him, firecracker” Azula said in a teasing tone.

“I’m glad you think so Aunty Azula because I like you too! people said you’re scary but I don’t see it, I think you’re a nice person”

Isao’s words got Azula holding back a choked sob, her eyes starting to get watery. No one had ever told her that she’s a nice person. People just see her as this monster, even her own mother.

Coming back here was a hard thing for her to do, she never had a home anyway or anyone to come back to. That does not comes as a surprise to her of course, her family is as dysfunctional as they come anyway. But this little firecracker proved her wrong. Maybe she too deserves to belong somewhere after all she’s been through.

Azula gives him a smile and a kiss to his head, “Sleep well, firecracker” to which she got a “Goodnight Aunty Azula” back as a reply.

As Azula steps out of the room and closes the door slowly, she turns around and came straight in contact with Zuko, nearly tumbling to the floor.

“Why you..” Azula started before Zuko puts a finger in front of his mouth in a shushing motion, reminding her not to wake up Isao.

Zuko made a motion for her to follow him and she did, they walk side by side along the hallway.

“He’s really fond of you, you know” He said, staring straight forward.

“Agni knows why, but despite him being your son he is actually.... tolerable” Azula said curtly.

“You know you should learn to express yourself better, sister. Some emotions won’t hurt you”

“Are you just gonna lecture me or is there a point to this conversation?”

“Fine, fine” Zuko said as he rolls his eyes in a childish manner, “Will you be Isao’s firebending teacher?”

Azula stopped on spot, “Did I just misheard you or do you actually trust me enough to train your son?”

“Hey, you’re a great firebender! no one can deny that. I can’t think of anyone better to be his master, your moral compass might be crooked but that’s what me and Y/N are here for, right” At this he earned an elbow shoved to his chest.

“You don’t have to be so abusive you know” He mutters.

Azula gives him a grin, satisfied that she caused him a slight pain.

“I’ll teach him, not because you asked me to, but because I genuinely wants him to be even greater. He’s got potentials, Zuko” Azula said, more serious than Zuko has ever heard her.

“Yeah I know that, he’s a great kid”

Azula and Zuko look at each other, sharing a silent understanding, and gave each other a nod.

Zuko reaches a hand out for her to shake, “Truce?”

With no hesitation, she reaches out her own hand and take it, “Truce.”

They both then part ways but before Azula turns around the corner, Zuko speak up again.

“Hey, Azula?”

She turns around and raised one of her eyebrow, silently asking him what.

“I’m glad you’re here.... welcome home” Zuko said, giving her a small smile before he turns around and walk to his chamber.

Azula stood in that same spot even after Zuko’s silhouette has disappeared. Contemplating to herself, before letting out a sigh and a smile that is actually meant for her brother despite him not being able to see it.

“I’m glad that i’m here too, brother.”

———————————————————————

A/N : I’m a sucker for Azula’s redemption arc so I can’t resist myself from writing this one. What do you think about it? would like to hear more from all of you darlings ♥️

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reinerispretty · 4 years

Text

rotations. (zuko x f!reader) pt19

hello hello hello! i hope you guys liked that last chapter :) thank you so much for reading and i hope you have a great day!! pls share if you can :)

pt1

pt18

pt20

(Y/N) hugged each and every one of her friends as tightly as she could. What they had all been preparing for over the past year had finally been achieved. There was still more work to do, but it made her heart swell knowing that they had each brought fantastic change into the world.

The sun shined through the tall windows, rousing (Y/N) from her slumber. She groaned and turned over in her bed, throwing her arm over her eyes. A knock came from outside of her door.

“Miss (Y/N)!” One of the servants called.

“Five more minutes,” (Y/N) grumbled, sinking further into the comfortable sheets and pillows. After sleeping on the ground for almost a whole year, she found it nearly impossible to get out of her bed in the mornings.

“You instructed me last night that if you said five more minutes, I shouldn’t back down. Today is Prince Zuko’s coronation day.”

(Y/N) eyes popped open and she sat up quickly, sliding out of bed. She threw on her robe and stumbled over to the wardrobe. “I’m getting ready now, I’ll be out in a bit! Is the prince up yet?”

“No, Miss.”

“Fantastic! I’ll wake him up today, alright?”

“Yes, Miss.” She heard the servant’s footsteps travel down the hall. (Y/N) flung open her wardrobe to pick out the outfit she had chosen for this day. It was a traditional formal Fire Nation outfit: a maroon colored dress with dark, pointed shoulder pads. She dressed and tied her hair back in a topknot, letting the rest flow down her back. Her arm bandages only barely peeked through the sleeves of her dress.

She exited her room and walked down the hall. It had been a few days since her fight with Azula and it was surprising how different everything already was. The last time (Y/N) was in the Fire Nation Royal Palace, she was a young girl. She had been in Zuko’s room, begging him not to partake in his first Agni Kai. Back then, the walls had been filled with anger and secrets. Now, as she walked through the halls of the palace, everything felt oddly new. It was like the end of the war had changed the entire atmosphere.

Since her return to the Fire Nation, (Y/N) had taken on the role of being Zuko’s chief advisor. After the defeat of Ozai and Azula, both she and Zuko weren’t quite sure who in the Fire Nation they could really trust. So, (Y/N) had decided to take matters into her own hands. She had been to the palace frequently enough over the past few years to be able to pretend that her presence required respect. When Zuko had too much on his plate, she was there to make the decisions that reflected his and the nation’s best interests. It made her happy to know that she was making a positive change, especially when her best friend was at her side.

She walked all the way across the palace, to the Fire Lord’s chambers. She knocked loudly against the door and waited for any sounds. When she heard nothing, (Y/N) pulled open the heavy wooden doors and found Zuko still fast asleep.

“Up and at em! It’s coronation day!” She shouted, taking a pillow from underneath his head and hitting him with it. Zuko groaned in protest, flipping over on his stomach to hide his face.

“I don’t think this is the way to treat a Fire Lord,” he grumbled into his sheets. (Y/N) began pulling at his legs.

“Well, it’s a good thing you won’t be Fire Lord until later today.” She pulled again, letting out a grunt before giving up. “You ask me to stay in the Fire Nation with you to help you bring back peace and now you won’t even listen to me when I try to do it!”

“How is waking me up early bringing back peace?”

“It brings peace of mind to me knowing that you won’t sleep through your coronation.” She placed her hands on her hips. “I don’t have all day but I’ll cancel whatever I have to do in order to get you out of bed. Would you like me to sing you a song?”

Zuko sat up quickly, holding his arms up in defense. “That won’t be necessary! You can leave now!” (Y/N) grinned and walked to the door.

“Happy coronation day, Fire Lord Zuko,” She said softly. He returned her smile and with that, (Y/N) left to ready the palace for their guests.

Her first stop was the kitchens to ensure that they were preparing enough food for everyone they would be hosting. Representatives from each of the four nations would be coming to celebrate Zuko’s coronation and it was absolutely crucial to both Zuko and (Y/N) that unity be at the forefront of everything they do. So she had invited chefs from the nations to recreate some of their most popular foods. She was sad that she could not invite anyone from the Air Nomads, but she was assured by her chefs that they would try her best to make the culture’s most traditional foods.

(Y/N) passed by the pots in the kitchens and gagged as she smelled the sea prunes steaming. She absolutely hated them, but she knew they were a Water Tribe delicacy. She just hoped that no one would offer any to her.

After she stopped by the kitchens, she walked the servants through the timeline of the nights’ events. They would begin with Zuko’s coronation, then the courtyard would quickly be turned into an outside dining area so that everyone could mingle and enjoy themselves. Afterward, she and her friends would have a private celebration with Zuko to celebrate him and his accomplishments.

“Are you doing my job for me?” (Y/N) paused as she laid out the courtyard blueprints for one of the servants. She turned around and smiled when she saw Zuko, fully dressed in his royal garments. He had pulled his hair back into a topknot that (Y/N) considered to be the cutest thing ever.

“Someone has to do it while you’re sleeping the day away.” She dismissed the servants, leaning against the table of the meeting room. “What’ve you been up to?”

“Some council meetings with leaders of the other nations.” Zuko sighed, leaning beside her. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”

“We do. But we’ll do it together.” She leaned on Zuko’s shoulder and closed her eyes as he leaned his cheek against the top of her head. Much more had changed than just their place of residence. (Y/N) realized that while she had fought Azula so furiously because of what she had done to Zuko, there was also a deeper reason of why she was so angered. As she watched Zuko lying on the ground, practically dying, she realized that everyone had been right. The feelings that she felt for Zuko surpassed friendship. She loved him and she had loved him for a very long time.

It was unfortunate that it had taken her until he was mortally injured to realize it, but better late than never, she supposed.

She was scared to tell him though, which baffled her. She had fought for her life on multiple occasions, survived prison, and defeated one of the most powerful benders in the entire Fire Nation...but she still couldn’t tell her best friend that she was in love with him.

“Wanna come out to the courtyard with me?” Zuko stood. “Everyone should be arriving soon.” (Y/N) nodded and followed him through the palace and to the steps of the main courtyard. Just as they walked outside, Appa landed in the middle of the courtyard with Aang, Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Momo in tow. (Y/N) and Zuko wore bright smiles on their faces as they waved to their friends. The last time she had seen any of them was the day of the comet. While that had only been a few days ago, this was the most time she had spent apart from her friends in a very long time. She ran to the courtyard to greet them as they stepped off of Appa, with Zuko trailing behind.

“You look so different,” Sokka exclaimed, admiring her traditional Fire Nation robes. (Y/N) beamed up at him.

“I used to dress like this all the time before I ran off with you hooligans. Do you guys want a tour? I can’t wait to show you where Zuko and I grew up!”

“Maybe a little later,” Zuko cut in. “Aang and I have an important meeting to get to.” He gave her an apologetic look.

“Oh, right,” (Y/N) said, but the excitement didn’t fall from her face. “Very important Fire Lord and Avatar stuff.” She turned back to Sokka, Katara, and Toph. “How about you all come with me to the kitchens? You can taste the food we’ve been preparing and let me know if it’s good enough to serve.”

“Sounds great!” Toph cheered. “I’m starving. Someone ate all the seal jerky on the way here.”

All three girls looked at Sokka, who shrugged. “I’m a growing man!”

(Y/N) led them into the palace. They marveled at the ornate architecture on the inside, and at the portraits of past Fire Lords. Katara halted the group to look at the blank space on the wall of Fire Lords. “What happened here?”

“We took down the portraits of Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai,” (Y/N) explained.

“Why?” Toph asked.

“Zuko and I agreed that we didn’t want our nation to forget its history, no matter how horrible it is. But we also didn’t want to honor those three when all they’ve done was cause pain and suffering.” She pursed her lips as she stared at the empty space. “I’m working on hiring a painter for Zuko, but he’s always so busy.”

“Are you like Zuko’s assistant now?” Sokka questioned. (Y/N) shrugged.

“I do the things he doesn’t necessarily have time for, so I guess. Really I just consider myself his friend.”

“His friend?” Katara asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, Katara, his friend,” (Y/N) said, but the two best friends exchanged a knowing smile that told Katara everything she needed to know. (Y/N) turned quickly on her heel to lead them down to the kitchens. They ate to their hearts content and only barely left the kitchens in time to make the coronation.

Katara and Sokka stood at the front of the Water Tribe guests with their father. Toph stood at the front of the Earth Kingdom guests with Haru, the Mechanist, and other friends from they had met. (Y/N) stood at the front of the Fire Nation guests, exchanging smiles and greetings with the nobles who were willing to hear Zuko out.

If she squinted, she could see Zuko standing inside the palace. He looked hesitant, as if he were scared, and (Y/N) cursed herself for not being up there with him. She could have coached him through this or cheered him on. He paced back and forth as he waited to be called out by the Fire Sages. (Y/N) felt herself smile at how nervous he was. Zuko was confident, but never cocky, and it was one of the things she loved most about him.

Right before it was time for Zuko to walk out, (Y/N) watched as Mai walked up to him. The two exchanged a kiss, resulting in the biggest smile being put on Zuko’s face.

(Y/N) looked over at Katara, whose wide eyes and open mouth let her know that she was just as shocked. But she had no time to react. She swallowed her feelings deep into the pit of her stomach and cheered like everyone else did as Zuko walked out to be crowned Fire Lord.

---

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muertawrites · 4 years

Text

Two Halves - Chapter One (Zuko x Reader)

Word Count: 3,700

Author’s Note: I decided to set this a few years after the war, when Zuko is Firelord. I didn’t want to stray too far from what was canon in the series - what with Katara being the only bender left in the Southern Tribe and also trying not to add extra family members because that always feels weird to me - so the reader in this story is a girl from the village who lost her parents to a raid and was essentially adopted into Sokka and Katara’s family; she stayed behind to watch after the tribe when they left to help Aang, and now, as the chief’s surrogate daughter, is arranged to marry the Firelord to help bring the two nations together. Chaos and sweet, tender romance ensues. This is also going to be a mini series! I have no real plot and no idea how long it’s going to be, but that just adds to the fun of it all. Stay tuned.

~ Muerta

“You can’t be serious.”

Sokka, seated beside you, instinctively offers you his hand, which you willingly, eagerly take, gripping it tightly in your lap. You can’t decide if you feel anger or fear; the two mix sourly in your stomach.

“I am,” Chief Hakoda says. His tone is even, and infuriatingly understanding. It makes you want to scream. “Your presence in the Fire Nation will be key to unite the nations in peace once again. They’ve been closed off from the rest of the world for too long - you’ll be an ambassador for our people.”

“Then make me an ambassador,” you snap. “Marrying me off to the Firelord is no better than letting him come here and colonize us.”

Hakoda glowers sternly at you. You shrink back, Sokka giving your hand an assuring squeeze.

“Firelord Zuko has made great strides to restore what his ancestors destroyed in the years since the war,” Hakoda scolds. “He’s an honorable, respectable man. I expect you to treat him as such.”

You look back up at him, letting out a heavy, defeated sigh.

“I don’t have a choice in this, do I?” you ask softly. Your voice quivers, revealing the terror behind your rage.

Hakoda’s expression softens as he stands. He helps you onto your feet, holding you gently at the elbows and looking apologetically into your eyes, one of his hands reaching to brush your hair behind your ear.

“Just because the war is over, it doesn’t mean the need for sacrifice is,” he tenderly says. “You’ll do great things as the queen of the Fire Nation. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t trust Zuko to treat you well.”

In Hakoda’s eyes, you see the man you knew as a child, the man who brought you into his family when you lost your own to a Fire Nation raid. You love him as much as you loved your own father, and know he loves you as much as his flesh and blood children; you trust that he would never put you in harm’s way.

Hakoda leans forward and kisses your forehead, holding you close for a long moment before letting go, breaking contact with you completely. The pain on his face tears a gaping hole in your heart.

“You leave in three days,” he tells you. “You’ll be in good hands - I promise.”

Though you know it isn’t for the last time, leaving the Southern Water Tribe hurts so much you think it might kill you.

You cruise across a calm ocean in a Fire Navy ship; luckily Sokka was allowed to come with you as emotional support, as well as to represent the tribe at your wedding. The presence of Zuko’s uncle is also calming to you, despite how little you know him, and how not long ago you would have considered him an enemy. There’s just something about Iroh that makes you feel safe, and you only hope the same holds true when you meet your husband to be.

“Zuko sent me to ensure your safe passage,” Iroh told you when you first boarded the ship. “Think of me as your guardian spirit.”

You stand on the deck, basking in the newly warm weather and taking deep breaths of fresh ocean breeze. The peace of the moment helps you lose yourself, forgetting your fate entirely, if only for a moment.

“How ya feeling?”

Sokka sidles up next to you, placing an assuring hand on your shoulder. You reach up and curl your fingers around his, sighing.

“Awful, now that you’re here,” you tease.

Sokka chuckles.

“I could still make good on that promise I made when we were kids,” he offers, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you into the side of his sturdy, familiar body. “I don’t think Suki or Dad would be really happy about it, though.”

You let out a huff of laughter, remembering all the times you used to play together before the war brought you closer; you used to have intense crushes on each other, and Sokka always promised that he would marry you when you both got older - plans that changed when you effectively became siblings. You lean your head into his shoulder, finding comfort in his presence.

“I’m just scared,” you tell him. “I always planned for great adventure in my life, and to help people, but… this doesn’t seem like the right way. It feels like I’m being taken prisoner.”

“They say that having too many plans for one’s life keeps one from finding their true potential.”

You turn, meeting Iroh’s gaze as he crosses the deck to where you stand. You part with Sokka and bow respectfully, trying to hide the embarrassment that heats your skin.

“I apologize, General Iroh,” you greet him. “I didn’t mean any offense.”

Iroh tuts at you, placing a hand on your shoulder to gently straighten you up. He meets you with a kind gaze and a soft smile.

“Fear is to be expected, my dear,” he says. “You can’t have a great adventure without also facing a great fear.”

He turns and peers out across the water, inhaling and releasing a deep, contented sigh.

“The weather is lovely today,” he notes. “Why don’t we all enjoy it together, with a pot of tea?”

And so a tea set is brought, along with a table and cushions, and you and Sokka join Iroh as he demonstrates how to brew the perfect pot of jasmine green, generously serving each cup. He toasts to your being together, and you drink heartily, savoring the exquisite taste of his famous tea.

“I understand how you must feel,” Iroh addresses you once you’ve all settled. “Coming to a strange country, among people responsible for so much of the pain you’ve experienced; you’re exceptionally brave for doing what is best for your people.”

Iroh takes your hand, cradling it between both of his.

“I am sorry for how my nation - my family - has hurt you,” he says. “My nephew and I only want happiness for you with us, and we will do all we can to ensure it; I give you this vow among his.”

He squeezes your hand tightly, and you grip back, accepting his promise. You bow again, lowering yourself so that your face is almost level with the deck of the ship.

“Thank you, General Iroh,” you reply. “Your generosity means everything to me.”

When you sit up, Sokka places a hand at your back, giving you a comforting smile.

“Zuko’s a good guy,” he assures you. “I really think you’ll learn to like him.”

Your arrival in the Fire Nation, much to your surprise, is met with celebration. As your ship pulls into port, army and navy officers in full ceremonial regalia perform displays of their bending, a traditional band playing cheerful, joyous music to welcome you to shore. A procession of military vehicles escorts you through the streets of the capital to the palace, citizens emerging from their homes and businesses to catch a glimpse as your carriage rolls by. The people who manage to see you are elated, if not curious, staring at you with wide eyes and rapt attention; Iroh explains that many of them have never seen a foreigner, as travel to the nation is only just starting to become somewhat commonplace. You’re confronted by the beauty and grandeur of the city - the tall, elegant buildings with their ornate details are far from anything you’ve ever seen in person, even with the rapid development of the Southern Tribe.

In the palace, you’re immediately whisked away to your own wing, your quarters designated to a set of quaint buildings circling a scenic courtyard. Tradition dictates that, from the time of your engagement, you aren’t allowed to see the man you’re meant to marry until you’re both at the alter; the first few days of your time in the Fire Nation are spent in seclusion, resting off the fatigue of travel and acquainting yourself with the new culture you must now call your own. Though you have to keep your distance, you’re relieved when, on your first morning in the palace, you find a letter on your doorstep, scrawled in a refined, graceful hand and addressed from the Firelord himself.

Hello, it says, Zuko here.

I wish I could introduce myself in person, but unfortunately, this will have to do for now. Sokka has told me much about you in the years we’ve known each other, and he always speaks of you highly. My uncle is also already enamored with you, and tells me he already considers you family, so I hope this brings as much comfort to you as it does to me. I don’t think I could have chosen a better woman to rule at my side.

I have to admit that I’m nervous about getting married. I still feel like I’m too young, and still just figuring things out. But I guess if I can lead a country and make peace after a hundred years of war, I can have a wife and make her happy. I hope I do make you happy - I hope we can be close friends and lead the nation strongly together, for the better of both our homes.

Please write to me if you need anything. Sincerely yours, Firelord Zuko.

The candidity and awkwardness of his writing makes you smile, your mind at ease being able to put a voice to his name. You decide to write him back immediately.

Hello, Zuko, you write.

Your letter has already made me feel much better. Your uncle is a very sweet, very wise man, and I’m thankful that you sent him to watch over me - he makes me feel like I already have a little piece of a home and a family here. Meeting the man who raised you, I have faith that you’ll be a good husband to me.

I’m very scared because, unlike you, I’ve never led a country or had to negotiate peace - getting married is the biggest responsibility I’ve ever had. I want to help people, though, and if I can help people by leading them out of the darkness of war, I’m very happy to do it. It isn’t as terrifying knowing you’re also nervous; I’m glad we can be nervous together.

Please write to me as much as possible until the wedding. It would be nice to get to know my husband before I marry him. Sincerely yours, the bride.”

For the following days, you and Zuko exchange multiple letters; you have one waiting for you every morning, receive a reply by midday, and end each night wishing him pleasant dreams. You learn that he’s very intelligent and, though quite subdued, has a sense of humor much like your own. He has a passion for weaponry and the art of combat, as well as for storytelling and music (he tells you that dancing has recently been unbanned in the Fire Nation, and wonders if you’ll be able to teach him any Water Tribe dances; you promise to help as much as you can). The more you write to him, the less daunting the idea of your marriage seems, and you find yourself feeling excited by the idea of finally meeting him.

The day of your wedding starts early. You’re woken at dawn, fed a breakfast of tea and jook (both prepared by Iroh, and sent on a tray beside a polished wooden box - inside is a traditional hair comb and a note from the old man, explaining that the comb was given to his mother by his father on their wedding day; the gesture sends you to tears), then sent to the palace baths to be buffed and primed for your wedding attire.

You’re stripped down and steeped in multiple perfumed liquids, scrubbed with an array of soaps and exfoliants, and washed so thoroughly you think your handlers might have exposed an entirely new layer of skin. They wax every single hair from your body as well; you only attempt to draw the line when they reach your nether area.

“Please don’t,” you request, firm but not commanding. “I don’t think I’ll need it.”

The beautician scoffs at you, pushing you back onto the waxing table and forcefully spreading your legs apart.

“Foolish girl,” she huffs. “Of course you will. Royal marriages must always be consummated on the wedding night - the Firelord will want as many heirs as you can give him, as soon as possible.”

Her brute words make you sick to your stomach, and as she rips away the hair between your thighs, tears roll down your cheeks from both pain and horror. You want to believe the man who’s been writing to you for the past five days would never force himself onto you in the name of tradition, but it dawns on you once again that you don’t truly know him, and can’t anticipate his actions.

Once you’ve been wrung out from your time at the bath house, you’re sent back to your sleeping chambers, where you’re pleased to find not only lunch waiting for you, but visitors as well.

“Katara!” you cry, flying across the room and into her arms. She laughs, hugging you so tightly you can hardly breathe.

“Oh, I’ve missed you!” Katara cries, whirling you around a few times before setting you back onto your feet. “You already look so beautiful! How do you feel?”

“I’m terrified,” you tell her, “but so much happier now that you’re here.”

“Don’t forget me!”

Aang waves from behind Katara and you shout with glee, greeting him in the same manner you did her. He also crushes himself against you, and when you pull away, you cup his face between your hands.

“You look older!” you exclaim, squeezing his cheeks. “You grow every time I see you!”

Aang laughs, pushing your hands away with a pink blush creeping over his nose and ears.

“I’m a grown man, and the avatar,” he says, teasingly poking your shoulder. “You can’t keep treating me like I’m still twelve.”

“I can and I will,” you jest, lightly punching him in the stomach. He cackles and puts you in a (gentle) headlock, rubbing his knuckles into your skull to tangle your freshly washed hair.

“Hey, kids, that’s enough,” Sokka scolds playfully as he enters the room. “Let’s eat, otherwise I’ll be way too tempted by the spread at the reception tonight.”

Lunch with your siblings is the last moment of relative calm you have before the wedding and its reality truly start to set in. After the meal, Sokka and Aang leave to help Zuko with his own preparations, Katara staying to help you with yours. Your handlers navigate you into your dress, a traditional gown and robes made of many layers of fine silk and embroidered with dragons and native Fire Nation flowers; the train and sleeves fall so far behind you, you worry about tripping or scuffing the fabric. Once you’re dressed, your face is painted white, your features then outlined as if they were being drawn anew into your skin. You hardly recognize yourself once the handlers are finished with you, the anxiety you felt upon learning of your engagement returning with newfound ferocity.

Katara is the one to style your hair. Keeping with custom, she knots a portion of it atop your head in a tight bun, using the comb Iroh gave you to hold it in place. She then takes the remainder of your hair and braids it into two sections on each side of your face, the way it would be worn in the Water Tribe; she laces each braid with a string of beads from home, crystalline blue totems to ensure happiness and long life hanging at the end of each, contrasting beautifully with your gown. She cries when she steps back to look at you, carefully dabbing at her tears so as not to ruin her own makeup and dress.

“You’re so gorgeous,” she tells you. “I’m so glad Sokka never married you like he said he would, he would look awful at the alter next to you.”

You laugh, opening your arms and hugging her tightly, forcing your own tears back for the sake of the effort that’s been put into your costume.

For the last few minutes before the wedding, you’re alone; you stand outside the doors of the palace’s grand courtyard, flanked on both sides by guards, listening nervously as Iroh (who’s officiating, per his nephew’s request) praises you and recites a poem in your honor. His sentiments are exceedingly affectionate and should move you, but all you can think of is Zuko; what will he think of you? Will he like you as much in person as he did in writing? Was he just pretending to like you for the sake of your union? What if he didn’t think you were pretty? What if, like the beautician said, he forced you to sleep with him tonight, simply because it’s what’s meant to be done? You chew at your nails, biting them so hard that some of them start to bleed.

Music swells from inside the courtyard, and suddenly the doors before you swing open. You hold your head as high as you can, stepping forward with as much grace as you can manage and beginning to traverse the impossibly long aisle to the wedding altar. You breathe deeply, scanning the group of people standing before it - you see Katara first, and she nods encouragingly, looking like she’s about to cry all over again. Your eyes sweep over to Sokka, standing beside her, and he seems somewhat shocked by your appearance - not that you blame him, seeing as you look like a complete stranger, even to yourself. Iroh gazes at you from the center of the altar, wearing the expression of a proud father that makes you wish Hakoda were there. Aang stands beside Zuko, and you can tell from his face that he was bored by this whole display until you emerged from hiding; you stifle your laughter at his predictable, endearing disposition.

Finally, your eyes fall on the groom. The first thing you notice is his stare, cutting into you as he watches you approach; his chiseled, angular features have fallen into an awed expression, one that causes a giddy tickle in your chest. He’s tall, slim, with broad shoulders that carry his wedding robes proudly - his clothing matches yours, the only difference being the armored sheath across his chest that signals his status as ruler of the Fire Nation. You’re reminded that his father wore it before him, and a shudder runs through you as you recall all you suffered at his hands; you push it from your mind, climbing the altar steps to stand beside your betrothed. He gently takes your arm, a warm, timid smile breaking across his lips.

“Spirits,” Iroh addresses the crowd, “we gather before you to join this man, this woman, and our two great nations in a union of peace and prosperity. With your blessing and guidance, their souls will form two halves of a great whole, coming together to foster a new era of love and commitment not just for their people, but for each other. The bride and groom will now recite their vows.”

Iroh nods towards you, and you lower yourself onto your knees, bowing before the Firelord. You clear your throat, hoping that the entire country doesn’t hear the quiver in your voice.

“My lord,” you begin, “I give myself to you as completely as I give myself to my tribe. I swear, from this day forward, to walk confidently by your side in all your endeavors, to uphold the honor of our nations and families, and to be a guiding light into the future for every citizen of the Fire Nation. I will be your support, your comfort, and your ally in all aspects of our life together, and will serve you as loyally and dutifully as you serve me.”

You stand, taking one of the rings that sits upon the altar and slipping it onto Zuko’s finger; his skin is warm, his palms rough, and he shakes as violently as you do.

“I give you this ring as a symbol of our union, to represent the bond that holds us for all our days.”

Once you finish, thankful you didn’t stumble over your words or forget them completely, Zuko kneels, mirroring the way you bowed to him.

“My lady,” he recites, “by my word, I will serve you honorably and affectionately for all our time together. If you should ask for my compassion, I will give it; if you should seek after my heart, I will offer it willingly; and if I should stray from my path, I will follow you back onto it. I vow to you my devotion, and to bring you happiness and freedom. I trust in you the power to lead and govern my people as justly as I do.”

He stands and takes the other ring, delicately placing it as you did his.

“I give you this ring as a symbol of our union, to represent the bond that holds us for all our days.”

In most weddings, this would be the moment when the bride and groom embrace each other in a devoted, passionate kiss; instead, Zuko takes your arm and you face the court of respected leaders and diplomats from across the four nations, gripping each other tightly - you hold each other as if you’re the only support the other has to keep standing. Iroh’s typically soft, pleasant voice booms from behind you:

“I present the lord and lady of the great Fire Nation.”

Everyone in attendance folds onto their hands and knees, bowing as the band once again begins to play. You descend from the altar, your head feeling like it’s floating miles above your body, and exit through the doors you’d been shivering behind only minutes before - this time, with your husband beside you.

#muerta's works #two halves #zuko #zuko x reader #zuko x you #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko x you #prince zuko #prince zuko fanfic #zuko fanfic #zuko fanfiction #prince zuko fanfiction #atla fanfic

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vee-is-a-writter-now · 4 years

Text

The way you said “I love you”

Summary: All the times you and Zuko said I love you to eachother, sometimes without even actually saying it.

A/N: I was feeling a little uninspired while trying to write pt.4 of Fools, so I decided to write something else in the mean time. I saw someone did this and I found it so adorable I decided to do it too. Sadly I only saved the original post and not the hc that was inspired in it, so if you know who came up with this pls @ them so I can credit them.

Side note, I had more ideas for some of the other prompts but didn’t want to make this excessively long, so maybeeee I’ll make another one of these but we’ll see.

original post

-IF YOU HAVE ANY REQUESTS DONT HESITATE TO ASK-

As a hello

It was late on the night the gaang had finally agreed to let Zuko join them. They hadn’t been specially trustful or accepting of him, but they let him join, and that was what mattered to Zuko, he’ll work his way up to everything else.

He couldn’t sleep, thoughts about everything that had happened and everything that would happen running around in his mind. The stars above him glimmered in wonderful harmony, the time of the year where the sun would be more forgiving at day and the nights would gain a growing coolness to them came around.

Lost in his head, Zuko was startled when he heard you take a sit next to him. You were the only one in the group who Zuko didn’t know that well. He’d only seen you a handful of times before that night and couldn’t really tell on what ground he stood with you.

You handed him a blanket with one hand while you held your own around your back and over your shoulders with the other. “Didn’t want you to freeze to death on your first night.” You explained when you saw the confused look of his face.

“I’m a fire bender, I don’t get cold.” He replied taking only a couple of seconds to mentally slap himself for being rude. This being a good guy thing was gonna take some practice.

“Oh” you said, the realization of his words hitting you, feeling a little dumb for not thinking about it before.

“But thanks...anyways” Zuko tried to redeem himself, hoping he didn’t make a bad impression on the one person who didn’t hate him already.

“Yeah, no problem.” Your eyes drifted up to the stars too. They were prettier tonight, maybe it was because of how peaceful things felt for once. A deep sigh forced you to turn your attention back to the dark haired boy. “Are you ok?” You asked him, hoping he wouldn’t feel like you’re intruding.

“Yeah, just...worried. Katara still hates me, Sokka doesn’t trust me and Aang only keeps me around because he needs me. I’m not complaining, I just... don’t know how to show them I’ve changed.”

“I’m sure Katara is gonna come around eventually, she has too much of a big heart to stay mad at anyone for too long. Aang is the one that convinced everyone to let you join, so I think he does like you, and Sokka is...well, Sokka, I wouldn’t worry about it” you reassured him.

Zuko gave your words a thought. You were right, but things were still complicated. He looked at you and asked. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

You looked away from his gaze, his golden eyes were a bit intimidating if you were honest. “I...don’t know. I guess I just believe you when you say you’ve changed. I see good in you... I always have, even when we were running away from you. All of us have done things in the past we aren’t too proud of, some of them may be worse than others, but we’re all here now, and we’re all trying to do the right thing. I think that on its own makes you worthy of a second chance.”

Your words shocked Zuko. No one besides his uncle had been that kind to him in a long time. He felt hope inside, if someone as kind and good as you could forgive him, think that he could be redeemed, then he hoped everyone else would too. “I...thank you. I promise I won’t disappoint you... any of you.”

“You and I can start on a blank slate, as a matter of fact” you extended your hand to him. “Hi, I’m Y/N, very nice to meet you.”

Zuko chuckled very lightly at the weird way you had decided to show how it was a new beginning for the both of you, but played along. “I’m Zuko, it’s very nice to meet you too.”

When the broken glass litters the floor

It was your first day on the Ember Island’s house. Katara and you had been cooking with the groceries Sokka and Suki brought from the market. You two weren’t experts but you had gotten so much better by then. Katara decided to go outside with a basket of cabbages to feed Appa and told you to stay and check on the food so it wouldn’t burn.

No more than a few minutes passed before you heard Zuko coming inside from where he had been training with Aang. He took his shirt off at some point during the training, leaving his naked and muscular torso was exposed.

You tried your best not to stare but you couldn’t help the blush that took over your face when you looked up to his eyes and found him staring right back. His cheeks were blushed as well and you decided for your own sake to assume it was from the physical activity.

“Hey...um, do you mind pouring me a glass of water, please?” He asked softly, his voice a tad raspier from him being out of breath.

“Yeah sure.” You managed to say.

When you turned around to get a glass for him your arm bumped into a glass vase that was incredibly bad placed, throwing it off from where it had been resting. One of your feet was already lifted when the vase crashe onto the floor and into a million pieces, which made you nearly lose your balance and step right on the fragments. In a fraction of a second you felt Zuko’s hand grabbing your wrist and pulling you back, which made you very strongly land on his chest. His other hand instantly moved to the small of your back, as if he was scared you would fall without his support.

His eyes met yours as you raised your head to look at him, your faces closer than they’d ever been before. Both of you held your breath for a few seconds before you broke the silence. “thank you.” You muttered softly not wanting to move a single muscle.

“You’re welcome” Zuko replied in the same tone, softening the grip on your wrist.

The moment would’ve lasted way longer had Katara not stormed into the kitchen after hearing the sound of breaking glass.

“I left you in the kitchen alone for ONE SECOND!”

Not said to me

Zuko had clearly been avoiding you the past couple of days. Was it the war that was starting to gain weight inside his head? Was it how close you two had started to get all of the sudden? Was it something you did? You didn’t know for sure, but you knew you didn’t like the feeling of it, at all.

He told everyone one morning he wasn’t feeling great, so he would stay inside instead of spending the day at the beach like the rest of you had planned. This was your chance to get him alone and try to talk.

You decided to make him a special tea recipe you’d picked up from Iroh at some point, he said it was a miracle when it came to curing illness. When you tried it you were surprised from how good it ended up tasting. You poured it into a teapot and grabbed a couple of cups, proceeding to take them upstairs where Zuko’s room was.

You were about to walk right in when you heard Sokka voice coming from inside, realizing the door was only half open.

“You can’t do nothing, dude. What kind of dumb ass plan is that?” He said whisper-screaming.

“I’m not telling her.” Zuko replied in a voice so low you almost couldn’t hear him.

“Why not? She clearly likes you back, you know that, I know that, and everyone else does too. The two of you are the only ones who keep acting like it isn’t obvious.”

You wonder who they could possibly be talking about, a small pit of jealousy forming inside of you.

“You don’t know that for sure, and I’m not losing Y/N’s friendship just cause I was dumb enough to crush on her. Trying to get over it is better than getting rejected and ruining everything, I like her too much to do that.” as soon as you heard your name your heart stopped.

Zuko... liked you. He liked you and was scared you didn’t like him back. How could he ever think that? Sometimes you felt like you were too obvious about it, but it was hard not to. It was his golden eyes, probably the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen, how they looked like growing flames when the sun hit them, the little dark spots around the rim of his irises, how they looked at you intensely like if when you talked everything else faded. It was the way he would throw his head back when he laughed, but only when you made him laugh really hard, how his face glowed with a youthful tint, like he was a normal teenager even though you were in the middle of a war, and how when he stopped laughing he had to take a deep breath before letting the laugh die down. It was the way he talked about his mom with such love and adoration, or how he talked about the future with a little bit of fear but mostly hope. It was the way he was always ready to run to you if you needed him to, making sure you were ok, protecting you. It was him, all of him, it had always been him.

You were shocked at the words you just heard but glad you’d heard them. Before either of them walked out and found you there, you walked back downstairs as quietly as you could, praying they wouldn’t hear the creaks of the stairs. Once you were back at the kitchen you decided to wait for Sokka to come down, he had to eventually, and you hoped he would leave Zuko alone when he did. It didn’t take him much longer to do so, to your relief coming down the stairs alone. He looked at you and smiled.

“Hey, Y/N. Watcha doing?”

“Making tea for Zuko, is he feeling any better?”

“Oh, no. He’s terrible, the poor thing. You should definitely go check on him.” He tried to say this without smiling so you would take him seriously but the corners of his mouth were already starting to curve up.

“Will do, thanks Sokka.” On the surface, you were thanking him for the information he was giving you, but deep down you were also thanking him for being the reason why you found out Zuko also liked you.

You walked back upstairs, not even thinking of bringing the tea up with you. You took in a deep breath before opening the door, and you when you did, you saw him laying there, eyes closed at first but opened quickly when he heard you come in.

“Y/N... hi.” He said sitting up.

“Hey, wanted to check up on you, Sokka said you were feeling terrible.” You told him knowing he would kill Sokka afterwards for sabotaging him.

“I’m not feeling terrible, I’m much better actually, but thanks for coming to check on me.” You took a sit on his bed, close enough to be able to do what you were planning your next move to be.

“I’m glad. We need you up and in your best shape right now.” You waited a few seconds trying to gather all the bravery you had inside before saying. “Zuko?”

“Yes?”

You didn’t warn him before closing the space that separated the two of you, one of your hands went up to cup his cheek while your lips pressed softly against his. You could tell he was shocked by how his body stiffened under your touch, your lips moved softly and slowly trying to figure out wether he wanted to kiss you or not. You were about to pull away when he started kissing you back. His own hand sliding up to your neck, holding you firmly while his lips devoured yours, like he had been waiting for this moment for way too long. When the two of you finally pulled apart to fill in your lungs again, your eyes connected with his, there was a new kind of light in them. A smile took over his lips when his eyes drifted back down to your lips.

“Were you eavesdropping when I was talking to Sokka?” He asked softly and teasingly.

“What in the world would make you think that?”

Over and over again, till it’s nothing but a senseless babble

You were under the covers in Zuko’s bed. Your eyes deeply staring into his, your fingers running up and down his jaw, sometimes getting distracted and playing with his hair. The moonlight leaked through the window and the only sounds that could be heard were the ones of trees swaying with the wind.

Zuko looked at you intensely and profoundly. He was sure you were a dream sometimes, something so perfect couldn’t be real, so he touched you to make sure you were actually there, and he held you gently but firmly to make sure that even if you were a dream, he wouldn’t lose you.

“We should sleep” you muttered in a whisper

“We should” he replied his lids already looking a little heavy.

“Good night, Zuko.” You planted a little short peck on his lips before starting to turn around.

“Good night, Y/N” he replied getting comfortable. “I love you.”

Your heart stopped at this words, a warm feeling started to crawl up your body and your eyes that were already closed opened abruptly.

You turned back around to find him staring at the ceiling, eyes wide open while holding his breath. “What did you just say?” You asked him.

“I-... I’m sorry it just...slipped.” He explained.

You knew he could be a little insecure sometimes, always thought he was unlovable so you had to constantly make sure he knew how much you liked him. This was one of those occasions. You crashed your lips against his roughly, pulling him so he would be on top of you. This kiss was a declaration, a promise and a revelation all at the same time, your lips moved hungrily and passionately trying to show him how much you loved him back.

Once you separated you looked at him sweetly and said “Say it again.”

“I love you.” Zuko was more sure of himself this time, a warm smile took over his face.

“Again, please.”

“I love you.”

“One more time.”

He took your face into your hands and kissed your forehead first. “I love you” then he went to your right cheek “I love you” and to the left “I love you” and to your nose “I love you” and finally took in a deep breath before looking to your lips “Y/N Y/L/N you have no idea how much I fucking love you” he kissed you again.

Maybe you couldn’t understand how much love he felt for you, how it burned inside of him like a wild fire, how when you were with him all his worries faded and the rest of the world was put on pause, maybe you’d never even grasp the way you were his first thought in the morning and his last at night, but he could try showing all of it to you with a kiss.

You pulled away to look at him one last time and said “I love you more, I will always love you more.”

#zuko x reader #zuko fanfic #atla zuko #zuko x you #zuko imagine #avatar zuko #prince zuko #zuko #zuko x y/n #fire lord zuko #zuko x oc #atla au #atla fandom #atla fanfic

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shhhhsh · 3 years

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About Tim’s New Story….

I just really hope they address Tim’s mental health. Like, DC just been ditching really good plot lines in favor of being “woke” or pandering. Just look at all the live action shows.

Now I’m not saying they can’t make Tim queer/bi/gay, but (as someone pointed out to me) Tim’s previous story writer was bi and he still chose to write Tim as straight & in a healthy romantic relationship with Stephanie Brown. I’ve seen several people who identify as queer/bi say that to have Tim go “ ooooh I’ve fooled myself into thinking I was straight, but now I’m freeeee” sends the message that Tim’s previous relationship failed b/c he was with a woman and not because of Tim’s poor mental and emotional health.

To go back to my previous statement; by him not writing Tim as bi tells me that he didn’t want or care for Tim to be bi, but instead saw Tim as, or preferred him to be, straight. The writer had free control to write Tim how ever he wanted and yet he chose to keep Tim straight. And he actually liked & wanted Tim/Steph. Again, I’m not saying Tim can’t be queer/bi, I’m just saying I find the motivations for this possible change very fishy. Almost as if the new writer is trying to get brownie points for pandering to a portion of the fans.

I think this way b/c in every other media where a character is revealed to be LGBTQ they just did it. They didn’t beat around the bush or do any queer coding/baiting. They either announced it, just made the character that way right out the gate, or just dropped the bomb w/out warning (as seen in Netflix’s Voltron, Amazon Prime’s Invincible, and Nickelodeon’s Legend of Korra respectfully).

DC currently has a bad habit changing things to be “woke” and bragging about it or shoving it in our faces. DC is becoming the “pick me girl” of superhero media. If you want to do it, just do it. Again I just get the “look at me, look at me” & “carrot on the stick” vibes from them now. If you truly feel in your heart to do something you would just do it without the need for recognition or to be so dramatic about it.

Now what I much rather see & think it’s a natural progression for Tim:

I personally believe that if Jason, Dick, & Damian can get a story that attempts to give them character development beyond romantic relationships (romance was more of a B-plot to the character driven A-plot anyway) I think they can give it to Tim as well.

I know that the Bat-Family all struggle with some form of mental health problems (most commonly paranoia and PTSD). However, I would like to point out that trauma is was what brought the others into the vigilante lifestyle, while Tim & Barbara became traumatized because of the vigilante lifestyle. Yet, Barbara was shown overcoming her trauma and using it as motivation to get better. Tim is yet to have this moment.

We all know that Tim struggles with depression, self-esteem, and suicidal tendencies. I mean heck, him becoming Red Robin only happens because of Tim’s degrading mental health. I hate to say it, but Tim is very psychologically broken and has been show to get so depressed that he can’t even get out of bed some times. To my knowledge, Tim is the only one in the Bat-Fam that struggles in his head with the idea of not being needed, useful, or forgotten when in reality that is furthest from the truth (Steph, Jason, & Damian also feel like the black sheep periodically, but that is because they have been presented with real evidence that would lead them to logically believe this. I.e being actually forgotten or dismissed for past mistakes despite great efforts to better themselves).

While yes, Dick did Tim dirty by replacing him without having a proper conversation first, the motivation was because he saw Tim as his equal and not Damian. He thought highly of Tim, but Tim couldn’t see that over his offense. Tim is so beat down by life that he see’s everything with negative lenses. Everyone came to check on Tim’s mental health but Tim took it as an insult instead.

And even though now Tim has reached some form of “peace” in his life, that only happens because the people he lost came back (Bruce, Conner, Bart, Cassie, etc). Tim never fully learned to handle grief, to handle his emotions, instead he represses them. Again in the Red Robin run, the main reason he doesn’t believe in any form of God is because he can’t logically justify the pain he has gone through. He is hurting and doesn’t know how to deal with that. In his original Robin run, when he tried talking someone out of committing suicide……the words and comfort he gave….that wasn’t something that was just inside Tim, this is something that was told to Tim. This is followed by him calling Dick to get the same pep-talk he just regurgitated to someone else.

In short: Tim is hurting. Deeply. And having been someone who’s emotional & mental sanity was pushed to the brink and attempted to jump off several times, I think it’s really sad that DC just ignores it. Now as someone who’s gotten the help they needed & now helps other people who struggle with the same issues as myself & Tim, I think that they’re going to say a lot of Tim’s problems come from him not being “aware” of his own sexuality, which is just sad.

In the story in question, Barbara talks about Tim not having a solid identity. People are more than their sexuality. People are capable of making future decisions for themselves without it hindering on their sexuality. If Tim was real, I would brake down his struggle as so:

Tim refuses to go to college and do something more with his life because he cannot see anything beyond his current circumstance. And the only reason why Tim cannot see anything beyond his circumstance is because he has no internal sense of purpose, identity, and acceptance beyond the cape & cowl. And when Tim finally found that in being Robin, Tim held onto it as a lifeline. There’s a reason why everyone says Tim is basically Bruce 2.0: it’s because he is Robin/Red Robin/Drake & Tim is the mask. At a young age, he did not grow up having these things instilled into him due to his parents neglecting him at a very important age in his development. Tim raised himself, and for a lack of better terms; an idiot cannot teach themselves to be smarter, an idiot becomes smarter by learning from the intelligent. A child can’t teach themselves to be an adult, they have to learn from others to grow & better themselves.

Now a parent doesn’t necessarily have to sit down and give a lesson about how to be an individual, but children learn how to live life by watching their parents. A good example of this is the rest of the Bat-Fam; they all grew up with some form of parental figures that taught them how to behave (for better or worse). Of course children have their own personalities, which is why two kids can go through the same type of trauma but come out differently, but it is a battle of nature vs nurture. Steph, Jason, Cass, & Damian grew up in abusive/unstable homes, while Dick, Barbara, & Bruce grew up in loving homes, but their personalities & character dictated how they responded to trauma. They took what life gave them and decided what to leave or take.

Tim had nothing to work with & is basically playing catch-up with the rest of his peers.

In a weird sense, Tim is like Zuko from The Last Airbender: only living to serve their father’s purpose. Anything outside of that they don’t know what to do. They’ve been trained to be something externally without been given a chance to figure out who they are internally.

Again you are not your sexuality, your sexuality does not determine who you are as a person. When a person struggles through life, it is due to the conditions of thier soul. Everything starts internally and shows it’s self externally.

I want to make that very clear because I am truly scared that in DC’s attempt to claim “clout” they are missing the bigger picture. Tim doesn’t have identity problems simply because he “doesn’t know” he likes boys, but because DC never gave him is own identity to begin with. Robin was never his own identity, Red Robin was never his, & Drake was his first attempt to make his own but he quickly gave it up so that he can be Robin once again. What is Tim going to do once Damian gets back? Is Damian going to get his own identity before Tim? Or is Tim just going to go back to one of his old identities?

I would like for Tim to personally move on from being a vigilante and rejoin civilian society for a while. Go to college, do something for himself and only for himself. Give Tim the self-discovery story, let him heal, and grown to be his own person. Besides you can never have a functional romantic relationship if you are not a functional individual. Self love > romantic love.

#red robin #batman #dc comics #tim drake #batman and robin #bruce wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #damian al ghul #damian wayne #stephanie brown #batgirl #cassandra cain #batfam #robin #I just want a good and meaningful story that doesn’t have some secret agenda #just do right by Tim #beware the pandering #not everything has to be about romance

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stariwrites · 3 years

Text

Cactus Juice

This is for @doinmybesthere ATLA Collab the line up is amazing!!! I’m so excited to read all of them!

Pairing: Before Dabi and the reader get together (Reader is gender neutral)

Warnings: Slight angst, talking about abuse (dabi’s end, there’s not too much detail but it’s still talked about), brief mention of death, pining, becoming closer, Au, Dabi is the avatar and a water bender(basically if Zuko was the avatar but was a water bender before figuring it out), spoiler containing Hawks’ real name

Genre: Fluff and hurt/comfort

Word count: 2.6k

Summary: “Do you want to know the real reason I’m afraid of fire?”

You nodded.

“I’m afraid that when I wield it, it will bring nothing but pain and that I’ll be just like him.” His eyes held a familiar gleam to them. “I don’t want to be like him.”

“Again.” Dabi almost yelled in the empty arena. Crimson flowed from his lip, gliding down his chin but he only wiped it off with a huff. He wanted, no he needed to get this technique right. The lives of his friends all depended on it. He couldn’t afford to be a failure, not again.

From the other side of the arena, you hesitated before putting yourself back into a fighting stance. Even though you were far away the outline of his chest heaving for breath was visible. There was no doubt he was pushing himself. You gulped at the way his eyes took on an animalistic gleam. It wasn’t that Dabi necessarily scared you because he saved your life on more than one occasion, but when he got like this there was no telling what he would do.

It reminded you of the way he was when you first met, he was brash, distant, and above all cruel. It took a lot of time, but he gained all of your trust and changed from the boy he used to be to the man he is now.

Even though he was on your side, you were still hesitant towards him. You got along as well as expected considering you were a firebender and he was a waterbender who also happened to be the avatar. He made it known he didn’t like you and you weren’t about to go head to head with him.

“Why don’t we take a break for now,” you tried to reason, rolling your shoulders. “I’m getting pretty tired and after we can train again, how’s that sound?” It wasn’t a complete lie, after all the two of you had to have been training for a few hours now. You wouldn’t mind being able to relax.

Taking his silence as agreement you turned your back and began to walk towards the stands, where the water pouch was. It wasn’t until you opened it and went to hand it to Dabi that you realized he didn’t follow you.

Turning back around, you noticed he was still rooted in place. “Hey man, you okay?”

No response.

Slowly you began to approach him. You knew something must’ve happened to him in his childhood, having fire lord Enji as a dad of all people must’ve been more than difficult. He never told any of you what happened and you were fine with that: if he wanted to tell you that should be his choice.

Sometimes however, you wished you knew something other than the fact that the fire lord drove his wife to burn Shoto, the youngest. Part of you wished he was with you, he’d know what to do while you were left in the dark.

“Dabi,” you made sure to keep your voice even and soft. “Can you hear me?”

His head was facing the ground almost as if he wished it would swallow him up while his body trembled underneath the sun’s glare. You kept your distance, not wanting to startle him before you called his name again.

“You think I’m weak, don’t you?” He refused to look at you, his tone holding the same edge but there was a sense of vulnerability behind it.

You stopped in your tracks.

“What?” You choked out. Your eyes widening at his words. He wasn’t serious was he? Him, weak? There was no way.

“Don’t make me say it again.” He focused his gaze back on you and the sight made your heart drop. There were noticeable bags under his eyes as well as a scrape on his lower lip. He looked tired, defeated.

Taking your silence as agreement, he scoffed, mumbling out a ‘forget it’ before he began to walk away.

No no no no no no, you were just making progress too! Without hesitation you grasped his wrist. It wasn’t until he glared down at you that you realized what you did. He raised an eyebrow as you heard the sound of a nearby rock being lifted from the ground.

“Got it,” you said, “removing the hand, but that’s not it at all!”

The two of you were basked in silence until he smirked.

“Well?”

It wasn’t the same as his usual ones, but it was a start. You watched him for a second longer before he let out a sigh.

“I’m listening.”

“Oh,” you rubbed the back of your neck. “Right.”

He stood still, waiting for you to continue. On the outside you were completely composed, but on the inside you were internally screaming. Great, what were you supposed to do now? You better have one damn good speech if you want Dabi to stay.

Deciding to wing it, you began to say whatever came out of your mouth in hopes it would be the right call. You told him about the countless times he saved you, the way he’d encourage Keigo, how he always gave into Toga’s antics and made her feel better, how good he was with Shoto, all of it. How strong he really was, and how after everything you’ve gone through with him there was nothing you didn’t think he could do.

“That’s why,” you concluded with a smile on your face. “I know that you’ll be able to firebend, and not just be able to, you’ll fucking ace it.”

You were breathless after the long winded speech, satisfied until panic took over. You glanced up at Dabi with wide eyes. That was probably way too much, what if you just overwhelmed him? What if he thinks your weird now-or even worse what if he hates you again.

A sharp laugh broke you out of your thoughts. Dabi’s head was thrown back revealing his forehead. The sound was genuine and full of life. If you weren’t so shocked by it, you would’ve been in awe. Alas, you were still prepared for imminent doom.

Once he calmed down he could only shake his head at you.

“You really are something.”

With that he started to walk away once more. Your expression fell. You must’ve messed up, until you heard the familiar nickname. ‘Cactus Juice.’

You gasped rushing after him. “That was one time!”

“Still counts!” He yelled, disappearing into the landscape.

You looked around the area, the vibrant green making a home in your mind as you tried to find him. “We were in the desert and I was thirsty!”

“Still did it!”

“You weren’t even there!”

“Keigo told me.”

You groaned. Of course he did. He was the first to bring Dabi in with open arms, he was an optimist that way. He believed anybody could change if they really wanted to which is why he was the group’s heart.

The two of you continued to race after each other throughout the day until the sun began to set. Collapsing in the shade of a tree near the arena you attempted to catch your breath while your heart beat tirelessly against your chest.

You focused on the way explosions of purples and blues and pinks as well as a vibrant orange colored the sky. It was beautiful.

Beside you, Dabi fell on his back, hitting the ground with a soft thud. You laughed slightly.

“Same,” was all you could say, but you knew he got the gist.

You didn’t know how long you stayed there, under the summer breeze as the sun was replaced with glowing stars. You would’ve stayed there forever. It was warm and for one moment you wished you could stay in the moment forever.

“Thank you,” Dabi’s voice broke you out of your thoughts.

You leaned up on your elbows and looked down at him. “For what?”

He gestured around, eyes still looking above him. “All of this, I haven’t uh-” he cut himself off with a cough. “I haven’t been this relaxed since I can’t remember when.”

Oh. You laid back down. “You’re welcome I guess, I mean I didn’t really do anything.” You laughed slightly.

“Believe me, you’ve done more than you give yourself credit for.”

Silence fell between the two of you like the summer breeze, only this time it was colder than before. Getting up the courage you turned to face him. His black hair was out of his face, an easy smile replaced the usual smirk. You gulped.

“I can hear you thinking over there,” he cracked an eye open. “You can ask me about my childhood, I’m not going to crush you.”

You snorted, the tension leaving your shoulders. You took a deep breath before you spoke, “Why are you so afraid of fire?”

He looked away once more. “A good question, look I don’t know how much you know about my dad, but he wanted the avatar, or at least he wanted one of us to be it. I used to want to do anything to make him proud,” his voice contained nothing but sadness.

You grasped his hand, your body moving on it’s own for the second time that day. You were about to remove it with an apology once more, but he beat you to it. He interlocked your fingers together. The small smile appeared once more.

He continued. “It wasn’t until Shoto had two quirks that my father believed he was the avatar, he tossed my sister, brother and I to the urb and began to “train” him. I couldn’t do anything, all I could do was listen to his cries and our mom screaming.” Tears began to fall from his face causing your heart to twist.

“Dabi-” You wanted to tell him that it was okay, that he didn’t have to continue, that you shouldn’t have asked, but he only shook his head.

“‘S okay. I want to tell you.”

With that you fell silent and instead opted to run your thumb over his in what you hoped were reassuring circles. He squeezed your hand in return.

“I remember being at the fountain, thinking I didn’t have any bending abilities, and that I was a failure just like the firelord said, but that’s when I realized I could bend water. I told my mom with a smile on my face thinking that I’d finally be worth something, but you should’ve seen the look on her face. She was terrified and told me to keep it a secret. I didn’t understand it at the time, but that decision saved my life. She saved my life.

Fast forward a bit and Shoto is still forced to train and one day the burns were so bad that I finally had enough,” his voice breaks. “I healed him, I didn’t know I could do it, but I just didn’t want to see him hurt anymore. Long story short the firelord found out and he knew it was Rei, he knew it was my mom who told me not to say anything and I-”

His body racked with sobs, you wrapped your arms around him and pulled him to your chest. Tears of your own were falling, but you refused to let him go. He kept all of that to himself, while you were traveling and taking the fire nation down he was carrying that too. You wanted to take his pain away even though you knew it was impossible. You wanted to try even if all you could do was stand by and support him. How did somebody so strong think they were so weak?

Once his sobs turned into sniffles he pulled away and stared into your eyes. “He killed her. Right in front of us, so that night I took all of my siblings and fled. Natsuo and Fuyumi are taking refuge in the Earth kingdom while Shoto and I went where we could. We couldn’t stay in one place for too long or else they’d find us. They had spies everywhere, firebenders who wanted the bounty he put on our head, That’s why-”

“That’s why you didn’t trust me when we first met, isn’t it.”

The silence was enough of an answer.

“Do you want to know the real reason I’m afraid of fire?”

You nodded.

“I’m afraid that when I wield it, it will bring nothing but pain and that I’ll be just like him.” His eyes held a familiar gleam to them. “I don’t want to be like him.”

“You won’t be.”

You could tell by the way his eyes widened that those were the last words he thought you would say. Wiping away your eyes you shrugged. “What? It’s the truth. You don’t want to be like him so don’t. He only uses fire to bring pain use it for something else. Find your own meaning behind your fire.”

He spluttered on his words. “It’s not that simple.”

“Sure it is, after all Shoto is a firebender and you don’t think he will turn evil, do you?”

He was about to speak before he closed his mouth once more, forming it into a pout. “No.”

“See! It’s easy,” you perked up and clapped your hands. “We’ve been going about this all wrong! Instead of training we should focus on what your fire means to you. Ooh, we can make a list or even brainstorm or-”

A splash of water snaps you out of your rambling.

“Alright! That’s enough, geez I forgot how annoying you are sometimes.” You would’ve been insulted, but the words didn’t hold any mirth and his expression was back to peaceful, only this time it looked like the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders.

“That’s fair.”

“If you tell anybody what I said-”

“You’ll skin me alive?” You looked in his direction snorting at the way he instantly stopped what he was about to say. “I got it, besides what happens between us stays between us. Thank you,” he raises a questioning brow causing you to continue. “For trusting me I mean, that was a lot and I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to tell me.”

You didn’t miss the blush dusting across his cheeks as he turned away from you. “Don’t mention it.”

You might’ve been crazy, but you could’ve sworn you heard a faint.

“Thank you for being somebody I could trust.”

-Bonus-

“So,” Keigo started with a grin at seeing the two of you come back to the site the four of you had set up. His blond hair was messy but blown back out of his face. He stood tall and from what you could tell was well rested. Good, he was going to need it for the ass kicking he was about to receive. “How was your field trip?”

He fixed his gaze to Dabi with interest. “Learn how to firebend yet?”

Dabi smirked and slung an arm around his shoulder. “Nope, but you might want to run.”

“Run?” He snorted, nose crinkling slightly. “Why would I need to?” His eyes lit up in recognition before he tsked. “Oh Dabi, you really want to try and chase me again? I’m not the fastest air bender for no reason you know.”

That earned a genuine snort out of the man. “It’s not me this time, you see I may have told a little somebody that a birdie told me about the Cactus Juice incident.”

Keigo’s expression fell from shock, to panic to utter horror in five seconds flat. “Oh shit.”

“Keigo!” You screeched, rushing towards the two men.

Dabi could only watch in mild amusement before leaning down and whispering, “I think you should start running.”

With that Keigo took off with you in toe shouting for him to come down from the air and fight you himself. He could only shake his head when Toga got involved, joining your side immediately while Shoto looked towards Dabi with furrowed brows until he gestured for his brother to join the chaos.

Eventually he’d be roped into it too, but for now he’d silently thank his lucky stars for having the friends he did and as he watched you tackle Keigo shouting about how you won and to taste defeat like the traitor he was he hoped the two of you could be something more in the future.

For reference: Shoto is 15, Dabi and Hawks are 23, Reader is around their age and Toga is 17

taglist: @yixxes @chaos-night @hoefornanami @oilivia @renegades247

#dabi x reader #dabi imagines #bnha imagines #mha imagines #bnha dabi #mha dabi #ATLA collab #bnhacity #paccheri’s place🏡#stariwrites #cw mentions of abuse #cw mentions of death #dabi x gender neutral reader

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passable-talent · 4 years

Note

hey roe! i love ur work! could i request a zuko x reader where the reader and the zuko have history and they meet at the boiling rock because the reader was imprisoned (either during the invasion or at the catacombs or whatever you think works) and there's a lot of angst and it ends with a kiss or something? tysm!!!

tysm!!!! It means a lot

but u gotta think bigger anon,,, boiling rock was full of firebenders... how abt a childhood friend who defected long, long ago, and zuko could’ve never known? hmm....

in watching the boiling rock for this ask I realize that the bois get into guard uniforms and hide their clothes on the beach. so like,,, did these two dumbasses just strip on the beach and b like “hey yeah bro this is cool”. they think nothing through. HOW DID THEY EVEN GET THE GUARD UNIFORMS IN THE FIRST PLACE-

Sitting in a Boiling Rock cell wasn’t exactly one of Zuko’s top ten moments, but it sure wasn’t one of his lowest, either. He’d been tossed into a singular cell that as of yet didn’t even have a bed, the door shut in his face.

There came three quick knocks on the metal wall beside him, and he walked closer to it, curious.

“I heard you got thrown in for impersonating a guard,” came a voice on the other side, and Zuko regarded it with a healthy amount of susipicion.

“Yeah.”

“Nice,” said the voice, a little laugh following their words.

“What did you do?” asked Zuko, surprised that the voice sounded young, almost as young as himself, if he had to guess.

“Oh, I defected a long time ago. They weren’t too happy with my methods.” Zuko didn’t answer for a moment, and the person in the cell beside him took that as an opportunity to continue asking questions. “Seems like the warden wanted to punish you especially, putting you down here with this lot. Any idea why?”

“I dated his niece,” Zuko answered, his tone definitive, almost as though this information was obvious. There came a pause from the voice, and Zuko wondered what about this information was shocking. It wouldn’t be common knowledge who the warden’s niece is, would it? He thought that that would be safe information to reveal, without revealing his identity.

“Hey, how old are you?” The prisoner asked, breaking their silence. Zuko briefly considered, but decided not to lie.

“Uh, sixteen, why?”

“Zuko?” Zuko froze, and fixed his stare to the wall as though he could see through it if he glared hard enough.

“How do you know that?”

“It’s Y/N,” the voice said, and finally Zuko realized why the voice had seemed so young.

Y/N had been his friend, from academy, back before Zuko had turned twelve. Y/N was one year above him, but was a prodigy, studying under High General Bujing as young as ten years old. They were a dedicated student and a master of strategy as early as twelve- but disappeared at thirteen, never to be heard from again.

At least, by the young prince, whose father decided that telling the prince that his closest friend had attempted assassination on one of the high generals would fill the already ‘weak’ prince’s mind with ‘insubordinate ideals’.

And yet here they were.

“Y/N?” Zuko breathed, lifting his hand and pressing it to the metal, astonished. He had assumed that you were dead. “How are you here?”

“How am I here? I’m a criminal and a traitor, that’s obvious, how are you here?”

“Apparently I’m also a criminal and a traitor,” Zuko answered, and you laughed.

The assignment for the day was mopping, down in one of the lower rooms of the prison. You knew where to go, and yet the moment those doors opened you rounded the walls and hugged Zuko tightly.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” you whispered, and when you pulled away you noticed his scar. Gingerly you reached your hand upward, lightly laying your fingers against the skin, then resting the palm of your hand onto his face to fully cup his jaw.

“I knew that you’d been banished, but...” you trailed off, and slipped your hand around to the back of his neck to pull him into a tight hug.

“I wish I could’ve been there to save you,” you whispered, holding onto him. His arms wrapped around you in return, for just a moment, until a few guards shouted at the two of you to move along. Still, he walked beside you.

“What do you mean?” He asked, and you looked sideways at him.

“I knew your father was horrible, I knew the nation was horrible, that’s why I left it. But to do that to you, I...” you trailed off, and shrugged. “I guess I tell myself I should’ve brought you with me when I left.” His response was minimal, but you noticed it, the way he seemed intrigued by the thought, and slightly saddened that it hadn’t happened.

You had known of Suki, but you hadn’t formally met her until now. She was kind, and understood why another teenager was roped into the daring escape.

Sokka, on the other hand, wasn’t so pleased.

“Sokka, come on. Y/N has a better understanding of Fire Nation military strategy than anyone, even me.” Suki raised an eyebrow in your direction, to which you responded with a shrug. “We need them on our team.”

“The more we try to break out, the easier we’ll be caught. We can’t risk it.” You weren’t going to argue in your favor- in fact, the opposite.

“I’ve been in here for four years. I’m used to it, I’ll be fine,” you assured Zuko, but he shook his head. He grabbed Sokka by the shoulder and pulled him away, but underestimated your ability to eavesdrop.

“Look, we didn’t come here planning to break out Suki, but we are. Y/N is the same, for me, as Suki is to you. Okay?” Your eyes widened as you glanced to Suki, but she hadn’t caught it, and didn’t understand your surprise.

“Okay, fine,” Sokka said, breaking from Zuko’s grasp. He took a moment to ensure no one was around to listen. “I think I’ve got an escape plan.”

You’d stuck by Zuko when you were young, and you’d stick by him now, as traitors to your nation. Even if it meant giving up your only escape plan. He was loyal to Sokka, and you would be too, so you stayed behind, and bided your time, waiting for your next opportunity. Even if it meant listening to Mai scold Zuko through the walls. Sokka came to you with a new plan, though you had a sneaking suspicion you were the last of the group that he told, and when it came time to fight Azula on the gondola, you were one of the first to climb to the roof.

“Ah, Y/N, an old familiar face,” the princess said as she landed, taking in the sight of you and Zuko, side by side. “How quaint. An old traitor, and a new traitor. I’m ever so curious, Y/N, how you can claim to have any morality at all, betraying your nation twice now. Wasn’t it your own mentor you tried to kill?” You reacted in rage, and shot the first plume of fire.

The ride to the western air temple was a long one, filled as it was with jubilation, victory, and reunions. Zuko spent much of it trying to decide how to ask you in more detail about your past. You hadn’t said much to him about it, and he’d never been told, but Azula seemed to know well what had happened.

He didn’t want to push, but he wanted to know.

“Your mentor was General Bujing, right?” He asked, sitting beside you in the metal airship.

“Yeah,” you answered, your tone noncommittal.

“He was the general I stood up to. When I got banished.” Your gaze went to the young prince, and you realized just how little you knew about his past, since you left the fire nation. You also realized his tactic- to get you to share, he would share. You decided to cut him a break, and do it yourself.

You started with what he already knew.

“I lost my parents to the war when I was six. So I was sent to the academy, where they recognized my talent and rewarded me with apprenticeships and a home. Still, General Bujing was the closest I had to a parent.” You paused, and looked toward the front of the ship, where you could see clouds.

“But as I got older, and he put more questionable battle strategies on my exams, I began to see him not as a parent but as a person. And what I saw was, I assume, what you saw. Someone ruthless and angry, who didn’t believe in human life, or didn’t value it.” Zuko didn’t stop you, or interrupt. He merely listened.

“I was scared. And so I did reading, on what the Fire Nation was before Sozin, and what I saw was so much better than what I was raised in. I knew i couldn’t change much, but what I could do was get rid of an old General who would do the worst sort of things.” You looked down at your hands.

“It didn’t work. I was thirteen, of course it didn’t. But instead of killing me, he...” you trailed off, and turned your gaze away from Zuko.

“I was going to kill him, because I thought there wasn’t any good in him. And then he let me go. He spared me.” Zuko’s eyes widened, as what he knew of General Bujing, the man who would sacrifice a brigade of soldiers, did not seem to line up with what you were describing.

“I was arrested anyway, of course, but I thought for sure he’d kill me. He didn’t even challenge me to an Agni Kai. I still don’t...” you trailed off, and let your head thump back against the metal wall. “I still don’t understand.”

“People are complicated,” Zuko struggled out, seemingly trying to conjure some good-ol’-uncle-Iroh advice.

“Yeah,” you said with a breathless chuckle, and scooted a bit closer to him. “It’s good to see you again,” you said, leaning your shoulder against his. It was an odd situation to be in, because you’d last seen him when you were thirteen, and he twelve. But you knew, from what you overheard, that he felt something more for you. Something akin to Sokka and Suki, who you had noticed were clearly an explicitly romantic couple. Because of it you felt it appropriate to notice how much he’d... grown. He was older, now, and his hair was nice, and his cheekbones high, his jawline defined, not to mention an obviously master firebender. You envied that talent, as the only bending you had was leftover from your training, that ended at thirteen.

“It’s good to see you too,” he said, which you barely heard over your thoughts. You didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, as obviously Mai was a very fresh wound, but you knew his feelings were there, and wanted in subtle ways to make him realize that his choices were accepted, welcomed, to you.

You wondered if he was having similar thoughts, noticing how you’d changed since he last saw you.

The moon was high by the time the airship docked at the western air temple. You’d fallen asleep on the metal floor (you’ve slept in worse places), and Zuko decided to wake you up so that you could move to one of the bedrooms up high in the temple.

He crouched beside you, and nudged your shoulder. When that didn’t rouse you, he sat down, deciding to take a moment to study your sleeping face. He brushed back some of your hair from your face, silent in his appreciation.

He’d wake you up. In a minute.

For now, he wanted to lean down, and kiss your forehead.

When he pulled away, he noticed your eyes were open. A smile spread to your lips, and you pushed back your tiredness to respond to the moment in front of you.

“Want to try again, now that I’m awake?”

-🦌 Roe

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missmorosis · 3 years

Text

Science Project

not requested hehe- enjoy my first enemies to lovers type thing sakldfjlkfsd!!! ILY ILY ILY <33

Pairing: Sokka x Reader

Genre: enemies to lovers baybeeeeeeeee

Word count: 1.4k :)

Warnings: okay uhm the reader has hospital trauma, BUUUT it’s told from sokka’s pov, so nothing is really described!! she does have some sort of a panic attack, so i would read w/ caution in case this triggers you!

Summary: Two enemies, Sokka and Y/N get partnered for a science project...

“Alright everyone, here are your partners for the upcoming science project.” The science teacher gestured to the board. Sokka squinted to see who he got partnered with. He hoped it was one of his friends, like Aang, or Suki. He would even settle for Toph.

Sokka and...Y/N.

Out of everyone in his class, he had to get partnered with the person he hated the most: Y/N. He didn’t even know why he hated her so much. It wasn’t the way she looked or anything; in fact, he thought she was actually quite cute.

Sokka heard Y/N sigh next to him.

“Looks like we’re partners,” she said, with a sad tone.

“I don’t like this any more than you do.” She rolled her eyes and faced the teacher once again.

She sighed again when the teacher told everyone to work on their projects with their partner after school.

“At this rate, you’ll be sighing all day,” Sokka commented, earning another sigh from her. She shook her head and began to speak.

"I'll pick you up and we can work on it at my house," she offered. Sokka scoffed.

"Nope, no way I'm going into your home. We'll work at the library near my house," Sokka said. Y/N shrugged and headed out the door, getting to her next class.

Hours later, the final bell rang, signaling that the classes were over for the day. Sokka jumped out the door, relieved the day was over.

Oh. He still had the project to do. He cursed and luckily turned the corner to see Y/N walking by.

“Y/N! Hey, Y/N!” She turned at the sound of her name, but quickly turned around again, continuing to walk away as if nothing happened when she realized it was Sokka calling her. “We have the project, remember?” he called out. She froze, muttered something under her breath, and turned back around.

She reluctantly got into Sokka's car, and the two drove to their destination. However, they parked before they got to the library. Y/N looked confused.

"Why- why are we here?" Y/N gestured towards the sign saying "Ba Sing Se Hospital." Sokka rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm, leading her closer to the hospital, no matter how much she resisted. He tried to push her past the automatic doors; the smell of sanitizer and medicine was overwhelming even before they went in. He looked at Y/N, who was backing away, refusing to walk in. Strange. She almost looked... panicked.

"I have a friend here that can give us some info for our project. Don't tell me you're scared of hospitals," he said, annoyed. No response. Instead, she turned around and walked the other way.

"Hey! Come back here," Sokka yelled. When she didn't respond, he rolled his eyes, and followed her. "Y/N, come on." He hit her side playfully, and she stumbled.

"Jerk," she muttered.

"Come on, I didn't even hit you that hard. Let's go."

"Uh- no. N-no thanks." Was her voice... shaking? Peering at Y/N, she seemed to have trouble breathing; her breaths were quick and uneven. Suddenly, she swayed to one side, almost toppling over and tripping on herself, making Sokka instinctively reach out to catch her. She leaned on the hospital’s exterior wall next to her, closing her eyes, still breathing heavily.

“What, are you faking?” he said with a scoff, but he couldn't deny that he was starting to get concerned. He got closer to Y/N. "Umm... are- are you okay?"

“Get... get off me...” she whispered, not having enough energy to speak up or completely push him away. Oh... she was actually not okay.

Sokka, despite her efforts to push him away, got closer, trying to see what was wrong.

"Sokka... I just told you to get off." She sounded tired, and her voice was quiet. Y/N was nearing tears, and Sokka was unsure how to respond. He chose to get off of her, and she huffed, but she rubbed her forehead, sighing.

Y/N sank into the ground, sitting into a fetal position, now unable to stay standing, and she rested her head on her knees. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to get some sort of grip.

“Should- should I go get a doctor?” Sokka pointed towards the hospital doors. She shook her head, looking up breathlessly.

“No!" she yelled. Sokka gave a quizzical look, and she cleared her throat. "No... I’ll be fine.” She took deep breaths and wrung her hands, making Sokka frown. What's wrong?

"Would it be better if we went back into my car?" Sokka asked. Y/N nodded weakly, so Sokka helped her up, but her knees buckled, and Sokka raced to catch her again.

"Actually-" Y/N sat back down with a huff. "I- I can't walk right now, just... just give me a second." She ran her fingers through her hair again.

"O-oh. If you're comfortable, I can just carry you; you look like you're getting worse." It was true; Sokka was actually worried for Y/N, despite how much he claimed to hate her. She flinched when he reached out to her, making him hesitate, but eventually she nodded, and Sokka picked her up, bridal style.

Her body was shaking, and her chest was going up and down as she tried to breathe. They reached his car, and he placed her down into the passenger seat.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought you here. Do... do you have something with hospitals or something?" She stayed silent.

"Just... just a lot of trauma." Her eyes were looking outside the window, refusing to meet Sokka's. She cleared her throat, and quickly changed the subject, trying to get rid of the awkward tension in the car. "Any- anyways. Project?"

"Yeah, if you're up for it. Buckle up.” He drove to the library as quickly as possible. When he got there, there were no parking spaces. “Shoot.” He drove two streets down, finally finding a spot to park. “Sorry, it’s a bit far.”

“Alright,” she hoisted on her backpack. “Let’s go.” She hopped out of the car and started the walk towards the library. He sighed, and jogged to catch up with her.

Hours later, Y/N put her pen down and stretched, her chair squeaking. Looking at his phone, it was almost eight.

“I’m finally finished. Now, enough of this, and just...” She paused, looking for words to say. “...Remember to prepare for the presentation tomorrow. I’m going home.”

“See you... try to get some rest?” his voice went up at the end, asking a question. She rolled her eyes, but this time, with a playful smile. Hm. An improvement. He smiled to himself as soon as Y/N turned her back.

The next day started like every other, except for the fact that Sokka tried to cut back on his mean jokes, replacing them with somewhat loving ones. Thankfully, the two did great on their presentation, and so did the rest of their friends.

“Great job today!” Suki chirped. “Let’s celebrate with... some cake at the bakery?” Y/N clapped in delight.

“Yes! I’ll be right there.” She quickly packed up her things and grabbed her backpack. She jumped up at the table, and started to walk. Sokka laughed and decided to grab her backpack strap, making her grunt as she fell backwards. He stuck his tongue out with a smile as she glared at him, and she gave a sarcastic wave as she walked away, Sokka following close behind.

The walk to the bakery was nice, fun banter going on between the group. However, they happened to walk past the hospital from the day before. Y/N stumbled at the sight, but quickly tried to laugh it off. Of course, Sokka saw right through it. Thankfully they were going to just walk past-

“Oh, real quick, I have to check something with my nursing friend, can you guys wait for me in the waiting room? It’ll be quick, I promise.” Katara smiled, as she grabbed her bag, ready to go. Y/N’s mouth made an “o” shape, and Sokka saw her tense up.

“Uh, hey, Y/N? Let’s go for ice cream while we wait?” He pointed to the nearby ice cream shop, and her shoulders relaxed.

“Oh- yeah. Yes, of course!” Her eyes said a silent thank you as he pulled her away.

“Hm, nice to see you two getting along!” Aang chirped. Y/N smiled, as her and Sokka waved goodbye, heading to the ice cream shop together.

SO THE LAST 500 WORDS OR SO MADE LIKE NO SENSE 💀💀💀

ANYWAYS hope that was alright hehe!!

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sokkas-honour · 3 years

Text

dream boy: part 3 - sokka x reader

pairing: sokka x fem!reader

request: part 3 was requested by @missmorosis

wc: 2.7k

notes: i’m terribly sorry if it may seemed a bit rushed or not exactly consistent but i personally liked the way it ended. also this is the final part, i might make an epilogue if i actually finish everything i need to do.

part one | part one 1/2 | part two

sokka wasn’t able to see you until monday, purposefully ignoring all the texts from yours friends, not wanting to know if sokka actually told them what had happened or if he had decided to keep it to himself, either way, you were better off just staying off your phone until school started. you only unlocked your phone to text zuko back and even then you didn't always have the courage to do so.

you had made sure to wake up early in order to not cross paths with the watertribe boy, his sibling or just any of your friends until you absolutely had to, preferring to simply distance yourself from the others. of course you couldn't avoid them forever, you had over half of your classes with at least one of them, two of those being with sokka, the guy who you especially didn't want to see, history and gym. gym would be easy to avoid him in, you had become acquaintances with this lovely girl called jin, whom you also shared your math class with, you could just spend the whole period with her and avoid him. your real problem was going to be history. your teacher, mister kuzon, had informed the class that there would be a group project on any cultural aspect from the water tribe, and he had chosen the groups. the chance of you actually being paired with sokka was miniscule but the universe hadn’t seemed to be going easy on you lately.

and much to your dismay, the universe was in fact against you. when your history teacher’s voice had posted the groups, your heart had started racing as you approached the board to see the pairs, your heart was racing in fear and it dropped when you saw the name y/n next to sokka.

after being asked to sit next to your partner to get started, you stayed silent as you plopped down on the chair next to the boy who you were still trying to avoid, staying silent and keeping your eyes in front of you.

“are you going to work with me or is it going to be a silent treatment the whole time.” he questioned, turning to face you, arm hooked around the back of his chair as he looked at you desperately for any sign of you acknowledging his presence.

“i was thinking we could talk about the differences in the cuisine in the north and south.” you mumbled, chin on your hand as you kept your gaze on the board in front of you, ignoring the boy who was still searching for an answer.

“yeah, sounds good.” sokka sighed, giving up on receiving a straight answer from you. he turned back in his seat, disappointment radiating off of him, making you bite your lip in guilt. you shot him a glance from the corner of your eye as you saw him discreetly take his phone out to open the notes app but before you could see what he was typing he turned to face you, catching you right in the act.

“uh, saturday at your place?” seemed like the only logical way out of the embarrassing situation you had just walked into, still not breaking the staring between the two of you. you felt your heart speed up a bit at the extended eye contact, not having looked into his blue eyes in awhile, the last time being before you stormed out of his house after your confession.

“sounds good.” he offered you a small smile, happy to see that your attempt at a cold shoulder was somewhat backfiring, knowing that you couldn't avoid him forever. he let the stare linger a bit before turning his attention back to his phone and you quickly snapped back to your notes taken during the class. thanking yourself for not letting the stupid smile heat your cheeks up, now all you had to do was finish the class with a not so uncomfortable silence between the two of you.

the bell didn't take too long to ring before you had to move onto your next class which was the one you detested the most, science. courage surged through you as you waved goodbye to sokka, earning a bright smile back from the boy before you dashed out of the class. to anyone, that might have seemed rather pointless that you felt as proud as you did, a wave goodbye was considered an act of politeness, but that had been the first time you had really addressed sokka in any way since the unplanned confession. he had probably realised that as well, giving a reason for the sudden bright smile on his features.

you practically sprinted towards your science classroom, holding your books tightly to your chest to not let them fly out of your grip. you hoped zuko was already there, knowing he’d want to hear the rather big step you’d just taken in repairing your friendship with your childhood friend. you were surprised that the thought of slowly getting over him in order to just be friends had slipped your mind, remembering that this morning you didn't want anything to have to do with him for the rest of your life, wanting to just stay away from him to not ignite anything in you, but you were slowly realising it was ridiculous to throw away the friendship for your unrequited crush. you two may not be as close as before but you could still stay friends, you could still hangout with him without feeling like your heart was shattering every moment you’d meet his beautiful ocean eyes.

“zuko!” you called for him as soon as you spotted the back of his black haired head, whipping his head around to greet you with a grin, happy that you weren't ignoring him like he thought you might, considering your answers to his texts were rather sporadic and vague.

“happy to see you’re alive y/n.” he joked as soon as you caught up with him, both of you walking at the same height as you entered the room, taking a seat next to each other as you always did, even when the two of you werent as close as you were now.

“i think i’m ready to fully start moving on.” you announced, taking a deep breath before letting him know of your future plans, determination in yours eyes and tone as you felt set to move on from your crush.

“really? i'm surprised it didn't take longer.” his eyes grew a bit at your proclamation, not expecting to hear you say those words this early, thinking he’d have to see you distance yourself from everyone for weeks but it only took a day or two, making him slightly septic at how long you would actually last with your new resolution but nonetheless he was proud of you.

“yeah well i’m kind of stuck with sokka for a history project and i figured might as well start moving on from him. i still want to be friends with him.” you explained, taking your science homework out so you were prepared whenever the teacher would come on in.

“i’m proud of you y/n, its very mature of you.” he placed his hand on your shoulder, sincerity in his tone lifting your spirits up at the thought of repairing whatever damage you might’ve caused and the thought of the damage you were avoiding by taking action now instead of later.

saturday rolled around and you had managed to have some sort of small talk with sokka during your classes, still deciding to spend your lunch period with jin instead of your usual friends but it was a start to where you thought you would be saturday after you left. you had stopped eating with your friends a little over a week ago, opting to spend time with the lovely girl from your math class. you had had trouble sleeping friday night, scared of going to sokka’s house and falling back to where you started, back to square one, back in love with a friend who was already taken by a lovely girl.

your feet felt rather heavy as you walked down the familiar path to his house, bag with a your notebook and history course around your shoulder as you retraced the steps you had followed almost everyday during that particular summer, always going to sokka’s house to entertain yourself while school was out.

you first lingered in the air above the door for a couple of seconds, taking a deeo breath in to calm your nerves before you finally knocked. it didnt take long before it was opened, sokka with an eager smile on his lips was who greeted you behind the door.

“finally, you shouldve been here an hour ago!” he lamented jokingly as he moved out of the way to let you in, causing you to roll your eyes at how dramatic your friend was.

“sokka, im five minutes late.” you deadpanned, hastily taking your shoes off, leaning against a nearby wall for support.

“exactly!” he exclaimed, his voice cracking slightly and suddenly you felt as though nothing ever happened, as if your feelings had never come to make you want to change whatever relationship you had with him, simply feeling as though the two of you were just friends.

“really sokka? dont you reme,ber when i waited an hour for you outside in the freezing cold in the woods so we could make a campfire together? or that time where we were late in eight grade because someone accidentally put on ripped pants? or-”

“alright i get it.” he held his hands up in defeat at your inquisitive look, knowing you were only joking around with him to make him feel slightly guilty for all the times he had been late.

“my dad made seaweed noodles for us to eat while we work, hope thats okay.” shoving his hands in his pockets, waiting to see you reaction at the mention of one of your favorite dishes that he’d always insist his father to make you whenever you’d come by.

“no way!” you dashed into the kitchen, leaving sokka by himself at the entrance, surprised at how fast the two of you had seemed to ease back into things and some part of it seemed to good to be true but he was happy to have you back.

“wait for me!” he called for you, spending slightly to join you. a reminiscent smile on his lips as he watched you excitedly poor yourself a bowl, knowing where everything in the hous ewas from it practically being a second home for you during all those years.

“you’ll have to say thank you to hakoda.” you told him as you eyed the noodles, your stomach rumbling as you brought it to the table, it had been too long since you had eaten his father’s cooking.

“y/n, you havent even eaten it yet, how do you know its good?” he laughed as he watched you carefully bring the bowl to the dinner table, trying to get to it as fast as you could but still making sure to not let any of the broth spill out.

“because your dad’s seaweed noodles are the best!” you defended your previous statements, taking a seat as you waited for sokka to make his own bowl and bring chopsticks for the both of you. the watertribe boy nodded, slightly mocking you in his own playful way. while you waited for him to rejoin you, you took out the notebook you used for your history notes and grabbed a pen that was sitting on the table.

you scribbled down the title of your project and tapped your pen, impatient waiting to be able to dig into your steaming hot dish.

“have any ideas for the presentation?” sokka startled you slightly, coming from behind you to lean over your shoulde to see if you had written anything but he was met with a blank page.

“no, now get me my chopsticks idioy.” you shoved his head away, earning a protestful ‘hey’ from him as your brought your hand back to wram themselvbes on the bowl.

“here.” he placed the chopsticks next to the bowl before making his way around the table to sit in front of you, slowly blowing on his soup to cool it down.

“took you long enough.” you teased before you grabbed them to pick up some of the noodles, cooling them off with your breath before shoving some of it into your mouth. sokka started laughing at how quickly you engulfed the noodles that his father had spent the morning making.

you flipped him off, not caring at how ‘unlady like’ you might’ve looked but it had been forever since you had tasted his father’s seaweed noodles, during winter it was a staple food for whenever you would spend the night but since the weather had gotten warmer and you had grown more distant, it had been a hot minute since you had a traditional dish of the southern water tribe, something you’d most definitely use in your comparison of the different cuisines.

“before we start, i wanted to talk to you about something.” sokka brought his hand down, deciding not to eat just yet but rather address the elephant in the room.

“yeah?” you knew where this was going so you finished chewing what was in your mouth and swallowed, keeping your eyes on the food as you wiated for sokka’s question.

“so where do we stand, us? i mean two days ago you stormed off, after weeks of us not actually talking and now it feels like everything is fine. i just want to make sure that you’re okay.” you took a deep breath in, knowing this was coming, knowing you had to confront your feelings upfront now and not just push whatever you were feeling down, hoping it didnt blow over one day.

“if im being honest sokka, i like you, still, but i want us to be friends. im happy to see that suki makes you happy, but it might take some time for me to get over you so we might not ever be as close as before for my own sake but im willing to try my hardest to fix anything i mightve broken in the last couple of weeks. because i love having you as a friend and no matter how much it wouldve hurt to be with you before, i still missed my best friend.” you slowly lifted your head up, pouring out what was your mind without any filter, letting him know where you stood, sincerity written on your features as you wiated to see sokka’s reaction.

“that sounds good, whatever works for you. just happy i dont have to lose my oldest friend” he finally answered after silence settled between the two of you, letting your words settle and let him process your new confession.

you smiled back and then the two of you turned your attention back to the noodles, the two of you practically inhaling the food as the only sound was the muching of the seaweed and the slurping of the soup. a nice moment shared between two friends.

“you know, theres still girl that i just know you’d like.” sokka was the first to speak up, a small tease in his tone as he tried to set you up right after you told him you were trying to move on from him.

“sokka.” you threatened, not wanting him to go down whatever road he was about go down to, you finding it to be the wrong moment to bring this up.

“i’m just saying i have yue’s number if you want it!” he recoiled on his claim, but made sure to name drop the girl he supposedly thought was perfect for you. blood rushed to your cheeks at the mention of his ex girlfriend from middle school, rmebering how beautiful you thought the white haired girl was and how you had a small crush on her while they were dating.

the boy in front of you simply laughed, feeling content at where he now stood with his friend since kindergarten. he was your dream boy, but maybe not in the way you first thought. he was the boy of your dreams but not all dreams need to be romantic.

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sokka taglist: @firelady-jay

#atla x reader #sokka x reader #avatar the last airbender imagine #avatar the last airbender x reader #zuko x reader #atla sokka x reader #sokka #atla sokka imagine #sokka imagine #sokka x you #atla zuko x reader #gaang x reader #prince zuko #zuko

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the-badger-mole · 4 years

Text

Traditional

“You scared?”

Zuko’s mouth pulled down slightly at the corners, but after years of practicing diplomacy and his uncle’s lessons on holding his temper, that was the only show of Zuko’s displeasure.

“I have no reason to be afraid,” he said. He quirked his brow at Katara and met her gaze pointedly. “According to you.” Katara shrugged, though it was difficult to tell under her heavy, fur lined parka.

“Well, Dad and Sokka already like you,” she reminded him.”It’s just everyone else you have to convince.”

Zuko rolled his eyes, wishing that the Southern Water Tribe was like...well any place else in the world. Having the Chief and his heir on his side would have been enough in literally any other country in the world. But this wasn’t anywhere in the world. This was the Southern Water Tribe. Their numbers were still small after all this time, and they were fiercely loyal to each other. Families were intimately involved in each others’ lives. Beside him, Katara nudged him gently. He felt the comforting pressure of it through his own thick parka.

“You’re going to be fine,” she promised, flashing him a reassuring smile.

Her eyes were full of trust and confidence, and it bolstered Zuko’s own. But only just slightly. After all, he was about to ask her entire extended family for their blessing to marry her. It was...daunting.

“What if...what if they don’t like this?” Zuko asked. Katara shrugged with a bravado that Zuko knew she didn’t feel.

“I already said yes,” she said. “I’m old enough to make my own choices. Dad, Sokka and Gran Gran will understand. If anyone else has a problem with it...well, we just won’t invite them to the wedding.”

“I don’t want to cause problems with you and your family,” Zuko lowered his voice, as if anyone could hear him. He and Katara had climbed to the ship’s crows nest, both for the privacy and to catch the first glimpse of Katara’s home. Katara sighed and rested her head against Zuko’s shoulder. “You’re my family,” Katara said firmly. “I love you, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Besides, we’ve been dating for two years. There were only two ways for this to end.”

Zuko sighed and pressed his forehead against Katara’s hair. She was right, of course. As Fire Lord, openly courting a woman meant that she was being seriously considered as his wife. He and Katara had spoken at length about the expectations before they decided to start dating. Then they spent another eternity talking with Iroh, Hakoda and Sokka about the expectations before going public with their relationship. If anyone was taken by surprise by their engagement at this point, then it was really out of Katara and Zuko’s hands. They had followed protocol more strictly than any Fire Lord and potential Fire Lady had in at least the last two centuries.Still...

“Why won’t you tell me what’s going to happen here?” Zuko asked. Katara sat up and shrugged.

“I’ve told you what I could,” she said. “You have to speak to my father, Gran Gran and Sokka about your intention. Then you present me with your gifts, and then my closest male relatives take you hunting.”

That was the part that gave Zuko pause. He knew better than to think Hakoda or Sokka would harm him (permanently), but Katara said that Bato and Pakku would likely be there as well. Zuko had interacted with both men a handful of times since the end of the war, and they had been courteous, if a bit cold. They grew even more frigid after he started dating Katara. He wasn’t sure how either of them would treat him out on the tundra. Away from Katara. Away from witnesses in general. It would be all too easy to arrange an accident...

“Would you stop worrying?” Katara reached up and poked Zuko where his brow furrowed over his nose. “It’ll be fine. You’ve been hunting before.”

“Not on ice,” Zuko grumbled. “And never while trying to impress my fiancee’s family.”

“Don’t worry, they already like you!”

Zuko recalled the last time he had interacted with Katara’s step-grandfather and waterbending master. He had given the Water Tribe elder a deep, respectful bow-something unheard of for a Fire Lord to do. He rose to find Pakku eyeing him critically and prepared with a comment on how sloppy the bow was, and how in the Northern Tribe, young men were taught to show their elders the utmost respect.

“We’ll be there soon,” Zuko said, casting his narrowed gaze over the horizon. “Are you ready?” Katara leaned up and pressed a kiss to Zuko’s cheek.

“I’ve been ready for this for two years.”

****

Per the Southern Water Tribe’s custom, Katara disembarked the ship first, on a dinghy, so she could greet Zuko with her family. As the chief’s daughter, all of the Southern Tribe was considered family, and so had the right to be there when Zuko came to ask for a blessing on his and Katara’s upcoming marriage.

For two days Zuko was left on his ship while the village prepared for his official arrival. Any representatives from the surrounding villages who wanted to be present would arrive during this time, and the family members who would be joining the hunt would make sure that their supplies were ready. Ordinarily, the suitor would have his own preparations to make, but Zuko had done everything he was supposed to before he left Caldera. All he could do for two days was drive himself, his uncle and his crew insane with last minute worries.

“What if she doesn’t like what I got her?” Zuko asked his uncle.

“I’m sure she’ll love your gifts,” Iroh assured him.

“Has the guest room been prepared in case her grandmother wants to come back with us?” Zuko asked the ship’s captain. It was a possibility that Katara had prepared him for. Usually, the mother of the intended went with her daughter to her future home to help get her set up and meet her future in-laws. Kanna might not feel up to the cross ocean trek, but she might decide to go after all. Zuko wanted to make sure the voyage was as comfortable as possible.

Then Zuko had inventory taken on all the supplies he had brought for Katara’s village. In the eight years since the end of the war, the Southern Water Tribe had slowly, but surely begun to come into their own power. Still, Katara assured him that the extra fabric, metal, and spices would be welcomed. When he was done with all of that, there was nothing left for him to do but wait.

Finally, at around noon on the second day, it was finally time for the Fire Lord to arrive in the village. Stepping off of the boat felt eerily similar to the first time he had first set foot onto the icy land eight years earlier. Things had certainly changed. He was no longer a desperate 16 year-old boy on an impossible mission. He wore practical wool and furs instead of slightly too large battle armor. The piers had been rebuilt in the intervening time, and Zuko had seen them himself several times before without the odd knot in his stomach. But like that first time, he was met with rows of solemn faces staring at him, uncertainly. He was once again an unwelcome foreigner come to disturb their peace.

There were some friendly faces in the crowd, Zuko had to remind himself. There a few Tribesmen and women he had gotten the chance to know over the past few years of peace. Some he had begun nascent friendships with before he had even allowed himself to hope Katara liked him the way he liked her. Nukilik, the village armsmith flashed him a grin and what Zuko could only assume were two thumbs up. It was hard to tell through the thick mittens, but it made more sense than the man balling his hands into fists.

Hakoda and Sokka were there, too. Zuko noticed with relief that neither of them seemed upset to see him. Hakoda smiled the placid, slightly tired smile Zuko had learned to recognize over the years. Sokka’s grin was slightly more disturbing- more of a baring of teeth than a smile, paired with a mischievous gleam.

“Welcome, Fire Lord Zuko,” Hakoda greeted him formally, but warmly grasping his forearm in the traditional Water Tribe greeting. “I heard your trip was smooth. I hope it was also pleasant.”

“It was,” Zuko said loud enough for the bystanders to hear.”We made better time than I’d hoped.”

“Of course you did,” Sokka declared, grabbing his friend’s arm the way Hakoda had. Then he pulled Zuko into a one armed hug, slapping the young Fire Lord hard on the back. “You had a master waterbender with you.”

“We should get going,” Hakoda said. “There are others who are anxious to see you’ve made it here safe.” Zuko blushed a deep red as a wave of laughter passed through the crowd. They knew exactly what Hakoda meant. And just like that, Zuko was accepted by them. The awkward suitor of a daughter of their tribe.

The crowd fell in line behind Zuko’s small entourage. He walked at the head with Hakoda and Sokka in an informal procession through the town. The buildings were nowhere near as ornate as those he had seen in the Northern Water Tribe, but Zuko recognized a bustling, prosperous town. The houses and shops were like the people of the Southern Tribe- practical, sturdy and possessing a unique grace all their own. In the middle of the village stood a long low hall that served as Hakoda’s seat of power, the village community center, and for today, a banquet hall.

Katara sat at a table on a raised platform with her Gran Gran and Master Pakku. She wore a parka lined with pristine white and grey fur. Her hair had been done in elaborate looping braids that had been fastened with bead and ivory combs.On her forehead had been painted a dark crescent moon. The mark of the brave she earned years earlier, she had once explained to Zuko. She was all Water Tribe today. To Zuko, she had never seemed more regal and queenly- not even in her Ambassador’s robes- and he wanted to stop and thank everyone present for giving rise to the most compassionate, strong, intelligent and beautiful Fire Lady the world would ever know. But he restrained himself. He hadn’t officially declared his intentions yet.

Hakoda and Sokka clapped Zuko on the back almost hard enough to knock him to his knees, but Zuko managed to stay standing. Then they left him at the foot of what he now recognized as a dias, and took their seats. Hakoda at the center with his children on either side of him.

“Fire Lord Zuko,” Hakoda addressed him in a somber tone. “Why have you come?” It wasn’t exactly a friendly start to this conversation, but Katara had told Zuko to expect this.He glanced up at Katara and found her watching him. She gave him a small, supportive smile and nodded slightly. Spirits, she was gorgeous. Zuko tried to swallow and unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth and say the words Katara had told him to say.

“Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe,”he managed to say clearly.”Honored elders,” he bowed to Kanna and Pakku, “beloved family,” he turned to acknowledge the people gathered in the hall. “I have come to make it known that I intend to marry your daughter, Master Katara, and I humbly ask your blessings.” The room fell uncomfortably silent. After a moment, he risked a glance up. Hakoda was watching him with a stoney eyed stare. It wasn’t quite angry, but it wasn’t exactly encouraging, either.

“Here in the Southern Water Tribe a marriage is not to be entered into lightly,” he began after a long pause. “When a couple decides to join their lives together, they agree to protect each other. Each has their own duty to the home and family they will build together, and neither is more or less important. Can you promise to help her build a safe and sturdy home together?”

Safe and sturdy were so subjective. He could provide Katara a palace with loyal and well trained guards. Even with the Fire Nation’s funds diminished with the costs of rebuilding infrastructure, providing for the financially devastated poor and making reparations to the nations damaged by his family’s war, Zuko’s wife and children would want for nothing substantial. Still he knew that as beloved as Master Katara, the Water Tribe Ambassador had become, there would always be people opposed to a foreign Fire Lady, just as there would always be opposed to the Fire Lord who ended the war that made whole generations of Fire Nobility wealthy. But Katara had acknowledged those obstacles, and she had still chosen him- him!- in spite of the risks. Zuko wasn’t afraid for her or himself or their children. They had faced down worse odds together. Zuko met Katara’s eye once more, taking courage from the way they seemed to gleam in the lantern light.

“I promise,” Zuko swore. He knew what was coming next. He was neither surprised nor dismayed when Hakoda spoke again.

“Words are not enough. Words alone are empty and can be spent lightly.” Hakoda’s stone-faced expression broke slightly, and Zuko thought he saw the beginning of a smile. “You will have a chance to prove your ability to provide. Tomorrow you will join me and my son, Sokka on a hunt. If your kill is acceptable to my daughter, it will serve as your betrothal feast.”

With that, Hakoda stood and left the assembly with Sokka and Katara following behind him. Kanna and Pakku feel in behind them, followed by the village elders. Finally, Zuko and his entourage were guided to where they would stay for the duration of the trip. Iroh, who had been uncharacteristically silent for the ceremony, nudged his nephew in the ribs. He grinned up at Zuko excitedly.

“You did so well, Fire Lord Zuko!” he stage whispered. “I’m very proud of you. And so, may I add, was Master Katara.” Zuko didn’t feel that he had done much at all. He’d barely spoken- had barely had the chance to speak- and he would have to trek the icy tundra the next day and hope he didn’t embarrass himself too badly in front of his future in-laws. But then he remembered how Katara’s proud look when he’d caught her eye, and Zuko knew he’d go anywhere and accomplish any task if it meant he got to be with her for the rest of his life.

*.*.*.*.*

“I know Dad has to look strong and dignified in front of everyone,” Katara said. “But he could have at least cracked a smile up there.”

There hadn’t been an official banquet that evening. Hakoda had predicted that his guests would be tired after their journey, so Zuko’s crew had gone to dinner at the inn where they would be staying for this trip, and Zuko and Iroh, along with a couple of guards, were staying with Hakoda and his family. After dinner, everyone adjourned to their rooms for the evening, leaving Zuko and Katara the common room. They were curled up together on a pile of cushions and rugs in front of the fire, discussing the day, just like they had done almost every night for the past two years.

“I’m sure this isn’t easy on him,” Zuko pointed out in reply to Katara’s complaint. “You’re his only daughter, and you’re not only getting married, you’ll be moving across the world from him.”

“I’ve been the Water Tribe Ambassador for three years!” Katara reminded him. “It’s not like my living situation is going to change. Well,” Katara looked up and winked at Zuko, “not much.”

“It’s going to be a bigger change than you think,” Zuko said thoughtfully. “The Ambassador thing was always going to be temporary. Eventually, you would have decided to move on to something else, or get married and start a family-” Zuko allowed a small smile to cross his face as he pulled Katara a bit closer. “He probably assumed you would be a little closer to home when that happened. He’s going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss him, too,” Katara admitted. “And Sokka and Gran Gran and Suki and Pakku. But I’ll visit as often as I can. Besides, it’s not like I’ve ever been Daddy’s Lil’ Princess.”

“Katara, your dad is the Chief of the entire Southern Water Tribe,” Zuko chuckled. “You’re everyone’s princess.”

“I told you, that’s not how it works down here,” Katara huffed. “I’m not-”

“Officially a princess,” Zuko completed, rolling his eyes. “I know, I know. But you are still really important here. Whether you want to admit it or not, you pretty much are a princess.”

“I am not!” Zuko noticed with no small amount of amusement that Katara was blushing. He grinned mischievously.

“I think I should talk with your dad about getting you a crown,” he teased. Katara jabbed his ribs with her elbow.

“Don’t you start giving people ideas,” she chided. “If dad gives me a crown, Sokka’s going to insist on having one, and his head is swollen enough without adding the weight.”

“You’re going to have a crown soon anyway,” Zuko pointed out. “Maybe you should have one just to get used to it.” Katara hummed thoughtfully and nestled into Zuko’s side.

“Do I have to wear a crown?” she asked. “What if I just got some really fancy beads?”

Zuko reached up and brushed his fingers against Katara’s braids. The truth was he couldn’t care less about what she wore when she was Fire Lady. He’d made it clear to his advisors that she would be welcome to integrate elements of her own culture in their day to day life at the palace. Still..

“You should probably have one for formal occasions, at least,” he said thoughtfully. “But aside from that, you can do whatever you like with your hair. And your clothes.” Zuko’s fingers wandered away from her hair to the thick fur lining her hood. “I wouldn’t recommend fur, though.”

“I don’t know,” Katara shrugged. “I think showing up to a council meeting in a full fur parka would be a serious power move.”

“Most of them are already afraid of you. But whatever you want, my love, is fine with me.”

“Aw!” Katara twisted around and planted a kiss on the edge of Zuko’s jaw. “You’re so good to me.” Despite two years and many kisses, Katara still managed to make Zuko blush.

“Ick!” The pair turned to find Sokka cringing in the doorway. “You two are so gross.”

“Oh, please!” Katara snorted. “You and Suki are just as bad.” At the mention of his wife, Sokka’s face crumpled miserably.

“Suki!” he wailed. “Why’d you have to bring her up? I’d almost forgotten to miss her today.”

“She’ll be home in two weeks.” Katara rolled her eyes, unsympathetically. Suki was back in Kyoshi to visit her aunt. It was the first time she’d been back since her and Sokka’s wedding almost a year earlier, and Sokka had been supportive of the trip, but he hadn’t counted on missing her so much.

“It feels different being apart when you’re married,” Sokka lamented. “You’ll find out.” Then with a menacing smirk he added, “You know, assuming you come back from the hunting trip.” Katara felt Zuko tense up and she glared at her brother.

“Stop teasing him,” she scolded. She brushed her fingers across Zuko’s cheek. “He’s going to be fine.” Zuko turned his head and kissed the palm of Katara’s hand. Sokka shuddered.

‘Have you ever actually been hunting?” Sokka asked Zuko. “This is a pretty big deal. The entire village is invited to this party. It’s a bad look if you don’t bring enough food for everyone.”

“Sokka!” Katara sat up and fixed her brother with a warning glare. Sokka threw his hands up in surrender.

“Whatever,” he said. “But you really should go to bed soon. We’re leaving early tomorrow. Anyway, I’m turning in. Go back to being gross.” When he was gone, Zuko glanced down at Katara nervously.

“I have hunted before,” he said softly as if spilling some deep dark secret. “But it was just small animals. It was right before...before Ba Sing Se. Never anything like...” Zuko motioned around the room at the trophies from other hunts. There were large ivory tusks hanging from the walls and thick, furs trapping the precious heat. Everything came from animals at least as big as he was.

“Are you worried you can’t do it?” Katara asked. Zuko felt a rush of heat to his face.

“Well...what if I can’t?” he asked. “If this is how I propose, will we not be allowed to marry if I can’t bring in a...a...” Once again, Zuko gestured around the room. Katara sat up, pulling away from Zuko’s embrace so she could face him.

“First of all,” she held up a finger under his nose, “I’ve already agreed to marry you. All we’re doing here is telling people and giving you a chance to bond with my family. Second,” another finger joined the first, “Dad and Sokka are expert hunters. You’ll come back with something, I guarantee it. Third, I love you, and there’s nothing that can change that, so stop freaking out about this. It’s supposed to be fun.”

“Fun,” Zuko snorted, but he did feel better.

“Promise you’ll at least try to have fun?” Katara rolled her eye, feigning exasperation. Zuko kissed her forehead and nodded.

“I’ll try,” he promised.

“Great!” Katara resettled into her previous spot, curled up with Zuko with a happy sigh.

“I have to go to bed,” Zuko protested weakly.

“Fire more minutes,” Katara said. “I won’t see you for a few days, so I want my cuddle time now.”

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

#zutara #atla #atla fanfic #soft katara #soft zuko #traditional

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