#i like to think happens during a conversation about zuko's scar

[pineapple-frenzy]

For your post finals art request, how about something from your Zutara scars au? Maybe Zuko gently kissing the scars on Katara's hands, with Katara looking absolutely flustered.

Thanks for your consideration and time.

I love soft scar kisses so much, I hope you don’t mind that I added a touch of angst to this

I saw something recently that was like what if Zuko thinks he’s the one that burned Katara’s hands, and I really like the idea so I wanted to incorporate it into this au. So here’s a little comic about Zuko apologizing for burning Katara’s hands (which he did not) insipired by your request :>>

[burst-of-iridescent]

i was rewatching the crossroads of destiny and i realized the scene where zuko comforts katara about her mother takes place right before the scene where iroh and aang go down to find them. 

which means that the following zutara scene, where zuko is agonizing over his scar and his destiny, and katara offers to heal him, is most likely happening concurrently with iroh and aang’s conversation about the guru, during which iroh says this: “perfection and power are overrated. i think you are very wise to choose happiness and love.” 

there are a lot of metas which discuss how iroh’s words to aang in this moment aren’t actually what aang needs to hear (though iroh, of course, couldn’t know that since he didn’t know the full context and likely would have said something very different if he had known) because aang wouldn’t be choosing the avatar state for power; he would be choosing it to save katara and the world. but is there another character, perhaps one paralleled very closely to aang, one currently undergoing a crisis of conscience regarding this very dichotomy, for whom these words would strike a chord? 

given that this episode is written by aaron ehasz, i don’t think having the zuko-katara and iroh-aang conversation happen at the same time is a coincidence - and especially not when this is the moment that zuko lays his fears and vulnerabilities bare to katara, when katara offers him freedom from his past and zuko willingly submits to her touch, allowing himself the hope of healing, and the chance at a new, brighter destiny. 

this is the closest that zuko ever comes, at this point in his arc, to where his true happiness lies - only to have it ripped away by azula. azula, who promises him a chance to make amends from failure, a chance to regain his power and his pride, a chance at the perfect life he thought he left behind. 

iroh’s words to aang don’t fit aang’s circumstances, because they are not meant to illustrate aang’s struggles, but zuko’s. they are the embodiment of zuko’s crossroads of destiny, and the choice that lies before him. 

the choice between perfection and power, or happiness and love. 

the choice, in essence, between azula... or katara. 

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

What do you think about the claims that Omashu could still parallel Zutara because

1. When they “Bonded”, they were in Ba Sing Se, whose motto is “There is no war in Ba Sing Se”.

2. Zuko wore “yellow” during the catacombs scene and it happened while they were in a cave with similar colored crystals.

3. Katara defeating Azula is somehow a better parallel to Oma’s rampage than Katara’s anger at Aang nearly dying.

4. Oma or shu was holding an Olive branch and Katara offered to heal Zuko’s scar.

5. Aang can’t be a reincarnation of Oma or shu because neither was mentioned to be the avatar whereas Katara and Zuko could be their reincarnations.

I've already explained how nonsensical this "Oma and Shu is about Zutara" is, but MAN, the points you brought up only made it look even stupider.

1 - Being FORCED to be in a place together to bond is very different from willingly meeting each other. Ba Sing Se DENYING there's a war going on is very different from two people having to meet in secret because the war is THE ONE THING everyone in both rival groups is talking about. The situations are not just different, they're complete opposites.

2 - Zuko was wearing Earth Kingdom clothes because he HAD to blend in to survive. He did for the entire season, it makes no sense to connect that to a legend HE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF. And obviously the cave of Ba Sing Se, an Earth Kingdom territory, is gonna have the same color pallete of Omashu's cave, since it is also EK, and this show is aimed at 6-year-olds. That's why we have things like everyone in the WATER tribe having BLUE eyes.

Also, he and Katara were in a cave with crytals - but Katara and Aang were ON THE ACTUAL CAVE OF OMA AND SHU, and had their first kiss there, which they both seemed to enjoy. If simply having a conversation in a cave counts as parallels to Oma and Shu, Zuko opening up about his personal struggles to Aang (whose soul wasn't even there) in the North Pole and the Kataang dance in the secret party also count.

3 - Like you pointed out, Katara AND Aang fighting Azula, who had not even attacked Zuko at that point, cannot mean her grief over him parallels Oma grief for Shu (especially since, again, Zuko was fine). Meanwhile Katara was five seconds away from going Koizilla mode after Azula KILLED AANG IN BATTLE, aka the same way Shu died.

4 - FINALLY, a halfway decent point! Yes, the Crossroads scene was absolutely about two enemies maybe seeing eye-to-eye for once and realizing they're not so different - that's a theme that is constantly repeated through all three seasons of Avatar, through many different characters and dynamics.

But that doesn't change the fact that empathy/compassion is not the same as "I'm in love with you", nor the fact that, unlike Shu, Zuko REJECTED the peace offering - funny how Zutarians always ignore that part, huh? Once again, the situation is not just different, it's the direct opposite.

5 - The Avatar is the only confirmed case of reincarnation in Avatar. It's very possible that there are more (and Momo was originally going to be Gyatso's reincarnation), but we cannot say any character other than Aang is a reincarnation of someone else because the show did not ever say that was even possible.

And even if it IS, that does not mean Katara and Zuko HAVE to be Oma and Shu. There were literally THOUSANDS of people on opposite sides of a war on that show, and like I said, they were not even the only two characters to have a moment in a cave AND Zuko never even heard of the legend. He is not connected to it at all, unlike Aang.

(And while history repeating itself IS a theme in Avatar, cicles being BROKEN is also important narratively, so Zuko rejecting Katara's peace offering in Crossroads shows that even if, against all odds, he WAS Shu, their romance won't repeat itself, at least in this life)

Also, there's a big difference between saying "Katara and Aang are Oma and Shu reincarnated" and "The writers used Oma and Shu's story to further Katara and Aang's plot."

So yeah, bad, terrible, awful "arguments" just to pretend the Kataang centered episode was secretly about Zutara all along. These people gotta learn to the L already.

[absolutelyfizzing]

Sifu Hotman

zuko x water tribe sibling!reader

request - I want to request a Zuko x fem reader being Sokka and Katara's sister. She can be the older sister or sokka's twin sister. Also when they start dating Sokka and Katara can like threaten him by saying don't hurt my sister or else.

A/N - This is taking place after the war, I'm vaguely uncomfy writing for underage people (or like younger than 17) so I just went ahead and aged them up. I'm sorry if that's not what you were wanting! I'm also sort of ignoring the plot of the comics and stuff and we are ignoring Mai's existence. I don't feel like this was my best writing by any means but i tried and i thought it was a cute idea. There will probably be more zuko x reader coming soon

word count - 2000

MASTERLIST

You took a deep breath in, the warm air refreshing after having just spent the last month in the southern water tribe with your family besides Katara who was off saving lives with Aang. Your twin brother stood beside you, his hair grown out and tied into a ponytail. Your sister would be here in the fire nation in a week with Aang. It had been three years since the war, you had just been kids at the time. You and Sokka were 15 during the last battle and you had felt so old then. Now, looking back, you had been immature and childish but you had grown up. After the war ended you remained in the fire nation for a few months. You had wanted to get a little bit of quiet before you started going on more adventures with your brother.

You had been very close with Zuko while he was traveling with you and the gang. You didn't know why but you trusted him, maybe it was because you trusted Toph's judgement but either way you had accepted him quicker than the others. You remembered how cold the rest of the group had been to him and it almost was funny to you now considering that Katara had just told you a story in a recent letter about Toph, Aang, and Zuko getting into a bickering match about fire flakes that ended in Toph trapping both of the boys into a earth tent. It was also hard to comprehend that Zuko was the new Firelord and he ruled over a whole nation.

It had been 2 years since you saw Zuko in person. It wasn't on purpose but you kept getting pulled in different directions, none of them leading you into the fire nation. You were excited but also scared to see him, butterflies filling your stomach at the thought of seeing him. You'd had a bit of a crush on the new Firelord when you last saw him but you refused to tell either of your siblings, knowing that they would threaten him to high heaven before he even knew about it.

Your brother walking beside you calmed you a bit, his presence being comforting to you. He was much taller than you now and he was more confident than the kid he had been during the war. You knew that the same was true for Aang, though he never grew up in personality. As you approached the gates of the palace you wondered if Zuko had changed.

You realized that he had as the gates opened and he was stood on the steps up to the palace waiting for both of you. His hair was long and it was pulled into a messy bun. His scar was no longer shrouded in his bangs and he seemed more confident in his stance. His robes were long and elegant and you wondered if he wore them by choice of if they were required because of his position. Your brother jogged slightly to get to Zuko faster, having grown to hold a strong bond with the man. You walked calmly but there was a smile on your face as your brother and Zuko embraced. Once the released each other Zuko turned to you. You noticed him gulp a bit and a blush threatened to cover your cheeks. Your grin became wider the closer you got to him and soon you were wrapped in his embrace.

You noticed that his frame was larger. You leaned your head back from the hug to look at his face and he looked well. Like he was happy and maybe even getting enough sleep.

"Hey there, Sifu Hotman." You smiled and Zuko rolled his eyes as he released you from the hug.

"I see we haven't matured in 2 years?" He grunts but you can see the smile trying to creep onto his face. "Toph still calls me that too." He grumbled lowly and you started laughing.

"Where is the little demon?"

"She's away dealing with some prisoners for me. She should be back in a week or so." Zuko smiled. "She's taken up a pretty important role here. She's like my personal lie detector. She likes to sit in on council meetings and scare everyone."

"I think that's actually her dream job." You smiled and Zuko hummed in agreement. There was a bit of a silence as you and Zuko just gazed at each other. He seemed so sure now. You had missed him dearly.

"Okay! Let's get this show on the road, people!" Sokka yelled and you internally groaned that he had to ruin the moment. Before you all turned toward the palace, Zuko sent you a wink and you felt a blush cover your face. As you headed up the steps of the palace you felt a comforting hand on your lower back as the Fire Lord gently followed behind you, Sokka running ahead of you, likely to find the food in the kitchens that he was accostomed to spending all of his time in.

"Can I speak to you in private when we get a moment?" Zuko asks and again your heart rate picks up. You turn your head to look at him.

"Of course" You smiled and he smiles back at you, making your head spin a bit. You spent the next few hours meeting new advisors, getting a tour through new parts of the palace, and catching up with Zuko who seemed to be acting more clingy than you had ever remembered him to be.

"Y/N, would you mind coming with me?" Zuko asked and you turned to face him with a smile.

"Of course!" You chirped as he led you to a secluded hallway away from your brother who was discussing war strategy with an advisor of Zuko's.

When you reached a place where you were out of earshot of others Zuko gently took your hands.

"I have something to confess." He stated and you felt fire on your cheeks, you nodded for him to continue, "I'm in love with you. I have been for years and I've never acted on it because there was always something going on and I was so unsure but now-" he gazed into your eyes with sincerity, "I couldn't be more sure. I want to be with you. If you'd have me, that is." Instead of answering you jumped forward, pressing your lips onto Zuko's in a searing kiss. He groaned and pushed back, trapping you against a wall. He pulled away to press his forehead into yours and you closed your eyes for a moment before opening them again and gazing at the man in front of you.

"Katara is gonna kill you." You mumbled and Zuko smiled.

"You aren't worried about Sokka?"

"I just know that Sokka can't win in a fight against you. Katara on the other hand..." you trailed off and Zuko looked offended.

"That's pretty rude to say to the man who just confessed his love for you."

"I'm just being honest. Toph might have some words too."

Zuko shuddered at the thought of what they could do to him. Sokka would be upset but he could probably handle it. Aang would be happy for both of them he was sure, always the peacemaker and moderator. Aang would probably be the only reason that Katara wouldn't attack Zuko immediately.

Over the next week you snuck around with Zuko, taking alone time any chance that you got. Sokka rarely let you get any peace as he stayed with you nearly constantly. He was always a little on the defence with you and he would likely settle in and ease up over the coming weeks as he got used to the new environment. You were never a huge fighter, though you could hold your own. You also couldn't bend. You were the one of the group who took care of everyone, you were the smartest in strategy by far, and you were the only one who could reason with Toph. Because of this, Sokka had gotten used to just being near you in case anything happened, though it was rare that anything did. You appreciated it normally but now you wanted time alone so that you could spend it with Zuko as you got used to being in a relationship that was more than platonic. But today was the day that the rest of the gang was arriving, even Suki would be joining you so you hoped that would take some of the clingy-ness of Sokka away. You all stood at the front of the palace, much like Zuko had stood for you a week earlier, and watched as Appa approached in the distance. He flew gently in front of you and as soon as he landed in front of you he licked you with his giant tongue and you were covered in slobber. Despite this you couldn't be happier to see the giant animal and you embraced him. You were suddenly pulled away and brought into the arms of your little sister.

"I missed you, Y/N." She mumbled into your neck and you smiled into hers, it had been so long since you had seen her and you felt tears come to your eyes at the relief of having her near.

You spent the next hours catching up with Katara and Aang, who had grown to be taller than you since you last saw him. Toph and Suki arrived that night and you were all glad to be together again at last, old memories coming back and filling you all with joy. You and Zuko looked at each other and you took a deep breath. You had discussed that you would be revealing your relationship to the rest of the group when you were all together but you were nervous for their reactions.

"So... I have something I would like to tell you guys." You stated and all of the conversation died down, all eyes suddenly on you. "Me and Zuko are together." You rushed out and you only got blank stares for a moment before there was groaning from Toph and Sokka.

"You couldn't have waited another year? I didn't think you would have figured it out by now." Toph grumbled and pulled some coins out of her pocket, Sokka doing the same. Suki and Katara held out their hands and money got dropped into them, both with smug looks on their faces. Zuko looked over at you and had the same look of shock that you likely did.

"What?" You mumbled.

"We all knew you were going to get together of course, you've been pining after each other for years, but me and Suki said you would be getting together this month and Toph said in a year. Sokka actually said in 3 months so he was closer than Toph was." Katara stated simply and you still just stared at her, mouth agape. "We also talked about the fact that if he hurts you," Her gaze shifted to a nervous looking Zuko, "we would all be committing some crimes."

"I feel like I should clarify that those crimes include maiming and murder." Sokka glared at Zuko and he gulped.

"But I'm so happy for you two!" Katara exclaimed, her attitude shifting completely. You and Zuko stared at each other in shock and then you smiled at him. You were so happy to finally be together and to have your friends around you.

[unfriedough]

‘Worried’- Zuko x fem!reader

Masterlist <3

An: GOOD DAY FRIENDS. So uhh this SUCKS LMAOO. I’m trying to write a baker au but IT’S SO HARD? Anyways, It’s been so long since I've posted and I feel guilty. ALSO, this is not following canon storylines. ALSO ALSO, I changed my @ so it’s a bit more appealing now.

(Used to be hell0-zuk0-here :)

Summary:

Yn got lightly burned during a battle, causing Zuko to absolutely lose his mind.

Warnings: Crying, burns.

It all happened so fast. One minute you were sleeping, the next you were all fighting for your lives. Azula and her gang were after you, yet again, and with everyone sleep deprived and on edge, things were getting heated. (No pun intended).

Somehow, you missed Azula’s fire, headed straight for you. Luckily, you were far enough away for it to only slightly burn you. But it burnt alright. It felt as if your body went into shock, immediately falling to the ground, grasping your leg. Unable to utter a word, you watched as your friends ended the fight with victory. As soon as Zuko turned around, the smile on his face faltered.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he neared you.

“I think Azula burnt me,” the shock had worn off, it actually wasn’t bad at all, just a slight burn.

His eyes widened.

“What! How?”

“I don’t know, I guess I wasn’t ready for it,” you shrugged.

“You need to go to Katara, like now,”

“I will, trust me,”

“Ok, do you need help?” he asked frantically as you got up.

You cupped Zuko’s face once you were up,

“I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine,”

“Okay,” he said, slightly muffled.

You laughed before giving him a peck, and heading for Katara, who was helping Sokka pack for their leave. However, his eyes stayed glued to your figure.

--

The waterbender wrapped your leg for now, not having much time to heal you.

“I promise I’ll heal you as soon as we get to camp, okay?”

You nodded, and packed your things.

The flight on Appa was filled with laughter, and reminiscing the victory bestowed upon the team. Your firebending boyfriend had kept you by his side the entire trip, and you didn’t complain, he was so warm.

Although you weren’t 100% aware of the conversation, too focused on Zuko who kept asking about your well-being, you did pick up some questionable sentences.

“And when I hit Azula in the head with my boomerang!”

“I’m surprised she didn’t die,”

“We all know you would’ve liked that, Katara,”

-----

Once we got to camp, Katara led you to her tent and began healing you. She had to practically force Zuko out, wanting her attention to be undivided.

“This is gonna hurt a bit,” she said, as she handed you a shirt to bite.

You hadn’t expected to need to use it, however, healing a burn proved to be much more painful than expected.

After she was done, Katara noticed you had fallen asleep whilst she was bandaging your leg. So she decided to leave you in her tent for a while.

“Is she okay?” The firebender asked the waterbender.

“She’s fine, Zuko,”

“Are you sure, c-can I see her?”

Katara shot him a half smile.

“I’m sure, and yes, you can.”

“Thanks!” he said, getting into the tent.

--

You woke up, taking in your unfamiliar surroundings, forgetting you were in Katara’s tent.

“How long was I out?” You asked Zuko.

“Uh, maybe half an hour.”

“Oof,” you yawned.

You got up and out of the tent, Zuko following in pursuit. Once you had gotten to your tent, you invited him in.

You sat down, resting your back on the large bag of stuff. Your boyfriend laid his head on your shoulder, melting into the feeling of your hands weaving through his hair.

“You really scared me today, you know,”

“Zuko-”

“I know, I know it was just a small burn,” his eyes moved to your bandaged leg.

You shifted so you were now in front of him.

“Zuko,” your hand moved to rest on his cheek, your thumb brushing the scarred skin.

“I’m fine, and even if I wasn’t, Katara’s a great healer, you don’t have to worry about me, love,”

“I know I- I’m just,” Zuko stuttered, tears forming in his amber eyes, “I’m just scared to lose you,”

“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart,” you said, as you pulled the former prince into your arms.

You felt your shirt become more and more wet as you carefully stroked his hair, and rubbed his back.

Sweet words of affirmation left your mouth every few minutes, reassuring Zuko, until your breathing slowed down, and the both of you dozed off.

An: that was super short, but it gets the job done. As always, hope you enjoyed this story, SEE YA! <3

[sokkastyles]

The topic of abuse and when an adult is obligated to step in and help is pretty personal for me, actually, as a teacher. I've been in situations where I didn't agree with the way a parent was treating their child, even in situations where I suspected abuse, but it's very complex and a hard call to make. I've walked by the conference room while the mother of a trans boy was discussing "Sarah's needs" with the principal, and wanted to run in and scream "He wants to be called Chris, actually," but I CANNOT do that. I was in a conversation a few days ago with three other teachers discussing a parent who has been deemed "Munchausen lady" by the faculty but there's nothing that can be done if there is no evidence her son is being harmed. The most we can do is diplomatically suggest to the parent that her child is much more capable and healthy than she thinks he is. I've had students beg me to call their parents to tell them that they are not in trouble with me over a missing assignment because "dad won't believe me" and the most I can do there is talk to the parent. I've had parents tell ME to discipline their kids for minor infractions. I’ve had a student whose mom destroyed his cell phone in front of him with a hammer as a punishment. I can report if I have proof that there is actual abuse going on, I can get the councilor involved, but it's not a cut and dry situation, and rarely is. I have parents who spank their kids with belts, which I think is abuse, but not everyone does and it’s not my call to make. I can be as gentle as I can with the child, but if the child is inclined to hurt others, then I have a duty to prevent that from happening.

And I've often said that Ozai is most dangerous to his children in his ability to manipulate them, not in outright displays of violence. He is largely an emotional abuser, and it's very difficult to identify and stop that kind of abuse. Especially if you have lived in that circle where that kind of emotional violence is normal.

I've been in situations where a parent yells at their child over zoom every day during class as well as me, the teacher. I reported it to school administration and was told "Yeah, we know," but nothing could be done about the situation. In Iroh's case, who can he report to, when the abuser is his brother and also lord of the country?

People have this idea that abuse is always easy to spot and easy to define and that the victims always look a certain way. Part of Iroh's guilt over Zuko being burned is that he feels like it was his fault that he let it get to that point, because it is easy in hindsight to say someone should have prevented it, someone should have stepped in, but not so easy in practice because abusers often know how to work the system in their favor, and Ozai is able to get what he wants a lot of the time, and able to convince both Azula and Zuko that his will is what is best for them. It's tragic that ANY adult who saw what was going on with Zuko and Azula didn't stand up and say "this is wrong" long before Azula started hurting others or Zuko was burned, but the idea that Iroh didn't care about Azula or unreasonably hated her because he wasn't able to counteract Ozai's influence, not the mention the idea that he unreasonably hates her because he won’t let her harm Zuko, is just nonsense.

It’s much harder to protect someone from emotional abuse - especially the kind of emotional abuse Ozai subjects Azula to - than it is for Iroh to protect Zuko from Ozai or Azula physically hurting him, and even that was difficult and Iroh wasn’t able to protect Zuko from being scarred. We also see how difficult it is for Iroh to protect Zuko emotionally even when he can physically protect him and even when he is separated by distance from his abuser. Early Zuko I would say actually behaves in ways that I think border on verbally abusive to Iroh, and Iroh doesn’t take that from him, either. The difference is that Zuko also clearly loves Iroh and is much more amenable to his influence.

Even verbal and emotional abuse in the form of insults and belittling statements like the kind of stuff Zuko is subjected to from Ozai are much easier to spot and prevent than the kinds of stuff Ozai does to Azula, the gaslighting and the love-bombing in order to exert control over her. It’s not impossible to counteract that but it is extremely difficult, and this kind of situation is tragic all around. There’s a lot of media that centers around abuse that depicts it as something obvious and easy to spot, where a kind adult can swoop in and save the victim, who always wants to be saved, but that’s often not how it works in reality and that’s why it’s so hard to prevent from happening in the first place.

[attackfish]

Hi! Could I get five more headcanons as a continuation of the AU where neither Iroh nor Lu Ten die in Ba Sing Se? Specifically, the scenario you mentioned where Ozai tries to have them assassinated, they both survive, figure out that Ozai is involved and he is executed. Does Iroh ever have a revelation about the death and destruction caused by the Fire Nation? Does he join the White Lotus and help end the war? How are things for Azula and Zuko with their father's damaging influence gone?

Continued from: [Link] and [Link]. Most of these questions are answered in the previous installment, which was in my queue when I got this ask.

So I have been keeping a certain distance while writing this, treating it less as an AU than as a thought experiment. And when I PMed the asker the screenshots of the previous installment from my queue, they asked a really interesting question:

I've gone back and forth in my head a lot about a similar question, but with Zuko - would he have turned against the fire nation and aided the Avatar if Ozai was a better father to him? Assuming that he got to see the horrifying side effects of war first hand, as he does in the show? He is intensely loyal to his father and his nation, but at the same time he does (independently?) come to the realisation that the war is bad during his travels in the earth kingdom. I know that his journey probably wouldn't have happened if Ozai hadn't burned and banished him, but maybe he goes on some millitary mission or as part as a bid to make the Fire Nation rule more palatable to the people of the earth kingdom?

And that's a question I would really like to dig into here.

On one hand, it is certainly convenient, as only the best storytelling can be, that Zuko got to confront his father's abuse of him and the Fire Nation's imperialism at the same time, drawing a direct parallel between the two. Love that thematic cohesion. But on the other hand...

On the other hand, Zuko is already willing, pre-canon, when he's thirteen, to speak out against what he sees as a gross abuse of power, as something immoral and cruel. This goes against his father's version of uh, morality, and Zuko is punished brutally for it, both with his scarring and banishment, and with the emotional hurt of being cast out, and of his father blaming it on him, on his "disrespect." In canon, Zuko insists to himself that it is his fault, and that he can earn his father's love by fulfilling the task his father set him, and cleaving to Ozai's moral view. He learns to shove down his own compassion and moral instinct.

Iroh as Firelord conversely is all about those high moral ideals, as for that matter is Ursa. Both are imperialists, and Iroh is still prosecuting a war of conquest, but critically, they believe that war is noble and righteous, and would both be working to foster idealism in Zuko and Azula, especially Ursa. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this Zuko, one who has spent six years without his father doing his best to destroy his moral compass, who is much more sure in his ideals, and primed to follow his compassion, wouldn't follow those ideals and compassion right over to the Avatar, if exposed to the full cruelty of his uncle's supposedly just war.

The asker also brought up the prospect of Azula meeting Aang before Zuko, given what I said about her in the previous post:

Also, the idea of Azula being the one to discover Aang instead of Zuko is just... terrifying. He's way too trusting and would be easily manipulated by her.

Yes. Absolutely. I don't think it would be hard at all for Azula to paint herself as exactly what Zuko becomes, as a righteous anti-war defector from the Fire Nation's terrible war. For good measure, she would probably paint herself as the poor abused niece of that brutal tyrant Iroh, and probably claim Ozai was against the war too and this is why he was killed, and she just wants justice for her father. It would be so believable. For a little while.

Azula is a talented, even prodigious liar and manipulator. But it's one thing to fool someone about who you are as a person short term, and another thing to keep it up long term. The cracks will eventually show. Eventually the person doing the fooling misjudges what the person they're pretending to be, would think, feel, and do. Eventually, no matter how much the fooled wants to believe the lie, the liar gives themselves away. This is especially true of someone like Azula, who really believes she is better and smarter than her victims. This breeds carelessness.

We never see Azula maintain a consistent facade long term in canon. Instead, we see her lure people in, get them into her power, and then bring out the coercion and control, until they are too afraid of her to stand up to her. Sure she still manipulates and lies, but it's about keeping her victims guessing and eroding their sense of reality rather than keeping up a consistent lie. This relies on Azula establishing a relationship where she holds the power, not something she can really do with Aang as the Avatar.

Eventually she would let something slip, the Gaang would cotton on, and there would be a big confrontation where Azula does as she's caught in a lie with her brother, spews insults and put downs, and she is eventually driven off to try other forms of treason. They probably find her cozying up to resistance groups later, or trying to wriggle her way back into Iroh's good graces, depending on what he knows.

This would make them so much less ready to believe Zuko when he comes to them with his actual defection. Man, Azula ruins everything.

And this brings up something else: how Iroh would view Azula and Zuko's working against him. He believes he is in the right, with the war and with his family, and he is not going to change his mind on that without a real assault to the foundations of his beliefs. With Azula, given his age, and his "benign" sexism, he might view her as a silly little girl who needs to be brought home and taught better, poor misguided thing. And he might see Zuko the same way, or he might view Zuko as more responsible, more culpable for his betrayal. But either way, he's not going to reconsider his beliefs and come around to Zuko's side. He's going to view this as treason.

I don't think Iroh was close to his brother's wife and children when they were young. I think he was a distant, if loving presence in their lives. I think he never got close enough to see the horror show that was Ozai's marriage and parenting, or the abuse he subjected them to. I don't think he was someone any of them thought they could trust, and I don't think he knew anything was wrong.

And then in canon, after Lu Ten died, he was too grief-stricken to be up to relationship building or noticing Ozai's children's fear and pain. I think we can see some of this distraction and distance in how Iroh agrees to sneaking Zuko into the war meeting. This doesn't change until Zuko's banishment, until Iroh witnesses the horrific extent to Ozai's abuse.

I see Iroh's turn around as having two parts: the death of his son, which forced him out of the war, and started him down the road to reevaluating the war, and Zuko's public mutilation and banishment, which forced him into action, or more accurately, which pulled him out of his grief-induced stagnation. I'm virtually certain he offered to go with Zuko, only to suddenly have a traumatized abused teenager he barely knows, on his hands, one who desperately wants to win the love of the father who did this to him. This, and Ozai's abuse together I think explain Zuko's deep insecurity and distrust toward Iroh and his relationship with him throughout the show.

And with Ozai no longer around to brutally disfigure his son, Iroh never has that second shock, and never builds that relationship with Zuko. He has no real reason to ask himself if maybe Zuko's turning on him might be born out of true conviction and moral clearsightedness.

But with first Azula and now Zuko turning on him, and with Ozai's previous crimes, Iroh is going to take a good hard look at Ursa, his brother's mysterious wife, who he hardly knows, and wonder what she's been teaching her children, and what kind of rat-viper he's been nurturing at his bossom.

And how, I wonder, would Zuko and Azula each react to their mother being arrested, and put in prison, possibly to be killed, because of their actions?

[spasmsofthought]

fractures. (zuko x reader)

This is totally a free for all because I haven’t read any of the comics or watched Legend of Korra at all. Part 2 maybe, if you all think it’s worth it?? 

Kinda angsty, and mostly political - but y’all, I think Zuko learned how to be a politican as Fire Lord. This is me trying to explore that a little bit. 

Like, comment, reblog! Thank you for your support, as always! xo 

+ + + 

The first time you see him, he is touring the Earth kingdom as the Fire Lord. 

It’s been at least two years since he’s been crowned. It’s been two years since a Fire Nation flag last hung over the arches of every town entrance in the Earth kingdom. It’s been two years since a lot of things. 

Peace is a hard custom to keep when all you have known is war. Peace is a foreign language when all people know how to communicate is its opposite. 

The Fire Nation colonies are no longer known as such. Instead, villages and previous colonies outside of the former Earth Kingdom walls have formed into clans of their own. With the Earth King travelling during the latter part of the war, leadership has been thrown up in the air. There was no one to trust; especially after the Fire Nation invasion of Ba Sing Se. In all the chaos of the war, though, the de facto mantle of leadership among the small number of people in your village fell onto your family. You aren’t aware of the reason why, but being raised in a Fire Nation colony by a mother from the Northern Water Tribe and a father from the edges of the Earth Kingdom makes people feel something like safety in a land subjugated by an unrelenting and ever-growing superpower.

When the crowning of Zuko the Fire Lord happens, with Avatar Aang right by his side, the news spreads rapidly, even across the broken networks of communication established among the clan leaders. But even in the middle of developing a new world, there is still brokenness. There is still pain. There is still suffering. 

The world does not seem to heal the way people want it to: very slowly, in pieces rather than in a whole. There is still prejudice and hatred. Very little is still solved with words. 

It is the first time a foreigner has walked the land your people call home in two years.

It is the first time people see the color red on someone in two years; before, during the Invasion, red was what everyone saw on every passerby. Travel was severely limited and people mostly kept to their homes in fear of what Fire Nation guards would do to them on top of the restrictions and heavily imposed taxes. 

When he is directed to your doorstep by everyone in the village, the only one out of your family able to host him is you. Your father died in a skirmish near Ba Sing Se’s walls on his yearly pilgrimage to trade in a way that would have helped support your village during a time of scarcity two and a half years ago, right before the conquering of Ba Sing Se. Your mother is a figure made up only of stories. A figure who passed soon after your entrance into the world. 

For such an imposing figure, he wears very little ceremonial garb. It seems that he understands there is little need for formal ceremonial clothing in this community of people simply trying to survive in a world clawing back from the brink of total destruction. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” He begins with, bowing with hands formed in a traditional Fire Nation greeting. 

You bow back similarly, using a specific form of ceremonial bow used by formal authority figures here in the Earth Kingdom. Your hands move in a sweeping motion, directing the Fire Lord to a low table in the middle of the small living room your house has. The table settings are sparse and there is no fancy silverware, but there seems to be something in his countenance that relaxes slightly for some reason. 

“Please make yourself at home,” You try to make yourself seem soft. Yielding. Compliant. “Would you like any tea?” 

He nods, holding the simple cup up off the wooden structure slightly as you lift the tea pot and fill it halfway with the steaming liquid. You set it back down and it is then that Zuko surprises you for the first time. He nods his head towards your own cup. There is a pause, your mind trying to process the simple action, before you are moving your cup up off the table as well, watching the jasmine tea slowly fill up space that was previously empty. 

He gestures a toast to you, holding his cup close to yours while nodding, before he takes a sip. Out of respect, you take a swallow as well before you set your cup back down on the small coaster you were told your mother knit while pregnant with you. Blue and green repeat each other in a circular pattern, reminding you of how beautiful the two colors look together. Reminding you of your own roots face-to-face with someone who carries a vast and rich legacy of his own.

“If it’s alright, I would like to skip the formality of small talk and get to the real conversation. What is the purpose of your visit here?” For such an abrupt change in tone, he doesn’t seem surprised. He sets his cup down, too. 

“We would like to begin discussions with your clan about officially coming under the government of the Earth kingdom again.” 

You have to take a deep breath in. 

When you were little, your father always told you tales of his land’s history; of its vastness and proud strength. As you grew older, however, the tales turned into lessons of caution. He taught you to not trust the central government of the Earth kingdom for a reason. A reason you had soon found out had little to do with his own faith in the people he belonged to and more to do with the fact that the governing body had been crumbling for a long time. There had been a reason there was local autonomy among so many cities and villages, especially during the War. Despite the belief shared among many that the Earth kingdom remained a single political entity, the vastness of land kept that belief more of an idea than something that was practically applied. 

“I would love to see the Earth kingdom become the nation it was before the War, but there is a reason my people remain wary of allying ourselves under a central government again. We know about the details of the Coup of Ba Sing Se; we know the corruption that spread vast and wide among politicians, generals, and other administrators.” 

“I have been working with the Earth king very closely these past two years. It is our plan to host a gathering at the palace in Ba Sing Se with all local clan and tribe leaders to truly take your input into account while we finalize the development of the Earth kingdom’s government after this long period of strife. That is why I am here, to formally invite you...” 

You stop him before he can go any further, “Thank you, but my place is with my people.” 

“The Earth king desires that his nation once again be strong and united and at peace once again.” You want to know if he has always been an apt politican, or if this has something he has had to learn in these past two years. You wonder how he mediates both the needs of his own people and those of the world without faltering. 

“My experiences have taught me many lessons, as I am sure yours have taught you specific lessons as well. I have very little trust in a central government that before has previously become so easily fractured by whispers of greed and silent grabs for power, and can become so again.” 

“There are specific checks and balances in place so that never happens again. I have personally seen to these assurances in the formal writing of the government documents that have been extensively drawn up.” 

“How can I even trust you?” 

“I-” His mouth opens but more words from your mouth stop him before he can even begin. So much for being compliant. 

“I know the legacy of your family. I have witnessed the destruction your family has caused on this land; on the entire world. I do not know you personally. I only know that you have come to ask me to join a government I have little interest in letting rule my people once more when I am right here to make sure they are provided for and kept safe. There is very little about the world I can trust right now.” 

You begin to wonder, in the seconds of silence that linger afterward, if you have officially screwed up any chance at the peace people have been so longing for: here and abroad. You want to seem strong, but there always seems to be the chance to second-guess yourself. To back-up and take a new route. 

“I only know what it is like to be a new leader. I cannot offer you trust you are unwilling to take, but I can offer you the assurance that the Earth king, the Avatar and I will do whatever it takes to make sure the world is whole again.” 

You know he means it. Despite the solemnness of his face and his scar as a reminder to you of the stories of his own life that have yet to be told, there is a fire in his amber eyes that contains no violence, only the longing for the same thing you want: peace.

“My uncle would praise your tea-making skills,” A small corner of his mouth lifts up. Your eyes track the movement for a small second before you are staring down at his cup, too. 

“I could give you a bag to take to him to give the next time you see him,” An olive branch, maybe, in light of your previous words. 

War has its own effects on everyone, including yourself. Trusting others has not been a virtue of yours for quite some time. 

“I’m sure he would love that.” It is a brief glimpse into something about himself, you are sure, that he smiles slightly. A genuine smile. Despite the title he holds, there is nothing but humility. You tuck that observation into you heart to ponder on later.

How can the Fire Lord be so at home in this run-down mill of a home? How can he be so comfortable in the presence of a stranger; a stranger who opposes him in his objective to make peace in a way that he seeks but you do not want? 

You find yourself reaching for a stored bag of tea leaves before you can think about it.

As you hold the bag out in the palm of your right hand, your left resting in your lap, his fingers brush yours. He takes the bag and tucks it into what you assume is a pocket on the inside of his simple cloak. The warmth fades as quickly as it came, and for a moment you want to reach out for more of it. 

You stop yourself before you actually do such a ridiculous thing as reach out for the hand of the Fire Lord. 

But the feeling stays with you long after you tentatively promise to keep in touch with him as he graciously exits for the day. It stays with you for a long, long time. 

[tea-and-la]

a common anti-zk argument is that katara would never be able to date someone from the fire nation. but often-times the same people who say this ship zukka, so the assumption is that they think sokka would be able to. i just don’t think that makes sense, and in a way, it’s almost like... invalidating to sokka’s trauma. like, i’ve had convos with someone who said they don’t like zk because his nation killed her mom, but then said they ship zukka. and i said... they’re the same mom. and they responded that it’s different because sokka was “barely affected by it.” i ... didn’t respond. 

anyway, sokka is very protective of his village and as such has a skepticism of any outsiders. he is even suspicious of aang in the first episode, presuming that aang intentionally signaled the fire nation, and subsequently banned aang from the village. and he did this while knowing that aang wasn’t fire nation. 

then, in the avatar roku episode, when they are breaking into the temple, a fire sage offers to help them and sokka says, “the fire nation aren’t our friends!” he also in the crossroads of destiny is shocked that they are helping to save both katara and zuko. iroh says there is good inside of zuko, and sokka says “call me when it’s outside of him as well.” 

or in the headband when sokka talks about how “they’re in enemy territory and there are enemy birds” and then later says, “What could you possibly do for a country of depraved little fire monsters?” 

i find it quite irritating when people ignore that sokka is just as put off by the fire nation as katara is. and in my opinion, katara is the most open-minded wrt their experiences with fire nation people (see: her trust in the fire sages, jeong jeong, protecting the fn village in the painted lady, caring for mai’s brother, reaching out to zuko to help iroh, reach out to zuko to heal his scar, etc.) 

when zuko comes in the western temple episode, it’s actually sokka that has the most antagonist lines towards him (with the exception of katara’s threat at the end.) and he only goes along with zuko joining per his exact words “if you think this is what it takes to defeat the fire lord.” not because he trusted zuko immediately. even when sokka is talking with hakoda about zuko being on their side now: 

sokka: Actually, he's on our side now. [Cut to Hakoda, who gives his son a suspicious look.] I know. I had the same reaction. After all he's done, it was hard to trust him. But he's really proven himself, and I never would've found you without his help. [Hakoda nods his head at Sokka, indicating that he understands.]

sokka explicitly says he had the same reaction when zuko first joined. and the trust that zuko and sokka were able to build was due to zuko’s efforts, especially wrt the boiling rock trip (not before it.) even on the way there in the balloon, sokka says in a kind of sarcastic way, “i know, i know, you’ve changed.” their friendship starts during the trip. 

this isn’t to say that zukka couldn’t happen. i support people liking the ships that they like and i think it has potential. i just ... don’t really like when people imply that sokka would quickly get over and be okay with dating someone from the fire nation, while maintaining that katara wouldn’t. because often-times it completely ignores how sokka feels about the FN, and it also misses the point of why katara was more upset with zuko. because she had an actual connection and was vulnerable in the crossroads of destiny. not because she hated the fire nation more, because otherwise they wouldn’t have even had a conversation or almost-healed his scar. 

[fakeikemen]

The "Cave of Two Lovers" foreshadows the Zutara interactions in "Crossroads of Destiny"

[And maybe after that too; (yeah this part will be purely based on speculation)]

(See also: A meta that everybody has already written but I haven't because I was living under a rock and watched Avatar very recently)

Like seriously, it is so obvious? I see people try to interpret "The Legend Of Oma and Shu" in so many other ways; like yeah, you're free to interpret it however you want but— most people try to make sense of it while thinking that the tale is just a random occurrence? But it's not.

And here's why:

(I'm so sorry, I tried to add the "keep reading" link here because this gets kinda long but it just won't work) (Also click on the pictures if you want better resolution).

The tale of Oma and Shu is about two lovers who belonged to villages that were at war against each other. To continue meeting each other, they learnt earthbending to create caves in the mountain that divides the two villages. But one day Shu didn't come to the caves. He'd died in the war. So Oma unleashed a terrifying display of her power. And then when people were willing to listen to her, she called off the war and strived for peace between both the villages. As a result the city of Omashu was created— as a monument in remembrance of their love.

So in comparison:

1. Two people belonging to the opposite sides of the war

(Other than the 100 year old war that has been going on, Zuko and Katara are involved in a very fundamental conflict: Capture the Avatar Vs. Protect the Avatar.)

2. With the same colour scheme:

3. Share intimate moments in a cave lit by green crystals:

A popular argument for this comparison is that; Oma and Shu had a positive impressions of each other when they first met. Unlike Zuko and Katara where Katara's first impression of Zuko was pretty negative because he invaded her village.

Zuko and Katara's first proper conversation happens in "Crossroads of Destiny" i.e.; the scene I'm talking about here. After this interaction that they have, I think it's safe to say that they did have positive impressions of each other. (Until Zuko made the wrong choice.)

Other than that, about the colour scheme being a coincidence: Here and here are posts by @marsreds about how the colours are definitely not a coincidence.

But seriously guys? Oma and Shu were the FIRST EARTHBENDERS and yet, instead of greens and yellows they were designed with RED and BLUE?!? (I'll take about Oma's green dress below.)

And on that note, why were Zuko and Katara the only ones who were thrown into the catacombs when everybody else was being held at the dungeons? The dungeons wouldn't have been easy to escape, neither for Zuko nor for Katara.

It's because Zuko and Katara were meant to share an intimate moment in a cave that was supposed to jog our visual memory to remind us of the caves built by Oma and Shu.

(Seriously though, I wasn't really paying attention during CoTL and thought that the Omashu legend was just put in to consume screen time, so I missed the red/blue thing. But then I watched CoD and saw the catacombs and I was like: "Isn't this like that cave made by the lovers?" And then I proceeded to have an oh shit moment because, I knew that Zutara was not canon so I never even considered the possibility of the narrative hinting at anything between them but then this happened. I mean, it's pretty darn obvious).

The colour of the crystals being the same in both caves is no coincidence either— if they just wanted two random caves with crystals, then they could've used a different colour because crystals of different colours exist:

Moving on,

The Visual Cues:

According to the colour coding Zuko = Oma (red) and Katara = Shu (blue).

So,

EXHIBIT A:

I feel like this one speaks for itself.

(I personally think that in this parallel Oma is in red because Katara at this point still sees Zuko as the face of the Fire Nation.)

EXHIBIT B:

This sequence of frames show Oma (dressed in green, like Zuko was in the catacombs) and Shu (dressed in his usual blue), standing on neutral territory and reaching out to each other and then being torn apart by the war.

Pretty much like:

The first time they are in each other's presence without the cause of their conflict (i.e. the Avatar), Zuko and Katara reach out to each other empathetically and attain bone deep understanding of each other within a matter of minutes. This whole encounter is in Ba Sing Se, which counts for the neutral territory because it hadn't been completely taken over by Fire Nation at that point.

And honestly? The raw vulnerability and intimacy of this scene and the high emotional energy of their powerful dynamic is just— wow. (I put off my binging spree for a whole day because I didn't have the heart to see Zutara not become canon after all of this.)

And soon after, Zuko and Katara face each other in battle, their tentative friendship torn apart, as they fight from their respective sides of the war.

EXHIBIT C:

Whenever Oma and Shu appear in the same frame during the visualization of the legend, Oma is always on the left half of the frame and Shu is on the right.

Similarly, throughout all their interactions in the Catacombs, whenever the frame exclusively includes Zuko and Katara, Zuko (like Oma) is on the left half of the frame and Katara (like Shu) is on the right.

The parallels (or foils rather):

#1

In CoTL, we see Song who is a healer (cures Iroh of his poisoning). She mentions that she hasn't seen her father since a Fire Nation raid took place in her village. Zuko empathises with her and says that he too hasn't seen his father in a long while. But then he refuses to say anything else about it.

Later Song tries to reach out to Zuko and tries to touch his scar— which Zuko prevents her from. She shows Zuko her own scars to show that she understood him.

And yet, Zuko doesn't open up to her.

After a while of life-changing and eye-opening experiences, in CoD, when Katara has her meltdown and cries while saying that her mother was snatched away from her by the Fire Nation; Zuko sees an opening to offer an olive branch and he takes it, he empathises with her and tells her that how his mother was snatched away by the Fire Nation as well.

Then Zuko opens up to Katara in a show of complete vulnerability. He openly talks about his scar and what he feels about it. In response, Katara offers to heal his scar and then Zuko lets her touch his scar.

It was nothing but a deliberate choice to make Song slightly parallel Katara (a healer, lost a parent because of the war) and then making Zuko not open up to her and not let her touch the scar, only for Katara to be the one he opened up to and allowed to touch the scar.

#2

After being trapped with Aang in the cave in CoTL and sharing an intimate moment with him, as soon as they find their way out, Katara runs straight ahead without looking back.

But after her time with Zuko, trapped in the Catacombs in CoD, while leaving she turns back to look at Zuko.

Judging by the amount of time the animation puts into showing us Aang's disappointment at Katara running off and into making it clear that Katara did look back at Zuko and that Zuko looked right back at her, to me, it feels like the choice to show this was pretty deliberate.

(Turning back to look at a person while leaving is a romantic trope that has been overused to death? Or is it just bollywood?)

Also I wouldn't have paid this much attention to this small detail if not for the fact that just a hint of the Omashu legend theme is played here?

No, I swear I'm not making it up.

The Omashu legend theme is used in CoD:

The Omashu legend theme is largely dominated by the music of a stringed instrument (forgive me, I don't know what it's called) alongwith a steady melody playing in the background.

In CoD, when Katara and Zuko start conversing for real, (i.e.; when Katara says: "I'm sorry I yelled at you.") what sounds like a variation of the background melody in the Omashu legend theme, starts its subtle ascent as the background score, but sans the music of the stringed instrument.

It is when Katara says: "Maybe you could be free of it." [About Zuko's scar], when then first hint of the stringed instrument is heard. It is only a single note of the strings but it's there. And this "single note" sound keeps on repeating at regular intervals with the melody building up until Aang and Iroh burst into the catacombs.

But then, when Katara is leaving with Aang and she turns back to look at Zuko, this time the music that plays for a few seconds at best, is dominated by the stringed instrument again and this time it's unmistakable.

Also I don't think this music is used anywhere else in the course of the whole show? So it can't really be a coincidence? But I don't really know. I'm saying this on the basis of as far as my memory can reach.

And this is as far as canon stands testimony to what I am trying to say here.

But what about the second half of the story yk, the dying thing, you say?

Well this is where the speculations come in.

Speculation Time:

#1

As a thumb rule, a romance foreshadowed by a tragic tale is meant to have a happy ending.

So this time when Katara's (Shu) life is in danger (Azula's lightning bolt), Zuko (Oma) steps in at the nick of time to save her life (by jumping infront of Katara to intercept the lightning).

(Since I have crossed the limit of images in a post, here is a post by @araeph which illustrates this point.)

Yes, I am completely aware that Zuko taking the lightning bolt for Katara is not his declaration of love for her. What I mean to say is that the whole scene was so very painfully obviously romantically framed (the immediate change in music when Zuko realises where the lightning bolt was headed, both of their expressions, Zuko's agonized "Nooooo", the slow-mo throughout the shot).

I am also aware that Zuko would've taken the lightning bolt for anyone. But it is the narrative that demands that Zuko take the lightning bolt for Katara and Katara only. Because this has atleast 10 different payoffs (a direct callback to the Book 2 finale where Azula had shot Aang with the lightning; the grief of which was for Katara to bear but this time Zuko himself stands between the lightning and Katara instead of being the silent spectator, the culmination of both Zuko and Katara's personal character arcs, Zuko's scar would parallel Aang's: Aang got it because he chose Katara over the world and Zuko got it because he was willing to give up the world to save Katara, etc, etc).

Tl;dr: The lightning scene wouldn't hold all that much weight if it wasn't Zuko taking the hit for Katara because the narrative literally demands it.

#2

This is where we start wading into really murky waters.

From mucking around on Tumblr due to Zutara feels™, I came across this post where some of the ideas for Book 4 were written:

• The Southern Water Tribe experienced the longest series of attacks from the Fire Nation. Zuko and Katara become political partners and work together to help end the animosity and repair relations between their two nations.

• Just like how Zuko learned to appreciate the Earth Kingdom, he would learn to appreciate the Water Tribes. Katara also learns to respect the complexity of Fire Nation culture. There is no such thing as an “evil” nation.

And that basically means that Zuko and Katara would've been working together to de-escalate the hostility between their respective nations and improve the relations between the two nations, while learning about each other's cultures simultaneously as the world would be in the process of being rebuilt after the war and they would be major role-players in shaping the new world.

Which is quite similar to how Oma strived for peace between the two villages and then as a result of the improved relations between the villages, the city of Omashu was built as a monument to the love story of Oma and Shu; which might just be symbolic of building a new world where both the villages could live in peace due to the initiative taken by Oma on behalf of herself and Shu.

The story would've come a full circle; that's all I'm saying.

If you've stuck around for this long, thank you for taking the time to read this long ass post with points that you may already have read ♥️

[maybe-a-fangurl]

The Moon and the Sun (Zuko x Reader) Part 11

Part 1 Part 10

Masterlist

You were sitting out by the water, feeling the waves come up and softly flow over your feet before retreating back to the sea. It was the push and pull that you were longing for, but this was as close as you would be able to get to feelings it. Once you had reached Chameleon Bay you had automatically come out to the water, it was a habit you had picked up on when you were traveling through the earth kingdom. You would go and sit out by the water after you landed, either to heal yourself or to just feel the water moving. But as you reached the edge of the shore you realized you couldn’t feel the water flowing like you usually could, and that thought was enough to send you to your knees.

Once your knees hit the ground you fell forward, quickly catching yourself with your hands as you looked down at the sand. You felt as if your whole world was caving in, you felt utterly alone and helpless, abandoned. You closed your eyes, not willing any tears to escape as you slowly pushed yourself up so that you were now sitting with your legs crossed. And when you opened your eyes you just sat there, envying the ocean as the waves came on short to barely touch your feet before being pulled back.

Everyone understood that you had lost a lot during that one night, they didn’t know how much you truly had lost but they didn’t want to ask you. They were scared to ask what happened after they lost you in the tunnels, and they were even more scared to ask how you got the new scar on your face. So instead of asking they watched you sit on the shore, bringing you food and trying to start a conversation but after they realized you didn’t want to talk yet, they stopped asking. They were just content that you were still eating and were somewhat taken care of.

But after four days of you sitting out by the water, not leaving other than to go to sleep, Sokka decided it was time to talk to you. You hadn’t talked to anyone since that night, your last words being to Sokka before you started to sob and couldn’t get anything out. He had just pulled you into his chest, silently hoping that you would be okay and stop crying, but he didn’t realize when the tears stopped the you would also stop talking.

Sokka didn’t say anything as he walked to the shore and slowly sat down beside you, glancing to see that your eyes weren’t red and puffy anymore but instead looked lifeless, and he didn’t know which one was worse. In the past few days they just sat your food beside you before walking away, so when he sat down you knew that he wanted to talk.

“You’re being uncharacteristically quiet.” You said after a few moments of silence, and your voice was so quiet that Sokka questioned whether or not he had heard you.  

“I just didn’t want to talk if you weren’t ready to.” He said in a soft and caring tone, it was the same tone that he used when he confronted you about sneaking out in Ba Sing Se, the same tone that he used when comforting Katara, Aang, or Toph. He looked over at you, hesitating for a moment before he decided that he couldn’t wait any longer to know. “What happened once we were separated?”

“Once we were separated I ended up being found, I thought I was going to be able to get away, but I hit my head and when I woke up Azula was there and had already taken over the Dai Lee. I tried to get out a few times, but it never worked. The day Aang came they were taking me to the Fire Nation and I was able to get away from the Dai Lee agents who were escorting me and then I met up with Katara and Aang.” You paused for a moment as you looked down at your hands, which were now covered in scars that resembled lightening. They were small, barely noticeable, but they were all you could see when you looked down at your hands, and you knew that they stretched up your arms and to your back. “Why were they in the Catacombs that day?”

“Iroh came to us for help on finding Zuko, Azula had captured him and he knew that Katara would be wherever he was.” Sokka said and you couldn’t help but feel a sting in your chest when you realized they were there looking for Katara, not for you. Sokka seen the hurt that crossed your face, and he knew what you thought so he was quick to correct himself. “Y/N we did look for you, but we thought that maybe you hadn’t got out and they destroyed the Dai Lee tunnels so we thought that you were dead. But when Iroh came to us he said that Azula mentioned you to them, it was why she got the best of Zuko.”

“Azula has always used him and I against each other, she knows we make each other weak. That’s why she tried to kill me, she knew he would be stronger without me, no weaknesses and no reason to question which side of the war he belonged on. I know you just see her as a lunatic with fire and lightening but she is smart, smart enough to know that I always thought the best of her. I always knew she would hurt me, I have a scar across my back to prove that, but I never thought she would have it in her to kill me.” You said the words slowly, turning away from Sokka as you thought about the next words that were going to leave your mouth. “But that’s the worst part about it is that she didn’t kill me, at least if she killed me I wouldn’t have to live knowing that she tried to, and that he didn’t do anything about it.”

“Y/n you’re scaring me, you sound like you wish you would have died.” He said as he looked over at you in shock, practically praying that your next words would reassure him that you were going to be okay. Realistically he knew that you weren’t okay, that it would take a while for you to be okay again, but he wanted to know that you knew things would get better.

He just sat there looking at you, waiting on you to say something. But when he seen the tear run down your face he knew he wasn’t getting an answer, because you couldn’t give him one that wouldn’t scare him even more. So instead he just moved closer to you and pulled you into a hug, careful not to hurt you and giving you time to pull away if you didn’t want to be that close to anyone right now. But almost as soon as his arms went around you, you buried your face in his chest as you let out a broken sob.

You cried for a while, him just silently rubbing your back to comfort you. He was scared to say anything in the moment, scared he would make things worse, and even after you stopped crying he stayed silent. You had pulled away from him, now sitting beside him and once again looking out at the water.

“I know you feel like you’ve lost everything, but you haven’t. You still have us. Me, Katara, Toph, and Aang.” Sokka said after a while of silence. And as he looked over at you he felt the same protectiveness he felt when he seen Katara upset. “We’re your family, and we aren’t going to leave you, not like they did.”

“Sokka you have to calm down.” You said in a calm tone as you put your hand on his shoulder, trying to stop him from digging at the rocks that had just collapsed.

“You want me to calm down?!” He yelled as he turned around and looked at you, throwing his hands in the air. “How can you even ask me to be calm in a time like this?” “It’s okay, we’ll find them, and we’ll get out of here.” You said with confidence, but truth was you were terrified. You had traveled with Zuko and had been in a few situations that you didn’t know what to do, but at least you knew where you stood with Zuko, you still had no idea where you stood with Sokka. And that was an important thing to know when you were trapped in a cave with no way out.

Aang trusted you because you helped him escape from Zuko and Katara trusted you because of everything that happened at the North. But you still weren’t sure about Sokka, the two of you had had a few conversations but it wasn’t near the level of openness your conversations with Katara had been.

“I can’t listen to anymore music.” He said in a hushed voice to you, and it took everything in you not to roll your eyes at him. You couldn’t help but think of how the comment was something Zuko would have said, except he would have said it loudly for them to hear while Sokka tried to at least spare their feelings.

“It’s not too bad.” You said back to him with a shrug, he stopped and looked at you for a moment in disbelief.

“You were a ‘bad guy’ you shouldn’t be this optimistic.” He said, using air quotes when he called you the bad guy, as if to not offend you.

“A wise man once said that the way you approach a situation has a greater impact on the outcome than how you deal with the situation.” You said, a smile coming to your face as you thought about the number of times you had heard Iroh say those exact words to Zuko. “So, I like to try to have an optimistic approach to things.”

“You really think we can get out of here?” He asked, and when you nodded he let out a small sigh. “Okay, then I guess we should get moving.”

You gave him a smile as you started to walk behind him, trying not to crowd him as he looked over the map. It wasn’t long before you heard music and it once again took everything in you not to roll your eyes at Sokka when you seen the annoyance on his face from the situation. You knew it wasn’t the most ideal, situation but you honestly didn’t think that it could truly be that bad until you once again came to a dead end.

“Oh great, your plans have led us to another dead-end.” Moku said as he gestured to the wall of the cave that now sat in front of you.

“At least I’m thinking of ideas and trying to get us out of here Moku.” Sokka said as he turned around and glared at him and everyone else except you.

“Wait a minute?” You heard Chong say, causing everyone to look over at him. “We’re thinking of ideas? Because I’ve had an idea for about an hour now.”

“Yes! We’re all thinking of ideas.” Sokka said in a loud, and openly annoyed tone, as he moved his arms around the air.

“What’s your idea?” You asked, causing Sokka’s mouth to drop as he looked over at you in disbelief. You just gave him a shrug as you crossed your arms and looked back over at Chong.

“Well listen to this, if love is the key out of here, then all we need to do is play a love song.” Chong said, and you immediately looked over at Sokka to see him hit his forehead with the palm of his hand, hard enough for you to hear the contact. Chong started to play a song and as he started to walk, everyone followed him.

“I give up.” Sokka said as he shrugged and walked in the direction they were heading, you stood there in disbelief for a moment before jogging to catch up with him.  

“So, do you believe love is really the key to getting out of here?” Sokka asked after a while of walking, and you looked over to see that he was already looking at you.

“I don’t even know if I believe in love.” You said as you let out a sigh and looked down at your hands.  

“Well since your boyfriend is an angry boy with a pony tail, I don’t blame you.” Sokka said in a joking tone, and you just shook your head as you kept your eyes on your hands.

“He isn’t my boyfriend, never was.” You said and when Sokka let out a scoff you looked away from your hands and to him to see disbelief clear on his face. “It’s complicated.”

“Well it must be complicated for you to have feelings for someone like him.” He said, and you just let out a sigh as you crossed your arms tightly over your chest.

“He wasn’t always like that, he used to different. But life was never kind to him, so I guess he just decided that he wouldn’t be kind either.” Once the words left your mouth and you seen the look on Sokka’s face you knew he was about to argue with you, so you were quick to cut him off. “I know you think he is a horrible person and I know you probably think I am a horrible person too for staying on his side for so long. But he was all I had and now that I’ve chose this side to fight on, I don’t have anyone.” “That isn’t true.” He said, and you felt yourself tearing up as you seen the comforting look on his face. “You have us now. Me, Katara, and Aang are your family now.”

You remembered the hopefulness you felt when he told you that you were family in the Cave of the two lovers, but you didn’t realize how truthful the statement was until now. He was right, they were your family and they weren’t going to leave you. So instead of continuing to mourn over everything you had lost, you decided it was time to cherish everything you still had.

“Can we go see everyone else?” You asked as you looked away from the water and over to Sokka, watching as a smile came to his face.

“Yeah, we can.” He said as he stood up from the sand, brushing it off of his legs before helping you up. As you stood up you could see two figures standing by the edge of the makeshift base, and you instantly recognized them.

“It’s about time.” Toph said as you and Sokka reached her.

“Toph be nice.” Katara said in her signature mom tone, which caused a smile to come to your face as you pulled the two of them into a hug, Sokka joining in. You all stood there hugging one another until Toph started to complain about how Sokka was pulling her hair, and when you all pulled away you couldn’t help but smile at them, at your family.

@tpwkatsumu @caswinchester2000 @frickin-bats @winchestergirl907 @eridanuswave @the-firebender-girl @myarthetics @royahllty @izzieserra @akariblue  @coldlilheart @thirstyforsometea @cirtruss @lammello @bigbuckyenergy @aangsupremacy @lozzybowe @duh-dobrik @emogril @justab-eautifulmess @whalerus @im-me-and-noone-else @nataliahaslosthershit @oddment-niwit-blubber-tweak @slytherky @shemakesfanvids @sokkas-honour @nomin-rights  @miraculous23456

[bisexuals4zuzu]

So Dumb

MASTERLIST

SUMMARY: “Are you flirting with me?” “You finally noticed?” and “Kiss me again, like you mean it.”

PAIRING: Zuko x reader WARNING: fluff

STORY: (900)

Since Zuko came to join the group at the air temple, you've flirted with him. At first it was just because you wanted to see how the fire prince would react. 

You would ask to spar, when he was not teaching Aang, “Hey do mind sparring with me? I just want to make sure I’m ready for a fight” you asked Zuko, who would just mumble a sure thing or okay.

“No bending though, it might get too hot, if you know what i mean” you would say and send him a wink.

He was sparring with you and he would take off his shirt. Your heart fluttered and you muttered, “Are you trying to kill me?” under your breath. The prince didn't hear you mumbles. 

“So taking our clothes off now?” you raised an eyebrow, “or were you just trying to distract me?” His face would flush a deep shade of red. The first time he apologized and put his shirt back on, “you're such a tease” was your response

During dinners you would sit next to him. Making small talk with him as the other four were talking about random things. He would mainly talk about his uncle. The way he talked about his uncle was when you first realized you liked Zuko and not just messing with him.

At dinners you began to push the limits, placing a hand on Zuko's arm when he said something funny or on his shoulder when he was opening up to you. Eventually when everyone was having a conversation that you weren't really paying attention to you placed your head on his shoulder. He stiffened up at first not expecting it but he softened up after realizing it was just you.

Everyone was sitting around the fire that the gang had built on the beach. You had your head on Zuko's shoulder and your hand on his thigh. Your eyes were growing heavy. You weren't really listening to the conversation that was going on. Soon one by one the gang started to head back to go to bed.

Zuko whispered at you as the rest of the gang sat across from the two of you, “Are…,” Zuko stuttered, “Umm…, are you flirting with me?” his face was red with a blush as your hand was still resting on his leg, “Sorry Sokka said you were flirting with me and I knew he was just being stupid”

A small laugh escaped your lips as you pushed hair out of your face before saying, “You finally noticed?” you smiled a little looking him in his eyes, “I was starting to think you were oblivious or that you noticed and I was just embarrassing myself”

“Wait you were,” he said. His voice sounded so shocked. You pulled your lip between your teeth as you turned your body to face him more. 

“Oh was this like a group prank or something?” He stuttered out, as if he was trying to make sense of this.

“No, why did your mind jump there,” you said, “Is it really that hard to believe that I like you?”

“Well, I thought… i mean it's not like… your just so pretty and I’m…” he couldn't form a full sentence it seemed.

You leaned toward him, placing a hand on his cheek. You could feel his breath stop in his throat as the pads of your thumb brushed over his scar.

“I flirt with you because I like you, I like the way your cheeks flush,” you placed a kiss on his cheek.

“I like the smile that I sometimes manage to put on your face,” you placed a kiss on the scar.

“I like the way it feels to be in your arms. I like the way you talk about people and things you love.” you finished explaining.

He grabbed your hands as they were on his cheek, “How could you like me? I’m scarred,” he let go of you hands and placed his own on his scar, “I’m fighting for the right side now but I was such a bad person”

“First of all, I love your scar.” You said, as you grab the hand that was on his face, “I am so sorry you had to go through what you did but it shows just how strong you are.” you could see the tears wheeling up in his eyes as you pulled him into a hug, his head resting on your chest. 

You comded your hands through his hair a couple of times, “Secondly, it doesn't matter to me what you were or what side you were on.” you said placing a kiss on the top of your head, “It matters what you are doing now.”

He lifts his head and is now looking into your eyes placing a soft kiss on your lips. It was so quick and so soft you didn't fully even realize it was happening.

“Kiss me again, like you mean it.” you whispered grabbing the sides of his face, pulling him into a kiss. This one was long and passionate. You savored his soft, sweet lips.

“I’m really glad Sokka told you,” you said, placing your lips on his for a second before getting up.

“Yeah,” he stood up next to you as both of you walked back to the house.

Taglist: @thyunnamed​ @astroninaaa​

[sokkas-honour]

for spotify wrapped: #7 and zuko?

checkmate - zuko x reader

pairing: modern!zuko x fem!reader

wc: 4.3k

warning: parties, alcohol, vomiting, kind of cheating, lmk if i’m missing smth

notes: the party in here is a kind of based off the ones i’ve gone to so they might be drastically different than they actually are lmao. if a character is very ooc for you, please lmk, i’m often scared that i differ too much from who they actually are. also i loved writing this and have been working on it for days.

-

you think you're funny right? calling me drunk when it's too late at night

he sat at his desk, book open as he studied for his earth kingdom history test late that saturday night when he received a call. he wasn’t very interested in answering but he reconsidered when he saw your name as the caller id. with a sigh he clicked accept.

“heyyyy zuzuuuu.” your words slurred through the phone when he finally picked up. voice sounding somewhat absent as lyrics from whatever song was on played in the background. you must’ve been yelling into the phone as the music seemed to playing rather loudly.

“hey y/n.” zuko sighed but still greeted you, a small smile forming on his lips at the fact that he was talking to you.

“did you knowww that you’re kinda cute?” you asked, a loud giggle escaping your lips at your drunken confession.

“thanks y/n.” a blushed spread accros his cheeks at your compliment.

“zuzzuuuuuuuuuu, come to the party. pleasseee.” you begged, your words starting to slur even more as you pleaded for your friend to come to the gathering.

“where are you right now?” he asked, realising that he hadn’t heard of any party during the week and hadn’t seen anything in their group chat. he had absolutely no idea where you were and who you were with.

“jet’s place. he invited me to his party with his friends.” you explained, practically shouting into the phone as the music behind you blared.

“did you go alone?” he pushed for more information, concern growing as you explained the situation. he’d heard rumours on things jet had previously done around campus and even in high school, none of it sounded any good and it rose all of his red flags.

“well no, with jet.” you stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“i mean with someone from our friendgroup.” he clarified, remembering that your drunken self probably wasn’t exactly thinking much.

“nope.” you popped the ‘p’ as you cheerily responded which earned a sigh from the firenation boy.

“what’s jet’s address? i’ll be there soon.” he concluded. he’d come to get you and let you spend the night at his place since you seemed a bit too drunk to be trusted to be left alone.

“he texted me roku valley number 35? i think? it’s this huge house.” you seemed to have sobered up as you told him where you were.

“i’ll be there in less than 15 minutes.” he informed the drunken girl and started grabbing his keys.

“see you zuuuzuuuu.” he heard you say but you didn’t hang up so he didn’t either, figuring you probably wanted to say something else.

right as he was about to grab his jacket, he heard a discussion between jet and yourself and grabbed the phone, and put it on speaker to be able to know exactly what was happening.

“hey y/n, you enjoying yourself.” jet asked, seeming to have not been affected by any alcohol yet. unbeknownst to zuko, he had handed you a bottle of beer which didn’t take you long to finish.

“yeah, i even got a friend to come.” you excitedly responded as you continued to drink.

zuko listened intently as he left his apartment to get to his car, he threw his phone in the passengers seat and started his car as another distinctive voice came up into the phone.

“so what about you and that firenation boy.” jet asked, this time no music was blaring but the voices were just muffled as your phone was in a pocket of yours. the no music meant that you had stepped out of the main room and you were probably alone with the boy.

at the realisation, zuko sped up, the roads were practically empty so he didn’t bother anyone as he couldn’t wait to come and get you.

“zuzu?” he hadn’t been paying much attention to your conversation with jet as he focused on the road ahead but the mention of his caused him to pay half attention to the call.

“i dont know. he’s like my best friend y’a know.” you explained to the boy after he had nodded, zuko deducted the last part.

he decided to just hang up as he was getting closer to his destination and before he knew it, he was in front of the house where the party took place. he parked rather hazardly on the sidewalk but he wasn’t going to be there for long, a simple get in, find you, and get out.

when he opened the door, some random generic pop song was blaring and a crowd of people were all in the center of the room, drunkenly dancing around. he had to push a path for himself to try and find you but it was a bit hard considering it was perfectly lit.

“zuko?” he heard the familiar voice of haru, a fellow classmate with whom he had shared classes with in his sophomore year of college.

“hey haru, have you seen y/n?” he didn’t feel like small talk as he was concerned for you. thankfully for him, haru seemed to pick up a small stress in his words and pointed to the kitchen with his head.

“thanks.” zuko smiled and quickly left to the direction that the earth kingdom boy had said. when he finally found it, it was practically empty apart from two people who seemed like they were about to indulge in a make out session and his eyes widened when he was able to recognise you. he’d recognise you anywhere.

“you mind leaving?” apparently he hadn’t been very discreet as the boy, who he saw was jet, moved his head to glare at the newcomer. interested, you turned around, your back now facing jet and you grinned.

“zuko!” your excitedly exclaimed, quickly leaving jet’s grip and skipped to your friend happily. to any sober person, your skipping was a mix of jumping and almost falling, and in any other circumstance, zuko would’ve found it adorable.

“hey y/n/n.” he was a tad bit surprised as you wrapped your arms around his waist but relaxed when you slightly cuddled into his chest.

“nicely played scar boy. nicely played.” jet gritted through his teeth at the fact that zuko had just taken the girl he had been flirting with away from him.

“jet that’s mean, zuko’s scar is very pretty to me.” you mumbled, not loud enough for the person that you actually wanted to hear it but loud enough for zuko to hear and it made his heart race.

telling me truths that you know all are lies, yeah, you think you're funny right?

the car ride home was quiet from both sides, zuko focused on the road while you went in and out of sleep.

when he finally parked near his apartment, he got out of the car and when he went to help you, he saw you were already out but slightly leaning against the car as you were tired.

“see zuzu? i’m not that drunk.” you gave him your signature drunken smile, earning a chuckle from him as he wrapped his hand around your waist to help you stand up.

he kept it around you as he you went up the two flights of stairs and he been kept it around you as he opened the door. you almost sprinted to bathroom as soon as the door was open, feeling the contents of the night come up.

concerned, zuko quickly shut his door and went after you. his heart broke slightly when he saw you leaned over the sink, a weak hand holding your hair back as you body ridded itself of whatever was in its stomach. he leaned down, wrapped a solid hand around your hair and rubbed circles on your back as you kept going.

when you finally felt like your stomach was completely empty, you rose your hand slightly. eyes red and cheeks puffy, you tried to give zuko some sort of joking grin but you were only met with a concerned face.

he let go of your hair and filled up a nearby cup of water and handed it you while you sat on the ground, not feeling like getting up just yet.

“spirits y/n, how much did you drink?” he bent down to your level, hand on your knee and worried eyes staring in yours.

“don’t know.” you shrugged your shoulders before slowly sipping the water.

“i guess you can tell me tomorrow morning, after you’ve rested a bit alright?” he suggested, taking the now empty cup from your hand and placing it on the sink counter. he extended his hand towards you to help you stand up and you gladly took it.

you let him guide you to his bedroom. you took a seat on his bed and absentmindedly stared at the wall in front of you as zuko grabbed a pair of his sweatpants and a shirt for you to sleep in. you staring got interrupted as you felt the clothes land on you, turning around, you saw a small smirk on his face.

“how kind zuko.” you seemed to have somewhat sobered up, throwing a playful grin his direction as he turned around to let you change in privacy.

“once you’re done, i’ll just grab a thing or two and go to the living room.” he explained, meaning he was giving you the bed.

“no zuko stay, it’s fine.” you crawled to the other side of the bed in his clothes to grab his hand, trying to get him to stay.

“you sure? don’t want you throwing up on me.” he joked, earning a slap on the arm from you as you moved back to the other side of the bed to give him some space.

you had taken your phone out of your pocket and were scrolling through it as you waited for zuko to get ready.

‘had fun tonight, see you tomorrow evening? 7pm?’ you texted jet, hoping you could finish whatever you started.

‘cant wait’ was his response that came almost immediately. a smirk on your face, you shut off your phone and placed it face down on the night table next to the bed as zuko entered the room.

“who were you texting?” he asked, eyebrow raised in questioning.

“no one, just scrolling through insta.” you lied, a reassuring smile on your face as he took his spot next to you. you mumbled one last thing before placing your head on the pillow and passing out. it wasn’t loud but you made sure that it was loud enough for zuko hear it. “i love you.”

you think you're super sly, flirting with them but telling me you're mine,

zuko woke up before you, smiling at your adorable soft snoring. he knew you were going to have one hell of a hangover so he prepared the ibuprofen and the glass of water, and set it on the night table closest to you before heading to the kitchen. he figured that he might as well make breakfast for the two of you, knowing that you’d be ravenous as you had been the multiple times you’d spent the night.

the boy found himself falling asleep next to you at least a couple of times a month, this being the third in two weeks. you two had never defined your relationship but you were both there for each other. he often found himself taking a drunk you home, wether it be from a random campus party or a little get together with friends. he didn’t mind, he loved spending time with you.

he got out the pan, the eggs and the bacon. that was something he knew how to cook and it was your favourite post-drunk breakfast, you always claimed that his bacon and eggs were the best.

while he was cooking the bacon, he heard some rustling from his room and a small knowing smile spread accross his face. he could hear the floorboard creek as you stepped out of the room and arrived practically directly in the kitchen.

you had woken up to an empty bed but to a heavenly smell. once you saw zuko in the kitchen being the cause for the delicious aroma that had filled the appartment, you rubbed the last of the sleep out of your eyes and walked towards him. you thought he looked adorable as he cooked so you wrapped your arms around him and cuddled into his back. you knew exactly what this did to him.

“good morning sleepy head.” he greeted you, heart racing a bit at your proximity. zuko desperately wanted to turn around to kiss you good morning but opted for keeping his attention on your breakfast.

“good morning.” you mumbled into his shirt, too lazy to remove your head from its comfortable position which earned a small chuckle from the raven haired boy. you could feel it in his chest.

“sleep well?” he asked as you moved your head so that only your chin was against his back, letting your just stare at the ceiling.

“like a baby.” your morning voice prevented you from saying it normally so it came out more as a rasp than anything.

“figured as such, you passed out as soon as i turned off the lights. how’s the hangover?” concerned laced in the last part, moving the eggs from the pan to a plate that he had already prepared.

“better than expected, i’ll take the pill after i eat something.” you explained, trying to clear your throat in order to have a bigger range of voice.

“mind unlatching yourself? breakfast is ready.” he explained as he placed the final bacon on the two plates then turned off the stove. you reluctantly removed your arms, a small pout forming on your lips.

when zuko turned around, a plate in each hand, he laughed a bit at your childish expression but still leaned a bit down to place his lips against yours as he wanted to when you first stepped into the room.

you smiled into the kiss and it replaced the pout even after he broke it in order to place the two plates on opposites sides of the two tables. you decided to make yourself useful and went to grab the silverware.

the majority of the meal was spent in silence, a couple of giddy smiles and compliments on the food were exchanged but a conversation didn’t pick up until you were about to finish the last of your eggs.

“did jet do anything last night.” so that’s what zuko was thinking about during the meal.

“no he didn’t zuko, i wouldn’t have let him anyway. i may be drunk but i’m not dumb.” you explained, telling a small white lie in order to reassure your friend. jet and you were about to make out but zuko didn’t have to know that, even if he saw the position you two were in, it was possible to lie about the intentions.

“you sure? didn’t seem like nothing when i found you.” he sipped his water as he doubted your previous statement.

“i was a bit nervous so he was kind enough to talk me out of the funk i was in.” you lied through your teeth but kept a genuine comforting smile, even extending your hand onto the table in order for him to grab it.

“what were you nervous about? since you seem to remember last night pretty well.” he looked at your hand but refrained from bringing his up to yours.

“i only remember bits and pieces zuzu. and don’t know really, i was probably nervous about you.” you bit your lip, waiting to see zuko’s reaction to your wild claim. as you expected, his eyes widened in shock and blushed.

“me? why would you be nervous about me?” he stuttered a bit in the beginning, his heartrate picking up your confession. zuko had been head over heels for you ever since he saw you in his first class of his sophomore year, and he wished more than anything that you two would get together.

“don’t know, maybe it has something to do with that beautiful face of yours.” you brought your mug of tea that he had made up to your lips to hide your small smirk but you still sent a wink in his direction. you loved watching his whole face illuminate and his cheeks grow redder.

“oh.” was all he managed to say, too stunned to say anything. zuko had been in multiple relationships before, boys and girls, but none of them ever drove him as crazy as you did.

the rest of the morning was spent by helping him do the dishes along with a bit of cuddling on the couch as the news served as background noise. sadly, an alarm rang from your phone, reminding you that you had somewhere to go. time to kill and get ready before your little rendezvous.

“do you have to go?” zuko mumbeld, not wanting you to leave his embrace.

“yeah i set a reminder to remember to start studying for the math final.” you explained, slightly unwrapping yourself from his grip.

“that’s in a long time y/n.” zuko rose an eyebrow in confusion, unwrapping his arms from your waist to let you get up.

“yeah but i’ve been falling behind and need to catch up by myself.” you explained, grabbing your phone and put it into the pocket of the sweatpants you were wearing and you realised you were still in zuko’s clothes.

“you don’t mind me keeping your clothes that i’m wearing right? i’ll change once i get home.” you gave him your best puppy dog eyes in order to convince him to let you keep his comfy clothes.

“of course, you look hot in them. also, feel free to leave your old clothes here for the next time you crash for the night.” he eyed you up and down, loving how adorable you looked in his clothes. it wasn’t the first time he saw you in them, the number of times you needed new clothes after a party was so high he lost track. you usually kept them but returned some.

“why thank you zuko.” you teased, grabbing your coat that he had placed delicately on top of an armchair.

“see you soon?” he wishfully asked hoping you two could go out together sometime as you were about to leave the room.

“you can count on it pretty boy.” you sent him a small smirk before shutting the door behind you. behind the door was a lovestruck boy that finally had his chance.

building me up, but buttercup you lied, now in gonna ruin your life,

a couple of weeks after that night, zuko and you had spent a couple of afternoons together and zuko savoured every minute of them. you were supposed to meet him and the rest of the gaang at a coffee shop but everyone had already finished their drinks and you still hadn’t showed up.

“you sure she’s going to show up zuko? it’s y/n.” sokka took zuko out of his constant glancing at his phone to check for any messages from you. you were somewhat notorious for showing up to friend dates later then the decided time.

“she said she would be there, y/n promised me she’d be there today.” the boy insisted, opting to stare out the window when he spotted katara placing her head on aang’s shoulder.

“she’s over an hour late, let’s just head back to our place and ask her to meet us there?” aang suggested after placing a small kiss on his girlfriend’s forehead.

“yeah zuko, i love y/n just as much as you but she might just have gotten caught up with something.” toph shrugged her shoulders, trying to help everyone convince the raven haired boy to just leave the coffee shop.

“i guess you’re right. let’s go.” zuko turned his head from his outdoor gazing and smiled to his friends who all cheered a bit before everyone grabbed their jackets.

everyone walked in pairs to take up less space on the sidewalk on the way to katara’s, toph’s and aang’s apartment. zuko found himself walking side by side with suki who was talking to him about a recent goof that sokka recently made. he felt bad for not fully paying attention but he couldn’t help thinking about why you didn’t show up or even text him. you never came late to any of your dates so why be late now.

all of a sudden, he bumped into toph who had stopped walking, apparently everyone stopped walking for some reason but he was so engrossed in his thoughts he didn’t realise it.

“why did we stop.” he asked, turning his head into the direction that everyone was staring in. he squinted his eyes, trying to see what everyone was seeing.

“jet.” sokka said through gritted teeth, narrowing his eyes in the direction of the aftermentiononed boy. zuko finally spotted him, katara’s short lived highschool romance who supposedly ended badly. he had heard some rumours around campus but other than that, it seemed like a bad highschool experience.

“oh no.” he heard those two words slip out of sukis mouth as he saw who jet was with, he would recognise you from anywhere. he saw jet whispering something into your ear which earned a giggle from you before leaning in to peck his lips.

“how about we go this way.” aang nervously suggested as everyone spotted you, not wanting to make this too uncomfortable for anyone but it was too late, zuko’s heart dropped at the sight.

“yeah, sounds good to me.” he managed to say, swallowing hard as he couldn’t take his eyes off of the similar way you acted with jet. the look you gave him was the same, he thought it was reserved for him.

cause ive gotten tired of the games that you play, when you tell me you love me then you throw me away,

when he got him that night, realisation dawned on him. every time you left a bit early, claiming to go study or go see friends, you were probably lying. it solidified when he received a text from you, probably apologising for being late because you didn’t seem to notice your whole friend group down the street from you.

‘hey zuzu, i’m so sorry but not making it today. i got caught up with this highschool friend i ran into.’

the text basically aggravated him, he saw the reason why you were late and receiving a text for you lying about why you weren’t there. he decided not to bother to respond and basically just find a way to release his agression. opting not to make his phone a victim of his anger, he grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at the wall.

‘we still on for friday night? at that really good firenation restaurant?’ he heard his phone ding with a message from you right after he picked up the poor pillow that had suffered so much.

zuko was about to call you to confront you but then it hit him, you were just playing with him, you were just playing with jet. you probably only saw him as a friend but noticed his obvious feelings and decided to toy with him, or maybe that’s just what you did with everyone.

you two never actually said that you were both a thing, which is probably your excuse for all of this. but there was one thing you didn’t realise, and it was that two people could play at this game.

‘of course, see you at around six pm at zheng-ho’s delicacies?’ he smirked slightly when he got your enthusiastic text back, agreeing to meet him then and there.

the only thing left was to bring someone else into this game, someone who had previously been apart of his life in the beginning of college. she probably wouldnt mind a small rekindling without any real commitment.

he searched for her name in his contacts and clicked on it, realising it had been a while since he had contacted his sisters friend and his old girlfriend.

‘hey mai, i know it’s been awhile but wanna meet up at around five this friday?’ and sent, your single player game was now a multiplayer one.

so cry me a river 'til you drown in the lake, cause you may think you're winning but checkmate,

the rest of the gaang decided to avoid the topic during the week, letting the tension between the two of you be resolved on your own. you of course were unaware of them seeing you with jet, and even more unaware that zuko saw you kiss him, so you kept flirting with him, feeling a bit down when he didn’t always reciprocate it.

so now you stood, in front of zheng-ho’ delicacies at exactly six pm, waiting for your date with zuko. if anyone asked you, you’d say you felt a bit bad about dragging zuko into your games but it entertained you, it kept you on your toes.

you recognised the firenation boy across the street thanks to his scar. but who you didn’t recognise was the girl with long black hair that was holding his hand. he looked down at her and placed his hand on her cheek to lean down and kiss her. the action making your blood boil, what the hell was he doing.

you took your phone out to pretend you didn’t see anything, only lifting it when your heard his footsteps next to you.

“hey y/n.” he greeted you as you lifted your head with a small smile, lifting yourself up slightly to kiss him, taking him by surprise.

“good evening zuzu.” your hand immediately went to grab his, trying to show him that you had the upper hand in whatever game he was playing. you didn’t know that he saw your kiss with jet, you didn’t know that he had figured out your little game.

“shall we.” he unlachted his hands from yours, holding the door open for you with a smirk onto his face, knowing you were shaken by the change of power dynamic in whatever game you were both now playing.

yeah you may think you're winning but checkmate.

general taglist: @butterfly-skinnylegend

zuko taglist: @duh-dobrik

atla taglist: @missmorosis @draqondance @biqherosix @firelady-jay @welovediaaxx

[reinerispretty]

Hello!! I am absolutly in love with Rotations and I'm always so hyped to see another chapter posted! Zuko working at the tea shop was my favorite part of book 2 and I'd love to request maybe a Zuko x reader where the reader was a peasant girl who stumbled into the tea shop one day and loved the tea and talking to Zuko she kept coming back and with each visit and conversation with Zuko he starts to fall for her, maybe even takes her on a date? Either way I hope you have a wonderful day!

thank you so much for requesting this and for reading rotations!! i really love this request :) 

---

(Y/N) had, quite literally, stumbled into the Jasmine Dragon Tea Shop one day. She hadn’t meant to; but there had been some traffic happening outside of the tea shop (something about cabbages? she couldn’t quite catch everything) and somehow she had gotten physically pushed into the establishment. Its attendees stared down at her and she instantly felt embarrassed and out of place. It was obvious that the kind of people who came here were government officials and wealthy aristocrat. (Y/N) was neither of those things. 

She stood quickly and turned on her foot to make her way out. “Wait!” A jolly voice called out to her. She turned to see an old man standing behind her, a menu in his hand and a big smile on his face. “Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon! Please, have a seat!” Before she could say no, the man guided her over to an empty table and practically forced her to sit down. “What kind of mood are you in today?” 

“Uh-”

“Perfect! I know just the tea to get.” He snatched the menu away from her hands and moved back into the kitchen to prepare her tea. (Y/N) felt a bit disoriented. She wasn’t quite sure what just happened, but she assumed now she would have to buy tea. 

The old man came back to the table with a kettle of tea and a teacup. “My name is Mushi,” he told her as he poured her tea. “I gave you Oolong tea today. You seem like an Oolong girl.” 

“I’ll drink any tea,” she said with a smile, taking the hot cup into her hands and sipping. It burned her tongue but the flavor was so nice that she didn’t care. “This is really good!” 

“Only the best at the Jasmine Dragon!” Mushi smiled. “What is your name?” 

“I’m (Y/N),” she said. “I’ve never seen this shop before. Are you new?” 

“We’ve been around for a few weeks,” A younger, dark haired boy cut in from the table across from her. He rubbed it clean and had his eyes trained very intensely on the table. 

“That’s my nephew, Lee. Not much of a talker.” 

“That’s okay. I’m sure I could talk enough for the both of us.” She finished her cup of tea and stood. “I should get going, but I’ll definitely be back. How much for the tea?” 

“First time is free,” Mushi said. “But it’s so good, you’ll keep coming back.” She giggled. 

“Bye, Mushi! It was very nice meeting you.” She hesitated at the door before calling out, “Bye, Lee!” 

(Y/N) returned the next day and asked Mushi to surprise her. Lee set down a kettle and teacup on her table. 

“It’s green tea.” He said, before turning to walk away. 

“Is it your favorite?” 

“No.” He walked away to help another customer. That was the extent of their conversation on that day. 

Every day, (Y/N) returned, and every day she tried to get the quiet boy with the scar to talk to her more. She didn’t know why, but she wanted to know him as more than the boy that served her tea sometimes. She thought that underneath all of that lack of emotion, he might have an interesting story to tell. 

Zuko did not like the girl that kept coming to the tea shop. And it wasn’t because she annoyed him, because she didn’t, or because she was rude, because she wasn’t. Zuko didn’t like her because he found her to be too easy to talk to. From the first day he met her, he wanted to share a cup of tea with her and blurt out his entire life story. That was incredibly dangerous, and therefore made her incredibly dangerous. He tried his best to brush her off, to make it obvious that he didn’t want to talk to her, but she kept coming back!

“You’re relentless,” Zuko said to her one day when she was the only one in the shop. She looked up from her teacup, surprised that he was actually initiating conversation for once. 

“Me?” She asked, looking around at the empty shop. “Are you talking to me?” 

“Is there anyone else here?” He winced. Maybe he had said that a bit too harshly.

To his surprise, she laughed. “Do you think you could take a break for a bit and sit with me? You could have some of my tea! It’s Jasmine today.” 

Zuko begrudgingly sat at her table. She poured him a cup and slid it over to him. “I think Jasmine is my favorite so far. It’s just so fragrant!” 

“It’s my favorite,” Zuko said as he sipped his tea. She smiled at him again. Why did she keep smiling? He didn’t think he had seen anyone smile as much as she did. 

“Thanks for sitting with me. I’ve been trying to get you to do it for weeks now.” 

“Why?” She shrugged. 

“I wanted to talk to you. So!” She leaned forward on her elbows, propping her chin up on her hand. “Tell me about you.” 

“Uh...what do you want to know?” 

“Only your deepest darkest secrets.” The surprised expression on his face made her giggle. “I’m kidding! How about...what’s your favorite color?” 

“Orange.” 

“Ooh, interesting! Why’s that?” 

“The fire lilies, in the Fire Nation. They’re orange.” He panicked, trying to come up with an excuse for why he had said what he did. “I’ve seen them in a lot of books.” 

She hummed in agreement, nodding. “I’ve seen Fire Lilies in books, too. I think I’d like to see them in person one day, if this war ever ends.” She looked at the clock on the wall. “Oh, shoot! I really have to go, I’m sorry!” She scrambled around in her coin purse to find the exact amount to pay for her tea. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. She smiled in thanks before leaving. 

They continued like that for a while. She would come in and, if Zuko wasn’t busy, he’d join her. He had learned a lot about her from their little meetings. Like how she was the oldest of five children. Her father was a bender who was off fighting in the war. She couldn’t bend, but she loved watching others do it. 

“I’d love to see a waterbender in action!” She had said one day. “I think it’s one of the most beautiful forms of bending. Don’t you?” 

Zuko shrugged. “I guess.” She continued talking about her family and her life within Ba Sing Se. Zuko didn’t say much during their conversations, but he preferred it that way. He loved hearing her speak. He didn’t think it was possible to enjoy someone else’s voice, but here he was, hanging onto every word that she said. 

“Would you like to come with me?” 

Zuko blinked. He had been so focused on hearing her voice that he hadn’t been listening for the past few seconds. “What?” 

“To the festival! It’ll be so fun. Please?” She stared at him, her eyes bright and shiny, and well, how could he say no to a face like that?

“Okay,” he said, standing to take another customer’s order. She blinked at him in surprise. 

“I wasn’t really expecting you to say yes.” 

“Do you not want me to go?” 

“Of course I do! Meet me in front of the shop tonight, okay?” Zuko didn’t respond, but she knew he would show. 

He hadn’t expected to actually have fun at the festival. It was full of people and vendors and dancing monkeys, but (Y/N) held his hand tightly as she weaved through the crowd. She had to lean in close to his ear to talk to him and the closeness of her voice made a chill go down his back. 

“They’ve got some of the best popcorn here! You have to try some!” 

They purchased their popcorn and sat on the ledge of the fountain, watching as the festival occurred around them. Lights had been strung up in celebration and earthbenders created clay molds of animals for children. (Y/N) dug a handful of popcorn out of the bag and offered it to Zuko. He took a piece and munched happily. 

“Do they have celebrations like this back where you’re from?” 

Zuko shrugged. “Sometimes, I think. It’s hard to remember them.” 

She nodded, taking another handful of popcorn and shoving it into her mouth. “You know, I don’t want you to feel pressured to tell me where you’re from. But, if it happens to be a place that rhymes with Smire Dation, I won’t be upset.” 

Zuko turned to stare at her. His eyes were wide with surprise. “You wouldn’t?” 

She shook her head. “No. I know that the nation doesn’t define the people.” 

“What gave me away?” 

“The comment on the fire lilies was pretty obvious.” 

“So you knew this whole time and you just kept it to yourself?” She nodded. 

“You and your uncle have a great thing going here. It’s not my business to ruin it and it doesn’t seem like you’re hurting anyone, except maybe Mrs. Fong but that’s just because she can’t wait for her tea to--” And then right at that moment, Zuko did something that surprised even himself. 

He kissed her. He knew he shouldn’t have, but he couldn’t help himself. He never thought that another person could be so kind. 

When they pulled back, (Y/N) smiled. “I liked that.” 

Zuko looked away and blushed. She grabbed his hand and laced her fingers between his. “More popcorn?” 

---

[clandestinemeetingsinthetrees]

Okay so my mother and I have finished ATLA and here are her final thoughts-

• First she was really upset that it was looking like Aang was gonna have to kill Ozai and Zuko was going to kill Azula

• Then Azula started acting crazy and she was like “maybe they have to kill that one”

• Sukka was her favorite canon ship. She loved their dynamic and was really surprised that the tent scene made it into a kids show 👀

• She does miss Yue but she sees Suki as a good partner for Sokka and especially loved how she gave Sokka space when he didn’t kiss her back. She felt like they built up the relationship really nicely and she thought their reunion in Boiling Rock was cute

• She loved all of Sokka’s genius ideas and said Team Avatar would be dead without him and the Earth Kingdom would’ve been burned

• Also she really loved Toph’s power escalation with metal bending. The show did a good job of showing how she slowly got more advanced to the point where we see her bending herself a whole suit of metal in the finale

• She really thought the lion turtle thing came out of left field. She thought it kind of went against the lore we already knew and was introduced too late in the story

• When Mai came out before Zuko’s coronation she literally said, “no I don’t like them together! They’re not gonna get back together are they??”

• She really disliked M@iko lmao which I was surprised by cause she was kinda okay with Kataang

• I think this might be because she is a Zuko stan and saw Mai as counterintuitive to his character arc

• To quote she said “all they are is depressed together and that kind of relationship only works when you’re depressed”

• Also she was a bit confused by Mai and Ty Lee’s redemption arcs. Yes she understood how they turned against Azula but she thought that was just to save the people they care about (Mai saving Zuko and Ty Lee saving Mai) not because they’d turned against the Fire Nation. Mai herself seemed really into the Fire Nation and in the same episode had just yelled at Zuko for turning away from his nation, so she thought it didn’t make sense that Mai was suddenly on the “good side”

• She definitely thought Katara and Zuko were gonna get together, especially after Southern Raiders, and after he took that lightning for her in the Final Agni Kai she thought they were end game

• During Ember Island Players she started thinking that Aang was a little young for Katara. She asked me what the age difference was and I told her only 2 years, same as Katara and Zuko, but she said he just seemed really immature (especially in that episode) which is not his fault it’s the writer’s

• She was okay with the Kataang ending. Like she preferred Zutara but she felt like Katara and Aang could work out, especially as he got older and matured (I didn’t tell her what went down in LOK). She was frustrated that they never had a conversation about their feelings and felt it was rushed in the show but it didn’t ruin the ending for her

• With Katara being with Aang she wanted Zuko to just be single in the finale

• She also really wanted Zuko’s scar to get healed and kept hoping it was gonna happen. She just really wanted him to get rid of that mark and constant reminder of his father’s abuse which I understand but I think it’s important that Zuko keeps his it. I hope he starts to think of it as a symbol of his strength of character in that despite all his father did to him he continued to look out for his people

Overall she really loved the show and I was surprised by how into it she got. This was the first animated show she’s ever really enjoyed and also the only fantasy world she’s experienced that was based on Eastern mythology. Shipping aside, she really loved all the characters and has absolutely no hate towards anyone. She liked the ending and felt like it left just enough to keep you thinking. It was really fun to watch this with her and get all her reactions. I told her that LOK exists but she didn’t want to watch it right now because she was deeply disturbed by the thought of Aang being dead but maybe we’ll do that one in the future!

[sokkastyles]

I’ve talked about this before, but I need to emphasize that Zuko working in the tea shop is a huge part of his arc and development. It wasn’t just something that lasted only a few episodes that he hated and then moved on from, it’s something that is threaded throughout his arc and into the finale. 

Of course he’s not happy for a large part of the time he’s working there in book two. He’s a traumatized teenager who is desperately trying to achieve the approval of his father so that he can go back to the home he was banished from. Iroh tries to make the best of things in part because Iroh genuinely enjoys it and making the best of a bad situation is just who he is, but he also wants Zuko to be happy and wants to make the best life for his nephew that he can, and he knows that Zuko needs positivity and security in his life, as well as tries to nurture in Zuko an appreciation for the small things in life and an attitude of service. It is hardly surprising that Zuko is resistant to this, though.

Zuko complains even more when he and Iroh are presented with new opportunities, because he doesn’t want to accept the possibility of growth in this new life.

Iroh: Did you hear, nephew? This man wants to give us our own tea shop in the Upper Ring of the city!

Quon: That's right, young man, your life is about to change for the better!

Zuko: [Sarcastically.] I'll try to contain my joy. [Walks outside, slams door shut.]

Zuko spends seven episodes working in the tea shop in a twenty episode season. It runs through his entire Ba Sing Se arc. He grumbles, groans, and complains through most of it.

Iroh: So, I was thinking about names for my new tea shop. How about the Jasmine Dragon? It's dramatic, poetic, has a nice ring to it.

Zuko: [Shows Iroh the flyer.] The Avatar is here in Ba Sing Se and he's lost his bison.

Iroh: [Grabs the flyer.] We have a chance for a new life here. [Cut to Zuko looking out a window.] If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us.

Zuko: [Turns to Iroh.] Good things that are happening for you! Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?

Iroh: There is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity. I suggest you think about what it is that you want from your life and why.

Zuko: I want my destiny.

Iroh: What that means is up to you. 

Zuko’s time in the tea shop is part of his arc of discovering that he can choose his own destiny, and although he didn’t choose to live as a refugee, he can choose what he makes of it, which is what Iroh is trying to teach him here. Part of that is choosing to accept Iroh’s love, choosing to appreciate the good things instead of wishing for something that he doesn’t have, and we know that Zuko’s desire to go back to being the prince of the Fire Nation and earn his father’s affection is ultimately empty, and part of a life where he was abused, as well as where he was a part of a system that was oppressing others.

Then Zuko refuses Iroh’s advice about accepting a simple life in favor of pursuing Appa as the Blue Spirit - an identity that represents Zuko’s internal conflict between his fractured self image, which in book two involves him using the Blue Spirit identity to steal, to get back a part of the old life which he’s lost. It is extremely painful for him to admit that trying to get back to who he was before his banishment is causing him to engage in self-destructive behaviors that are stagnating his growth. Iroh just wants him to be safe and happy but he also knows that Zuko has to confront this conflict within himself.

That’s why, after he frees Appa, he must throw away the Blue Spirit mask once and for all, symbolically letting go of his desire to go back to the Fire Nation.

Iroh: You did the right thing, nephew. Leave it behind.

Giving up the past is never easy. Especially giving up the ideas he’s held onto for so long, the idea of what he can one day get back that, as Iroh said in book one, had kept Zuko going through his banishment, that gave him hope. But part of creating your own destiny is realizing that you can find hope in places you didn’t think you could find it. Zuko has to find something else to put his hope in and that’s represented physically by the sickness he suffers after freeing Appa. His entire sense of self has been shaken to the core, because change, real change, is hard.

Iroh: You should know that this is not a natural sickness, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying tea.

Zuko: What's happening?

Iroh: Your critical decision. What you did beneath that lake. It was in such conflict with our image of yourself that you are now at war within your own mind and body. 

Zuko: What's that mean?

Iroh: You are going through a metamorphosis, my nephew. It will not be a pleasant experience, but when you come out of it, you will be the beautiful prince you were always meant to be.

Tea even makes an appearance during Zuko’s “metamorphosis,” because the tea is symbolic, y’all. Then when Zuko wakes up from his sickness, we see an immediate change in him.

Iroh: Now that your fever is gone, you seem different somehow.

Zuko: [Optimistically.] It's a new day. We've got a new apartment, new furniture, and today's the grand opening of your new tea shop. Things are looking up, Uncle.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that Zuko has suddenly decided that he loves serving tea and working customer service, but the change he’s experienced is about choosing to find the good, to accept change into his life, to accept humility, and love. And this is the most happy we’ve ever seen Zuko be. We also see him emotionally supporting Iroh and working on his relationship with his uncle because he knows that seeing Zuko happy makes Iroh happy. Before, Zuko made a big show of his unhappiness, slamming doors and frowning and shouting and generally acting like a spoiled teenager with major authority issues, which made Iroh visibly upset. Iroh constantly tries to get Zuko to change his attitude but in the end it’s something that Zuko has to choose himself.

Iroh: Who thought when we came to this city as refugees, that I'd end up owning my own tea shop? Follow your passion, Zuko, and life will reward you.

Zuko: Congratulations, Uncle.

Iroh: I am very thankful.

Zuko: You deserve it. The Jasmine Dragon will be the best tea shop in the city.

Iroh: No. I'm thankful because you decided to share this special day with me. It means more than you know.

Zuko: Now let's make these people some tea! 

This is more than just Zuko being happy for Iroh or trying to be happy because Iroh wants him to be happy. We see the idea repeated here that you can choose your own destiny, and that those who do are rewarded by life. This is also echoed in Zuko’s conversation with Katara in which he tells her that lately he has realized that he is free to choose what he makes of the scars of his past, and his future. We also see him practicing what Iroh told him, he lets go of shame by letting go of pride. Instead of talking about what he thinks he deserves, he talks about what Iroh deserves. The dialogue also indicates that Zuko chose to be there.

This development is emphasized when Zuko and Iroh are invited to serve tea to the Earth King.

Iroh: I ... I can't believe it!

Zuko: What is it, Uncle?

Iroh: Great news! We've been invited to serve tea to the Earth King!

Zuko goes from “step aside, filth!” and complaining about doing work to smiling about serving tea to the king of a rival nation. That’s character development. And as I said before, it was essential to Zuko’s development in becoming the kind of Fire Lord that he is supposed to be.

The dramatic irony of Katara finding them and unintentionally ratting them out to Azula is that when Katara enters the tea shop, she finds not only a Zuko in a tea apron, but a happy one enthusiastically taking people’s orders.

Zuko: Uncle! I need two jasmine, one green, and one lychee!

Iroh: I'm brewing as fast as I can!

I love this scene so much because it’s like, imagine that you decide to go to Panera Bread and you find Kylo Ren working at the counter, cheerfully asking you if you want chips or an apple with that. It’s also hilarious that Katara’s immediate thought is they’re infiltrating the city when she knows that there’s an evil force of brainwashing government agents lurking about.

That Zuko genuinely found peace with his life in Ba Sing Se is narratively important because it makes what happens next even harder for him. “The Crossroads of Destiny” is a true crossroads because he’s fought hard to find happiness and hope in his new life, but then it’s all ripped away and he’s put to the test. That he fails it this time just emphasizes how hard it is to break free of old destructive habits.

This is why when he does go back to the Fire Nation, we’re shown his doubts, and how uncomfortable he is. He tries to be happy and to accept his role as prince, but he already knows that this is not the destiny he wants for himself. The excessive opulence of the Fire Nation is meant to show this. We see this in scenes like Zuko constantly being unhappy during the beach episode and becoming angry when he is told to relax and do nothing, and his insecurity at the party in a room full of rich kids. 

In particular, we see him being uncomfortable being waited on by servants in “Nightmares and Daydreams”:

Servant #1: Fresh fruit, Prince Zuko?

Zuko puts out his hand and shakes his head respectfully.

Servant #2: May I wash your feet, sir?

Zuko respectfully puts his hand out and shakes his head again.

Servant #1: Head massage?

Zuko shakes his head again.

Servant #2: Hot towel?

Zuko looks at the towels for a moment and takes one. He is seen wiping his forehead before walking out of the room. The two servants bow behind him. Zuko walks out the palace gates, with Fire Nation citizens waiting for him.

Servant #1: Prince Zuko, is something wrong? You didn't take the palanquin.

Zuko: I'm just going to Mai's house. It's not far.

Servant #1: It's not a prince's place to walk anywhere, sir.

Zuko looks to the distance, walks over, and gets into the palanquin.

We see him trying to fit in with Mai because he’s a sixteen year old who has a girlfriend for the first time in his life and he wants to impress her, but what this scene actually shows is their differing values.

Zuko: Tell me, if you could have anything you want right now, what would it be?

Mai: Hm ... A big fancy fruit tart, with rose petals on top.

Zuko: You know, being a prince and all, I might just be able to make that happen.

Mai: That would be impressive.

Zuko: [To the servants.] Do you think you could find a fresh fruit tart for the lady, with rose petals on top?

Servant: Excellent choice, sir.

Mai: I guess there's some nice perks that come with being royalty. [Pushing Zuko to lay down with her.] Though there's annoying stuff, too. Like that all-day war meeting coming up.

Zuko: [Sitting up, followed by Mai.] War meeting? What are you talking about?

Mai: Azula mentioned something. I-I assumed you were going, too.

Zuko: I guess I wasn't invited.

The two look away from each other.

Zuko asks Mai what she would want if she could have anything and what she comes up with is fruit tarts. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Mai is shallow, but what it does mean is that she’s never had to worry about what she wants in terms of the big picture.

“Who are you, and what do you want?”

She’s also never had to go hungry like Zuko has, and never had to serve others like Zuko has.

And then she brings up the war meeting, which to her is only an annoyance. Zuko doesn’t care about fruit tarts and palanquin rides, but this is something he cares about. It’s also funny to me that Mai is like “make out time,” and let’s be real, nobody would fault Zuko, a sixteen year old boy, for enjoying a little hanky panky, but Zuko is like “no, anxiety time!” Which shows how much he’s changed and how much he is struggling to be happy despite all the fruit tarts and hot towels and having a girlfriend who is all over him.

It is NOT a coincidence that when Zuko joins the gaang, we see him genuinely happy and among friends and making and serving tea.

Zuko had to go back to the Fire Nation to really understand how much he had changed and to really be able to choose his own destiny, but we know which one he chooses, between a life of empty riches and a life helping others. Even when we see him addressing the people as Fire Lord, his speech is all about service and humility. When the crowd cheers for him, he does this:

Zuko: Please. The real hero is the Avatar.

Which shows how far he’s come from the boy who so desperately wanted recognition, who was repulsed by the idea of serving others or lowering himself to the status of a “peasant,” who only thought of himself and what he deserved. His last scene is not his coronation, not his triumphant moment of standing in front of a crowd as Fire Lord, or even confronting his father, but a quiet moment, serving tea to his friends.