#azula: YOU SHOULD. YOU SHOULD BE SORRY .

[skywitchmaja]

a very specific character type 🔥❣️

#sorry this is like. horribly formatted. how do people make these that look good & easy to read? #i just think it’s cool when a character has mommy issues & fire powers & is gay that is so cool of them 🔥 #unlisted similarities: complicated relationship with their sibling. unrequited love (?). think better of their dad than they probably should #the last one is more azula & regina i could not tell you one fact about clifford blossom #gaslight gatekeep girlboss ✨ #(but the fun part (and by fun i mean the opposite of that) is that they are as likely to be gaslit as they are to gaslight 🤕) #they are like blorbos to me <3 #i have so many second thoughts but i can’t keep editing this i cannot #riverdale #atla #ouat #cheryl blossom #regina mills #azula #i’m not even satisfied with the caption but i have to stop overthinking everything or i’ll die #i say ‘mysterious reasons’ bc yeah it’s mostly bc they don’t know how to move on but also there’s some sorta magical shenanigans

[juniperhillpatient]

I can only speak for myself but for me I think azula should have a healing arc but not a redemption arc because I want her to get away from everyone who’s hurt her. she doesn’t owe anyone shit after the comics

Hm okay thank you for explaining! I think we are defining words differently & that’s part of where my confusion came in. @queenofthefaces explained it more concisely than I can in the replies. I’m guessing this is what you mean?

To me, healing would mean that Azula learns that the way she grew up - emotionally & mentally manipulated & taught to idolize her father & turn against her brother - was wrong. This also means she would/should learn that the way she grew up - with the mindset that being Fire Nation & royalty makes her better than everyone else & that people from other nations are below her, & with imperialist ideals - was wrong. If you’d like to stop there, & never have her reconcile with anyone, that’s fine (& imo would count as both redemption & healing), we just disagree on what would make a good story. I’m not satisfied with that ending because it completely separates Azula from the story & the rest of the cast which just isn’t, for me personally, a fulfilling character arc within the context of the show I love so much.

I’m not a fan of the way the comics were written, they were out of character & narratively did not follow up the show well in my opinion & as such they never factor into my analysis. That said, you CAN have a satisfying fan fiction or alternate universe story where Azula separates herself entirely from the cast we know & love & that’s fine - as a lover of alternate universes I have no leg to stand on in terms of being against this, do go & have fun with that idea - but I do think it’s narratively illogical (again, discarding the garbage comics) to do so in the context of canon. If you disagree that’s okay. But my personal opinion is that it would narratively make sense for Azula to reconcile with other characters, especially with Zuko & Ursa as well as Ty Lee & Mai. In a story about friendship, healing & forgiveness where a central theme is the new generation being better than their ancestors, why would you not want the fire siblings to reconcile? It’s the logical follow up in a story where the royal family has always been toxic & feuding & Ozai (& Iroh!) pitted the siblings against each other. It would give Azula a chance at the normalcy she craves & a family that isn’t hateful & toxic. It would wrap up Zuko’s arc of self confidence & healing to recognize that his sister was a victim too. They could find Ursa together & solve that mystery as well as having Ursa tell Azula that she was never a monster. That’s the obvious narratively satisfying ending right there & I’m forever bitter we didn’t get it 😤

Azula forgiving Mai & Ty Lee for their betrayals & understanding why they did what they did to me would make sense as a part of her arc toward recognizing her wrongs in the war. And I don’t see any reason Mai & Ty Lee wouldn’t reconcile with Azula. You could argue she was ready to kill Mai & that’s hard to forgive but idk it was war many of the characters were in deadly altercations including ZUKO VS THE GAANG & MAI & TY LEE VS THE GAANG.

I also think Azula should be friends with the gaang as well - especially / specially Katara, her narrative foil & the one to defeat her. It just makes sense for Azula to learn from Katara, a character with so many parallels to her. And also I think she should reconcile with Aang because he is the Avatar & the one trying to bring peace & balance to the world. Plus a healed & redeemed Azula would be horrified that she almost killed Aang, you can’t change my mind. As for the others, if Azula went on this huge arc & is now friends with Zuko & Katara & Aang why wouldn’t she also get along with Sokka & Toph & Suki? The show itself (let’s not forget it’s a kids show too y’all friendship is in fact at the heart of the story & it’s not a bad thing to have everyone as friends at the end especially if the bad guys have recognized their wrongs) has Ty Lee & Mai as besties with the gaang post war despite them having fought on opposite sides until the Boiling Rock.

In conclusion I don’t know why you wouldn’t want Azula to be redeemed AND healed AND reconcile with her friends & family + make new friends! Unless you count the comics & in that case I just can’t help you sorry

#azula #azula redemption #azula healing #azula deserved better #azula meta #my atla post #sorry you clearly feel different & I hijacked this ask to yell about my opinions 🤪 #but then again that should perhaps be expected of me at this point 😉 #asks #anon #answered

[seyaryminamoto]

Leap of Faith: Sokkla Saturdays 2022

Day Six: Falling in love

On FF.net//On AO3

I've always been a firm believer of the philosophy that, if you have a problem with canon, the best thing you can do is write your own take on it. This particular story came to mind as a result of my grievances with the unexplored potential of some ideas and concepts canon introduced too late in the game and that could have impacted the show positively if they had been planned all along.

Therefore... here goes a canon divergence based on one of the most controversial choices from The Search. This is a more Azula-centric story, but I hope you guys will enjoy it regardless. The Sokkla will begin to happen around halfway through the story, in case anyone needs to know that.

Hope you enjoy this one!

"I can do more than give you a new face. I can give you a new mind – one that does not remember the life that came before."

"Will I remember my children?"

"Are they part of the life you wish to forget?"

"Yes."

"Then you will not remember them."

It was a tempting offer. An easier way to live. So much easier…

And so wrong. The burst of pain the very notion caused inside her soul seemed to snap everything into focus again: Ikem – Noren, whatever the right name should be anymore – may have been welcome company, and yet… how could she compare the feelings he elicited inside her to the feelings her children did? Ultimately, he was a good man… but she was no longer the woman he had once loved. No longer the innocent, joyful woman he had wished to marry long ago.

"Then a new face will do, and nothing more."

"Are you certain?"

"I appreciate your generosity. I thank you for your gift. I will endeavor to make the most of the new life it will grant me… a life I will live for them, as I always meant to."

"Then very well. Hold still…"

A new servant arrived at the Fire Nation's Royal Palace. Her name was Noriko.

She was assigned to Zuko at first. She sought to serve the young, hot-headed and enthusiastic prince with devotion: the child was already on the verge of teenage life when she arrived, and he devoted most his energy to obtaining the approval of his father and uncle.

At times, her duties required for her to serve Princess Azula briefly as well. Where Prince Zuko's constant overlooking of Noriko could be easily traced to being caught up in his personal pursuits of approval, to a point of near-blindness over everything and everyone else, the same could not be said for Princess Azula, though it wasn't for the best: she was abrasive, dismissive, judgmental and quick to undermine any figure of authority in her life save her father, and no meaningless servant could hope to earn her respect. The dynamics of that family had changed irreparably on the day they had become the primary branch of the Royal Family.

One afternoon, Noriko did her chores in Zuko's bedroom only to be told, briefly afterwards, that she was to stop such duties at once. She was perplexed and she requested an explanation…

"Prince Zuko has been banished for speaking out of turn in a war meeting and for disrespecting his father in an Agni Kai. He will not be welcome in Fire Nation lands until he redeems himself by finding the Avatar. Such is Fire Lord Ozai's will."

The royal butler offered no further explanations. Noriko could ask for them, but she would receive a severe reprimand if she failed to focus on her new responsibilities, no matter if her anguish upon hearing of Zuko's fate was so powerful she nearly lost her composure right then and there:

"From this day forward, you will serve Princess Azula."

She didn't like Noriko.

She was nosey, more than any other staff members of the Palace. She asked asinine questions. She wanted to know if she was doing well in school. She even attempted to watch some of her firebending training sessions and even had the gall to tell Azula, at one point, that one of her newest maneuvers was too dangerous – as if any firebending could be too dangerous for a prodigy like her.

So, upon being told that the woman had been assigned as her personal handmaiden, Azula was irritable. She dismissed Noriko quickly on the very first day of her assignment, noticing the woman's eyes were red with tears – she did not care to listen to any manner of whining over Zuko's fate. Ozai had determined it was the appropriate fate for one who committed the faults Zuko had: going against Fire Lord Ozai in any regards was treason. If this fool of a woman did not understand that, it wasn't Azula's problem.

She wasn't quite as annoying over the first weeks of her assignment as Azula had dreaded… probably because she spent most her time sulking over Zuko. But one day, Azula had been sitting casually at her desk, finishing one of her very final school assignments before graduation, when the woman stepped up nervously.

"Princess… the Palace guards have asked me to deliver this message to you."

The young princess scoffed as she took the paper – what an unnerving woman. She shook her head dismissively as she spread the message open…

I need to talk to you. I don't know who else to ask. Please come to the bay, to the westernmost dock. Hide your identity so no one knows you've seen me. I know this is sudden… but I need you.

Azula scoffed: she fisted the letter and it burned quickly, the blue hue of her fire scorching it to cinders. Noriko, behind her, gasped.

"Princess…!"

"Did you read the message? Should you be looking into my private correspondence?" Azula retorted. Noriko actually looked angry. "You're dismissed. I will take a nap now."

The woman snarled before walking away. She had swallowed her insolence somehow, then? Good. It was what she ought to do.

Azula finished her school assignment before rising to her feet. She approached her closet, pulling out a long cloak with a hood, and she draped it over her shoulders. She picked a bag of money she could spare: then, she opened the secret passageway that connected to her bedroom and she snuck out of the confines of her suite without being noticed.

She had been furious. She had no right to say anything, not in this life, not in this form, and yet… she had genuinely expected better. She had believed Azula would be better than that…!

Her mental rant slowed down when a cloaked figure crossed her line of sight briefly, in the corridor Noriko was about to enter. The woman frowned, watching the cloaked figure cast a blue flame in a small surface of the wall… a secret passageway. Oh, Azula was always fond of claiming she'd found those… but they weren't empty boasts. She truly had found them, then, and…

And she was leaving the Palace.

Was she going to see Zuko, after all?

Noriko didn't need to think twice about what she'd do next.

She found him in a back alley by the harbor. He was covered in a fabric that might just have been something he found lying about rather than a genuine blanket. He had seemed shocked to see her… no matter if he was the one who had asked her to come for him.

"I need a ship. I need a crew. But Father… he won't give me anything. He won't so much as look at me. Please… help me."

Azula frowned: it wasn't as if she could convince Ozai to change his mind about Zuko's punishment. However much he preferred her over her brother, he'd probably banish her along with Zuko if she dared question any of his choices…

"I need a ship. That's… that's all I ask."

"Flattering as it is to know you need me… I can't guarantee any success. You understand that, don't you?" Azula said, staring down at him sternly. Zuko swallowed hard and nodded. "Then… I'll try to make it happen. But do try to take better care of yourself too, Zuzu."

She tossed the bag of coin to him. Zuko gasped in a pitiful way as he picked it up: he truly was as good as a beggar at this point. To think he had been the proud heir of Fire Lord Ozai merely a few days ago… if just out of the sheer indignity of knowing a member of her own family was living in such unsightly conditions, Azula would have to fulfill his request, somehow.

"I will do whatever I can. You will owe me much for this, Zuzu," Azula said.

"I… I know."

That was the sole answer she received. No words of gratitude. Not that Azula expected any, to begin with.

Two days later, a small ship set sail out of the Fire Nation harbor: aboard it, Iroh and Zuko would sail the seas in search of the Avatar to fulfill Ozai's condition so his son's honor would be restored. Once Azula proposed the possibility of getting rid of both Iroh and Zuko by providing her brother with what he'd asked of her, Ozai had found the possibility of arranging a ship for them profoundly appealing.

Her life, then, would go back to normal… to a fault. Right now, she was the de-facto heir to the Throne since there were no other eligible candidates around.

Perhaps that should have meant she could get rid of her handmaiden if she was too irritating… and it seemed she was about to be annoying again when she stepped up to speak with Azula on the day the ship had sailed.

"Prince Zuko and General Iroh have taken their leave, Princess," she said. Azula hummed.

"Good for them. My father was surprisingly generous, wasn't he? Providing them with a ship and a crew, as he did…" Azula said, casually. Noriko swallowed hard.

"You… are much more kindhearted than you allow anyone to see."

Azula gasped: she had been in the middle of testing a new shade of lipstick when the woman said such utterly uncalled for and offensive words. Her jaw dropped.

"I… what? How… how dare you?" Azula said: her voice hitched in a rather foolish way. Was she actually experiencing some level of… unnecessary satisfaction upon hearing such unusual words?

Her outrage was answered by a kindly smile. An irritatingly kind smile.

"That… that shade is much too strong for you, though," Noriko said, frowning slightly next. "You are too young for makeup like that. I suggest… this one. This shade is much nicer…"

"That shade looks like something my mother would wear," Azula said, cuttingly: Noriko froze on the spot. "I'm fine with this one. And besides, I didn't ask for your opinion."

"I… I understand."

Noriko backed down… but Azula's mind did not. She turned towards the mirror again: was this hue really out of place? Maybe it did feel like it was. She grimaced before glancing at the woman anew.

"What… what shade would you propose otherwise? And don't say the one that looks like my mother's. I'm not saying I would wear whatever you choose, I'm only wondering because…"

"Because you wish to find out what's outdated, perhaps?" Noriko asked, with a weak smile. Azula winced. "An old woman like me surely has no idea what is in fashion these days with young girls like you."

"That… yes. Exactly," Azula said. Noriko smiled again and stepped forward.

"Then… here. This one," she said. "Also avoid this one. As for your eyes, though… have you ever attempted to wear eye liner? Perhaps you would like to try that…"

"I… haven't attempted it, no," Azula admitted, unexpectedly bashful. "My friend Ty Lee, she… she tried it and poked her eye with the brush. My friend Mai only wears eye liner, though…"

"You're all of age to start trying out makeup, of course," Noriko smiled. "Well… perhaps I can teach you how to apply it. Then… you could try doing it yourself, and that way you'll grow used to wearing it so you can do it as often as you like."

Azula blinked blankly: how had this woman gone from being so bitter at her merely a couple of days ago to offering her guidance when it came to makeup? It was strange, and random, and…

And not entirely unwelcome.

"Well… you may try. I suppose," was her response: she should have been more eloquent, perhaps try to threaten the woman somehow, to ensure she understood there were boundaries she couldn't overstep…

And yet it seemed Noriko would overstep every single one of them. She certainly tried to, in the three years that followed.

She followed Azula most everywhere. She took care of all her chores, did most everything she could by herself, working tirelessly even when Azula purposefully gave her more work than necessary. Azula couldn't understand the woman's strange willingness to be around her, or to do extra work, but she grew used to it, on the most part.

Still, Noriko was opinionated and surprisingly authoritarian sometimes: Azula's training sessions weren't perfectly placid, beautiful matters in the slightest, and the Princess never failed to wind up more disheveled than she ought to be… to which Lo and Li always had comments, of course. Azula was used to it, if annoyed by it, naturally. But on a day when Noriko happened to watch her…

"Her hair is beautiful, whether it's out of place or not! How dare you make her feel self-aware about it?! Her bending feat was impressive, and her hair is magnificent! Do not say that to my d-… t-to the Princess ever again!"

Azula blinked blankly. Lo and Li appeared perplexed. The handmaiden was flustered after her outburst… but she didn't back down. There was something unexpectedly regal about her stubbornness, even Azula had to admit as much.

Thus, Lo and Li never commented negatively on Azula's hair again.

The strange woman rejoiced in Azula's every accomplishment in ways not even the Fire Lord did: she would bring her snacks – always healthy ones, of course – every time Azula learned and mastered a new firebending form, even if she constantly seemed terrified that she might get hurt while bending. A foolish concern, of course… but a strange part of Azula even grew fond of Noriko's anxious comments and questions about how she felt right after she landed a difficult kata – she even cried the first time Azula bent lightning. She went all out on Azula's birthdays, too, ensuring to provide a small, personal celebration to her in the morning, before Azula had to focus on the more formal events of the day.

It was strange, out of place… and it was probably the first time Azula genuinely felt cared for by someone. She clashed with Noriko at times… clashes that occasionally reminded her of her conflicts with her own mother. But curiously, as time passed, the arguments changed in nature: sometimes Noriko refused, outright, to leave Azula if she was having a bad day. If Azula made mistakes, if Azula felt uneasy, she would never accept Azula's orders to leave her be. She would stay until she could do something, anything, to make her laugh. And sometimes she couldn't succeed at it… in which cases, Azula would wind up taking a nap and waking up to find the woman still sitting by her bedside.

She wasn't used to this.

She didn't mind it as much as she thought she would, at first.

Thus, Azula suspected that Noriko would join her once Ozai tasked her with a mission, her very first mission, to hunt down Zuko and Iroh, a failure and a traitor, and bring them home.

Upon hearing of Azula's assignment, the woman rushed off to pack both their bags for the long voyage that awaited them.

"This is no leisure journey. We are to find my brother and my uncle and bring them back to the Fire Nation, as commanded by the Fire Lord. They have disgraced him with their foolishness and failures. More competent soldiers than them will carry forward the search for the Avatar. Do you understand this, Noriko?"

Noriko sighed and nodded: bottling up her urges to rebuff the Princess's words was almost a talent by now. She hoped her compliance would reassure Azula… for as soon as the opportunity arose, Noriko meant to help Zuko once he was aboard. She would help the two siblings bridge their distance once again, and she would ensure that Azula stood up for her brother when they faced Ozai, just as she had stood up for him when requesting the ship and crew that had accompanied Zuko for three years. She might be wrong to place such hopes on Azula, considering she never held back from fulfilling her father's orders… but Noriko had taken care of the girl for all these years. In that time, she had found there was so much more under the surface… so much substance behind the abrasiveness and arrogance that served as a barrier for the Princess, a barrier with which she kept everyone and everything at bay. A barrier Noriko had challenged multiple times by now, in a myriad of ways… and the Princess hadn't fired her for it, no matter if she had threatened to, sometimes. To this day, she kept Noriko by her side…

Until, of course, it was time for her to speak with her brother and uncle. By then, she expressly demanded that Noriko stayed behind, and the older woman pouted as the girl took off alone to the Fire Nation colony's Resort.

Noriko had only sulked for a few hours, lounging carelessly on the ship's deck, when the Princess returned with a triumphant smile: she had set her plan in motion, and Zuko appeared to wish to come home indeed. That he wouldn't understand in which quality he'd return was no concern for her, of course: all that mattered was fulfilling her father's orders at all costs.

Iroh and Zuko showed up at the harbor of the Fire Nation Resort on the next morning: Azula welcomed them graciously, and Noriko lurked on the ship's deck… the sight of the banished prince, however, erased the smile from her face: his hair, mostly shaved and bound in a tight ponytail, appeared to highlight his scar as best as possible. Her heart clenched as Azula continued to speak: Zuko's face… he was scarred, he had been through so much pain and Noriko hadn't had a chance to do anything for him. She would do her best to help him now, of course she would… and she would reason with Azula. She would convince her to…

"Set our course for home, Captain."

Azula's voice rang in that beautiful morning, and Noriko's clenched heart hurt in more ways than she could explain as Zuko gazed at Azula with hope…

"You heard the Princess! Raise the anchors! We're taking the prisoners home!"

Zuko and Iroh were halfway up the ramp when the captain carelessly blurted out the worst words he could have.

The resulting pandemonium was nearly impossible to follow: Iroh had been prepared for the deception, unlike Zuko. Even so, Zuko wasted no time jumping ahead to shout at Azula, to lash out against her for her misdeed.

"You lied to me!"

"Like I've never done that before," was her simple response: the guards stood between her and Zuko, defending her from him…

Though their defense fell apart disturbingly quickly: after successfully circumventing both firebenders and knocking them off the ship, Zuko rushed up to the deck, and a fierce fight broke out between him and his sister, even if an alarmingly one-sided one. Zuko attacked aggressively, violently, while Azula merely seemed to make a display of her fighting superiority by dodging his attacks and keeping them from reaching their target, mostly.

"Zuko! Let's go!"

Noriko winced upon hearing those words in Iroh's voice: she had taken to shrinking in a corner, away from the battle… only to realize then that everything had truly gone awry. There would be no reconciliation between the siblings, no chance of healing their bond… Zuko had recognized Azula's cruel intent before anything positive could happen between them.

"N-no, no… Zuko! Azula! Don't fight, please…!" Noriko cried out, stepping forward nervously as Azula taunted her brother:

"You know, Father blames Uncle for the loss of the North Pole! And he considers you a miserable failure for not finding the Avatar!" she said, with a vicious smirk. "Why would he want you back home, except to lock you up where you can no longer embarrass him?"

Zuko roared, and he continued to fight recklessly: Azula's cruel barbs landed perfectly, spurring him into a wild frenzy that she could take advantage of, down to even scratching her brother's forehead with her dangerously long nails…

"Azula, stop!"

Her focus broke when she heard those words. Azula's eyes widened.

"What are you…?!" Azula roared: Noriko rushed towards her, and because of her distraction, Zuko succeeded at landing a blow against Azula's shoulder. "Ugh…!"

Zuko kept screaming in frustration and rage as he attacked, but he certainly rejoiced over his first successful attack. Azula scowled as she kicked at him: a burst of blue fire he failed to anticipate pushed him back, causing him to jump away while Azula glared at the woman on deck.

"Get back inside the ship, you fool!" Azula exclaimed… only to be ignored when Noriko rushed to stand between them.

"Prince Zuko, I beg you, please listen to…!"

His response was another roar: he rushed ahead, trying to dodge the woman he regarded as a simple, meaningless obstacle standing between his sister and himself.

"Get out of here!" Azula shouted at Noriko… only for the handmaiden to decide that her best course of action was to throw her arms around Zuko.

"Stop…! Stop fighting…!"

"Get off me!"

A furious shove that knocked her off balance sent her towards the ship's railing.

Azula gasped, eyes wide as the handmaiden tripped clumsily: she wouldn't fall. She would simply bounce back against the railing, and she wouldn't…!

The momentum sent her overboard.

"NO!"

Zuko froze on the spot just as Iroh marched up the deck, ready to defend his nephew from Azula… only for Azula to inexplicably throw herself off the side of the ship. Zuko blinked blankly, frowning at what he could only read as utterly atypical behavior from his sister…

"Zuko! The way is clear! Let's go!" Iroh told him urgently.

Zuko swallowed hard and nodded: one more glance at the railing through which Azula had vanished wouldn't offer any more answers about whatever had gotten into his sister, or about whoever that woman was… so he simply obeyed his uncle, joining him in running through the long dock and then, into the depths of the northern Earth Kingdom's wilderness.

An hour later, Noriko shivered guiltily on the shores of the Fire Nation resort as Azula finished giving some menacing speech or another about the hunt for Zuko and Iroh. Her guilt only seemed to worsen by the minute… most of all because she knew Azula would hold her responsible for the failure of this mission. She had already reprimanded the captain fiercely – even though Azula had been dripping wet after swimming Noriko back to safety, she had scared the man profusely with her flaring temper.

The Princess, irritable but dry now, marched up to Noriko next. Her brow was furrowed, and Noriko eyed her apologetically before bowing her head.

"I… I apologize, Princess. I didn't intend to…"

"Did you get any treatment for your burn?"

Noriko winced: yes, it hurt, but she hadn't thought it would mean or matter much in the grand scheme of things. Zuko had been bending, he had applied some fire into his shove, it had burned through her clothes… but the soaking in the ocean had at least cooled down the potential pain, which certainly hadn't been as bad as Zuko's scar, nowhere near as severe as that.

"I… I'm fine. I don't need…"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Azula hissed, shaking her head. "Utter fool, taking such risks and then failing to heed your Princess's commands…! Go to Lo and Li and have them treat you, now!"

"Y-yes, Princess. Of course."

Noriko rose to her feet: it felt as though the Princess was indeed scolding her… and yet she wanted her taken care of. Protected. Healed, even. Noriko's heart clenched as she glanced over her shoulder… at the fourteen-year-old who stood, fuming, behind her. Her gaze was lost elsewhere, full of frustration and anger at the backfiring of her plan… it was easy, at times, to think of her as a much greater, stronger individual than the child Noriko could only see her as, to this moment.

They replenished their supplies and took off anew a few days later. The Princess's frustration at the captain, at the incompetent guards who had not just failed to hold their own against Iroh but even against Zuko, seemed to mount constantly. She attempted to school herself back into proper tranquility, however, and she even appeared pleased when Lo and Li advised her not to search for Iroh and Zuko with the full Royal Procession. The words daunted Noriko, however: if they were a liability, so was she. Would she be left behind as well? It was quite likely…

… Or so she thought, until she found herself riding a mongoose dragon and following the Princess into the location where a traveling circus had been stationed recently, near the very heart of the Earth Kingdom. Why Azula decided to bring her along, why she hadn't scolded Noriko at all since the incident on the ship, Noriko still had no idea… but she was delighted to witness Azula's reunion with her childhood friend.

"Azula!" Ty Lee exclaimed: the girl's handstand – or finger stand, for she only used her index fingers, to Noriko's utter surprise and amazement – broke as she dropped gracefully on the ground, performing a quick reverence before hugging the Princess. "And… you brought a friend!"

"This is Noriko," Azula said, curtly. "She travels with me."

"It is my pleasure to… to meet you, lady Ty Lee," Noriko said, with a gentle smile – she knew Ty Lee already… but Ty Lee would have no memory of having met the maid. Only of the woman she had been, long ago…

"The pleasure's all mine!" Ty Lee grinned brightly.

"Say… what is the daughter of a nobleman doing here? Certainly, our parents didn't send us to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls to end up… in places like these," Azula said, glaring with distaste around herself. Ty Lee, however, seemed utterly unconcerned with Azula's words or judgment, simply stretching her legs, swinging them back and forth while lying on her chest, on the ground. "I have a proposition for you. I'm hunting a traitor: you remember my old fuddy-duddy uncle, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah! He was so funny!" Ty Lee said, smiling carelessly.

"I would be honored if you would join me on my mission," Azula said, with a sharp grin. Ty Lee, however, stopped smiling quickly.

"Oh, I… uh, would love to," Ty Lee said, before jumping back on her feet, to stand upright. "But the truth is, I'm really happy here. I mean, my aura has never been pinker!"

Azula grimaced as she eyed the platypus-bear nearby – it had only just lain an egg, it seemed.

"… I'll take your word for it," was her initial response to Ty Lee's claims. "Well, I wouldn't want you to give up the life you love just to please me…"

"Thank you, Azula," Ty Lee said. Noriko smiled warmly at Azula's friend, and then at the Princess. The kindness she constantly hid beneath her harsh exterior continued to amaze her, it truly did–…

"Of course, before I leave, I'm going to catch your show."

Noriko blinked blankly, staring at the Princess in surprise: Ty Lee winced, and Noriko noticed the movement and unease of the girl as she responded to Azula's statement.

"Uh… yeah, sure! Of course!"

And so, Noriko found herself sitting by the Princess's side as the circus function began that evening – she found she truly didn't enjoy these events much, and Azula noticed it quickly.

"Is something wrong, Noriko?" Azula asked.

"Oh, only… I suppose I prefer other kinds of spectacles," Noriko said, with a gentle smile. "Like… like theater. Perhaps next time we could…"

"We aren't sightseeing, Noriko. We don't have the luxury of choosing our sources of entertainment," Azula said, bluntly. Noriko smiled sadly and nodded.

"I know. I understand you're hoping to show your support for the lady Ty Lee. I'm sure she's grateful for it," Noriko said. Azula eyed her skeptically. "Princess?"

"You're too old to be so naïve," Azula said, bluntly. Noriko's eyes widened.

"What did you…?" Noriko said, a surge of proud irritation taking root in her heart: old? She wasn't that old! She certainly looked older than she was, but how could she…?

Oh, the urge to scold the child beside her and tell her not to speak to her so callously almost overcame her. Her face flushed, and she couldn't suppress a frustrated pout. Azula blinked blankly as she noticed her companion's reaction.

"Oh, did I upset you?" she asked, amused. "If I must spell out the truth for you, we're here to recruit Ty Lee, even now."

"We are? But you said…"

"I simply need to be more convincing."

Noriko's jaw dropped at the Princess's certainty: Ty Lee's turn on the tight-rope had arrived, and the Princess smirked at her friend's efforts to remain suspended on that complicated, dangerous position and contraption, so high up in the air…

"Do you think she'll fall?" Azula asked the master of ceremonies, who was startled by the question.

"Of course not!" the man responded, proudly.

"Then wouldn't it be more interesting if you removed the net?"

Noriko gasped. Azula ignored her.

"Ah… the thing is, the performers…"

"You're right, you're right. That's been done," Azula reasoned, toying with her hair carelessly. "I know: set the net on fire!"

"No!"

Azula froze. The master of ceremonies stared at her and her companion in utter fright… as Azula turned a scowl upon Noriko.

"Did you just…?"

"I did!" Noriko scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. Azula let out a bark of disbelieving laughter. "Princess: you're better than this!"

"What are you…?" Azula growled: Noriko's glare gave away that she was on one of her stubborn sprees all over again. The Princess rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You're impossible."

"Princess…!"

"We'll talk after!"

Her refusal to make a scene in the middle of the performance was quite welcome, though her mood through the rest of the evening was dreadful anyway: once the performance ended, Azula dragged Noriko behind the circus's largest tent, glaring pointedly at her.

"What do you think you're doing, raising your voice at me in front of that man?!" Azula said. "I brought you with me because I believed you wouldn't sabotage my efforts and cause the trouble the Royal Procession has! And this is what you choose to make of that opportunity?!"

"You came here to find a friend," Noriko said: her tone immediately caused Azula to frown… that strange frown that hinted at some level of fear. Of recognizing that she had been scolded in a similar way, with similar energy, by one of the few people she had genuinely feared in her life. "And I expect you to do exactly that, Princess Azula. Recruit her by terrifying her into complying with you, and you'll only recruit an unwilling vassal who will be looking for any opportunity, any chance, to run away at once!"

"Is that so?" Azula said, glaring at Noriko, who glared back. "The subtleties of recruitment are irrelevant in the face of the Fire Lord's orders! I have come here to ensure I can fulfill my father's commands, and I will!"

"And I have come with you to ensure that you do not lose yourself in fulfilling them," Noriko responded, stubbornly. Azula huffed.

"If that's how it is, you're going back to the ship. And I'll watch another of Ty Lee's shows tomorrow," Azula declared, scowling heavily.

"I won't go back," Noriko said, simply. Azula huffed.

"You really think you can talk back to me? We're not home, curses, Noriko! We're in the Earth Kingdom, we're fulfilling my father's mission, whatever it takes! So…!"

"Not whatever it takes," Noriko stated. Azula scoffed.

"That's treasonous."

"I'd rather be a traitor to the Fire Lord than let you become a traitor to yourself."

Azula's eyes widened. She had no response to that, though probably not because she respected the sentiment… she was simply so confused over it that she couldn't seem to make heads or tails out of what Noriko had said.

"Who… who do you even think I am?" Azula asked: the question wasn't quite injected with affront, though. It wasn't a mere arrogant boast, a way to remind Noriko of the station of whom she spoke with… she genuinely was confused. She didn't know what Noriko saw in her… how she could be so certain of who Azula was, to the point of speaking such words without hesitation.

"I think you are Azula. And you're more than just a Princess… more than your father's agent," Noriko said, bowing her head towards Azula. "And I hope to ensure that you'll see that in time, too."

Azula's jaw dropped: and now she was affronted, for sure. Noriko didn't care, though: Noriko wouldn't back down. Not now, not like this, not under these circumstances…

"Ah! They told me you two were back here!"

Ty Lee's voice startled Azula. The Princess huffed angrily at Noriko before turning to Ty Lee with a tense grin.

"What a wonderful performance you offered, Ty Lee. I'm sure you must be proud," she said. "Though I'm certain it might be much more entertaining tomorrow, I have a few ideas for the master of…"

"Oh, I won't be performing tomorrow," Ty Lee said, with a casual shrug and a grin. Her eyes were bright as she glanced between Azula and Noriko. "You… you really do want my help, don't you, Azula?"

"I…" Azula froze on the spot: help? She didn't say that word. She didn't want Ty Lee's help, she didn't need it, she was simply a more convenient, efficient and effective companion than her procession! That was all there was to it…!

But Ty Lee's smile was surprisingly kind, genuine even. She gazed at Noriko too, nodding in her direction.

"And I feel like we're going to be great friends!" she said. Noriko smiled and bit her lip. "I'm coming with you!"

"I… I'm grateful that you will join us, lady Ty Lee. So is Princess Azula."

"Princess Azula… can speak for herself," Azula growled. Noriko raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"She can, so long as she speaks what's in her heart," Noriko said, shamelessly. Azula scoffed, and Ty Lee giggled deviously.

"What's so funny?" Azula growled, and Ty Lee clapped happily at her reaction.

"You two are! I like this team!" she said, beaming brightly.

Her simple statement brought a bright smile to Noriko's face. Azula's irritability, her failure to keep her barriers in place, her inability to control the situation fully… all of it sat poorly with the young Princess, who sulked as they rode back to her ship, with Ty Lee happily sitting behind Noriko on their mongoose dragon, chatting her ear off with all sorts of nonsense that didn't concern the Princess in the least… though a stupid, ridiculous thought came to mind once she overheard something Ty Lee was saying.

"… I just feel like your aura's somewhat familiar, you know?" Ty Lee said, sitting behind Noriko, who laughed off the girl's words. "Are you sure we never met?"

"We may have seen each other in passing at times, lady Ty Lee, when you visited Princess Azula in the Palace. Beyond that, I fear it isn't likely," Noriko answered. Ty Lee sighed.

"Well… I'm still glad to know you now, if that's the case!" Ty Lee grinned again.

Would Noriko bond more with Ty Lee? Would they become actual friends and…?

Azula's stomach twisted and tightened as she scowled, furious at herself for that foolish thought. That older woman was a pain, a maid, a servant and not a friend. Ty Lee could befriend her if she pleased, though it was quite embarrassing to be friends with an older person, Azula thought. And quite embarrassing for that older person to only have friends of such young age. Not that she knew how many people Noriko actually was friends with, to be honest…

What did she know of Noriko anyway? She was a maid… a strange one, true. She acted so motherly at times that Azula couldn't help but wonder if she was a mother, or had been one, at some point. What was her life's story? Who had she been before becoming part of the Palace staff?

"I'd rather be a traitor to the Fire Lord than let you become a traitor to yourself."

What the blazes did that mean? How was Noriko so utterly reckless as to utter a phrase as damning as that one? Azula ought to report it to her father once they returned, yes. She ought to…

Her heart ached at the very notion.

At the possibility of losing Noriko's constant support.

She couldn't do that. She couldn't report her, she couldn't turn her in, she couldn't…

She snarled at that realization, speeding up her mongoose dragon – thus, Noriko spurred on hers to keep up with her.

Their journey to Omashu was quick: they reached the city by the next morning. A night's rest allowed Azula to be more level-headed once they arrived: her palanquin marched her into the city, with Ty Lee and Noriko following, and they were greeted by the very person Azula wanted to see. She climbed off the palanquin and approached the dark-haired teenager, whose demeanor was as bleak as it ever had been.

"Please tell me you're here to kill me," said Mai. Azula, a hand on her hip, smirked at her friend, who smirked back. They shared a quick laugh, and Ty Lee jumped forward to hug Mai quickly.

"It's great to see you, Mai," Azula said. Mai patted Ty Lee's back gently.

"I thought you ran off and joined the circus. You said it was your calling," she said. Ty Lee grinned as she pulled back.

"Well, Azula called a little louder. And Noriko did, too!" Ty Lee grinned, clasping the older woman's hand and pulling her forward: Mai's distaste for the woman was immediate.

"Who's this?" she asked. Azula sighed.

"My handmaiden. She's rather stubborn, you see, and won't leave me alone for an instant," Azula said, rolling her eyes. Noriko smiled fondly at Azula.

"It's always a great honor to serve the Princess. And to meet her friends, too," she said, bowing her head towards Mai.

"Well, we're not here simply for sightseeing," Azula said, with a dry grin: she clasped Mai and Ty Lee's shoulders, growing much more serious quickly. "I have a mission, and I need you both."

"Count me in: anything to get me out of this place," Mai said, immediately, scowling at the city she certainly wanted nothing more to do with.

Shortly afterwards, they learned of the current trouble plaguing Omashu: Ukano, Mai's father, had allowed all the Earth Kingdom citizens of Omashu to leave simply because of a reported disease, pentapox, something Azula had never heard of. In that chaos, Tom-Tom, Mai's younger brother, had vanished, presumably taken hostage by the citizens and the resistance that had fled the city.

Thus, Azula took charge. She prepared a plan to handle the complicated circumstances they were in: Ukano had promised to the resistance that he'd exchange King Bumi for his son. Azula had no intentions of allowing said exchange to be finalized, however: the Fire Nation did not negotiate with the enemy.

"I… I hope all goes well in the exchange today, Princess," said Noriko, by the next morning. Azula sighed.

"There will be no exchange. Did I not make that clear?"

"But… you will take back the boy, won't you?" Noriko asked. Azula frowned.

"The boy and the king. We will keep them both, and the resistance will have nothing," Azula declared, proudly. "No one stands in the way of the Fire Nation."

"Good…" Noriko said, with a gentle smile. "I'm glad you intended to save him."

"Of course I did. Why wouldn't I?" Azula said, rolling her eyes. "He's a Fire Nation citizen and I would not allow him to become a coercion tool for our enemies to exploit. The sooner he is returned to his parents, the better."

"No child deserves to grow up without their mother."

Azula froze. The words struck her deeply, in a way she didn't quite comprehend right away. She shot a glare at Noriko: did she not know Azula had grown up without a mother? At least, for the past five years?

The vacant, melancholic expression in the handmaiden's face floored her, though. Azula opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out at all. She swallowed hard and shook her head.

"Some of us have gotten by without a mother," Azula said, simply. Noriko winced: the sadness in her eyes puzzled Azula. "What? Why are you looking at me like…?"

"Your mother was… she didn't do right by you when she was around, did she?" Noriko asked. Azula frowned.

"That's not relevant, is it?" Azula said.

"I'm sorry she failed you," Noriko said. Azula scowled.

"Don't pity me for…"

"This is not pity," Noriko sighed, shaking her head. "You… you deserved better than her, Princess. You, of all children… you deserved better."

Azula's eyes widened: for the second time, Noriko uttered treacherous words… and yet this time they were words that echoed within Azula's very soul in a way she didn't anticipate. Someone saying that her mother was in the wrong…? That her mother had failed her, to a fault?

"You…" Azula started, before clearing her throat. "You will provide us with your aid in today's mission. You shall take the child… while me, Mai and Ty Lee defeat the resistance, should they put up a fight. They're likely to try. So… stay sharp, and make sure to run with the child as soon as the opportunity arises. Understood?"

"Yes, Princess," Noriko said, offering her a gentle smile. Azula nodded.

"Then let's go."

The exchange happened at the height of the tallest pyramid of Omashu. By the time they arrived, the resistance members were already there… Noriko lurked inside the construction area, hidden away from the others so she wouldn't interfere in such a delicate situation without meaning to.

Azula stepped forward, following Mai as King Bumi was lowered right behind them. The king laughed and snorted, being all around ridiculous while Azula studied the situation carefully: they were up against two teenagers, and the one standing at the front of the group them was a child, instead. The resistance was certainly peculiar…

She couldn't help but assume that the child, so young and innocent-looking, couldn't be the leader of the group. Instead… the one holding Tom-Tom caught her eye. He glared at them intensely, ignoring the baby as best he could while Tom-Tom patted his face in some foolish attempt to amuse himself.

Those clothes… blue? It was a rare color. His skin tone, too… his hairstyle, even the weapons he carried with him immediately stood out to Azula as she assessed the situation. If the circumstances were any different she might have even let herself take notice of his looks… but she had a job to do, and she'd do so now that Mai had exchanged a few words with the younger member of the other group.

"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me: we're trading a two-year-old for a king? A powerful, earthbending king?" Azula recited her lines of the dialogue they had prepared ahead of the exchange. Mai glanced back at her with feigned interest. "It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?"

"You're right," Mai said, glaring at her brother, at the people holding him, before raising a hand and exclaiming: "The deal's off!"

And so, the chaos began anew: Noriko barely caught sight of any of what happened once Azula bent a blast of blue flames towards her foes. But she certainly overheard her words when her fire failed to hit its target:

"The Avatar!" Azula smirked knowingly. "My lucky day."

She marched towards the construction area, on her way to a lever: she glanced towards Noriko on her way there, and she shouted:

"Go get the child, now!"

And with that, she clasped a rope and took off, rising to the height of the statue's construction site.

Noriko swallowed heavily as she ran through the construction area, towards where the enemy stood. They hadn't seen her… so she simply had to be stealthy and take the child when they were fighting, that was all she had to do…

Oh, but they were all children, and they were fighting each other instead of being friends. Her heart ached upon realizing as much, and she grieved for it in silence, arriving at the other end of the construction site just in time to see the dark-skinned boy rushing down a ladder.

"Wait! Wait!" she called, making for the ladder too.

The boy turned towards her, immediately hostile, raising his boomerang as to defend the child from her. Noriko climbed down the ladder awkwardly before reaching him, breathing heavily over the strain from the last moments.

"T-that boy belongs with his family!" she said. The young man scoffed.

"Tell that to the girl who thinks he's not worth trading a king for!" he said, though he grimaced. "To be honest, it's not like I don't see her point… but still! Stay away!"

"Princess Azula may seem harsh, but she didn't mean to keep the child from his family!" Noriko said. The boy eyed her skeptically.

"But she literally just said…! Wait. Wait. Princess who, now?!"

"Princess Azula…?" Noriko said. His jaw dropped. He grimaced before raising his voice as loudly as he could.

"KATARA! THAT FIREBENDING GIRL'S ZUKO'S SISTER!"

"WHAT?!" a female voice – that of his companion – drifted down from above.

"Do you know Zuko?" asked Noriko, eyes wide.

"Oh, you mean the crazy ponytail guy who's always trying to kill us?!"

"W-wha-…? Kill you?! That's not…!"

"Oh, lady, don't tell me you don't realize your Prince and Princess are out for blood," the boy huffed: a scary roar startled Noriko just as a massive creature flew up to their level, reaching the place where the boy stood – only then did Noriko notice he had a white whistle in his hand. "The Fire Nation's willing to discard their own, you saw it just now…!"

"She wanted me to retrieve the boy!"

Noriko's confession startled the young man just as he was about to climb on the bison's saddle. He frowned at her as Noriko breathed deeply.

"You will find it dishonorable anyway…! But she wanted both the king and the child! Her methods… they weren't the wisest, and I'll be sure to tell her so! But please… let me bring that baby back to his parents. Please."

"And what about Bumi?!" the boy huffed. "The king is…!"

An echoing laughter, drifting down through the chutes of Omashu, froze the Water Tribe boy in the middle of his demands. He glanced over his shoulder… and he saw the Avatar rushing downhill, riding the king's imprisonment device on one of the city's chutes. Shortly afterwards, one of the chutes' carts followed, ridden by none other than Princess Azula.

"Ah…!" Noriko gasped. "That's so dangerous…!"

"This is war: everything's dangerous, lady," the boy replied… though he stepped forward and offered the child to her. "You're sure you'll return him? Promise me…!"

"He'll be safe. I swear it. I promise, I… oh, thank you, young man. Thank you…" Noriko said, smiling as she took Tom-Tom in her arms when he handed her the toddler. The teenager frowned still as he jumped on the bison's saddle. "W-what is your name? So I may thank you properly…!"

"What?! You don't need to know my name, I…!"

"SOKKA!"

"Oh, damn… Katara!" Sokka shouted, shaking the reins of the bison and flying quickly to help his sister. Noriko, holding the baby, smiled as she watched him fade from her field of vision, once the construction site hid the large bison.

"Then… thank you, Sokka."

The deceitful hostage exchange didn't proceed according to plan at all: Mai and Ty Lee nearly took a bad wound upon being flung violently away by the bison's tail. Azula's relentless pursuit of the Avatar went nowhere, for King Bumi somehow proved capable of bending earth while still in imprisonment, endangering Azula in the middle of their pursuit. The Princess returned to her friends, scowling heavily… until her eyes fell upon Noriko, who had only just rejoined them too. Her lips parted at the sight of the restless boy in her arms.

"You… you did it," Azula said, stepping toward Noriko and smiling slightly. "Well, I suppose this wasn't a complete failure… though I did fail. I'm pleased that the three of you did not."

"You were chasing the Avatar… if anything, I'm relieved he didn't do anything worse to harm you," said Noriko, gazing at her with heartfelt concern.

"You got Tom-Tom?" Mai asked, puzzled. Noriko smiled as she offered the child to Mai, who picked him up almost unwillingly, going by the grimace on her face as Tom-Tom giggled carelessly in her arms.

"That young man…" Noriko said, smiling. Azula raised an eyebrow. "He handed him over to me when I told him I would bring Tom-Tom to his family. I suppose it's inevitable that we would be enemies…"

"They're the Avatar's group, so it is inevitable," Azula said, bluntly. Noriko smiled and shrugged.

"I couldn't help but think they look like good kids. Much like the three of you do."

Ty Lee giggled, jumping to hug Noriko. Mai, of course, grimaced in displeasure. Azula's heart fluttered stupidly again… but she said nothing other than nodding at Noriko until she heard a strange, scraping sound behind them.

"Well, hello again!"

Azula's jaw dropped at the sight of the King's imprisonment device: the man had somehow bent his way back to the top of the pyramid while still inside it. He laughed in a rather disturbing way as they gaped at him in surprise.

"I'm back! It's not time yet!" he said.

"It… it won't ever be time, actually," Azula said, though she smiled as she stepped towards Bumi. "But… you're back. Which means…"

"You didn't fail," Mai said, simply.

Her work to ensure that Bumi would remain their prisoner hadn't paid off, it was true… but Azula smiled upon registering that Mai was right: unlike how it had been with Zuko's capture, she had succeeded at resolving Omashu's trouble while maintaining control over both the King and Tom-Tom. She hadn't failed. She hadn't caught the Avatar, no… but she hadn't failed.

"Well, then… let's take your brother to your parents, Mai," Azula said, with a proud grin. "We'll be setting out after that."

"To find Zuko and Iroh?" said Ty Lee. Mai raised her eyebrows.

"We're tracking down her brother and uncle?" she asked. Ty Lee smirked knowingly at her.

"It'll be interesting seeing Zuko again, won't it, Mai?" she teased, and Mai finally smiled too.

"It's not just Zuko and Iroh anymore," Azula said, with determination. "We have a third target now."

From that point onwards, their group would travel through new means: Lo and Li would drive the train-tank the Mechanist had designed by the Fire Lord's command, carrying Azula's team in it. The three teenage girls would be ready to strike against their foes as soon as they found any of them.

"This is so noisy," Mai groaned – that, admittedly, was the greater drawback of the chaotic, complex machine.

"It's the best method to travel quickly across the Earth Kingdom. We won't find Zuko and Iroh if we keep traveling on my ship," Azula declared: she and Noriko shared one of the seats of the vehicle while Mai and Ty Lee sat opposite them.

"Or the Avatar," Ty Lee remarked. Azula nodded.

"All the reports my father received were correct: he is only a child after all," Azula said, crossing her legs as she folded her arms over her chest. "I expect we will be able to exploit his inexperience."

"It's not just him, though. He has that waterbender, and the other boy…" Ty Lee said. Azula hummed and nodded.

"The leader," she said. All the group stared at her in confusion. "What? He is their leader."

"How do you know that for sure?" Mai asked.

"The Avatar was standing in front of them, wasn't he?" Ty Lee asked.

"The one holding Tom-Tom was him," Azula said. "And not only that… but you say he didn't confer with the waterbender to confirm he could give you Tom-Tom, did he, Noriko?"

"Oh… he didn't," Noriko confirmed. Azula smirked.

"He makes his own decisions, he doesn't wait for the Avatar or the waterbender to give him permission to do anything, so… he's their leader."

"The non-bender is the leader?" Mai repeated. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so surprising?" she asked. "You three are non-benders and I chose to travel with you instead of my procession. Is it that unthinkable? The other two appear much younger than him, so…"

"So, it could be a matter of age?" Noriko asked. Azula shrugged.

"Well, whether you're right or not, Azula, I thought he was cute," Ty Lee said, simply. Mai scoffed as Azula sighed, shaking her head.

"Unsurprising…"

"Your tastes are weirder every day," Mai said. Ty Lee gasped, affronted.

"Says someone who thinks Zuko is cute?" Azula asked, smirking derisively at Mai. Mai huffed.

"Well, Zuko is cute too, but so is this guy, and…!" Ty Lee froze suddenly, glancing at Azula. "Wait. I guess you could just be making fun of Mai, but… oh, Azula, do you think the Avatar's friend is cute too?!"

"I… no! I didn't say that!" Azula huffed: her cheeks, however, turned red.

"You didn't not say that either, though!" Ty Lee gasped, eyes wide with delight as Mai covered her face with a hand.

"You two are out of your minds…"

"I'm not…! I never said I thought anything of the sort, he's an enemy, and…!"

"It's forbidden love!" Ty Lee exclaimed, hugging Mai's arm as Azula rolled her eyes.

"You're such a child when you get any ridiculous romance ideas in your head, Ty Lee. Honestly…"

She stopped dismissing Ty Lee, though, when her eyes fell upon Noriko: the woman's gaze glowed with wonderment and Azula tensed up immediately.

"W-what's with you?! What are you looking at me like that for?!"

"Your… your first crush? Sokka is your first crush?!"

"Sokka? Is that his name?!" Ty Lee gasped, clapping happily. "Oh, yes! Oh, I feel this is a wonderful story waiting to happen…!"

"It's not! And he's not my first crush, he's not my first anything!" Azula huffed. Mai raised an eyebrow.

"Could be why you think so highly of him, actually. To the point of assuming a non-bender could be the leader of a group that includes the Avatar…"

"Oh, you three are just… ugh!"

They would be a pain, of course they would be, for however long they cared to be: she wasn't about to admit to having found the tall boy with the boomerang a little handsome, no, otherwise they'd never let her live it down. It didn't matter if he was good-looking or not, though: she had a mission, and that boy was simply in her way. He was inconsequential, for all she truly needed to do was to capture the Avatar, Zuko and Iroh, and bring them to her father as soon as possible.

Their new plan came together a few days later, once they noticed a strange trail of white fur around the southeastern territories of the Earth Kingdom. They marched at full speed, chasing down what Azula pinpointed as fur shed by the Avatar's creature, and they even came across their group at night, in the mountains:

"You should say hi to your crush now that you have the chance…" Ty Lee smiled deviously at Azula, who shot her a scathing glare as the train-tank's door opened.

"Focus, Ty Lee," Azula hissed: within moments, she, Mai and Ty Lee took off at haste on their mongoose dragons, and Azula attacked only to be thwarted by earthbending… ah. Their team had a new member, looked like.

That attempt to attack the Avatar's exhausted group didn't yield results, either, and Azula deeply hoped no one would pretend that she'd failed to capture their foes solely over her alleged interest in that boy. Sokka was his name, was it? Noriko said as much, but… oh, his name didn't matter, all that mattered was seizing the Avatar. They could fly as far as they dared on their bison, but they wouldn't get away for good…

Until their trail led Azula's team to a river.

Azula, Mai, Ty Lee and Noriko climbed off the train-tank when Lo and Li reported something was odd about the fur's pattern. Azula confirmed as much, kneeling by the river and picking up the strange patches of fur while Ty Lee rambled about clumps behind her.

"The trail goes this way," Mai said, pointing towards the nearest batch of fur inland. Azula glared in that direction before rising to her feet, inspecting her surroundings intently.

"Is she looking for him…?" Ty Lee asked. Mai grimaced.

"Could you stop thinking about this crazy romance you've made up for two seconds?" she asked. Ty Lee giggled guiltily and shrugged.

"The Avatar is trying to give us the slip," Azula said, startling her companions and pointing towards a tree: an unnaturally broken branch suggested a flying creature might have collided with it. "We saw him using his glider in Omashu. They washed their furry creature here, and he collected fur with which he's creating a false trail."

"And… you think the bison went that way?" Mai asked, raising an eyebrow as she pointed at the broken tree. Azula nodded.

"You two will head in that direction and keep an eye out for the bison. I'll follow the Avatar's trail," she said, with determination.

"Wait… but the Avatar can't glide with lots of people, can he?" Ty Lee reasoned. Azula raised an eyebrow. "It means Sokka is that way, you know, with the bison! Azula, you should go that way!"

"This isn't the time for your nonsense, Ty Lee!" Azula huffed, glaring at her friend, who pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "The Avatar is dangerous, and neither of you can fight him. You'll be better served by capturing his allies, you can defeat them far more easily. If you make them our hostages, we will succeed even if I fail to defeat him. We will be able to use them to capture the Avatar and then we shall deliver him to my father. It's as simple as that."

"Ugh, whatever," Mai sighed. Ty Lee pouted.

"You should go meet up with Sokka, though…"

"Curses… weren't you the one who said you found him cute? Go find him yourself, then!" Azula huffed, cheeks flushed. "All the more reason for you to go in that direction!"

"I can't do that to you! He's your first crush!" Ty Lee huffed. Azula covered her face with her hands. "No, no, no! Girl code applies here, I'm deferring to you completely, Azula! Good luck!"

"Don't wish me luck, just get on your mongoose dragon and go find that bison!" Azula huffed. Ty Lee didn't seem as moody anymore as she grinned at her, taking off to obey her orders.

Azula scowled, shaking her head dismissively… until she saw Noriko standing beside her. She raised an eyebrow and Noriko blinked blankly.

"We will be going after the Avatar, right…?" Noriko said. Azula's jaw dropped.

"We? You and me?" Azula repeated. Noriko smiled and nodded. "No, you… you'll go with Mai and Ty Lee as well."

"What? But Princess…!"

"Do as I say, Noriko!" Azula huffed, marching up to her own mongoose dragon and shooting the woman a significant glare.

She didn't allow any further rebuttals from the woman: without another word, Azula took off to follow the false trail of bison fur while Noriko was left behind with Mai and Ty Lee.

"You know… all jokes about her crush aside? Azula has changed a lot," Ty Lee said, with a more serious tone than before. Mai hummed.

"Changed?" Noriko said, glancing over her shoulder. "In what way, if I may ask…?"

"Well… she really cares about you," Ty Lee giggled: Noriko's eyes widened.

"It's as if you're the mother figure she never knew she wanted in life," Mai commented with a bored tone, before sighing. "I can't believe she's being that corny, but anyway… we have to go, don't we?"

"We do! Let's do this!" Ty Lee giggled, urging Noriko to climb on her own mongoose dragon.

The three creatures ran quickly, covering ground in a matter of moments until that large creature showed up in the sky: they heard the young man screeching his companion's name, and their bison was supposed to speed up further… but it dove down towards the ground, instead.

"Well, here's our shot…" Mai said. Ty Lee grinned brightly.

"To get Azula a date with her dream boy!"

"That's not our goal here, Ty Lee…!" Mai grimaced with distaste as her friend sped up further.

Their chase saw the mongoose dragons crossing the river awkwardly: the waterbender attacked them then. Noriko tried to stay out of the way of the two fighters, but she still attempted to help in some ways by distracting the opponents… namely Sokka.

"Hi there!" Noriko called him. Sokka winced. "Remember me?"

"Woah, weird lady!" Sokka exclaimed while dodging Mai's projectiles. "Did you turn the kid over to his family?!"

"Oh, I did indeed!" Noriko exclaimed.

"Well…! Great! Good to know!" Sokka said: he and his companion switched opponents now, and now Ty Lee fought him instead…

"We don't have to fight!" Ty Lee said. "We can just talk things over…!"

"Talk what over?!" Sokka exclaimed: his attempt to attack Ty Lee, however, went nowhere when his arm failed to move after she struck it. "Ugh…!"

"Ty Lee, cut it out!" Mai shouted while battling Katara fiercely. Ty Lee huffed, shaking her head.

"Look, my friend has a crush on you!" Ty Lee revealed, beaming brightly: the rigid Sokka, preparing to raise his weapon, froze on the spot and shot Mai a confused stare. Her reaction, of course, was that of utter disgust.

"Ew, not me!" she roared. Katara snorted.

"What the hell is going on here?!" she exclaimed, freezing Mai's latest attack in midair.

"Don't ask me!" Sokka huffed, as Ty Lee groaned in frustration.

"Princess Azula has a crush on you, Sokka!"

Sokka's jaw dropped. All fighting ceased as the girl in the pink outfit finished making her statement proudly. Mai slapped her face with a hand as Katara, her opponent, marched past her with an outraged expression on her face.

"Y-you just said… huh?!" Sokka froze on the spot, eyes wide – and bloodshot too, for he hadn't slept properly in over a day now.

"Sokka! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Katara roared.

"You're asking me?! I have no idea either, Katara! I only saw her once in Omashu and…!"

He froze then, blinking blankly as if to remember the girl in question: his confused expression then changed to intrigue, as he raised his eyebrows and tapped his chin with his free hand.

"And she wasn't half-bad, I guess, but…"

"SOKKA!"

"What?! I'm just saying…!"

"The Princess of the Fire Nation has a crush on you?! That's seriously what's going on here?!" Katara asked, glaring at Ty Lee and at Noriko, standing not far behind her. "Is it?!"

"W-well… no, not just that, but we did come after you in the hopes of letting you know that you had an admirer, as well as, uh, well…" Noriko said, biting her lip.

"As well as capturing you and using you as bait to capture the Avatar, next," Mai stated, bluntly: Sokka and Katara glanced at her in horror as Mai stepped forward, to stand along Ty Lee and Noriko. "That's our primary mission, if anything. They're the ones who got that other nonsense into their heads."

"W-wait. But does she actually like me, or…?" Sokka asked: Katara smacked the back of his head. "Hey!"

"Stop fantasizing about dating the Fire Nation Princess! This is war, Sokka!"

"I'm not fantasizing, this could be good for us! If she actually likes me then, uh, I could actually agree to go on a date with her if she promises to leave us alone! How's that?!"

"Unlikely to work, considering you just announced your brilliant plan in front of her allies. Very smart of you," Mai said, deadpan as ever. Sokka winced.

"Uh… I'm sleep-deprived, okay? Not making the soundest decisions ever, no thanks to you, dangerous ladies," Sokka grimaced, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. Katara, beside him, huffed and shook her head. "Why are you acting like this is my fault?"

"Because…! I mean, it has to be! Why would the Fire Nation Princess feel anything about… ah!"

"Mai!" Ty Lee gasped: her friend had rolled her eyes, clearly bored by the conversation, and she had flung another of her blades in Katara's direction.

"I really thought things would be more interesting once we caught up with them… but it looks like victory is boring," she said, glaring dangerously at the Water Tribe siblings…

A loud roar was the next thing that echoed in the area before the bison's large tail swept over Mai, Ty Lee and Noriko, flinging them right into the river they were fighting by.

The three managed to reach the safety of the shore without much trouble – the water wasn't too deep – but not before the bison and his two humans took off anew. Noriko sighed, biting her lip as she squeezed water from her braid, much as Ty Lee did.

"Well, I hope we didn't ruin Azula's chances with Sokka…" Ty Lee said, and Noriko grimaced.

"We might have. She won't be pleased," she said.

"Won't she? They took off again. Bet they're going to go help the Avatar, so… she'll get to see her 'crush', if he really is that at all," Mai said, rolling her eyes.

She spoke the words carelessly… but they sank in on Noriko after a moment.

The bison would fly in the Avatar's direction… Azula would face their full group on her own?

She might be strong enough to defeat them, she really might be. But Noriko couldn't think rationally whenever her charge was in danger.

"We have to go! Now!" she exclaimed.

They had no choice but to return to Azula's side. Azula might be strong enough to win on her own… but in the case she wasn't, Noriko meant to reach her on time to shield her from any harm, no matter what.

Fighting two opponents didn't prove as taxing as it could have been, no matter how chaotic the fighting area was: the Avatar grew cocky at one point, hovering in the ruins of a building without floors with his strange, swirling ball technique. Azula succeeded at avoiding a fall… and Zuko rushed in recklessly behind her. It was, however, not the Avatar's victory just yet, no matter how distracted he was by Zuko's undignified fall: Azula attacked, and the Avatar's defenses weren't much good this time.

With one powerful blow, Azula succeeded at knocking Zuko down briefly, flinging him through a wall while chasing after the Avatar before he ran away: her razor-sharp firebending tore down chunks of the building, causing the Avatar to fall amid debris… and that meant her victory was as good as guaranteed, at long last.

Azula stepped forward: she shot fire into the crumbled building, causing the boy to gape at her in fear as the blue inferno turned orange once she stopped bending it. She dared smirk, raising a hand menacingly, ready to summon a new burst of blue fire…

A sudden water whip that wrapped around Azula's wrist, yanking her back and away from the Avatar: the waterbender? Curses: Mai and Ty Lee had failed…

"STAY AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!"

Azula blinked blankly as she turned around: the attack she had been readying faltered as she stared at the waterbender in perplexity. Was the Avatar her brother? They looked nothing alike…

"Katara!" the Avatar cried out: Azula scowled before powering her fire again: the water whip struck her anew, but her flames succeeded at causing her new enemy to flee.

Azula ran after her: the Avatar was trapped in debris, but if new people had joined the fray, it meant her intent to capture the boy was about to become more complicated…

Her certainty to fight against the newcomers wavered, however, when she came across the tall boomerang boy, even if he was brandishing a club right now, instead.

"Uh… hi there?" Sokka said, before swinging the club in her direction.

"Sokka!" Katara's shout startled Azula. "Don't flirt with her!"

"I just said hi!"

Azula's eyes widened: her stance nearly broke as she leapt away from them both: flirting? This was a battle!

"What nonsense are you prattling about?!" Azula huffed, aiming a new attack at the boy, who screamed and rushed away from her.

"See? I told you it made no sense! She doesn't like me, her friends are just crazy!"

Azula's eyebrow twitched as her eyes widened.

No way.

Those idiots hadn't told this complete stranger that she had some sort of crush on him, had they?

"What did you just…?" Azula gasped: the Avatar had managed to loosen up the debris by now, though, causing Azula to backtrack as the three made to corner her.

Still, something about the boy's words caused unrest in her chest. She glared at Sokka in particular, trying to sound menacing and intimidating… rather than fearful.

"Where are they? What have you done to my allies?!" she shouted.

"Uh, it was Appa, but they just got soaked in a river," Sokka responded. "I'm sure they're fine, though…"

Azula snarled: she expected Mai and Ty Lee would be alright… but a strange part of her heart suddenly seemed to quake in terror over Noriko's fate. The woman was no fighter, she was hardly a capable rider, let alone could she do more than that… she had sent her away to the safer fight deliberately, to ensure she would be fine. And now…

Now she had to defeat these three in order to return to her.

Well, she'd ensure to bring the captured Avatar with her once she reunited with Noriko, that much was a certainty.

She fought the Avatar's group, finding them far more resilient and skilled at fighting firebenders than she anticipated – she knew herself fortunate that their current location was as dry as it was, otherwise, the waterbender would have been a much bigger threat. Yet while all three of her foes were clearly merciless, the ridiculous banter over her alleged feelings for the tall boy had yet to cease.

"Say what? She likes you, Sokka? Wow!" the Avatar laughed. Sokka made a sound of frustration and exasperation.

"What's so surprising about it?! I'm not a bad catch!"

"I never said I felt anything of the sort!" Azula roared: why the hell were her cheeks flushing? Why the blazes was she embarrassed over something that wasn't even real…?

She had very little time to ponder that when she nearly fell face-first into the dirt: the team's new earthbender knocked off her balance, and the others rejoiced in her apparently unexpected arrival. Azula, however, wouldn't stick around to let her enemies continue gathering their strength. Curses, she had hoped to take the Avatar, but now…

Her attempt to run away was broken by her uncle, who knocked her down with his voluminous belly somehow.

After that, Azula found herself backed into a corner, breathing heavily as her foes closed in around her, including her brother. She smirked as she scanned the opponents, knowing the situation was not in her favor, but the minute she found an opening, even a measly one…

"Are you going to ask her out?" the Avatar blurted out suddenly: Azula's focus broke, just as Iroh glanced at the earthbender.

"Aang!" Sokka huffed: his cheeks were red… much like Azula's were, too.

"Ask her out? Was that what this was about all along?" the earthbender girl smirked. "Guess that's one reason to chase a guy all across the world, huh?"

"That's not what…! Ugh! I have no interest in any of you! Enemies and traitors…" Azula hissed, eyes gliding over the others frantically… only to land on a disgusted Zuko. "What's with the face, Zuzu?"

"Zuzu?!" Sokka and Katara exclaimed as Zuko blushed. Aang snickered.

"That's what she calls him," he confirmed.

"You know what? I think I wouldn't mind asking her out if just because of that," Sokka laughed…

And Azula's stomach fluttered. He just said… what? No. She wouldn't say yes even if he did ask her anywhere, and…!

She was losing her mind. She was losing her grip. What was wrong with her? They were closing in, ready to strike, they were her enemies and she couldn't fall into their control! If she did, then…!

The sudden sound of very heavy and fast footsteps startled her. She frowned, glancing in the direction of the sound as the grounds beneath their feet shook with ripples of heavy movement…

Her jaw dropped when Noriko, riding a mongoose dragon, her hair a chaotic mess, showed up around the corner, running in her direction.

"AZULA!"

The Princess's eyes widened. A few of her opponents actually ventured a glance towards the approaching mongoose dragon, followed by two more such creatures…

"What are you doing…?" was all Azula could say before the creature arrived.

Noriko leaned down, scooping her up as if she were a child, and the mongoose dragon rode off, away from the dangerous scene where Azula had almost become a prisoner to her enemies.

"Wait…!" Katara gasped: she didn't dare attack and, to her surprise, neither did Zuko nor Iroh, much closer to the creature than she had been.

Zuko watched the mongoose dragon with utmost confusion… and his eyes met Noriko's. For a moment, their gazes collided and the older woman offered him sympathy, regret, even… and then she took off anyway, her mongoose dragon trotting off into the distance.

"Wait for me!" Ty Lee exclaimed: she spurred her mongoose dragon to follow the other two, leaving Azula's many opponents to watch as she vanished into the distance.

"What just happened…?" Toph said.

"Sokka's girlfriend got stolen away, I guess," Aang said, with a shrug. Sokka grimaced, cheeks flushing anew.

"She's not my girlfriend! She said she doesn't like me!"

"She does."

"What d'you know?! Uh, wait a second…" Sokka blinked blankly as he realized the one insisting on it had not been any of his friends, let alone Iroh or Zuko…

Instead, it was Azula's companion: the dark-haired one that marched her mongoose dragon up to Zuko. The exiled prince gazed at her in confusion.

"Mai…" he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Azula recruited me to help her find you and your uncle. Guess I found you alright," Mai said. Zuko frowned.

"Well, she's gone and you should go with her too. I'm not letting Azula catch me," he said, stubbornly.

"That's none of my concern. I simply came here to find you," Mai said, bluntly. Zuko raised his sole eyebrow.

"W-wait… you mean you won't turn me in to the Fire Nation?" he asked. Mai blinked blankly.

"Do you want me to?"

"No!"

"Then why would I?" Mai said. "I came here for you, Zuko. I'm staying with you."

Zuko's jaw dropped: Iroh, beside him, let out a hearty giggle, elbowing his ribs gently as his nephew's cheeks lit up.

"I guess you found a lady friend…!" he said.

"Uncle…! Cut it out!" Zuko huffed.

Mai raised an eyebrow before glancing to her right: the Avatar's group, it seemed, was sneaking off silently. The bison wasn't far away, and by the time Zuko noticed they were halfway there, the group broke into a full sprint, climbing on the creature's saddle quickly.

"WAIT!" Zuko roared, but it was obvious the Avatar's group wasn't about to waste their chances to run away. "Damn it… gone again!"

"Zuko…" Iroh said, and his nephew groaned.

"I know, I know… I'll do better next time, damn it, but I was so close!" he growled. Iroh sighed, though a smile lit his face quickly.

"Though… if we catch them eventually, we could just take the Avatar and distract Azula by handing over the boy she likes, should she close in on us!" Iroh declared: Zuko grimaced Iroh grinned at Mai. "Because you say she does like him, do you?"

"Looks like it. I have no idea what she sees in him… but I don't really care," Mai said, simply: her eyes fell upon Zuko again, and he felt his stomach twisting with unexpected nervousness upon realizing that the person Mai had come here for, the only real reason why she had joined Azula, was him…

"We're fugitives," Zuko said. "And we're in danger, Mai, constantly. You're sure you're going to take your chances joining me and Uncle Iroh?"

She smiled: the sight was unusual, and Iroh found it a little foreboding… but Zuko smiled, pleasantly surprised, all in all, by the surprising outcome that day had brought him. Iroh was back by his side… and so was Mai.

"You're fools! Utter fools! Of all the things you could've done… you went and told the enemy that I was romantically interested in him?!"

Hidden away in a distant, abandoned cabin, far from the ghost town where the fight had taken place, Azula stared down Noriko and Ty Lee, who eyed Azula guiltily.

"Well… I thought he looked like he might be interested too," Ty Lee pouted: Azula cried out in exasperation. "And he really did look like it! His sister – I think she's his sister anyway – she was scolding him for it and, well… it was kind of funny, heh. But I mean, Azula…!"

"We were out of line," Noriko said, and Azula turned towards her with a heavy frown. The woman closed her eyes and bowed her head towards the Princess. "I… I thought we could help you find some happiness, but… I made a terrible mistake by not showing better sense or restraint. You were in grave danger, and I… I'm sorry, Princess. I'm sorry."

Azula's anger froze over: the genuine emotion in Noriko's voice took her by surprise. Even Ty Lee seemed confused by how seriously the woman was taking her mistakes… by how worried she had been for Azula's sake. The Princess, however, wasn't about to voice her own emotions just yet. She cleared her throat and shook her head.

"If so… then very well. I accept your apology," Azula said. Ty Lee raised her eyebrows, smiling at Azula. "Hers, not yours. Considering you haven't even apologized…"

"But Azula…!"

"Save it!"

Ty Lee pouted as Azula shook her head: they would rest in the cabin for now, and they'd find whatever they could to eat and feed the exhausted mongoose dragons before making the long trek back to the train-tank. Survival was the priority, not people's feelings, let alone people who didn't seem to care to understand what Azula's actual feelings were, in the first place…

They built a small fire within the hut, and Ty Lee fell asleep quickly after a weak dinner comprised by wild berries that Azula deeply hoped wouldn't be poisonous. She sat within the cabin too, but Noriko sat outside instead. The Princess breathed out slowly before making up her mind to speak with the woman – hours had gone by since the chaotic confrontation in the ghost town, so Azula's frustration had dimmed sufficiently to speak calmly with Noriko, at the very least.

The woman sat right by the door, hugging her knees to her chest. Azula sat beside her, and Noriko spared her a guilty glance.

"You should rest, Princess. I'm keeping watch…"

"You don't have to do that," Azula said, curtly. Noriko smiled sadly.

"I can't do much else for you… I'm as good as a liability. If I can at least ensure that you'll sleep soundly… then my presence here will be justified, regardless of the mistakes I've made."

"Mistakes?" Azula asked. "You mean… telling that boy whatever you told him?"

"Well… that was a mistake too, and we were out of place for certain. I'm sorry about that," Noriko said, eyeing her remorsefully. "I hope… I hope we didn't humiliate you. And that, if you truly feel anything for that boy, well…"

"He's an enemy," Azula said, curtly. Noriko smiled and shrugged.

"He seems like a good boy," she said. Azula raised her eyebrows. "They all do, truth be told. It… it seems like such a waste that this world would be so dark and unpleasant. In other circumstances… all of you might be friends. But as it is…"

"You make a sport of saying treasonous things, seems like," Azula said, softly. Noriko smiled.

"Either way, I… I'm also sorry for intervening without your request or permission. I couldn't… couldn't think properly once I realized you were in danger. All I could do, all I wanted to do, was rescue you…"

"And you did," Azula said, simply. Noriko gritted her teeth.

"You had a chance to finish your two missions… and I took you away before you could do so. I… I would likely do that again, if anything similar happened, and that… that makes me a terrible companion for you, I fear. I care for you so much that… that the mere notion of you being hurt sends me into a spiral of panic. I need to protect you and yet… I'm so weak that I have no idea how to do it. I… I'm sorry, Princess. I'm sorry. I wish I were a better companion than I can be."

Azula's eyes widened: she cared for her…? Well, that was no surprise, Noriko had always watched over her. But that was the first time she had said those words so bluntly, and…

It was the first time anyone had said those words to her, altogether.

Azula flinched, swallowing hard and averting her gaze from the woman: that tingling, growing sensation within her chest seemed to embrace her heart now… to trigger a strange feeling she wasn't sure she had experienced before. Because someone cared for her… someone wanted her to be safe, even if it was someone who had next to no tools, no means to ensure that she would be.

But Noriko had looked after her for three years. She had fixed Azula's hair, helped her make better choices with her makeup, talked with her about anything Azula wanted to talk about, and sat in silence whenever Azula wanted silence, too. She had taken care of Azula's laundry, of fixing her bed, of bringing her every meal, accompanying her to places, even places as distant as the Earth Kingdom's southeastern territories, where they were now…

She had jumped into what could have been mortal danger today, too, just to pick up Azula and take her to safety.

"For someone who… who feels so weak, it's quite unnerving how strong you are," Azula said, with a small smile. "No one else stands up to me as much as you do, so… don't sell yourself so short, Noriko."

"I… w-well, I'm glad that doesn't displease you much, if so," Noriko said, smiling a little too. Azula breathed deeply, glancing at her with uncertainty.

"You probably shouldn't have done what you did. And I… I probably should have scolded you for it. But the odds weren't in my favor today. Even if I managed to flee somehow, I… I would have never captured Zuko, Iroh or the Avatar. And Mai stayed with Zuko, to boot… not that it's surprising, really."

"She has always… uh, always liked him, I understand?" Noriko asked. Azula nodded.

"I suppose what you and Ty Lee started about me and this boy amused her only so she could get back at me for all my teasing of her crush on him," Azula sighed.

"Is… Zuko good to her?" Noriko asked. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Good?" she repeated. "In what sense, exactly?"

"Do you think they could have a… a healthy relationship?" Noriko asked. Azula scoffed.

"Unlikely… though that's true to any members of my family, I suppose," Azula said, with a shrug. "We're royal. Very little about us can be healthy, Noriko."

"I suppose that makes sense, but…" Noriko said, sighing. "I suppose I had hopes that the two of you might find happiness, regardless of the family's pressures."

"Happiness isn't a priority," Azula said, simply. "The Fire Nation and the Fire Lord are. All our happiness should come from…"

"From serving him?" Noriko asked. Azula nodded, though her brow furrowed slightly. "You have experienced happiness, though… haven't you? If only in small ways."

"I don't know," Azula said, simply – her heart, fickle and treacherous, urged her to say yes.

"If not…" Noriko said, gritting her teeth. "Then I hope you do, in the future. As I hope Zuko does, too, no matter if, well… if sometimes it feels like I don't know who he is anymore."

"Oh? Because of his scar?" Azula asked. Noriko winced, but she shook her head.

"His scar… the physical side of it isn't all there was to his pain," she said. "His father's rejection, his failure to rise to his expectations… all of it must have devastated him. But the truth is, I… I don't think he's ever noticed me, Princess. I stood between the two of you, and…"

"And he shoved you off," Azula repeated, scowling.

"Right now, he stared at me and… and it felt like the first time he's properly seen at all," Noriko said, biting her lip "I'm worried about his demeanor, his behavior, his treatment of others. When I started working for him, at the Palace, I… I felt invisible. As though he couldn't see me because all he could see was his father. The only thing that mattered was pleasing him… and those of us who weren't Ozai were as good as insignificant. You, of course, weren't insignificant, but…"

"But I was an obstacle in his path. A challenge he needed to prove himself superior to," Azula finished. Noriko grimaced. "Mai… she was a girl who liked him, and I suppose that boosted his self-esteem even higher than it got boosted after he became heir to the throne. You'd have thought he'd always been born to be Fire Lord, with the way his confidence grew in the years since… since Father's coronation."

"I believe he… he is a good boy. That his heart is in the right place," Noriko said. "But… he's gone astray in ways I never anticipated. So I… I'm left to wonder if I knew him at all. I suppose I should ask you, shouldn't I? About… about who your brother really is,"

"You know who he is," Azula said, simply. "The Crown Prince in Exile…"

"That's his title. That's not who he is."

It wasn't the first time Noriko said words of the sort. The conviction with which she spoke them made Azula self-aware, and she shivered as she glanced at the stern woman beside her.

"What he's been through would change and hurt anyone… it's been a scarring, damning experience in ways most of us would never understand. I know I'll never truly understand his pain… I hope you don't, either," Noriko said, gazing at Azula heartily. "It isn't out of lack of empathy that I say what I do, only… out of fear of who he might have become in the years of his exile. Even if he was so keen on chasing after his father when I first knew him… he wasn't the volatile, angry young man we've met since your mission began. He was fighting you, wasn't he? He wasn't… wasn't helping you capture the Avatar."

"He wants to capture the Avatar himself," Azula said, simply. "I suppose it never occurred to him that, if he fought alongside me, perhaps the two of us could be victorious…"

"But the Avatar is just a boy," Noriko said. Azula grimaced.

"He's a mission."

"He's more than that. Just as you are more than a Princess, and Zuko more than a Prince in exile," Noriko said. Azula gritted her teeth: she could have simply dismissed Noriko's insolences, been affronted by them… but she glanced at her with confusion instead.

"You say that, but… how are you so sure?" Azula asked. "I… I've been my father's daughter all my life. Whatever he wants from me, I deliver the results he requires of me. That's my purpose. That's…"

"You are more than your father's orders. So is Zuko," said Noriko.

Her hand reached out, clasping Azula's gently. The Princess's shame urged her to yank her hand away… but she didn't. For some reason, she didn't.

"I wished to know who Zuko is, if you have any better notion of the answer than I do… for if he's nothing without his title, it means all the potential I know he has in his kind heart is going to waste."

Azula's eyes widened. Her hand, still in Noriko's, trembled slightly.

"Potential?" she repeated. Noriko nodded. "You… you don't mean, of course, as Fire Lord. You mean… as an individual? As a person?"

"Of course," Noriko sighed, closing her eyes sorrowfully. "A good man might not be able to be a great king… but I'd rather he is a good man above all else."

Azula frowned. A good man? Was Zuko one? Whether he was or wasn't… Azula herself certainly wasn't a good person. Noriko would be quite disappointed if she saw Azula without her titles, then, if she got to know her for who she was…

But in truth, the notion of lacking her title was as terrifying as it was intriguing. She certainly didn't want to empathize with Zuko's position much, but what would she do, were she in a similar situation? Granted, she was traveling the Earth Kingdom, hoping to obtain victories for the Fire Nation that she would later offer her father as a sign of her effectiveness, her loyalty, her true devotion to his cause… but she was traveling with Noriko, now with Ty Lee as well, while living as distantly from the luxurious life she had ever indulged in – a dinner comprised by wild berries? She'd never eaten anything as weak as that for a meal. A needling, prickling fear kept gnawing away at her insecurities, too: what if she failed? What if she couldn't capture Zuko and Iroh? What if the Avatar gave her the slip, too? There was one more endeavor, one thing her father wanted done in the Earth Kingdom and, as far as she knew, the Drill might already be on its way to Ba Sing Se… could she join that mission, even take command in it, in order to claim an important victory to prove to her father that she wasn't useless?

If so… she would be no better than Zuko.

Even if her father had given her all the resources he had, she was constantly faced by failure. Needing a victory, any victory, to prove she wasn't as weak as her brother was embarrassing: she knew herself better than him, why would she need to prove otherwise? Yet Ozai's harshness, the unyielding steel of her father's glare, daunted her whenever she recalled it. He wouldn't care whether she was a better firebender or a better strategist or a better leader if she had no results to prove it. If he concluded that he'd squandered countless resources on her only for her efforts to yield no fruit…

In a twisted sort of way, it seemed she would discover who she was without a title eventually, whether she liked it or not.

"How…?" Azula said, swallowing hard before composing her words fully. "How do you know someone isn't a good person? Or if they are one, anyway? Zuko… well, he's not exactly stellar in my opinion. But… I suppose he has some manner of instinctive bravery that makes him charge into everything without hesitation. Is that a sign of a good person?"

"I… suppose it's a sign of recklessness, truth be told," Noriko said. "He should take better care of himself, but…"

"He hardly thinks he should, I expect, for our father has made it clear that he's a failure," Azula said. "He's desperate to prove otherwise."

"He wants his father's love and approval," Noriko said. Azula gritted her teeth.

"And I'm no better."

Her confession spilled before she knew what she was doing. Noriko's eyes widened, but Azula offered her a dry, insincere grin.

"I won't lie to myself about something as obvious as that," she said. "Nor is there any point in lying about it to you. I… I don't know if Zuko is, down to his core, a decent person… I do know I'm not one, myself."

"Azula, that's not…"

She glanced at Noriko with a slight frown: the woman paused upon realizing she hadn't spoken with the appropriate respect for one of her position, even if she had such slipups quite often. She pulled her hand back nervously, lowering her gaze.

"Princess… you are young. You are still getting to know yourself. You still have chances and opportunities to… to discover you are more than who you think you are."

"And if I'm not?" Azula said, eyeing Noriko skeptically. "You… you may think everyone is like you. You're too kind, if anything… and most people aren't like you. I know I'm not."

"You helped your brother when no one else did," Noriko said. Azula tensed up. "His ship… it was your doing. His crew, even the opportunity to travel with Iroh…"

"I… I only did that because it was convenient for me," Azula said, stubbornly. "Because without Zuko nearby, my position as my father's heir was cemented further. And I convinced Father solely because he wanted Iroh gone, too. I… I offered him a way to achieve both his goals in a single choice."

"And in doing so, you ensured your brother would have a chance to fulfill his mission with a faithful companion, his uncle," Noriko said. Azula gritted her teeth. "I… I fear I don't believe that's your true motive, Azula. You hide behind all these walls, these pretenses of cruelty solely because it's what you believe your father would approve of… probably because it is. He has spent years teaching you to crush any obstacles in your way… and you have spent those years learning how to circumvent them quietly instead, I suspect."

"You're wishful," Azula said, stubbornly. Noriko raised her eyebrows.

"Am I, truly?" she asked. The Princess scoffed.

"What I said before… you're too kind. Too nice. You're too good a person, and that somehow has convinced you that the rest of us are just like…"

"I'm not a good person, Azula. I haven't been one for a long time."

The Princess's jaw dropped: she stared at Noriko in utter disbelief, finding the woman crestfallen, her head bowed in apparent remorse.

"Of all the things you've said tonight, that's by far the most ridiculous one," Azula blurted out. "If you're a bad person, the rest of us don't stand a chance."

"You… you don't know who I was. Who I've been. The things I've done…" Noriko said, shaking her head. Azula raised an eyebrow. "I…"

For a moment, it seemed as though Noriko was going to say something vital. To confess something that would get a massive weight off her back… just as it would cause her situation to grow more muddled and complicated. The anticipation increased as she looked at Azula… until her expression changed, and she offered the girl a sad smile.

"I've hurt people with my actions. I've… done things I shouldn't have," she concluded. "I… I never told you, did I? That I… was married, once?"

"You were?" Azula raised her eyebrows. "You're not anymore?"

"Actually? I… I suppose I still am," Noriko said, grimacing. "All the more reason to conclude I am a bad person, isn't it? I… I married someone, when my heart yearned for someone else."

Azula's eyes widened. She blinked blankly for a moment, trying to process the information as Noriko breathed deeply, shaking her head.

"I was but a girl… a foolish, mindless girl who got swept up by fantasies. The man who loved me… he asked me to marry him. I agreed to it, we had been together since we were children, it felt like, and… and I thought I'd build a life with him. But then… a better offer came along, you could say. It was only better in terms of social advancement, truthfully, and yet I had no choice but to accept the deal, because…"

"It was what your family expected from you," Azula concluded. Noriko nodded.

"I married the second man, and… and for a long time I simply yearned for the past. Eventually, I learned to live life as best as I could with my husband, but it wasn't easy. The bad parts outdid the good. Eventually, he… he forced me to leave."

"He forced you?" Azula said, frowning. "He sent you away? And you're still married, even so?"

"I don't know… perhaps he saw our marriage legally dissolved and dismissed since then, I truly don't know," Noriko said, sighing and shaking her head. "But I… I left. I left behind so many things I treasured… and I only truly understood how badly I wanted it all back once I was faced with the impending reality that I had lost it all forever. Perhaps if… if I'd made different choices, I wouldn't have lost those I cared about…"

"You cared about him, in the end?"

"No… about our children."

Azula froze. Children? Noriko had…?

Her suspicions were right then. Her motherly behavior made far more sense if seen in this light. Was she projecting her children onto Azula, where Iroh did the same with Zuko? Her foolish heart tingled at that notion, somehow…

"I should have never left them… I should have never allowed my husband to send me away," Noriko sobbed, shaking her head as tears spilled down her face. "But I left… and I found the man who loved me, afterwards."

"You… you did?" Azula asked. "The first one? Did he take you back, or…?"

"He would have… had I allowed him to," Noriko said, swallowing hard. "We traveled together for some time and I… I tried to deceive myself into believing this was what I wanted. That this was the life I deserved to live. But ultimately… I was no longer the girl he had once loved. And he was no longer the man who had once loved me, either. He had changed, too… maybe for the better, I cannot say for sure, but he had changed regardless. I cared for him, though… just, not in the way I did once. The very notion of… of forsaking even the memory of my children and playing blind, foregoing my claim upon my identity, upon everything I was, all be it to indulge in a mindless fantasy of love? I… I couldn't do it. I broke his heart with my choices, I know I did… but I couldn't stay with him."

Azula swallowed hard. Noriko sighed, wiping the tears from her eyes as she smiled sadly.

"So… I broke the heart of the man who loved me. I left my children under the care of their father, who… who I'm sure hasn't cared for them at all. And all I can do is… is look after you as best as I can, Azula. Because even if I know I'm not much… I still hope I can justify my existence by being helpful, useful, to you."

"You've… you've been more than that."

Noriko gasped. She glanced at Azula… just in time for the Princess's hand to fall on hers now.

"I… I don't think that what you've said sounds like you're a bad person. But I suppose… I'm bad enough that nothing short of my own cruelty would faze me," Azula said, with a weak smile. "At least… at least you feel bad about leaving your children behind. At least you grieve for that. If I were in your shoes, I… I would have forsaken anything that I thought weighed me down and I wouldn't have looked back. So… if I'd felt any affection for that man, I probably would have simply chosen him. You didn't, though."

"I… I didn't," Noriko said, breathing deeply.

"I take it you couldn't return to your children, could you?" Azula asked. "Not with the father in the way, doing whatever he could to keep you away…"

"I… I've tried, but…" Noriko said, with a sad smile.

"Well… once we return to the Fire Nation, I can help you sort it out," Azula said. Noriko's eyes widened. "If you had told me of this sooner, I might have…"

"Oh, Princess, you don't have to do anything at all…"

"I do, though. You… you're a better person than you think you are, and I'm sure you'd be able to see it if you return to your kids," Azula said, firmly. Noriko smiled sadly at her.

"And then… then you claim it is me who is too kind? Princess…"

"I'm willing to do this for you, it doesn't mean I'm any better than I say I am," Azula said, curtly. "I… I envy your children, I'll say. They'll be grateful once you return to them. Once they… they realize that you've done everything in your power to be with them. My mother… she left, and she didn't even say goodbye. So… as you can see, it's not easy for me to think you're an awful person, no matter how you argue that you are one. I'm used to… to a lot worse than anything you've been capable of, Noriko."

The woman's eyes appeared to betray something deeper than Azula could understand… but she smiled sadly, squeezing Azula's hand gently.

"Perhaps we are both wrong, then. And we're both better people than we think we are."

"In your case, certainly. In mine…"

"Oh, Princess…"

Azula smiled, despite herself, at Noriko's frustrations. The woman appeared determined to defend Azula from herself… it was endearing, even. But after their conversation tonight, Azula couldn't help but feel they had grown closer… that they had cemented a strange familial bond that had been latent so far, and that she only truly appreciated now.

She had a strange sort of mother in Noriko, she supposed… but a mother, indeed. She was someone she could count on, someone she could genuinely trust… and that was such a novel, strange notion after her father had told her, numerous times, that trust was weakness. That believing in others blindly would result in nothing but betrayal. That they would hurt her and turn on her at any chance they got… but just one look at the kind-hearted Noriko persuaded her otherwise at once.

"I'm grateful… that you still wish to have me by your side," Noriko said, with a heartfelt grin. "I hope I never give you cause to feel any differently. Whatever you want from me, Princess, I…"

"Well, if that's the case, I would very much like for you to stop telling that Water Tribe boy that I like him," Azula said, startling Noriko.

"I… yes. Of course, Princess, I… I overstepped all boundaries," Noriko said, swallowing hard. "You may still have a chance with him, though, if…"

"I… come on. That's not… not relevant at all," Azula said, frowning. "It's not like he would ever consider starting a relationship with someone from the Fire Nation, he likely despises all of us altogether. And even if he were strange enough to be interested in me, well… my father would never approve. He would never let me be with someone he can't approve of."

"Solely because he's Water Tribe?" sighed Noriko. "I suppose he wouldn't be pleased, but… Sokka does seem to be a good boy. I really think all of you could be friends, if anything were different… even Zuko."

"Well, nothing is, I fear," Azula said, breathing deeply.

They sat in silence for a moment, watching the twinkling stars above, the silence of the dry land that spread before their eyes. In that moment, Azula built her resolve to ask a question she never thought she'd speak… but upon letting Noriko into her heart as she had, it became slightly easier to feel like she could share her thoughts with her. Like she could ask questions and not be judged or ridiculed for them. Thus, she breathed deeply, her voice trembling slightly as she blurted out.

"What… what is it like, falling in love?"

Noriko raised an eyebrow. Azula's cheeks heated up as she turned her gaze away from the woman.

"I only ask because… well, it hasn't really happened to me, I don't think. All your insistence about this boy, Sokka… I don't think it makes any sense, but I just thought I'd find out if there's anything in common between that notion and, well, whatever all of you have assumed I feel towards him."

Her awkward explanations made her feel more self-aware yet… and Noriko's answer took her by surprise.

"Falling in love… to be honest, I'm not sure I've ever experienced it. Not in the way people usually talk about it," she said. Azula frowned.

"But… you were going to marry that man, and then you married the other man? You had no feelings for either of them?"

"I had feelings for the first of them, yes, but… I was young. I didn't truly understand my heart, and… and he understood his all too well. Before I knew it, I was in a relationship with him and it was even comfortable, I suppose, but… it feels like I never truly made the choice to be with him myself," Noriko said, with a sigh. "It was as though, because we grew up together, it was expected that our bond would become romantic… and I never truly slowed down to think it through. Not until I was walking away for good. By then… I realized that maybe I just wanted to return to him because he was all I knew, and that maybe I didn't love him as deeply as I had realized I could love someone…"

"What do you mean?" Azula asked. Noriko smiled sadly.

"What I felt for my children… that was love. The purest, truest love I ever experienced. It was love, because I… my heart was lighter whenever they were around. Every dark thing in my life faded away as long as I was with them. They were so young, and conflictive… but deep down I just wanted them to be friends, just as I wanted to look after them myself. I wanted to protect them forever… and I couldn't do that. To this day, nothing I've ever done fills me with sorrow as that awareness.

"I wanted to help them find happiness. Their laughter, their joy… they brought a smile to my face every day, and I wanted to ensure theirs would last for as long as possible. I wanted them safe, protected from the horrors of this world. I wanted them to live in peace, even if it wouldn't be likely to happen in a world at war. Their needs, their hopes… they were so much more important than my own. Nothing could have mattered more… nothing has ever mattered more to me. In the end… I lived for them. To this day, I live on for them. Without them, I would be lost. I would have no true purpose. I suppose… you could say they're the ones who taught me who I was. The ones who taught me how I wanted to live my life. And every day I'm away from them, I… I feel this anguish inside me, this dread that I might never be with them again. That, even if I returned… they might not want or need me anymore. And that would hurt, yes, but… but even if that were the case, I'd be happy as long as they are, too. I would accept it, so long as they can live the lives they deserve to live. That is all that matters."

Azula blinked blankly as Noriko breathed out slowly, turning a sad smile upon the girl beside her. Azula swallowed hard, turning her gaze away.

"Well… safe to say I'm not falling in love with that boy, if that's what I'm supposed to be feeling for him," she concluded, cheeks reddening. Noriko laughed, squeezing her hand gently.

"Oh, dear…" she said: Azula's eyes widened upon hearing an unusual term of endearment used on her. "This is the way you'll feel once you have established a proper bond, first. And it's true… it might not be him. But if the day comes when you find someone you care for, if you allow that relationship to blossom fully… you may come to feel exactly as I feel about my children. Thus… I can't really tell you much about falling in love, I fear. If I ever truly loved Ikem, I hardly noticed the 'falling in love' stage, personally. Like I said… it felt like we were always together, like our relationship was a given. So… you'll have to explore that for yourself, Azula. Whether now or in the future."

Azula swallowed hard but shrugged. Her cheeks were red still over her recklessness upon asking such a question… also over the answers she had received. Imagining herself feeling anything quite as profound as what Noriko had described towards that Water Tribe boy sounded idyllic and quite unlikely…

"In the future, at best," Azula said, shaking her head. "It's not like I had any manner of certainty about him as a potential match for me, but then you and Ty Lee told him I liked him. I don't even know if I do or not, to begin with. Him being handsome is beside the point…"

"True. Though you took notice of his leadership, and I think you may have some respect for him…"

"I have to respect my opponent, especially if it's one I have yet to outdo," Azula said, simply. "But either way… like I said before, nothing is bound to come from this, and not solely because of that. My father… even if I ever grew to feel what you explained, he'd never accept it."

"Well… you'll call me treacherous anew for saying so, but your heart is more important than your father's approval," Noriko stated, simply. Azula frowned.

"My… heart?" Azula said, with a slow, derisive smile. "Well, that sounds wishful of you, but… I don't think I have one. At least… my mother didn't think I did."

"W-what…?" Noriko said: her face paled, and Azula eyed her with uncertainty.

"Well, she… she thought I was a monster," Azula said, with a shrug now. "It's not like she's wrong, so…"

"Azula…!"

Noriko's voice suddenly sounded terribly familiar. Again, it reminded her of the way someone had scolded her, long ago, whenever she misbehaved. Even that frown on her face… Azula almost flinched away, shocked by her companion's reaction. What had she said that could be so outrageous? She was a monster… that was what her mother believed, so why…?

She couldn't elaborate a single thought, or say any words, before Noriko made her next move.

Azula froze cold, the impact of Noriko's choice flooring her at once. A flush rose over her face over how reckless and outrageous this woman dared be…

She was hugging her.

Noriko was hugging her.

She had no memory of ever being hugged this way. Ty Lee was rather given to quick, random embraces, but not this way. Not with as strong emotions as the ones Noriko conveyed now. Not with that intensity... not with that affection.

Azula shivered, raising her hand as to push Noriko away… knowing, quickly, that the woman wouldn't yield. So… it would be a waste to try to make her stop doing this and remember their social standing. She wouldn't listen, anyway, it was pointless to try and fight off this embrace, so…

So her hands fell upon her companion's back. Her face wound up pressed to her shoulder as Noriko's grip around her tightened.

"I… I'm so sorry," she said. Azula gritted her teeth.

"You don't have to…"

"I do. You're not… you never were a monster. You could never be a monster! Your mother… she was a miserable, foolish woman with no notion of the severity of her words and actions…"

"You can't… c-can't keep saying those sorts of treasonous things," Azula said, though her heart churned upon hearing those words.

"She was… she was unworthy of her children. Unworthy of calling herself your mother," Noriko said: tears spilled down her face as she shook her head repeatedly. "She didn't see… she didn't see what I've seen. She didn't know you as I do. She didn't understand you… a-and wherever she is, I guarantee she… she regrets failing you every day, for she could never be the mother you deserved. But… but that's not what matters. What matters is your wellbeing, Azula, your… your peace of mind. You're not a monster, Azula… you were never one. Any fool who would think so… is far more monstruous than you could ever hope to be."

Azula shivered, uncertain of how to answer those words. Uncertain if they warranted an answer at all. She should warn Noriko not to say anything so treacherous again, or else she'd be in trouble, and–…

A soft sob burst from her lips before she knew it.

Only upon hearing her own choked sound did Azula realize that tears were spilling down her cheeks, too.

She held onto Noriko tightly, unable to temper or restrain her tears. Unable to process what the woman's words truly meant just yet. Knowing that someone didn't think her to be a monster, however… Noriko, the strangely kind-hearted woman who had somehow chosen to take care of her, didn't think she was a monster. She wasn't here solely because it was her job… she truly cared about Azula. She truly cared…

The words she had spoken earlier about her children rang powerfully within her heart: was that how Noriko felt about her? Was that why she was so defensive over Azula, so willing to lash out at Ursa…? Did Noriko actually love her?

The realization broke her down even further: whether the tears were caused by sadness over thoughts of her mother, or over relief to know someone appeared to love her unconditionally, they still spilled from her eyes and unleashed the depths of her despair and hope, of her passion and misery. The restraints that Azula herself, her father, her advisors and even her mother had bound around her throughout her fourteen years of life came undone, leaving her bare, pure and true to who she was, for the first time in her life.

They had meant to return to the train-tank by morning, but it seemed their feeble meal of berries didn't sit so well with Ty Lee or with the mongoose dragons. The former circus performer had woken up groaning and moaning over a stomachache – she had certainly eaten more than Azula and Noriko had. The Princess had left Noriko to care for her friend, then, and she had taken a walk in the nearby areas, wandering the dry canyon lands they had wound up taking refuge at. It was easy to miss the Fire Nation in lands as foreign and distinct as those of the Earth Kingdom… lands she knew she didn't belong in, and where she didn't seek any manner of belonging, either.

Noriko's words from the previous night continued to round her mind: the notion of learning who she was without her title, of discovering her true self without the privileges, the luxury… what about her bending? She had always considered that to be a crucial part of who she was… but it wasn't everything she was, either. Noriko might even think it wasn't that important… not as important as her choices, or her understanding of the world, at least.

It was so strange that a woman like her would have as much power over Azula as she did. So strange that Azula would allow her to hold that power, too… but after last night, it was easy to understand why she did. After last night, she couldn't help but cling to the first time she had been hugged in such a genuine way. The first time she had ever heard someone dismissing her mother's words… something about the passionate defense Noriko had made of Azula had struck her as odd. Had she known Ursa, perhaps? Did they have a clash at some point or another? Was Ursa somehow responsible for something terrible that had befallen Noriko? Her vitriol towards her mother should have shocked Azula, it should have even upset her… perhaps Ursa was right, and she was a monster after all, for she had even felt relief upon hearing someone convey something other than praise and admiration towards the Fire Lord's missing wife. She would have taken a stand to defend Ursa, she supposed, if only she were a better person… but she wasn't one. She had felt appeased for once in her life… for once, she had felt understood. Her experiences hadn't been dismissed in the face of every good thing Ursa had done… of how nice she had been to Zuko. Whatever Noriko's reasons might be, she had thoroughly shaken up Azula's heart last night, and the Princess still had no idea of what to do about it…

Her ruminations were interrupted by a sudden scream, coming from a cluster of trees on a lower area of the canyon: a male scream, she thought, but she couldn't be sure. She had thought there was no one nearby… wary, and ready for any confrontation, she approached the source of the voice slowly.

Azula's footsteps were as quiet as could be – it was made all the easier by the strange noises drifting from what she soon noticed to be a crack on the ground. Azula frowned, approaching steadily…

Her eyes widened, and she gasped, when she saw Sokka's head, as well as some of his fingers, poking out of the crack on the ground.

Her gasp alerted him that he wasn't alone. He whimpered, turning his head towards her, perhaps hoping to ask for help… then he noticed who she was, and he flinched.

"Oh, just my luck. Dinner runs away and then she shows up…" he groaned, glaring at her. Azula scoffed, glaring right back. "Don't even think about it!"

"Well, well… the Avatar's friend," Azula said, with a slow smirk. "Did you get left behind somehow? They must be rather ruthless if they decided to abandon you this way. Was it some manner of mutiny?"

"Mutiny?" Sokka repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"You know the meaning of the word, don't you? As you're their leader, they decided to rebel against you and buried you here…" Azula said: Sokka's eyes widened.

"I… ha! You think I am the leader too, don't you?!" Sokka exclaimed, smiling. Azula raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm going to tell Katara that you… u-uh, anyway, that's not it though. They didn't bury me here, it was an accident."

"You… fell into this crack by accident?" Azula said, blinking blankly. Sokka grimaced. "Heh. Well, that's… not very dignified of you. Maybe you really aren't the leader after…"

"I am, though!" Sokka exclaimed, blushing as he squirmed awkwardly in the crack. "Ugh! This stupid, damn…!"

Azula raised an eyebrow as she watched him struggle against his restraints. His hair was slightly disheveled right now, with a few strands hanging loosely around his head. It wasn't an unappealing appearance, she supposed, but she'd do best to do something other than admire him mindlessly.

"Then I take it your friends are around here?" Azula asked.

"Yeah, and yours aren't, so I don't know what you hope to pull off, but you'd better save it," Sokka grunted. "Aang's already becoming an earthbending master, and he's going to have you biting his dust if you try to attack him now…"

"That… sounds unlikely," Azula said. Sokka frowned. "You're lying, aren't you? He's nowhere close to being a master yet."

"I… how do you know I was lying?" Sokka grimaced. Azula smirked.

"You're terribly transparent. No matter if you're just a head on the ground," Azula said, breathing deeply. "I appreciate the information, of course…"

"Augh!" Sokka scowled: she hadn't known all along that it was a lie, but he had wound up confirming as much by blurting out that foolish question. He eyed her warily, and Azula smirked at him.

"Anything else you'd like to share?" she asked.

"Heh, not a chance. What're you going to do, set me on fire, huh?!" Sokka asked, confrontationally.

"Well, that would be no fun while you're stuck in the ground this way, I have to say," Azula smirked. Sokka pouted.

"Then… what, I'm at your mercy?" Sokka asked. "Well, you're getting nothing from me! Be it information or anything else…!"

"Anything else?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. Sokka's cheeks flushed, and her own did too. "I… no. Don't even… I told you that's not what's going on here! I don't even know you!"

"Yeah, and I don't know you either! So clearly, we have nothing to do with each other on a personal level, right?" he said. Azula scowled at him. "Therefore… y-you wouldn't try to kiss me while I'm helpless or something, right?"

"That… would be very uncomfortable. I would have to crawl on all fours to do it. That sounds undignified and stupid," Azula said, pointedly. Sokka snorted.

"Well… that's an argument I can accept, I guess," he said. "You do have standards, huh?"

"Evidently," Azula said, glaring at him pointedly. Sokka blinked blankly before balking.

"Hey! I'm a real catch! Your friends think so anyway, and surely you think so too, or else they wouldn't think you…"

"They were entirely out of line by deciding who I allegedly have any manner of interest in," Azula scoffed, glaring at Sokka. He winced, pouting slightly. "I never said I liked you."

"Oh…?" Sokka blinked blankly. "Then… you don't like me? Really?"

Azula frowned as she stared at him: something about those blue eyes was terribly compelling… though she could as good as hear the gears inside his mind turning. Much as those inside her own head did.

He genuinely thought she liked him. If he was so foolish as to assume as much… then she could, perhaps, profit off his assumption. She might be able to convince him that it was true, all in a bid to ensure he would underestimate her… Azula raised her eyebrows, and her pause caused him to eye her even more warily.

"You really don't, do you?"

"I… never said I didn't, either," Azula said: her cheeks flushed stupidly, but she certainly hoped that would make her pretense more believable. Sokka scoffed.

"Are you sure?" he said. "Look, I get that the appeal of a guy like me can be difficult to resist for a girl like you…"

"A girl like me?" Azula repeated, blinking blankly and folding her arms over her chest. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you know… handsome? Smart? Terribly unlucky?" Sokka said, with a sigh. "Oh, who am I kidding? To be honest, when your friend said you liked me I just… kind of blanked for a minute. I mean, a crush at first sight's not an unthinkable concept, but I don't think a girl like you would…"

"What does that mean, exactly?" Azula said, stepping closer to Sokka and glaring at him pointedly before kneeling beside him. "A girl like me? What kind of girl am I?"

"W-well… you're Fire Nation. And you're a Princess," Sokka swallowed hard… and his cheeks reddened as he tore his eyes away from her. "And you're pretty. So I figure if you want a boyfriend you'd get yourself some Fire Nation guy rather than me, right? That part never made sense to me, and it still doesn't, so that's why it's easier to believe you don't like me. See?"

"You…" Azula blinked blankly before blurting out a question without even thinking it through. "You really think I'm pretty?"

Sokka frowned, glancing up at her: she seemed… surprised. Innocently so. That certainly wasn't what he had expected from the Fire Nation Princess. Was she that vain? That didn't look like vanity, truth be told. Insecure, then…?

"I mean… I have eyes," Sokka said, shrugging weakly and wincing for the difficulty in doing so while stuck in that hole. "Damn it! Anyway, well… is it that big a deal if I do? You're not going to actually like me now just because I said that, are you?"

"I… no!" Azula said, with a nervous smile: her cheeks remained red enough to match her clothes. "That would be… foolish. I'm well aware of how appealing I am for boys like you, so…"

"Great! And I'm aware of how appealing I am for girls like you," Sokka said, with a dry grin. "We've reached a nice understanding, haven't we, dangerous lady?"

"Dangerous…?" Azula repeated. Sokka smiled a little.

"It's kind of what I figured I'd call you and your friends…"

"My name is Azula," she replied, curtly. Sokka raised his eyebrows. "It… it's fitting for you to know it, considering I know yours. Sokka, isn't it?"

"Oh… huh. I guess you heard it at some point… Katara did shout a lot of weird things yesterday," Sokka said, with a weak smile.

"My handmaiden told me what it was, actually. She's the one you handed Tom-Tom to," she said. Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Mai's little brother? The child?"

"Ah! Oh. I see now," Sokka said. "She's a bit old compared to everyone else traveling with you, huh?"

"Not really. The drivers of the train-tank are older," Azula said. Sokka grimaced. "We are quite diverse in that sense, you see…"

"Is it safe to have older people driving a big dangerous vehicle…?" Sokka said. Azula smirked.

"Not really, but the vehicle isn't trying to be safe, so… I can't pretend I care," she said. Sokka blinked blankly. "At any rate, as fascinating as it may be for us to chat this way, I'm assuming you'd like to get out of there, wouldn't you?"

"Oh… yeah! But, um, well…" Sokka eyed her apprehensively, and Azula smirked at him. "Not that I want to reject your offer, if that's what you're offering? But if you want something from me once I'm out of here, eh, well, I don't think that's going to happen. I'm not handing Aang over to you."

"Is that the only thing you'd refuse to do?" Azula asked, probing him without much subtlety. Sokka blinked blankly.

"Uh… I won't hand Katara, either. Or Toph. Or myself, if I can help it…" he said. Azula smirked.

"Alright. How about… if I ask you to abandon them and join me?" she teased. Sokka scoffed. "Ah, see? There are other things you wouldn't be open to doing after all…"

"Well, I'm not down for eating rocks either, but I wouldn't think you'd tell me to do that! And believe me, I've tried, it's not fun, so don't make me do that again…"

"You've… tried eating rocks?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows. "Your group lives in more precarious conditions than I thought…"

"Well, I haven't had much to eat today, so I guess maybe we do," Sokka grimaced. "I was trying to hunt, and the little rascal I was going to capture escaped before I could catch it. So… I'm hungry. What about it?"

Azula might have answered his query with a dismissive sneer… but she couldn't do so before her own stomach growled loudly. Sokka gasped as she blushed, and then his smile caught her unawares.

"And you're hungry too!" he said. "Okay, get me out of here and I can hunt something. I'll give you half of it, and we'll go our separate ways, with full stomachs!"

"That's not… not the reward I had in mind," Azula said: she had to play up this nonsense now. She had to do it and make certain that this boy would lower his guard with her completely. It seemed to her he had lowered it considerably already, so…

"Uh… but you're starving too," Sokka pointed out. Azula shook her head.

"I don't need to obey the mandate of my stomach at every waking moment," she said – she certainly would have liked to, but that wasn't the priority right now. "This time, I… would obey another mandate. I… I suppose I don't owe you any explanations, do I? So… simply agree to my terms and I'll see about how to get you out of there. Understood?"

"And what's that?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. "Your terms, I mean. A favor for a favor?"

"Indeed," Azula said. Sokka's brow furrowed as she prepared herself to reveal her grand demand… "I want… a date with you."

Sokka's preparation for a horrible demand was deflated instantly. His jaw dropped, and the Princess simply blushed at his reaction.

"I… what?! Y-you're extorting a date out of me?!"

"You're extorting a rather considerable effort out of me," Azula responded, simply. "In order to get you out of that hole, I have to find a way to break the land apart, something unlikely considering I'm not an earthbender, and I don't have any tools to achieve that with any degree of success, let alone with any certainty that I won't make matters worse…"

"U-uh…" Sokka grimaced as Azula continued.

"Or I could seek to yank you out of there. Which I suppose I could very well try right now…" Azula said, eying him warily. "But if you're as stuck as you say you are, it won't be easy. You'll probably be in pain once I try."

"I can handle it," Sokka said, bluntly. "Though… that doesn't mean I've agreed to it yet. Didn't you say you never said you liked me?"

"I did say that. And then I said that I didn't say I didn't."

"This is confusing," Sokka grimaced, hanging his head slightly.

"Is it that appalling, perhaps even embarrassing, to go on a date with me?" Azula asked, with a weak smile. Sokka winced and stared at her with surprise. "Ah… scary, perhaps, is the right word. What do you think I'll do to you, Sokka?"

"Uh… I don't know. But I guess… a date's a date, right?" Sokka said, swallowing hard. "We'd spend time together, and uh… hold hands? See a pretty place or something and that's it?"

"Well, we would be spending quality time together, mind you…" Azula said, rolling her eyes as she spoke with a hint of pride. Sokka couldn't help but smile.

"If that's really what you're thinking, then… I can accept it," Sokka said, with a shrug. Azula's eyes widened. "What? I mean, I don't like Fire Nation people, but at least you're pretty…"

"Heh. Well, then… if you really think so, I suppose I shall begin devising a plan to break you free," Azula said, folding her arms over her chest as she assessed her surroundings: the fool had agreed to it, then. She would make the most of his trust in her, gain proper insight into the workings of his group, perhaps even find a way to knock him out and use him as a hostage the Avatar would need to save at all costs…

But in all his foolishness, Sokka was sharp. She couldn't be too obvious about her intent. Masking everything behind a date would work. Acting like a lovestruck fool would be appropriate.

"Well, then… the tree branches above us are resilient, don't you think?" Azula asked. Sokka glanced up. "I may be able to use a rope, then, throw it over a branch, tie it around your… well, chest, if possible. Your neck would certainly be too dangerous…"

"I'd choke!" Sokka exclaimed. Azula chuckled. "You have a wicked sense of humor, don't you?"

"You could certainly call it that," she said. "Very well, then… hmm. But if the branch breaks…"

"You need support on two sides of the branch for it to be steady," Sokka said. Azula raised an eyebrow. "And if the branch is very tall, it'll be harder to keep it strong. You have to have good foundations for a tall construct not to break or fall."

"Especially one that would have no central support, of course," Azula said, frowning as she eyed Sokka with interest. "Your pain is another matter, too. Everything hurts while you're getting crushed down there, right? So… you may need to be chi-blocked once the operation to extract you begins."

"Chi-blocked?!" Sokka winced. "That's…"

"Unfortunately, I don't know the subtleties of the technique myself… meaning I'll have to hope Ty Lee's stomach has recovered," Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka grimaced. "Rest assured, you won't feel a thing by then. But beyond that… do you really think the tree won't do?"

"I mean, it might? But it's not going to be easy," Sokka said, eyeing Azula warily. "Or safe. I think you need two foundations, you should set them down at either side of me, not too close together but not too far apart. Then…"

"A beam, of a sort, across those foundations. Perhaps a wooden plank," Azula said. "But if it moves around a lot…"

"Put big boulders to affix it to either side?" Sokka suggested. Azula hummed and nodded. "But not too many, I guess, or the weight might be too much…"

"The plank should be flexible enough to withstand your weight, but not so much that it wouldn't be firm and allow the rope to reel you up…"

"But not too firm, or it'll break as soon as you start pulling me. So… maybe we need extra support? Very big foundations? A thicker plank?"

"Hmm…"

They discussed the possibilities for what might have been around an hour. By the time they decided on a plan, though, Azula started to rummage through the area to seek the elements they needed: not much in the wilderness sufficed… so her best bet for some of their rudimentary tools would have to be found elsewhere.

"You're going to get your friends now…?" Sokka asked, nervously. Azula nodded.

"And a few other things too. The cabin we stayed in might have been empty, but with any luck, it might have a few wooden planks in good enough state for us to use. Don't go anywhere… oh, woops," she said, with a careless shrug. Sokka huffed.

"Ha ha! You're so funny, Azula!" he retorted, bitterly: she shot him a devious grin over her shoulder as she raised a hand in farewell.

"I'll be back shortly. Bear with it, Sokka."

He didn't quite expect he'd feel lonely once she walked away… he also didn't expect he'd wind up admiring her figure as she did exactly that. Strangely, while he had certainly processed that she was pretty before, the reality of it hadn't truly dawned on him until he'd seen her up close, pondering how to get him out of the hole. She was surprisingly civil and agreeable compared to her volatile brother, Sokka reasoned, no matter how persistent and dangerous she was…

About another hour passed, and his stomach churned with hunger when Azula finally returned: the women with her appeared as hungry as him, and Azula wasn't as strong as when she'd first found Sokka, either. Still, they brought planks from the house with them, as well as an old rope that Sokka deeply hoped wouldn't bite too unpleasantly into his skin.

"It's good to see you again, Sokka," Noriko said, with a gentle smile. Sokka let out a nervous laugh.

"Hello, uh… I have no idea what your name is," he said. Noriko chuckled.

"I am Noriko, and this is Ty Lee," she said, gesturing at the pale girl next to her, who still looked somewhat sickly. "You already know Princess Azula, of course…"

"Yep," Sokka said, casting a glance at the girl: she was already hard at work at preparing the rocky foundations of their contraption to rescue Sokka.

"That thing over there…" Azula said, gesturing at a white weapon lying on the floor behind Sokka.

"You mean my machete?" Sokka asked.

"It's our only actual available tool to build this system with," Azula remarked, reaching for it and glancing at Sokka. "You don't mind lending it to me if it's for your sake, do you?"

"Well… I guess not," Sokka said.

"What about the boomerang?" Ty Lee asked, looking at Sokka's back. "It's right there…"

"Not sure I know what we'd use it for, but if anything comes up, I suppose we will," Azula stated. "You do have a much more dangerous weapon… a club, I suppose? The one you nearly struck me with yesterday?"

Noriko gasped in horror, and Sokka blushed as he lowered his gaze shamefully. Azula eyed her handmaiden skeptically.

"It's not like I wasn't trying to set them on fire, myself," she said, and Noriko pouted.

"Still…"

"You didn't really, uh, try that hard with me, though," Sokka said. Azula raised an eyebrow. "Just saying, when I attacked you with my club…"

"You don't think I'm stupid enough to assume that a weapon as heavy as that one could be countered with fire, do you?" Azula said. "Your arsenal of weapons is… somewhat impressive, I suppose. Don't expect everyone to underestimate you just because you're not a bender."

"Well… mostly, it seems like it's benders who underestimate me," Sokka remarked, with a pout. "When you guys were chasing us, Toph just went and basically said I didn't count in the fight because I was a non-bender…"

"Toph?" Azula asked.

"Our new teammate. The earthbender," Sokka said. "Who is teaching Aang earthbending right now, so…"

"Why don't you just call for them to help if there's an earthbender you can ask…?" Ty Lee said. Sokka blinked blankly.

"Uh… well, I got a bit far from them when I was looking for food, and… and then she showed up," Sokka said. Azula raised an eyebrow. "I mean, you kind of found me two seconds after I fell in this stupid hole, so…"

"So, if I had been any less fortunate, I might have come across you before you fell at all?" Azula said, with a smirk.

"Well… I would've held my own against you in a fight. Still can, so…" Sokka said, blushing. Azula chuckled.

"Perhaps that's what we'll test on our… uh, well. Never mind," she said: her face flushed, and it was the first thing that got Ty Lee to act like herself again as she smirked at Azula.

"What? Azula, what happened here…?" she asked, with a teasing voice. Azula scoffed, glaring at her.

"We have work to do. Get to it."

"Azula! You have to tell me! Well, rather, us! You know Noriko and I are very supportive of your forbidden romance…!"

"Our… forbidden romance? Like, we're already in one?" Sokka asked, glancing at Azula, who sighed and shook her head.

"Don't listen to their nonsense. Everyone, get to work now," Azula said, firmly.

"Right, right. We'll save your boyfriend, Azula, no worries…" Ty Lee said, with a devious smirk: both Sokka and Azula shot her a nonchalant glare, and she could only giggle at how similar they were.

The work to yank him out of the hole began then: Noriko and Azula built the rudimentary system they tested gradually, ensuring that the planks from the cabin's walls and ceiling would work properly for their purposes. Meanwhile, Ty Lee found the better rocks to hold the weight of the planks, ensuring to gather many, as per Azula's command. Eventually, Noriko took to digging lightly around Sokka, and the others followed by using his machete and boomerang to break the ground slightly, if carefully, in the hopes that his release would be easier.

"Alright… we're ready," Azula declared: it was almost sunset by then, and Sokka reeled from the need to eat something, much like the rest of them did.

Azula, Ty Lee and Noriko would pull the rope they had set up atop the beam: they had bound it around Sokka's chest as best they could, but before the pulling could begin…

"Here we go!" Ty Lee grinned: her fists tapped Sokka's nape and spine with perfect precision, and Sokka yelped as his body suddenly lost all feeling. "How's that?"

"I… don't feel anything anywhere. Nice job," Sokka grimaced.

"Then we have no time to waste," Azula said: her hands remained firm on the rope, and she waited for Ty Lee to take her place before exclaiming: "Pull!"

Three weakened, hungry women – one of whom had struggled with indigestion that morning – weren't in the best of conditions to break Sokka's body free from the chasm he was stuck in, but their joint efforts began to deliver results in time. Sokka winced, not so much over pain but over the strange feeling of his body being pulled and shifted against his will, when he couldn't quite feel much… but even after one of his hands was freed, and his situation slightly less uncomfortable for it, he wasn't fully free just yet.

"Pull… harder!" Azula shouted.

"I can't do much else, Azula…!" Ty Lee groaned, the rope digging into her palms. Noriko did apply further strength, sweat dropping down her brow…

The plank upon which the rope rested suddenly made an unsettling sound: Azula gasped, yanking more of the rope on impulse – if it was going to break, then at least it better be after Sokka was free…

She pulled harder: the plank snapped and the entire contraption collapsed around Sokka.

Azula gasped as the rope's resistance faded: she dropped it and rushed towards the chasm, eyes wide, shoving everything out of the way to find Sokka still in the hole, down to his waist now… but he lay face-first on the ground.

"Sokka? Sokka!" she called him, forcefully pulling him up, to look directly at his face…

"I'm… sort of okay," he said, eyes meeting hers. Azula blushed: she had thought he was unconscious, and now they were too close for comfort.

"Then you shouldn't have dropped on the ground like that…!" Azula huffed, setting him down again and stepping forward, yanking him out of the hole fully, forcefully: finally, his legs were loose and Sokka was free… even if he had yet to move at all.

"Chi-blocked… remember?" Sokka said: Azula flushed upon realizing the anesthetic effect of the chi-blocking also translated in inability to move.

"But it's done! You're free!" Ty Lee exclaimed, clapping for a moment before dropping on her knees. "And I'm tired. And hungry. And I really want to go to the train-tank now."

"We will," Azula said, breathing out slowly before turning towards Sokka and pushing him over so he'd lie on his back. "You're alright?"

"I… I'm fine. Your concern is touching," Sokka chuckled: she scowled at him as he grinned carelessly at her. "Don't know what you'd want to do for that date, but I could go for eating a feast right now."

"Uh… oh. Right," Azula blinked blankly: immersed as she was in this operation, she had outright forgotten she wasn't pulling Sokka out of the hole for the sake of it. She had a mission, she was supposed to use him to get information, to lure out the Avatar, to…

"A DATE?!"

Her cheeks flushed as she heard Noriko gasp, after Ty Lee's apparently absent energies returned fast enough for her to shout those words.

"T-that's not…!" Azula said, turning towards her two companions with an unrelenting fluster. "He doesn't mean…! I mean, well, we reached an agreement, and that's…!"

Noriko's foolish grin made Azula feel even more self-aware with each passing moment: curses, why was she so happy? It was bad enough with Ty Lee being such an annoying, hopeless romantic… but Noriko shouldn't be so supportive of this nonsense too. It almost made Azula take this matter seriously when she knew she shouldn't. When she knew that, to Sokka, she was simply…

She glanced back at him… and found he was smiling. Her heart skipped a beat.

Just then, a rustling sound and a sudden sensation of movement in the corner of her eye caused Azula to tear her gaze away from Sokka… and towards a newly arrived, apparently distraught Avatar.

He was confused and alarmed once he lay eyes upon her. It certainly didn't help that Azula was leaning over Sokka, who still had a rope over his chest, while Azula's companions sat nearby, looking thrilled about whatever was happening there.

"Sokka!" Aang gasped, scowling before raising his hands to summon air.

"No, no, Aang! Stop!" Sokka shouted: the burst of air caused them to blow off violently, and not even Azula's attempt to grab onto Sokka's hand kept her from being flung away from Sokka.

The Avatar rushed in then, untying Sokka's makeshift harness while constantly glaring at the two girls and the woman who traveled with them: Noriko had tried to cushion Azula's body from being blown off into a rocky wall, though she hadn't been very successful at it. Ty Lee groaned, no doubt exasperated, tired and annoyed all over again.

"Stay away from him!" Aang shouted.

"Aang, they saved my life!"

The Avatar froze then, his bending cut off just as Azula huffed, incorporating herself and leveling a glare in his direction. The boy's jaw dropped before he turned his confused gaze towards Sokka anew.

"T-they… how? When?! You're tied up and you can't move, they chi-blocked you!"

"I was stuck in a hole and Azula got me out!" Sokka said. "Well, Azula, Noriko and Ty Lee did, but still…"

"Woah. You got all their names?" Aang blinked blankly. Sokka sighed.

"He was stuck in there for hours. And not you, nor any of his friends, so much as noticed," Azula hissed, dusting herself off as she marched up to the Avatar. Aang grimaced, jumping upright and positioning himself as though to fight. "Would you have preferred it if we left him there so wild beasts could turn him into their snack?"

"Uh… no," Aang swallowed hard, lowering his hands. "Thank you, if you really did this, but… why did you do it?"

"Because they're going on a date!" Ty Lee exclaimed. Azula groaned, dropping her face in her hands as Sokka let out a careless laugh. Aang's eyes widened.

"Woah… so it's true that you like each other? That's great, Sokka!" Aang exclaimed, beaming. "This way we won't have to fight her anymore!"

"Who said anything like that?" Azula huffed, glaring at Aang. "That's neither here nor…!"

"Oh, so that's how it is… you're friends with the girl who was trying to hunt us down, Sokka?"

Azula frowned, turning towards the newest arrival on the scene: the short earthbender rested against the rocky wall, arms crossed, the Avatar's staff resting by her side on the wall. Aang gasped.

"Toph…!"

"Can't say I like the sound of that," she said, with a smirk.

She raised a rock from the ground with a heavy stomp: everyone in the group gasped in confusion as Aang jumped forward.

"Toph! Stop! Sokka says they saved him!"

"And I say I don't buy it!" Toph said: even now, she was smirking. "What're you going to do? Run away because I don't believe you? Come on: prove your point, Twinkle Toes! Stand your ground and fight back, or I'll hurl this rock right at them!"

Aang yelled: he stepped forward and flung a flurry of air at Toph: she simply used the rock as a shield, smirking at Aang.

"You'll have to do better than that!"

The Avatar roared: his stance was firm, his arms and legs were tense, full of power…

Toph flung the rock at him. He jumped forward, roaring fiercely…

The rock stopped in midair. Aang gasped: he felt control over the rock for the first time, his body channeling the strength required to hold his own against Toph at last. He smiled, dropping the rock again, and this time, nothing he did was based on airbending.

"I… I did it?" Aang gasped, smiling brightly. "I did it!"

"See? You did have what it takes, Twinkle Toes," Toph smirked.

They seemed to have as good as forgotten about Sokka now, focused instead on the Avatar's first success at earthbending. Azula gritted her teeth, approaching the confused Noriko.

"We may have overstayed our welcome. We should…" she started, but she couldn't finish the sentence before someone interrupted her.

"Wait… but you're all hungry," Sokka said, flinching as the feeling started to return to his body. "And it's getting pretty late, right? Can't we call a truce, just for tonight?"

"Oh? A truce?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka smiled awkwardly as he pushed himself up to a sitting position, uneasily.

"You can go right back to hunting us… in two days or something. How about it?" Sokka asked.

Azula snorted lightly, but she smiled: truthfully, eating more berries that might not be entirely healthy for them didn't sound like the right idea. She wasn't sure what they'd eat, anyway, considering the circumstances… but at least it was an agreeable proposal, if nothing else.

"This doesn't count for our agreement, though: too many people around," Azula said, with a shrug. Sokka smiled awkwardly, cheeks slightly red before he nodded.

"Agreed."

Katara, it seemed, was frantically looking for her brother when the whole group finally made their return to camp… though she gasped in utmost confusion upon finding three new people had joined them, even if with no apparent ill-intent.

"Don't overreact!" Sokka warned his sister, an arm draped around Aang's shoulders as he helped him walk. "They're just… staying for dinner. We don't really have much for dinner, but that's okay, right?"

"What's…? What…? What?!" Katara shook her head, glaring at Sokka. "Oh, no. Don't you tell me now that you're seriously flirting with the Princess of the Fire Nation…!"

"I'm not!"

"He's not," Azula said, quickly.

"He is!" Ty Lee exclaimed, and both Azula and Sokka groaned in response to her claim. Of course, Katara was quicker to believe her than the other two, raising a menacing hand in their direction.

"I… I don't know what's going on, but I do know that I don't like it," she said, gritting her teeth.

"Katara… they saved Sokka, or at least, that's what he says," Aang explained, with a small smile.

"And we're hungry. And tired," Ty Lee added, with a groggy smile.

Katara blinked blankly: her compassion appeared to be about to rear its head, but her confusion still won out as she stared at her brother in perplexity.

"Saved you from what, exactly?"

He would share the story as the whole group took to finding food: an apple tree was the source of their meal this time, no matter if the fruit wasn't a very fulfilling one, and the two groups in a truce sat together by the fire Azula ignited for them, resting and recovering after a long, complicated day. Katara's distrust of the Fire Nation women didn't diminish, but even she, once the meal was about to end, couldn't help but remark:

"At least they're not as bad as Zuko."

Noriko grimaced upon hearing those words, but she said nothing. Clearly, the banished prince either had very few chances to prove himself to the Avatar's team… or he had simply allowed his darkest impulses to take the wheel upon each of those chances, instead. Whatever the truth might be, it was out of her hands right now.

Tired as they were, Ty Lee and Noriko wound up sleeping against a tree trunk while the Avatar's team took to their own accommodations: Sokka offered to keep watch, something Katara didn't appear too comfortable with, but seeing as he was the neutral party and mediator between both the Avatar's group and the Fire Nation one, strange as that concept might be, it seemed that he was the more likely one to keep the dangerous Princess at bay without violence.

"Well… that was a weird day," Sokka said, with an awkward grin directed at the Princess, the only other person who remained conscious in the group. The two of them sat side by side at one of the canyon's ridges, their legs dangling in the air as the cool night air brushed against them lightly. "But I'm glad you showed up when you did. Still pretty surreal that you went that far to help me… but I'm grateful that you did."

"I wasn't exactly doing it selflessly…" Azula said. Sokka smiled and shrugged.

"You did it anyhow. Pretty sure your brother would've laughed in my face and walked away… or decided to finish the job and set me on fire while I was trapped, I don't know," Sokka said. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"It sounds like he's been quite the nuisance for you and your group," Azula said. "Has he ever come even close to capturing any of you?"

"A few times. But we managed to escape anyway," Sokka smirked. "He caught me and Katara once, you know? He asked me how stupid I thought he was. I was honest and told him I thought he was 'pretty stupid', and…"

Azula couldn't muffle her devious laugh as she covered her mouth with a hand. Sokka grinned, swaying his legs even more enthusiastically over the ledge.

"I… I can only imagine the look on his face upon hearing that," Azula said, with another devious chuckle.

"Figured you might find it funny. Guess you and Zuko are a bit like Katara and me," Sokka said. "Nothing makes her laugh harder than seeing me make a fool of myself, so…"

"Well… I suspect your sister and you have a far more agreeable bond than mine with my brother," Azula said, glancing up at the sky. "He and I… well, we're enemies now. Our father tasked me with bringing him home… and that's what I'm supposed to be doing. Not having apples for dinner with the Avatar and his friends."

"Heh… I thought that it'd be 'Sokka and his friends,'" the Water Tribe boy said, and Azula's cheeks flushed.

"Well… perhaps it should be. You are their leader, after all," Azula remarked. Sokka chuckled, shaking his head.

"I'm probably blowing it out of proportion. I'm not really… well, leader material, I guess," he said, smiling sadly at her.

"Oh, really? What do you know about leader material?" Azula asked. Sokka blinked blankly. "Nothing, it seems. Clearly."

"W-well, I…"

"The very reason why I assumed you were the leader was precisely because I could sense that potential from you, Sokka," Azula said, bluntly. "And so far, you haven't proven me wrong. It only took a few words from you for the Avatar to fight his own earthbending teacher, to save me and my allies from her attacks. If that's not the sign of leadership that inspires genuine loyalty, I don't know what is."

"Heh, I guess when you put it that way…" Sokka smiled, blushing slightly. "You know… I used to think all Fire Nation people were monsters."

Azula shuddered upon hearing those words. His tone wasn't confrontational at all… even if his words were dangerous ones to utter near her.

"Well…. You wouldn't be the first to believe that," Azula said, simply. "Everyone believes I am one… well, except for one person."

"Make that two, then. Because I don't believe that either," Sokka said. Azula's eyes widened. "Whatever your motives… you saved me today. Thank you."

"I…" Azula's heart quickened its pace again: gratitude? She wasn't used to that. She wasn't sure what to even feel about receiving those words… she swallowed hard, biting her lip. "Well, I suppose I accept that sentiment. Though…"

"We have a date to schedule for the future, yeah," Sokka chuckled. "It'll be tough, scheduling it in the middle of a war, but… I'll look forward to it."

"We are in the middle of a war," Azula remarked, knowing the mood would change darkly now. "And we're on different sides. What happened today hasn't changed that."

"I know," Sokka said, breathing deeply and releasing the air slowly. "I guess I'll probably run into you in battlefields in the future again. Though… I can't say I look forward to it at all. Doesn't matter how much I connect with you, or how much I might enjoy talking with you or watching you work on strange engineering experiments…"

"It didn't go as well as it should have," Azula admitted, and Sokka chuckled.

"Either way… the truth is that we mean to defeat your father," Sokka said. "And we'll restore harmony after we do."

"Restore harmony," Azula repeated, glancing at Sokka. "Between… all four elements?"

Sokka swallowed hard before nodding. A shiver shook Azula deeply.

"It's… it's easier to see it now, after a day like today," Sokka said, with a gentle smile. "All four elements working together? It's… it's kind of a cool idea, isn't it?"

"Even after everything the Fire Nation did? After all the monsters we've unleashed in this world?" Azula asked. "Would you forgive the Fire Nation as easily as that?"

"Heh, well… I don't know if the full nation. I'd rather make up my mind for each specific situation," Sokka said. "I once met an Earth Kingdom guy who hated the Fire Nation so much that he nearly destroyed a village just to get back at the soldiers stationed there… with no regard over the many Earth Kingdom people in that very same occupied town. If it weren't for an old man from the Fire Nation who vouched for me, a man I'd saved from that guy, too… if it weren't for him, hundreds of lives would have been lost that day. So… anything's possible. Your nation wouldn't have to be the villains, the monsters, if you made a different choice. And… I think you made a different one today."

"I… chose you?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows. Sokka smiled and shrugged.

"We do have a date to go on, after all."

She didn't know yet if she agreed with everything he'd said – her heart was turbulent and jumbled, after all. But she still couldn't help but smile back, hoping he might be right about everything he'd said so far. For, if he was…

Maybe she was more than a monster, underneath her title.

Maybe she wasn't even a monster, to begin with.

"Anyway… I'd rather we were friends than enemies," Sokka said, with a shrug. "I know there's not much I can do about it… but I hope you know that. And that you also know that… I wouldn't be all that against it if we were a little more than friends, too."

Azula froze up. Sokka averted his gaze from hers once she searched him with her eyes. Her perplexity only gave way to a profound blush… until she smiled.

He held himself on that ledge with his hands on the rock: Azula dared reach her pinky finger out, brushing against his softly. Sokka raised an eyebrow, puzzled at first… but then he smiled. An innocent, simple grin… and yet it stirred feelings in Azula's chest that she had never thought she'd know. Feelings she had experienced already, if in a different way, over Noriko…

Affection. That was the right term for it.

She didn't dare think much more of it… didn't dare make more of it. It wouldn't do for her to be swept up by the situation only to wind up falling in love with him indeed…

But by the next morning, it seemed that was inevitable: the Avatar's group gathered their things, ready to take off on the next leg of their journey. Sokka lagged behind briefly, smiling at Azula in particular.

"Guess we'll be seeing each other, so… maybe we'll decide on that date next time," he said. Azula shrugged.

"Maybe we will," she agreed. He raised a hand in farewell… the very hand she had dared touch just lightly last night.

"See you, then… uh, Noriko, Ty Lee. Azula."

The way he spoke her name shot wild adrenaline through her system: the young man turned around, marching up to his friends, who seemed to not fly on the bison so far, all be it to ensure the Avatar would have time to work on more earthbending while they traveled by walking on land. They would shrink in the distance, and their voices would fade, and…

And Azula's chest would continue to yearn for something she didn't understand. To cling to the second person who, in a matter of days, had turned her understanding of herself upside down, entirely.

"Well, that was a crazy adventure," Ty Lee said, smiling and stretching her arms. "We should go, though. Lo and Li will be waiting and… I miss Mai. Maybe we should go look for her."

"Look for her where?" Noriko asked, puzzled. "Is it possible to track her down now? She stayed with Zuko…"

"It would be possible, but difficult," Azula said, curtly. Noriko hummed.

"Then we'll simply go to the train-tank?" she asked. "To continue our mission without her?"

Their mission… Azula's mission. Capturing Zuko and Iroh, the primary mission her father had given her, had resulted in utter failure. Her chosen mission to take the Avatar had failed, too. Then there was the matter of the Drill… which was likely on its way to Ba Sing Se by now. Her body shuddered at the thought: she shouldn't find it unsettling. She should be proud of what their great nation had accomplished… she should want their army to conquer a city. She should want all those things…

And yet in a world where there was only Fire Nation, she would never find a Water Tribe boy like him.

She couldn't resent them for causing her so much turmoil. She shouldn't. Sokka was only trying to be nice… to be a friend. But… perhaps he already was more than that in the heart she hadn't even known was there, dwelling inside her.

Who was she without her titles? What did it mean to be loyal to the Fire Nation? So much of her conversation with Noriko had shaken her… the woman was wise in strange, unexpected ways. So perhaps she'd know what to do. Perhaps…

Azula turned towards the woman, eyes heartfelt. Noriko raised her eyebrows.

"You told me… that you wondered who my brother was without his title," Azula said. "That if he was nothing without it, he was wasting away his life… and that's no different for me either."

"I did say that," Noriko whispered. Azula swallowed hard.

"And… what if my idea on how to find out who I am without mine isn't, well… an idea that would be agreeable with the Fire Nation?" Azula said.

"With the Fire Nation, or the Fire Lord?" Noriko said, curtly. Azula swallowed hard.

"I don't know. I… I don't know," she admitted. Ty Lee listened on the sidelines, her eyes widening at the unusually insecure side of Azula she was witnessing now. "I just… I don't know if this makes any sense. They don't want… they don't want to destroy the Fire Nation. He doesn't want that, at least. What the Fire Nation is trying to do… why are we even doing it? What is the point of it?"

"That's a question that has plagued many… and I fear not a lot of people come to a good answer for it," said Noriko, stepping forward and cupping Azula's face gently with a hand. "But Azula… you're a child. A young child, just like all the rest of you, and you shouldn't be fighting in any wars. You should be making friends… living a life you can find true enjoyment in. A good father, a loving father, would prioritize his daughter's heart… if Ozai cannot do that, then he doesn't deserve to call himself your father."

Ty Lee gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Azula didn't flinch, though: those were treacherous words, as usual… and yet they rang deeply in her heart as she raised her gaze towards Noriko.

"What if this fails?" Azula asked. "What if… if this nonsense idea I've got in my head goes nowhere? What if he and I don't really…?"

"If true, long, everlasting love weren't born from your bond?" asked Noriko, with a gentle smile. "It wouldn't be the end of the world if it doesn't. You deserve to live your life... a life that has already been marred by warfare and chaos. You deserve to test the waters and find someone to share your life with, if you would like to do so. More than anything… you deserve to be your own person, dear. Not just your father's daughter… not just the Princess of the Fire Nation. You are those things, yes… but you are so much more than that too, Azula. And maybe… maybe it's time you see that for yourself. For I already see it… and I know your potential is beautiful. It's marvelous… and if you wish to reach for it now, I'll stand by you every step of the way. I promise."

Azula swallowed hard… glancing quickly at Ty Lee. She blinked blankly, eyes shifting between Noriko and Azula repeatedly…

"You… you can go back to your circus, if you want. Or find Mai. I shouldn't have dragged you out for this when I can't even… can't even find my resolve to keep doing it anymore," Azula admitted. Ty Lee shook her head rapidly, though.

"Oh, I need to be here with you, though! If you and Sokka do become an item, I have to give you lots of relationship advice!" Ty Lee giggled. Azula rolled her eyes.

"I'd rather ask Noriko…"

"Well… I'm not much good at romance, as you know, Princess," Noriko sighed, shaking her head. Azula raised her eyebrows. "So perhaps lady Ty Lee's advice would be better."

"Oh, yes!" Ty Lee giggled, clapping happily as Azula smiled, shaking his head.

"So… you'll stay. And you… you will too, Noriko?" Azula said. Noriko smiled and clasped her hand gently. "I suppose… I really might find out who I am underneath all the titles then? I've been intrigued by the notion since you said that to me, but…"

"You're worried about what you'll find?" Noriko asked. Azula nodded subtly. "Aren't we all, Princess. Aren't we all."

Azula smiled again as Noriko withdrew her hand: even then, her eyes radiated genuine affection… and Azula's heart warmed further upon knowing she had her approval. More than that, she had her affection… she had her support with whatever she might do going forward.

"Whatever the outcome may be…" Noriko said, her voice heartfelt and earnest. "I'm proud of you, my child."

Azula's heart pounded hard in her chest… for those were words she hadn't heard before, either. Words she had longed for, coveted without quite knowing it… words that meant something so different coming from Noriko than they would coming from her father.

But why had her voice sounded so strangely familiar suddenly?

Why did her eyes seem more… gold?

What was that strange, sudden mirage, that brought the notion of Ursa to mind when Azula was gazing at Noriko, instead?

Her lips parted… but she closed them again: just as suddenly as that strange visual had crossed her mind, it was gone again as soon as her rational mind interjected – her longing to hear those words from Ursa had brought her to think of her, surely that was all there was to it…

But she had Noriko. She had her, and if all went well, she'd have more friends, going forward. A smile spread over her face as she let herself imagine a world so different from the one the Fire Lord fought for… a world where Noriko's kindness might be the norm, rather than Ozai's coldness. A world where children didn't have to go to war against each other… where a prince, or a princess, wouldn't need to undergo trials and complications beyond compare to find out who they truly were.

It sounded idyllic… and she had so much to think about, so much to ponder, so much to think about thoroughly before she was ready to embrace it in full. But she might do best to think about such things, to talk about them, once she genuinely expanded her worldview beyond the confines and limitations of the Fire Nation.

She turned on her heels and she began walking with long strides, followed by Noriko and Ty Lee. Lo and Li might grow weary of waiting… Azula hoped they'd eventually return to her Barge, at least, and simply go home: she wasn't bound to need the train-tank anymore.

The sound of their footsteps on the dry land were first sensed by Toph: she warned the others, and Sokka slowed down, glancing over his shoulder. His heart sped up, and he smiled, once he saw Azula was smiling, too.

She didn't settle for a light brush from their fingers: this time, her hand wrapped gently around his palm once she reached him.

And so, they walked together, hands linked, into a brighter future.

#sokkla #sokka #azula #sokkla saturdays 2022 #sokklasaturdays #this is... the AU where Ursa chooses NOT to forget her children #and how her presence could actually change a fair few things #like honestly there's so many ways to take this concept #I took it in this direction because that's my calling in this fandom #but I really think all the takes on how Azula should have magically known better #can be refuted via actually giving her someone who helps her orient her moral compass properly #and who could be better for that role... than Noriko? :') #anyway here goes #hope you guys enjoy this one #sorry if the ending feels a little underwhelming #ngl I have no idea where this story would go after this but eh #that felt like the right place to end it :'D

[melzula]

All I Ever Wanted

pairing: zuko x reader

notes: this was originally requested by an anon but i also took inspiration from mitski’s song “your best american girl” while writing this. give it a listen during your read !

summary: as a peasant and servant girl for the palace, you should have known better than to fall for the Prince

The sun is warm against your skin and the grass is soft beneath you as you land on your back in a fit of giggles. Azula is unamused by your antics, but Zuko finds himself laughing right along with you. It’s a peaceful summer’s day in the palace gardens, and you spend it as you would any other day by playing with your friends.

“I caught you,” you tell him with a breathless laugh after turning your head to face him.

“No way, I was just going easy on you,” he argues with playful grin, his nose nearly brushing against your own due to your close proximity on the grass. Your heart beats fast in your rib cage as you try to ignore the rising heat on your face and play it off as a result of your exhaustion and not your nerves from lying with the Prince. You haven’t realized it yourself, but you have a crush on Zuko, a painfully obvious one that he hasn’t seemed to notice yet. What you also don’t realize is that he reciprocates the feeling, and he shares the thrill that comes with being your playmate.

“Are you two done yet?” Azula finally interrupts with a roll of her eyes as she offers you her hand and helps you up from the ground. “It’s my turn to hide this time.”

“I don’t think we can play anymore,” Zuko notes with a frown as his mother makes her way towards your group. You quickly bow in respect to the Fire Lady, but she waves you off with a smile.

“I’m sorry, y/n, but Zuko and Azula must attend their fire bending lessons now. I’m afraid playtime is over for today,” she informs you apologetically.

“Yes, Fire Lady Ursa,” you reply politely before turning to give both of your friends departing hugs. “Bye Zuko, bye Azula!”

“It’s too bad you’re not a fire bender,” Azula remarks after halfheartedly returning your embrace. “Maybe dad would let us play with you more if you were.”

Her words make your body hot with embarrassment and shame, and though you don’t voice your discomfort Ursa is instantly able to pick up on it. With a scolding glare, the Fire Lady quickly urges her daughter to apologize.

“Azula, that is not a nice thing to say to a friend.”

“But it’s true,” the girl mutters under her breath only to have her mother drag her away before she can get the chance to say anything else. Zuko hesitates then, giving you an apologetic look and promising to play with you tomorrow before rushing after Ursa and Azula.

You’ve never really cared about being a non-bender, but there’s something about Azula’s words that has you questioning your worth. As the daughter of a royal family servant with no title or money to her name, you knew you were lucky to be able to grow up in the palace and play with the Fire Lord’s children. However, you never once realized that you weren’t their equal. They were royalty, a Prince and a Princess destined to become powerful benders and ruthless leaders of the Fire Nation, and you were simply a girl who would one day grow up to live a life of servitude. You had no real future or purpose ahead of you, not like they did, and yet you were the only one unaware of your unfortunate fate.

Perhaps it’s because they never treated you in such a way, and your mother did her best to shield you from your true heritage. For now you could grow up blissfully unaware of the fact that your friends would one day outgrow you.

“Mom?” Zuko asks once they’re safe inside the palace. “Do you like y/n?”

“She’s a sweet girl,” Ursa notes with a faint smile, “and she makes you both happy. So yes, I like her.”

“Then why doesn’t Dad?”

The Fire Lady’s smile fades into a remorseful frown, and she simply ushers her son forward with a shake of her head. “Let’s not worry about that now. You’re going to be late for your lesson.”

Zuko isn’t satisfied with her answer, but he isn’t give a chance to discuss it further with her. For now, he remains content with the fact that he likes you, and his mother likes you.

That is enough for him.

~~~

The day is calm as you carefully hang the clothes to dry and enjoy the warmth of the sun basking on your skin. It’s rare that you get tasked with the outdoor chores, so you savor the opportunity for as long as you can. Doing the royal family’s laundry certainly beats scrubbing the floors of the palace, and you are grateful the spirits have taken mercy upon you today.

You’re freshly fifteen and the summer is just beginning. You’ve grown into a well-mannered young woman, and you’re old enough now to be able to take on some of the work that once fell to your mother. One day you will take her place and continue to serve the royal family until you’re no longer physically able. You’ll never get to leave, but you consider yourself grateful to live on the palace grounds. You will forever have a roof over your head, food on the table, and, most importantly, your friends.

You take great care to pin Azula’s dresses down without getting any creases or wrinkles in the fabric, and you’re so lost in thought that you don’t notice the figure carefully creeping up behind you. You’re too busy reciting the words to an old Fire Nation folk song your mother had taught you to pay any mind to your surroundings, and it gives Zuko the perfect opportunity to catch you by surprise.

“Y/n!” He exclaims with a grin as his hands land firmly upon your shoulders. You nearly jump out of your skin at the act, and your reaction has the Fire Prince laughing so hard his cheeks begin to hurt.

“Zuko!” You scold with an irritated scowl as you chuck a handful of clothespins at him in retaliation. “You need to stop doing that!”

“I’m sorry, you just make it so easy,” he teases with a light nudge to your side before taking it upon himself to pick up the pins you’d discarded.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready to leave for Ember Island?” You ask him with a quizzical look as you resume your previous work of hanging the clothes.

“That’s actually what I was coming to talk to you about,” he admits with a sheepish smile. “I want you to come with us.”

“What? You’re not serious, are you?” You retort apprehensively, halting your movements to gauge his reaction for any hint of insincerity or humor.

“I am serious. You deserve to have fun once in a while too,” he notes with a careful smile. You’re too oblivious to notice the look of admiration on his face and definitely too concerned with finding a way to let him down gently to realize he’s inviting you because he likes you. Despite your own feelings for the Prince you’ve developed over the years, you’re much too self-depreciating to ever believe Zuko could possibly feel the same. If only you knew.

“I can’t just up and leave! There’s work to be done, a-and my mother would be so upset with me if I abandoned my chores and-“

“Azula will tell our father she wishes to bring you along as a personal servant so you can come with us, and someone else will be tasked with taking on your work while you’re away. There’s no way your mom could be upset with you for serving the Princess, could she?”

“Azula would really do that for me?” You question meekly, a hopeful glint in your eyes as you hang on to his every word. You’re trying your best not to get your hopes up, but you wish for nothing more than to leave the capital city to see the ocean for the first time and feel the sand beneath your feet. As the daughter of a servant and now a servant yourself, you know you’d never get a chance like this if not for the fact that the siblings had grown fond of you over your years of friendship together. You’re lucky, because you know without them you’d truly be nothing more than a floor scrubbing peasant.

“Of course she would, she wants you there just as much as I do,” Zuko assures you. Gently taking your hands in his own, he gives them a comforting squeeze and looks into your eyes with a loving smile. “We leave tomorrow morning. Bring enough clothes to last you three days and a bathing suit.”

“I don’t own one,” you admit with an embarrassed frown, but your friend doesn’t display any sign of judgement in the slightest towards your shortcomings.

“Then I’ll take you shopping myself when we get there.”

Your heart melts at his words, your gaze falling to the ground bashfully as you try not to dwell on the fact that he’s still holding your hands. You’re in love with the Prince, and the Prince is in love with you, and everyone but you has figured out just how much you mean to each other.

Even Fire Lord Ozai, who odiously watches the scene unfold before him from the top of the palace balcony.

~~~

The shores of Ember Island are beautiful.

The waves almost seem to sparkle underneath the moonlight as they crash peacefully against the shore, and down below the lively chatter of your friends carries through the air and fills your heart with contentment. You’ve had the most perfect time here at the beach, and it pains you to know that tonight will be your last night of freedom before you must return home and resume your life as a servant girl.

The wooden doors behind you carefully slide open and closed, and soon a familiar warmth joins you out on the balcony. For a while you say nothing, simply enjoying the closeness of him as you watch Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai practice tricks in the sand below. You don’t know how to thank the Prince for all he’s done for you, for always looking out for you since you were children, for never once treating you as less than for your heritage. You don’t know how to tell him that you love him with your entire being.

So he does it for you.

“I got you something,” Zuko says after a moment’s silence, waiting for you to turn your gaze to him so he may pull out a small clam from beneath his robes. You raise a curious eyebrow at his offering as he gestures for you to take it.

“A clam shell?” You note inquisitively as you turn the gift around in your palms, carefully feeling out its grooves and intricate ridges.

“Open it,” he directs you quietly, anxiously watching your movements with bated breath.

You smile curiously at your friend before delicately pulling the top half of the shell open to reveal the contents inside. Your eyes widen in surprise at the gift that greets you, and you immediately look up to Zuko to ensure this isn’t some kind of joke.

Inside the clam sits a beautiful gold necklace with a dainty sun pendant resting in the center that shimmers under the light of the moon. It’s beautiful, and it’s certainly worth more than your own life, which is why you immediately try to hand it back to him.

“I-I can’t accept this!” You hastily insist with a quick shake of your head as you struggle to return the clam to him. “It’s too nice!”

“You can accept this,” Zuko reassures you as he carefully pushes the gift back towards you. When his efforts fail due to your persistent attempts to give back the shell, he lets out a sigh and carefully removes the necklace from the clam. “Y/n, I want you to have it.”

“But why?” You demand apprehensively, almost flinching away when he moves towards you with the necklace. You’re completely overwhelmed by his gift and unsure of what it means or why you’d ever be deserving of such a thing. You don’t want to take advantage of his kindness or his status, and you feel like he’s done more than enough for you by bringing you along on this trip, so it just feels wrong of you to take it.

“Because you deserve nice things too,” Zuko explains, and after giving you a pointed look you finally allow him to carefully put the necklace on you. The sun rests daintily along your neck, and he thinks it suits you perfectly. “I brought you on this trip because I wanted you to have fun for once, but also because… well, because I love you, and I thought a romantic setting might make it easier to tell you that.”

“You love me?”

“You haven’t noticed?” He retorts with a meek smile. “I’m not the best at words, but I know that I’ve loved you since we were children feeding turtle ducks in the pond and playing tag in the gardens. You have the purest heart of anyone I know, the sweetest smile, you are everything to me. I hope that by accepting this gift, you’ll be accepting me as someone worthy enough to be your boyfriend.”

“Oh, Zuko…” you murmur softly, eyes full of tears as you throw yourself into his arms and hug him as tight as humanly possible. You’re still shocked by the fact that the boy you love will all your heart feels the same, but you try to remind yourself not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Zuko is right when he says that you deserve to enjoy what life has to offer just as much as he does, so maybe it’s time you finally start allowing yourself the chance to finally let your guard down. You can be more than just a servant girl from the palace.

You can be happy.

~~~

You sit quietly before the vanity mirror as your mother tediously brushes through your hair to ensure not a single strand is out of place. The wrinkles in her skin crease with her nerves as she carefully begins to pin your hair back into the perfect top knot. Immediately after your return home from Ember Island, you were informed that the Fire Lord wished to speak with you. You were expected to drop your chores for the day and make yourself decent before presenting yourself to him. His request to see you surprised you considering the fact you previously believed he didn’t even know of your existence, but it made you nervous all the same. If anything were to go wrong during your meeting, you’d be jeopardizing both yours and your mother’s jobs.

“Make sure to sit up straight and no slouching,” she reminds you quietly while stopping to admire her work. “Hold your tongue until he allows you to speak and thank him for all he has done for us. It is a great honor to speak to Fire Lord Ozai, so you must treat it as such.”

“Mother, what could the Fire Lord possibly want to talk to me about?”

She doesn’t meet your eyes at first, looking away as if contemplating carefully what her next words should be. With a sigh, she sets the brush down and looks at you through the reflection. “Word has spread quickly about you and Prince Zuko, and I think he knows.”

You swallow nervously at her admission, absently brushing your fingers against the sun that hangs around your neck. You never once considered what Zuko’s father would think about his son’s choice of a partner; Ursa had always treated you as one of her own, and Azula considered you to be a good friend, but what would Ozai say of the peasant girl who had stolen his son’s heart?

You don’t have much time to mull over it further as a guard arrives to escort you from your quarters to the throne room. All eyes seem to follow you as you walk through the palace, the gold and red hues overwhelming your senses as you do your best to remain calm. You have no idea what awaits you at the end of the hallway, but there’s no escape now as the grand doors open and you’re pushed inside.

Ozai sits on the throne with a wall of flames roaring behind him. His features are stoic but his gaze is menacing as his eyes watch your meager form approach. You immediately bow in respect to the man once you reach him and kneel before his seated figure. Just as your mother instructed, you say nothing until you are spoken to.

“So you’re the girl my son has chosen to be his partner?” He drawls with a raised brow, obviously not impressed by the person before him.

“Yes, sir. It is an honor to present myself to you, my Lord,” you profess as earnestly as possible while adding another bow for good measure. You need his approval not only to continue dating Zuko, but also to ensure you and your mother are both able to continue living behind the palace walls. Even if you are there as servants tucked away in the peasant quarters, it certainly is a better place to be than out in the streets.

“I know who you are, child,” Ozai scoffs callously as he peers down at you from his place on the throne. “You are the peasant girl who managed to worm her way into the lives of my children. You are a lowly servant with nothing to your name and nothing special about you, and yet you have managed to corrupt my only son."

“Fire Lord Ozai, I-I apologize if my actions have upset you,” you quickly try to interject, but he holds a hand up and signals you to halt your pathetic rambling. Ozai does not have the time nor care to hear your excuses or explanations. That’s not what this meeting is for.

“Do you know how poorly it would reflect on me to have Zuko galavanting around the palace with a servant? Do you know how poorly it reflects on him to be seen with you? It’s a disgrace, and it is something I will not tolerate.”

“I know,” you utter quietly, trying to make yourself appear as small as you feel on the inside. Despite what Zuko has told you, you know that his father is right. You are nothing compared to him. He is the sun, the Prince, the heir to the throne. His future ahead is bright, and there is much for him to accomplish. You have no future, no plans for your life, nothing as grand or important as him and Azula. You are not the sun or the moon or even the stars that hang in his sky, you are insignificant, and you will never be worthy enough to be his.

“A future Fire Lord cannot have a maid as a wife. You must break his heart so that he no longer wants anything to do with you, so that he can move on and find a girl more worthy of becoming the future Fire Lady. You must make it appear to be your own doing and not mine, otherwise it won’t work. Have I made myself clear, child?”

“Yes, Fire Lord Ozai,” you whisper softly, a single tear sliding down your cheek as you bow to the cruel man before you. “I understand.”

~~~

The clouds that hang overhead are gray as Zuko makes his way towards the servants’ quarters. It is unheard of for any royal to ever set foot on these grounds, and so all eyes watch the Prince curiously as he approaches your humble home and knocks gently on the door. Movement sounds from the other side, and after a moment he is met with the startled face of your mother. It’s clear that she hadn’t been expecting him, and he takes her by surprise when he bows to the woman in respect.

“I apologize for coming unannounced, but I was hoping I could speak to y/n,” he utters with a look of defeat on his face. His sullen features make his lack of sleep obvious, and his eyes are full of desperation. You’ve been avoiding him for weeks and he has no clue as to why, but he hopes to figure it out soon before he starts to spiral any further.

“She’s…” your mother begins to say, glancing unsurely behind her before looking back to him, “she’s not feeling well. You can come back another time.”

“But-“

“Please, Prince Zuko, we can’t risk you catching whatever it is she’s come down with. You must go.”

She gives him no time to argue before slamming the door in his face. Zuko is stunned, but his shock quickly turns to anger as he lets out a frustrated breath of flames from his mouth before stalking off to cool himself down.

His footsteps fade into the distance as he departs, and you can only sit by the window of your room and watch him walk away. There’s a tightness in your chest that makes you feel as if you can’t breathe, and once he finally disappears over the horizon you break down into an inconsolable mess.

You love Zuko with all of your heart, so it kills you to act as if he means nothing to you. You’re trying to do what Ozai has demanded of you, but it’s agonizing and difficult. You’re too much of a coward to face him and break it off for good, so you’ve resorted to avidly avoiding the Prince at all costs. You hope that by pushing him away he’ll take it upon himself to end the relationship; it would be much less painful that way, but he’s too stubborn for his own good, and he’s persisted despite your best efforts.

The days seem to blend together as you lock yourself in your room while your mother continues to turn Zuko away. You haven’t done any of your chores or worked in days, but Ozai has not faulted you for your incompletion of tasks. Breaking Zuko’s heart is your task, and so long as you keep your word he couldn’t care less what you did with yourself.

After another week has passed, suffocation finally catches up to you and you’re forced to leave your room in order to get some fresh air. You sneak out at nightfall when the palace is quiet and your mother is sleeping so that no one can detect your presence. You retreat to the well out in the back and stare contemplatively into the water below. Clutching the sun that hangs from the gold chain around your neck, you admire the moon’s reflection in the ripples and wish you could be anywhere else but here in the Fire Nation.

“I thought I’d find you here,” a voice utters quietly, causing you to jump in alarm at the intrusion. You turn to meet the solemn gaze of the Prince, and as your back hits the cool stones of the well you find that you are cornered. You can’t avoid him now, and it’s a fact both of you are aware of.

“Zuko, I… I was just leaving,” you stammer hurriedly as you try to push your way past him, but he catches you by the arm before you can get away.

“No, not until you talk to me!” He demands, his eyes full of desperation and despair. “You’re supposed to be my girlfriend, yet you keep avoiding me. Why? Was it something I did?”

“No, Zuko, you didn’t do anything,” you insist despite refusing to meet his gaze. You’re terrified that someone will see you both together and alert Ozai, and you wish he would just release you so you could go back to hiding away in your room.

“Then why won’t you even look at me?”

Slowly, you peek your head up to meet his exasperated face. It seems he’s not going to give up without a fight, so you’re going to have to resort to doing what you’ve been trying to avoid this entire time.

“I don’t love you.”

“W-What?” Zuko stammers in quiet surprise, his hold on your arm loosening slightly. He doesn’t believe what he’s hearing from you, and his mind is scrambling to process your words.

“I don’t love you. I want nothing to do with you,” you repeat firmly, your eyes hardening as you stare up at him and yank yourself free from his grasp.

“Y/n, you don’t mean that-“

“I do mean it! I feel nothing for you, Zuko. I never have. I just felt like I couldn’t say no to you because you’re the Prince, so I had no choice but to say yes to being your girlfriend.”

Hurt flashes across his features and you’re dying inside at having to be so cruel to him. The heart of your childhood best friend is in your hands and you crush it with every word despite how much it pains you. But it’s better for both of you this way, it must be. Ozai will never let you be happy together, but apart he still has a chance to capture the promised future ahead of him. You’re doing him a favor, and you hope one day he’ll be able to see it that way too.

“I don’t understand,” he murmurs weakly, tears beginning to well in his eyes. Then, with frustration clear in his tone, “This doesn’t make any sense!”

“Did you honestly think we could actually be together?” You retort in disbelief. “Azula always said you were a fool, but I didn’t think you were this naive. A servant and a Prince don’t belong together, and you’re the only one who can’t seem to get that!”

“Alright, fine,” Zuko mutters indignantly. His sadness has quickly morphed into anger, and you hate the way it makes you feel. “Can I just ask you one thing?”

You say nothing in response, and he takes your silence as a sign to continue.

“If you don’t love me, then why are you still wearing the necklace?”

Your eyes widen slightly as your hand immediately flies to your neck to clutch the pendant, and your heart slowly begins to sink to your stomach as you realize you’ve been caught in your lie. It’s your turn now to be at a loss for words, unsure what to say as you simply stare up at him with your mouth slight agape.

“You don’t mean what you’re saying,” Zuko says firmly as he moves closer to you. “Someone else is speaking for you, aren’t they?”

“I…”

“What’s going on, y/n?” He presses gently, carefully resting a hand upon your cheek. “Why are you acting this way?”

“I can’t tell you,” you argue weakly, your own eyes becoming full of tears as you allow yourself to melt into his touch. You’ve missed the feeling of his warmth and the comfort of his closeness, and despite your mind screaming at you to remove yourself from him your heart keeps you planted in place.

“That’s nonsense, of course you can. You’ve always been able to tell me anything, so why can’t you now?”

“Can’t you just believe me when I tell you it’s for your own good?” You plead emphatically despite the wavering of your voice.

“How can this possibly be for my own good?!” He retorts in exasperation. “I’ve been miserable without you. Life feels empty when you aren’t around, and I don’t know how to deal with the fact that the girl I’ve loved all my life can’t seem to stand me.”

“It’s not like that!” You cry defensively as the tears finally begin to fall.

“Then what is it?!” Zuko demands, and you can’t seem to take any more of this torture. The lies are killing you, and you can’t help but to finally crack under pressure.

“I’m not good enough for you!” You finally exclaim as you pull yourself away from his touch. You try to choke back your sobs but the ache in your chest makes the task difficult, and you can do nothing but let your words flow freely after keeping them bottled in for weeks. “I-I have nothing to offer you, nothing that makes me special, nothing ahead of me like you do. It’s an embarrassment to the Fire Lord for you to be with me, and it will be an embarrassment for you to have me as your Fire Lady.”

Stunned by your admission, it takes Zuko a moment to process your words. He steps towards you and you flinch, effectively breaking his heart in the process. It’s clear you’re frightened, but not of him. Your fear is geared toward someone else, and the culprit must be responsible for you now feeling this way.

“Who told you such nonsense?”

“Your father,” you admit quietly much to Zuko’s dismay. His eyes immediately harden and his chest is immediately tight with anger, but he does his best to keep his emotions at bay so as to not upset you further. “He spoke to me when we returned from Ember Island and told me we couldn’t be together. Ozai demanded I break your heart so that you can move on and find another girl more suited for this life than I could ever be. I didn’t want to, I still don’t want to, but I’m doing this so that you can have a better future. I’ll only hold you back, Zuko.”

After taking a moment to digest your words, Zuko carefully steps towards you again. You don’t reject his advances this time, so he allows himself the opportunity to carefully wipe away the steady tears that fall down your cool cheeks. Despite how much of a mess you assume you must look like, the Prince still sees you as the most beautiful girl he’s ever laid eyes on.

“I don’t care what my father says,” he assures you gently as he takes your hands in his own. “You’re not an embarrassment, and there’s no other girl that could ever compare to you. I love you, y/n, and I’m not going to let anyone ever get in the way of that.”

“You mean that?” You ask with a quiet sniffle, holding his hands tight as if he’ll leave if you let go.

“Every word. Let my father and anyone else who disapproves of our relationship say what they want to say. I want to be with you, and I hope you still want to be with me too.”

His looks to you with pleading eyes that seek your reassurance, and for a moment you hesitate. Being with Zuko is all you’ve ever wanted, and now he stands here before you professing his loyalty and his love to you. The boy from your childhood had stolen your heart, and you’d be lying if you said you wanted it back.

You know being with him won’t be easy, especially not with his father’s adamant disapproval of your relationship, but you trust Zuko, and so you have to trust that everything will turn out okay. You meet his desperate gaze and gift him a faint smile, and despite knowing you’ll regret this, you wordlessly lean in to meet his lips in a kiss.

You can worry about Ozai’s wrath later. But for now, you allow yourself to melt into his embrace by the moonlit well as you share your first kiss in weeks. It feels right being in his arms once more after spending so much time apart, and you hope you’ll never have to be without his touch ever again.

| zuko tags: @ilovespideyyy @yiyibetch @eridanuswave @lammello @a-monsters-love @taeeemin @livelaughlovekuni @lovialy @alexatiu

#melzula writes #request #zuko #zuko x reader #zuko imagine #prince zuko #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko imagine #azula #ursa #ozai #angst #atla #atla x reader #atla imagine #avatar the last airbender

[comradekatara]

azula as zuko’s evil advisor is so funny to me i actually fuck so hard w this concept. she gives zuko advice and then zuko looks across the room to sokka and sokka just discreetly gives him a thumbs up or thumbs down. one weekend sokka, aang, mai, toph, suki, katara, and anyone else who might have a modicum of common sense all go out of town for like. omashu coachella or smth. and when they come back the entire palace is in shambles, zuko’s just sitting on his throne shinji style, and he’s just like “i’m so sorry….. her advice seemed so cogent….. she made trickle down economics seem so reasonable……. why weren’t you there….. YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE, GODDAMMIT!!!!!!!” while azula slyly sips from a cunty chalice she had personally made just for moments like this.

#the fact that I literally corrected the typo 3 seconds later and yet ppl are still reblogging the original stupid fucking post this. is why #I don’t make posts at 2 :49 am. smh #zuko #azula #sokka #azula&zuko #postwargaang #<- barely #also the reason katara is listed last here is only bc I don’t think she would spend a lot of time in the fn #she mostly sees zuko during his bimonthly visit to the south pole #whereas sokka would die if he couldn’t micromanage him #so he and azula are rly fighting for their lives as they try to wrest control over zuko and by extension the country and by extension #the entire world #while zuko is just sitting there thinking ‘it’s so nice that sokka and azula are getting along so well these days 🥰’

[darkprince1110]

Y/n enters the room where Mai and Zuko are making out

Y/n; you need to start locking your door

Zuko; or you could start knocking

Y/n; I have a question

Mai; this should be interesting

Y/n; so Azula and I have been cuddling every night and it’s nice and all but she falls asleep and she’s got all that space on her side of the bed and I would kinda like to have some room when I sleep if you know what I mean

Zuko: my sister cuddling?

Y/n; yeah

Mai; sorry, y/n can’t help you wear cuddly sleepers,

Mai leaves the room 

Zuko waits till Mai leaves

Zuko; OK so the cuddling thing this is what I do

Y/n; oh, but I thought you two were cuddly sleepers 🙃

Zuko;😒 she is, I’m like you I need the room, so I just roll her to her side of the bed when she’s asleep, it’s that easy

y/n; OK what if she wakes up

Zuko; well, then, it was nice knowing you 🙃

Y/n;😒 that’s reassuring 

The next day Azula Mai and tylee are having lunch together Azula arm is heavily bandaged 

Tylee; Azula, what happened to your arm?

Azula; oh, you can blame y/n they spun me right off the bed last night

Tylee: spinning that’s so cute you guys play games in bed🥹

Mai:🙄

Azula: no, no not like that They said Zuko does this thing where he rolls Mai to her side of the bed when she falls asleep 

Mai; WHAT?

Azula: apparently our partners absolutely need their space when they sleep 🙄

Mai: oh he won’t have to worry about that tonight 😡

Next day Zuko walks up to y/n in the garden

Zuko; I’ve been looking for you

Y/n; join the club

Zuko; this isn’t funny Mai has been giving me the cold shoulder 

Y/n; what does that have to do with me?

Zuko; think about it

Y/n; Oh, she must’ve found out

Zuko; more like somebody else told somebody else then told her

Y/n; 😬 my fault, azula has forbidden me from taking any more of your advice

Zuko; good cause I’m not sharing anything else with you 😡

y/n; at least she knows you need your space when you sleep 

Zuko; I slept on the couch last night.

Y/n; 😬

#atla #azula x reader #azula fic #azula imagine #fire nation #zuko #mai imagine #maiko #avatar the last airbender #azula #avatar #atla x reader

[jettingtothemoon]

Daughter of the Spirits; chapter 11

➳ pairing: zuko x f!reader ➳ genre: a retelling of the show from season 2 onwards with a heavy focus and expansion on zuko’s story (canon divergent) ➳ warnings: violence, swearing, smut (underaged if your age of consent is above 16), spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen the show ➳ word count: 3537 ➳ rating: 18+ ➳ summary: In which y/n comes across the fire nation prince during her stay in Ba Sing Se. ➳ tags: @harmlessoffering, @lammello (i’m sorry if i’m forgetting anyone, lmk if i am or if you want to be added)

Chapters: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13,

The Invasion

You found out from Mai and Ty Lee that there had been another war meeting — one Zuko hadn’t been invited to. He was furious, of course.

For the first time in years, he was finally starting to feel like a prince again. What with all the servants at his beck and call, insisting he take the palanquin when traversing the city, even if he was only out on an errand with you. People were by his side day and night, making sure he had everything he needed. It was exactly how it should have been, even if it was quite the adjustment for you both, yet he had still been excluded by his father.

He had told you about his banishment. How he had spoken up at a war meeting and disgraced his father, leading to the agni kai where he had to fight the very man that was supposed to protect him. The man who scarred and banished his own child.

Only this morning was he happy and smiling, simply enjoying the time he got to spend with you. Now, however, he sat staring out of the window, watching as the clouds passed over the moon in silent contemplation.

“Zuko,” you said his name and yet, he didn't move. Didn’t even flinch. It was as if he hadn’t even heard you, only you knew he had.

"Zuko," you tried again, this time wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

Wordlessly, he leaned into you. His scowl never once left his face but he was at least trying to control his temper for you, allowing himself to fall into your embrace.

"It's just a war meeting. I bet they're full of old, boring men."

Your attempt at amusing him seemed to fail as he leaned away from you and back against the window. "They're important. All the best advisors and the entire royal family attend. Even Azula is going."

"Just another reason that it won't be fun, Azula will be there."

Now that got a chuckle. A small one, but a chuckle nonetheless.

"Stop worrying about it and come to bed."

He hummed, turning away from the window and towards you. He wasn't happy and he probably wouldn't be for a while, but at least he could relax with you. Even when things weren’t going his way.

The next day, you sat with Zuko as you made a cup of jasmine tea. He sulked beside you with a frown on his face, thinking about the meeting that was about to start without him. You could tell how badly he wanted to be there, even if he did keep shrugging it off when you tried to comfort him. You thought making some tea would help but it only seemed to sour his mood further and you soon realised it was because he was missing his uncle.

You missed Iroh too. You had wanted to go and visit him but Zuko forbade you, expressing how dangerous it would be if you did. Azula had found out when he went to see him and if anyone were to find out you were visiting a traitor of the Fire Nation you would be hauled away and thrown into a cell of your own before either of you could do anything to stop it.

It pained you to think of the old man sitting in a dark, grimey cell. More so when the smell of jasmine tea reminded you as much of him now as it did your mother.

“Prince Zuko,” your attention was drawn to a servant as he entered the room with a bow, “Everyone’s waiting for you.”

Zuko looked from you to the man who now knelt at the floor with furrowed brows before getting up from where he sat. “What?”

“The high admirals, high generals, the war ministers, and the princess have all arrived. You’re the only person missing,” the servant explained, his eyes lifting to look at the prince as he spoke.

You stood beside Zuko with a heavily beating chest as he asked, “So my dad wants me at the meeting?”

The servant bowed again. “The Firelord said he would not start until you have arrived, sir.”

With a full smile, Zuko turned to you and, although he was going to a meeting where they would likely discuss the deaths of even more people you loved and knew, you couldn’t help but feel happy for him. This was all he’d ever wanted — to be accepted by his father. To be loved and wanted. For his opinions to matter. That alone brought you hope because if he could sway his father or even some of the generals, perhaps he could help save lives on both sides of the war.

You, along with Mai, waited outside the meeting for him, both anxious to hear how it went. She had offered to come with you so that you would not be alone in the palace for too long since she knew just how daunting that could be. Besides, she was still Zuko’s friend too, just as she was now yours.

When he finally emerged, Mai was the first to ask, “So? How did it go?”

“When I got to the meeting, everyone welcomed me. My father had saved me a seat, he wanted me next to him. I was literally at his right hand.”

His words almost sent a chill down your spine as you thought of the worst — that rather than Zuko swaying the Firelord’s mind about the war, that it would be his father who would sway him. You knew better than that, though, and as much was confirmed when you were met with nothing but a troubled expression on Zuko’s face.

“That’s wonderful,” Mai grinned, “You must be happy.”

The three of you stopped in front of a large tapestry, one displaying a large portrait of Firelord Ozai. You placed a reassuring hand on Zuko’s shoulder as he looked up at it and exchanged a worried glance with Mai.

“During the meeting I was the perfect prince,” he concluded, “The son my father wanted… but I wasn’t me.”

You ran your hand down his arm and slotted it into his, giving it a gentle squeeze. For a moment, he squeezed it back, but then tugged his hand free and began to walk away, leaving both you and Mai behind.

She sighed and became the one placing a gentle hand on your shoulder. “Give him time. This was a good thing, he’ll realise that soon.”

You hummed although you did not agree. The only good thing was that Zuko was starting to realise who he was and that the man he was wasn’t the man his father wanted him to be. He was not ruthless and cold. He was kind and strong and so many other things his father would never be. He was better than him and finally, you thought he was beginning to realise that.

When you returned to your room, you found him writing a letter.

“What are you doing?” you questioned, wondering what he was up to.

“Writing to Mai. I at least owe her a goodbye.”

“Goodbye?” you asked, your brows furrowed.

He hummed. “We’re leaving. I… This isn’t who I am. Not anymore. An invasion has begun, we can slip away in the chaos but I have to do something first.”

Whatever he had in mind, whether he just wanted to leave and find your parents or maybe, just maybe, hunt down and join the avatar, you knew you were going with him. After all the time that had passed since you left Ba Sing Se, he was finally ready to accept who he was. He was finally going to do the right thing.

He passed you the brush when he was finished, allowing you to write your apologies and goodbyes to your newfound friends. You addressed both Mai and Ty Lee directly, wishing them well and hoping you would not come to face them on opposite sides of the battlefield. The two of you then signed the letter and Zuko left to take it to her home, putting it someplace where she would see it long after the two of you were gone.

After he returned, as you collected what little things you owned, he knelt before a portrait of his mother and closed his eyes. “I know I’ve made some bad choices, but today I’m gonna set things right.”

He picked up his swords and a small bag of provisions, turning to the lighter side of himself once again, and pulled his hood up to conceal his face.

You stepped forward and pulled him into your arms, pressing a kiss to his lips as your thumb stroked the side of his face. “It’s going to be okay, you know. You’re doing the right thing.”

He smiled and leaned into your touch. “I know.”

He led you quickly through the palace and down underground. You could hear the fighting up above as you moved through the tunnels and Zuko explained that during the eclipse today, no one would be able to Firebend. It was the perfect time for an attack and, along with the invasion forces, would surely be the avatar. He had a plan and that plan was to join them, to help the avatar finally put an end to this war.

But he had to confront his father first and what better time was there to do that than when he had no bending?

When he finally came to a halt before a large, reinforced door, you felt your heart in your throat. How would Ozai react to the news of his son’s betrayal? Would he try to kill him then and there? Or perhaps he would simply try to imprison you both? Either way, you were prepared. You would use your bending — all of your bending — to fight. You were fighting for yourself. You were fighting for your family. You were fighting for Zuko.

You held his hand, squeezing it in reassurance as you had done time and time before.

“I’m ready to face you,” he spoke, as though his father could hear him through the door.

He did not protest as you walked to the door with him, nor did he ask you to remain behind as he walked inside. As dangerous as what he was about to do was, he trusted that you would be safe by his side, and that he would be safe by yours. Whatever was going to happen, you were going to do it together.

“Prince Zuko,” his father addressed him with a frown and lowered his cup of tea, “What are you doing here?”

Zuko walked towards his father, with you standing only a few paces behind. This was his moment and you wanted him to have it but if he needed you, you would be there to fight by his side.

“I’m here to tell the truth,” Zuko declared from where he stood, staring his father down.

The firelord furrowed his brows and signalled for his guards to leave, his eyes only once flickering from Zuko to you. “Telling the truth during the middle of an eclipse? This should be interesting.”

Zuko only spoke again when the guards were gone, the strong doors sliding shut behind them, “First of all, in Ba Sing Se it was Azula who took down the avatar, not me.”

“Why would she lie to me about that?” Ozai questioned.

“Because the avatar is not dead,” Zuko explained, “He survived.”

“What?” Only then did the firelord’s expression change. What was a calm and collected leader suddenly turned into an angry father. One who was clearly afraid of what the avatar could do if he was still alive.

“In fact, he’s probably leading this invasion. He could be on his way here right now.” For a moment, it almost seemed as though Zuko was warning his father, as though he had not really turned his back on him. He was still his father, after all, but you knew him better than that. He was changed and he was here for one thing and one thing only, to bid his father farewell.

“Get out!” the firelord snapped with a wave of his hand, anger boiling up in him, “Get out of my sight right now if you know what’s good for you.”

Although the firelord’s temper was continuing to grow, Zuko remained calm. From where you stood behind him, you could almost hear the satisfaction in his voice as he spoke, “That’s another thing. I’m not taking orders from you anymore.”

His father’s brows crossed in rage and you adopted a defensive stance as he began to walk towards Zuko. “You will obey me or this defiant breath will be your last!”

The prince unsheathed his swords, standing ready to fight his father as he demanded, “Think again. I am going to speak my mind and you are going to listen.”

To both of your surprise, the firelord sat back down as though he was ready to hear whatever Zuko had to say. The two of you still stood at the ready, prepared for a fight. You closed your eyes for a moment, focusing on the ground beneath you. You could feel the echoing rumble of machines coming from the surface, another sign of the battle above.

“For so long, all I wanted was for you to love me,” Zuko admitted, casting his eyes to the ground, “To accept me. I thought it was my honour that I wanted but really I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn,” he pointed at Ozai with the end of his blade, “My father who challenged me, a thirteen year old boy to an agni kai. How can you possibly justify a duel with a child?”

It was like a weight off your own chest to hear him finally letting go of all that had burdened him, telling his father just how he felt after all he had done to him.

The firelord only scowled, looking at Zuko as though he was nothing but the dirt under his shoe as he spat, “It was to teach you respect!”

“It was cruel and it was wrong!”

“Then you’ve learnt nothing. This girl,” he gestured to you, “Has only made you weaker than you already were.”

“No! I’ve learned everything, and I’ve had to learn on my own. Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilisation in history, and somehow the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the world. What an amazing lie that was, the people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation. They don’t see our greatness, they hate us! And we deserve it. We’ve created an era of fear in the world and if we don’t want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness.”

The firelord laughed out loud, mocking his son even now. “Your uncle has gotten to you, hasn’t he?”

There was a brief pause and Zuko smiled, actually smiled, in the face of his father’s taunts. “Yes, he has.”

“And this girl? She stands with you now, is she not of the Fire Nation too? Another traitor turned by your uncle’s tricks?”

Now it was you who stifled a laugh. “A traitor? Zuko isn’t a traitor and neither is his uncle. You are the one who betrayed the Fire Nation, you even betrayed your own blood because you’re so blinded by power you can’t see the bigger picture. My name is y/n and my parents were from the Northern Watertribe. They left their home and raised me in the Earth Kingdom to fight against your army! Even now, they fight against your cruelty, and now we do too!”

“You foolish girl,” Ozai glared at you with fire in his eyes, “What could you possibly do to stop me?”

“After we leave here today,” Zuko interrupted, answering his father’s question for the both of you, “We’re going to free uncle Iroh from his prison, and I’m gonna beg for his forgiveness. He’s the one who’s been a real father to me.”

The firelord only laughed again. “That’s just beautiful, maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure.”

“But I’ve come to an even more important decision,” he continued, ignoring his father completely, “I’m going to join the avatar and I’m going to help him defeat you.”

“Really?” Ozai smirked, “since you’re a full blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I’m powerless, you’ve got your swords, why don’t you just do it now?”

“Because I know my own destiny. Taking you down is the avatar’s destiny,” he sheathed his swords and, although a part of you wanted nothing more than to strike him down now, you were in agreement with Zuko. It was not your place, “Goodbye.”

As Zuko turned and began to walk towards you again, ready to leave his father behind once and for all, the bitter man began to hurl more insults at his son, calling him a coward for confronting him during an eclipse when neither of them had their bending.

“If you have any real courage, you’ll stick around until the sun comes up. Don’t you want to know what happened to your mother?”

Those words stood Zuko in his tracks, even when you looked at him with pleading eyes. There was no time for this, the sun would be back soon and the two of you stood no chance against his father at his full power.

Without a second thought, the prince turned back around and demanded to know what happened the night his mother disappeared.

“My father, firelord Azulon, commanded me to do the unthinkable… to you, my own son, and I was going to do it. Your mother found out and swore she would protect you at any cost. She knew I wanted the throne and she proposed a plan. A plan in which I would become firelord and your life would be spared.”

It was awful, entirely diabolical, to think that a father would even consider murdering his own child but knowing what else the firelord had put Zuko through, somehow you weren’t at all surprised. It seemed in his very nature. You wondered what Zuko’s mother ever saw in the man.

“Your mother did vicious, treasonous things that night. She knew the consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished.”

“So she’s alive...”

Cautiously, you moved to Zuko’s side, hoping to console him as tears began to spill across his face.

“Perhaps,” Ozai all but shrugged before raising his tone once again, “Now I realise that banishment is far too merciful a punishment for treason. Your penalty will be far steeper.”

In a flash, the firelord was moving, forming a stance you had only seen once before. The sun was back and he was drawing on its power to call lightning down. Lightning that he intended to use to put an end to his traitorous son once and for all.

“Zuko!” you cried, realising you had already missed your window to create a wall between the two of you and Ozai to block the attack.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as you ran towards Zuko only to see him do the impossible. He redirected the lighting, sending it crashing back down on his father who was thrown into the air at the force.

He grabbed your hand and ran, pulling you out of the bunker before his father could get back to his feet. As you ran out onto the streets, you saw what looked to be the avatar launching an assault on the Fire Nation airships, giving his friends enough time to retreat. “Look!”

“Do you think you can get up there?”

You furrowed your brows. There was a chance that with your bending you could reach the airships and help the avatar but you weren’t sure if you could get there in time. They were fleeing, after all, they weren’t going to stick around for long. Besides, you had more important things to do.

“Maybe,” you shrugged, “but I’m not leaving you. Let’s go get your uncle.”

With a determined smirk, he led you into the prison. He ran so fast that he seemed to miss the cowering guards and singed walls.

“Uncle!” he cried out when he reached Iroh’s cell but his uncle was already gone. The bars to his prison cell were broken and battered, blasted through from the inside. Iroh had already escaped.

Zuko was quick to run to one of the guards, interrogating him about what happened in a matter of seconds, only to be told what you already knew. Iroh had escaped, busted himself out before you had had the chance to get to him. He was long gone now, all you could do was get out of there yourselves.

“Zuko, we have to go. We’ll find Iroh again, I promise, but right now we need to leave!”

Although disappointed, he nodded and followed you back outside.

Chapters: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13,

#zuko x reader #prince zuko x reader #zuko x you #prince zuko x you #zuko angst #zuko fluff #zuko smut #zuko fanfic #atla zuko #atla #zuko avatar the last airbender #avatar #avatar the last airbender

[firelxdykatara]

I too ship Zutara and think they should have been canon. Although for me it's important to know how such a rewrite would go down. I tried to think, and I'm lost.

After Mai betrayed Azula for him, will he just go "sorry, not interested"? He isn't obligated to date her because of this, but her redemption hinges on Zuko and I don't see it being satisfying if he ends up rejecting her after this.

I thought the solution would be to rewrite her arc in boiling rock to make her have a moral realization, but then the problem with Maiko is practically solved. Their relationship wasn't salvaged by her redemption because last time they talked, Mai still didn't understand what's wrong with the Fire Nation and only changed because she loved Zuko. So how do you make it both satisfying & logical?

With Kataang the problem is the Chakras. The problem with the original (in my opinion) is that after he opened his chakra, letting go of his attachment to Katara, he's still attached (forcing a kiss on eip). Should TCoD get rewritten so that Azula shoots him before he opens it? Then why wouldn't he just open it later? Maybe the chakra would be locked so he feels as though he doesn't need to overcome his attachment just yet. In that situation, how would his chakra even unlock? The stone thing felt like nonsense, so how would I do it?

So yeah I have no idea how to approach this. How would you? (Thanks)

I've been rotating this ask in the back of my head like a rotisserie chicken for a few days--it's interesting because I don't generally stop to think like, how would I write them out of these relationships, I either ignore the relationships completely (which isn't hard, they were barely footnotes in the cartoon) or play a little bit with jealous exes or something. Thinking about like, In A Perfect World where Bryke wasn't in charge of ATLA post-canon (because if zutara had been canon, you can be sure they would've made us regret it) is interesting, and I do have thoughts on how I'd handle their relationships in a rewrite.

(this got long, so the rest is beneath the cut)

Assuming you mostly want to keep canon intact, I think maiko would be the easiest to work around, given how little relevance their relationship has in canon. The problem with maiko as an endgame ship is that it was not set up that way--if it had been, it would not have begun entirely off-screen and their whole relationship would not have been a study in misery and utter inability to connect emotionally. His relationship with Mai was there to showcase just how much he had changed and how little he fit into the life he had been so sure he wanted more than anything since his banishment. It worked very well to highlight Zuko's growth--how that contrasted to Mai's lack of it and why she could not understand him even at his most open and vulnerable--and did not work nearly so well when she was shoved back with him in the epilogue, after he'd quite literally forgotten her existence (he never mentions her again after Boiling Rock, not even to say a word of mourning, considering he'd have every reason to believe she was killed for defying his sister).

I don't think you can fix this by giving Mai some moral realization, because there simply is no room for it. As @araeph says in the essay I linked:

As a character, Mai is very useful to the story during Zuko’s return, because she represents everything that Zuko gains by sticking by his father. A girl who cares about him; the ability to indulge her; the authority he has over others at the palace; we see it all in his interactions with Mai. But this makes Mai a tether to a life he has long outgrown. Her function is not to advance Zuko’s character development, but to obstruct it, which also unfortunately means that Mai gaining a full understanding of Zuko’s trials would be disadvantageous to the story. If she knew everything about him and still wanted him to stay, it would give Zuko more cause than he should have to remain in the Fire Nation, but if she knew and encouraged him to leave and join the Avatar, it would rob Zuko of the triumph of making this decision on his own. In other words, there are good narrative reasons for keeping Mai in the dark; it just doesn’t make their relationship any stronger.

The seeds of a genuine redemption arc (one that includes some sort of moral realization and change to her moral framework) for Mai would have to have been planted far earlier than five episodes from the end of the series, but doing so would have of necessity detracted from Zuko's own character arc and the realizations that he makes despite his attachment to Mai (or more specifically to their relationship, which I feel like he was clinging to more out of a sense of abject loneliness he couldn't shake rather than genuine feelings and emotional connection).

So, in my mind, since we're tackling this with an eye towards getting rid of maiko with the fewest ripples to the overall story anyway, the easiest way to do this would be make one slight change to the end of the Boiling Rock two-parter--have Ty Lee (who had always been the least gung-ho of the trio about bowing to Azula's whims and had to be textually threatened into joining her in the first place) save Zuko's life, and then have Mai (who showed the most genuine affection for Ty Lee anyway) save Ty Lee. I love Zuko more than I fear you always fell flat for me as some epic declaration of love, anyway, since a) Zuko is not around to hear it, and b) unlike Ty Lee, she never showed much fear of Azula to begin with, so it wasn't a very high bar to clear. It was a cool line that was entirely unearned, and I don't think it would be missed, there would be some cute mailee crumbs this way, and a throwaway line of getting them released from the prison after the war ended could wrap up their presence in the story pretty nicely.

Now, kataang is a little trickier, if only because the last leg of Aang's character arc is almost completely derailed by his refusal to let go of his possessive attachment to Katara, to the point where he never naturally reopens his chakras, he has to have the Rock of Destiny hit him in just the right place, and the deus ex lionturtle there to give him a way out of having to make a hard moral choice. (I've maintained for years that if you work the final act of your main character's overall arc in such a way that it could have been solved by one good session with a chiropractor, something got fucked along the way.)

The thing about Aang's chakras is that, narratively, his whole thing with Guru Pathik and leaving his training early to save his friends was basically his version of Luke running away from his training with Yoda on Degobah because of his Force vision, only to find out that his friends were in the process of rescuing themselves and then losing his hand because he hadn't completed the most crucial part of his training. What's missing, therefore, from the last act of Aang's character arc, is the return.

See, in Star Wars, Luke pretty explicitly makes the wrong choice when he chooses to prioritize saving his friends over attaining enlightenment and fully mastering the Force. It was the only choice he could have made, but it was still the wrong one--because, like Aang, his friends did not actually need him to save them, he actually almost makes it harder for them to get away by requiring them to save him because, like Aang, he loses a battle in a very critical way. This was a lesson he desperately needed to learn, and it is clear he has learned it by the time he makes it back to Degobah and witnesses the end of Yoda's life, his own enlightenment having already been reached.

But Aang never goes back to the Guru.

And the text refuses to allow us to sit with the fact that he made the wrong choice in prioritizing his attachment to Katara over his ability to master the Avatar State. He is actually narratively vindicated about it, because the plot bends itself into a pretzel so that he doesn't have to spend any time during the last book trying to reopen his chakras and regain access to the Avatar State, handed both in the final battle with no excess effort on his part, and handed the girl into the bargain. (The girl who never even wanted him, so far as we can tell from all the lack of cues she gave him that she actually returned his feelings.)

And I think this could have been solved with a few scattered scenes. Let Katara actually have some agency in her own romantic relationship (or lack thereof), insofar as noticing Aang's advances and clueing the audience in to how she actually feels. Let Aang struggle with the fact that he can't reach the Avatar State, that his mastery of the elements is in limbo because he can't access his full power, rather than ignoring all of this until the end of the show. If we're trying to keep the shape of the last season roughly the same, let Katara confront Aang about the invasion kiss.

This would have been the perfect time to establish that Katara actually does feel some type of way about Aang prior to the epilogue, and it could have saved us from the exceedingly cringey EIP kiss that Aang never apologized for. How it comes across now, of course, is that Katara basically pretends it never even happened, to the point where she doesn't even know what Aang is talking about during EIP until he reminds her--the death knell for any shot their relationship had at looking requited, because I can tell you, as someone who's been a teenage girl, if someone I had conflicted but burgeoning romantic feelings for had kissed me, I would not have completely forgotten about it only a few weeks later--and we never get any indication as to what she actually felt about the kiss (which was not mutual, despite what Aang's dialogue in the EIP scene implies) except for the fact that she looked away and frowned afterwards. (A change mandated by Bryke, who wanted to leave her feelings completely ambiguous; the original storyboards had her smiling to herself.)

So, with an eye towards wrapping up Aang's puppy love crush and establishing Katara's distinct lack of romantic feelings for him, have her talk to him about the kiss. A good frame of reference for this would be Meng's conversation with Aang in "The Fortuneteller", where she finally realizes that he doesn't like her in the same way she likes him. Katara and Aang's conversation about the invasion kiss could be a callback to this, with Aang having some important realizations--that just because Katara doesn't share his feelings doesn't mean she loves him any less, and just because he can't have her the way he wanted doesn't mean he has to love her any less, that she doesn't belong to him but that's ok, because she's still his family and they'll always have each other's backs. Which could have functioned well in helping him take another step towards unblocking his chakras. Going back to the Guru directly may not have worked, since by this point in the story we're hurtling towards the final confrontation and Sozin's Comet, but let Aang reflect on what the Guru told him with new understanding granted him by his experiences throughout the first half of the season.

To keep the stakes high and up the suspense, obviously, he shouldn't have fully unlocked his chakras and the AS before the final fight, but the seeds could be planted--little moments like a talk with Katara about the invasion kiss, maybe a little more empathy and understanding from him about why Katara needs closure in TSR, etc--and then, during the final fight, rather than hand him all the answers on a silver platter, have him almost lose. He still can't go full Avatar, he's out of time, he still doesn't know exactly what to do about Ozai given his own pacifism and desire to preserve that part of his culture--he tries to fight but he's pretty quickly overpowered. Idk how I would've animated this, and maybe it wouldn't have looked as cool for the final fight, but the true climax of the finale was the Zuko and Azula agni kai anyway, so it hardly matters--I'm picturing him doing the rock-shield thing and going into a brief meditative state, where he finally achieves the enlightenment necessary to unlock the AS on his own, no rock of chiropracty necessary. And at this point, I'd give Ozai a Disney Death, since leaving him alive causes more problems than it solves and it's not necessary for Aang to kill him for him to die--they're fighting on a mountain ffs--but if you don't want to change that part then him figuring out energy bending as part of becoming a fully realized Avatar would at least feel more earned than the lionturtle just handing it to him. (And that could've been foreshadowed better by seeding the idea for it earlier in the season.)

After all of that, particularly if you up the emotions during the agni kai and have Zuko and Katara kiss there (or something less explicitly romantic but still tender, like a brief forehead touch), it'd feel pretty natural to have a just friends ending for Aang and Katara. Maybe a brief, slightly awkward but ultimately amiable conversation if Zuko and Katara had a ~thing at their final fight, and then the final shot of the series could be the gaang all together, maybe zutara holding hands or Katara resting her head on his shoulder or something, but since they already kissed there wouldn't feel like a need to end the whole show on romance, something which I've always felt missed the point of the series.

And then, y'know, after that, the world's your oyster! This is how I'd do it if I were trying to keep the bulk of the final season intact. Of course, breaking it all down to its component pieces and rebuilding from the ground up is also an option, but that'd probably be a longer post lol.

#zutara #atla #m.aiko salt #k.ataang salt #atla canon rewrite #hey albert kim if you're taking notes on how to do season 3 of the LA................ #Anonymous #asked

[darklinaforever]

I'm rewatching Avatar the last airbender, and it's crazy how maternal Katara is with Aang. He actually called her "Mom" at one point?! OK, that's comedic for the show and supporting Katara acting like a mother when she's too young, but getting Aang to say "mom" specifically? Help... Also, Katara is way more mature than Aang overall. I had forgotten how offbeat they were... And then Mai who doesn't really understand Zuko... Yes, sorry but for me Kataang and Maiko are not relationships that should have ended together. I'm at the episode where Zuko and Sokka broke Suki out of prison. Do I really find it impressive that Mai said to Azula, "I love Zuko more than I'm afraid of you." Uh... I'm sorry, but when was Mai ever afraid of Azula? Whenever she disagreed with Azula, Mai would not obey her. What happened with Zuko is nothing out of the ordinary. I still remember that unlike the other, Azula didn't need to scare Mai so that she agreed to join her group to hunt down Aang. Afraid of Azula? Let me laugh. It's so forced as a statement to make us swallow Maiko down our throats.

#avatar the last airbender #avatar : the last airbender #zuko #anti kataang #anti maiko #katara x zuko #zuko x katara #katara and zuko #zuko and katara #zutara #atla #mai #aang #azula #katara #sokka #suki

[ilikepjo24]

Sokka and Azula are two so incredibly smart people. Arguably the two smartest characters in the show.

Sokka has contributed to some of the greatest inventions of his time, like vehicled that travel in the air or underwater.

Azula has managed to conquer a city that none of her forefathers could take down, without spilling blood, all through brilliant plans.

Sokka has mastered two complex fighting styles, one being swordsmanship, that he mastered in a couple of days and the other being the use of the boomerang, that requires great knowledge and understanding of physics.

Azula has such an admirable understanding of politics that in just the age of 14, she was a well respected member of her father's council and her advice and ideas were taken into serious account.

With all that being said, I genuinely, wholeheartedly believe that this is how arguments between those two geniuses look like:

Sokka: "Uh-huh!"

Azula: "Nuh-uh!"

Sokka: "Uh-huh!"

Azula: "Nuh-uh!"

Sokka: "Uh-huh!"

Azula: "Nuh-uh!"

Sokka: "I hate you!"

Azula: "I hate you more!"

Sokka: "You're face is stupid!"

Azula: "I don't like your hair!"

Sokka: *le gasp*

Azula: Wait, no, Sokka, I'm sorry!

Sokka: How could you?!

Azula: It's just slipped out, I didn't mean it!

Sokka: Friendship over.

Azula: But-!

Sokka: FRIENDSHIP OVER!!

Literally anyone else: ...So should I order that pizza we were talking about or what?

#atla #azula #sokka #azula snd sokka friendship #i like to think i'm funny #crack post

[seetangus]

Taking care - Azula x gn reader

[masterlist]

Hello, thank you so much for liking my writing and for requesting! I hope I got everything right! Also, I am not familiar with anything about mute people but I tried my best to make it work :)

Azula x gn reader fluff, 2.202 words, warnings: bad treatment of prisoners, abuse of power, crying

This took very long to write and I am sorry for that. And something went wrong with answering to the request again, but hopefully it still reaches you as a little belated Christmas gift

In the midst of the night something woke you up. It was the clinking of keys - after having spent almost two years in the asylum, you knew this sound by heart. But why would the guards unlock something at night? Slowly, you stood up and made your way towards the door of your cell to hear the happenings better.

After only a few moments it was clear what they were doing - right after they pushed the door leading to your hallway open, a female's muffled screams of protest echoed through the halls. They brought a new inmate.

For you, this was probably the most exciting thing that had ever happened to you here, as you lived alone in this compartment of the building.

Even though the guards had gagged the new prisoner, her screams still made you shudder - they emitted pure rage and despair. It was understandable, though. Given the circumstance that the woman's voice sounded rather young and most people who got taken here would never leave this unpleasant place for the rest of their lifetime, she had a reason to be upset.

You felt bad for whoever this was; she sounded like she needed help instead of punishment. However, it could be that it was only your innocent (naive) character that made you think such things; most people imprisoned here were mass murderers or worse.

However, you had other things to worry about for the moment, as the guards were coming closer to your cell, and if they realised you were awake at night-time they would probably punish you, so you hurried back into your bed, or rather onto your wooden plank with a tattered blanket.

You did so just at the right moment, because right after you had laid down, you heard the noise of the guard's keys in the keyhole of your door! A moment later, your door opened with a noisy screeching noise that would have startled you even if you had been sleeping, but just to play it safe you continued to pretend to be asleep.

Despite the woman's muffled cries now being audible in your room, which should have definitely woken you up, the guards seemed to truly believe you were asleep, one of them roughly shaking you at your shoulder to wake you up, making the shoulder hurt.

You now hesitantly sat up in your sleeping place, looking at the guards and the women they brought into your room - or rather rolled, as she was put in a straitjacket and placed on a movable chair for movement purposes. "Meet your new cellmate.", one of the guards said in an unmistakably gloating tone, "Since this lunatic can't do it herself, you will make sure she eats her daily rations and doesn't shit herself, got it?" You nodded. "Great", the guard responded, "but you don't need to take it too seriously. Wouldn't be a great loss if we got rid of her quickly." With that the guards left.

Maybe you s h o u l d be worried that you were left alone in your cell with what seemed like a raving maniac, but something seemed familiar about that new person, although you could not quite make it out in the dark - also, you pitied her for how the guards treated her. The guards often picked on you too, but they didn't ever say they wouldn't mind you being dead - well, not directly.

< • ◇ • >

Since the guards had closed the door and left, the woman had remained completely silent. Not one tone had left her lips, and she had not moved. Since she also did not show any kind of interest in you, you decided it would be best to go to sleep again. Doing so was hard, as you were very curious and scared of your new cellmate, but tomorrow would be a hard day, so you had to sleep well. As the new woman did not move or make noise, eventually you returned to your realm of dreams again.

And a dream it was that revealed to you where you had seen the woman before. You had heard that you often dreamed about things you had experienced but forgotten, and this was such an instance. You had already met the woman - well, “met” was an exaggeration, but you had seen her: she was princess Azula of the fire nation, and when she had been old enough to enter the war a few years ago, there had been pictures of her all over the place. That had been just a few weeks before you got imprisoned.

After waking up there were many questions in your head: Why was Azula in this Asylum? Was the war over? Was the whole royal family of the fire nation imprisoned? Who ruled the fire nation now? Etc. etc.

You could have worried about these things the whole day, but in this Asylum there wouldn’t be any information or news accessible. There never were. Azula would also not talk to you… you had heard of her character before you got here. Even the few things you had heard of her were quite enough to make you reevaluate your situation. If she treated you like she treated anyone else, you were in a very bad place. Not that the asylum hadn’t been bad before, it just made it worse. You would have to be very cautious with her.

“Are you finally awake?” You were pulled out of your thoughts by her condescending voice. Her arrogant voice. Her beautiful voice.

You could hear in her words that she was a born ruler; you immediately sat straight up and nodded with your head. When you looked up at her again, you flushed brightly; she was beautiful. And even sitting chained to her chair in a straitjacket her gaze looking down at you from above made you feel goosebumps.

You felt fear, but also admiration.

“You probably know who I am, so let me be clear: as long as I am held in this unworthy place, you will serve to my needs in any way I want. Understood?” You gulped and nodded again. The disproportionality of being a prisoner yet wanting to rule others and succeeding was fascinating to you.

Anyways, once the guards arrived to bring your food, things seemed a lot different. The guards pushed you around like usual, but they seemed to find it especially entertaining to humiliate Azula. They didn’t only make fun of her but also sprayed some of her food on her and leaned her chair in an uncomfortable position, her obviously unable to get out of it on her own. Azula screamed at the guards in anger, but you could hear how her voice got weaker.

Once the guards were gone, you immediately relocated her chair to a normal place. Given that you weren’t exactly able to do sports in this place and you already lived here for some time, this was a lot harder than you expected, but you succeeded.

You then thought about cleaning the food off her, but that would involve touching her and you were very reluctant to do that. She was not well right now, she was very vulnerable and everything that happened to her now could hurt her, you saw that.

But you were here to help her, weren’t you? You did not care if she wouldn’t thank you for it or if she deserved to be treated like this, she was human and you were too, and that was reason enough for your heart to break when seeing someone endure such pain. 

Hesitantly, you moved towards her and began brushing the food the guards had sprayed over her jacket off with your hand. To your surprise, she said nothing, she only looked at you in an appraising manner. You dared not to look up at her face even though most of it was covered in loose hair that had been swirling around during the rough treatment by the guards.

After cleaning your hands you figured it would be best to do as the guards had told you yesterday and try to feed Azula. You picked up the wooden spoon and filled it with the porridge that was served here and moved it towards her mouth. But to actually reach it, you would have to move away her messy long hair.

You gulped. That would not be easy. You laid down the spoon again and moved your hands towards her face. When you touched her hair she first pulled back but didn’t resist anymore when she understood what you were doing.

You very carefully split her hair in the middle and moved it to the sides. You gently brushed it behind her ears, uncovering her beautiful face that was now close to yours. Your fingers meeting her warm skin sent shivers through your body as they had for years now not felt anything but the hard and cold stone of this cell. Her eyes resting on your face did not make this easier as well, as you felt your whole body heating up.

With a reddened face you pulled back and began feeding her the porridge. At first she was hesitant and it was obvious she didn’t like the food, but she knew she could either let you feed her or starve. So she held back her pride.

< • ◇ • >

It continued like this for some time. The guards insulted her and made things worse, you cared for her and made things better. In the beginning, she was rather dismissive and unwilling towards your efforts, but she got used to it.

Sometimes she ranted to you about the guards, her brother and the Avatar. About anything really. She talked about the revenge she would get, how she had been unfairly betrayed and defeated in an Agni Kai only because of dishonest tactics of her enemies. About how the Avatar was evil and needed to be removed from this world. You knew most of that was probably a lie, but you could not help but believe every single word that escaped her mouth.

Once she had, in a very demanding manner, asked about your name and why you never talked to her, but you had been able to make her understand that you were mute. To your surprise, she was very understanding and even seemed sorry to some degree for asking you so harshly. It was very rare to see emotions like in that moment on her face. Luckily, you had been able to show her your name, even with no paper being available in the Asylum: you had, with much work, formed each letter in the thick porridge you got to eat daily using your spoon. Azula had then started referring to you by your name, which always made you feel butterflies.

Months passed and Azula raged at the guards every day. However, today something was different. When the guards made fun of her she still was angry like always, but when they left she was quieter than usual. She did not start ranting, nor did she ask for her food. She simply sat in her chair motionless, her head lowered.

You got closer to her and lifted her head up. You could tell she did not want you to see her right now as she turned away her face. But as you felt increasingly worried for her, you turned her face to you again and then brushed her hair behind her ears like you had done many times now.

You felt the warmth of her skin, but also your fingertips got wet. You had brushed through tears that were flowing down her cheeks. At first, you were shocked as Azula despised showing any form of weakness, but when you realised what this meant you were more than happy; for the first time since being here, maybe for the first time in her life, she was honest with herself and opened up to someone else, in this case you, about her emotions!

She still was embarrassed to cry in front of you, but you tried to assure her that everything was alright. As you couldn’t take her bound hands you cupped her face with your hands and smiled at her.

“Y/n,”, she said with a very small but incredibly beautiful voice, “please give me a hug.” First you couldn’t believe your luck, but when you carefully sat on her lap and laid your arms around her it felt like paradise, especially being drained of any human affection after years in the Asylum.

“Y/n?”, Azula continued, some confidence building up in her again, “I’m going to get us out of here.” You hugged her more tightly and she answered by resting her head, that was the only body part she could move, against yours, your cheeks touching eachother.

#azula x reader #atla #atla x reader #azula #azula x y/n #atla azula #azula avatar #azula x gn reader #x reader #anon request #princess azula #avatar #character x you #character x reader #x you #avatar the last airbender

[the-badger-mole]

Sorry I’m asking a bunch of questions but I’m really interested in how you view ATLA

How would you have personally expanded on Mai’s character had you been a show runner for ATLA? Same with Aang.

What other major differences would you have made, and how would you have instead written Kataang if Zutara weren’t an option?

I would've been fine if the show ended with no romances, tbh. If Zutara wasn't an option, that's the route I'd go. That being said, if Kataang was my ONLY other choice, I'd say that Aang would have to have a growth arc. He'd have to confront his problematic opinions towards the SWT, and I'd love for it to be because he was called out on them by Katara in specific. He'd also have to come to an understanding of his friends' perspective on a war that he's only experienced a few months of and they've spent their entire lives worried about. He'd have to also have a reckoning with his beliefs as they come into conflict with the realities the world is facing. He'd have to be way more empathetic and supportive of Katara, even in her worst moments. Basically, he'd have to be a completely different character who just so happened to be named Aang in order for me to support Kataang at all, Zuko or no Zuko.

As for Mai, I think she's a lot more interesting as an antagonist than a hero. I'd have embraced her calculating and manipulative ways and gone with having Ty Lee be the one to turn on Azula. As it should have always been. She didn't need to be over the top evil, but I see her as one of those antebellum ladies who turned a blind eye to the suffering of others because their lives were comfortable. I'd have her be angry with Zuko for rocking the boat instead of falling in line with the status quo. But I'd also have her dealing with a deep rooted rage because, like those antebellum ladies, she was unsatisfied with her lot in life. Her poor treatment of servants would be focused on more, and her thoughts on her family's part in the Fire Nation's colonizing the world would be explored, too. In the end, she would want more freedom for herself, but still be a Fire Nation supremacist, and she would never forgive Zuko for his treason.

#atla #anti aang #anti kataang #anti mai #anti maiko

[starlight-bread-blog]

Katara made it very clear that she never ever wants to see Yon Rah again and most of the Zutara fandom supports that decision of hers.

So I guess the possible downside of Katara choosing to marry Zuko means sharing Zuko's burden of reforming and rehabilitating depraved war criminals like Yon Rha and all those who are even worse than him.

Then there's this whole thing with Aaron Ehasz imagining Zuko being Azula's Iroh and she reforms in that way along with my and a few other's ideas of Aang showing her how open and master her own chakras. Speaking of Iroh, does anyone remember his ruthless and brutal 600-day siege anymore? There's no way he'd avoid dropping bodies that whole time.

Looks like Katara will ironically be taking Aang's advice about forgiveness after all but I don't think it'll be necessary for Katara to look for Yon Rah again and say so.

What do you think?

Tw: War crimes, genocide and nazism.

Disclaimer: I don't know what actually happened post canon. I tried to look on internet forums and it seems as the topic wasn't addressed in the comics. For this answer, I'm going under this assumption.

Sorry for not getting to this sooner, life got busy and I didn't want to give some half assed answer to such a delicate topic. There's a lot to comment on so I'll break this down step by step.

"Katara choosing to marry Zuko means sharing Zuko's burden of reforming and rehabilitating depraved war criminals"...

The fire nation commited atrocious war crimes, leaving them with with many war criminals. War crimes are more than punishable. If it were real life, neither Katara or Zuko would have to reform and rehabilitate any of them.

An example of this would be the Nuremberg trials after WW2. Even recently, in 2022, Irmgard Furchner (an 98 year old women) faced a trial for being a secretary of a concentration camp (to put it lightly, she was very much a murderer). No one is getting away with their actions.

I read the relevant section from a Red Cross's document titled "Analysis of the punishments applicable to international crimes (war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide) in domestic law and practice". (The section being "States’ obligations under IHL to prosecute and punish international crimes").

I found something interesting. (ID in alt text).

*Grave breaches are more serious, vile violations of humananitarian law. Everything above applies to "genocide and crimes against humanity".

If Katara were in a position of power in the Fire Nation, not only would she not have to reform anyone, she also might get to help with the trials for them.

"Then there's this whole thing with Aaron Ehasz imagining Zuko being Azula's Iroh"

I don't know about his plans for Aang's other ideas, so I can't comment on them. What I did find was a short thread of his. And after reading it, I maintain that – like most ideas – his vision can work with sensitive execution.

Azula was still very much a 14 year old victim of grooming when the series took place. Her brother can help her through her redemption under one condition – the desire to be better should come from her.

He shouldn't sit through any mistreatment whatsoever. He'll guide her through a path he already went through, but she has to walk with him. Azula needs to be safe for Zuko. Only then, redemption would be possible.

"does anyone remember [Iroh's] ruthless and brutal 600-day siege anymore?"

The difference between Iroh and Yon Rah is what they're up to now. In the present Yon Rah is just some guy living with his mother. Meanwhile Iroh took back Ba Sing Se from Fire Nation colonizers.

Yon Rah isn't out here fixing his mistakes, he just got off scot-free. On the other hand, Iroh is a changed man and took action to correct his past on the same scale.

At the end of the day redemtion isn't Aang's idea. It's one of the major themes of Atla. It wants to show that people can change and grow. So it does. Zuko changes, Mai changes, Ty Lee changes, and Iroh is their future.

He tried to conquer Ba Sing Se, and now he took it back from conquerors. He was the worst of them all, and now he's unrecognizable. He's warm, wise and sweet. There's a meaning to it.

That doesn't mean that war criminals in the current day, scums who made no affort, will get away with their crimes. That doesn't mean Katara would have to go through the mental torture of reforming her colonizers.

That is it! I hope I didn't come off as aggressive, I didn't mean to. Thank you for the ask, sorry for taking me forever to write this, and have a lovely day!

#zutara #zutara meta #zukoxkatara #zuko x katara #kataraxzuko #katara x zuko #anti kataang #anti maiko #ambassador katara #anti anti zutara #pro zutara #tw nazism #tw war crimes #tw colonialism #tw nazis #tw genocide #uncle iroh #iroh #azula #the southern raiders #aaron ehasz #zutarian #zutara was robbed #zutara analysis #zutara nation #asks #asks open

[asherbakugou]

Your First Kiss

Jiang Kai | Kai Kalama (She/They)

Reader was sat on the floor of her apartment, leaning back against Kai's legs as he flipped through channels on the tv. They had a new sketch due in two days, so they were hoping for inspiration.

The parameters for the project were pretty simple; primary color (red, yellow, blue), one accent color (gold or silver), and female model.

Above her, Kai suddenly leaned over them to look in their eyes, "What if you did something based of Azula? You know, from Avatar. She's got red and gold in her design doesn't she?"

Blinking, Reader turned it over in her mind before nodding. Focusing back on him, she was unsurprised to find his gaze on their lips. Doing their best to not let him know that they saw his gaze, they spoke, "That's good. She does have red, though its more maroon but I can tweak the colors a bit to fit the parameters. Thank you, Kai."

He flushed, leaning back as Reader fought to hide a wider smile. For nearly three months, since they'd begun hanging out, she'd noticed how his eyes constantly strayed to their lips or how focused he'd get whenever they spoke. It was sweet, and was defintely not helping their crush. So today, they decided to do something about it.

Later, after dinner, Kai was at the door preparing to leave. "Well, I guess I should leave a pretty person all alone in their apartment to work on their project." He winked making Reader laugh.

"Kai . . ." Reader trailed off, summoning all of their confidence. "Tell me if you don't want this."

"What–"

Cupping his face, Reader pulled him down a little as they reached up a bit to press a kiss against his lips. Their lips slotted together perfectly, fitting like puzzle pieces. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, as Kai had frozen in shock.

"Sorry. I thought–"

Kai interrupted her this time, slamming their lips back together as he pushed her against the wall beside the door, hands falling to their hips as Reader wrapped their arms around his neck to keep him close.

Reader couldn't help but notice that he tasted like cinnamon, likely from the gum he loved to chew on all the time. Kai noticed how Reader tasted like the fruity wine they'd had with dinner and nearly moaned at the taste.

Pulling away, but not pulling apart completely, he pressed their heads together. "So, can I take you on a date?"

"Time, date, and place?"

"Next Saturaday, 7, and you'll see."

"I'll see you then, Kalama," Reader teased, seperating. Kai obediantly stepped outside, reverantly touching his lips when the doors closed.

Zane Julien (She/Her)

Zane mediatated peacefully to the quiet sounds of Reader painting, her playlist, and the soft humming. He felt at peace in the whirlwind that was her studio, eventually opening his eyes to see what she was painting.

It was the Aurora Borealis, with a wolf pack tilting their heads back to howl in unison. He was amazed by the motion you'd managed to capture in the painting.

"It looks incredible," Zane complimented, startling Reader into nearly dropping her palette.

"Oh shit!" He was quick to catch it, much to her relief. "Oh thank the dragons. Thank you for the compliment, and the catch."

"Do not thank me, it was my fault for startling you."

"You still caught it for me. So I'm going to thank you. Thank you Zane," Reader stated, smiling as she took the palette back.

Zane smiled softly, starstruck as she turned back to the painting. Standing just behind her, he remembered something Nya had said he should do, based on his feelings and how Reader acted around him.

'Ask permission to kiss her, then take her on a date. But don't push her.'

"Reader," Zane said, quickly catching her attention. She turned to him, setting her pallette down to give him her full attention. "I have a question, but I do not wish for you to feel pressured."

"I wouldn't let myself he forced into anything," Reader agreed, tilting her head.

"Of course." Zane hesitated, stepping closer, flustering her. "May I . . . May I kiss you, Reader?"

Reader seemed to freeze, soft lips parting in surprise. After waiting for nearly thirty seconds, Zane was disappointed by the lack of answer but took it in stride. "I apologize, I did not—"

"Was my asking an issue?"

"No, no!" Reader interrupted, waving her hands around. "You don't need to apologize! I was just surprised! Promise! You're not normally so outspoken, so . . ."

"Just a surprise."

"You still have not answered the question," Zane noted, tilting his head slightly. Blushing, Reader ducked her head down in emberresment.

"I-yes. Yes, you can . . . you can kiss me," Reader whispered, standing a little taller as Zane stepped into their space.

Slowly he pressed their lips together, not wanting to rush and accidentally hurt her. The kiss was soft, chaste and made Reader pleasantly cold as Zane felt his core warm in pleasure. Pulling away, he found his own smile widening when he saw Reader looking at him with a wide smile of their own.

"May I take you out? On a date?"

"Y-yes! Yes!"

"Then tomorrow? At 7?"

"Perfect."

"I shall pick you up then," Zane decided, still smiling. Giggling Reader stepped into his space to sink into a hug.

"I can't wait."

Cole Brookstone (They/Them)

The stars were bright as Reader and Cole laid in a grassy meadow Cole had taken them too. Head resting on Cole's stomach, Reader had a surprisingly good view of Cole's reaction every time he spoke lowly, in order to keep the peace of course.

Tonight was Ninjagos Festival of Stars, recently adopted from the Serpentine but neither of them were fans of large crowds and wanted to see the stars and fireworks alone. So Reader had packed a nighttime picnic, with Cole hovering over their shoulder in anticipation.

Mooncakes, Star shaped iced cookies, and multiple blackberry flavored treats. They'd also brought along their starry night themed drink, with blueberries, bananas, and kiwi syrups to make it a stunning array of colors.

Cole had, of course, nearly devoured his portion in a half hour as Reader talked about their day, and some issues they'd noticed recently, eating far slower.

"So, what made you invite me out to watch the stars? Is it just 'cause ya knew I'd bring ya food?" Reader asked, without opening their eyes.

"What, no! All of the others wanted to go to the festival and celebrate, but I wasn't in the mood to celebrate. I'd rather hang out with you," Cole admitted.

"Really? Me? Mr. Ninja wants to hang out with an uninteresting civilian?"

"Your not uninteresting, which I'm not sure is a word by the way. Your just . . . You're normal, and I need that in my life. And you're fun in a different way."

"Well, thank you for the compliment. Any specific reason you don't like festivals? Or is it private?"

Cole knew that all he had to say was that it was private and he would drop it, but he wanted to share. "My mom used to take me out to festivals all the time when I was younger. She had a piggy bank specifically for those days that I could add change too. It was my money to use to do whatever I wanted with during the festival. When she died, I stopped going. It doesn't feel the same anymore."

Reader was silent, thinking. "When I lost my parents, I no longer thought it was worth it. To live. It took me three years to truly start enjoying the world and some days its still hard." Glancing up, they met eyes. "If you ever decided you want to try, I'd be happy to take you. We could make it a date."

"A date?" Cole sat up, worrying Reader who sat up as well.

"It doesn't . . . have to be a date. Not if you don't want it to be."

"Well, what if I want it to be a date?"

Reader smiled, leaning closer as their eyes flicked towards Cole's lips. "I'd like that."

Smiling softly, Cole and Reader leaned closer together until their lips were barely a centimeter apart. "Would you be upset if I kissed you?" Cole asked, trying to hide his nerves.

"Not at all."

Grinning, Cole eagerly pressed their lips together, twisting until he was hovering over Reader. Fingers wove into his black hair, tugging him closer to them as they made out beneath the stars.

Cole eventually forced himself to pull out of their hold, lips glistening and red as he panted. Reader was not much better, shirt having ridden up at some point. "Well . . . that was not what how I thought tonight would turn out," Cole admitted with a goofy grin.

Reader laughed, eyes bright. "So, we still on for that date?"

"Absolutely."

Jay Walker (She/her)

Lightning flashed across the sky, followed closely by the crack of thunder, making Reader groan. She and Jay were both caught in the rain, having been taking a short break from working on one of his older Mechs.

"Well, this sucks," Reader grumbled, huddling beneath the glass cover of a bus station as Jay watched the lightning sparking in the sky with a strange sort of awe and reverance. Nudging him, she broke the spell cast by the bright flashes. "Everything ok, sparky?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just, ehehe, get a little excited during thunderstorms," Jay explained, allowing a spark to flit through his fingers in demonstration.

"That's . . ." Reader trailed off as lightning struck again, highlighting the sharp angular, boyish features Jay had, bringing out his freckles and auburn hair. "That's pretty cool. Don't think I'll ever get used to people fighting with elements though."

"Seriously? You've hung out with Nya for years, how is it still so weird!"

"I don't know! It just is!"

"Maybe you're the weirdo."

"Huh," Reader gasped, as if truly offended. Grabbing their imaginary pearls, she draped herself across the bench. "To slay me with such cruel words, oh how I die. Must this be the way death comes for me."

Jay laughed, plopping down behind her so she could rest her head on his thighs. He smiled down at her, trying hard to keep his blush down, and failing miserably.

"You're turning pink," Reader mused, poking his cheek as her eyes sparkled with mischief. "Is it because you've fallen for my beauty?"

Jay felt his lips twitch downwards when he heard the sarcasm. He was far less oblivious than people thought and he'd realized a while back that Reader did not think themselves pretty. Just . . . Average.

"Would that . . . be bad?"

Readers smile fell as she stared up at him in shock, "Jay . . ."

"I really want to kiss you."

"Then do it."

Leaning down, she reached up, meeting him in the middle. Neither noticed how the lightning seemed to cover the sky, with barely a secons between the flashes. They were too focused on the press of their lips, on memorizing how the others face felt beneath their fingertips.

Pulling away, Reader giggled, quickly joined by Jay. Their was no real reason to laugh but she was happy and so was he.

"So when can I take you on a date, Mr. Blue Ninja?" Reader asked, laughing at the look he gave her.

"Hey! I'm supposed to ask you out!"

"Too late." He tried to sulk but another kiss had him relaxing into a giddy smile. "Fine. I'll go out on a date with you."

"I'll plan a good date, scouts honor."

"You've never been a scout!"

"Oops."

Lloyd Garmadon (She/her)

Reader was happily pressed against Lloyd's side as they walked, liking the comfort of his arm draped over her shoulder. They'd gone windowshopping in the nearby mall for her hour break and were finishing up to walk back, not that Rufus would mind all that much if she was a few minutes late.

"Ooh, look at that," Reader said, pointing to a shoe store. In the display window were Ninja-themed shoes, with Lloyd's being the most prominent.

Lloyd saw what she was looking at and groaned, cheeks flushing, "Please tell me you're not going to buy those. They're like 100$."

Reader pouted, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes, "But I thought you liked seeing me in your merch?" She'd noticed it a few weeks ago when she'd worn a green ninja shirt, seen how wide his eyes had gotten and how stuttery and blushy he'd gotten.

Just like right now.

"Wh‐well, of course, but still . . ." Lloyd trailed off, looking away to hide his face.

Giggling, Reader patted his bicep, pleased at the feel of muscle beneath the long sleeved shirt he wore. "I'm kidding, sweets. They're cute, but too expensive for my taste. Besides, I'd look better in one of the Green Ninja sweaters that one store was selling."

Somehow, Lloyd's blush darkened as he whined, "Reader."

"Lloyd," Reader cooed, delighting even further in his blush.

Suddenly, looking past him she spotted Ryker, very obviously looking around for someone. In a heartbeat their eyes met and he started towards her, making her freak out slightly.

"Lloyd."

He immediatley caught the change in her voice and followed her eyes to see where she was looking. Seeing Ryker, he cussed and pulled her towards a hallway between stores to try and hide.

"He already saw me," Reader admitted nervously. Lloyd watched the entrance, tense, as Reader tried to think up a plan.

Grabbing his shirt, she tugged him close until he was pressing her against the wall. Gaping down at her, he seemed frozen in place.

"Trust me?" Reader asked softly, eyes wide. Lloyd nodded, softening marginally.

"Of course."

Leaning up, she pressed their lips together making Lloyd freeze for only a second before he leaned into it. He gently cupped her cheek, keeping the kiss soft and slow as her own hands found their way into soft golden-blond hair.

Neither noticed when Ryker found them, nor when he realized just who was kissing Reader. Furious the man turned away and fled, stomping away as they stayed pressed together.

"So, sweets, when do you plan on taking me out?" Reader asked, breathless. Lloyd stared down at her, emerald eyes alight with awe.

"Friday, at 6. We're going somewhere fancy," Lloyd decided, smiling widely.

Reader giggled, using her grip on his head to tug him back down into a kiss, "Sounds good to me."

Morro (She/Her)

Morro was passed out on Readers couch, sleeping off the inherent exhaustion that came from his longer missions. She was curled against the side pressed against the couch, watching a movie on low so she wouldn't wake him.

Head resting on his shoulder, with his arm loosely wrapped around her side she couldn't help but blush, thinking about what people would say if they saw their position. It was intimate, even for friends. Her face had been warm the entire time they'd been cuddling, though she hoped he hadn't noticed.

Sudden movement from the hand on her hip startled her, making her glance down. Morro was rubbing at the exposed skin of her hip bone with his thumb.

"This alright?" He asked, voice a low rasp from just waking.

"Yeah," Reader mumbled, pressing her face into his chest. "Just fine. Perfect."

He chuckled, embarresing her further. They fell back into silence, though Reader's mind was running a thousand miles an hour.

"Hey, Morro?"

"Hmmm."

"Do you–" She cut herself off to sit up a bit to look him in the face. Morro's eyes were half-lidded but attentive. "Can I take you out? On-on a date?"

Morro's eyes sprang open as he gaped in shock. Fearfully, Reader began stuttering, "B-but not, not if you don't want too! Of course you don't have to agree! Just asking!" She tried to push the tears in her eyes back as Morro sat up, without saying anything.

With a gentleness few thought he was capable of, Morro rested a large hand on her cheek, forcing her to meet his dark grey-green eyes. "Can I kiss you?"

At her shocked expression, he laughed.

"Y-yeah."

Still grinning smugly, he pressed their lips together, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her close. He barely let her come up for air before diving back in, like she was his air.

Finally he let them seperate, panting slightly, "I'm taking you out. Friday night, wear something you can walk in."

"O-okay." Eagerly she leaned back in for another kiss making his grin as he met her in the middle.

#ninjago #ninjago headcanons #ninjago fanfiction #kai smith x reader #kai smith #zane julien x reader #zane julien #cole brookstone x reader #cole brookstone #jay walker x reader #jay walker #lloyd garmadon x reader #lloyd garmadon #ninjago morro #morro x reader

[melzula]

Smoke and Shadow

part two

pairing: Zuko x Princess!reader

notes: final part is here! hope you guys enjoy and thank you for being patient as always

summary: the group is one step closer to finding the missing children and Azula, but that doesn’t mean all of their problems will be solved

~ part of the fire lilies series ~

“We decided to do some investigating after Zuko kicked Aang out of the throne room,” Suki explains to you as your trio runs after the Avatar and Fire Lord. “We wanted to see if there were any clues left behind from Kiyi’s kidnapping or Azula’s Kemurikage attack on the palace last night.”

“And even though we couldn’t find anything, I realized there was something fishy about the way she was able to escape so quickly!” Ty Lee adds with a keen smile. “When we used to play hide-and-seek as kids, she’d always manage to win by hiding in this secret passage way tucked into the palace walls. It must be how the Kemurikage were able to escape so quickly.”

“Good thinking, Ty Lee. Although, I still can’t believe she kidnapped her own sister,” you note with a disgruntled shake of your head. “That’s low even for her.”

“This is Azula we’re talking about,” Suki reminds you, and that in itself is enough of an explanation for her behavior.

You finally skid to a stop after reaching the palace rooftops where Aang and Zuko land. The Avatar carelessly drops your boyfriend on the tile, and you wince on his behalf before offering Zuko your hand to help him back up onto his feet.

“Did you have fun?” You ask with a teasing smile only for the Fire Lord to scowl.

“Don’t ever do that again!” He scolds Aang whilst dusting off his robes.

“Okay, okay, but look!” the boy insists before pressing down on a loose brick that opens up a hidden doorway.

“A secret passageway! So you think this is how Azula and the other Kemurikage escape? How did you figure this out?”

“They searched for clues after you kicked them out of the throne room,” you tell him with a pointed look that has him shrinking guiltily under your gaze. “I think you owe Aang an apology.”

“You’re right,” he murmurs sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I should have been more open to your ideas.”

“Apology accepted!” Aang chirps happily. “Now what’s our next move?”

“Well… Kiyi could be on the other side.”

“Tom-Tom, too. I’m coming along,” Mai interjects firmly, seemingly forgetting Kei Lo’s presence until he corrects her statement with a “We’re coming along.”

Zuko instructs Suki and Ty Lee to stay back and guard the palace, so you bid your friends goodbye before beginning your descent into the narrow passageway. The hallway is cold and claustrophobic, but Aang and Zuko lead the way with their fire bending, cautioning you to watch your step behind them.

You’re quiet for the most part, mulling over your thoughts and insecurities now that you’re given a moment’s silence to think. You’re still feeling a bit insecure about walking in on him with Mai and about his animosity towards Kei Lo, but you haven’t had the chance to talk to him yet. The long distance has been hard on your relationship, and sometimes it’s hard to keep consistent communication when both of you have duties to tend to and entire nations to run, but you never thought it would be a problem. Now, you’re not so sure.

You recall what Azula had told you during your time in the Forgetful Valley, how you and Zuko were an “unnatural” pair that would never work. You hate to admit it or even think it, but what if she’s right? What if you’re just kidding yourself? Maybe Mai really has been the right girl for him all along. After all, she is Fire Nation, and she certainly is more qualified to be dating the Fire Lord than you are. You wish Suki were here to talk to, surely she’d know just what to say and could stop you from spiraling like you are now, but without her it seems it’s just you and your thoughts for now.

“Hey, I didn’t get to introduce myself earlier,” a voice says, pulling you out of your thoughts. “I’m Kei Lo, Mai’s boyfriend.”

“Yes, I’m sorry, everything’s just been so chaotic. I’m y/n, Zuko’s girlfriend.”

“That’s right, Mai told me. Say, aren’t you a Chief? Should I be calling you Chief y/n instead?”

“Just y/n is perfectly fine,” you correct him with an awkward laugh. Unbeknownst to you, Zuko is listening in on every word. He doesn’t trust Kei Lo, not one bit, and he doesn’t want him roping you into any trouble. He doesn’t care if he really isn’t in cahoots with the Safe Nation Society, if Kei Lo so much as looks at you in a way Zuko doesn’t like he’ll be tossed into a cell immediately.

“So how’s a Chief of a water tribe end up dating the Fire Lord?” He asks with a laugh.

“It’s a very long story.”

“Please spare me the details,” Mai says with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah, it may not be the best time for that story,” you note with an apprehensive smile.

“You’re probably right. Still, it’s a pretty awkward situation we’ve all found ourselves in.”

“You can say that again.”

After some time group is finally able to reach the end of the passageway, and the only thing standing in your way from the other side is a solid wooden door.

“This must be it,” Zuko announces hopefully. “Behind this door could be Kiyi and Tom-Tom.”

“And Azula,” Aang adds apprehensively before helping the Fire Lord push the heavy wood open. The creak of the old hinges is deafening, echoing in the silent hallway, and you watch with bated breath as the light from the other side slowly begins to seep in. Carefully, you follow the two out the door only to be met with a disappointing site.

There are no missing children and there is no Azula. Instead, you’re faced with a gloomy and desolate graveyard.

“What is this place?” You murmur in awe, your eyes scanning across the expanse of withered headstones. You’ve never seen anything like it.

“I’ve been here before,” Zuko notes thoughtfully, “this is the royal family graveyard.”

“I thought that’s what the Dragonstone catacombs were for,” Aang questions with furrowed brows.

“No, the catacombs are only for Fire Lords. This place is for everyone else. It’s called the Garden of Tranquil Souls.”

“Really? Well, I hate to break it to you, Zuko, but…” the Avatar begins uneasily, and you follow his shifting gaze towards the clouds of smoke that begin to surround the graveyard. Taking a step back, you reach to unclip your water pouch as the dark figures begin to close in on your group. “The souls here don’t seem all that tranquil!”

The group of Kemurikage don’t hesitate to attack, and immediately your group is split apart as you all begin to defend yourselves against their assault. Blasts of fire are shot your way left and right, but you’re able to deflect it every time with your water bending. You manage to take down two of the spirits by encasing them up to their necks in ice, but your progress only seems to make a dent in their ambush. Zuko and Aang are still corned back to back, and Azula has managed to single out Mai and Kei Lo. She holds the boy by the collar of his shirt, eyes full of malice and hand ready to strike him with her blue flames despite Mai’s pleas for her to leave her boyfriend alone.

Before she can harm him, you send a blast of water towards her with an effortful grunt that shoots her across the graveyard and into one of the pillars. The impact is forceful enough to put a crack in the tombstone and disorient Azula momentarily to allow Kei Lo and Mai the chance to escape.

“Are you alright?” You ask him after rushing towards the couple. Mai helps him to his feet before looking to you, her eyes full of gratitude and sincerity.

“Thank you,” she says earnestly, and you give her an appreciative nod in return.

Rising from the ground with a grunt of pain, Azula is filled with rage at your assault on her. How dare you think you can beat her at her own game?

“Helping out your competition? That’s pathetic even for you, dearest,” she insults, irises aflame with fury. “Perhaps you and Zuko are more compatible than I thought.”

“What’s pathetic is the fact that you’re still obsessed with becoming Fire Lord,” you spit back, water cloaking your arms to form tentacle-like limbs for attack.

“Oh, I’m much past that now. I have a new mission,” she notes airily with a passive wave of her hand. Her eyes harden suddenly then and electricity begins to spread across her fingertips. “One that simply won’t work with you in the picture.”

Before she can raise her hands to strike you with her lightening blast, Zuko is quick to send a hail of flames her way to distract her. “Leave her out of this! It’s me you want!”

“Oh, Zuzu, always so dramatic,” she mocks before creating a cloud of smoke to cover her as she runs away.

“You have to go after her!” You exclaim urgently. “I’ll stay back and help Aang handle the rest of the Kemurikage.”

After ensuring you’ll be fine without him, Zuko gives you one final nod before chasing after his sister. You, on the other hand, rush back towards Aang to see if he needs any help. However, it seems he’s been able to manage the assailants just fine on his own.

“Princess! Where’d everybody go?” He asks, perplexed at the sudden disappearance of your group.

“Zuko went after Azula. I’m not sure where Mai and Kei Lo are,” you note as you scan the garden for any sign of them. “What do we do now? We still haven’t found the missing children.”

As if on cue, a shrill voice coming from the passageway calls out for help. You exchange an alarmed glance with Aang before immediately sprinting back into the doorway. A breath of relief leaves you at the sight of Mai’s father with the children in tow, but your ease is short lived at the sight of the two Kemurikage that hold them captive.

“Look!” One of the kids exclaims. “It’s the Avatar and Chief y/n!”

“Hi kids, we’ve been looking all over for you!” Aang says with an overjoyed wave.

“Are you guys alright?!” You call out protectively. “Is anyone hurt?”

“We’re great!” Kiyi calls back prompting you to let out a relieved laugh. You’re so happy to see her and see that she’s okay, but your joyous reunion is quickly cut short by the two spirits who begin to approach the two of you with whips of fire.

“Hang on, kids!” You tell them before beginning to take on the Kemurikage. There’s two of them, so you and Aang each take on one. They’re powerful fighters, but the safety of the children is on the line, so you use all of your might to fight them off as best as you can.

You counter their whip with one of your own, slicing through their weapon each time before it can strike you. While one of your hands controls the water whip, the other sends constant shards of ice hurtling toward the cloaked woman. You can tell she’s beginning to tire, your attacks too much for her to keep up with, but you’re too focused to notice the second figure approaching closely behind you. The Kemurikage’s whip is raised to strike you in the back, but their attack is halted by the blade that slices through the air and pins their hand against the wall.

“What-!” You exhale in surprise, turning just in time to see Mai swoop in and finish the job. The last two spirits have been apprehended, and you’ve been spared a wound that surely could have been fatal.

“Someone had to watch your back,” Mai explains with a faint smile. “You had ours.”

“Thank you,” you utter with a breathless grin. It feels nice to not hate each other for once, and you actually seem to work quite well together.

“Y/n! Y/n!” A voice calls, stealing your attention away from the girl and back to the children. Kiyi sprints towards you with a gleeful smile, and you’re quick to scoop her up into your arms and give her the tightest hug. “You came back!”

“I promised, didn’t I?” You say with a playful smile, carefully pushing back the hair from her face. “I’m so relieved to see you’re okay, and I know Zuko will be too.”

“Guess what? I’m a fire bender now!” She boasts proudly. “I burned a hole through the door so we could escape!”

“That’s incredible!” You praise with a laugh. “Wait until your brother hears this.”

Across the way, Mai cradles her little brother in her arms and watches you speak animatedly with Zuko’s sister. Your interest in Kiyi’s story is completely genuine, and she can see just how much the girl values your opinion. It’s so different from the way Azula used to talk about you, speaking poorly of your character and diminishing you to nothing but a weak Princess. Maybe Mai had judged you too harshly. After all, she might not have been able to get her brother back without your help.

“Thank you again for your help,” she tells you after setting Tom-Tom down to allow him to bid his goodbyes to his new friends. “I was wrong about you, and I shouldn’t have let my resentment cloud my judgement the way I did. I guess I really don’t hate you as much as I thought I did.”

“I appreciate you saying that,” you express with a careful smile. Perhaps things will always be awkward between the two of you, but this is at least a good start.

After making sure all of the children are accounted for, your group exits the passageway just as Zuko emerges from one of the mausoleums. Kiyi is quick to sprint towards her brother, and you watch on with a smile at the way his eyes seem to light up while hugging her close.

“Kiyi! I can’t tell you how worried I was about you.”

“I wasn’t worried at all!” She notes with a grateful smile. “You should’ve seen it, Zuzu! Y/n helped the Avatar take those nasty ladies down!”

“She did, did she?” He asks playfully, glancing over to you with a grateful smile. You simply give him a sheepish shrug in return. “I’ll have to be sure to give her my thanks.”

“And Azula?” You ask him, but his solemn gaze is enough of an answer. “She said she had a new mission, did she tell you what it was?”

“She wasn’t interested in becoming Fire Lord, she was interested in turning me into the type of Fire Lord she would be. The type that rules with fear, ruthlessness. Just like my father. Azula says I can’t escape who I am, and it will only be a matter of time before I’m just like her.”

“You don’t believe that, do you? You’re nothing like Azula,” you say earnestly. “You never will be.”

“I know,” Zuko murmurs softly, but you can see the slightest bit of doubt in his eyes and it saddens to you to know he doesn’t fully believe it to be true. “But either way she escaped. I don’t know where she is or when she’ll return.”

“We’ll be there to help you if she does come back, buddy,” Aang consoles with a comforting hand on the Fire Lord’s shoulder. “For now, let’s just focus on returning these kids back to their families.”

“Good point, Aang. Now,” you say, looking to the children who stare up at you with tired eyes that immediately brighten when you ask, “who’s ready to go home?”

~~~

Peace has been restored in the Fire Nation; the children have been returned safely to their parents, and Zuko has earned the forgiveness of his people for his mishandling of the situation. Everything is almost perfect.

You lean against the balcony of your room for the night and stare up contemplatively at the moon. Yue shines beautifully as always, and you find comfort in her light as you battle against the darkness clouding your thoughts. Your doubts about your relationship still rage on, and you haven’t been able to fight them off no matter how hard you try. You haven’t mentioned anything to Zuko, not wanting to distract him from his duty to his people, but the suffering in silence act you’ve been pulling all day hasn’t been helping your state of mind. Suki had urged you to talk to him, stating you had nothing to worry about because she’s seen firsthand how much he misses you when you’re away, but you were too anxious to follow through. What if you won’t like what you hear when you finally speak to Zuko?

You’re too engrossed in your thoughts to hear your door open or the quiet footsteps that head towards you, and it isn’t until he’s right beside you that you finally feel the familiar warmth that constantly emanates from his body. You don’t have to look to know that it’s Zuko.

“Suki said I should come to talk to you,” he says softly, golden eyes looking to you inquisitively. “Is everything alright?”

“I… I’m not sure,” you admit quietly, nervously fidgeting with your fingers and refusing to meet his gaze.

“What is it?”

His hand sneaks its way in between your own to halt your fidgeting and reassure that he’s right there with you and ready to listen to whatever it is you have to say. Sighing, you finally look to him with uncertainty swimming in your eyes.

“Do you have feelings for Mai?”

He’s stunned to stay the least, eyes widening slightly in surprise at your question. It’s certainly the last thing he expected you to ask him.

“Is this what you were trying to talk to me about earlier?” He presses gently, frowning at the way you slowly nod your head. “I see…”

“Just be honest with me, Zuko,” you plead desperately. “We promised we’d never keep secret from each other anymore, so if there’s something to tell then tell me. I can handle it.”

“I can’t stand here and tell you that it didn’t look bad when you walked in on Mai and I,” Zuko admits with a sigh. “But I can tell you that nothing was going on.”

“I heard you say you care about her.”

“It was out of context. I was trying to make things right for the sake of finding the children- she was obviously still upset over what went down between us, and I was trying to keep the peace so that we could work together to find our siblings. I’ve known her since we were kids, and if it weren’t for her I never would have been able to escape Boiling Rock and come back to you. So in a way I guess I do care for her, but it’s nothing compared to how much I care for you.”

“What about your animosity towards Kei Lo? You seemed… jealous of him.”

“I wasn’t jealous, I just didn’t trust him. I still don’t,” Zuko says adamantly. “I wasn’t exactly thrilled about having to release him because I didn’t want him to try and pull anything. I didn’t want Mai getting hurt, and I especially didn’t want him putting you in any danger.”

“So… so you don’t have feelings for her?” You ask meekly, the slightest bit of doubt still present in your voice.

“I’ve never had feelings for her,” Zuko says earnestly before gently taking your hands in his own. “You’re the only girl for me, y/n. I was stupid enough to let you go once, but I’m never making that mistake again.”

You can’t help but smile at his admission, tears beginning to well in your eyes as you throw your arms around him in a tight embrace that he immediately returns. It feels like a weight has finally been lifted off your shoulders, and all the worry and self doubt you had is finally beginning to melt away.

“I never want you to feel doubtful or insecure about our relationship ever again. I’m going to do everything in my power to do better,” he professes earnestly. “I love you more than you know, and you don’t ever have to worry about someone coming between us again.”

“I love you, Zuko.”

He pulls you in for a kiss, and with the moonlight shining down upon you both, everything is almost perfect.

For neither of you notice the pair of golden eyes that stare down at you from the rooftops with disdain and disgust before disappearing into the shadows.

“Pathetic.”

| atla tags: @sirkekselord @niktwazny303

| zuko tags: @thebluelcdy @royahllty @the-firebender-girl @ilovespideyyy @yiyibetch @eridanuswave @lammello @a-monsters-love @knaite-solo @taeeemin

| fire lilies tags: @emberislandplayers @kikaninchen-2 @music-geek19 @thia-aep @thyunnamed @haylaansmi @nataliahaslosthershit @idkdude776 @aangsupremacy @thirstyforsometea @ihaveaproblem98 @brown-eyed-thang @xapham @misnmatchedsox @chewymoustachio @that-bucket-hat-gal @chilifrylizard2 @kyomihann @kaylove12 @kiwihoee @freggietale @moon-spirit-yue @bubblegum-bee-otch

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

[comradekatara]

okay, so I did just spend the entire day watching NATLA. I had no choice but to watch this all in one sitting with my friends because I knew that if I attempted to watch it alone, or in increments, I would simply never get past episode 1. and I was right. it, of course, sucked so bad. I intend to write an actual, articulate review of the show as a whole when I have time, but for now, here is a list of the notes I jotted down on my phone (including some quotes from my friends as we watched), cinema sins style (pluses indicate details I actually liked, however minuses are far more frequent; points I considered especially significant are bolded).

– NO COLON to signify the central tension of the entire show!!!

Episode 1:

+ Love Aang’s eyebrows, just a very cute kid in general

+ opening fight scene kind of serves

– Sozin does NOT

– This clunky exposition is so strange considering they clearly already assume we are familiar with the entire show

– What’s going on with Kyoshi (ie, where is Roku)

– Where is Katara narrating????

– Hideous fonts

+ AANG SO CUTE <3 (he’s giving Dewey!)

– He can just fucking fly without his glider I guess?

– Airbenders saying wow at airbending (ding!)

– Aang’s uggs

– Sky bison…… L (update: I lowkey came around on Appa, but only bc Momo was so fucking busted he looked incredible by contrast)

– Gyatso’s mustache L (update: many such cases going forward)

– What’s going on with the accents???

– Aang cannot fucking act for shit I’m so sorry to this adorable baby boy

– Depicting a literal genocide as an action scene. Fucking awful

– Aang actually trying to head back during the storm defeats the whole point of the whole inciting incident of his entire arc????

+ Waterbending Avatar State sequence in the storm actually looks cool

– I hate White Sokka

– I hate shein Katara

– They do NOT act like siblings

– I hate White Sokka

– Where is Katara I miss you baby girl

– ZUKO’S SCAR IS AWFUL

– Katara has no agency or passion or rage or emotion whatsoever?!!?!?

– Acting is SO BAD

+ Clunky exposition works for Zuko because he does have a propensity for monologuing all his intentions

– Sokka, however, does NOT

– How can Sokka be “the last man” of the Southern Water Tribe if there are like. Dozens of other guys only ever so slightly younger than him just standing around.

– Kanna just saying Katara’s monologue because Katara is a nothing

– WHY DO FIREBENDERS KEEP ATTACKING AT NIGHT

– Clunky ass exposition “he had to grow up fast” give me a fucking break

– Who the fuck is this white guy

– Katara has no motivations at all?? She’s just chopped liver I guess

– The cadence of every actor is so bad

– They can’t decide whether they want to be the cartoon or their own thing and instead they’re just nothing

Episode 2:

– KANNA JUST GIVES HER THE SCROLL?!?!? KATARA DOESNT GET TO SHOPLIFT. OR DO ANYTHING

– MILF ALERT!!!!

– I hate you straight nepobaby suki

– She’s so fucking weird

– White Sokka has a bad face and a good body. He should have a strikingly beautiful face and a scrawny, malnourished body. L

– Aang being afraid to airbend makes no sense

– Where is Sokka’s fucking Kyoshi Warrior feminization!!!!

– Sexist ass show

– STOP IT KYOSHI STOOOOPPPPP #NotMyKyoshi

Episode 3:

– This one rebel leader guy is giving Katara more than Katara

– Why are the colors so bland

– Sokka being scientifically minded makes no sense bc that trait (which, um, is actually quite crucial to his character) hasn’t actually been established at all up until this point (or retained beyond this one episode)

– This guy is giving jock who happens to be good at engineering, when Sokka should be a NERD who HAPPENS to be good at FIGHTING

– Azula and Mai are NOT GIVING

– Azula should present as sure of herself and incredibly poised. It’s actual crucial to reflecting how she has been shaped by abuse

– And Mai should be razor sharp (both physically and figuratively) and not give a fuck about any of this!!!

+ Katara hitting herself in the face was funny

– Redemption for beautiful Jet (my friend: “I love seeing a beautiful man die”)

– Freedom Fighters are GIVINGGG

– How can Kya “watch the sun rise every day” if they literally live in the South Pole

– They don’t understand Sokka’s daddy issues AT ALL. The simple fact that he’s actually communicating them is egregious

– The first time Katara actually gets angry is for Jet. But not even for the right reasons.

– The first exchange that Katara and Sokka have that makes any sense is in ep THREE (of 8)

– “Sokka was right. You are the bad guy.” WHO WROTE THIS 😭😭

– Jet is only going after the corrupt and collaborators…. So, um… he’s literally right???

+ The fight between Aang and Zuko is actually SO GOOD and understands their dynamic (sidenote: they’re the only kids who are actually giving their original characters at all)

+ Aang reading Zuko’s diary is so fucking funny

+ I love you Danny Pudi <3

Episode 4:

+ I love the interior of Bumi’s palace. Statues of Flopsy

– Omashu is in India now I guess and also everyone in the world lives here

– Bumi’s hat!?!?

+ The nomads sound like Fleet Foxes

– Katara and Sokka are literally switching roles in this tunnel

+ This one Earth Kingdom soldier is really serving.

– The fact that he’s ostensibly framed as in the wrong here though is INSANE

– Zuko is supposed to be ten here 😭 that’s a grown ass man with a BA in Econ

– Sokka’s necklace is plastic

– Katara and Sokka being like “we never used to fight at home” ……. WTF!?!?

– KATARA WOULD NEVER SAY THAT TO SOKKA SHE WOULD BEAT HIS ASS INTO THE GROUND EVEN IF HE WAS RIGHT

– Adults keep being so mean to Aang :((

+ Zuko’s hair is great

+ I like that Bumi gave Aang his bison whistle(?)

– Bumi’s anger is….interesting

Episode 5:

– Canonically 13 year old Zuko is also a grown ass man

– “How was I supposed to know she was a Fire Nation soldier” ummmmmm maybe due to your INSTINCTS and CONSTANT PARANOIA

– They keep alluding to escapades offscreen without actually depicting any of their grounded bonding moments so we have no reason to care about any of these characters whatsoever or their relationships with one another

– Sokka good with kids and names??? Preposterous

– Zuko kinda gay asf

– Zuko calling someone an idiot and Sokka never once does . Sounds fake

– Oppressed peoples are just a mouthpiece for oppression instead of real human beings

– Instragram ass makeup

– Aang isn’t having any fun

– Aang feels like he has no agency whatsoever because he only ever does what the adults around him tell him to do and never does anything of his own accord. Let him have a sillygoofy time!!!

– Constant clunky exposition and no understanding of its own narrative… it’s truly like if ATLA … was LOK.

+ JUUUUNE

– Hitting on Iroh for #feminism

– “I always thought I was spiritually attuned. I don’t know how he got in here though” is actually so Katara. Finally an actual Katara moment

– Wan Shi Tong goofy asf Guardians of Ga’Hoole ass CGI monstrosity

– What is with Sokka’s fucking white people references (all you need is love, bye bye birdie, etc). White devil I need him dead

– Sexy Kitsune for the furries

– Fox accuses him of making jokes to deflect “What? I don’t do that” WELL. HE DOESNT IN THIS VERSION!!! (Alluding to a character trait that they don’t actually depict is crazy. He literally says everything he’s feeling at all times in this and barely ever says anything witty. It’s like they’re TAUNTING us.)

– Kya sounds like she’s from the Upper East Side

– Why won’t they let Katara DO anything!!!

– Too economical with their storytelling leads to no real depth whatsoever

– Putting Katara’s flashback in Book 1 undermines the whole point of TSR

– I HATE YOU WHITE HAKODA

– If Sokka is so bad at ice dodging in this then why did they give him the mark of the wise ??????? None of this scene makes sense

– Why is Sokka CRYING (he doesn’t DO that)

– Koh looks so bad

– Aang doesn’t actually know how to fight Koh he’s just such a wooden actor that he happens to get away with it

– First Roku mention????? Lmfao

– Gyatso talking to Aang is so wack but at least he’s being nice to him

Episode 6 (aka the best episode by far):

+ Zuko just drawing an eye on the page is so real actually

– Azula’s flames aren’t even blue

– And she’s not mysterious or imposing at all!

– I HATE the makeup in the show

– The pacing is AWFUL and STUPID, no consideration as to WHY information is revealed when it is narratively/thematically

+ Okay he’s really giving Zuko lmfao

+ Ken Leung has made Zhao feel like a real person (but no one else is doing that ???)

– Low-budget fantasy C-dramas have costumes one million times better than this.

– What is with Iroh’s obsession with boats

– Quirked up old man Roku

– Zuko flashbacks don’t read as significant because his scar is nothing and he’s the same age

+ Aang and Zhao scene is great

+ I’d follow Zhao into battle

– Other friend: “This is the best episode so far and it’s because Katara and Sokka aren’t in it”

+ Blue Spirit mask actually looks like a theater mask

+ Using the original Blue Spirit theme!!

+ This episode actually slays

– Their commentary on narrativization is solely relegated to Zhao and no one else gets to participate in this thematic conversation, not even KATARA

+ I love the sassy gay scribe

+ LADDERS SCENEEEEE

+ Zuko canonically having good handwriting is so real

+ Aang and Zuko conversation is great

– Why does Aang keep assuming Zuko is compassionate and wounded when he hasn’t displayed any compassion, remorse, or pain

– Iroh stepping into the Agni Kai goes against his whole character

+ Ozai kind of rules tho

– WHY IS ZUKO ACTIVELY FIGHTING OZAI!!!!!!!!

– Zuko’s backstory makes no sense

+ Zuko’s thotty little collarbone

– Ozai’s scene here undermines the whole point of Zuko’s banishment

– Such bad dialogue it’s crazy

– How do the 41st division not know why they’ve been on this boat for the past 3 years when every piece of dialogue in this show is otherwise expository as fuck

– What’s the point of Gyatso leaving. They don’t explain it at all

Episode 7:

– The NWT is so grey and underwhelming. My favorite location in the whole show. Can’t have shit in Netflixworld.

– BECAUSE AANG JUST HAS VISIONS OF THE FUTURE NOW I GUESS

– PAKKU AND YUE LOOK SOOOOO BAD

– Yue looks like a Euphoria character in a party city wig

– This isn’t how Azula fights!!!

– I hate what they’re doing with Azula so bad

– Mai sucks too

– Their journey doesn’t feel earned at all because they didn’t hang out or learn anything or do shit

– Why is Yue in the kitchens if she’s a princess

– And why is she WATERBENDING

– Why isn’t she repressed!!!!! She shouldn’t BE “ordinary”

– Why is Sokka explaining his duties!!!! He doesn’t SAY SHIT!

– Why isn’t the guy playing Hahn playing Sokka and vice versa (I’m so fucking serious)

– YUE’S A FOX????? WHAT

– All the offscreen battles where we’re supposed to assume character development actually happened. Sure.

– Hahn being nice and respectful to Sokka makes no sense

– MILF Yugoda! (How would she know Kanna. Update: I guess that doesn’t even matter here )

– THEY DONT UNDERSTAND YUE OR HAHN OR WHAT PATRIARCHY IS. AT ALL

– Kuruk is too serious and Roku is too playful. It should be the reverse. Playing into racist tropes :/

– His eyes are way too blue I’m sorry to this man

– They all look like they know what iPhones are.

– Yue is so annoying . L

– This whole Yue Sokka scene is the most annoying thing I’ve ever fucking seen in my life. And entirely antithetical to their whole deal

– “My friends” this “my friends” that, except they never actually hang out. They just keep calling each other friends but they never actually show it in a believable way.

– They want to be edgy but they actually never fucking shut up about the power of friendship like we are all five years old. I think when they said they were “appealing to a Game of Thrones audience” what they really meant was just that they are also bad, incredibly misogynistic writers who depict sensitive topics without any care or nuance.

– I actually like the Fire Nation boats

– Zhao is working with Azula??? She wouldn’t KILL THE MOON

– Azula would never ask Ozai to do things she would wait for his command at all times!!!

– Since when is Sokka wise and emotionally mature enough to hold this conversation with Katara, and why isn’t Katara being impulsive. This fight is so planned out; all the excitement is lost.

– Her completely blank expression as Pakku humiliates her. I hate you SHEIN KATARA!!!!!!

– This fight is so dull and lame whereas in the original that fight scene literally changed my life as a kid????? #NotMyKatara

– “The Legend of Aang” EW

– Why isn’t Aang waterbending at all. Book 1: “talking about water in completely abstract, hypothetical terms”

Episode 8:

– Iroh telling Zuko how to break into the North Pole is undermining the one moment where he actually demonstrates his intelligence as an independent person

– Stupid ass liberal feminism I hate you

– So they are sexist but also not. Makes sense

– What the fuck is with this moon backstory shit. Who needed that

– Zhao going to the Fire Temple instead of Wan Shi Tong’s Library for info on the moon completely undermines the point about the role of knowledge in imperialist conquest

– Kuruk looks like a Star Wars force ghost

+ THEY KILLED MOMO (kind of made me laugh a lot, so… points for that I guess)

– But they could only feature him for all of five seconds bc they don’t have the budget to constantly animate his mangy rat ass

– Why is Yue helping MOMO instead of ACTUAL HUMAN BEINGS

– They want me to believe that White Sokka has compassion for that little rat when I simply do not believe that this man cares for anyone or anything or even has a soul.

+ Zuko and Aang’s situationship/chemistry is crazy. They’re both kind of slaying actually

– That said, the kid who plays Aang is not a very good actor, he’s just adorable and has big ears and a Dewey voice. And the kid who plays Zuko has the easiest acting job in the show because Zuko is actually so over the top and dramatic that overacting feels authentic to this one character in particular (and no one else).

– Bending fights look stupid and feel thematically insignificant

– This red filter looks so bad

– Why do they keep dragging out fast paced scenes to explain everything so that they’re now boring af

– Hahn is just……. Okay go off woke feminist king. Sure. Why not

– All the exposition is so clunky and slow and undermining the actual point of the scene

– Not only is this not visually interesting, it also doesn’t translate tonally, and the primary actors can’t pull it off

– So NOW Iroh kills Zhao. Okay

– Zhao wouldn’t respect a teenage girl this much, even if she is the princess

– Koizilla looks bad :(

– RIP Ken Leung the Cunt Slayer. 5ever in our hearts </3

+ It’s actually so funny that Ken Leung apparently didn’t even know what he was auditioning for because he was by far the best actor in this show and nearly singlehandedly redeemed it. I love this guy so much.

– Me: “This isn’t a show. This is a farcical simulacrum of real art.” Friend, far more concisely: “This is a fucking joke.”

– Katara and Sokka barely even seem like they care about each other. Look at how they massacred by boy (and girl)

– Yue and Sokka alluding to fucking offscreen WOULD be a slay if they weren’t both annoying as fuck…

– Oh so NOW Katara talks Aang down from the Avatar State. Yeah. I buy that.

– “You’re not just the Avatar you’re my family” really? Because you’ve barely even talked

– The sequencing and pacing of the Siege of the Noth was nonsensical.

– “My daughter always made her own choices” NO SHE FUCKING DIDNT!!!!! THE WHOLE POINT OF HER CHARACTER. WAS THAT SHE COULDN’T!!! Shallow fucking libfem bullshit they MASSACRED my girl!!!!!!

– Why is Arnook comforting Sokka when Sokka should be comforting HIM

– Also Sokka would never express his insecurities to Arnook in the first place. NOT MY REPRESSED KING????

– Why is Sokka giving emotional support and Katara giving tactical support -_-

– They really think that “Gotta let go of the past to have a future” is such a fucking smart line they used it twice

– Conquering Omashu wasn’t a STRATEGY it just happened CONCURRENTLY because their imperialist regime is incredibly powerful … This show doesn’t understand its own politics at all.

– Azula has no poise or swag smh

– Aang doesn’t even know about Sozin’s comet because Roku didn’t tell him…

– It’s crazy that a show written in the 2020s is actually SO MUCH more sexist than a show written in the 2000s.

– TDLR; I hate you capitalism, I hate you Netflix, I hate you White Sokka, I hate you SHEIN Katara, I hate you heterosexual nepobaby Suki, I hate you girlboss Yue, I hate you visibly insecure Azula, I hate you whatever is going on with Mai, I hate you CGI Momo, I hate you wack ass pacing, I hate you clunky, idiotic dialogue, I hate you complete and utter lack of consideration into what made this show great in the first place, I love you Danny Pudi, I love you Ken Leung.

Which, in fairness, is all pretty much exactly what I expected this show would be. But at least actually watching it did indeed verify all my assumptions (although what they did to Katara specifically was even worse than what I had assumed, dear god), so I will be writing up a more in-depth review soon so that I can actually try to unpack why this show is such a dumpster fire, and how that reflects larger trends in media. But for now, all I can say is, I can’t believe I sat through 8 hours of this fucking garbage knowing it would be bad and it was. I’ve been saying this show would suck ass since the second it was announced, and yet it somehow managed to still prove worse than even my incredibly pessimistic expectations. A soulless, shallow, offensive work of profit that cannot even attempt to justify its own existence. I need to kill White Sokka with hammers.

#natla #‘’spoilers’’ under the cut #lmfao #in the immortal words of bloodbenderz: ‘it was bad’