#hurt/comfort i guess a bit because aang always needs a hug

[the-last-cuddlebender]

Webs We Weave

A spider has decided to move in. Aang has decided to let it stay.  ...Zuko and Sokka did not agree on this new roommate, and they will do what needs to be done.

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A/N: This was originally a vent-write (because I had a horrifying in-my-face encounter with an airborne spider) that #1. I had way to much fun writing and #2. Spiraled far beyond what I originally imagined lmao

(Also jumping spiders are tiny and precious and wear raindrops as lil hats and Aang would take a bullet for one.)

Rating: G (S for Short Aang is bae)

Words: 2,376

ArchiveOfOurOwn

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Aang had a considerable grip for someone more than two heads shorter than who he was trying to restrain. The young Avatar managed to hold Sokka back, nonetheless. “Stop it, guys! Please! You can’t kill him!” 

Sokka shrugged Aang off. He side-stepped the airbender before he could weasel past him. The kitchen wasn’t big enough for Aang to do a tricky-trick on him this time.

Sokka almost felt bad when Aang’s cheeks puffed red and his fists clenched. Sokka had hit his growth spurt, so Aang had to tilt his head vertical to meet his (in all but blood) big brother’s eyes. He stood on his tip-toes, and Sokka had to bank on his warrior’s discipline not to laugh when Aang couldn’t even get his head close to his shoulder-level.

“You guys can’t kill him! It’s just—It’s just wrong!”

“Yeah, we can. Easily, in fact.” 

“Sokka!”

Sokka rolled his eyes not for the first time that night.

Behind Sokka and just beyond Aang’s reach, Zuko crouched close to the very small, very fuzzy, somewhat colorful eight-legged critter not even a full half-inch big. It huddled into the corner under the umbrella of its tiny web. Its legs looked almost too short for its body. Six of its beady eyes blankly stared at them, but the two eyes at the forefront—which were so big they almost looked like they were glued on—shined with a waxy gloss that rivaled the tears gathering in Aang’s eyes.

“B-But you can’t! Every life is sacred!”

Zuko made his finger into a blowtorch and crouched like a prince performing a formal execution on a war criminal. “It’s the natural order, Aang.”

“But you can’t!”

Aang tried to dart past, but Sokka snagged him by the scruff of his robes. The short airbender yelped as his feet left the ground. He was as light as his element. He squirmed not too unlike Momo when he refused to bathe, but Sokka held him higher so his kicking legs couldn’t even toe the floor.

Aang’s face bloomed several shades of frustration and embarrassment, and Sokka made a mental note to thank Suki for teaching him some elemental chi-blocking. 

Because judging by the look on his little brother’s face, he would have been taking the brunt of all four elements five-times-over by now. 

“Sokka! Put me down!”

“Sorry, but no can do, sport.” Sokka turned his head. “Do it, Zuko.”

Aang thrashed harder. “No, don’t! Zuko, please—!”

Katara—winded and whipping her head around like she was looking for a horde of assassins—appeared from around the corner like Aang’s plea had summoned her from across the continent. A warrior’s discipline and experience let her take in the scene at a glance. Sokka nearly rolled his eyes again when her glare zeroed-in on and burned him in particular. 

Sokka wanted to rub his head. Spirits, he had thought the constant headaches he got during the war would go away, but with stuff like this always happening, it’s no wonder they were getting worse and worse. It felt like his head was about to split in two. 

Katara waterbended her liquid ammo back into her waterskin, though she didn’t become any less of a threat. “Sokka, put him down. Now. And Zuko, what—What in the world are you guys doing?”

“What must be done.”

Katara cocked her jaw at Zuko, grim-faced like a true executioner. “That explains so much and yet so little.”

Aang struggled more, but Sokka just held him higher and away from himself. 

“Katara! Katara, they’re gonna kill Bartholomew!”

Katara looked affronted. “Bartholomew?” She glared between Zuko and Sokka with equal levels of disgust. 

Zuko and Sokka shared a side-eyed glance and an exasperated sigh. 

“Katara, look,” Sokka said, gesticulating with even Aang who was hanging from his grasp like a polarbeardog pup by its scruff, “the spider has to go. It’s a pest, and Zuko and I are not going to let those things curl up and make their home wherever they damn well please. They can hide in the rafters or whatever, but not out in the most open corner of the kitchen. If you let them see that there’s no threat in places where we don’t want them, then, before you know it, we’ll have dozens of them in the kitchen.”

Zuko sagely nodded. His finger was still a torch. Bartholomew’s six small and two abnormally large eyes reflected the red glow of its would-be murder weapon but were otherwise as black as ink and void of fear. “Have to make an example out of it.”

“Thank you, Zuko, for listening to reason.”

“He’s not hurting anything!” Aang gave up his struggle and hung limp in Sokka’s one-handed grip. The young Avatar’s pooled robes made him look even smaller, and Sokka could feel the blinding rays of his wounded pigmypuma eyes getting bigger. “Bartholomew just likes to hang out and watch you cook and—”

Sokka held Aang to his eye-level and got nearly nose-to-nose with his little brother. “It is a spider, Aang.”

Aang poked Sokka’s chest. “He is my friend, Sokka.”

Katara crossed her arms. Despite themselves, Sokka and Zuko both flinched. “Zuko, put that out. Sokka, put Aang down. Now.”

Sokka, in fact, did not put Aang down. He returned her glare with his own and subtly stepped between his love and his sister as he felt the heat of her glare reach the capacity to melt steel bars.

“I can’t do that, Katara.”

“Well, you’d better figure out how before I make you, Sokka.”

The searing whish of Zuko’s finger-torch got stronger. Aang pawed Sokka’s hand on the back of his robe’s collar and cursed his genetics into oblivion for not having hit his presumed growth spurt yet. 

“Zuko, don’t! Please!”

Zuko growled. He put his torch out and threw his arms up. “Fine! Whatever! Just give me a cup or something and I’ll take it outside!”

Aang looked appalled. “You can’t!”

“Why the hell not?”

Aang fiddled with the end of his robe. “He’s—Bartholomew’s been inside too long. He won’t know how to survive outdoors. And he isn’t—”

Sokka groaned. His urge to bang his migraine-aching head into the wall was becoming more of a compulsion that bordered on a need.

“—the outdoor spiders don’t like him? And what if—” 

“Do it, babe.”

The torch was back. “On it.”

“No!” 

Aang got free of Sokka’s grip but didn’t stay free for long. Airbender or not, Sokka was a big brother, and he easily scooped the young monk off his feet again in a light but firm headlock. Aang wiggled and pushed against him, but Sokka tightened his grip. “Bartholomew!” Aang cried out as he reached out to his tiny insect friend.

Katara snarled. “Sokka, put him down! He’s not—Zuko. Don’t. You. Dare.” 

Zuko paused his finger-torch an inch away from its target. The chilly voice that bent the Southern Raiders to their knees crawled like frost freezing over into his ears. 

The pressure in the room nearly crushed them. The universe rippled in a strange way that made the hairs on the napes of their necks stand on end. He and Sokka looked at each other before turning inches at a time to face the tempest-made-flesh who was glaring them down.

Katara’s eyes held the promise of bloodshed, and her voice bellied the threat of major bodily harm. Arms crossed and hackles raised like a sabretooth-mooselion, she stalked towards them. 

“You two are not going to lay hand or foot on Bartholomew. Got it?”

Sokka rolled his eyes again and tightened his slippery grip on the escape-artist whining and wiggling in his hold. He wound one of his arms around Aang’s middle to pin him flush against him. “Or what? Are you going to freeze our—”

“Don’t give her any ideas, you idiot,” Zuko hissed. He put his fire out and stood, though he subtly-but-not-as-subtly-as-he-thought shimmied away from the heated waterbender so that he had partial cover behind his boyfriend.

Sokka turned to him with half-lidded eyes and a half-blinding migraine. “Not you, too. Come on, guys, it’s a spider. It’s not like it’s a puppy or—”

Sokka looked down. The kicked puppy trapped in his arms was looking up. Aang’s grey eyes were miserable puddles of pleading that were so dilated that Sokka almost fell into their tear-filled abyss. 

“Please, Sokka?” 

Aang’s voice broke, and when Katara clasped her hands to her chest in a heartbroken aw while simultaneously letting her brother know her very clear intent to shed blood should Aang shed a tear, Sokka rolled his eyes so hard that his whole head nearly rolled with them. 

Aang tugged the arm around his neck with his one free hand, and he somehow changed his facial anatomy to make his eyes even bigger.

“Pretty please?”

Sokka sighed. “Fine. You can keep the damn spider.”

Aang smiled so brightly that Sokka had to look away to save himself from being blinded. He let Aang go and tried to nurse the now full headache he had. 

Aang raced to his pest-pet and cooed it like it was a newborn. Zuko touched Sokka’s shoulder to offer his condolences and share his frustrations...and to shimmy further out of Katara’s path.

Katara smiled and nodded like they were soldiers in battle who had satisfied their honor. Sokka stuck his tongue out at her. She returned the gesture in kind. Zuko backed him up, and Katara grumbled and looked away in defeat.

Zuko and Sokka, without looking, shared a small high-five.

Aang zoomed up to them and gave his de facto big brothers a group hug. He jumped on the balls of his feet and thanked them profusely. Thankfully, he couldn’t see the moment when the two of them went braindead to his rambling and just nodded when he stopped for breath.

Behind her boyfriend, Katara kissed Aang’s arrow. She plopped her head on top of his as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Aang placed his hands on hers and smiled so wide that the force of it had Zuko and Sokka bracing themselves from being blown backward.

Katara tugged her rambling boyfriend flush against her chest, and she protectively curled around him. When her eyes met their others’, she stuck her tongue out again.

Sokka huffed. He side-stepped Zuko and mirrored his sister’s maneuver with his boyfriend. 

Zuko blushed in Sokka’s arms, Aang redirected his smile to his Sifu Hotman, and Sokka returned his sister's stuck-out tongue with a hidden middle finger in addition. 

Aang, with his smile creeping dangerously close to a supernova, looked back and forth between the water tribe siblings until Zuko, done with this and ready for a nap or a drink or both, gave the airbender a partial head-pat like he really was a polarbeardog. 

...(later that day)

“No! No, Sokka, wait! You can’t!”

“I can! I will! I’m gonna! And you will watch me! Now get out of the way, Aang!”

“But it’s true love! Petunia is his Forever Girl!”

“I cannot put into words the depth and intensity of the fuck I do not give! Now move!”

“Think of their children, Sokka!”

“I AM THINKING OF THEIR CHILDREN!”

Zuko saved his and Katara’s boyfriends from bodily harm while Katara quickly but quietly set up the terrarium she and Zuko had special-ordered for Bartholomew (and Petunia, now, as well).

Aang still kept it in the kitchen, though. He didn't want to stress out his ‘lil babu’ and his ‘lil babu’s babu’ by moving them to a change in scenery.

Sokka (gently but with passion) flicked the corner of the glass whenever he walked by. Zuko flipped it the bird.

Aang saw neither action. He just smiled and melted into Katara’s hug as he relished thinking about how well all of his friends were getting along.

Bartholomew and Petunia watched on from their new home in the corner on the counter.

And they watched.

And they watched.

And they watched.

And though they were nocturnal, they always crawled out of their hide when the humans’ voices drew near so that they could watch them some more.

...That night—Petunia’s first in the house, to Sokka’s dismay—Bartholomew and Petunia crawled onto the clump of bark and moss outside their burrow. The moon was full, and some of its light reached the terrarium just like Aang had hoped their minor change of scenery would do. 

They curled their thin legs together and sat in the strongest of the moon’s rays. And, once everything was quiet and all were asleep, Bartholomew turned to his companion and shared his thoughts with her.

/This Avatar is a strange one./

/Very./  Petunia curled closer to his side. /The two males are very quick to violence, it seems. The Avatar’s mate, as well. I’m surprised you didn’t blast the firebender into the Spirit Wilds./

/I was going to, but I was curious to see how the situation would unfold. I probably should have taken a different form. The lemur and skybison said their master would take interest instead of offense to this form. They failed to mention the opinions of the others sharing his dwelling./

/I’m sorry, my love. It won’t be too much longer, now, will it? Because I swear on the Ancients themselves, if the firebender’s mate flicks the glass one more time, I will flick him into—/

/Calm yourself, my dear. It won’t be too long. The web is woven, and we need him near if it is to work./

/I suppose that is one benefit to this form, then./

/Aye./ Bartholomew drummed all of his legs like he was shifting his weight impatiently. /He is the last one Hei Bai took into his forest during the Solstice. Thankfully, it hasn’t festered long enough to corrupt his spirit./

/Because of the firebender?/

Bartholomew pawed the bits of a dead leaf and would have grumbled if he had a voice. /Yes. And he’s lucky, too, because otherwise I would not have hesitated to banish him and his mate to the Spirit Wilds./

Petunia touched her legs to his and gently herded him back to their den. One of her legs gently tapped his back. /I’m sure you would have, dear./

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The spiders know all

(Many thanks and more to @coldmentalitystudentme @thecaroliner for helping me settle what these dorks’ reactions to spiders might be!!!)

#kataang #zukka #aang #sokka #katara #zuko #avatar the last airbender #the legend of korra #fluff #fanfiction #gaang #ficlet #post #ao3 #Sokka is ~the big brother everyone needs~ #Zuko is ~too tired for this~ #Aang is a ~little shit~ #Katara will ~cut a bitch~ #atla #hurt/comfort i guess a bit because aang always needs a hug #and they were roommates lmao #takes place in universe btw so everyone is about late teensish i guess--the search ages #myfanfictiontag

[atlabeth]

everything happens for a reason part 6 - zuko x fem!reader

The thing about forever is that it's a fucking lie

part 5 | masterlist | part 7

a/n: you all know whats coming lmao i got nothing to say for myself

wc: 3.5k

warning(s): pakku's usual sexism, typical siege of the north stuff, mostly angst but a lil bit of fluff in there

chapter title comes from forever is a lie by bea miller!

“I can’t believe that your tribe doesn’t teach waterbending to women!” Katara fumed, the snow beneath her feet packed tightly from her continuous pacing. “I mean, how can they even do that? Master Pakku’s all about ‘his culture and his teachings’ but his teachings are completely sexist!”

Y/N just nodded along as she listened to Katara — Master Pakku had refused to teach Katara, and after a disappointing healing lesson she had found Y/N to rant. “Yep. It’s unfair, but there’s not much we can do about it.”

Katara frowned and stopped in her tracks. “Don’t you want to learn how to fight too? I love being able to heal and help people, don’t get me wrong, but healing isn’t all I want to do.”

A shaky sigh fell from her lips and she shrugged, adjusting her position on the platform of ice she had made to sit on. “Well… yeah, I guess. I know a couple of martial moves, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to know more. But Katara, I—”

Y/N was silent for a moment as flashes of the past played behind her eyelids. “I’m not like you. I’m not the kind of person to challenge the rules. Not anymore.”

Katara shook her head, already back to her pacing. “I think you’re selling yourself short. I saw your healing during your class — you’re really talented, Y/N, and I know that skill will transfer over to fighting.”

“Thank you, but— but it doesn’t matter how good we are. Master Pakku is just as stubborn as he is talented, and I think he’d rather die than be a decent person. It’s a shame though. I’d really like to see someone knock some sense into him.”

“Yeah…” Katara sighed. “Hopefully Aang is having a better time than I am.” She looked up at the sky then fixed Y/N with a wry smile. “Speaking of Aang, I should probably get back to him and my brother. Sorry for talking your ear off the whole night.”

Y/N waved her hand around nonchalantly. “Don’t worry about it. You have my permission to rant to me any time you want while you’re here.”

Katara grinned and offered her hand, which Y/N took with a small smile as she got up from her ice platform. With a slight movement of her hand she bent it back into the ground, and the two girls began their walk back to the city. “I just wish I knew how to get Pakku to let up.”

“You’ll think of something,” Y/N reassured.

-

Katara did indeed think of something. Y/N’s wish of Pakku getting some sense knocked into him was granted when Katara challenged him to a fight, which was quite possibly the best thing that Y/N had ever witnessed. Though she ultimately lost, he still decided to take her on as a student — and in a move that Y/N would forever be grateful for, Katara had gotten Pakku to take her on as well. Katara made history that day, and she felt a shining sense of admiration for the girl for shaking things up.

And now, her days consisted of early mornings spent training, afternoons in classes, and nights doing homework, as well as fitting in time to hang out with Yue — it was a miracle she had any free time at all.

Lately though, it seemed like all Yue could talk about was Sokka. She liked him just as much as he liked her, but Yue was good — no matter how much she cared for someone, her tribe would always come first.

(“Did I hear that you and Sokka have a date later tonight?” she teased. “Aren’t you moving a little too fast?” Yue was silent at her attempt at humor and Y/N frowned. “Yue, are you okay?”

Silence lingered in the air for so long that Y/N almost thought she didn’t hear her, but finally the princess spoke as she pulled down the collar of her jacket to reveal an engagement necklace. Y/N gasped.

“It’s from Hahn,” she said quietly. “He proposed an hour ago, and I accepted.”

“You what?” Y/N cried, prompting a slight grimace from Yue. “Hahn— you can’t stand him!”

“Y/N, please,” Yue sighed. “He’s not that bad — he’s handsome, I guess. And he’s the son of a noble, and he’ll be really good for the tribe.”

“Yue, you’re the one who has to deal with him. He proposed to you, not the tribe — Spirits, half the boys in this tribe like you, why him?”

“It’s best for the tribe,” she repeated, her words an attempt to convince Y/N as much as herself.

“But what’s best for you?” Y/N countered.

Yue hadn’t answered, and had made up some half-baked excuse that she had to be somewhere. She had watched her go sadly, hoping that she would figure something out with Sokka.)

And it’s not like she wasn’t happy that her friend had found someone, it was just…

Y/N was upset that someone wasn’t her. And she didn’t know how to deal with that revelation.

But one morning, while making idle conversation with Katara as their lesson came to an end, a matter much more pressing came to hand.

Black snow. Soot raining down from the sky, tarnishing everything it touched.

A feeling all too familiar brewed in her chest as she met her friend’s eyes, and one thing was clear.

The Fire Nation was coming.

-

The air was even more frigid than usual with the knowledge of an imminent invasion, and Y/N had parted ways with her friends once they reached the town hall to be with her grandparents. The tension in the air was thick as Chief Arnook stepped up to address the people.

“The day we have feared for so long has arrived — the Fire Nation is on our doorstep. It is with great sadness I call my family here before me, knowing well that some of these faces are about to vanish from our tribe, but they will never vanish from our hearts. Now, as we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the great spirits. Spirit of the Ocean! Spirit of the Moon! Be with us! I'm going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Sokka stood up. “Count me in.”

Her eyes widened as she met Katara’s from across the room, and she looked equally surprised. “Sokka…”

“Be warned: many of you will not return.” Several other men stood up after Sokka, including her grandfather. Despite his age he was a skilled fighter, but that was no comfort to Y/N. She reached up for his hand and shook her head almost desperately, but he smiled sadly and squeezed her hand, a sentiment to express words unsaid. “Come forward to receive my mark, if you accept the task.”

As he walked forward to join the line, she found the only solace she could in her grandmother’s open arms, burying her face in the fur of her jacket. “He will be okay,” she soothed. “He’s just as strong as he is brave. You have to have faith.”

She hoped that her grandmother was right. She couldn’t handle another loss.

Once all the men had received their marks, they left to confer about the battle plan. Y/N found her way up to the stage where a tearful Yue sat. It pained Y/N to see her in such a way, and when she sat down and offered her hand the princess immediately took it.

“I saw that your grandfather volunteered,” she said after a beat of silence. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too. For Sokka.” Y/N adjusted her position so their shoulders were touching, and she sighed heavily. “I can’t stop thinking about my village. My father.” She met Yue’s eyes, her own beginning to tear up.

“What if it happens again?” she whispered, her voice cracking. “I can’t— I can’t do it again.”

Yue let go of her hand to wrap the girl in a hug, the warmth of the embrace managing to chip away at some of their hopelessness. “You won’t have to do it again,” she stated, the reassurance seeming like the truth when coming from her. “You’re not alone this time.”

She finally pulled away from the hug as she wiped the tears off her face, and Y/N nodded. Yue somehow always knew exactly what to say. “What would I do without you?” she asked, her voice slightly watery.

“You’re never going to know,” the princess smiled. “Because whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me.” That got a laugh out of Y/N and the two of them stood up as Yue gestured outside with her head. “I think I saw Aang and my father out there. It’ll help to talk with them — I think you need some fresh air anyways.”

Y/N nodded and the two girls walked out hand in hand, a small reprieve from carrying the weight of the world.

-

Things were so much worse than she had been anticipating.

After a short talk outside the hall with Katara, Aang, and the Chief, Yue had been transported somewhere safer as Y/N steeled herself for the front lines. After all, as a student of Master Pakku, she could fight damn well — it was just a matter of putting it into action.

But a line of warriors and children alike were no match for the strength of the Fire Nation from afar, and the first few fireballs had done their job at disrupting both the fighters and the wall — Seeing her home get destroyed hurt nearly as much as constantly getting thrown around.

After Aang had taken off on Appa and Chief Arnook took a section of his soldiers off for a different plan, the work on the ground began. The fleet of ships seemed endless , and the same went for their artillery — the fight went long into the day as Y/N worked with various other waterbenders to stop fireballs and repair broken parts of the city’s infrastructure, but just as the full moon began to show, the attacks stopped coming. Limbs heavy with exhaustion from their work in the field, Y/N and Katara met up with the princess back at the balcony of the palace.

“They’ve stopped firing,” Yue noted as they all gazed off into the distance.

“Thank the spirits,” Y/N muttered as she worked out a knot in her shoulder. “I don’t know how much longer I could’ve kept going.”

Just then, Appa came into view and a grin spread across Katara’s face. “Aang!”

He landed below them and the three girls hurried down to meet him. Aang landed on the ground, exhaustion clear in every part of him. “I can’t do it,” he muttered as he placed his head in his hands. “I can’t do it.”

“What happened?” Katara asked as she ran up to him, Yue and Y/N close behind.

“I must’ve taken out a dozen Fire Navy ships, but there’s just too many of them!” His large grey eyes were full of hopelessness, and Y/N’s heart ached for the boy. “I can’t fight them all.”

“But— you have to!” Yue pleaded. “You’re the Avatar.”

“I’m just one kid,” Aang countered wearily. He buried his face in his arms and Katara kneeled next to him in an attempt to comfort him. Y/N could almost forget about the pain in her body at that moment, feeling an odd responsibility to this boy as she looked down at him.

“Aang,” she muttered, following Katara’s example and kneeling next to him. “You’ve already done so much for us. Just by being here, you’ve inspired hundreds of people — you’re a beacon of hope all on your own! We don’t expect you to take out this whole navy by yourself. As long as you’re here, fighting with us? You’re helping us more than you know.”

He managed a slight smile at that and he took her outstretched hand, getting pulled back to his feet with her help.

“We’ll have a better view from up there,” Katara noted, pointing back up to the balcony. “You can help us keep watch, Aang — in case they start attacking again.”

He nodded and the four of them began the walk, the Avatar in slightly better spirits.

“The legends say the moon was the first waterbender,” Yue said once they had reached the balcony, all of them gazing at the sky. “Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves.”

“I’ve always noticed my waterbending is stronger at night,” Katara mused, causing Y/N to hum in agreement.

“Our strength from the spirit of the moon, our life from the spirit of the ocean,” she said. “They work together to keep balance.

Aang’s expression brightened at her words as he popped up from the ground. “The spirits! Maybe I can find them and get their help!”

“How can you do that?” Y/N questioned.

“The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the Spirit World,” Katara explained excitedly. “Aang can talk to them!”

“Maybe they’ll give you the wisdom to win this battle!” Yue exclaimed.

“Or maybe they'll unleash a crazy amazing spirit attack on the Fire Nation!” At that, all three girls met him with strange looks. Aang coughed and straightened his posture. “Or wisdom. That's good, too.”

“The only problem is, last time you got to the Spirit World by accident,” Katara said with a frown. “How are you going to get there this time?”

Yue’s eyes lit up and she looked at them with a smile. “I have an idea. Follow me.”

-

A few minutes later, they were standing in the Spirit Oasis, the most spiritual place in all of the North. Yue, Y/N, and Katara all shed their coats as Aang walked around, marvelling at the beauty.

“I can feel… something,” Aang said as he sat down, getting into a meditating position. “It’s so tranquil.”

Soon enough, after a few moments of silence, Aang’s eyes as well as the arrow on his head began to glow.

“Is he okay?” Yue gasped.

“He’s crossing into the Spirit World,” Katara reassured. “He’ll be fine as long as we don’t move his body. That’s his way back to the physical world.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Y/N whispered, astonishment etched into her face. For as much as she had been taught about the ocean spirits, she wasn’t well-versed in the Spirit World as a whole — she was thoroughly fascinated by every part of this.

“Maybe we should get some help,” Yue suggested, still on edge as she took a few steps away from the gate.

“No, he’s my friend. I’m perfectly capable of protecting him. Besides, I already have some help here.” She smiled at Y/N, a sentiment that she returned happily.

A deep voice, almost mocking, broke the silence as it echoed throughout the oasis. “Well, aren’t you a big girl now? Even got yourself a little student.”

The three girls all whipped around to find the source of the voice, and Katara’s whole body stiffened. “No…”

“Yes. Hand him over and I don’t have to hurt you.”

Y/N immediately eased into a bending stance along with Katara as the princess fled to get help, but her confidence faltered when she took the time to focus on their assailant.

She almost didn’t recognize him — it had been nearly four years since she had last set eyes upon the boy, but it was as if he had become a completely different person. His head was shaved completely save for a ponytail, and blues and reds marked his skin in various cuts and bruises. His eyes held an anger she had never seen before, an expression only heightened with the addition of a large red scar across his left eye.

“Zuko?” she breathed, her chest tightening up beneath the weight of the revelation. Katara stared at her in bewilderment — she had no idea that Y/N knew the prince that had chased them halfway across the world, but Katara supposed that she had no reason to ever suspect she did.

His eyes flashed with recognition as they ran over her, and it seemed as if he had a similar epiphany as he staggered backwards. “I… I thought you were dead.”

“You’re with them,” she muttered, blood turning to ice. “Your nation is invading, and you’re helping them— you’re after the Avatar? What are you doing, Zuko?!”

The momentary surprise was replaced by steely determination as he shifted his weight forward and kicked up his leg, sending a blast of fire that she barely managed to dodge. “You know nothing!”

Y/N fell back into position next to Katara, but the newfound knowledge was like a fog over her mind. “Whoever he was when you knew him, that’s not him anymore!” Katara yelled as she bent water out of the pond and blocked his following attacks. “He won’t hesitate to hurt you, so you can’t either!”

“O-okay!” she stammered. This was the moment she had been waiting for, wasn’t it? After training with both Katara and Pakku, her martial skill had increased tenfold, and she was desperate to try it out — she only wished her first opponent didn’t have to be him. But another fire blast snapped her out of her paralysis, and she jumped into action.

The two girls worked impossibly well together, one stepping forward when the other fell back, the bending between them nearly seamless. Any fire that the prince sent their way was quickly extinguished, and with two against one on home turf, Y/N and Katara were able to hold him off with relative ease.

Y/N bent another jet of water up from the oasis and shot it at Zuko, the force of which knocked him several feet back. Katara took the opening and froze his feet to the ground, then began to move her arms about as she formed a ball of water around him — one more movement and it was frozen solid.

“You little peasant,” he growled. “You’ve found a master, haven’t you?”

The orb of ice began to glow, the air around them becoming hotter and hotter until it melted around him. Blasts of fire were flying at them as soon as Zuko hit the ground, and they were forced to retreat back towards the oasis as they grew more intense.

Y/N drew up a shield of water, extinguishing the flames on impact. Zuko dodged around them, his fingers inches away from Aang’s collar. Y/N propelled the water already at her fingertips towards Zuko with a grunt of effort, which sent him flying into the shallows on the other side of the oasis. She conjured up a large wave and sent it towards the prince, sending him up the side of the wall and trapping him once Katara froze it.

She breathed a sigh of relief and let her arms fall, a part of her wondering how they were still connected after the tediousness of the earlier battle. But this, one on one in a fight with real stakes? It was as exhilarating as it was nerve wracking, and she had never been so thankful that Katara had gotten her in with Master Pakku. Y/N felt intensely guilty over the pain she had inflicted on Zuko, but she tried her best to push it out of her mind — like Katara said, he would’ve done worse if she hadn’t fought back.

“You fought well,” Katara smiled. “I told you that you were talented.”

She chuckled and shrugged, cheeks heating up slightly at the praise. “It’s not exactly my first fight, just… the most intense.” It reminded her of the early mornings and late nights spent sparring with Zuko, a memory that only twisted the dagger in her heart even more.

The two girls smiled at each other as they began to walk back over to Aang — it seemed the boy was undisturbed by the fight by virtue of his glowing tattoos and closed eyes — when Y/N found herself squinting from the rays of light filtering in.

“Huh,” she mumbled. “The sun’s out. The sun’s out— Katara!”

Y/N turned to find the prince free from the ice, and the pair barely had time to draw water from the pond to shield themselves from the impending flames. But it was too little too late, and the power of the blast sent them back several feet. They slammed into either side of the gate, the force of it immediately knocking Katara out.

Y/N gasped in pain as she tried to push herself up, but the fight combined with the impact of her landing had taken a toll on her and she collapsed once more against the gate. When the smoke from the fire cleared, Zuko was there with Aang’s collar in his grasp.

“You rise with the moon,” he muttered, his face tinged with the slightest bit of guilt as he met her eyes. “I rise with the sun.”

The last thing she saw before her consciousness faded out was the boy she loved escaping with the Avatar.

-

why did i make yue and y/n like this when i KNOW what i have to write next omg i hate myself

perm tag list: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin @maruchan77

ehfar: @chandies-sideblog @persica27 @anzanity @randomthingssss @escapingthoughtsandsecrets @shanksfav @shephard17895 @ilovespideyyy

atla: @marianne1806

#zuko x reader #zuko x you #zuko x y/n #zuko x reader fic #zuko #zuko fic #avatar #atla #avatar the last airbender #atla fic #avatar fic #avatar the last airbender fic #avatar x reader #sadie writes #ehfar #i already had this chapter half written so thats why its out so soon lmao #SOMEONE doesnt know how to hold their chapters and wants to release them as soon as she finishes them #its me. im someone

[imnotusedtobeingloved]

PLEADING FOR MERCY

(PLEASE DON’T REBLOG!)

Warnings: heartbreak, betrayal.

Pairing: Zuko x f!Reader

Characters: Zuko, Iroh, Azula, Katara, Aang, Sokka (mentioned), Toph (mentioned)

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor the gif. Credit to the owners.

Summary: Part two of “destiny is a funny thing”

A/N: Since I’ve been asked for a next part to my last Zuko fic, here it is. (tho further requests only per inbox please haha)

“(Y/N)?” You felt someone’s hand on your shoulder, lightly shaking you awake. “(Y/N)!” A groan passed your lips, feeling every limb ache. “You have to wake up, we need to get out of here!”

The sudden sound of water irritated you, but one second later relief flowed through your body. The pain disappeared. Slowly you blinked your eyes open, seeing a slightly blurred version of your friend. She looked no different than the last time you’d seen her. Her braid was a bit more tousled than usual, but her ocean-blue orbs were like the calm after a storm. “Katara?” You slurred, stumbling slightly when she helped you up, but her healing powers were quick to work. She drew you into a hug, as soon as you’d gained full balance. Immediately the smell of salt and sea overcame your senses. Something you constantly associated with her. “I’m so glad you’re back. We were so worried,” She pulled away slightly, analyzing your face. “What happened?” Her voice was soothing. It felt good. Knowing that they had, indeed, thought about you. “I was-”

The tunnel above you began to rumble. You took a hold of Katara’s hand, spotting one of the earth benders against the bright sunlight. “You’ve got company,” Another one sneered, pushing their next victim down into the Crystal Catacombs. “Gaah!” He screamed as he tumbled downwards, landing on his stomach directly in front of you. It took you a second to recognize it was Lee. “Zuko!” Katara said, surprised, before her face disorted with anger. You calling out “Lee!” at the same time didn’t help the situation. His eyes widened when he saw you, but the shock was gone in a flash. You’d wanted to help him up, but upon stepping closer he turned his back on you, still sitting on the floor. Your smile disappeared. “Don’t get close to him, (Y/N). He’s dangerous,” The water bender murmured, grabbing your upper arm to hold you back.

This wasn’t a happy reunion. Instead it was all a big puddle of confusion.

Katara hadn’t even registered you calling him by the wrong name, too caught up in her rage. “Why did they throw you in here?” She asked, only to answer herself a second later. “Oh, wait. Let me guess. It’s a trap. So that when Aang shows up to help us you can finally have him in your little Fire Nation clutches!” He briefly looked over his shoulder, but stayed silent. “Katara, what are you talking about?” You asked, bewildered. “This is him, (Y/N)! This is Prince Zuko, who hunted us down countless times to capture Aang!”

You swallowed dryly. Was this supposed to be some kind of bad joke? His feelings for you. The stories you’d shared. The caring touches when he’d changed your bandages. All a lie?

Of course you hadn’t been truthful yourself, at first. And you didn’t blame him for being precautios. But you’d told him in time, when things got more serious. Didn’t you deserve the same?

Weeks were wasted with a prince, who’d hunted your friends for ages.

Now you blankly stared at the back of his head. His shoulders seemed more slumped than before, but he didn’t deny the accusations that Katara had thrown at him. Your love was lost. Lost to someone who’d probably never been honest with you. Not once. Deep regret formed in the pit of your stomach. You felt sick. Speechless.

“You’re a terrible person, you know that?” Your friend remained unimpressed by his Royal heritage, continuing to yell at him. “Always following us! Hunting the Avatar! Trying to capture the world’s last hope for peace!” She growled, pacing around like a panther in it’s cage. “But what do you care, Fire Lord’s son? Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood!” Katara spat, which eventually gained her the response she was waiting for. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” She whirled around. “I don’t? How dare you? You have no idea what this war has put me through. Me, personally!” She turned and sunk to the floor. “The Fire Nation took my mother away from me,”

You choose to interrupt, standing between both sides uncomfortably. “Maybe we should calm down...” You didn’t know how to explain that you’d spend the past weeks with the enemy. Surrounded by rocks and crystals there wasn’t much room for you to comfort her, but you choose to help her calm down before you’d attempt to talk to... Zuko. It was hard not to think of him as the ‘Lee’ you’d met him as. Wrapping your arms around her, you swayed her softly, trying to soothe her outrage. Something scraped over the stone behind you. The prince must’ve shifted in his seat. “I’m sorry about your mother. That’s something we have in common,” You pulled Katara up to stand next to you, gently wiping the tears from her face. When you lifted your gaze, Zuko stood directly in front of you.

You didn’t know what to think. Couldn’t even look at him. So you kept your eyes focused on the crystals around you. “(Y/N)...” He mumbled, but you shook your head. No more lies. You couldn’t take it anymore. “No,” Tears stinged in your eyes, but you refused to let them go. A throbbing headache soon formed, from your tightly clenched jaw. Katara looked between the two of you, sensing a new kind of tension. “But-”

“No!” You said with more force, glaring at his face. It was the first time that his eyes met yours, since you were down here. “You lied to me,” your voice wasn’t as strong as usual, shaking with emotion. “All this time was just a big lie!” You could see the big questionmark on your friends face, but you couldn’t bare to tell her what a stupid mistake you’d made. “It wasn’t! Yes i did lie about my identity, but i didn’t lie about anything else! Besides you never told me you were with the Avatar!” This was unbelievable. “Why would i? I didn’t think it would matter to our-” The walls shook around you. A part of it exploded, making stones and crystals fly everywhere. The three of you covered your faces, coughing from the whirled up dust. To your relief it revealed Aang and Iroh behind it.

“Aang!” Katara exclaimed, running up to him and embracing the Avatar in a tight hug. The man you’d formerly known as “Mushi” did the same to Zuko, while you stood in the middle. Silent. Unmoving. “Aang, i knew you would come. I found (Y/N) down here!” The water bender said. He smiled as you walked up to him and shared a hug with both. “It’s good to see you. We tried searching the city, but we couldn’t find you. Then i had a vision about Katara and you being in danger... What happened? Did they hurt you?”

You detatched yourself with a sigh. “It’s a long story,” He nodded, letting you off the hook for now. “Uncle, i don’t understand, what are you doing with the Avatar?” Zuko growled from behind you. “Saving you, that’s what,” Aang replied, still clinging to Katara. “Ugh!” The prince made a step forward, but the general held him back. “Prince Zuko, it’s time we talked. Go help your other friends!” he said to the Avatar. “We’ll catch up with you,” Aang didn’t waste any more time. He bowed to Iroh with a thankfull grin, before disappearing into the tunnel. Katara followed him without hesitation.

“(Y/N)?” At first you wanted to ignore the man. But you owed your life to him. He’d been the one to take you in, nursed you back to health, and now he seemed to help you once again. So you stopped for a second to look back at him. “I’m sorry we had to lie to you. But for what it’s worth, i’m glad to see you alive and well. I hope you can forgive us one day,” He mildly spoke, without force. You acknowledged his words with a brief nod, not sparing a glance for his nephew. Then you moved to follow the others.

The three of you took off, running deeper into the Catacombs. “We’ve got to find Sokka and Toph,” Katara called out. Suddenly a hiss rang out behind you, a wave of heat following the sound. You turned around just in time for Aang to block Azulas attack, barely escaping her flames. You’d never seen her before. Tough the resemblance to Zuko was undeniable. Knowing who he was helped to connect the dots between them more quickly. They had the same shade of umber hair. Shared some particular facial features. And nearly the same intruiging eyeshade. Just almost. You’d never known golden eyes could be so cold.

Producing a large wave Katara ran up to her, letting the water come crashing down. The princess deflected the attack with an offense of her own, transforming it all into hot mist, clouding the room. It didn’t take long for her to attack again. You redirected the fire balls with some of your own, staying in the defensive. “I see you’ve added a firebender to your little group,” She mocked, landing on a stone pillar. “How does it feel being a traitor to your own Nation?” You ignored her bribes, watching her every move.

The rock crumbled under her feet at Aangs next command. She had to jump, meeting the three of you on even ground. Minutes of deafening silence passed. No one dared to make a move.

A deep red flame interrupted the tension, landing right in the middle of the ring. Zuko had joined the field. And he was ready to fight. The question was: Which side would he choose?

You had no idea. You’d thought you knew him before. But now he was unpredictable. The boy you loved never existed in the first place. And yet you still tried to catch his eyes with yours, pleading for mercy.

He didn’t even look in your direction. He couldn’t. Because if he did, he wouldn’t be able to fullfill his destiny. Wouldn’t be able to go home.

His burning hot flame shot directly at Aang.

Azula responded accordingly, sending her fire in Katara’s direction. The blue flames clashed with her water and the air sizzled, as a relentless fight erupted in the hall of the Catacombs.

In mere seconds pure chaos ensued. You tried defending Aang from the prince as best as you could, both of you working together. But as he bend a large rock to knock Zuko back, you found yourself at the ground as well. You landed on your back, directly on the wound the prince had treated. A sharp pain travelled up your spine.

Katara had Azula at her mercy, who was quickly freed by her brother while you and Aang got back to your feet. “I thought you’d changed!” Your friend yelled at him, using her water as an extension of her arms. He did the same with his flames. “I have changed,” He striked with all his might. It was a painful sight to look at. Her braid didn’t exist no longer, hair flying freely from the blow. She was knocked into a pair of green crystals, stained red around the edges one moment later.

“You’re right,” you mumbled, coming up behind him. “You really have,” For a moment his stance faltered. Nevertheless he faced his opponent. Neither of you made a move for a long time. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Azula hunting after Aang. She got the best of him as she pushed him back into the crystal wall. “Aang!” you screamed, rushing forward. Zuko stepped in your way, now producing flames, to hold you off. A rush of energy went through you, calling out to the fire within. It formed in your palms, pulsating and strong. They collided with his. Smoke rose around you, fighting tooth and nail.

But your heart wasn’t in it.

Only rage. Pure and powerful anger. You shoved him back repeadiately, the despair fueling your fire. In a moment of carelessnes he managed to grab your wrists, pressing your back against the wall. The troubles of your injury caught up on you, weakening you faster than normal. You were no fool. It wasn’t a secret that he was a better fighter than you. Zuko was holding back.

Your heart clenched in your chest. This time you couldn’t hold it in. Tears spilled on your cheeks. “Please,” you gasped desperatly. You’d tried to concentrate on your hatred towards him. You really did. But your heart played a different game. “I don’t want to fight you,”

Doubts crossed his mind. It showed on his face and a tiny piece of hope flared in your chest. “You can still choose differently,” you whispered. Right now he was closer to you, than he had been in days. Once again you discovered all those tiny details in his face, that you’d loved so much. For a second you saw Lee. But before you was standing Zuko. His thumb catched one of your tears, gently wiping it from your cheek. And then he left. You weren’t worth his alliance. Weren’t even worth a fight. He left you sinking to the ground, the taste of ashes in your mouth.

All it took was one look upon the battlefield to know you’d lost. Aang’s next attack didn’t even reach the fire benders. Surrounded by Azula, Zuko and a number of Dai Lee agents, you had no chance. Katara had gotten back up, drawing a circle of water-tentacles around her. But you knew it would be of no use. There were too many. You got up despite the defeat, refusing to lose sitting down. Distanly you registered Aang producing a tent of crystals around his body to protect himself. You wondered how long it would take, before Azula burst through it. You positioned yourself in front of it regardless.

The princess smirked at you, raising her hands. Like a cat watching it’s prey.

Then the makeshift tent began to glow. From the inside. Aang floated in the air, his marks and eyes glowing brightly. He’d made it. He’d reached the Avatar-State. Everyone watched, entranced by the sight. Until a blaze of lightning striked. His body convulsed under the pressure of it’s power. And then the Avatar fell.

All you could do, was watch.

You were by his side before anybody else, still protecting his lifeless body with a circle of flames around you. Katara produced a large wave, reaching you just in time before the siblings. And to your luck, she wasn’t the only one who did.

Someone burst through the wall near the exit. “You’ve got to get out of here. I’ll hold them off as long as i can!” Iroh screamed, sending flames in every possible direction to create an opening. You took it. Carrying Aang, you and Katara ran for your lives. The waterfall of the Catacombs was your loophole, and you managed to get through, thanks to your friend producing a pillar of water.

Your eyes remained on the prince, until you were no longer able to see him.

find part three here!

tagging u beautiful ppl: @zvkonation​ @viva-la-millennia​ @randomness501​ @drheinzd​ @kaylove12​

#zuko x reader #avatar zuko #zuko imagine #prince zuko

[scarletemeterio-thesecond]

I love all of your zuko fic's so much♥️ could you write an angst one when he betrays the water bender reader in ba sing se and they were dating at that time?

Omg, thank you so much! I love writing for Zuko. I'm such a sucker for angst, this literally just hurt me by reading the request. I swear I'm SO bad at choosing titles, but besides that I really liked how this ended up Anyways, I hope you like it!

•••

Heartbreak and Betrayal (Zuko x Reader)

Warnings: Mentions of death.

Genre: Angst.

Fandom: Avatar, The Last Airbender

Summary: See Request

Word Count: 2105

part 2

I've been living in Ba Sing Se for a little over two months now. I ran away from the Northern Water Tribe in order to be free; I didn't want to use my bending for just healing and domestic things. I was a fighter; I had been my whole life, ever since my parents died.

I still didn't know the whole city, so I was really happy when I found a tea shop one day. A pretty new tea shop. I started spending a lot of my time there, going almost every day, not only to drink tea but also because it was calm enough for me to draw peacefully. I had been lucky enough to find a place to stay with a loving family in the upper ring of the city, but I couldn’t get much alone time.

I had been here for a few hours already and it was getting late. I got up, picking up my things and instead of heading towards the exit, I walked over to Mushi.

"Do you need someone to work for you?" I asked abruptly and quite desperately actually. I was running out of money, and I was scared for my future. It definitely hadn't been wise of me to spend that much money on tea. "Please, sir, I'll do anything you need to"

He looked at me a bit sad and I almost started crying at his expression. Then, he looked at the boy a couple of meters away from him.

"What do you think, Lee? Should we help this little kid?"

I looked at him, hopeful, but the boy didn't seem to care much.

"You know, we do have a lot of clients and maybe one waiter isn't enough".

"I-Is that a yes, sir?" I asked.

"You can call me Mushi, kid. And yes, it is a yes" I hugged the old man and he hugged me back, I was so happy. "Now, you are one of our best clients, but I'm afraid I don't know your name".

"Oh, I'm (Y/N)" I said. "Thank you so much, Mushi, when do I start?"

I stayed a little more, listening to Mushi as he told me all I needed to know to start tomorrow. I said goodbye to both of them and walked to my place with a smile on my face.

I never thought I'd be so happy to have a job; I loved spending my time at the shop. Over time, I grew closer to Mushi, who was always kind to me. However, my relationship with Lee was a bit weird: he rarely talked to me and when he did, he was very serious. I figured he didn't like me, but I didn't let it bother me. The thing is I was wrong: I guess we just needed some time to get to know each other.

It was pretty obvious to everyone that I had a huge crush on him; to everyone except Lee himself. His uncle had told me several times that he definitely felt the same, and that he didn't know how to act on his feelings but I wasn't so sure about that. Still, one day I decided to take a chance and ask him out on a date. He said yes, and the rest was history.

We've been dating for a little while and, honestly, I was extremely happy. I grew up thinking I would get married to some unknown man, forced to be only a healer and practically a servant, so this was all new to me. When I ran away, I thought I'd never find love, but I was wrong. Maybe I was being a bit rushed, but I knew I loved Lee. He was so sweet to me, and he always made me laugh. He was very understanding when I told him why I had run away from home. I always found comfort in the warmth of his skin since mine was always a bit cold, and he didn't mind; it was so funny to place my cold hands on his back from time to time, surprising him with my cold touch. I loved the sound of his laugh and I loved him even more.

We were about to close the shop when a man came in unexpectedly, giving Mushi a scroll with a message from the Royal Palace. We had been invited to serve tea to the Earth King! Or at least, they did.

Next day, when I heard a knock on the door and heard Mushi was looking for me, I got worried; he was supposed to be at the Palace with Lee. Of course, I immediately went with him.

"What's going on, Mushi?" I asked concerned.

"There are a lot of things going on right now" he answered. "We’ve been lying this whole time. My name is not Mushi, I’m Iroh, and Lee’s name is Zuko. We’re Fire Nation refugees".

I had a lot of questions, even more with every passing second, but he told me to follow him and that he would explain later. I nodded and we started walking, almost running. We stopped in front of a door and I wanted to ask who we were looking for, but I didn’t have any time since someone had opened the door.

"Hey, glad to see you’re okay" said a little girl.

"I need your help" said Iroh.

The two other boys in the room started to wonder how the little girl knew Iroh, but I didn’t pay them much attention. I was lost in my own thoughts.

"May we come in?" They agreed and so we entered the house. "Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se. She has captured my nephew, as well".

"Wait, what do you mean she captured Lee?" I asked, worried about my boyfriend and not thinking about saying his actual name.

"Who’s Lee?" asked the Water Tribe boy, but no one paid much attention to him.

"We’ll work together to fight Azula and save Katara and Zuko" said the other boy.

"Whoa, there. You lost me at Zuko".

"I know how you must feel about my nephew, but believe me when I tell you, there is good inside him". I stood there, not knowing what to do. I just couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t want to help Lee. He was the sweetest person I had ever met.

After exchanging some more words, they decided to help us.

"Wait, who are you?" asked me the Water Tribe boy looking at my blue clothes and making everyone look at me.

"I’m (Y/N), I’m dating Lee- I mean, Zuko" the three of them stood there, a bit shocked, but we didn’t have any time for explanations, so we quickly started moving.

We decided to split up. Iroh, this Aang kid and I were going to look for Zuko and a girl named Katara. While walking down the tunnel, Aang and Iroh exchanged a conversation, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about Zuko and everything that was happening. I still had a lot of questions and not even one single answer.

We eventually got to the catacombs, and it wasn’t long until we found Katara and Zuko. Iroh immediately hugged Zuko and then I did. He hugged me back and buried his face on my neck.

"I’m glad you’re okay… Zuko" I said.

"Y-You know?" he asked surprised.

"Your uncle told me". He tried to explain but I interrupted him. "It's okay, I still like you the same"

He smiled and I did too, even though I wanted to say that I didn't just like him, but that I still loved him the same way.

We rapidly split up again and Iroh started talking with Zuko while I was looking around the catacombs. Suddenly, everything started moving and I could see that Iroh was trapped. I hid myself the moment I heard a girl’s voice. Since she called him Prince Zuko, I realized she must have been the princess and therefore, his sister. She was trying to convince him to join her and Iroh kept telling him that he shouldn’t listen to her.

Then, I heard Katara’s voice again, and the Princess started attacking her. When she was distracted, I decided to help them and use my bending to try to stop her. And then something I never would’ve expected happened: Zuko decided to attack Aang. I just couldn’t believe it.

I could tell Katara didn't need any help against Azula, but I still decided to help her fight the Princess. I didn’t have time to stop and think about Zuko’s actions, I had to act and do something. The course of the fight changed, and now Katara was fighting the Prince and I was about to try to stop Azula from hurting the Avatar.

"(Y/N), stop!" screamed Zuko.

"You don’t get to tell me what to do right now!" I was angry, and I felt betrayed. He was going to let her kill Aang.

He threw fire at me and caught me by surprise, so I bent down while covering my face, which resulted in my arm getting burned. I let out a scream and immediately looked at Zuko. For a moment I saw regret in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced with anger.

When Aang got hit, they both decided to go after Katara, and I tried to help her, but my arm just hurt too much and I didn’t have any time to heal it; I definitely was going to have a scar. When she got thrown against a rock, Azula started attacking me. I ignored my pain and started defending myself.

"Wait, don’t hurt her!" he said, getting closer to me.

"Stay away. I don’t want you anywhere near me ever again, Zuko" I threw water at him, pushing him away. I could feel tears running down my face. "I trusted you! I thought you might even feel the same way I did, but I guess you don’t".

"What do you mean, (Y/N)?"

"I love you, Zuko! Or at least, I loved the person I thought you were. But you’re not that person anymore, maybe you never were!"

"I do love you! Just let me explain, please-"

"No, Zuko. You don’t betray the people you love". I didn’t care anymore about him seeing me cry, and I could tell he was trying not to let the tears run down his face. I had so many emotions inside of me, I was angry, sad, disappointed, and even ashamed of myself for trusting him. And there were so many things I wanted to say, but I just couldn’t get the words out of my mouth.

Suddenly, the Dai Li appeared, and now we definitely were outnumbered. I quickly ran to Katara, who was getting ready to attack again. Then, Aang put some rocks around him and we all were waiting to see what he was doing. When he got out, his eyes and tattoos were glowing but it didn’t last long since Azula decided to throw lightning at him. The other waterbender and I looked at each other and used our bending to try to catch him before hitting the ground. Thankfully, she did, and I remained ready to attack in case we needed to. When Azula was about to throw fire at us, Iroh stopped her.

"You’ve got to get out of here. I'll hold them off as long as I can" he said.

‘’Go, Katara, I’ll help him" I said.

"No, (Y/N), go with her". When I heard Iroh’s voice, I looked at him confused. He definitely was going to get caught, and he needed help.

He started throwing fire and I still stood behind him, not knowing how to react, or what to do. I didn’t want to, but my eyes immediately landed on Zuko, who was already looking at me. He started walking towards me and I could see his lips moving but I just couldn’t -nor wanted to- hear him.

"(Y/N), let’s go!" Katara said behind me. I got out of my trance and went to her, helping her bend the water from the waterfall.

"Wait, (Y/N), please!" said Zuko quite desperately. But I didn’t pay any attention to him, I wouldn’t let him trick me again.

While we were getting out of there, I looked at him in the eyes. He was crying and kneeling on the floor, asking me to come back. I started crying and closed my eyes, trying to get him out of my head since I didn’t want to see him ever again.

#prince zuko fic #prince zuko fanfic #fire lord zuko #zuko imagine #zuko x reader #atla zuko #atla fanfic #atla imagine #atla #avatar: tla #avatar the last airbender #zuko angst #avatar x reader #imagine #imagines #angst #avatar angst

[zenithpng]

TRUST FALL “Do you trust me?” | taken hostage | pushed

[It’s not that Sokka’s shy about his tics. Unless someone needs silence or there’s an inappropriate word thrown in, he sees no reason to stifle himself. He can’t control them after all, and it’s not like he’s doing anything wrong.

But this was supposed to be a good day, undisturbed by anything that came out of his mouth or happened with his body.

Luckily, Zuko is there to help bear the load, and, strangely enough, so is Azula.]

Read more under the cut, AO3 link ->HERE<-

Sokka loves shopping. No doubt about it. There’s just something about the bustle, the running back and forth, the decisions and the excitement of getting something new that never fails to put a smile on his face. So when Zuko grumbles that he needs to go shopping for some spring and summer clothes, Sokka immediately offers to go with him, having been needing to do the same thing anyway.

They set a date and a time, plan which stores they’re going to so Zuko knows what to anticipate, even coordinate their outfits, for Tui and La’s sake. (Okay, the last one is all Sokka’s idea, but there’s nothing wrong with being well-dressed with your friend and Zuko humours him gladly.)

But there’s something. There’s always something.

This something comes under the name of midterms.

The end of March is always horrendous, and really, Sokka should have known better than to plan something smack in between all the stress. But it’s fine , it’s really fine. He can take a day off from the calculus study guides (spirits, why did he have to take that in the tenth grade) and the engineering workshops because this is Zuko he’s meeting up with!

He likes Zuko, loves Zuko. If anything, this is the absolute best way to relieve his stress.

And so he’s outside the mall at one in the afternoon, foot tapping as he waits for Zuko. Soon he sees the familiar figure strolling up, giving a little wave and a shy smile.

And it’s normal to just not want to tear your eyes away from your friend that just happens to be very pretty, right?

Because Zuko is, in fact, very pretty. Straight black jeans, a red button up with - hang on, are those dragons? - left half-open over a white binder that looks like a regular tank top to anyone who doesn’t know, hair up in a ponytail with loose strands falling out and framing his face.

And Sokka could keep going. Could talk about the belt chain with sun and moon charms, could talk about the matte black on Zuko’s fingernails, could talk about the theatre mask necklace he’s wearing. Because there’s just so much and Zuko- Zuko looks so nice.

God, Sokka must be grinning like a fool by the time Zuko’s finally within arms reach, and he immediately pulls the taller boy into a hug. Zuko lets out a breathy laugh, returning the embrace.

“Someone’s excited to see me.” Sokka shakes his head, the smile never leaving his face.

“Nope, just for the shopping,” he jokes. “Race you the rest of the way, onetwothreego!” And he takes off, dashing towards the front of the mall, laughing when he hears a yell of “Sokka-a!” from behind him.

By the time he stops, Zuko is right behind him, both boys breathing hard and shoving at each other.

“You’re terrible,” Zuko grumbles. “You know I can’t keep up with you.”

“Sounds like a you problem,” Sokka says, spinning on his heel and marching into the entrance, looking over his shoulder to make sure Zuko’s following, not that he really doubted it anyway.

*****

They’re only two stores into their browsing when Sokka snaps his fingers, slapping the nearest clothes rack. He hisses, having hit a sharp corner, and shakes his hand out. Zuko peers over from the other side, expression tinged with the slightest bit of worry.

“Everything okay?” he asks. Sokka nods, wincing.

“Gotta be careful where I hit, I guess.” And Zuko just nods, going back to his searching.

That’s the nice thing about being with Zuko. He never presses like Katara does, or answers to tics like Aang. Unless Sokka somehow manages to hurt himself or is visibly upset, he leaves things alone. It’s refreshing, being around someone that doesn’t pay any more attention to his tics than the laces on his shoes.

Sokka slides over yet another shirt when he sees one Zuko might like. It’s black with red seams and fire embroidered at the bottom and on the sleeves. He calls Zuko around to take a look.

And that’s when everything starts going wrong.

As Zuko’s stepping around the rack, Sokka’s knees buckle, hitting against the carpeted floor painfully as he fails to catch himself on anything. Zuko’s eyes go a bit wider, and he’s on the floor in a split second right beside him.

“Was that a tic?” he asks, taking Sokka’s hands to help him back up. The younger grimaces as his legs straighten painfully and he nods.

“I think so,” Sokka says. “Never happened before.”

“And you’re sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Probably just a one time thing.”

And Zuko nods, looking over the shirt he’s handed, dropping the subject.

*****

It’s not a one time thing.

Sokka’s knees keep hitting the floor or coming close, Zuko lunging to try and catch him or at least slow his fall each time. And it seems like each time there are more tics in between the drops, and they’re coming more frequently and his eyes are burning and-

Great, he’s crying. He’s sitting on the floor of an JCPenny, crying and unable to stem the flow of sounds and words and, oh, gods, he just hit Zuko, Spirits-

Zuko’s trying to get him to breathe, looking like he’s on the verge of tears himself.

"Hey, hey," he tries, ignoring any weird stares they're getting. Sokka's hand flies up to hit at his own head, and Zuko brings it right back down, not restraining but simply letting his own hands be an obstacle. "I'm gonna- I'm gonna call my uncle, or your dad? If that's better?"

And Sokka tries to answer, he really does, but between his gasping breaths and the words and trills it's just impossible and he feels so useless-

But Zuko- Zuko is a godsend because he just pulls him in close, hushing him gently, one hand carding through his loose hair.

"I'm gonna call my uncle," he says, "And then if it's okay with you, I'll use your phone to call your dad." Sokka nods, biting his lips to stifle a bubbling-up tic. Vaguely, he feels Zuko shuffling around, hears him talking to Iroh and then his dad, but it's all far away.

Quiet noises still fall from his lips, but he's too exhausted for all his physical tics, and it's the worst feeling ever. His brain is screaming for him to jerk his head, to hit the floor, something, but his body feels like it weighs ten thousand pounds and he just can't. Zuko's hand trailing up and down his back provides some comfort, but it's still just so terrible and he hates it so much.

"Think you can stand?" Zuko asks softly. And Sokka knows good and well that the answer is no, but he nods anyway, only to come crashing back down, stopped only by Zuko's quick reflexes. Sokka nearly sobs again, but Zuko just pulls him up, lifting him like it's no problem. A protest bubbles up, but Zuko quickly brushes him off, saying he's had plenty of practice with Azula.

Sokka has no idea what that means, but saves his questions for when he doesn't feel like he's actively falling apart.

Before he knows it, he's in the back of Iroh's car, Zuko explaining in hushed tones. And when they pull up to the Jasmine Dragon, his dad is already there, pulling him upright and holding him as if he's a little kid. But maybe that's what he needs in the moment, and he lets himself be maneuvered into the passenger's seat and buckled in.

He's asleep before his dad even turns onto the main road, tired beyond belief.

Sure, it’s a sucky experience. No one wants to pass out because you’re so tired you can’t hold yourself up anymore.

But by the end of the day, Sokka’s all right. It’s a Friday, and he’s got on a hoodie two sizes too big and is laying in his bed, spamming Zuko with memes while the other boy replies in all caps to try and end the flow of images. But it’s all in good nature, and before long they’re video calling, stifling laughter in their pillows.

And by the next morning, it’s forgotten. That is, until he drops suddenly in the kitchen, the plate he was reaching for clattering to the floor with him. Bato glances over briefly, concerned, but goes back to getting ready for work, hovering a little closer than before.

Sokka makes it a point to stay seated for as much of the day as possible, going from the couch to the table to his desk in a never ending cycle. He knows he can’t keep this up for ever, but for now, it’s going to have to work. Instead of wallowing about it, he just tries to push through. No point in crying about something that will solve itself.

And for the most part, his dads and Katara are just fine, not really paying attention unless there’s a need for help. That is, until he tics on the stairs and hardly stops himself from falling the rest of the way down.

Hakoda looks up from where he’s typing at the kitchen counter, his face serious.

“You know you can’t keep going like this, right?” Sokka groans, shutting his eyes and laying his head back against a stair.

“Dad, it’s fine. It’ll go away eventually. I just have to tough it out.”

“And how are you going to go to school? How are you going to get to classes?” Hakoda shuts his computer, standing up and walking over to help Sokka up. They make it to the living room without incident, sitting down across from each other.

Hakoda looks like he’s trying to force words out of his mouth but can’t quite get them right. Finally, he speaks.

“You know it’s okay to ask for and accept help, right?” Sokka nods slowly, not sure where his dad is going with this. Hakoda takes a measured breath.

“Okay, okay. Good.” He swallows hard and continues, “How would you feel if Bato picked up something to help you out on his way home?” And Sokka’s got no idea what his dad might be talking about, but he shrugs anyway. It’s his dad after all. Hakoda only wants the best for him.

“Sure,” he says easily, and smiles. “I’d like that.”

*****

When Bato returns from work that day, he’s holding a long box. He mutters something about leaving it in Sokka’s room and disappears upstairs. Sokka doesn’t really pay it any mind. Bato isn’t someone who’s huge on talking like Dad is. He likes to sit back, give the problem at hand a nudge in the right direction, and watch it resolve itself.

And so when Sokka goes upstairs, he’s not really sure what to expect. He just pulls the keys from his bookbag and slices through the tape on the package, not really paying attention.

But when he finally gets the box open, he freezes. Then, he unfreezes, curses himself for not seeing this coming, and runs an agitated hand through his hair. It’s a cane.

A very cool cane, with metallic blue waves racing up the length of it, but still. That’s… not something he expected.

Sokka takes a deep breath, trying not to get weird about this. Plenty of people use canes. Hell, Toph uses a cane to get around, and they’re one of the toughest people Sokka knows. He’s not doing it for attention or to look cool or something. This is something that will make his life easier for however long it takes this tic to go away.

That doesn’t make this any less difficult though.

(Toph uses a cane because they’re blind. Sokka’s gonna use one because his brain won’t stop screwing him over.)

But Sokka’s nothing if not resilient, and he figures if he’s gonna do this, he’s not going to feel embarrassed about it. So he gets up, supporting some of his weight on the cane. He tics almost immediately, but hey, he doesn’t fall to the floor again. Pacing back and forth across his room for a bit gets him used to the pattern, gets him used to catching himself when his body tries to drop.

It’s fine, he’s gonna be fine. Sure he’s gonna get weird stares at school, but that already happens.

But still, it couldn’t hurt to drop by the Jasmine Dragon, right? Not that he’s nervous, no, of course not. It’s just that Iroh gives such nice advice and Zuko’s smile always makes his day so much better. Really there’s no reason he shouldn’t go to the Jasmine Dragon.

Sokka picks up his phone.

socks - 18:17

Hey do you mind if i stop by tomorrow

Zuko - 18:21

It’s a tea shop, Sokka. We can’t exactly control who comes and goes.

socks

no i mean like to talk

Zuko

We do that every time anyway.

Sokka sighs. Right. He needs to actually explain himself. Zuko’s not the greatest at picking up on stuff like that.

socks

I have some stuff I want to sit down and talk to your uncle about if that’s okay

And maybe talk to you too ;))

Zuko

Oh, yeah. That’s fine. Sundays usually are slow anyway.

socks

Sounds good, cya tomorrow

Sokka places his phone onto his nightstand, switching it to Do Not Disturb. He is going to get some rest, talk to Uncle Iroh, and everything will be okay.

*****

Walking to the Jasmine Dragon with his new cane is awkward. He’s still not quite used to it, and he logically knows that there’s no one giving him dirty looks from across the street. But that doesn’t stop him from turning his head over his shoulder and checking every so often, just to make sure.

To Zuko’s credit, he hardly reacts to the new, ah, accessory when Sokka pushes open the door. His face lights up in a smile when he sees him come through the doorway, and though his eyes flicker exactly once to the cane, his smile doesn’t falter and he punches in Sokka’s order the same as always.

“Uncle’s in the back, we were running low on the rose tea so he’s brewing some right now,” Zuko explains when Sokka’s peach boba tea is ready. He tugs a straw from the box on the counter, handing it to him. “He should be out in just a minute, I told him you were out here.”

True to his word, Iroh shuffles out a few minutes later, and Sokka pauses his scrolling through his phone to smile up at the man.

“Good morning, Sokka,” Iroh greets cordially, setting down his own cup of tea. He blows at it lightly before stirring in a bit of honey. Light brown eyes, dimmed with age but no somehow no less sharp than Azula’s, smile at him.

“My nephew mentioned you wanted to speak to me.” He takes a sip of his tea, nodding in silent satisfaction before looking back up at Sokka. “What troubles you, child?”

Sokka sighs, popping a piece of boba in his mouth before reaching down, lifting the top of his cane over the top of the table. Iroh furrows his brow, nodding slowly.

There’s a slam from inside the kitchen of what sounds like an oven door. Sokka startles slightly, though Iroh hardly reacts at all. It must be Azula baking again. Both turn back to their conversation with not a word about the noise.

“Zuko has told me of your… tics, are they called?” Sokka nods, and Iroh continues. “If this assists you in your day-to-day life, there is nothing to be ashamed of! There is never shame in accepting help, whatever form it may come in. A bird will build its nest of leaves or wool, provided it is soft.”

Sokka bites the inside of his cheek, nodding. It’s nothing he hasn’t heard before, from his father before bed last night, from Bato earlier this morning, from himself on his walk over. It’s good advice, accompanied by the warmth of the tea shop and Iroh’s signature proverbs. But it’s nothing special, really.

Iroh seems to notice, and Sokka feels a bit bad. But the older man doesn’t seem to mind, simply patting Sokka’s hand with a smile.

“I think perhaps I am not the best to assist you right now,” he says, standing and taking his tea cup. “Just a moment.”

He stands making his way back into the kitchen. There’s grumbling from inside before the door swings open again, Azula marching out.

She yanks the chair from under the table and sits unceremoniously, her face flat. She’s sharp where Iroh is soft, but there’s no real boredom or anger in her expression. She sticks out a hand.

“Let me see.”

Sokka passes the cane across the table awkwardly, making sure not to hit anything. She examines it with that sharp gold gaze, nodding in approval.

“Study,” she finally says, which is probably the closest thing to a compliment Sokka’s ever heard her give. “Doesn’t look too bad either, I suppose. Not that looks are the purpose here.” She hands it back, narrowly missing the straw of Sokka’s cup of boba. He’s still not quite sure why Iroh sent her out to sit with him, but he doesn’t really mind. Like Zuko, she’s someone that doesn’t change character because of a situation.

“It looks nicer than my old crutches at least,” Azula says, almost casually. “Those were such an ugly shade of green, I don’t know why Uncle bought them.” And she’s so offhand about it all that Sokka almost misses the meaning of her words.

“Wait, what?” he blurts before he can stop himself. Azula? Who’s always an almost royal air about her? That could probably have him on the ground in two seconds flat? That Azula?

She must have been expecting his reaction (of course she did, it’s Azula), and she simply crosses her legs, resting one arm on the table.

“I used to have so many issues when we first moved in with Uncle,” she begins, her tone still as if she’s speaking about the weather. “I screwed up my body for a while, didn’t eat and threw up what I did.” Sokka tries to imagine Azula as anyone other than the confident person he knows and comes up short.

“It was a series of unfortunate events, really. A weak body meant weak bones, apparently, and a jump I tried to make ended up shattering both my legs. Had to be in a wheelchair for a while, then use those forearm crutches for longer than I would have liked to. But it was fine, I suppose.”

Sokka bites his lip. They both know the question on his mind, and they both know Azula won’t give him the answer until he asks. Finally, he takes a deep breath and goes for it.

“How’d you- you know. Stop worrying that you looked… stupid?” Azula rolls her eyes, though there’s the slightest bit of an upward turn to her mouth.

“Well, anyone who’s opinion mattered to me didn’t care. Do you know how annoying Zuzu was for those months? It was always, ‘Zula, let me carry that, Zula, let me pick that up.’” Sokka nods. He knows the feeling all too well. Azula sighs, casting a glance at Zuko, who’s taking some customer’s order.

“But, as grating as it was, it was because he cares. And anyone who said anything bad, I could hit them with my crutch. I mean really, who’s going to admit they got beat up by a five-foot-one girl with crutches?”

And yeah, okay, that gets a laugh out of him. The image of Azula whacking a rude customer or classmate with what is essentially a large stick is one that he can conjure up easily.

Azula turns fully towards him, her expression shifting minutely.

“Do you trust me?”

Sokka freezes for a moment. Azula and he aren’t close, not like he is with Zuko. But if he thinks, there’s really no reason not to trust Azula. She’s straight forward and doesn’t beat around the bush. And so, Sokka nods.

Azula seems pleased.

“Then trust me when I say there’s going to be hardly anyone paying attention.”

And somehow, despite all the people telling him similar things, it’s Azula that finally drives it home.

*****

The next day at school, Sokka jabs Aang under the table with his cane as the younger boy laughs. Katara’s next to them, trying and failing to hide her mirth, while Suki and Toph smother laughter into their hands. His phone chimes, and he flips it over to see the notification.

Zuko

Hope your day’s going okay. Azula’s trying out a new recipe by the way. She says she wants you to try it.

Sokka smiles, typing his response.

socks

Day’s going great, zukes :)) and i’ll be there, cya later!

#whumptober 2021 #no4 #trust falls #do you trust me? #avatar the last airbender #fanfic #ao3 #sokka #ts sokka #azula #zuko #iroh #bato #hakoda #katara #modern au #atla fic #luca's corner

[mystic-kitten-writer]

Headcanon: uhm how the gaang treats yue or how they see yue shshhs

OKAY, so I decided to focus on the girls first because I went off (but are we really surprised? This is me we’re talking about). 

I focused on how they met Yue, what made them click, and how they treat/view. Consider this headcanon for Limerence as it is developing, not as an end-all-be-all.

If you want one of the boys (Aang, Sokka, Zuko) let me know cause I’ll post it ASAP rather than dwindling around~

Katara

“Yue?” Katara would perk, before smiling, “She’s more than just a friend; she’s family, a sister.”

Katara, Aang and Sokka are the first ones to met Yue after she saves Aang. Immediate reaction - grateful.

Secondary reaction - worry. Katara’s blue eyes settled over Yue, and saw how frail she looked. Her clothes dirty and torn, hair a birds nest; she was skin and bones. Katara’s ‘must-take-care’ instincts blaring.

The same day they met, they bonded;

Yue was sitting in the river under the starry night as Katara helped wash her hair. She couldn’t help but notice the tiny scratches and bruises that littered Yue’s skin, superficial. But she could imagine how they stung.

“Why don’t you heal yourself, Yue? You’re a Waterbender.” Katara asked with her brows pinched, confused to see all of Yue’s injuries. But Yue let out an awkward giggle, shyly sinking further into the water, “I-I’m a terrible healer.”

“I can teach you if you want.” Katara perked, happy to show off her skills to teach another.

But she quickly noted Yue’s expression in the reflection of the water. Her eyes heavy, lip trembling. It was an expression filled with deep pain and sadness, and without another word, Katara found herself embracing Yue from behind.

From that point on, Katara took on the big sister role despite being the younger one by a few months.

Katara sometimes stares at Yue and has to smile, happy to be by her side and watch Yue grow. She wasn’t the girl crying in the river anymore; she was the impending Queen of a Nation.

She always stands up for Yue and encourages her to put her foot down whenever someone disrespects her. Even Katara’s frustrated at how nice Yue is.

Very protective, and will lowkey judge the people Yue is around. She knows Yue is a bit naive and doesn’t want someone to take advantage #SorrynotsorryZuko. 

A bit disappointed that Yue never Waterbended with her, despite asking her multiple times to train. She finally found another Waterbender, someone who was by her side full-time, and it proved fruitless.

The one time they did battle, Katara was about to go easy. She quickly realized never to doubt Yue’s fighting skills…but her healing could use some work.

Guilty for thinking Yue was a Firebender at first.

Was lowkey jealous at Yue’s and Aang’s relationship and how quickly they hit it off before realizing it is just Yue’s personality

Often bond in the hot springs with a nice face and hair mask, fantasizing about their future and wedding plans.

Katara’s go-to person to vent and shop with.

Will cook meals for Yue because Yue cannot cook to survive. Katara’s still baffled at how Yue managed to burn boiling water. Like seriously, how?

Often heals Yue’s bruises and scratches because she’s way too clumsy. Also stopped asking questions as to how she even gets hurt. A papercut from a teddy bear?

“Yue’s biggest strength is also her weakness, her heart.” Katara would softly speak, twirling her braid in her hands, “But that’s why we’re here. To make sure she’s okay and that she doesn’t live off sweets because that girl has a sugar addiction.”

Toph

“She’s alright, I guess… kinda whiny, always needing attention, we call her Princess for a reason- but…” Toph would start before stepping forward. She would cross her arms before whispering, “She’s an amazing baker and gives the best hugs. BUT YOU DIDN’T HEAR THAT FROM ME.”

Toph and Suki met Yue a few days after the others, and the first thing she noticed was how damn light Yue was on her feet, another Airbender?

Yue was quick to greet Toph, voice chirpy and filled with life, and for a moment, Toph thought Yue was going to be an absolute chatterbox. Talking her ears off until they bled. Imagine her surprise how quiet Yue got after their greeting, standing off to the side as the others spoke.

Toph would study her movements, how she twirled her fingers, pulse racing…

Their moment of connection would come days after, Toph feeling the ground underneath her vibrate, just a touch. It was enough to wake her up from her slumber, feet embedded on the ground and searching for those light footsteps. Toph would begrudgingly follow, thinking it was Aang taking a late-night stroll before they suddenly stopped.

“The stars… they’re beautiful tonight. Want to experience them with me?” Yue would hum, taking Toph off guard.

“I’m blind-”

“You of all people should know there is more than one way to experience the world.”

Toph would snort, kicking the dirt under her feet, “Oh yeah? Explain colour to me.”

Toph could feel Yue walked towards her, bending over, a distinct pulling sound-making light, before standing upright. Yue’s hands gently reached for Toph’s, letting something dewy in nature fall into her palms.

“Green… it’s the grass and leaves, soft and tickles your toes. Filled with life. It’s not my favourite colour; I enjoy red much more. Red is the colour of the blaring sun against your skin. Like a festering burn, pulsing with strong vibrations.”

Yue’s wasn’t that bad after all.

Abnormally tolerate to Yue’s need for physical affection. Timed ‘hugs’ are a norm (don’t want to let Yue know how much Toph loves them, or else she’ll never hear the end of it).

Careful about her tone with Yue. Rarely raising it like how she would with Sokka or Katara because Toph could feel how Yue’s heart would race.

One of the few people Toph would willingly let touch her feet and pamper.

Toph listens to Yue’s rants about fashion or makeup because there was something about hearing her heart skip - she dares say it, it was cute.

Toph went from feeling indifferent to Yue to finding an odd sense of comfort in her presence. An Aang 2.0, but a lot more sensitive and a way better baker.

Views Yue as a best friend and typically calls her Princess because she is one.

Taught her that being feminine in nature doesn’t equal weak. You can be fabulous and kick ass.

Will unconsciously take a big sniff around Yue. She smells good, like baked goods.

“She may be a crybaby…but she has a good heart.”

Suki

“She’s too cute!” Suki would laugh, smiling fondly at all the memories that seemingly flashed through her mind. “Yue is like a kitten. She’s cute and shy, but she has that curious spirit inside. A mischievousness that you’ll never expect to see.”

Suki met Yue at the same time as Toph, but because Sokka introduced Yue to her with much glee, Suki immediately opened up.

Funny enough, unlike the rest who shared a bonding moment via a direct personal experience, Suki realized she loved Yue when seeing how she spent time with Sokka.

Suki was lounging on the sandy beaches in the Earth Nation, enjoying the sun kissing her skin with the waves crashing in the distance. Sokka proclaimed that he was a sandcastle master, and Suki watched with lowered sunglasses how Sokka and Yue spent precisely two hours building a monstrously of a sandcastle.

Seeing Yue and Sokka bickering and having fun like siblings struck a chord with Suki. She was going to love anyone who can make her boyfriend that happy.

Suki dusted herself off from the sand, coming behind Yue and placing her hands on her shoulders, “Want to come shopping tomorrow with me downtown?”

“Me?” Yue would gasp, her eyes wide.

Suki would smile, eagerly shaking her head, and she saw that happiness spread over Yue’s face, “I would love to!”

Girls night is a tradition between them, getting tipsy- drunk on wine and spoiling Yue with dresses.

Guilty of being the ‘devil on her shoulder.’ Suki can’t help it; she loves Yue’s eagerness to try new things and learn, but her shyness always got the better of her, and that’s where Suki comes in.

Half of their conversations go from sweet to sexual in under ten seconds.

Besides Aang and Sokka, Suki’s the closest to Yue, they’re practically sisters.

Like Katara loves hyping Yue and encouraging her to stand up for herself and seek happiness. Suki knows Yue always puts herself second; that’s why she pampers Yue whenever she can.

Love teasing Yue with Toph. It’s just too easy.

“She’s a girl’s best friend, the best shoulder to cry on, and the easiest to tease.” 

#atla #katara #suki #toph #asks #ask me anything #anon answered #headcanon #zuko #ying yue jiang #zuko x oc #limerence #masterlist #request #requests #my OC

[bisexuals4zuzu]

Nightmares

SUMMARY: You were close with Zuko when he was Lee in Ba Sing Se and joined the group there too. When Zuko joins the group you are cold to him. You have a nightmare one night and wake up screaming. Zuko comforts you (Based on ask)

PAIRING: Zuko x Waterbender! Reader

Warning: Nightmares, Dreams about death

“I just can't believe this” you huffed, frustrated. Your Lee from Ba SIng Se was the fire prince that hunted the avatar and yet here he is standing in front of the avatar saying he has changed and wants to teach him how to fire bend. The person is standing in front of you looks exactly as Lee did in Ba Sing Se but the things that Katara, Sokka, and Aang are saying it makes you question everything. You watched as Zuko turned and walked away from the gang. You haven't heard much of what was said but you felt like you should go after him. He was Lee the boy from the tea shop, the one who knew exactly what time of day you were going to come in and always had a cup of tea ready for you. 

You couldn't continue to watch this. You turned on your heels and headed back to the room you had been staying in. you sat on the floor in front of the fireplace and watched the flames flicker. Cinders from the air landed around your feet. You laid on the ground by the fire and closed your eyes. Letting the warmth of the air lull you to sleep.

The next morning while you all were eating breakfast toph came crawling in with the soles of her feet. You and Katara began healing her feet. You could feel the anger bubbling up in your chest but you just couldn't tell who exactly it was at. It could have been at Lee, no ZUko, you thought, or was it directed to the group because you knew that the person you knew could never in a million years hurt someone on purpose. Your anger grew even more when they suggested going after him because according to Sokka, “He was too dangerous to leave on his own.” With that statement you turned and left to go back to the room you were staying. In

You had barely even gotten a few feet away before you hear an explosion. Your head whipped around and you immediately opened the bottle that held your water, Running in the direction of where the rest of the group was. You look in the direction of where the explosion came from and you felt only what you could describe as shock when you saw Zuko on the ledge fighting the “Combustion Man” as Sokka called him. You weren't as close to the rest of the group but when you saw Zuko fall off the edge, a scream escaped your lips. Combustion man Jumped down from the ledge and began attacking. Aang sent a tornado toward him as you and Katara form a wave and send it his way after turning it into icicles. You were so angry you couldn't focus on anything the group was saying. You watched as SOkka threw his boomerang and hit the combustion man. Then you watched in shock as Combustion Man stood up and finally you saw COmbustion man blow himself up. You glanced up and saw Zuko pulling himself up by a vine, you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding back and let the feeling of relief wash over you. 

“I can’t believe i am saying this but thanks, Zuko” Aang said as Zuko approached the group. You kept your eyes trained on the ground refusing to meet his eye.

“Hey, and what about me?” Sokka said, “I did the boomerang thing”

“Listen, I know I didn’t explain myself very well yesterday.” Zuko said, his voice made your heart swell, “I’ve been through a lot in the past few years, and it’s been hard.” You looked up as he scratched the back of his neck, a habit you really liked. 

“But I’m realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth,” he said, “I thought I had lost my honor and that somehow my father could return it to me” He explained.

“But I know now that no one can give you your honor,” he looked at the group, “It’s something you earn for yourself by choosing to do what’s right. All I want now is to play my part in ending this war”

Zuko cast his eyes at the floor, “And I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world. I am sorry for what I did to you, Toph, It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild. So as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending so I don't hurt people unintentionally.”

“(Y/N)” Zuko said, “I am so sorry I lied to you. I wish I could go back and do it differently. I am sorry I hurt you.” You couldn't bring yourself to look up from your feet but you could feel his eyes burning into you. 

“I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher.” Aang said, “When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara.” Aang explained for a while long but you had zoned out, you were pulled out of your thoughts.

“(Y/N),” Aang said.

“Sorry, I wasn't listening,”

“Zuko lied to you, are you okay with him joining the group?” You heard the question and took a deep breath. You could Zuko starting to sweat. You could hear your heartbeat in your ears.

“Yeah, sure, whatever” you stuttered out before turning on your heels and walking wherever your feet lead you. 

You ended up in your room before you heard Sokka outside your room, “Here you go, Home sweet home. I guess, You know, for now.” Sokka said, adding, “Unpack.. Lunch soon.”

You skipped lunch. Katara had brought some to your room when she realized that you weren't going to show up. You practiced waterbending all afternoon and when dinner rolled around you thought it might be best to stay in your room again. This time Sokka brought you your dinner.

“It's a bit awkward, isn't it?” Sokka asked you.

“I guess,” you said, “I don't know if Zuko is the person i met in Ba Sing Se, or the person who was hunting you guys for months, or just a different person entirely”

“I don't know either,” He said before leaving the room.

You sat the food on a table before climbing in your bed and trying to fall asleep. You looked at the ceiling for what felt like hours before you finally managed to fall asleep.

You woke up sitting straight up in your bed, a scream escaping your lips. You brought your knees to your chest letting the sobs rip through your body. You heard your door open and figured it was aang or katara, since they were normally the people who slept the lightest.

“(Y/N), are you alright?” you felt the bed sink as you recognized the voice, Zuko. He put his hand on yours. You almost pulled your hand away but you reveled in his touch. Zuko put his arms around you. The sobs kept falling out for a few more minutes before you finally calmed yourself.

“(Y/N), are you alright?” he asked again, looking at you wiping a tear from your cheek. You shook your head. You wanted to lie but when he looks at you like that you couldn't find it in yourself to lie to him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” you shook your head again.

“I thought you died today” You said trying to change the subject, “I thought you left me again.” 

“Is that what you dream was about?” He asked. You wanted to lie and say it wasn’t.

“Yes, In the dream you were lying to us. You were here to kill Aang. You were going to but katara she used waterbending and pushed you off the cliff. I tried to stop her but I couldn't move. It was like I was frozen.  Just like earlier when you feel off but...but,” You cleared your throat, “But you didn't come back. I had lost you. I can't lose you. I care for you too much.

“Oh,” he said quietly, “I’m sorry.” his arms wrap around you tighter pulling you into a hug. You let the smell of smoke and jasmine tea fill your lungs, calming you to your very soul. You could feel his warmth. You put your legs on either side of him sitting on his lap. Your head resting on his shoulder. 

“Promise you wont leave me” you said quietly, pulling out of his embrace, “Please, don't leave me” saying those words made you feel weaker than you have ever felt. You couldn't bring yourself to look at him.

He grabbed your chin, lifting you face until your eyes met his amber ones, “I won’t leave you, I will do everything in my power to make sure I never have to leave your side ever again okay?” you nodded, a shiver running down your spine. He grabbed your waist lifting you and setting you on the bed as he got up and you thought he was about to leave but instead he walked over to the fireplace and lit a fire before returning to your side.

“I should head back and let you get some sleep,” He said, putting a hand on your shoulder.

“Stay, please,” you said, grabbing Zuko’s hand that was on your shoulder. You moved to the side before patting the bed next to you.

“Fine, but just until you fall asleep okay?” he said getting on the bed.

“Okay,” you said, laying your head on the pillow facing toward Zuko as he lays looking at you as well. You were soon fast asleep. The next morning you woke up on a very warm pillow but it was also hard. You realized that the “Pillow” had a heartbeat. Soon you connected the dots, you were using Zuko as a pillow. A blush crept on your face. You tried to lift yourself off of him and out of the bed without him noticing.

“(Y/N), Good morning” He said in a gruff voice, “I hope you slept well” he sat up in the bed and scratched the back of his neck. You were about to say some sarcastic comment but were interrupted by the door opening.

“Hey, (Y/N) have you seen Zuko,” Sokka asked before glancing at the man sitting on your bed, “Oh, I guess you guys figured it out” Sokka said before sending a wink in your direction and walking out of the room. Leaving you and Zuko with a blush on your cheeks.

#zuko x reader #atla zuko #alta #katara #atla aang #sokka #imagine #nightmare #zuko imagine #fluff

[pepperidgefarmremembers]

The final chapter! I’m on fanfiction.net (same user name) if interested in following more of my stories!

Wisdom

Katara's deep sleep was interrupted by a pounding headache. Every thump of blood in her skull elicited a groan from the waterbender. She grimaced at the bright light illuminating her bedroom. She didn't know where Aang was, how long she'd slept, or if it was morning or afternoon. All she knew was that she felt terrible and dehydrated. A groan emitted from her throat at the sight of the empty water glass on their bedside table.

Every muscle in her body ached as she willed herself to sit up. With what seemed like an hour, she finally trudged into their living room. Everything was quiet and still, an unusual sight for a house full of children. "They must be a school, this could be the afternoon," she thought. As Katara sluggishly walked through the living room, memories came flooding back to her mind in waves. She remembered the excitement she felt when she saw her son's letter but also the pang in her heart as she read it.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I'm having a great time at the South Pole! In my training with Aunt Suki, I even came close to beating her a few times! She says she misses you both and hopes to see you when she's in Republic City next week with Uncle Sokka for the Council meeting. Uncle Sokka said to tell Dad "Miss ya buddy" and Mom to "stay out of trouble little sis" but I can tell he misses you by asking a lot of questions every hour about you. Granddad sends his love and wants to stay with you for a little bit in the next month or so. He said you'd appreciate the help, whatever that means.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that ice dodging was awesome! I wish you both could've been there, but I know you have Tenzin and Kya, and the whole "saving the world" thing. Granddad gave me the Mark of the Wise, just like Uncle Sokka got! I also accepted Aunt Suki's offer to stay here and train with her and Uncle Sokka. They said I had to tell you about it first. I need to travel and Uncle Sokka said I can go with them on trips. I love you both so much, but I need to do this for me. Please don't be mad. Tell Tenzin and Kya they better not touch any of my stuff!

Hope you can visit soon,

Bumi

She glanced at her reflection in the mirror in the bathroom. Her eyes were red and painful from crying herself to sleep. Her hair was in a messy plait and her face was puffy. Sighing while turning away to continue to the kitchen, she heard the front door of their home open. She turned around with a smile hoping she would find her eldest back home. Her smile faltered at the missing hole in the family walking towards her. Her husband, Tenzin, and Kya all in tow, but no Bumi.

She forced another smile so as to not make her family feel bad, peppering them with loud animated kisses on their cheeks. Her kiss on her husband's lips lingered for a few moments before she broke away. Aang asked, "Kids, why don't you go to your rooms and get changed out of your school clothes?" Kya looked like she was going to object when her younger brother stood his ground. "Kya, come on! I'll let you freeze me later." Kya couldn't turn down a chance to immobilize her dorky brother and ran to her room with Tenzin following. Aang failed to squelch a quiet laugh at Tenzin taking the role of the stern, older brother. His happiness was quickly replaced with a frown as he looked at his wife.

He placed a soft yet firm hand on his wife's waist, securing her in a safe embrace. "I know, I miss him too." At that moment, Katara looked up to her husband with a scowl. He was initially hopeful which swiftly changed to apprehension. It mustered all of her strength not to let their children hear her upset, "If you miss him so much, why didn't you try to do anything to stop him? He's only fourteen, he can't just think staying somewhere and sending a letter is okay!" Aang sighed, "Katara, first of all, it's not fair to say I don't miss him. I've been thinking about him constantly. But you can't honestly say you're surprised. Personality wise, he's the most Air Nomad out of the three of them. He never wanted to sit still or be in one place for too long. You know his boundless energy needs to be focused and this will help." He looked over to the rigid waterbender to wait for a reply. After a few moments of silence, he continued while trying to remain calm, "Also, he's a man in the eyes of the Water Tribe, Katara. He's finished school and doesn't really have anything tying him here. He's as old as you were when you left home and thankfully there's not a war going on. He'll be with Sokka and Suki and your Dad. He'll be fine. Just because I understand him, doesn't mean I don't miss him any less than you do."

Katara felt another twinge go through her heart. The memory of the time she angrily told Sokka he didn't miss their mom as much as she did appeared in her mind. Never in her life had she wanted to take anything back as much as that. Her scowl turned into a frown. Her eyes remained glossed over and filled with sadness. She abruptly threw her arms around Aang and hugged him close. He jumped at the contact, not expecting the embrace but loved her touch all the same. She spoke in a whisper, "I'm so...sorry Aang. I know you miss him, of course you do. I'm just hurt and I feel like I failed." Aang released from the hug to look at his beautiful wife. "Failed? What makes you say that?", he asked. She met his eyes and sighed, "Uh, it's not exactly a good sign when your kid leaves home and only sends a note telling you they're not coming back. Somewhere I think I messed up as a parent. No one in the South Pole left except for war. Even then, I couldn't get over my Dad leaving. It felt like he didn't care, like he didn't love us. I needed him…" She wobbled as she sat down on the couch. Aang sat next to her and nodded for her to continue.

"I think that just like Dad, some part of me needs Bumi. He's our first child. He was the reason I became 'Mom' and barely hear 'Katara' anymore," she laughed, "He needed me for so long and now there's an emptiness inside," she sniffled as tears began to fall from her eyes. "He doesn't need me now. And it's only a matter of time before there are no more kids here. You know Kya is such a nomad, she'll be gone when she can, too. Tenzin is more similar to me but I know he'll want to live at a Temple and I won't be ready for that."

She rubbed her dry lips together as she looked over at Aang. Taking notice of how he has become this handsome husband and father. So many times growing up she was his rock, his constant. However, since having children, she finds herself needing the unwavering comfort more than ever. Her eyes travelled over his chiseled features and a beard where his baby face once was. She watched her husband move for the first time in several minutes. Aang bended water from the large pouch in the kitchen and poured it into a glass on the table. He handed the glass to her without taking his eyes off her.

Katara gulped the water graciously. Aang placed both of his hands on her free hand. "You will always be 'Katara' to me. 'Mom' is who you are, yes, but you're still the greatest Master Waterbender on Earth. You're one of the best fighters I have ever seen. You're a sister, a daughter, a healer, and the love of my life. You're my best friend." After finishing the water, she blushed while a smile formed on her face. He loved that after 25 years together, he could still make her blush. "Remember when Guru Pathik was teaching me to let go of my earthly attachment to master the Avatar State? As you know, I didn't want to let go of you because I didn't understand how I could ever let go of you." Katara nodded in agreement and looked at Aang to continue.

"I came to learn years later that what I thought had been all wrong. He wasn't saying to not have attachments to people, but instead to understand how attachment can hinder our growth if we let it consume us. Everything and everyone is connected. Just because Bumi is not here, doesn't mean he doesn't love or need you. You will always be a mom, even when our kids don't live here anymore. Know that you will be forever connected with them and with me. Love can transcend lifetimes." Katara rested her head on Aang's shoulder as he stroked her hair. They rested in silence for a few minutes before Katara asked, "Do you think I'll see you in the next lifetime? Are we destined to find each other over and over again?"

Aang kissed her forehead and replied, "Yes, I do. I know we are connected by fate. Like I said before, I will always find you, no matter where you are. Whether it's in this lifetime or the next." The couple smiled as they breathed into each other slowly and deeply. "But how do you know for certain, oh, wise, Avatar?", she joked. His gray eyes became serious as they met her cerulean eyes, "Well, Gyasto was one of Avatar Roku's best friends. I don't think it was a coincidence that Gyatso and I became very close. I felt like I knew him way before I knew anything about their friendship. The invisible strings that tie us all I guess," he said with a chuckle. She kissed her husband softly on the cheek and leaned back to absorb this moment completely. "You better find me in the next lifetime, Aang. I'll be waiting, just like I was 26 years ago."

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

[astudyinfreewill]

May 29: Home

[katara/zuko, pre-relationship, 1.8k]

when i see your light shine, i know i’m home

read on AO3

When Zuko goes out to the turtleduck pond for a brief respite between his meetings, he isn’t expecting to find Katara sitting there, her head resting on her folded knees. He knew that she, Sokka, and Aang were going to be travelling back from the South Pole for an upcoming diplomatic conference in Caldera, but he wasn’t sure when they would arrive, and he certainly wasn’t expecting to find Katara just hanging around in the garden. It’s a welcome surprise, though, and he likes that she feels at home here enough to do so.

She spots him and gives him a subdued little wave. Zuko is tired, stiff from spending all day sitting in an uncomfortable chair poring over documents, and in a bad mood – turns out, fixing a country is messy, arduous, endlessly frustrating work – but still, it’s immediately clear to him that something is wrong. The Katara he knows would run up to greet him with a hug.

He gives her a nod in response, and sits down next to her.

“Hey. I didn’t know when you’d be arriving. Did you have safe travels?”

Katara nods. “Everything was fine. We just got here an hour ago. Sokka and Aang are unpacking in their rooms, but they’re not exactly the quiet types, and after a whole day stuck on Appa together, I wanted some peace. Is that okay?”

“Be my guest,” he shrugs. “I mean, I guess you are. Uh. But I mean – metaphorically. I mean you can come here whenever you want. To the pond, that is. And, uh, in general.”

Okay, so social skills have never been his forte. Plus, there’s something about Katara that always has him feeling a little flustered.

“Smooth,” Katara comments dryly.

He shrugs again, pulling out the piece of day-old bread that he had hidden in his sleeve for the turtleducks. “Long day. Lot of talking,” he says, and it’s not even a lie.

Katara hmm’s sympathetically. She doesn’t ask him any questions about the meetings, which he’s honestly grateful for. They sit there in silence for a while as he tears the bread into small pieces. She quietly holds out a hand. He quietly drops some bread pieces onto her open palm. They quietly feed the turtleducks for a few minutes, until the silence becomes too awkward for even Zuko to bear.

“How was home?” he asks. It’s a neutral enough question, yet Katara seems to flinch minutely.

She lets her eyes drift over the water, a far-off look in them; the line of her mouth is worried. “Home,” she murmurs, as if sounding the word out.

After a moment, she seems to shake herself off with some difficulty. “Home was good. It was great,” she smiles. Zuko isn’t fooled. That’s her “caretaker Katara” smile, the one she plasters on when she’s hiding her troubles because she thinks she needs to worry about everyone else.

“Katara,” he says, firmly but not unkindly. “What’s wrong?”

It’s a testament to how bothered the waterbender is that she caves immediately, her face crumpling into a picture of unhappiness.

“It’s just… you know how the Northern Tribe was going to send people over to help us rebuild?”

Zuko nods. “Did they not keep their promise?”

Katara looks down, almost embarrassed. “No, they did. That’s kind of the problem. They’ve done a great job and spared no effort. They’ve built bigger homes and palaces and fortifications. Everything looks... different now.”

The way she says it, with no excitement at all, indicates she doesn’t see this as an improvement.

“And that’s... bad?” Zuko nudges.

She shrugs. “I suppose it’s not. Sokka was losing his mind over it. He was over the moon - no pun intended. He thinks it’s amazing, all the– the architecture and mechanics and progress.”

“But you feel differently?” Zuko ventures.

“No, no,” Katara hurries to say, with a guilty expression. Then, after biting her lip for a second, she admits. “Well… yes. It’s just… it looks nothing like the village I grew up in. All the igloos are gone. Gran-gran’s home. The otter-penguin cliff. The snow wall that Sokka built. And there are so many new faces – a lot of Northerners moved down South permanently. Which… is good, I know it’s good,” she sighs. “I don’t want our tribe to die out. I know this will help them. I just…”

She looks up at him, her expressive blue eyes filled with sadness. “I feel like I never really went back home. The place I remembered is just… gone.”

He doesn’t know what to say, but his heart hurts for her. He knows all too well what it’s like to long for a place you can never go back to. But he doesn’t want to dismiss her pain by sharing his own; sometimes, he has learned the best thing you can do is just listen.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “It must have been hard to lose your childhood home.”

She takes a ragged breath in, hugging her knees to herself as if she’s cold (which she never is, not in the Fire Nation anyway). One of her hands trails over the water, drawing lazy circles in it – drawing comfort from her element, Zuko thinks.

“Aang doesn’t get it,” she says, a little sadly. “He’s a nomad. He thinks home can just be everywhere. He doesn’t believe in material attachments. But I just…” she shakes her head. “I don’t know why I can’t let it go. But I just can’t.”

“I understand,” Zuko rasps. Katara looks up at him, a little surprised – but of course he understands. When has he ever been able to let go of his home?

“It is not a bad thing,” he says, carefully, “to have strong roots. Some people are able to leave their history behind; others carry it with them wherever they go. You are a daughter of the Southern Water Tribe. It is forever carved within you.” He gestures at her necklace, and she touches the carved ivory almost subconsciously. “I am a son of the Fire Nation, and I always knew that. Even when my home had lost its way, I knew I couldn’t forget who I was. It doesn’t make you a bad person, Katara. It isn’t selfish to know who you are.”

Some of the sadness seems to lift off of her, but she still looks troubled. “Yeah, but where does that leave me then? My dad has settled back down and is so committed to our new home. And Sokka, well, he spends more time on Kyoshi Island now than back at the Pole anyway. But where does that leave me? Where do I go if I can never go back home?”

Here, part of him wants to say. You could stay here with me. He has missed Katara a lot – her strength, her kindness, her relentless optimism. Often he thinks that with her by his side, trying to steer his kingdom the right way wouldn’t be quite so hard. But he knows that’s not the answer she needs. He sits in silence for a few moments, tossing some breadcrumbs to the turtleducks. He wishes he was better at this. He wishes he could channel Uncle Iroh and know exactly what to say.

“If it helps,” he begins after a while, “Sometimes I feel like I never came back home either. I know it’s not the same as your village – the Palace was still pretty much the way I left it – well, perhaps a little bit more, uh, burnt down–” he fumbles, but it’s alright, because it draws a chuckle out of her. He wonders if she’s remembering it too, their fight against Azula.

“But what I mean is,” he tries again, “It was not the way I remembered it. I came back home, but it wasn’t the home I missed. Sure, it’s the same city, the same palace. But my mother wasn’t here. Most of my family is imprisoned. My uncle went back to Ba Sing Se.” And you guys left, he stops himself from saying. He knows he has no right to keep them here, but Agni, he misses his friends like a phantom limb. Who knew, he wonders, that there could be friendship like this out there?

“I guess what I’m saying is – maybe home doesn’t need to be the place you grew up in. Maybe home could be the people you grew into yourself with.”

He’s still not sure if that was the right thing to say, but then Katara smiles at him, a soft, bright smile, like the sun coming out from the clouds (and if his heart skips a beat in his chest, well, nobody needs to know).

“I think I like that idea,” she murmurs. “Thank you, Zuko.” Then her smile turns into a teasing grin: “Look at you, being all wise and stuff! Trying to steal Iroh’s shtick?”

“Ha ha,” Zuko says flatly, putting on an obligingly grumpy face, which makes Katara laugh again. He’s not sure if it’s with him or at him, but he doesn’t really mind as long as she’s not looking sad anymore.

“I mean it though,” she says, turning serious again. “Thank you. Maybe it’s okay that my home has changed, as long as I have Sokka and Dad and Gran-gran. And now I also have Aang, and Toph, and, well–” she flushes ever so slightly as she speaks “--you.”

He supposes it shouldn’t be so unexpected – they did save the world together after all – but it still takes him by surprise, flooding his heart with warmth. Katara considers him home. Suddenly, his day doesn’t feel so heavy and tedious anymore. He’s going to hold this thought with him through his last council, and well into the night.

He gets up, brushing breadcrumbs off his robes. “I should probably go. Will I see you at dinner?”

“Oh, I don’t know, am I invited to share the mighty Fire Lord’s repast?” she teases.

He rolls his eyes dramatically. “Not with that attitude, you’re not.” She sticks her tongue out at him, then laughs again, finally sounding back to her old self.

He’s about to turn to leave when she calls for him: “Hey, Zuko?”

“Yeah?”

“You know that the same goes for you, right?”

He frowns, feeling like he’s missed a step. “I don’t get dinner with my attitude?”

She rolls her eyes at him, but he can tell she’s amused. “No, you doofus. I mean that – you know – if you ever need a little piece of home… well, I’m here.” She smiles, her cheeks going slightly pink. “I just mean… well, I hope you know– I can be. Home, I mean. For you. If that’s what you want.” It’s fascinating to see her be the one fumbling for a change, but Zuko can’t even make fun of her for it, because suddenly his throat feels very tight.

“Yeah,” he chokes out, inadequate as always, but he hopes Katara knows what he means. He thinks she does. He swallows, willing the lump to go down, and clears his throat.

“I’ll see you at dinner, then.” He bows slightly.

She nods at him, a small, fond smile on her lips. “I’ll see you at home.”

#zutara month 2020 #zutara #zuko #katara #atla #a:tla #zutara month: quarantine edition #atla fic #my writing #sometimes romance is sharing your personal experience of displacement!!!! #otp: you rise with the moon; i rise with the sun

[tellthestoryofmybrokendreams]

Shadow

Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Status: Complete

Words: 1,860

AO3 Link

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Desc: Sometimes Zuko just needs to be reminded that he’s loved, and won’t be abandoned again. Luckily, he has Katara, who’s made it her mission to do just that.

Or, married Katara and Zuko being supportive and loving.

A/N: Salutations my darling readers, and welcome back to 25ish installments of Zutara cuteness! Remember that these are in track order, not chronological order, and that I am an absolute slut for Zutara. Enjoy!

Katara winces as she hears her husband slip back beneath the covers. Her eyes are still closed as he attempts to settle back into bed, but she’s been awake as long as he has.

Earlier, she guessed by a half an hour based on the movement of the moon, he’d shot up from his sleep whimpering and panting heavily, waking her up. He’d sat there for a few moments and gently run his fingers through her hair, then slipped out into their room and paced, muttering fiercely and repeatedly conjuring large balls of fire just to snuff them out.

Now, as he turns and wriggles around trying to get comfortable, she lets out a tired whine and rolls over. Taking care to still appear to be asleep, she tosses an arm around his bare torso and lays her head right over his heart, forcing him to settle back into bed. He snorts, and she can hear the soft smile he now wears, before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her so she’s almost on top of him.

“It’s almost like how a child holds a stuffed toy,” she thinks, until she feels him brush over the hem of her nightgown, which happens to be only a breath away from where her ass starts to curve.

“This one’s my favorite,” she hears him mumble, and she has to suppress a smirk. She knows.

His breathing evens out, and she falls back asleep to her favorite lullaby: the steady sound of him.

Usually her nighttime subterfuge is enough to counteract his nightmares, but she notices the glassy look in his eyes as she spreads moon peach preserve on her pastry the next morning.

“You’re nothing like your father my love,” she assures as she sets down her knife, and then takes a bite of her breakfast.

Zuko chokes on his tea, but tries to cover it, “What?” he rasps, clearly holding back a cough.

“You had another nightmare last night didn’t you,” she phrases it as a question, but they both know what she’s really questioning is if he was going to try to lie.

“Yes,” he sighs, “I was sitting in the Throne Room just like he used to, and Aang was trying to get me to do something, I don’t remember what, but all I could see was the Wall of Flames getting bigger and then you were there, and you were pregnant, and you said you should have known I’d be just like my predecessors. Then you-you turned and left, but you just looked so much like my mother did when she left and I knew that I’d done something to you, I’d hurt you.”

Katara reaches her hand across the table and takes his, smiling a sad smile as she does so. He looks up at her and smiles back, weakly, giving her hand a squeeze.

“That would never happen,” she declares, “Aang would never ask you something formally, he’d wait for you two to be hanging out as friends so you forget you’re the Fire Lord.”

He laughs, and she continues, relieved it’s working. “I don’t know about the Wall of Flames, but even when you’re in the Throne Room I’ve never seen it get bigger than a comfortable hearth fire. And ultimately, the entire thing comes apart because you’d never hurt me. Even all those times we tried to kill each other, you never hurt me. I mean, that was more because I kicked your ass, but the point still stands. And even if you had, you wouldn’t see me insulting and leaving you, Sokka would have already taken you out with his boomerang and had Toph trap you in quicksand, and then I’d kill you. Overall, two out of ten, tell your subconscious to do better.”

Zuko shrugs with a grin, and tells her he’ll pass along the message. But she can tell something is still bothering him. Rising from the table, she walks over to him and caresses his cheek. He takes a hold of the hand in question and presses a kiss to her palm. Closing his eyes, he takes a few deep breaths. The candles lighting their chamber reflect them

“I’m terrified of losing you,” he admits, and she’s a little surprised. She knew that, of course, and she was scared of losing him as well. But he’d never really seemed scared of losing her by his own fault. The amount of nobles and important military figures who’d been jailed for conspiring to put Azula on the Throne, or kill their non-traditional Fire Lady, was something they were well aware of, and Katara knew Zuko was scared of her death at their hands. She’d always assumed that he’d known there was just about no other way to get rid of her.

“Zuko,” she whispers, and he looks into her eyes with tears in his own, “there is nothing you could ever do to make me stop loving you. Even if you lost me, which you never will, even if I had to leave you, which I never will, I would still love you. Even if I die tomorrow and you have to go on I will still be there. I will never leave you.”

He chokes out a sob and pulls her close, scooping her up and plopping her in his lap. Even as he continues to cry, even as tears fall from her own eyes, she cradles his face in her hands and gently runs her fingers through his hair. They stay there all morning; a simple look from her tells all to the servant who’s come to fetch them for a meeting that they will not be attending. Her head now rests in his shoulder, and his is partially buried in the loose hair she hasn’t yet pulled back.

Finally, Katara wiggles and pokes at his stomach, “Zuko.”

“Hmm?”

“Zuko, you’re gonna have to let go of me.”

“Why?”

“I have to pee.”

“No.”

“No? No you won’t let go?” she laughs in disbelief.

He shakes his head into her curls, “Nope. You don’t have to pee.”

“Tell that to my bladder.”

“Katara aren’t you a master waterbender? Couldn’t you like bend it-”

“Zuko, my love, that’s disgusting. Also, do not doubt that I had that conversation with Sokka multiple times while we were traveling. The answer is not something I am willing to find out.”

He sighs and loosens his hug, pressing a kiss to her lips before standing up and stretching. She chuckles and heads off to relieve herself, shaking out her legs as she walks.

Heading to bed early that night, she is far too tired to bother with a proper nightdress. She simply falls into their bed naked and slips under the covers. Zuko had let her know that he was going to be making up for the time he’d missed that morning and she shouldn’t wait for him. Usually she would, but today she’d had to don one of her heaviest Fire Lady outfits and parade herself around the city to rub elbows and kiss babies. The nation was getting restless without an heir, and most of the people who lived in the city already disapproved of having a foreigner as a Fire Lady, let alone a waterbender. They’d all wanted their daughters to marry them into the Palace. It was always a bit jarring to see the blatant resentment of her position in Caldera since the rest of the Fire Nation loved her, especially after hearing about her adventures as the Painted Lady.

She falls asleep almost instantly, face buried in Zuko’s pillow so she can still smell him like usual, but is awoken at midnight by her husband closing the door behind him. Katara is a heavy sleeper, but she and Zuko had always been so attuned to each other that it was impossible to sleep when the other was nearby and restless.

He removes his robes as she had, and pulls on a loose pair of sleep pants. Pulling back the covers to slide in next to her, he sees her and stops dead, sucking in a breath. She grins and rolls slightly to look directly at him.

“Hey hot stuff,” she croons, and immediately falls into a giggle fit as soon as she hears herself. Calming down, she takes a deep breath and looks up at Zuko.

He snorts and shakes his head, raising an eyebrow as he flicks his eyes over her naked body again. She sighs and rolls her eyes, pretending to cross her arms over her breasts and turn away until a warm hand shoots out and grabs her shoulder to hold her in place. “Not so fast,” he growls, and she grins at him through hooded eyes.

“What’re you gonna do about it?”

He’s on top of her instantly and she sighs as he kisses down her neck and shoulders, her energy renewed as a fire blooms in her belly and spreads through her body.

Nightmares continue, for both of them. Katara can’t even count how many times she’s shot up in bed choking on her tears and needed Zuko to light a few of the torches in their bedchamber and breathe in her ear, just so the vision of her not being able to save him from Azula will leave her mind. Zuko’s own dreams are haunted by his old life, and she knows he’s glad she saw the worst of him before the best.

But they love each other. They are yin and yang, fire and water, spark and shadow, and she would not have it any other way.

When she feels the blood pulsing in the veins of those around her on full moons, he listens to her fears of being a monster. He holds her and traces patterns into her skin, tells her everything he loves about her. He tells her how the first time he saw her bloodbend he thought it was one of the hottest things he’d ever seen. When he is flooded with guilt at the thought of all his past wrongdoings, she admits that when he’d caught her arms, tied her to a tree, and taunted her, she had been sure he’d used his firebending to set a fire in her core and make her knees shake with anger and arousal. She braids his hair in Water Tribe fashion, smiling as he looks in the mirror and chuckles.

She remembers all those times Aang had looked at them with jealousy, or when Mai had pulled her aside and reminded her how hard being the Fire Lady would be for a girl of the Southern Water Tribe. She thinks of the dirty looks she’d gotten as she’d held his hand throughout his coronation, of angry rich Fire Nation girls her age calling her dirty and suggesting she clean the “filth” off her skin.

But then and now, always and forever, they were at each other’s sides. They were soulmates, she was sure of it. They loved each other at their lowest and brought each other to their highest, and really, there was no sort of relationship that was better.

#atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #zutara #zuko #zuko x katara #zutara fanfic #zutara fic #zutara fanfiction #katara #fanfic #fic #fanfiction #writing #my writing #bleachers #shadow #songfic #oneshot #fire lord zuko #fire lady katara #inked ideas

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Wan High Weeping (Part 35)

So my computer is still having issues. It basically nuked itself and so I lost a good portion of my outline for this fic and the entire document that helped me keep track of certain details (such as what professor taught which classes) and what event happened when. Basically I'm going in somewhat blind now. Like I'm relying solely on memory and mine isn't the best. So advanced apologies for any continuity errors, because I lost the documents that helped me prevent those. :/

Katara woke up feeling groggy and weak. She couldn't seem to recall how she had made it into her bed. She was at a party, wasn’t she? She was mad at Sokka, she faintly recalled. She tried to sit up, a wave of dizziness overwhelmed her. It occurred to her that she wasn’t in her bed at all. Everything was white from the walls to the bedspread to the gown she was wearing.

The gown!

She was in a hospital gown.

She closed her eyes, trying to recollect how she had gotten there. She remembered the party. She remembered the irritation. She remembered calling out to Aang and hanging out with TyLee. But it was all so distant.

She looked around the room for anyone who could help explain things to her. Finding no one, she reached for her phone. She checked her texts, all of them were panicked and desperate. Most of them had been sent to Sokka and Suki and then a few to Aang and one to TyLee.

She lifted a hand to her head, it hurt so badly. She wished that she knew how long she had been out for. Scrolling through the messages a picture began painting itself in her head, growing in clarity with each message. Jet had been following her the whole time and at some point she had begun to feel faint.

The rest was a black spot in her mind.

A black spot she could easily fill.

He had done it, he had gotten her.

She didn’t need the memories to push her to tears, the implication was enough. With trembling hands she checked to see if her social media pages had been tampered with, she could see Jet toying with those. But her accounts hadn’t been touched. So she looked at her photo collection.

A decision she grew to regret with a great depth.  

He had used her camera very generously. It was hard to conceptualize what she was seeing. Hard to believe that she was really seeing pictures of her own body strewn out with her shirt pulled up to reveal her bra and a skirt that was pulled just unsettlingly lower.

He had posed her.

He had taken the time to capture her in many different angles.

She didn’t want to know anymore so she set the phone aside and wept. He had done it, he’d gotten her. She was soiled and violated. She gasped out another sob. Why had she gone to that stupid party. She had known that it was a dreadful idea. How could she have let Sokka talk her into it? Why had he tried to do so in the first place?

How could he and Suki have just left her alone when they knew…

She didn’t understand and it was destroying her.

He hadn’t meant her any harm, but lord did he tarnish his reputation as the smart, role model older brother.

It occurred to her that he wasn’t even there.

She needed him so badly and he wasn’t even there.

She wanted to send him a text but the thought of unlocking her phone to see herself so exposed…

She couldn’t stomach the thought of it, let alone actually doing it. She’d have to ask someone else to go through and delete them. But, until she talked to the police, they’d have to remain on her phone.

She curled herself into a ball and sobbed harder.

There was a knock on her door and she heard someone speak. The words never quite computed. She didn’t want company that much. But she found it anyways in the form of Aang and Toph.

For a moment she could forget. “Toph!” She threw her arms around the girl. “Where have you been?”

“Well, I can’t exactly go to school.” Toph muttered. “I guess that’s okay though, because Wan High is basically a mental institution disguised as a high school and from what I’ve heard it’s been nothing but a mess.”

Toph wormed her way out of the embrace and Katara caught sight of her eyes. They had a foggy film over them.

“What happened?”

“So it was pretty crazy, right? I was in my room and suddenly I see this bright beam of light. Next thing I know, I’m lying on a surgical table and these aliens are looming over me. They told me that they were going to give me night vision. I didn’t realize that they meant that I’d only see darkness like it’s always night time.”

Katara sighed, but she was happy to let the tall tale take her away from a brutal reality.

“Anyways, because aliens do unethical things, I am now blind so I’ve been in and out of the hospital a lot. It doesn’t leave much time for school. Actually, I requested the room next to you.”

“Will you be able to see again?”

Toph’s face fell some. “They’re trying, but they’re also starting to suggest some school that work with blind kids. I’m learning to read braille and I might be getting a dog!”

“A dog?”

“I helped her pick him.” Aang remarked. “His name is Appa! He’s really big and I think that he’d be a good match for Toph.”

“I have a feeling that he wasn’t describing any of the other dogs very accurately. But I can’t see for myself, so I have to take Twinkle Toes’ word for it.”

“That sounds really exciting Toph! The dog part, I mean. You said you wanted a dog, right?”

Toph nodded, “I guess that’s one good thing.”

The door opened a second time. Katara expected to see Sokka and Suki standing in the doorway, mirror images of concern. Instead her parents walk in. Her mother’s eyes looked as swollen and red as her own. She hugged her tightly. “Oh God.” She whispered to no one in particular. “I knew that I shouldn’t have let you go to that party! You’re brother, he’s so irresponsible.” She was rubbing her head, looking wholly exhausted. She reminded Katara so much of herself.

“Mom, where is Sokka?”

“Your brother got himself arrested.” Hakoda replied. She couldn’t assess anything from his tone.

“F-for what?” Katara half-whispered.

“For beating up an underage boy.”

“That wasn’t a boy, that was a monster.” Kya grumbled.

“As far as the law sees, he’s an underage boy.” Hakoda replied firmly.

And Katara was teary eyed all over again. “This is all my fault.”

“Oh no. No, no, don’t say that honey.” Her mother’s arms were around her again, this time even tighter.

“But he was defending me.”

“And that’s what you’re going to tell the police when they take you in for questioning.” Hakoda replied.

“I can’t! Not today.” Katara winced.

“No, not today, they’re going to give you some time.” Kya replied.

“But the sooner, the better.”

.oOo.

Sunday was a dream in comparison to the mishap that was Monday. Sunday she got to see Aang and finally got to hear from Toph--good news no less! They hadn’t left her side until their respective families had ushered them home.

Monday showed her no friendly faces. She was faced with a few final tests, mostly concerning what affects the drugs had on her and then she was ushered away for the questioning that had been promised.

The officer, who introduced himself to her as officer Yu-Ron opened up their session with an offering of coffee. To which she shook her head, she wasn’t a big fan of the stuff. That had always been Suki’s thing. She watched him set the cup aside. “Shall we get right into this then?”

Katara nodded, she supposed that it was better to get things over with. The sooner she did, the sooner she could work to put it out of her mind entirely.

“Your friend, TyLee Boyang, she had given me a video of the incident. Do you have any evidence of your own. The video alone is very sturdy, but every bit helps.”

Katara nodded and handed him her phone. “Please delete them after you send them to yourself, I don’t want to have to look at them again.”

He nodded. “Understandable.” He took the phone from her. “Would you mind telling me what you remember of Halloween night?”

“A lot of it is really...fuzzy.” Katara replied. “I think he, Jet, drugged me. I saw him watching me throughout the whole party. Everytime I looked he was there. And then one time I looked, and he wasn’t. And that scared me. After that I started feeling, I don’t know...weird. Or maybe it was a little before that, I really can’t remember.”

“The hospital did find traces of Rohypnol in your system. That would account for the blackout and the memory loss.”

Katara found an ounce of comfort in that Yu-Ron seemed to think things were all adding up. At the very least, her story sounded as real as it was.

“I’m going to ask a favor of you. You do not have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Her tummy knotted.

“Are you willing to watch the video handed to me by Ms. Boyang?”

Katara swallowed. “If it will help get Jet locked up, I-I guess I can.”

“Very well. If you would like to stop at any time, let me know and you don’t have to finish watching it.”

Katara clutched the edge of her chair as he began playing the video. The voice that came through was muffled by static and fuzz, she couldn’t make out what he was saying but his intentions were clear enough. She watched him climb atop her. She could feel herself growing almost numb. The video played on and she watched him tug her shirt off. Somehow it was like watching a movie, it was too surreal. That couldn’t possibly have been her. She swallowed as a tear slipped down her cheek.

“Do you want me to turn it off?”

But the video was almost done, so she let the entire clip roll.

“He got me.” She spoke quietly. “He got what he wanted...he…”

“He didn’t get as far as you think. If it is any comfort, your brother got to him before he could do anything but take your shirt off.”

A weight lifted off of her chest and a lightness settled in. “He didn’t...uh...he didn’t you know…?”

Yu-Ron smiled reassuringly. “No, not quite. But this is still enough to get the boy locked up for a while.”

“What about my brother? He was just trying to help me.”

“I am aware.” Yu-Ron nodded. “We are building a case for that. Ms. Boyang mentioned that a Mr. Chan Haga was present too and that he did a good number on Mr. Akunin.”

It took her a moment to recall that Jet’s last name was Akunin. He had always been Jet to her.

“So you can get Sokka out of jail?”

“I can very well try.”

.oOo.

She still wasn’t up for school the next morning. She wasn’t up for seeing Suki at lunch. Suki who didn’t even bother visiting her at the hospital. She tried to give a little leeway; the father of her baby was in jail. She had to visit him. But, surely, she could have sent a text.

No, Suki was completely silent.

She knew Suki well enough to gauge that the girl knew that Katara was already mad at her. She knew Suki well enough to know that she was trying to give her some space. But this wasn’t a ‘give space’ kind of situation. This was a confrontation kind of situation. No, it was a situation where she very well would have let Suki’s mistake slid, so long as she lent her support.

As well as Suki meant, she was only digging herself in deeper.

As much as she longed for someone to talk to and confide in, she wanted to be angry at Suki. At the perfect person to seek comfort in. But Katara had self-respect. She wasn’t crawling back to Suki without an apology for abandoning her twice over when she needed her the most.

It looked like she would be powering through school alone.

Again.

It chilled her through and through as she dizzily packed her supplies. It didn’t feel right heading off to school as though it were another normal day. It didn’t feel right at all it was jarring and disorienting and she had a feeling her mom would have to listen to her weep the whole way to school.

She knew that, for the first time in their relationship, Kya did not know how to console her.

She didn’t know how to console herself.

She wished she could text Toph. She ended up settling on Aang. It was a shame that those two were not in her lunch hour. She wondered if she would be sitting alone and that doubled her rate of tear fall. God, she was an emotional wreck.

She felt like something half-alive dragging herself to class. She heard the late bell and braced herself for a jolly good time with June. But even she seemed to take pity on Katara’s soul, letting her pass by without a word. She dropped into her seat.

She refused to look up from her paper, it had been an outrage enough to see Chan sitting in the seat behind her unfilled one while Sokka was in jail. She had looked up only once, to catch sight of a very bedraggled Azula. Her hair obscured much of her face, but Katara could swear that she saw some bruising. She ran her fingers through her own decently messy, and dreadfully unwashed hair, she had to be imagining things.

The bell rang and she hustled out before Chan or Chu-Leng could catch her.

.oOo.

She slid into her usual lunch seat, dreading the moment when Suki would plop down next to her and pretend like nothing was wrong. Just when she was beginning to think that Suki wasn’t going to show up, she heard a lunch tray clamor on the table.

Katara made a point of not looking up.

“Hey, Kat.” Suki greeted.

Katara put an extra effort into enjoying her lunch meat.

“I’m gonna sit down, okay?”

She dug around in her lunchbox and fished out a star shaped sandwich and a note from her mother. If she read that, then she wouldn’t have to think about the girl who sat down next to her.

“Are you doing okay?”

Her mother’s note was longer than usual, reminding her that she was brave and strong and that she would get through this one. That the whole family would and that they would come out stronger still. Of course she sprinkled in more mundane commentary about having a nice day at school. She folded the note up and slipped it back into her pocket. Her elbow brushed against Suki. “I wish you stuck this close to me at the party.”

An audible glup let Katara know that Suki was well aware that she was in deep.

Katara almost caved.

“I didn’t mean to…”

“You knew that I needed your help. The only reason I came to that party was to hang out with you and Sokka!” She snapped. “I was wondering why you didn’t just want to hang out at home instead. It’s harder to sneak away from your friend to have sex when it’s just the three of you.”  So maybe it wasn’t the only reason, Aang was a pretty good part of it, but that wouldn’t help guilt Suki.

Suki’s head dipped. “I know, it was stupid.”

“Stupid, yeah. Funny how I got to pay the price for your stupidity this time around.” Katara flinched, she didn’t know where any of that had come from. She had never been this angry before. Not with a friend. She had never said anything like that to a friend before. She knew that she should apologize.

Instead she let an oppressive awkward silence befall them.

One that filled the entirety of the lunch hour.

.oOo.

Her second day back at school was no charmer either. June still didn’t interrogate her for her tardiness, but that didn’t alleviate the red that Chan’s presence put in her vision. His voice roused her temper more, even if his insults weren’t aimed at her.

"That's true, it's a gift that keeps on giving. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen anyone eat like that! I don't know how you can eat so much at once."

 She couldn’t say why it bothered her so much to hear him say those words, really, Azula would have laughed if he were saying something like that to her. But still, his laughter drove her nearly mad. Perhaps it was because she could imagine him laughing like that knowing that Sokka was being punished for a crime he had a hand in. Katara lingered in the doorway as he added "There's something wrong with you."

 She could see that Azula had murmured something back as she seated herself.

 "Careful, you're going to break it!" Chan remarked, earning himself a high five. Azula mumbled something else and the laughter died away. Maybe it was finally occuring to him that he was an awful excuse of a boy. Katara took her own seat, rubbing at eyes that were so red they might as well be bleeding. She really needed to stop crying. But, lord, was it hard not to. Frankly, she just longged to go home.

She glanced at Azula.

Perhaps she should say something. Despite it all, she was beginning to feel awful for her. The stage of Azula so closely resembled her own, she couldn’t possibly be doing well. She almost did, but she lost her nerve. She didn’t want to risk one more bad thing.

.oOo.

She resigned herself to another lonely lunch. One that would leave her mind wandering. Aang was too much of a teacher’s pet to text in class, not that she wasn’t right there with him on that, but she really could use the conversation.  Toph couldn’t text and TyLee had just sent a text asking for luck with another round of questions with Yu-Ron. The poor girl must be exhausted. Katara knew that she was. The in depth interrogation she was subjected to after school yesterday had been an unpleasant surprise. But, apparently, their talk with Jet led them to question her again.

With Suki sitting at the other end of the table the questions repeated in her mind. She couldn’t even count on her fingers the number of ways they had phrased the same questions. She had an even slimmer ability to count how many different officers and lawyers she was introduced to. It was so completely overwhelming.

She practically begged the universe to slap her with some sort of distraction.

And a cruel genie the universe was.

"I heard about the party." "Heard about it?” Katara couldn’t keep the spite out of her voice. “You were there." "I left early…" Just like that, empathy hit her all over again. She recalled Chan’s remarks, she could see it in Azula’s posture, that they were getting to her. So she tried to sound less cold. "Right." A complete failure. "If it's any solace, he tried feeling me up." Katara didn’t know how to respond so she just let Azula continue. “I was just laying there."

She found herself twice as empathetic. But at the same time she couldn’t help but be a tad jealous. "I wish that, that was all he did to me." "He didn't actually…?" "No, TyLee stopped him." She really didn’t want to talk about this. Especially not with Azula. The girl who had probably the second biggest hand in spreading around the whore rumors. She caught Azula nod. "TyLee can fight when it matters." Katara smirked to herself at the opportunity, Azula had just granted her."Unlike some people." She uttered it just loud enough to coxa a reaction from Suki. She hated the involuntary stab of guilt that came with having said it, so she engages Azula some more.  "Why do you care?" "I don't think that you're a slut." The confession made her want to weep. Out of joy, relief, or something else, she couldn’t quite grasp. But she had to know. She needed an answer to a question that had been on her mind for so long. "Then why did you say it? Over and over again." Really, that one ought to be good.” "I don't know." Azula was speaking much too quietly, it sparked something in Katara. Maybe she should let up a little, the other girl was already having a hard time. But that small voice within reminded her that Azula wouldn’t have cared. A year back she probably would have still been harassing her even knowing her predicament.  "I guess I'm just a bad person." Azula finished. Katara's sighed, how was it that Azula was making it this hard to stay angry with her? Maybe it was simply Katara herself, who was being too forgiving for her own good. Regardless she replied, "you're not a bad person…" She didn’t know if she believed her own words, but she supposed that if Azula was taking the time to give her own version of an apology it had to count for something. She sighed again, she supposed that after everything, it would be hard for the other girl to not change. Before she could address the matter further, Azula diverted the conversation. “I liked your costume, it suited you." To be honest, it was a refreshing subject, one that led her to think about lighter aspects of her life. "thanks, my mom made if for me." A dash of dread crept in. Her costume was just about as kiddish as her silly mermaid backpack. And the fact that her mother had made it for her?

She waited for the mockery. "Is she a seamstress or something?” The question was innocent enough. She shook her head, "no, but Gram Gram was. Sewing is just a hobby." If only she had sewn the threads a little tighter. Maybe added some more straps... Mercifully, Azula cut into her thoughts. "That's one hell of a hobby." "Yeah! It's fun too, sometimes we do some sewing together.” Her gratitude for the interruption comes in the form of a more joyful tone. She hoped that maybe it would comfort Azula some to know that she was cheering Katara up at least a little.  “and mom teaches me about different traditional patterns!" Azula’s own expression seemed to turn, something that looked like it could be relief. Maybe acceptance. There was nothing vicious behind it, but something was intangibly unsettling Katara about it. The sudden shift wasn’t boarding well with her. But she couldn’t say why so instead she carried on the conversation. "Have you ever done any sewing before?" Azula shook her head. She was being much too meek. Much too soft-spoken. She considered that Azula could use something to look forward to. "Maybe, if you want, I can show you how. I could use a distraction." She was almost certain that Azula could take her mind away from Jet. But her reply wasn’t as enthusiastic as Katara had anticipated. "Maybe…" "Uh…yeah…" Katara trailed off. That was kind of a conversation ender. Had the idea really been that unappealing. "I am going to talk to Teo." "Oh, yeah, okay." Katara replied. Something needed addressing but she couldn’t place it. She was torn between asking Azula if she wanted to bring Teo to her table and asking her just what had compelled her to start a conversation anyways. Had this been something she’d planned for awhile and finally had the guts or the motivation to do so?

She didn’t realize that she had actually really hoped for Azula to say yes, until the girl had walk away.

The ominous feeling stuck with her. She chewed her sandwich, this one in the shape of a heart. She had trouble swallowing it, her stomach was doing flip flops. There was something so wrong. She took out her mom’s note. ‘Be strong today. Lots of love. Make me proud.’ It was just the sort of simple thing her mom would say.

She watched Azula walk out of the cafeteria.

Lots of love.

Azula didn’t seem to get much of that.

She drummed her fingers on the table nervously. She wanted to follow Azula out, but the thought of hall monitors made her skin crawl. She didn’t want to make more trouble for herself.

She clutched her mother’s note.

Make me proud.

She stood up.

TyLee had saved her, it was her turn to save someone else. Even if it got her in trouble. Even if Azula wasn’t in any danger at all. She supposed she’d rather look like a paranoid fool then…

Then what? What did she think was going to happen?

In the back of her mind she knew exactly what she was fretting.

She checked the bathroom first, it was empty.

Her next thought was to go to the parking lot. She racked her brain for the image of Azula’s car. It had been a while since the girl had pulled up to give her a ride. She supposed that she would know that car if she saw it.

She scanned the lot, trying to keep her fear from rising. She couldn’t afford to be frantic, lest she overlook the car. At last she spotted it. But she froze up. What if her presence just made things worse. What if Azula didn’t want to see her.

The panic was settling it, she didn’t know how to handle this one. She heard a ruckus and caught sight of Teo. He came to a stop and locked eyes with her. She pointed to the car and watched him wheel to it. She would let him keep Azula company, that was probably the safest route. Her job was to go back inside and get help.

.oOo.

She watched them load them load Azula into the ambulance. Her body was so pale, she didn’t think that Azula had made it. She didn’t know anyone living who had skin that shade.

Her arms were achy from trying to keep Azula from hurting herself further during her spasming.

Katara felt so defeated. She let herself become a victim and she had let Azula die. She should have talked to her sooner. She should have let her spite go when she heard Chan making his ridiculous jokes. She wondered it it would have made a difference if she would have told Azula that Chan was wrong. If she would have told her that she was still a pretty girl. The sort Katara envied. But then, who knew how long Azula had been planning this one.  

She looked at her mother’s note. “I tried, mom. I really, really tried.”

She wasn’t much up for physical contact, but she thought that Teo could use a hug. He was much closer to Azula, this was probably tearing him apart. Principal Roku, ever so stern, broke up the embrace and motioned them back to class.

For awhile they lingered in the hall and she vented to him about Sokka, about her case, and about how everything was just such a general mess."This school is such a disaster.” As Teo had noted.

"It was never like this at my old school."

She wished that she had begun talking to him earlier on.  "I wish I never met Jet." She concluded.

"Tell me about it." He replied, making her yearn even more for a time machine.

.oOo.

The rest of the day dragged by agonizingly slow. She thought about what she was going to tell her mother. Honesetly, she was at her wits end. How much misery could cling to and surround one person. She didn’t know what she had done to deserve this. Save for making one mistake, one simple mistake. Save for being too trusting.

She shut her locker and looked to the one next to hers. Azula’s locker was a mess of printouts and what looked like soda. She picked up one of the sheets and cringed. An Usha trademark that reminded her of Halloween all over again.

She is filled with regret all over again for not trying to help Azula sooner. For letting her spite get the best of her. She groaned to herself, maybe she ought to learn from this one. She whipped out her phone and asked Suki if she wanted to drop by her house in an hour or so. "Are you okay, Katara?" Katara jumped. When she turned around to see TyLee she replied. "I…too much is happening at once." Her voice was growing all weak. "What's going on?" It was hard for her to choke the words out. But finally she got the there. “She killed herself, Ty." And her tears flow, unchecked. It settled in, in full that she could have saved Azula but didn’t because she choose to harbor anger instead. It was just the kind of thing her mother didn’t like her to do.

"Who?"

"Azula." "How do you know!?" TyLee cries. "Teo and I found her." She answered miserably. "I…she talked to me before…" She should have seen it sooner. She really should have. Azula had made it pretty plan a number of times. At the very least, her distress had been obvious. "She talked to me too." TyLee replied softly.  She too had some tears to shed. "I was going to drive home with her today…" Her hiccuping matched Katara’s own.  "Is she really gone?" Katara wrapped her arms around her.  "I'm not sure.” She paused, she really hoped that she was wrong. “It sounded like it, but I don't know. They wouldn't tell me anything." She really didn’t understand why they were keeping her in the dark. She was one of the people who had found Azula! As if things couldn’t be any more miserable, TyLee noted, "I was going to drive home with her, Katara. We were going to go to my house and I was going to show her my new hamster and we were going to catch up…" Apparently, Katara wasn’t the only one with a heap of ‘if only’s’.  "We were going to be friends again…"

She somehow knew the feeling, she thought that she might have been ready to give Azula a chance.

.oOo.

Suki was snoring on the sofa close to her. On a normal day, sleepovers weren’t allowed on school days. But her mother didn’t put up a fight when Suki asked if they could have the extra time to talk things over. Kya had agreed, under the guise that Katara could use the company.

If she were being honest, even with the hours of chatter and discussion, Suki still didn’t give her a satisfactory answer as to why she thought it was a good idea to have her alone time with Sokka. Eventually Katara resigned to accepting, “okay, it was a horrible idea, I was just tipsy and horny.”

A horrible excuse, but at least it was an honest answer.

She was still furious but she didn’t want to leave Suki entirely alone to deal with her pregnancy concerns and the guilt.

Afterall, guilt was eating Katara alive, she wouldn’t ever willfully impose that on someone else. So Suki slept on the sofa in her living room and she took the floor. A bowl of spilled popcorn littered the room for her mom to fuss over.

The baby had Suki sound asleep and she was ready to turn the TV on to drown out mental images of her in only a bra and Azula on a stretcher. She feared that the two events would merge into one horrible scene courtesy of a nightmare, so she refused to sleep.

Her phone sounded. Instinctively she feared the buzz. She reminded herself that Jet was either in the hospital with no phone or in a cell. She picked it up, hoping for maybe Aang. Or better yet a message from Sokka telling her that they had decided to let him go after all.

She had received neither. But she supposed that the message she did recieve was a blessing in its own way. It was a simple, albeit, awkward thank you.

Katara looked at the clock. She wouldn’t be sleeping easy. She hadn’t expected anything of the sort, but she conversed with Azula for a good portion of the night.

#Avatar #Katara #Azula #TyLee #Suki #Sokka #Toph #Aang #Mai #Teo #Jet #Chan #Fanfiction

[mystic-kitten-writer]

Limerence [M] ︳07

Pairing: Zuko x OC

Genre: Romance, mainly fluff with future smut, and if you squint hard enough - you’ll find some angst.

Rating: SFW

Words: 4300+

Notes: Thanks for the likes loves, and I hope you enjoy the story - happy reading

Masterlist ︳06 ︳08

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Limerence: (English/n.) the state of being infatuated with another person.

The moment their eyes locked they knew - the flames within him twisted while the water within her turned. It was a connection, a connection that would lead to love, adventure, and drama.

Sisu

(Finnish/n.) The extraordinary determination in the face of adversity.

~ Ying Yue Jiang ~

           “Although tempting, I prefer you don’t hurt Zuko, Master Pakku,” I said with a giggle as I sipped away on my hot cup of tea. Master Pakku shrugged his shoulders before seating himself on the fluffy couch while slipping away on his mug. He looked confused as to why I would reject such an ‘amazing’ offer. I smiled tenderly over my tea, finding myself in a trance, absentmindedly watching the tinted green water sway side to side in the cup.

            I was confused, oh so confused. After the chaos that unravelled yesterday, Gran-Gran was kind enough to let me stay the night and cry out every emotion that I had. I was disappointed in myself; I should have remained calm, not snap like how I did. But between the argument with Katara and Zuko, I guess I had reached my limit. Gosh, Zuko. I bite my lip thinking about him again, was it stupid of me to still crave his company after everything he did? That in my weakest moment, my instinct was to cry to Zuko, even though he was the reason I was upset? Flashes of Zuko being shocked, angry, and then disappointed kept replaying in my mind.

            “What are you thinking about so hard, you look like you are ready to run back to him,” Gran-Gran spoke as she poured tea into her cup, it was clear her nose was still a bit stuffy from her cold. I looked up at her, a bit startled. “I-I don’t know. I keep remembering his face. He looked so surprised when Katara mentioned his engagement.” Gran-Gran snorted and waved away my concerns, “He was shocked because he got caught, that’s why. You can’t trust men.” Master Pakku raised a brow at Gran-Gran, and coughed, “I’m right here you know?” He said defensively. Gran-Gran began swatting her hand once again, “That includes you too.” She said as she turned back around and continued cooking away.

            I smiled looking at Master Pakku’s face of defeat, before he let out a breath and whispered just loud enough for me to hear, “That’s why I love her, she is a feisty one.” Master Pakku gazed over Gran-Gran with a look of pure admiration before he took another sip, “She acts all big and tough, but give her one compliment, and she crumbles.” He said with a chuckle. I smiled, seeing the way Master Pakku and Gran-Gran interacted made me happy yet blue, would Zuko and I have been like that? I groaned to myself, “What do I do?” I whispered.

            “Hear him out.” My head shot upwards, surprised to notice it was Master Pakku who spoke. He noticed my astonishment because he continued, “Your Grandmother is stubborn alright, but like any grandparent, it’s not a nice feeling to see your grandchildren get hurt. But if your gut is telling you something is wrong, listen to it. Should Fire Lord Zuko be engaged, do you not think that word of it would travel around the Nations? It would be quite a grand occasion.” He began. I listened carefully, taking note of what he was trying to hint, could it have been a misunderstanding? There was truth to his words, anything that ever happened with royalty always resulted in gossip amongst all Nations, could Katara have made a mistake?

            “So…you think…I should give him another chance?” I asked. Master Pakku eyed Gran-Gran, making sure she was still distracted and ear-shot away before shaking his head, “I know how it feels to not explain one’s self to the person you care about most. It was my biggest regret not telling your grandmother how I felt about her during our times in the Northern Tribe. But it was also your grandmother’s biggest regret not giving me a chance to speak, to listen before she left… But you didn’t hear any of this from me.” He swiftly ended before silently sipping on his tea.

            As if on cue, Gran-Gran placed a large lid on a pot before wiping her hands clean on her dishtowel. Her stew must be finished. I stood up with my empty cup and placed it in the sink, “I should get going… the others must be worried.” I started. Gran-Gran frowned and placed her hand on my shoulder, “Remember, if anyone starts trouble with you, you let me know. I’ll straighten them out.” She sternly spoke. I grinned and nodded my head, “I will Gran-Gran. Thank you for letting me stay the night and the tea.” I started. Gran-Gran smiled before hugging me tightly. I embraced her back, “Anything for my Grandchildren.” She muttered in my hair.

            I pulled away before waving at Master Pakku, “Thank you for the advice… on Waterbending.” I said, hoping he got my hint. Master Pakku smiled and nodded, acknowledging that he caught on. He waved swiftly and spoke, “I wish you the best.” I nodded my head, me too. I said my final goodbyes once again to everyone before I shut the door behind me, leaving the comfort of their home.

            It was cold outside, and I was thankful for the thick sweater Gran-Gran let me borrow for my walk home. I took my time regardless of the brisk air, enjoying the gentle tickles from the falling snow on my face. It was quiet outside, and I was grateful, it gave me time just to…think. There was no need for me to go home, since Gran-Gran demanded I wash up at there, as a symbolic way to wash away my troubles. Yet, the more I thought, the more anxious I got. Where do I even start? Do I go talk to the gang first, or do they come to me? I groaned to myself and threw my head back, running my hands through my hair, how did you get yourself into this mess?

            I sighed and looked forward, noticing that I was close to the house, before I spotted someone. Bright yellow, bald with some blue… “Aang!” I shouted, not realizing that I had drawn his attention to myself. I mentally scowled, well I guess this is how it’s going to start. Aang’s eyes widened when he realized it was me who called him; he dashed towards me, snow flying from either side of him. I couldn’t help but smile watching him keenly run to me; he looked like a lost child.

            “Yue, are you okay? I was going to Gran-Gran’s house because I know that’s where you usually go when you’re upset. I would have come sooner, but Zuko said-” Aang spat out speedily before stopping once he mentioned Zuko. It took me a few minutes to process what he had even said since he spoke so fast, he looks more upset than I was! The way his eyebrows pinched together, his mind turning, and eyes showcasing a large mixture of emotions. But it all came to a halt when he finally let out a long breath, and his shoulders dropped in pure defeat, “I’m sorry.”

            I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, a mixture of nervousness and confusion watching Aang struggle to stick to a single emotion. “What are you sorry about Aang? You didn’t do anything-” I started, but Aang frowned and shook his head disappointed. “That’s the problem. No one did anything. We should have never let this happen. I should have stopped Katara, and I should have stepped in when you and Zuko were fighting. What kind of Avatar am I if I can’t even stop a conflict between friends?” I sighed and looked down at the snowy floor.

            “It’s not your fault…” I grumbled underneath my breath, and I didn’t need to look up to know that Aang was distressed. “Yue, everyone feels horrible about what happened. We should have never let it happen. What happens between you and Zuko is between you two.” I looked up at him and frowned, “Aang he didn’t even know I was a Waterbender! And let’s not forget about the fact that he is engaged, to Mai, his apparent ex-girlfriend. I think it’s better you guys told me before he introduces me to Mai when I’m at the Fire Nation.” Aang frowned and shook his head, “Trust me, Yue, you need to talk to Zuko.”

            I crossed my arms and bit my lip nervously, “I know he is your best friend Aang, but-”

            “Please Yue, I know you are hurt, and you feel humiliated, but this is just a whole misunderstanding.” Aang started, his eyes begging. I looked back at the ground as I was once again perplexed. “Aang… what should I do?” I cried out softly. I could feel Aang’s arms wrap around my shoulders tightly as he brought me in close. I huffed as I let him hug me. It was an embrace filled with understanding and comfort. Aang was just one of those people who always knew what to say and what to do. And sometimes no words spoke louder than words. We must have stood there for a while before he patted my head gently and pulled away.

            His hands were still tightly grasping my shoulders, but he looked down upon me, staring into my eyes. “I know Zuko is rough on the edges; he is not the best when it comes to talking about feelings and to be honest, he is a complete idiot when it comes to relationships too…” I looked at Aang with a pout, “You are not exactly selling him Aang.” I said with a raised brow. Aang rubbed the back of his neck and huffed, “What I’m trying to say is as bad as Zuko looks right now, I can promise you one thing. He would never, ever, hurt you intentionally. He is stubborn and hard-headed, but he is not a cheater. Please, hear him out, even if it’s not for him, but me?”

            Aang looked at me with such pleading eyes that I couldn't help but smile weakly. Master Pakku’s biggest regret was not talking, while Gran-Gran’s was not listening. Although they ended up together in the end, happily married, it took them years to reach the point where they are now. Do I want the same thing to happen to us? What if Gran-Gran took the time to listen? Would they have been together from the start? “Aang…where is Zuko?” I asked.

            Aang eyes widen in pure delight as he jumped up, “Really?” He squealed. I smiled once again and nodded my head, “The truth is that I don’t want us to end…especially if it’s just a big misunderstanding, it would be silly wouldn’t it?” I started. Aang grabbed my hands and smiled brightly, “I promise you won’t regret it. We can go right now!” He said before pulling me away. I was utterly speechless as he tugged me away eagerly not towards the house, but off to the quiet streets once again.

            “A-Aang! Shouldn’t I see the gang first? Talk to-”

            “They can wait, but we need to do this now. Trust me.” Aang said as he waved away my concerns. His sympathetic demeanour completely disappeared, and suddenly he seemed determined. I couldn’t help but smile seeing at how excited he was at the thought of Zuko and I reconciling. And deep down, I was hoping, and praying that it would happen. Was it foolish to want everything to go back to how it was despite how much he hurt me? Was I acting naïve and stupid, wishful thinking? Hoping for too much from something that just started days ago.

            It was the sound of water that grabbed my attention, and I noticed we were at the dock, more specifically in front of the main vessel where Zuko stepped down from and where we met for the first time. “Is he leaving?” I gasped. Did I upset him that much? Did I cause him to want to leave? Aang turned around and noticed right away my concern as he stopped abruptly and rubbed the back of his neck, “No, he had to do something.” He said quickly. I raised a brow and looked at Aang perplexed, “Do something?”

            Aang smiled and nodded eagerly, “You worry too much. You over think things. Trust me…everything will work out in the end.” He said. I pouted but nodded. It was Aang’s confidence that seemed to calm down my nerves as he continued to pull me towards the grand ship. Right away the guards standing proudly at the lowered ramp nodded their heads towards us. “Does Zuko know we are going to see him now?” I asked. Aang didn’t bother to turn around to answer me. Instead, he continued to guide me through the interior of the ship as if this was his second home. “You can say…that he has an idea.”

            I opened my mouth to question him more, but I closed it shut, as my attention was quickly drawn to the interior of the ship. It was huge, the walls were tall, and almost everything inside was decorated with vibrant reds and golds. Although the walls were metal, they seemed to have an internal glow, most likely reflecting the light from the lamps that illuminated the corridors. Dad was right…the Fire Nation do know how to decorate. Everything seemed expensive, lavish. As we continued walking, guards and servants would stop and bow at us and then leave once we moved passed them.

            Finally, Aang came to a sudden stop, in front of two bulky metal doors. He turned around and smiled, “The moment of truth.” My eyes widen, and I could feel myself starting to freak out. “A-Aang, I…I…I don’t think I can do this.” I spoke anxiously. It felt too soon, too… real. Aang shook his head and grasped my shoulders, “Just breath, in and out. I promise you; you won’t regret it. I swear to you, as the Avatar.” I bite my lip nervously, fighting the conflicting emotions raging internally.

            Aang stepped back and spoke to one of the guards standing in front of the doors, “May you let Fire Lord Zuko aware that we have arrived?” Aang asked. The guard nodded before briefly opening the door and stepping inside. For a split second, I could see the flickering of lights inside before the door shut closed. Muffled voices could be heard, before the door opened once again and the guard nodded his head, signalling us to enter.

            My hands began to shake nervously, and for a second I completely forgot how to breathe. Aang grasped my hand and squeezed it, “I’ll be there with you. Don’t stress.” He said with a warm smile. I nodded my head, not trusting my voice before he stepped forward and began pushing the door open. I could see bright lights once again, and I was then able to take in the room we were in entirely. It was clear it was a study, bookshelves lining the walls, and a few piles of papers scattered across the floors. But when I looked forward, I finally saw him, Zuko.

            I felt myself nervously bite my lip, realizing that I was officially face-to-face with him. He looked pale and tense. His hair was pulled back in a tight bun, as he wore formal Fire Nation attire. He was leaned up against his wooden desk, with his arms crossed against his chest. I felt my eyes trail upwards to his eyes, and at that moment our eyes locked. It was like the air was knocked out of me, and all the emotions I thought I had in check was trying to erupt from within me. Was it too late to build another wall of ice?

            “Ying Yue…” Zuko breathed out heavily. As if my very existence caused him pain. My eyes fluttered down to my feet, feeling completely out of place and almost underneath him. Although Zuko looked upset, miserable, he still had this aura around him that commanded attention. But could I have expected anything less from a Fire Lord? I let out a deep breath and looked upwards, directly at him. “Fire Lord Zuko…” I muttered. Trying to look somewhat confident. But in truth, I didn’t know what to say, or where to start for that matter.

            So there we stood, looking at each other like complete fools, a waiting game as to who will speak first. Zuko’s golden eyes seemed clouded as if he had so much on his mind. What happened when I left? Suddenly, feeling brave, I stepped forward and spoke, “Congratulations, on your engagement, I’m glad things worked out in the end with Mai.” I said softly, trying my best to sound happy. Happy at the fact that he was engaged, but the moment I said those words, it felt like reality was rubbing alcohol in an open wound.

            Zuko sighed heavily and shook his head, letting his head drop as he gazed at the ground, “Save the congratulations because I’m not engaged.” My eyes widen, and I looked at him confused, not…engaged? Did I hear right? “But I asked you yesterday; you said…you said you were,” I said. Zuko uncrossed his arms from his chest and instead gripped the edge of the table. “So are you telling me you lied?” I asked once again after he remained quiet. Zuko chuckled lowly to himself and finally looked upwards, looking at me directly in my eyes.

            “It’s…complicated.” He started. I frowned and crossed my arms. “You want the truth? Well, here it goes. I’m not getting any younger, and as Fire Lord, it’s expected that I have at least some idea of who will bear the heir to the throne. My councilmen thought Mai would be the best option.” I looked down, not wanting to hear the rest. So he is in an arranged marriage? For the sake of his Nation…bound to duty. “But, I refused. I don’t love her.” He finally added. My eyes widen, and I quickly looked up at Zuko.

            For a split moment, a sense of relief engulfed me. Was it wrong for me to be happy? Zuko seemed to take notice at my shift in demeanour because he gave me a weak smile, “I…I don’t want to marry for politics. Look how that turned out for my family.” He said sarcastically. I sighed heavily, knowing very well that his family life was a touchy subject in itself. “But regardless I’m still engaged, just to no one. Since I refuse to marry out of convenience.” Zuko finally stood away from the table and slowly began walking towards me.

            It didn’t take long for his steps to stop right in front of me, so close that I could tell he barely got any sleep last night as his eyes seemed so tired. This must have completely consumed him… “I wanted to tell everyone, but it never felt like the right time. The only person who knew was Sokka, who told Katara. And now we are here…” Zuko finally ended off. I bit my lip anxious, taking in everything he told me. A big misunderstanding, Aang was not joking at all. I shook my head and softly laughed to myself.

            “So…as of now. You are…single?” I asked. Zuko laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “As single as can be.” The moment those words left his lips the urge to smack him completely overcame me. And I punched his arm, hard. Zuko’s eyes widen in shock as he gripped his arm, “That hurt!” He cried out as he rubbed his arm. I looked at him upset, “You should have said no to begin with, you-you idiot! You made me feel like a complete fool.” I cried out. It was then I realized I let my tears fall and this time I punched his chest hard.

            Zuko tightly gripped my wrist that punched his chest, pulling me towards him. My body was entirely pressed against his chest, as his whole frame engulfed me. One arm snaked around my waist while his other hand caressed my head, “I’m sorry. I was an idiot. A fucking idiot.” I didn’t care that I was ruining his expensive Fire Lord clothing at all with my tears and snot. That’s the least of his worries. “I’m going to kill you,” I muttered in his chest, and I could hear Zuko chuckle. “Can you at least wait till I ask you something?”

            I pulled away and wiped away my tears on my sleeve. Zuko smiled at me sweetly, but I could still feel his arm snaked around my waist. “Ying Yue, although I know you probably hate me right now, and this is probably the worst time to tell you this. But…I like you.” I couldn’t help but start laughing. Zuko likes me? He actually just confessed that he has feelings for me? “And this may be wishful thinking…but hopefully, you still feel the same way?” He asked me carefully, probably anticipating another punch to either his arm or chest.

            I shook my head, “Aang was right. You may know how to rule a Nation, but you are a complete fool when it comes to relationships. Of course, I like you! Why would I cry or bother coming here to talk?” I whined. I could tell Zuko was about to refute Aang’s claim, but instead, he laughed. Zuko patted my head, messing up my hair, and I pouted. “I guess that leads us to a more…serious conversation.” He said.

            My ears perked up at the thought of a serious conversation, but he still held me close. “I think we both know that this is not going to be easy.” He started. I nodded my head, he was right. Whatever we were, we were literally screaming out for trouble. It was the type of relationship your parents would advise against, yet here we were. “It’s because I’m a Waterbender?” I asked. Zuko sighed and nodded, “You not being royalty is one issue, the bigger issue at hand is your bending. I couldn’t care less…but the council on the other hand do.” I frowned and played with my fingers.

            “Yesterday, when you left, I spent hours thinking about how I could make us work. And I think I found a way.” He started. I looked at him confused, found a way? Zuko pulled away from me before walking over to his desk. He crouched down, opening a drawer in his study before he pulled a small rectangular box. As he walked back towards me, I could see how ornate the box was; a beautiful red, decorated with gold ink. “Open it.” He said as he passed me the item.

            I gently gripped the box, and I took note of how heavy it was. I carefully lifted the lid, the box was lined entirely with red silk, but in the center was a piece of black marble, shaped like an elongated circle. It had a Fire Nation symbol engraved into it, with a golden dragon swirling around it, embracing the flame. But more importantly, there was a pink gem placed in the forehead of the dragon. At the very bottom, there were words engraved. My fingers gently touched the words, feeling every divot and bump. Imperial Consort…My eyes widen, the heaviness of the words finally sinking in. Imperial Consort? Doesn’t that…Doesn’t that mean…

            “Are you proposing?” 

            Zuko’s eyes widen, and his face flushed, “Wait, what, no! Not that I wouldn’t want to marry you or something, but, uh, no.” He stuttered out. I laughed at his reaction and shook my head, “Imperial Consort, that refers to the Emperor’s wife, the Empress.” I said. Zuko shook his head and gently lifted the marble slab from the box, “For the Earth Nation, in the Fire Nation it means something different.” I titled my head confused, and Zuko thankfully continued.

            “Imperial Consort refers to the partner of the Fire Lord; it’s the highest position I can give to my partner, without marrying her. With this seal, you are fully protected under Fire Nation rule, and have the full respect of royals in the kingdom, since your rank would outrank everyone, besides me. If you accept this seal, you will become a Fire Nation citizen. We could date freely, and it would give me enough time to figure out the finer details in regards to us. But more importantly, this would protect you.”

            The seriousness of this seal was overwhelming, and it was crazy to think that this slab of marble, meant so much. If I accept this… I would have to leave here forever. I would be a full-fledged member of the royal family in the Fire Nation. My duties and roles would completely change. Zuko gently grabbed my hand and brought it up, his other hand still grasping the seal, and just hovering over my open palm. “I hope you know, that although this seal represents a lot, it does not mean that we must change. Should you want to remain friends or whatever, it doesn’t matter. It’s just a placeholder, a protective symbol until we figure out what we want to do.”

            I watched the seal dangle upon my palm, the dragon tightly holding the Fire Nation symbol, it was symbolic, the dragon literally held the Fire Lord’s heart. “I guess this finally leads me to the question. Do you, Ying Yue, accept this seal, and want to become the Imperial Consort of the Fire Lord?” I was utterly speechless at the question.

            There were so many factors that I had to think about. Gosh, what would Dad say about this? Katara, Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Suki? Who would look after everything that I was in charge of? Does that mean I have to leave Kima behind? I looked up at Zuko as if I could find my answer, but instead, I was greeted with his stunning gold eyes. He looked down at me with such warmth and happiness, and he smiled at me so gently. I bite my lip nervously, trying to come to a decision. No matter what I say, there were pros and cons, but I knew deep down, what answer would give me the most happiness.

            “Fire Lord Zuko…I…I accept.”

Copyright © 2019 Mystic-Kitten, inc. all rights reserved. No reposting, modifying, or translations of any kind allowed. Thank you for your cooperation.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Avatar characters portrayed in this story besides Ying Yue Jiang, Lia, Kima, and any future creations.

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