#this is an apology for the last time i drew zuko

[tadpole-art]

Little turtle duck :)

#avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar #zuko #zuko fanart #ursa #art #artists on tumblr #this is an apology for the last time i drew zuko #during his agni kai ;-; #avatar fanart

[azenkii]

A Long List of Trash Fire Lord Zuko Headcanons

...that i couldn't get out of my head:

(warning: SUPER LONG POST i havent figured out how to trim posts yet)

he's the one who unchains azula despite iroh's protests. she doesn't even try to fight him, just cries into his shoulder and keeps mumbling about how father's going to be so disappointed in her. he takes her to her rooms and has her drink a sleeping draught, then stations the best guards he has left outside her chambers.

his first council meeting takes place literally a day after sozin's comet. he hobbles into the council chamber shirtless with his entire torso covered in bandages and every council member just looks at him like '...what'

he does NOT sleep for like,,a week after sozin's comet and then another two weeks after his coronation. katara, aang and suki try to persuade him to sleep and he doesn't listen. eventually sokka, toph and mai team up to literally drag his ass to bed and tell him he's not allowed to get up until he sleeps (does mai pin him to the bed with her knives? yes. is it kinky or sexual in any way? definitely not.)

he drinks So. Much. Tea. at this point it's practically tasteless to him but he drinks it anyway because he just needs something to do and tea is something familiar. he keeps iroh on his toes because he's constantly asking for new tea blends, uncle, i think i actually tasted the last one,

he flat-out refuses to grow his hair for at least a year after ozai's defeat. the second it starts getting close to his chin he shears it off himself, with his knife, and his stylist has a heart attack every single time

when he's tired he'll occasionally jump up when one of his guards moves. it stops after a bit, but for the first month and a half or so he's really twitchy. when sokka asks, the only explanation he can come up with is that he's not used to having people stand behind him silently and not want to kill him, much less want to protect him (sokka immediately takes him out for a shopping trip and makes a point of walking behind him the entire time, but only on zuko's right side, where he can clearly see it if sokka moves towards him)

when the healer declares azula mentally unstable and in need of an institution, he shuts himself in his office for the rest of the night. no one's allowed in, not even iroh. he finally emerges in the morning, eyes red from crying and sleep deprivation, and tells the librarian that he'd like a list of the best mental institutions in the country, please, the best in the world if you can get them

he loves theatre (is this even a headcanon?). unfortunately it practically died out in the fire nation along with the rest of the creative arts, leaving nothing but small troupes like the ember island players. one of zuko's personal goals (meaning things he wants to accomplish that aren't as important as restoring his country) is to bring back theatre; he finally manages to do it after about eight months or so of being fire lord, along with other arts like dancing, music and sculpture

he establishes a national day of mourning, on the first day of autumn every year, to commemorate the genocide of the air nomads. from 100AG onwards, every calendar printed in the fire nation has it marked. at first it was called the day of repentance, but aang persuaded him to have it changed (by arguing that he didn't want guilt to be a literal staple of fire nation culture)

he introduces literally So Many educational reforms, plus a mandatory class that teaches students about the cultures of the other nations (air nomads included) and how some of their traditions overlap

he turns down the offer of having a statue put up of him in the capital. toph ignores him and does it anyway.

he visits azula regularly, makes sure she's (relatively) comfortable and well-fed, and sometimes just sits down outside her door and tells her about everything that's going on right now ('some of the far colonies have developed their own standardised writing, azula, you wouldn't believe it, and i've asked the fire sages to come visit more often—but you never liked them, did you? oh, well; i'll make sure none of them go into your chambers by mistake')

(he doesn't know it, but when he does this azula sits by the door and listens. she wonders what kind of writing the colonists have developed, and whether or not the fire sages have taken on some new recruits.)

he hates being above anyone else. never sits in the throne if he can help it, nor does he sit on the dais in the council room. when he talks to people shorter than him, he finds himself stooping a little bit to talk to them on their level (the exception to this rule is sokka, who he mocks for being shorter all the way up until sokka grows taller than him, the bastard)

the first time he visits the earth kingdom, the earth king's ministers call a toast. he ends up being the only one who has to sit out, because he's too young to drink by earth kingdom law

once his servants figure out he won't kill them for talking to him, they start becoming a lot more bold, telling him off when he doesn't take care of himself. at one point, they force him to let them take care of him so much that he literally just bolts into the gardens and hides there until the staff rope in mai and ty lee

when he needs to escape, he does one of two things: (a) he dresses up as the blue spirit and does some parkour until he calms down, or (b) he goes to work at the jasmine dragon. (b) happens less often bc the jasmine dragon's in ba sing se, but there's been a few memorable incidents when an earth kingdom diplomat walks in and yells, 'LEE?!' when they see the fire lord

the first court artist who draws him also happens to be the one who drew azulon and ozai. he draws zuko without his scar. zuko takes one look at it and tells him, very calmly, that he'd like him to leave, please.

zuko burns the portrait. he doesn't fire the court artist, but he never calls on him again unless he has to. a second court artist is called, and can't help but be a bit confused when the fire lord tells him to be sure to include the scar

he forgets the crown. a lot. sometimes he walks into council meetings in his sleepwear with his hair tied up in a messy ponytail and a bunch of scrolls tucked under his arm. none of his councilmen have the guts (or the heart) to tell him that this is not, in fact, formal council wear

he goes to feed the turtleducks when he's stressed. he thinks he's being subtle. he's not. the entire palace knows, and they consciously give him space when they see him in the turtleduck garden

most of his staff are older than him, so they look at him and see this teeny tiny fire lord who is So Small and who Must Be Protected. the day after zuko's coronation, the head chef holds a meeting where they commence Operation Do-Not-Let-That-Boy-Turn-Out-Like-His-Father (subsection He's-The-Only-Good-Thing-We-Have)

one night he wakes up to find suki sitting in his room, decked out in full kyoshi warrior garb and makeup, and just about screams blue murder. suki tells him there are suspicions of an assassin in the palace, and would you please stop yelling it's very distracting, we won't be able to hear anyone coming over that racket

zuko gets very, very paranoid of random spirits after that. yeah, suki looks like a possibly malevolent spirit when she's wearing her makeup, what about it? (when he tells sokka he's highkey terrified of spirit shenanigans, sokka just looks at him and says, 'man, the stories i could tell...', and THAT'S when zuko remembers sokka spent like six months more than he did travelling with the avatar)

on his first visit to the southern water tribe, he removes his boots and leg guards, rolls up his pants and kneels barefoot in the snow. even though chief hakoda immediately starts trying to pull him up, he's stubborn as hell and stays kneeling for the entirety of his very long, very sincere apology-on-behalf-of-the-fire-nation speech. he nearly loses his toes to frostbite after that, and both sokka and katara never stop giving him shit for it

the first time he grows a 'beard' is completely accidental. he's stressed over some trade miscommunications with chief hakoda, hasn't slept in a few days...and then when sokka arrives as water tribe ambassador to help smooth things over, he takes one look at zuko and says 'man, facial hair does not suit you'

zuko: facial what now

he checks a mirror to find that he's got stubble covering his chin, dark enough that it almost looks intentional, and holy gods how the fuck did he not notice this before

'UNCLE WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME' 'i assumed you were doing it on purpose' 'WHEN HAVE I EVER DONE ANYTHING ON PURPOSE'

he shaves it all off immediately, of course, which prompts a lot of teasing and rib-poking from sokka until zuko finally snaps that he's scared it'll make him look like his father. sokka stops after that.

(the day after sokka leaves, zuko finds that a mysterious someone has scribbled all over ozai's royal portrait, giving him a frankly ridiculous beard and moustache that literally CANNOT be grown in real life. oddly enough, he can't bring himself to care about the defamation of royal property. he's too busy laughing.)

his paths cross with toph and sokka more than any of the others, because sokka is ambassador and toph is technically still a beifong. most of the time, at formal functions, he ends up sequestered in the corner with toph and a hoard of snacks, and they talk and swear much more than they usually do (zuko's ministers once heard him when he was drunk with toph, and the servants swear the older ministers' ears started bleeding)

he restores fire nation cultural festivals, and in doing so subjects himself to learning a lot of complicated dances

during one memorable week, he wrote so many letters and drafted so much legislation that he ran out of paper. he had to go visit the nearest school and ask for some

he keeps up with his firebending and sword training even though it's hard to fit into his schedule. his ministers refrain from reminding him that he has guards to protect him now; it's still hard for zuko to trust his safety with anyone but himself (team avatar is the exception).

he started sleepwalking about two months into his reign. no one knew why. one time, he nearly sleepwalked right off the edge of a balcony, and one of his guards had to grab him by the back of his robes.

the sleepwalking stopped after around a month and never happened again. at this point it's practically palace legend.

after freeing the war prisoners, he went around collecting every single earthbender-proof wooden cell he could find in the capital and surrounding areas. when he'd gotten most of them, he gathered them into a huge pile in the city square and set fire to them with his own hands.

unfortunately he couldn't do that with the waterbender metal cells but he did get toph to come in and bend them all into pretty shapes (well, toph thought they were pretty shapes. everyone else thinks they're meaningless squiggles)

he learned how to write with both hands at the same time out of sheer necessity (he refused scribes until it became clear that he'd be putting some people out of a job; that was when he started letting scribes write very, very minor things, but all important documents/drafts/letters are still written by him)

he once put the wet end of an ink brush in his mouth instead of the wooden end by mistake. didn't even realise until he bit down to keep it in place and ink went oozing everywhere

when his guards rushed in to find him coughing and spluttering black liquid all over his desk they thought he'd been poisoned but no he's just stupid

on his 17th birthday, his first one after being crowned, he got tackled by team avatar in the middle of the ballroom and ended up at the bottom of a cuddlepile for like ten minutes

this cuddlepile happened at an event that was very much public and very much formal. it was a scandal for weeks

just. fire lord zuko, guys. so much potential

#holy cow this ended up so much longer than i intended #atla #avatar #zuko #firelord zuko #headcanons

[babypandawrites]

Secrets, Pt. 3

Return to Omashu

Pairing: Sokka x F Reader Warnings: Scar mention (Not Zuko's) Word Count: 4,170 Summary: Immediately upon arriving to Omashu, you realize it's going to be a train wreck. Well... it's more of a train wreck than you would have guessed.

Note: For anyone interested, I started a Legend of Korra series!

-Navigation- | -Allies Masterlist- | -Atla Masterlist- -Last Part- | -Secrets Masterlist- | -Next Part-

Taglist: Striked @'s I couldn't tag @boomeraangin | @brokennerdalert | @ilovespideyyy | @theamandaaashow | @ashley-running | @alisslahey

“I can’t believe it. I know the war has spread far but…” Aang turned away from the fallen city to face his friends. “Omashu always seemed… untouchable.”

“Up until now, it was. Now Ba-Sing-Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left.” Sokka said, as Aang turned to face the city once again.

Katara’s gaze lingered on the ground. “This is horrible, but we have to move on.”

Nodding in agreement, Y/n drew lines in the ground with the toe of her boot. “Yeah… I’m sorry Aang but it’s too risky.”

“No. I’m going to find Bumi.” Aang spoke firmly, not willing to negotiate the matter.

Sokka furrowed his eyebrows together. “Aang, stop. We don’t even know if Bumi’s still…” He trailed off, prompting Aang to look at him with a hardened expression.

“What? Is he’s still what?!”

“...around.”

“I know you had your heart set on Bumi, but there are other people around who can teach you earthbending.” Katara attempted to diffuse the situation, to no result.

“This isn’t about finding a teacher. This is about finding my friend.”

Falling silent, Y/n looked between the three before her gaze landed on the city. Her stomach twisted into knots at the sight, guilt starting to dig at her. Her nation had done this, and she had the audacity to stand there and tell Aang it wasn’t worth the risk? That he should leave his friend to the nation that killed his people?

If one of her childhood friends- If Zuko was trapped in there, she would want to do whatever she could to get him out. She had no right to try and sway Aang otherwise.

Looking at Aang with solace, she gave a small nod. “Let’s go find him, then.”

He offered her a smile, giving a small nod in return. His gaze shifted to Katara and then Sokka. “We’re going with or without you.” Was all he offered, before starting down the hill to get to the city.

Katara was quick to follow, realizing they couldn’t change his mind. Sokka was a bit more hesitant, grasping onto Y/n’s wrist to stop her from following them immediately.

“You just said it was too risky.”

“It is risky.”

Tipping his head to the side, he raised an eyebrow in question. “So why did you change your mind about going?”

She shrugged, looking in the direction Aang and Katara went in. They had stopped to wait for them, whispering to themselves, but didn’t make the effort to rush them. “It would be wrong of us not to.”

“It would be wrong of us not to waltz into Fire Nation territory to try and find someone who might be dead?”

“You’d want to go if it was Katara in there.”

Grimacing at the thought, Sokka headed to where Aang and Katara were waiting, pulling Y/n with him. “That wasn’t fair of you.”

“Sorry, but you know I’m right.”

He offered a silent nod as they caught up with Aang and Katara, the latter putting her hands on her hips. “Took you guys long enough.”

They muttered their apologies, before the group started for the city with Aang in the lead.

-

The four found themselves on a small cliff side beneath the city bridge, Y/n, Katara and Sokka wearing their cloaks. While Appa floated near the cliff side they stood on, Aang stood on a sewer drain that poked out of the mountain side, trying to open the cap using his staff as a lever.

“A secret passage?” Sokka questioned, crossing his arms. “Why didn’t we just use this last time?”

Aang finally popped the cap off the drain, releasing a gout of green toned sewage. Y/n and Katara we’re able to step back in time, but some of it washed over Sokka. “Ugh!”

“Does that answer your question?” Aang swung inside the large pipe, with no issue, disappearing inside.

Katara, Sokka and Momo looked into the pipe, hesitant to follow. Slipping past them, Y/n entered it- also with no issue -followed by a disgusted Sokka, then Katara.

They all traveled through the pipeline, before Aang came across a manhole they could get out from. He used a gust of air to push the lid up, before checking to see if the coast was clear. Seeing it was, he climbed out of the manhole, Y/n and Katara following suit.

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought.” The waterbender commented, brushed off her cloak a bit.

After quickly dealing with the ‘Sokka temporarily being turned into a sewage blob’ dilemma, and the purple pentapus debacle, the group was approached by a trio of Fire Nation guards.

“Hey!”

Aang hid behind Sokka and Katara, while fixing a hat over his head to hide his tattoo, before popping up between them with an anxious grin. Y/n looked at the three, silently motioning to them to let her handle this.

“What are you kids doing out past curfew?” The guard asked.

She offered the man a polite smile. “Sorry, sir. We’re on our way home now.”

He seemed convinced enough, so the four turned to walk away- Before they were stopped again.

“Wait! What’s the matter with him?”

Katara took over this time, resting her hands on Sokka’s shoulders. “Um… He has pentapox, sir.”

The guard approached him, reaching out to poke him.

“Um! It’s highly contagious!” Katara exclaimed, causing the man to hesitate, before he pulled his hand back.

Sokka, realizing what his sister was playing at, raised his arms in front of him and started to groan. “Uuuhhgh… It’s so awful… I’m dyiiing…”

“And… deadly.” Y/n added.

He started to walk towards the guard, causing him to back up to the others with him.

“Wait, I think I’ve heard of pentapox.” The guard turned to one of the other guards. “Didn’t your cousin Chang die of it?”

Sokka continued towards them, coughing on the three.

“We’d better go wash our hands… and burn our clothes!”

With that the three guards ran off, leaving them be. Sokka halted his acting, as Aang held one of them pentapuses from before. He smiled and rubbed it’s head. “Thank you, sewer friend!”

-

They started through the city, hiding behind construction materials when needed as patrols passed by.

“Let’s find Bumi and get out of here.”

Y/n offered a nod at Katara’s words. “The sooner, the better. This place is crawling with Fire Nation.”

“Right, but where would they be keeping him?” Sokka brought up- Which was a good point.

“Somewhere he can’t earthbend.” Aang answered, looking around. “Somewhere made of metal.”

“Okay, do you know where something like that could be? Do they have a prison here or something?” Y/n asked.

Shrugging, Aang motioned for them to follow him. “I don’t think Omashu has a prison they could keep Bumi in. The prison cells here are made with earth so the Fire Nation would have had to of made something to keep him in.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Then what would they do if they needed to imprison an earthbender?”

“Huh, I dunno.”

“Hey,” Sokka spoke in a hushed tone. “Can you two keep it down? We’re going to get caught.”

“Calm down Sokka, we’ll be fine.”

He grabbed Y/n by the shoulders, turning her in the direction of a group walking below them, visible only by several torches. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They continued in silence, stopping only when several rocks fell from above just in front of them. Aang, realizing the rocks were going to crush the people walking slightly below them, used his airbending to stop them- Drawing attention to the group.

One of the people pointed towards Aang. “The resistance!”

Another person from the group fanned out their arms, sending a hail of small arrows at Aang, who dodged by ducking behind some of the scaffolding. The four started to run, being pursued by Fire Nation soldiers who were climbing up from the plaza below. Katara stopped, pulling water from her waterskin as she turned, whipping it at the soldiers to knock them off the ledge of the scaffolding. Reaching to grab an arrow from her quiver, Y/n threw it at the head of another soldier trying to climb up, it knocked him in the helmet forcing the protection to spin around and cover his eyes. It threw the man off balance, and he fell as well.

Someone else gave chase- Though not a soldier. With the dark, Y/n couldn’t exactly tell who this person was, but something about the projectiles they attacked with felt familiar and she decided maybe it would be best for Aang and Katara to deal with this one. Coming to a dead end, her and Sokka came to a stop, Katara soon joining them while Aang dealt with the mystery assailant.

He swung his staff at some scaffolding, causing it to collapse in front of him. The assailant was able to throw one last projectile before it collapsed, which Aang caught in his staff, just before it stabbed him in the face. He backed up to join the rest of his friends as the dust settled, revealing that their attacker was still there and now had a clear shot of them.

They sent another hail of arrows, but before it could reach the group the ground under them gave in and they fell out of the way. They fell into a tunnel, green sewage dripping from above.

-

They were greeted by an earthbender- Whom had just saved them with some sort of trap door, and was part of a resistance against the Fire Nation. Following the man through the tunnels, more resistance fighters were revealed, along with normal citizens.

“So, is King Bumi with you guys? Is he leading the resistance?” Aang asked the man, looking around for said king.

“Of course not!” He spoke with a quiet intensity, clearly upset. “The day of the invasion, we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city.. To fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered. The day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do. He looked me in the eye and said… ‘I’m going to do… nothing!’” He heaved out a sigh. “It doesn’t matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom is worth dying for.”

“Actually there’s another path to freedom. You could leave Omashu. You’re directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation,” Aang motioned an arm to the resistance fighters. “But you're outnumbered. You can’t win. Now’s the time to retreat, so you can live to fight another day.”

“You don’t understand. They’ve taken our home and we have to fight them at any cost!”

Y/n crossed her arms over her chest, looking at the resistance leader with furrowed brows. “You don’t have the force to fight against them, your resistance is wasted effort at this point, effort you could be using for survival.”

“The kids have a point.” One of the resistance fighters spoke up. “Living to fight another day is startin’ to sound pretty good to me.”

Another fighter stepped forward. “Yeah, I’m with the kids!”

The resistance leader seemed hesitant, looking towards his fellow fighters and citizens who whispered their agreements to each other. “Fine. But there’s thousands of citizens that need to leave. How’re we going to get them all out?”

Sokka hummed in thought, thinking, before perking up as he came up with an idea. “Suckers!” No one seemed to get what he was getting at, so he continued to elaborate. “You’re all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox.”

They gathered enough purple pentapus’ to go around, sticking them onto everyone so they had the spots the small animal suckers left on them. Once everyone was ready, they fled the city- Sans Aang who continued to look for Bumi -and hid nearby in the mountains.

-

Aang returned after a while, and while he wasn’t alone Y/n was pretty sure the large creature with him wasn’t Bumi. Her, Sokka and Katara got up from where they sat at a fire to approach him.

“We looked everywhere. No Bumi.”

He spoke sadly, as Katara pulled him into a hug. The animal with him made a sad noise, and Sokka hugged it to offer comfort.

“We’ve got a problem.” Announced the Resistance’s Leader, approaching them from behind. “We just did a head count.”

Katara turned to look at him. “Oh no. Did someone get left behind?”

“No,” He pointed off to the side. “We have an extra.”

In the direction he pointed was Momo who was dragging himself with a terrified expression, a baby latched onto his back with their arms around his neck. The baby laughed and giggled, as Momo dragged them around. The clothes that the small child wore indicated he was from the Fire Nation, which was probably bad news to them.

Furrowing her eyebrows together, Y/n walked over to Momo and saved the poor lemur from the child, holding him in her arms. He giggled at being picked up, and grabbed at the furry collar of her tunic, tugging and messing with it. Now freed, Momo took off and landed on Aang’s shoulder.

“Uh… what do we do with it?” Sokka asked with a perplexed expression.

The only answer he got was a unanimous shrug.

The moment Momo was back on the ground, the baby started to chase after him. He was really infatuated with the animal- Well until he stumbled near Sokka and found new love with his club. He picked the club up from the ground, sucking on it. Sokka snatched his club from the baby, holding it away from him.

“No! Bad Fire Nation baby!”

He began to cry, prompting both Katara and Y/n to smack Sokka in one way or another. He hesitated for a moment, before breathing out a sigh. “Oh… Alright.” He handed his club back to the baby, who started to play with it.

Katara leaned over to hug the baby from behind. “Aww, you’re so cute!”

“Sure he’s cute now, but when he’s older, he’ll join the Fire Nation army.” The resistance leader spoke up from the other side of the camp, watching the baby closely. “You won’t think he’s so cute then. He’ll be a killer.”

“Does that look like the face of a killer to you?” Katara asked, picking the baby up. He tried to reach for the club from her grasp, but wasn’t able to reach for it.

Holding up the club so the baby could still play with it from Katara’s hold, Y/n grimaced to herself. “I’m sure the war will be long over by the time he’s old enough for that.”

Hopefully it will be, at least.

“A messenger hawk!” The resistance leader pointed out, as a messenger hawk landed on a nearby rock. Aang took the parchment from it, unrolling it to read it.

“It’s from the Fire Nation governor. He thinks we kidnapped his son. So… he wants to make a trade. His son… for King Bumi!”

-

The four found themselves at the bottom of the scaffolding of a large project, awaiting to make the trade, Sokka holding the baby. Opposite of them, three figures climbed onto the platform and stood on the other side. Eyes widening, Y/n was quick to duck behind Sokka before they could recognize her. Or at least hopefully before they could.

Azula, Mai and Ty Lee.

Three girls she went to school with as a child. Three girls she was often forced to play with whenever Zuko was busy- Three girls she was forced to play with even if Zuko wasn’t busy, at times.

It’s been a long time since she’d seen them, but if she could recognize them then who’s to say that they wouldn’t recognize her? That would be a disaster. Zuko might have foregone revealing he knew her in front of Aang and them, but there was no way Azula would play that game. Not when she was so willing to take her down when they were kids.

Spirits- Y/n couldn’t handle Azula! As much as she hated to admit it, the young princess kind of scared her. Instinctively, she reached a hand to the bandage covering her upper arm- Covering the scar that Azula marred her skin with when they were younger.

She gulped, peaking over Sokka’s shoulder at the three, watching them carefully. Nothing about them revealed they recognized her, or even saw her. For a moment she thought lady luck might be on her side today, that they wouldn’t connect her to who she was as a child- Until she remembered the wanted poster.

The one Zhao had put out for her, the one that had her name and face plastered all over it. If Zhao had been putting out wanted posters for her, then there was no doubt the royal family saw them. There was no doubt Azula would recognize her once she got close enough.

Who was she kidding, none of them were stupid, the only thing that changed was that she grew up and got some new clothes. She still had her bow and her sword, her hair, eyes and skin didn’t magically change colors. She was just older now. It didn’t matter if they did or didn’t see the poster, if they looked at her long enough they would know.

“What are you doing?” Sokka asked, turning his head slightly to glance at her.

Y/n hesitated for a moment. “I… don’t like the look of those three.” Was the excuse she settled on- Not a lie, because she really didn’t.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay, use me as a human shield.”

“They won’t attack you, Sokka, you have the baby.”

From above, a metal coffin starts to be lowered by a crane, presumably where they’re keeping King Bumi. Laughing and snorting could be heard from the coffin as it was lowered. “Hi, everybody!” The coffin landed standing up right behind Mai and the others.

“You brought my brother?”

“He’s here.” Aang motioned to Sokka, who was holding the baby. “We’re ready to trade.”

“I’m sorry, but a thought just occurred to me. Do you mind?” Azula glanced at Mai as she spoke- This couldn’t be good.

“Of course not, Princess Azula.”

“We’re trading a two year old for a king.” Pausing, she turned to Bumi. “A powerful, earthbending king.”

Eyes closed, Bumi smiled and nodded. “Mmm hmmm!”

“It just doesn’t seem like a fair trade, does it?”

Looking away from Azula, Mai looked at her brother. She breathed out a quiet sigh, before walking forward. “You’re right. The deal’s off.” She raised her hand in the air, prompting for Bumi’s prison to be pulled back up to wherever it had been before.

“Whhhhoa! See you all later!”

“Bumi!” Aang rushed forward towards the trio of girls, causing Azula to send a plume of blue flames at him. He jumped just high enough to avoid the fire, landing on part of the scaffolding. He jumped again, opening his glider mid air, losing his hat and revealing his tattoo in the process. He caught the hat between his teeth before it got away, but by then it was too late.

Azula recognized him. “The Avatar! My lucky day.” She gave chase, using an elevator winch.

Watching the scene anxiously, Y/n tugged on Sokka’s sleeve. “We gotta get out of here.”

“What? And leave Aang behind?”

“We can’t exactly follow him!”

With Azula’s disappearance going after Aang, Mai and Ty Lee took it as a cue to get involved as well, running at the trio. Muttering under her breath, Y/n nudged Sokka behind her as she drew her sword, stepping in front of Katara just in time to block the several stiletto blades Mai shot at them. “You two go, I’ll handle them!”

The two siblings shared a look but didn’t question it, rushing to the edge of the platform. Ducking under a kick from Ty Lee, she used her sword again to block a projectile from Mai. Y/n twisted out of the way to avoid a jab from Ty Lee, swinging her sword at Mai. She caught the flat of the blade between her hands, twisting it out of Y/n’s grip.

The sword clanked against the ground, as Y/n ducked out of the way of another attack from Ty Lee. Dropping into a crouch, she swiped her leg at Mai’s ankles, getting the girl to jump back and give opportunity to get her sword back. Y/n rolled forward from the crouch, grabbing onto the handle of her sword before kicking into a handstand and flipping to land on her feet.

“Oh! That was a good one!” Ty Lee commented, attempting to chi-block Y/n’s arm once again. She raised a hand, intending to firebend at the girl, but hesitated knowing that Katara and Sokka might be able to see her. Four jabs along her arm forced it to go limp, her sword falling from her grasp.

Mai threw a Sai in Y/n’s direction, for it to get blocked by a wall of ice rising from the ground. “Y/n! Come on!”

Taking that as her cue, Y/n grabbed her sword again with her non-limp arm, shoving it back into its sheath as she dodged a kick from Ty Lee, running over to join Katara. The waterbender wrapped a water whip around Ty Lee’s ankle, knocking her to the ground before manipulating the water into an ice shield to block more blades coming from Mai.

Y/n stood behind Katara, letting her handle things while she waited for feeling to return to her arm. “Did Sokka get away with the baby?”

“Thanks to you.” She replied while striking her whip at Mai, who dodged by leaning backwards. A blade shot from the device wrapped around her ankle, but Katara blocked it with another ice shield.

As Mai started charging towards them, Y/n noticed a distinct lack of pink, turning around just in time to see Ty Lee was coming at them from behind. She tried to get to Katara, but before she could Y/n took a dive at her legs, knocking both of them down. She twisted their legs together so she could flip Ty Lee onto her stomach, before using her non limp arm to twist one of Ty Lee’s arms behind her back.

Contorting her legs, Ty Lee got them around Y/n’s waist, using her shock to flip her onto her back. Sat on her stomach, Ty Lee smiled sadly.

“Kind of a shame we have to fight for real, now.” She flipped onto her hands, getting to Katara and chi-blocking her in both arms before Y/n was able to stop her a second time.

Getting up, she watched as Katara tried to raise the water that fell to the ground, to no result. Mai and Ty Lee stood by, watching as she failed to bend.

“How are you going to fight without your bending?” Mai taunted, pulling out another Sai. With the feeling finally coming back into her arm, Y/n readied her sword to block it- But before Mai could throw it a boomerang came from behind and knocked it out of her hand.

“I seem to manage!” Sokka exclaimed, catching his boomerang as it came back to him. Appa- whom he was riding -landed between the four girls, smacking his tail on the ground, smashing in the platform behind him and sending Mai and Ty Lee flying.

-

The two climbed up onto Appa, who took off again once they were settled into his saddle. After a moment of flying around, Katara pointed to her left. “There’s Aang!”

Y/n moved next to her, seeing that Aang was sliding down one of the mail chutes while balancing on top of Bumi’s metal prison. Not too far behind, Azula was inside one of the mail carts, shooting blasts of blue fire at them.

Noticing them, Aang tried to launch himself and Bumi onto Appa’s back, but the plan quickly fell through as they passed right over Appa and plummeted downwards- With Azula continuing her pursuit of the pair. They met with Aang at the bottom of the chute, Bumi nowhere in sight.

“He could earthbend the whole time.” The airbender said, as he joined them on Appa. “He said he can’t leave, I need to find another earthbending teacher.”

Y/n rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You’ll find someone.”

---

“So,” Azula started, sparing a glance to Mai and Ty Lee. “That girl who was with the Avatar, it was Y/n, right?”

They shared a look, before Ty Lee tipped her head to the side deciding to play dumb. “Huh? You mean that Water Tribe girl? No, I don’t think that was her.”

The Princess let out an aggravated sigh. “No, the other one.”

“It was.” Mai answered tensely. “I’d recognize that stupid sword of hers anywhere.”

“Well then, we have a fourth mark on our radar girls.”

#avatar the last airbender #avatar the last airbender x reader #atla #atla x reader #reader insert #team avatar #slowburn #sokka x reader #sokka x you #sokka x y/n #book two secrets

[headaching]

more titanic au?? 👀

Azula scrutinized Sokka with squinted eyes causing uneasiness flashed across his face. “For the record,” she jeered, “next time you want to stage an accidental falling, maybe keep your boots and jacket on.”

Sokka shot a panicked look at Zuko, who only shook his head. Sokka sputtered, “We…We were…”

“You don’t have to answer to her,” Zuko told Sokka apologetically.

“I don’t really care,” Azula snapped. “In fact, I think it’s sweet you made a friend.” Zuko crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t dare look at Sokka. “I’m just saying, you might want to get your story straight.” She winked at Zuko before turning on her heel. Zuko’s blush was furious and so quick it sickened him. For that, he was thankful Sokka stood behind him. “Are you coming?”

“Leave without me,” Zuko growled, and she cocked her head in his direction.

“What if you get lost on the way there, and there isn’t a third-class passenger to guide you back?” Azula’s voice was both sharp and cold, cutting and dull.

Zuko conjured his most menacing tone and said, “Azula, stop talking. Leave. Now.” Slowly, Azula’s head straightened, and she walked away without a word. Zuko watched her go, slightly impressed with himself.

When Zuko turned back to face Sokka, he was lacing up his boots. “I’m sorry about her,” Zuko apologized, and Sokka looked up from his shoes to grin at him.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sokka said as he finished tying his laces. On went his jacket, and he turned toward the water while he adjusted it. His gaze remained on the ocean as he leaned his elbows against the railing. “I’d like to see you tomorrow,” Sokka announced, not a demand, but a wish. Zuko approached Sokka, though he maintained a good distance from the ledge.

“You will, at dinner,” Zuko replied, and noticed his own rapid blinking. Sokka shot him a playful look over his shoulder, then turned around and occupied the remaining space between them.

He stood an inch or two taller than Zuko, and his head bowed forward. Though Zuko’s head tilted upward, he was only brave enough to stare at Sokka’s lips, which were full and soft-looking and slightly parted.

“I meant besides dinner.” This was the closest they’d been face to face without the impending threat of treacherous death, and the air seemed harder to take in because of it. “It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Sokka added, and Zuko noted a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“No,” Zuko croaked, “I do.”

Sokka smiled. “Okay. Meet me here tomorrow, say, two o’clock?”

“Sure.”

“It’s a date.” Sokka’s voice was quiet, but it rang through Zuko’s ears and spiked his blood, churning it hot through his veins.

As Sokka turned to leave, Zuko found himself saying, “Sokka, wait,” with an outstretched hand. It suspended in the air with his index finger pointed at Sokka’s chest. Sokka’s eyes darted from Zuko’s hand to his eyes inquisitively. Zuko straightened his fingers to offer Sokka a handshake.

“Thank you for saving my life,” Zuko said formally with a stiff nod. Sokka laughed, and a few strands of hair fell around his temples. For an isolating moment, Zuko felt like an idiot, until Sokka’s hand closed around his. They shook hands with a firm grip, and it seemed to last longer than a usual handshake.

“Thank you for not jumping,” Sokka murmured, and stilled their hands, but didn’t pull away. The fingers on Sokka’s opposite hand caressed Zuko’s wrist, and Zuko tried to remember if he’d ever been touched so gently.

Eventually, Sokka stepped back, and their hold was broken. He slipped his hands into his pockets and eyed Zuko, then exhaled through his nose in a quick laugh.

“Is something funny?” Zuko asked reflexively, then cleared his throat at the sound of his raspy voice.

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“Do you always have to know all the answers?” Sokka teased, and Zuko crossed his arms. Sokka had no idea how few answers Zuko actually received, or how long ago he gave up the pursuit of seeking them.

Zuko couldn’t manage a response. He realized he was shivering; he must have left his coat on his chair at dinner. Sokka noticed, too, and questioned, “Are you cold?” He didn’t wait for Zuko to answer before taking his jacket off.

“No, I don’t need—” Zuko began to protest through chattering teeth, but was interrupted by Sokka draping his jacket across his trembling shoulders.

“You’re shaking,” Sokka dismissed quietly, practically affectionate. He pulled the opening of the jacket closer together in an attempt to insulate Zuko, then placed both hands over his crossed arms when they were exposed to the cold air despite the effort.

As Zuko watched carefully, Sokka unfolded his arms and brought Zuko’s clenched fists to his mouth. Sokka exhaled a heated breath onto Zuko’s hands, while his own drifted down to cup Zuko’s elbows. Their eyes met, honey and pale blue, and neither averted their gaze.

Zuko imagined breaking one hand free to caress Sokka’s cheek, and when Sokka’s lower lip just barely brushed against his finger, the fantasy morphed into one where they were kissing.

Zuko’s heart raced at the possibility of gliding his fingers along Sokka’s toned bare arms, the nape of his neck, the sharp angle of his jaw. Maybe Sokka’s hands would hold Zuko’s waist, draw him in, entice him to step closer. Sokka’s jacket might plummet to the deck floor if their hands were frantic, or stay perfectly in place if the embrace was slow and peaceful.

Though Zuko had little romantic experience, the image of kissing Sokka was easy, dangerously so, and the possibilities were endless.

“Zuko?” brought him back to reality, where Sokka’s hands had shifted. Sokka seemed to be holding him in place with a firm grip and one foot braced forward. Zuko blinked and noticed his fingers had fallen from their clenched position to grip Sokka’s forearms. He considered pulling away, but stayed still.

“I’m sorry. W-What happened?” Zuko’s face was smoldering, and he desperately wished to conceal it.

“You checked out for a second, then seemed like you were gonna fall,” Sokka explained, and though he sounded concerned, Zuko detected a smirk on his face.

“Oh,” Zuko mumbled, and looked away pointedly.

“Seriously, are you okay?” Sokka asked, the happy traces in his face replaced with worry. Zuko sighed, inwardly cursing his inability to play anything cool. “I mean, you just had a near death experience. Of course you’re not okay.”

“That wasn't my first near death experience,” Zuko replied before thinking better of it. His throat constricted when Sokka’s eyes flickered to his scar, but he found solace in the gentle squeeze Sokka gave his arms. Sokka looked down and nodded slowly. “I’m just clumsy, like Azula said,” Zuko added, gratefully getting him to crack a smile.

“I’d hesitate to take anything she says to heart,” Sokka laughed, and Zuko breathed a silent sigh of relief. Sokka stared at him for a moment with a twinkle of amusement still in his eyes, then said, “Maybe I should walk you back, though. You seem out of it.”

“You have no frame of reference,” Zuko retorted, and though his voice was agitated, Sokka took a small step forward, somehow still possible with their close proximity.

“Not yet.” His reply was an easy, clear indication that he intended to find out. Zuko focused on the dreaded task of evening his breath, but his mind inevitably wandered to their hold on one another and how it still had not ended.

“Not yet, but not tonight,” Zuko said eventually, as gently as he could. “My father will be expecting me soon.” Sokka nodded, and glanced at their arms pointedly, then back into Zuko’s eyes with raised eyebrows. “I can walk myself,” Zuko scoffed with an eye roll. He took the opportunity to remove Sokka’s jacket, but a firm hand halted his own.

“Keep it,” he insisted, and Zuko shook his head.

“I don’t need your jacket,” Zuko responded stubbornly, but drew the garment closer together in an attempt to disguise his shivering.

Sokka’s eyes glanced down, and somehow, the grin that spread across his face left Zuko wishing he could disappear and never leave Sokka’s sight all at once. “You contradict yourself a lot,” Sokka noted. Zuko decided disappearing would be better.

“And you’re infuriating,” Zuko muttered, his eyes on the deck.

“Is that any way to thank a kind stranger for his hospitality?” Sokka teased, and Zuko brushed past him with a hard jab of his elbow.

“Thanks,” Zuko said sarcastically.

He grinned to himself when Sokka yelped, “Ow!” followed by an airy laugh. When Zuko reached the gate, he glanced over his shoulder past the fabric of Sokka’s jacket to give him a smug smile. Sokka’s laugh faded into a closed-mouth dreamy grin complete with squinted, glistening eyes, and for that Zuko’s nerve was almost wasted.

“You’re not a stranger anymore,” Zuko said quietly, unfamiliar with the flirtatiousness of his voice. Sokka’s face fell, but with a focus that made Zuko wish he could read his mind. “Goodnight, Sokka,” he mumbled and turned away before Sokka could notice any further blushing.

“Goodnight, Zuko,” Sokka called after him. “See you tomorrow.” It was much quieter, and so light Zuko wondered if the wind had tricked him. Before leaving the gate, Zuko stole one more look to find Sokka splayed across a bench with his hands padding the back of his head. He looked up at the stars with a peaceful grin.

After watching Sokka longer than Zuko would have cared to admit, he finally left the deck. As he entered the interior of the ship, the warmth of whirlwind excitement began to fade. The farther he got from Sokka, the more he wanted to turn around, occupy the space next to him on the bench, and outstretch luxuriously with his palms resting under his head. How simple it would have been, to watch the stars.

To be free.

send me the title of a wip for an excerpt!

#thank you anon mwah mwah #zukka #zukka titanic au #zuko #sokka #azula #zukka fic #becks #my work #asks #anon

[the-firebender-girl]

Fire Lord For a Day (Zuko x Reader)

-> There’s a new Fire Lord in town because Zuko lost a bet.

A few years after Zuko was crowned as the Fire Lord and ushered in a new era of peace and harmony, all is finally well between the 4 nations.

The progress of building the war-torn world back up was hard, but not impossible. Under his rule the Fire Nation work to regain its honor and clean its name, doing whatever they can to help restore what they had destroyed. And having the Avatar on his side definitely doesn’t hurt his chances too.

Besides working on the nation, he has worked hard on bettering himself, becoming a better man, someone more deserving of his title. And I think it’s safe to say that he’s well on his way there, Zuko has always been the sane one in the family, the one with a moral compass although he did get somewhat confused in the past before he found who he’s meant to be. Changing for the better is his watchword now.

That thing with Mai didn’t work out too, for the best perhaps. Although they’re compatible and have known each other since they were little, perhaps it wasn’t meant to be anything more than a simple childhood crush, but it can’t really grow past that. They crave for different things in a relationship, Mai was too emotionless, too closed-off, too cold for his taste. After living a life full of loneliness and rejection, all he needs is warmth and acceptance, a pair of welcoming arms.

Perhaps that’s why he’s immediately hooked to her. Y/N. She’s like the sunshine of his life. Her presence brings him so much joy and unconditional love. It was a chance encounter between them. Zuko was walking around the capital in disguise, watching as the world unfold and ran its course around him, how his people are living their life when he bumped into her. Nearly knocking her onto the ground, thank Agni he didn’t.

She apologized profusely when the impact caused his hood to fall back, revealing his face. She wasn’t sure of this new Fire Lord, well he did promise to be different than his ancestors but she needs actions not words. When she won’t stop repeatedly bowing even though he was clearly the one who got in her way, he frowned, and stop her mid-bow.

“You can stop doing that now, i’m okay, there’s nothing to be worried about” He said softly, assuring the poor girl.

“I’m truly sorry Fire Lord, what can I do to make it up to you?” Face still latched with worries, eyebrows tightly knitted.

“Well I still have to think about that” He pretended to contemplate it in his head, one hand positioned under his chin, “In the meantime, how about we discuss it over tea?”

“O—of course Fire Lord Zuko, anything” He can’t help but grimaced, still was not used to the title.

“Zuko please, just call me Zuko”

“Zuko...” She said, testing the name out, how he loved the sound of it.

“And what can I call you, fair lady?”

“Y/N, just Y/N”

“Okay then just Y/N, should we go now?” Zuko said, offering one of his hands for her to hold, which she took gratefully.

“By all means, lead the way Zuko” Finally letting her worries melt away, giving a way in for a smile.

———————————————————————

That was a few years ago.

Turns out that Y/N’s family is the owner of Zen Dimsum & Tea House, the most famous restaurant in the capital. Even Uncle Iroh always squeeze a visit there everytime he comes home.

“Rival only second to Jasmine Dragon itself!” That’s what he claimed.

And now she is officially his girlfriend, him asking her out was anything but romantic. Spirits know how much he lacks in the wooing department. She doesn’t seem to mind it though and said yes in a heartbeat.

She has met the Gaang on several occasions and they all love her. Even the palace servants and guards adore her too. Zuko came to the conclusion that it’s just impossible not to took a liking to her.

That’s what brought us here today. You see about a week ago Zuko had lost a bet to Y/N, and the price she asked for? being a Fire Lord for a day.

Zuko was skeptical at first of course because everything could go downhill real quick, but she assured him that she wouldn’t do anything that could put a permanent damage to his reputation, not too much anyway.

They agreed on this day for his schedule was pretty much empty, no meetings, no strategizing, no council. It’s as perfect as it can be.

Even the Gaang are here too to witness this hilarious once-in-a-blue-moon occasion. Zuko’s never known for being one to let go of the reign. But this girl somehow manages to pulled it off, oh she’s going to be the death of him for sure.

“All hail Fire Lord Y/N” Sokka said in a booming voice, as he puts the Fire Lord headpiece into her top-knot, crowning her for the day.

“All hail Fire Lord Y/N” Aang, Katara, Toph, Suki, and Ty Lee repeated back solemnly while giving an exaggerated bow.

Zuko can’t help but facepalmed himself at the scene that he’s witnessing, Fire Lord Sozin would no doubt have his head if only he were to see this.

“Ahh it feels good to be king” Y/N said, mustering her voice to be as regal as can be, but her grin definitely ruins it.

Uncle Iroh who has somehow founds himself stumbling onto this scene can’t help but let out a loud laughter.

“Now what do we have here? I must say i’m disappointed to see your reign came to an end so soon dear nephew”

Zuko lets out an exasperated groan to which everyone in the room exploded into a series of laughter, this is just too good to be true.

———————————————————————

“What will be your first decree, Your Majesty?” Sokka asked her.

The Gaang, Ty Lee, and Uncle Iroh surrounded her like an entourage, not wanting to miss out on all the fun while a grumbling Zuko trailed not too far behind them.

“Hey Iroh? do you remember when you reigned as the temporary Fire Lord?” Y/N said.

“Of course dear one, it was short but sweet, what about it?”

“I think it’s about time that we bring back what matters most to the people, I hereby declared that National Tea Appreciation Day would be permanently etched into our calendar!”

The Gaang cheer while Uncle Iroh had almost cried on spot, he shrieked happily, hugging the girl tightly.

“You are a blessing to this nation Y/N”

She smiles back at him, “Anything for you, Iroh”

“National Tea Appreciation Day it is then! Toph, mind giving me a hand on drawing the illustration for the official announcement?” Sokka said asking his poster drawing partner, just like old times in Ba Sing Se.

“You got it, boss” Toph grins back at him, giving a thumbs up.

Looking back and forth between his positively glowing uncle and the happiest the Gaang has ever been for some time, Zuko can’t help but feel the tension leaves his body.

“Maybe this won’t be so bad after all”

———————————————————————

“NO! absolutely not! you can’t change our national color to pink and peach Y/N, what do you think we are?” Zuko nearly lose his shit at this madness.

“But I think it’s brilliant, Zuko! red is sooo last centuries” Ty Lee comes to Y/N defense, sticking her tongue out to her childhood friend.

“You guys are crazy” He’s shaking his head frantically, “This nation is doomed” He dramatically said while pulling at his hair, his top-knot has hair sticking out in all directions.

“Oh knock it off, drama king. It’s just for a day! the people deserve to let loose and have some fun. You know you can always revoke it later” Y/N said, pulling her puppy dog eyes at him, lips pouting slightly.

“Please don’t do that... you’re not playing fair Y/N, you know I can’t say no to that face” Zuko grumbles, he’s trying very hard, but she got him putty in her hands.

“You know what? do what you like, it can’t get any worse than this” He said in defeat.

Oh boy if only he knew how wrong he was.

Zuko cannot recognize what he is seeing in front of his eyes. The proud Fire Nation, his nation, is now a seas of pink and peaches.

To his surprise after the announcement of Y/N’s second decree, the people responded to it giddily. They began to dress up in all sorts of pink and peach, their normal red and black outfit long forgotten. Even the usually reserved and standoffish nobles are participating in this event. Excitement buzzing in the air of the capital.

The people are rejoicing, merrily welcoming the arrival of the new ‘Fire Lord’ amidst them with the sound of cheers and clapping. Petals of flowers are thrown to the air, creating a rain of blooms in a flurry of rainbow shades. It’s nice to see them this light-hearted after living under a tyrant for soo long, the constricting rules don’t help either.

For the first time Zuko sees the people of the Fire Nation becoming one, with no clear lines separating between the nobles and the commoners, together right here and now, they are just human who longs for freedom. Freedom that Y/N just gives them, to do as one’s heart content without having to fear for their status or images.

———————————————————————

“Can we have some music over here? real music not the usual propaganda ones, I wanna hear some beat!” Y/N screamed out into the crowd that has filled the Royal Plaza.

“This one really brings the party with her doesn’t she, Sparky?” Toph said to Zuko, as together their eyes sweep over the continously growing crowd.

“Yeah... that she does” Zuko smiles fondly at his girlfriend and the way she enchants the crowd, it’s like they are gravitating towards her.

“Oh no...” Toph said again with a teasing wicked grin, she pointed her finger at him.

“You are so whipped, Sparky”

“That I am Toph, that I am...”

———————————————————————

“WOHOOOO it’s like the secret cave rave all over again!!!” Aang screamed with happiness as he crowd surf. People of all ages dancing below him.

“Aang! you get down here this instant! you’re gonna fall” Katara freaks out watching the Avatar being passed on from hands to hands. Biting her lip so hard she nearly drew blood.

“Oh let him live, Katara! loosen up, it’s a party” Suki said as she elbows her side lightly.

“Why are we just standing here? COME ON” Ty Lee said as she dragged both girls right to the middle of the crowd.

Katara’s screams of “No no no” was the last thing that can be heard before it’s swallowed by the sound of thrumming beats and off-tune singing.

———————————————————————

As the day come to an end, the party died down and people are returning to their respective home. Worn out but as happy as ever.

The Gaang is beaming, their feet light as they make their way back to the palace. Even after all of the heroic things that they had accomplished, it felt nice just to be a bunch of teenagers again.

“I’m beat you guys, i’m probably gonna sleep for the next 2 days” Aang said, pausing mid sentence to let out a yawn.

“Yup good idea, i’m gonna copy you on that” Sokka replied, entertaining the idea of just passing out on the floor right here right now, it looks so tempting. That is before Suki offers him her shoulders to lean on, shaking her head at his antics.

“Goodnight everyone” Katara said, earning back a chorus of “Goodnight” from everyone in return.

“Thanks for the awesome day Y/N” Ty Lee said as she half hugged Y/N before she too makes her way to her room.

Uncle Iroh gave Zuko and Y/N a warm smile, “Go on and rest you two, you both earned it”

“Goodnight uncle”

“Sleep well, Iroh”

———————————————————————

Back in Zuko’s bedroom, they both have cleaned up and changed into their sleepwear but decided that this is a rare moment to just enjoy each other’s presence without the usual pressure of being chased by time constraint.

“Had fun?” Zuko asked as he approaches her who is currently standing in the balcony that looks over the town below.

He wraps his arms around her as she snuggles into him, enjoying the extra warmth that he provided. Zuko leans down to press a kiss atop the crown of her head.

“I’m kinda sad that this day is over but it’s good while it lasts, I had a good run” She said while chuckling a bit at the ridiculousness of the situation. Never in a million years had she imagined this happening to her.

“You certainly made quite an impression on the people, they all adore you, not that i’m surprised it’s about time they all see you the way that I see you”

Y/N tilted her head a bit so that she can see him better, he looks handsome under the moonlight and stars, some pieces of his hair falling down lazily covering one of his eyes.

He looks at her with an intense look in his eyes, suddenly getting all serious.

“If you like it that much, it doesn’t have to end tonight you know?”

This got her letting out a scoff, “What? you’re gonna resign your position to me now?” she asked incredulously.

Zuko rolls his eyes at her, “No, you silly girl”

“How does Fire Lady sounds to you?”

Y/N swears that her heart stopped beating for a milisecond after hearing the words that just came out of her lover’s mouth.

“Are you really proposing to me right now, Fire Lord Zuko?” She said, feigning out a scandalous gasp.

“Spirits you’re dramatic aren’t you”

“You’re one to talk, Zuko”

She pretends to think about it, eyes looking upward, eyebrows scrunching creating a line in her forehead.

Now Zuko is the one who’s starting to get cold feet, what if she rejected him? what if it’s too much? too soon? how brash of him to just throw around this responsibility so carelessly. Before he can start hyperventilating, she raises her hand to cup his cheek gently, rubbing a soothing finger in a left and right motion to calm down his strung nerve.

“That sounds perfect” Sincerity evident in her voice, “I’ll be honored Zuko, if you’ll have me”

“Oh thank the spirits”

He’s in a state of euphoria, pulling her in even closer, he gently takes her face into his hands and lean down to kiss her. A slow, passionate kiss where they pour as much love as they can muster into it.

As they broke apart, Zuko takes her hand and entertwine their fingers together. Leading her back into his room and walk to the front of the vanity.

He opens one of the drawers, taking out a beautiful box decorated with carvings of dragon and fire lillies. Inside it is a gleaming piece of gold in the shape of a flame, the Fire Lady headpiece.

“May I?” He asks her.

She can only nods, emotions threatening to make her burst.

Zuko takes the headpiece and carefully inserted it into her top-knot, it sits perfectly, right where it should be.

“My Fire Lady” Zuko said as he can’t help but smile as he stares at her reflection in the mirror, leaning down to give a kiss to her cheek.

———————————————————————

The national colors went back to the normal red and black but the smiles on his people’s faces remains. Especially after hearing the official engaged-to-be-married announcement of their Fire Lord to she who has brought happiness not only to him, but to the people as well.

That day as she stood beside him from the top stair of the palace, hands waving to the cheering crowd of people below, proudly adorning the Fire Lady headpiece in her hair, Zuko thought to himself.

Yeah Uncle Iroh is never wrong, she is a blessing to this nation.

“All hail Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Y/N” Uncle Iroh said, giving his salute to the new reigning monarch.

“All hail Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Y/N”

———————————————————————

A/N : I’ve been very productive lately and there’s a lot more stories waiting to be finished in my draft😉 this is my second Zuko fic and as for me i’m very pleased with how it turns out but I really want to hear from you guys too soo feedbacks are definitely hoped for so that I can improve my writing♥️ anyways thank you so much for reading til the end and i’ll see you on another fic lovelies!

#aang #atla #atla aang #atla rewatch #avatar the last airbender #avatar the legend of aang #atla zuko #avatar zuko #zuko #zuko x reader #fire lord zuko #prince zuko #prince zuko fanfic #prince zuko imagine #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko x you #zuko drabble #zuko imagine #zuko smut #zuko x reader smut #atla fandom #atla fanfic #atla imagine #atla drabble #atla smut #uncle iroh #iroh & zuko #katara #sokka atla #toph beifong

[littlelovelyspiderling]

The Competition

I’d say oops part 3 but these are so fun to write and bring me such joy that I’m gonna stop apologizing for it haha

The avatar gang competes to see who can get Zuko to laugh first. Adorableness ensues.

word count: 8116

__________________________

“Zuko doesn’t emote much, does he?”

Katara was staring at the young Fire Nation prince as she said it. He was lying against Appa, fully asleep even though the sun had only set an hour ago. She had noticed that, if circumstances permitted it, Zuko tended to rise and fall with the sun, waking at sunrise before anyone else to meditate in the soft morning glow, then nodding off quickly after the last whispers of light had vanished behind the horizon. Perhaps it had something to do with fire benders’ dependency on the sun: the way it fueled their strength and abilities, just as she drew power from the moon. 

Whatever the reason, it was amusing—the way he conked out like a baby polar leopard long before anyone else in the group had even considered turning in for the night. 

Sokka scoffed, tearing eagerly into a strip of salmon jerky. “Are you kidding me?” he said between bites. “The guy yells every other sentence that leaves his mouth. How is that not emotive?”

“He does have a bit of a temper,” Aang admitted, shooting an anxious glance in Zuko’s direction before continuing. “But it’s something he’s told me he’s working on. I think being angry is like his base temperature, so we should try to be patient with him.”

Aang grinned enthusiastically. Katara shook her head. 

“I know he’s good at expressing his anger. I guess I meant emoting in more...positive ways. He barely ever smiles, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh before.” She stared at him sullenly. “Do you think he’s all right?”

The rest of the group followed her gaze to the slumbering teenager. The campfire in the center of their circle rose and fell with his steady breathing. 

“He does have a lot going on, what with the having to betray his nation and leave his home and help Aang defeat his dad and all,” Toph pointed out. “But I think you’re reading this wrong, Katara. Maybe Zuko just doesn’t express happiness the same way we do. Maybe it’s more subtle.” She popped a berry into her mouth. “But that doesn’t mean he’s not enjoying being here with us.”

Katara crossed her arms in thought. “Yeah,” she conceded. “Maybe.” She turned back to the group with a line between her eyes. “It just...makes me sad. It’d be nice to see him be unsubtly happy for a change, wouldn’t it? I know all of your laughs and smiles by heart at this point. I feel like I’ll never know him completely until I recognize his.”

The only times Zuko ever flagrantly expressed himself were when he was shouting angrily about something or shooting awake from another horrendous nightmare, drenched in a cold sweat with tears shining in the corners of his eyes. Happy emotions were restricted to tiny smiles that vanished in a heartbeat and the slightest lift in his otherwise level voice. Katara wondered what kinds of hardships he’d endured to make him this way. What cruel forces had forged him into the teenager that slept by their side—a person who shrunk from joy like it was dangerous, poisonous. 

Aang sprung to his feet suddenly, making the others wince in surprise. “Ooh, ooh!” he exclaimed excitedly. “I know what to do! We should have a competition!”

The group sat in silence for a moment. “A...competition?” Sokka parroted, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah!” Aang cheered, pointing at the still-sleeping Zuko. “Whoever can get Zuko to laugh first wins!”

The gang exchanged a look of confusion and intrigue. It was such a silly proposition. 

“And I mean really laugh,” he elaborated. “Like, Sokka-after-Toph-inhaled-fire-flakes laugh.”

Sokka burst into giggles at the mention of the incident while Toph frowned at her feet. “Oho man, that was the best!” he cackled, wiping his eyes.

“Yeah, like that!” Aang continued exuberantly. “For the next few days, all of us should try to make Zuko do the Zuko-equivalent of that. And whoever gets him to do it first wins!”

Katara grinned at the idea. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t imagine what Zuko’s laugh might sound like. She needed to hear it firsthand, which would clearly require creativity on their end. Her mind was already grasping for potential leads. 

“I like it,” she decided. “Are there any rules?”

Aang tapped his chin in thought. “Hmm. No telling Zuko about the competition or what we’re trying to do. That’ll spoil it. We also have to take turns trying to make him laugh—as in, you can’t try something once then immediately try something else; everyone has to go again before you get to take another stab at it. And everyone has to witness it happening and agree on the winner for it to count.”

Sokka stretched his arms over his head with a smirk. “Well then, the rest of you might as well duck out now. Everyone knows I’m the king of gut-busting jokes and sarcasm. Sokka’s got this in the bag.”

“The Air Nomads are famous for having great senses of humor,” Aang retorted cheerfully. “I’ve got an entire cultural heritage of making people laugh on my side. Don’t count me out just yet.”

Katara rolled her eyes. “You guys are so conceited. Always thinking your hilarious wit is the answer to everything.”

Aang and Sokka shared a puzzled scowl. “What’s your plan then, Miss Anti-Humor?” Sokka asked. 

Katara colored. “Um, w-well—” Her eyes darted around their campsite before landing on Momo. She scooped the lemur off the ground and placed him on her head. “I’ll make him laugh with fun! See? Fun!”

Momo warbled lazily as Sokka shook his head. “You’d best leave this to the experts, Katara. Fun hasn’t ever exactly been your thing.”

Momo leapt off her head as Katara pouted. “We’ll see,” she grumbled.

“What if none of us find a way to make Zuko laugh?” Toph inquired. “What happens then?”

“Those sound like the words of someone who is going down!” Sokka cried triumphantly. Aang shrugged. 

“Then I guess we just keep trying.”

Toph pursed her lips before hinting a smile. “All right. I’m in.” She polished off her handful of berries. “Oh, and I’m one hundred percent winning this thing.”

“That’s the spirit!” Aang said. He pumped his fist in the air. “The competition begins at daybreak tomorrow!”

The group settled in for the night, brainstorming their own series of elaborate, laugh-inducing schemes to test out in the morning. Zuko slept soundly, unaware of what awaited him once he woke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You seem distracted.”

Aang blinked, his focus snapping back to the tranquil cliffside and the scowling fire bender standing in front of him.

“Oh, uh, distracted?” he said, balling his hands at his sides with an innocent smile. “No, I’m not distracted.”

“Then get it right this time,” Zuko snapped, assuming a low stance. “Kick up, recenter, then punch out. Fire comes from the breath, so exhale at the peak of your move, not a second too early or late.”

Zuko demonstrated the action again, thrusting his foot in the air, reclaiming his balance, then jabbing his fist forward, flames gliding and shooting with his movements in perfect harmony. A burst of fire exploded from his knuckles at the end of the move, sending a wave of heat washing over Aang.

Aang winced back and swallowed. “Right. I’m sure I’ll have it down in no time.” A smile seized his features. “But before I do that, I have a surprise for you!”

Zuko’s fierce expression shifted to puzzled. “What?” he said, relaxing out of his solid stance for a moment. 

“Wait right there!” Aang said, then darted away, disappearing behind Appa. Zuko huffed, crossing his arms against his chest. 

“If you’re trying to bribe me out of today’s lesson, it’s not going to work. You still have five sets of fire lunges to get through.”

“It’s not a bribe!” Aang’s voice insisted from afar, echoing down the cliff side. “It’s just a token of appreciation—you know, for joining the group and being such a wonderful firebending teacher.” 

He reappeared with a giant grin on his face and his hands hidden behind his back. The rest of the gang sat around their campsite, looking unusually interested in Aang and Zuko’s training session. 

Zuko scanned the avatar warily as he approached. Aang stopped a few feet back, chipper as always. 

“Are you ready?” he asked, smiling wide.

“I guess,” Zuko deadpanned. 

Aang extended his hands forward, revealing his gift. “Ta-da!” he exclaimed.

Zuko blinked. It was...a cake. Of some sort. A small, round pastry with some kind of red jelly in the center. It was surprisingly professional-looking, especially considering they were out in the woods with no markets or ovens nearby. 

“I baked it for you with firebending!” Aang explained. “I even flavored the center with fire gummies so it’d taste like home.”

Zuko was taken back by the thoughtful gesture. This all felt largely unwarranted. “Um,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “Thanks? I guess?”

Aang held it out eagerly. “Go on, try it! It’s an old Air Nomad recipe. It’s really good!”

“I’ll try it after we’re done training,” Zuko said, re-assuming his power stance. “Now then—show me the move I just demonstrated for you.”

“Aw, come one,” Aang whined. “Just one bite! Please? I promise you won’t—”

Aang staggered forward suddenly, tripping over his own foot. He hoped it didn’t look too staged—like falling with the cake in his hands hadn’t been his plan all along. The alarm that crossed Zuko’s expression indicated his performance was a success. Zuko tried lunging forward to help him, but it was too late—with a yelp, Aang face-planted into his culinary creation, splattering cake and jelly at the prince’s feet. 

A beat passed where Zuko just stood there, mouth agape. Then the rest of the group exploded into hysterical laughter, gripping their stomachs and doubling over themselves.

“Ohokay, that was pretty good,” Sokka admitted between giggles.

“Look at Twinkle Toes, starting things off strong,” Toph agreed.

Aang lifted his face out of the cake, letting the goo and batter slip off for a moment to enhance the effect. At the very least, he expected a smile to cross Zuko’s lips. Instead, he just looked startled. 

“Aw, man,” he said, offering him a hand. “Are you okay?”

Behind the layer of flattened pastry, Aang frowned. “Yeah, of course,” he said. “I just tripped.”

“Sorry about the cake. It, uh, sounded like you worked hard on it.”

The others were still cackling like hyena bats behind them. Aang swiped his hand across his cake-covered face bemusedly. It didn’t make sense. Why wasn’t Zuko laughing?

“But don’t you think it’s funny?” he asked. “That I, you know, tripped and fell face-first into it?”

Zuko narrowed his eyes. “Do you...want me to think it’s funny?”

“Kinda! I don’t know. Everyone else does.”

The firebender wasn’t sure how to respond. “You worked hard on something, and now it’s ruined. That’s already bad enough. I didn’t want to make you feel worse.”

Aang couldn’t believe how spectacularly his plan had failed. Everything had gone perfectly except for Zuko’s reaction. This might be harder than he thought. He dropped his face back into the cake, groaning in defeat. While the others continued giggling, Zuko placed his hands on his hips.

“Let’s, uh, break from training for today. We can pick up where we left off tomorrow.”

Aang gave a halfhearted thumbs up as the prince walked away. Zuko: 1, Aang: 0.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was around lunch time when Sokka made his move. The rest of the group watched in anticipation as the next competitor approached their target. 

“Hiya, Zuko!” Sokka greeted him. The teen sat by the fire pit with the others, eating a bowl of soup. 

“Hi...Sokka,” he addressed him hesitantly, popping the spoon out of his mouth. “Can I help you?”

Sokka jabbed his index finger into the air. “As a matter of fact, you can! I have a very important question to ask you.”

Zuko shot dubious looks at the other members of the group before sitting up a little straighter. “Okay,” he said. 

Clearing his throat, Sokka broke into a grin. “Why are firebenders always the slowest runners?”

Zuko thought on it for a moment. A frown wrinkled his features. “We are?”

“Because they get too easily burnt out!” Sokka howled, laughing wildly at his own joke, slapping his knee and hugging his belly. Zuko just stared at him, blinking his strikingly golden eyes. A few seconds later, the tiniest of smiles lifted one corner of his mouth.

“Oh, I get it,” he said. “That’s funny.”

Toph, Aang, and Katara giggled softly behind their hands—more out of pity than anything else. Sokka gawked.

“Wait—that’s it?”

Zuko tilted his head slightly. “What’s it?”

“I spent all night coming up with that joke!”

“I said it was funny,” Zuko said defensively.

“If you thought it was funny, why didn’t you laugh?”

Zuko downed the rest of his soup and shrugged sheepishly. “I’m...sorry?”

The rest of the gang snickered into their palms. Sokka groaned.

“Wait, wait—one more chance,” he pleaded, more to the others than to Zuko. Zuko had no idea why it was suddenly so important that he found Sokka’s jokes hilarious. Recovering part of his trampled dignity, Sokka coughed, then tried again.

“What do you get when you dunk Momo in a pitcher of lemon juice?” 

Zuko sighed, leaning back with his hands folded behind his head. “Gee, I don’t know, Sokka. What do you get when you dunk Momo in a pitcher of lemon juice?” 

Sokka’s eyebrow twitched crossly. Patronizing, much? “Lemurnade,” he muttered out. “You—you get lemurnade.”

At that, Aang cracked up, his laughter ringing like a bell. “Haha! Good one, Sokka!”

Sokka hung his head. “Thanks, Aang,” he mumbled, then sulked away, heavily chagrined. Zuko watched him go, feeling like he’d done something wrong.

“What’s his deal?” he asked the group. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Toph assured him, stifling a snort. “That’s just Sokka being Sokka.”

Zuko furrowed his brow. Was it just him, or were all of them acting...strange? It felt like they were paying more attention to him than normal, and hanging on his every response to their interactions like it was life or death. Around these guys, he preferred to fade into the background rather than be center stage; they were all such good friends, and they had so much history together, whereas he...well, they had history, all right, but not exactly the good kind. He found he was perfectly content listening to them talk from the sidelines, only joining the conversation when he was directly addressed. 

After lunch, the group headed to a nearby stream to wash off and cool down. Zuko stood at the edge of the riverbank, watching Momo paw at the minnows in the shallow pools between the reeds, when Katara tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey Zuko,” she said, looking artificially high-spirited. “You want to see something fun?”

Zuko gave her a questioning look. “Fun?” he repeated, turning to face her. What is with everyone today? He hunched his shoulders. “Um...okay.”

Zuko didn’t know what he was expecting her to do—propose some kind of group activity, show off a new waterbending move, maybe—but it certainly wasn’t her placing both hands on his chest and shoving him full-force into the river. The prince yelped and flailed, teetering frantically on the edge of the bank before tipping backwards and dropping into the water with a splash. Zuko resurfaced a few seconds later, his wet hair sticking to his face, his eyes wide. Immediately, the group erupted into a chorus of laughter, making the firebender blush.

“W-what on earth, Katara?” he stammered, slicking his hair back so it wasn’t falling in his eyes. “What was that for?”

“For fun, of course!” she exclaimed nervously, as if she was trying to convince herself. “Wasn’t that fun?”

“Not really!” he growled. He clambered up the riverbank, griping and grumbling the whole time, steam rising off his thoroughly soaked clothing. The others continued to giggle at his dripping, disheveled appearance. “What part of that was supposed to be fun?”

“I thought it was pretty fun,” Sokka chuckled from the opposite side of the river. Zuko reddened beneath their stares and quickly turned away, crossing his arms tight to his chest.

“Sorry, Zuko,” Katara said. “Here.”

Using her bending, she pulled the water out of his clothes so he was dry again. Zuko scratched at his wild mess of hair, eyeing Katara thoughtfully.

After a pause, Zuko made a rash decision. His arms jerked forward before he could talk himself out of it, pushing Katara into the river, making her fall faster than she could react. She hit the water with a shriek, sending waves in every direction. The rest of the group gaped.

“Hey!” Katara gasped as she broke the surface, hands balled into fists. Zuko smirked.

“I take it back. You’re right, Katara. That is pretty fun.”

The others laughed again, and Katara eventually joined them, drawing the water from her hair and flinging it playfully at Zuko. Zuko flinched back with a smile, but that was the closest she got: still no progress on the laughing end. Not even the tiniest giggle.   

It looked like The Water Tribe siblings had struck out as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Toph’s decision to strike at night had been her plan from the start. Laughter always flowed more organically after dark, after all. The more tired you were, the more funny things seemed—even things that arguably weren’t that funny in the first place.

The light from their campfire gilded the group in an orange sheen. Zuko blinked sleepily, watching the flames lap toward the night sky, his golden eyes reflecting the glow in an arrestingly brilliant way. She waited until his heartbeat began to slow before executing her plan. While Sokka studied a map of the Fire Nation, Katara charted the stars, and Aang scratched Momo’s tummy, Toph rose to her feet.

“Watch this,” she said out of nowhere. Then she pounded her heel into the ground, causing the earth underneath Sokka to jump up like a spring, shooting him high into the air. Sokka screamed in surprise, bounced between the branches of a nearby tree, then crashed to the ground with a grunt. 

Katara and Aang’s jaws dropped open. Spitting and sputtering, Sokka scrambled to his hands and knees in a befuddled fury. “Toph!” he screeched, leaves and twigs sticking out of his hair.

Toph busted out laughing while everyone just stared. When she realized no one else was joining her, her giggles gradually petered away. 

“What? You guys didn’t think that was funny?” 

“It was certainly...surprising?” Aang ventured to say.

“A bit violent, though,” Katara added.

“A bit?” Sokka cried, wagging his arms through the air. “She catapulted me into a tree!”

Toph snorted. “Well I thought it was hilarious. Zuko?”

All eyes turned to gauge the prince’s reaction. They were stunned to see his body slack and his head lolled to one side. Their resident firebender was out cold, sleeping peacefully. 

With a huff, Toph flopped to the ground. “Are you kidding me? That was some of my best material!”

“Wow,” Aang mused, resting his chin on his kneecaps. “I can’t believe how big of a bust today was.”

“Seriously! I laughed at everything everyone tried with him! All of us are objectively hilarious, but still nothing!” Sokka jabbed an angry finger at Toph before she could respond. “Not you, Toph. I’m going to be picking bugs out of my hair for weeks!” He slumped to the ground, gazing at Zuko through the flickering tongues of the fire. “Man! What’s it gonna take to get this guy to laugh?”

Toph shrugged. “Maybe I was right. Maybe laughing just isn’t the way he expresses happiness.”

“That can’t be true,” Katara stated indignantly. “We’ve just got to keep trying. Maybe in Fire Nation culture, royalty aren’t allowed to laugh or something, and he’s still stuck in that mindset. All we need to do now is find the right way to draw him out of it.”

“First dancing is outlawed, now laughing?” Sokka slapped his forehead. “Why is the Fire Nation so obsessed with destroying all things fun?”

Toph swirled her finger in the air. “Or maybe you’re all just not as funny as you think you are.”

While Sokka viciously protested Toph’s proposal, Aang narrowed his eyes and stuck out his bottom lip. “If we’re determined to make Zuko laugh, we have to find out what he thinks is funny. Perhaps his sense of humor is just different from ours.” Aang smiled at his friends. “Don’t worry, guys. I have a plan.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zuko yawned and rubbed his eyes as he strolled up the quiet hillside. The grass shivered in the cool breeze and the sky was a painting of pinks and purples and blues. 

Morning meditation was a drag sometimes, but it helped him clear his head, reorient his senses, and tame his inner fire. Plus, after his haunting betrayal in Ba Sing Se, it was one of the only ways he could still feel connected to his uncle. Uncle was the person who taught him the value of disciplined meditation—a practice he hadn’t realized wasn’t widely exercised among firebenders until he was older. Rather, it was actually an Air Nomad tradition Iroh had picked up and passed on to his nephew. 

Sticking to his uncle’s mindful regime didn’t make Zuko feel better about what he’d done, but...it was something. A small memento to Iroh’s unconditional kindness and wisdom that he could maintain, even if he never got the chance to redeem himself.

As Zuko rounded the crown of the hill, he was surprised to see smoke rising from their campsite. The others were usually still asleep by the time he got back. He heard chatter and the sound of something hissing over the fire. A wave of smells washed over him that was oddly familiar—warm, spicy, nostalgic. 

“Zuko!” Aang cried once the prince stepped into view. The sleepy prince was shirtless and wore pants that cut off just above his kneecaps. He tended to run hot, being a firebender and all, so it wasn’t an unusual sight. The others popped up excitedly and grinned, as if they’d been waiting for him.

“What’s going on?” Zuko asked, kneading the heel of one hand into his eye. He sniffed the air and frowned. “Are you...cooking jook?”

“Yeah! And ash banana bread!” Katara presented a hefty portion of each for him. “Aang swung by the market at the base of the mountain and found all the ingredients.”

Zuko blinked at the offering then between his four friends. “This is Fire Nation food,” he said.

“Is it!” Sokka agreed. “Well, our attempt at it, anyway.”

“You guys hate Fire Nation food,” Zuko continued skeptically. “Why are you making it?”

“Just because we hate the Fire Nation doesn’t mean we hate all Fire Nation food,” Toph said, wrinkling her nose. “Although, I think I’ll pass on the jook.”

Sokka took a large bite of banana bread. “And even if we did hate it, it doesn’t matter. You like Fire Nation food, right?”

Zuko hadn’t realized how much he’d missed the delicacies of his country until now. After weeks of eating nothing but what they could forage and hunt in the wild, his stomach ached for an authentic taste of home. 

“Yeah,” he finally answered, still unsure what all this was leading to.

“Great! Because we made this for you!” Sokka slurped up a spoonful of jook and smiled wide.

Warily, Zuko accepted the bowl and the bread from Katara. He didn’t know what to say, other than—

“Why?”

Aang cocked his head to one side. “Why what?” he asked. 

“Why...did you make this for me?”

The group exchanged a look, like that was the silliest question they’d ever heard. Toph chuckled. 

“Because we like you, stupid. You're our friend, and we like doing things that make you happy.”

The words floated around his head for a while before seeping into his brain. Once they did, Zuko’s face flushed warm and pink. “Oh,” he said. He gazed into the steaming bowl in his hand. It looked just like the kind Uncle made for him. Where is all this coming from? he wondered. Was it something I did or said? This slew of kind gestures felt so undeserved and foreign, especially coming from the people he’d spent a significant portion of time terrorizing. A few moments later, a shy smile lifted the corners of his lips. 

“Well, thanks. I’m touched.”

“Here, sit,” Sokka said, scooting over to make room. Zuko sat down beside him and took a sip from his bowl. He brightened delightedly. 

“It’s great,” he said. Not as good as Uncle’s, he conceded; Iroh had a much heavier hand with the ginger. But still great—better than he could ever make. He fidgeted beneath all their attentive stares. “You guys didn’t have to do this.”

“It was a lot of trouble,” Sokka admitted, earning a whack from Katara. He winced, rubbing the fresh bump on his head. “But—ow—we were happy to do it.”

Aang floated into a sitting position on Zuko’s left, landing beside him like a leaf drifting delicately to the ground. “Speaking of happiness, I’ve been meaning to ask you: can you remember the hardest you’ve ever laughed in your life?”

It was a very bizarre and random inquiry, and didn’t seem at all like a natural segue in the conversation. But that appeared to be a theme among the avatar gang, so Zuko played along.

“Um,” he began, shifting to cross his legs on top of each other. “The hardest?” He grasped for a memory from his youth, but it was all so distant and fuzzy. Whispers and sprinkles of laughter buried beneath years of fear and obedience. Eventually, he shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe when I was little, with my mom. Or maybe with Uncle.”

He went back to his jook, thinking he’d satisfied their curiosity. Katara leaned toward him impatiently. 

“Maybe that’s too specific. How about the happiest you’ve ever been? When was that?”

Zuko lowered the bowl from his lips and eyed Katara curiously. “The happiest I’ve ever been?” he repeated back. 

“Yeah! Like, what period of your life would you consider the most joy-filled?”

Another unexpected question. This was getting weirdly personal. He could sense there was an end goal to all this prying, but he had yet to pinpoint it. Zuko ran the back of his hand across his mouth. 

“Uh...well...again, I’m not sure.” He thought hard about it for a few seconds, trying to recall an era of his life when he’d felt happy—truly happy, for an extended length of time. “I guess I remember moments of being happy, but...not entire periods. Working at the Jasmine Dragon with Uncle was nice while it lasted. But even then, it felt kind of forced.” He nibbled at the ash banana bread. It was warm and cinnamon-y and tasted like autumn. He swallowed and hinted a smile. “But being here, helping you guys...I’d say this is the happiest I’ve ever been. Because for once in my life, I know I’m doing the right thing.”

The statement was small but sincere. As his words sunk in, the group mirrored his smile tenfold. They shared knowing looks with one another, each with the same thought in their head. So this is Zuko’s version of happy. It’s definitely different, definitely subtle, but it’s him—and it’s genuine.

Maybe Zuko didn’t laugh loudly or smile all the time. That didn’t mean he was sad or broken. He just had his own way of expressing joy. And that was okay. It was reassuring to know that Zuko was in a good place, even if he didn’t show it as obviously as the rest of them did. The competition wasn’t over yet—that was a given—but if they continued to fail, at least they knew it wasn’t because Zuko was upset or discouraged. 

“Aw, Zuko—ya big softy,” Sokka teased, poking him in the ribs. To his surprise, the prince jerked away from his touch, a small yelp escaping him. Zuko turned to him bewilderedly, eyes wide. Oops, Sokka thought. Had he hurt him by accident? Maybe he had an injury he didn’t know about. He’d nearly made him drop his jook. 

“Oh, sorry,” Sokka said. “Are you okay?”

Zuko clenched his jaw. “Y-yeah,” he answered quickly, rubbing at his rib cage. “You—sorry, you just startled me.” 

He appeared flustered suddenly, like he was hiding something. Maybe he’d wounded himself in a really embarrassing way and didn’t want anyone else to find out about it. Sokka looked to the others for insight, but none of them seemed to have noticed Zuko’s weird reaction to his touch. 

“This startled you?” he inquired suspiciously, poking him again, lower this time. Zuko responded the same way as before, flinching and squeaking like he was being electrocuted. But as Sokka watched his expression change, he realized he wasn’t wincing or grimacing in pain. Instead, a grin flashed across his face, bigger and brighter than he’d ever seen, then vanished a second later, smothered by a look of shock and anger. 

“Quit it!” he snapped, hopping to his feet. He pursed his lips to keep them from turning upright. 

Sokka recognized his response. He’d seen it from the kids in their Water Tribe village as they wrestled playfully with their mothers and one another. Katara, too, when they’d played as children. A devious smile gradually spread across Sokka’s face. No way, he thought.

The rest of the group looked at Zuko confusedly but shrugged it off. He yelled a lot—it wasn’t anything new. Now was Sokka’s chance.

“Aang, let’s go. Time for your firebending lesson. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

He was talking rapidly, eager to abscond this situation before it escalated any further. Aang let out a disappointed groan.

“Okay,” he murmured, floating to his feet. Sokka stood with him.

Oh no you don’t.

As Zuko turned to leave, Sokka ran up behind him, wrapping his arms around his midsection. 

��Sorry—one more time. This startled you?”

With fiendish glee, he dug into his torso, wiggling his fingers into his belly and sides. Zuko yelped and flailed, not anticipating the surprise attack. He tried to pry Sokka’s hands away, but the Water Tribe teen was stronger than he looked. His flustered sputtering transformed into stifled squeaks. Two seconds later, the dam finally broke.

“Ahahaha!” Zuko belted out, grappling at Sokka’s hands as they clawed at his tummy. “S-Sohakka! Whahat are you doohooing?”

“Winning this competition, that’s what!” Sokka exclaimed. He poked and prodded at his ribs, making Zuko thrash and giggle. 

“Hahahagh! Gehet off me!”

Zuko broke Sokka’s hold and wrenched out of his grip, staggering forward so fast he fell to the ground. He rolled onto his back and scrambled a few more paces away, staring up Sokka in disbelief, blushing violently.

“W-what is wrong with you?” he stammered, hugging his stomach protectively.

It took a moment for everyone to register what had just transpired. But as soon as it did, shock and delight sprawled across all of their faces. 

“You…”

“Did he just—?”

“Oh man! You did it!”

“Yeah I did!” Sokka cheered, striking a pose. “Told you I was gonna win this thing! Bow down to your champion!”

“Win what thing?” Zuko growled, his face still tinted pink. He stood up nervously, scowling between them. “What’s going on here?”

“We’ve been playing a game to see who could get you to laugh first,” Aang explained. “None of us had ever heard you laugh before, so we wanted to try to make you do it. And now we finally have!”

“You mean I have,” Sokka corrected him smugly.

The idea that they’d spent the past twenty-four hours committed to hearing his laugh puzzled him. Why did it matter what it sounded like? It wasn’t particularly important or helpful information to have. Why did they care so much about something so trivial? The situation was odd and embarrassing yet strangely heartwarming. But mostly embarrassing. Zuko hunched his shoulders crossly.

“That’s what all this weirdness has been about? Why didn’t you just tell me what you were doing?”

“Because we wanted it to happen naturally!” Katara said, throwing her hands in the air. “But apparently none of us are funny enough for your taste!”

The group giggled. Zuko wasn’t sure what to say. A smirk touched Toph’s lips.

“Huh. I never would’ve thought to try tickling you.” She placed her hands on her hips. “I guess I just didn’t expect the Grumpy McGrouchy Pants prince of the Fire Nation to be ticklish.”

“And that laugh!” Sokka snickered. “Have you guys ever heard anything so adorable?”

Heat boiled to the surface of Zuko’s skin. “I’m not…!” he began, but he had no idea where he was going with this. For people who claimed to be his friends, they sure liked humiliating him and making him blush a lot. With an angry huff, he turned away. “Whatever. I’m going fishing.”

As he started to leave, Katara, Aang, Sokka, and Toph shared a wicked grin, locking down their next course of action without exchanging a single word. Sokka moved first, dashing after him and hooking his elbows underneath Zuko’s armpits, making the prince start.

“Hey!” he cried, struggling against his hold.

“You’re not what, Prince Zuko? Not ticklish, or not adorable?”

Zuko burned inside and out. He tried to throw Sokka over his shoulder, but the other teen planted his feet and hoisted Zuko off the ground, taking all of his leverage with him. He kicked and floundered, feeling small and ridiculous.

“Let me go!” he demanded.  

“Either way, we’re obliged to prove you wrong.” Sokka beamed at the others, voice laced with mischief. “Get him, guys!”

Zuko opened his eyes to find Katara, Aang, and Toph approaching him, smirking with fiendish delight. This cued the prince to fight even harder to escape, his legs flailing through the air. 

“Besides, we only got to listen to you laugh for a few seconds,” Katara pointed out, curling her fingers into claws. “I’ll need to hear it a little longer than that to memorize it.”

“And to determine just how adorable it really is!” Aang added. 

There were a lot of things Zuko had dreaded facing after joining the avatar’s gang. His dark past, the Fire Nation’s tyrannical cruelty, his plethora of failures and mistakes. This, however, had not been one of things he’d had in mind. 

Zuko considered heating up his hands just enough to make Sokka release him, but he didn’t want to betray the trust he had only just recently earned from all of them. If he accidentally burned another person on their team, he’d never forgive himself. 

Though perhaps that’d be worth avoiding the mortifying predicament he currently found himself in. 

“W-wahait!” he yelped, giggly dread amassing in his belly. He kicked in their direction to keep them from getting any closer. “Stay back!”

Sokka wrestled to keep the squirmy prince still. “Toph, a little help?” he called. 

Toph grinned and thrust her palms toward the sky. Two hands made of earth rose up from underneath Zuko and grabbed hold of his ankles. As she lowered her hands back down, the earth hands moved with hers, dragging his legs toward the ground then morphing into a pair of rock bonds encased around his feet, keeping them firmly trapped in place. 

Oh no. Zuko wriggled and wrenched, but there was nowhere for him to go. Unless he firebent his way out, he was defenseless. 

Before he could voice any more protests, Katara closed the space between them, her hands reaching his torso and scuttling up his bare sides. Zuko jolted and gasped, a giant smile lighting up his whole face despite his attempts to squash it.

“Ahahaheehee!” he giggled, squirming and shifting to try to get away. It was no use. Her fingers needled his exposed midsection freely and mercilessly, driving the sensitive prince absolutely nuts. The blush in his cheeks bled down his neck. “Wahait—mmheh—ehahaha!”

“Not ticklish at all, I see,” Katara said smugly. “And certainly not adorable, no.” She scribbled her nails all over his belly, parroting his endearing smile. It was so big and radiant and happy—a hundred times more so than she ever could’ve imagined. His laugh was another matter entirely—bright, bubbly, hysterically shrill. Far too cute for the human language to articulate. Plus, outrageously contagious.

“Stahahap it!” Zuko cackled, tugging uselessly at Sokka’s arms. The boy’s grip was like iron. Katara ignored him, testing and teasing every inch of his twitchy torso, kneading his tummy and pinching his sides and fluttering her fingers underneath his rib cage. He couldn’t believe how much it tickled, or how wild his own laughter sounded. None of them had realized how loud and uncontrollable Zuko’s laugh could get until now—including himself. 

Two hands on his ticklish belly were already enough to drive the giggly prince out of his mind. Of all days to meditate shirtless, why did he have to choose today? But then, to his horror, two more hands joined the fray, drilling into his hip bones with diabolical intensity and precision. Zuko bucked and squealed, his laughter reaching an entirely new caliber. 

“Ahahahaha!” he bubbled, shaking his head from side to side. “NohohahahAang!”

Zuko thought out of everyone present, the avatar would be the one to approach this situation with the most mercy and compassion. Boy, was he wrong. The airbender attacked his weak points like he’d been trained in the ancient art of tickle torture—as if tickling was a fifth element, and he’d already more than mastered it. 

“I can’t believe we went a whole day trying to be funny to make you laugh when all you needed was a little tickling!” Aang chirped cheerfully. “I also can’t believe you made us go this long without hearing what your laugh sounds like. It’s so cute and happy! Why don’t you do it more often?” 

If Aang expected Zuko to reply, he wasn’t making it easy. He furrowed his brow and stuck out his tongue as he explored the prince’s sensitive midsection, working in tandem with Katara so that every tickle spot on his torso got a turn being poked and squeezed and stroked. Zuko couldn’t stand another second. 

“Guhuhuhuys!” he howled. This was a nightmare. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse. He had to make them stop.

“Try tickling his ribs!” Sokka suggested suddenly, grinning with malicious glee. “He was super jumpy when I poked them before!” 

“Ooh, good idea!” Aang said. He skittered his hands up his sides then shook them viciously into his rib cage, making the poor teenager squawk.

The universe just loved proving him wrong, didn’t it?

“NOHOHAHA!” he bellowed, throwing his head back, nearly hitting Sokka in the face. “Gaha! Youhou—jerherherherks! Ahahaaa!”

The gang giggled along with him without slowing their attack. “Hey, there’s the Zuko we all know and love,” Toph chuckled. She sat on top of his buried feet and began skating her nails against the backs and caps of his knees, drawing feathery circles into the sensitive skin and causing goosebumps to shoot up his legs. It was gentler than Aang and Katara’s cruel tickle tactics—a fact he had to be grateful for—but still contributed significantly to his overall state of flustered, twitchy hysteria. 

“Aw, look at you, Prince Zu-Zu! So smiley and giggly and squirmy!” Katara bunched up her hands and spidered her nails against his belly button, making Zuko shriek and thrash like a little kid. “I can’t believe we were ever afraid of your adorable little face! If only we’d known back then how easy it is to defeat you! Just a couple tickles here, a few pokes there…”

She moved her hands across his tummy while she spoke, wiggling her fingernails as they dragged along his skin, cooing at him the entire time. Meanwhile, Aang was absolutely wrecking his ribs, grinding his knuckles ruthlessly into the bone. 

“Right? He’s cuter than a baby turtle duck!” 

“No wonder his uncle adores him so much,” Toph agreed.

Zuko wanted to disintegrate. The relentless teasing was just as cruel as the six hands tickling him to pieces. He’d never been taunted or tickled to this extent before, and the only thing he could do about it was blush tomato-red and laugh himself silly. He didn’t consider himself to be that sensitive of a person, seeing that no one had really tickled him since he was a child, but the avatar and his crew were doing a pretty good job convincing him otherwise. At this point, his entire body was bright pink and sizzling like a space heater. 

“PLEEHEASE STAHAHAP!” Zuko begged, hiccups leaping from his throat and puncturing his endless giggle fit. No point in trying to retain some shred of dignity—every last drop had already been spent. “I CAHAN’T TAKE AHANYMOHOHOREHAHAHA!”

“Aw, but this is so fun,” Sokka pouted playfully, poking at his neck with the fingers that could reach. “You sure you can’t take just a little more?”

“We haven’t even tickled your armpits yet!” Aang protested, immediately shoving his hands under his arms and wiggling his fingers against the hollows. It was a welcome break for his ribs, but also gave him giggly whiplash.

“AHAHAHACK!” Zuko squirmed helplessly, tears welling in the corners of eyes. He barely had the strength to even writhe in place anymore. “IHI’M—GOHONNA—DIHIHIHIE!”

Katara’s hands slowed to a halt against his sides, granting him a sudden rush of relief. “Okay, maybe we should stop,” she said, smiling sympathetically. “He does look pretty wiped.”

“He’s not going to die,” Toph assured the others with a chuckle. She took her hands off his knees. “Still, that’s probably a good idea.”

The absence of Katara and Toph’s tickling gave Zuko the chance to catch his breath a little. The relief was astronomical. Aang, however, had yet to let up, keeping the prince twitchy and giggly with his rib cage and underarm torment. 

“EhahahAang!” Zuko wheezed, wriggling helplessly. “Pleehease!”

Aang smiled wryly. “All right, I’ll stop,” he conceded, worming his fingers between each individual rib. “But first, you have to admit out loud that you’re adorable, because I’m still not convinced you believe it. Say that, and I’ll stop.”

Zuko thought it impossible for things to get any more embarrassing than they already were. Wrong again. Being disowned by his father and banished from the Fire Nation hadn’t been as humiliating as the past five minutes. Now this?

The group grinned at him expectantly, waiting. Zuko shook his head.

“B-buhut—I—” he stuttered out between giggles. Then Sokka dug his hands into armpits, making him squeal with laughter and shrink into himself.

“No excuses!” he demanded playfully. “Go on! Say it!”

Zuko tried to thrash out of Sokka’s grip now that it wasn’t so tight, but Sokka still had a strong enough hold on him to keep him trapped—even while he was tickling him. He buried his face into his shoulder to hide his goofy smile and flushed cheeks. 

“Ahaha! Youhou’re—s-soho—meahean!” To think that he used to be the one considered cruel and evil. Ponytail Zuko had nothing on these diabolical tickle monsters and their degrading requests.

A moment later, Katara started squeezing his sides again, causing Zuko to twist and yelp. “We’re mean? But look how happy we’re making you! If anything, you should be thanking us.”

Toph wiggled her fingers against the middle of his tummy. “We’re waiting, your highness.”

It was too much. He couldn’t bear it any longer. He needed this to end.

“OHOKAHAHAY!” he cackled, squirming and hiccuping and craving the sweet escape of death. “IHI’M—I ADMIHIHIT IT!”

“You admit what?” Aang asked, grinning innocently as he revved up his rib tickling to a maddening ferocity. Oh, he was so getting them back for this.

“GAHAHA! FIHIHINE! I’MAHAHAHADORHORABLE!” He ducked his head, blushing brighter than their campfire. “NOHOW STAHAHAHAP! PLEEHEEHEASE!”

The group laughed and cheered at his miserable defeat, then finally ceased their attack. Katara and Aang stepped back as Toph freed his feet and Sokka released him from his grip. Zuko was left standing in the center of the team, panting and giggling dazedly, guarding his torso with his arms held tight to his skin. His whole body tingled and burned. His face hurt from smiling so much.

“Well, you heard it here first, folks—Zuko is adorable, and he knows it!”

“And he can laugh! Like, actually laugh!”

“I guess he can express happiness the same way we do. You just have to push the right buttons.”

“Was that emotive enough for you, Katara?”

Zuko was at his wit’s end. Again, with the teasing? Couldn’t these guys give him a break? He was never going to hear the end of this for as long as he lived. Giggling breathlessly, he sunk to his hands and knees, making his friends flinch. 

“Whoa,” Katara exclaimed. “You all right there, Zuko?”

For a moment, the team worried that they’d gone too far, that they’d somehow broken Zuko by making him laugh for what might’ve been the first time in his life. Zuko doubled over himself, wheezing dazedly.

“Uhuhugh…” he whimpered, voice muffled. “Y-you’re...gohonna...pahay for that…”

The group let out a sigh of relief. If he still had the strength to threaten him, that was a good sign. 

“Don’t worry, Prince Zu-Zu,” Sokka said, patting him on the back. “Having a cute laugh doesn’t make you any less intimidating.”

“It’s nice to know that you can laugh though, even if you don’t do it very much.” Katara smiled somberly. “I was worried something was bothering you, or that you weren’t happy here with us. That’s why we started this whole silly competition in the first place.”

After a pause, Zuko slowly lifted his face from his lap. His cheeks were still rosy, but he was beginning to tame his breathing. 

“But if that’s just not how you normally express yourself, that’s okay.”

The prince sat back on his haunches, still seething with humiliation, but to a semi-reduced degree. He didn’t think he’d ever fully understand the way this group functioned, why they garnered such delight out of poking fun at him and each other, why they were so concerned and endeared with his behavior and emotional expressiveness. But it was clear they cared about him, however bizarrely they chose to demonstrate it. 

“I...I am happy here,” Zuko eventually ventured to say, his voice still shrill and brittle. Hearing it out loud made him blush some more, but he continued. “I wasn’t trying to make you think otherwise. I’m just…” he swallowed. “Weird. And bad at...stuff.”

The gang snickered. “Yeah you are,” Toph said, hugging his arm. “And we love you for it.”

The firebender blinked and hinted a bashful smile. Aang placed his hands on his hips. 

“Who knows! Maybe you just forgot how to laugh for a while, but now we’ve reminded you!”

To everyone’s disbelief, a chuckle escaped Zuko, short and authentic. “Maybe,” he said. 

Then, an instant later, he shot to his feet. “But don’t ever do anything like that to me ever again! I’ll burn down this entire hillside and run back to the Fire Nation if you even think about it!”

Flames rose from his clenched fists as he glared daggers into each of them. But Aang just laughed.

“Sure you will,” Aang teased, fluttering his fingers against his side. Zuko winced and smiled, then whirled on him with a growl. 

“Touch me again, and I’ll have you doing fire lunges until you puke.”

Aang shrunk away with a nervous chuckle, folding his hands behind his back. “R-right. Sorry, Sifu Hotman.”

If anyone noticed that Zuko started laughing more after that, whether it was at Aang’s antics or Sokka’s jokes or Katara’s ridiculousness or Toph’s sass, they thought it best not to point it out. Now that he’d started emoting more positively, they didn’t want to shy him away from it. It was still small and fleeting, but it was progress from absolutely nothing. Perhaps they had helped the Fire Nation prince rediscover his laugh after all. 

But that didn’t stop them from poking and teasing him whenever the urge hit. While his everyday chuckles and giggles were great, nothing compared to the sound of Zuko’s wild, bubbly, tickle-induced laughter. And unless he firebended at them to get them to quit, they didn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. 

#ticklish!zuko #zuko #atla #atla tickle fic #sfw tickle fic #sfw tickling #tickle fic #avatar tickle fic #avatar fic #avatar tickling #avatar #avatar the last airbender #the last airbender #zuko fanfic #zuko tickle fic #avatar gaang #lee!zuko

[avtrkyoshis]

You Burn First (zuko x f!reader) pt. 2

hii! thanks to everyone that checked out the first chapter especially everyone from tiktok :) stay tuned for more

here's the link on ao3

masterlist // chapter 1 // chapter 2 // chapter 3

--

Y/n quickly took hold of the Fire Lord’s sweaty yet soft hand. She nearly dropped one of her fans in the panic of trying to get him to safety. Normally she would have made a snarky comment about his strangely sweaty hands, but now was not the time for any of that.

She swiftly started to assess the situation at hand. No one else was around to back her up. Just a half-asleep Fire Lord and one single Kyoshi warrior. The best option was to hide out in the library that she recalled was nearby. The rest of the palace guards could manage the situation. All Y/n had to do was stay hidden with the Fire Lord until back up came.

While the noises came from close by, the odds were they would not pinpoint where Zuko would be. They likely didn’t even know he had left his bedroom. Time right now was the most important thing, they had to hide quickly in case any potential assailant saw them.

She shoved Zuko behind a tucked-away shelf of books. Maybe she was too aggressive, but he didn’t seem to mind. His heart was pounding out of his chest. Y/n couldn’t help but also be afraid in the situation. She normally had the comfort of fighting with others by her side. She did her best to hide any sort of fearful expression.

“Can you make your heart quieter or something,” she said in an attempt to be sympathetic.

“You’re the one talking.”

“That’s - ugh, fine. Stay put. I’m going to go out and see if there’s anyone near.”

Before she could walk away, Zuko took hold of her hand.

“Stay.”

Despite the darkness, she could see the pleading look in his eyes. Even one of the most powerful men in the world felt fear in moments like these.

Y/n simply nodded in understanding.

They stood in silence together for a moment. She never really noticed this before but his eyes were the most magnificent glittering shade of amber.

She hastily looked away, hoping that he did not notice her staring. It’s not like he would ever care for someone like her. Despite the outcome of the war and the peace that came from it, he was Fire Nation and she was Earth Nation. There was still plenty of resentment from both cultures. Y/n still received uncomfortable glares from the people of the Fire Nation.

Y/n was still able to acknowledge the fact that he was handsome despite the fact that he had the sweatiest hands she ever felt.

The noise in the halls started to settle. Zuko began to step out behind the safety of the hidden nook they were in.

Still, no clear signal had been given stating the threat was over. She felt it in her gut that not everything was at ease. Y/n grasped her fans tighter than before ready to fight.

Her ears picked up a quiet squeak somewhere further into the library. Someone was lurking near them.

She whipped her head around just in time to see a dark figure preparing to throw something. Tugging Zuko behind her, she spread her fan out and blocked the small throwing knife before it could hit either of them. Y/n threw one of her fans towards the dark figure’s outstretched arm, knocking the remaining throwing knives out of their hand.

Armed with her other fan, Y/n moved towards the figure, vaguely registering Zuko following her closely. Before the attacker could reach for a discarded knife, she kicked the weapon aside and pushed them to the floor. She pulled the green ribbon that secured her armour from her waist and tied the attacker’s wrists with it behind their back. Satisfied with her work and sure that they wouldn’t be escaping, Y/n took a closer look at the attacker.

They were wearing dark nondescript robes and a mask that only left their eyes revealed. She scanned their clothing for any sort of insignia that would indicate an organization but found nothing.

Disappointed, she got back on her feet and turned around, running straight into Zuko. Y/n had forgotten he’d followed her in her pursuit of the attacker.

He stumbled back in surprise. Zuko ducked his head, embarrassed.

“Sorry I didn’t-”

“My apologies, Fire Lord”

They spoke at the same time, Zuko quickly muttering his apology. He was still standing close enough for Y/n to see a light blush dusting his cheeks. She stared at him, confused at this new side of the young Fire Lord in front of her. He had been so aggressive and anxious earlier. What had happened during her fight to make him change his attitude? She stepped away from him, suddenly needing to put distance between herself and Zuko. He must just be disoriented from the attack and lack of sleep.

Just as Y/n was about to turn back to the captive attacker, she heard a rapidly approaching rush of footsteps in the hallway. She had let herself become distracted and completely ignored the possibility of more attackers finding them. Pulling the still half asleep Fire Lord to sit behind a desk, she drew her sword and prepared herself for an attack.

Instead, a familiar face rounded the corner into the library.

“Suki!” Y/n exclaimed.

The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors turned to face her, determination set in her painted face. Y/n sheathed her sword and helped Zuko back to his feet. Suki relaxed as soon as she saw the Fire Lord and quickly scanned the library, noting the captured assailant.

“I’m so happy you’re safe. We had been assuming the worst when we realized the Fire Lord wasn’t in his room.” Suki said as she approached them.

“I ran into him while doing my rounds earlier. We were just heading back to his bedroom when the attack started and hid in here to wait it out.” Y/n told Suki.

Suki glanced behind them and raised an eyebrow. “Seems like you did a little more than just wait it out.”

Y/n felt a smile tug on her lips and decided to let it show. Suki’s teasing was nothing new to her. Their playful banter was something she looked forward to, much to the annoyance of the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors.

“We may have run into a little trouble. It was nothing I couldn’t handle. What about you, were there more attackers?”

Suki sighed, “They went straight for the main bedroom, they probably assumed that it would be easier to attack while the Fire Lord slept. I don’t think they knew we would be here. They were very unprepared to deal with the Kyoshi Warriors.”

“Most people are.”

It was Suki’s turn to smile. She turned to Zuko, who had been standing silently watching the exchange.

“You’re lucky Y/n was here with you. You’ve been out of it recently, what were you thinking to wander the palace alone?” Suki said in an accusatory tone.

“Well, I-”

“There’s no excuse. It was dangerous, Zuko. None of us want to see you hurt.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” He turned to Y/n, surprising her. “Thank you for protecting me. I wasn’t much help tonight.”

She blinked at him. She hadn’t expected him to thank her for anything based on his hostile attitude from earlier that night. There’s no way he had changed in the short time since then, this must be a front due to Suki’s presence. Y/n tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword.

“It’s my job,” she said flatly.

Zuko narrowed his eyes at her comment but stayed silent. Suki raised her eyebrows at the exchange, staying silent as well. The air in the room suddenly felt charged.

Suki broke the silence. “Anyway, you should go back to bed Zuko. We’re doubling the guard for tonight and we can discuss further measures in the morning.”

Zuko nodded and two more Kyoshi Warriors appeared from the hall, ready to escort Zuko back to his room. He began to exit the library but not before looking over his shoulder and making eye contact with Y/n. She searched his amber eyes for a threat but instead found something unexpected.

Intrigue.

Before she could question him, he was gone. She felt a firm hand on her shoulder and looked over to see Suki. She squeezed her shoulder reassuringly before leaving in the opposite direction of Zuko, lugging the captured assailant after her.

Y/n sighed and pressed her fingers to her eyes in frustration. She had never intended to interact with the Fire Lord outside of pleasantries and silent guarding. The thought of him stoked the fire that burned inside of her and she clenched her jaw. Nothing he could say or do would change her feelings about him. The war had wounded her, not just physically, and many of them were still healing. She knew better than to poke at something she shouldn’t.

Despite how she felt, something had changed tonight. Y/n just didn’t know what.

--

Her question was answered the next morning. She had been surprised to wake up and see one of the palace workers waiting for her outside her room. Her surprise turned to annoyance when they told her she was being summoned to the Fire Lord’s throne room at her earliest convenience.

Skipping breakfast to get it over with, Y/n headed straight to the throne room. She nodded at the Kyoshi Warriors standing guard and pushed open the doors.

The throne room was as gloomy as the rest of the palace. The heat of the flames lining the walls pressed against her bare face, her warrior makeup being another thing she’d sacrificed in her rush. Surprisingly, Zuko wasn’t sitting on his throne. He was standing at the base of his throne in his typical Fire Lord attire, looking much more put together than the night before. Adding to her confusion, Y/n noticed Suki standing with Zuko.

Stopping a few feet away, Y/n bowed in greeting.

“Fire Lord” she greeted.

He nodded and she stood back up.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Zuko said. His voice was steady and firm. He seemed much more like a Fire Lord this morning, despite the night’s attack. Y/n couldn’t help but notice the dark circles still sitting under his eyes.

“Zuko and I have been talking. He’s very impressed with how you handled the attack last night.” Suki said.

“Like I said last night, I was just doing my job” Y/n replied. She didn’t see why Zuko wanted to see her just to repeat what he’d told her already.

“It’s more than that.” Suki continued “You reacted swiftly and protected the Fire Lord when no one else even knew where he was. I know how skilled you are, Y/n.”

“I appreciate this, but why have you summoned me? It can’t just be to flatter me.”

“I want you to be my personal bodyguard,” Zuko said suddenly.

Y/n blinked at him. “What?” she said dumbly.

“Be my personal bodyguard. After last night, I realize that simply having the Kyoshi Warriors in the palace isn’t enough. Having someone with me at all times will be safer and ensure my protection. You showed your skills during the attack and Suki has vouched for you. That isn’t something I will easily dismiss.” He stated simply. 

Suki was smiling at her. She clearly thought this was a fantastic opportunity. Y/n didn’t know how to tell Suki that the last thing she wanted was to spend more time around the man she despised. Apparently she never would never get the chance to. 

“I’d be honoured to, Fire Lord,” Y/n said. She bowed once again, if only to hide the grimace that was threatening to reveal itself on her face. 

“That’s wonderful! We’ll have to get some things sorted so you can begin as soon as possible, but we can go over the basics now.” Suki began. Y/n barely registered anything she was saying. Her gaze had connected with Zuko’s as soon as she had risen from her bow. 

His eyes shone with the same intrigue she’d noticed last night. She knew her eyes contained nothing but resentment. Y/n felt the air between her and Zuko heat up, but she knew it wasn’t because of the fire surrounding them.

This was going to be an interesting few weeks. 

masterlist // chapter 1 // chapter 2 // chapter 3

#atla #atla zuko #zuko x reader #zuko #writing #fanfiction #my writing #you burn first #suki #atla suki #zuko x oc #avatar zuko #zuko x female reader #zuko imagine #fire nation #atla fanfic #post canon #aged up characters #enemies to lovers

[vulcan-highblood]

(Blue) Spirited Away

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender Pairing(s): Gen Chapter: 3/? Words: 4k Summary:  Prince Zuko wasn’t able to escape the Northern Water Tribe after the disastrous conclusion to the Siege of the North. However, Aang is more than happy to invite his old pal, the Blue Spirit, to join him and his friends on the first leg of their journey to the Earth Kingdom.

(An AU where Aang never learned the true identity of the Blue Spirit, Zuko is desperate, and Spirits enjoy interfering in the lives of mortals)

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

Read it on AO3

Chapter 3: Lost and Looking

Aang couldn’t believe it. The warriors really hadn’t been joking when they’d said that the Blue Mask Guy could disappear like a polar bear dog! He’d been right there, and Aang had turned around for a second, and he was gone! Just like when Blue Mask Guy had rescued him from that Fire Nation fortress, he remembered. The guy had been wobbling really bad after getting hit in the head (mask?) by an arrow, but he’d managed to stagger to his feet and Aang had dragged both of them to safety. He’d set the guy down on the ground, put his back to the guy for a second just to look in his robes to see if he still had frozen frogs (he did), and when he’d turned back around the guy was gone.  

Part of Aang had started to wonder if he’d ever been there to begin with. And now he was at the North Pole! But why? “Hey!!” he shouted, “Mask guy?” He didn’t even know his name!  “Masky?” Aang shouted, using the wind to carry his voice a little farther. “Blue Mask Guy?” Why was the guy’s mask so familiar, though? He recognized the guy, now, of course, the two swords and the way he moved so fast and quiet was hard to mistake. But the mask itself was familiar too… if only he had paid better attention during the spirit tales at the temples…

But no, he realized with a frown, that wasn’t where he’d seen that mask before. Where… oh! He remembered then, where he’d seen it. He’d gone to see a play with Bumi, they thought they’d bought tickets for a theatre troupe performing Clash of the Earth Masters, but when they’d arrived, it had turned out that they’d been given the time for Love Amongst the Dragons instead. Despite the goofy sounding title, Bumi and Aang had been pleased to discover there was a lot of intrigue, excitement, amazing stunts, battles, and really cool dragon costumes! The antagonist of the play, The Dark Water Spirit, had worn a blue and white mask almost identical to the one worn by the blue mask guy. In the play, the blue-masked spirit had been an antagonist, a trickster who had fooled the Dragon Emperor into binding himself to a mortal form.  A spirit who fooled dragons rather than facing them head on… it made sense, then, that this guy had chosen a guise like that to break into a Fire Nation stronghold, since the Fire Nation was the home of the dragons. But why was he in the North Pole? There were no dragons here, were there? There certainly shouldn’t be, Aang couldn’t imagine that the cold dry weather would be very good for their scales. Kuzon’s dragon sure hadn’t liked the cold air up high, preferring to fly closer to the surface than Appa. 

Of course, he’d figured out quickly that most people couldn’t fly as high as he and Appa could when he’d first taken Bumi for a ride. He hadn’t understood at the time why Monk Gyatso had cautioned him about flying too high, but then Bumi got sick. That was when he’d learned that airbenders naturally drew the air to their lungs when they went too high, but other benders - especially earthbenders - didn’t have that ability, and going too high could make them really sick. Of course, he’d apologized to Bumi after the incident, and Bumi had felt better soon, but it was a lesson he remembered, and meant that he’d kept a close eye on Sokka and Katara whenever they had to fly too high, and he tried to keep that time limited. Now that he thought about it, maybe that was why Kuzon’s dragon hadn’t gone as high, since Dragons were the original firebenders, much in the way that Air Bison were the original airbenders. But the sun was high up in the air, and it seemed to do just fine. 

Waving the thought aside, Aang refocused. So the guy was wearing the mask of a water spirit antagonist to the Dragon Emperor. That probably meant something, right? Maybe he was fighting the Fire Lord, too! He had sure been helpful once before. It still didn’t answer why he had come to the North Pole, but then, they hadn’t been expecting the Ocean to fight back. Maybe he’d come to help fight the Fire Nation here, too? 

Filling his lungs with air, Aang yelled once more, “WHERE DID YOU GO?” making a face at his own volume as he did so. It didn’t seem to make a difference, the whole area was silent and still now. Shoulders slumping into a sigh, Aang started to trudge off in a random direction. He still wasn’t exactly sure which way was back to Sokka and Katara, and he should probably climb another building to try and figure that out, but he didn’t really feel like it when he’d just failed twice. He’d hoped to bring the blue mask guy back to Chief Arnook, but instead he’d just brought up more questions. Why had he broken into the place where they were holding all the firebenders, but not take anyone? He didn’t understand what was happening. Maybe he should go back and ask Katara and Sokka if they had any ideas!

He winced at that. He hadn’t exactly told them that he’d been kidnapped while they’d been sick. It hadn’t really seemed important, and then they kept having more adventures after that, and it had slipped his mind. Now he was beginning to regret that, since he had the feeling that Sokka, at least, wouldn’t be happy about being left in the dark on the subject. Still, he didn’t really have a choice. He hadn’t been able to keep Mask Guy around, but maybe Sokka could figure out a way to convince him to stay.

Nodding to himself, Aang scrambled back atop the most sturdy-looking building and swept his eyes across the landscape, this time looking for familiar territory. He thought he recognized an area ahead and to the right, so he decided to head that direction.

~~*~~

How long did it take to tell someone you were leaving? Sokka wondered absently, frowning as his stomach rumbled slightly. He wasn’t hungry. Well okay, yes, he was hungry, he was always hungry, but he didn’t want to be hungry. He was tired, and sad, and now also worried about Aang. Where was he? It was, like, a five minute walk to the reception hall where Chief Arnook was probably coordinating the rebuilding efforts. How in La's name had it taken Aang so long that the sun was starting to sink below the horizon again? Admittedly, they were only a few months on from the North’s Winter Solstice, so the days were pretty short, but Sokka was fairly certain that Aang was supposed to be back by now. 

“All right, that’s it,” he declared, standing and stretching his back out. “You coming, Katara?”

“Coming where?” Katara asked, glancing up from where she’d been going over their supplies and creating tight bundles to pack up their food and other sundries. 

“To find Aang,” Sokka replied. “He’s been gone for hours, and we both know it doesn’t take that long to talk to someone.”

Katara’s eyes widened suddenly as she leapt to her feet. “Zuko!” she spat. “We never saw what happened to him after he left-”

Sokka felt the blood drain from his face at her words. He hadn’t even considered that, he’d sort of assumed that any firebenders left in the city were either in pretty strict confinement or dead. But this was the jerkbender they were talking about. If anyone would find a way to skulk out of this and kidnap Aang while he was at it, it would be Zuko. “Oh man,” he said nervously. “Yeah, we definitely need to go find him.”

Katara nodded firmly, her packing forgotten in light of this new information. “Come on,” she commanded, somehow managing to forget that this whole manhunt had been Sokka’s idea, and who had put her in charge? 

Sighing, knowing by now when to pick his battles (and it certainly wasn’t when Aang was involved), Sokka followed her from the hut and down the street. He hadn’t really had a plan beyond ‘go find Aang,’ though, and it seemed that Katara hadn’t had a plan either, as she slowed to a stop in the middle of the road to glance at him. “Which way?” she asked, frowning as she spun to and fro, examining each side street like it might be hiding the airbender behind any corner.

Sokka considered the question. “Maybe we should just head for the ceremonial hall?” he suggested. “That’s where Aang said he was going, so if we’re going to find a clue, that’s a good place to start -”

“Hey guys! Where are you going? Did you finish packing?”

“WUH!” Sokka did not yelp, he simply… expressed his surprise. Loudly. 

“Aang!” Katara exclaimed, whirling around to face their absentee airbending Avatar. “Where were you? We were just going to look for you!”

“Oh, right,” Aang at least had the decency to look somewhat sheepish at the accusation. “Well, I went to tell the Chief we were leaving, but when I got there, they were talking about this guy in a mask who broke into the firebender prison with his swords, which sounded cool, and they were looking for him, so I offered to help-”

There seemed to be no end to this sentence in sight, so Sokka sighed inwardly and steeled himself for the rest of the run-on, since there seemed no point in trying to interrupt Aang until he’d finished his explanation.

“Because I’m pretty good at finding things, but I didn’t want to bother you guys or Appa, so I just walked around the city for the while, and got a little lost, I think, but that was okay because I found him! He was wearing a blue and white spirit mask and he had two swords and I recognized him!”

Hold on, that was weird. “You recognized the guy with swords and a mask?” Sokka demanded incredulously, not sure how one pulled off something like that. It was a mask, how could you recognize someone whose face was covered?

Aang paused then to take a breath, and suddenly his posture shifted, his shoulders hunching slightly. “Oh yeah, I uh, I never told you guys about what happened when I went to get those frozen frogs,” he said.

Frozen frogs? It took Sokka a moment to realize what Aang was talking about. “The frozen frogs that you put in our mouths?” he demanded incredulously. “Like the frog that gave me this wart?” he added, sticking his tongue out and pointing.

“I keep telling you, Sokka, there’s no wart!” Katara groused, giving him an exasperated look. “We even had Healer Yugoda look at it and she said the same thing!”

“My tongue feels different! I know it’s the frozen frog that did it!” Sokka insisted, though since his tongue was still sticking out, it didn’t look as though Katara or Aang were really able to parse his words. With a sigh, he released the sides of his mouth and pulled his tongue back in. He got no sympathy from these people, none. Why did he even bother?

“So what happened when you got the frozen frogs?” Katara asked Aang.

“Weeeell, I… kinda got captured by the Fire Nation?” Aang said weakly.

“You WHAT?!” Katara shrieked. Sokka was very glad he wasn’t the one facing down that particular yell, his sister had a pair of lungs and she was not shy about using them. “Was it Zuko?” she demanded.

“No, no!” Aang frowned a little, then. “Worse, actually,” he said after a minute. “Even when Zuko manages to capture me, he usually just ties me up with rope and says he’s taking me home. Zhao is worse. He put me in chains and said that they would keep me alive, but just barely,” he shuddered a little, obviously still feeling anxious about what had been said to him.

Sokka tried to imagine keeping Aang tied down and barely alive, and had to suppress a shudder himself. He hated the Fire Nation, especially Zhao. Sokka felt the anger he’d been fighting back surge through him again at the name. Zhao, who had killed the moon spirit -as good as killed Yue. While Sokka found himself suddenly caught up in his anger, though, Katara was focused on the details.

“Wait, so Zhao kidnapped you? And you didn’t tell us?” Her hands were on her hips and she was giving Aang one of her patented looks.

“I was getting frozen frogs!” Aang protested, “Besides, I escaped!”

“How?” Katara demanded. “You just said you were in chains!”

“Yeah, but the guy in the blue mask showed up and cut the chains with his swords! It was awesome,” Aang mused. “I really thought he was going to cut me in half, at first. He’s really scary looking in the mask.”

“Okay, hold on, you lost me,” Sokka cut in. “Who is this guy in the mask?”

“I don’t know,” Aang said, “But he saved me from Zhao, and he fought firebenders with nothing but two swords and a bunch of cool moves.”

Sokka spared a moment to mentally mourn the fact that apparently this guy’s non-bender status was enough to warrant the designation “cool moves,” while Sokka was still relegated to something of an afterthought. Unfair, that’s what this was. Sokka had cool moves, too!

“But then when we were escaping, his mask got hit with an arrow so I had to drag him away,” Aang continued, “And when I looked up, he was suddenly gone! Poof! Like a spirit!”

Like a spirit. Tui and La, Sokka was so tired of these stupid Spirit Tales coming to life around him. First magic water, then the Avatar, getting kidnapped by angry bear spirits in a forest, the girl he liked turning into the moon, and now some masked guy vanishing into thin air? He was so over it. “Okay, so he walked off while you were distracted,” Sokka interrupted. “Not like it’s that hard.” He pointedly ignored the disgruntled look Katara shot in his direction.  “What does this have to do with…” he frowned. “Wait. Are you telling me the same guy who busted you out of Zhao's Fire Nation Prison is here? Now?!”

“Yes!” Aang insisted. “I met him in the abandoned area where the catapult damage hasn’t been repaired yet -  I think he was sleeping, actually,” Aang mused, breaking off mid-sentence as he considered the idea before shaking his head and returning to the topic. “And he was still wearing the mask and had the swords, but he was wearing furs that were more pale, instead of all-black like he did when he broke me out.”

So the guy knew how to disguise himself for different terrain. Sokka found himself feeling impressed despite his instinct to dislike the guy. Maybe he was cool, after all. Not as cool as Sokka, of course, but he’d leave his options open, he guessed. “So what did he do?” Sokka demanded.

“What did he say?” Katara added. 

“Nothing!” Aang said. “I mean, he looked pretty tired, and once he saw it was me he put his swords away. But when I asked him what he was doing, he didn’t answer. Actually, I don’t think he can talk? But he like, waved his hands at me some, and when I looked around to figure out how to get back to you guys, he disappeared again! Like a spirit!” He leaned forward conspiratorially, “Actually, I think he’s wearing a water spirit’s mask,” he stage-whispered. “I recognized it from a play called Love Amongst the Dragons.”

Setting aside the fact that Aang apparently had terrible taste in theater, Sokka considered this statement. “What water spirit?” he finally asked.

“Uh, the Dark Water Spirit, I think?” Aang said. 

“Huh. I don’t know that one,” Sokka commented. Not that he knew much about any lesser spirits, he was doing good to know of Tui and La. Or Yue and La, now, he guessed. 

“Maybe we could ask Master Pakku!” Katara suggested.

“He’s probably busy…” Sokka began to protest, but Katara was having none of it.

“This is important!” She insisted. “If he’s wearing a water spirit mask, maybe he’s from the water tribes, and that’s why he’s here!”

Aang’s face seemed to say that he was about as convinced as Sokka, which was to say not at all, but he also wasn’t about to argue with Katara.

Sighing, Sokka decided he wasn’t in the mood to argue either. “Fine, fine,” he grumbled under his breath, “Let’s go talk to Master Pakku.”

~~*~~

The old man was getting ridiculous, Pakku reflected wearily. Honestly, it had been barely a day, and already The Grand Lotus was getting antsy, threatening to go out and find his nephew himself. His nephew! The Fire Lord’s Firstborn Son. The Avatar’s pursuer. And, if the stories of the Avatar’s group could be trusted, a singularly unpleasant individual. Why Iroh would be so set on bringing back that horrible child was quite beyond Pakku, it was good riddance as far as he was concerned.

But the old man was getting more anxious as the day dragged on, and Pakku hadn’t managed to find the boy among any of the Fire Nation prisoners… Nor, he’d noted with an equal measure of satisfaction and disappointment, had they found Admiral Zhao, the moon-killer. From what he’d heard, the boy was not an especially competent bender. He wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn the boy had failed to subdue Zhao, and had been lost in the night’s chaos. But the old man refused to believe it, insisting that his nephew was out there, somewhere, and outright refusing to leave until the nephew was found!

Didn’t he know what a risk Pakku was taking even housing one firebender? True, Iroh had clearly acted on their behalf last night, and even more importantly, in favor of the spirits and the balance of the world itself. Normally this would be enough to at least give him the benefit of the doubt, if he weren’t also the Dragon of the West, and that wasn’t exactly something he wanted to advertise. The longer they put off his departure, the more likely they were to be discovered. Pakku couldn’t risk that. 

“Grand Lotus, I urge you to look at this from my perspective,” Pakku said, practically tossing a plate of sea-prunes onto the table as he sat, accepting a steaming cup of kelp tea and sipping it while glaring over the rim of the teacup at Iroh.

“And I urge you to look at it from mine,” Iroh replied, voice calm but resolute. “I cannot in good conscience leave until I am certain of Prince Zuko’s safety.”

“I’ve already given you my word,” Pakku insisted, his sour expression having nothing to do with the sea prune he popped into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, washing the pickled snack down with another sip of perfectly balanced kelp tea, trying not to feel insulted by the fact that Iroh was somehow better at brewing his own culture’s tea than he was himself. “I will ensure that Zuko is seen safely to the Earth Kingdom, just as I am ensuring you passage.” Although I personally disagree that he has earned this special treatment, considering his reasons for coming here are significantly different from your own, he thought irritably. “I’ve already sent word to our contact in Omashu to be watching for him, precisely for a situation such as this,” he added. 

Iroh simply sipped his own kelp tea, his eyes watching Pakku without so much as a hit of malice, as he simply said, “I am afraid that is not acceptable to me. I must know.”

Pakku set his teacup down in order to pinch the bridge of his nose in what was likely a fruitless attempt to ward off an oncoming headache. “Grand Lotus-”

“Please, Master Pakku,” Iroh interrupted, his voice catching, “I must know. I can’t bear not knowing.”

Pakku had never married, never had children of his own, yet he’d felt his heart tug at the mere sight of Kanna’s necklace worn by Katara, had felt his heart and mind settle at hearing that she still lived. He could not in good conscience deny Iroh the same chance to find his answer, even if that answer turned out to be one different than the one he expected - no, needed - to hear.

Inclining his head slowly, Pakku sighed. “One more day, Iroh. Then we need to start considering… other possibilities.”

“I understand,” Iroh said, his shoulders set in a stubborn way that reminded Pakku unsettlingly of Katara when she had decided the world should be a certain way, and nothing could convince her otherwise. “I am sure  you will find him soon.”

For Iroh’s sake, Pakku hoped that was the case.

#blue spirited away #blue spirit #gaang #master pakku #sokka

[lightdancer1]

Why It Is Bad That We Never See Mai or Ty Lee in the Comics Deal With Their Imperialist Past

How come we never see Mai or Ty Lee deal with their imperialist past in the comics?

For yeah comics!Azula is a horrible person and it is implied that Azula was never friends with Mai & Ty Lee, who where coerced subjects trying to keep their mad sovereigns (Azulon, Ozai, & Azula) happy.

But I find it odd that neither no one in-universe or the narrative challenges them for their past. Like Zuko, Iroh, Piandao, Jeong Jeong, and Chey all had to confront their imperialist past before redeeming themselves despite having as good an argument, if not better, that they were being coerced or faced life threatening consequences if they didn’t comply.

So what makes Mai or Ty Lee different any different? And before people say they went to prison, it was for committing treason against the Fire Nation/attacking their Princess; not for realizing the error of their ways and wanting to change.

Though in Ty Lee’s case she did say she did join the Kyoshi Warriors in order to fix a broken world in the Sisters comic so maybe Ty Lee did confront her past. But I wish we saw her time in prison so we saw her change considering she enthusiastically fought against the Kyoshi Warriors & The Gaang and mocked the Kyoshi Warriors’ style, not knowing or caring for the reason behind their makeup or dress.

However comics!Mai really hasn’t really done anything…in fact she kept from Zuko and The Gaang the fact that her father was leading the New Ozai Society until Zuko almost got killed (and was only saved by PIS and a last minute unexpected heel-face turn) and The Fire Warriors were able to kidnap around a dozen kids, including Mai’s own brother and Azula/Zuko’s half sister. And even more galling, when confronted for her treason, she has the gall to tell an understandably angry Zuko that he of all people should understand how hard it is to betray your father.

As if there wasn’t a difference between betraying the all powerful ruler of your country who has a cult of personality, has burned you before, can quickly fire off lethal amounts of lighting on command, and has said before he wanted to kill you versus betraying your mentally and physically weak father who rejected being integrated into the new government and seeks to put someone back in power who would likely kill you for committing treason against him.

On a sidenote, isn’t crazy that Zuko then quickly apologized and the story never brought up the topic of Mai’s treason ever again?

But getting back on track, are we being unreasonable in asking that Mai and Ty Lee confront their past or if they already did, that we actually see it on page/screen?

Especially since the message sent by them not doing so is that if you turn at almost the last point possible, the people you have wronged repeatedly and the world community will instantly forgive you despite constantly engaging in imperialism (ex. fighting against the rebels in Omashu, jailing and impersonating The Kyoshi Warriors), let alone helping commit one of the biggest acts of imperialism in history (helping Azula take over Ba Sing Se)?

----------

You're asking people to deal with the issues of imperialism after they set it up and to make the people arbitrarily deemed heroes face the lasting consequences of their deeds. They didn't manage this in the show with Zuko facing up to his villain days having lasting consequences. The comics drew the line 'Azula bad, Mai and Ty Lee good' and the writing of all three characters and all of the comics suffered for these decisions.

Everyone got done dirty by the comics, so I'm trying to fix that, at least partially.

And part of fixing Mai and Ty Lee's characters is giving them arcs on their own that aren't reliant on either Zuko or Azula, as treating them as supporting characters is a great deal of how and why they were done dirty.

#submission

[the-badger-mole]

Arranged Marriage AU Part 5

Katara opened the door the next morning to find a bouquet of panda lilies in her face. Zuko peeked from behind them nervously. Katara rolled her eyes and sighed. 

"What are you doing?" she asked. 

"I brought these for you," Zuko explained. Katara huffed impatiently. She had gotten no sleep and would soon have to face a roomful of people who still thought she had no business being there. She had no patience to spare her husband.

"You can't fix this with flowers, Zuko."

"I know," Zuko's face flushed. "I know. I was hoping they would be enough to buy me a few minutes to talk to you?" Katara drew up indignantly. Zuko flinched just slightly and waited for her to slam the door in his face. To the surprise of them both, though, Katara stepped aside and let him in. 

"You have five minutes," she warned him, shutting the door. Zuko offered her the flowers again. This time she accepted them, watching Zuko expectantly. When he didn't speak after a few moments, Katara huffed in annoyance.

"I was serious about the time," she told him. "I have someplace to be. What do you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to apologize," Zuko said. 

"Yeah, you covered that last night. Anything else?"

"What you saw," Zuko tried to explain. "Mai and I…" Katara scoffed.

"Forget it," she said. "Apology accepted, alright?" 

"Katara, can we please talk?" Zuko pleaded. 

"What do you want to talk about?" Katara swallowed hard. She couldn't do this for much longer. She needed to get Zuko out of her room. 

"I don't know!" Zuko shouted. He paced in front of Katara. "But you're clearly upset with me! Why won't you admit it? Yell at me or something!"

Katara's hands tightened around the bouquet and her jaw clenched. Her entire body shook with the effort of keeping her tears back. 

"I don't know what you want from me," she said. "Why does it matter to you if I'm upset or not? I just thought-" Katara cut herself off abruptly and bit hard on her lower lip. 

"You thought what?" Zuko pressed. Katara threw her hand out to the side. 

"We said we'd give this a shot," Katara gestured between the two of them. "I know we didn’t get married for love, but I thought 'giving this a shot' meant you for me and me for you." Katara tugged at the end of her hair in distress. "Look, you're… you're the only person I've got here. You're not just my only real friend, you're my only family."

"But Uncle loves you," Zuko reminded her. "Probably more than he loves me at the moment."

"Iroh is busy," Katara said. "And once you're crowned, he won't be around as much. Who else do I have? Azula? She openly hates me." Zuko couldn't begin to deny that. 

"I'm sorry," he said softly. Katara sank onto her bed, laying the flowers beside her, and buried her face in her hands.

"Does everyone know about you and Mai?" she asked. "Do you all just get together and laugh about what an idiot your wife is?"

"No!" Zuko sat beside Katara and reached for her hands. She turned away, her arms wound protectively around herself. Zuko balled his hands into his pants and gritted his teeth. 

"Back home, family is everything," Katara told Zuko. "It gets harsh on the tundra, and every member of the family had to work together if they wanted to survive. Cheating is treated extremely seriously because it weakens the trust between husband and wife. If you can't trust your partner, it makes life that much more difficult." Katara blinked hard, and set her jaw grimly. "Everyone told me that I would have to adapt to Fire Nation customs, but-"

"Cheating is looked down on here, too," Zuko told her quietly. "It does happen, but it's dishonorable. Especially if the marriage was meant to build an alliance." Zuko looked down at the fabric bunched in his fists. His cheeks flushed with shame as he forced himself to continue.  "I've disrespected you, and I've dishonored your family and mine. It's- it's grounds for breach of contact. If you wanted, you could divorce me and go home.

"What?" Katara rounded on Zuko. Her eyes were wide and her jaw  fell open. If he had physically slapped her, Zuko didn't think she would have been anymore shocked. "Is that what you want me to do?Is that why-?"

"No!" Zuko shook his head vehemently. "Of course that's not what I want! That would be terrible for the Fire Nation. Our marriage paved the way for so many peace treaties, and our divorce would put them in jeopardy. I just want you to know what your rights are here." Zuko dragged a hand through his hair agitatedly. 

"You have every reason to be angry with me," he continued. "But what happened with me and Mai… that was the first time we had been alone since… well, the wedding was announced. I wasn't planning to see her, and I promise, I'm not laughing at you. Honestly! I don't laugh." 

"Are you making jokes?" Katara asked incredulously. "Now?"

"I thought maybe it would help with the tension?" Zuko shrugged sheepishly. Katara held Zuko's gaze for a moment, then dropped her eyes to the bouquet in the bed between them.

"Did you think this would be so difficult when we agreed to this?" Katara asked. She pulled a flower from the bouquet and ran her fingers over the petals idly. 

"I did," Zuko admitted. "But only because things tend to be difficult for me in general. I never considered how hard it would be for you, though. I'm sorry."

"I know." Katara took a deep breath and stood up. Zuko stood up with her, watching her anxiously. 

“What do you want to do now?” he asked quietly. Katara turned to him sharply. She looked from him to the bouquet on the bed and back again. Her eyes were incredibly expressive, and Zuko wished that he had remembered to tell her how pretty he thought they were. Maybe now…

“I don’t know what I want to do,” Katara said, turning her gaze to the floor. “I...I have to go. I have a meeting.” Zuko nodded fervently and stepped back to give her room to leave. Katara hesitated at the door, and cast one last, uncertain look at Zuko and then she left without another word. Zuko sank onto the bed when he heard the door to their suite close behind her. The bouquet of panda lilies- a rare flower that was almost impossible to grow in quantity- shifted as the mattress moved. The scent wafted into his nose, mockingly. 

“Now what?” he asked the empty room.

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 , 12 ,13 , 14, 15 , 16

#atla #atla fanfic #zutara #arranged marriage au

[koala-otter]

incomplete fic 5: fashion au

Republic City Fashion Week had arrived. Out on the streets? It was a heyday of leaf litter and well-dressed visitors modeling their patterned three-piece suits, floor-length fall coats, thigh-high combat boots, and patent-leather fanny packs for photographers vaulting over the tops of cars and tripping over pedestrians’ feet with cameras strapped across their chests. 

Inside the shows? Disaster. 

“No, not the fur, just the canvas sneaker!” Sokka cried exasperatedly. He grabbed the shoes in question and handed them to the model. “Were you even at the fitting?”

She took the sneakers in hand and stared at him owlishly once before running off back to the crowd of other models.

A hand landed on Sokka’s back and he looked behind himself to find Katara, dressed impeccably in a royal blue slip dress and patterned blazer from his last fall collection, looking concerned. 

“You need to calm down, Sokka,” she said. “We can’t have you bursting a blood vessel in the last fifteen minutes before the show.”

“I’m not gonna burst a blood vessel,” he argued. He adjusted the kimono layered over his cropped button-down shirt. “We’re just fifteen min—” He checked his watch, a platinum gift to himself purchased after the first time the label hit a million yuan in sales. His eyes widened. “Now fourteen, Katara, fourteen minutes till showtime, and the models aren’t even finished getting dressed.” 

“They’re getting dressed,” Katara promised him, not taking her hand away even as he looked toward the models. “Let the stylists handle it.”

“And what?” Sokka said, crossing his arms. “Just start late?”

“Shows start late all the time,” Katara reasoned. 

“Mine don’t,” Sokka replied. “And we’re down a model! I do one favor for Hahn to help him get his career off the ground, even though his walk is the worst, and he can’t even show up on time.”

“I know,” Katara said with a sigh.

Sokka pouted a second more until he spotted Suki, striding toward them in a sheer, gold-embroidered top and emerald green trousers from his first-ever fall collection. 

“Suki!” he exclaimed, and she greeted them with a wan smile. 

“Don’t get excited yet,” she said. She turned to Sokka. “I don’t want to stress you out, but I think you should know. I sent the invite to ShiShang.”

“What?” Sokka cries. 

“I know, but they’re the world’s top fashion magazine.” Suki crossed her arms. “I’d be pretty shitty at PR if I didn’t at least try to get them to cover your show.”

Katara looked at Suki. “Who’d they send?”

“Their editor-in-chief.”

Katara gasped, and Sokka’s jaw dropped. 

“Say sike right now.”

“I can’t, Sokka,” Suki said weakly. 

“Zuko Watanabe is at this show? Here? Right now?”

“Front row.”

“Front row?”

“Right below the hanging kayak.”

Sokka let out a groan, long and low. They had rented out the boating wing of the Southern Water Tribe Cultural Center for the show.

“Oh, come on, Snoozles, he’s not that bad.”

Sokka looked up to find Toph striding over, equipped with her cane, and her arm looped through Aang’s. She grinned devilishly. 

“You and Katara need to get over your little grudge against Zuko if you’re gonna make it in this industry,” she said, “considering Suki’s right, and he has the highest circulation in the world.”

“The grudge is for what he did to you and Aang!” Sokka sputtered. 

“And it’s really nice of you guys,” Aang said diplomatically, “but it really was just a misunderstanding. How was he supposed to know Air Nomad patterns influenced the Fire Nation’s?”

“He’s a trained journalist,” Katara said, crossing her arms. “It’s his job to research that stuff.”

“Yeah, I can’t help thinking he could have done a little more before accusing you of appropriation,” added Sokka. 

“And he apologized for it years ago.” Aang grinned when Katara drew up close to him, and he kissed her cheek despite the doubtful expression on her face.

“He’s more than made up for it,” Toph said. “How do you think the prices for your textiles are so low? We make a ton every year from that home goods deal he set up for us.”

Sokka gawked at her. “Since when do you care about our prices?”

Toph stuck her tongue out in his direction. “Since you started judging my friend unfairly.”

“Your friend?” Sokka nearly shrieked. “After everything—you know what, I don’t have time for this.” Sokka pulled away from the group. “Because I have Zuko Watanabe sitting front row for my first spring collection, and my models aren’t even finished getting dressed.” He threw his arms in the air. “And where the fuck is Hahn!”

A model walking by, sipping ice water through a straw, stopped next to Sokka. “Hahn?” he asked. 

“Yes, Hahn,” Sokka practically yelled. “Do you know where he is?”

“Hahn’s not coming,” the model said, resuming his sipping. “He’s on Ember Island for some influencer gig.”

He walked away, Sokka not-so-silently seething behind him. 

“Great!” Sokka cried, turning back around to face his friends. “We have,” he looked down at his watch, “eight minutes until the show starts, and I have no model.” His head fell into his hands. “I don’t know how this could get any—”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Katara said, laying a hand on his shoulder, “please.”

Sokka nodded, and then he wilted to the floor. “I have to skip look number eight, then.”

Katara rubbed his back, a sympathetic frown on her face. “I’m sorry, Sokka. I know how much look number eight means to you.”

Suki nudged Aang. He looked down at her with a small smile. 

“Do you think you could do it?” she whispered to him. 

Aang’s smile changed to slightly regretful, and he shook his head quickly. “I’ve volunteered before, but,” he said, pointing to his bald head, “Sokka says I’m too tall to model.”

Toph laughed out loud, and Sokka looked up sharply, tears in his eyes, just in time to see Suki sigh. 

“All right,” she said, stepping forward. She took her hair out of its half-up-half-down style and shook it loose with her fingers. “I’ll do it.”

“Do what?” Sokka asked, his tone still mournful. 

“Model. Put me in look number eight.”

For a moment, Sokka only stared up at her, and then all at once, he leapt to his feet and swept Suki up into his arms, lifting her into the air. “Suki, you are just the best friend ever!”

Suki laughed in surprise, pushing Sokka’s arms off until he unceremoniously dropped her once more on the floor. “Don’t thank me yet,” she said. “You haven’t even seen my walk.”

“I don’t have to,” Sokka said, grinning. “The clothes speak for themselves. Hee Yoon!” He waved over a young woman dressed entirely in black, and then pushed Suki toward her. “Take Suki to hair and makeup, and then bring her back to me to finish styling. We’ll have to do some last-minute tailoring, but she’ll be wearing look number eight.”

Hee Yoon’s black-lined eyes went wide. “But look number eight is a menswear—”

“And?” Katara interrupted, her voice steely. 

Hee Yoon ducked her head. “Come on, Miss Kawakubo,” she said to Suki, “this should only take a few minutes.”

Sokka looked at his watch as the two women looked away. “We’re four minutes to the show.”

“And the models are dressed and lining up,” Katara said. 

“And look number eight isn’t even till the second half, so we can start on time.” Sokka looked up from his watch with a smile. “This is why you stay friends with your exes.” 

thissss was supposed to be a oneshot but then i did a real outline and it turned out it was more of a 15-chapter slowburn that i didn’t have energy for. but i might one day! we hope, you know? 

#atla #zukka #zuko #sokka #katara #suki #aang #toph #my writing #incomplete fic

[fictionissocialinquiry]

The Nwanyi Spirit & the Woman Who Bent Blood

is alive and being written. 12,000 words penned last week despite horrendous hangovers, building a house, and relationship drama. When life gets hard, hide and write fanfiction!

I am  s o f t  for the enemies to friends to lovers tropin happening in this story!!! It is SO much fun! Zuko and Katara are both operatives of the White Lotus, a shadowy organisation that is working behind the scenes to strengthen the Earth Kingdom against the Fire Nation. This dark!verse AU has my whole heart and soul.

Excerpt below the cut - so so so keen to finish this so I can begin posting!

Neither of them spoke. Katara was trying to convince her tongue to apologise for being late. She knew it would make the meeting go more smoothly if they started out at least pretending to be polite, but her tongue wouldn’t budge. Zuko, for his part, was watching her as though trying to convince himself that conversation with her wouldn’t be as painful as the burn mark over his eye must have been.

‘Miss Katara—’

‘Look, I didn’t mean to be—’

They glared at one another. ‘You first,’ Zuko managed through his clenched teeth.

She narrowed her eyes at him and looked away. ‘I’m sorry I’m late. The messenger took her time doling out these—’ she glanced down at the tight navy dress ‘—gifts from your uncle.’

‘Today is one of the rare ones we’ll have to spend together during the day,’ Zuko said without acknowledging her apology. ‘From this evening onwards, you’ll meet me under the ginko tree in the monastery garden down the road. After the bell tolls the hour of the dove. Do you know the place?’

‘I’ll find it.’

‘See that you do.’

Katara wondered what she had done to deserve this as her assignment when Toph and Suki were paired with Lotus members who didn’t look at them like they were scum on the bottom of a pond.

‘So to what do I owe the honour of this extra daylight meeting?’

Zuko ignored her tone, reaching instead for the lone slip of paper to his right. ‘Read this, memorise it, and burn it when you’re done.’

She took the slip from him across the flames, curious. It was crisp, newly torn from a larger sheaf of parchment and contained a rough sketch of a middle aged man and a few short lines:

Haruto Fong. Merchant of the poppy. Discover the location of the key to the target’s opium distillery and relieve target of it. Search location. Let the lotus bloom. Return key before target notices.

And then at the bottom, almost as an afterthought: Target is susceptible to the charms of a woman.

Katara looked up at the firebender quizzically. ‘What the heck is this?’

‘Did you read it?’

‘Of course.’

He nodded to the fire.

Katara exhaled harshly, scanning the lines, the drawing, and committing them to memory before dropping the slip into the flames. ‘Who drew him?’

The firebender looked at her blankly.

‘That sketch of Fong. An informant?’

‘I did.’

She blinked in surprise. ‘You can draw?’

‘Anyone can draw.’

‘No, I mean, it was quite good.’ Sokka’s attempts at family portraits flashed through her mind’s eye. ‘Not everyone can draw that well.’

He didn’t smile but his expression lightened; he nodded his thanks. ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’

‘Thank you.’

While he busied himself with the teapot, the scent of spices rising on steam, Katara thought over the contents of the burned parchment. An opium merchant, a key, a distillery— they were clear enough— but that second to last line: Let the lotus bloom.

‘What exactly are we doing for Haruto Fong?’

Zuko poured the tea into two jade green cups before replying. ‘Tonight, reconnaissance only. Tomorrow night… you read the order.’

‘We locate the key to his distillery, steal it, search the distillery for… something. “Let the lotus bloom” then return the key?’ She raised a brow, accepting the cup from him. ‘That’s not a lot to go on.’

‘We suspect he’s hiding something— records, contacts, evidence of governmental misdeeds— in the distillery. Fong’s scammed his way into wealth; whatever he has on his superiors in the way of blackmail: that’s our target.’

Katara sipped the tea, the flavour intoxicating. Chai. Her favourite. ‘So we find his hoard of blackmail crap and return the key before he notices?’

‘Not exactly.’ The firebender watched her closely, his own cup clasped between his palms. ‘You are to keep Fong distracted after passing the key onto me. I know the distillery, I worked there a while back, saw a whole lot of Ba Sing Se’s undesirables coming into the rooms above the foreman’s office. I’ll search the room and find a way to slip the key back to you when I’m done. You just have to return it without Fong knowing we ever had it.’

Before he’d finished talking, she placed her cup down and leaned back, her arms supporting her thunderous expression. ‘This is mission of the sheets?’

His gaze didn’t waver. ‘Is that going to be a problem?’

‘I’ve done it before.’

‘We know.’

She frowned. ‘I don’t love those jobs.’

‘Is it going to be a problem?’

‘Is this some sort of test?’ When he didn’t respond, she leaned forward and took up her cup, draining it in one swallow. ‘I can do it fine. What’s the pay for this job?’

‘A hundred gold.’

‘Why are you interested in relieving Fong of his leverage?’

‘Come on, waterbender,’ the killer across from her said, true humour in his tone. ‘You know better than to ask “why” in this line of work.’

#zutara #the nwanyi spirit and the woman who bent blood #fanfiction #bring me that sweet vigilante tension

[rideboldlyride]

Day 2 of Zutara Week - Counterpart

So now this work has an official name! 

Seal My Heart and Break My Pride <-- That’s the AO3 link

Here’s day 2- I’ll link the days together at the bottom.

***

“It’s- It’s Zuko.” A hesitant hand shot out. 

For a moment, he watched her study his hand, and he felt his stomach plummet. There had been a hope that maybe his stupidity from earlier had been forgiven, but her hesitance seemed to prove otherwise. Seemingly making up her mind, she met his hand with her own. 

“Nice to put a name to a face. Now you can easily tell what’s my equipment.”

A hand rubbed at the base of his neck.

“Listen, I’m sorry--”

“Stop apologizing. I was messing with you.”

Despite knowing that it would have no effect on the youngest woman, he still rose a brow after his old friend across the table from him. 

“Well, I see that Toph found the right kind of people to be around, then.”

Sokka snorted. “Now if only we could get her to stop with the nicknames, it’d be great.”

“Just cause you hate yours, Snoozles, doesn't mean the rest do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think it’s an adorable nickname, Sokka.” Suki tried to placate.

“You’re just saying that!”

“I don’t know, ‘Sugar Queen’ feels a little more degrading.” Zuko’s fellow gym-goer seemed to lament.

“Don’t forget ‘Sweetness’.” A voice rounded them and a slight young man moved to join them, his characteristic orange hoodie pulled up. “But they’re all better than mine.”

“Aang, buddy!” Sokka cried and rounded the table to envelope him in a brotherly hug. “You made it!”

“Yeah, I managed to get out of my last shift at the office. Boss took pity on me.”

Katara felt a soft smile grace her face. “I’m glad you were able to come.” 

“Katara! It’s been so long!” He moved to wrap her into a friendly hug, his grin growing. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

“Me too.”

Zuko’s curiosity was still peaked, so he asked the blind woman quietly. “What is his nickname?”

A wicked grin split her face. “Twinkletoes.” 

Zuko snorted. Knowing Toph, there was a glorious story behind each of the nicknames. He knew that his did. 

Katara seemed to think similarly, and turned a raised brow towards him. "Wait- you're one of her old friends. Do you have a nickname?"

"Yeah."

"Sparky." Toph smirked. 

Zuko leveled a finger at her threateningly. "Not a word, Toph. Not. A. Word."

Toph’s snicker turned the rest of the group’s curious gazes towards him. Before she could say anything, however, he shook his head. “Don’t you dare, Toph. You torment me enough.”

“There’s a story here, I can feel it.” The brother of Katara leaned forward conspiratorially. “I will find it out eventually.”

Zuko raised a brow. “We’ll see.”

The newcomer turned to the most recent addition to the group, extending a hand. “Name’s Zuko. You?”

An enthusiastic grin lit up the younger man’s face. “Aang. Toph and I went to high school together.”

“Excuse me for saying it, but you don’t look like you're from the Earth Kingdom.”

Aang laughed, something that seemed to come easily to him. “I’m not. Transfer student.” 

“Ah.”

“Nice try at evasion, music boy.” Sokka narrowed his eyes at Zuko. “But you’re not getting out of a story that quickly.”

With a raised hand, Katara dismissed her brother. “You’re impossible, Sokka.”

“I wanna hear it!” 

“Ugh, and I just want a drink.”

Zuko interrupted, an eager look in his eye. “Yes, please. Listen, I owe you still.”

He turned an amber eye to the young woman, as it caught the dim light of the club, and Katara found her heart rate starting to rise. 

“Drink’s on me?” A soft lilt to his voice tugged at her, and she bit the corner of her lip. 

“Sounds like a deal to me.”

“Perfect!” Suki suddenly jumped in. “We have bets to make!”

Rounding, Katara turned exasperated eyes to her friends. “No, c’mon guys!”

Suki raised a finger to stop her. “You know this is the deal.”

“I thought we all grew out of this - when we graduated! You know, became adults.”

Sokka scoffed. “Speak for yourself.”

“Guys…” 

“Do I want to know?” Zuko found himself lost in the storm of familiar old friends.

“No.”

“Yes.”

Katara and Suki spoke spontaneously. The former sighed. 

“Let’s just go get that drink before I strangle my friends.”

“Yes, go!” Toph yelled after them. “Otherwise you might throw the bet!”

Blue eyes rolled hard.

 ***

“So how long do you think it’ll take for her to connect that he’s the singer for the band that was just playing some of her favorite music?”

“Not long enough.”

“End of his next set? I put 5 down.”

“End of her drink. I’ll match you.”

***

Leaving the crew to their own devices, the two fellow gym-goers made their way to the bar. As much as Zuko enjoyed playing, this crowd was not his scene. Maybe during his college years, a tight pack of skin, liquor and innuendo would have been thrilling to him, but the past few years had been filled with a milder crowd, with less press of flesh and more healthful imbibing. However, that drink sounded amazing, and the company… well, it wasn’t something to scoff at either. His mind wandered back to her, as she trailed in the wake he left through the crowd. 

There was a definite difference between the stormy-eyed woman at the gym and the pleasant woman with a gentle laugh at the corner of her lips, that Toph introduced him to. He wondered what would be closer to the truth about her. While he would have been willing to talk with her as they made their way through, the loud bass of the music and the press of people drowned out any conversation on the path towards the bar. It would have to wait till they arrived.

But as soon as Katara stepped up to the bar, the bartender made his way over, a massive smile lighting up his face.

“Katara!” he exclaimed.

“Teo! I didn’t realize you were still here!” Leaning off of his crutches, the young man pulled her into a familiar hug. “Don’t tell me Jin is here still, too?”

“Sure is! If we left, I think the whole place would fall apart.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me. How have you been?”

The two began to chat amicably, and Zuko leaned back, feeling no desire to invade. Instead, he took the moment to consider the young woman before him. Dressed practically, there was a flow about her - she moved like the sea, in and out, never really stopping. Her laugh, as it reached his ears, was clear and bright, like the sun off the water at midday. There was an edge though-- he could see it in the unpredictable moments, like the eddies of currents under the waves. Curiosity whispered in his ear- how was she in a storm? He had a sensation he knew. Slowly, he returned to the conversation as Teo threw an apologetic look her way. 

“... seems to like terrorizing our Thursday nights only, so far.”

“I’m amazed he’s out.”

“He swears he’s changed, but I don’t know, man.”

“Well, if you see him, please let me know so I can leave immediately.”

Teo put two fingers to his forehead in mock salute.

“So what can I get you two?”

Katara turned, her brow raising in question. A smirk pulled at his own lips. 

“Whiskey for me, and whatever she’s having. Put it on my tab.”

“Same as always?” Teo asked after Zuko. He nodded, but Teo was stopped short by a gesture by Katara.

She leaned towards Zuko. “Ya know, you can find out a lot about a person by the whiskey they drink.”

“Oh?” 

“Yeah.” Her brow rose, seemingly curious to see if he would take the bait. He did.

“Mind if I take a guess about you?”

She shrugged, turning away from him to stare out into the crowd. He thought there was a flash of a smile at the corner of her lips. “Why not.”

***

Molten eyes caught in the dim light, and Katara caught herself getting lost in them. Taking a deep breath, she turned away, eyes trying to focus on nothing and everything that wasn’t him. Spirits, she thought, I haven’t even had a drink yet… the words that slipped out were forcibly casual. 

“Why not.”

What was it about this borderline narcissist that attracted her? Musician- Toph had mentioned that he was a musician. Vaguely, she wondered if his set was coming up soon. She was curious to hear what he played. But, no. That wasn’t what it was. Her eyes slowly rebelled so that, when he moved to give their order quietly to Teo, they tracked his motion. Giving herself the rebellion, she sunk into it willingly for the moment. Handsome? Of course. It had almost excused his assumption back at the gym hours prior, but not quite. The scar had added a level of mysteriousness to his features, but again, it didn’t ring true.

 Maybe- maybe it had to do with his reaction. She had jumped, getting angry, tempestuous, but instead of getting roped in like a boat on the sea, he had… taken the hit. Waited for the storm to pass, like the sun behind storm clouds. Apologized, tried to make the wrong right. She couldn’t help but remember the small smile he had offered her when she invited him to continue using her equipment. It was such a small thing, those little moments, but she had a sneaking sensation that was merely an indication of his overall personality. Had it been Jet…

 Katara shook away the meanderings of her mind and eyes, in time to feel him bump gently at her elbow. He had appeared with two caramel colored glasses in his hands. With a determined look, he handed her the darker of the two.

***

“When is the first kiss?”

“Fiver on tonight.”

“Fiver on first real date.”

“You think it’ll get that far?”

“You think it won’t?”

***

“So you think you know me?” she pried playfully, holding the rich caramel liquid up to the light.

“We’ll see, won’t we?”

A glint in her eye, and she offered the side of her glass, and he tapped it with his own. He watched her with his periphery, gauging her response as he raised his own glass to his lips. As the liquid reached her tongue, she drew her lips into a tight line, but her eyes fluttered close. She exhaled as soon as the swallow slid past her tongue. 

He had chosen a rye whiskey- it’s profile more peppery, a bit more biting. It was an older year, so the cloying bitterness was mostly gone, leaving a pleasurable warmth, he knew. His was not; he'd chosen a bourbon for the night - a much smoother, sweeter profile. He had enough fiery things in his life, his whiskey didn’t need to be another one. The thought paused him for a moment. Maybe she was right about whiskey being a good read on personality.

A bated breath sat at his lips, curiosity getting the better of him.

“Well?”

Finally, a bright eye turned to him. “This is the good stuff. You know your whiskey. Rye?”

The dark headed man nodded, his lips pulling gently up. 

“What do you have-- no wait,” she stopped herself, putting her free hand on his elbow, “let me guess.”

Her eyes roamed him freely, and it took all of his willpower not to blush furiously at her methodical and intense observation of him. 

“Something with a sweeter profile. Bourbon?”

“Got it in one.” His eyes sparkled mischievously as he leaned in towards her. “So what does that tell you?” 

“Well, bourbon is sweeter, smoother. A good drink for soothing the soul. I’m sure this seems like a pot-shot, but…” her hand gestured obscurely towards his face, “I think somebody who’s drinking bourbon by choice has had some pretty recent excitement in their lives. Bourbon is good for smoothing the rough edges.”

He couldn’t prevent the twist at his lips. If only she knew just how true that was…

“What do you think of me, to get me a rye?”

A small buzz started behind his lips. While this drink might have been her first of the night, he had been slowly imbibing as he had played. Putting down the bourbon, he swallowed hard, trying to clear the fog trying to settle over his brain- there was still at least one more set to be done. But in that moment, as sea-blue eyes sat too close in the dun of the bar lights. His thoughts were scattered and it took some time to gather them. Her gaze didn’t waiver as she waited for his response.

“Feisty. You are willing to stand up for what you want or what you think is right. You’ve got spirit- you take up a stranger on an offer just to try something different.”

“You got all that from our short interaction at the gym?”

“And how you respond to people- you’re- well, you’re interesting to watch.”

Her laugh bounced in his mind. “Phrasing, Zuko!” 

A blush started to rise at his throat and he forcibly swallowed it down.

“That’s not what I meant!”

The laugh only grew stronger. A hand pinched at the bridge of his nose. 

“I’m not that- I’m- That’s not-” He stammered and for the second time in 24 hours, he found himself at a loss to respond. Ironically enough, he didn’t dislike it when Katara was involved. 

“You need to stop taking things so seriously, Zuko!” Her words were laced with a laugh. Eyes glinting mischievously, she nudged him with her elbow. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you never pulled a ‘that’s what she said’ joke.”

“Erm…”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Well…” 

“Where did you grow up? With Toph’s parents?” She paused for a moment, her head cocked and the overhead lights caught her lines in a pleasing way. It allowed his mind to wander to other, less than wholesome things, and Zuko glared at the glass of bourbon that now sat half-empty. When did that happen? “No, If you were anywhere with Toph, you’d curse like a sailor.”

“Truth.” A smile pulled at his lips, and he opened them to begin, even as he was interrupted.

A goateed young man had stepped up to him, a hand on his shoulder. 

“Set’s about to start.”

“Right.” Zuko nodded to the darker skinned woman. “Listen, I’ve got to go. But, uh…after?”

Her smile was troublesome, and he knew it. But it was the kind of trouble that he found himself being drawn to, like a sailor to a siren. 

“I’d like that.”

**

@zutaraweek

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7

#zutara #zutara week #zutara week 2020 #zutara is my new hell #atla #atla is my new hell #zuko x katara #katara x zuko #zuko #katara

[out-of-jams]

A Dance of Fire and Wind || (05) || jjk

↠ A Dance of Fire and Wind ↞ One year ago you were banished from the Fire Nation, branded a traitor and a coward by the scar on your face. The only way to win back both your throne and the respect of your father was to capture the Avatar, master of all four elements.

You’d be damned if you failed. 

Warnings/Genre: Avatar the Last Airbender!au. Female Prince Zuko!Reader. Avatar!Jungkook. Fluff. Angst. Explicit language. Smut. Light violence. Waterbender!Jimin. Sokka!Taehyung. Nonlinear drabble series. 

Word Count: 1.4k

A/n: These will not be posted in order, so you do not need to read them that way! However, they will each be numbered, so if you do want to read them in sequential order, you can!

All of my works are purely fiction. Everything I write is my intellectual property and therefore belongs to me. ©out-of-jams. Do not copy or repost without permission.

                              | Series Masterlist |

                                05: The Chase

“Catch me if you can!”

A grunt of annoyance left your lips, but that was the only response you gave to the obvious taunting. Not like the brat ahead of you would have been able to hear it anyway. The armor you wore was heavy, weighing you down as you ran through the dirt path streets of whatever small Earth Kingdom village you’d docked at an hour ago.

“Out of my way!” You bit out through clenched teeth. The older man who’d just been standing in your path met the side of the road with a thud with a harsh shove. But you didn’t care. Didn’t bother to pay any mind to the barely concealed disgruntled shout. Especially when whatever he’d been about to say died down in his throat the second he got a good glance at the color of your uniform.

The day had started out just like any other. You’d woken up at sunrise and did your morning exercises and meditation. It’d been right in the middle of said meditation when the door leading to the empty deck of your ship cracked open. Normally, the soldiers under your command knew better than to interrupt you and you knew for a fact that your uncle was still asleep.

When the presence had refused to disappear, a frown pulled at your lips and you snapped your eyes open in irritation. You ignored the flash of dull pain that licked at the harshly scarred, burned skin on the left side of your face, surrounding your eye and reaching all the way back your ear. One year later and the pain had still yet to cease. Not even the cool breeze drifting from the ocean was enough to cool the fire that itched beneath your skin. The heat that fluctuated with the rise of your temper.

“What?” You’d snapped, relaxing out of your meditative posture.

The soldier, whose shadow fell over your seated position, shifted. Whether in nervousness or caution, you frankly didn’t give a shit. You were known for many things, but your patience wasn’t one of them. His eyes dropped to the metal deck of the ship and the armored helmet over his head bobbed with the movement.

“I apologize for the interruption, Princess Y/n. But the ship is in need of restocking.”

A puff of breath, warmer than usual due to displeasure, passed your lips. “Then inform the captain that we’ll be stopping at the next port.”

“Right away, Princess.” He--you never bothered to learn the names of the peasant soldiers so far beneath you--bowed his head once again before making himself scarce.

Luck. That’s what your uncle would have called it when you’d happened to glance up in the middle of the village market just in time to recognize a familiar face. Your hand had been outstretched to place a few gold pieces into the palm of the tea vendor (your uncle had picked out an obnoxiously expensive tea set claiming that his last one had been damaged during a pirate raid two weeks ago) when you’d spotted him.

His bright yellow and orange outfit would have been a dead giveaway even if you hadn’t already noticed him standing there, frozen. Big brown eyes were wide with shock and you took a moment to acknowledge the fact that his two little lackeys weren’t by his side for once. Not that it mattered, you could’ve taken on all three of them in a fight easily.

One month. It’d been one month since you’d first laid your sights on the boy, the Avatar. Which marked one year and one month since your banishment from the Fire Nation. You’d never known what exactly to expect him to look like when you’d first begun your journey to hunt him down. But it sure as hell wasn’t a boy who looked barely even a year younger than you. Barely even eighteen. He was supposed to be the master of all four elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Air, and over a hundred years old. Not a teenage boy.

You’d managed to capture him once during that first month, when he’d voluntarily given himself up in exchange for the promised safety of the village he’d been taking refuge in. But the bastard was surprisingly and irritatingly slippery. From the moment he’d first escaped your ship and therefore your capture, the chase had been on.

So seeing him in that moment, across the market square, you didn’t even hesitate before shoving the gold pieces into the hand of the vendor. Your uncle, who’d been patiently awaiting his new wrapped tea set, had let out a sound of surprise when you bolted. The Avatar’s panicked squeak was audible even over the small crowd. You’d barely even cleared half of the distance between you before he turned tail and ran.

Whatever alarm the Avatar had been feeling seemed to have vanished and now he turned to childishly stick his tongue out at you from over his shoulder. His brunette hair, that clashed horribly with his outfit, fluttered around his head playfully. “Too slow! What do they feed you Fire Benders? Lazy cakes?”

A growl rumbled in your throat at the blatant taunt and you clenched your fist. It was anger that drew the fire from your stomach and down your arm. Fury that caused the air around you to simmer in warning right before you ignited it and sent a ball of fire flying straight at the annoying little shit.

The Avatar just let out a laugh, hopping into the air far higher than any normal person could achieve. He’d just barely managed to avoid the flames, but the vegetable cart that stood in the way wasn’t so lucky.

“My cabbages!” A male voice screeched as you sprinted by, but you didn’t care to spare a glance. 

“Oops. Sorry!” The Avatar called back casually, like he wasn’t in the middle of a chase. Like you were some kind of game that he’d just so happened to fall into. Like you were some kind of fucking joke.

“Get back here!” You shouted, sending another volley of fireballs that the Avatar just managed to dodge. Around you, peasant villagers fled from the scene, terrified at the sight of fighting.

“Uh,” the Avatar twisted out of the way of a stream of fire, sliding off the wooden staff hooked over his back to throw a gush of powerful air to clash with your next assault. “No thanks.”

His muscular back flexed with the effort it took to hold you off, biceps bulging with the power of his swings. Spotting the large, inhumanly sized flying bison that the boy kept as a pet and used as transportation up ahead resting on one of the rooftops, you gritted your teeth. Two familiar heads poking up from over the leather saddle, both dark heads of hair, urged you to move that much faster. If the Avatar managed to reach them, he’d more than likely escape before you could capture him.

One of his weak companions noticed you and his jaw dropped open, eyes widening at the same time. His blue Water Tribe--wasn’t it a little too warm to be wearing something so fluffy and padded?--stood out amongst the dull brown buildings. “Jungkook, hurry! She’s right behind you!”

“Obviously.” The other, his voice much deeper and less fitting to his appearance, grunted. He was thin, but not as petite as the other and climbed his way to the front of the saddle, picking up the long reins tied to either end of the animal’s horns with his hands. “Appa, yip-yip!”

With a crack! the reins snapped and the gargantuan beast let out an answering howl that had you leaping upwards to kick a stream of flame, right into the Avatar’s path the moment he took to the air. At the last minute, with another swing of his staff, he sent your own fire careening back towards you. You barely even had to flick your wrist to disperse it, but it was already too late.

The Avatar flew through the air, hair whipping around his head and wind tearing at his clothes, to land safely inside the bison’s saddle. Out of your range, you had no other choice but to skid to a stop right in the middle of the steadily emptying street. You craned your head back just in time to see the Avatar lean over the side of the saddle. A blindingly white grin stretched his cheeks, doe eyes scrunching as he waved a hand.

“Nice try, but better luck next time!”

Your hands clenched into infuriated fists at your side.

Next time he wouldn’t be getting away. 

#bts #jungkook #jungkook fic #bangtanarmynet #ficswithluv #btsbookclub #magicshopnet #jimin #taehyung

[forever-more-never-again]

Light and Dark (Part Two)

Summary: What changes would occur if there were Two Avatars during Aang’s adventures? One that has a connection to the banished Fire lord Prince?

Word Count: 1429

Pairings: Zuko X Avatar!Reader, Aang X Avatar!Reader, Platonic!Katara X Reader, Platonic!Sokka X Reader, Platonic!Toph X Reader

Warnings: Mentions of fighting, pain and angst. 

A/n: We learn about the Reader’s backstory!

Part One

Matsterlist

Blinking, you opened your eyes to flickering flames in a dark cavern.

“You’re back. Good. We’re about to have company.” Katara’s voice was hard and you quickly noticed her rigid stance, hands poised to attack.

Sokka and Toph stood nearby, both looking towards the entrance of the cave.

Sharing a quick look with Aang, knowing that you would have to talk about what had happened later, you scrambled to your feet and steadied your breathing.

You disliked firebending, as it brought back memories you would rather forget, but to protect this ragtag group and yourself, you would fight fire with fire if you had to.

Footsteps, muffled by the dirt,  came closer and closer.

Causing the tension in the cave to rise higher and higher.

And then a figure stood in the entrance, bathed in the small light available from the fire.

A gasp left you and you found yourself trembling in fear. “General Iroh?” A whisper. One that you had not intended to let slip. Because it immediately drew the attention to you.

The group’s eyes flitted to you for a second, with Katara’s lasting a little longer, cold fury blazin in her blue eyes.

The short, staut man grinned and chuckled lowly. “It’s been a long time [Y/n]. You gave my nephew quite the scare back in the tea shop.”

Sokka spoke up, his boomerang in his hands, “Hey! Aren’t you the old man who was with the crazy Prince trying to capture the Avatar!?”

You breathed deeply, trying to make yourself stop trembling. Lowering your hands, you stepped forward, feet together, hands splayed open with palms up, you bent into a low bow.

“Please, General Iroh. Do not Harm this simple group of travelers. They were not harboring me. I will not resist. Take me to the Fire Lord.”

“What!?” 

At Katara’s outburst, you shot her a quick look, one that told her to shut up. You were willing to let yourself be sacrificed if it meant that General Iroh would not recognize Aang and take him to Prince Zuko.

Afterall, you were the Avatar that hosted the spirit of darkness and chaos, not peace and light like Aang was.

To yours, and everyone else's, surprise General Iroh broke out into a deep belly laugh.

Wiping away a tear of mirth, General Iroh walked up to you, aware of the eyes and positions of everyone around him.

Upon reaching where you stayed bent, he placed a hand on your shoulder and guided your body back upright.

Your trembling froze, as you stared into golden eyes that held warmth. Not anger, or sadistic glee like Zuko’s or Azula’s ever did.

“Please, child, call me Iroh. I Do not wish you or the Avatar here any harm.” He winked over at Aang, who was as wide eyed as the rest of his group. Well, Aside from Toph who had the same bland look on her face.

Turning back to you, he smiled softly, “I am sorry for what my Brother has done. And for what Zuko has done in his pain and grief. You have been put through much. And I feel that you will be put through much more before your adventure is over.”

A shaky sigh escaped from your lips. Taking a step back, registering the small hint of hurt in the older man’s eyes, you stood tall and spoke softly, “Gener-” You broke off and tried to smile, but you felt like it came out more like a grimace, “I mean, Iroh. I appreciate what you are saying. But you can not apologize for the Fire Lord, or your niece and nephew. You can not erase the wounds that are on my body, and you cannot take away the fact that I am an Avatar and therefore a threat to your brother.”

Your voice got louder as you continued. Feeling a presence next to you, you glanced over and saw that Aang had come to stand beside you, with the rest of the Gang lined up beside him. A show of strength. It made your heart warm, even with knowing that Katara and Sokka were likely just doing it for Aang.

Looking back at Iroh, you continued despite seeing the tears gathering in the older man’s eyes.

“I do not know what you hoped to accomplish by coming here. But know this. I will never be the same little girl that you and Prince Zuko knew.” Your voice cracked as your own emotions caught up to you, memories swimming through your head with a dizzying speed.

“I was just a simple servant girl. I was raised to take care of the Royals! I took the bruises and blood that the princess gave me in the name of just playing! I listened to Prince Zuko cry about his mother and then I tended to him when his father burned him! I stayed quiet and worked hard! And what did I get in return for being a loyal and faithful servant!?”

At this point, Iroh had tears down his cheeks, as did you. And Aang had ahold of you hand in warning.

A wet, dark chuckle escaped from you as you closed your eyes, unable to look at him anymore as you continued. Not caring that Toph, Sokka, Katara, and Aang where hearing the story about your past.

“One afternoon, during my daily practice of Firebending with Prince Zuko before he was to be banished...I somehow managed to bend some water from the nearby pond. I was only Twelve years old! A child! And before I could even register what I had done, I had guards around me, threatening to kill me! And Prince Zuko…”

You futility tried to wipe away your tears, but it was a steady river of pain flowing from your eyes.

Heavy breathing from in front and beside you let you know that you weren’t the only one affected by your past.

But you powered forward. You needed to get this off your chest. It had been three years of hiding and running from your past. It was time to confront it. It was easier, though, than you thought it would be to, to talk about this. A foreign feeling of anger and darkness coursed through you, feeding your pain. Feeding your darker emotions. Vaatu. But you did not care. You needed this. Needed him. Needed his strength, no matter how twisted it came.

“The look he gave me. One of hatreds and some sort of twisted pleasure of having the Avatar in his grasp before he was banished. Instead of the soft, loving looks he had given me before. Despite it not being possible and my tangible fear! A firebender was not supposed to be the next Avatar! It was impossible! But did any of you care about that!? Did anyone care about my cries and please and fear!? No! I was thrown before the Fire Lord and sentenced to death! I barely escaped with my life! I have spent the last three years running, barely surviving. Learning how to master bending.”

Your eyes snapped open and clashed with the golden ones in front of you.

“And I will not allow you or any of the royals to hurt me ever again!” And with that, you wrenched your hand out of Aang’s grasp and flung it forward.

“No!”

“[Y/n]!”

“Stop!”

Raging Orange flames burst forward from your open palm. Only to clash with another set of flames from Iroh. The flames fizzled out, and you readied yourself to shoot another round of Fire.

Before either of you could retaliate, Aang stepped forward and yelled, “Enough!”

Turning, he looked at Iroh, who had tear tracks on his cheeks, eyes shining with regret and pain.

“I think it’s best if you left. Don’t bother telling anyone where we are. We will be long gone by then.”

Iroh opened his mouth, but closed it without saying anything. With a sigh, and another quick look at you, he left.

Once you could no longer hear his footsteps, it was like all your strength was gone. You collapsed to the ground in a limp pile.

“Strange Fire girl? What was all that?” Sokka was the first to speak in the heavy silence that followed your outburst.

From your spot on the ground, you whimpered, the sound turning into a humourless laugh.

Tired eyes looked up at the Gang, “That was your proof that I won’t betray you. You now know all about my horrible past and my sordid affair with the Banished Fire Prince.”

FOREVER Taglist:

@sxph-t​ @mialeelavellan​ @rainydaysrnevergrey​  @platonic-plots​ @sociallyawkwardcircus-freak-hi​ @queenbbarnes​ @mythixmagic​ @chas-z​ @thefridgeismybestie​ @strangersstranger​ @princess-evans-addict​ @rororo06​ @timelordhunterandmysterysolver​

Light and Dark (Avatar) Taglist:

@blue-and-yellow-jjk-pjm​ @kingniazx​ @aggynus​ @taina-eny​ @casedoina​ @grippleback-galaxy​ @utterlyconfused-tm​ @trash1ty​

#Avatar The Last Airbender #avatar x reader #avatar #prince zuko #zuko x reader #atla zuko #aang x reader #the legend of aang #Aang the last Airbender #atla aang #katara #sokka #toph beifong #element bending #Water Bender #Earth Bender #Fire Bender #Air Bender #spirit bending #avatar reader #raava #vaatu #reader insert #tag list #please give credit #please give feedback #rose writes

[goldsperyid]

The Ethic of Reciprocity

(Apologies for inserting Jewish ethics onto an Asian character/ world, this would not leave my brain. As the descendant of genocide survivors, this part of Aang’s arc has always resonated with me. He gets a lot of hate for not killing Ozai ( he is 12????? Did you really want to see a child murdering someone on nickelodeon when you were 6? What), but I always applauded his refusal to truly finalize the Air Nomad genocide by giving up their views, as their sole survivor. They have just as much right to the world as the rest of the nations, and Aang did exactly the right thing to restore balance, which is his JOB as the Avatar. Balance means air, too.)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25419808

He’s the last of his people. Why don’t the others understand that?

(He knows why. He’s always been too understanding. He refuses to view that as a flaw.)

He smiles a lot. He doesn’t always feel like smiling. He sometimes feels like destroying something in a tornado.

( He smiles because it helps him to know he always had the freedom to. Its not a given. He wonders how often Zuko or Toph smiled in their childhoods. He knows Katara and Sokka did, because they were not always at war the same ways Zuko and Toph were. He wishes he knew Suki better.)

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? Aang. The Avatar?

It’s not about not being able to kill, or being afraid, or a coward, or too immature ( Taking a life is maturity?). He shouldn’t have to sacrifice one more thing of his people in the name of necessity.  He will not shed his people as if they are a childish fixation to be outgrown.

He’s the last. He must stand for them. For himself.

No one else will. He thinks maybe they’ve forgotten how.

And being for myself, what am 'I' The Avatar. Aang?

Katara understands some. She does not laugh at him, at least. They’ve always been able to see each other’s side even when disagreeing. They are like the clouds- mixing two separate entities to form something new and always been and organic, natural. She wonders how much the world will strip from him before there is nothing left, and why it insists on doing so. She cannot fathom how much strength it takes for him to smile every day. Is in awe of it. He was her first friend. She wonders if he knows that.

Sokka understands some. Less. He is a pragmatist who has been raised in war, but he has a gentleness of spirit that shines through always. He pushes it away- it can haunt him later if it will end it now. He is smart, but he is fifteen. He is game for any genuine answer to the problem, he just doesn’t see another one. He is glad when one presents itself. He was his first friend. He wonders if he knows that.

(He does. He’s honored.)

Suki is a warrior with too much Kyoshi in her to understand his view, but enough diplomat to respect it. Why is she a warrior diplomat at fifteen? Why is he the only one of them with a childhood? She is glad that he was not forced to do more then he was willing to do. She wants him to be a child, because it is that quality which drew them all to him- his childish lightness of spirit, his happiness at the simple acts of friendship and love. He was different from Kyoshi,  possessing a lightness she had never felt but wanted desperately. She learns it is the lightness of a world at peace, later.

Toph….. will bury it under sarcasm, but she can read his emotions. In some ways she knows him better then all of them. She hurts for him in equal measure to the amount she yells at him. That’s a lot. It frustrates her, sometimes, that she can read them all so well, because she is forced to sympathize with their anguish while exasperated with it. She isn’t really annoyed at him. She wishes she was, because she thinks she’s supposed to be. She can’t really ever truly be angry at him, her first friend. She wants him to do what he has to. He does.

Zuko is his mirror in many ways. He is also his opposite in many ways. They complement each other in different ways then him and Katara. Its no less crucial, just different. He was the first person aside from uncle to ever make an overture of friendship. Perhaps it struck him differently because it was an outsider who by all rights should despise him, the descendant of the man who murdered his people, and not a long-suffering family member. Even though he was never long suffering. It takes him time to see things clearly. He is glad he was not forced to murder his father, because once he sees clearly he would not have been able to withstand that. It moves him, that a child can see so much more clearly then he can. He sees him smile, laugh, overflowing love in all forms, and cries from how much he wishes he had seen the light earlier. He was the first to truly forgive him, too. Completely and without trial. He was his first friend he ever chose for himself.

It’s a common theme.

If not now, when? He does what he has to, but he does not give up himself. It was the right thing to do.( It was the only way to end it with peace).  

He can be both the Avatar and Aang, Air Nomad and Judge and Jury.  He can smile. He is a product of his people, and of his friends. He is the old and the new combined. He is Balance.

(He gives people hope.)

#a:tla fanfiction #atla #avatar the last airbender #aang #Katara #Sokka #Suki #Is important #Toph #is not heartless #Zuko #Aang centric #Friendship #Air nomad Genocide #Introspective on the Gaang and the final fight? #I guess #Wanted to put out there that Aang was RIGHT #Gen but for the record I am a canon shipper #Thematically Zukaang #Thematically Kataang #He was all their first friend ppl #Embodiment of hope #In many different ways #also BALANCE #this is terrible sorry #Fanfic #Fanfiction #this made me want more Suki and Aang content #Also more toph exploring her feelings