witchering10123 · 8 months ago
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what taylor swift album each of the gaang would fuck with
(in my not exactly humble but ultimately correct opinion) you're in for the long haul so it's under the cut :)
aang: fearless and lover, don't get me wrong, he loves the sad songs, the heartbroken songs, the angry songs just as much as anyone else, but he just connects with like, the slight naivety of it all? like he's def matured since his first few crushes but it's the joy of that first love that really sweeps him off his feet ya know? and then the lover album is a more mature perspective on like a loving relationship ("cornelia street" who???) and he just loves it - OH and 1989, he and suki FUCK with 1989
katara: she's a reputation girl no doubt about it, "don't blame me" is literally her song, she owns it thank you very much, and she and zuko are reputation besties who have all the merch and they scream all the lyrics and wholeheartedly believe that rep tour is the best tour of all time HOWEVER she loves loves loves "marjorie", "don't you ever grow up" (balls her eyes out at the pair of them, but when she first heard dyegu she was sobbing -) and while they're not her fav albums, she loves singing fearless and lover with aang
sokka: ok, sokka is one of those fans who you don't realise are that intense until they are screaming themselves hoarse at folklore, mkay? I'm talking, it's not just hakoda and bato giving him the worried side-eye, it's everyone AND their mother (well, not everyone's mother but ya know) cause like, sokka was DEF involved in this major college cheating scandal and got his heart uber uber broken and had no support system because he just... didn't tell anyone because he didn't want people to worry and so screaming folklore is his therapy session. oh, and when he was dating yue their album was speak now, they literally did their homecoming king and queen dance to "enchanted" they were that couple, and he still loves the album so much but he just... can't speak for hours after a folklore song pops up, and couldn't speak for a week after the eras tour (in a similar vein, he's a big "the archer" fan, he and toph vibe with it so hard)
toph: she loves reputation (NOT for the same reasons as katara and zuko but they all still vibe with each other) because there's soooo much happening and she can literally feel the beat in her bones and the songs slap so hard and she can rage in peace :))) also she fucks so hard with "picture to burn", the harry styles saga (style, ootw, iion, wonderland, etc), "holy ground", "miss americana and the heartbreak prince" and "the archer" (and believe me she will go OFF at anyone who doesn't like the archer because "the beat's not supposed to drop, that's the whole point -)
zuko: reputation reputation reputation. all the fucking way y'all. is it shocking that "I did something bad" is his song, not his favourite (his favourites are the speak now vault tracks, "that's the way I loved you", "message in a bottle", and "wonderland" but that's neither here nor there) and no one, NO ONE gets in the way during the line "if a man talks shit then I owe him nothing" like sorry taylor, that's zuko's line actually. also he thought he was going to love folklore but then "seven" came up and he literally could not cope, and when he heard evermore was going to be in a similar vein he refused to listen to it too - he did eventually listen to the albums when he got into a better headspace for them and now really does likes them, but he avoids "seven" like the plague
suki: suki loves the breakup albums, red and midnights, and everyone, including suki, is confused because no offence to my girl but she's had one break up and that was with sokka, and whole it was sad, it was mutual and nothing bad happened they just decided they'd be better as friends, but she loves the albums so so much, so who is anyone to deny her that? also, she didn't like "me!" at first and thought it was so so cringe, but now she loves it and hates that she used to hate it and hates that taylor doesn't play it on the set list at concerts due to people hating on it (even though suki would never tell taylor that she hated on one of her songs, she still feels guilty) - btw, she and aang are besties and they work at the same place and it takes them like forty minutes on a good day to drive there so they blast 1989 the whole time and it's such a bop
yue: speak now girly, did I fucking stutter? she ate that album up when it first came out and she ate up the rerecording when that came out too, and don't get me started on the vault tracks (she feels as if a piece of her childhood was missing because "electric touch" ft fallout boy wasn't on the og track and she looooves fallout boy) "enchanted" is her and sokkas song and when it comes on they do a lil dance together even though they don't love each other in the same way anymore, they still love each other!!! but she now loves "enchanted" separate from sokka ya know? yue also loves midnights, literally because suki loves it so so much so yue listened to it for her (simp) and fell in love with it (and suki, it was truly a win win situation for her) but she specifically listens to midnights: 3am version because "paris" is her favourite and she doesn't understand how anyone (ahem, suki) could listen to midnights without listening to "paris" at least three times
azula: we all know she used to pretend to hate taylor swift but now she respects the hustle (but she's not a die hard swiftie and will happily critique her alongside katara, who azula was surprised to see critiquing taylor but katara's got her priorities in place she knows what's up) and azula loves red (duh) and evermore. surprisingly, she's not as into reputation as zuko and katara, and while she enjoys some of the songs on there, she won't intentionally listen to the whole album on her lonesome. she, sokka, and ty lee wore matching "cowboy like me" outfits to the eras tour
mai: fearless, and HEAR ME OUT HEAR ME TBE FUCK OUT I'm right. she's like aang in this regard, she grew up with all these expectations on her for corporation alliances and shit and she couldn't help but picture herself finding love for HERSELF having the CHOICE like, she will defend "love story" to the day she dies because it resonated so much with baby mai finding love against all odds and at the end her parents agreeing to it. now she's older and recognises a few, uh... interesting points about her upbringing, but she's still gonna defend baby mai's love for fearless. I know that the tortured poets department hasn't come out yet but... I have a feeling that mai will fuck SO HARD with that one too, but she's more a fan on individual songs than whole albums ("delicate", "paper rings" (ty lee simp lmao), "seven", "better than revenge", "getaway car", "endgame", etc)
ty lee: she actually sobbed when lover came out, I can't tell you how much lover resonated with her, she loved the aesthetic the vibe the songs, and like she literally had imposter syndrome from being a swiftie because while she appreciates the angry and sad songs, she's searching for the joy and a lot of swifties were like "no she's past that point so we have to be too" and she felt quite isolated BUT then taylor released lover and ty lee felt so so seen cause like, it's a happy album with sad songs and that's all a girl can ask for. ALSO she loves "bejeweled" and "slut!" I kid you not "slut!" is probably her fav song even though it's not on lover. she also loves evermore because it's a sad album with happy songs (do you see) and she broached the idea of her and azula wearing matching "cowboy like me" outfits but azula didn't respond at first and ty lee thought that it wasn't a good idea but azula didn't respond because she was texting sokka and sokka fell in love with the idea and they spent like two weeks figuring out exactly what it would look like and they brought their ideas to ty lee for the final approval and she was like "... you guys actually wanna do this?" but yeah. they all slayed
ok now onto the adults I'll be quick
hakoda screams louder but bato knows more songs, like hakoda is making himself heard what a king, but there's quite a few songs he's unfamiliar with. bato is singing like, the usual volume but he's consistent, he's singing along to every song
hakoda loves 1989 and reputation because the whole drama happened during his and bato's breaks between tours and then they got sent off before reputation came out, so hakoda was so invested and then really pissed cause he had to wait a couple of months before he got back so katara could explain the intricacies of the new album to him
bato is like sokka, he loves folklore not because he's a folklore girly™ but just because of the vibes, however bato 🤝 mai, resonating deeply with "seven"
iroh is convinced that he can ask taylor to pop over for a nice cup of jasmine tea because he doesn't quite grasp how insanely popular she actually is, but unbeknownst to zuko, who scoffs whenever iroh mentions it because "there's no way", iroh is actually in contact with taylor because when she was just starting out she got sick before a concert and iroh have her a tea that helped her maintain her voice and get her back on track and he's been on a group chat with taylor ever since
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jasmine-tea-latte · 4 years ago
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(Some of) My Favorite Zutara fics
Warning, looong post ahead!
Zutara Fanworks Appreciation Week snuck up on me, so sadly I haven’t had time to properly contribute anything. I’d love to participate next year or maybe even before then (I play by my own rules, folks!)
Still, though. I wanted to at the very least pay tribute to some of my all-time favorite Zutara fanfics that I’ve enjoyed and have inspired me over the years.
(Click here for my post on Self-Love Saturday, where I shamelessly promote my series The Phoenix and the Dragon and share a bit of backstory behind how it came to be in the first place.)
I’ve shipped Zutara ever since Fall 2006, and I have been fortunate to read so many excellent fanfics since then.
Some have made me laugh, others made me sob, others straight up made my heart burn like it was shot full of lightning:
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So in honor of @zkfanworkweek​, below are 13 of my favorite Zutara fanfics, in no particular order:
~*~*~
Rated G(eneral)/T(een)
Engulfed by Luaburachid
Zuko finds himself engulfed by love.
A sweet one-shot of our favorite firebender discovering how deep his feelings are for a certain waterbender. It’s just pure fluff and always brings a smile to my face.
 we hold our hearts in silence by psychedelic_aya
Seventy years later, Korra tries to figure out Zuko and Katara.
Oh, this one is so bittersweet but oh so good. It alternates between flashbacks and Korra’s POV watching an older Zuko and Katara interact. Just… ugh. My heart.
 Day 6: Found by SooperSara
When Sokka comes up with an idea to get rid of Joo Dee, Katara finds herself in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se with a tea server she did not expect to meet.
I love a good Jasmine Dragon AU where Katara / the Gaang actually interacts with Zuko while he’s undercover as Lee from the tea shop instead of what happened in “The Guru.” This is so much fun to read, and my only complaint is that it’s not longer.
 Celestial by SooperSara
An unexpected dip into the koi pond at the North Pole brings Zuko in contact with the spirits and grants him insight to his destiny. A destiny he isn’t sure he wants.
Another by the talented SooperSara! Actually, you should check out all of her stuff. It’s all so good, and I absolutely adore this one. It’s pretty canon-compliant and the ending… oh, the ending makes me tearbend. Ma’am, I’m still weepy.
 this little fuse we lit made something in you by SecondStarOnTheLeft
There's a secret door in the wall of Katara's room. Things go a little further than planned, once she opens it.
What happens when Katara discovers a secret tunnel (secret, secret, secret tunnel, yeah!) that leads directly to the Fire Lord’s bedroom? Reading this fic is like settling down to drink a hot cup of Iroh’s tea – it’s soothing, sweet, and thoroughly warms the soul.  
 Dancing in the Dark by damagectrl
Post-Season 2 AU: While in Ba Sing Se, Katara and Toph hear a rumor about two tea servers in the lower tiers of Ba Sing Se and sneak away go to investigate only to have their suspicions confirmed. On her personal time, Katara tries to teach herself to dance and fails so badly, a masked man takes pity on her to try to help.
This is one most OGs will probably remember. It’s also one of the first ZK fics I ever read, back when I was a wee lil bb Zutarian! It was originally posted in Oct. 2006 and takes place between “Appa’s Lost Days” and “Lake Laogai.” One of my all-time favorite Bluetara AND Jasmine Dragon AUs. Heck, all of damagectrl’s works are fantastic reads, for that matter. I highly recommend checking them out, especially this classic.
 such selfish prayers by andromeda3116
Katara's ambition, so long set aside for the good of others, breaks free and sets fire to her soul. Or, Katara has a vision of her canon future, casts it aside, and becomes a world-changing politician instead.
There’s a reason why this fic is one of the highest rated on AO3, if not THE highest. It does right by Katara and gives her the ending she deserves. 10/10 would recommend.
 better than things dreamed of in the forest by catie_writes_things (SERIES)
As a child, Bumi knew: his mother was a waterbender, his father was an airbender, and he was a firebender. Something about these facts did not add up, but it would take him a long time to understand.
Hands down, one of the most heartbreaking fics / series I’ve ever read. The author describes this as the adultery fic for people who hate adultery fics, and it certainly packs an emotional punch in the gut. Personally, I’m not one for the “Zuko and Katara have an affair while she’s with Aang” fics in general, but this one examines the fallout caused by a single night of passion and all of the consequences that stem from it, especially how the ripple effect of their choices impacts everyone. Even though it breaks my heart all over again every time I reread it, I can’t recommend it highly enough. 
  ~*~*~
(More fics, several with high ratings, are listed below the cut)
Rated M(ature)/E(xplicit)
Moonlight and Sunshadow by GrapefruitTwostep
The dragon offered Katara a deal: protection for her family and tribe if she lived with it for a year and a day. And she said yes. Because what other way was there to save her people? But there was more to the dragon than Katara bargained for. An "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" retelling.
A fairy tale AU in which Zuko is cursed to live as a dragon and Katara is certainly no damsel in distress. You’ve probably heard some version of the original fairy tale before that this fic is inspired by, and it’s such a delight to read.
 The Blackfish and the Dragon by ama
Katara grew up in the Southern Water Tribe under the tutelage of Hama, the only waterbender ever to have escaped Fire Nation captivity. When Zuko arrives at the South Pole, seeking the Avatar, they are more than ready to defend him. Then one day, the Southern Water Tribe receives a petition for peace, and a proposal of marriage.
One of the best arranged marriage AUs I’ve come across. Iroh is crowned Fire Lord after defeating Ozai, and Katara must find some way to peacefully coexist with her hotheaded new husband as she also finds a place for herself in the Fire Nation.
 Confused by thispieceofwork
Zuko stood. "You told Aang you were confused. Are you confused because of me?" Katara was silent, arms crossed in front of her. "Don't make me answer that."
Starts during “The Ember Island Players” where Zuko overhears Aang and Katara’s private conversation on the balcony. This is another fic that will shatter your heart into a million pieces but it’s oh so worth it in the end.
 A Heated Exchange by Smediterranea (SERIES)
Katara had not considered herself to be someone who would have earth-shattering sex with a guy whose name she didn’t even know. But here she was, certain that she had never made a better decision in her life.
An AU two-part series of Katara getting familiar with a certain handsome guy who lives down the hall in her college dorm. It’s funny, cute, and cuddling while watching Planet Earth has never been hotter.
 Bonus day: Tea Shop by cincilin
"Hello and welcome to the Jasmine Dragon. Today's special is—" he cut himself of with a sharp intake of breath, at the same moment that Katara placed the voice and looked up.
'He has hair.' was her first thought. Then the rest of her brain caught up with her and she started to get up, sending Momo scrambling to hide under the table. Season 2 AU, during "The Guru."
I told y’all, I *LOVE* a good Jasmine Dragon AU fic, and this one-shot checks all the boxes: heart-to-heart conversations? Witty dialogue and banter? Bending match that turns into a makeout and something steamier? It’s got it all.
~*~*~
This was only going to be a list of maybe 5-7fic recs, but well… oops. I also kept the above list to completed works only, just because this post is already long enough.
Several of my other favorites that get honorable mention include:
Thinking Out Loud (WIP)
The Summit (WIP)
Sparrowkeet (Series)
Purr
The Nature of the Blue Spirit
Rhythm of the Rain
Fault Lines
Clarity
Seriously, there are just SO MANY good Zutara fics out there. I had to cut myself off from adding even more, because I could go on and on and on. Much like Admiral Zhao, I have no. self. control. 
I love you all, my fellow Zutarians ❤️💙💜 Mwah! Happy ZFAW! 
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swishandflickwit · 4 years ago
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free falling (into your arms) — 1/1
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Summary: She longs for purchase and in this slippery turmoil, it is him who grounds her.
Him who is her anchor in this howling monsoon.
following the events of the southern raiders, katara & zuko steal a bit of time together before they reunite with the rest of their friends.
Rating: General Audiences
Words: 7.4k
Warnings:  unbeta'd, i wrote this instead of sleeping, missing scene post-tsr, touchy-feely katara so don't read if that bothers you?, rambly iroh-channeling zuko, katara and zuko talk about bloodbending
AN: for zutara week 2020 day 5 - hesitancy
(maybe. idk. if you squint? i started this before i knew about zutara week then didn't have time to write for any of the other prompts so i just sorta... made it... work? lol)
you know what gets me about tsr every time? its when katara and zuko hug and it was like they'd done it a million times before and after that, touches between them became not frequent exactly but easy and maybe being almost murder buddies does that too but idk, she wanted to murder him .02 seconds ago and now they're co-parenting everyone else and i was like, something more had to have happened right? in the journey between whale tail island and ember island and from when zuko left katara to pick up the rest of the gaang something deeper had to have happened??? i cannot fathom it otherwise. i simply refuse. and so, this mess was born lmao. also we saw katara giving zuko a very tasteful peptalk, i wanted him to give her one too, one first? but like, make it cute and rambly.
Song Inspirations: title and lyrics (and fic inspired by) from Away From The Current by Keiko Necesario (such a zutara song, honestly), my tears ricochet by Taylor Swift
Also on: ff.net | AO3
Other writing
little by little i'm falling, deeper than the sea
maybe you can swim with me
 They are gone before Yon Rha ever opens his eyes.
They dash away with a speed that leaves her breathless, everything around her a blur made even murkier given the deluge upon them.
(they run faster still yet never farther it seems, and she hates, hates, hates until the feeling chokes her, consumes her, although she doesn't know at what whom, and she hates that she hates at all)  
And she cannot recall how her hand finds its way into Zuko's but she is grateful anyway��grateful because his grip is warm, pleasantly so even if they hadn't already been entrenched in the growing cold of the rain. The heat of him keeps her shivering at bay, the calluses that shape his palm slot in the grooves of her own lifelines and hold her aloft when her feet tangle in the flood and cobblestone.
She is grateful because as they race towards sanctuary his grasp—skin surprisingly rougher than how she imagines a prince's touch would be—becomes the only thing preventing her from greeting the dirt like an old friend. She is grateful, for if their fingers hadn't been twined—however clumsily—then nothing would stop her from floating away with the torrent of her element. There is smog shrouding her until both her vision and her brain is clouded. She longs for purchase and in this slippery turmoil, it is him who grounds her.
Him who is her anchor in this howling monsoon.
The thought is wild; even incomprehensible just a day ago when he was clearly the embodiment of her torment—the spawn of a tyrant, the heir of the destruction that brought about her mother's demise. His is the face of the Enemy, yet she does nothing to stop the proclamation from sharpening in her fogged-up mind.
Not now when the line between who he was and who he is grows more indistinct with every second she spends with him, not now when they have come so far with just each other to rely on. Not now when she’s lost count of how many times she nearly tumbles, her name tearing from his lips in a frayed yet concerned hiss that she knows she has not earned. And most definitely not now—not when he has witnessed her at her most cruel, engaging in an act so vile she swore never to utilize it and yet and yet and yet. She brands the word hypocrite onto her soul as penance but it is a feckless measure because she knows, even if it sickens her, that she does not—she does not—
(she might as well add coward there too, since she does not, cannot, finish this line of reasoning)
(it is quite possible though that she is being too harsh on herself, like she always is. after all, she remembers how zuko's eyes had merely widened as he understood what her bending had done, what she had done, yet he had not so much as flinched.
he simply carried on.
her guilt however, prevents her from truly conceiving this and she buries the brief awe that had sparked in the prince's gaze, then, and juxtaposes it with the terror she had expected—that which she truly deserves)
The sight of Appa has her knees weakening so that she is collapsing into the shelter of Zuko's arms. It’s as if her body likens the presence of the bison to safety, granting her permission to crumple, to break.
Not that Zuko allows her to, not really, not in the way she expects.
Appa wields the pair of them upright as Zuko braces against the bison and she against the firebender. It allows him to clutch at her with a desperation that borders on painful. With the entirety of her weight supported by him, she finds that he is just as calescent as the tenure of his hold suggests. It would console her, strange as the source of it is, were it not for the sheer, cold fright that arrests his otherwise golden orbs. The consolation does come however, when she discerns that it is not her he is frightened of, no. But he is frightened.
He is frightened for her, and the strangeness, too, evinces when she is humbled by the realization.
"Katara," he gasps when she clamps staunchly at his biceps.
"G-get me out of here," she stutters, no longer able to temper the tremble in her voice nor the shaking of her limbs, though the chilly outpour has far to do with either instance. "Get me out of here now."
He nods, the haze of distress aborting from his stare. But before he can board them both onto Appa, she transfers her clench from his arms to the collar of his drenched, ebony tunic and says, "Don't."
Don't take me back to them, she means to relay. Don't let them see me like this, she silently begs. Not yet not yet not yet, please not yet.
But the words are frozen in her throat, weighed by dark, dark things—things like shame and disgust and panic and a numbing cold—so only one word escapes her in a whisper, an aborted sob, that she does not expect him to hear. But stranger still (or, at this point she is coming to learn, maybe not so) is the increasing understanding that continues to dawn on his expression, and which manifests itself in an assertive nod.
He is scooping her into a bridal carry when a renewed hysteria grips her, her wicked musings seeing fit to torture her in her fatigue. What if he misunderstood? What if he brings me to the others? What if he tells them?
(a smaller, but no less clamorous, part of her adds, what if they hate you—what if he hates you?)
(not that she could bare the others' judgement any easier but the prospect of his hatred being directed at her in addition to theirs just grates and she feels like shattering)
With the dregs of her dwindling vigor, her digits tighten on the cloth around his neck—the movement not to harm when it comes to him for once, but a bid to further explain herself. Zuko is unfazed by the storm brewing within her, ever a growing paragon of sympathy.
"I know a place," he vouches gently—surefooted in a way that is becoming familiar to her when the early morning light comes, loathe as she is to admit it before (strengthen your root, aang)—and equally soft in her ear, "Trust me."
I do, she longs to vow, but the ice inside her grows and the promise is taken with the rushing wind as he grabs the reins and takes off.
The loss of him is jarring.
It should befuddle her. Given their less than stellar past, Zuko and proximity had always been in the context of situations she would rather forget—on battlegrounds, and glowing prisons, and more recently, safe houses with separate rooms and large common areas, along with the very saddle they sit on. Before that, it had been open fields upon which they would assemble their singular tents. They meet and they share spaces, but hardly do they ever touch.
(and while ba sing se is a memory she is coming to terms with, it is one that still slightly smarts and therefore, one she does not count)
Up until recently she was more than fine with this arrangement. They gave each other a wide berth, and everyone was, if not happy, content for it.
But in this new and mystifying After, when she falls like liquid and he is the only solid thing to catch her (and cup her and hold her and keep her together), the previous avoidance feels petty, stupid and childish—never mind that they are children.
(not that she's felt that way recently, if she ever felt that way at all)
In the After, the switch from her frigid distance to his succoring cradle, while abrupt, is the furthest thing from unwelcome.
So, she whimpers when he motions to settle her atop the bed of the saddle. The way he carries her has them the nearest they've ever been to each other—her every downy curve pressed against the hard lines of his lithe yet lean figure. She wants to lose herself in the embers of his gaze. She wants to melt into his skin. She wants to burrow in his inner warmth and never come out, anything to thaw the glacial stalactites that have snared her insides.
Later, she will acknowledge that her sudden attachment to his fire has less to do with his actual ability to provide heat so much as it has to do with her need to cauterize the atrocity that mars her soul. Now though, in this tenuous yet bright After, with him as her only source of light in the darkness that suffocates her—he seems both close and not close enough. It's any wonder then, that the moment they both touch down from Appa, she clings to him.
Though it is her who slumps into his arms again, she knows she catches him off guard. She can tell by the way his breath stutters and tension suddenly seizes his every muscle, while his heart beats a staccato rhythm in his chest. She gets the fleeting impression he is a stranger to affection despite the love he so blatantly harbors for his uncle when he speaks about him. Katara, nurturing by nature, determines right then and there to rectify this post-haste. So, cling she does, like a newborn panda-koala to its mother. 
At some point in their journey, the rain abates. The air is sweltering in this Fire Nation island he has taken her to, and still, she clings some more. She is unyielding yet tender in her embrace, until she senses the incredulity dissipating from his aura, until the tautness dissolves from his bones and sinews, until his heart slows in repose, until the glaciers that make up her blood—not melt, precisely but—soften enough that she can feel beyond her trepidation, until the incalescence of him steams the water from their clothes and seeps into her skin.
It is as much awkward as it is dulcifying, but neither is inclined to let go. For the first time since they had embarked on the mission, perhaps even so far as the first time since they met… they can both finally, properly breathe.
He holds her and she holds him, until the sun from which he channels his own energy draws towards the horizon, the effulgent curves of the inflamed heavenly body sinking to kiss the sea. The cold creeps ever closer yet never over her.
How could they be so bold? When Katara falls asleep in the arms of the firebender prince.
-//////-
The moon is high when she awakens next.
Yue is full, beautiful and blinding against the inky sky and yet, she is alone.
A new bout of dread rushes through her, the ice in her veins solidifying with terrible alacrity to accompany the tumult of her insecurities.
He left, of course he left, he knows what you can do, snarls and spits the cloying thing residing within her that which she fatuously assumed had been temporary. He knows who you are, what you are, and he fears you.
He is right to do so.
A twig snaps and her head swivels towards the sound. With a shudder of relief, she alights upon the vision of Zuko appearing from the tree line that borders the inner edge of the beach, Appa not far behind him. There are offcuts of leaves in the bison's gargantuan mouth and a pile of firewood in the prince's arms. Her eyes dart briefly at the bonfire dancing sedately a few paces from where she lies, but mostly they drink him in.
Zuko had been muttering quietly to Appa but at her scrutiny, he stops. When he locks onto her, he offers a pallid smile (though with the shadows playing at his visage, the turn of his lips is more grimace than anything) and a similarly tentative, "Hey."
"You—" she murmurs, stilted and rigid as she works to swallow the residues of her panic. "Don't—" and there's that awful word again although this time, she manages to get the rest of the request, demand, plea sentence out. "Don't leave."
(the words me and again are unspoken yet heard just as loudly and acutely as if they had been shouted)
"I won't," he is quick to reply. Still, she is not assuaged, even must fight to prevent her hands from reaching for him. It makes her feel pathetic. Katara has always been free with her affections and in turn has never been in want for touch. So, to crave Zuko's—of all people—warmth is an occurrence she never could have foreseen, insatiable avarice warring against her leaden contrition especially now that she knows, with incontestable surety, how they fit together. Her rapacity presses for victory, so much so that she resorts to sitting on her hands to further quell the urge to wrap herself around him.
Assurances made, Zuko resumes tending to the fire while Katara distracts herself by ruminating on her newfound regard for the prince.
(conclusions are drawn but the significance of them has her repelling the revelations just as rapidly as they are made—to be dissected and inspected by the katara of later)
For once, she is static as Zuko navigates the tedium that comes with setting up camp. With the fire done, he unfurls their sleeping bags at a respectable distance. He follows this with a careful inventory of their provisions, and when the stock is accounted for, he dishes out the appropriate rations (seal jerky being the sole menu as they had neither time nor patience to scrounge for anything more the night they left). He even goes so far as to pet Appa and confirm the bison's comfort, a palpable if subtle bond there that she allows herself to recognize at last. There is a naturality to his gestures that would fascinate her had she happened upon it any other night. As it is, she is still a tad too miffed—her head swimming in agitation from having woken up thinking she was alone—to fully appreciate his initiative.
She reaches for her bundle of jerky when she notices the state of her hands. As a result of sheltering them amongst the fine grains of the ground, they have surfaced dusted with sand. Zuko notes this at the same time she does with a startled, "Oh!"
She is about to voice her puzzlement at his reaction or even dismiss the mess as an inconvenience easily solutioned when he jogs to the shallow depths of the sea. There he shreds parts of the bottom of his tunic before dousing them into the ocean. Upon his return he kneels before her and, with a consideration that mesmerizes her, wipes her palms with the waterlogged strips.
She novels at the various means with which he astonishes her, and might continue to astonish her, during their—now indefinitely extended—period together.
He dabs cautiously at the grime and scrapes clinging stubbornly at her flesh, something rusty yet accustomed in his body language—like the intimation is a fragment of his past, however long forgotten.
Distantly, she registers that Zuko is an older sibling. Maybe not exactly like Sokka, but a big brother all the same. She tries to picture Azula—not as the elegant, cunning, dangerous princess she knows now—but younger… softer… before power and bloodlust planted its insidious roots and sprouted weeds. Was there a time her eyes shined with fondness instead of anger? Where she had whispered sweet words, not to manipulate but, to share in her mirth? Did she ever come to Zuko like this, dirty and bleeding, certain he would know what to do to soothe her hurts away?
She tries to conjure it and fails miserably. If anything, she is more disturbed at the prospect that Zuko might view her as something like a sister. Though a part of Katara knows how irrational it is to fixate on such an inconsequential surmise, an even bigger part of her bristles.
She feels it then.
The frost that she so adamantly hoped was chased away by Zuko's fire, surges with renewed vigor inside her. It twists into that something dark and ugly, something that has been haunting her all night—one Katara knows but is reluctant, afraid, to name.
Zuko is blissfully unaware that he is the subject of her grisly musings. He runs the cloth over her palms with the same intensity he seems to tackle his every circumstance, his swipes relentless in their bid to rid her skin of impurities. Then again, she expects no less from the firebender who persistently chased them across the world only to just as doggedly proclaim his loyalty to their cause. What throws her off however, is the determined patience he exhibits so as to avoid her open cuts, for no other reason she can think of than to prevent the inevitably harsh sting of the saltwater on the wounds—never mind that the scratches are no larger than a fingernail at best and as long as that of her thumb at worst—his cleaning caress focused yet light.
The purposeful care would endear him to her, if the thought that he might see her as a sister-figure didn't enduringly unsettle her so.
He is close to finishing when the dark thing inside her rattles to make itself known.
"I can do it myself."
But the whispered grievance lacks the vehemence with which such a statement is usually made. Perhaps that is why Zuko doesn't completely halt so much as slows. His clasp on her hands grows even looser, the miniscule shift in his hold telling her that she may breakaway at her leisure.
"Right," he breathes when she doesn’t pull away. "Waterbender."
The title chafes her, glass shards piercing at her chest in a way that simultaneously encourages her rabidness and makes her want to crawl out of her body. Again, the inclination to fuse herself onto Zuko and his feverishness becomes an unbearable need. Now that she has gotten a little more than a couple of hours of sleep, she has enough sense to be embarrassed for her rather enthusiastic tenacity to adhere herself to him earlier. She should be loathe to so much as breathe the same air as him, yet here she is again, just as eager and willing to meld into his incandescence with nary a thought to his convenience.
(it’s situations like these that she cannot deny her relation to sokka—much to her chagrin—because clearly, she is an idiot)
But her pride and common sense impede her impulse for now so, on somewhat imperceptibly wobbly legs she walks to the shoreline, hoping the proximity to her element will infuse her with tranquility.
(or in this case, what little is left of her sanity)
Shoes tossed aside and her ankles deep in the water, Katara moves into her stances with an almost paralleled elegance to her element. The exhaustion that has latched onto every inch of her, down to the very marrow of her bones, hardly strains her when the moon imparts her with the strength she necessitates to go through the entirety of her bending repertoire. More than anything, she is further compelled by the prospect that the familiar maneuvers will dispel the slithering sickness that pervades her.
Except… she can feel him, his breath, his blood, his stare. He is watching, just watching, and it unnerves her so much that she loses her instinctual fluidity the more complicated her katas become, no matter that as a master she could easily do them in her sleep.
Just then, a particularly exuberant tide slams into her knees and disquiets her balance just as she is approaching the pinnacle of her most complex stance. And although she wavers only a little, her toes immediately hasping onto the seabed, it's as if a dam inside her caves. The profundity of the night's events crashes into her so it is less like she had stumbled and more like she had capsized as a ship does from the enormity of a storm—turbulent and impuissant against the raging current.
What have I done? she sobs in her mind, even as her power—exorbitant from the fullness of Yue's grace—crests in response to her distress. It thrums like wildfire through her veins, yet she has never felt further from calidity.
No, it is not a fever that grabs hold of her.
What have I done? she asks again when it is the deadly frost of winter that bites at her soul. From the ocean of her anguish, her grief, ascends a tempestuous tide that shapes into that of her repulsiveness. Everything about herself that she abhors, every repugnant crack that splinters at her perfection, at her supposed goodness, all the jagged pieces she runs herself ragged to keep smooth and hidden, boils to the surface in choppy torrents of her bending.
With the endless expanse of the sea at her disposal, Katara crimps her fingers until she traps herself in a barricade of ice. The structure is flawless, her reflection undisturbed and perfect.
How she hates and hates and hates.
With a scream, Katara raises her arms above her head, the roughness of her motility entirely contrary to her element. The ice around her begins to fracture then, her image fragmenting so that the ugliness carefully concealed in her interior is mirrored upon her exterior, free from the shadows at last.
This, she decides, this is what I have done.
A swelter licks at her back but it barely warrants her contemplation. The entirety of her attention is fixated on how the fissures distorting her glass shadow paint her in harsh, unflattering angles, and yet she has never felt more right.
She wonders what that says about herself… how she very well knows even as she asks it, and what scares her isn’t that she is afraid of the answer but that she is not.
“Enough.”
His command, soft and gentle as the steam it is carried on so it is less edict and more entreaty, pierces the condensation she hadn’t heeded was gathering at her feet until it is right in front of her. She should be vexed, maybe even surprised.
But Zuko always did have a way of making himself seen—of making himself known.
“That’s enough,” his rasp is even deeper, seared as it is by his concern of which she is still unused to receiving. His fingers on her shoulder are preternaturally warm this time, but it takes all of her not to lean into it regardless. “You’ll hurt yourself!”
“Isn’t that what I deserve?” she growls, tearing away from his grasp only to turn towards him so that he bears the omneity of her depravity.
The time for hiding, at least when it comes to the prince, has long since come to an end.
His eyes widen, and she almost smiles at his predictable fear—except he is reaching for her once more, a mixture of confusion and vehemence dripping from his inflection instead when he exclaims, “Of course not! What are you talking about?”
Something like hurt flashes across his eyes when she jerks from him again, her back thudding forcefully against her ice wall. His perplexity echoes throughout her so that she retorts, just as stridently, “What am I talking about? What are you?”
The question in his eyes is genuine and unfading, and Katara wants to fall into him all over again just for that. But she holds on to her anger, coats it around her like she would glazed armor to defend against the sheer magnitude of him.
“Y-you saw what I did,” she hisses but when he shakes his head again, she falters against the smooth, rime palisade. Who knew all it took to defeat her was a pair of amber eyes molten with sincerity? And that it would hurt her if when the seafret weight of it—cozy like a blanket made from her Gran-Gran’s hand as opposed to the armor she sheaths herself in—slips from her fingers like vapor, gone as quickly as she had it, if she ever had it at all?
She wonders why she cares.
(except she knows the answer to that, too)
“You know what I am,” she mumbles dejectedly.
“And what is that?” he whispers, equally muted.
It is only when she stills at the question that she notices she was quivering in the first place. She closes her eyes, like the act might suppress the truth despite how fully aware she is of its inevitability.
She stalls. A step, a pulse, a blink, and then—
“Monster,” she breathes.
She convinces herself that she is not petrified of what she will see when she meets his gaze, so she forces herself to look.
To her surprise, he isn’t looking at her at all and it confounds her so much she forgets to be relieved.
It is their sorry encampment he is facing when he says, “Come by the fire,” and he doesn’t check if she follows but he does incline his head over his shoulder enough to add, “I don’t want you to freeze any more than you already have.”
She wants to tell him that should be the least of his worries, that ice would be the furthest breach to her downfall. But the quip sounds paltry even in her head, and the fact that he still worries silences her just as effectively.
She doesn’t know what to do with herself when he sits but the nonchalance in his demeanor—legs held loosely in the lotus position, his arms propped lazily behind him, and his head tipped placidly at the sky—presents an invitation. Even if it isn’t, his propinquity tempts her.
He is gravity and, as she has well proven, she is helpless against his pull.
“Say something,” she implores from beside him, the bonfire void when nothing but a foot separates them, the emanating heat she siphons from his skin is more than adequate to fend off the brisk, night air.
“Yon Rha is alive.”
“Death would have been too kind for a spineless vermin like him,” she blazes through gritted teeth, before the fight leaves her altogether. “But that’s not—” she sighs. “He’s not why.”
“You’re talking about the soldier on the ship.”
“I swore,” her speech is warbled even in susurration, “I swore I would never call upon my power that way. I promised, with my brother and my best friends as my witnesses, but the first opportunity away from them presents itself and what do I do?” Her eyes are red-rimmed and crusty from the volume of tears she had shed the previous night, and yet a fountain must reside within her for tiny rivulets of them stream down her cheeks anyway—the more she wipes them away, the faster they fall. It is her turn to shake her head. “You must think I’m a monster too.”
His scrutiny is scorching when he abandons his seemingly languid perch to render the plenitude of his attention on her.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he responds evenly.
“I don’t? How dare you!” the resuscitation of a still embittered memory has her erupting from her position and kicking up sand as she abruptly rises to her feet. That he remains seated, countenance so calculatingly neutral his resemblance to his sister has never seemed more evident, only fuels her ire. “I took this man’s will. I reached into his blood, his life source, and I commanded it as my own. I corrupted my bending and nearly defiled him for it. And maybe he wasn’t innocent, but he was innocent to me. Who knows what I would have done if I hadn’t realized he was the wrong man? Would you have stopped me then? I can’t imagine you would have when you just stood by as I almost murdered another man in cold blood! What then?” her chest is heaving with her fervency, but her declamation is a mellifluous contrast to her beginning parlance. “What then?" she sags back down to the ground in a boneless heap, rubbing at her wet cheeks in vain, and she is so tired of crying. "It was monstrous. I’m monstrous.”
“Maybe you did do a monstrous thing,” he starts solemnly, “but that doesn’t make you a monster,” his inflection is just as subdued as hers, and it doesn’t escape her that this entire night he has matched—if not capitulated to—her, motion by motion, tone for tone; that he ducks low when she aims high, is cool when she runs hot, and spirited when she falls into despair. It’s like he views them on equal footing, like he never intends to be above her, only with her. She finds that she is moved by this revelation, something emotive and electric pulsing rapturously at her fingertips. But before she can further delve on it, he continues, and the poignancy scatters like ashes in the wind in the wake of the sorrow on his tongue.
“I should know, I grew up around them,” he laughs but it is the sound of broken glass, so pained and humorless it scrapes against the cusped contours of her own smattered heart. “There are days when even I can’t distinguish myself from them. So, believe me,” his fingers ghosting his scar. “There are worse things a monster can do than grant mercy.”
“I’m sorry,” she conveys staunchly, and she means it. They have danced this dance before, so she is no stranger to the ridges that separate smooth skin from marred one when her digits trace the worn pathways. “I’m sorry,” she repeats.
“Don’t,” he gives her hand a squeeze when he slips it from beneath hers, before placing it on her knee with some semblance of propriety, remnants from his days of royalty she supposes.
(she refuses to entertain the more conceivable possibility that it is a repeated unaccustomedness to touch, lest she track down the firelord and prematurely end this war, avatar or not)
“Don't be. Not for me, not for tonight, not for anything.”
She doesn’t know why she protests but she does. Is this not what she wants to hear? Does she not want this vindication?
“But the bloodbending—”
“Is just another part of you.”
“A bad part,” she mutters, demeaningly.
His cautious veneer ruptures at this, the sneer contorting his mouth so evocative of the days when he was her adversary that she almost summons a spear of ice out of habit. But the ardor in his aurelian orbs and the passion in his smoke-encased voice arrests her in the present, so that there is no mistaking the reproach in his homily, yes, but the acceptance too.
“Could the nomads not command the very air that passes through your lungs? Had the Dai Li not thought twice about burying you alive?  Wouldn’t you be able to drown a foe just as easily as you could conjure your healing water to save them? Is destruction all there is to fire, when it can also warm you and cook your food?” he snarls and as if in demonstration, the roaring pit before them blazes for a fraction of a second before resuming its indolent conflagration. “Every element has their strengths and their weaknesses, every person their good and bad side,” he stares at his hands, elbows propped limply upon his bent knees, and something despondent and regretful dulling the sparkling tinder in his eyes. “Some bad sides, stronger than others,” he finishes quietly.
“I don’t regret it,” she confesses, and she should be humiliated by this admission that has been clawing at her chest and choking at her throat. But all she is is unbothered, unbound—more airbender than water for the first time in her life, and is this how Aang constantly feels? Is this what propelled him to leave the day his destiny was revealed to him? Not that she did then but how could she ever blame him now, when this liberation was so exhilarating?
“Still doesn’t make you a monster, though.”
“But does it make me a good person?”
He sighs, rubbing at his nose in a pantomime so boyish, it disarms her. For a moment she forgets who he is and who she is and who they are to each other.
And what is that exactly?
“I think it just means you’re trying,” he shrugs. “We've all got the potential for darkness and lightness within us, our powers just as capable of tipping towards either side. But I guess the question for every moment is, to which side are you going to choose to be a vessel for? Or—or maybe it isn't so clean cut. Maybe it's just about finding the in-between, the…” he trails off, appearing lost in thought as his gaze trains on the skyline, like he might find the wayward reverie there.
She thinks back to the aftermath of the siege of the North, remembers Aang orating similar advice.
Push and pull… he had imparted, yin and yang…
“Balance,” she hums.
He gives her an appreciative glance that she perceives all the way to her bones.
“Yes,” he agrees. She can almost sense the connections cultivating in his brain and she lets it, not daring to interrupt him when she is so enchanted by this scarce sight of an artless but enthusiastic Zuko. “No one is wholly good or evil, but it’s the choices you make in seeking your inner balance that will ultimately define you, right? And I know what you’re gonna ask—did you make the right choices last night? Honestly, I couldn’t say. I think you’re the only one who can really answer that.” He takes a deep breath, biting at his lips before venturing gingerly, “Far be it from me to pass judgement, but I need you to know that I could never… see you like that. You’re scary, sure, and I think you like that,” she hides a satisfied smile at that, at how he reads her. “But a monster? Spirits, never.” He runs a hand through his hair, before rubbing at the nape of his neck. “You didn’t have to spare that—that—asshole, but you did.” There’s a blush to his cheeks that she only understands when he remarks, “And not that my opinion really matters to you but, you’re seriously one of the strongest people I know.”
And something inside her clicks into place as the validation she didn’t know she was seeking washes over her in gentle eddies. She doesn’t feel strong just then, the total opposite, in fact. But his unyielding support sedates the foreboding mass of algid tenebrosity inside her, if only for a little while, so that she resembles something a little like solid.
“Actually,” she gibes, however feebly. “I was gonna ask how a hothead like you got so wise.”
The little gust of wind that escapes him is not exactly a laugh, but she counts it as a victory all the same. “My uncle would have better insight for you. I mean, it would probably be wrapped in an enigma tied in a tea-related metaphor, but no less helpful.”
"I don't know," she drawls, though not unkindly, as she bumps her shoulder amiably against his. She relishes the contact when he doesn’t shift away. "You're not so bad."
"I'm not?"
The vulnerability in his resonance tells her his inquiry goes beyond his ability to provide advice, and after everything he's given her this night alone, it is only fitting that she is more than willing to reciprocate.
“No, no I don’t think that at all. I dare say,” she smiles, sinking into his side. “You, Prince Zuko, are good.”
“Good,” he mouths disbelievingly, as if he never thought the word could be tethered to him, like no one’s ever called him that. Maybe they haven’t, which saddens her because she may as well have been one of the reasons for that. It's just another thing to add to her growing list of what she hopes to do for the fire prince who has not received enough warmth and kindness in his life, as she is gradually discovering. “Never really been good at being… good,” the upturn of his lips is self-deprecating but the candor of it lends a light to his face that makes its former absence even starker, but no less stunning in its rarity. “You know that more than anyone, and for that I’m sorry. Truly, I am.”
“You’re trying,” she parrots, and his smile widens minutely, but it is enough. She akins it to the sun, peeking from the horizon after days sequestered forlornly behind storm clouds, and she is esurient for the homeliness his warmth is sure to supply. She doesn’t know it, but it will be a long time before she sees even a glimmer of it again. For now, she basks in his glow, until the ice strangling her core melts into liquid into mist except before she can evaporate, he is there to moor her to the safety of port.
Her fingers drift within reach of his scar and this close to him, breaths mingling and noses a hairsbreadth apart, she can make out the misshapen shape of a hand. There is a story there, a tragic one, no doubt. And she hopes he trusts her the same way she unequivocally does him (for how can she not after what they have been through and what they have exchanged? and she will tell him, she will) to one day divulge, but not tonight. She does not want to taint the effulgence of this moment with any more talk of darkness.
She only wants his charming guilelessness, no matter how unintentional, and his graceless chatter. She wants the domesticity of his hands and the honor of his brand of protection. And if you had asked her two days ago, her answer would have been completely different but now, now she revels in his mercurial temper as much as she values his ardent humility.
She just wants to be present as he continues to try, and what more could she desire from a friend?
It shouldn’t, but it hits her like a riptide; he’s her friend. And it’s been inclement waters seeing as they had to maneuver all the way from opposite sides of the battlefield to a necessary alliance to a revenge-driven field trip. And it shouldn’t be the most peculiar thought of the night, certainly not the most astounding, but it is. It is.
After so long chasing each other across the world, he is here. He is here and he is her friend, one who is privy to a side of her she had kept shackled and secreted, even from herself and still he understands, still—
He stays.
“I know I’ve asked so much of you already, but can I ask just once more?”
He doesn’t hesitate. He’s her friend and she is his and it is nothing like she has ever known before. It is hard-earned and precious and marvelous.
It is everything.
“Anything you need, Katara,” he avers most earnestly, eyes burning with companionship and hands outstretched in pillars of support. “Anything I can give and it’s yours.”
(and, if the buoyant churning in her gut is any indication, maybe even more and oh, Tui and La, but she is in trouble—)
She follows the elongated indents of his left palm, tracking the lines there that had aligned so exquisitely with hers as he banished every reluctancy and held her hand even then, and is overtaken by a flashback—to a village bordered by a volcano, a similar position but in reverse, a powerful bender suddenly thunderous in her head.
(—not that she’s ever buckled from a challenge before)
Yue’s brilliance is kind on him, coloring his pale skin ethereal so that it shimmers otherworldly against her own sun-kissed flesh. The nobility of his lineage is subtle, found mostly in the sharp slant of his nose, his jaw and his cheekbones. But his beauty and his potency lies in the abstruse, the unseen. It is in the way he makes awful tea and shares jokes of which he only knows the punchline because he knows it is the best way to honor the person he loves most in this world. It is in his pursuit to make amends even when the road to redemption is shabby and difficult, or that redemption means cleansing the grime from the hands of a slip of a girl who once hated him. It’s his tenacity to get up no matter how many times he is beaten down.
“I don’t need anything,” she reassures him, her cadence shy when she requests, “I would like it if we stayed here though.” Her timidity, so inimical from her former gusto, almost paralyzes her now but she braves cupping his left cheek anyway, fingers cosseting the edge of his mark. “The two of us, just a little longer.”
“We’ll stay as long as you want,” he accedes. This time, he isn’t a spectator to the affection, nor does he recede from it. To her delight, he leans into it, to her, going so far as to envelope her hand with his so that her touch becomes a halcyon balm upon his scored side. “Anything, and it’s yours,” he recurs with quiet insistence.
He is the sun, unfailing and true, and it is from his radiance that she allows the yearning to bloom.
And you? her heart is a riot beneath her ribcage, but—in the aftermath of so much struggling, both of the internal and external kind—her smile is miraculous in its serenity. What if it’s you that I want?
“Good,” she says instead, wishing with all her might that he hears the veracity behind her hushed yet no less steely declaration. “So very good.”
The way those pools of gold soften, his other hand brushing delicately at the last of her errant tears, tells her he does… that he might just believe.
-//////-
As much as she wants to suspend time, war stops for no one and she can no longer ignore the suffering that rages on beyond them.
She knows who to blame for the impetuous loss of her innocence, that it is the cowardice of power-hungry despots that have forced children like her to the frontlines of this hundred-year persecution. She knows the futility of this knowledge because justice is not hers to serve in this case, it is a burden she shares with thousands upon thousands of others. And when judgement comes for the depraved likes of Yon Rha, Zhao, and Ozai, she will have to contend with the bile that bubbles in the back of her throat and the sin splicing her soul because for them, she has no forgiveness to spare.
But Zuko…
I’m sorry. Truly, I am.
“I am ready to forgive you.”
After, the last of her abiding hesitancy to accept him bleeds into purpose-filled promise when she throws her arms around him—her head at his shoulder, cheek nestled at the hollow of his throat, his breath hot on her neck, and his hands large and comforting at the small of her back—it is as natural as breathing and as prevailing as her heartbeat. This is how she breaks—a tundra seizing her lungs and a storm in her mind that threatens to drown out the light until the inferno in his touch razes the darkness and reminds her to breathe, to reach out, to stand tall, stand steady, and this is how she mends, too—her waters fresh against his raging anger, cool and calm and healing the burns that have pained him, mind and heart, body and soul. It is pieces of her latching onto the pieces of him, until they are in adept symmetry, crowning harmony.
A perfect balance.
And although it is him seeking forgiveness, she cannot help but feel that it is her who finds absolution.
Right in the circle of his arms.
in the cold, i feel your warmth
i’m free falling into your arms
AN: first zutara fic asdfghjkl hope you enjoyed it!
lets cry about zutara together sksksksk so pls come say hi to me!
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lotussokka · 4 years ago
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i wish atla wouldve given us some earth kingdom citizens who were firebenders bc one of their parents was in the fire nation army
or at the very least, some more acknowledgment that these cultures have coexisted in the same space for up to a century — or even more than that considering roku confronted sokin about seeing a colony
a few possibilities: (the beginning of each is bolded to differentiate)
zuko (cerca zuko alone) meets a teenager filled with rage and selfloathing who resents their mother for falling in love with a colonizer. desperate for an ally, he reveals to them that hes a fellow firebender, but is rebuked bc this kid somehow has more shame and angst than zuko does
the gaang are offered shelter by a man in an earth kingdom village. he’s secretive and sokka is suspicious why an assumably able-bodied man in his mid 20s isnt off fighting in the war and thinks he must be a collaborator. after poking around, they find out what he’s hiding is his child, whose mother was a doctor at the closest fire nation to where he was stationed.
she so believed that the avatar equivalent of the hippocratic oath that she helped a group of injured earth kingdom soldiers she found stranded in the woods. somehow it became a pattern and then one day an earth kingdom medic came upon her while she was splinting a soldier’s ankle. the medic was this man’s closest friend. the doctor and the medic are both dead when katara asks whether the child his or the medic’s, the man only responds “does it matter? theyre my child”
we would all agree that those three were definitely in a polycule but the episode’s theme would be about family being more than blood — talking about aang’s relationship with the monks and zuko and iroh’s relationship
toph tells a story in ba sing se about the scandal when another noble family married their only daughter into a fire nation family [cue comment from katara about the misogyny of arranged marriages, but sokka looks almost as outraged]
or on the opposite side of things: during the beach, a teenager at ember island whos a social outcast for being an earthbender. their mother was dishonorably discharged from the army for getting pregnant while stationed in the earth kingdom.
how about a town that was one of the first colonies where the culture has become so integrated that the only way to tell who was earth kingdom is bc of a wealth gap?
or a village where the fire nation army lives nearly fully-integrated with the locals? sokka and katara are baffled that these people can peacefully live with people from the fire nation, but then overnight, the town’s atmosphere completely shifts
zhao just happened to roll up just before the gaang got there and reminded the local commander that {colonialist sentiment that brilliantly foreshadows what we learn about fire nation propaganda in s3} and now the soldiers are brutalizing the townsfolk again, except theyve been living so integrated for so long that its hard for them to tell who “should” be harassed.
that would go well between the waterbending scroll and jet bc think about how jet would react to hearing how quickly those soldiers turned on their friends and neighbors
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loopy777 · 5 years ago
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‘Retroactive’ Planning Doc
Copy+Paste straight out of my original planning document, including links to where the original concept came from, my outline, and various free-writing summaries of the plot.
http://forums.avatarspirit.net/index.php?topic=18938.msg1980740#msg1980740
“AU. There wasn't always a Suki. When Firelord Zuko needed to hide/rid himself of the crazed contender to his throne, he had the mindbenders of Ba Sing Se work with Aang's energybending to strip Azula of her firebending... and her memories. Thus was born Suki, a girl with a fresh start on life -- and no greater ambition than to live on backwater Kyoshi Island. (What, you though Ty Lee moved there for the good weather? She's totally a watchdog.) And Sokka's attraction to 'Suki' is drawing more than a little disapproval from his friends and family."
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/06/03/misinformation-effect/ Elizabeth Loftus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misinformation_effect
1) Start 2) Ozai talks to the hypnotist, Suki talks with Ty Lee and raids a bar. 3) Ozai arrives and reveals everything to Suki. She kills him and goes after Ty Lee, then escapes. 4) The gAang discusses everything. They want to go after her, but only Sokka and Ty Lee both think she might be good. 5) Suki is confronted by a faux-Azula. Sokka does something? 6) Suki is brought before Long Feng. 7) Suki infiltrates the Earth Palace, and is forced to kill the Earth King. 8) Suki tries to escape, but is confronted by Sokka. She defeats him and goes after Long Feng. 9) Long Feng makes his play to be made leader of one or more of the independent colonies. The gAang can't stop him. 10) Suki arrives in the colony looking to go after Long Feng. He unleashes the faux-Azulas after her. 11) The final battle. Suki vesus Long Feng with Sokka trying to save the woman he loves. 12) Epilogue
Suki doesn't exist. Azula has been brainwashed and made to think that she's a Kyoshi Warrior named Suki. For our purposes, "Suki" and "Azula" will be used interchangeably to reflect which identity the girl herself is claiming at the given point in time. (Notes in parentheses are background information that the narration will have to leave out, since most of it is from Suki's perspective.)
Suki is living on Kyoshi Island. She's fitting in, and if she notices that anything is wrong or feels weird, she finds herself compelled to shrug it off. However, she has two major problems on her mind. She's being plagued by vivid nightmares about "Princess Azula," her old enemy from the war, which are actively leaving her sleep-deprived. Also, her boyfriend Sokka is spending a lot of time traveling on goodwill missions, and can't seem to make the time to visit her. Both issues are addressed when Sokka manages a one-day visit, and in his company Suki is nightmare-free.
(Ty Lee wrote to Sokka, and helped arrange his visit. The others in the gAang+ are trying to discourage the relationship, and Sokka himself is conflicted about it, in a heart-versus-mind kind of way.)
The next night, alone again, the nightmares return. Suki enlists Ty Lee's active help, and the acrobat tries a mix of herbal remedies (carefully chosen not to affect memories) and exercise. The fix isn't 100%, but Suki gets enough good nights to avoid sleep-deprivation-related health problems. Feeling a little better, Suki begins thinking about her problem with Sokka, and begins to wonder if he's either avoiding her or being pressured away from her. She deduces Ty Lee's role, and plans to confront her friend. It occurs to Suki that she could lure Ty Lee into a deadly trap, and make the girl tell her the truth in exchange for her life, but Suki quickly dismisses this very odd thought. Instead, she directly confronts Ty Lee, bombards her with a mix of facts and circumstantial evidence, and gets a halfhearted confession: Sokka's friends and family don't approve of their love, and they're actively discouraging even a visit. Suki is stunned, and can't imagine why anyone has a problem with it.
She fires off a series of letters to her newfound enemies, and makes plans to leave Kyoshi Island in search of Sokka, intending to travel with him for a while. However, she gets home one day to find ex-Fire Lord Ozai sitting in her house. He calls her "Azula," and insists that she's his daughter, that he escaped and went into debt to new allies to find her and save her (or end her life as a mercy). Suki resists the idea, of course, but he offers himself as her captive, and tries to actively convince her. He knows all the details of her life, details even she's fuzzy on, and his explanation makes a weird kind of sense, given how she's being treated. Then he goes into details about the daughter he knew, and Suki finds that she has memories of such a life. She starts to panic, have a breakdown episode.
That's when Ty Lee shows up with Suki's nightly herbal remedy. She can immediately tell, when Suki answers the door, that Azula's old aura is back, and her panicked expression gives the game away. Suki gets angry, accuses her of being her jailer, and attacks with Firebending (but not up to her old strength, because the brainwashing has messed up her style and combat instincts). A fight ensues, and Suki wins, burning Ty Lee. The other Kyoshi Warriors arrive, the Firebending have drawn attention in the night sky, and Suki flees. Ozai attempts to as well, but is subdued by the Warriors and captured. (Killed?) The Kyoshi Warriors try to find Suki, but she evades them and escapes to the mainland, via a smuggler and his sons and daughter. The kids are Firebenders, and Azula realizes that she doesn't remember any of her old moves.
Feeling betrayed, she decides that Suki never existed, and that it's time for Azula to pursue her own life and happiness. (She's going by her own memories of Azula, which don't necessarily match the truth of the matter. The cartoon events are more or less the revised history meant to go with the creation of the "Suki" identity, but the truth was that Azula was less of a monster, hence her chance for redemption here. She did terrible things, but Ozai pushed her to do them, and she made the choice to do some merciful things, too. Doctors theorized that creating a separate identity could be the key to curing her mental afflictions, and so all the good was excised from Suki's memories of Azula's life and attributed to Suki instead. The Dai Li brainwasher only got the details of what he needed to do based on this, and so doesn't know that the gAang aren't just turning her into their own little doll.)
When Sokka gets the news, he begins seeking her in turn. Of course, he isn't the only one. The full gAang+ are on the case. They all descend on Iroh's teashop to discuss what to do. Iroh stays out of the discussion, for the most part. Mai is leading the faction that considers the Suki Experiment a failure, and advocates taking her down hard. Ty Lee is reluctantly on the same side, Toph not so reluctantly. Aang never liked the Suki Experiment in the first place, so he's on this side as well, although advocating recapturing Azula and locking her up. Katara is leading the side for retrying the experiment or getting her some other kind of therapy, with Zuko and Sokka supporting her. The only problem is that the Dai Li doctor has gone missing (Ozai got him!), and they don't have any other ideas or options.
Meanwhile, Azula tracks down her mother's grave. She tries to remember her, and the feelings associated with her, but it's all confused in her head, and she finds she can't trust them. She gets upset that she's not even the real Azula, she's a watered down version, and decides that she needs a challenge to get back on her game. It's what the real Azula would have done, after all, based on her memories. (These memories are pretty much the Evil Azula created by the separation of the Suki persona.)
In Ba Sing Se, Azula has come looking for the man who arranged Ozai's release and informed him of Azula's fate- Long Feng! The former Dai Li admin had gone into hiding, and has emerged and returned to Ba Sing Se to enact a daring plan to make the best of Azula's return. (In truth, Long Feng knows that the real Azula has been hopelessly corrupted. He hopes to use her intelligence and reputation to make her into a figurehead, while he controls this more docile version of his old rival.) He encourages her to announce her return, and get revenge against those who wronged her, with a daring display- assassinating the Earth King! She reluctantly agrees, although she doesn't entirely trust Long Feng, and begins making plans.
When she infiltrates the palace, though, she sneaks into the Earth King's chambers, and requests sanctuary and an alliance. He freaks out, and calls the guards down on her.
-UPDATE- Or, scratch the last two paragraphs, and see what I do with another idea I had. If Long Feng is masterminding everything, why wouldn't he have access to all the data about Azula used to turn her into Suki? Perhaps he can make his own faux-Azula's, all inferior to the real thing by a longshot of course, and that's what Azula finds when she gets to Ba Sing Se. But, aside from knowing that she's going to kill them all at some point, what do I do with that?
Azula lands on the Earth Kingdom coast, and is met by a Copy-Azula. Long Feng was expecting her, and sent a green-eyed copy to meet her and bring her to his hideout. Long Feng has been using the copies to create chaos across the colonies. He's been sending each one into a trouble spot to disrupt things in Azula's uniquely intelligent and effective way. He wants to send the real Azula to Ba Sing Se. Long Feng offers Suki-Azula all her old memories back, and gives her a preliminary "treatment" before she is dispatched to the Impenetrable City. Azula thinks she is playing Long Feng, and decides that her best chance at double-crossing him is to meet with the Earth King and offer a deal: Long Feng, in exchange for all his brainwashing tech and info, as well as the means to get her old personality restored.
Azula infiltrates Ba Sing Se with the fake passport that Long Feng gave her. She seeks out Jin as her guide, because both Suki and Azula know only the Upper Ring. When she meets Jin, she asks if Jin sees the resemblance, then covers her eye, pinches her expression, and says in a deep voice, "When I was with the circus, I used to juggle!" (She heard the tale from Sokka and Ty Lee.) Jin finds Azula a place to stay and lets her know where to eat and such, and gives her the latest news. When Azula is ready, she has Jin guide her to the Upper Ring.
She infiltrates the Earth King's palace, and Kuei's personal chambers. Once she sees him, though, she is compelled to kill him. Long Feng had added a hypnotic suggestion when Azula got her first "treatment," which both put the suggestion in her head that she should meet with the Earth King, and then compelled her to kill him. It also tries to force her to commit suicide.
Azula has a metaphysical fight with herself, and manages to keep herself from killing herself. She emerges from that mental-plane as an Azula-Suki fusion. Let's now call her Azuki.
Azuki escapes the palace, and makes her way back to Jin. She is racked with guilt, and Jin gives her a talk about letting the past go and living for the future.
Long Feng, meanwhile, appears in the colonies, peddling order and sovereignty. As he tries to take control of the colony from "The Promise," Azuki arrives with the gAang hot on her heals. There's a confrontation, Azuki kills Long Feng and most or all of her copies. She has a standoff with the gAang, but Sokka talks her down and reveals that the real Azula wasn't irredeemable, just damaged, so that's why they made "Suki." Azuki gives herself up. Publicly, one of the Copy-Azulas is blamed for the Earth King's death. The real one is given a new identity on Ember Island, in Li and Lo's care, where she's visited by Sokka.
I’m not feeling that. Alternatively...
During the big confrontation with Long Feng, Sokka meets up with Azula and reminds her of all the good things about her, like when she protected the Kyoshi Warriors, fought with Long Feng to keep their coup bloodless instead of killing the King and Council of Five, when she forgave Mai and Ty Lee their lives. Azula realizes that she isn't the monster she thought, but is mad that all those memories are gone. The gang killed that person, all the good and bad about her and replaced her with a lie. Then she goes to kill Long Feng and fake her death. Half a year later, Sokka gets a message and follows it to a remote Fire Nation island, where a young woman of extraordinary Firebending ability has is a rising voice in local politics and teaches self-defense.
The End!
-UPDATE DURING WRITING PHASE- So Azula wants to disrupt Long Feng's plans, steal his organization for herself (or at least the public part that is pushing for freedom in the colonies), and save the fake Azula's. The latter is actually her first priority, so she starts by returning to the colonies.
She confronts Toru, and forgives him unconditionally. Then she asks for his help in hurting Long Feng. He reveals who his contact was, a former Dai Li who had contacted Toru out of the blue and conveyed Long Feng's instructions and intimidation tactics. Azula, Meisai, and the Rough Rhinos go after this guy, and find him serving in a similar capacity to Shingyung in one of the colony cities. This city is a newer one, with lots of Earth Kingdom culture yet, and it's basically the Gaoling of the West, with lots of money and sprawling estates. The Dai Li guy is organizing loans and investments to industrial businesses all around the colonies. He's also running several "terrorist" cells, each led by a fake Azula. He's still waiting for their arrival when the real Azula shows up and demands information. The Rough Rhinos play bad cop and Azula plays good cop? She gets the information, meets up with the fake Azula's in the Dai Li's stead and tries to break their programming, but she's unsuccessful and they eventually have to take the girls captive and hide them on the Hidden Gem. (Although, Azula is savvy enough that she manages to keep them from stabbing themselves per their suicide programming.)
From there, they use the Dai Li guy's written timetables to intercept another attack on a refugee convoy to be led by another of the Azula's. Azula recruits the "terrorists" who had been following the two fake Azula's and consolidate them into an army. They join up with the refugee convoy, and spring their trap when the third fake Azula. Azula knows that the truth didn't help the other two, so she pretends to be a fake herself, and tells the other Azula that there's a conspiracy to exploit her yadda yadda, and gets the location of Dong Min!
Dong Min is holed up a cave in Cave Country, guarded by Earthbender and Firebender minions of Long Feng. There are also several fake Azula's on hand receiving programming. Azula leads an assault on the place with her growing army, and successfully captures the base and Dong Min. She and Dong Min have a long chat, in which she convinces him to surrender. He reveals all the locations of the reprogrammed Azula's, as well as the control phrases for putting them into a passive state (although they'll need extensive therapy like the Joo Dees to completely undo the programming and allow them to live normal lives).
Then he and Azula have a long chat about her, seguing from the admission that the old identities of the fake Azula's are lost forever to the revelation that Azula herself has lost her old life and no amount of therapy can get it back. Dong Min also reveals Sokka's true part in things. In the end, Azula notes that Dong Min is guilty of treason against the Earth King and directly aided in his assassination. He couldn't hide from Long Feng, before. The Avatar will scour the Earth for him now. Dong Min has nothing but execution or a life in jail to look forward to, at best, or reprisal or recapture from Long Feng at worst. The knowledge in his head makes him to dangerous to be allowed to go free. Dong Min thinks that Azula is going to kill him, but then she reveals that she's actually offering him the option of a painless suicide. After some dithering, he accepts, but first he warns Azula that Shingyung is after her with June's Shirshu.
Azula sets the trap for Shingyung. She sends her army to recover the fake Azulas, with one member of the Rough Rhinos commanding each division and armed with the Dai Li control phrases. She and Meisai head to Yang City alone to fight Shingyung.
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emletish-fish · 6 years ago
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Worst Prisoner Chapter 6 Notes
Ao3   
FF.net
Lovely readers!
one million thanks to Boogum for the beta!
Thanks so much for sticking with it, and a huge enormous thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who reviews and comments. Your feedback keeps me writing! Since this chapter is huge, I'll keep my rambles short.
Today I will ramble about
Sokka and leadership.
Aang and the grieving process.  
Iroh's parenting style.
My Two favourite drama llamas and their ‘forbidden love’.
The main events of Bato of the water tribe, Aang stealing the map, ice-dodging and Sokka and Katara temporarily leaving would still go the same way, because there is some great character development for Aang and Sokka there. I've just written about what would be different.
Sokka,  I love that kid. Bless him, I think he is great. This episode does deal with how he sees leadership and what it means to be a man. Sokka does idolise the warrior culture and is very keen to be seen as a manly, manly Water Tribe warrior man. While Katara is often painted as Team Mum, I would argue that Sokka is definitely the team leader. Zuko will eventually become to the team dad, but even he is just following Sokka's ideas and plans at this stage.  In fact, I'd say Zuko will generally follow Sokka's lead. Look at Boiling Rock, it's mostly Sokka doing all the plans and Zuko being his ride-or-die buddy, and offering unconditional support.
The thing about leadership and feeling responsible is that it can be tough and lonely. Sokka's 16 and still trying to figure out how to be the leader at this stage. He would especially not be too confident in his decisions here, given how everything had turned out recently. He is more that willing to hand leadership over to an older male from his tribe, who he knows, trusts and respects. And in all honesty, Bato's not wrong that it is much safer for everyone to split up now.  
The Gaang would no longer be attracting even more attention from the Fire Nation, and the abbey is theoretically much safer for Zuko than been dragged through the forest by them. Everyone knows Zuko hasn't had the best luck with them so far on the remaining uninjured front. Neither Sokka or Katara are happy with this arrangement, but I also couldn't see either of them directly rebelling against Bato, who they respect and love.  
Bato  is exactly like Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. “You put that thing back where it came from or so help me!”
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 Bato was never going to be happy to see Zuko in this scenario. Sorry to everyone who wanted Zuko to go ice-dodging. I just couldn't see Bato, who strikes me as someone who would be very protective of his best friend's kids, being too happy with them travelling/kidnapping the prince of the Fire Nation or wanting to initiate a firebender into Water Tribe customs. The prejudice against the Fire-Nation is (justifiably) deep in the SWT.  This is also why he doesn't refer to Zuko by name either, as that would humanise him. In Bato's mind, all fire benders are bad.
Aang, and the grieving process: I love Aang as a character in season one and two, even some of season 3, but his characterisation gets unceremoniously shoved under the bus by Bryke's favouritism and their desire to force Kataang, and it has led to a great deal of backlash against the lil muffin. A great deal has been written about the Katara side of the fallout, but I say poor Aang deserved better, too.  
@marsreds
Marsreds on Tumblr had some lovely metas all about how Aang deserved better that I agree with. One of her points is that the Kataang relationship, which is stated in canon to be Aang transferring the love of his whole people into an unhealthy attachment to Katara as a coping mechanism, is pretty much a band-aid over the massive wound that is Aang's grief.  I agree with this 100%, and it is one of the huge reasons why their dynamic is so unhealthy, because Katara can never make up for an entire people by herself.
Aang doesn't really go through the recognised grieving process; denial, bargaining, anger, depression, acceptance, during the show. I am not saying that I wanted the show to become bogged down in it or for Aang to become a maudlin character. His optimism and joy are some of the best things about him. However, I do think Aang's recovery should have happened.
I would say he seems stuck in denial, and bargaining in the show. Swapping the love he felt from a whole people into the maternal care he gets from one person and becoming dependant on that relationship reeks of an unhealthy bargaining coping mechanism. So this chapter, I had him acknowledge to himself that he really does miss his old life, his old friends and the way the world used to be.  
Do you ever just think about how many shenanigans Zuko got into, and then consider the fact that Iroh 100% knew and let him go off anyway?  Iroh really only calls him out on the stealing and trying to bring Appa back to their tiny apartment in Ba Sing Se.  Other than that, Iroh's cool with it. This would have been a big wake-up call for him.  
He has a very laissez-faire style to parenting/mentoring Zuko. He lets Zuko go off and make his own mistakes then helps him pick up the pieces, and offers wisdom after the fact.  This approach was probably good early on, given how emotionally damaged Zuko was. He would not have responded well to his Uncle being an over-bearing parental type in the early days of the Wani, especially when he was trying be all grown up in front of the men, (a lil baby captain).  However, they have just fallen into this pattern of Zuko doing really dangerous stuff and Iroh never pulling him back.
Zuko and Katara's biggest obstacle is not some dark n' edgy bullshit (because they actually are very similar people who are compatible in many ways). It is the fact that they have been  born and raised on the opposite side of a 100 year war and are meant to see each other as the enemy!
The respective cultures/nations will not be happy with their relationship/connection at all. Members of the SWT would not be happy seeing Katara, their last waterbender, with someone from the Fire Nation. Not to mention the overt colonisation and disdain of other races by the Fire Nation! It's Romeo and Juliet, or Oma and Shu level stuff. Two lovers, forbidden from one and another, a war divides their people ...like c'mon. Who else is it meant to be? Oma and Shu is a metaphor for their love! It epic level stuff.
I don't love the comics because of how they trash my lil muffins. However, I vaguely recall one where they tried to bring this aspect into K@taang.  Aang had to choose between Katara and his duty to the world, and Katara was just going to..not have a vote in the relationship, I guess. See Bryke know how powerful and romantic a theme the whole forbidden lovers thing is, but it does not apply at all to the canon ships. It just makes it look like Aang makes all the decisions in the relationship.
Next chapter we will meet Jeong Jeong and other deserters, Katara will discover a new skill, Zuko will discover a new idea, Aang will make a friend and Sokka will be taken to an all you can eat meat restaurant.
Til then.  
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loopy777 · 5 years ago
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‘Traitor’s Face’ Planning Doc 5
Outline for Act 3.
Episode 1: the dream master * aang and zuko meet with iroh by drinking tea that puts them in a hallucinatory sleep, where they connect with iroh in his little dream-meadow in the dream/spirit world (they see pakku just finishing a meeting with iroh). They hash out their plan: zuko will bring aang to the fire nation to begin the process of surrender. * off-screen: zhao takes long feng captive, kills the dai li, and confiscates their evil library, all on iroh's orders (conveyed by pakku, who met with iroh in the spirit world). * pakku meets with katara and offers to train her.
Katara subplot: katara trains with pakku, but he eventually manages to show her enough evidence of iroh's shennaigans that she heads off to investigate his secret base in the northern air temple. Ty lee, who stowed away to watch over katara, accompanies her. Jet appoints himself as their protector, because he wants to know the link between iroh and the white lotus (who run the blue spirits), and is generally a creep. * first subplot is katara's rivalry with kinto. He's a jerk, and maybe sexist? Anyway, he uses his stomach-bending and katara has to break out the bloodbending to defeat him, maybe kill him. * pakku has to declare katara persona-non-grata for bloodbending, but he sees this as an opportunity, and 'exiles' her but really sends her on a quest to find iroh's secret base in the northern earth kingdom, where zhao sent long feng and the dai li's evil library. * they get to the northern air temple and discover that iroh's base isn't in the temple itself. The mechanist is working (under duress) with stolen platinum resources (the piracy from previous acts) to essentially do ghostbusters research for iroh. The temple is now a containment site, containing all the weird relics and stuff that iroh has been accumulating, and it's dangerous for anyone who doesn't wear a platinum protection suit. Katara and ty lee need to go in there to discover something. * long feng is a prisoner here. * jet dies. Good riddance. I think he should be corrupted and turned into a monster and katara has to take him out. * it gets pretty shippy between katara and ty lee. Maybe they kiss?!
Episode 2: homecoming * zuko returns the fire nation with the gaang in tow, to the island of chung-ling (island where hira'a is). He is welcomed by lord zhao (ozai's agent), who is taking them to meet with various outer island lords. They don't like the loss of power, prestige, and honor by the city-as-clan system, and they're freaked out by the new north-korea-style azulon-worship that's being forced on the civilian populace by li and lo (in azulon's name) to prevent rebellions and coup. They see the avatar as a legitimate way to restore the fire nation to something more than a cult to the fire lord. * lord zhao arranges to show aang and zuko the people being forced to keep a portrait of azulon clean, and other such oppressions. Then he offers ozai's aid to aang, as ozai is against all this stuff. * zuko continues to wonder at his father's character. * one of the weapons of the fire nation is present, probably the old lady in the blindfold. * kei lo and ruon jian are introduced to the gaang. One is the final weapon, whose speciality is infiltration, and the other is a red herring. Both are hitting on mai, to aang's consternation. Ruon jian is a military representative, while kei lo is a civilian representative, so both get to hang around all the time.
Episode 3: homecoming 2: home harder * in order to win the support of some of the nobles who doubt aang's strength and resolve, aang and mai do a fire dance with burning blades at a ball (agni budokai): https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=ccnyhprezk8 - https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=kajv6l8vf-y * zuko visits hira'a, and finds that it and the forest around it have completely burned down.
Episode 4: the firebending masters * zuko and aang go to the sun warriors to get their support, having identified them as being the only ones with the authority to counter azullon's north-korea-style propaganda. * the masters are sick and dying due to the poisoning of the world. Aang heals the dragons with zuko's help. * zuko and aang start a friendship but have a rivalry over mai.
Episode 5: the armory * a convocation of weapons is called, where mai needs to make an accounting of herself. Li and lo oversee it, being azulon's keepers. This takes place at a lava castle! * ty lee is off with katara, so she's still pretending to be dead. Lucky her. If she's even luckier, I'll make the shippping explicit.
Episode 6: the way of the flame * aang meets with fire sages * ozai does stuff in the capital and kirai returns
Episode 7: ember island * swimsuits and murder * the hidden weapon makes his move; li and lo have determined that aang and mai are in ozai's camp and a coup is imminent, so they order the hidden weapon to assassiate them. * the weapon gets mai alone, in a swimsuit that couldn't possibly have a hidden weapon in it, for a make-out session, and then tries to knife her, but she knew it was a trap all along, and produces an improbably hidden knife to stab the guy. She acknowledges that it's her first deliberate murder. * the gaang gets word of li and lo initiating a crackdown in azulon's name. * zhao defects, produces evidence of ozai's alliance with aang, and li and lo act to place ozai under house arrest, take piandao from him, try to arrest azula (she gets away), and put out a hit on zuko. * katara and ty lee show up
Episode 8: the war of the weapons * the weapons are deployed against each other: piandao for ozai, seeking to eliminate all the other weapons, mai and ty lee for aang, most of the weapons for azulon, and one for iroh. They fight across the capital and destroy whole neighborhoods (thanks, combustion man) while the citizens flee. Mai uses a bow and arrow, from her lessons with longshot, to increase her capabilities. * meanwhile, it turns out that ozai was ready for this. He uses the war of the weapons, and aang's intervention, to kill azulon and take the crown. * the only weapons who survive are piandao and mai. Piandao rejoins ozai. Azula confronts mai, intending to kill her.
Episode 9: the fall of the house of fire * piandao decides to betray his masters and stabs azula to save mai. * the capital unites against ozai (including the sun warriors and the fire sages). Zuko leads the rebellion, convinced of ozai's evilness. * ozai finds out about azula's stabbing, believing it to be fatal (it's not; maybe katara heals her for some reason?) and gets fake news that zuko is dead. Assaulted on all sides and beliving 'his' children to be dead, 'he' locks himself in a suitably dramatic room and drinks poisoned wine. * zuko arrives to find his 'father' dying. Except 'ozai' removes his 'face' which turns out to be a magic mask, and in truth it was ursa all along. * ursa, as she dies, reveals that when she heard of zuko's banishment, she asked for the means to destroy those who harmed her child, and got the ozai mask. She used it to infiltrate the capital, kill ozai (he suffered a lot), and take ozai's place * "Everything I've done, I've done to protect you." * ursa dies. * azula.Exe has stopped working * the sun warrior chief * the crown has to go to iroh * zuko is declared a criminal
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loopy777 · 5 years ago
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‘Traitor’s Face’ Planning Doc 3
Another revision of the outline, fleshing out the rest of Act 1, with summaries of the other acts. Contains spoilers through Act 4.
UPDATED: Info on Act 5 and the Epilogue, originally REDACTED, has been restored.
How Aang affects Mai: He teaches her how to be good and care. How Aang affects Sokka: Gives him hope. How Mai affects Aang: Breaks his heart and grows him up. How Mai affects Sokka: Teaches him that the world isn't black and white. How Sokka affects Aang: Teaches her how to value family. How Sokka affects Mai: Teaches her how to mix her natural cynicism and practicality with Aang's teachings.
** Chapter 0 ** Kuruk's Folly
THE SEARCH FOR KATARA Chapter 1 Mai's family is on their way to the Southern Mining Settlement, when they crash into Aang's iceberg. Mai is there when he awakens, and Aang immediately falls in love with her. They banter before Mai realizes that Aang is an Airbender, but by then her father arrives and- realizing that Aang must be the Avatar- offers to take Aang with them so that he can recover. Mai realizes that her father is up to something, and thinks that this is perhaps something she should report to Azula.
Cut to the Settlement, where Sokka is introduced; he has just finished the work on a platinum knife that is delivered to Zhao to be presented as a gift to Mai (there's a spoon for Tom-Tom, a comb for Mother, and a scepter for Father). For his good work, Sokka is given an extra Food Token. He heads home and meets with Gran-Gran, who we see takes care of a group of abandoned half-fire children, and Sokka's extra meal tokens go towards feeding them. It's established what happened to the rest of the family, and Sokka's desire to Do Something, and that he's saving a present for Katara if/when he ever sees her, a water skin. Bato is there as well.
Sokka goes to observe the arrival of Mai's ship. Zhao greets Mai's family, while Aang is snuck off the ship to be hidden in the mansion; Father doesn't want Zhao stealing his credit. Sokka observes Aang being taken off the ship and imprisoned in the mansion, and gets Ideas. During this, Mai's Father lets something slip, and Mai realizes that Aang is the Avatar.
Mai toys with what to do with this knowledge, since Zuko is banished until he can find the Avatar. He's been out of contact for a while, though, so she decides to contact Azula.
Chapter 2 Azula meets with Ozai. He gives her something of Zuko's with his scent on it, and orders his servant Piandao to introduce Azula to June.
Mai get's Azula reply, that she's to free Aang, travel with him, and send a coded message back to Azula to arrange an ambush. The note is explicit that Mai is authorized to do whatever it takes to fulfill this mission, even if it involves working against Fire Nation interests or killing Fire Nation soldiers.
Sokka tells Gran-Gran that he's going to free the Avatar and leave the South Pole; they say goodbye. Sokka and Bato plan how to get Aang out of there, and the half-Fire kids volunteer to help.
Okay, Sokka causes an incident at the mines. Governor dispatches staff to deal with it. During the chaos, Sokka grabs a uniform and sneaks into the mansion to save Aang. Except Mai has already freed him, so Sokka bumps into them during their breakout and thanks to mistaken identity (Mai is a Fire girl with knives, Sokka is wearing a staff uniform for the mansion) he and Mai fight, but then they realize they're trying to do the same thing. (OR SHOULD SOKKA BE THE ONE TO GET TO AANG FIRST, AND HE'S THE ONE WHO TELL AANG ABOUT THE WAR BEING OVER AND BA SING SE BURNT TO THE GROUND.) They all get out, but Zhao shows up, having found out that the Governor is hiding something from him. Zhao arrests all three, but it turns out this is part of Sokka's plan, as he's the one who tipped off Zhao. After they've been taken to the Navy base, Bato does the Spirit appearance (he's a tug driver, so he has access to the base), scaring everyone. Aang and company make a break for it, and Aang leaves on the ship that Sokka steals, realizes Sokka is going to leave Appa behind, and flies back to go get him, dumbfounding Sokka and Mai. Sokka tries to turn around, and that's how Zhao's ship gets him, it crashes into him. Appa jumps on the sinking ship and takes on Sokka and Mai.
Azula and Piandao meet with June. June messes with Azula, and then they all set off to find Zuko.
Chapter 3 Sokka wakes up after dreaming about the death of his parents and Katara's kidnapping. He comes out sleep sobbing, and realizing that he can't stop, he runs into the nearby woods to hide it. Before he finishes, he looks over and sees Mai passing by. She looks at him, and then walks away without a word. Later, after Sokka has rejoined the group, Mai pretends that she didn't see anything and greets him as they she's seeing him for the first time that morning.
After breakfast, they all practice their fighting styles. While Aang practices his Airbending, Sokka and Mai are sparring. Sokka has little-to-no fighting experience, as Tribals weren't allowed to have weapons, so he's been on her to show him a few tricks. Mai is aware that she probably shouldn't, according to her upbringing, but it amuses her, so she's indulging. The trio get to talking, and it comes out that they should start making plans. Sokka wants to go find Katara, Mai is trying to figure out how to lead people into a trap, and Aang is all conflicted about the state of the world and how badly he screwed up. He promises to help Sokka. They ask Mai where Katara would be, but she doesn't know. She tells them about the prisoner processing center on Kyoshi Island, and realizes she can use that to send a message to Azula about where they can trap Aang. They check it out on Sokka's map, and Aang realizes that the Southern Air Temple is on the way. Sokka is put out by this, and Mai has no desire to go, but Aang is insistent. They reach the Southern Air Temple by late afternoon. They do the looking around thing, but it feels weird to Aang; contrast his enthusiastic reaction in the cartoon, here he has a bad feeling and senses a disturbance in the Force.
Azula and company find Zuko. He's living like a hobo and only has one eye. Azula reveals her plan: the Avatar has returned, Mai is going to set him up, and Zuko has to get ready to catch him. June is going to teach him how to bring in a bounty, while Azula and Piandao are going to get him in fighting shape. Zuko asks after Iroh, and Azula drops hints for the reader.
Night falls, and the ghosts show up. Sokka and Aang can't fight them, but Mai finds out that her platinum knife can hurt them. Appa is taken by the ghosts, and Aang is forced to go into the Avatar State and banish the ghosts, destroying their souls. Momo shows up here and helps the gAang in some way.
Chapter 4 The gAang comes to Kyoshi Island, guided by Mai to the Prisoner Processing Center. They're all wanted, of course, so they disguise themselves with Mai's expertise and infiltrate the town around the base. They find that the Processing Center is very high security, and also that Zhao is on the island looking for them. They don't know what to do, but before they can leave the town and start making plans, Aang gets caught by some local soldiers. The day is saved when the local rebels- a ragtag bunch known as the Unagi Resistance- arrive and take out the soldiers, destroying all the evidence. The gAang teams up with the rebels (including Suki!), to stage a distraction that will draw Zhao's troops away while the gAang sneak into the base. (Sokka and Suki have some mutual attraction, and Sokka asks Mai if she thinks Suki likes him, because he figures that girls can tell that sort of thing about each other. Humor and bonding!)
Mai takes the opportunity, after they find out that the Waterbenders are sent to Crescent Island, to send a telegraph to Azula revealing the gAang's ultimate destination. Meanwhile, Zhao finds out about it (Suki tips him off), and confronts Mai coming out. He realizes she's working for the Royal Family, and accuses her of working with the Fire Lord to undermine him. Mai pins him to a wall and escapes.
Mai meets up with the rest, and they step outside to find out that the Unagi's have put chum in the water and roused the Unagi itself. Aang and company defeat it, and leave. Then Zhao swoops in and takes out the rebels, and Suki is revealed as an informant. Turns out she's a Kyoshi patriot who has been helping the Fire Nation in order to buy her people's safety (another case of too much attachment, story themes for the win!), and Zhao makes her leave the island and help him get Aang or else he'll clamp down on Kyoshi Island and ship them all to the South Pole mines.
Chapter 5 Zuko adventure with June, and subplot with Aang, Mai, and Sokka. Zuko and June are traveling through the Earth Kingdom, on the way to a Fire Nation military base, and come across what June and Zuko recognize as a battlesite. (The place where Zuko slandered his father's command and was challenged to an Agni Kai.) June is already familiar with the ghosts popping up in the wake of Sozin's Comet, and wants to go around lest they encounter the living dead. Zuko and Azula are skeptical, but June puts her foot down, and she's the one driving. They encounter a village nearby, and after confirming that the battlesite is haunted, it comes out that a kid has gotten lost in there. (Stupid kid.) Zuko, roused for the first time by the prospect getting the Avatar and going home, wants to help, but Azula points out the stupidity of risking his life when victory is in their grasp. June backs her up at first, but when Zuko points out that he'll never be able to save fight anyone without real experience, switches her support to Zuko. Gracelessly, Azula backs down and heads to a Fire Nation base to check for messages from Mai. Zuko expects June to go with him, but she resolves to drink away the chance that Zuko will die and she'll lose her commission, so he heads out alone. He's joined in the Ghostland by Not Mai- a spirit borrowing Mai's face and taking her voice, appearance, and mannerisms- a trickster mentor. In between flashbacks to his confrontation with Ozai, Zuko beats the ghost haunting the place and saves the kid, but it turns out that none of it was real. He goes back to find June passed out drunk in the middle of the ruins of a town that's been gone for decades.
Meanwhile, Mai is sick of living in the great outdoors and has the gAang stop for a night at the spa place from 'The Avatar State.' She pretends to be Ty Lee and enjoys a nice bed'n'breakfast. The gAang talk a bit, Mai explains what a "Weapon of the Fire Nation" is, and generally bond while filling in some of the backstory that's being revealed in Zuko's segment. *Also, Aang notices that Momo is missing and gets into hijinks looking for him. References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakeneko http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angra_Mainyu
Chapter 6 Opening scene: the gAang are in a market, and a vendor is trying to sell Aang a new pet. Mai puts the kibosh on it.
The gAang is making their way to Crescent Island, but in order for Appa to get there, they need to take off from someplace close to it in the Earth Kingdom (passing over the sea known as 'the Crucible' in the process), but the Fire Nation is aware of Aang's return now, and Zhao specifically has figured out that they're heading towards Crescent Island. The military presence is such that the gAang can't safely fly Appa where they need to go. They run into a Fire Nation force and make a running retreat, when they're saved by a masked rebel who takes them back to his group's base.
The Blue Spirits are revealed to be vigilante guardians of individual towns, and this one leads Aang to a rebel group willing to help get the gAang on their way; they'll smuggle them through the Fire Nation colonies, and then launch Appa from a boat in the Crucible. Haru is a member; his dad was killed on the day of Sozin's Comet, even though he didn't fight back, so Haru was inspired to take up arms. During the operation, the Blue Spirit (actually one of several operatives using the identity of a folk hero, but this is the one who saved the gAang, later to be revealed as Jet) discovers that Mai has a code wheel that lets her communicate with the Royal Family. He wants her to hand it over, but Mai- being secretly loyal to Azula- refuses. They have a tussle while the ship is attacked by Zhao's forces, leading to the gAang making a hasty getaway. Jet is revealed to be this Blue Spirit.
Meanwhile, Zhao begins to suspect that there are great- more *Royal*- forces interfering with his mission to capture the Avatar. (Really Ursa/Ozai trying to aid Zuko.)
Chapter 7 The gAang has reached Crescent Island and the prison there. Sokka establishes that he'll be parting ways with the group once he finds Katara, because he expects her to need peace and rest, and he's going to stick with her. He wishes Aang good luck and hopes they meet again, but doesn't expect to actually be part of Aang's continued campaign against the Fire Nation.
Meanwhile, Zuko is waiting in ambush, hidden for now. Azula plans to run interference for him, while June has fulfilled her contract and has gone her own way.
The gAang discover that the prison is all underground, in the caverns created by Roku. The lava flows are used to dehydrate the air, making it a natural bane for the Waterbenders imprisoned there. The gAang has a surprisingly easy time of sneaking in, only to have the heavy end of the hammer dropped on them. Sokka gets separated from the rest as Zuko attacks Aang, and goes off searching for Katara and the Waterbenders. Mai teams up with Zuko, but Aang manages to dodge defeat and capture despite his shock and sorrow. There's a tense chase through the old temple complex where Aang hides and uses echoes to beseech Mai to help him.
Chapter 8 Mai is torn about betraying Aang, and realizes that he's actually going to die if he's brought back to the Fire Nation. She finds that she's grown human empathy, and cannot betray her friend like that. Meanwhile, Sokka goes on hijinks and eventually finds the Waterbenders. Among them are Katara and Hama. Sokka frees them all somehow- ooh, maybe he's been carting around a barrel of water or something, and breaks it open for all the Waterbenders to use, plus all this time he's been carrying a waterskin that Gran-Gran made filled with Southern Seas water for Katara- and then first thinks that he needs to get them all out while Aang plays rearguard.
Meanwhile, Zhao arrives. He attempts to move his forces onto the island in pursuit of the Avatar, but Azula blocks him. Zhao puts two and two together and realizes that she and Ozai are trying to aid Zuko. He can't get around Azula without disobeying royalty, but he finds an excuse to commence bombardment with his full fleet. (Perhaps he even sends a warning that he knows will be inadequate, so that Azula can get away but not Zuko and the others.) He aims at the old temple above the prison, as he's realized that's where Aang and Zuko are.
Aang is still dodging Zuko and Mai when the temple takes a hit from Zhao's bombardment. There's a running fight between Zuko and Aang where Zuko uses the fire to great effect, nearly defeating Aang. Then an especially explosive hit lands in the temple, collapsing a floor under them all, or causing a lava geyser or something. Zuko and Mai nearly die, but Aang saves them.
Sokka leads the Waterbenders out of the prison, and once they get outside, they have access to a beach and unlimited water. They start to absolutely dominate the prison staff, and they signal for Zhao's help.
Now having an excuse, Zhao leads his troops all over the island. He's less concerned about the Waterbenders, though, and personally heads up to the temple.
The Waterbenders seize one of Zhao's landing craft, and are going to leave, but Sokka realizes that he needs to make sure that Aang and Mai are okay. He says goodbye to Katara and is about to go back, but she decides that she's going with him. Together, they head out.
Mai realizes that she's picked the in-denial jerk over Aang, and when they all land safely, she stops Zuko from attacking further. (She pins Zuko, or takes a hit meant for Aang, or something.) Aang saves her, and they both get away, only to run into Zhao's main force. It looks like they'll have the fight of their lives, but then Sokka and Katara show up on Appa, and the new larger gAang gets away.
Zhao is upset at losing Aang, but finds Zuko, still pinned to the wall where Mai left him. He arrests Zuko for breaking the terms of his banishment, and takes him the brig on his flagship. Azula tries to intervene, but now she's the one hampered by red tape. Zuko ends up in a cell next to Suki.
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Sokka introduces Katara to his friends, and asks what happened. Aang is going to lie for Mai, but she admits to being a traitor. Harsh words are had, and while both Sokka and Katara hate Mai now (Katara is racist, while Sokka is more smarting from the personal betrayal), Aang sticks by her, and they agree to let her stay on the team.
Zuko has failed and been betrayed by Mai. He realizes how much he's changed, that she was horrified by his actions. It makes him doubt himself, but he refuses to give up. He needs to figure himself out, and decide his own fate. To do that, he needs to get out of jail. He does a jail break, and in the process finds Suki and helps her escape, too, once he hears her story and realizes the parallels in his own situation. Together they escape and jump onto Azula's passing ship, and she smirks at Zhao as they sail away.
RISE OF THE SPIRITS The gAang wanders the Earth Kingdom, helping Katara and learning about the Spirit uprisings, while Mai is slowly accepted once again. Aang seeks to contact the past Avatars to get their perspective on the spirit monsters.  Meanwhile, Zuko isn't so sure about capturing the Avatar, but Azula has her marching orders and is disgusted at both Mai's betrayal and Zuko's reaction. Zuko also insists on keeping Suki around, and they grow closer. It turns out that Katara is in no condition to go adventuring, and take Ty Lee (now a hippy studying with neo-Airbenders) into their party to help care for her until they can get her to some healers. Eventually, they makes contact with the Earth Rebellion- Long Feng, the Earth King, and Toph. (Plus assorted others.) They help him make contact with the past Avatars, and he is able to cleanse some of the land of Spirit problems, and also has the power to summon them again. In the process, the Rebellion is nearly found and defeated by the Fire Nation, but they're saved by Iroh's assistance. Zuko, Azula, and Suki are captured. Zhao escapes and heads back to the Fire Nation with news of Iroh's treachery?
Katara: http://www.professional-counselling.com/nervousbreakdown_panic_attack.html#.U7YZhPldWBY
FALL OF THE HOUSE OF FIRE Iroh makes contact with the gAang and proposes to help them take down the Fire Nation in exchange for calling in Koh's Boon. He gives them a plan for destabilizing the Fire Nation, by sending them to the Fire Nation. Their plan is to show the Spiritual power of the Avatar, either by bringing spirits to attack the Fire Nation (military targets only) or solving Spirit problems there for the people. Katara urges Sokka to go with Aang while she heals in the Earth Kingdom, because she doesn't trust Iroh and Mai and wants Sokka to look out for Aang.
HOW ABOUT AANG FIGHTS AGNI KAI DUELS FOR A SHOT AT THE FIRE LORD IN AN HOMAGE TO THE ROCKY MOVIES? MEH.
The gAang (with Ty Lee) goes to a Fire Sage temple where an artifact of the Sun Warriors is being kept. The artifact is causing Spirit trouble, and Aang is to solve the problem, get the artifact for the Sun Warriors, and get the locals on his side. It turns out that Iroh was the one who plundered the artifact, and the gAang is clued in that Iroh may have an unhealthy interest in Spirit stuff.
Zuko, Azula, and Suki are in Iroh's custody, and understand that he's committing treason. Iroh lets them escape, because he knows that they'll add to the pressure cooker over in the Fire Nation. Why is Suki staying with them at this point? For Zuko?
Azulon hears of the work the Avatar is doing, and invites Aang to offer a truce? It would keep Zuko from ever coming back, and with any luck Aang will focus on healing on the Spirit troubles that have the Fire Nation scrambling for platinum. He's also open to the idea of just killing Aang if it doesn't look like the Avatar will let himself be controlled. Or directing Aang against Ozai. There are lots of possibilities for a clever old man, really. But Zuko and Azula's arrival heats things up for everyone. "Ozai" just wants to kill Aang lest he see who "Ozai" really is. That will also involve killing Azulon, which in the long term will mean dealing with Iroh.
Aang and Mai dance a Fire Dance with burning blades (Agni Budokai): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCNyHprEZK8
Meanwhile, Zhao is leading a coup (including the Fire Sages) to get rid of the whole Royal Family, out of fear that the Family will appease Aang. Things explode when Zhao leads a military attempt to seize the Fire Lord's castle, and the gAang find themselves in the middle of a war.
"Ozai" kills Azulon. The Weapons of the Fire Nation all have a "night of long blades" in the Capital while the citizenry hide, and they wipe each other out. Aang reveals that "Ozai" is Ursa. Azula has killed the Fire Sages. Zhao has retreated and Jeong-Jeong has taken over the Fire Nation in the name of the White Lotus, and reveals that Iroh- now technically the Fire Lord- has dissolved the office and abdicated. Piandao tries to kill Zuko and Azula but they are saved when Suki brings the gAang in. Zuko and Azula find their mother after she's swallowed a goblet of poisoned wine.
Azulon wants to drink Aang's chi and become immortal?
Zuko gives Suki a Kyoshi Warrior fan that was given to the Royal Family as a symbolic gift of conquest.
WARLORD OF THE NORTH The gAang goes to the North to confront the new Fire Lord, Iroh. They meet Yue and Pakku. Iroh comes across as nice, if a bit ruthless, and he tries to convince Aang that he has a plan for dealing with the Spirits in the Earth Kingdom. However, then the gAang discovers that Iroh has Zombie Lu Ten hidden away and is feeding him humans, and plans to take control of all reincarnation/rebirth. Conflict happens, Lu Ten is killed, and Iroh betrays the White Lotus and flees to enact his ultimate plan- to use the stolen platinum to take control of the Tree of Time and gain control of all rebirth/reincarnation. (He has 49 days before he will lose Lu Ten forever to the cycle, so he need to act quickly.) The gAang gears up to go after Iroh, but Mai gets it into her head that she has to give up her face to Koh in order to do it. Does Iroh perhaps have Spirit protection? Yeah, that would work; it's some kind of protection that keeps Aang from killing him. That should really be set up, though, so that it doesn't come across as an excuse for Mai's tragedy... I wonder if that can be applied to the Blue Spirits..
THE TREE OF LIFE Iroh siezes the Banyan-Grove Tree in Foggy Swamp, since it is the real-world link to the Tree of Time. He is going to somehow use constructs made of platinum to pierce the tree and take control of the Time Energy, giving him control of all life, death, and rebirth. He plans to raise the dead in their original forms, rather than allowing them to reincarnate. Mai goes to Koh to become The Faceless Destroyer, while Aang and Sokka chase after Iroh. Confrontations are had, and Mai is allowed to die and be reborn thanks to Kuruk's Folly. Iroh offers to revive the Air Nation for Aang, but that would mean erasing all the people they have already become, so Aang refuses and defeats Iroh. The tree is mortally wounded, though, so Aang has to give his life energy to heal it, killing him.
EPILOGUE Aang reincarnates as a Foggy Swamp girl. Mai reincarnates as a boy who makes friends with neo!Aang. In the background, the war is over and the rebuilding is well under way. Aang's sacrifice fixed all the ghost problems around the world. Yay. Sokka and Katara find the new Avatar and begin her training.
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