#in the future sokka and katara are Water Tribe Ambassadors and/or sokka's married to the fire lord and he

[weaponizedducks]

zutara is my very favourite dynamic because they're just judgy bitch besties together. stupid shenanigans duo. impulsive yelling duo. sokka is like 90 percent of their impulse control so when he's gone they go haywire. this is even canon sokka leaves them alone for one minute and suddenly they're off to kill a guy. good for them. let them be crazy besties together, striking fear into the hearts of sexist twats

[marymary-diva17]

A marriage for peace and political

zuko x water tibe reader x male mai

This is story had been published on my wattpad, and I decide to bring it over here.

The war of the nations had been going on for 100 years and the fire nation kept on gaining ground and power, all over all the other nations. There had been a time of peace that came in the war and that peace was made through a political marriage or arrange marriage. That marriage was your marriage the second daughter of Hakoda of the southern watertribe you had been given away in marriage. As you were not just marrying the fire lord son, but also another Nobel man that is an ambassador. All the other nations and everyone thought this will be for the best as no wanted anymore war to happen. 

Y/n " dad" 

Hakoda " listen I know you must hate this idea but it need to be done" 

Y/n "......" 

Hakoda " I can't send your brother or sister they are to much of value and importance to all of us ... they are part of avater team we can't lose them" 

Y/n " i know that dad but have you heard about the stories of the fire lord he cruel and scary man ..." 

Hakoda " yes I have heard them y/n but sacrifices have to be made and this is one of them you are one of them" 

Y/n " please father o will do anything for my people but I'm scared" 

Hakoda " think about your people think about all the all other nations and all innocent lives that will be lost of you don't do this .... You can't be selfish" 

Y/n "  father ..." 

Hakoda " leave now I need to speak with my council and elders Wes most think for battle with three other nations, a war will come and war " you wish to say something else but your father had you escorted away from his office once words got to your siblings and their friends it didn't get better. 

Katara " please y/n we need this war to end we can't have aang go he not ready he hasn't master fire yet" 

Y/n " I'm just overwhelmed and scared that all this major decisions" 

Sokka " don't you think we all feel that you haven't been doing anything but stay here and healing, while the rest of us have been risking it all" 

Toph " I can sense many emotions right now" 

Sokka " if we don't have an answer by the end of week the war the fire lord wish for answers" 

Y/n " I ...." 

Aang " y/n I make a promises as an avatar and air bender if anything happen I will come help you, as you have my oath as avatar and all those that came before me" 

Y/n " I just need some time alone" 

Katara " fine go while we stay here and think about a back up plan" you could feel you were not welcome so you had soon taken your leave right away. As you were walking you had been getting cold shoulder from many people as they were all in fear. 

Gran gran " my dear" 

Y/n " hey gran gran" 

Gran " I came to see you I have heard the news" 

Y/n " I want to say yes for my people and everyone else but I'm scared" 

gran gran " it okay to be scared my dear whatever decision you make it will always love you and be with you in personal and spirt" you had hugged your grandmother as your cried, you had made your decision that night. 

Y/n " father I have made my decision" 

Hakoda " what have you decided my father" 

Y/n " I will take the marriage for safety for my family and everyone" everyone was happy about the news a hawk had been sent, and I'm days a fire nation ship had come with your future husbands. 

Iroh " lady y/n I will love to present my nephew prince Zuko and mister mao" 

Y/n " hello it good to meet you both and I hope our lives together will be good" 

Mao " hello it good to meet you"

Zuko " yes what you have done is honor and we hope to show you were are not that bad" this marriage will not be bad after all as you had thought, as the others around were either good and bad. Maybe you should give your future husband a chance and see their true selves. Celebrations had been held in your tribe you had tried to speak with your sibling and friends but they were with everyone else. You had been given the opportunity to get to know some of future family better. That next day you had left your home. 

Y/n " take care everyone I hope to see you soon" 

Katara " we will meet again" 

Y/n " yes and now we have peace life will need to be rebuild" 

Fire nation solider " lady y/n we are rests to leave" 

Y/n " coming goodbye everyone and please take care all of you" you soon got onto the fire nation ship, looking down to everyone and waving goodbye. You soon saw your home getting smaller and smaller as you head toward your new home. 

Iroh " I know you have heard bad stories about the fire nation and my family, and I don't blame you for being scared but we are all not that bad ... my nephew and mao might seem a bit scary but he a good young men and I have raised taught and many other well to be good and not to, follow their parents path"'

Y/n " thank you iroh I'm happy to know I will have friends there for me I, hope I can be a good addition to the royal household and ambassador household as well" 

Iroh " you will be amazing"

Zuko " uncle may I and Mao have some words with our wife" 

Iroh " yes" Iroh soon left the young couple to talk together, knowing it was going to be a long trip home.

Mao " we know you fear what life will be like in the fire nation but we will not be living there"

Y/n " huh why you are royalty and noble born"

Zuko " yes but I made a deal with my dad will be living on ember land it will be good for us all, and we get to know each other and live the lives we want if that fine with you"

Y/n " I'm fine with that if can keep bending and healing, and keep some cultures I have"

Mao " yes it will be good as we all should keep what we love most close to our hearts" this marriage was not going to be bad after all, you had been able to get to know your husbands better and their created famiky good as well. Life is going to be hard away from the water tribe but you know you will adapt to your new life and home.

[stardust948]

do you have any zutara or atla fic recs?

Oh yes! I have plenty!

Fluffy fics

Questions & Answers by @gemgirl28

Kya and Lu Ten learn about the Hundred Years War, and Kya has a lot of questions for her Father about his role in the war. Or The Steambabies learn the origin of Zuko's scar.

A Month of Sundays by ok_boomerang

Fire Lord Zuko is desperately trying, and continuously failing, to successfully propose to Ambassador Katara. She's oblivious; everyone else is entertained. Meanwhile, Zuko is giving weekly Sunday speeches to the Fire Nation in an effort to help his people feel closer to their government. This effort was not supposed to include telling the entire Fire Nation about his plans for a future with Katara before even she knew about them. But it's fine! They promised not to tell!

Even Dragons Need Hugs by EKWolf2020

Zuko is missing his wife while off for business. While she is gone, he can't help but feel prickly and clearly misses having her near him.

Fire Dance by HomeAgainRose

Zuko goes with the gang following the events of Crossroads of Destiny. This is what happens when they're first in the Fire Nation and Aang ends up at the Fire Nation School. Katara wasn't exactly prepared for the feelings that come out.

little rays of starlight by JasmineTeaLatte

Izumi had been a mere babe during her first and only trip to the Southern Water Tribe, back before Druk had even joined their family or the twins were even born. She remembered freezing white snow flurries and huddling in her father’s arms for warmth, but little else...   Or, the Fire Lord and his wife take their infant daughter out on a trip to see the Southern Lights during the crown princess' first visit to the Southern Water Tribe. Takes place in the timeline of "The Phoenix and the Dragon" but can be read as a standalone.

vitamin z by thetasteoflies

Katara has a cold and there's only one person in the world she wants to see.

Angst/More Mature Fics

Incendiary by Anon

Bizarrely, the first thing Katara felt was a wave of relief. Zuko. Not Ozai. They just wanted her to marry Prince Zuko. And then the horror of it washed over her, cold and harsh and insistent; an iron grip on her heart.

Past the World's Horizon by Mauve_Avenger / @the-badger-mole

When Katara finds herself with an unwanted secret admirer, she and Zuko end up on a frightening adventure.

The Scourge of the Mo Ce Sea by ajstyling

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and with one look at her face he understood the truth of her words. She would kill him and not lose a minute of sleep.

i'm still here by owedbetter

"You see me."

And somehow, that makes all the difference.

thicker than water by akaiiko

Zuko tries to pick up the pieces of Katara.

AUs/Slice of Life fics

The Worst Prisoner series by @emletish-fish

What if Sokka was there during the events of the Blue Spirit? What if he accidentally kidnapped Zuko? It's not a poor life choice of it's an accodent, right?

The Prince of the Fire Nation by HarrisonHolmes2014

Zuko was raised in the Fire Nation royal family alongside his sister Azula. He has never known any life outside the palace, his family, or his homeland. But when two slaves claim that he is their brother, Zuko must face a destiny he never asked for.

The Fire and the Flood by @badlucksav

Katara has lived in the same town with the same people her whole life, and since the death of her mother, she feels like her life has been on hold. But then she meets Zuko, an intriguing stranger, and everything changes.

what you want is what i want by zelzenik

Katara isn't alone. She has Bumi and Kya. The three of them are family.

Zuko isn't alone either. He has Izumi. The two of them are family.

But maybe... just maybe, they can all be family together.

It Runs In The Family by Anon

Katara and Zuko were a lot of things. War heroes. Master benders. Fire Lord and Fire Lady. Their favorite occupation? Parents. They'd managed to find each other again and had children, who are part of a brand new world and mixed nations family. While isn't exactly easy, as shown through a repeating series parent teacher conferences.

Or basically, steambaby shenanigans because they have Sokka as their uncle and how could they not be wreaking havoc?

Shameless Self Plugs

They have stolen the heart inside you; but this does not define you series

At a young age, Katara is taken to the Fire Nation as the first candidate in an experiment to assimilate the 'savages' instead of wiping them out. She grows up alongside the Royal Family before eventually escaping. Years later, an oddly familiar Fire Nation solider shows up at her village looking for the Avatar.

Kintsugi series

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with gold. It treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. Zuko is tortured by Ozai after helping Katara and Aang escape Ba Sing Se.

Head Above Water

While running away from home after the Agni Kai, Zuko befriends a curious mermaid. He later learns how protective merfolk are.

Dead Hearts

Ozai is a mass serial killer who forces Zuko to lure his victims to him. It’s the same drill for as long as Zuko could remember until his father sets eyes on the new girl who just moved from the Southern Water Tribe.

Let beauty come out of ashes

Zuko is done with Spirit tales. Everyone knew worthless nobodies like him didn’t receive happy endings. He wasn’t even allowed to go to the ball to see his love, a veiled waterbender he met in the woods, in person. Zuko lost all hope until a mysterious dragon helped him with a bit of magic.

Always With Me

While moving away from the only home she’d ever known, Katara finds herself spirited away to a strange in between realm. There, she struggles to ink out a living with the help of a mysterious masked boy who promised to get her home.

Are There Still Beautiful Things?

Katara befriends a lonely boy and they spend the summer together until he suddenly moves away. She doesn't learn the dark truth about why he left until years later.

[atlafan]

here is what I still don't understand, and maybe some of this has been addressed in the comics/will be addressed in future comics, but truthfully I can't stand the comics as I feel everything is just way too ooc:

Aang and Katara were a couple, which honestly still baffles me because what 15 y/o girl is choosing to date a 13 y/o boy when a very attractive 17 y/o boy is right there, but that's a separate issue. They clearly waited a while to have children since Katara clearly wasn't going to have children with a child. Bumi is a lot older than Kya and Tenzin. Bumi looks to be about 12 in that family photo. Kyla looks 5, and Tenzin looks to be about 1.

With how misogynistic they made Aang out to be, in both shows and the comics, I was honestly surprised he wasn't making Katara pop out kids left and right. Maybe she struggled and couldn't get pregnant. Maybe Aang blamed her for Bumi not being an air bender. He clearly ended up favoring Tenzin. Which still makes no sense because Aang cherished his culture so much that he created Air Temple Island for the air accolades, right? So why wouldn't he want to share his culture with his two older children? Why was only Tenzin taken on field trips? We only got a little information in LoK, but Bumi and Kya obviously resented Tenzin because Aang played favorites. And what pisses me off the most is that Katara is not an airhead. What the fuck was she doing when all of this was happening? She obviously wasn't allowed to help at Republic City because Sokka was the SWT rep there. She's the only one without a fucking statue! I sure as shit know that the girl who proclaimed that she would never turn her back on people who needed her was letting her husband neglect their two older children. And did she only share water tribe culture with Kya because she could waterbend? They made seem like Bumi was completely cast aside. Did he do his hair similarly to Sokka when he was younger? Or did he do it like Hakoda's? I know that boy was a proud SWT member. Is that where they were primarily raised? Was Aang bebopping between there, RC, and ATI???

Was Katara building that healing center? Which, honest to god, I still can't believe is where they stuck her because she was determined to be more than just a female healer. So maybe she opened it up to teach any and all healers, which is cool, but why wasn't she teaching straight up waterbending? Why wasn't she out being an ambassador like her brother? Did she feel like she needed to stay home with the kids because her own parents weren't present enough when she was growing up?

I don't know how they could her up to be a strong woman, a role model for girls my age, and then disrespect her like that. They made it seem like she and Aang weren't even happy, like their family wasn't happy. Which makes sense because Aang was raised by men and grew up with men, and even though monks were detached and kind, they were still patriarchal. All of the female air benders lived at the eastern air temple. Were the monks out there sucking and fucking a the EAT when need be? WHO KNOWS!

It would make sense that all of the children of the gaang were brought up poorly. You had children of war, who grew up way too fast, have children! None of them had stable households, none of them knew was a functioning, loving family looked like. Katara and Sokka became codependent. He even told Toph that Katara had stepped into that motherly role with him. Toph's parents were too restrictive, so she barely gave any rules to her own daughters, which turned into the never ending cycle of 'my parents will never be proud of me'. Sokka clearly never got married because he probably didn't even want to be put in the heartbreaking position of having to leave his family for the greater good.

Then we have Zuko, who literally had the weight of the world on his shoulders, married god knows who and had a seemingly normal daughter, who had a seemingly normal son. How did the boy who was raised in the most toxic household end up raising the most normal kid with the most normal family?

My headcanon? If you're anti-zutara, leave now if you haven't already:

Now, I'm not a biologist, and I'm not saying me and my three siblings all look identical, but isn't it interesting that Bumi and Kya share more resemblance with Katara? Especially Kya?

Personally, I think all first-born sons tend to look more like their mothers, and when Bumi and Tenzin are grown up they do share many features, especially with how their facial hair is. And even though the whole 'people becoming air benders after 100 years because of spirit world tingz' still doesn't fully make sense to me, Bumi was clearly always supposed to be an airbender. And I know there's been a long debate about how the ability to bend isn't genetic, but it must be. It must be a combination of genetics and spiritual connection. Somewhere in Katar's family history, there had to have been other waterbenders, whether they were cousins, aunts, or uncles.

Kya looks the least like Aang, which is interesting because usually the first-born daughter looks more like the father. Bumi and Tenzin both have Aang's eyes, Kya has Katara's. Seven years is also a significant age difference between children. Again, we don't know if Katara had fertility issues, or if aang was having fertility issues since being frozen for so long was catching up to him. But I truly, truly think that Kya is not Aang's. Whether he knew that to be the truth or not, who knows because clearly he didn't give a fuck unless an air bender was popping out.

Of course, my zutara heart feels as though Kya is probably Zuko's.

Personally, I see it in the face shape. Katara and Aang both have very round faces. I see it in her attitude. And I see it in her bending. I also have this theory because Kya apparently left the SWT to go "find herself". Is this because she had an identity crisis after finding out who her biological father was?

And this isn't just me being a paranoid zutara shipper because it's very clearly obvious that Sokka is Sue's biological father. It's why I think Sue bends metal the way she does, and chooses to bend it more than natural rock because she can bend the metal like water. This doesn't explain why Opal becomes an airbender when all of her siblings are earth benders, but clearly this entire extended family is fine with sucking and fucking whoever, whenever.

I think Katara probably kept up with Zuko the most, and she probably visited him the most because he was the only one who ever genuinely listened to her and cared about what she had to say. We also don't know when Izumi's mother died, so Zuko and Katara could have both been lonely and helped make each other less lonely, which could have resulted in Kya.

Anyways, idk why this has been more on my mind lately, but I have more to say but I've word-vomited enough for today.

[zktop10]

BEST OF 2021!

Hello and welcome back to ZKTOP10! I’m your host, AWildJax, and I’m coming to you from my laptop at like quarter to midnight today. 

I have recorded data from 1123 fics BY HAND in order to bring you the Top 10 Best Fics of 2021!

Disclaimer: This is not inclusive of all Zutara fics posted in 2021. Firstly, the range actually goes from 12/1/20 to 11/30/21 because the December 2021s wouldn’t stand a chance. Also, fics were filtered to exclude crossovers and the underage tag (with one fic disqualified after improper tagging was found). Only fics written in English and containing ONLY the Katara/Zuko relationship (otp: true) were counted.

There are adult content fics in this list so I will be hiding it under the cut because I don’t want to get yelled at.

Rating specific lists to follow!

READ MORE TO SEE LIST!

Title: Let's Be Alone Together Author: AndreaAnEnigma Rated: E Summary: Katara needs a roommate after Sokka moves out, and Zuko needs a place to stay after disowning his awful family. Too bad they hate each other. When their friends force them to move in together, they're prepared to spend as little of their time in the apartment as possible—until a global pandemic and mandatory lockdown bring them closer than they ever expected. Score: 10 / 10

Title: Covered in You Author: evergreenonthehorizon Rated: M Summary: Zuko can’t keep a Southern Water Tribe ambassador to save his life. Ten years post-war and he’s gone through eight of them. They all keep leaving to get married and start families. The Fire Lord is getting desperate.

——

Written for Zutara Month 2021 Day 2: Ambassador

Rating has changed to M! Please be aware! Score: 10 / 10

Title: An Unlikely Alliance Author: thesavagedaughter0627 Rated: T Summary: When Katara finds herself separated from her brother and Aang, she finds herself alone in the Earth Kingdom desert. The last person she expects to encounter is Prince Zuko. But with him no longer pursuing the Avatar and with her in need of help to locate her friends, the two of them form a tenuous alliance. Score: 10 / 10

Title: rhythm of the rain keeps time Author: tiffaniesblews Rated: M Summary: After finally confronting and killing her mother's killer, Katara must learn to start trusting Zuko once again.

Except their plans to get back to their friends go awry when a rare thunderstorm hits the Fire Nation, causing Katara and Zuko to become separated from Appa. Together, they must make their way through the Fire Nation, even though Katara is still unsure of her feelings towards Zuko.

As they continue their journey, Katara finds Zuko slowly opening up to her once again, confiding in her the deepest parts of his soul. Soon, Katara finds herself doing the same, baring her soul to Zuko even though the last time she had done so, he turned around and betrayed her. Leaning on each other, they learn to be vulnerable as they work to reunite with their friends.

But is the road to recovery, or even home, ever easy? Score: 9.9 / 10

Title: Partners in Learning Author: evergreenonthehorizon Rated: T Summary: All of Izumi’s teachers prior to this one have used the term “partners in learning.” But never before has it seemed true. And now, here he is, eyeballs deep in markers and glitter glue, somehow the most involved parent in the classroom.

----

In which Izumi idolizes her new teacher and Zuko falls a little bit in love. Score: 9.9 / 10

Title: The Fortuneteller and the Fire Prince Author: JasmineTeaLatte Rated: T Summary: When a bounty hunter's shirshu is injured just outside of Makapu Village, the local fortuneteller finds herself playing host to a disgruntled Fire Prince and his companions. However, he's not entirely sure if he's ready to hear her visions of his future, especially when she makes a startling prediction regarding the woman he'll marry someday... Score: 9.9 / 10

Title: Summer of Distractions Author: gimmezutara Rated: E Summary: Katara accepts a job as an ambassador in the Fire Nation. She soon finds that the most intriguing part of her summer isn't the job, but rather is her growing feelings for the Fire Lord. Score: 9.9 / 10

Title: Love & War Author: seraluci Rated: M Summary: Katara has escaped her imprisonment in the Fire Nation. Prince Zuko has defected.

Now, they must navigate their muddled relationship while traveling through treacherous enemy territory, and they must find Katara's friends once more if the Fire Lord is to be defeated once and for all.

Sequel to Smoke & Mirrors. Score: 9.8 / 10

Title: Hesitance Author: laadychat Rated: E Summary: During their separation, Katara and Zuko realized something important about them and their relationship with each other. It was scary - how it all progressed so fast. And with the reality of the invasion hanging close, it was a comfort to know they have each other's side.

But that doesn't mean fate was going to make things easier for them. Score: 9.8 / 10

Title: Ten Strides in the Right Direction Author: evergreenonthehorizon Rated: T Summary: These coming days will bring darkness and destruction, but if these little flecks of happiness continue to blaze through the bleak blackness, then nothing that is bad will prevail.

----

Written for Zutara Month 2021 Day 3: Cuddling for Warmth Score: 9.8 / 10

[theolddivorcedzukka]

gonna be obvious here: zukka divorce

i was gonna go crazy with this one but then i started writing and i was like ohhhh this is humiliating so these are just scraps from the headcanon in my head i promise there's more to it im just shy

zuko and sokka get together 10 years after the war while sokka was in the fire nation as an ambassador and zuko initiates the relationship. for a while they both felt that their relationship wasn't just friendship anymore but neither made their move because they knew there were going to be consequences and it would be dangerous if people found out but it's about...come into the water, take a leap of faith with me, we are both going down

so they end up going down. horribly.

they don’t tell anyone about their relationship until AFTER the breakup. katara just found out soon enough because sokka can’t keep a secret from her for too long and zuko rode to kyoshi island 24 hours after the breakup to break down in front of mai, suki, and ty lee about it. this makes “old friend” in the zukka playlist even funnier like “i haven’t told anyone just like we promised <- lying”

they both decided to stay friends after the breakup but it was hard since they both still loved each other and knew the time was never gonna be right so they distanced themselves for a while. sokka planned to keep it that way until he learned about the attempts on izumi's life and saw that zuko couldn't do it on his own and stayed (i think he lives in republic city but he travels a lot so he visits them really often)

i think the only thing that can get zukka back together is...a near death experience. with the attempts on both zuko and izumi's lives that basically go on until they end the monarchy, they realize that time is just something they can't waste. they don't know what's gonna happen in the future but they know they want the other with them there DESPITE the consequences and this time they really do not care cause they've wasted enough time

izumi walks in on them as soon as they get back together (they're kissing on a hospital bed. someone got stabbed) and she's so disgusted like teenagers do. wtf uncle sokka wtf wtf.

they are more open with their relationship after that. zuko got rid of the law against same-sex relationships earlier in his reign (and yes he almost got assassinated) but they don't get married until zuko's retired. sokka doesnt marry into the fn thats gross but zuko marries into the water tribe. they both hate the fn

sokka dies because of the red lotus!!! love and light!!!

[alfredolover119]

zukka fic rec list (post-canon)

howdy! i’ve been collecting zukka fics i like since uhhh june and now i am sharing my lists with the world. i’m splitting it into three posts so it hopefully wont be too long. this is the second one: post-canon fics! the other two will be canon era and modern au. [side note!! if youd like a specific type of rec list,, i.e. soulmate au, fake dating, ambassador sokka,, hmu and i’ll post a list !!]

within this post, the fics are in word count order! also, if you’d like a soundtrack for your reading, i might recommend my zukka playlist :^) happy reading!

speak ill by @moonsongdotmp3

-4111 words, teen

-developing/established relationship, ozai hate <3

"I hate your dad so much,” Sokka considers for a second. He tries to mix it up as often as he can when they play this game. “That I have considered starting an official petition begging Aang to reconsider his commitment to nonviolence.” // It’s quiet for a beat. He’s afraid he’s miscalculated, but Zuko laughs, broken and sincere. // (Or: 5, 8, 15 years after the war, Sokka talks shit about Ozai.)

Friends Don’t Let Friends Fake Date Each Other by @d-naggeluide

-5349 words, general

-fake dating, coming out, kinda crackfic

Toph demands that Zuko fake date her. This goes just about as well as can be expected. Sokka steps in to show them how it's done, and this goes a bit better than expected.

Oh, How We Find Our Way by @donvex

-6043 words, teen

-bed sharing, hurt/comfort, domestic fluff

In which Zuko doesn’t sleep nearly enough once he takes up the throne, and Sokka isn’t having it. And maybe they get to fall in love on the way, as a treat.

(let me be) there for you by @bisexuallsokka

-8471 words, teen

-friends/idiots to lovers, mutual pining, getting together

Sokka pulls out a clean piece of parchment and starts to write: Reasons Why Sokka Would Be A Great Bodyguard for Lord Zuko // He smiles in satisfaction at the title. Seeing it in writing only makes him feel more confident in this brilliant, two-minute-old idea of his. Zuko is one of his closest friends, and Sokka is a great fighter, he would be the perfect bodyguard! He has the entirety of his trip in the Fire Nation to prove it to Zuko. This is going to be a piece of cake.

This Isn’t My Idea of Fun by @khaleeseas​

-8921 words, explicit

-royalty/moon spirit!sokka, childhood friends to lovers, no war au, mutual pining, fluff and angst

If you asked Zuko, he and Azula saw far too much of Chief Hakoda of the Northern Water Tribe’s children growing up. It wasn’t until they were older, and Azula pointed out that - duh - their families were trying to set them all up, that he realized why. // He was told by his mother to be polite. These people were their friends and allies, and though their nations were as different as they came, harmony between nations was the most important thing. // It wasn’t his fault the Chief’s children were so annoying.

the thing about dancing by anodymalion

-9713 words, teen

-trans sokka, family angst

The first time a attendant spills Zuko’s tea and doesn’t immediately fall to her knees, begging the Fire Lord’s forgiveness, it is not anger but a resounding warmth that fills his chest.

Will You Fake Date Me (But This Time For Real)? by AlyssiaInWonderland

-10520 words, not rated (teen, i think)

-fake dating, mutual pining, idiots to lovers

Zuko is determined to convince his Uncle that he is not, in fact, pining after Sokka. // Sokka is desperate to convince Katara and Aang that he is not, in fact, pining after Suki. // When Sokka's scheme to avoid pity means Zuko and him must fake date for an entire diplomatic event, shenanigans, realisations and confessions ensue.

i could (never) give you peace by @zukkababey​

-10540 words, mature

-ambassador!sokka, friends to fwb to lovers, angst with a happy ending, miscommunication

Zuko almost said it. He almost said the words I think I’m in love with you, but he choked them back down at the last second. // Zuko would never be able to be what Sokka wanted. They might have needed each other during the summer, when two boys with too much weight on their shoulders found comfort in each other in the only way they knew how. // But now Zuko was Fire Lord, and Sokka was leaving.

Operation: Get the Fire Lord a Boyfriend by @rejectscanon 

-10679 words, teen

-established relationship, attempted matchmaking, fluff, hurt/comfort, 5+1

5 times the people of the Fire Nation tried to get Zuko and Sokka together, and 1 time they realized they already were.

a study in matchmaking by @verdanthoney​

-12218 words, general

-friends to lovers, mutual pining, idiots in love, bg bakoda and kataang

Zuko and Sokka try to play matchmaker, but things don’t go exactly as planned.

Always read Your Peace Treaties Carefully by preciousbunnynoiz

-14039 words, teen

-arranged marriage, miscommunication, found family, fluff, non-linear narrative, angst with a happy ending

Zuko and Sokka have been engaged to be married since the peace talks. Only they were the only ones who didn't know. // Everyone else thought they not only knew but that they had already been dating the entire time. // This is also news to Zuko and Sokka who have definitely NOT been dating but maybe they aren't as uninterested as they are protesting.

this love burns so yellow (becoming orange and in its time, exploding) by @meliebee​

-18767 words, teen, major character death (NOT ZUKO OR SOKKA OR ANY OF THE GAANG)

-found family, slowburn, fluff and angst, hurt/comfort, mutual pining

Ten months after Zuko is crowned at seventeen, he faces his first coup.

All the Little Things by @voidcenturyscholar and @romancedawning

-23575 words, general

-fake dating, friends to lovers, mutual pining, bed sharing, fluff, miscommunication

Sokka receives an offer of an arranged marriage from the Northern Water Tribe. On the one hand, accepting would strengthen ties between their tribes. On the other hand, Chief Arnook has suggested Hahn as a potential match, and Hahn sucks. But with the future of the Southern Water Tribe Reconstruction project relying heavily on the good will of the North, Sokka doesn’t know how to say no. // (Katara doesn’t have to deal with this. Katara is dating the Avatar.) // Zuko has a solution. Sokka just wishes he’d realized he was in love with the Fire Lord before he agreed to pretend to date him.

isn’t this the vision that you wanted by @goldrushzukka​

-34633 words, teen

-pining, matchmaking, coming out, friends to lovers, bed sharing, internalized homophobia

Firelord Zuko - ender of the Hundred Year War, ruler of the Fire Nation, payer of respects and reparations - takes advice and counsel from representatives of every nation, division, and specialty. // But teenage boy Zuko - friend of turtleducks, wielder of fun looking swords, stumbler over words and feet in the presence of cute boys - only listens to two people, and they are conspiring together to ruin him.

(do you take this jerk to be) your one and only by @jatersade​

-55855 words, teen

-enemies to friends to lovers, (not actually) unrequited love, slowburn, sharing a bed, alternate universe, arranged marriage, huddling for warmth, fluff

Under the leadership of Fire Lord Iroh, the Fire Nation has made every attempt to restore peace and make amends for the harm they inflicted during the Seventy-Year War. Their newest proposal is a literal proposal: a marriage to unite the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes. // The Fire Nation offers Prince Zuko’s hand. // The Water Tribes offer Princess Yue’s. // Sokka is apparently the only person in the world who has a problem with any of this.

Wooing the Water Tribe by @dameferre​

-56839 words, teen

-didn’t know they were dating, i mean IDIOT idiots to lovers, ambassador!sokka, mutual pining, himbos istg

Zuko is courting Katara, and with every passing day finds new and insane ways of showing that he would quite literally move the spirit world and earth to make her happy. // In hindsight, it probably would've been better if Sokka had realised he was in love with Zuko at literally any time before this. Or preferably, never fallen for his best friend in the first place.

In the Soft Light by @voidcenturyscholar and @romancedawning​

-83901 words, teen, graphic depictions of violence

-moon spirit!sokka, ambassador zuko kinda, hurt/comfort, slowburn, pining, canon divergence, miscommunication, sickfic, huddling for warmth, angst with a happy ending, enemies to lovers, underage drinking

As the newly appointed cultural liaison to Northern Water Tribe, Zuko is the first Fire Nation Citizen to step foot inside the city's walls in nearly a century. He's determined to prove himself—to the Fire Lord and to his father—even if the Water Tribe's spirit-touched prince seems to want nothing to do with him.

[azenkii]

 ATLA Fic Rec 

because I've been spending way too much time reading it. Btw, this is a rec for gen fics and zukka fics.

Note: an asterisk after the description means that the fic or series is incomplete. (Sadly, this is a lot of them, but I'm pretty sure most of these fics are still currently updating.)

GEN:

Anything by MuffinLance is a must-read. my personal favourites are Salvage (where Hakoda ends up with one (1) grumpy new prisoner/crewmate/adopted son) and Little Zuko v the World (where Zuko is 12, and it's adorable).

The Family You Choose by TunaFishChris is a god-tier platonic soulmate au about zuko and the gaang, so like...go read that right now

The kintsugi series by discordiansamba is an AU where Toph's parents hire Zuko-as-Lee to be a bodyguard for her, and I love it so much. It has some of the best Toph-and-Zuko sibling bonding I've ever seen. *

Dragon Moon by Satirrian is a Dragon! Zuko AU and it's incredible. It also features Bounty Hunter Zuko, so do with that what you will. *

The What We're Given series by Haicrescendo is *chef's kiss*. It's an AU where Zuko flipped his father off early on into his banishment and started living his best life with Iroh. Enter the Gaang. Shenanigans ensue. *

The Internment series by Hannahmayski is another Zuko breaks free from his dad early AU, and it's also really good. Basically, Zuko was never given the option to capture the Avatar, making his banishment indefinite. He sails around with his crew fighting the Fire Nation and it's great. *

The best way to solve your problems (is to help someone else) by hewwodarkness is an AU where kids start disappearing in Ba Sing Se during Book 2, and Zuko takes it upon himself to do a little vigilantism. It's fantastic. *

The Blue Spirit AU series by H_Faith_Marr is an AU starting from, surprise surprise, the Blue Spirit episode. The Gaang takes in Zuko without knowing who he is, and the Power of Friendship™ goes to work on Zuko. *

The the first rule of earth kingdom fight club... series by ohmygodwhy is an AU where Zuko, among other things, fights in underground cage matches, meets Toph early, and realises that his dad might be wrong. It’s pretty funny and really good. *

The The Non-Existent Twin series by FoiblePNoteworthy is hilarious. It's an AU where Zuko poses as his own twin, Li, and the Gaang buys it hook line and sinker. *

The Guilt (The Jet Adopts Zuko AU) series by FoiblePNoteworthy is also really good. Like the title says, it’s a Zuko joins the Freedom Fighters AU. *

The new ways series by blueseam is just a Zuko and the Gaang bonding fic, mostly set in the Western Air Temple, with a side of Zuko not taking care of himself and the Gaang stepping up to the job. If you’re like me and am an absolute sucker for Zuko and the Gaang, go read this.

The Family Matters series by WinterSky101 is a really good fic if you’re looking for Hakoda and Zuko. That’s all I have to say: Hakoda and Zuko.

a nation, held by snowdarkred is a GREAT Fire Nation & Zuko fic - set before and during canon, not after it. Go read it, right now.

Notable mentions: a lot of works by naggeluide are gen and pretty funny, though if you don't headcanon any of the characters as LGBT+ you might not like some of them.

ZUKKA:

anything by Haicrescendo and dickpuncher420. For Haicrescendo, my personal favourite is the Carry On For You series, and for dickpuncher420, it’s love language.

sirens & sleepless nights by Satirrian is a modern AU that just borders on dystopian. Ba Sing Se has been overtaken by the Fire Nation, Zuko is a soldier who broke away from the Fire Nation and got shot for it, and Sokka finds Zuko on the street and brings him inside. It’s amazing, go read it!

do you take this jerk to be (your one and only) by jatersade is a fic that I’m 90% sure is on every zukka fic rec list, and it deserves to be. It’s an arranged marriage AU where Zuko is engaged to Yue, and Sokka is his cultural guide. *

midnight runs and other things by isamagicdragon is a modern AU where Zuko keeps sleepwalking into Sokka’s apartment. Shenanigans ensue. Also, top-tier Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee interactions. *

Unchained Melody by avocadolove is another fic that I see a lot on rec lists, and it 100% deserves it. It’s a long fic (as of now, it’s at 63.8k) and is an AU where Sokka, after getting taken to the Spirit World by Heibai, ends up as a ghost that only Zuko can see. Ft. great enemies-to-friends-to-lovers and an incredible plot. *

Ozymandias, King of Kings by Think_of_a_Wonderful_Thought is SO good. It’s an AU where, instead of being banished, Zuko was sent to work in a coal mine/prison, which eventually becomes the target of a Water Tribe raid after Aang’s return. It can get pretty dark, so watch out for that, and it’s really long (as of now, 168.8k). But trust me, it’s worth it. *

Heart Beat Here by thefangirlingdead is an adorable Modern AU oneshot where Zuko, while shopping for engagement rings with Katara, freaks out when Sokka lies about where he is. It’s a happy ending, don’t worry. One of my favourite fics.

feels like we only go backwards by oldpotatoe and A Certain Slant of Light by JustGettingBy are both amnesia fics where Sokka loses his memory several years after the war. They’re both so, so good. A Certain Slant of Light is finished, but feels like we only go backwards is not.

reality strikes, so bring back the night by zukkababey is a time-travel oneshot where Western-Air-Temple Sokka wakes up in the future to find his older self married to one (1) Fire Lord Zuko. Fluffy and funny. 

maybe i just see you (in everything) by epicbubbles is a really cute Modern AU oneshot with love confessions and just fluff all around. 10/10 go read it!!

it’s the illusion of separation by argentoswan is a fic that has legendary status and it absolutely deserves it. God-tier Modern AU where Sokka ends up working at the Jasmine Dragon alongside his former high school bully, Zuko. (Kind of) enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, and it’s just...SO good. *

say you like your shirt soggy by crosspin is a reallyyy nice 5+1 fic. It’s Modern AU, and it’s pretty short (3.7k), but the amount of yearning that gets packed into that 3.7k,,,,*chef’s kiss*

and they were roommates by flydunes is another Modern AU where sokka puts up an ad for a roommate. Zuko moves in, and Sokka gets a crush. It’s just good vibes all around :) *

like blood from a stone by catalinacat is a Soulmate AU that took a completely different direction with the soulmate trope. The summary does a better job of explaining it than I can. *

absence of heat, excess of destiny by theycallmesuperboy is one of the best soulmate AUs out there. it’s not too long, only 4.3k words, but it covers the entire series and then some. Seriously, go read this.

it isn’t strange, but it’s true by theholyterror is a 5+1 post-canon fic with some of the best pining I’ve ever seen, ft. Ambassador Sokka and Fire Lord Zuko. The 5+1 is times Zuko went out of his way to touch Sokka.  *

like the sun inside of you by ofherlionheart is another post-canon fic, and it’s incredible so far. the first chapter alone is 23k, so it’s already a decently long read. *

the stemverse: earth science zuko au series by acezukos is a REALLY good Modern/University AU. So far, it only has one work (earth system history) but that work is already *chef’s kiss*. The series is incomplete, but earth system history is complete!

rebellion’s such a hushed affair by zeitgeistofnow is a fantastic Modern AU that, like sirens & sleepless nights, borders on dystopian. Actually, I think it is dystopian, but it hasn’t been tagged as such. Anyway, 10/10, go read it right now immediately

Mark Time by foil is a Modern AU where Sokka ghosted Zuko years ago, and they get brought back together by Aang and Katara’s wedding. It’s really good, but the fic has some pretty heavy content, so make sure you read the warnings. *

That birds would sing and think it were not night by HisMomoness is a Modern AU that has Zuko tutoring Sokka, with absolute top-tier pining. Like, seriously, the pining is insane. Superr good

this love burns so yellow (becoming orange and in its time, exploding) by meliebee is one of the best post-canon fics I’ve ever read. It features a civil war in the Fire Nation (that gets resolved about halfway through) and some great Toph and Zuko interactions, as well as some Grade A pining. 

boy problems by burnt_oranges is FANTASTIC post-canon and has sokka and zuko in an accidental arranged marriage, plus some attempted assassinations. It’s great.

zuko vs the homie sexual agenda by parmigiano has Zuko and Sokka pining for each other in Ikea. Do I need to say more?

Friendship Bracelets by peachcitt is a Modern AU best friends to lovers. Pretty short (4.9k), but the pining is immaculate.

isn’t this the vision that you wanted by nebulastucky is INCREDIBLE, I read it recently because it just got completed and it’s *chef’s kiss*. It’s post-canon ft. mutual pining and some reallyyy good ‘and there was only one bed’ scenes.

Real Slow and no one knows anything but us by surveycorpsjean and quidhitch respectively are two of my favourite post-canon Ambassador Sokka and Fire Lord Zuko fics. Go check them out!

The Duke’s a Hazard by naggeluide is a really nice AU starting from the Western Air Temple, where the Duke decides that Sokka and Zuko are now his new parents. They bond over coparenting, and the (kind of) enemies-to-friends-to-lovers is really good. Plus, it’s funny.

Those Who Favor Fire by CSHfic and VSfic is a really good fic of the Spymaster Sokka AU. If you don’t know what that is, it’s an AU where Sokka fakes his death and goes undercover in an organisation that wants to kill Zuko.

Fics I added after posting (so far, all Zukka):

The Road Between Action and Inaction by Donvex is a fic that I can't believe I left out the first time?? It's a modern hitchhiking AU and it's great.

Rituals of the Ocean Floor by Donvex is a nice one too. It's only around 2.2k words, but it's a Fox Spirit!Zuko and Sharkman!Sokka AU, and I just really like the writing style.

by the stars above, i knew we were in love by theycallmesuperboy and The Fate of Nations in Our Hands by sapphic_ambitions are both top-tier post-canon fics. Be warned: by the stars above is a liiiittle bit angsty.

blue's clues by parmigiano is a really good Modern AU where Sokka, a university student journalist, gets ahold of the phone number of the Blue Spirit, a new campus vigilante. He ends up talking to the Blue Spirit to get an interview out of him, and it's really cute!

Honourable mention: the Avatar Zuko series by the_cloud_whisperer is one of the best series I've ever read, and it's really long - it got completed about a month ago, with 493.6k words in total (415k if you ignore the extra work made up of author's notes). It develops all the characters really well, especially Lu Ten, but the main ship is Zukaang. Personally, my biggest problem with Zukaang is the age difference, and Aang is aged up to be Zuko's age (or older, I think? I don't really remember) in this. I kept reading it because the plot was too good to give up, and I do highly recommend it, but yeah.

I’ll add more fics if I remember them, but this is what I had bookmarked. Also, shameless self plug here because I also write ATLA fic @ azenki on ao3

[the-badger-mole]

Traditional

“You scared?” 

Zuko’s mouth pulled down slightly at the corners, but after years of practicing diplomacy and his uncle’s lessons on holding his temper, that was the only show of Zuko’s displeasure. 

“I have no reason to be afraid,” he said. He quirked his brow at Katara and met her gaze pointedly. “According to you.” Katara shrugged, though it was difficult to tell under her heavy, fur lined parka. 

“Well, Dad and Sokka already like you,” she reminded him.”It’s just everyone else you have to convince.” 

Zuko rolled his eyes, wishing that the Southern Water Tribe was like...well any place else in the world. Having the Chief and his heir on his side would have been enough in literally any other country in the world. But this wasn’t anywhere in the world. This was the Southern Water Tribe. Their numbers were still small after all this time, and they were fiercely loyal to each other. Families were intimately involved in each others’ lives. Beside him, Katara nudged him gently. He felt the comforting pressure of it through his own thick parka. 

“You’re going to be fine,” she promised, flashing him a reassuring smile.

 Her eyes were full of trust and confidence, and it bolstered Zuko’s own. But only just slightly. After all, he was about to ask her entire extended family for their blessing to marry her. It was...daunting. 

“What if...what if they don’t like this?” Zuko asked. Katara shrugged with a bravado that Zuko knew she didn’t feel. 

“I already said yes,” she said. “I’m old enough to make my own choices. Dad, Sokka and Gran Gran will understand. If anyone else has a problem with it...well, we just won’t invite them to the wedding.” 

“I don’t want to cause problems with you and your family,” Zuko lowered his voice, as if anyone could hear him. He and Katara had climbed to the ship’s crows nest, both for the privacy and to catch the first glimpse of Katara’s home. Katara sighed and rested her head against Zuko’s shoulder.  “You’re my family,” Katara said firmly. “I love you, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Besides, we’ve been dating for two years. There were only two ways for this to end.” 

Zuko sighed and pressed his forehead against  Katara’s hair. She was right, of course. As Fire Lord, openly courting a woman meant that she was being seriously considered as his wife. He and Katara had spoken at length about the expectations before they decided to start dating. Then they spent another eternity talking with Iroh, Hakoda and Sokka about the expectations before going public with their relationship. If anyone was taken by surprise by their engagement at this point, then it was really out of Katara and Zuko’s hands. They had followed protocol more strictly than any Fire Lord and potential Fire Lady had in at least the last two centuries.Still...

“Why won’t you tell me what’s going to happen here?” Zuko asked. Katara sat up and shrugged. 

“I’ve told you what I could,” she said. “You have to speak to my father, Gran Gran and Sokka about your intention. Then you present me with your gifts, and then my closest male relatives take you hunting.” 

That was the part that gave Zuko pause. He knew better than to think Hakoda or Sokka would harm him (permanently), but Katara said that Bato and Pakku would likely be there as well. Zuko had interacted with both men a handful of times since the end of the war, and they had been courteous, if a bit cold. They grew even more frigid after he started dating Katara. He wasn’t sure how either of them would treat him out on the tundra. Away from Katara. Away from witnesses in general. It would be all too easy to arrange an accident...

“Would you stop worrying?” Katara reached up and poked Zuko where his brow furrowed over his nose. “It’ll be fine. You’ve been hunting before.” 

“Not on ice,” Zuko grumbled. “And never while trying to impress my fiancee’s family.” 

“Don’t worry, they already like you!” 

Zuko recalled the last time he had interacted with Katara’s step-grandfather and waterbending master. He had given the Water Tribe elder a deep, respectful bow-something unheard of for a Fire Lord to do. He rose to find Pakku eyeing him critically and prepared with a comment on how sloppy the bow was, and how in the Northern Tribe, young men were taught to show their elders the utmost respect. 

“We’ll be there soon,” Zuko said, casting his narrowed gaze over the horizon. “Are you ready?” Katara leaned up and pressed a kiss to Zuko’s cheek.

“I’ve been ready for this for two years.” 

****

Per the Southern Water Tribe’s custom, Katara disembarked the ship first, on a dinghy, so she could greet Zuko with her family. As the chief’s daughter,  all of the Southern Tribe was considered family, and so had the right to be there when Zuko came to ask for a blessing on his and Katara’s upcoming marriage.

 For two days Zuko was left on his ship while the village prepared for his official arrival. Any representatives from the surrounding villages who wanted to be present would arrive during this time, and the family members who would be joining the hunt would make sure that their supplies were ready. Ordinarily, the suitor would have his own preparations to make, but Zuko had done everything he was supposed to before he left Caldera. All he could do for two days was drive himself, his uncle and his crew insane with last minute worries. 

“What if she doesn’t like what I got her?” Zuko asked his uncle.

“I’m sure she’ll love your gifts,” Iroh assured him. 

“Has the guest room been prepared in case her grandmother wants to come back with us?” Zuko asked the ship’s captain. It was a possibility that Katara had prepared him for. Usually, the mother of the intended went with her daughter to her future home to help get her set up and meet her future in-laws. Kanna might not feel up to the cross ocean trek, but she might decide to go after all. Zuko wanted to make sure the voyage was as comfortable as possible.

Then Zuko had inventory taken on all the supplies he had brought for Katara’s village. In the eight years since the end of the war, the Southern Water Tribe had slowly, but surely begun to come into their own power. Still, Katara assured him that the extra fabric, metal, and spices would be welcomed. When he was done with all of that, there was nothing left for him to do but wait. 

Finally, at around noon on the second day, it was finally time for the Fire Lord to arrive in the village. Stepping off of the boat felt eerily similar to the first time he had first set foot onto the icy land eight years earlier. Things had certainly changed. He was no longer a desperate 16 year-old boy on an impossible mission. He wore practical wool and furs instead of slightly too large battle armor. The piers had been rebuilt in the intervening time, and Zuko had seen them himself several times before without the odd knot in his stomach. But like that first time, he was met with rows of solemn faces staring at him, uncertainly. He was once again an unwelcome foreigner come to disturb their peace.

There were some friendly faces in the crowd, Zuko had to remind himself. There a few Tribesmen and women he had gotten the chance to know over the past few years of peace. Some he had begun nascent friendships with before he had even allowed himself to hope Katara liked him the way he liked her. Nukilik, the village armsmith flashed him a grin and what Zuko could only assume were two thumbs up. It was hard to tell through the thick mittens, but it made more sense than the man balling his hands into fists. 

Hakoda and Sokka were there, too. Zuko noticed with relief that neither of them seemed upset to see him. Hakoda smiled the placid, slightly tired smile Zuko had learned to recognize over the years. Sokka’s grin was slightly more disturbing- more of a baring of teeth than a smile, paired with a mischievous gleam.

“Welcome, Fire Lord Zuko,” Hakoda greeted him formally, but warmly grasping his forearm in the traditional Water Tribe greeting. “I heard your trip was smooth. I hope it was also pleasant.”

“It was,” Zuko said loud enough for the bystanders to hear.”We made better time than I’d hoped.”

“Of course you did,” Sokka declared, grabbing his friend’s arm the way Hakoda had. Then he pulled Zuko into a one armed hug, slapping the young Fire Lord hard on the back. “You had a master waterbender with you.”

“We should get going,” Hakoda said. “There are others who are anxious to see you’ve made it here safe.” Zuko blushed a deep red as a wave of laughter passed through the crowd. They knew exactly what Hakoda meant. And just like that, Zuko was accepted by them. The awkward suitor of a daughter of their tribe.

The crowd fell in line behind Zuko’s small entourage. He walked at the head with Hakoda and Sokka in an informal procession through the town. The buildings were nowhere near as ornate as those he had seen in the Northern Water Tribe, but Zuko recognized a bustling, prosperous town. The houses and shops were like the people of the Southern Tribe- practical, sturdy and possessing a unique grace all their own. In the middle of the village stood a long low hall that served as Hakoda’s seat of power, the village community center, and for today, a banquet hall. 

Katara sat at a table on a raised platform with her Gran Gran and Master Pakku. She wore a parka lined with pristine white and grey fur. Her hair had been done in elaborate looping braids that had been fastened with bead and ivory combs.On her forehead had been painted a dark crescent moon. The mark of the brave she earned years earlier, she had once explained to Zuko. She was all Water Tribe today. To Zuko, she had never seemed more regal and queenly- not even in her Ambassador’s robes- and he wanted to stop and thank everyone present for giving rise to the most compassionate, strong, intelligent and beautiful Fire Lady the world would ever know. But he restrained himself. He hadn’t officially declared his intentions yet. 

Hakoda and Sokka clapped Zuko on the back almost hard enough to knock him to his knees, but Zuko managed to stay standing. Then they left him at the foot of what he now recognized as a dias, and took their seats. Hakoda at the center with his children on either side of him. 

“Fire Lord Zuko,” Hakoda addressed him in a somber tone. “Why have you come?” It wasn’t exactly a friendly start to this conversation, but Katara had told Zuko to expect this.He glanced up at Katara and found her watching him. She gave him a small, supportive smile and nodded slightly. Spirits, she was gorgeous. Zuko tried to swallow and unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth and say the words Katara had told him to say. 

“Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe,”he managed to say clearly.”Honored elders,” he bowed to Kanna and Pakku, “beloved family,” he turned to acknowledge the people gathered in the hall. “I have come to make it known that I intend to marry your daughter, Master Katara, and I humbly ask your blessings.”  The room fell uncomfortably silent. After a moment, he risked a glance up. Hakoda was watching him with a stoney eyed stare.  It wasn’t quite angry, but it wasn’t exactly encouraging, either. 

“Here in the Southern Water Tribe a marriage is not to be entered into lightly,” he began after a long pause. “When a couple decides to join their lives together, they agree to protect each other. Each has their own duty to the home and family they will build together, and neither is more or less important. Can you promise to help her build a safe and sturdy home together?”

Safe and sturdy were so subjective. He could provide Katara a palace with loyal and well trained guards. Even with the Fire Nation’s funds diminished with the costs of rebuilding infrastructure, providing for the financially devastated poor and making reparations to the nations damaged by his family’s war, Zuko’s wife and children would want for nothing substantial. Still he knew that as beloved as Master Katara, the Water Tribe Ambassador had become, there would always be people opposed to a foreign Fire Lady, just as there would always be opposed to the Fire Lord who ended the war that made whole generations of Fire Nobility wealthy. But Katara had acknowledged those obstacles, and she had still chosen him- him!- in spite of the risks. Zuko wasn’t afraid for her or himself or their children. They had faced down worse odds together. Zuko met Katara’s eye once more, taking courage from the way they seemed to gleam in the lantern light. 

“I promise,” Zuko swore. He knew what was coming next. He was neither surprised nor dismayed when Hakoda spoke again. 

“Words are not enough. Words alone are empty and can be spent lightly.” Hakoda’s stone-faced expression broke slightly, and Zuko thought he saw the beginning of a smile. “You will have a chance to prove your ability to provide. Tomorrow you will join me and my son, Sokka on a hunt. If your kill is acceptable to my daughter, it will serve as your betrothal feast.” 

 With that, Hakoda stood and left the assembly with Sokka and Katara following behind him. Kanna and Pakku feel in behind them, followed by the village elders. Finally, Zuko and his entourage were guided to where they would stay for the duration of the trip. Iroh, who had been uncharacteristically silent for the ceremony, nudged his nephew in the ribs. He grinned up at Zuko excitedly. 

“You did so well, Fire Lord Zuko!” he stage whispered. “I’m very proud of you. And so, may I add, was Master Katara.” Zuko didn’t feel that he had done much at all. He’d barely spoken- had barely had the chance to speak- and he would have to trek the icy tundra the next day and hope he didn’t embarrass himself too badly in front of his future in-laws. But then he remembered how Katara’s proud look when he’d caught her eye, and Zuko knew he’d go anywhere and accomplish any task if it meant he got to be with her for the rest of his life. 

*.*.*.*.*

“I know Dad has to look strong and dignified in front of everyone,” Katara said.  “But he could have at least cracked a smile up there.” 

There hadn’t been an official banquet that evening. Hakoda had predicted that his guests would be tired after their journey, so Zuko’s crew had gone to dinner at the inn where they would be staying for this trip, and Zuko and Iroh, along with a couple of guards, were staying with Hakoda and his family. After dinner, everyone adjourned to their rooms for the evening, leaving Zuko and Katara the common room. They were curled up together on a pile of cushions and rugs in front of the fire, discussing the day, just like they had done almost every night for the past two years. 

“I’m sure this isn’t easy on him,” Zuko pointed out in reply to Katara’s complaint. “You’re his only daughter, and you’re not only getting married, you’ll be moving across the world from him.” 

“I’ve been the Water Tribe Ambassador for three years!” Katara reminded him. “It’s not like my living situation is going to change. Well,” Katara looked up and winked at Zuko, “not much.” 

“It’s going to be  a bigger change than you think,” Zuko said thoughtfully. “The Ambassador thing was always going to be temporary. Eventually, you would have decided to move on to something else, or get married and start a family-” Zuko allowed a small smile to cross his face as he pulled Katara a bit closer. “He probably assumed you would be a little closer to home when that happened. He’s going to miss you.” 

“I’m going to miss him, too,” Katara admitted. “And Sokka and Gran Gran and Suki and Pakku. But I’ll visit as often as I can. Besides, it’s not like I’ve ever been Daddy’s Lil’ Princess.”

“Katara, your dad is the Chief of the entire Southern Water Tribe,” Zuko chuckled. “You’re everyone’s princess.”

“I told you, that’s not how it works down here,” Katara huffed. “I’m not-”

“Officially a princess,” Zuko completed, rolling his eyes. “I know, I know. But you are still really important here. Whether you want to admit it or not, you pretty much are a princess.”

“I am not!” Zuko noticed with no small amount of amusement that Katara was blushing. He grinned mischievously. 

“I think I should talk with your dad about getting you a crown,” he teased. Katara jabbed his ribs with her elbow. 

“Don’t you start giving people ideas,” she chided. “If dad gives me a crown, Sokka’s going to insist on having one, and his head is swollen enough without adding the weight.”

“You’re going  to have a crown soon anyway,” Zuko pointed out. “Maybe you should have one just to get used to it.” Katara hummed thoughtfully and nestled into Zuko’s side. 

“Do I have to wear a crown?” she asked. “What if I just got some really fancy beads?” 

Zuko reached up and brushed his fingers against Katara’s braids. The truth was he couldn’t care less about what she wore when she was Fire Lady. He’d made it clear to his advisors that she would be welcome to integrate elements of her own culture in their day to day life at the palace. Still..

“You should probably have one for formal occasions, at least,” he said thoughtfully. “But aside from that, you can do whatever you like with your hair. And your clothes.” Zuko’s fingers wandered away from her hair to the thick fur lining her hood. “I wouldn’t recommend fur, though.” 

“I don’t know,” Katara shrugged. “I think showing up to a council meeting in a full fur parka would be a serious power move.”

“Most of them are already afraid of you. But whatever you want, my love, is fine with me.” 

“Aw!” Katara twisted around and planted a kiss on the edge of Zuko’s jaw. “You’re so good to me.” Despite two years and many kisses, Katara still managed to make Zuko blush. 

“Ick!” The pair turned to find Sokka cringing in the doorway. “You two are so gross.”

“Oh, please!” Katara snorted. “You and Suki are just as bad.” At the mention of his wife, Sokka’s face crumpled miserably. 

“Suki!” he wailed. “Why’d you have to bring her up? I’d almost forgotten to miss her today.” 

“She’ll be home in two weeks.” Katara rolled her eyes, unsympathetically. Suki was back in Kyoshi to visit her aunt. It was the first time she’d been back since her and Sokka’s wedding almost a year earlier, and Sokka had been supportive of the trip, but he hadn’t counted on missing her so much. 

“It feels different being apart when you’re married,” Sokka lamented. “You’ll find out.” Then with a menacing smirk he added, “You know, assuming you come back from the hunting trip.” Katara felt Zuko tense up and she glared at her brother. 

“Stop teasing him,” she scolded. She brushed her fingers across Zuko’s cheek. “He’s going to be fine.” Zuko turned his head and kissed the palm of Katara’s hand. Sokka shuddered. 

‘Have you ever actually been hunting?” Sokka asked Zuko. “This is a pretty big deal. The entire village is invited to this party. It’s a bad look if you don’t bring enough food for everyone.” 

“Sokka!” Katara sat up and fixed her brother with a warning glare. Sokka threw his hands up in surrender. 

“Whatever,” he said. “But you really should go to bed soon. We’re leaving early tomorrow. Anyway, I’m turning in. Go back to being gross.” When he was gone, Zuko glanced down at Katara nervously. 

“I have hunted before,” he said softly as if spilling some deep dark secret. “But it was just small animals. It was right before...before Ba Sing Se. Never anything like...” Zuko motioned around the room at the trophies from other hunts. There were large ivory tusks hanging from the walls and thick, furs trapping the precious heat. Everything came from animals at least as big as he was. 

“Are you worried you can’t do it?” Katara asked. Zuko felt a rush of heat to his face. 

“Well...what if I can’t?” he asked. “If this is how I propose, will we not be allowed to marry if I can’t bring in a...a...” Once again, Zuko gestured around the room. Katara sat up, pulling away from Zuko’s embrace so she could face him. 

“First of all,” she held up a finger under his nose, “I’ve already agreed to marry you. All we’re doing here is telling people and giving you a chance to bond with my family. Second,” another finger joined the first, “Dad and Sokka are expert hunters. You’ll come back with something, I guarantee it. Third, I love you, and there’s nothing that can change that, so stop freaking out about this. It’s supposed to be fun.” 

“Fun,” Zuko snorted, but he did feel better. 

“Promise you’ll at least try to have fun?” Katara rolled her eye, feigning exasperation. Zuko kissed her forehead and nodded. 

“I’ll try,” he promised. 

“Great!” Katara resettled into her previous spot, curled up with Zuko with a happy sigh. 

“I have to go to bed,” Zuko protested weakly. 

“Fire more minutes,” Katara said. “I won’t see you for a few days, so I want my cuddle time now.” 

Part 1, Part 2,   Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

[limit-list]

this is not about the ask game but was wondering if you had any thoughts about modern au princess yue? (super random but i think i saw some yue love from you on my dash this morning and saw u were taking asks right now) have a nice night/day 💛💛💛

Hiya Sonny!! I’m a lil late responding cause today was hectic lmao, but it was good!! I hope you’re also having a good night/day haha.

Bud I am always taking asks, I love getting asks, I love this ask. I have never once had thoughts about a modern au Princess Yue, but now I’m BRIMMING with thoughts.

(This got a lil long, sorry bout that)

Imma put this in a modern bending world, cause I can

This is long post-war, don’t think too hard on how the history played out. Doesn’t matter.

Arnook is still the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe, and Yue is the princess. There’s still a bit of sexism in the tribe, but benders are equal and Yue is treated with the respect she deserves.

Whenever Arnook went to World Leader Conferences when Yue was little, she went with him as his heir apparent. Similarly, Sokka and Katara attended with Chief Hakoda. Lu Ten attended with Fire Lord Iroh, and Zuko tagged along sometimes.

All that to say, childhood gaang antics ensued.

Sokka had a crush on Yue from age 7 to age 14. Yue had a crush on Sokka from age 8 to age 10. At age 10, Suki came to a World Leader Conference with the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors to observe the guard work (aka her guardian couldn’t find a babysitter) and Yue instantly decided she was in love.

When she wasn’t traveling with the Chief, Yue had tutors teaching her about etiquette, politics, languages and dialects, cultures, and anything else a future Chief would need. She didn’t have time for friends back home, and even if she did, she never had the freedom for them.

Aang was raised by the Air Nomads, and was presented as the Avatar at 16.

So what I’m getting at, is that in this perfect world where there’s no war and no tension between the four nations, the Gaang are a well established group of the children of world’s leaders.

Yue, aged 17, presents her case to her dad for permission to attend University outside of the Northern Water Tribe. Arnook is extremely against it. After like 4 months of arguing and persuading, he lets her send in an application. She gets accepted to a prestigious Political Science program, and after another month of debate over it, he lets her go.

At this point, Zuko is the oldest at 22, Sokka is 20, Suki is 20, Katara is 19, Yue is 18, Aang is 18, and Toph is 17. They all study at Republic City University (RCU). Have I ever seen LOK? No. Did I do any research for this? No. Our imaginations are flexible. They study in Republic City cause I say so.

Everyone already knows each other except for Toph, who they meet at RCU.

Yue is dating Suki, Sokka is dating Zuko, who is now the heir apparent of Fire Lord Iroh. Katara, Aang, and Toph are all single.

Yue loves talking cultural differences with the Gaang. Whether that means ideological beliefs, ethics, laws, government systems, religion, the arts, everyday life, whatever, she finds it fascinating.

Religion-wise, Yue is very spiritual. She strongly believes in the power of nature. One weekend every month, Yue and Katara go on hikes in the mountains. She has a window-sill garden where she grows flowers and herbs.

Yue and Suki like to explore Republic City together. They dip into thrift stores, tea parlors, skate parks, the drive-in movies, everywhere they can. Ofc, the Gaang goes on adventures across the city all the time, but Yue and Suki make sure they have date night at least once every two weeks.

Yanno how back when Obama’s daughter was in college, they tried to make her look like a bad person for doing normal teenager things? People definitely do that to Yue and the Gaang. People follow them around campus sometimes, taking pictures without permission and generally being nuisances. After someone follows her into a lecture class, pestering her and disrupting the class, Yue calmly and politely posts a statement that clearly states that she’s entitled to an education just like everyone else, and if people insist on disrupting her education like this, she will be forced to take legal action. Like a bad bitch.

After Zuko, Sokka, Suki, and Katara have all graduated, only Toph, Aang, and Yue are left in school. Toph, Aang, and Yue rent out a big apartment near campus. Sokka and Zuko live together, and Suki and Katara also share an apartment. Their parents or guardians have all agreed to let them have until the youngest ones graduate before they have to come home and get started on life.

That summer after Toph, Aang, and Yue graduate is absolutely insane. They sit down the week before graduation and craft an epic bucket list of everything they want to do before they have to enter the real world. They spend summer going through every single one, from pro-bending tournaments to hosting their own bake-off.

Sadly, everything must come to an end. Summer ends, Zuko goes back to the fire Nation, Sokka and Katara go back to the Southern Water Tribe, Suki heads back to Kyoshi, Toph decides to stay in Republic City with her girlfriend Smellerbee, and Yue and Aang go to the Northern Water Tribe.

Years later, they bring the world into a Golden Age. Avatar Aang holds peace among the four nations, but really it’s a Gaang group effort. Connections between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes have never been better, after Fire Lord Zuko married Ambassador Sokka in a wedding officiated by Chief Yue. Katara becomes Chief of the Southern Water Tribes. Toph is a master sculpter. She smuggles money, jewels, and drugs inside hollow sculptures sometimes to get things where they need to go, but that’s not the point here. Suki teaches martial arts in the Northern Water Tribe, and she advises her wife, Chief Yue, on the side. Together, they see about finally ending the sexism of the Tribe once and for all.

They’re all really fucking happy. Yue dies of old age.

[firelxdykatara]

unquestionably-queer replied to your post “I mean, since we're at it, could you maybe talk about the double...”

i agree w a lot of this!! i dont want to speak out of turn but from what ive heard from indigenous women (which im not) the problem isnt the ship itself but its representation ig? basically my understanding is that in fanfic n what not katara is often stripped of her autonomy and relocated and Thats what people have problems with? i think youre right just bc zuko and sokka and are close and age and its Gay doesnt suddenly make it not vaguely racist (for lack of better terms)

That is a perfectly fair and valid criticism of the corners in fandom in which that happens. However, at that point, it’s an issue with racism in general in fandoms at large--and, I promise you, this is not an issue that’s exclusive to Zutara. I can only speak for my own experience, of course, but the Zutara discord server of which I am part has a lot of poc as well as queer people (including some queer poc!!!), some of whom are indigenous, and so when people call the entire fandom ‘white, straight, and racist’ (which is effectively what happens when they say that just shipping zk is racist/heteronormative, regardless of like, context), it not only erases all of us and our contributions to the fandom, but it also like... ignores the fact that those fics and metas are soooo not the norm.

Like, I’ve lost count of how many ‘fire lady Katara’ metas take into account how much of her culture she would bring with her to the Fire Nation. Everything from spectacular fanart designing clothing that incorporates her own culture with her husbands, to having her called Lady of the Moon rather than Fire Lady, to having their courtship extend over the years she spent as an ambassador and making so many changes for the better to the nation she would eventually marry into.

I almost never see meta or fanart where Katara marries Zuko and then completely assimilates and abandons her culture. But you know where I do see Katara stripped of her autonomy, made an accessory of her husband, denied agency, and having her legacy completely erased to the point where if you hadn’t watched AtLA you’d have no idea why she’d be well known at all except for who she married?

Canon.

That’s what the comics and LoK did to Katara, so I really don’t understand how these things get flung at the Zutara fandom as if we haven’t been fighting back against that future for her for years. The Northern and Southern Water Tribes went into a full blown civil war and Katara didn’t lift a finger to try and use her political clout or just her fierce passion and love for her people to knock some sense into them. Her son and his entire family were kidnapped by zealots and threatened with death and she didn’t even try to help the rescue effort. I get that LoK wasn’t the Gaang’s story, but AtLA wasn’t the White Lotus’ story either, and those old ass men got to kick ass and take names all over the place, so don’t hand me that ‘Katara was too old’ crap. She was, what, eighty something? Bumi was 112 in AtLA!!!

Sorry, I didn’t mean to go off on an LoK rant, but my ultimate point is, it doesn’t make sense to me to come after zutara shippers when, by and large, we wish canon had done better by Katara and that is reflected in much of our fanworks and metas. Does this mean there won’t be racist shlock in our fandom??? Of course not! Because racism is insidious and no fandom is free from it, so of course if there are works that perpetuate harmful ideals it’s perfectly fine to talk about them and ask that the people involved do better in the future, or just avoid those who refuse to change. But slamming an entire fandom for the actions of a few, while ignoring the fact that their preferred ship pulls from the same exact fanbase (and I’m sorry, but white gays are no less racist than white straights, that’s just a fact), is hypocritical in the extreme.

Tl;dr: people in glass houses really shouldn’t throw stones.

[sopaipillasvoladoras]

Fire Lady

"A fire Lady must be proper. Must only speak when spoken to. Shall always carry herself with grace. She is, after all, the epitome of grace and etiquette. And a Fire Lady should, above all, respect her husband for he is the Nation, our Honor and our Lord.” Those words echoed in her head as she stared at the silky red gown on her bed. She reached forward and picked the delicate gown. "This is it” She thought, it was the last night before the real thing; the official announcement of her engagement with Zuko. “Is this what being the Fire Lady feels like?”

For Zutara Week, Day 1

Also in Ao3!

"A fire Lady must be proper. Must only speak when spoken to. Shall always carry herself with grace. She is, after all, the epitome of grace and etiquette. And a Fire Lady should, above all, respect her husband for he is the Nation, our Honor and our Lord.” Those words echoed in her head as she stared at the silky red gown on her bed. She reached forward and picked the delicate gown. "This is it” She thought, it was the last night before the real thing; the official announcement of her engagement with Zuko. “Is this what being the Fire Lady feels like?” The thought haunted her as she laid down the red gown over the bed again, straightening the creases of the silk. Is not that she was unhappy, but she was definitely uneasy, something about this felt off, and she couldn’t put her finger on it. Before Katara knew it, she found herself wandering nearby one of the garden’s biggest ponds, looking at the reflection of the moon on the still water.

“Can’t sleep?” Katara looked around, not really surprised “Are this things always this complicated here?” she asked. Sokka walked out of the shadows of the garden’s hallway and walked towards Katara, they sat by the edge of the pond. “Well, apparently firefolk like their fancy ways too much and have to do everything big and exaggerated, you know. But, you gotta admit this is unprecedented sis, after all, how many times has a Fire Lord married someone form outside the Fire Nation? Or an ambassador from another Nation?” “Right” Katara smiled as she leaned to Sokka’s side. She let out a sight. Sokka rubbed her shoulder tenderly, his eyebrows frowning slightly when his sister smile dropped to fine line “…Are you having second thoughts about this?” Katara straightened up immediately, her eyes opening wide “What? Sokka! No, of course not“ “Hey, don’t look at me like that! You’ve been acting weird lately, you can’t blame me for worrying” Ugh Katara rested her head on her knees, grunting. She just couldn’t make sense of it. She was so sure this is what she wanted, after years of traveling together, fighting together, flirting, secret relationships and an outrageous public announcement of their status as a couple, she thought marring Zuko would feel right. She wasn’t really having cold feet, was she?

“Hey, hey– Katara! There’s smoke coming out of your ears, you’re overthinking this” Katara turned her face to the side, cheek squeezing against her knee. “I… I don’t know what’s bothering me so much. I don’t want to get cold feet Sokka, I love Zuko” Sokka scratched his chin, as if he was thinking hard.

“Well, if you’re not sure about this whole thing, we can still make a run for it. I can create a diversion” “Sokka!” Katara slapped her bother’s arm and giggled —when was the last time she even laughed?— “You know I can make some mean stinking bombs, and we can take Zuzu if you want, you know, make him take some forced vacations. He probs needs them anyway” “Yeah, sure Sokka. We’ll just bomb the announcement, probably causing caos, making a huge drawback in the Water Tribe and Fire Nation’s relationship and then kidnap the Fire Lord. Solid plan.” They laughed. Katara sure missed this, just laughing with her brother, may be later going around helping Aang, visiting Toph and getting to kick some ass along side Zuko, like the old days.

Sokka whipped a tear from his eyes “Aw man, it sure is hard the Royal Life, uh?” “Yeah” Katara laid back, feeling the moonlight soak her in light “I guess I’m afraid that I’m not cut for this fancy life, you know?” “Actually, I don’t Katara. I’m not the one who’s been living in a palace for the past year” “But it’s not usually this hard Sokka. Or at least, it didn’t used to, this whole week —since we announced we wanted to get married to the council— has been about Fire Ladies do this, Fire ladies do that, you have to wear this, blah, blah, blah” Now she was gesturing, voice getting louder “We’ve had three, Sokka, three rehearsals for the announcement, can you imagine how the wedding’s gonna be like then?” “—Yeah, fucking nuts” “Exactly! I don’t— I don’t know if this is what I want! I mean, I want Zuko, but, I’m not sure I want to be The Fire Lady” Katara let her arms fall loose at her sides. So this was it, this is what has been troubling her. All this week has been about making her fitting of the Fire Lady name, learning how to stand, how to sit, where to walk, how to talk, how to dress and even how do her make up, as if she were hiding herself underneath all those red silky robes and coats of light powder to make her skin fairer. As if being Katara wasn’t good enough to be the Fire Lady. Katara closed her eyes, forcing the tears to stay put, she breathed in… May be she should put a stop to this, for now. Talk to Zuko, he’d understand, and since they haven’t announced it yet it wouldn’t be much trouble for the council. May be it was time for her to go back home, for a while. Zuko would be hurt, sure, but she needed to think this though better. She needed–

“Then don’t” Sokka’s voice interrupted Katara’s thought, her train of thought disappeared and it took her a moment to understand what her brother was talking about. “What? What do you mean don’t?” Sokka put a hand over his chest dramatically “Wow Katara, may be being inside this fancy walls has been affecting you” he deadpanned. “Look, you’re not getting into this to become the Fire Lady –that’s just colateral damage of loving fire boy I guess– You’re marrying Zuko because you love him, right? End of discussion. I mean where’s that sister of mine who literally fought the patriarchy and kicked Grandpakku’s ass? Where’s the Katara that pulled the Water Tribes closer than ever and put a stop to the nonsense and prejudice of our tribe and the Fire Nation? The first female water bender master recognized by all nations, the Katara I know? C’mon, after saving the world and putting it pack together, facing a little traditionalist Nation should be an easy thing for you, honestly”

Katara looked at her brother in disbelief, sure, it has been almost a decade since they fought Ozai and tried to bring balance to the world again, but sometimes she still forgot how much Sokka and herself had gone through, how much that experience had made them grown since they first left the Water Tribe all those years ago. Katara smiled and Sokka put his arms around his sister, softly petting her hair "Don’t let them bully you into being what they want, just be you” Katara cried a single tear of relief, and thanked her brother. “Sokka, about that diversion…"

———————————————

They had finally stopped pulling her hair. Granted, her thick, brown southern-tribe waves of hair are not easy to tame, but boy did this Fire Nation girls try. They had been at it for at least an hour. Now it was only about one and a half more hours to style it and do her make up, then she’d be ready to get into the four layered red gown sitting on her bed. “Breath Katara, just breath” She thought to herself; she had to control her temper, after all, she had a plan and she did not sleep two hours to let it out of the window because she couldn’t sit still, for the fourth time in a week, as they finished her “proper Fire Lady look”.

When Katara was finally ready, she asked the styling group and dressing helpers to go to the party, she’d be in the main hall in a few minutes. After the door closed Katara quickly locked it and went to looked in her desk, finally finding the small letter her father had sent her with Sokka: “I’m sorry I can’t be there this time, but I’ll make sure to be there for the real thing. Gran Gran would have liked to give you this herself. I had to have it altered, but I hope you’ll still like it like you used to. You’ve always been a smart girl, and I’m proud to see you become a wonderful woman, intelligent and strong. We could not have a better person representing the Water Tribe out there to the world, a true warrior of our clan with a wise mind and a big heart. I love you and I’m so proud of you Katara, your mother would be so proud. We are all so proud of you. We’ll see each other soon, Dad.” Katara pressed the letter to her chest tightly, her resolution only growing stronger “Yeah, I'll see you soon, Dad” Katara took a deep breath and whispered to herself “Lets do this” as she peeled off the layers of red clothing and looked for the package in her old traveling bag.

————————————————

Katara was thirty minutes late, but Zuko tried not to think of it, nor did he wanted to excuse his future fiancé’s tardiness with the grumpy council elders again. He just focused on Sokka’s stories –quite popular with the bored crowd– and Aang’s air bending tricks. This had been a very stressful week for both of them and he didn’t wanted to end it badly with a fight and ruining the engagement party over such a petty thing. So what if he was stood up in front of 500 important guests, right? ...May be he should check if she was fine. May be.

Just when Zuko was wondering where the maidens he sent to check up on Katara were, the hall’s doors opened, and with a gasp the crowd split, making room for the lady walking through.

Zuko was in awe, he didn’t even notice the council’s members jaws dropping and their reddening faces, nor their questions “What is the meaning of this?”

Katara looked incredible; in the red of sea, she stood up in a long gown with different shades of blue, with touches of purple and white, traditional of the Water Tribes. Somewhere on the back of his mind, Zuko thought it must have been altered to fit better for the hot Fire Nation spring, with no sleeves, full of intricate decorations and fur in strategic places, but he didn’t really care. He was transfixed by the way Katara moved: she was taking powerful strides, unlike the short and soft steps the aristocracy girls are taught, head held high and her hands joined to the front. Her voluminous wavy dark hair was half up in an intricate pattern of braids with accent accessories holding it together. Her brown skin was practically glowing, free of any trace of make up and whitening powder that dulled the rich color.

Without noticing, Zuko walked towards Katara, and met her half way though the hall. Only when Zuko reached for Katara’s hand did he notice the redness in her cheeks and the subtle tremble of her hand. “Kata–“ “Sorry–“ she said almost breathlessly “Let me say something first” Katara cared her throat and turned to the guests, without letting Zuko’s hand go.

“Thank you all for being here today. My apologies for the tardiness, but there has been a mistake” Zuko’s heart skipped a beat, Katara’s hand tightened around his own “I presume that the reason most of you think we are gathered here today is because I am to become, officially, the future Fire Lady. But that is not the case” Katara made pause to steady herself, the crowd was already whispering among themselves “In the past days I have been taught how to become the perfect Fire Lady, worthy of the Fire Lord, but the reason I am here today is not to announce my marriage to the Fire Lord, but to ask Zuko, the man I am in love with, the man I want to be by my side for the rest of my life, to marry me.” Katara looked around to the crowd, making sure everyone was listening “I want to make clear that, despite that I know that by teaching me your ways you only mean the best for your Nation and your Lord, but this is something else. Today I am not sanding here as an ambassador. Today I am standing here as myself, and I want you to know that the person I choose to love will not determine how or who I am, because, above all, before any kind of Lady, I am Katara, Water Bender Master of The Southern Water Tribe. And I will be given the respect and place I rightfully deserve in this court for my merits in combat and diplomacy, not as a trophy wife. The fact that the person I love happens to be the Fire Lord is another matter altogether. This said–” Katara turned to Zuko, her hand shaking and her eyes full of resolution “Zuko, I want you to know that this is in no way for diplomacy, and I am going to ask you this not as the Fire Lord, but as a man. I love you, like I never thought I could love anyone. We’ve been though so much, good and bad. We come from different paths, opposite sides of the world even, but somehow we always found our way to one another in the end, and that’s how I want us to be for the rest of our lives, together. I don’t know if this royal life is for me but I love you and I will take everything that it means to be your wife with open arms, even if it means to be the Fire Lady. I can’t promise I will be the perfect one, I know I’m stubborn and loud and bossy, but I’m also a water bender master, and if water can do something, is to flow and adjust. So, if you–“ Katara stopped for a second, lowering her eyes as she cupped Zuko’s hand with both her hands. She was shaking "If– If you, want to, would you, marry me?” Only then did her eyes look at Zuko’s again, her hands receding, leaving a necklace into Zuko’s hand. He looked down, the necklace was similar to Sokka’s bone necklace, but this one had black stones instead of the white bone. And in the center it had a deep blue rock, perfectly polished, with a symbol he knew only too well in the center; Katara had once show it to him, it was a symbol for the tides in her tribe. It meant the push and pull of the ocean and the moon, the give and take, two forces working together in harmony, both so different, but always in sync.

Before Katara could put her hands away Zuko reached forward, gently pulling her close. He placed the necklace back on Katara's hand “…May be you can help me put it on?” Katara chocked up a laugh —or was it a sob?— and reached forward, locking the necklace snuggly around her fiancé’s neck. She let her hands rest on his chest for a few seconds as she looked at her work. The choice of colors had been right, the dark stones didn’t clash with Zukos usual red clothes and matched his skin nicely, but the necklace still had a very Water Tribe air she was very proud of. She’d have to thank Aang again for staying up all night helping her make the necklace, she wouldn’t have been able to make it without him.

Slow clapping started filling the room. Some of the elders still looked in shock, some even angry. Zuko and Katara would deal with them later, now it was all about them and celebrating.

[steambend]

idk if this has been asked yet but if you have the inclination, what would be your ideal zutara progression in a hypothetical book 4 for the original series? like if it was all under your direction, how would zutara develop in a fourth, 20ish episode season? bonus points for describing the season/series finale

you know what, i’ve never been asked this. so thank you, i’ve been wanting to answer for so long!

first of all, i would change the season 3 finale. i like zutara’s progression in season 3, i think was very natural for a 14/15 year old girl and 16/17 year old boy. i’d completely erase that scene where m@i comes in and threatens zuko to never break up with her again because **what the fuck**. instead, it’d still be zuko struggling to get his tunic on, maybe a little bit painfully and katara would walk in scolding him with words like, “zuko! you shouldn’t be doing this on your own, you’re hurt.” and then cue a mini healing session (katara blushes, but not as deeply as zuko does). he would express his appreciation for everything she’d done for him over the past couple of months and she would convince him to let her stay and oversee his recovery “just while the wound’s still fresh.” bullshit katara, we all know why you actually want to stay

i’d keep the end scene with them at iroh’s tea place exactly the same, except without the k@taang kiss obviously. i’d replace that with a kind, but firm talk between a@ng and katara about how she didn’t appreciate him kissing her in the ember island players episode when she explicitly asked him not to and letting him know that while she loved him dearly, she didn’t think it would ever be in a romantic way. a@ng would be upset at first, for sure, but part of his season 4 development would be learning to accept this and also maturing as a person and learning to be empathetic of other people’s situations and so on

BUT ANYWAY ENOUGH ABOUT A@NG AND MORE ABOUT ZUTARA

look, my friend, i am a sucker for slowburn. all of my ships somehow manage to be slowburn (and as an avid bellarke shipper, i am very much dead thanks for asking). so sue me for wanting zutara’s romantic relationship to establish slowly. they’re only young after all

the first couple of episodes would be katara helping in med and acting as a impromptu southern water tribe ambassador while the world is sorting itself out and slowly healing. zuko would be learning the basics of being the firelord. all that essential stuff that would come from ending a 100 year war would take place. season 3 has already established that zuko and katara have a strong bond, and are beneficial friends. i doubt they’d do anything but make time to regularly see each other outside of meetings and whatnot. zuko would make sure that no matter how busy his day was, he’d reserve time for afternoon tea with katara (and sometimes iroh, although i vehemently believe iroh ships his nephew with katara and so he’d always come up with ridiculous excuses as to why he couldn’t come so that they could be alone)

they’d talk about everything and nothing and eventually, maybe three episodes in he’d finally tell katara about his visit to the prison to see ozai and how his mother is possibly still alive. after much discussion and planning, zuko would decide to go look for her and katara would not let him go without her, insisting it’ll be just like old times and reminding him how he helped her when she was seeking closure for her mother

and this’ll be where the meat comes in. now, like i said, at first it’d be slow. things like brushing hands, zuko helping katara untangle her hair, katara comforting zuko whenever their search led to dead ends and stuff. it’d slowly become more affectionate; snuggling together during cold nights, holding hands for comfort, katara finding ways to touch zuko’s scar or brush back his hair and zuko finding it extremely hard to not look at her lips or stare into her eyes. and of course they wouldn’t even realise they’re doing this because they’re silly kids in love

and after the search is over and they visit sokka and suki and toph and the gaang, everyone sees how they act together now and are all like “wait since when did you guys start dating?” and they’re like “wait what” and ursa just looks up from her tea like, “wait, zuko, you’re telling me katara’s not your girlfriend?” and zuko and katara would be so confused like they were totally just platonic pals this whole time right? lmao wrong

and eventually when everyone’s gone to bed and it’s just zuko and katara awake they’re all giggly and blushy with each other and then they sort of confess but in a way where it’s like they totally didn’t realise they were falling for one another but now that they’ve said it, it just makes sense. their first kiss would be under the starlight and it’d be all smiles and katara would run her hands through his hair like she loves to do so much and zuko would cup her cheek with one hand and hold her close around the waist with the other and everything would just fit into place. and katara would say something cute afterwards like “i don’t know why we waited so long. who knew an angst prince like you would be such a good kisser?” and zuko would grin like an idiot but he’s her idiot so it wouldn’t matter

the end scene of the finale would be a time jump to like 5 years in the future when katara’s 22 and zuko’s 24 and they’d be married and throwing a wedding at the fire palace for a@ng and a lovely girl he met and everything would be perfect and zuko’s favourite nickname for katara would be “his queen” and katara would call him a “jerkbender” to tease him (also because sokka and zuko are best friends and she picked it up from her brother fight me) and katara would have her goddamn statue and whenever zuko went out fighting villains she’d be right there beside him kicking ass

the end

lmao this was super long i apologise i just have a lot of feelings about these two. feel free to add your own headcanons, zutara is my favourite thing to talk about!!