#still wild i drew more zuko then sokka... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

artbymavy · 3 years

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if you want another, "I wouldn't change a thing about you." for zukka?

"I wouldn't change a thing about you."

The day of the wedding was drawing nearer, and many things were still to be attended to. Often the happy couple found they were forced to be separated, attending to official court business and choosing china patterns and menus in turn, and today was no exception.

When at last Zuko was finished with his many official responsibilities for the day, the afternoon was growing late, and the shadows long. He knew at this time, Sokka was meant to be with the royal dressmakers, having final alterations made to his wedding robe. Zuko let himself into Sokka’s chambers quietly, so as not to disturb their work.

He knew his entrance went unnoticed, as the tailors continued flitting about Sokka’s feet like bees buzzing about their hive, pinning and sewing away without stopping to offer proper greeting. He preferred it this way. From this vantage point, he had a perfect profile of his groom-to-be, and what a treat such as sight was.

Sokka’s robe was of the finest silk produced anywhere in the Fire Nation. Zuko had chosen it himself. The deep red fabric glinted in the light of the afternoon, woven delicately with patterns of fire lilies, and embroidered with grand silver and gold dragons that stretched across his shoulders and down his back. The long back and wide sleeves of the robe cascaded down to pool at Sokka’s feet, rippling and flowing like ocean waves. In his hair was a delicate and exquisite golden hairpiece, set with rubies and pearls that shone brightly against his dark hair.

Sokka was cloaked in red and gold, and it looked wonderful on him. Robes like this were a statement all their own, and nothing needed to be said by their wearer, for it to be heard.

“Wow,” Zuko said, breaking the silence at last. The breathless exaltation was all he could seem to manage

At this announcement of his arrival the royal dressers and dressmakers scurried to bow and greet him, but Zuko waved them off, his only concern to be able to keep his eyes fixed on Sokka, who looked a perfect statuesque figure – even, Zuko noted with dismay, his face was stony and serious.

Sokka looked up at him then, and smiled. But then, Sokka always smiled when he saw Zuko, even at times when doing so would be considered most inappropriate. It didn’t take long before his troubled frown returned.

“Would you like to see, Ambassador Sokka? We still need to finish this hem, but otherwise it is ready for your wedding day. Quite fine craftmanship, too, if I do say so myself.”

Sokka turned to look as the large, floor-length mirror was angled towards him. He stared. And stared. And stared.

“Would you mind giving us a moment alone?” Zuko whispered to the dressmakers, who abandoned their tidying in a heap as they hurried out of the room at his bidding.

Sokka drew his hand slowly across the soft fabric that stretched over his chest, and lifted it to let the tips of his fingers rest on the intricate gilded headpiece that was tightly woven into his sleek topknot. He looked deep into his own sad eyes. The reflection that looked back at him from the mirror still looked more trapped than he was, but only just.

In an instant Sokka had turned from the mirror, flying to the window and throwing it open, leaning out to let its warm scent flow over him. As he did, he wrestled with the hairpiece to no avail – the royal dressers had done a marvelous job securing it, and eventually he was forced to give up the futile effort.

Zuko looked on helplessly. He took one step towards Sokka, but hesitated. There was a deep, painful moment of silence as Sokka’s breath heaved and Zuko waited. And waited. And waited.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Zuko.”

“Sokka…” He began.

But what was there, that he could say?

“I – I love you Zuko, and I – I want to marry you, spirits believe me, but I don’t know how much of this I can take. I don’t know if I can change like this, even for you.”

His hands were lost in the wide sleeves of his would-be wedding robe as he gestured down at the ensemble. And suddenly, the whole thing seemed utterly ridiculous to Zuko.

Sokka was many things. Many wonderful, wonderful things. But nowhere among them could the words delicate, poised, or regal be counted. Sokka was no ornament to hang off Zuko’s arm, looking pretty and perfect and nothing more. Sokka would not, and could not, be silenced, only to be seen and never heard. And Zuko would never have that anyways.

It was certainly a beautiful costume. But that’s all it ever was, or would be.

“Then fuck this.”

“Zuko…”

But Zuko wouldn’t hear any argument or objections. He seized a pair of tailor’s shears in haste from where the royal dressers had left them, and Sokka’s eyes went wide as Zuko took his arm and made wild, swift cuts until one long sleeve was free, and drifted to the floor like spent flower petals.

“Zuko!”

“Listen to me, Sokka,” he said, taking his now freed hand in both his own, holding it tightly to his chest, “I never want you to compromise who you are because you think it’s something I need you to do. I don’t care what anyone else thinks, I wouldn't change a thing about you.”

Sokka’s eyes were watery, but bright as he lifted his hand slowly from its place on Zuko’s chest to cup his cheek, grazing the carved face of the jade stone that sat in the hollow of Zuko’s throat along his path. Zuko’s hand trailed not far behind, pressed against the back of Sokka’s as he turned his head to place a kiss to the inside of his wrist. Sokka leaned in close, and Zuko felt the cool sensation of silk against skin as his other hand came up to brush his neck, and he leaned in to Zuko’s space and held there, afraid to take any more of him for himself.

“After we’re married, I can’t deny that some things may change. But not you, alright? Not you.”

Sokka nodded, and let his head fall against Zuko’s.

“And not this,” he murmured.

“Just promise me one thing?”

“Anything.”

“When you do show up on our wedding day, and marry me like you promised, that you’ll do it wearing your Water Tribe finest. Because you’re right – there is not a single piece of you to be found in this ridiculous robe. And I want every single piece of you I can get, for as long as you’ll let me have them.”

Sokka smile, and tipped his head to fit his nose against Zuko’s as he pulled him in for a deep, wanting kiss, and Zuko felt that familiar pull on his heart like the tides. As their tensions eased, and Zuko fell back into the comfort of simply being with Sokka, who loved all of him just as he was, he let himself speak easily once more, giving little thought to what he said, knowing Sokka would listen regardless.

“I mean, obviously literally speaking you are in it, but I meant more like, figuratively -”

Sokka laughed, and pulled him back in for another kiss, soft and sweet. “Yeah, I got that,” he said in the smiles between kisses.

“I promise.”

#zukka #atla #sokka #zuko #asks #writing #uwu hi Lyn <3 #I see your other asks... I will get to them too I swear <3 #theravenlyn

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raylessneedssleep · 4 years

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Is it bad that sometimes, when I think about ATLA, I don’t think about the animated version? Like, I picture how they would have looked in real life instead of animated. My explanations may sound the same as the animation, but are COMPLETELY different in my head.

For Katara I imagine someone with dark skin and wild, unmanageable hair with strong features. Same goes for Sokka, but he manages to put his hair up and shaves the sides (but he doesn’t shave them as short as he does in the show and his hair is longer than in the show). Their blue eyes aren’t bright blue, but a dull blue that you really have to stare at to see that they are actually blue (kinda like the deep ocean). Sokka and Katara aren’t thin like in the show; they are more muscular and you can tell by just looking at them. Katara is almost the same height as Sokka, just a little shorter, and Sokka is tall.

For Zuko and Azula, I imagine tanned skin and sharp features and eyes. They pierce through you when you look at them/when they look at you giving them an intimidating look. Their hair is shiny and smooth and not fluffy. Zuko has MUCH longer hair in my head, but not too long like when they drew him older. They are both muscular, but not like Katara and Sokka. It’s more like a lean muscular. They are also taller (Zuko is the same height as Sokka and Azula is a little taller than Katara and almost matches her brother’s height) because I imagine Azula getting made fun of for being tall by the boys, but she ends up making fun of them for being short. And Zuko was that one lanky kid that everyone made fun of until he started training a bunch to get his muscles. Then people were all over him.

I imagine Toph to be slightly more tanned than Zuko because she works outside a lot more. Her eyes aren’t exactly light in color, but they are a dull green/blue. Her hair is long and smooth like Zuko’s, but her hair is kinda frizzy and unmanageable. It often gets tangled from all the dirt and twigs in it. She can’t go a minute without getting dirt/mud on her. It’s usually her face that gets dirty. In my head, she isn’t short like in the show. She reaches about to Zuko’s neck or his ear and is about the same height as Katara, but just a little shorter. Also, Toph is SUPER freaking muscular. Like, almost as muscular as Katara and Sokka. She’s like between Sokka/Katara and Zuko/Azula in strength.

Aang is as tan as Zuko, maybe a little darker if you really look, and he doesn’t have the softest features like in the show. Sure, he looks boyish, but he has high cheekbones, thinned lips, and sharp eyebrows to show his MANY expressions. His eyes are wide and sharp at the same time. His tattoos also aren’t filled in like the show (but they aren’t like the ones in there movie), plus they aren’t like a bright blue. It’s more like a deep ocean blue with intricate designs that are made with thick lines. He is the same height as Katara. Aang is the least muscular of them all (from being in the ice and not training/working like them), but he gains muscle the more he trains.

Suki is slightly paler than the others, but still tanned. Her hair is cut just above her shoulders and her features are soft, yet thin. She has muscle, but it’s not as intense as the others (she can still kick butt though don’t underestimate her). With kind eyes and thin lips, she is seen as extremely beautiful in gentle features when she has on her Kyoshi Warrior makeup. She is like between Katara and Toph in height by a glance. You can’t even tell she is shorter than Katara until you stand them side-by-side.

I don’t imagine any of them as being pale. They all have darker skin tones to me because I feel like that would make more sense (?). Like, they train outside and are outside A LOT so they would get tan, plus their original skin tone is not pale. The only one I imagine as being paler than the others is Mai because I feel like she NEVER goes outside, but she is still tan.

I may also do another part to this in explaining how I imagine the others to look if you guys want.

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koala-otter · 4 years

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little modern au extra: kiss in the cave

an extra of Aang and Katara’s first kiss mentioned in part ii of my silly little modern au!

I’m working on a part iii but hopefully this tides us all over in the meantime :)

click here for Ao3 or just keep reading below! 2k words

The last time Aang saw Katara in her white bathing suit was on a road trip to Omashu last year. They were driving over the nearby mountains, only another day’s journey from the city, when they took a wrong turn. To Sokka’s dismay, the hippies they ended up asking for directions had just come from a secret tunnel—the Cave of Two Lovers, they called it—that led to an underground spring. Katara insisted on going, and Aang of course backed her up, and Zuko, still searching for Katara’s approval now that he was dating her brother, threw his vote behind her, too, and they ended up driving another hour out of their way to find it. They spent the rest of the day playing in the crystal clear water, sitting on the rocks of old limestone, and looking up through the mouth of the cave to make sure the blue sky was still above them.

When the sun finally set, and they were all exhausted, they set up their camp and ate their dinner, pouring out cups of the white grain alcohol popular in seedy Earth Kingdom bars that Toph had forced Zuko to buy during one of their earlier stops. They settled in for what seemed like another night of telling stories and teasing each other before falling asleep around the fire, when Katara noticed the moon.

“It’s so beautiful,” she said, her own upturned face glowing under its light. And then a smile lit on her face. “We should go swimming again.”

Sokka bolted upright from Zuko’s side. “Are you crazy?” he asked.

“She’s drunk,” Toph laughed, face still turned toward the warmth of the fire.

“No, I’m not,” Katara denied, though her persistent smile and the light flush in her cheeks said otherwise. She gestured up at the moon. “Just, with the cave opening where it is, we could swim under the full moon.”

Aang could see the soft excitement in Katara’s eyes and hear the breathlessness of her voice that revealed she was caught up in the romance of the idea.

“I’ll go with you,” he heard himself saying.

And so there they were, once more shining a flashlight down the rickety wooden steps into the cavern, Aang holding Katara’s hand as they made their way gingerly to the limestone platform in the middle of the cave. Katara kept holding onto him once they were on the rock, looking up at the cave opening and the sky above them. The walls and the water of the cave with which they had grown so familiar during the day put on a shroud of mystery at night. Even with the flashlight, they could barely make out the dark corners of carved rock, and the landmarks they had identified in the water to mark different depths. They had entered unfamiliar territory in a space they thought they’d come to know. And the only option was to plunge in once more.

“Turn it off,” Katara whispered.

It took Aang a moment to know what she meant, but with a brush of his thumb, he flipped the switch of the flashlight.

All at once, Katara turned luminous. The soft moonlight bathed her in a silver glow, shining off the white of her swimwear, playing in the shadows of her dark hair, and making her even lovelier than she had looked before. Aang lost his breath when she smiled at him. The blue of her eyes had darkened to a deep azure, and a light flush had made its way over her dark skin, either from the alcohol or some other reason Aang couldn’t know. Before he could think about it more, however, Katara let go of his hand and made her way to the edge of the rock. Without so much as a look back at him, she sprung off of her toes and dove in a graceful arc into the black pool surrounding them.

It took very little convincing for Aang to follow her, though he waited until she resurfaced and beckoned for him to jump in, too. Once they were both in the water, they swam in slow circles around each other, sometimes getting close enough to brush fingertips, normally staying consciously, teasingly out of reach. Then, suddenly, impulsively, Katara practically backed into Aang, lacing her fingers between his and starting to pull him around her in the water.

He meant to sound teasing, or at least knowing, vaguely self-assured, when he asked, “What are you doing?”

Katara immediately dropped his hand and pushed away. When she turned around, the blush on her cheeks had deepened. She looked embarrassed. But even more importantly, her brows drew together in a way, Aang knew from his years as a witness to her emotions, that meant Katara was angry.

“Nothing,” she said sharply, and she resumed her slow swimming, much further out of reach this time. Aang could only watch helplessly from his end of the distance.

No jokes about the creepiness of the cave or suggestions of various water sports could bring Katara closer. She stayed resolutely eight feet away, her tone placid as she replied, “Not really,” and, “No, thanks,” each time Aang spoke. If he had any hair, he would have been tearing it out. Instead, he continued treading water, waiting for her irritation to fade, or just for something to give. Perhaps that was why, when a loud roar rang through the cave, his first emotion was relief. Then, of course, he came to his senses and panicked, shouting at Katara, “What was that?”

Katara looked at him with wide eyes. “That wasn’t you?”

Aang started to shake his head when another roar ripped through the walls of the cave. In almost no time, he and Katara had met halfway and stood side by side in the water, holding onto each other tightly. Both lapsed into terrified, shaky silence as they watched the dark for some sign of the sound’s source.

“Okay,” Aang said eventually, “that was officially really scary.”

Katara nodded in agreement from beside him. “What do you think it was?” she whispered.

“I don’t know,” Aang replied quietly.

He listened carefully in the dark for anything else, but when all he could hear was the whistling of the breeze at the cave’s mouth, his tone turned louder and lighthearted. “But whatever it was, it’s gone now.”

He readied himself to let go of Katara, to take his arm away from its position around her waist, but stopped. She had not moved. Her arm was still around his neck, and her other hand rested on his chest.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said quietly. She traced a drop of water rolling down his collarbone with the tip of her finger.

“Me, too,” Aang said. They could hear the sounds of water dripping from stalagmites into the pool. Katara’s fingers were still tracing lightly over his chest.

Slowly, as though he were a wild animal she might scare off, Katara moved in the water so she was completely in front of Aang, her chest against his own, and her hand moving to stroke the back of his neck.

“Is this okay?” she asked, even quieter this time.

Aang only nodded, staring at the heavy look of her eyes and the flush spilling across her cheeks.

Slowly, again, with only a moment’s hesitation, and briefly biting her own lip, Katara leaned forward and kissed him.

Aang’s eyes shot open, the adrenaline of his fear mixing with the joy flaring in his chest and making for a very confusing reaction. But before he could think through any other response, his eyes closed and he pressed his lips back against Katara’s, wrapping his arm tighter around her waist and not even stopping himself as his other hand reached up to cradle the base of her neck and the underside of her jaw, his long fingers tangling in the softness of her hair. He grinned at the little sigh that escaped Katara’s parted mouth in response, before she tilted her head up and kissed him again, eagerly and sweetly and brazenly all at once.

She laughed when they pulled apart, the sound tinkling throughout the cave and off of the rocks hanging above them. Aang joined her, almost disbelieving the sight of her in front of him with her arms still wrapped around his neck.

“This has to be a dream,” he breathed, “and any second now I’m going to wake up.”

Katara giggled again, and then took his hand in hers. “I keep thinking the same thing,” she admits with a grin. Her face softened, and her voice turned gentle as she began, “But, Aang, you should know, I want—”

A crash sounded throughout the cavern and drowned out all other sounds. This time, there was not just the loud, low groan of some animal, but also the eerie, painful sound of rock shifting and clashing.

“Uh,” Aang started, “we should probably go now.”

Their hands stayed clasped as they rushed out of the water and onto the rock, grabbing the flashlight and vaulting up the wooden stairs, through the tunnel, and back out into the open air, the moonlight pouring on them from all directions, rather than just from a single hole exposing the sky.

Once they slowed to a walk, Katara was laughing again, her hand squeezing Aang’s tightly. Whether it was from the adrenaline or the alcohol, neither could really tell, but Aang smiled at her all the same, immeasurably relieved to be back on solid earth, with only the canopy of trees above and the path back to their camp stretching leisurely out in front of them.

“That was a terrible idea,” Katara whispered once they could see the remains of the campfire. Sokka, Zuko, and Toph had all fallen asleep in different spots around the circle of rocks containing it, sprawled out on assorted sleeping bags and pillows they had brought in the car.

“I didn’t think it was that bad,” Aang said lightly, sitting on the ground at the same time as Katara. He paused. “Did you?”

Katara turned her head to look up at him, the same flush she had had in the cave dappling the tops of her cheekbones. “No,” she finally said, a small smile on her lips. She turned back toward the remaining fire. Her voice was rich and warm as she added, “I had fun.”

Aang smiled at her words, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand as he mulled them over.

“Thanks for coming with me,” Katara said quietly, and before Aang could respond, she pressed a kiss to his cheek and settled her head against his shoulder.

Aang sat quietly and watched the embers of the campfire dying out in front of them, enjoying the weight of Katara against him and the cool breeze fluttering the leaves and brushing his bare skin.

The wind changed direction and whistled quietly through the trees, ruffling tendrils of Katara’s hair. He put his arm around her to guard against the cold, and when she shifted to lean further into him, her breathing slowing and evening out, something nudged his resolve into place, and he began to speak.

“Katara, there’s something I want to tell you. I like you, but more than normal. You’re my best friend, and I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and...” He sighed. “I really want us to be together.”

Aang went silent as he waited for Katara’s response. The fact that she was still leaning against him seemed like a good sign; at least he hadn’t scared her off. But her silence was still disconcerting, until he finally looked down and saw her eyes were shut, and that she was fast asleep.

“Never mind,” he whispered, smiling ruefully. He settled in beneath her and waited for the night to pass. There was still tomorrow morning, when they could hopefully talk about their kiss, and what it meant, before leaving for Omashu. Because it meant everything to Aang, kissing Katara. It was the realest expression he had made of his feelings for her in years. The friendship bracelets, the fruit pies snuck out from the bakery, the hours he spent sitting next to her at the library, could all be construed as something other than what he meant by them. But what had happened in the cave was real, and in Aang’s eyes, unmistakable.

All he could hope was that it was real for her, too.

#atla #kataang #kataang tag #my writing #aang #katara #modern au

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bellatrixobsessed1 · 5 years

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Of Farms Fairs And Fame (Last Part)

The fact that I had started this one so long ago, makes me all the happier to know that I actually managed to finish it after all this time lol.

It wasn’t quite dark yet, the sky hung somewhere between a soft indigo and the black of night. At the very bottom of the horizon, Azula could see the last tinges of orange and gold. Soft pops and sparkles danced in various spots in the yard.

“Hey, over here! Pass me one!” Toph shouted.

Azula watched Jet rummage through a cooler and toss Toph a bottle of orange-cream pop. For the most part she had gotten good at sensing where objects were, but this time the bottle fell to the grass and she had to stoop down and feel for it.

Across the way, TyLee was weaving flowers into the hair of Zuko and Mai. Near the treeline Katara was waving a sparkler in front of Aang and waiting for him to try to imitate her motions. A little ways away, on the hill, her father and Iroh were working to set up for the firework display.

Azula herself was seated on one of the picnic tables in her yard with a plate in hand. Three attempts in--the first two being chilly in the middle--later she finally had an edible hotdog on her plate and a boyfriend sitting next to her looking entirely pleased with himself. “Not bad fer my first time on the grill.” He commented.

“Eh, coulda been better.” Azula shrugged.

“Hey!”

Azula smiled at him and picked a slice of watermelon off of her plate.

“I werked hard on them first two.” He added in a mumble.

“Ya sure did, but they still tasted mighty awful.” Azula replied with a shrug.

“No! No! You scram! Git!” She heard her dad hollar from the hilltop. She looked over to see Tom-Tom and a pack of rouge school children rolling down the hill giggling and squealing in delight. Noticing the commotion, Mai stood to retrieve her brother. The boy took off in a wild sprint, leaving Mai groaning as she tried to catch up to that human ball of energy. He darted about, nearly slamming into Zuko and shoving between Suki and Yue. The poor girl was so startled that she dropped her bombpop onto Suki’s toes. “I knew I shoulda worn sneakers, stead’a sandals.” The girl muttered.

“I got ‘im!” TyLee shouted, darting in Tom-Tom’s direction

Azula wasn’t one for pictures or videos but she turned her camera to follow the mini-frenzy. She was going to miss this brand of small-town chaos. At least the videos would give her something to assure her that she would never lose the feel of it.

Tossing her father’s no pigs at the table rule to the side, she lifted Spade onto the wood. She supposed that picnic tables weren’t the same as dinner tables anyhow. She wondered if she could smuggle him onto the plane.

“Hey!” Chan called from by the picket fence, waving she and Sokka over. “Com’mer fer a moment.”

Azula took Sokka’s hand and led him to where Chan was leaning, plastic cup of pepsi in hand. “Just wanted ta congratulate you fer yer record deal. Yer gonna get to go to them big parties now.” He made a grand sweeping gesture. “You’ll have to invite me ta one a them one day.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Azula replied. Of course she had his request on camera so she would be forgetting it that easily.

She stared out at the rolling open field beyond her fence. She didn’t think she had ever seen so many fireflies. The critters were everywhere floating and drifting lazily like dust motes. They blinked on and off at random intervals. It was yet another thing she was happy to have caught in her lenses.

“Gochya!” She heard TyLee declare as Tom-Tom whined in disappointment and disbelief.

“Praise the lord.” Mai grumbled. “Lil’ demon, that one.”

“Aww, he ain’t no demon.”

“Wanna sip?” Chan offered, drawing her attention back.

“Got my own, thanks.” Azula replied.

“Hey, well, we’re gonna miss you over here.” Chan gestured between he, Ruon-Jian, and the rest of his gaggle of boys. “How ‘bout a toast? Yer dorky boyfren’ can join us too.”

“Dorky!?” Sokka sputtered.

“To makin’ it big.” Chan declared.

Azula tapped her cup against his, hoping that the toast wasn’t premature. Chan gave her a wide smile and a thumbs up. With that and a wave, she set off to meet up with Zuko. It was dark enough for her father to begin setting off the fireworks. She made her way through smoke bombs and dodged stray poppers that Toph was chasing Aang with.

“Get yer teeny butt back here Twinkle Toes, you ain’t afraid of a few sparks are ya?” She teased.

“I kinda am, actually.” Aang confessed as she tossed one at his toes. “Katara, help me!”

Katara tried to stifle a laugh.

“Should we…?” Azula started.

“Nah, Kat can handle Toph. She does it all the time.”

Azula dropped herself onto the blanket Zuko had spread out for he and Mai and patted the ground next to her. “Well. Sit.”

“But ain’t that Zuko’s blanket?” Sokka asked.

Azula thought for a moment, tapping her chin as Spade made himself nice and cozy in her lap. “If he wanted it so bad, then he shouldn’t have left it open.”

TyLee flounced up next them and laid herself, belly-down, on the blanket. “Gee, it sure were nice of Zuko to set up this here blanket for us.”

“I set that up for Mai and I.” He grumbled.

“Finders keepers.” Azula retorted smugly.

“Guess I’m sittin’ in your lap.” Mai declared to her boyfriend.

Ozai waited for the last few to acquire their snacks and gather around. As soon as Iroh and Kya got the children to settle, Ozai lit the first. It sailed into the air with a sparkling gold tail, upon reaching its zenith it burst into a twinkling rain. One after the other, roman candles and bottle rockets spit fire and sparks into the sky. Azula hoped that she would shine as bright as them once she took to the stars. Stroking, Spade’s fur, Azula gazed at her semi-crowded yard. Chan still leaned upon the picket fence, this time facing skyward, occasionally cursing as a scrap of firework floated down into his drink. Tom-Tom was snuggled up in his mother’s arms as she protective shield his ears from the blasts. A few of the older children paid the fireworks little attention as they tried to catch fireflies. And Toph was still chasing Aang all around the yard. Sokka wiggled his way closer, putting his left arm around her and leaned into to press the side of his head against hers.

Colorful flashes illuminated much of the backyard and she thought of how Chan and Jet used to tell ghost stories about wild and unknown creatures dragging party-goers and campers into the forest between sparkling burts. She recalled one summer where Suki had made it her mission to dress up as such a creature and steal Ruon-Jian.

With a gentle fluttering in her belly, Azula wondered if she was going to have another moment like that or like the one she was having now. She wondered if this was going to be the last real summer barbecue she was going to have with her friends and family.

She supposed that she best cherish the moment in full and keep that camera close.

After the firework display a few neighbors began their goodbyes and their promises to come back for the next barbeque. In spurts guests would depart until their crowd dwindled down to a few stragglers and their closest friends and relatives. Soon Mai’s mother left to take Tom-Tom to bed--being it was already far past his normal bedtime--with instructions to Mai to have a safe trip home.

For herself, Azula wandered onto the dock with Spade in her arms and TyLee and Sokka beside her. As always, she dipped her feet into the water, watching fireflies flicker between stalks of catkins. The pond had a more fishy smell even without the summer sun to make the scent worse. She knew that soon Iroh and Ozai would be using it to fish before going to bigger ponds and lakes. That they would soon begin planning their annual camping trip. The same one that allowed she and Zuko to always begin their summer shenanigans--it was just one more small little thing that she would miss.

“Congrats on making it to state.” Azula smiled.

TyLee offered a soft, somewhat somber smile in return. Azula wouldn’t be the only one leaving home for a good while. “I’m gonna miss it here, ya know?”

“Absolutely.” Azula replied.

TyLee perked back up. “Thanks!” She declared. “For the congrats. I’m really excited, after the whole broken leg thing, I didn’t think I were gonna get anywhere. But now…” she paused. “I might be a professional horse racer!”

“You earned it Ty. You been practicin’ real hard.”

“I’m really gonna miss the both’a y’all” Sokka admitted. Azula could swear she heard his voice crack. She looks to the pond and its collection of fireflies drifting lazily over the water. She caught a glimpse of a toad croaking before it leapt beneath the surface. For a while they were quiet with only said croaking and the chirps of crickets to fill that silence.

“‘Bout that, Sokka.” Azula started. “I was actually hopin’ that you’d come with me. It’d be awful hard to try ‘n sing your parts on stage.”

Sokka’s face lit up, but fell almost immediately. “I don’t think I ken afford--”

Azula hushed him. “You better not say no, father already bought yer plane ticket.”

“Yer pops is a nice man. I outta give ‘im a hug.”

Azula punched his shoulder. “Don’t you dare. He ain’t like those.”

Zuko and Mai come to join them on the dock with Katara, Toph, and Aang following close. Even Chan, Jet, and Suki tagged along. “Got somethin’ for you, Azula.” Zuko greeted.

Azula turned to see them holding up a small cupcake. “We each added something to it.” Aang remarked. “I drew the icing smiley faces.”

Zuko pulled out a pack of sparklers. “I figered we could all light ‘em up tagether, one last time ‘for life goes on.” Azula knew at once that he wasn’t just talking about her and TyLee’s new found stardom, but about his own plans for college as well.

Azula gave a small grin. “I think we can all do that.”

They each reached into the pack and picked out a single sparkler. “Do the honors?” Sokka offered to Azula. She took the lighter and lit her sparkler and used that to light Sokka’s. Sokka turned and lit TyLee’s and TyLee’, Mai’s. And then Mai lit Zuko’s, until everyone had a sparkler burning. It was a dazzling display that reflected in the pond.

In that moment, nothing had changed at all. They were just a large circle of long time, small town friends sharing conversation and laughs as midnight transitioned into very early morning.

Just long time, small town friends, on a typical summer night.

.oOo.

“I know you got your camera, but I want you to have this too.” Iroh handed Azula the small book. He observed her as she looked it over, turning to the page with the photo of she and her companions standing at the pond with sparklers.

Between the mighty sound of plans departing, Azula offered her thank you’s. Ozai listened to his brother and daughter converse.

With nothing else to do her turned to Sokka, “you best take care’a her, boy.” He narrowed his eyes. “If you ain’t take care’a her, I will steal every last cow your family owns.”

“I’m purtty sure she ken take care’a herself.” Sokka pointed out. “But I’ll help.”

“You better, boy. You better.” Ozai folded his arms over his chest. He didn’t doubt that the boy would, he had always seemed to look out for Azula in the past, but it didn’t hurt none to give him a good ol’ fashioned mild threat.

“Hey, thanks fer the tickets, Azula’s pops. We’re gonna have a great time.” Sokka spoke in way of a goodbye.

Ozai watched him dash to catch up to Azula. He allowed Iroh and Zuko to finish their conversations with Azula before coming to her side. He was just as little for cuddles and fluffy gestures as Azula was. But he didn’t push his daughter away when she wrapped her arms around him. He curled one arm around her and pat her head twice with the other. “Don’t you get into any trouble out there, you understand me?”

“I know, father.”

“There’s gonna be boys ‘n booze, ‘n I ain’t want you mixed up in none’a that.”

“I know.” Azula repeated, already looking tired of the conversation. But he was her father and it was his right to give her a well-meaning lecture every now and again.

“I ain’t wanna have to fly all the way over to wherever you are to come help you.” He would, but, lord, he didn’t want to. “So you stick to the music and you keep yourself out’a trouble. Also don’t get too close to that Sokka boy, if you know what I mean. You don’t know what I’ll do to ‘im if...”

“Dad…” Azula grumbled, her cheeks delicately flushed.

“Just…” He trailed off. “Just make your pops proud. Make your ma proud, I know she would be.” He squeezed her shoulder.

“I will father.”

He knew that she would. Still, it was hard to let her go. And harder still to watch her wave as she ascended the stairs to the airplane.

“You raised some good kids.” Iroh took a stand next to him. “Both’a them are gonna go far.”

Ozai sure hoped so. He watched the plane shrink into a small speck in the sky. He supposed that the next time he’d be seeing his daughter, it would be on TV.

“Wha’do ya say we start packin’ fer our own trip?”

“My fishin’ pole’s already in the truck.”

#Avatar #Azula #Sokka #Sokkla #Ozai #Zuko #TyLee #Mai #Iroh #Fanfiction

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Avatar: The Last Airbender – What Can We Expect From the New Avatar Studios?

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If you’re an Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra fan, the long wait is over. Ever since Korra went off the air in 2014 there hasn’t been a new Avatar series on our screens. We’ve gotten comics and books (which have been fantastic) but a return to the screen was always hoped for. The live-action Netflix series is still in the works but after the departure of original ATLA creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko fans haven’t been as excited for it.

Now that excitement has somewhere to go. It has been announced that the newly formed Avatar Studios will “create original content spanning animated series and movies based on the beloved world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra.” Not only that, but we may also be getting short-form content and spin-offs!

The first project set to go into production this year is “an animated theatrical film” and it seems like the primary distribution for these projects will be Paramount+ (though they may also run on other Viacom channels) and even theaters.

This is a lot to take in. Obviously not all of these might come to fruition but with Paramount needing shows/movies and ATLA/Korra proving to be very popular on Netflix, fans can have high hopes we’ll get to see a lot more from the ATLA world.

So what could we be getting? All we know for sure is that a movie will be going into production but we don’t know what it’ll be about, nor do we know what any of these other possible series could cover. However, there are some areas of the ATLA world that are ready to be explored so we’re going to go over the ones that would be perfect for the new Avatar Studios.

Adapting the Comics

In 2012 Dark Horse Comics began publishing Avatar: The Last Airbender comics which continued where the original series left off. They not only filled in the gaps between ATLA and Korra but delved deeper into the world, filled out backstories, and even answered the biggest question left dangling at the end of the series: What happened to Zuko’s mom?

Any of these stories would make fine films or miniseries, but the most obvious one to adapt would be the arc about Zuko’s mom. Many new viewers of the series aren’t aware of the comic and it would be a great chance to tell such a critical part of ATLA’s story on screen.

Koh the Face Stealer

Without question the absolute scariest part of the ATLA universe, Koh is an ancient spirit who has the ability to steal any face of any being who shows any emotion to him. Aang memorably faced him down and barely escaped with his face, and he’s been mentioned in various other ATLA stories since then. Still, this creature is largely a mystery and a film delving more into him would provide an excellent big screen villain. After all, he did tell Aang they’d meet again. (This technically did happen in an online game but much of Koh’s appearance in that game has been lost to the sands of Internet time.)

We don’t have to learn or even see his entire backstory (some mystery is good) but getting the opportunity to see more of him is one that’s too good to pass up. Aang doesn’t even have to be the one who faces him! Koh’s line of “we’ll meet again” could apply to any Avatar. Korra could encounter him or even a future Avatar!

The Furthur (Queer) Adventures of Korra and Asami

The Legend of Korra famously ended with Korra and Asami walking into the spirit portal holding hands and it was later confirmed that they were a couple. We’ve gotten a chance to see some of this in the Korra comics (which if adapted would make great movies or miniseries’) but getting a full series that lets Korra and Asam explore the Avatar world and take on new challenges? That would not only just be a great show on its own (especially after those last two INCREDIBLE seasons we got on TV) but it’d be a chance to let Korra and Asami’s queerness be seen on screen.

Queer representation is still far too low, especially in animation, and getting to see queer characters in such a high profile franchise would do a world of good. We don’t even need them to be around the same age as they were in the show. Let’s get the 40-year-old queer and married adventures of these two!

A Whole New Avatar

While of course the easy options for any new Avatar media is just to tell more stories about characters we already know, Avatar Studios has the chance to continue the story well beyond what we saw in ATLA or Korra. Remember how The Legend of Korra jumped 70 years into the future after ATLA and the technology of the world was comparable to the 1920’s? Imagine if we jumped to a world that more or less matches the 1970’s? Or hell, go further! Imagine if it’s more of a sci-fi fantasy mix and we get SPACE AVATAR. Yeah, bending asteroids and using air bubbles to breathe in space.

It’d be a gamble but new Avatar mediums shouldn’t just be banking on nostalgia. It needs to move forward to ensure it’s future and a new generation of kids (or teens, whoever the show is marketed to) deserves an Avatar series to call their own.

Older ATLA Crew

Nostalgia is still powerful though and a no brainer would be getting the adult adventures of Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Suki, Zuko, and the rest. We briefly saw flashbacks of them as adults in Korra and there’s that famous photo of them all grown up that was released when Korra was airing so why not do an adventure set during that time?

Avatar: The Last Airbender and Structural Perfection on TV

By Alec Bojalad

What Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 4 Would Have Been

By Shamus Kelley

See how the changing world impacted their friendships, what it was like as technology so quickly advanced. Aang trying to be a father and not being all that successful (which we wrote about here and how it enriched his character.) His attempts to preserve air nomad culture. Toph’s lack of a relationship with the father of her children and the further formation of the metal benders. There’s just so much room to explore!

The Rise of Kyoshi Adaption

Released in 2019, The Rise of Kyoshi (and it’s sequel novel, The Shadow of Kyoshi) chronicled the life of, who else, Avatar Kyoshi. It’s a gripping tale that follows her training as the Avatar while on the run and attempting to get revenge for the death of a loved one. Its story would be perfect for two or three films and also, like the further adventures of Korra, would be an excellent chance to see another queer character in the ATLA universe. Kyoshi was established as being attracted to men and women in the Korra graphic novels and the Kyoshi novels ran with it.

Adapting books into movies is still a common practice in Hollywood so this isn’t a huge stretch. The story is already there, let’s just get it on screen!

Past/Future Avatars (Anthology)

Multiple times throughout ATLA and Korra we got to see the long line of Avatars that stretched back before Aang. Some we got to learn about but most were nameless… but what if we got to learn more? Any of these past Avatars could sustain a movie, mini-series, or show on their own but that’s a tall order for such a long line of characters. Instead, imagine an anthology series where every half hour episode could focus on one of those past Avatars. We’d learn a little about their life, see them in action, and get more pieces of the overall Avatar world. This doesn’t even have to be limited to past Avatars. You could jump forward in the future. See the Avatars after Korra, the start of a whole new line!

While these could all be done in the trademark Avatar art style and handled by the original creators, imagine if this took a more Heavy Metal or Animatrix approach? Each episode could be helmed by a different creator and animation team, all contributing their unique takes on the Avatar world in different visual styles. You could of course get famous directors, writers, actors, etc. if you wanted but more worthwhile would be making this a launching pad for new talent. Get people who are just starting out in the industry (especially diverse talent, since Avatar and Korra drew so much from different cultures) and use this as a platform to launch them to fame. With that you also get a new pool of experience to draw from and that diversity would allow all kinds of different and unique stories to be created in the ATLA universe by the people the show has depicted.

The series could even be used as a testing ground for new series, movies, etc. If one episode really hits it out of the park with fans and critics, it could be spun off into its own longer story. With such a rich history and devoted fan following, Avatar Studios could leverage the brand to do something really special that would not only give us more of the ATLA world but develop new underrepresented voices in the business.

The Return of the Super Deformed Shorts

The moment I read that one of the options on the table for Avatar Studios was “short-form content” my mind instantly remembered the adorable shorts featuring the ATLA characters that were included on the DVD’s. These were short parodies of the series featuring chibi style versions of the cast. They were hilarious, zany, and we need more of them! Give us Korra shorts too!

Things We Can’t Even Think Of

The possibilities of stories in the ATLA universe are limitless. The ideas above are only the most obvious. The stories Avatar Studios make don’t all have to involve the Avatar or even benders. They don’t have to all follow the format of the TV series’. We could get action shows, sure, but what about a soap opera? A legal drama? A space opera! Something totally off the wall that defies genre.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Anything is possible and we hope Avatar Studios will let their imaginations run wild. Whatever is made, we’re excited.

The post Avatar: The Last Airbender – What Can We Expect From the New Avatar Studios? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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greetthedawn · 7 years

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AN:

My Day 8 (LAST DAY, what?) submission for Kataang Week 2017. Just a short camping AU one-shot.

I really intended to post every day of this event but some crazy cool things happened for my family on Day 1 and it's been wild since then. I just got too busy, regrettably.

Remember to check out Kataang-Week! Thank you for being with me this week!

Prompt: Free/AU Day

We’re not, no we’re not friends

Nor have we ever been

And if they find out, will it all go wrong?

Cause heaven knows, no one wants it to

A short cry and a sharp clatter sounded from the trees.

“Sokka!” Katara called, dropping her sleeping bag and sprinting around the side of the van.

Aang set down the cooler of food he way carrying and ran after her. They came upon the sorry sight of her brother tangled in a collapsed tent. Suki was crouched at his side, her hands hovering to help but not quite sure how.

Katara doubled over laughing and Aang scratched the back of his head, amused and concerned. “You, uh, need a hand there, buddy?” he asked.

Sokka shot the three of them irritated glances and yanked in vain at the canvas. A support pole whacked him in the nose. “I’m fine,” he insisted.

“Don’t be stubborn, Sokka,” Katara chided. The three of them helped detangle their friend while he sat with his arms crossed, pouting. Once he was free, they sent him to unpack the van while they pitched the tents.

Almost as soon as they’d finished setting up camp, a sleek black sedan slid through the trees, parking next to them. Zuko stepped out of the driver’s side and opened the door behind him to let Toph out while Mai slinked out of the passenger seat.

“Hey, you found us!” Aang called as they went to greet their friends.

“It wasn’t hard.” Zuko greeted them with hugs. “There aren’t a ton of roads to get turned around on out here.”

“Quite the drive,” Mai remarked, hooking her arm through boyfriend’s. “You guys really meant it when you said you wanted to get out of the city.”

“Well I like it here,” Toph remarked. “There’s too much noise in the city. Besides, if we’d gotten here any faster we’d have had help unpack.”

Aang and Katara exchanged uneasy glances. It baffled them endlessly how aware their blind friend was of her surroundings, and she wasn’t sharing her secret anytime soon if she had one.

“I’m just glad you’re here. It’s dinner time, and we couldn’t get the fire started!” Sokka exclaimed. He grabbed Grill-Master Zuko by the wrist and dragged him to the fire pit, Mai in tow. The rest of them settled in around the splintering picnic table.

Aang looked over his friends warmly. The older four had just gotten back from college for the summer a week earlier. He and Katara had graduated high school the week before, him two years ahead of time. Despite living in the same neighborhood, this camping trip was the first time the seven of them had been in the same place at once since winter break.

“It’s really not that hard,” Zuko assured the group while he scratched his head and the haphazard pile of sticks they’d thrown into the basin. “You just gotta arrange them right. Like this, see?” He stacked them into a teepee shape and stuck some moss inside before whipping out a box of matches and lighting it almost too easily. “All right, let’s give that time to catch properly,” he said, placing the grill grate on top and stepping back. “So what do we have tonight? Burgers or hot dogs?”

“Burgers,” Suki answered, pulling a stack of frozen patties out of the cooler beside her.

“Don’t forget my tofu patties,” Aang reminded her. “They should be in there near the bottom.” She nodded and pulled them out too, passing the fixings to Zuko.

Toph made a gagging face. “Honestly, Aang, your whole Buddhist thing aside, I don’t know how you can stomach that stuff.”

Aang frowned. “It’s not just a ‘Buddhist thing’. It’s a respect for life thing.”

Sokka sauntered over. “I respect life! I respect how tasty it can be.”

“Sokka, Toph, cut it out,” Katara scolded. “Aang doesn’t judge you for what you eat, so why can’t you leave him alone?”

“Look, salads and stuff I get, but tofu is just… it’s unnatural,” Sokka’s words trailed off with a horrified look on his face.

“It’s just soy,” Aang countered, starting to feel a little upset by their comments.

“Just cause it’s not meat doesn’t mean it’s unnatural,” Katara put a calming hand over his, except her touch always had the opposite effect of calming him. “Hey, Zuko,” she called. “Can you put on another tofu patty for me, please?”

The grill-master gave her a curious look but nodded and threw one on the grill.

Toph exchanged a glance with Sokka (again, unsettling Aang and Katara with her ability to give a glance) but they let the subject drop, for which Aang was grateful.

After they’d thoroughly gorged themselves on burgers and marshmallows and played a few intense rounds of Egyptian Ratscrew, the gang started to prep for bed.

Aang settled by the fire after changing into his pajamas, propping himself against a log and sticking his bare feet close to the flames to warm them

Sokka groaned from the other side of the campfire. His head was Suki’s lap and she stroked his hair while he clutched his stomach. “Rrrnnngghh…” he moaned. “I think I ate too much.”

“You really gotta learn to pace yourself, honey,” Suki sighed.

“Call it karmic justice for Aang a hard time about his diet,” Katara quipped as she climbed out of the tent in sweats and a tank top. Aang tried not to stare. He liked her best like this, when she was dressed down but still managed to be effortlessly cute. His best friend settled in the earth next to him.

Toph laughed. “If that’s the case, then justice is sweet.” She looked equally uncomfortable, but unwaveringly self-satisfied.

“Hey, there are far worse problems to have than being too full,” Sokka responded. “I’ll take my suffering like a man.”

Suki and Katara shared a sarcastic look.

Katara rubbed her arms before sticking her hands closer to the flames. “Man, it’s cold up here for June. I didn’t think I would need a sweatshirt, but that was a mistake.”

“You can wear mine,” Aang offered almost too eagerly. “I’m not cold,” he half-lied as he pulled it over his head and handed to her.

“Thanks, Aang.” She gave him a smile warm enough to turn his lie into the truth. “Here, you messed up your beanie.” She leaned forward to pull his favorite beanie – black with a blow arrow down the front – back over his short, brunette hair. He could have sworn her fingers lingered as they brushed back down his face, but he was just as sure that he’d imagined it.

Toph jumped to her feet at that moment, pulling Aang out of his daydreams, and sprinted into the woods.

“Toph!” Zuko called after her. “Where are you going?” There was no answer. They gave each other confused looks. They knew better than to worry about her wandering off on her own, but this was still odd. “I’ll go see what’s going on.”

Aang frowned, but Katara snuggling up to him for warmth quickly drew his attention back. He looped an arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arms and his excuse.

Zuko returned after a minute with Toph leaning on him heavily. She looked as green as her shirt.

“You okay, Toph?” Katara straightened herself, to Aang’s disappointment.

Toph shook her head. “Bad burgers…” she managed to grumble out.

“I’d like it on the record that this is no fault of my cooking,” Zuko noted. “That said, I’m going to take her back to the city. If it gets worse, we won’t be able to help her here.”

Katara frowned. “You shouldn’t have to go, Zuko. I can take her.”

Zuko shook his head. “Honestly, I’m feeling a little nauseous myself. If it’s food poisoning, I want to be home when it hits.”

“I’ll come too.” Mai stood and went to help Toph to the car. “I’m sure this is fun for you guys, but I don’t think camping is for me. We can hang out when you all get home.”

Suki nodded. “Fair enough.” She looked down to her boyfriend who was practically curled into a ball in her lap. “Do you think you might be sick?”

Sokka scoffed. “Me? Sick? No, never. I don’t get sick.”

There was an unspoken understanding that no one agreed with his assessment, but it’d be more of a hassle to push the issue with him.

The three of them got in the car with Mai driving and took off back toward town.

Suki helped Sokka to his feet. “Come on, we should get to bed. If there was a bug in those burgers, Aand and Katara should be safe, but you and I will need our rest just in case.”

Aang reluctantly left Katara’s side and went to help Sokka into the guys’ tent. They settled into their sleeping bags and he did the best to shut out his friend’s moaning and fall asleep.

Maybe an hour later, Aang awoke to the sound of aggressive vomiting, followed by a whimpered, “Aw… My shoe…”

He rolled over to see Sokka doubled over his boot, the apparent receptacle for the anarchy in his stomach. Aang grimaced, holding down his own gag reflex at the sight. “Suki!” He called, then turned back to his friend. “Come on, let’s get you outside.”

There was a shuffling sound across the campsite and the girls emerged from their tent just as Aang was laying Sokka out on the bench of the table. “It’s the burgers,” he confirmed to them and they looked on with worried faces. “I’m going to take him back home. Will you girls be okay here alone, or do you want to break down camp now and head back early?”

Suki shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, Aang. I can take him home myself. If he’s this far gone then it’s only a matter of time before the bug gets me too.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to wait for you guys to pack up. No offense,” Sokka grumbled. “I’ll send Dad to come back you guys in the morning.”

Katara frowned. “Are you sure? I feel like we should come with you.”

Suki nodded. “We’ll be fine. I just feel bad leaving you without a car. There’s no cell service out here, but there should be a phone at that little store down the road if you two need anything.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Aang reassured her. “You just take care of Sokka. And yourself.” He gave her a hug and helped her get her one-shoed boyfriend to the van.

And then there were two.

Aang scratched his head. “Well… I guess we should go back to sleep. Swimming in the river first thing tomorrow?” She loved me swimming. He loved watching her do the things she loved.

Katara nodded. “Yeah, sounds great. Goodnight, Aang.” She turned back to her tent and he turned back to his. “Wait,” she said suddenly, and they both stopped in their tracks. “It’s um… It’s awfully cold tonight. And this tent is too big for me to keep warm on my own…”

He tried the keep his eager smile under wraps. “Right behind you.” He ran to grab his sleeping bag and was right on her heels.

Then tent was made to sleep four or five, and it looked massive with just Katara’s things in it. He laid out his bag next to hers and they zipped themselves in. They laid awake for a few minutes, watching the stars through the mesh roof.

“So much for our camping reunion, huh?” Katara sighed, breaking the silence.

“Yeah…” Aang sighed his agreement. “I mean, it was nice to have everyone in one place, for the time that we did.”

“Well, this isn’t so bad either, is it?” She asked. “Just the two of us? We do well enough while they’re all at college without us.”

He smiled broadly and rolled over to face her. “It was just the two of us this whole winter. Let’s just look at this as us spending one more day together before we spend all summer with them.” Alone time sounded nice enough to him.

Katara smiled back. “Okay. Sounds like a plan.” She yawned.

“Get some sleep. Swimming in the morning.”

“Swimming… Yay…” She closed her eyes with a light grin on her lips. He did the same

About ten minutes past, and he was just about to fall asleep when she put a hand on his shoulder. “Aang? You awake?”

“’Just a bit,” he grumbled softly. “What’s up?”

“I’m still kinda cold.”

His brain was a little foggy. “Uh… Okay? Do you want a blanket?”

“My blanket was in the van…”

He blinked his eyes open. Hers were downcast and she was nibbling on her lower lip, looking uncertain.

“Can we…” she started. “Can we put our sleeping bags together?”

His brain took a minute to process what she was asking. When it did, he shot upright. His head swam, but he went to work unzipping his bag without a word. She did the same. They laid out hers like a mattress and threw his over the top of them like a blanket. When they were settled, she crawled into his arms, shivering. He did his best to wrap himself around her, willing his body heat to transfer itself to hers. Soon the tremors in her limbs calmed and she let out a satisfied sigh. He stroked her arms tenderly and stared at the mesh roof, trying to quell the fluttering in his chest that he knew she must be able to hear, with her head cradled against his chest. Her hand absently traced the collar of his shirt, and the motion threatened to monopolize his thoughts entirely.

He knew her aim in getting closer was to get comfortable enough to sleep, but he was more alert than he’d been all day. They had been close since the very day he’d moved to her neighborhood at the age of 12. They’d been plenty cuddly in the past four years, but this was the first time they’d gotten this intertwined. The air around them seemed alive in a way it never had before. This was the closest he’d come to expressing his deeply entrenched love for his best friend.

He pulled her in even tighter and buried his head in her hair. She seemed to respond to this, wrapping an arm around him and winding her legs through his. What space there was between them seemed to vanish in a moment.

“Aang?” she spoke after a moment. Her voice was shaky.

“Yeah, Katara?”

“I um… I know we’re going to college next year, and even though we’ll be at the same school, I know a lot changes after high school, so I’ve just got to tell you...”

His burning blood froze in his veins. “Tell me what?”

She tucked her head into his chest, as though she were confessing her words straight to his heart. “After the others left for school… Things changed with us. And I know you noticed it, too.” She looked up, finding his eyes. “Aang… I think I’ve been falling in love with you for a very long time.”

His jaw went slack and he suddenly couldn’t find the words he’d been dying to say since they were freshmen.

The expression on her face crumpled and she hid against his shirt. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. Forget I said that.”

He came to at that moment and pulled her up into a sitting position. “Katara… look at me.” He placed his fingers under her chin and pulled it up so he could look her in the eye. “I know that I’ve been falling in love with you for four years.” The hand under her chin moved into her hair and pulled her into a kiss that he imagined heated the whole tent.

She pulled back after a moment and gave him a joyful but mildly confused look. “Four years? How did you keep that so close to your chest that whole time? I was so sure you didn’t feel that way about me.”

He laughed. “I kept it so close cause I didn’t think you felt that way about me. I couldn’t bear the thought of ruining this and losing you as my friend.”

Katara gave a frustrated sigh. “Still though, that’s impressive. I was thinking the same thing, and I could still only keep my mouth shut for a couple of months.”

He smiled warmly and brushed her hair behind your ear. “I wish you hadn’t,” he teased.

“Well if I could have known you’d react this way, I wouldn’t have.” She leaned in and kissed him again.

He pulled back this time. “Hey, I know you’re worried about next year, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. In the meantime,” he laced his fingers through hers. “we take each step toward it together.”

She gripped his hand and smiled. “Together,’ she agreed.

Friends just sleep in another bed

And friends don’t treat me like you do

Well I know there’s a limit to everything

But my friends won’t love me like you

Not my friends won’t love me like you

Song: Friends - Ed Sheeran

#kataang week #kataang #katara #aang #kataang fanfiction #avatar the last airbender #atla #kataang week full chapters

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koala-otter · 4 years

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Different Part II: A Prologue

here’s part 2 to my fic Different! this one takes place before part 1, and features Katara and Aang deciding to have a second baby (and a fair amount of little kid Bumi)

this came out longer than I wanted it to! but it happened oh well

3k+ words, also on ff.net

Bumi began adopting his father’s speech patterns a few months after turning five. It started out slowly, with pitch-perfect imitations of Aang when he said “uh-oh,” and exclamations of “monkey feathers!” that Katara couldn’t help laughing at. But on their most recent visit to the Fire Nation to meet Zuko and Mai’s new baby, without any form of encouragement or prompting from Aang, Bumi had hopped out of his father’s arms and run up to Zuko, greeting him with a cheerful, “Flamey-o, Hotman!”

“Did you…train him?” Zuko had asked incredulously while hugging the little boy.

“Not on purpose!” Aang had insisted.

Bumi, who tumbled down stairs Aang skipped over, and pounced after lemurs that ate straight from Aang’s hand, could not be accused of having inherited his father’s natural grace. But as he repeated the things Aang said, sometimes almost word for word, a certain resemblance began to emerge between them that Katara had not noticed before. The little boy’s blue eyes, dark skin, and wild hair drew many comments about his clear Water Tribe heritage, even when he was dressed in his yellow-and-orange playsuits, but she was glad to see that as he was growing up, there could be no denying that he was Aang’s son.

Whenever Aang requested something from Katara, whether he was interrupting her waterbending or stealing her time while she caught up on correspondence, usually carrying Bumi or bringing him along by the hand, he always began, “Hey, Sweetie, when you get the chance, could you,” and he would ask her to read over his letter to the Earth King, or help find his missing sash, or review a form with him. Now, lately, whenever Bumi called for her attention, he also asked, “Hey, Mom, when you get the chance, could you,” look for his stuffed koala-otter, help him draw a picture to send to his Uncle Sokka, or tell him the story, again, about when Toph met him and couldn’t believe what a strong baby he was. And when he asked this way, with his five-year-old voice and his father’s words, Katara could only kiss his cheek and immediately acquiesce.

So it took her a moment, sitting in Appa’s saddle and looking through one of their bags to find a comb, to actually register what Bumi had asked. “Wait,” she said, turning to look down at her son, “what did you say?”

Bumi stared back at her, innocently enough, from where he was feeding Momo a peach with his little hands. “I just said, ‘When you get the chance, can you please give me a little sister?’”

Katara’s eyes widened, still mildly disbelieving. Bumi turned back to Momo, who by now had finished the peach, and was patting Bumi’s lips to request more food. Bumi giggled, and Katara looked beyond the edge of Appa’s saddle, to the top of the bison’s head, where Aang sat. She wanted to call him. She noticed the tension in his shoulders, however, and the intent way in which he steered Appa, and resolutely turned back to address her son.

“That was a very kind way to ask, Bumi,” Katara began. Her habit of providing positive reinforcement had carried easily into motherhood. “But having a baby—” She stopped when Bumi turned his full attention toward her, his expression one of expectation. She smiled at him sweetly despite the pounding now filling her ears. “Can I ask why you suddenly want a little sister?” she said instead.

“Izumi has one,” Bumi immediately said. “And I want one, too.”

Katara nodded. “And having a little brother or sister—”

Bumi shook his head. “No brother. I only want a little sister.”

“Okay,” Katara sighed. She glanced once again at Aang and began again. “Giving you a little sister isn’t straight-forward. It takes a lot of time, and even then, we don’t know when it would happen.” She watched Bumi carefully. “Does that make sense?”

Bumi shrugged.

Katara gave a short exhale and considered the problem before her. After having Bumi, she and Aang had agreed to wait until he was older to try having another baby. Now he was older, and they hadn’t discussed trying. She knew she wanted at least another baby, and the last time she had checked, Aang wanted one, too. And seeing Zuko and Mai with their new little girl, on whom her older sister Izumi doted, curled up in Mai’s arms and sleeping so sweetly, had sparked an urgency in the longing Katara had so far only occasionally felt.

“Maybe for now,” she said suddenly, pulling Bumi into her lap, “you can try hoping for a little sister.”

Bumi looked up at her, his brow furrowed in confusion. “What?”

“When I was a little girl,” Katara explained, “I wanted two things: for the Avatar to return, and for your Grandpa Hakoda to come home.” She paused and looked out at the clouds around them. “I didn’t know when or how they would happen, or if they even could happen. So, I just had to hope.”

“And?” Bumi asked expectantly.

Katara looked back down at him. “Well, the Avatar’s sitting right behind us,” she said with a smile, “and your grandfather’s back in the South Pole.” She used one of her hands to brush back his unruly hair. “But they didn’t happen when or how I could have expected them to. Hoping for them gave me the strength to wait until they did happen, in their own time.” She paused. “Does that help?”

She watched Bumi think about it before he nodded eagerly.

“I’ll hope for a little sister, and then I’ll get one,” he said, bursting out of her arms.

“That’s not quite—Bumi, be careful!” Katara rushed to grab him before he ran after Momo over the edge of the saddle. Once he was sitting down again, she could breathe.

“You scared me,” she admonished him, handing him a peach.

Bumi giggled and watched for Momo to notice and fly over to land on his lap, settling into a position from which the lemur could lick the fruit. Katara, satisfied the two would stay where they were for a while, looked over her shoulder at Aang, who had turned around at the sound of the commotion. When she waved at him, he gave a small smile and turned back around to face straight ahead.

“For now, let’s just hope we make it to Ember Island in one piece,” she said, and went searching once more for a comb.

The decision to go to Ember Island was not necessarily one Aang and Katara had made themselves.

“You look rough,” Mai had said to Aang once he and Katara arrived in her chamber.

Zuko had flushed at his wife’s candor, but Aang had only appeared to laugh it off and greeted her with his usual warmth.

“It’s good to see you, too, Mai.” A little girl launched herself at his legs from behind Mai, and he’d laughed again and bent over to pick her up. “And you, Izumi!”

“Seriously,” Mai said, “you two need a vacation. How long have you been traveling?” She shifted over so Katara could sit next to her on the settee and handed her the new baby.

“Just about a month,” Aang answered, letting Izumi down so she could now throw herself at Bumi. “But it’s been fine. Ba Sing Se’s just never a fun trip.”

Katara and Zuko exchanged looks. Zuko nodded at her. “Was the council that bad, then?” he asked out loud.

Aang shrugged and moved to look over Katara’s shoulder at the baby. “No worse than usual,” he said.

Zuko hummed in agreement, glancing at the corner where Izumi was now showing Bumi some of her toys. He hustled over in a panic when he saw her suddenly pull a familiar, pearl-handled knife from her pocket.

“She’s beautiful,” Katara said of the baby. “Aang, look at how tiny her fingers are.” She beamed at him. “It makes me think of when Bumi was this small.”

“I wanna see!” Bumi cried and bolted over.

Aang managed to sweep the little boy into his arms just in time so he wouldn’t careen into Katara.

“Be careful with the baby, buddy,” he said, smiling at Katara before kneeling to give Bumi a better look at the baby’s face. “This is Izumi’s little sister.”

While he watched Bumi, Katara studied Aang. She had been in all of the council meetings in Ba Sing Se, save one, helping to give updates on the Air Temple reconstruction and stepping in as the Water Tribe representative while discussing trade routes. Then Iroh had invited her to visit a home for older war veterans in the Lower Ring where he was performing a tea ceremony, and asked that she bring Bumi, too, to cheer up the old soldiers. Aang had stayed behind in the stuffy meeting room. When they had all gathered at the teahouse later that day, Aang’s smile was forced, and his contributions to the conversation stilted. Something had happened while Katara was gone, and it had left Aang completely tense and anxious. But when she asked about it, he insisted it was only the general effects of diplomatic talks, and he’d get over it after a night of sleep. That had been three days ago.

“Why don’t you go stay on Ember Island for a while?” Mai asked in her dry tone, watching with a small smile as the baby grabbed Aang’s finger.

“Oh, we couldn’t impose,” Katara insisted.

“It’s not as if we’re going to be there anytime soon,” Mai replied, idly waving at the baby. “The house is empty.”

“It’s true,” Zuko said, now wrangling the knife out of Izumi’s hand. “Ah-hah!”

“Bumi!” she cried out, her empty hand reaching for her friend.

Bumi tore his eyes away from the baby and jumped out of Aang’s arms. “I’m coming!” he hollered, running full speed into Zuko. The three fell to the floor.

“Look, even the kid needs to let off some steam,” Mai said, ignoring her husband’s call for help as the children climbed on top of him. She moved her gaze back to Katara and Aang. “Just go to the beach.”

They gave in quickly after that.

And Mai and Zuko had been right, Aang finally admitted the afternoon after they arrived at the Fire Lord’s home on Ember Island. They did need a vacation.

“Look, even Bumi’s more relaxed,” he said to Katara.

She stopped wringing the water out of her hair to turn and look where he was pointing. Bumi was lying on his back, only halfway out of the water, his face upturned toward the sky. She laughed behind one of her hands.

“I think he might just be exhausted from all that swimming,” she said with a grin. To Bumi, she called, “Need a nap, Bumi?”

“No!” Within a second, Bumi was back on his feet and running along the edge of the water, yelling, “I’m not tired! I’m not tired!” At the sound of his voice, Momo rose from where he was curled up next to Aang and flew after the little boy.

Katara geared herself to go after him, but Aang took her hand in his to stop her.

“If he goes back in the water, I’ll follow,” he said with a small smile, “but he’s fine just on the beach.”

She bit her lip as she glanced back at Bumi, who was now turning and running back in their direction.

“Don’t worry, Katara, I’m watching him, too.”

Katara’s face finally relaxed, and she let Aang pull her down next to him, leaning into him so her head landed on his chest.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go in the water?” she asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you just sit all day on the beach like this.”

“Yeah, weird, huh?” Aang rubbed his eyes.

The two watched Bumi as he traveled up and down the beach, squatting occasionally to examine little sea creatures buried in the sand. He looked back at his parents every once in a while, waving to them almost as if he didn’t want them to forget he was still there.

“I love him,” Aang said quietly to Katara, waving back to Bumi, “so much.”

Katara looked up at him watching their son and felt her throat tighten. “I know.”

Bumi was the only figure on the wide expanse of sand, Momo flying above him in looping circles, entertaining himself now by creating piles of rocks, one on top of the other, and giggling when they fell over. Once one tower toppled, he set to creating another.

Katara closed her eyes. “Aang?”

He hummed in response.

“What if we tried for another baby?”

She felt his sudden inhale and the way he stiffened beneath her.

“Is this about the council?” he asked quietly.

Katara pulled away from him and rose to her feet. “What?” she asked, irritation creeping into her tone.

Aang’s eyes went wide, and he gave her a crooked, awkward smile. “It’s nothing, never mind.”

“No, I ask you to have a baby with me, and you want to talk about the council?” Katara said, the anger now clear in her narrowed eyes. “You’ve been on edge for days, you barely talked to me before we got here, and now this. What is going on?”

Aang winced and went quiet.

Katara crossed her arms and stared at him with a hard look on her face. When she saw him glance at Bumi, though, she looked, too, and saw that their son was looking up at them from further down the beach, his face furrowed in confusion. She turned back to Aang and dropped to her knees, softening her face and her voice.

“I’m sorry,” she said, gently taking his hand in hers.

“No, you’re right.” Aang smiled weakly at her. “I should be the one apologizing.”

Katara shook her head but didn’t say anything at first, just cradling his hand in both of hers.

“Aang,” she said again, still softly, “what happened in Ba Sing Se?”

Aang sighed. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“I think we should.”

Aang nodded and then looked out on the beach, his gray eyes scanning as far as the horizon line.

“When you went with Iroh that day, the council decided to ask me about the Air Nomads,” he finally said.

“And?”

“What they really wanted to know is why we don’t have more kids yet.” He paused. “Because Bumi isn’t an airbender.”

A roar of anger surged through Katara, but she kept herself seated, quiet and waiting for him to go on. A quick glance at Bumi assured her that he wasn’t listening and had instead resumed his search for more rocks.

“What did you tell them?” she asked.

“That it was none of their business!” Aand said loudly. He buried his face in his hands.

Katara waited.

“They just kept going on about you and Bumi, about how ‘viable’ you might be to have more kids, and how Bumi can’t ‘continue the legacy of the Air Nomads,’ whatever that means.” He finally pulled his head back and looked at Katara. Her heart ached at his pained expression. “They called it a ‘responsibility to the world.’ To have airbenders who can ‘restore balance.’” He shook his head. “Why would they put that pressure on a kid?”

The anger, the exhaustion, the sadness on Aang’s face reminded Katara of him at twelve years old, of the day he learned he was the last airbender.

“You’re my family,” he said seriously, “and Bumi is our son. I would never want him to think we had more kids because he wasn’t enough.”

Katara pulled him into her arms. He fell into her gradually, his arms making their way around her waist, and his head tucked into her shoulder. She held him and waited for his breath to even, trailing one of her hands up and down his back, coasting along his tattoo and brushing his scar.

Once he had settled into her, Katara ventured quietly, “I’ve never asked, but I don’t think my parents had me because they thought Sokka wasn’t enough.”

Aang pulled away quickly. “I didn’t mean—”

Katara shook her head with a small smile, keeping her hold on him. “I know,” she said. “I just think…” She trailed off, her hand landing lightly on Aang’s shoulder. She cleared her throat. “I’m pretty sure my parents didn’t mean to have me so soon after Sokka. I mean,” she laughed lightly, “can you imagine me wanting to get pregnant again when Bumi was four months old?”

She felt Aang chuckle against her skin.

“The way I think about it, it doesn’t matter why my parents had another kid, if there was even a reason. What matters is that when our parents were gone, Sokka and I had each other.” She traced the edge of Aang’s tattoo with her thumb. “Even after we found you,” she said, “I knew that wherever I went or whatever I did, Sokka was the one person who would always be there for me. And that I would do anything for him.” She finally looked Aang in the eyes. “I want that for Bumi, too.”

Aang nodded at her somberly.

“Having another kid doesn’t mean Bumi isn’t enough,” Katara said quietly, “no matter what the council says.” She gave him a small smile. “Because for once,” she said, “this isn’t about the world. It’s about our family.”

They sat silently, listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach and Momo’s chattering to Bumi. There were now two piles of rocks standing in the sand at about half of Bumi’s height.

“We can keep waiting,” Katara finally said, “if that’s what you want.”

Aang pulled away so they were sitting in front of each other. “What do you want?” he asked, searching her face.

Katara laid her hand on his cheek. “I already told you,” she reminded him. “But only if you want it, too.”

He nodded. “Okay,” he said, breaking into a grin.

“Okay, what?” she asked, a smile starting to form on her lips.

“Let’s have another baby,” Aang laughed, rushing forward and knocking Katara onto her back. With his hand tilting her jaw upward, his lips caught hers, and he kissed her soundly, dropping his mouth to her cheek and jaw and down to her neck as she laughed, too.

“Really?” she asked breathlessly, trying to pull herself back up against his shoulders.

“Yes,” Aang murmured in her ear, drawing his arm around her waist and keeping her pinned beneath him.

Katara closed her eyes and clasped her arms around his neck, trying desperately to control her smile as his mouth bumped against her teeth. She hummed as he pulled her bottom lip between both of his, dragging his tongue along her lip, too.

“Bumi’s going to be so happy,” she managed to say against his mouth.

Aang’s eyes opened wide, and he pulled back, bringing her with him and into his lap. “You think so?” he asked, dropping a kiss once more right below the back of her ear.

“I just have a feeling,” she said slyly, thinking of the conversation she’d had with her son just the day before.

Almost as if he knew he had been mentioned, Bumi came running up the beach toward them, Momo now wrapped around his shoulders.

“Dad, look!” he called. Once he had landed next to them on his knees, they could see he carried a rock in his hands, perfectly smooth and round.

“What do you have there, buddy?”

Bumi handed the rock to Aang. He held it while keeping his arms around Katara, examining it from over her shoulder. It fit perfectly in his palm.

“Isn’t it great?” Bumi asked, watching his parents expectantly.

“Beautiful,” Katara said admiringly, reaching out to feel the round edges and smooth finish of the rock for herself.

“You should start a collection,” Aang added, smiling at Bumi. He started to hand Bumi back the rock, but the little boy kept his hands behind his back.

“Actually,” Bumi said, “can you keep it?”

Aang laughed. “All right,” he agreed, “we can put it in your room later.”

“Or we can do it now,” Katara said, rising from between Aang’s legs. She reached her hand out to help him up. “It’s getting close to dinner time.”

On their way up the wooden stairs leading from the beach to the house, Bumi ran ahead of his parents, chasing after Momo.

“What would you say,” Aang asked, catching Katara’s hand with his, “to an early bedtime tonight?” He raised his eyebrows at her suggestively.

Katara laughed. “You want to start trying already?” she asked, biting her lip to hold back her smile.

Aang shrugged, the corner of his lip turned up in a disarmingly charming, crooked grin. “It can’t hurt to practice, right?”

Katara looped her arm around his waist once they reached the house and pulled herself flush against him. “I can’t argue with that,” she murmured.

Aang began to lean his face toward hers when Bumi rushed over to them.

“Mom, when you get the chance, could we get watermelon juice again?”

“Of course,” Katara said, pulling slightly away from Aang. “We can have dinner a little later. Can you change quickly now so we can make it before the market closes?”

“Yes, Mom!” Bumi pulled his rock from Aang’s hand and dashed off to his room.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Katara said mischievously to Aang, making her way to their own room, “but this might delay our early bedtime.”

“The things we do for our kid,” Aang sighed.

Katara laughed. “And to think we want another,” she replied playfully.

Aang’s eyes darkened as he followed after her into the room. “Do you think we have enough time now to get started on that?” he asked, wrapping his arm once more around her waist.

Katara’s hands traveled up his arms and over his shoulders. “We might have a few minutes to get warmed up,” she purred.

With a flick of his wrist, Aang sent out a small gust of air, and the door shut behind them.

#atla #katara #aang #kataang #kataang fanfic #atla fanfic #my writing

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bellatrixobsessed1 · 5 years

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Wan High Weeping (Part 1)

Avatar high school AU. After a long summer, with Sokka in college, Katara is left to fend for herself at Wan high where rumors about her are still running wild and her new teacher June is out to get her. Sokka also leaves Suki behind when she needs him the most. Aang, newly out of the closet becomes a target for the school jocks. The summer has been cruel to Toph, whose family has lost everything. It had left Azula, the captain of the volleyball team, with a set of broken ribs. And it has treated Zuko, Mai, and TyLee even less kindly.

AN: A few of the character’s ages have been tweaked to fit the plot frame.

Content Warning: rape mention, abuse, drug abuse, eating & mood disorders, suicide, and self-harm.

Katara weaved her way through the crowd. She found herself more nervous than usual. It was her junior year and her first year wandering the halls of Wan High School without Sokka for company. Without Sokka for protection. She took the care to be as quiet as possible, the less attention she received the better especially these days. 06-31-09, at this point in time she knew the combo like the back of her hand and felt as though I would be ingrained in her for years after she graduated. The locker door swung open. She had hoped that summer vacation would be enough to let old problems be forgotten, she truly hoped. That’s how these things normally went. “Normally,” she muttered to herself as she plucked a sheet of folded paper from her locker. She hadn’t even had the time to arrange her books and the notes were already appearing again. With a scowl contorting her face, Katara stomped up to the rubbish bin and ripped the paper to bits. She already knew the basics of what it would read. After all the shreds had drifted to the bottom of the trashcan, her anger subsided and a helping of despair filled its place. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone already? It wasn’t even true what they were saying. She wrapped her arms around herself, willing herself not to cry.

She wished she had Sokka right now, she could really use his support.

“Hey Kat!” Aang greeted cheerfully. She didn’t know how he did it, how he managed to hold his chin up so high with jocks like Chan and Jet pinning him up against the lockers between verbal beatdowns. An activity they part-took in since middle school. And when they moved onto high school, a boy named Hide filled in their shoes for another two years.

“Good morning, Aang.” She tried to return the greeting with a smile. But she wasn’t in the mood for conversation—much less a smile—with her day starting the way that it had.

“How are you?” He asked.

“Oooh I’m fine.” She replied.

“You seem down.” He cocked his head. He always did seem very sensitive to others’ emotions.

“Just sad that the summer is over, ya know?” She fibbed. “Sokka and I were having an amazing one but now he’s at college so I don’t get to talk to him much…” Now that wasn’t a fib at all. That had been bothering her since Sokka stated that he was moving states away to attend a rather prestigious school. She could only imagine how hard it must be on Suki.

“I’m gonna miss him too. You’re brother was a pretty cool guy.” He rubbed the back of his head, “not that I’d know much about that, ya know.”

“Don’t let them get to you Aang, you’re a pretty cool guy yourself.” She nudged him on the shoulder. “Soon enough guys from all over this school will line up to date you.”

“That would be nice.”

“Hey, twinkle toes!” Came an energetic shout.

“Who is that?” Katara asked.

“Oh, that’s Toph, she’s from my soccer team.”

“Our team is co-ed?”

“It’s not the school team.” Aang replied. “I don’t think I could handle being here for extra hours.”

Now there was something Katara could completely understand. Aang gave a quick wave and a ‘talk to you later’. It was nice to see that he had at least one person on his side.

Katara unfolded her schedule. Math with June…what a great start to her morning. She just hoped that Jet wasn’t in her class, that would make it at least a little more tolerable. She found herself wishing that she was a year older, that way there would have been a chance that she’d have Suki in her class. Naturally though, everyone she liked was either a year or two younger or a year or two older. And even more naturally everyone who made her time at Wan High difficult were just the right age to earn assigned seats next to her. Katara rummaged through her backpack—a kiddish looking thing, iridescent shimmery teal in color with golden seahorse, starfish, and mermaid patches. It was just another thing people jabbed her for. “You’re in high school.” She recalled Azula asking with an eyebrow raised and arms folded over her chest.

“Yeah, why do you have a kiddy bag?” TyLee asked with an eye-roll from Mai to annunciate the point.

If Katara had her way she would have had a new backpack something in a sleek and solid metallic blue. They couldn’t pick on that. But her mother refused, telling her that getting a new backpack when that one was in perfectly good shape was a waste of money. Sokka didn’t help her case either, but at least tried to appeal to her; “Aww but you love that backpack? Are you really going to stop using it because three people don’t like it?” He smiled that charming smile and ruffled her hair. So she promised him that she’d keep using it and that she’d text him a few pictures of herself holding it by her locker. She looked to the left and then to the right—no teachers. She snapped a quick photo and sent it off. Hopefully it would make college move-in that much better for him.

She quickly put her phone back in her backpack and continued ruffling through it. Water bottle, check. Summer reading assignment, check. Pencil and highlighter, check. Spare pencil, check. And calculator, check. Katara smiled, never a day unprepared. She slung the backpack over her shoulder and sprinted across the hall, never a day tardy either, she noted to herself. And she planned to keep it that way no many how many jocks and jerks she had to plow through.

“Kiss ass.” She heard a girl scoff. She knew she shouldn’t have, because it only made them laugh harder to know that they got her attention, but Katara looked back. It was one of Azula’s friends. Not Mai nor TyLee, but the one with the pigtails. Katara could never remember her name, Osha or Usha, or something like that. She just knew that the girl was on Azula’s volleyball team and was on par with Azula herself in terms of relentless bitchiness. Katara cringed, if her mother caught her saying something like that…

She cringed again harder, realizing that she just winced for something she thought about. It’s not like she said it aloud. “No wonder everyone things I’m a dork.” This she did vocalize. She looked at the clock, she had about three minutes left to get to homeroom. Deciding that, that wasn’t enough time for her to get to class and get settled in, she beelined it.

Wrong move. With an soft oof, she collided with another student. “Hey” Katara greeted awkwardly with a sheepish smile.

“Hey.” TyLee returned quietly. So long as the rest of the poms team wasn’t there, the girl was actually pretty decent to be around.

“I can pick that up for you.” Katara offered, scrambling to pick up a rose gold iPod with a bunny key ring, some stencils, and a scatter of glittery gel pens.

“No, I got it.” She muttered. “Don’t worry about it.”

Katara bit the inside of her lip. Since the beginning of last year the other girl seemed quieter, a lot less bubbly. “Are you sure?”

“The bell is going to ring in one minute. Everyone knows you don’t like being late.” There was a bitter edge to this refusal that made Katara wonder why she offered to help in the first place.

Katara scooped up her own things and shuffled to class. No sooner than she sat down, did the bell ring. Quickly she splayed her pencils and notebooks over the desk. “And here I thought I’d be giving you your first tardy strike.” June remarked.

Katara stammered out an apology, despite not really having anything at all to apologize for. Katara watched those who should have been muttering apologies saunter into the room without a hassle from June save for a half-hearted, “don’t be late again.” Already, Katara was getting a sense that she and her teacher weren’t going to click—this would be a first. For the most part the teachers at Wan high were focused and firm, but easy to talk to. She could already tell that June was going to have a rather laidback manner of teaching. On its own math was a task for her, she feared for her grade now that she would be learning in a style that didn’t bode well with her.

“She’s fine as hell.” Chan remarked, dropping into his seat. Katara closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. At least he wasn’t Jet. She could tolerate Chan.

“Alright.” June declared, slamming a stack of papers onto her desk. “Here’s how this is going to work.” She leaned herself against it. “I’m going to teach, you’re going to learn. This will be the easiest class you’ll ever take, or you’ll go home crying every night. I’ll let you all decide.”

Katara cringed, what a promising start to the class. She had half the mind to shoot her hand up and ask, “aren’t you supposed to pass out a syllabus.” Instead she remained as quiet as possible, hoping that she wouldn’t go home crying every night.

“Let’s start out with a little icebreaking activity. I’ll tell you all about my tattoo and you’ll tell me anything you feel might be worth sharing.” Lowering her voice some, she mumbled, “you’d be surprised at how boring you all are.”

This drew a few chuckles, apparently June was going to be a hit with the rest of the student body, especially the boys. This time Katara couldn’t hold her tongue, “what about attendance?”

Chan sniggered. Turning to one of the guys on his volleyball team, Chu-Leng, he mimicked “what about attendance?”

“Attendance?” June asked.

“Before class starts, especially on the first day, you’re supposed to take roll.” Katara continued, fighting hard to ignore the snickers from behind.

June shrugged. “You’re either here or you aren’t, it’ll show up on your report card.” She moved to sit on her desk. “Besides, I’m a math teacher, I can count. I have a class of twenty-six students, only twenty-five are here.”

“Yes!” Katara replied, trying to sound as level as possible. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but shouldn’t you know who, is missing?” Frankly, Katara wanted to know who she was supposed to be sitting next to. The only two open seats were the ones next to her.

“Well, since you seem so eager to run the class, how about you start. Introduce yourself and tell the class a little bit about you.”

“Big nerd.” Chu-Leng remarked.

“Big slut.” Chan added, quiet enough for her ears but not June’s.

Katara stood and made her way to the front of the class room. “Hi I’m Katara, I love with my mother, father, Gran, and brother…well my brother just moved out to go to college. You all know him though, or most of you do.” Why did she have to ramble when she was nervous, it was almost as bad as stuttering. “Anyways, I’m going to try out for the swim team…”

“Of course she is.” Chan commented, “has to put her swimsuit pics in the year book.”

“…If I don’t make the team I’ll be running for student council.” She didn’t know what else to say, she didn’t feel as though she was as interesting as Sokka or Suki. The thrill of going back to her seat was overpowered by Chan ramming into her as he made his way up to the front.

“For those of you who don’t know, not that there are many of you, I’m Chan. I throw the best parties this school knows…”

Katara felt herself zoning out for the rest of the class, it was all the same year after year and next period she would be in for a different version of the same icebreaker games. She didn’t see Suki at lunch either so her spirits dimmed that much darker. Hoping that she wasn’t in class, she sent her a quick text, ‘when do you have lunch?’ She unpacked her lunch as she waited for the reply. She smiled as she drew the note from her lunch bag. It was simple, as it always was; Good luck with your first day. Enjoy lunch. – Love, Mom. She wished that those wishes of luck were more than just that, but she would apricate lunch. Her mom took the care to pack it for her.

Her phone buzzed and the words, ‘fourth hour’ appeared in the chat bubble.

‘Me too. Where are you?’ She hit send.

This time the three little dots appeared right away. ‘Doctor’s.’

Katara bit her lip. ‘On the first day? Everything o.k?’

For a while the dots didn’t reappear. Katara finished peeling her orange by the time they did.

‘Yeah. Everything’s fine.’

As fine as they could be, Katara thought, Suki didn’t have to say it for her to know. Her fingers hovered above the touch screen as she thought of what to say next. But it was hard to think with the cafeteria chatter and banter.

“Hey! Give that back!”

Katara looked behind her to spy a game of keep away, a classic among Chan’s lot. Should Teo or Haru be particularly unlucky, Jet’s team would join in too. She always wanted to step in and say something, anything, but as soon as she stood the words left her tongue and her nerves plummeted away. When had she become so…terrified? Back in elementary school she was reprimanded almost daily for throwing crayons and erasers at kids who took them from others. She would give an earful to any playground bully that needed a lecture. But now, when it seemed to matter the most, she sat uncomfortably, her stomach squirming as Teo’s lunch sack was tossed from one person to the next. The game only met its end when Chu-Leng fumbled it. “Nice going, dipshit.” Chan grumbled.

“Hey, the point is to keep it away. I think we won.” He shrugged. “He can lick it off the ground if he wants to eat so bad.”

“Can he?” Chan sniggered, giving the boy’s wheelchair a good shove.

This time Katara opened her mouth. All she had to do was push it out, a simple, “leave him alone” or a bolder, “eat this” before chucking her own sandwich in his direction. How satisfying would it have been to see a paste of peanut butter smeared all over the jock’s face. She balled her fists but by the time she decided that she’d intervene Chan had found his seat and Teo wheeled himself away. Katara slammed her fist on the table, an outburst that was mercifully unnoticed. She hadn’t even had a chance to offer him some of her food. If only Sokka were there she would have sprung right into action. Hell, if Suki had been there it would have been the extra boost she need.

If only, if only, if only!

It was driving her crazy.

With her mood more somber than before, Katara worked on finishing her sandwich. Suki had stopped replying to her texts, probably wrapped up in her appointment. For the time, Katara was wholly alone. Aang, Toph, Haru, she had a healthy amount of friends but so typically, none of them shared the same lunch hour with her. She swore that headmaster Roku had to be doing it on purpose, not that he actually kept track of the cliques and dynamic duos of Wan high. So it was that Katara found herself peeping in on various conversations. It wasn’t her intent to do so, but with no discussion of her own to uphold she found it unbearably hard to tune everyone else’s out. In her defense one boy a few tables over practically screamed, “have you seen Miss June’s ass yet!?” Katara’s attention left that discussion very fleetingly.

“Is my mascara running?”

“I heard that Long Shot’s joining the chess team this year.”

“Really, I thought that he was in archery?”

“Can’t expect a nerd to keep up with anything cool.”

“I think that I should join theater this year…”

It took her awhile to find a voice she recognized. “It’s actually disappointing really.” This was Usha’s slick mutter. Katara assumed she was catching the tail end of the conversation. “But I guess I’m the captain now.”

So she found another one to follow. “You know what, Zuko? No, I have my own things to deal with…” The girl paused. “How about this? How about instead of…hold on.” She fixed a set of dull eyes on Katara. They were so thickly coated in black eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara it was almost menacing on principle, never mind that the glare was a very pointed one. Katara mouthed a quick apology for eavesdropping. “Whatever.” She grumbled and at a much lower volume, she carried on her conversation.

Officially flustered, and rightfully so, Katara decided to curb her curiosity, lunch was almost through anyhow. She began tucking away what remained of her lunch, she never did eat the strawberries. For the remaining minutes spent in the cafeteria, she dutifully went over each and every one of the syllabi—cursing June in particular for having such a vague one when she finally did hand it out. With the bell’s ring she slung her backpack on and huffed, she was long overdue for a trip back to her locker. Only three classes in and her textbooks were practically conditioning her for the school wrestling team.

She read over her schedule as she fought her way through a swarm of peers and groaned to herself. She had June for Chemistry too? For the first time in her educational career, Katara thought about taking one from Sokka’s book and playing hooky. She fumbled with her locker. “Are you kidding me!?” She tried the combination again and gave it a good pound.

The hall was nearly empty, but it wasn’t like anyone would have come leaping to her aid anyhow. “Come on, open. Please.” She winced. She looked at the time, two minutes left to get to class. She groaned, looks like June would be giving her, her first tardy after all.

With the hall so nearly vacant the slam of a locker near her own caused her to jolt. She should have ignored it, it was always best to ignore loud sudden noises when on Wan high territory. But she didn’t, instead she locked eyes with the only other person in the hall. Straggly locks obscured much of her face, but not enough to spare her an intense furious glare—she wondered just how many of those she’d be on the receiving end of that day. Though these eyes had an exhausted undertone that took the edge off of the anger. She was paler than Katara last remembered and had put on some weight, wearing less makeup than Katara herself. And the makeup that she had bothered with was applied with a degree of carelessness. Overall, she was disheveled, leaving Katara with the impression that she wasn’t the only person having a tragic first day. She heaved herself away from the locker she was slumped against, allowing Katara to assess that even her posture was wrong.

Everything was off to the point where Katara almost didn’t recognize her.

#Avatar #Azula #Katara #Sokka #Zuko #Suki #Toph #Aang #Mai #TyLee #Fanfiction

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bellatrixobsessed1 · 6 years

Text

Avatar World Week; Day 4 Cactus Juice

I’m very late to this because I didn’t realize that the week was this week! But no less here’s my entry. I decided to add a touch of Thanksgiving for the holiday.

Azula brings her new boyfriend Sokka to Thanksgiving Dinner and hopes to announce their relationship. But he decided to hit the cactus juice to relieve his nerves.

Azula hadn’t exactly gotten around to announcing her new relationship with Sokka. She hadn’t figured out how to vocalize it—she knew that no matter what she said it would cause some type of rouse. A little outrage from her father, some shock from Iroh, and a flurry of over-excitement from her mother with a dash of encouragement from Zuko. Positive or negative, she didn’t want the attention. She just wanted to eat and, for the sake of holiday sentiments, pretend to like the taste of some Moose Lion. “Are you sure that you want to do this?” She asked. “Really, you don’t have to. I know my family is a…” she trailed off searching for something diplomatic to say instead of her blunt commentary. “bit unusual.”

“Pretty sure you’re part of the unusual.” Sokka said. “Ya know, voices and everything.” As it would seem, he would be making no efforts of his own to put things lately.

“Tread carefully, Sokka. You don’t get special treatment just because you’re my boyfriend.”

“You keep saying that, but I don’t think you mean it.” Sokka smirked.

Azula sighed, “just answer my question.”

“I already did.” He replied. “Several times.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “I’m going to visit with your family.” He paused. “Zuko’s cool, you’re uncle is a riot, your mom is pretty nice. Really the only problem is Ozai.”

As seriously as he wasn’t taking things so far, they were on the same page. Ozai, fresh out of prison and full of opinions—as per usual—would be the main concern. Azula could deal with Ursa dotting over her new relationship and how far she’d come since coming home. She could deal with occasional brotherly jest. But her father’s approval wasn’t something she was quite ready to let go of. As it were, she’d already lost a good lot of in failing so miserably when Sozin’s comet came around. “Alright, I’ll come pick you up tomorrow before noon.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Seriously, try to relax, everything will be fine.” Sokka smiled. Everything in his tone and his words told her that he, himself, was relaxed. Nothing betrayed that his nerves were just about as frayed as a piece of cloth that a platypus-bear had gotten to. He wished her a good night and kissed her goodbye. He was reluctant to not accompany her home, but she insisted that he use every minute to prepare for the upcoming family event.

.oOo.

Azula frowned at her reflection, her hair wasn’t exactly on par with her expectations, but it would work. She had more pressing issues to address. As much as she loathed to admit it, she was nervous. On top of having a bold announcement to make, she hadn’t seen any of Sokka’s friends (with the exception of Aang) since her elope in the Forgetful Valley. She was certain that Katara would be just as thrilled as Ozai about the blossoming relationship. She made one last attempt to get her hair to sweep in the direction that she wanted it to. It looked that much better than before, but wasn’t yet satisfactory. She put the comb down regardless and found her palanquin. Just like any other time she was eager to arrive at her destination, the ride seemed to drag. Regardless, she found herself at his door. And for the hundredth time she counted herself grateful that Sokka had been so willing to get his own place just to be near her until the word was out.

“Oh hi Zula.” He greeted with an unnecessary eyebrow wriggle. “Mood gorning.”

Azula looked back at her palanquin bearers and prayed that they were too busy with their own conversations to catch on. She hustled them inside, her cheeks slightly flushed on his behalf. “S-sokka! Are you drunk?”

“No, I’m Sokka.” He was beaming from ear to ear.

“You are drunk.” She remarked more to herself than him.

Sokka slung his arm around her neck. “Ya know,” he slurred, “I learned to waterbend while you were gone.”

“Are you expecting me to announce our relationship when you’re drunk? Are you going to try to tell your sister?”

“You have a family? I thought you were…like…the dragons made you with their fire that they breathed and you just kind of rose from the ashes.”

“I told you about this yesterday.” Azula grumbled. “I outta…” She ignited a small flame in her palm and let it die down.

Springing up like a crazed cat, Sokka shouted, “Since when was your fire green?” He took up a lopsided fighting stance. “Do it again.”

Azula sighed and glanced at the sun. It was nearly at its highest. If they didn’t get moving they were going to be late. Thankfully he didn’t seem too drunk. She hoped he’d be at least a little soberer by the time they got to the palace. Until then she would endure a ride with him marveling her hair and stroking it muttering, “silky, silky, silky.” She supposed that it could have been worse. At least touching her hair and stroking her face with occasional appreciative commentary had kept him from doing other more aggravating things. She helped him down from the palanquin and led him inside. Just as she had dreaded, everyone was already at the table. Though dinner hadn’t yet started, she was hoping to have been able to slip in undetected, find her seat, and wait for the small talk to start.

“Who are these people?” Sokka whispered.

Azula rolled her eyes, “you know all of them.”

Sokka squinted. “Oh yeah, I recognize him, he’s the Avatar.” He was practically squealing, voice rising with every word. “The Avatar is in this room!”

The only one blushing harder than Azula herself was Katara. Apparently, there was enough second hand embarrassment to go around. “What did you do to him?”

Azula furrowed her brows. “I found him like this, believe me. He’s clearly had his share of cactus juice so I decided to help make sure he got here in one piece.”

“Since when do you care about Sokka’s wellbeing?” Her interrogation continued.

Azula felt herself growing both distressed and frustrated. This was not going as she had planned. It was supposed to be clean and at least somewhat easy. But she hadn’t even made her announcement and she was already being hit with a torrent of questions. “In spirit of the holiday, I thought I’d give everyone something to be thankful for. You’re welcome.” She helped Sokka into the chair next to Katara. Despite it all, fate was being charitable. The only remaining chair put her between Zuko and Sokka. At least she wouldn’t have to clamor up some excuse as to why she was sitting with him.

“Thanks, Azula.” Aang smiled.

“Well I’m glad someone’s getting into the holiday spirit.” Ozai grumbled.

The rest of dinner progressed painfully slowly, leaving Azula plenty of time dread and Sokka plenty of time to embarrass, she, Katara, and himself. And he did so expertly with a horribly inaccurate tale of how he brought down the air fleet. She regretted the glance she spared Ozai. The reminder of his failure darkened his expression considerably. Moose Lion mean wasn’t appetizing to begin with, but all of that anticipation was making it difficult for her to work up an appetite even for the foods she normally served herself. She forced herself to take a scoop of purple berries and lychee nuts for the sake of acting natural, but was only able to poke at them with her fork. Sokka on the other hand was having no trouble downing a slice of pie made from the very same berries and nuts Azula had taken. Between mouthfuls he began crafting another wild tale about one of his life adventures. With every word, Azula found her appetite plummeting even more.

At last Iroh intervened with a, “perhaps we should get on with the thanks giving part of dinner.”

Azula chewed the inside of her lip, It was coming up, like ripping off a band aid, she would state that she was thankful for Sokka’s company and from there let everyone know just how thankful. That had been her plan from the start. But Sokka put a hiccup in it by not being there to help her make the confession. She noticed just how hard she was biting down on her lip and, to keep herself from drawing blood, she opted to bite on a leechy nut instead. Under the table and without thinking about it, she took Sokka’s hand. Like the idiot he seemed to be at times, he gave her one of his goofy grins. The same kind that had her strangely drawn to him in the first place.

“What are you smiling about?” Zuko asked as hushed as he could, so not to cut Iroh’s lengthy thank you speech off.

“Well you see,” Sokka proclaimed loudly. “I for one am thankful for my beautiful wife, Azula and her silky, silky, silky hair.”

Azula practically spit out her food, instead she swallowed it down and drew in a sharp breath. The only eyes that weren’t on her, were on Sokka. For the third time that day, her cheeks were just about as hot as her fire. “That is not the truth.” She sputtered. “As I said, he’s had a lot of cactus juice.”

Sokka’s face fell. “You mean you don’t love me?” The look of sorrow on his face sent a quick jab into her heart.

She supposed that it was time to do the ripping. “That’s also not true.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ozai asked.

“It means,” she moved her hand—still linked with Sokka’s—to rest atop the table. “We are together,” and more quietly she added, “as humiliating as that is.”

Sokka’s ridiculous smile was back and brighter than before.

“But we’re not getting married.” She shot him a sideways glare.

“Maybe some other time?” He asked hopefully.

The look of disappointment on Ozai’s face was every bit as nerve wracking as she expected. That look quickly morphed into an even more dreadful scowl. The very same scowl that always had her scrambling to apologize and correct her error. But this…whatever she had with Sokka, it wasn’t an error. And despite every part of her screaming to apologize, she held her ground. She locked eyes with her father and replied to Sokka, “maybe some other time.”

With a fist pump Sokka whispered, “score!”

Azula tore her stare away from her father to assess her mother’s reaction. The expression was every bit as warm and approving—perhaps even proud—as her father’s was judgmental. She was relived to find that her mother wasn’t making a big deal of it. She realized that, that was all she really hoped for; acceptance. The feeling that her new relationship was as ordinary as it was.

She turned to Katara. “You really like him? You’re not just saying that to hurt him later?”

“If I didn’t care about him, I would have let him stumble around the Fire Nation all morning. Besides, he doesn’t need my help to hurt him, he can do that all on his own.” Azula shrugged.

“Alright, fine, but just so you know, I’ve got my eye on you.”

“Water Tribe.” Sokka whispered. Thankful that he seemed to be growing drowsy, Azula stroked his hair in hopes of lulling him to sleep, where he could no longer embarrass them both.

“If that makes you comfortable, go ahead. There’s nothing to see, really.” Azula replied. “With or without cactus juice—though I can definitely do without—I suppose I’ll stick with him.” She took Sokka in her arms, allowing him to put his full weight upon her as he dozed off. She was more than content to let him sleep the cactus juice off. Again, she fixed her stare on Ozai. “Some of us will just have to learn to live with it.” She stood up and headed for the door.

“Fire Nation.” Sokka added for emphasis.

#avatarworldweek #azula #sokka #sokkla #fanfiction #thanksgiving

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