#azulaang family

[impossiblycolorfulpanda]

Azulaang - Legacy

Aang: “Hey Zula, I’ve been meaning to ask you about something.”

Azula: “What is it?”

Aang: “I’m writing down a legacy book containing all our past adventures. I just need you to write a little letter.”

Azula: “What for?”

Aang: “For Tenzin. So he will one day be a master Airbender, too.”

Azula: “Why only Tenzin? Why not Kuzon and Ursa too? Why do I just need to write a little letter, why can’t I work on this thing with you?”

Aang: “Well. They don’t have to be involved in this if they don’t want to.”

Azula: “Oh, but Tenzin does because he’s an airbender? That means nothing and you don’t seem to be giving Kuzon and Ursa much of a choice about what they do want.”

Aang: “Yes, I know. I just figured he’d know that other than me, he is the only living airbender in the world so he could lead the air nation.”

Azula: “Perhaps when he is fully grown and he’s ready and when he decides to want it but I will NEVER allow such pressure to be placed on him on a young age, same with Ursa and Kuzon. They WILL have the childhoods we never had.”

Aang: “Yes of course-”

Azula: “You still haven’t answered why you should do all the work on this novel involving our children and their heritage, while I’m only needed to write one letter only to our youngest son.”

Aang: “I-”

Azula: “You think this is between you and you’re youngest son? You think just because he has the same element as you, his life and his identity should revolve only around you? Is almost not good enough? Are you gonna banish you’re eldest children, have our youngest smile about it, lie to him about how his own mother thinks of him as a monster?”

Aang: “No! You know I would never-”

Azula: “When we found out Kuzon could not bend at all, we both swore to him and you swore to me we’d love an accept him no matter what and that almost is always good enough. We’d never fry his face and disown him just because he’s not like any of us, we’d never question what’s wrong with them behind their backs and make them feel like monsters just because they may have a few minor quirks...”

Azula put her head down and put her face at the palm of her hand. Aang gently and empathetically put his hands on her shoulders and then hugs her.

Aang: “You’re right. I’m sorry. We can work on the legacy novel together, we can show it to all our kids and not let them go through unnecessary pressure. I understand they are not us and they shouldn’t be us.”

Azula: “I too should apologize for my sudden outburst. I do know you’d never lose your humility like I once did.”

Aang: “It’s ok. I kinda needed to hear that.”

[blairarden]

Flower Crowns

SUMMARY: Azula and Aang's daughter's bad habit shows up yet again.

CHARACTERS: Azula, Aiko (OC)

PAIRINGS: Azula/Aang

Azula huffed as she spotted the sixth flower crown for that day, this time on Katara’s head. While flower crowns had been a specialty of Aang’s, Aang and Azula’s daughter had taken the craft to an extreme.

Whenever Aiko was upset, she’d make flower crown after flower crown until she felt better. More than once while Aiko was growing up, Azula had stepped outside to find that all the flowers had been plucked and turned into more crowns than there were heads to wear them.

“Where’s my daughter?” Azula asked her sister-in-law with a long-suffering sigh.

Katara smiled apologetically, knowing full well about Aiko’s flower crown problem. “She’s by the lake,” she said. “I tried asking her what’s wrong and she said ‘nothing’, and then when I pressed the issue she forced this crown on my head and started singing ‘Hungry Little Lemur’ at the top of her lungs.”

“Oh, spirits,” Azula sighed, smoothing down her hair.

Azula walked over to the lake to find her daughter, surrounded by flowers and flower crowns, in the process of making yet another flower crown. 

“What’s this all about?” Azula asked as she sat down next to her unsuspecting child.

“Just entertaining myself,” Aiko said with a forced smile. “Flower crown?”

“Sure…” Azula took the flower crown from her daughter and placed it on her own head.

“So, what’s really going on?” Azula asked, adopting a more serious tone.

Aiko simply gestured to the flower crowns around her.

“Aiko,” Azula said warningly.

“OH! FIRST HE ATE THE FRUIT–”

Azula stuffed a handful of flowers into her daughter’s open mouth.

“Blegh,” Aiko spat the flowers out. “Hey, those could’ve been poisonous for all you know!”

“You’ll survive,” Azula assured nonchalantly. “I see you’ve run out of flowers.”

“That’s because you forced me to eat the last of them!” Aiko responded, flicking some flower petals at her mother’s face.

Azula chuckled and rolled her eyes at her daughter. “Would you like to talk about your problems instead of making hundreds of flower crowns?”

Aiko groaned before lying down on her pile of flower crowns.

“I don’t know, it’s…” she sighed deeply. “I missed Dad, and I… I know he’s back now, but…”

“You’re worried about a potential repeat,” Azula said, gently running a hand through her daughter’s hair. Out of all three of her kids, Aiko handled Aang’s death the worst, having always been a self-proclaimed daddy’s girl. 

“A permanent repeat,” Aiko corrected.

“Things like death aren’t as permanent as they seem, especially with your father,” Azula said.

“I know that,” Aiko assured somewhat unconvincingly. “It’s just… after having gone through all that… I never want it to happen ever again, not with Dad or-or you or anyone.”

“I will never leave you,” Azula told her daughter. “Death won’t even be able to take me away from you. I’ll always find my way back to my babies.”

[phoenix-king-ozai]

What is your favorite Azula ship if you have one 

My favorite Azula ship would be Azulaang or Tyzula followed by Sokkla. The contrast between Aang and Ty Lee’s personality with Azula’s own personality make their interactions in fanfics and canon very interesting and carry a certain charm to them. Aang would make a great therapist and healer for Azula. Along with Ty Lee being her closest female friend outside of Mai. Sokka and Azula also share genius-level intelligence and cunning.

My favorite relationship outside of shipping for Azula is most definitely between Ozai, Ursa and Zuko. The parent & daughter and brother & sister relationship reigns supreme over all others.

[roththeprimordial]

Aang: Hey, Azula! Beautiful day, isn't it?

Azula: Shut up before I tear out your tongue through your eye socket.

Aang: Well, someone's a salty shrimp today. You know what will fix that? Tickling!

Azula: Wait! Wait! Don't-!

(Aang starts ticking Azula as she squirms and the two laugh)

Azula: Hahahahaha! Cut it out! Stop it! Hahahaha! I mean it- I MEAN IT!

(Azula blasts Aang in the arm with a ball of fire as he falls to the ground in pain)

Aang: Oh, man! My arm!

Azula: Well, I told you to stop.

Aang: I tickle you and you firebend at me!?

Azula: I TOLD you to stop! I warned you!

Aang: I need to get to the hospital!

Azula: Yeah, I bet you do...

[wilcze-kudly]

Azulaang is great because it's like, the final kick in the balls for Ozai.

Like, the Avatar has turned most of your family against you, your son, your brother, he's overthrown you, taken away your bending, HUMILIATED you, set your traitorous son upon the throne undone all your family uas been working towards for like 3 generations.

The only thing you have left outside your jail cell is your daughter, your progeny, who you have groomed and molded into a perfect weapon and the hope that somehow, she will take back the throne and restore your nation to its former glory.

Only for this BALD MOTHERFUCKER to come down into your cell and be like ' oh btw, your daughter and I have been dating for a few years now, we're getting married this summer and you aren't invited. Ok, bye!'

DO YOU SEE MY VISION

[struggling-author]

Hey what are your avatar otps besides azulaang?

oh umm… I wouldn’t call them OTPs since that is exclusively Azulaang, but my bi Azula headcanon lives in a variety of ships. Azutara, Azuki, Maizula… not Tyzula tbh because that feels like… imbalanced? and not Tophzula because they are menace-besties but not romantic, but with any of the other girls I think it could be great. Azutara has the enemies to lovers from Azulaang but with more spice and less forgiveness, they‘d tear eachother apart first but that makes it even sweeter if they eventually fall in love. Azuki is kind of different because Suki is more rational and holds less of an emotional grudge, it‘d be difficult for Azula to earn her trust but she would not be openly hostile to her unless necessary. I imagine this one could only happen if Azula is already in the middle or post redemption though, because Suki would not put up with any EtL shit. I guess that is exactly why it intrigues me too, I feel Suki would be more willing to give Azula a chance, more than Katara for example, but at the same time it would be impossibly hard to win her trust and I‘d like to see if Zula can manage it. Lastly Maizula, and I prefer this one over Tyzula because I feel Mai is more capable of holding her own against Azula in a relationship. It’s a complicated version of childhood friends to lovers and I‘m kind of here for it. No idea how it would work though lol.

Aside from Azula ships, I think Zutara is pretty cool and works well alongside Azulaang. Kataang is kinda cool in theory too, but I don’t like shipping Aang with anyone except Azula, it feels wrong 🤷‍♂️ The only other Aang ship I can imagine liking is Zukaang, but I don’t talk about it much.

Oh and I have to give a shoutout to Sokkla, I don’t particularly vibe with it but they’re the sister ship to Azulaang and I do see the potential of the two genius strategists, so if Aang didn’t exist I would definitely ship Sokkla instead. Nothing but love to the comrades over there. 🫶🏼

edit: totally forgot this but I actually also love Tylaang aka Ty-Lee and Aang, it just has absolutely no fandom so it’s hard to get the ball rolling. I just feel they would be such a wholesome bubbly cute ship, and I dig the Ty-Lee airbender ancestry theory so she‘d love to learn all about airbender customs and they‘d have so much fun and probably a huge family 😅 anyway I think party of why I ship this is just because I think these two deserve the world and it represents my wish for them to be totally carefree and happy. you can also add Azula and make this a throuple, I think that would work because you have Tyzula as the polar opposites and Aang in the middle to bridge the gap.

speaking of throuples I enjoy the idea of… Azutaraang? (Azula/Katara/Aang) but it is very difficult to make work. The only way I can see it is if Azula and Katara fall in love first because nothing good could come of them fighting over Aang. or maybe I could see like a stranded on a deserted island AU where the three of them have to work together and learn to rely on eachother… idk, difficult but not impossible.

Oh and I love Zuki too (Zuko x Zuki) …damn I guess I do have quite a few non-Azulaang ships. anyway this is essentially a bodyguard AU and it’s actually my favorite Zuko ship (sorry Zutara) not much to say about it cuz I’ve barely engaged with it, but I love the idea and think they would just work really well together. I also can see this as a throuple with Sokka again. I don’t really vibe with Zukka on their own but if you add Suki then I love it, because Suki deserves two good boys and it’s more fun for everyone involved if those two good boys are in love with eachother too.

final edit hopefully: Sokka Azula Aang is good too, for the same reasons listed for Zuko Suki Sokka, I swear that’s it now. goodbye lol.

[balanceoflightanddark]

I've read several Azulaang AUs where Aang gets Azula to open and master all of her chakras. Each with their own take on what's blocking them.

What do you think is blocking all of Azula's chakras? What's your take?

Well, I'm not a huge expert on chakras, but I can think of a few things that might be interfering with Azula's if you want to go that route. Course this is gonna take a little bit to go through each and every one of them, so get comfy.

Earth: This one should be fairly easy. This chakra deals with survival and is blocked by fear. Fear and Azula go together like bread and butter. Sure, many people think of Azula causing fear, but you also have to remember that Azula is terrified herself. Particularly of failure and the consequences of failure. Especially poignant since...well, the price of failure could possibly be maiming or even worse. A very real possibility with Ozai as your father. Hell, in the novelization of Sozin's Comet, we get this particular scene:

Overcoming and opening her Earth chakra means overcoming her fear of failure. Which would be difficult, but also a major step since that means overcoming Ozai's conditioning.

2. Water: Another fairly obvious one. This deals with pleasure and is blocked by guilt. People often accuse of Azula of having no guilt for a lot of things. Which in many ways isn't entirely inaccurate (I mean, you can't exactly feel guilty over something you do that for your entire life is told to be correct). However, we do get a good idea of what might be blocking this particular chakra in the mirror scene.

We see in this scene that Azula admits that she did treat Mai and Ty Lee poorly, but also said she didn't have any choice because...well, fear is the only reliable way in her mind. Hell, she wouldn't be reacting this way if she didn't have any guilt over the whole mess. Even though, again, when you grow up under Ozai's shadow, that screws up how you view the world. Coming to grips with how wrong her worldview is and forgiving herself for how bad things got with some of the only positive relationships in her life can help unblock this chakra.

3. Fire: Driven by willpower. Blocked by shame. Azula has a determination that puts a lot to others to shame. To be the best firebender, the perfect daughter, the embodiment of what the Fire Nation should be. And her success was driven by that will (and less luck as Zuko puts it), particularly with firebending and being able to bend blue fire.

Unfortunately, the shame of her humiliating defeat at Sozin's Comet probably shattered that willpower. And I could see it affecting her firebending if she's as shaken as she was in canon about what happened. Learning that her loss doesn't necessarily mean she's a failure and learning to fall in love with firebending outside of the context of combat and competitiveness to just firebending for firebending's sake, to appreciate the effort it takes to be so good can go a long way to unblock this chakra.

4. Air: Embodiment of love. Blocked by grief. Azula and love...yeesh. What a complicated history that one is. Azula is undeniably capable of love, and did have love for her family members. She wouldn't have hallucinated Ursa and been shaken by her rejection if that weren't the case. She did care about Zuko enough to bring him home with his honor intact while warning him about visiting Iroh. And her love for Ozai is undeniable.

And they all left in the end. Ursa neglected her. Zuko took everything from her (taking one of the few genuinely compassionate acts she did and throws it in her face). And Ozai abandoned her to the wolves. Not to mention her ruined relationship with Mai and Ty Lee, and she's more than wracked with grief. Again, she wouldn't have broken down if she didn't love them. That is the meaning of loss and grief.

5. Sound: Embodiment of truth. Blocked by lies.

...

Yeah that goes without saying that Azula is a knack liar. More importantly, even to herself. Azula's convinced herself that she's some irredeemable monster. That her only choice is to play with the cards given to her and embrace that notion of being a monster.

Thing is...she isn't. As proven before, she's NOT a monster. She is capable of showing compassion and love. Even if she's bad at showing it, she's not the callous, heartless demon she tries to present herself as. Unblocking this chakra means accepting that her lie is exactly that: a lie. And embracing the truth that she is indeed capable of so much more than what Ozai or herself have taught her to be.

6. Light: Embodies insight. Blocked by illusion. We've talked about lying before, but this particular one can also mean her regards to the Fire Nation in general. Azula, like so many others, was raised with the belief that the Fire Nation was the superior nation. That fire was the superior element, and that their way was justified.

But just like Azula's lie, the illusion is just an illusion. The Fire Nation isn't inherently better than the others, and their drive, their cause was built on the ego of the Fire Lords and a misguided attempt to bring about a world in their own image. If the previous chakras are about breaking down Azula's self image and her relationship to Ozai, then it sets the bedrock for unblocking this chakra and discovering just what the Fire Nation truly has done.

7. Thought: Embodies pure cosmic energy. Blocked by earthly ties. This one is...unique. The others are at least defined by something concrete. Pure cosmic energy is something that's a bit more abstract. Azula's earthly ties are easy. They're all the blockages that we've just mentioned and shaped her as a person. And we've just talked about how she can overcome them.

The final step would be to finally break ties from them. To accept that no, she's NOT defined by Ozai. She's NOT a monster. And she can be more than what Ozai or the previous Fire Lords had wanted her to be. This is the critical point. It's accepting that she can be good and do the right thing no matter where she came from. Thus, coming to terms with her past, and choosing to move on and forge a new future for herself. At least how I'd interpret this.

So...yeah. This is how I'd view Azula's chakras, what's blocking them, and what can be done to clear them. It'll take time, but I do believe she's capable of it. I mean, she has addressed some of the issues herself. Now it's a matter of capitalizing on what she's learned and putting them into practice.

Thanks for the ask, anon! This was actually a bit of fun. Maybe this can be a sort of roadmap for anyone interested in writing an Azula redemption fic or something.

[osdove]

azulaang in an au where zuko joins the gaang from the start is so funny.  zuko spends the entire time to the north pole telling them to be careful of his sister, one of the most talented firebenders seen for generations, more cunning than any foe they’ve faced so far, and will not hesitate to kill all of them (save for Zuko, perhaps) if they were to meet face-to-face.

And then Aang meets her, and she is exactly like Zuko described, and he just. “I think we should convince her to join.  She can change, I believe in her, and I know she’s strong enough to change for the better by her own choices.”

MEANWHILE Azula, while on her mission to capture Zuko (this time for straight up treason), kill the Avatar and conquer Ba Sing Se, spends most of the time trying to think of why Zuko would betray his nation, betray his family (and her), for the Avatar.  She does end up holding a sort of grudge against the Gaang as a whole because of this, but especially Aang and Zuko.  She hasn’t met them yet.

And when she DOES meet them, after the first few fights against the Gaang (and especially against Aang, when he.... started being nice to her?  After the first fight?  And not out of fear, he was just genuinely kind and complimented her when she wasn’t causing destruction or hurting others), Azula gets Zuko.  Like.  Yeah.  She could see how he’d leave his nation for the Avatar.

Zuko, of course, didn’t join because of Aang, he joined to make the world a better place, but Azula doesn’t know that, so when she goes to confront him about this, “I understand why you joined them, now.  The Avatar is as charming as he is deadly.” and Zuko just. “I... I joined to stop the war because I couldn’t stand to see the suffering anymore.  Aang had nothing to do with it.”

Then, after a moment: “Did you just say Aang was charming?”

“No.”

“You blush whenever he says something nice about you, and you keep asking him to fight one-on-one.”

“Your vision sucks.  And yes, dumdum, because he’s the only person in your little group that can give me a challenge.”

“....Oh Agni, you like him.”

“I will set you on fire.”

[geekordavatar]

Welcome to my blog!

Currently fixated on Azula, and several of her femslash ships (Azutara, Azuki, Tyzula), also on Azulaang

==================================

List of all the AU's I have in mind, but don't know if I'll fully commit with them. -The Azula Warriors: When the Kyoshi Warriors get captured by Azula, she brings them to Ba Sing Se, initially disiguised as "the princess of the fire nation and her friends", and then brainwashed to become the personal guard of Azula.

-The Bleeding Princess: Katara gets captured by the Fire Nation as a child, and gets raised by the royal family, she becomes friends with Azula. Posible Azutara :D

==================================

[impossiblycolorfulpanda]

Azulaang - the talk

Azula: “So, little Ursa, you are at the age where you might be feeling urges.”

Ursa 2: “Uh-huh?”

Azula: “I noticed somethings in your diary.”

Ursa 2: “You read my diary?”

Azula: “Of course, as your mother, I’m entitled to completely violate your privacy. Anyway, you might feel passionate about world domination and that you might be in heated competition with your cousin Kya”

Ursa 2: “That’s not at all what I wrote...”

Azula: “Whatever dark and twisted ambitions you may have, I will not shame you for it, don’t feel like you have to compete with your cousin, he can be the most valuable ally you’ve ever encountered. Always be sure to keep your emotions and ambitions in check, you can take over the world without spilling a single blood. It is important that you understand the importance of self control.”

Ursa 2: “...”

Azula: “I’m glad we had this talk.”

Ursa 2: “Me too, I guess...”

Azula: “Now, your father is going to explain to you about sex.”

Azula got up, found Aang right behind her.

Azula: “Good luck Monkey.”

Aang: “Um...”

She patted his shoulder and left grinning. She knew her avatar husband wouldn’t feel comfortable giving that kind of talk to their daughter, especially since he’s a monk by default.

[blairarden]

Flight Risk

SUMMARY: Aang and Azula take their family on a vacation to Ember Island.

CHARACTERS: Aang, Azula, Appa, Bumi, Aiko (OC), Tenzin

PAIRINGS: Aang/Azula

Other notes: Bumi II is Azula's stepson; Aiko and Tenzin are Azula and Aang's biological children

"Should we start waking Bumi up?" Azula asked her husband, who turned to look at her.

"Maybe we should wait until after we land," Aang suggested, peering at the sleeping lump that was his 13-year-old son.  "Landing's pretty hard on him."

Despite being more similar to his airbender father in looks and personality, Bumi's air sickness, fear of heights, and general dislike of flying indicated his Earth Kingdom roots from his estranged birth mother. Typically on trips to the family's vacation cabin on Ember Island, Aang, Tenzin, and Aiko would go on Appa, while Azula and Bumi would travel by boat. However, with the boats being docked due to strikes, the family had to make do with flying to their destination.

Fortunately for Bumi, Azula had been able to obtain some sleep-inducing herbs so that Bumi could sleep through the journey. However, unfortunately for everyone, Bumi woke up mid-landing.

"Nooo..." Bumi groaned under his breath, covering his face with his hands.

"We'll be down soon, buddy," Aang said sympathetically. It broke his heart that his son couldn't enjoy the freeing experience of flying the same way he did. "Just focus on your breathing."

To Bumi's credit, he seemed to be trying his best to control his breathing, despite his hands trembling furiously.

"It's not scary, Bumi!" 6-year-old Aiko remarked with a bright, toothy smile. "It's fun!"

"That's because you like flying, Koko," Aang gently reminded his daughter. "Bumi doesn't. Remember, it makes him sick."

"Bumi sick?" 3-year-old Tenzin asked, looking worriedly at his half-brother.

"Yes, Tenzin. Bumi's feeling sick," Azula confirmed.

Tenzin looked at his brother for a moment before seeming to realize something.

"Bumi need hug," he stated firmly, wiggling out of his mother's arms and hurrying over to his unsuspecting brother, grabbing onto him before his mother could stop him.

"Tenzin, no--"

Being jolted by the movement of the tiny toddler clinging to him clearly didn't help Bumi's situation and barely a second after Tenzin grabbed onto him, Bumi vomited into his own lap.

"EWWW!!!" Aiko shrieked.

"Uh oh," Tenzin said, looking at his brother with wide eyes. "Bumi sick."

"Land now, Aang," Azula ordered, attempting to stay calm while holding onto her younger children so that they wouldn't fall out of the saddle.

Meanwhile, Bumi was apparently unable to stop retching.

"Deep breaths, Booms, deep breaths," Aang said, doing his best to land quickly but safely.

After less than a minute, Aang was able to successfully land Appa, hurrying onto the saddle to help clean his oldest child up while Azula helped Aiko and Tenzin off the saddle.

"S-Sorry, D-D-Dad," Bumi stammered tearfully.

"It's alright, buddy," Aang assured gently. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Aang used waterbending to clean the vomit off Bumi's clothes and Appa's saddle before helping the teenager out of the saddle.

"Feeling better, Bumi?" Aiko asked, once Aang and Bumi were off the saddle.

"Much better not that I'm not soaring through the air," Bumi remarked, leaning onto his father for support. "Just a bit dizzy, though."

"Is this why Mom and Bumi always go on a boat when we go on Appa?" Aiko asked Aang.

"Yep," Aang responded. "Flying makes Bumi really sick."

Aiko nodded. "I'm glad I don't get sick when I go on Appa," she remarked, her gray eyes sparkling in the sunlight. "I like flying."

"That's very good, Koko," Aang responded with a smile. "I like flying, too."

Azula felt her son, trying to remove his hand from her gentle but firm grasp.

"We need to hold hands until we get to the cabin, Tenzin," she reminded him gently. "I don't want you slipping and falling." The terrain where Aang had landed Appa was rocky and unstable, a possible hazard for a toddler.

"Want talk Bumi," Tenzin stated seriously.

"Alright," Azula sighed, picking her son up and walking over to her stepson.

"Bumi?" Tenzin poked his half-brother's arm.

"Yeah, Tenz?" Bumi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry make Bumi sick," Tenzin said tearfully.

"Oh, it wasn't your fault, Ten-Ten," Bumi assured with a smile. "I'm just really bad at flying."

"Bad at flying," Tenzin repeated, nodding gravely. Despite being an airbender, Tenzin already seemed to have the more serious temperament of the Fire Nation people.

"Was that all you wanted to say?" Azula asked the toddler.

Tenzin appeared to be deep in thought for a moment. "All you wanted to say," he confirmed with a nod.

"Alright," Azula chuckled, placing the small child back down and holding his hand in hers.

After a few minutes, the family arrived at their cabin.

“So, what are we doing first?” Aang asked his kids enthusiastically once the bags were packed away and everyone was settled into the cabin.

“Beach!” all three kids shouted excitedly.

“I guess we’re going to the beach,” Azula said with a smile.

After about an hour of playing with her husband and children on the beach, Azula sat down on her towel and watched her children continue to play.

“Looks like a successful trip so far,” Aang said brightly, handing Azula an ice cream cone as he sat down next to her.

“It does,” Azula said, eating her ice cream cone.

“Bumi seems much better now,” Aang remarked, watching as his oldest son run around excitedly, jumping in the water with his half-siblings. “He hasn’t gotten that sick riding Appa since he was younger than Aiko.”

“Well, it has been a while since he’s been up in the air,” Azula pointed out. “And at least he doesn’t go into full-blown panic mode anymore.”

“That’s true,” Aang chuckled. When Bumi was younger, he expressed his disliking of heights through frantic scream-crying, whereas now, he simply chose to cover his head and try to pretend that he wasn’t up in the air.

Azula rested her head on her husband’s shoulder. 

“Your shoulder’s much more comfortable than Zuzu’s,” she remarked with a yawn. 

Aang chuckled. “I love you, too, ‘Zula.”

Azula took a deep breath, trying to hide her smile.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Fringes Of Lucid

For @ly0nstea's Azulaang week. Prompt(s): Spirit & Sick

Summary: It can’t feast upon her if her dreams become her reality. Aang wonders if perhaps he can help her with that.

Her forehead is clammy and her body won’t stop shaking. It has been a few days since he had found her in that temple. The spirit had been feasting on her–for how long he isn’t certain. But it comes by each time she slips into one of her dreams. 

It drinks from her desires, from her deepest wishes–all of those things that she longs for but dreads that she will never see outside of the REM state. 

He is afraid that it consumes more than just her desires. He is afraid that it is slowly stealing away her ability to dream at all, leaving her with only that which has her waking up crying out. He doesn’t think that she remembers doing so. But then, she isn’t really awake enough to remember.

Sometimes she is lucid enough to talk to him, but whether she has been lucid enough to remember those conversations is to be seen. She is rather soft-spoken during these conversations, her voice laced with sleepiness that gives it a sort of mumbly slur. He finds that she is rather pleasant to talk to. 

They don’t really talk about much, nothing important anyways. He mostly tells her about what it was like to live in the Air Temples and she tells him Fire Nation folktales of all things. She never struck him as the type to enjoy the fantastical. She loves dragons though, she loves them very much and has let slip that she wanted to be a dragon as a little girl, that she still sometimes does. During that conversation she had been lingering on the very fringes of lucid. Awake enough to be coherent, sleepy and out of it to make little wooshing noises and add arm flaps while talking about dragon flight. 

She is never quite lucid when they talk about her predicament. About the spirit that is reaping her energy. They only talk about it when she emerges fresh from one of her dreams-turned-nightmare. 

This is when she cries, when her body shakes. 

This is when she asks him if she is going to die. 

She says that she can feel herself withering away. 

Her skin has grown so pale. Pale enough to accentuate the dark circles under her eyes. This spirit is taking so much from her on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. She has so, so many wishes and yearnings for the beast to consume.

It can’t feast upon her if her dreams become her reality. Aang wonders if perhaps he can help her with that.

She longs for travel and adventure. But she is too sick to even stand. She longs to firebend again, to shift and glide through her favorite katas. But she is too sick to keep her balance just standing upright. She longs to go home. But she is afraid that there is no longer a place for her there. She wants her friends bank–the new ones that have only recently left her. But she is in no condition to look for them. She longs for her mother to love her, to have a happy family. But there is so, so much work to be done there and some of it has to be done within the walls of a prison. She wants to hear her mother say that she is proud of her. But she doesn’t want to forgive her mom. She wants love and friendship and someone to hold her. But she is uncomfortable when people try. 

She wants so many things–needs those things, really. But it is hard to accomplish when she can barely keep her eyes open. He thinks of hoisting her onto Appa and flying her back to the palace but he is terrified that her condition will worsen if he takes her away from the temple. 

So Aang does the best that he can. He does the only things that he thinks could help; he takes care of her–he fetches her food and water and holds her her upright so that she can eat and drink it. He, to the best of his ability, keeps her clean–dabs her forehead with cool cloths and helps her change clothes when she allows it. 

Most of all, he holds her hand. 

She longs for affection and friendship–that he can do for certain. Sometimes she falls asleep in his arms, these are the nights that she manages to sleep peacefully. He hugs her tightly and tells her that she’s going to be okay because she’s such a strong person. She bunches the fabric of his robes in her fists. 

He has been doing this for several nights now and it seems to soothe her. And so he lifts her into his arms again, he strokes her bedraggled hair and rubs her back. 

“Avatar?” She murmurs. 

“Yeah?” 

“I’m tired.” 

“You just woke up.”

“I’m always tired.” 

Sometimes this is as far as the conversation goes before her head dips and falls limp against his shoulder. Tonight she continues, “I didn’t see it tonight. The spirit. It wasn’t here.” 

“You mean last night?”

She nods. “Yeah, that’s what I meant. It didn’t bother me last night.” She nuzzles her face against his chest. 

Aang smiles. “That’s great news, Azula!” He gives her a little squeeze. 

“My head hurts.”

At the risk of her dozing back off, he lays her head back against the pillow. “I can try some waterbending if you’d like.” 

She nods and gestures to the bowl that he keeps by her bedroll just in case. As he draws the water from the bowl he inquires, “what did you dream about last night?” 

She furrows her brows. “I can’t quite remember. It was something silly, I think.”

“Something silly?”

She nods again. “I think that the clouds were made of mochi and father was yelling at them to go back to being regular clouds. I liked the mochi clouds though, because they made lightning that you could eat.” 

Aang laughs. Azula rubs her tired eyes. “Sokka would love that dream.” Aang mentions. “Maybe you can share it when we get you home.” 

“Home.” Azula repeats softly. He withdraws the water and she rolls onto her side. She manages a little smile. The first one that he has seen on her face in quite some time. It makes him smile. He cups her cheek. 

“Are you feeling better?”

Azula sits up. “A little, yes.” 

This is the most coherent that she has been in a while. “Do you want to try to go for a walk?” He offers. “It’ll be good for you to have some fresh–” She is already on her feet, her body sways slightly and she brings a hand to her sagging head. He leaps up, for a moment he is certain that she is going to topple. 

But she lifts her head back up and takes a deep breath. “I’m alright, Avatar.” 

“Aang is fine.”

“I’m glad to hear that he is.” She replies. 

Sometimes it is truly hard to tell if she is joking. “I mean that you can just call me Aang.”

“I didn’t realize that I had the ability, thank you for letting me know.” 

He rolls his eyes. “You know that I’ve been taking care of you, right?” 

Azula is quiet for a moment before finally deciding to mutter a thank you. He isn’t sure if she should be thanking him yet, he can’t imagine that the spirit has given up that easily. Fulfilling one of her desires might have startled it but he can’t imagine that it is terrified enough to stay away. 

“The river is nice.” Azula comments upon their arrival. She finds herself a perch on a rock, on that is bathed directly in sunlight. She holds her arms out and lets the rays caress her skin. She closes her eyes and tilts her head up, basking in the warmth on her skin. He finds himself wondering if she’d ever let him caress her in the way that the sun does. She looks over at him and smiles and thinks that she might just. 

It occurs to him that he already has her trust. That he has earned it by taking care of her in such a vulnerable place. She pats a spot on the rock and he joins her.

“I think that I know how to get rid of that spirit.” 

“Destroy it with your Avatar powers?”

“It feeds off of your desires and fears.” 

“I’m not afraid of…things.”

“Everyone is afraid of something, Azula. You don’t need to tell me what it is though.” He thinks that he already knows anyways; she is afraid to be alone and hated. She is afraid to be weak. She is afraid to let people in. “We need to either get you the things that you desire or help you to let go of them.” 

She frowns. “You want me to let go of my family?” 

He chuckles. “Yeah, that’s what I said to the Guru when he told me that I needed to let go of Katara. It’s about worldly attachments. What we need to do is balance your chakras, so that you can fight the spirit off easier. It’s a spirit that attacks through spiritual energy.”

Azula nods. “That makes sense.”

“Now that you’re coherent…”

“I’ve been coherent this whole time.”

He quirks a brow and, with a mischievous grin, imitates her dragon impression. Her cheeks color and she looks away from him, folding her arms across her chest. “I’ve been coherent most of the time!”

He’ll let her have that, even if it isn’t true. “Well now that you’re doing a little better, I think that we should try some meditation and balancing your chakras. It’ll be good for you. It’ll make you a stronger bender too!” 

“Alright, Avatar…Aang. We can try it.”  She stretches her arms and lays herself across his lap. He watches the shadows of the canopy stir upon her face. She reaches up and touches his. 

“Just so you know, there is one less desire for the spirit to use against you.”

“What’s that?” She hums.

He leans down and gives her a little peck on the lips. “I love you, Azula.” 

She swallows. “Th-thank you?”

He laughs and ruffles her hair. At least he can say that she is trying her best. He supposes that she will have to get used to things. And she will get used to them, she will have plenty of time after they beat that spirit.

[firenaition]

I've read several Azulaang AUs where Aang gets Azula to open and master all of her chakras. Each with their own take on what's blocking them.

What do you think is blocking all of Azula's chakras? What's your take?

i love these kinds of fics! i think previous authors have hit the nail on the head and done the topic justice already but i'll take a shot at it :D

earth chakra, blocked by fear: shoutout to azula she gotta have the craziest abandonment issues the four nations have ever seen. her fear of betrayal, both from others and her own mind, forces every action to be so controlled that her iron grip messes with the natural flow of her chi. (cut to aang, kissing her forehead and telling her it's gonna be okay etc etc)

water chakra, blocked by guilt: i think this one would be tied closely to her mistreatment of zuko. i truly don't think azula has much room for guilt, but deep down she's thought about how her big brother was just a kid, too, and she didn't have to make an enemy out of him.... and eventually this chakra could be blocked by her guilt over striking aang down as well

fire chakra, blocked by shame: there are obvious takes on this (the agni kai, ozai) but i'd like to think this chakra is blocked by her anger & humiliation from the betrayals at boiling rock and from being bested by katara... failure at the hands of other girls who didn't have to give up their compassion for power.... her pride has never been more wounded... (she is in dire need of a sleepover)

air chakra, blocked by grief: ursa :( ozai :( the relationship she could've had with zuko :( the love and support she wanted from iroh :( all the blood sweat and tears she put into being the most invaluable weapon the fire nation has ever seen, for the sake of her father and her country, only for it all to fall apart in a single day :((

sound chakra, blocked by lies: i think the biggest lie azula tells herself is that she's so far past the point of redemption that she has no choice but to be alone and lean into cruelty. (which aang would show her to be completely untrue!)

light chakra, blocked by illusion: maybe too obvious but i feel like this one's gotta be blocked by azula's ingrained justification of fire nation imperialism / what she believes to be inherent superiority over the other nations, right? like she needs to work on undoing that ideology to truly move on

thought chakra, blocked by earthly attachments: azula has such a concrete idea of undying loyalty that she needs to let go of the idea that people are 'hers' — not her pawns, not her toy soldiers — but rather her friends, family, etc. that she's allowed to just feel normal about! (except aang.... how could she possibly be normal about him)

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

zutaras decided to call kataang abusive and make it everyone else problem as if having an abusive ship is even a big deal . I have so man where character A has tried kill character b zukaang/azulaang being two of em so i dont get this whole we must yell/yell that kataang is abusive while our ship is clearly the moral superior one. whats most annoying tho is how they insist that kataang being abusive is truth and anyone saying otherwise is excusing abuse

Not to mention the unbelievable hypocricy of the fans of the ship that literally only exists because of non-con fics between a Fire Nation prince and the girl from one of the nations his family is commiting genocide against trying to call out anyone for "problematic" ships.

Like, buddy, if we started policing what people can or can't like based on what would or wouldn't be acceptable in real life, your ship would among the first to be labelled as completely unacceptable. Are you SURE you wanna push for that?

[zuko-always-lies]

Why does nearly every longer Azulaang fic I read bother me?

I don’t mean this post to rip into Aang/Azula, or to people who like it, ship it, and write it. Still, it strike me that I’ve rarely ever liked longer Azulaang fics that I’ve skimmed or read, and I want to summarize what seems to be bothering me about them. And to be clear, most longer Azulaang fics that I have looked at me have rubbed me in the wrong way, so I haven’t looked at all that many. Thus, the sample that I am working off is probably not representative. 

Still, if you love Azulaang, you might not want to read on.

1. It’s a hetro ship.  It’s recently occured to me that all my favorite Azula ships are lesbian ones, so a hetro ship probably just is bothering me wrong.  Still, I tend to be much less bothered by Sokkla fics.

2. Many longer Azulaang fics I’ve read seem to have extremely screwed up power dynamics between Aang and Azula, with Aang having tremendious degrees of legal power over Azula, Azula being placed under his authority, Aang being Azula’s “warden,” even Azula being forced to marry him, etc. I don’t tend to like that.

3. A common theme in these fics seems to be isolation, with Azula often completely or largely isolated somehow from her friends, family, people outside Aang, etc. Often her relationship with Aang is her only substantial relationship.

4. In these fics, Azula often ends up being completely cut off from her native culture and society and attached only to Aang’s culture.

5. Canon Azula was ambitious, in the sense that she wanted to accomplish great things. Often, this fics, Azula comes off as happy devoting herself to fulfilling Aang’s needs, with no ambitions.

6. These fics often seem to engage in the “savior significant other” trope, with Aang “saving” Azula. To say that I don’t like that trope much is to put it midly.

Again, I don’t mean to launch a bitter indictment of this ship; I am just trying to explore why I have often ended up strongly disliking the longer fics I see for it, even when they’re written well. Admitedly too, some of the fics which formed my more negative impression are like a decade old. 

I can also point to at least a couple Azulaang fics that I remember liking, like Blue by WriteBecauseYouCannotBreathe, Ten Sides by TalesOfOnyxBats, and The Avatar and the Fire Princess by Loopy.