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bloatedandalone04 · 9 months

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Like Fine Wine

➪the one where you can’t resist hayden’s look for his role in ahsoka.

Warnings: hubby hayden bc i want to marry this man so badly, current age (or 41 year old) hayden, smut, fluff, pet names, unprotected sex, handjob (brief), hair pulling, soft smut, you guys just straight up loving on each other, reader is feral for him, spoilers for ahsoka if you haven’t seen the last 2 episodes, takes place during the filming of ahsoka (back in may 2022), this is just self-indulgent tbh

Word Count: 2.5k

Do not repost this anywhere, reblogs are fine ♡

When you finally made your way back to the hotel room you and Hayden were staying at during the filming of Ahsoka, the last thing you were expecting to see was your husband propped up against the headboard, shirtless with grey sweats covering his lower half, and the script for tomorrow in his hands.

He looked absolutely divine, and you bit back a moan at the mere sight of him, the wine bottle you had bought from the store across the street nearly slipping from your grasp.

When he heard the door open but didn’t hear your voice right after, Hayden looked up to see you standing in the doorway, an unreadable expression on your face as you stared at him. “Hey, baby,” he murmured in a greeting, flipping the script back to the first page as you closed the door without breaking eye contact. “I was going to ask if you wanted to go over this scene with me, but you seem…preoccupied. What’s on your mind?”

You set the bottle down on the table by the door, shrugging off your jacket as you stepped towards him. “I was just thinking,” you trailed off, biting your lip as your eyes stalked his body like he was prey.

Hayden sat up against the headboard, a teasing glint in his eye. “About what?”

Kneeling on the bed, you kick off your shoes before crawling over to him and straddling his lap. “About what I could’ve possibly done to deserve such a hot husband,” you answer, taking the package of papers from him and dropping them on the rug beside the bed.

His hands instinctively grab your waist, his own eyes raking up and down your face. “Eighteen years together and you’re only asking that now?” He teased, his fingers lifting your shirt slightly so he could feel your skin on his.

“Oh, no, I’ve been asking myself that since the day you messed up your practice run with Ewan and had to restart it from the very beginning,” you say back, watching as a knowing smile graced his lips.

“That was only because you walked on set looking like something right off of the red carpet. Kinda like how you look right now,” he not so subtly gazed down at your body, his blue eyes beginning to darken the longer he had you on top of him.

You roll your eyes but blush at his forward words, resting your hands on his shoulders. Eighteen years together and fifteen since you’ve been married, and he still was able to effortlessly make you feel like you were the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Your engagement ring and wedding band reflected off the single lamp he turned on, unknowingly setting the mood for when you got back. It was on the bedside table next to his phone, which had been turned completely off since he was away from set and planned to spend the rest of his night with you.

“Aren’t you a charmer?” You mumbled, feeling the cool metal of his own wedding band, that was identical to yours, pressed against the heated skin of your hip. “Seriously, do you even realize how good you look right now?”

His hair was still somewhat styled in his clone wars look for the flashback scene, and the way it curled in certain spots had your whole body aching for him. If he hadn’t taken off the makeup for the scar already, you probably would’ve been wrapped around him by now. “I don’t know,” he answered, kissing you back when you placed your mouth against his. “I’m not sure I can believe it after you told me that about ten times on set earlier today.”

You and he had actually met during the filming of Star Wars Episode II, but didn’t start dating until Episode III had been fully completed. You went to the premiere together and that was your public debut as a couple, and you still remembered how loudly the fans cheered when he kissed you right there on the carpet.

You, too, would be in a few flashbacks towards the end of the series, in the form of your Force Ghost. Your character was killed in the last half of Episode III by Anakin himself, and you still remembered filming that scene like it was yesterday.

The tears you shed that day were one hundred percent real, as you were actually saying goodbye to the character that introduced you to your future husband. At that point you and Hayden had gone on several low-key dates, but didn’t become official until a couple of months later. His acting was also more real than not in that scene as he had to pretend to kill you in a somewhat brutal way.

To revisit your character for the first time in over a decade was one of the best opportunities you had ever gotten, and you could only assume that this was how Hayden felt when he was asked to return as Anakin in Obi-Wan. While your scenes wouldn’t be filmed for a few more weeks, Hayden still insisted you stay with him until the filming was wrapped up completely.

“I’m not apologizing for hyping up my husband,” you say against his lips. “I’m being so serious, Hayden, you look good.”

He grins up at you, pulling your body closer until your chest pressed right up against his, the subtle rock of your hips making you suppress a moan. “Well, thank you, sweet girl,” he nudges your nose with his. “I can always count on you to make me feel good about myself.”

“You so can,” you agree, trailing your hands down his toned chest, smirking at the way his stomach muscle flexed at your light touch. “You’re so attractive, I don’t think you even realize it.”

Hayden hummed, slowly dragging his hands up your body and taking your shirt along the way. “I could say the same thing about you,” he said before asking, “You’re awfully flirty tonight, what’s got you all worked up?”

“You,” came your simple reply, your fingers pulling at the loose string of his sweats. You lean down to place a chaste kiss to his lips, one that leaves him wanting more as you descend your mouth down to his shoulder, where you place a few open mouthed kisses to his skin. “You, being so unbelievably sexy when you’re back in your element on set. The way you looked when you were practicing earlier? The way you look now? You don’t know the things you do to me, Hayden.”

“I beg to differ,” he rasps out when you place another kiss to the base of his throat, his hands quickly fumbling to take off your shirt. It drops to the floor beside the script and you lift your head so you were looking right at him, your body level with his as you slowly rocked your hips against his. “Y/n.”

You give him a teasing grin, sliding your hands down his sides before they land on the front of his sweats. “I know,”you murmur and kiss him slowly, slipping your hand past the waistline and palming him. You hold back a smirk when you find him already hard for you, his body’s way of responding to yours every time you come onto him. “I just want to make you feel as good as you look.”

Hayden huffed out a breathy moan as you pulled him free from the sweatpants. “I want to make you feel good, too, baby,” he managed to say as you wrapped your hand around him, slowly stroking him.

You hum, “I already feel good from just looking at you,”

A ghost of a moan escaped your lips when leaned forward to kiss your exposed shoulder in an attempt to quiet his own sounds.

Though this was a nice hotel, he still didn’t want to risk the possibility of the walls being thin enough for him to receive noise complaints, though the thought had him growing harder in your hand.

“You don’t know how much you turn me on,” you nearly whisper, the pad of your thumb brushing over his tip and making him groan quietly against your skin.

“After twenty years of knowing you, I think I know exactly how much I turn you on,” he mumbled, bucking his hips up so you stroked him a bit harder. “It’s the same way with you, baby. You make me feel so good all the time.”

You whimper quietly when his hand slips inside the front of your leggings, biting down harshly on your bottom lip when he finds your clothed clit with no trouble at all. Being intimate with the same person for half your life came with that perk. “I want you so bad,”

Hayden lifted his head back up to connect your lips in a kiss, murmuring, “You have me. Since that first day I saw you, I’ve been all yours,” when he pulls away to lift your hips in order to rid you of your leggings and the lace that covered your core. “I love you, Y/n Christensen.”

You moaned at that, moving back to straddle his hips again. Gripping the sides of his neck, you use the tips of your thumbs to tilt his head up in order to be able to give him a deep kiss. “I love you,” you whined as he guided your heat over him a few times, prepping both himself and you with your slickness. “My hot, sexy husband.”

And then you were lifting your hips and sliding onto him until he was buried deep within you. Your hips met his as moans escaped both of you, with Hayden leaning back against the pillows and headboard to let you take full control.

While he always wanted you in this way, seeing him as Anakin again clearly did something to you, and he was more than okay with letting you take the lead like you needed to.

You close your eyes and grip his shoulders, moaning softly when you lift yourself up before dropping back down again. “I’m never getting over this,” you confess, though it wasn’t new news. Even though you had been together for nearly two decades, you still hadn’t grown tired of each other, further proving the fact that you were meant to be together. “Fuck.”

Hayden groaned under his breath, his hands gripping your waist as you began to slowly ride him. “Just like that, sweet girl,” he praised softly, feeling the way you clenched around him at his words. “We fit so well together, don’t we? Make each other feel so good.”

You moan a bit louder, nodding quickly as your hands move to tangle in his hair. The fact that it was you who got to see him like this, and it was you who got to mess up his Anakin-styled hair had you going a bit feral.

“So good,” you agree, dropping yourself down on him with a bit more force, really setting a pace that would ensure you both wouldn’t last too long. He is forty one and you were pushing thirty nine, you couldn’t really expect to be as durable in the bedroom after a long day of filming.

Still, when he hadn’t spent a whole day on set, Hayden could go for longer, simply because he aged unbelievably well and kept his body in great shape.

He also wasn’t expecting you to want to jump his bones as soon as you got back from your wine run after he changed into more comfortable clothing, planning on going over a few of his scenes with you before bed.

That still didn’t stop him from letting you completely drain any and all energy he had left from the day as you grind your hips against his. Small, needy whines left your pretty lips as you moved further down on him, driving him even deeper into your willing and wanting walls.

“You’re so beautiful,” he couldn’t help but say, making your pace falter slightly as you flushed at his words. “My girl. The prettiest woman in the world.” He complimented as his hands slid up your back and expertly unclasped your bra.

He pulled it from your body and replaced it with his hands, his thumbs and index fingers pinching and pulling at your nipples. You whimper at the feeling of his smooth fingers against your sensitive buds, tugging harshly at his strands. “Hayden,” you murmur, guiding him into you quicker with swift grinds of your hips. “Oh, fuck.”

“Yeah, baby,” he said under his breath, trailing one hand down to circle your throbbing clit with his thumb. His other hand moved to tightly grip your hip again as you picked up the pace, beginning to feel that tight sensation forming in your abdomen. “You feel so good. So good for me, baby, the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

You cry out, squeezing your eyes shut as you pulse around him, your thighs burning with exertion and forcing you to stop for a brief second before Hayden grabs your other hip and begins thrusting up into you. “Yes,” you gasp out, tangling your hands tighter in his hair as he lifts himself up from against the pillows to really allow him to drive himself impossibly deeper inside you. “Oh, fuck, yes, don’t stop, Hayden, please.”

How could he deny you your wish? In all honesty, he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to stop, anyway, as you were clenching so tightly around him and sucking him in as deep as he could go, he almost blacked out for a second from how blinding the feeling was.

“Come for me, sweet girl,” he requested quietly in your ear, his deep and raspy voice making you clench tighter around him as your walls pulsed in time with his quick thrusts. “I want you to, want to feel it.”

Your mouth opened in a faint cry and your stomach swelled as you wrapped your arms tightly around him. As your whole body tensed up in his arms, Hayden felt your walls spasm slightly before he also felt the flood of your release coat him. It gave him the perfect amount of friction for him to fall not too far behind.

His jaw locked slightly, his hands wrapping around your middle and pulling you closer to him as he, too, came. Deep within you, he pushed his seed further with a few extra thrusts before he was forced to stop due to the sensitivity of it all.

With his last remaining energy, he lifted you up and set you down on the bed next to him. He hovered over you a second later, wrapping your legs around his waist as he nuzzled his head in between the space of your neck and shoulder. “I love you so much,” he whispered in between peppered kisses to your sweaty skin. “Thank you for always making me feel like the most important person, everyday.”

You ran your fingers through his damp and messy hair, playing with the curls as a smile formed on your lips. “You are the most important person,” you reminded him, kissing him quickly before wrapping your arms around him and pulling him further down onto you. “And I love you, too.”

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azzibuckets · 24 days

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Paper Rings [Part 1/10 | Paige Bueckers]

Paige Bueckers x fem!reader

summary: very angsty friends to enemies to lovers told through flashbacks & current day

a/n: this is my very first fic + i’m still pretty unfamiliar with how to use tumblr so pls forgive me in advance 😭 but lmk what you think!

warnings: drinking, angst, paige as a player

word count: 1.9k

masterlist w/ all parts

FLASHBACK: 1 YEAR & 1 MONTH AGO

It was the night of the Big East championship game, and the entire UConn women’s basketball team was piled into Paige and Azzi’s apartment to celebrate with drinks. At first, you’d been hesitant to come, as you would be the only non-player there. Which usually wouldn’t be a problem, but since it was a celebration for something as special as a tournament win, you wanted to let the team have their moment. But Paige insisted, saying that you were basically one of them at this point, and that everyone loved you and would want you there.

So here you were, sandwiched between Paige and KK on the sofa. There were so many people squeezed onto the sofa, though, that you were basically half in Paige’s lap. She didn’t seem to mind though - one hand was holding a red solo cup filled with dirty Shirley while the other was firmly wrapped around your waist, holding you in place next to her. Not a typical look for best friends, but both of you attributed this intimate position to physical touch being both of your main love languages.

Paige’s fingers were absentmindedly brushing up and down your hip, alternating between playing with the fray at the end of your shirt and scratching your hip. You tried not to think too much of it. Paige was constantly moving, and she always needed something to play with or else she’d get bored and distracted. She definitely wasn’t touching you because she had feelings for you. Paige made it clear that she wasn’t interested in anyone romantically, with how quickly she moved from woman to woman. But that was how she chose to live her love life, and you respected that! And didn’t care….at all.

KK suddenly lurched up from next to you. “Ayoooo, we should play spin the bottle,” she crowed, as if this was the best idea she’d ever come across.

“Nah, girl, I’m good,” Nika teased, shaking her head at KK’s antics. “Geno said he wants us to be close, but I don’t think he meant that close.”

The rest of the team hooted in laughter. KK pouted. “Well, Azzi just texted the guys’ team to come, and they’ll be here soon. That way I don’t have to kiss any of y’all’s nasty lips.”

At that, Paige sat up a little bit straighter, her grip around my waist tightening. “Ain’t no one playing spin the bottle with the guys. Especially Y/N.”

“Why, Paige? Jealous?” Ice teased. Ice always gave you a hard time about Paige, wiggling her eyebrows at you every time you walked Paige to practice or dropped off food for her during their recovery sessions. You suspected that she was onto you, but you always shrugged off her teasing in order to seem nonchalant.

Paige rolled her eyes, although her grip on you didn’t loosen. “Nah, bro. They’re just weird. They don’t know Y/N like that. She’d be uncomfy.”

You tugged on one of her Dutch braids. You loved whenever she put her hair into two full braids. She looked so cute. Although you’d never tell her that. “What if I wanna play, hmm?” You were testing Paige’s limits, and you knew it. And as much as you wanted to chalk it up to her being jealous, you knew she was probably just being a protective friend.

Paige shook her head. “It’s such a middle school game, Y/N. You don’t wanna do that.” With those words, you felt a surge of drunken defiance rise in your chest. Paige was bossing you around, as if she knew what was best for you. But you refused to be seen as the innocent and meek type. And now you wanted to play. Because if you couldn’t have Paige, you weren’t gonna let her limit you from having someone else.

You raised your chin. “No, I think I’m gonna,” you declared.

Paige’s eyes flashed. There was a hint of surprise in the way she leaned back and studied you. “Okay,” she responded coolly. “Whatever. Do what you want - Imma top up.” She briskly slid the part of me on her thigh off, and got up, disappearing into the kitchen.

Soon, the guys piled in, along with some of their buddies that weren’t on the basketball team. You all agreed to do a mix of spin the bottle or truth or dare. It was either answer the question, or kiss. Except those who were players insisted that teammates were off limit. To be honest, you didn’t wanna play. You, like Paige, thought the game was childish. And more importantly, the only person in the room, or frankly anywhere in the world, whose lips you wanted to kiss was Paige. But Paige didn’t want you, and you had to move on.

Paige returned with a full cup, this time of beer, just in time for the game to start. A couple of the girls had gotten up to sit with the guys on the floor, so there was more room on the sofa now, meaning that Paige and you were no longer touching. Instead, there was a sizable gap between the two of you. The lack of her warmth was upsetting to you, and another reminder that Paige was only touching you because of how crowded the sofa was. Not because she craved your touch the same way you craved hers.

Just your luck, the bottle landed on you the first spin. You vaguely recognized the guy who spun it as one of the players on the basketball team. He had dirty blonde hair and a cocky smile. The top buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned, and he had a rumpled look about him that would be messily attractive if it weren’t for the fact that you had almost zero interest in guys.

“Which guy on my team looks like he’d be the best in bed?” The guy’s wildly inappropriate question barely registered before Paige leaned forward, sliding her hand protectively over your knee.

“That’s a fucked up question,” she snapped. Her eyebrows were furrowed in that way that happens when she’s really angry, and her cheeks were flushed, likely from the alcohol. Tipsy Paige meant a Paige with much more intense emotions, and you knew now that she would be even more unashamed now than she is sober, which says a lot considering how she’s already pretty free willed sober. “Don’t be an ass. Give her a decent question so she’s not forced to kiss you.” Paige snarled.

The guy’s eyebrows shot up. “Chill out, P. It’s just a game,” he laughed arrogantly.

“Yeah, P.” The words, laced with malice, were out of your mouth before you could stop yourself, and you wanted to die as soon as they came out. Paige looked like a puppy who was just kicked, confusion and embarrassment in her eyes. Shame rose in your throat like bile - Paige was just trying to protect you from a creepy guy, a guy who you didn’t even want to kiss, and you were taking this random stranger’s side. In front of all these people.

But words kept piling out of your mouth, even though you didn’t mean it. “Stop babying me,” you hissed. This time only Pauge could hear, but you internally kicked myself again for the harshness of your words. It was the alcohol in you, running hot through your veins, exacerbating all the bitterness and jealousy you’ve been feeling towards Paige for so long. You wanted to get back at her…but for what? It wasn’t her fault she didn’t love you back.

You were thrusted back to reality when you realized everyone was staring at you, waiting for you to make a move. It was an almost out of body experience, in the most terrible and awful way possible, watching yourself move like a robot to where the guy was sitting. You kneeled down, planted a kiss on his lips to the cheering of all the people around you, then got back and returned to your seat on the sofa.

And for the rest of the night, Paige didn’t speak to you.

—————————-

“I can’t find them.” You were digging through your purse, trying to find your keys. Paige was standing next to you, her face stone hard.

You were so drunk. After the whole kiss incident, you’d started going wild with the drinks, putting back shots as if your life depended on it. The alcohol made you feel numb, softening the ache you felt whenever you thought back to earlier that night when you had hurt Paige, embarrased her in front of all those people. You felt like the worst person in the world, and the more you drank, the more that guilt disappeared.

And now you were drunk out of your mind. You’d expected Paige to ignore you completely after, and she had, until the celebrations died down and you had to go home. You had walked to the apartment because your dorm was only 10 minutes away, and now with how you couldn’t even walk without staggering, someone needed to escort you back.

You hated how good Paige was. How she immediately got up without hesitation when Nika requested for someone more sober to walk you home. You knew she was angry and hurt, yet like always, she looked out for you first.

“Paige, I can’t find them,” you pouted. Paige exhaled through her nose and grabbed the purse from you, sifting through it before she found your keys, tucked into one of the side pockets. Opening the door, she rested her hand on the small of your back to guide you inside.

Once inside, you grabbed Paige’s hand, tugging her into your room and flopping on the bed. She stood there, still and silently watching you. She was unamused, and rightly so.

“Are you mad?” You giggled, sitting up to poke her in the stomach. When she stared back at you, still in silence, you stopped laughing. Sobering up a bit, you grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. “I’m really sorry,” you said quietly. “I don’t know why I did that earlier.” She was between your legs now. You weren’t thinking straight, your mind a muddled mess, and so you wrapped your calves around her, pulling her in until there was no space between you two. She looked down at you, bringing her hand to lightly touch your jaw.

You both stayed there for a moment, the tip of her finger running back and forth along your jaw. Your eyelids fluttered closed. Paige’s touch was so gentle, and you wanted to lean into it and stay in it forever. You didn’t understand why she was being so kind to you when you had been so cruel to her earlier, especially on a night as important as this.

“I’m sorry. For ruining tonight,” you told her, shifting to lean your forehead against her toned stomach.

“You didn’t ruin anything. But I was trying to look out for you,” she said quietly from above you. Paige. A golden heart, and a reminder of why you didn’t deserve her.

“But you kiss a lot of people. Why do you have an issue when I do it?”

Paige’s hand stuttered. “You should really get some rest,” she said gently instead of answering your question. She backed up, looking at you closely before shutting the light off. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Good night, Y/N.”

#paige bueckers #paige bueckers x reader #uconn wbb #wbb #enemies to lovers #friends to lovers #huskies #uconn #wcbb

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sinnabum45 · 1 month

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⚠Trigger Warning! Graphic depictions of suicide attempt, suicide ideation, and spiraling thoughts⚠

[Image description: black and white with gray tones, digital drawing of a comic about characters from the Ace Attorney series. Page one: First three panels are of Miles Edgeworth sitting at his desk, which is covered with papers, tired with eye bags and feeling frustrated with himself. His left hand is on his face and it moves back down. He thinks to himself, “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I even do something as simple as this?” A flashback to Phoenix Wright glaring at Edgeworth, then saying, “It’d been better if you never came back from the dead, Edgeworth!” Pearl Fey is standing next to him with a shocked and worried expression. Page one end. Page two: Miles is shocked and his desk is now covered with sleeping pills and an open pill bottle. An embodiment of Manfred von Karma appears behind Miles and reaches for Miles’s face. Manfred says, “How selfish can you be? Can’t even do me the favor of simply dying. ” The embodiment turns into Miles when he attempted suicide. Messy hair, bloodshot eyes, dried tears, dark circles under his eyes, and pills pouring from his mouth. He is squeezing the real Miles’s face and says, “Why don’t you try it again?” Page two end. Page three: Miles shuts his eyes and covers his ears with his fists while shouting, “No!! I don’t need you anymore!”. He opens his teary eyes when he hears Phoenix say, “Edgeworth.” Miles remembers Phoenix telling him, “Please call me anytime. I want to be there for you this time, okay?”. In the flashback, it is bright, Phoenix is facing forward, smiling with a worried expression, and holding his phone. The present Miles looks forward and calmed down a little. He’s still shaken up a bit. Page three end. Page four: Throughout the three panels, Miles is reaching for his smart phone on the desk, pulls away, then grabs his phone. Quotes from various characters: Phoenix, Gant, Manfred, and Franziska are scattered throughout the page. First panel, “I never wanted to see you again! To think that your motivation for prosecuting trials was so selfish…” by Phoenix. “I can feel it. You and me… we’re the same.” by Gant. Second panel, “You can let what happened kill the prosecutor inside you, or you can let it help you grow. I’ll be waiting for you in court…” by Phoenix. “Our battle… begins now… so you had better prepare yourself, Miles Edgeworth!” by Franziska. Third panel, “You have fallen so far. All these years I guided you, raised you as my own. You and your father are my curse!” by Manfred. “A von Karma is someone who is destined to be perfect! You are no longer worthy of being a von Karma! And neither am I!” by Franziska. Page four end. Page five: Miles is calling Phoenix. It rings throughout the page. The embodiment of Miles yells, “Stop! He will just hate you more than he already does!”. He is crying as he says, “ Then… I’ll truly be alone.” He has both hands raised to around his collarbone level and ink is smudged on his right hand. Miles reaches for his face and it startles his embodiment. The last panel is brighter. Miles, with closed eyes and somber expression, is holding his own face and reassuring himself by saying, “Don’t worry… I trust him.” Miles’s chair is squeaking as he rocks back and forth while leaning on his desk. Page five end. Page six: It is single light page with the phone ringing and getting picked up. Then Phoenix answers, “ Hello? Edgeworth?”. Comic end. End description]

Links to help Palestine and other resources! 🇵🇸

[Plain text: Links to help Palestine and other resources! (palestine flag). End plain text.]

Some extra thoughts below! These are just my personal interpretations of what I watched. I'll try to make sense of what I'm saying LOL 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Again, trigger warning for suicide attempt+ ideation!

Something I noticed while skimming through Farewell, My Turnabout is the similarities between Miles and Adrian Andrews. They directly connected Franziska and Adrian at the end, but they kinda just "hinted" at Miles being similar to Adrian. The main thing that stood out to me is when Miles starts explaining how Adrian is putting up a façade by acting strong. The background fades to black (TWICE), which is something that mostly happens when it's something important, putting focus onto Miles while he talks about how Adrian "lost her will to live" after losing Inpax. Inpax was Adrian's "pillar of strength" and when Inpax comitted suicide, Adrian completely fell apart. She then started to act just like Inpax to cope with losing herself and her mentor. That sounds like the relationship between Miles (and Franziska) and Manfred.

Miles's and Franziska's whole life with Manfred was them depending on him to validate/approve of them. When Manfred left their lives, they started to fall apart trying to gain approval of a man who isn't there anymore. Franziska's confidence was chipped away throughout every case because she kept losing against Phoenix. Miles fell apart a lot quicker (cuz Franziska wasn't created until after--).

Throughout Rise from the Ashes, multiple characters point out how Miles was not doing well and it progressively gets worse. This honestly confused me because Phoenix did notice that Miles wasn't doing okay. He even told Miles that he needs to choose between killing the prosecutor within him or let it help him grow. This interaction is at the very end of the case. Idk if "killing the prosecutor within" was ever brought up before that, but that was interesting cuz I kept seeing people say that Miles wrote that in his note out of nowhere.

With everything that Miles went through in just 2 MONTHS- it makes sense to me if he was not okay. His whole life was uprooted again after 15 years, he was betrayed by almost everyone he trusted, his adoptive dad killed his biological dad and tried to blame it on him, he was brought out on a boat in the middle of the night and shot at, Gant+ Lana used his knife to stab a person's body and made him unknowingly transport it in his own car, Gant saying that he's just like him, etc. Like DAMN bro, what the heck 😭

Also, the thing that made me want to make this comic was when Phoenix told Miles that "everyone would be better off if he stayed dead". Imo, I think it's understandable why Phoenix is angry at Miles. He felt betrayed and couldn't face the fact that Miles isn't who he was when he was 9. There was a post talking about it in more detail, but I mostly agree with what they had to say about it. Phoenix put an unfair standard onto Miles and got hurt when Miles couldn't meet that expectation. He wanted to "save" Miles by solving the DL-6 case and then thought that Miles would go back to how he was when they were kids. When he realized that it doesn't work like that, at least not right away, he felt betrayed. I love that they wrote Phoenix, the protagonist, with these traits tbh. I think it's very interesting! I just wished that they added a scene where Phoenix apologized for saying that Miles should stay dead tho cuz that's never okay to say to anyone, let alone someone you care about and apparently "know better than anyone else" 👁👁

Another thing I noticed is how different the characters treat Adrian vs Miles with the topic of "death". For some reason they're very sympathetic and delicate with Adrian, but then tell Miles to die. Phoenix tells Miles that everyone would be better off if he stayed dead, but then calls Miles cold for telling Adrian that if she decides to "choose death", then it is of no concern to him. Which goes right into my next point.

Miles seemed like he really didn't want to bring up Adrian's suicide attempt and her mental illness. It seemed like they tried everything to get her to talk, but because Franziska told her not to testify, Adrian kept trying to stay quiet. Even the judge was trying to get her to testify by saying at this point, it's looking like she's guilty. In any other situation, what Miles said to her would be uncalled for, but this was literally life or death for Adrian. Also, with context, Miles said that regardless of what she decided to do after the trial, she needed to talk now. She was asking for someone to help her, but only she can accept that help. He could've definitely put it in a way better way tho like damn. I think he's projecting how he talks to himself onto Adrian tbh 👀 It's honestly just a really shitty situation for Adrian to be in cuz no matter the reason, she was forced to face her worst fear. If anyone is to blame for all this bs, it's definitely Matt Engarde and Juan Corrida imo-- 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️ Her illness was something Adrian would have to face sooner or later, it just sucks that it had to be like this 😢 Another thing I noticed is when Adrian said that if the truth of her illness were to come out she couldn't finish her sentence. Then Miles finished it for her by asking if she would "choose death". That's a more obvious clue that maybe Miles's note was a suicide note, since it was used in the context of committing suicide.

This guy is always on my mind-- All of them are always on my mind tbh 😭 I just wanted to draw Miles struggling (just the usual on this account) SKMSDKLML I also wanted to show that healing isn't linear and there are a LOT of times where it's just hard. I also wanted to show that Phoenix (and literally everyone else OvO) does want to be there for him despite everything, Miles just has to be brave and accept his support. I just want them to be happy DAMN 😭😭

I feel like I have so much more to talk about, but I can't think of anything else rn. I hope all of this makes sense- I'd love to read your thoughts on this or if you have any questions! Just keep it respectful, please 🥺

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ghostboneswrites2 · 26 days

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I Won’t Tell if You Don’t

Summary: Daryl comes across you smoking in the gazebo.

Era: Alexandria

Pair: Daryl x Reader (I don’t believe readers pronouns are used)

Genre: Casual, stoner vibes

Note: I actually have two versions of this but the other one is spicy 🥵 should I post it?

Warnings: TWD typical stuff, marijuana

While the other Alexandrians were excited for Deanna’s party for the newcomers, you were just excited to have some time alone while everyone else was gathered in one place. You wandered around the street, searching for a comfortable place to unwind. You eventually settled on the gazebo.

You held the tip of the thin paper cylinder over the flame of your lighter, spinning it delicately until it was well lit. Finally, you were able to bring it to your lips and taking a puff. The familiar taste brought you joy. You relaxed back into the bench and took another puff. Soon, your eyes felt heavy and the buzz of internal monologue hushed into nothing. At last, you felt some semblance of peace.

Daryl was going to try to go to the party. Really, he was, but as he stood on Deanna’s front lawn and watched the crowd of bodies through the window, he couldn’t bring himself up the steps.

So, he found himself wandering through the streets until a familiar skunky stench wafted into his nostrils. He stopped and turned, scanning his surroundings until his eyes landed on a silhouette in the gazebo.

Curiosity took hold of his legs and carried him toward the stranger, masked in darkness, only lit up by the red cherry at the tip of their joint. When you, the young Alexandrian of whom he’d only caught a few quick glances, became clearer in the shroud of darkness and haze of smoke, he tilted his head. You weren’t the type he could easily read, unlike most. The few times he had caught your eyes since he’d arrived, he could never quite make out what it was you were thinking or feeling.

The other Alexandrians were curious and wary, or just outright friendly and naive. You always had a knowingness about you, as if everything you saw were things you’d seen before. Nothing seemed to surprise or intrigue you.

It wasn’t until you finally acknowledged him that he realized he was staring.

“I won’t tell if you don’t.” You offered, outstretching your arm slowly, lazily offering him a puff. He hesitated, glancing back in the direction of Deanna’s house before he decided he had nothing to lose. He stepped up onto the gazebo and accepted your gesture. The end of the little thing fit perfectly in his lips, the taste familiar as he took a long drag and held it in. He exhaled slowly, a cloud of smoke billowing around you.

You studied him. He was brooding and reserved. There was a sadness about him; an unsureness. He always seemed as uncomfortable, always flicking his eyes around, guarding his peripherals. You watched as he pulled the joint back to his lips and took another long drag, his eyelids drooping some as he exhaled again. An aura of calmness settled in the space between you two as he passed your joint back to you. You hissed as you sucked in another puff, exhaling as you spoke: “So, how’s apocalyptic suburbia treating you so far?”

He tutted at that, finding that he found the illusion of safety quite uncomfortable.

“It’s weird.” He admitted. You nodded.

“Yeah.” You agreed. “I gotta admit.. Listening to old ladies complain about pasta makers never gets any less weird. Not after living out there.”

“How long?” He asked as you took in another hit, blowing rings out of the smoke.

“Got here like.. I don’t know… Two months ago, maybe? Was on my own before that.” You shrugged. If it weren’t for the slowness of your thoughts, you would have been fighting away memories and flashbacks of the horrors of the world beyond the walls.

“Mm.” He nodded, taking the joint back as you passed it again. “Y’all grow this shit here, or somethin’?”

You chuckled and shook your head. “Nah, found somebody’s stash before I got here. Running kinda low.”

“Any seeds in that stash? Could grow some.” He suggested.

“There were a few.” You nodded with a hum. “Wouldn’t know where to start, though. I don’t have much of a green thumb.”

“I can help.” He offered, finally feeling lazed enough to take a set beside you as he took a hit.

“Hell yeah.” You nodded. Your mind was emptying out more and more, the longer you sat there and let the high settle in. He was a tad behind, but he was getting there too. A comfortable silence rose out of the dark, while the two of you enjoyed smoking together. Eventually the joint was running short, burning fingers as you both tried to get the last of what the sticky herb had to offer. When it was out, you tossed it, but neither of you moved. You were both glued by the ass to the bench.

“Damn.” He finally spoke. His voice was raspy and low, more than usual. “Some good shit.”

You giggled.

“Enjoy it, man.” You said with a stoner-like slowness. “It’s nice to relax sometimes .”

“Ain’t had no time to relax.” He admitted.

“Well ya do now.” You reasoned.

“Do I?” He asked, mostly to himself, not necessarily intending to say it out loud. You smiled and nudged his arm.

“Yeah, until Deanna stops by with work duties and all that jazz.” You retorted.

“What’d she give you?” He wondered.

“At first she sent me on a run with her douchebags — I mean sons— but I didn’t like how they operated. Now I give Olivia days off at the armory and the pantry or help with the cars.”

“Cars? You some kind o’ mechanic?”

“Nah. My dad was, and my brother after him, so.” You shrugged.

“My dad was just an asshole. And my brother, after him.” He joked. You snickered.

“Didn’t take you for a comedian — Uh.. What was your name?”

“Daryl. You?”

“(Y/N).”

“Huh.” He nodded before his stomach growled. He looked down at his stomach, as did you, then you both met eyes. You laughed at little, a goofy laugh that only escaped your lips when you were in the clutches of THC or alcohol.

“Hungry?” You asked.

“Why, ya got some snacks?”

“No.” You giggled. “But Aaron’s making spaghetti tonight and he invited me over.”

“Lucky you.” He grumbled.

“Come on, Daryl. There’s always extra.” You announced, pushing yourself off the bench and extending him a hand. He eyed you for a moment, searching for an ulterior motive. Ultimately his munchies won, and he allowed you to help him to his feet.

Masterlist // Taglist

Tags: @kissmeunicornbaobei @thesadcatt0 @clairealeehelsing @duckybird101 @tmntfixationxreader @ryoujoking @blackvelveteen1339 @yondus-girl @ladylincoln @sunshinebug9 @saylum559 @yoowhatthefuck @duffmckagansbandana @celtic-crossbow @virginsexgod69 @dazzling-roaring-20s @l0kilaufeys0n7 @uhnanix

#daryl dixon #daryl x reader #twd daryl #daryl x female reader #the walking dead daryl #daryl twd #daryl fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl x you #daryl x y/n

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zoesmp4 · 1 month

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PHOTOGRAPH “we keep this love in a photograph.” carl grimes x fem!reader

tags: angst, death, use of y/n, 8x9, some fluff

a/n: first angst, i was bawling my eyes out while writing this 😓. based off photograph by ed sheeran, lyrics r in italics. i hope ygs enjoy!!

loving can hurt sometimes. you never really understood how much until now.

FLASHBACK.

“we should do something.” carl says, fiddling with your promise ring which he got you. he saw it while on a run and thought it was pretty, “pretty items for a pretty girl.” he thought. you were sitting criss cross applesauce in front of him, him doing the same. both of his hands were interlinked with yours, giving light squeezes. “and what’s that?” you ask. “we should take a photo. you know for the future.” “for the future?” “like to show our kids.” you wanted to kiss him until you couldn’t breathe. did he really just say that? did he mean it? this boy would be the death of you.

“wait okay so- i just do a random pose?” you say, looking at the camera carl held in his hand. “up to you baby.” he never failed to make you feel special. you were so in love, and you knew he was too. “m’ ready!” “sweet.” he angles the camera to fit you both into the frame before you press your lips onto his cheek. his lips curve up into a smile before you hear the click sound from the camera.

carl held the photo of you both in his hand, examining every part of it. mostly examining you. the way your hair fell perfectly upon your face, the way your lips looked perfect on his skin. god, he just knew he was going to make you his wife one day. you giggled at the light kiss stain you left on his cheek.

PRESENT TIME.

you held the necklace you got when you were fifteen, heavy tears flowing down your face at a rapid pace.

FLASHBACK.

“carl.. you didn’t.” you say, looking at the beautiful silver heart locket in the small black box carl handed to you. “you like it?” he says, grinning from ear to ear. “i love it. i- you didn’t have to.” you say, your eyes getting mistier by the second. “don’t cry pretty girl.” he says, putting his hand on your cheek. “i love you so much carl.” “i love you more.”

PRESENT TIME.

holding him closer til’ our eyes meet. did it have to end like this?

FLASHBACK.

“carl you can’t leave me like this. i wo- i won’t allow it. this isn’t fucking fair.” you say, hitting carl’s chest softly. you were so angry, and sad, you didn’t know how to feel. “y/n you’ll be fine. i know you will. you’re a strong girl. it’ll b-“

“what about- what about the plans we made? who am i supposed to talk to late at night when i have nightmares? w-who am i supposed to cry about stupid things to? carl i can’t do this without you.” you started to choke on your words, the realization hitting deeper and deeper that you would never get to see, to talk to, to hold, to kiss, to love carl grimes ever again.

carl pulls you into his chest for one last hug. you embraced him tightly, trying to make the best of it while it lasted. he then cupped your face and pressed his forehead onto yours. “my girl, my y/n, i love you.”

PRESENT TIME.

you kept his last words deep within your soul. your hands quivered as you slowly opened the piece of paper which carl left for you. your heart stopped when you saw his handwriting. all of his words written on the paper. you wished it could’ve lasted longer. you wished you had more time with him.

“my dearest y/n. i remember when we first met. you looked so scared. you were always quiet, always alone. i felt so bad for you. i would always admire from afar, watching the wind blow through your hair. you were so pretty. i don’t know how i ended up having you as my girlfriend, but it’s the best thing i could’ve ever experienced.

i know you’re sad. i know you’re angry. i’m frustrated too. i meant it when i said i wanted to show the photos to our kids. i meant it every single time i said i love you. because i am truly in love with you. every part of you. and nothing will ever change that. in another lifetime we will reunite once again. i will always be with you. don’t ever be scared. we keep this love in a photograph. we made all of these memories for ourselves.

so you can keep me, hidden in the pocket of your ripped jeans. you won’t ever be alone. wait for me to come home.”

you look at the photo which fell to the floor while you were reading the letter. quiet laughs mixed with sobs come out of your mouth when you remember that day. forever you will have this memory. captured in a photograph.

#carl grimes #carl grimes x reader #the walking dead #twd #carl grimes fluff #carl grimes x fem!reader #carl grimes x y/n #twd x reader #carl grimes oneshots #carl grimes x y/n smut #carl grimes x reader smut #carl grimes angst #twd fluff #twd imagines #twd oneshot #carl grimes fanfiction

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aka-indulgence · 5 months

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Got a oneshot! Have a fic where Sans rejects your romantic pursuits with a happy twist ;)

CW: Flashback section containing Sans’ ex, where he wasn’t having a good time

(Sans & Gender Neutral Reader)

Sans doesn’t know what he thinks about the whole romance thing after a disastrous start. What happens when a precious friend confesses?

——————

It wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Sans didn’t think much of it when you came that day. Sans would often usually invite you over anyway, though today you were first to ask him if you could visit. Which was fine- he’s never as comfortable with anyone else as much as he was comfortable with you. (Maybe Papyrus, but even then there were things Sans wouldn’t tell his brother because he didn’t want to burden him with problems that Sans would rather burden himself with.)

You were laughing. He always loved it when you laughed.

“so i told him: paper-thin skin? buddy. pal. i ain’t got skin.”

You were in an uproar, slapping your knee. “Oh my god! I’d give the world to see the look on his face,”

“oh yeah. definitely unforgettable. man got so red faced he looked like he was gonna burst. he then stomped out like an angry toddler.”

You were giggling, before the both of you fell into a silence. That was a normal part of conversations, Sans was used to it. Especially with you, the silence was never unwelcome. But this time… something felt different. The air has shifted. Your carefree expression had changed into something more contemplative. He wasn’t sure what it was, then. Or maybe, he just didn’t want to read too deep into it.

You spoke up.

“... Hey Sans? Can I tell you something?”

Why was he nervous?

“... yeah?”

“It’s… um. Give me a second…” you laughed nervously. “Haha, sorry, I feel a little sick.”

Sans’ brows furrowed. “what’s up? you ok..?”

You huffed. “Ok. Yeah. Sorry for ruining the moment? But uh… it’s been on my mind for a while, and I have to tell you. I hope you’re ok with me saying this but. I like you, Sans. Kind of… a lot?”

… Ringing. Sans hears ringing. It feels like something in his soul crashed.

“... Sans?”

Sans wasn’t there. His mind was somewhere else.

“i just… i just don’t know if i like you in that way…”

Her face broke into despair. She wouldn’t look his way. She didn’t even say a word to him.

“w… wait. why are you… where are you going?”

“I can’t be here.”

It was years ago. Monsters had lived on the surface for about a year. She was one of Papyrus’ friends, and their first meeting had been wonderful. It still leaves an ache in his chest when he thinks about it now, how hopeful he was when he met her. She was fun, always got Sans involved in social events, always found her way towards him when he was sitting on the sidelines while Papyrus took the stage.

“hey i wouldn’t recommend the punch.”

“Why not?”

“y’see, i like funny things. and that thing… it ain’t got a punchline.”

“... Are you seriously punning?”

“i think i’m being funny.”

“Hah, that’s so stupid,”

She was laughing. But when Sans thinks about it now, maybe it was a pitying one. Sans wasn’t one to judge, puns didn’t win everyone over.

She quickly became a regular in his life, the first human friend he’s made since the surface, one that seemed more interested in him than his brother. She would even pout and joke when Sans didn’t give her enough attention which was cute, at the time. It was easy introducing her to his friends, with how often she tagged along with him.

She would put her arm over his shoulders, hug him, get so close to kissing but miss… Sans never initiated, but only because he wasn’t much of a physical person to begin with. It was nice to have someone so affectionate with him.

He really liked having her in his life.

And then… came that fateful day.

“I was going to wait for you. But you never asked me out.”

“what do you mean…?”

“I know you’re smart, Sans. I’ve been obvious. I just don’t know if you even like me.”

He didn’t know where this had come from. He was suddenly put on the spot, struggling to give her an answer, an answer that he knew she wanted. But Sans was lost.

“i just… i just don’t know if i like you in that way…”

“...”

She was stoic. She was upset with him, she left him alone in his room after he brought out the games he was hoping to play together. Had he made a mistake…? Was he really that dense? Was he just terrible with commitment?

She… she deserved better.

So he decided to fix it. At least, he thought he was fixing it. Though it turned to be a decision Sans would regret soon after.

He showed up at her door the next night. She hadn’t responded to his texts, his calls. Not even Papyrus’. He felt guilty, like he ruined something perfectly good.

i can’t lose her.

Sans was starting to panic if she maybe had left- then the door opened. Sans soul shook when he saw how her face fell when she saw his face. She was going to retreat back into her room.

“w-wait! please listen to me,” His hand was at the door. “i… i made a mistake. you’re important to me, ok? and i think i want… to be with you.”

His soul sung when she finally looked him in the eyes. There were tears in hers, but she was smiling, and he was happy to have her hugging him again. The tension snapping was a relief. That he saved himself. But even then he wondered… why did it taste bitter to say those last few words?

It… didn’t last long. More and more of Sans’ time was taken up by her, which… should be a good thing. Couples should spend lots of time together, right? But he didn’t have time for his friends anymore. Everytime she went out, he needed to come with.

“Sans, you smell like ketchup.”

“oh… yeah, i put too much on my hotdog.”

“Come on, you need to eat something better. People keep telling me you smell like grease.”

“... really?”

“Yeah. Here, I got you new clothes. Crisp!”

“oh… thanks.”

“Get ready, I’m planning to go at six.”

He was becoming active. He was going out every day, he wasn’t locking himself in his room.

It was for the better, he told himself. She brought out the life in him.

… Sans always thought he was intuitive. He was the best at reading people. He’s the judge. It came to him like breathing.

But apparently, he had been blinded. He had a hard time trusting himself. That maybe his gut feeling was wrong.

“SANS…”

Papyrus had found him alone during a party, having escaped to the bathroom. His sockets had bags under them. His face was dripping with water. He just… needed to rest. Without anyone else around.

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

“yeah… i am. just needed to freshen up is all.”

Papyrus looked so… sad. He hadn’t seen his brother frown so deeply, in a way that made Sans feel guilty.

“SANS. I KNOW YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO PROTECT ME FROM YOUR FEELINGS EVEN THOUGH I DON’T NEED YOU TO DO THAT BUT… YOU HAVEN’T LIED SINCE WE SURFACED, AND NOW IT’S BACK. AND I THINK… YOU MIGHT BE LYING TO YOURSELF AS WELL. BROTHER… WHAT’S THE MATTER?”

Sans was getting sloppy. He looked away from him, to the mirror- he couldn’t handle that sorrowful look on Papyrus’ face. All that did though, was force him to confront his own expression. His signature smile wasn’t even there. And Sans couldn’t muster the energy to bring it back.

“I DON’T WANT TO PRY, IF YOU’RE UNCOMFORTABLE, BUT… Could This Have Something To Do With Her?”

Sans should’ve said no. Denied it. Told Paps that everything was fine and he was just… just overwhelmed. But he didn’t.

“i… maybe. i…” He exhaled through his phalanges, staring at the bottom of the sink. “i don’t know if i love her, pap. at least… romantically. i’m… i’m trying paps, i’m trying, i should- she deserves to have someone love her. i want to love her.”

Papyrus finishes his thought for him.

“BUT YOU DON’T.”

“... no.”

Sans felt horrible. He felt like he was leading her on. But Sans really thought that he loved her. He did! He cared for her!

… But not in the way she wanted.

And Sans didn’t want to pretend anymore.

“What did it? Did… did you find another person??”

“no. it’s nothing like that.”

“Then what changed?!”

She was shouting. Sans didn’t like the shouting. She never took kindly to him giving anyone- anything else attention. Sans tried to fix it, at first. He thought he was the problem until he got the messages asking him where he was, why he was so absent.

“nothing has, it was just a lot of little things. i’m sorry. i don’t love you in that way.”

“... How could you say something so horrible!?”

It was a good thing they hadn’t moved in together. She had insisted on moving, and that was one thing Sans could put his foot down about. He has a couple of old shirts and pants at her place from the nights he’s stayed, but nothing he’ll miss much. Lots of them were clothes she approved. It smelled like perfume. Even when he thought he was in love with her he thought moving together then was too fast.

She blocked him. Cut him out. Told her friends how Sans didn’t try hard enough when she put in the effort. Sans was never a crier- but he was in tears, hiding in his room. He would talk about it with Papyrus, but right then, he didn’t want anyone to hear. He wanted to throw his phone, he wanted to scream at her. He loved her! Maybe- maybe he never wanted to date her, maybe, if they hadn’t they’d still be friends but she always just… took too much.

It was nice when Papyrus chose to cut her off, to show support for him. It was ironic, even though Sans was the one she always chased, she always seemed to be on good terms with Papyrus. Even would ask him to put in a word for her after their arguments.

Sans was fine now. No- more than fine. Sans was happy. His time with her being a mere bump during his time on the surface.

Then, not too long after, he met you.

He never realized what was missing until he met you. You gave him space, and you never asked him to change for you. You… you liked who he was, you liked Sans.

After her Sans was afraid to attach so fast but… he really, really wanted to keep you in his life. He might even like you, more than a friend would. But he wasn’t ready to start another storm in his life.

As he looked into your eyes, he felt his soul sink. He wasn’t ready for it to end.

“... i… i’m sorry,” Why was the air so hot? “i… i… hhh,”

“Huh?”

It was a little hard to breathe. Which should be impossible. He’s a skeleton… air… air literally moves through his ribcage. He isn’t… uh… what’s happening?

You were frowning. Oh no. Were you upset?

“S-Sans? Are you ok?”

Sans was gripping the couch too tightly, phalanges digging into the couch cushions, close to ripping them. Beads of sweat were rolling down his skull. He suddenly felt pathetic… panicking over you.

“Sans?”

His eyelights darted back to you, bringing him back to the present. You looked so confused… he felt so guilty.

no… i can’t do it again.

“i… sorry. i don’t… mean to panic in front of you but… are you upset?”

“About what? I’m… Sans, you’re not making a lot of sense.”

He presses a hand to his face, then takes a deep breath. His mind was in a frizzle and he had to explain to you now before he goes crazy.

“sorry, my mind is a mess right now. i… i don’t want to make you sad. but i don’t know if i’m ready for a relationship right now. and it isn’t you, it’s… it’s me. i don’t want to take away your hope or anything but… i don’t know if i’ll ever be ready for a romantic relationship.”

You blinked at him.

“Oh,”

Sans tensed. Expecting you to explode, or cry, or yell at him, run out the house, hate him, oh god he ruined everything-

“Sans, that’s… ok?”

“...”

what?

“w… what do you mean?”

You’re confused. Sans was too. You shift your eyes left and right.

“I mean… that’s ok. I just didn’t want to make you upset is all, and w… why are you looking at me like that?”

Was he dreaming? His eyelight flashed yellow, as if he could find something. He scanned your face, your eyes, your nose- looking for a shudder, a twitch, even a pulse out of place.

Your face was neutral. Was it just hard to read you?

“you know, you can tell me if you’re upset.” Sans was telling the truth. “i can take it. i’d rather you tell me straight to my face if you are. i… i don’t want to lose you.”

You look startled at his sudden pleading, before giving him a pitiful smile. You put your hands on his shoulders.

“Sans? Can you look at me?” You asked in a soft voice.

It was difficult to look up. He knows you, you’re not the type to yell at him or to curse him for little things. He’d trust his judgment but he’s been mistaken before. Nonetheless, slowly, he tilts his skull up to you. When he does, he sees the determination in your eyes, a fierce yet gentle look.

“Sans. Believe me, I’m ok. You’re not going to lose me if you tell me no. Ok?”

“m… mhm,”

Your serious expression melts a little when you start snickering. “Sans, I… I didn’t even get to finish my sentence. I was about to tell you that I’ll understand if you don’t wanna do a whole romance with me, I’ll be fine! I think it’d be great, and I stand by saying I like you a lot. But, I also like where we are right now, and staying like this is pretty nice too. Just being with you is fun, and whether you’re my friend or my boyfriend, that’s not going to change. So… if you’re ok with staying friends after my confession, I think I’d like that.”

The static of panic started to fade away, and a feeling of calm washed over him. The relief was so potent that Sans could feel his sockets start to sting.

h… heh… i was worrying for nothing.

“yes. god, i’d like that too,” Sans wobbles, phalange wiping his socket. “i was scared that if… if i said no you’d hate me.”

“Pfft,” you snort, before you quickly covered your mouth. “Sorry that wasn’t, I’m not laughing at you. I just want to know what made you think that?”

You bump him gently on the shoulder with your fist. “I thought you knew me!”

Sans snickers, a bit more giggly than usual. “i do! i just have doubts when it comes to romance nowadays,” He sighed. “so… you’re really ok with being friends?”

“Yeah! What’s so bad about being friends anyway? As long as you’re not weirded out by me, if I still get to see you, I count that as a win.”

Sans thought the same thing. He smiled.

“yeah… you’re right.”

It was definitely a win having you in his life.

You go oof! When all of a sudden Sans tugs you into a hug, squeezing you tightly.

“i’m… i’m glad i met you.”

You take him in for a moment, before wrapping your arms around him. You squeeze him back.

“Me too.”

#i used to get really sad reading sans rejection angst fics #then i thought about this to myself #and i feel better :>#sans is cool and i love him uvu #aka writing #angst is a speck in the window and reader deals with it nicely #gender neutral reader

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skyebounded · 2 years

Text

Tapes For My Lover

.main masterlist. .stranger things masterlist.

premise: You left some tapes for Eddie to have after you’re gone, and now he is finally listening to them…

Warnings: smut, angst, fluff, blood sweat and tears. (tell me if their is more)

WC: 6.8k

A/N: So this idea came to me and I instantly fell in love with it. There is just something about it that leaves me with a feeling of comfort knowing that its Eddie. Anyway, I hope you guys like this one, I sure as hell did.

IMPORTANT: the italics portions are flashbacks. bolded italics are Readers comments, and just plain text is good old Eddie.

(you can listen to the songs, I did, but I also listened to Stargirl Interlude by the weeknd and lana del rey to make it hurt more)

The box had been sitting on his shelf for months now, taunting him, a constant reminder that you were gone, and were never coming back. He couldn’t lie, he had tried to get rid of the box several times, just throw it in the dumpster, and forget everything, even forget you, but he couldn’t. You would never forgive him for it, and he knew that, but that's not why he kept it, no he kept it because it was the last parts of you that he had. The last thing you gave him, and no matter how much it hurt him to gaze at the box every waking moment, he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of it.

He couldn’t stop beating himself up for all of it, your death, the fight. You had died before they had figured out a way to save you, to keep you out of Vecna’s grasp, and it killed him. Killed him to know that he had the ability to do it, he just didn’t know it soon enough, and worst of all he hadn’t forgiven himself for it, for not trying harder to save you. And he wondered if he ever would.

You had left the box lying on his bed, the day you died, no note, no warning, just the box. He refused to open it, fear of what was inside, consuming his very being. A part of him thought that if he did, that If he opened it, he would finally be admitting to himself that you had died and that he would never see you again, and he couldn’t accept that. So he did what he did best, shelved it, and pretended like it didn't haunt him. Walking past it every day, ignoring the sizable amount of guilt that filled him as he did.

Today he couldn’t, not anymore. Eddie walked over to his bookcase, gently pulling the old Vans shoebox off the shelf, as he made his way to the living room. He set it down in the center of the coffee table and stared at it. Wondering if by some chance it would explode and claim him, bringing him to you once again. He closed his eyes, stopping the tears before they had even begun. It was time. Taking a deep breath he pushes back the top, revealing the contents inside.

It wasn’t what he expected, cassette tapes, and on top, your very own walkman. He recognized it immediately, It had always been glued to your hip every waking moment. He couldn’t remember a time when you didn’t have it on, the headphones framing your perfect face. A folded piece of paper sat underneath the walkman that had his name written perfectly on it.

He closes the box, running his hands over his face and through his hair, ignoring the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. Getting up and walking to the fridge, grabbing out the first beer he finds, he cracks it open, glaring at the box from the comfort of the kitchen, anxiously tapping his ring against the glass bottle.

Despite thinking that he had the strength, the will to do it, it started to dawn on him that maybe he didn’t. He still wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

After a few hours of pacing, trying to do anything but think of you, he decides to give it another go, making his way back to the cursed spot on the couch, and opening the box once more.

Grabbing the piece of paper with shaky hands, he takes a deep breath, unfolding it to see your neat handwriting. With another deep breath, he begins to read,

Hey Cutie,

I give it about four months before you open this box, maybe even more until you read this letter. So, listen, In this box, there are a few tapes, each one labeled with a date, and I know you’re at least smart enough to put them in order before giving them a listen, however, I have already cued up the first one for you, so you’re welcome. I’m not going to tell you what's on them, that's for you to figure out, but I hope that you do. Anyway, tiger, I’ll let you get to it.

He’s not sure how long he's been staring at the note, memorizing the way your curl your ‘y’ in every sentence, or the way each ‘i’ has a heart over it instead of a dot, but it’s long enough for his legs to get sore, and his eyes to burn. He sets the note down, picking up your walkman and running his fingers over all the stickers, tracing the buttons with his thumb. With another deep breath, he placed the headphones over his ears and pressed play. Closing his eyes and resting his head against the back of the couch. At first, nothing, and then it plays, Everybody Wants to Rule The World. His pulse quickens and he feels like he’s sinking into the couch when he hears your melodic voice over the music.

“Everybody Wants to Rule The Word….didn’t we Eddie? Hey handsome, do you remember this song, I guess I mean more importantly do you remember what the song signifies?” You chuckle, and his heart wrenches at the sound. “September 16th, 1985, the day I met you,” Eddie fights the urge to pull the headphones off and chuck them across the room. “Do you remember that? That day?” Of course, he remembered, how could he not. It was the day he met you, the love of his life. Sitting in a booth at Andy’s Frozen Custard, all alone.

“Andy’s, booth four, 1:35 pm. I had been stood up by Colin Jacobson and was fighting back the urge to cry. I had forgotten my walkman, my only saving grace, and was contemplating on what I did wrong..”

“Nothing, you did nothing wrong,” Eddie mumbles out loud as if you could somehow hear him, and perhaps you could.

“I often thought it was a miracle that I was so desperately waiting for Colin to show because when that bell above the door went off, I probably wouldn’t have looked up, and then who knows if you would have even noticed me.” he scoffs, knowing damn well that he would have seen you, how could he not have, you were the prettiest girl, sitting all alone in a booth, you were an attention grabber. “It’s still crazy to me that you did what you did..” you trail off, humming along to the beat.

Eddie had spotted you, tracing the checkered pattern of the table with your finger. No ice cream in hand, nothing but a sullen look on your face, and he wondered to himself how on earth someone so beautiful could be so sad. When you looked up at him, he could swear his heart skipped several beats, your eyes meeting his and the corners of your lips turning up in a smile before your cheeks turned rosy and you looked away. It would have been a lie to say that he hadn’t tried to get your attention again, doing whatever he could think of to grab your attention just once more. It wasn’t until he nearly tripped over a child running by that he caught your gaze again, and by that time his surprise had been ruined.

“You just slid into my booth, with a strawberry milkshake and two straws, bold of you. You didn’t even have to say anything…God my heart melted. You just handed me the straw and winked.” Eddie can't help but smile, feeling the tears slowly trickling down his cheeks. “Somehow you always knew how to make things better, how to make me feel better…god I wish-” You stop mid-sentence, sniffling trying your best to hide the pain you were in, and yet Eddie knew what you were going to say. You were going to tell him that you wished that he was there with you, by your side as you made these tapes. Holding you close telling you that everything was going to be okay, that you didn’t need to make these at all, because you wouldn’t have a reason to, or at least that's what he hoped you would have said.

Eddie handed you the straw, followed by a wink that sent butterflies erupting throughout you. “Sorry I’m late sweetheart,” he smiled. He doesn’t know what compelled him to say it, but seeing you, sitting here, he felt like he had been saying it to you his whole life. You fight to suppress the smile that inevitably took over your lips.

“It’s okay, handsome.” You had never been so bold, but much like him, it felt right..comfortable. You plucked the straw from his hand, and plopped it straight into the shake, taking a long sip before he could do anything. As if on cue the music changed, and ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ started playing.

“Oh I love this song,” you exclaimed as you being to hum along to it, blissfully unaware of just how hard he was falling for you in that moment. He just sat back, watching the way you found a way to dance in that small booth, with a smile on his face. He never asked you why you were alone, looking so down, and that was perhaps because it changed as soon as he sat down, but to him, all that mattered was that he was able to make you smile. Once you noticed the way he was looking at you, your cheeks flushed, and you hid your face behind a napkin.

“Wow, even hiding behind a napkin, you are still the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.” he chuckles, sliding the milkshake over to his side of the table. Taking a long-drawn-out sip as he waited for you to show your face again, and once you did, he couldn't help the smile.

“I will never understand why you sat down with me, smiling as you’d known me, but I’m glad you did because that was all it took Eddie, your cute smile, the strange way that you knew just what to say, the strawberry shake… just you. You had me immediately, there was no way I could fight it, I was yours...and you didn’t even have to ask.”

The song ends and the tape clicks off. Eddie’s eyes shoot open, overwhelmed, numb, and yet desperate for more. He leans forward, searching through the box, and grabbing out the next tape:

He puts it in the walkman and presses play instantly, waiting to hear your voice once more. Leaning back again, letting his eyes fall closed.

“I see you’ve made it to the next tape, I’m proud of you.” Only You starts to play, and it takes him slightly by surprise, he wasn’t entirely sure what this song correlated to. “I know you are probably wondering what the hell this song has to do with anything, and truth be told I don’t imagine that you would know, considering I only ever listened to it by myself.” you take a deep breath, “September 24th, 1985, a few days after our first encounter. The date better sound familiar to you now, because if it doesn't, we have some problems, Eddie.” You chuckle softly, and it breaks his heart, hearing you imply that if he had forgotten the date, things would end badly for him. Lucky him he remembered it, fondly. “Our first date, which also just so happens to be the first time we kissed too. God, I swear if you forgot…” Your tone held a sense of warning, but he could hear the way you were breaking.

“We’re not supposed to be here Eddie, this is private property!” you teased him as you climbed over the gate, he wasn’t sure at first if you were being serious but seeing you making it to the other side of the fence, smile growing on your lips, he had a growing suspicion that you were just fucking with him. Rolling his eyes, he climbs over the gate after you, nearly losing his footing as he lands. You would have sworn he did it on purpose, just so he could stumble into you and have you catch him. If it was the case, you didn’t mind it, in fact, a part of you preferred that story. Eddie on the other hand was just clumsy. Eddie grabbed your hand, pulling you along with him as you made your way past the security station, climbing over the turnstiles. “Should I be concerned that you are a natural at this?” he asks, gesturing around you. You had never done something like this, at least not on a larger scale. Breaking and entering wasn’t a frequent recurrence of yours. Silently, you just shrug, your brows shooting up and a cheeky grin forming on your lips, the very lips that he hadn’t been able to stop staring at. “I think if anyone should be concerned it's me, this was your idea, and for a first date nonetheless.” You chuckle. “Yeah well I had to go big or go home,” he smiles wildly.

“You probably didn’t know this but that was the first date I had gone on in a while, I mean unless you count the one where I got stood up. Anyway, I was so unbelievably nervous, in fact, my palms were so sweaty I was mortified,”

Eddie smiles, wondering if you knew how nervous he had been because he imagined it was nothing compared to what he was feeling that day. Having to constantly fight the urge to kiss you every time you looked at him, or every time you laughed, or to be honest, after every time you did anything.

Eddie pulled you into full view of the baseball stadium in all its glory, standing at the very back looking down at the desolate field, the whole thing just for you. Heat crept to your cheeks, and your lips did their best to hide the smile. Eyes wide, mesmerized by it all. It wasn’t the fact that it was done up in any way, but more the fact that he had brought you somewhere that you two could claim as your spot, somewhere no one would think to look for you, a perfect spot for you and him. Little did you know it would become just that, your spot. Too entranced by it all to notice that Eddie wasn’t taking in the same view as you, but rather admiring you, your smile, the way your hair frames your face, the way your mouth hung open just slightly drawing attention to your perfect lips. He was gawking at you.

“It's beautiful..” you murmured, “Indeed.” You pull your gaze away to look at him, who instantly pretended, poorly might you add, that he hadn’t been staring at you the entire time.

“The entire night was just..” you pause, “magical.” you sigh.

“No, that's the big dipper,” you argue. Eddie shakes his head dramatically, “Absolutely not, I have never seen someone be so confident in such a wrong answer.” You prop yourself up on your elbow, staring down at him, wondering if somehow you were in fact wrong and had just made a fool out of yourself, only to see that his eyes were closed. “You’re not even looking!” you giggle, playfully slap his chest, leaving your hand to linger there. Eddie, being the eccentric person that he is, grunts, tongue resting out the side of his mouth as if you had just killed him, and you can’t help but laugh. He opens his eyes at hearing the sweet sound of your laughter. His tongue runs across his bottom lip as he grins at you.

“Gahhh, you had me thinking I was dumb,” you remark, eyes narrowing on him. “Oh well we can’t have that I’m afraid, it simply will not do, madam.”

His hand slowly comes to meet yours, resting on his chest. He wraps his hand around your, his thumb grazing the top of it gently. It was taking every fiber in his being not to grab you and kiss you. Perhaps that's what you wanted, but his head was spinning, he couldn’t think straight, and there was no way for him to know for sure. Luckily, you knew exactly what you wanted, him. Without hesitation you lower your face down to him, your lips grazing his, as your eyes fall closed. “Aren’t you going to kiss me?” you ask, your soft lips pressing to the corner of his mouth. His hand comes up and cradles the back of your neck, pulling you down as his lips lock with yours. Gentle, slow, and perfect. There was no denying the butterflies that erupted in your stomach, as his tongue skimmed your bottom lip, begging for entrance, that you would undoubtedly give. Tongues swirling around each other, head spinning, faces flushed, you were in heaven. Eddie pulls away from you, resting his forehead against yours, both of you smiling against each other's lips. Perfect and yet not enough. Eddie draws you back in, his lips catching yours once more but this time with more hunger, more passion. Tilting his head, he adds more pressure, deepening the kiss. As his arm wraps around you, flipping you onto your back, a moan leaves you. Eddie can’t help but smile into the kiss. His hand grips tightly to your hip, and your legs intertwine as he cages you. His tongue meets yours once more, dancing with your own. Needy hands start to roam your body, dipping under the thin fabric of your shirt, hungrily moving up your sides. The rings adorning his fingers, cold against your heated skin as they move further up your body. Your hands come up to tangle in his hair, urging him to continue with it all. You feel his hand hesitate just under your breast, and you encourage him by a tug of his hair, and a nip at his bottom lip.

His hand cups your breast, thumb running over your hardened nipple. Your body shutters at the touch, shivers jutting up your spine. You had never felt so desperate, so needy for someone, but for Eddie, you were both.

“I still can’t believe that I panicked and pushed you off! God, I wanted to go further that night, I know I never told you that, but it’s the truth…I’m sorry..”

Eddie chuckles to himself. To this day he had wondered if he had made the wrong move, touched you too quickly, or grabbed you in the wrong place. He never minded it though, he enjoyed every moment of that night and wouldn’t have changed any of it.

“Anyway, this song was what I played for months after that night.. constantly repeating: Only you and you alone can thrill me like you do, and fill my heart with love for only you:” you sing the lyrics. “Baby, it's you, and it will always be you.”

The tape clicks off and Eddie doesn’t move. He sits in silence too afraid to play the next one. He hates that it's come to this, having to hear your voice in such a way instead of hearing it in person. Hates that he can’t hold you in his arms and just talk, just feel you close to him. The numbness starts to set in as he starts to picture you there with him. Cuddled up against him on the couch, your hand on his chest, like you, always used to do. God, he missed you. Missed every little thing about you.

After a few moments, he moves on to the next tape, pulling it out of the box and putting it in, pressing play instantly.

As soon as the music starts he knows. Groaning at the song that he often claimed he hated, only to tease you, but truth be told he loved it.

“I can't fight this feeling any longer….And yet I'm still afraid to let it flow…What started out as friendship has grown stronger. You can claim all you want Eddie, that you hate this song but I know the truth! This will forever be your favorite song all thanks to me!”

“Never!” he calls out into the empty trailer. No matter what you said, he would never willingly admit the love he had for this song.

“I mean why shouldn’t it be, I only listened to it all the fucking time…I have to admit that I kinda did it to annoy the shit out of you, but I could tell it was getting to you..” you pause, clearly reminiscing about it. “Do you remember that time…” you tone holding a sense of suggestion to it, one that Eddie picked up on immediately.

There was no forgetting it, not when you played the damn song the whole entire day. It would forever be ingrained in his very being.

You had been walking around Eddie’s trailer, your trustee walkman glued to your hip, music far too loud to hear anything other than the same song on repeat. Each lyric fell from your lips as you danced around in his room. Eddie had been on the couch, studying for a test in Miss. O’Donnell’s. He had already shut you out for the hour, dead set on acing the test, well more like barely passing. He insisted you not bug him any further. He wouldn’t admit it, but you knew that the constant repetition of that song had him in a sore mood, so you had decided to give him a little bit of space, but not for long. Noticing Eddie’s hellfire club shirt resting on his dresser, you grab it, replacing your own clothes with the shirt. It rested nicely against your bare thighs, a sentiment you wondered if he’d enjoy.

Wandering out of his room, you spot him, hard at work. Your lips press into a thin line as you suppress your grin, an idea forming, one sure to rile him up. You start your song over, blasting it at full volume, as you begin to sing the lyrics. You watch his eyes fall closed, heaving a heavy sigh, as he looks up at you. The look of annoyance quickly fades to be one of surprise, and intrigue, one that he tries to hide. Except there was no way to hide the growing evidence in the confines of his jeans, luckily you couldn’t see it.

“I can't fight this feeling any longer….And yet I'm still afraid to let it flow…What started out as friendship has grown stronger….” You begin to sing, very pitchy and very off-key. It was enough to drive Eddie insane. He fights the urge to pay you any attention, as he turns back to his textbook. You laugh to yourself at the sight of his eyes wide, and his lips in a downturn. As you get closer to him, you begin to dance along to the music, swaying your hips along to the beat.

“Sweetheart, I swear to god…” he warns, but you can’t hear him, too intent on annoying the hell out of him.

“You know that my favorite thing to do to you is to annoy every fiber in your body, It’s honestly an obsession of mine.” you chuckle. Eddie sighs, a soft smile forming on his lips as he recollects all the times that you did just that, there were far too many to count.

As you continue your dance, you notice him, stealing glances at you, his eyes drinking in every curve of your body, admiring the way his shirt fit you, the way it sat on your bare thighs, riding up with every step you took. You grab the bottom of the shirt, drawing it up your body and revealing your panties, watching the way he shamelessly licks his lips. He knew there was no way he was going to be able to finish studying, not when you were tempting him so, especially not if you kept singing that dumb song. Eddie throws his textbook aside, and leans back, this time giving you his full attention. “And if I have to crawl upon the floor, come crashing through your door...Baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore!” you sing. He doesn’t know how you do it, manage to annoy him so, and yet at the same time make him fall for you even harder. Reaching out, Eddie grabs your arm, pulling you down onto his lap, taking your headphones off, and setting them on the coffee table. You can’t help the fit of laughter that hits you as you look into his dark brown eyes.

“You are driving me crazy,” he chuckles. You open your mouth to offer a rebuttal but you’re met with lips and tongue, silencing you immediately.

You don’t recollect moaning his name until your back meets the couch, Eddie on top of you, and your clothes gone. Your hands tangled in his hair as he worships every inch of you with his mouth. Claiming you in the ways that only he can. His fingers cling to the soft skin of your hips, holding you in place as he makes his descent down your body, his lips and uneven breath fanning across your burning skin sending shivers up your spine.

Your back bows at the feeling of his mouth, whimpers as his tongue glides along you, and sweet shocks of pleasure course through your veins. As you focused on the lapping of his tongue, the movements of his fingers, he was focused on the rise and fall of your chest, the breathy moans leaving your lips, the sudden jolts of your body. Nothing was as beautiful as you were at that moment. No amount of art or even music could bring him as much joy as you could.

“I should have done it more. If I would have known that's how you would react…god I would have done it all the damn time. I mean for crying out loud, that tongue of yours is truly magic.”

Truth be told, Eddie wished you had, wished that you still would. He would give anything for it now. To see you prance around in his clothes, completely engulfed in your own little world and blissfully unaware of everything around you. Even to hear you sing this song terribly, just to get at him. You were his breath of fresh air, and he needed you desperately, just like he did then.

Indescribable, the way he felt having you wrapped so tightly around him, your fingers gripping to him as if in a moment he would slip through them. Your head foggy as you move together in sync, sharing labored breaths as your lips graze each others. The coarseness; of his voice like music to your ears as he whispers words of encouragement, everything that you need to hear as he coaxes sinful sounds from you. His hand finds yours in the chaos, fingers intertwining with yours as he holds your hand above your head.

Crying out as the ache inside of you subsides and your release hits you, only to be swallowed by his lips, as he pushes you through it. Nothing but pure bliss as you feel him follow after you, filling you completely. He collapses on top of you, only to rest his head against yours, and pull you into an innocent kiss.

“I will say this, Eddie…I do believe this song is magic...I really do. I swear anytime I listen to it I'm instantly taken back to that exact moment; one I will never forget.”

The song fizzles out to a stop and Eddie’s eyes open. As he leans forward he notices one more tape and his heart wrenches. He’s not sure if he has the strength to listen to the last one, knowing that once he does, it’s done, you’re gone. He knows he can’t wait forever, not when he needs to hear your voice again. With a shaky breath, and trembling hands he puts in the last tape. Finger hovering over the play button.

“Come on Eddie,” he mutters. He runs his hand over his face, wishing that somehow it would wipe away every semblance of pain and dread from him. Finding the courage once more, he presses play and closes his eyes.

“March tenth, 1986, I got my acceptance letter to Columbia and told no one, I wasn’t going to tell anyone but you found out, ” you struggle, your voice soft and melancholy. Despite wanting to sound happy, alive, and well, you knew that it was just wishful thinking. “My father had no right to tell you, to make you feel like it was your fault because it wasn’t”

Eddie’s jaw tenses at the mention of your father. He had never liked Eddie, and he understood why, it was for this very reason, Eddie stood in the way of your dreams. He didn’t know it, not until your father told him, however.

Eddie stood in the doorframe of your parent's home, anxiously waiting for you to save him from the silence that your parents were giving him. They had never liked Eddie, and for what reason, he had no idea. He had never done anything to give them a reason to dislike him so, and yet they had found one of their own.

“Have you congratulated y/n yet?” your father asks, his eyes boring straight through Eddie. With a nervous chuckle and a faulty smile, Eddie’s left to ask what he means.

“Columbia, she got her acceptance letter…Did she not tell you?”

He could feel the color draining from his face at the words. He’d had no idea that you had even applied anywhere other than the University of Indiana.

“She told us she wasn’t going to accept,” your mother chimes in.

Eddie had a strong feeling that they were implying that it was his fault, that because of him you weren’t going to go to Columbia. At one point Eddie might have fought them on it, told them that it was your choice and that he had no weight in the matter, but something told him that was wrong. Something told him he was the exact reason you weren’t going. His jaw tenses, as he stares at the staircase, waiting for you to come down, and if on cue, you do. Rushing down with a smile on your face.

“Hey, babe!” you say, rushing over to kiss his cheek. He doesn’t know why but he can't seem to find the words to say anything to you, but you were far too happy to notice. You say your goodbyes, kissing your father's cheek and blowing a kiss to your mother before you drag Eddie out of the house.

“It has been haunting me, the fact that we haven’t talked about it…not sure that we will ever get the chance, but..” You mumble the last bit and it's like daggers in his heart. It had been one of the very reasons he had been beating himself up since you died. You had never fought, never disagreed on anything meaningfully. It killed him knowing that he had been so cold to you, angry that you could keep something from him. What hurt more was that he never wanted to talk about it, you both just let it hang in the air acting as though it wasn’t there, as it silently tore you both apart.

“I guess now is my chance..”

“Columbia! When were you going to tell me? Or better yet, were you even going to tell me?” Eddie asks, his tone harsh as he paces back and forth in the trailer.

“No, I wasn’t going to tell you, because it doesn’t matter, Eddie! I’m not going..” you shout at him. You were fuming, you had wondered why the entire drive he had been so quiet, so distant. And now you knew. “You know what, Eddie, I really don’t see the problem here?”

He stops in his tracks, turning to look at you, eyes narrowed and cold, something you had never seen from him before. “The problem is you are throwing away everything you have worked for, every dream that you’ve had to stay here in this shithole with me! If you fucking think that I would ever let that happen, you’re delusional. I could never live with myself knowing that the only reason you’d stay is because of me. I’m not worth all of that.”

You stand up, tears burning in your eyes as you approach him. “You don’t get to say that. I’m not just staying for you, I’m staying for me,” you argue. Eddie takes a deep breath, suddenly unable to meet your eyes.

“No you’re not, because if you were you would never have had applied, nor would you be keeping it from me! Did you think that I want this for you, want you to be stuck in a town with no opportunities, a town that's cursed and sick? Do you really think that I would ever allow that?” He retorts.

You scoff, taking a step back, “Allow!? Eddie, you don’t control me, I make my own choices same as you, It is my choice on whether or not I stay. You don’t get to take that away from me, you don’t get to push me away.”

You sniffle, crossing your arms over your chest as a sense of security. You’d be lying to say that anxiety wasn’t building inside you, worrying about where this conversation would inevitably end.

“Sweetheart, I can’t let you throw away everything you’ve ever cared about for me, not when there is so much more out there for you. You have to go, you have to go and live your life without me,” he says sternly.

The tears break free from your eyes as you ball up your fist and hit it against his chest. “Don’t say that! You’re the one making me give up the only thing I care about. You.”

He doesn’t say anything, doesn't look at you, because somewhere in his mind he knew it was the truth. You would never achieve anything in this dumpy old town, and especially not with him. He also knew that if he looked at you, crying into his chest, desperately clinging to him for comfort, he would give in, and he couldn’t.

“You have to.” was all he said.

That had been the only discussion that you’d had about it. Leaving you both broken and unsure of the future. You had told him that you would go, both of you knowing it wasn’t the truth. It had come to the point where you both danced around the whole thing in general, neither one of you bringing it up again. It pushed you apart, leaving a void in both of you.

“The truth is Eddie, nothing you were ever going to say was going to make me change my mind. I had it made up from the very beginning. I only applied to please my parents, and sure a part of me wondered if I would get in, but in the end, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to leave you. You are my future,” you choke. He could hear the way you were trying to silence the sobs that were leaving you. The way your voice quivered as you said future. Tears stream down his cheeks at the thought. To him, you had always been his future, his everything. He wanted to build a life with you, a family, an adventure just for the two of you. He wanted to spend his days making you happy. It had always been the plan, and in his own twisted way, pushing you away was his way of doing that. He thought that if it was meant to be, you would always come back to him, but in your mind, you would never leave him, because it was meant to be.

“You are my everything, Eddie. I hate that we fought, we never did until then and it killed me. It killed me to know that you thought that I could just leave you, I would never leave you by choice, never…”

You take a deep breath, doing your best to collect yourself. “I hate that I never got the chance to say it, but I love you, Eddie Munson. I don’t know why it took me so damn long to say it, especially not since I knew it from the moment you slid into my booth, but I am saying it now. I love you, and I will always love you. No matter what you do, or how hard you try to push me away, Always.”

Eddie didn’t think his heart could break anymore until he heard you say it. It had always been an unspoken thing between the two of you, you knew he loved you and he knew you loved him, but hearing you say it meant so much more. He gasps, releasing the breath that he didn’t know he had been holding, his heart racing and his head reeling as he tries to calm himself. His hand clutched his chest, desperately trying to cease the pain he was feeling.

“I’m sorry I never told you about Columbia. I never thought that I’d have to, as selfish as that sounds. Also, I’m sorry if these tapes are causing you pain, I didn’t want that, but I didn’t know if I would ever get the chance to tell you this in person. I don’t blame you for anything, and I don’t want you to blame yourself for anything either, I know you will and I need you to promise me that you won’t. “Promise me, Eddie…say it..”

“I promise sweetheart.” he breaths, wiping the tears away with his hand.

“Eddie, baby, I need you to do something for me, and I know you are going to object, but I need you too,” you pause, letting out a small chuckle. “I need you to live your life, don’t throw it away. I need you to graduate and continue to make music and do whatever else it is that your heart desires. I need you to open yourself up to someone else, to fall in love, and to let someone fall in love with you the way I did. I can’t have you missing me always and missing out on all the great opportunities that I know are going to come your way. “So here it is, I chose these songs because they’re my favorites. They remind me of you, of all the moments we shared, all the laughs, kisses, tears…To me, they are the perfect narrative of our story.. I chose them because no matter where you are, I will always have them, and therefore I will always have a part of you. ”You stole my heart from day one, with your bold comments and eccentric attitude, your inability to ever stop talking about the things you love, or in general. You made my life so much better than what it would have been if you had never walked through Andy’s door, and for that, I have to say thank you. Promise me you won’t miss me too much, just be happy, god, please just be happy.”

There’s a long pause and Eddie wonders if it's the end of the tape if those were your last words until he hears it once more. That damn song falling from your lips once again, but this time it’s not pitchy, it's not annoying, it’s bittersweet.

“My life has been such a whirlwind since I saw you…I've been running round in circles in my mind...And it always seems that I'm following you, girl…'Cause you take me to the places that, alone, I'd never find..And even as I wander, I'm keeping you in sight…You're a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter's night...And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might..And I can't fight this feeling anymore…”

The tape stops, and a tear falls down his cheek as he stares at the box before him. There was never a doubt in his mind that you were the one for him, his soulmate, and even though you were gone, he’d always have a part of you left. He pulls off the headset, places it gently in the box once more, and closes the lid. Even though it still hurt to say goodbye to you, he felt he would be okay, knowing he still had you by his side, always.

a/n: I cried like a damn baby writing this shit, I hope you did too! Also, I would love to hear your feedback!

Yep, just reread it and cried even more. 😒

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jm-2406 · 2 months

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Just a ring.

Pairing - Tommy Shelby X reader; Male OC x reader.

Summary - “he has asked me to marry him but I had to come here first. I need to know if you feel anything… anything at all for me.”

Word count - 2.1k (longest I ever wrote)

Note - flashback in italics.

Warnings - infidelity.

Cursive words made their way across the document as he led the pen from left to right, every movement a study in perfection. A famous business man like Thomas Shelby who hid his real business behind that of gin production and bookmaking, couldn't afford anything less than perfection. He pursed his lips as he focused on getting his signature just right, reading the already typed composition. Mergers, especially one as important as this one needed to be dealt with utmost care, and a very carefully crafted ‘brown nosing’ letter never hurt anyone.

He was feeling very pleased with his efforts when a loud noise from outside his office startled him. Throwing an angry glare towards the closed door, he cursed the person who disturbed him.

“You can't go in there Miss. He's very busy.” His secretary's voice reached his ears. “To hell with his schedule. I don't care.” The other voice responded sharply and he knew who that other person was. He mentally prepared himself for the upcoming drama, tiredly rubbing his eyes.

“I'm sorry Mr. Shelby, this—this Woman refused to make an appointment. Should I escort her out?”

Tommy eyed the girl in front of him; she stared back defiantly, challenging him. He wouldn't throw her out but that didn't mean that he couldn't make her sweat. The young woman in front of him started to fidget nervously the longer Tommy kept staring at her without a word. “It's okay George. You're excused.” The woman heaved a sigh of relief at his words.

Tommy turned to her and said coldly. “Now, to what do I owe the pleasure? What is it, [Y/L/N]? Say your piece and spare me. I am too busy right now.”

[Y/N] scoffed, wrapping her arms around herself as if she was trying to protect herself from his coldness. “Wow. So you can speak more than three words at a time and just my luck that you use them to dismiss me. ‘[Y/L/N]’, ‘my piece’... You are so intolerable Tommy.”

“Then why are you here, love?” He retorted flippantly but her next words made him stop his work.

“He knows…”

“Who knows what, [Y/N]?”

“Robert… he found your waistcoat under the bed… the one you forgot to put on because of some ‘important’ business.” She confessed, her voice shaky. She paused and then opened her mouth to continue, her voice cracking. “He didn't even ask who it belonged to. He said that it didn't matter. He blamed himself, you know…For being gone so often.”

Tommy kept staring at the papers on his desk, completely still. He didn't know what kind of response she was expecting but his mind went blank. He was about to say something when she dropped the final bomb. “He's asked me to marry him.”

Her eyes finally rose up from the floor. He could feel her willing him to look back at her; willing him to show any emotion. But the man kept staring at his desk, forcing himself to pick up the document and continue his letter.

“I haven't answered him yet.” She admitted, “I had to come here first. I had to see you, but you've been avoiding me and… I just need to know if you feel anything, anything at all for me.” She waited for him to respond, waited for any sign from him but he was as cold as ice and just as frozen as he signed his name at the end of his letter.

He continued his work robotically and took a breath only after hearing her footsteps shuffling closer to the door. “I meant what I said that night… I still do.” She whispered and then she was gone, missing the look that crossed his face.

After crying her heart out, [Y/N] kept staring at the end of the room blankly, her mind still stuck on everything that has happened in her life recently. “I am stronger than this.” She whispered to herself. Her head fell against the back of the couch, and she curled a leg up beside her, wrapping her arms around it as she glanced out the window.

It never should have happened, she knew that now, but she still couldn't bring herself to regret that it had. It had all started about six months ago, she and Robert had been having a lot of arguments around that time.

“You promised!” She raised her voice, fed up with his attitude.

“I know babe but this is urgent.” Robert said softly, trying to pacify her but it made her angrier instead.

“Fine. Go wherever you want to. Do whatever you want. But I am not going to keep changing my plans according to you every time. I am going to attend the Christmas Eve party… with or without you.”

“No. You can't do that [Y/N]. What will they say? My reputation will be thrashed.”

“Oh I can and I will. If you care about your ‘reputation’ then come to the event with me.” She asked one last time but only got a shake of head in return as Robert took his briefcase and left.

There at the party, [Y/N] found herself in the company of none other than Thomas Shelby, the Birmingham gangster turned businessman turned politician. Though she didn't trust him, she couldn't disagree that the man was charming. A few drinks later, she found herself up against a wall in one of the vast deserted hallways, moaning and thoroughly enjoying herself with a man that most definitely was not her boyfriend. That was how it all started.

Secret correspondence and casual meetings followed. Every time she would receive one of his notes or calls, she would hesitate and every time she gave in. She couldn't stop herself; he made her feel passionate, naughty, and desirable. It was everything she never felt with Robert thus she became addicted.

Over time, their Pattern seemed to change. It started with simple words after they were intimate and soon she found herself spending nights in his house. It went to a point where she would see Robert maybe once in two or three weeks for a date and spend almost every other day with Tommy.

After sometime she realized that her feelings for the two men had begun to change. Tommy had become her confidant and lover. On the other hand she found herself forgetting about the dates with Robert, arriving late when he called her, zoning out when he talked to her. She was figuring out what to do when the unexpected happened.

They were lying in his bed, quietly content after a night full of activity when her lips, engaged by a sleepy mind, betrayed her. “I think… I am falling for you.” Time froze. In one swift movement, her lover had stood from the bed and had placed his robe around his shoulders. He turned his back to her, making it clear that he didn't want to talk.

She remembered how she had sat there; hurt and humiliated beyond belief. It had taken all the strength and courage that she could muster to get dressed and leave that night. That was two weeks ago.

Truth to be told, when Robert had found Tommy's waistcoat under her bed, she felt relieved. Everything would be out in the open, she could move on but once again reality turned out to be quite different than her thoughts. Robert opened up to her about his behaviour and promised to work less, be with her more and that he wanted to marry her. Before she could blink, he was down on his knee, proposing to her.

“I… I need time, Robert.”

Now here she was, lamenting unrequited love and cursing her fate.

A week later -

[Y/N] pushed open the door of her flat with a tired sigh. She tossed her shoes into their space in her coat closet with one hand as she released the clip that held her hair with the other. Moving towards the kitchen cabinet, she uncorked the wine bottle and took a sip directly from the bottle.

“Long day?” A deep voice asked her.

She turned on her feet and observed the man in front of her. Tommy was sitting on the couch as if he owned the place. “What. Do. You. Want?” She asked slowly, proud of the bitterness in her voice. “Tommy…”

He didn't verbally respond; calling her to him with a gesture of his hands. She wanted to shout at him but she couldn't. He made her weak. He reached up with his fingers for her left hand, his thumb brushing over the diamond that sat there.

“I'm engaged…” She tried to stop the teasing fingertips from continuing their journey of exploring her body.

“Well… you're not married yet. It's just a ring.” He whispered, holding her face to make her look at him. She felt the pads of his fingertips gripping the ring on her third finger and slowly sliding it off. A metallic clink resonated in her ears as the ring fell to the floor.

The fight drained out of her as she sunk into her lover's arms. Her knees folding under her as his lips joined with hers. She knew that this night would be their final goodbye.

“Where is your engagement ring?”

“I… I must have forgotten it.”

“Forgotten it? On the night of our engagement party?” Robert questioned incredulously. They were interrupted by some other guests and they easily fell into the conversation, saving [Y/N] from trying to come up with more lies.

“How are you doing, Walker?” another voice interrupted the couple. Robert cursed seeing the person who disturbed his conversation with his fiancèe.

“How did you even enter Shelby? This is an invitation only party so kindly leave.”

Thomas smirked, raising his closed fist over [Y/N]'s glass of champagne. One by one he uncurled his fingers, dropping something small and shiny. Robert had a look of confusion and shock on his features as he realized that in the glass was [Y/N]'s engagement ring.

“I know I wasn't invited Walker, but I am here to collect what's mine… don't look so shocked. She hasn't been yours for a while.”

Before she could think, Robert punched Thomas, hard… and a fight started between the two. Robert's parents changed the topic and sent the guests on their way to save their image of respectful people. It wasn't until [Y/N] physically pulled Tommy back that he stopped. Even though Robert was a few centimetres taller than Tommy, he was no match for his muscles and strength.

“When did this… this thing start? Tell me everything, [Y/N]… honestly this time.” Robert pleaded.

“Six months ago. I was angry at you and I know it is wrong but… when I did go to the party, alone, no one paid any attention to me. Didn't even greet me with a simple ‘hello’. I felt as though I was only someone if I was with you. I felt so worthless. Tommy was at the party. He annoyed me and I took my anger out on him… I don't know how but the next thing I remember is kissing him; one thing lead to another and here we are… I am sorry Robert. I don't deserve you.”

Robert scoffed. He left immediately after throwing the ring down. His mouth did not say a word but his eyes conveyed the anger and hurt he was feeling.

[Y/N] turned to Tommy. “Well. It was a long day. Thank you for ruining my engagement party. Now I think we should go.” She stood from her chair but Tommy pulled her back by her wrist, making her sit on his lap. “What is it?” She asked him.

“You asked me that day, if I feel anything at all for you. The answer is, I don't. I feel everything for you, Miss [Y/N] [Y/L/N].” He said cupping her face in his hands and pressed his lips on hers.

She smiled in their kiss knowing for sure that the man whom she gave her heart to would do everything in his power to keep her safe and happy now that he finally realised what she meant to him.

THE END.

Find the Theo version here.

#tommy shelby x reader #cillian murphy x reader #thomas shelby #peaky blinders #tommy shelby x y/n #peaky blinders fanfiction #𝐣 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬

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simp-ly-writes · 7 months

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A Suit Filled Surprise

Pairing: Commander Philip Graves x teacher!Reader

Summary: its been awhile since you had last seen your husband; thankfully your coworkers are there to help.

Warnings: mentions of anxiety and a sprained wrist.

A/N: why do i love this man. WHY. feeling feral for graves rn.

Masterlist | Taglist | edited.

The kids were filling in their worksheet and continued to work on their printing as you continued to mark yesterday's grammar quiz; taking the time to place stickers and small motivational comments after each answer.

Pencils scrapped across paper in the background as the cheerful screams of other students on break coming through the floor level windows overpowered the small conversations happening between table-groups.

Checking in on the students you noticed as the curtains floated with the breeze. It was half-way to the summer break and the buzzing fan trying to combat the southern heat was struggling much like your sprained wrist. You smiled thoughtfully at the rows of desks while twirling your wedding band; thinking back to the card and chocolates they all bought you to get better soon.

Before you could make your way back to your desk to continue the mountain of papers and the ever-flowing flood of parental emails; your coworker Christina waved you over form your classroom joining door. Smiling and bringing your finger to your lips; she nodded and smiled widely herself before turning back around and explaining to her older grade that she would be back in a minute.

are you ready for parent-teacher night with your class? i could use some help with mine if you have time during your spare? Christina asked as she kept glancing towards your hall door. Yet just as you became growingly curious she held your arm and began to show you a list of planned material to prepare for over the summer. Nodding along while becoming a bit concerned over her obvious anxious figure.

You held her hand and opened your mouth; about to ask if you should look over her room so she could revive a much needed break early. Yet it would be the silence of your own classroom that overtook your concern for Christina; followed by a series of unanimous giggles that held your heel; about pivot to ask the class what was so funny.

You then felt Christina squeeze your hand before she asked your class to join hers; making sure she still held your full attention. Her eyes began to crinkle joyfully in a knowing look that had your anxiety reeling across your skin- turning pink.

As all the children joined the older class in the next room; Christina addressed the class while gripping on to your form, okay class! storytime together please- practicing their collaborative skill for their final report card. Looking at you once more than at the door; smiling widely she dropped your hand and walked back her room; closing the door behind herself.

Turning back to look at the now empty rows of desks; the children still played in the background as you made your way back to your desk. Shifting through the papers and submitting them on your records sheet you pen flew across the page. Marking a large red streak as you heard a throat clear.

Turning towards the door to glare at whomever decided, eyes going wide in seeing your husband, in a suit, leaned against the doorframe with flowers in his hand as you began to have flashbacks to prom all those years ago.

C'mon sweetheart is that anyway to greet your husband? Graves teased as you watched him stand upright and start to saunter up to your desk. Blinking in reaction; your body thought him to be an illusion; starting to shake; eyes becoming wet.

Baby, baby. He began to console you, kneeling beside your chair and taking your hands in his own as he began to rub small circles on the back side of your palms. You felt the cold matching ring against your skin as a smile began to form widely across your face matching his own.

Closing your eyes as you felt him cup your cheek and kiss the other; moving to your forehead next and then all the way down to your lips. Giggling at his scruff tickling your nose. You lightly grabbed the outlines of his suit jacket and pushed him away gently.

Large puppy dog eyes were all you had received in return. I missed you.

How about you show me how much? home is calling... he trailed off while glancing back at the door than back at you. He pulled your frame up lightly and then pulled you back into his lap. Starting to brush his nose against your neck, sighing softly; awaiting your response.

As you breathing and shakes still, you accidentally shift in his lap earning yourself groan, how could I ever say no to this suit?

I was debating between this and my field outfit; yet I figured I would become less of a scare with this... Laughing at your husbands commentary over a simple outfit, you felt yourself being lifted with a squeal escaping your lips and being carried out the door towards a black car. While exiting the building you saw Christina hold two thumbs up with a wink as you buried your face into his shoulder.

Placing you in the passengers seat he took off his coat jacket and threw it in the backseat and rolled up the sleeves of his dress-shirt to his forearms before leaning over and giving you a kiss. Igniting the engine, he placed a warm hand across your thigh.

Tracing the veins up his hands and arm; you saw his body shiver in response before moving his hand away and giving you a playful glare before moving his eyes back to the road. Let's just say that the drive home was a bit longer than usual...

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gxthicupid · 1 month

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𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗢 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗱 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 + 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦

𝗡𝗘 𝗭𝗛𝗔 𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗢𝗥𝗬

I know this theory has been talked about a lot, but I would like to put my own thoughts and opinions about Ne Zha’s age. Of course, Ne Zha died at the age of 12, yet in the series; considered to be a somewhat spin-off/sequel to the Journey to the West novel, he appears to be physically an adult.

Understandably, some people wanted to defend the idea of Ne Zha physically and mentally grown since Journey to the West by using other country’s beliefs of Ne Zha depicted as an adult, however, other countries still depict Ne Zha as a child, and the crew for LEGO Monkie Kid revealed he was canonically a child during Season 4, Episode 5 “The Court of the Yellow-Robed Demon”. This leaves to the question of how he managed to appear older.

I have been pondering on the idea for quite some time, and while going through several posts of people’s headcanons, references from other media depicting the other characters from Journey to the West, I have come to a conclusion.

To support this theory, I will be using Macaque as an example to answer the mystery behind Ne Zha’s sudden ageing in LEGO Monkie Kid. It has become abundantly clear Macaque has a missing eye, and in the Season 3, Episode 8, “Benched”, while trying to retrieve the third Samadhi Ring from Tang, for a split second, the tip of his tail becomes slightly white.

While going through fanart, people often depict Macaque, having glamorised his looks in order to hide his features (i.e., his scarred eye). Saying that, I believe Ne Zha has adapted to glamorise his child form into an adult form, possibly from wanting to fit his mental age physically and feel comfortable. Macaque so far, hasn’t shown his true form for a prologue time, I believe Nezha can hold his adult form without any difficulty.

𝗠𝗞’𝗦 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗢𝗥𝗬

Season 5 of LEGO Monkie Kid is bound to show Nuwa, or MK’s supposed mother, on the show. Most people are wanting Nuwa to be a loving and caring mother, however, I do not believe that will be the case considering the direction the show is taking on MK’s backstory.

In the Season 4 special “Emperor’s Wrath”, the Kings of Hell in the Underworld are shown to be devising a plan for the upcoming events for Season 5, and personally, I believe Nuwa will be some sort of secondary villain associated with the main plot in Season 5.

I am predicting that Nuwa has some strong connections, or at the very least, is acquainted with the Kings of Hell. Perhaps in the past, the Kings of Hell held a grudge against Sun Wukong after erasing his name from the Book of the Dead.

They weren’t able to change the pages since the paper magically link to the people whose names are written, and possibly, recreating a new set of paper will negatively affect the other people’s mortality; which the Kings of Hell are not willing to risk.

Leading to the Kings of Hell requesting the aid of the creator of humans, Nuwa, since the residents of the Celestial Realm are not going to approve such a dire plan without the approval of the Jade Emperor.

Maybe the Kings of Hell gained Nuwa’s interest throughout a promise with a type of reward at the end of deal, and making her create a lifeform with equal or stronger power than Sun Wukong.

From the flashback in Season 4 Episode 6, “Show Me The Monster'', there were several stone statues of various animals before the creation of MK (hinting there were several attempts to create the perfect lifeform).

The idea of creating MK as a mystic monkey probably links to the Journey to the West novel, in the chapter where Macaque shapeshifted into the Monkey King and deceives the other pilgrims; and before the reveal of the Six-Eared Macaque, it was stated that the imposter was close to Sun Wukong’s power level, which, I’m assuming, Nuwa took note.

Since Season 4 has hinted that Sun Wukong had some sort of connection with MK before he was created, I am predicting that he possibly knew Nuwa as a friend before she became an acquaintance with the Kings of Hell. Nuwa used that relationship as an advantage to analyse his skills and powers, while discussing using Sun Wukong as a pawn to help MK to be trained by the Monkey King, in order for MK to unlock his powers later in life.

Reasoning why I believe Sun Wukong isn’t aware of Nuwa is supported in the Season 4 special, “Emperor’s Wrath”, when Azure Lion was defeated, Sun Wukong questioned him who set him free from the Scroll of Memory, and Azure Lion had no recollection.

Supporting this theory, judging the age of MK when he first met Pigsy in Season 4, Episode 6, “Show Me The Monster”, he seemed to be around the age of 5 years old, which when he should some remembered of Nuwa or Sun Wukong to some degree, but it’s possibly she must have erased MK’s memories. This might be an ability that she might use in Season 5.

Nuwa must have deceived Sun Wukong somehow to convince him to protect MK when he proves himself to have potential to become Sun Wukong’s successor, not only to allow MK’s abilities to develop and become stronger, but she might also use MK to spy on the Monkey King from afar.

To support this theory, I will use the 5th Anniversary LEGO set of Monkie Kid, as Nuwa is seen to be in disguise while running a jade shop in Megapolis. Perhaps she purposely dropped MK off at Pisgy’s Noodles and lived around the city to observe MK and waited until he was ready to wield the staff. Sun Wukong must have done the same, but without the knowledge of Nuwa’s plan with the Kings of Hell (To learn Sun Wukong’s weaknesses for the sake of devising a plan).

In the pilot episode of LEGO Monkie Kid, “A Hero is Born”, MK needed to deliver some noodles to a customer, but ended up dealing with the Demon Bull Family. Perhaps Nuwa also purposely made MK make the trip so that he can find Monkey King’s staff and allow MK to meet Sun Wukong and start training because Nuwa might have a deadline to finish her end of the deal, before the Kings of Hell will take action in Season 5.

𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗬𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗞𝗘𝗬𝗦 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

Connecting to the last theory, I believe there will be a likely chance that Season 5 will introduce the other mystic monkeys from the Journey to the West novel. Judging from the direction of the LEGO Monkie Kid series, there will be new characters introduced other than Nuwa, considering that Season 5 will focus more on MK’s past, and him learning how to control his monkey powers.

For those who aren’t aware, in the Journey to the West novel, it is canon that there are a total of four mystic monkeys, which includes Sun Wukong (Spirit Intelligent Stone Monkey) and Macaque (Six-Eared Macaque Monkey).

The other two are known as the Red Butt Horse Monkey and the Pass through Arm Ape Monkey (using the translated names from the Chinese characters).

Since the series does slightly alternate the Journey to the West lore, perhaps the Red Butt Horse Monkey and Pass through Arm Ape Monkey were created before Sun Wukong and Macaque, and the idea of MK being a new mystic monkey existing in the LEGO Monkie Kid show does bring their attention and they will contribute to the main conflict of Season 5 (Perhaps they know much more about the upcoming conflict with the Kings of Hell and MK’s monkey power awakening).

This prediction might be a bit of a stretch, but since MK’s monkey powers will most likely be one of the main focuses for the plot of Season 5, I believe these two monkeys are willing to become an influence; both negatively and positively.

Reasoning for this prediction is connected to the fact that the Red Butt Horse Monkey is known to have the ability to avoid death and lengthen its life, which I believe might lead the show to make an alliance with Nuwa and the Kings of Hell.

Meanwhile, the Pass through Arm Ape Monkey might be helping MK through his glitching when it comes to his monkey form, and might have more knowledge about dealing with MK’s problem than Monkey King.

To support this theory, in Season 4, Episode 7, “Pitiful Creatures”, when Wukong first sees MK’s glitching, he looks like he doesn’t look like he know how to deal this side-effect of unlocking the monkey powers, considering that Sun Wukong and Macaque were already created as monkeys and were able control their powers.

The Pass through Arm Ape Monkey might have known of MK’s existence through the battle against Azure Lion in the Season 4 special, “Emperor’s Wrath”, as the sky and the whole world was breaking apart, and since the Pass through Arm Ape Monkey can manipulate the moon and stars.

It could be the reason why the Red Butt Horse Monkey told Nuwa and the Kings of Hell about MK’s powers.

I don’t have anything else to say about this theory/prediction. However, if the series doesn’t show them, there HAS to be some influence, Easter eggs, etc. connecting to these mystic monkeys.

𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

Aside from Sun Wukong and Macaque having their pasts explored, the series does have the Demon Bull King appearance in these flashbacks since he was once a member of the Brotherhood, first revealed in Season 4, Episode 2, “New Adventures”, as everyone is discussing who will be the next Jade Emperor after overthrowing the current one.

From this single flashback alone, DBK was shown to be a good guy, fighting alongside his sworn brothers for they thought was right, and it does beg the question: What made him change his morality from good to bad?

In the pilot, Season 1, “A Hero is Born”, he is first introduced as the main antagonist whose goal is to conquer the world, and suddenly Sun Wukong traps him under a mountain despite DBK being his sworn brother. This minor detail is very unusual considering that in Season 3, Episode 10 “The Samadhi Fire”, showcases Sun Wukong, Demon Bull King and Ne Zha helping to separate the Samadhi Fire from Redson as a child.

Judging from this scene, the event must have taken place post to the Journey to the West, as the Monkey King isn’t wearing the circlet, as most of the flashbacks which are taking place in the Journey to the West shows him wearing the circlet given from Tang Sanzang. The pilot does show Sun Wukong wearing the same suit of armour as in Season 3, Episode 10 “The Samadhi Fire”, and it's strange how the Monkey King went from helping the Demon Bull King to fighting him.

Either something happened between the events of removing of the Samadhi Fire and the events occurred in the pilot, or off-screen there was some conflict between the two, but set a temporary truce to help Redson with the Samadhi Fire.

The most assumed event that could pinpoint the morality change of the Demon Bull King would be when he and Princess Iron Fan met during the battle against Heaven. However, I highly doubt that. Since this event took place before the birth of Redson, and if Demon Bull King and Sun Wukong didn’t have conflict during this time period, then this accusation would be inaccurate.

This wasn’t a theory or a prediction, however, I REALLY do feel like talking about this since it’s been bugging me for quite some time. I hope that Season 5 will be able to resolve this plot hole and perhaps it might correlate with the main plot of the next.

While I do hope, I also doubt it since the Demon Bull Family has not had much screen time in recent seasons. But simultaneously, I bet there will be a chance since the new 5th Anniversary LEGO set does display Redson working at the BBQ restaurant in Megapolis, so maybe a slim chance.

I was going to talk about Peng and Erlang working together in Season 5, considering the current conflict with the Monkie Gang and Peng, and due to the fact that Erlang is a cousin? Brother? Or a family member of the Jade Emperor according to the Journey to the West novel, and wanted to avenge his death.

(Probably ignore this one, this was a last minute theory)

But I didn’t know what else to talk about and it does seem like the two will be working on their own.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the theories that I have come up with. I haven’t gotten the chance to re-watch all of the episodes of LEGO Monkie Kid, so I mostly relied on my memory. Leave some comments about your thoughts and theories of the series or what will happen in Season 5.

#Lego monkie kid #lmk #lmk theory #lmk predictions #lmk season 5 #lmk season 4 #lmk season 3 #lmk mk #lmk nuwa #lmk sun wukong #lmk macaque #lmk demon bull king #mystic monkeys #journey to the west #jttw #LEGO

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generalllimaginesss · 4 months

Text

I would like to apologize for the amount of time this took to write lmao. I couldn’t find a good stopping point and got overwhelmed with how I would finish this part, but at least there will be a part 4 in the foreseeable future. I’m working on some headcannons for Hattie so we can get to know her a bit more!

Thanks for reading!!

No Expectations

“Jack, I need your moral support. Please come here now,” Hatton’s hands threatened to begin sweating with the amount of anxiety that was coursing through her body. She had her MacBook out, the cursor hovering above the attachment that Trevor had sent her. She didn’t know why she was so nervous, but she knew that Jack would bring her back to earth.

“Sure, Hattie. Let me drop everything I’m doing and come at your beckon call. There’s literally nothing more in the entire world that I would want to do right now,” Sarcasm laced Jack’s words.

“Attitude Mister. Check it now,” Hatton quickly brought it to his attention.

“Sorry, I’m just trying to make sure I have everything packed to go back to Jersey. Luke is coming over tonight and I want to check his stuff and make sure he’s ready to go. When do I need to come over?” Jack was rustling through some papers as he held his phone to his ear with his shoulder.

“Now?” Hatton put her innocent voice on, knowing Jack could never say no to her.

“Hattie, you better be glad that you’re my best friend in the world,” Jack sighed as he laid the papers down.

“Thank you, Jacky boy,” Hatton smiled.

About 20 minutes passed when she heard the front door open and close, followed by footsteps that skipped up the stairs. Jack pushed open Hatton’s door and plopped down beside her on the bed.

“What’s up,” he asked, pulling out his phone to keep him occupied.

“Trevor sent me a PowerPoint on why he would be a good boyfriend. I don’t know why I’m nervous, but I am and I need your company here,” Hatton explained as she fiddled with the rings on her hand.

“You couldn’t just FaceTime me with this?” Jack groaned. This whole ordeal gave Jack flashbacks of their middle school days of romance.

“Jack, this is my future we’re talking about. What if he’s the one? What if I say yes to be his girlfriend? What if we get married and have kids and finally get a happily ever after?” Hatton was serious, but Jack was trying not to laugh.

“You realize, like, 2 months ago you didn’t like him…” Jack smirked, but was met with an unamused look from Hatton.

“3, 2, 1,” Hatton took a deep breath and clicked the attachment. She clicked the ‘present’ button and began to read the slides.

“Ok, I actually want to see these,” Jack admitted as he scooted closer to Hatton and read the slides.

“I will buy you flowers when you least expect it,” Hatton laughed, “Because that’s boyfriend material.”

“I have a dog?” Hatton was getting upset. She wanted him to take this seriously, but he’s giving her these lame reasons? Actually, the dog isn’t lame, but basing an entire relationship on one is.

“Uh oh, here’s the mushy ones,” Jack announced as he clicked to the next slide.

Hatton’s eyes scanned the slide.

“Every time I look at you it gets harder to breathe. You’re quite literally breathtaking and I’ll remind you that every single day,” Hatton could feel the heat in her cheeks rise.

“That’s gross,” Jack fake gagged, but stopped when Hatton gave him a look.

“Every time your name pops up on my phone (which isn’t much, but still…) my heart races a little,” Hatton began sporting a smile.

“I know that Jack Hughes will always be by your side (hi buddy) and that would be the closest I could get to be his brother. I’ve already asked Quinn to marry me and he told me to fuck off,” The slide caused a rupture of laughter that filled the entire room.

“He’s got a point,” Jack chuckled.

“Every time I picture my future, at least for the last 3 years until now, I always picture you in it. I’d like you to be more than a friend, and I’d love for you to give me a chance to prove that I can love you the way you deserve,” Hatton couldn’t shake the smile off of her face even if she wanted to.

“I would’ve bullied him in high school for this,” Jack shook his head and leaned back into the pillows, pulling his phone out to go through his Snapchat.

A link on the last slide caught Hatton’s attention, but she managed to read the text that sat above it.

“Here’s a plane ticket. If I convinced you to allow me to be your boyfriend, I’d love to see you and keep explaining how I can be your boyfriend while being thousands of miles away,” Jack squealed as he watched Hatton open the link to the plane tickets.

Sure enough, there was a ticket for first class from Detroit to Anaheim that was a week away.

Jack kept glancing between the ticket and Hatton while she just sat there staring at the computer screen.

“It’s not going to disappear if you look away you know,” Jack poked her in her side, resulting in an elbow to his stomach.

“I don’t know what to do. I mean, I guess I could skip school for the week. I could do my assignments online,” Hatton wasn’t talking to Jack in particular, but more so thinking out loud. Jack didn’t seem to pick up on that memo though.

“I’m no genius by any means, but it sounds like you do know what to do,” Jack raised his eyebrows at the girl sitting beside him. She couldn’t be annoyed with Jack because he was right. She wanted to jump on that flight. Hell, she’d probably jump on a flight sooner if possible, but she didn’t want to begin this relationship with being so spontaneous.

“When do you leave for Jersey?” Hatton turned to face Jack, quickly changing the subject, but eager to know the answer.

“Um, 6 in the morning,” He scratched the back of his neck, preparing for a lecture of why he should’ve told her he was leaving sooner.

“Jack Hughes, what the hell?!” She pushed at him, hoping to push him off the bed, but he barely budged.

“I probably would’ve told you sooner….actually I shouldn’t lie I probably wouldn’t have. In my defense, I did tell you I was busy before I got here,” he pointed out, but it didn’t fix Hatton’s frustration.

“Yeah, but you failed to mention that you’ll be leaving in less than 24 hours, dumbass,” she thumped him on his ears, eliciting a wince from him.

“I was going to come over tonight to tell you bye,” he grumbled, but Hatton just rolled her eyes.

“I’m FaceTiming you when I get there,” Hatton announced.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he patted her leg as he began to stand up.

“Wanna come help me finish packing?” He knew she wouldn’t say no to his request.

“I guess I could,” Hatton played as if it was even a thought that she wouldn’t.

Because he was leaving in the morning, they took separate vehicles back to his house, so Hatton just planned on spending the night, wanting to spend as much time with her best friend as possible before hockey stole him back.

….

The next week passed painfully slow as Hatton had said goodbye to all of her boys. She had friends that were girls, but none that she trusted as much as Jack, Turcs, Cole, or Quinn. Maybe Trevor, too.

The boys just made life interesting. They weren’t full of drama, and everyday was some sort of adventure. She missed them a lot when they were gone, so to think that she would get to see Trevor, and possibly Alex, gave her something to look forward to.

She appreciated the gesture of the plane ticket from Trevor, but what the hell was he thinking with a 7:00 am flight? There was an hour drive from her to the airport, and she had to be there at least 2 hours prior so that she wouldn’t be an anxious mess. And that leads her to now, lugging her bag from her room to her car and making the drive to Detroit.

The drive wasn’t terrible, but Hatton had to stop for coffee so that she wouldn’t fall asleep behind the wheel. The traffic was steadily getting worse as she made her way to the airport parking, though. She went through TSA and checked her bag groggily, the sleep not too distant from the night before.

Once Hatton was awake enough to be aware of her surroundings, she knew she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, even if the flight was four and a half hours. A shaken espresso from Starbucks would do the trick to give her enough energy to get through the travel day without catching an attitude with somebody.

After grabbing her coffee and finding a corner to read one of her books, the intercom finally came on, announcing that her flight was boarding first class. She grabbed her backpack and book and made her way to her seat next to the window.

The book she was reading seemed to speed up the flight, the one and only time she glanced at her watch and there was only an hour left until they landed. She spent the last hour watching outside of the window, taking a few pictures, and just thinking about what this next week could lead to.

That was great, until she thought about the fact that she hadn’t even talked to Trevor to let him know she was coming. She couldn’t text him, so she just had to wait until the plane landed, mentally kicking herself for forgetting such a major detail for the day.

The plane landed and everybody deboarded. Hatton quickly grabbed her suitcase from the baggage claim and tried to find a place outside to make a quick call to Trevor.

As she pressed his number to call him, she heard a phone ringing behind her. Confusion swept over her as she turned around to see the tan skinned, wind-swept hair that Trevor wore so well. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes and smile when he smirked at her.

“Let me guess…Jack?” She knew that Jack couldn’t keep his fat mouth shut even if he wanted to, but for once it turned out in her favor.

“Did you really think he wouldn’t tell me that you were coming? Which brings me to my next question, why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” He grabbed the suitcase from her and walked her to where his car was parked, all the while taking in how she could possibly be as beautiful as she was right now after traveling all day.

“I’ll be honest, I completely forgot to. I don’t really have a good excuse,” She admitted. She placed her backpack into his backseat, but Trevor wouldn’t let her grab the door to get into the front because he had to.

“Thank you,” Hatton smiled up at him and waited for him to get in so they could drive away.

The drive wasn’t long, mostly filled with a few road rage moments for Trevor along with small talk to fill the silence. They pulled up to the house that Trevor called home. He wished that Hatton had come a year ago, that way she could’ve experienced life with him and Jamie, but he was sure his friend would make an appearance at some point while Hatton was here.

“Wow, you’re house is really pretty,” Hatton commented while unbuckling and grabbing her backpack from the backseat. Trevor grabbed her suitcase and they made their way inside.

Trevor smiled, a blush rising onto his cheeks, as he shrugged his shoulders.

“I have a couple of extra rooms that you can choose from. You could always just room with me, though,” he smirked and threw her a wink.

“And there’s the Trevor I know,” Hatton chuckled as Trevor began to show her around the house. A part of her wanted to just stay in the same room as Trevor, but she’d be here for a week, so they would have plenty of time to make rooming changes if need be.

Trevor let Hatton unpack by herself, giving her some time to decompress on her own from traveling all day. He had planned for the first day to be less action packed so that the two would be rested for his game day tomorrow.

“Okay, I think I’m unpacked,” Hatton breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on his couch, momentarily closing her eyes as she was realizing that it would just be him and her sleeping here for the entire week. It was never just the two of them, there was always somebody else with them, even if it was just Jack.

“So, I have some pretty cool things planned for the week, but I figured we take it easy today…that ok?” Trevor plopped down in a recliner beside the couch.

“Yeah, sounds good,” Hatton kicked her shoes off and tucked her feet beneath her, making herself more comfortable.

“Um, I know this conversation is just going to be awkward no matter when we have it, but seeing as you’re hear you saw my reasons why I think we could work out,” Trevor watched as Hatton nodded her head, urging him to continue with the conversation.

“Yeah, speaking of, where’s your dog?”

“He’s getting a bath. We can go pick him up in a little while. Back to what I was saying....I just feel like I need to say some things in person so we can just completely clear the air about how we feel about each other,” Trevor was just going to rip the bandaid off and get everything out of his system. He's had ample time to think about what to say to Hatton, but none of it sounded good enough now that she was sitting so close to him, just the two of them. He let his heart go on autopilot, deciding that may be the best way to go about this.

“You obviously know I like you. Like a lot. But, um," Trevor stuttered as he rubbed his arm, subconciously trying to ease the anxiety that seemed to peak when he tried to take about his feelings. That was something about Trevor that only a select few knew; Trevor loved attention, but he avoided showing his true feelings at all costs. He would rather just make everybody around him smile or laugh than let them in on how he feels.

"Hattie, you mean the world to me. You meant the world to me when I knew you couldn't stand me, and you mean the world to me now that you've traveled this far and you're sitting right here," The words were flowing from his mouth, reaching Hatton and wrapping around her heart like a ribbon on a gift.

Hatton could feel her cheeks go rosy, not caring if Trevor noticed or not. She listened to each word that left his lips as if they were a raft that could save her from drowning from confusion. Because that's what Hatton felt most of the time: confused. Why did he feel like this towards her? Could she really let herself be in a relationship with him? Let him see the most vulnerable parts of her that very few were lucky enough to know about?

"You told me I needed to figure out how to make a long distance relationship work, so that's what I've been doing. I've talked to some buddies that have been in a long distance relationship and they gave me some words of advice. Long distance can't, and won't, work if we both don't work on it. I can tell you when I'm free from practice and games so that we could FaceTime or text or something. I'm willing to pay for your travel when you come here, and I swear I will make time each month to come see you as well. Even if it's for short periods of time. I really want this with you. More than anything, more than the fucking Stanley Cup, Hatton," Trevor chuckled, but he was completely serious. If hockey didn't pay his bills, then he'd drop everything to be with her.

"You must want me lot," Hatton grinned, teasing him.

"You have no idea," Trevor sighed, returning her grin.

"Ok. You have to ask me to be your girlfriend, though," Hatton's upside down smile was plastered on her face as she watched Zegras process what she just said.

"Wha- so that's a yes?" He could hardly form words because of the excitement that was running rampant in his head. His heart was working overtime.

"Did you ask me?" Hatton raised her eyebrows inquisitively, waiting for him to ask her the question that would start their future.

"Hatton Carlisle, would you do the absolute honor of being my beautiful, loving, caring girlfriend," Trevor was being a bit dramatic, but he didn't care because it made Hatton giggle.

"I would love to, Trevor Zegras," Hatton smiled.

Trevor got up from the recliner he was in and walked the two steps it took to get to Hatton. He cupped her face in his hands, taking a few seconds to take in her features, and placed a passionate kiss on her lips. The kiss saying everything that Trevor might have left out when previously discussing his feelings for Hattie. Hatton's fingers immediately grasped for his hair, slightly pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. Trevor took this as an opportunity to place himself between her legs, supporting his weight by placing one hand on the arm of the couch while the other was still cupping her cheek, his thumb caressing her smooth, rosy pink cheek.

Before things went too far, Trevor broke the kiss.

"We've got all week to show each other how much we like each other. We've got about 30 minutes to go pick up Louis," He chuckled, tucking a piece of Hatton's hair behind her ear.

The two loaded up into Trevor's car to go pick up Louis.

All that Hatton could think about was that Trevor wasn't just the annoying third wheel of her's and Jack's friendship anymore. He wasn't the one that pushed her buttons constantly, or made her question her sanity. He was her boyfriend.

Her phone ringing interrupted the comfortable silence in the car. Of course it was Jack.

"Bitch, did you not tell me you would call me when you got to Anaheim? I can't exactly help you when your literally on the other side of the country from me," Jack was yelling from somewhere off screen, but there was no way Trevor and Hatton couldn't hear him. His voice echoed all throughout his apartment.

"Sorry, bud. We've got some exciting news though," Hatton smiled.

As soon as she said that, Jack's face popped up on the phone, "Is my boyfriend there?"

"You mean my boyfriend?" Hatton smiled, knowing that Jack would have something to say about her statement.

"No fucking way..." Jack wore a grin as big as the sky, giving the Cheshire Cat a run for his money, "Let me see our boyfriend!"

"Jacky! My man, what's going on?" Trevor glanced at the phone before returning his attention on the road.

"It's about time. I'm telling Cole and Alex," And with that he hung up.

The two laughed, Trevor interlocking their hands. He couldn't believe that she actually agreed to be his girlfriend. It felt surreal, 3 years of pining after her and it all paid off.

"I'm glad you're here, Hatton," Trevor smiled.

"I'm glad I'm here too, Z," She gave his hand a squeeze. This week just might be one of the best weeks of their lives so far.

----

That night Hatton decided to sleep in a bed by herself, not quite comfortable with being completely vulnerable with Trevor quite yet. She tossed and turned all night long, replaying the day in her head over and over again. The sudden feelings she had developed for Trevor scared her, quite honestly. If she was capable of falling that hard that quickly, how much more control over her could Trevor have?

Before she knew it, the sun was peeking through a tiny sliver of the blackout curtains in her room. Like usual, there was no way she would be able to go back to sleep now. Her natural timer prohibited it. It made her feel a little better though when she heard a door open and the pitter patter of paws, followed along with what had to be Trevor's footsteps. She could hear him disarm the alarm system and open the back door.

Hatton decided that it would probably be rude of her to stay in bed all morning, so she stretched, tossing the covers off of her in the process. She put on a bra and brushed her teeth, but didn't bother doing anything else this early in the morning. If Trevor, for some odd reason, expected her to look like a model, he could suck it.

She put on a pair of slippers and made her way to the living room, quickly spotting Trevor sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs that circled a fire pit on the back porch, playing on his phone as Louis inspected the perimeter of the yard.

Before Hatton could even open the door, Louis somehow spotted her and began barking. Trevor quickly apologized as he picked him up and opened the back door for her.

"He's not aggressive, but he'll let me know when someone's here," Trevor chuckled as he scratched the dog behind the ears.

"No worries! When you're as cute as him you can get away with anything," Hatton gave the dog a pat on the head as she made herself comfortable on the couch that sat across from the chair that Trevor had previously been sitting in.

"Do you happen to have a coffee maker?" Hatton desperately needed caffeine. Now that she thought about it, she might have a caffeine addiction.

"I do not, actually. Jamie took it in the divorce," Trevor managed to say with a straight face, but furrowed eyebrows from Hatton gave away her confusion.

"Divorce?"

"Yeah, he moved out and had the balls to move down the street. He can be a bitch, but he's no threat to you," Trevor said so nonchalantly that Hatton couldn't tell if it was a joke or not.

"That's nice to know..." Hatton trailed off. The two sat enjoying the peace that the early morning exuded, watching Louis be Louis and occasionally mentioning something insignificant. A chill washed over Hatton, goosebumps quickly rising.

"So, I have a preseason game tonight, as you probably know. The game isn't until 5, but I do have a practice this morning if you want to tag along...," Trevor explained, hoping Hatton would want to come to the stadium.

"And what's in it for me?" Hatton was obviously going to support Trevor, but was it really Hatton if she didn't make him work for it?

"Well, that depends on what you're thinking of...if you want to go out to eat, there's plenty of places that will be open after the game. If you want to do something, Disney is literally like 5 minutes away and I have an off day tomorrow. If you're thinking a little alone time..." Trevor wiggled his eyebrows, but he was completely joking, unless Hatton wasn't. In that case he would definitely keep the offer on the table.

"Z, what if I actually said yes to the last option. What would you do?" Hatton chuckled as she spoke.

"Probably think somebody kidnapped the real Hattie and replaced her with whatever is sitting right here," Trevor rubbed the bottom of his chin, pretending to think about what he was saying.

"Disney tomorrow would be amazing," Hatton didn't even have to think about it. She adored Disney, the smell, the rides, it was one of her favorite things. She couldn't wait.

The two made their way inside to get dressed for the day, but not before a knock at Trevor's front door elicited a howl from Louis.

"I got it," Trevor announced, leaving Hatton alone in the kitchen while she poured a bowl of Lucky Charms.

She could hear somebody come through the front door, heading to the kitchen. Hattie could tell that Trevor was quietly chewing out whoever it was that he let in, but she couldn't quite make out what he was saying exactly.

"Trevor shut the fuck up. You never used this damn Keurig, anyway," A dark-haired, fair-skinned guy sat a black Keurig down on the counter adjacent to Hatton, not noticing there was a girl right next to him.

"Why do you even need-" As soon as the guy turned and caught a glimpse of Hatton, he knew exactly why Trevor blew his phone up asking about the stupid coffee maker.

"I think I might know who you are," Jamie sent an innocent smirk to the girl across from him.

"I think I might know who you are as well," Hatton giggled, connecting the dots as to the whole "divorce" thing that Trevor had mentioned.

"You must be the infamous Hattie. Trevor hasn't shut up about you for as long as I've known him," Jamie winked, chuckling when he saw Trevor giving him a death glare.

"You must be Trevor's ex in...some capacity. You didn't have to bring the coffee maker back. I could've run through Starbucks or Dunkin," Hatton rolled her eyes as she made eye contact with Trevor. He, in turn, shrugged his shoulders.

"It's no problem, I'll just make my morning coffee here and then we can carpool," Jamie popped in a coffee pod and started it for you.

"So how did Trevor mange to get you here? I thought you didn't like him..." Jamie waited patiently as the coffee poured into the mug he had placed underneath.

"She's my girlfriend now," Trevor interjected, immediately sending Hattie the biggest grin he could manage. He would never get tired of telling people that. He had worked hard to earn that title.

"Willingly? I don't normally judge people, but I'm judging a little bit," Jamie widened his eyes jokingly, causing Hatton to chuckle. He passed her the cup of coffee and began to make his.

"You know, I kinda feel the same way. He's a weirdo, but he's very convincing," Hatton could feel Trevor staring at her, but she just watched Jamie as he smiled.

"Yeah…you know I'm right here?" Trevor spoke up.

"Yeah, we know," Jamie nonchalantly said as he sipped his coffee.

Trevor rolled his eyes as he walked away towards his room to change into his outfit for the day, Hatton filing to her room shortly after to do the same.

As she ruffled through the articles of clothing that hung in the closet, she smiled. She was going into this week with an open mind and heart. No expectations, just experiences.

She was eager to see it all unfold.

#jack hughes #nhl imagine #trevor zegras #nhl fic #jack hughes imagines #quinn hughes #alex turcotte #cole caufield #nhl fanfiction #trevor zegras imagine #nhl x reader #trevor regras x reader #anaheim ducks #nico hischier #luke hughes #jamie drysdale #tz11 #@choppedlamphandscowboy

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azzibuckets · 23 days

Text

Paper Rings [Part 3/10 | Paige Bueckers]

Paige Bueckers x fem!reader

Summary: part 3 of the paper rings series! some insight into paige and reader’s friendship before everything happened

A/N: some fluff and fillers before the angst gets real 💔💔

word count: 1.9k

masterlist w/ all parts

FLASHBACK: 1 YEAR AGO

“Is this yours?”

You had been rummaging through Paige’s closet, looking for a clean oversized shirt to wear to sleep. You two often slept over at each other’s place, to the point where your clothes were so mixed up you guys basically shared the same wardrobe. Unfortunately, Paige wasn’t the most organized person, so you were huffing and puffing as you hunted through the piles in the drawers.

The shirt you were holding up had LVN Volleyball Camp splayed across the front, so you knew it definitely wasn’t Paige’s. It was really big though, so you were curious as to whose it was. Just to know if you could wear it or not, you convinced yourself. Not because you were trying to confirm your fears - that this was another girl who Paige had held that wasn’t you.

Paige didn’t look up from her phone when you asked your question, so you crumpled the shirt up into a ball and tossed it at her head. You were no basketball player, but the balled up shirt smacked her on target, right in the face, and you fought back a self satisfied smile.

Paige finally looked up, giving you one of her soft smiles that tugged at your heartstrings. You loved when Paige looked at you like that, all gentle and affectionate, with half of her mouth turned up into a close mouthed grin that you knew so well.

“The shirt,” you gestured at it.

“Oh.” She looked down, unfolding the shirt and studying it before giving out a laugh. “Shit, sorry, that’s Stacy’s. I don’t know how it ended up in my closet. She was just here yesterday.” She folded the shirt into a neat little square and placed it next to her on the bed. “We must’ve been getting a little bit too wild,” she smirked, waggling her eyebrows at me.

Your heart sunk. Yesterday? You mean, you knew Paige talked to a lot of people, but she usually didn’t talk much about it, probably because she knows you get grossed out with too many details. Your chest stinging, you went to sit on the bed next to her. You didn’t wanna find a shirt anymore. All you wanted to do was go to sleep after a long day.

“What’s up? What’s got you being so emo?” Paige got down to lie her head in your lap, looking up at you with her bright blue eyes. Her was nose scrunched slightly, in the way that she does when she’s happy, and she reached up to play with the ends of your hair, twirling the strands between her fingers.

“Nothing. Just tired and moody,” you lied. You drummed your fingers against your thigh.

Paige smirked. “You really need to get laid, Y/N,” she laughed.

You managed to muster out a weak half smile in response to her words, trying to shove down the itchy pain that rose in your heart. “Shut up, Bueckers.”

“Make me.”

You rolled my eyes at her senseless teasing. “You’re such a flirt,” you groaned. Pushing her off your lap, you got up to look for your charger. You could feel Paige’s eyes on you as you moved about her room. Her legs were splayed out, and she was slumped on the bed. You hated when she did that, just looked at you. It felt like she was studying you all bare under a microscope.

The dynamic between the two of you had definitely shifted since last month, ever the drunken incident on the Big East championship night. You had mumbled apologies the morning after, when she had swung by before practice to make sure you were alright. She didn’t really listen to them, shoving you in that good natured way and assuring you that you guys were “chill like that” and that she could never be really mad at you.

But ever since then, there’d been a tension between the two of you. It spiked in moments like this, where she would start shamelessly flirting with you, trying to get a rise out of you. You didn’t mind much, per se, until you really thought about it and realized there was no meaning behind her flirting. But that was a disappointing reality you were trying to ignore.

“Come back to bed,” Paige called out. This time, you couldn’t tell if she’d meant for it to sound so sexual, but you crawled back into the bed where Paige was bundled up under the sheets.

“You look like a kid,” you giggled, “all wrapped up like a burrito.”

Paige rolled her eyes, a small smile playing at her lips. You felt her grab your waist and pull you closer so now you were both under the mountain of blankets and pillows she had formed. “You’re so warm,” she mumbled sleepily, pressing her forehead against your shoulder.

Both of you knew this was not how normal best friends slept together have a sleepover. But neither of you cared. This was where you felt most comfortable in the world, with Paige’s arm slung across your chest and one of her legs intertwined between yours. Her face was buried in your neck now, and her hair tickled your cheeks.

You could get used to this forever, you thought as you went to sleep.

——————————

Your heart thrummed with anticipation. Today was the day UConn would face off against Louisville in the Final Four of March Madness. You missed Paige; the last time you saw her was when you slept over two days ago. Ever since then, she’d be busy, understandably so. Basketball was her life, and she dedicated all of herself to the sport in times of competition like this.

Paige had gotten you a court-side ticket using one of the family spots allotted to her. Only her dad, step-mom, and Drew could make it to the game; her mom’s side of the family were on a vacation in Spain. On one side of you was Drew, who was happily bouncing in his seat, wearing one of his sister’s jerseys that was adorably big for him, and on the other side was Kayla, who’d gotten this game off but still wanted to watch anyways to support the girls.

As you watched the game, you oscillated between moments of pure joy and happiness when Paige sunk one of her 3s, moments of anger when one of the girls got fouled on without getting any calls for it, and moments of uncertainty when Louisville scored another point and the UConn girls tried to fight off their dejection from showing on their faces.

But you started to stay in the realm of uncertainty once Louisville started gaining, leading by 12 at the end of the third quarter.

“Are they gonna lose, Y/N?” Drew turned to you with a hopeful look in his eyes. You swallowed the knot in your throat. Basketball was everything to this team, and they’d worked so hard to get here. They didn’t deserve to lose, not when they were this close to the national championship.

“I hope not, buddy,” you responded quietly, and ruffled his hair. For the last quarter, Drew gripped your hand, swinging his legs anxiously as the game unfolded.

Despite the team’s best efforts, UConn fell to Louisville, 75-66, and the girls walked off the court, pain fresh in their eyes, their necks steeped with sweat and jerseys sticking damp to their chest. They moved tiredly, some of them being collected for brief post-game interviews while all of the others headed back to the locker rooms.

You made eye contact with Paige, and she pursed her lips, shaking her head sadly before slinging a towel around her neck and following the rest of the girls out.

“She looks so sad,” Drew’s voice was quiet next to you. You could tell he was upset too.

“It’s okay, buddy,” you assured him. “You know what? I bet they’re still selling the pretzels outside. Wanna come with me and see if they have any more churro bites?” Drew’s face lit up at that, and he eagerly shot up from his seat and grabbed your hand.

Paige’s dad, Bob, shot you a grateful smile. “We’ll find Paige, talk to her. You guys join us after, alright?”

You nodded, leading Drew out. To your luck, the pretzel stand had one more scoop of churro bites left that the man gave to you for free since they were closing down.

“Good, Drew?” You reached around him and stole one of the churro bites, popping one in your mouth.

“Y/N!” He groaned, sending me a fake glare. “Now you owe me.”

“I brought you all the way over here for pretzels and I owe you?” You gasped in offense, folding your arms and sending him a fake glare back.

He nodded solemnly. “Yeah. Now you owe me a piggy back ride.”

You laughed. “Okay, hop on,” you agreed, bending down. Drew cheered and jumped on your back, causing you to stumble forward. Both of you giggled as you straightened yourself, and you carried Drew all the way down to the locker rooms.

A security guard stood in the entrance to the hall of the locker rooms, a bored look in his eyes. As you tried to pass, he raised a hand. “Sorry miss,” he stated in a monotonous voice. “Players only.”

“It’s alright, she’s with me,” a voice called out. You looked up to see Paige at the end of the hall, her hair wet and tied up in a loose bun. Even after having just played a tough game, she looked unbelievably gorgeous, her cheeks rosy from the exertment from earlier.

“Paigey!” Drew clambered off my back and barreled into Paige, squeezing his little arms around her waist. Paige, ever the big sister, managed to push aside her feelings from the Final Four loss and look happy for Drew, whom she hadn’t seen in months.

“Hey, bud,” she said quietly, bending down to give him a proper hug. “I missed you.”

They talked in low tones for a moment, Paige smiling fondly at her little brother, before Azzi came along from the locker rooms and stole Drew away to meet the other girls.

Now it was just you and Paige in the hall. She stood up, and you moved to her. Before you knew it, she was in your arms, hugging you so tight you could barely breathe. You wrapped your arms around her, one hand coming up to play with the baby hairs at the nape of her neck, an effort to do whatever possible to comfort her.

“Hey,” you turned your head so your mouth was next to her ear. You whispered in her ear gently, “It’s not your fault.”

Paige drew back, her eyes glassy. Breathing shakily, she said, “All those 3s that I missed. Geno was counting on me. He said I had to step up since Azzi was injured, but I didn’t step up. I missed so many.”

I gripped her waist. “Look at me,” I said firmly. When she looked up to made eye contact, I brought my hands up to hold her face so that she couldn’t look away. “What about all the points that you did make? And all the plays you set up for your teammates? I don’t know much basketball, but I watched you out there, and you played with so much fierceness and grit. You played so goddamn good. Don’t be ashamed. At all.”

Paige reluctantly nodded, before pulling me into another hug. We stood there silently, her face buried in my neck and my arms hooked around her waist, until one of the UConn team assistants came bounding the hall.

“Uh,” he scratched his neck nervously as his eyes flitted between the two of us. “Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time for Paige to do press.”

Paige groaned. She stepped back, separating our bodies. “Come over later?” She whispered. “Please?” Her eyes searched mine, all hopeful. She was hurting, and hurting bad.

“Of course, P.” I squeezed her hand before stepping back too, letting the assistant shuffle her away to the press hall.

#paige bueckers #paige bueckers x you #uconnwbb #wbb #wcbb #fluff #enemiestolovers #friends to lovers

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imagines--galore · 1 month

Text

||The Thread of Fate|| Part Eighteen

Summary: Soulmate AU. They say the Thread of Fate connects you to your one true love. It may tangle. It may stretch. But it will never break. Wrapped around your little finger it tightens when it feels your soulmate is close and loosens when they are far. And becomes visible with the colors of your soulmate’s Nation when you finally fall in love with them.

Pairing: Zuko x OroraOC (ATLA)

Rating || Genres || Warnings: T+ Romance. Adventure.

Previous Chapters - Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, Part Ten, Part Eleven, Part Twelve, Part Thirteen, Part Fourteen, Part Fifteen, Part Sixteen, Part Seventeen,

A/N: Prepare yourselves people. Note - Italics is Flashback.

It was late.

But for some reason, she couldn't sleep.

Sighing to herself as her blue eyes flitted from one waterbender form to the other, Orora could feel her hand start to fall asleep where she was resting it under her chin. Setting the scroll she had been studying to the side, the young waterbender glanced at the night sky through the window. She should probably be sleeping, considering they had an early morning tomorrow.

Picking up her bag, she put the scroll inside and was about to put it away but she paused when she spotted a paper at the very bottom of the bag. Taking it she unfolded it, and was surprised to see a drawing of Appa. Orora didn't remember keeping it.

And honestly, with Zuko being sick and then moving to the Upper Ring, she had actually forgotten that Aang, Katara and Sokka were actually in Ba Sing Se.

She gnawed at her bottom lip as set the paper aside. Had Appa found Aang? And if so, had they already left the city? Maybe if they were still here she could go and meet them.

That would be fun, she mused to herself, her mind wandering to those few days she had spent with all of them aboard the Water Tribe boat while sailing towards land.

The candle flickered low as she sat on her futon with her back against the wall. Her blanket pooled around her legs, where one was stretched out in front of her, while the other she had pulled up towards her chest a little, wrapping her arms around it in a loose embrace. As she continued to stare out the window, her mind began to wander to the first days of her journey.

They seemed like such a long time ago, and yet she remembered every single detail.

After all, she made her first friends during those few days.

————————–

With her bag slung over her shoulder, and the gentle breeze from the open waters brushing against her face, Orora could hardly dare to bring herself to believe that she was actually about to do this.

She had initially thought even getting on the boat would be a struggle, since she didn't think Master Pakku, the appointed leader of the small expedition, would even allow her to go.

But luckily, she had asked him while Katara had been standing next to him.

And that girl had been able to convince the grouchy old man and invited Orora onto the ship.

"So, are you excited? I mean this is your first time away from home right?" Katara's happy voice had Orora breaking away from her thoughts and turning to look at her. She smiled and shrugged. "I guess I'm a little nervous. I mean, I've never even seen actual land before." She said with a small laugh.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll love it. I did when I saw land and trees and plants for the first time. More then what you've seen at the Spirit Oasis." Katara reassured her, smiling she glanced over her shoulder where her brother, Aang were helping Appa settle onto the boat.

"Come on!" The girl reached out to take Orora's hand, an act that took the other girl by surprise. "Sokka? Aang? This is Orora, she's going ashore for the first time."

To say Orora was a little stunned would be an understatement. She'd just been introduced to the Avatar.

The Avatar.

Sliding down from where he sat on top of the giant bison's head, Aang grinned and held out his hand. "Hey! Nice to meet you! You must be pretty excited."

Orora blinked.

Like any other person living in their world, she had heard fantastical tales about the Avatar. She had been told about the power they possessed, had read up on all previous Avatars out of curiosity and been fascinated by it all. She had even witnessed that awesome power during the Fire Nation attack.

And yet, here stood the Avatar.

A young boy.

A kid.

Aang frowned as he waved his hand in front of Orora's face. "Erm....hello? You alright there Orora?" He asked. The girl quickly shook her head, her thoughts returning back to her as she nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry. Its nice to meet you Avatar Aang." She said, taking his hand and shaking it. "Just Aang is fine." He replied, still smiling.

A loud grunt from behind had him continuing. "Oh and this is Appa, my flying bison and this is Momo." He added when a small creature landed on his shoulder. Orora smiled, it was cute.

"So you've never gone ashore your whole life?" The other boy, Sokka, asked as he walked to stand next to them. He looked like the typical boy she had seen play soldier in the streets. Orora shrugged. "My father didn't believe in women leaving the house unless they had to." Beside her Katara frowned. "Well that's just wrong. If we had that rule at the South Pole, Sokka here would never get anything done. He relies on me to do everything for him." She added with a grin.

Sokka frowned. "Not everything." He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Katara smiled good-naturedly at her brother before adding. "Why don't you go put your things downstairs, then we can have lunch together."

Orora nodded. "Sounds good to me."

————————–

It was a little strange being invited to sit with people her own age. Growing up she had always been something of an outcast. Girls were taught of marriage, healing, keeping house and babies the whole time they were growing up. And that was what they talked about as well.

But not Orora.

She was more interested in reading books and learning as much about waterbending as she could. And other topics as well, but waterbending was always her favorite subject. That wasn't to say other girls didn't like to learn, they did, just not at the same obsessive level as Orora.

So there she was, sitting in a small circle with Aang, Sokka, and Katara.

With no idea what to say.

"Now that you've satisfied your curiosity about Soulmates, why don't you tell us why you decided to come on this expedition?" Katara, ever the friendly and kindhearted girl asked.

As was her nature, Orora stuck to the truth.

"My father found out I used waterbending to defend myself by fighting off some Fire Nation soldiers." She shrugged. "So he banished me."

An awkward silence followed her words, where the other three stared at her before glancing at one another. Sensing that whatever she had said was wrong, a feeling she was familiar with, Orora made to leave.

"I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable. I'll just-"

"Wait, where are you going?" Aang suddenly asked, reaching out to grasp her wrist since he was sitting the closest. "You didn't make any of us uncomfortable. Its just, your news surprised us that's all."

Sokka and Katara nodded along, to which Orora blinked. Sensing that maybe she didn't have the best social skills, Katara decided to intervene. "Hey Sokka? Why don't you take out one of your maps and show Orora all the places she can go visit?"

The girl had barely gotten the word maps out of her mouth before her brother was speeding away to take them out of his bag on Appa's saddle. He'd already started to chatter away, going a mile a minute, prompting Orora to glance at Katara and Aang. "Is he always this excited about maps?" She asked. Both of them laughed, with Sokka pouting slightly at her words, before continuing with his tirade of words.

Still it was fun sitting there, bent over the map and having all three of them point out the locations she could visit, should she choose to. In between their recommendations, they began to tell stories of their own adventures while they had been visiting those locations themselves.

Orora was fascinated, and began to ask questions herself. It didn't take long before all four of them fell into a comfortable and easy rhythm where they were chatting and exchanging thoughts as if they had been doing so for a long time.

And they continued to talk, long after the sun had gone down and only stopped when Pakku said it was time for bed.

————————–

The next few days would come to be the best days Orora had ever had.

Why?

Because she made her first friends.

Orora had worried that all three of them were simply tolerating her for as long as they were there.

How wrong she was.

It actually surprised her that they wanted her around because they liked her. And truthfully, she liked them back.

Sokka with his jokes and penchant to think of himself as more then he was, always managed to make her smile. And when he got to know that she didn't know much about hand-to-hand combat, he took it upon himself to teach her a few moves. For her own safety.

"I could always use my waterbending on them." She had countered.

"Yeah, but what if you don't have water available to you?" He had asked. "Look, I've taught Katara a few moves too, even though she's good at waterbending. Its better to be prepared. Trust me."

It was strange to have someone else be so sincere with her and actually worry about her. While she went through a punching move Sokka was making her perfect, a random thought occurred to her. She paused, standing just a few feet away from Sokka and frowned at him.

"Is this what its like?" She asked.

"Is what like this?" Sokka asked with a confused frown.

"To have a brother? Is this what its like."

He may have known her for only a few days, but Sokka had learned that Orora tended to speak her mind no matter the thought. She didn't worry about offending anyone and that took guts. It kind of reminded him of Katara and her own beliefs.

Though having her ask him if having a brother meant someone looking out for her, he did feel a small amount of pity for the other girl. She'd told them about her entire family, and he couldn't really wrap his head around the fact that her brothers didn't take care of her like he took care of Katara.

Weren't all brothers supposed to take care of their sisters?

Still Sokka smiled. "Yeah, I guess in a way it is, though it also comes with healthy helping of teasing and arguing." He added with a grin.

"It must be nice." She said, her demeanor turning a little sad. "Neither of my two brothers acted like you are. Its strange. But nice." She added, to which Sokka waved an arm. "Their loss. They're missing out on having a cool sister."

Grinning at his compliment, the young girl dropped into the stance he had just taught once more, committing all that he had to teach to memory.

The best part of chatting with Sokka, was when he showed her his weapons and she created exact replicas of them out of ice. He nearly burst into happy tears when she created one for his boomerang and it had actually worked when she'd thrown it in the air.

Though it took off half of a passenger's beard as it went by.

He had looked around in confusion at the sight of the ice boomerang stuck in the post in front of him, before he began to lament the loss of his facial hair.

Sokka and Orora glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes, identical expressions of nervousness on their faces and sneaked away as if nothing had happened.

Forming a silent pact, neither of them spoke of that moment again.

————————–

For someone who held immense power, being friends with Aang was a breeze.

Pun not intended.

On the very second day, he had offered to take her up on Appa. And Orora had very nearly screamed out in joy when he did.

"Sorry." She said, once she had calmed down. "But since I saw Appa I've wanted to go for a ride, but I didn't want to offend you by asking."

Aang shook his head. "No worries. Appa loves giving rides to new people. He thinks its the best way to travel, and I agree with him." The boy grinned, patting Appa on the nose as he did.

"Well I guess its a good thing I was saving something for him then." So saying, she quickly reached into her bag and pulled out a hunk of bread. It was a little stale, but Appa didn't seem to mind. With one swipe of his tongue, he'd swallowed the bread and let out a happy groan.

Before licking one very wet tongue all along her body.

Aang had laughed himself hoarse at her expression. Though with a quick waterbending move the saliva had been thrown into the water. Still, that did not deter her from climbing up beside Aang on Appa's head and waving at Katara and Sokka who watched from nearby.

"Appa! Yip yip!"

Her initial reaction was letting out a yelp of surprise and hanging onto Appa's reins for dear life. But that was the only sign of nervousness she showed. Pretty soon she was enjoying the cool wind in her hair and against her face. Not to mention the view from so far up.

"I agree with Appa." She said, after a few minutes of enjoying the ride in silence. "This is the best way to travel." They didn't go far, the boat they were traveling by stayed in view, but it was still an astounding experience.

"Does it always feel this freeing and amazing? Flying whenever you want to?" She sighed wistfully. Aang nodded.

"Yeah, it is. And its even better when I use my staff." Orora had seen it many times and had asked about it some time ago. "I wish I could go with you so I could fly all the time." The waterbender sighed, holding her hand out to catch a cloud as it floated by.

"Well why don't you?"

His words had her frowning at him. "What do you mean?" She asked, to which he shrugged, his arms held out in front of him where he was holding the reins. "What I mean is, you could always come travel with me, Katara and Sokka. You'll fit right in!" He added with a grin.

Orora pursed her lips, forehead creased as she thought over what he had just said.

Travel with the Avatar and his friends? That would truly be an adventure. They were all so nice and they were her friends. People who actually liked her and didn't mind that she was so forward with her words. Really Katara seemed to get a kick out of it whenever she would knock Sokka down a notch from whatever pedestal he put himself on.

And yet..........

She looked away, staring out at the horizon, the clouds floating around them. So far up here, it felt like she was in a whole other world.

Seeing her hesitate, Aang reached out to pat her on the shoulder. "You don't have to decide now. Just think about it. Its just Katara and I were talking." She stayed silent so he continued. "But I know its also important to go out into the world on your own and find yourself, as I'm sure that's what you're trying to do."

Orora raised an eyebrow at him. "How did you figure that?" Aang grinned.

"Through my mystical powers as the Avatar." He said in a low spooky voice, prompting Orora to roll her eyes and smile at him. Aang chuckled. "And also because, I'm pretty observant, and well, I can see that you feel a little lost now that you don't have a purpose in life."

Still surprised at his ability to observe so eloquently, Orora nodded. "Yeah, I mean, I want to see the world. This is going to be the first time I'm out there and just being myself and not hiding behind a mask. I've been doing it for so long that it feels strange walking around and being just myself." Aang smiled at her in an encouraging manner, prompting her to continue. "And you're right, I want to find my place in it as well. As the Avatar, you know your place in the world, and for Katara and Sokka, their place is beside you."

Silence followed her words for a good few minutes, where the both of them just sat there with Appa lazily moving through the air. Finally, with a clearing of her throat. "Maybe, in the future, when I find out more about myself, I can come with you guys?" She asked, feeling a little uncertain and shy.

Though his response told her she didn't have to feel that way at all. "Well there's a spot reserved just for you then. I'll tell Katara and Sokka too, make sure Sokka doesn't try to fill it by buying a new pet or something."

Orora laughed.

"Hey, did you know you could bend clouds because of the water in them?"

"You can really do that?"

"Yeah! Here, I'll teach you."

————————–

Katara was a force to be reckoned with.

Orora had heard whispers of the girl who had found a place in Master Pakku's class. The Healing Huts had gossiped non-stop about it. And while she had admired the girl from afar, now Orora actually got to practice and exchange knowledge with her.

The other girls at the Healing Hut had either thought her too snobbish or too intimidating for their likeness. In reality, Orora had just been uncertain when it came to approaching them.

Mostly because she didn't know how to make friends. And no matter how hard she tried, there were no texts in her father's library that could help her with that either.

Talking with Katara was easy. She was so eager and ready with a kind word. It was amazing how she had turned out after all that had happened to her. The other girl had told Orora about their mother being taken by the Fire Nation, and while Orora had never had a strong relationship with her mother, she knew it would devastate her if something were to happen to her. And even though Katara carried that sadness with her in her heart, she didn't show it.

And that was incredibly strong of her.

With her own expertise in the art of Healing, she was able to teach Katara new things. It was fun talking to another waterbender and exchanging information. Katara, for her part, taught waterbending moves Orora didn't know. Her scrolls helped, but they could only help so much. In a span of few a days, Orora learned more then she could ever hope to.

She and Katara would go through waterbending forms together in the evening. Sometimes Aang would join them, having still a long way to go till he mastered waterbending. Between the three of them it was fun and Sokka would often get splashed with water more times then they could count.

One night, after finishing a good session where Orora had taught Katara a few waterbending tricks using ice, the girls settled around the fire to chat. "I heard you guys are leaving tomorrow." Orora's words had Katara sighing and nodding.

"Yeah, we have to start flying now that we're closer to land. We need to find Aang an Earthbending teacher." She added as a way to explain further. Orora nodded, eyes staring into the small fireplace that had been created to keep them warm.

"Did you think about Aang's offer?" The younger girl asked, her voice soft and gentle as she tried to gauge the older girl's reaction. It was strange, how Orora was older then her, and yet Katara had more world experience then she did. But then, maybe it wasn't fair to compare their lives.

"Thats all I've been thinking about the past two days." Orora finally responded. "And I......I don't know." Reaching up to where her long braid rested over her shoulder, she began to play with it by running her fingers through it. The fire crackled in front of them, casting shadows all around, and a warmth to settle in them.

It reminded her of the fire she had seen when her supposed soulmate had saved her.

Allowing the silence to continue, Orora sighed before moving to lay down on her back. Already the constellations had begun to change, the further they traveled from the North Pole. Katara glanced at Orora before grinning and laying down beside her as well, arms tucked behind her head. At last, the older girl spoke.

"Katara?"

She hummed in response to show she was listening. Orora licked her lips, eyes tracing the stars above. "Do you ever wander about your place in the world?"

"Huh." Katara frowned, pausing briefly as she thought over her answer. "Well, I don't really wander about it. I mean I've always known."

Turning her head to the side, she glanced at Katara, a little surprised. "You did?"

Her gaze trained to the heavens Katara shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, when my mom died, my place was at the South Pole taking care of my family. And when we found Aang in that iceberg and decided to travel with him, my purpose shifted to making sure he got to the North Pole safely. I mean, the whole world depends on him."

Orora smiled softly, gaze returning to the sky. "In a way, the world depends on you too. Since you're making sure Aang doesn't get himself eaten while riding a sea serpent or something."

Katara laughed softly before she continued. "True. Lately though, I've found that my place in life is to fight for the innocent alongside Aang and Sokka. To try and end this war and make this world safe."

The older girl was silent for a moment. "That's a pretty big commitment to make isn't it?" She said, her voice soft. "Especially considering you're all just kids, and I don't mean that in an offending way."

Katara pursed her lips before nodding. "No, I get what you're saying. And yeah." She moved to sit up, resuming her previous position. "I suppose it is."

The two of them remained motionless for a little while, each lost in her own thoughts, contemplating on what they had just spoken about. Finally, Katara turned her head to smile at Orora who was still on her back.

"But that's my place in the world." She said with a determined gleam in her eyes. "And, I'll be seeing it through with Aang and Sokka beside me."

Sitting up, Orora smiled at the other girl. "That's very brave and noble of you Katara." Fiddling with the end of her braid, the girl pursed her lips. "I wish I had that kind of strength."

Smiling kindly, Katara reached out to wrap an arm around Orora's shoulders. "Once you find your place in the world I'm sure you'll do the same. You're very brave coming out here and thinking of going off on your own Orora. I don't think I would be able to do it."

Orora grinned at the compliment before playfully nudging Katara with her shoulder. "Yeah, but you've already done so many other things. I mean what fourteen year old can say that she's helped earthbenders bust out of prison."

The other girl grinned proudly and nodded. "True, but, my point is, that no matter what you decide Orora, we'll understand."

Sighing Orora nodded smiling at her. "Thanks Katara." She smiled back.

"Anytime."

————————–

Someone was shaking her.

"Orora?"

And calling out to her.

"Orora, wake up."

Reluctantly, she forced her eyes to open just a little. The room was bathed in early morning sunshine, and she could hear the birds chirping outside. But what really caught her attention, was Zuko crouching beside her, hand on her shoulder and looking at her with a concerned expression.

"Are you alright?" He asked, reaching up to brush her tousled hair from her face. "I came in to wake you, and you were just sitting up like this." Her back was aching from where she had been sitting up the entire night, and her neck had a slight crick in it. Nodding the girl reached up to rub her eyes. "Yeah, I just fell asleep thinking."

"And you couldn't have fallen asleep thinking while lying down?" Giving him a grumpy yet sleepy look, she raised her hand, only to cover his face with it and push him backwards, making him fall back.

"I'm still too sleepy to deal with you Zuko. At least let me wash my face first." She grumbled, already moving to stand up and stretching to get rid of some of the ache in her body. Zuko laughed as he stood. "Yeah well, you better be quick. Uncle wants us to set out within the hour."

She pushed him towards the door. "I'll be out when I'm ready."

Taking advantage of her still semi-awake state, he couldn't help but tease her more. "And that will take you two hours? Or three?"

He grinned at her as he stood at her door. Orora glared at him. "At least I don't spend half an hour on my hair making sure it falls perfectly over my forehead."

With that she slammed the door in his face.

Zuko stood there for a moment, reaching up to the aforementioned hair and running is fingers through it. "I only spend fifteen minutes on that." He called through the door.

————————–

A carriage was waiting for them outside. Iroh and Zuko were at the foot of the stairs that led up to their apartment above the tea shop, waiting for Orora to come down.

"Whats taking her so long?" The Prince grumbled, tapping his foot impatiently, his back towards the stairs. Iroh, going through a last minute checking of whatever they would need for the tea serving, glanced up and chuckled.

"You should prepare yourself for such tardiness my nephew. A lady always takes her time." Seeing movement at the top of the stairs, he smiled at the sight of his descending Pupil. "But it is always worth the wait."

Hearing her footsteps behind him, Zuko whirled around. "Finally! I knew you woul....." He trailed off, his eyes widening. Behind him, his Uncle laughed to himself before sneaking away. Orora, looking up from where she had been adjusting the folds of her dress, raised an eyebrow at him.

"It takes time to get ready Zuko." She responded, reaching up to fix her signature blue dragon comb in her hair. Since their arrival in Ba Sing Se, Orora had taken to wearing dark greens and gold. And while those dresses had been pretty on her, the lighter green of the dress she wore currently, fashioned after the latest Earth Kingdom fashion, made her an absolute vision.

Or at least to Zuko's eyes.

The soft green seemed to make her skin glow and her eyes seemed to.....Spirits! When had he begun to take notice of things like that and started writing poetry about it?!

It was all Orora's fault, he mused, as she stared up at him with a questioning look in her eyes. She made him see things in a way that even the ugliest of things looked beautiful.

After all, she had claimed his scar as beautiful, despite the fact that it marred half his face.

Or maybe it was just his lovesick brain that was making her appear much prettier to him then she really was?

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, a blush clear across her pale skin, he cleared his throat. Avoiding her gaze, he reached out to grab her hand and pull her out of the tea shop. "You better hope the Earth King doesn't mind people who are late." He said, helping her into the carriage, and climbing in behind her.

She shrugged. "If we're lucky, maybe he woke up late." Iroh laughed as he sat across from the two teens. Given his more robust figure, he had to take up one side of the carriage, while Zuko and Orora sat next to each other on the other side.

The carriage ride was silent, all three of them looking out of their respective windows and it wasn't long before they were standing in front of the palace where they were to meet the King.

"Many times I imagined myself here, at the threshold of the palace. But I always thought I would be here as a conqueror." Iroh continued, as all three of them walked towards the entrance. "Instead, we are the Earth King's personal guests, here to serve him tea." He chuckled. "Destiny is a funny thing."

Zuko glanced at Orora out of the corner of his eyes, only to catch her doing the same to him. The two smiled at one another. "It sure is, Uncle." The Prince stated.

Once inside they were shown to a spacious and beautifully decorated room. Setting the small basket he had brought down, Iroh started to unpack everything. The three of them settled next to one another, with Iroh putting the ingredients and everything else on the table. Orora helped him make it appear like a proper presentation, as they waited for the Earth King.

They waited.

And they waited some more.

And a little more.

The teapot began to steam away, and Orora yawned hugely, her eyes actually tearing up as she did.

"What's taking so long?" Zuko finally spoke up, clearly at the end of his patience.

Iroh shrugged as he poured some hot tea. "Maybe the Earth King overslept." Orora smirked at Zuko. "Well maybe I was right then."

No sooner had the words come out of her mouth when several Dai Li agents entered the room and began to create a circle around them. The moment they entered the entire atmosphere of the room changed. The hair at the nape of her neck stood up on end, an icy feeling trailed down her back as her eyes darted around.

Zuko seemed to be thinking along the same lines as her, as he leaned forward to whisper. "Something's not right."

And then suddenly, Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, and more importantly Zuko's sister and her Master's niece, was standing in front of them.

"It's tea time!" She stated, a gleam in her eyes that had nothing to do with the joy of seeing her family.

Zuko quickly stood. "Azula!" He shifted so he was standing in front of both Uncle and Orora, the latter of whom was staring at the Princess with a look that could freeze even the brightest of fires.

"Have you met the Dai Li?" Azula continued as if she were talking of the weather and not the multiple deadly earthbenders that surrounded them. "They're earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that's so firebender. I just love it."

Orora stood to stand just behind Zuko, placing a hand on his elbow. A gesture that did not go unnoticed by the ever observant Princess, who narrowed her eyes at them. Picking up the steaming tea, Iroh smiled at his niece. "Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname 'The Dragon of the West'?" He asked, his voice pleasant.

Azula made a face, checking her nails as she spoke in a condescending tone. "I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, Uncle."

Iroh smiled. "It's more of a demonstration, really." He brought the cup to his lips, closing his eyes as he took a deep sip. Zuko looked over at him, smiling briefly. The next moment Orora felt him grab the hand on his elbow and pull her against him, and behind Iroh.

And not a moment too soon.

Iroh opened his mouth wide, letting a huge stream of fire. It was so intense that she could actually feel it, despite Zuko shielding her. Taking the distraction as an advantage, Iroh made an escape route through a wall and out into the corridor. Zuko kept a firm grip on her hand, pulling her along. But she quickly pulled away from his grip, pulling out a stream of water from the hidden water satchel around her thigh and sending several icicles flying through the air. Catching and stopping a few rock projectiles shot by the Agents. Up ahead was a dead end, but that didn't stop her Master, who blasted a hole through the wall, and quickly jumped down and land on some bushes.

"Quick! Jump!" He called out to her and Zuko. Orora did not hesitate, creating a frozen slide and skating down to come to a stop next to him.

She glanced back up to where Zuko stood at the edge.

"Come on! You'll be fine!" Iroh called, just as Orora yelled. "Zuko! Jump now!"

But then he said something that made her heart stop in her chest. "No! I'm tired of running! It's time I faced Azula!"

She froze, a coldness settling in the pit of her stomach. "Zuko! No!" The girl screamed, moving as if she were about to go back to him. But Iroh wasn't having it. Reaching out he quickly and rather roughly grasped her wrist and pulled her away.

"No! Master! We have to go back! We have to help him!" She cried, trying her best to break away from him, stumbling as she did. "So you could be captured like him?" Her Master yelled over his shoulder. "We have a better chance of helping him from out here!"

Despite the panic churning in her stomach, and the fact that she felt as if she were choking on her heart, the girl was quick to see sense and stopped struggling, following after him.

————————–

"That son of a hog-monkey! What in the world was he thinking?! Was he dropped on his head as a baby?! Facing off against all those Agents and his sister! I cannot believe him!"

Once they were at a safe location, all that fear had melted away to be replaced with an anger that burned in her eyes. She was growling under her breath, while also threatening to maim or seriously harm Zuko for being so stupid.

Iroh glanced at Orora as they hid behind an abandoned living quarter. He neglected to state how she had been about to follow after his nephew in the same amount of danger.

Best not to aggravate her then she already was.

Still, he shushed her, motioning for her to lean forward. "We need to secure an Agent for information. Then we shall both go to the Avatar and ask him for his help."

Orora blinked. "Wait, Aang? Can't we do this on our own? I don't want to involve him, Katara and Sokka. What if they get hurt?" Iroh shook his head. "There is strength in numbers, and it would do us well to have that on our side."

Peaking out from behind their hiding place, her Master turned back to her with a smile. "Now, lets see how good you've gotten with your bending." He motioned for her to step forward and take the lead in capturing a Dai Lee agent.

She could hear footsteps as they approached. The moment they sounded near enough, she threw her arm out, catching the Agent around the waist with a water whip and swinging him in the air. The Agent screamed his head off, his loss of composure costing him the stone gloves he wore as they fell from his hands. Twisting her arm, she slammed the man down on the ground, knocking him out.

"Excellent form my dear." Iroh applauded as he appeared at her side with some rope. "Now lets get to find the Avatar."

————————–

It really didn't take long.

Once the Agent woke, he was quick to give up any information he had. It helped speed things along that Orora threatened him with an ice dagger. She wouldn't seriously hurt him, but enough to make him see she was not in the mood for any false leads.

Iroh knocked and the door slid open to quickly reveal........the girl they had met while traveling the countryside. Orora blinked over Iroh's shoulder, having not expected her to being there.

"I need your help." Iroh stated in a grave tone, to which the girl simply waved at him. Behind her, Orora could see Sokka and Aang in varying degrees of disbelief.

"Aang! Sokka!" She called out, rushing past Iroh to envelope both boys in a brief hug. "Wait! Orora!" Aang's voice came muffled against her shoulder before she pulled back and grinned at them both.

"You cut your hair?" The girl rolled her eyes. "Really Sokka? That's the first thing you notice about me."

Sokka nodded. "Well in my defense its the first thing I observed. And your white hair." He added head tilting in curiosity. Aang, having recovered from his shock, hugged Orora again. "Its so good to see you! I like your new look." He added with a small smile, referring to her white patch of hair. Orora smiled back before Aang's attention returned to Iroh and Toph.

"You guys know each other?" He asked, surprise coating his voice. The blind girl nodded. "I met them in the woods once and knocked him down." Iroh smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Then he gave me some tea and some very good advice."

Iroh took a tentative step forward. "May I come in?" The girl nodded and stepped aside to allow him in. Once she'd shut the door, he turned to look at them. "Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se." He said, his voice grave and serious.

Aang frowned. "She must have Katara." Orora's eyes widened in horror. "She was captured too?" Sokka frowned at her words.

"Too?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. Iroh nodded. "She has captured my nephew as well."

A beat of silence, in which Orroa glanced nervously at Aang, ready to step in. If she had to beg them to save Zuko, she would.

"Then we'll work together to fight Azula, and save Katara and Zuko." Aang finally stated, looking at Iroh and then Orora. She closed her eyes briefly, before shooting him a small smile of gratitude.

Sokka, though, had other thoughts. "Whoa there! You lost me at Zuko."

It was Iroh who stepped forward to make a case for his nephew. Placing his hands on Sokka's shoulders he spoke. "I know how you must feel about my nephew. But believe me when I tell you that there is good inside him." He said, almost sounding like he was begging Sokka to believe him.

Sokka pushed Iroh away "Good inside him isn't enough!" He stated with venom in his voice. "Why don't you come back when it's outside him too, okay?"

Aang stepped forward. "Katara's in trouble." He said, trying to reason with his friend. "All of Ba Sing Se is in trouble. Working together is our best chance."

Sokka pursed his lips, looking just as reluctant as he felt. A moment passed, before Orora stepped forward. "Sokka." She said, her voice soft. He turned to look at her. Orora gulped, pursing her lips. "He saved my life at the North Pole. I would be dead if it weren't for him. I owe him."

A beat of silence.

"Please."

Finally, something shifted in his eyes and Sokka nodded silently. Heaving a sigh of relief Orora moved to hug him briefly, to which he patted her on the back a little awkwardly.

"We brought someone along who might help us." Iroh said, already leading the way outside to the nervous looking Dai Li agent. The blind girl quickly eartbended a couple of pillars around the man, forcing him to stand up. Orora reached out, yanking away the cloth that covered his mouth.

The moment it was off, the Agent started to speak. "Azula and Long Feng are plotting a coup! They're going to overthrow the Earth King!" He confessed, eyes wide with fear at the sight of several angry looking people in front of him.

Sokka stepped forward, waving his weapon in the man's face. "My sister! Where are they keeping Katara?"

The Agent eyes the weapon nervously. "In the Crystal Catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se, deep beneath the palace." That was all the information they needed. Glancing at one another they nodded, and leaving the Agent where he was, set off to find the Catacombs.

————————–

There was no way to actually find the Catacombs.

Toph, as Orora learned the blind girl was called, was able to feel them underground. "Well, what do you know? There is an ancient city down there. But it's deep." Taking up a stance, she made a tunnel through the ground, leading downwards. Sokka stood to the side, going over what they were all supposed to do.

"We should split up." He finally said, turning to Aang. "Aang, you go with Iroh and Orora to look for Katara and the angry jerk." Turning to Iroh, he placed a hand on his shoulder. "No offense."

Iroh simply shrugged in response. "None taken." He stated in a tone that told Orora that he actually agreed with Sokka.

Continuing where he left off, he went on. "And I'll go with Toph to warn the Earth King of Azula's coup."

Orora stepped forward. "We can meet back at the Jasmine Dragon. Its the new tea shop that just opened up. Ask anyone about it. They'll know."

Sokka nodded. "Good idea. Its best if we have a meeting spot. Good luck!" With that, he patted Toph on the shoulder and led her away. Orora turned to where Iroh and Aang were standing at the entrance of the tunnel.

Inhaling deeply, she gave a nervous smile. "Well, lets get going then."

With every step they made their way deeper and deeper underground. Aang earthbended their way forward, while Iroh lit a small fire in his hand to give them light as it slowly grew darker.

"Congratulations on learning a new element Aang." Orora said, smiling at her friend. He smiled back. "Thanks Orora. I'm still getting the hang of it, but its been coming to me. Toph is a great teacher."

Orora nodded. "She looks it. Her ability to sense things with her feet is amazing." Though she was speaking normally, Orora was actually really worried about both Zuko and Katara. She just hoped neither of them were hurt.

"Have you really been traveling with Iroh and Zuko all this time?" Aang asked, a little curious about his friend's choice of companions.

"Iroh has been my teacher these past few months, and I've learned a great deal from him." She finally responded. "And.......Zuko........he...well......." She pursed her lips, her gaze flickering towards her finger where the thread was wrapped around the tip.

And that small movement was enough for Aang to stop short and stare at her. "No way!" He breathed, grey eyes wide and disbelieving. "Zuko is your soulmate?!" He asked, or rather demanded to know. They had paused where they were. "No wonder you had all those questions about Soulmates back on the boat."

He raised a hand to his forehead as he blew out a small breath. "I can't imagine what you went through when you realized your soulmate was the Prince of the Fire Nation itself."

She let out a dry chuckle. "Tell me about it. Seems fate has a weird sense of humor." Glancing at Iroh who was looking at them both patiently, she extended a hand to lay on Aang's shoulder.

"Look, I promise I'll tell you everything once we get out of here with both Katara and Zuko safe." She promised. Questions burned at the tip of his tongue, but being reminded of Katara had him nodding and moving the next piece of boulder that was in their way.

"Well at least it'll be easy for us to find Zuko. We can just follow the string." Aang said, before glancing at his own little finger. "Then again, it wouldn't have mattered since we would've found Katara the same way."

It took a moment for Orora to realize what he had just said. Grinning, she quickly threw her arms around Aang from behind in a brief yet fierce hug. "I'm so happy for you Aang. You both deserve each other." She added, to which Aang beamed, though the light in his eyes slightly diminished.

"Whats wrong?" She asked, frowning at him. Moving another section of earth out of the way, he sighed. The young Avatar was silent for a good few moments before he turned to Iroh who had remained quiet, wanting to give the both of them the time they needed to catch up and ease their worries however they could. Even if it meant idle chatter.

"So, Toph thinks you give pretty good advice, and great tea!" He added with a smile.

Iroh chuckled. "The key to both is proper aging. What's on your mind?" He asked just as Aang earthbended again before replying.

"Well, I met with this guru who was supposed to help me master the Avatar State and control this great power, but to do it, I had to let go of someone I love. And I just couldn't." All three of them came to a stop.

"Wait! He wanted you to break your bond with Katara?" Orora demanded, sounding disturbed. She turned to look at her Master.

Iroh gave her a small nod of confirmation. "Perfection and power are overrated." He stated. "I think you were very wise to choose happiness and love."

"Especially since both of them can be very hard to come by." Orora added, to which Aang nodded in agreement.

"But what happens if we can't save anyone and beat Azula?" Aang added, sounding frustrated. "Without the Avatar State, what if I'm not powerful enough?"

Iroh hummed in thought as they walked further underground, his fire the only source of light. "I don't know the answer." He responded honestly. "Sometimes, life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving." Aang earthbended the last of the rocks away to reveal the Crystal Catacombs. Iroh's fire went out and the sudden gust of wind and he smiled. "You will come to a better place."

Reaching out to place a comforting hand on Aang's arm, Orora smiled at him. "You have people standing beside you Aang. Ready to fight with you. Avatar State or no, you won't be fighting alone. And that's another kind of power."

Aang smiled in gratitude. "You've changed since I last saw you Orora." He said, to which she shrugged. "We've all changed." Lifting her hand, she observed it closely.

"Come on. Lets find our Soulmates."

————————–

Never in his wildest dreams had he thought he would be imprisoned alongside the water tribe girl he had hunted alongside the Avatar for so long.

Katara, he remembered Orora saying her name was. After the initial yelling, and his confession about loosing his mother, just as she had lost hers, they had both fallen silent.

He couldn't help but berate himself for trying to face off Azula. But then when it came to his sister, he tended to not think and just do, to try and overtake her. A sigh left him, as his mind conjured the face Orora had made when she had realized he wasn't going to follow them.

She was going to tear him a new one when they were together again. The thought of her yelling at him had a small smile pulling at his lips.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you before." Katara's apologetic voice cut through the silence.

Zuko shrugged, indifferent to her words because really, they hadn't hurt him. He'd been hurt worse by his Father. "It doesn't matter."

There was a brief pause before she continued. "It's just that for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face."

Raising a hand to his scar, he nodded. "My face? I see."

She shook her head, approaching him. "No, no, that's-that's not what I mean."

Zuko sighed. "It's okay. I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever." He paused, as once again his mind wandered off to Orora. "But then someone made me realize that it wasn't an ugly thing. Not when there was another reason behind it." He wasn't about to tell Katara the whole story. So he just shrugged and added. "But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark."

Katara pursed her lips. "Maybe you could be free of it."

"What?" There was an element of disbelief in his tone. Katara nodded.

"I have healing abilities." She said, pulling out the vial that contained the water from the Spirit Oasis.

"It's a scar, it can't be healed. Besides, Orora has been traveling with us, and I'm sure she's a much better Healer then you. And if she couldn't heal it, I doubt you could." He hadn't meant to undermine her abilities, but he knew Orora more, knew that she was a strong Healer and would've offered to heal him if she could.

Katara shook her head. "She is a better Healer then I am, but she didn't have this." She held up the small vial. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I've been saving it for something important." She moved to stand in front of Zuko. "I don't know if it would work, but," She trailed off, reaching up hesitantly to place her hand on his scar.

Just as Orora had done so many times.

And yet when he closed his eyes, he only envisioned her, with her gentle words and the ability to knock him in his place.

Suddenly he felt a tug on his finger.

A loud rumbling sound followed by a crash had them both jumping where they stood. As the cloud of dust settled, three figures emerged from the opening.

Aang, Iroh and Orora.

"Aang! Orora!" Katara ran to hug the both of them together, while Iroh ran to embrace Zuko. Aang smiled briefly at the hug, before glaring at Zuko. Zuko glared back at Aang, not liking the way Orora was hugging him.

Granted she was also hugging Katara, but still. "I knew you would come." Katara said to Aang before smiling at Orora. "Its so good to see you again Orora." The girl smiled back.

"And you, Spirits, you had us all worried. Both of you." She added, finally moving to give Zuko a brief hug. Brief because Zuko pushed her off a little, prompting her to look a little hurt at his dismissal. But he barely noticed as he rounded on his Uncle.

"Uncle, I don't understand. What are you doing with the Avatar?" He asked, pointing to Aang.

Aang glared at the Prince. "Saving you, that's what." He said in a slightly sarcastic tone. Zuko growled, fists clenching as he took a step in Aang's direction, but was stopped by Iroh and Orora both.

"Zuko, it's time we talked." He turned to look at Aang and Katara. "Go help your other friends. We'll catch up with you." The both of them move to walk away, but then stop when they realized Orora wasn't following them.

Noticing their hesitance, the older girl quickly smiled at them. "I'll be right there guys. I hope that spot on your team is still open for me." Nodding, the both of disappeared into a cave.

Spot on the team?

Was Orora leaving?

Was she leaving him?

She was leaving him.

Orora was leaving him.

Dread filled his heart and clouded his mind, as he turned his head to the side.

"Why, Uncle?" He voiced, the hurt evident in his tone. Though from the fact that his Uncle had gone to his enemy, the Avatar for help, or that Orora was probably leaving him to go with the Avatar, he did not know.

"You're not the man you used to be, Zuko." He smiled. "You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been. And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good."

Good?

He had done good once before.

And that had earned him a scar.

He had done good before.

And had saved his soulmate, who was now leaving him.

Doing good had never worked in his favor.

He felt Orora step forward. "Zuko, you-AH!" Her words were cut off with a scream as the Crystals around them grew and encapsulated her and Iroh. Zuko assumed a fighting stance, and was greeted with the sight of his sister and two Dai Li agent sliding into the chamber.

"I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle." Azula spoke, her voice soft and sweet like honey. "But Zuko, Prince Zuko, you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?" She asked, her voice soft at the end.

"Release them immediately!" He ordered, power behind his words as he glared at his sister. Orora grunted slightly as she tried to free herself, but stopped when Iroh shook his head at her. His message was clear.

Don't draw attention to yourself.

Azula shrugged. "It's not too late for you, Zuko. You can still redeem yourself."

Iroh, not wanting Zuko to be influenced by his sister's words tried to intervene. "The kind of redemption she offers is not for you."

Azula sighed in a way a mother would sigh at a naughty child. "Why don't you let him decide, Uncle?" She said, before turning her sweetened attention back to her brother. "I need you, Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day, this glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have Father's love. You will have everything you want."

She painted a pretty picture. She painted the exact picture he had wanted for so long. The very picture Orora had said he deserved. He deserved honor and love. He deserved everything.

Didn't he?

Hadn't he suffered enough?

For once Orora was silent. She knew if she spoke, Azula would not hold back in shutting her up. Iroh was right, maybe it was best to stay quiet and let Zuko decide on his own. He was changed now.

He would make the right choice.

Still, that didn't stop Iroh from pleading with his nephew. "Zuko I am begging you. Look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want."

Azula shrugs. "You are free to choose." She gestured to the Dai Li agents who promptly left, probably to get reinforcements. With one backward glance at the three of them, she disappeared into the darkness of the cave where Aang and Katara had gone.

The chamber echoed with a silence that pressed against his chest. His mind whirled, his heart burned. He could feel the eyes of his Uncle and his Soulmate at the back of his head.

"Zuko." Her soft comforting voice floated through the air. "Listen to your heart. What does it tell you?" She said the same words as his Uncle.

Finally, he turned. He looked to his Uncle first, who gave him a gentle smile. Then he looked at Orora.

Amber found blue.

He knew the moment she understood what he was about to do. He could see it in her eyes.

So without a backwards glance, he followed after his sister, leaving his Soulmate to call out to him as he raced away.

As far away from those heartbroken cries as possible.

————————–

As soon as he had disappeared, Orora began to struggle even more fiercely. "We have to get out. We have to help Aang and Katara. Azula will kill them." She was speaking in an almost frenzied tone as she tried to free her wrists where they were encapsulated in Crystal.

Iroh stood where he was, his eyes closed, a look of utter sorrow and disappointment on his face. "I thought I taught him enough." He lamented.

A wave of emotion rose within her, threatened to overtake her. But she stomped it down with a vicious growl.

No!

Her friends were in danger!

Now was not the time!

And maybe, maybe they were wrong. Maybe Zuko had gone to help Aang and Katara.

Maybe he would change his mind.

Suddenly the earth rumbled and a lone Dai Li agent appeared. He quickly looked around and once he was sure no one else was there, he quickly earthbended the Crystals, freeing them both.

"I am honored to help a High Ranking Officer of the White Lotus." He said, bowing respectfully to Iroh. Iroh nodded, before turning to Orora.

"Go help your friends. I need to take care of some business."

But his Pupil was already gone.

————————–

She arrived to a horrific scene.

Aang flying through the air, crashing into a building. Azula, Zuko and more then a dozen Dai Li agents, surrounding Katara who was on the ground.

Sheer anger coursed through her veins. Taking a running start, she leaped from her heightened location, using a large wave from a nearby canal to create a slide of ice which she quickly skated down, coming to land in front of Katara.

Her arms raised on either side of her body. The water slide split apart, only to create multiple sharp yet deadly daggers of ice.

Pointing straight at her Soulmate, his sister and the Agent.

"Take one more step and I'll send one right through you." She warned, her eyes dancing with a deadly gleam as she glared at them all.

One of the Agents, thinking she was bluffing, did step forward. Only to find two ice daggers embedded in his forearms. He dropped to the floor screaming in pain as blood oozed from his wounds.

Letting out a grunt, she threw her arms out, allowing each ice dagger to fly forward. While several hit their marks to various points of injuries, many of the Agents brought up shields of rock, while Zuko and Azula simply sent forward a burst of fire, melting them.

"Out of our way peasant." Azula growled, blue fire burning in her hands. She allowed a huge ball of it to fly towards Orora, who dodged, only to be knocked flying back by a Dai Li agent. She slammed into a pillar wall. Her entire body screamed with pain as she slid to the ground. Pushing herself onto her knees, the girl shot into position once more.

It was fight or die, and her entire sense of being had gone into survival mode.

In front of her, Katara had gathered enough strength to stand up. Waving her arms she created an octopus like creature around her, and not a moment too soon.

More Dai Li agents arrived.

While several surrounded Katara, even more surrounded her. Orora growled, bringing up twin whips of water in her hand. The ends of each tip was topped with a spiked boulder of ice. She panted as her eyes darted from one enemy face to another, looking for a chance to land a shot if any of them tried anything.

But then a light shone in the chamber.

Brighter then a hundred candles.

Every eye turned to Aang as he floated in the air. His eyes and tattoos glowing.

Orora gasped. Was this it? Was he about to go into the Avatar State?

So lost were they all in the sheer power of what Aang was about to unleash, that no one noticed Azula sneaking up behind Aang.

Until it was too late.

Lightning flashed, and the tips of Azula's fingers smoked as her aim found it's target.

Aang dropped to the ground.

"No!" A scream tore from her throat. With a single move of her boulder water whips, she was able to knock down the still surprised Dai Li agents. Seeing the path clear, she ran for Aang, creating a wave to catch his body just before he crashed to the ground.

And she wasn't the only one running towards him.

Both her and Katara reached him at the same time. Katara's hair was undone, her clothes torn. And Orora was sure she was in a similar state. Tears streamed down the other girl's face, as she cradled Aang's body and wept loudly.

Knowing exactly what Katara had just lost, Orora moved to stand protectively in front of the younger children. Waving her arms in a circle around her, she managed to call the water towards her and create several circular trunks of ice in front of her. With a flick of her wrist, a sharp round slate of ice lifted from each trunk. One move and they would fly through the air, cutting off limb or head if she desired.

Her eyes were full of pure hatred when she looked at Azula.

"I will kill you." She growled in a threatening manner. Azula simply smiled in a condescending manner.

But then Orora's gaze found his.

Where she had looked at him with such trust and adoration just this morning, now there was only hurt, anger and disdain.

So powerful were her emotions, that he actually hesitated in attacking her, his stance softened and his arms lowered a little.

A blast of fire stopped Azula from attacking. Iroh, the source of the blast, jumped down from the wall of the cave and stood in front of Orora and her friends.

"You've got to get out of here. I'll hold them off as long as I can." He called over his shoulder as he sent another wall of raging fire at his own family and the agents.

Her heart dropped and fear settled in her bones. "No! Master!"

"Orora!" He roared, stopping her in her tracks. "You swore an oath to do as I asked you. You swore!"

She stopped short.

After a moment a cry of utter frustration fell from her lips, and she threw her arms forward, allowing the trunks of ice to fly through the air and take several Dai Li agents down with them.

Running towards Aang and Katara, she quickly gathered them both close. Katara looked at her with such hopeless eyes that Orora felt her heart break for the young girl.

"Hang on." She said, creating a pillar of water and waterbending all three of them out by way of a waterfall.

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Once his Pupil had disappeared from view, Iroh took a deep breath and submitted. The Dai Li quickly encased him in crystals. He raised his head to see his niece smiling in a triumphant manner.

His eyes met Zuko's before Iroh looked away, ashamed, disappointed, but most of all, saddened.

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It was no easy task, taking both Katara and Aang back to the tea shop. The girl was barely walking, so lost she was at the realization that her other half was dead. Luckily, the waterfall had opened up to a canal close to the tea shop, and Orora had managed to get Sokka's attention from where he kept watch on Appa.

The moment they were on, Orora wasted no time. "Appa! Yip yip" She called. They had to get out as fast as they could.

Once they were in the air, she turned her attention to Katara and Aang. The girl was placing Aang's body against Appa. And though her eyes still held that lost and devastated look, she reached around her neck to pull out a vial.

Bending the water from inside, the young girl pressed the now glowing water against the wound on Aang's back.

She was sitting beside Sokka, anxiously peering over the saddle just like the rest of them. In her heart she prayed. She prayed to every Spirit out there. She prayed to Yue.

She prayed and prayed.

A gentle glow suddenly ignited the night sky and Orora watched as Katara suddenly smiled, tears in her eyes and hugged Aang to her chest.

He was alive.

Aang was alive.

He was alive.

But then, why did she still feel like the world had ended.

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"We've done it, Zuko." Azula stated as she sat on the Earth King's throne. "It's taken a hundred years, but the Fire Nation has conquered Ba Sing Se."

Zuko, still reeling from what had happened, was having a hard time believing everything. "I betrayed Uncle." He said in a low voice.

He betrayed his Soulmate.

Azula stood. "No, he betrayed you." She clarified before continuing. "Zuko, when you return home, Father will welcome you as a war hero."

Zuko shook his head. "But I don't have the Avatar. What if Father doesn't restore my honor?" He asked his sister, feeling those first lick of panic along his skin.

"He doesn't need to, Zuko." She reassured him, placing ah and on his shoulder. "Today, you restored your own honor."

With that she walked away, disappearing into the dark.

His shoulders slumped, as if the weight of the entire world was on them. His hand had been clenched in a fist at his side the entire time, but now with Azula gone, he lifted it up.

Opening his fingers he stared at the object within.

A small blue hair comb set with the carving of a dragon.

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