#master waterbending in like a few months

[imagines--galore]

||The Thread of Fate|| Part Eleven

Summary: Soulmate AU. They say the Thread of Fate connects you to your one true love. It may tangle. It may stretch. But it will never break. Wrapped around your little finger it tightens when it feels your soulmate is close and loosens when they are far. And becomes visible with the colors of your soulmate’s Nation when you finally fall in love with them.

Pairing: Zuko x OroraOC (ATLA)

Rating || Genres || Warnings: T+ Romance. Adventure.

Previous Chapters - Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, Part Ten,

A/N: Omg I had such a HUGE influx of readers for this story, and I am grateful to each and every one of you for reading my story! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and all the others I will be writing in the future.

Working at the tea shop was Orora's first time at a job. She was just as green to it as Zuko was. However, she did not voice her disgust at the notion every few seconds. She was eager to learn, and ready to earn her living. As much as she appreciated the money Iroh had given her, she wanted to contribute to their financial situation as well.

The first day had been busy. There had been the different types of teas she had to learn to brew, other then the ones she already knew thanks to her Master. Then there were dishes to wash almost constantly. Not a lot of customers had come in that day, Pao having closed the shop early to allow his new employees to get to know their work place, so it hadn't been as tiring as she had thought it would be.

What Orora found she liked to do, was wash the dishes. She got to play with water and bubbles, and it helped calm her. Strange, she knew, but after so many days of being on the run, doing something as simple as washing dishes was oddly calming. Not to mention the job allowed her mind to roam and ponder over things she had not allowed herself to for quite some time now.

As she set aside one of the more expensive looking cups, the young waterbender sighed softly through her nose.

So far the truce she had offered Zuko seemed to be working. Though it had only been a few hours since it had been put into effect. And they'd only managed to snap at each other twice. True after the second time Iroh had seen the wisdom in separating them by giving them jobs to do at different ends of the shop. Zuko worked the front, taking orders and such, while Orora washed the dishes in the back.

Picking up a plate and dunking it in the soapy water, Orora continued to let her thoughts wander and ask the questions she wished she could say out loud.

Such as why were Zuko and Iroh fugitives of the Fire Nation? They were royalty, surely the Fire Lord would want his brother and son back. And did Zuko's sister truly want to kill her own Uncle? That thought sent a shiver down her spine. But what about their mother? Didn't she have a say in all of this? Was she treated just like Orora's mother was treated?

She had so many questions, and more, and all she wanted to do was march right up to Zuko and demand that he answer them.

But something held her back.

Maybe because she was a polite person who didn't go about poking her nose in other people's business.

Or perhaps, more likely, she had no desire to cause Zuko any pain by talking about his past. It was surely a sore subject, from the bits and pieces of information she had collected over the months. Besides, he already had his hands full trying to adjust to living in Ba Sing Se. Orora just wished he would figure himself out faster so she could ask all her questions.

Oh, she could ask Iroh if she wanted to, and her would probably answer, but for some insane reason, she wanted the answers to come from Zuko himself.

Spirit help her but she felt it was the right thing since it was his story.

Memories of every encounter she had ever had with the young prince rose unbidden, yet not unwelcome in her mind, as she started to play with the water not having any more dishes to wash.

It was strange, how someone she had not even known a few months ago was now at the very center of her life. He wasn't all that she thought about, really this was the first time she was allowing herself to think of him to such an extent. Usually she had other things to think about. Such as surviving, learning from her Master, perfecting her water bending techniques, inventing new ways to incorporate ice into her fighting, improving on her combat skills, restocking her medicinal herbs, making sure she didn't loose touch with her healing side, because as much as she liked to put her waterbending skills to use by fighting, she knew healing was a major part of who she was.

All those thoughts were pushed to the back of her mind, as she focused on a pair of golden eyes that seemed to watch her wherever she went, watching her every step. At first she had thought, it was perhaps because he didn't trust her. But slowly, that mistrust in his eyes had faded. Now, when she would catch him looking at her, he would look away.

Then again, who was she to complain. She looked at him and had been caught looking at him by him on multiple occasion.

Her fingers continued to twirl, her gaze listless as she created pretty patterns in the water.

She thought of the night when they had first met, officially at least. When he had tried to rob her. She could still recall every detail with a clarity that surprised even her.

She contemplated on their little sparring session and the conversation after it, how she had encouraged him to find something to live for, to fight for.

She recalled how shocked she had been when she realized his true identity. A prince. An honest to goodness prince. One who couldn't stand her, and who she couldn't stand either.

At least, she thought that was the case.

Her mind conjured the moment where she had first touched his scar. How vulnerable he had looked, and yet he had trusted her enough to not push her away. The way he had protected her when they were at the Oasis. The conversation they had shared while bathing. That one brought a fierce blush to her cheeks. And despite her best effort to move on to the next one, she found the blush only intensifying as she remembered the moment they had shared on the mountain.

Where they had acknowledged that they were soulmates. Where he had gripped her wrist, so desperately and yet so soft. Where she had wandered how his lips would feel against her own. And she was sure he had been thinking the same.

After all, hadn't he leaned forward slightly before the elements of nature had tread on their moment?

So lost in her thoughts, that she didn't even sense as someone else entered her work area and stood next to her. Watching her.

"Uncle says its time to go now."

The voice jolted her out of her thoughts, scaring her so much that she jumped where she stood. Her bending reacted out of instinct, mirroring her startled emotion as her hand shot a splash of water on the figure standing next to her.

"Spirits! You startled me!" She panted, resting a hand above her heart. Zuko glowered at her in return, water dripping from his hair and onto his shoulders. The girl winced, pursing her lips to hide a smile, though it still escaped. She couldn't help it, he just looked utterly ridiculous.

At his warning growl, she couldn't help but giggle. A strange sound since it hardly ever came from her. "Sorry, here." Quickly bending the water, she threw it back into the sink and gave him an apologetic smile. His glare did not let up.

"We're done here for the day. Lets go." He grumbled, before making for the door. She rolled her eyes. Clearly he wasn't too pleased with her little reaction. As he stomped off, she called after him, removing her apron as she went. "I said I was sorry!"

                                          ————————–

Their new home was a small apartment, just big enough for the three of them. As soon as they returned, Orora quickly settled in the middle of the room, wanting to get in an hour of meditation before bed. She crossed her legs, closed her eyes, folded her hands in her lap and evened out her breathing.

Which left Iroh to brew some more tea for them, and for Zuko to lay on the sofa, hands tucked behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling, his mind going over the day's event.

A job. For once in his life, he was actually working for a living. The notion had seemed strange at first, not to mention he had felt that it was beneath him, but what Orora had said was true. They did need jobs if they were to survive in this city.

Reluctantly, his gaze flickered to the water tribe girl as she sat meditating peacefully, oblivious to the effect she had had on him.

Him. Prince of the Fire Nation. Being effected by the words of a commoner.

Or rather, he was being effected by the words of a girl who was his soulmate.

Letting out a silent groan, his hand came up to press the back of his hand against his eyes, as if to physically stop him from staring too long at her. It was starting to get pathetic, just how much he would want her opinion on things.

He wouldn't go so far as to say he wanted her to approve of him, but it was pleasant to have someone else beside his Uncle give him a little wisdom. He spoke of life in riddles and words that were heavy with emotion.

Orora?

She would give it straight to his face. No regard of his feelings, his stand on whatever topic it was. She would just come out and say it.

And he appreciated her for that.

True he never always liked what she said, but sometimes they were the exact words he needed to hear.

Like the talk they had had after their impromptu battle near that lake. He still hadn't found something to live for, or to fight for, but at least he knew that he was looking for something.

Not to mention the fact that he would be ever grateful to her for saving Uncle's life. He would never say it outright, but in that moment he had been so so scared and she had stepped up and healed Iroh. Even after getting to know who they were and the lies she had been led to believe for so long.

And how she had probably saved him that stormy night on the mountain. A moment of weakness on his part, letting his emotions get the best of him, but she'd been there. She'd been where he needed her to be, and had not held back when telling him off for being so reckless.

He had to stop his thoughts there, not wanting to dwell too much on what would've happened if that moment in the rain had gone on any longer.

And then there was the truce. To live together somewhat harmoniously.

Lifting his hand, he looked at her again, watching her face. She looked so calm in that moment, as opposed to the plethora of emotions that always played about her features. Zuko found he was beginning to think of it as a game. A game where he would try to guess what she would feel next, and whether it would effect him in some way.

So far, almost every emotion she felt was directed at him, and though he would never ever admit it out loud, he kind of liked having her attention be on him rather then anything else.

Huffing to himself, as if disgusted with his own thoughts, he rose to his feet, moving to the pantry to see what he could have for dinner.

                                          ————————–

"Orora, my dear." Glancing up from where she had been counting the money of the customer who had just paid, the young waterbender gave Iroh a nod. "Yes Master?"

"We seem to have run out of Jasmine. I have asked Pao and he says to take some money from the till and buy some Jasmine tea from the shop just down the street."

Taking the money, Orora quickly nodded, before rushing to the back of the shop where Zuko was on dish washing duty. Seeing her taking off her apron, he frowned. "Where're you going?"

Straightening her clothes, the girl replied. "Ran out of Jasmine, just going to buy some." She had barely made it to the door when Zuko called out. "Wait, I'm supposed to go with you when you go out into the city."

Orora glanced over her shoulder, rolling her eyes slightly. "Relax Your Highness. Its only a five minute walk, nothing is going to happen to me." She opened the door, moving to step outside, but then she paused.

"Although, it is sweet of you to worry about me." She glanced over at him, a smile on her lips as she caught sight of the obvious flush on his cheeks as he looked at anything but her. "I'll be back soon." She said as a way of promise, before she was out of the tea shop.

It was a five minute walk, and once the goods were secured, the girl began to make her way back to the shop, her heart still warm at the prospect of Zuko actually worrying about her.

Her happy thoughts, however, were interrupted rather rudely when a hard hand grabbed her shoulder, yanking her into a dark alley, covering her mouth with a rough hand.

The instant she felt the unfamiliar hands, she began to struggle and push with all her strength, trying to get away.

"Stop moving!" A voice hissed, a very familiar voice.

Her eyes focused in the dark, and she was able to make out the face of the boy they had met on the way to Ba Sing Se.

The Freedom Fighter, Jet.

Her pale blue eyes narrowed, and a look akin to a cold anger burned in the gaze she fixed him with. "Look I just want to talk, that's all." He said, still not letting up from where he had his hand on her mouth.

She continued to glare at him, even after he had removed his hand, though his other kept an almost painful grip on her wrist. "I'm trying to help you. You're a waterbender, there's no way you would be with those firebenders of your own free will, so they must be keeping you prisoner somehow."

He knows, a voice hissed in her mind, prompting her heart to beat faster in her chest, and an ugly feeling of fear to coil in her stomach. But she didn't let it show.

Instead, she remained the epitome of disgust and anger. "What in the world are you talking about?"

There seemed to be an almost manic look in his eyes, accompanied by impatience, as he dropped her hand, and grabbed her shoulders. "You don't have to lie for them. I'm trying to help you. I just need evidence and then we can end those two firebenders."

End?! Spirits! He wanted to kill Iroh and Zuko.

Shrugging out of his grasp, Orora stepped away, fingers pulling the cork of her water satchel in case she needed to defend herself. "You're out of your mind." She growled at him. Despite the terror she felt at hearing his statement, her instinct to protect her two companions was far potent, which was the reason she was even able to face the boy with murder in his eyes.

"Just admit the truth! They're firebenders! And they deserve to die." He was starting to get frustrated with her. "I don't care what you say, I will find some way to expose them, and when I do, I'll have the pleasure of executing them."

Hearing those words, hearing the tone in his voice, the sheer hatred and anger in his eyes. Something in her snapped.

With a fierce cry she threw her arm out, the movement elegant yet deadly, given that Jet found himself staring at the very sharp ends of multiple icicles that she pointed in his direction.

"This is your first and last warning." She hissed, her voice full of warning. "If you come near them, if you so much as harm a single hair on their head, I will personally see to it that you pay for it." She fixed him with a cold stare. "In blood."

So saying, she turned her back to him, leaving him trapped behind her icicles. They would melt soon enough, though the words Jet called after her as she walked away, echoed in her ears all the way back to the tea shop.

"You would threaten someone who's on your side. You're willing to protect the enemy?! You're a traitor to your own people. A disgrace! You're just like them! A killer!"

                                          ————————–

As soon as she reached the back door of the tea shop, Orora leaned up against the wooden door. Her heart was beating so fast, she was afraid it would somehow burst out of her chest. A stinging sensation behind her eyes told her she was close to tears. Lifting a trembling hand, she pressed it to face, willing herself to calm down.

She had to warn Zuko and Iroh, make sure they were on guard. She couldn't let anything happen to them. They were her friends. She cared about them. Both of them.

Somehow, she managed to calm herself down, slightly, and entered the shop. It had taken her a good fifteen minute to calm down. Grabbing her apron, she tied it behind her in a haphazard manner before rushing out to the front of the shop.

There was Iroh, pouring tea for a customer, with Zuko picking up cups left behind by a previous customer. She all but stumbled forward, catching Zuko's hand, prompting him to look at her, confused and slightly alarmed at her obvious panicked state.

"Orora? Wha-"

But she didn't let him finish. "He knows." She whispered, aware of the other customers around her. "Jet knows." The words were spoken so softly that no one else could ever hear them, and yet Zuko did. Loud and clear.

However, before either of them could talk further on what she had revealed, the door of the shop slammed open and Jet himself walked in. A strangled gasp left her lips, as she caught sight of that murderous look in his eyes once more.

"I'm tired of waiting!" He pointed an accusing finger at both Iroh and Zuko. "These two men are firebenders! And that girl is helping them. She's a traitor!"

Immediately, Zuko pushed Orora behind him, gripping one of her hands to make sure she stayed there. Uncle and nephew exchanged a look which seemed to mirror what the other was thinking.

Play dumb.

"I know they're firebenders, I saw the old man heating his tea!" Jet continued, advancing towards the trio with his hooked swords out of their sheaths. "He works in a tea shop." A nearby customer stated in a rather confused voice, but Jet wasn't having it. "He's a firebender! I'm telling you!"

The same customer stood. "Drop your swords, boy. Nice and easy." Jet ignored him, his gaze never leaving Zuko's as he began to advance towards him and Orora. "You'll have to defend yourself. Then everyone will know. Go ahead, show them what you can do." His gaze flickered to Orora who, previous fear forgotten to be replaced by a burning anger, glared back at him. "Or would you rather have your girlfriend get hurt defending you."

She felt his grip on her hand tighten to an almost painful level. "Zuko, no! He's goading you!" She whispered, even as the previous customer moved to step forward, ready to unsheathe his sword. Zuko simply glanced at her. Her heart dropped to her stomach. She knew exactly what he was about to do.

And sure enough he stepped forward and grabbed the swords the customer had been about to withdraw. "You want a show?" He growled. "I'll give you a show!'

He pulled a table in front of him with his foot and kicked it at Jet, who was quick to slice the table with his swords and jumped over it. As he landed, he swung both hook swords at the Fire Nation prince, who deflected the attack and jumped backward onto another table. Which was again sliced in half by Jet, with a mighty swing of one sword through the middle of the table.

Somehow Zuko managed to balance on one half of the table, on one foot! Jet was unrelenting as he continued his frenzied attack by cutting the legs off the table. Zuko was quick on his feet as he jumped up. As he landed, he swung both broadswords at Jet's feet, but he somersaulted away and landed in a crouching position before charging forward. Zuko swung both of his swords at Jet.

Both weapons clashed as both fighters tried to best the other, glaring at each other as they did.

"Enough!"

Orora's scream cut through the air as she used her waterbending to push the two fighters apart. She moved to stand in front of Zuko, multiple ice knives nestled between her fingers as she stared down Jet. "We are not your enemies! Stop acting like a complete lunatic!" Zuko growled behind her. "Orora, stay out of this!" Jet's grip on his swords only tightened. "I will not listen to anyone who betrays their own people to help firebenders."

He took a running start, prompting Orora to drop in her stance to defend herself, however her plan of action went out the window when Zuko pushed her to the side. So forcefully that she fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Jet threw his leg out, catching Zuko in the chest and watching as he went flying through the air, smashing through the doors of the tea shop and out into the street. As the rest of the patrons rushed out to see what would happen next, Iroh quickly helped Orora to stand up.

"Are you alright my dear?" He asked, checking her over for injuries. She gave a quick nod, before stumbling to the door of the shop, Iroh following behind.

Outside the battle continued to rage between the two teenagers.

"Please, son, you're confused! You don't know what you're doing!" Even he was getting worried that Zuko would snap and use his firebending. Orora began to pray silently to the Moon Spirit, hoping her pleas would be heard and that Zuko wouldn't get hurt or reveal his true identity. The people would surely kill Zuko and Iroh, if they knew who they really were.

"Bet you wish he'd help you out with a little fire blast right now." As Jet swung at Zuko's feet, Zuko stabbed one of his broadswords through the hilt of his sword, pinning it to the ground. Jet looked annoyed at loosing his weapon, before focusing back on Zuko. "You're the one who needs help." Zuko responded. Leaving the sword embedded in the floor, they shifted to combating with a single sword each. Jet turned in a circle, trying to swipe at Zuko once again, but Zuko quickly advanced and swung his sword at Jet.

The Freedom Fighter quickly bent backward to avoid the blade, though it did manage to cut the straw sticking out of his mouth in half. Regaining his balance, Jet jumped backward onto the edge of a well. "You see that‌?!" He called out to the gathered crowd. "The Fire Nation is trying to silence me. It'll never happen." He attacked once more, hooking his sword to the top of the well and sending a flying kick towards Zuko.

Zuko growled as he dodged the kick and swung his sword at Jet once again. He moved to the side, and suddenly they were back-to-back, trying to land a hit, but neither could get past the other's defense.

Just then two newcomers entered the crowd. And from their uniforms, they looked to be of an official status. "Drop your weapons." One of them commanded. The two fighters stepped away and faced each other. Though Zuko lowered his sword, Jet pointed his weapon at Zuko, Iroh and Orora.

"Arrest them! They're firebenders!" Iroh stepped forward, throwing his arms out. "This poor boy is confused. We're just simple refugees." Pao, wanting to defend his employees joined in as he pointed to Jet. "This young man wrecked my tea shop, and assaulted my employees!" The customer from whom Zuko had borrowed the swords stepped forward. "It's true, sir. We saw the whole thing. This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city." Iroh blushed at the compliment. "Oh, ho, ho. That's very sweet."

Knowing it would be like adding wood to the fire, Orora stepped forward. "And he attacked me and threatened to hurt my Master and his nephew." She walked towards the two men, hand exposed to the wrist where he had grabbed her earlier. Sure enough the bruise from his grip was already beginning to change the color of her skin. The sight of it had Zuko nearly swinging his sword once again, but Iroh placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

It would seem the two had heard enough. As Jet continued his tirade of firebenders and Fire Nation, he was escorted to a cart where he was put in the metal cell and taken away.

Orora watched him go, unaware of the crowd as it dispersed around them.

"Orora?" At Iroh's voice, she turned around, still a little spooked with what had just happened. Or rather what could've happened. "Why don't you and Li go home. I'll help Pao clean up and meet you there."

As if she had no control over her actions, Orora took off her apron and handed it to Iroh, who gave her a sympathetic smile. "Do see that my nephew wasn't too hurt from the kick, my dear." The concern was evident in his gaze, as was the guilt in her own as she glanced at Zuko who was returning the sword to it's rightful owner.

Giving him a small nod, she waited for Zuko to walk past her, before following after him towards their shared home.

                                          ————————–

Tag List - @wavesofchaos​ @violet-potter​ @rennysketch​ @emma-andrea1 @lovesammikinzz @fuzzyfestcat @msrawog @notsaelty @lust-for-pan @aces-tattooartist

[zukosdualdao]

oh, i want to know the way it feels

zutara month, day 20: accidental kissing, @zutaramonth

summary: upon zuko fearing they've been made while he and katara are at the market, he and katara make a brief excursion to the alleyway. when katara reaches for her bending, it's totally an accident when she kisses him. she's pretty sure. and it's totally an accident when both of them kiss each other back. it certainly doesn't mean anything.

other notes: we are back at it at the ember island marketplace lads! #idiotsinlove

They’re in the marketplace, walking side by side—Katara bravely does not blush when she feels their hands brush in the place between their sides—when she senses Zuko stiffen. From her periphery, she can see his mouth has turned slightly to a frown.

“What… ?” she asks, and suddenly, his hand is around her wrist. It doesn’t hurt, but the motion is so quick that it startles her as Zuko guides her to a nearby side alley, just to the right of a clothing stall. From the side of his mouth, Zuko murmurs, “Someone was staring at me. They might know who I am, or recognize us.”

On instinct at hearing this, Katara presses her back to the wall of stone. She’s less able to ignore the way the gulp in her throat as their middles press together, Zuko leaning over her as though to guard her in case someone comes after them.

It’s sweet, but… “I can take care of myself, you know,” she teases him lightly. “Master waterbender here, remember?”

When Zuko turns to meet her gaze, his smile is small but sort of breathtaking. Katara wishes she could see it more. She wishes they had more to smile about. 

“It’s not likely I could forget that,” he says in a whisper. Like this, with his head turned just slightly down to look at her, they are a mere breath away from one another. 

Someone passes by their hiding spot then, and Katara startles—maybe the people Zuko had seen were following them—and jumps to her tiptoes, ready to pull out her waterskin and fight their way out if they need to. It’s only a second later that she realizes that she met her lips to Zuko’s when she did this. Both of them are stunned to stillness for a moment, but then she thinks he’s kissing back, or she is. It’s all a little unclear. 

His lips are soft and warm and gentle. A little shy, she thinks, even as he kisses back. It’s only after another moment that he seems to figure out what to do with his hands, placing one against her waist and, from the sounds of it, bracing the other against the wall behind her. Her own left hand still holds their basket of fruit, but the other reaches to cup his face.

When he pulls back, gasping a little exhale as he does, Katara tries not to be too pleased with herself that she sees his pupils are wide and dark. She drops her hand.

“I—sorry,” he says. “I shouldn’t have…”

“No, it was me,” Katara says before frowning at the implication. She looks to the side and sees whoever was walking by has since passed. In correction that she’s unsure is fair or even true, she adds, “I thought they were approaching.”

“Right.” Zuko clears his throat now and breaks apart from where he was connected to her, allowing a few inches of distance between them. Katara misses his warmth. “I think they’re gone now.”

Katara hums in agreement. They make quickly to leave the market, Zuko seeming nervous to be spotted again as they do. As they journey back, she finds that their hands are grazing by each other again.

Katara flexes her fingers. They journey forward.

[marymary-diva17]

My own destiny

Katara,Sokka, and hakoda + reader

War had come when the fire nation had attacked the four nations, had lived in harmony with each other but that all changed when the war began. The avatar the person who mastered all the elements was supposed to bring peace to the world, but he disappeared 100 years ago. There was no avatar to help end this war so it kept on going on and on, with the war came many changes in everyone lives.

Y/n " ......." today was the day your father and the other warriors and males were leaving the clan, to help fight against the war against the fire nation.

Hakoda " I want you to listen to what your gran gran, sokka, and katara tell you"

y/n "......."

sokka " they have to fight in the war y/n they are needed"

y/n " it will not be the same without you dad"

Hakodate " I know swathe but it will all be okay we will be home soon, and reunited we need to end this war"

katara " we understand dad"

Hakodate " I know after the death of your mother life hasn't been the same, and I'm not going to be here that much but I will always love you kids"

y/n " yes dad"

Hakodate " I want you kids to stay together and be there for each other, while I'm gone gran gran will need your love and support and so will the clan"

sokka " we can do that sir"

Hakodate " good" there was one last family group hug before the warriors and males had left the village, it broke your heart to see them leave. You knew they had to leave for a good reason and that they need to help end this war as to much has been lost.

katara " don't worry as long as we have each other we will be good"

y/n " okay"

sokka " i will be here to protect you two"

y/n " we will be there to protect you as well sokka" the three siblings had hugged each other, they were really going to miss their father and everyone else that left.

gran gran " come on you three time to head home" the three siblings had soon walked home with their grandmother, it was going to be many years until they saw their father again. The family had stayed strong together and so did the tribe, you had never felt alone when you had your family and tribe with you.

Two years later

katara " we have to go after aang"

sokka " okay fine we are going after him"

y/n " I'm coming as well"

sokka " no you are not coming with us"

y/n "what do you mean you two will need all the help to find him and save him from the fire nation"

katara " no you can't come y/n you don't know any waterbending or how to fight it will not be safe"

y/n " but"

sokka " you have to stay here with gran gran and the tribe, we will go save aang and help him"

y/n " please let me come dad said we have to stick together"

sokka " Look y/n we need to go help aang we can't fight right now I and katara will be fine, I can't let her go on her own I promised dad"

gran gran " sweetie it will be fine they will save aang and come home"

y/n " yes gran gran" you had watched your sister and brother take off on Appa to go save aang, but they never did return after saving him. You would later be told along side your grandmother that they left, to go help aang master all the elements and save the world. It broke your heart but you knew they were leaving for go fight in the war, like you dad but in a different way.

months later

y/n " ......" you had discovered your waterbending talent a few moons after your siblings had left, and you had one special water bending talent. Over the time after your siblings had left to go save the world, you had been mastering your new skill along with helping around the village.

????? " y/n" you had been doing some practice when you heard your name getting called, you had seen your grandmother and went towards her.

y/n " gran gran"

gran gran " hello my dear I have some guest here who will love to meet you"

????? " hello I'm pako your grandmother has told me us much about you in her letters, you have a very special talent with water bending my dear"

y/n " thank you"

gran gran " Pako Herę had meet with your siblings and aang in the north and came here after the siege"

y/n " are my siblings okay and aang"

pako " they are okay dear but I never knew there was another skilled bender in the family"

gran gran " my ledets grandchildren didn't know she could bend"

pako " oh she is very skilled Kanna she skilled in bending ways that I that are very rare"

y/n " so what does that mean"

gran gran " I think you should learn more my dear, you have learned enough from the scrolls here and yet to see more of the world and learn what else out there"

y/n " it will be wrong if I leave gran gran I promised dad and mu siblings, and everything that I will stay here and keep everyone together"

gran gran " pako here has brought extra help for us and you have done enough, always giving up stuff to help me and the tribe now it time for you to follow your dynasty"

y/n " my dynasty"

pako " young lady water benders like you and your sister are rare to find, you have skills that need to grow as they will help the world ... and we need more fighter like you against the fire nation that can help bring harmony and peace psychical and spiritual"

y/n :" I want to say yes but I will feel wrong to leave"

gran gran " there nothing to feel wrong about my dear it time for you to see the world, and see what else you can do"

y/n " then yes I will come"

pako " good my dear you are going to make your family and tribe proud"

y/n " thank you when do I have to leave"

pako " i a couple moons I and some master here will help you learn what needs to know, then some friends of mine will come for you and take you where reach of your learning will take place and where you can help" you had nodded your heads your teaching with pako and others had went well, and you had been showed to be very skilled in water bending and other skills as well. Soon the day came for you to leave.

gran gran " here are some supplies and food for you during your journey"

y/n " thank you gran gran"

pako " we will see each other soon my dear you have been a good student"

y/n " thank you grandfather pako" you had learned about your grandmother and pako relationship and support it right away.

???? " are you ready to leave young lady"

y/n " yes" you had hugged your family and friends goodbye before you got on the ship and left for who know where, you had looked at your home as it got smaller. You had always feared about being alone away from your family and tribe, but maybe it was time for you to alone to discover more about yourself but even due you are away from your tribe you will not always be alone.

[thebakingqueen5]

KW 2024: Disguise

Day 5 for Kataang Week 2024 hosted by @kataang-week with the prompt Disguise!

Links: AO3 || FF.net

Summary: KW 2024 Day 5: Disguise. Katara is volunteering at the senior center’s Bingo Night, but she’s pretty sure she’s seen this Bonzu Pippinpaddleopsicopolis somewhere before… Or, the one where Katara and Aang have very different memories of their first conversation.

Word Count: 2.2k

Preview:

“Reminiscing?”

He nodded, opening one eye to look at her. “How’d you know?”

She scrunched her nose in the way she knew he found adorable. “You always do the same little sigh and smile. It’s cute.” Katara tilted her head. “What are you thinking about?”

The corners of Aang’s mouth upturned, his gaze distant and nostalgic. “How we met, my first memory of you, our first conversation, things like that.” 

The waterbender exhaled softly as images flooded her mind- a nervous first day of history class in their junior year of high school after he had transferred to her school, the flutters in her stomach at the presentation he had given the following week on Air Nomad culture, his voice passionate and filled with pride for his heritage, that icy winter afternoon a few months later (which technically was their second conversation, but Aang didn’t have to know that).

“The snowball fight, right?”

“Yeah,” the airbender grinned. “When someone hit me with a snowball even though I wasn’t playing.” 

She rolled her eyes, a smile dancing on her lips. “Well, someone wasn’t too upset about it because he decided to join my team. And asked me to go penguin-sledding with him right after!”   

Aang shrugged. “Hey, I’m just a peace-loving nomad who needed to learn from the master.” 

Katara snorted. “You tried to tackle like four penguin-otters, unsuccessfully mind you, before actually listening to me about luring them with fish.”

[oneatlatime]

The Library

Ground hog pipe organ. That's really quite twee.

Since when is Sokka concerned about the time crunch? Although he's right about the whole 'no plan' thing.

Katara is such a little sister sometimes.

Is an ice spring a thing? I feel like we wouldn't have invented refrigeration if ice springs were possible. What a cool idea though.

Dentists aren't a thing in the avatar universe.

Does sword guy sterilise those swords between drinks? How clean are the insides of the sheaths? Why is someone so overqualified working as a blender? How boring is this town that master swordsmen resort to being Magic Bullets to pass the time?

Has it ever occurred to Aang to try to maintain a little mystery around his identity? At the start of the first season, people's first thoughts when seeing an airbender were probably "wow! the fire nation missed one!" but by now it has to be well known that the airbender ping ponging around the earth kingdom is THE avatar. It's not like he didn't have other options. He could have waterbended the smoothie away. He could have asked Katara to waterbend the smoothie away. If I were feeling angsty, I'd say that a child of peacetime just doesn't have it in him to be sufficiently suspicious/cynical to feel the need to disguise himself. But I'm not feeling angsty, so I'm gonna say that Aang had a moment of dumb. Understandable, given he's twelve.

Nevermind! Aang accurately assessed how little he needed to hide himself because this professor is a dumb too!

Cool it with the phrenology.

Finding lost civilisations all over the earth kingdom is apparently a worthless accomplishment. You know, I don't like this guy.

Clam lamp. Coconut lamp?

That fox joke did not land.

This is the Taj Mahal.

Toph's still on probation. Gotta work six months* before you get the benefits package! * or until the world ends with the comet, whichever comes first.

Sokka wants to vacation in a library. I love how unrepentantly nerdy he can be.

Hey. Professor idiot. Wanna find your unfindable library? Go recruit Zuko. That kid finds so well it gives me flashbacks to Hufflepuff jokes.

Not sure what this implies re: the sapience of sandbenders.

The sandbenders have to have learned that move from airbenders. Also isn't that really inefficient? Rotational force goes 360 degrees but they only want force in a single direction. They should have modeled their sandbending on waterbending instead and created a giant wave behind their sleds for them to surf along.

That chin needs scritches.

I hope they're bringing lots of water rations with them. How much water do you thing Appa needs in a day?

Would Sokka, who lives at the South Pole, know what a fox is?

Everyone keeps forgetting stuff this episode. Library is buried? You have two earthbenders and two airbenders.

Love the attitude.

This has been bugging me for a few episodes now so I might as well mention it. I know it's an artistic choice, but: having fingernails the same colour as fingers squicks me out.

Sokka's turn with the dumb. Why would you climb up to the library when three of you can fly? Appa can hover. Just walk down his tail to the window.

That's twice now they've forgetten Toph's blindness. I love her attitude towards them forgetting.

Sokka's boomerang is one hell of a multitool. Whatever it's made of, it's indestructible.

"Don't worry buddy. I'm not making you go underground ever again." I hope that's not ironic foreshadowing.

Stuffed head of anthropology might be an improvement.

The vocal effect on this owl is neat.

Dammit. Now stealing from the pirates is justified.

Why do you even have that? Why did you stuff it down your shirt? Just why?

*Heroically refrains from going on a rant about the value of non-written sources, oral tradition, and pejoratively labelled 'folk' knowledge.*

The Ears!!! Those cute little ears. They have no business being so floppy. Appa & Toph, the duo I never knew I needed.

Appa is a very good listener.

LEFTY SHOUTOUT!!!

Sokka has not only forgotten that he's after a map of the fire nation; he's also stolen the declaration of independence.

Two things: First, this is the best boy. Second, Sokka seems to be a cat person.

You think the Fire Nation, a Nation that knew enough astronomy to correctly predict, plan for, and harness the power of a comet to complete a very successful genocide, doesn't know there's an eclipse coming up and has planned accordingly? Like come on. They named the comet after their Firelord. They obviously know how astronomy works. It would take literally one eclipse, depriving them of their bending once, for the whole nation to become suddenly very invested in predicting the movements of celestial bodies. They know this. I promise you they have safeguards in place. Pick a less obvious time to attack.

So is the owl gullible as all hell or did he let them in to give them enough rope to hang themselves?

Badass line about justifying war. Although equating protecting the people you love with hoarding library books does not hold water.

This owl has far too much neck.

HOW strong is Toph?

This owl sure is destroying a lot of his books.

Sokka doesn't know that Toph is holding up the library right? And there's no way for him to know how quickly/slowly the library is sinking. So this date checking montage makes no sense. Maybe he will find out the date, but if he's sealed underground then it doesn't matter that he learned it.

Do not like.

Very much DO NOT LIKE.

Did they just kidnap Appa?

Should have told him to yip yip. Does Toph know Yip yip?

I am a big fan of Sokka style. Although I'm glad this show aired a decade before Gangnam Style came out, otherwise the memes would have been insufferable.

The owl is going to eat you as soon as it wakes up. Did you see a cafeteria? A water source? Even if you hide from the owl you'll be dead in a week.

Massive points to Toph for holding that up as everyone inside was delaying for stupid reasons.

No.

No you have to give me back Appa before the episode ends. That's the rules.

Final Thoughts

Unacceptable.

This episode felt contrived, everyone involved except maybe Toph had some epic moments of dumb, and to top it all off they stole Appa. I am not amused.

There was lots of setup and little story here. At least that's what it felt like. There were some fairly lame lines that came off as ham-fisted exposition. The ground hog choir was about the only funny bit. Maybe it's the utterly unacceptable ending bleeding backwards and staining the rest of the episode, but I did not like this one. It honestly would have benefited from a Zuko b-plot, and I do not say that lightly.

[anonymeqaupdates]

Avatar AU : His heart in your hands

Takes place towards the end of the AU. Take place after meeting Ruggie and after entering the Fire Nation. Kalim and Jamil have a fight under the full moon and it doesn't goes the way Jamil expected. Cornering Kalim hadn't been such a good idea after all.

"Nowhere left to run now." Jamil said mockingly while Kalim had been desperately looking a way to climb the cliff blocking his path. He turned around to face Jamil and the panicked and scared expression on his face made him scoff.

"Jamil, please, I don't want to fight you." He had taken off before Jamil could find Silver and the others. He simply got unlucky coming back for a supply run and got spotted by Jamil. They were in fire nation territory, if they got found out now they would be in a lot of trouble. He did what he had to but now he was trouble and he knew no back up would show up.

"Of course you wouldn't. You were in such a hurry you didn't even notice you dropped this." Jamil raised his left hand and Kalim blanched when he noticed he had his flask in it. Jamil unscrewed it and emptied his content on the ground before using his fire bending to evaporate it. "It's too bad, without this you're completely defenseless. Considering it was the full moon you had a slight chance of saving yourself... Oh well."

There was no water near them, no river, no ponds, not even a small stream. A few month ago Kalim would have had to agree with Jamil but that was before Kalim ventured into the Earth Kingdom.

Knowing that a fight was inevitable Kalim took a deep breath and reached into his surrounding. Sure they weren't any large body of water near them, but that didn't mean he couldn't find water elsewhere.

At first Jamil didn't paid any heed to the grass suddenly withering around Kalim. He was having too much fun terrorizing him by sending fire ball and purposefully missing him by a few inches each time. After all, he was in no rush and if he terrorized Kalim enough, it would make him easier to interrogate and manipulate afterwards. However when he saw small orb of waters forms around Kalim's leg and notice that the heir was back into a waterbending stance he quickly put two and two together. Somehow, Kalim had managed to pull the water from the vegetation in the space they were in. Jamil couldn't allow himself to lose the advantage he'd created for himself. So, to prevent Kalim from gathering more water he created a circle of fire around them. Flames too hot to let any more water through.

"You really tried to pull a fast one on me, uh. I admit, it was almost impressive but this little trick won't save you."

"Jamil, please, just let me go."

"I'm sorry, master, but this is a wish I can't grant!" Jamil resumed his attacks, more aggressively now that Kalim could defend himself. He had to dodge some weak attempts of Kalim to fight back but the heir was mostly shielding himself and trying to create an opening in the circle of fire.

Kalim had to escape quickly, the others were waiting for him. They were supposed to leave this area tonight. They had stayed around here for too long but Kalim needed to buy more medication before they go. They got hurt so often lately and ever since Riddle and Trey got captured they only had Kalim to heal them. If Kalim let Jamil capture him then the next time someone of the team got hurt what then? No, Kalim couldn't let this happen. But he didn't have enough water to effectively fight back against Jamil. If things kept at it then his only recourse would be...

"You seems to really hate this bending style. I can see it on your face." Ruggie chuckled. "Not that I'm surprised that a goody two shoes like you would turn up his nose to it."

"It feels wrong, it's violating and cruel. It really feels like it's..."

"Evil?" Ruggie finished for him before scoffing when Kalim nodded weakly. "The view must be nice from that ivory tower of yours, but for us struggling in the 'mud' those kinds of consideration are just in the way."

"What are you talking about? It doesn't matter who you are everyone has a sense of what's right and what's not!"

"Ugh, you're disgustingly naive you know that? Right and wrong isn't always so clear cut. Yes, this style of bending is wrong and disturbing. Even I can see that even though I developed it myself."

"So you agree with me?"

"But!" Ruggie cut Kalim off. "Without it, my tribe would be gone. We would have been enslaved and brainwashed by the Daï Li! If I could escape it was only thanks to this! You've seen what they did to those Joo Dee, can you blame me for doing whatever I could to save my grandmother and the rest of the people I grew up with from this?!"

Kalim shook his head. Of course he couldn't blame Ruggie for this. What they witnessed in the Daï Li headquarters had all messed with their heads and will haunt them for a long time.

"I never pretended or cared to be on the right path. I cared about my and my tribe survival first. It's time you start to rethink your priorities too if you don't want to see what you want slip through your fingers like sand."

Kalim did not want to injure Jamil. He didn't want to do something this horrible to him. But Kalim's feelings and morality wasn't worth putting everyone else in danger. Ever since he agreed to help and follow Silver in his quest to put an end to the madness of the Fire Nation he was working towards a goal bigger than himself. Bigger than any of them were. He couldn't let childish feelings and memories hold him back anymore.

When the water Kalim was bending suddenly dropped to the ground Jamil felt immediately on guard. Despite the fact that he discarded his only means of fighting back it didn't seem like Kalim was ready to give up quite yet. In fact he was still in a fighting stance though Jamil never seen any waterbender use that position before. Something was off and Kalim had surprised him enough for one night. It was time to put an end to this. Jamil gathered flames around his fist and was about to launch himself at Kalim, but his feet wasn't moving no matter how much he tried.

"What? What's going on?!" He shouted in outrage when his arm painfully twisted behind his back and forced him to release the flames he had gathered. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"

"Don't struggle, you'll make it worse." Kalim said calmly. On top of everything else it was the apathy Kalim was showing that unnerved Jamil the most. How? How was he doing this? What would he do next?

Kalim was nearly in a trance with how focused he was. He wasn't as good at this as Ruggie was. Honestly it was a little overwhelming to him. He could feel every veins in Jamil's body, could follow along the flow of his blood in his head, his muscles, his limb, all the way back to that one place where it always circle back into, his heart.

"Besides." Ruggie chuckled. "I don't think you're as righteous as you pretend to be. Even a naive guy like you must have his dark side."

"I don't know what you mean." Kalim said defensively.

"Oh come on, you must really resent him no? That guy that betrayed you."

"I don't hate Jamil! I never could hate him!"

"Really? Well, I guess we'll see. I wonder what you'll do..."

Jamil's heart was starting to beat faster in fear now that he was at the mercy of his former master.

"The day you'll have his heart in your hands, the heart of the guy that broke yours."

[daylilys137]

Here is part two of my Zutara teaching idea. Still not sure what to call it?

Katara loved her job. She had basically taken over for Master Pakku as soon as he had retired. Yue had taken over from nurse Kiyana just a year later, and Katara loved working with her best friend. To add to all the excitement, Toph took over for the earth bending teacher when he suddenly decided to dedicate more of his time to his wrestling career as “The Boulder”. It was nice having so many friends at her job, not to mention finally getting to rip out the last of the misogynistic ways of the old waterbending teachers. 

Most of the rest of her high school friend group had moved onto better and bigger things, and she wasn't all that good at keeping in touch with them. An occasional comment on a social media update or a text here and there was about it. The one she had been the worst at keeping in touch with was Zuko, mainly because she wasn't sure how to catch up without sounding too…. well, interested. She'd had a crush on him since her first year and knew that he would likely always just see her as an annoying little sister since he was always with Sokka. She had dated a few other schoolmates, one even in Zuko's class (Haru who graduated two years before she did). The last boy she dated had been her final year as a student, Aang. She hadn't really been sure about it, but she only had two more months before she graduated, so she figured if it wasn't great, it wouldn't last anyway with her heading off to live abroad for a year. They had ended things as friends. 

Here it was, 3 years later, and the man she had been pining for the longest was now rejoining her and her friends. She had turned around hearing Dean Bumi talking to someone, and seeing Zuko was so thrilling she couldn't help the smile that took her over. She tried to keep her voice casual at least when asking him what he was doing here. He had seemed shocked at seeing her. Bumi had answered the question, and she nodded, letting her smile fade to what she hoped looked more neutral yet friendly. She couldn't believe she'd be getting to see him all the time now. Then Zuko had simply said, “Katara, it's good to see you again.” 

The way Zuko said her name had her heart fluttering. She asked him if he was excited about teaching as they all walked back to the building together. He seemed pleased about the new arrangement, though a bit nervous. He talked about how leading men and women as an officer in the military probably trained him better for this job than just about anything else. As he headed out of her classroom to go fill out paperwork and get started on his own classroom, she told him to always feel free to ask for help should he need it. 

“My door is always open and if you'd like you can join Toph, Yue, and I this Friday night to celebrate the last weekend of summer. Maybe we could all catch up?” Katara said, trying to sound casual. 

“OK. Yeah, it might be nice to catch up with everyone. Zuko said, smiling at her. “And besides that I'm not sure if Toph will really let me get away with not coming. She might just bully me the whole way there.  Where are we meeting?” 

“Oh I can pick you up if you'd like,” and worrying it sounded too “date-like” Katara quickly added, “I could make sure Toph doesn't bully you the whole way there.” 

Zuko simply chuckled and said, “Sure. Text me when.” He turned and left her room. 

Throughout the week they would occasionally see each other at staff meetings, where she made sure not to sit right next to him. He was distracting enough without sharing his space. However, on Thursday, her luck was not so keen as she was running late. Toph had saved her a seat right between her and Zuko. Toph had smirked as she suggestively patted the chair. Toph had known for a while about her crush, I mean, there was no point in keeping a secret from the earthbender who could sense heartbeats. She sat down and scowled at Toph, though Toph wouldn't see it. 

She had immediately noticed Zuko shift a tiny bit and suddenly felt all the warmth coming from him. He was a firebender, after all. He was a foot away. It wasn't like she was sitting in his lap, but of course, now that she had pictured that scenario, she could barely hear the calendar announcements Dean Bumi was going through. Toph apparently had decided that since some terrible (or wonderful) fate had brought Zuko back, this year was going to be the year she should torture Katara. As soon as Bumi finished his announcements, Toph turned to her, Zuko and Yue and said, “Well, perhaps we should all volunteer to do the first one together, that way we get our required duty out of the way, and we all get to go together. It'll be like old times.” 

Her and Zuko simultaneously said, “What?” while Yue nodded in agreement. 

Toph smiled knowingly in her and Zuko's direction and said, “Weren't paying attention?... All teachers have to attend one dance during the year as chaperones. I was suggesting we all chaperone the first one together so that we don't have to do it the rest of the year. It'll be like old times, getting all dressed up and having fun together.” 

She looked over at Zuko unintentionally, thinking about what he looked like at the last dance before his and Sokka's graduation. He just happened to catch her eye, but he quickly turned away. She saw him swallow before nodding and saying, “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. And if these kids are anything like we were, they're less likely to be completely stupid at the beginning of the year.” 

Yue smiled and said, “We could all go shopping for our outfits together.” 

Toph made a small grunt. She didn't particularly like shopping. “Well... I guess the first dance pictures always do end up in the yearbook, so we better be looking pretty good." Suddenly, Toph smirked and said, "Plus, it will give us a chance to dress Sparky up.” 

Katara could see Zuko turning a deep shade of scarlet, and she giggled along with the girls. He looked down at Katara with a small smile before pointing a finger at each of them, “I can dress myself, thank you.” 

They signed up in 4 of the last 6 spots for the first dance. Toph tried to bully Zuko into going shopping with them, but he simply said, “You guys will just have to surprise me with what you get. I will just be wearing a basic suit anyway.” Katara couldn't decide if she was more nervous or more excited about that first dance. It was still a month and a half away, and there was plenty to do in the meantime. Tomorrow, she would be picking up Zuko for their "teacher's night out," and she needed to be able to act normal through a 10-minute car ride alone with him. What should she wear?...

[ekwolfwriter-blog]

WIP Zutara Month Challenge!

On a role - would be what I would say if I did not get side tracked yesterday lol. But all good, we keep going.

So this one will be another behind the curtain with a snippet then on the good Zutara moment.

Context: The Deserter ReWrite episode, where the Gaang meets Jeong Jeong, but the events of it are different.

Scarring scene: Katara looks at her hands as she stiffens at the pain. The Water healed her hands but the bigger ones lingers on her hands. She looked confused. "I thought he said water heals," Katara muttered.

"It does," said a familiar voice to Katara. "To an extent."

Katara flinched as she looked around to see where the voice was coming from. It seemed the voice new as it caused the water to ripple as it appeared to come up from it. "Over here, little waterbender."

Katara turned back to the water and smiled. It was La, who seemed to have appeared as if they were passing by as they did not have the fancy attire one expected of a water spirit this high level. At least that is what Katara had surmised. La seemed to be curious as they were standing in the water at the waist level and folded their arms over their chest.

"Seems like you are in a bit of a conundrum, so to speak, about healing," La said as they came closer.

Katara nodded as she raised her hands to La. "The fire bender master said water heals, but it does not look like it can heal all of these scars. Is there anything you can do?"

La hummed as they then took her hands and observed them. "Well, you already got the most basic of healing down. As for the rest... well, they will never go away. No worries I will heal you as much as I can, but the rest you will have to live with."

Katara sighed. "I figured as much, but thank you." Katara looked at her hand as she wanted to see what La would do.

But what La did was surprised Katara, she felt something stir in her body. Something being pulled from everywhere in her body and rushing to her hand. She watched as it looked like there was skin changing color and rapidly filling in. But there was no water on her hand or glow of the water like before. Katara was stunned by what she was seeing when La suddenly stopped.

"There, that should help," they said as they looked over at her as she was amazed but also concerned.

"How did you do that?"

"A technique that only master can learn," they kept it brief as they looked more over her hands. "I make sure to repair some of the damaged nerves in your fingers so you can at least still move them without too much pain. But that will require healing later."

"Wait, how? I should lean how to do that now right?" Katara asked. "Please teach me, La."

La looked at her, their eyes were blue and serene, but also a bit serious as they took on a more adult feminine form to speak. "For me to teach you the next step, you will need to understand the core value of water and why water is far more dangerous than that little fire bender can understand. And you have yet to learn it. But I know you will in time, little waterbender. And it will come to make sense."

"But for now, you have bigger issue, and should focus on running."

Katara looked confused as then suddenly a horn blew and distracted here long enough for La to slip away. Katara turned back and saw Zhao's ships were closing in. She had to run. So, this fic is going to be a long standing one of rewrites, but La in this hints at blood bending and Katara still has a few deeper scars on her skin.

Eventually, there will be a scene where Katara and Zuko bond over the scars and Katara finally understands something that La tells her later: "Scars can heal, but others will not fade. But the ones that stay show the colors of a warrior and how humans are not so different from one another." And yes this will be in the catacomb scene as well.

Hopefully you all like this and look forward for more!!

[the-badger-mole]

would you ever write an au where a member of the gaang besides aang is the avatar? if so, who would it be and what aspects of the story would you change or keep?

I don't know if I'll ever write this, but I had an idea for a fic where Yue was the Avatar. I think I already posted an outline for this, but I've put a little more thought into it.

Katara and Sokka head to the NWT looking to gather support for the SWT's war efforts (and to find someone to train Katara). I think they go directly there. They find the NWT closed off like in the show, but they get taken in because they are Chief Hakoda's children. It's essentially what happened in the show, except Yue is a waterbender, and Katara is sent off with her to have her learn to be a proper water tribe woman. They go off to the healing huts, and then Katara's face off with Pakku happens, but Yue pleads Katara's case saying that eventually she'll have to go home and wouldn't it be better if she could defend herself or something like that. Katara's connection with Kanna is discovered and Pakku agrees to train Katara (there will probably be more of an explanation of why Pakku's relationship with Kanna matters. I think Kanna was pregnant with Kya when she left and Pakku's world is rocked learning what happened to the daughter he never met).

The time line is more stretched out here, and Katara and Sokka are there for a few months. Katara learns more about her grandmother's time there from Pakku and Yugoda. Sokka and Yue have a romance, but she's still betrothed, so it's secret and angsty and all that good stuff. Six months in, Katara is a master, and Sokka and Yue are trying to figure out what to do. A pirate ship turns up, and Captain Lee and his first mate Mushi come to warn the NWT that the Fire Nation is preparing to attack. No one believes them until the ash starts falling. The fire nation attacks, and it's discovered that Yue is the Avatar. The FN soldiers are beaten- mostly killed, but a few get away. Katara is furious with Pakku and Arnook, and the NWT in general for hiding this. She makes a big speech about how the world needs the Avatar and eveyone is fighting and dying and trying to stop the FN from destroying the world, but they were keeping the one person who could change the tide hidden out of selfishness. She and Sokka are, of course, kicked out. Lee and Mushi offer them passage on their ship. Sokka goes to say goodbye to Yue and she asks him to stay, and that she thought she could convince her father to let her marry him instead. He tells her he needs to go help his people fight. They kiss and Sokka and Katara prepare to leaved. The next day, as they're waiting for Captain Lee to send a row boat for them, Yue appears, bag in hand and tells them that she was tired of hiding and she wants to do her duty as Avatar, starting with mastering more waterbending than healing. She tells them that her father agreed, and they all leave with Captain Lee.

There's friction with Katara and Lee immediately. She thinks he's hiding something. He thinks she's a busybody who doesn't know when to stop prying. But, they work well together, and a friendship develops over their travels. Katara helps Yue master waterbending, and then they set off in search of an earthbending master. That's when they find out that Yue lied. Her father is furious and sending people to bring her home, and to bring Katara and Sokka back to face kidnapping charges. The Fire Nation now also knows that Yue is the Avatar, and send Azula to find her. Everyone converges on the group at once, and that's how it's discovered that Captain Lee is the disgraced Prince Zuko.

That's it. That's as far as I got. I don't know if this fic will ever see the light of day, but if I were going to do a non-Aang Avatar, this would be it.

[vaguelyaperson]

in other critiques of the ATLA remake, I haven't seen anyone else address this, but

netflix butchered the martial arts of bending

disclaimer: I'm not a martial arts master, but I did have the privilege of taking a year of lessons from a kungfu master. This shifu studied at the Shaolin Temple - the birthplace of kungfu. He taught a mixture of basic kungfu (firebending), sword forms (like Piandao - Sokka's master), tai chi (waterbending), bagua (airbending), and Buddhist philosophy.

After I took those lessons, I developed a renewed appreciation for how the original ATLA represents martial arts through bending. I knew that they had a martial arts consultant to help choreograph (and damn is the choreography good), but it became increasingly clear that canon ATLA also took the philosophy of martial arts seriously. And if my shifu has anything to say about it, it's not kungfu without that philosophy.

... A philosophy that the remake butchered to present a superficial facsimile.

The original ATLA presented a wonderful, applicable nuance of bending: Like martial arts, intense emotion can make you 'stronger,' but it comes at the cost of your control. Raw strength can be a weakness; you can use an enemy's strength against them. The best fights are fought on reserved action. Proper breathing and form are crucial irreplaceable foundations. Or, MOST IMPORTANTLY, like martial arts, it's NOT ABOUT being the strongest fighter, but about self-defense and balance - balance within self, with nature, with others.

The remake said screw that nuance, bending is all about tapping into intense emotion. Raw strength is everything. Big, flashy attacks and powerful punches look the coolest. Everyone's obsessed with being a great warrior.

In other words, in the remake, that wasn't martial arts. That was just intense fighting that vaguely mimicked martial art forms. And given the budget and resources Netflix has, it's insulting that they didn't have or adhere to consultants. Most importantly, given that bending is the literal central aspect of the world, this butchering strips away yet more of ATLA's heart and soul.

I understand that they couldn't train the actors to master the respective martial arts of their element (and from what I saw of their forms, it's clear these kids at least learned and did their best to apply the basics; I did appreciate Gordon Cormier's focused finishing of airbending forms, that was on point), but the show's philosophical presentation of bending could've made up for that.

Which it didn't. At all. It did worse.

Episode one, remake Aang explained the importance of 'balance and energy' to help Katara make a waterball (something she already knew how to do before meeting him in canon, but sure yeah, misogyny is solved cause Sokka is no longer sexist), but... his explanation... sounded like the end result of a telephone game. It was utter gibberish. I could not follow what the fuck he was saying at all. 'Balance and energy' aren't magical terms - there's very real physical and mental intent, which you must train, in ensuring you have that balance and proper flow of energy (which I'll expand on below.)

Whereas in the original, Uncle Iroh's explanation of bending in the first episode was wonderful. 'Firebending comes from breath, not muscles' has real world equivalent to martial arts. Meditation is meant to train breathing, as well as calm the mind. Overt reliance on muscle (or worse, specific muscles) is a deterrent to proper martial arts. In fact, everything Uncle Iroh taught about bending was clear, well-understood, and had legitimate parallels to actual martial arts. He was an incredible foil to Zuko, an angry amateur.

Canon Zuko's firebending (at least in season 1) sucked for a reason - and the nuance displayed so much respect for the discipline of martial arts. He only seemed capable of basic forms (like forms I learned in the first month of kungfu) and maybe a few cool kicks. His breathing was TERRIBLE (you should not have to huff and grunt when doing basic kungfu forms). His balance was demonstratively bad, given how easily he kept getting knocked over. When Iroh insisted that Zuko master the basics first, it was cause Zuko legitimately still sucked at the basics. His anger and strength were poor crutches.

There's a reason that Aang had an entire character arc to master the emotions of the Avatar State, that Zuko had to learn how to firebend without anger. I can now confirm from experience that anger and reliance on raw strength makes you imbalanced and inflexible!!! It also tires you out faster.

Real balance and energy explanation: In real life, the flow of chi is facilitated by proper form, which REQUIRES meditative practice to master; correct rooted stance, arms-torso-legs aligned to maximize full-body strength, a calm focused mind. Shifu was particular about every detail of our forms down to how our feet were angled and our thumbs placed. We practiced those forms again and again and again. My most powerful hits were ALWAYS because I was focused and my form was on point.

Remember, I had only a year of lessons. Even with basic training, the actors could've EASILY demonstrated everything discussed - if the show's narrative presented it correctly.

But nope. Katara was outright encouraged to base her bending on emotions, instead of emphasizing the necessity of practice and a teacher to demonstrate proper form. The Kyoshi Warriors mostly just grunted through hard punches and threw their fans around, rather than utilizing stealth and their opponent's body mechanics against them. Azula leveled up her firebending just because she was upset at her dad (can the remake stop making men the catalyst of female characters unlocking abilities??), not because how - in canon - Azula is a precise, self-controlled person, which allows her to channel such a dangerous erratic element like lightning.

Everything in the remake was based on emotion and strength! It full on flipped the script!

It was insulting. All of it was so insulting.

I fell in love with martial arts as a child because of ATLA. I took the opportunity to learn from that Shaolin shifu because of ATLA. So I especially felt betrayed by the bastardization of the bending. How could you strip such an essential part of the worldbuilding? It's just not ATLA anymore.

[fanfic-lover-girl]

Are the Gaang OP?? - Katara

This post is inspired by this earlier post where I questioned the timeline of Katara's mastery.

I had similar thoughts about Toph a while back and it made me wonder if the Gaang members were OP. I rewatched the scene where they invaded the Earth King's palace and these feelings grew inside me. So I will go over points for Zuko, Katara, Sokka and Toph. I am excluding Aang because he is the avatar and I just don't feel too strongly about him. I don't think Zuko is OP but I am doing him for fun. I am excluding Suki too because, like Aang, I don't feel like it and I don't know what her Kyoshi training was like. But I don't think Suki is OP.

I will start with Katara in this post and do separate posts for the others.

Katara (the queen herself)

Self-taught & eventually had access to a water-bending scroll

Basic moves in season 1

Impressive feats were done with Aang (manipulating the clouds) or done accidentally (healing) in season 1

Became a master waterbender in months, good enough to teach the avatar as declared by Master Pakku.

Reinforced her skills by teaching Aang and fighting in a war

Able to hold her own against Azula in the catacombs - another prodigy who has been training longer than she has

Mastered bloodbending with no practice or demonstration from Hama (she is able to competently manoeuvred the Southern Raiders captain when this is supposed to be her second time bloodbending)

Able to hold her own against Sozin comet-powered Azula

Good healer: healed Aang, Jet, Toph and Zuko. Able to save Aang and Zuko from (the brink of) death. Could not save Jet but was able to mind-heal him.

Able to fight against fire nation ships (The Awakening & TSR)

Conclusion: I love Katara but she is OP. Especially due to her bloodbending.

I can buy her becoming a master (whatever mastery means for waterbending) after a few months given her dedication and her self-taught background. I can buy her being good enough to teach the avatar for the same reasons. Aang goofing off at the northern tribe made it so Katara HAD to be good enough for the narrative to work. Her beating Azula in season 3 makes sense given Azula was off her rocker. She also had the spirit water when she healed Aang at the end of season 2.

But her season 2 fight with Azula and her bloodbending make her so unrealistic. Azula has been training far longer than she has and Azula only recently began her lightning training. I don't think Azula is a master yet. Is she?? Yet Katara was winning the fight until Zuko interfered. Although I will admit that Katara had the environmental advantage given they were fighting underground.

But Katara is out here bloodbending on the first try when it took an imprisoned Hama years to invent the technique. Her being able to break free of the bloodbending felt like a cheap plot convenience too. Especially when Hama has years of practice! What exactly makes someone a stronger bender anyway?? Hama is a waterbending master with decades more experience than Katara.

Katara is basically a master of bloodbending on her second try. Unless she has been practising bloodbending privately which I doubt.

Also, I am suspicious at how good Katara is at healing post season 1. I never got the impression that she was enthused to learn healing at the northern tribe. Understandably of course. I wish we could have seen more scenes of her at the healing hut but unfortunately, we did not. We can only speculate that she dedicated herself to healing like she did fighting.

Also if she was able to fight so well against fire nation ships as a single water bender then why the heck did the northern water tribe struggle against the fire nation fleet?? A boat of benders saved Aang from the ship he was trapped on. Are you telling me that men who have trained likely far longer than her need to work as a team to capsize a ship?? If all benders were like Katara then the siege would have been over in a day lol. Either the waterbenders in the north are pathetic or subpar or Katara is just better than anyone else for some reason.

Katara's mastery timeline does not make sense. She is a prodigy but I am still not satisfied. Based on dialogue with Roku and looking at other characters, true mastery takes years. I know the show had a limited timeline but Katara becoming a master in mere months is baffling. But I still love you Katara! And you are still one of my top cartoon female role models. Zuko will always be my number 1 but you are a top contender for number 2 :)

[wait-still-rendering]

Episode 9.

Since this is the episode when Katara takes the scroll, I decided I was gonna watch carefully to see when she does it. I'm pretty sure it's when Aang is trying to haggle because she walks off right as he says, "Watch and learn." Someone has probably already noticed it, but it's fun noticing it on your own.

Cabbage Man may be the Gaang's biggest hater, but honestly, I can't blame him. He's just trying to make a living selling cabbages and they keep wrecking his supplies.

I like how this episode showcases Katara's flaws because her being upset is understandable. She had no one to teach her in the Southern Water Tribe and when she goes on to tell Aang about perfecting a single move in months and he's able to get it after the first few tries? Like yeah, of course she's gonna be upset and jealous. Was it right for her to snap at him? No, but snapping at people happens to everyone. She also apologizes for her response.

Her line, "I don't want to have anything to do with it," and then tries to learn from the scroll at night? I like that moment happens. Katara isn't perfect and I'm glad she isn't.

Also, it's going to be amazing to see how everyone grows throughout the show.

Another thing to note on why Aang might be really good at waterbending is, he's a master at airbending. I'm not saying they're interchangeable, but he has had years of practice with bending and learning formally from monks. I think that factors into how fast he picks up the forms and moves.

Sokka getting offended at not being captured is so funny. I love how he instigates the fight between the pirates and Zuko and the Fire Nation crew.

"Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail?" -Iroh.

Whoever delivered the line, "That's good!" You're a legend.

I love seeing Sokka be an older brother. And I'm glad Katara apologized sincerely.

[loopy777]

What's your favorite, and least favorite episodes from each of atla and LOK 3 respective seasons?

I think I've answered an Ask like this before, although perhaps not broken down by seasons like this. I'm purposefully not looking at that post because I'm sure my answers are going to shift a little. Even AtLA's worst stuff isn't so bad that I won't watch it, and it has so much good stuff that it's hard to be certain of favorites.

AtLA: Book 1 - Water

Favorite: Jet I make this choice under duress. I grimaced as I glanced over the list and saw "The Storm," "The Blue Spirit," and "The Waterbending Master." And I don't even think "Jet" is flawless. But the work it did for Sokka's character, solidifying him as a favorite in the cast for me, as well as the greatness of that final act, make it currently my personal favorite.

Least Favorite: The Great Divide I know- big surprise, right? I even think this episode has some good lines, and I love how Aang solves the main conflict with a blatant lie. But it's just so weak, and unlike the weak early episodes in the season (looking at you especially, "The King of Omashu"), it doesn't introduce a fun character.

AtLA: Book 2 - Earth

Favorite: Zuko Alone Honorable mentions to "The Chase" (it's paced perfectly and gives every character in the main cast a solid moment, capped by a great final fight), "Appa's Lost Days" (the entire fandom agreeing this episode is heart-wrenching perfection might be the one thing we're all united on), and "The Crossroads of Destiny" (which I shouldn't have to explain). But I have to go with "Zuko Alone" for being my favorite kind of cowboy story, making its points in a minimalist style that doesn't need dialogue, and perfectly setting up the backgrounds of our antagonists to show how they've been harmed by Fire Nation society and why they do what they do. This episode is a master-class in character exploration, and it looms over the entire franchise with the quality and grace of its writing.

Least Favorite: The Swamp Ask again in a few months and it will be "Avatar Day." Both of these episodes are pointless for the gAang, both contain just enough progress for Zuko's subplot that you can't skip them, and both do something critical for the wider themes of the show that really make the stupidity of the main plots stand out. But today I'm more annoyed at the completely unnecessary prophecy about Toph than I am at Avatar Day's silliness. And the scene with Kyoshi is really cool, even if it's not as profound as the lesson about connections and the tree.

AtLA: Book 3 - Fire

Favorite: Avatar Aang The ending is just so good. Aang finishing the fight by taking away Ozai's bending is perfect. Katara's defeat of Azula by turning her aggression against her is perfect. The drama and music and animation is great. It's almost unfair that material like this has to go against the other hits in this season.

Least Favorite: The Beach I'm sorry, I know it does good stuff with the Fire Teens, but it's done in a ham-handed way that it should be ashamed to be in the same series as "Zuko Alone" and "The Southern Raiders." It's so bad that there are major fans here on Tumblr who claim that Mai and Ty Lee are lying through their teeth with every word they say during the big 'confession' scene. (Honestly, the fandom talk about Ty Lee these days has nearly killed my drive to do that 'Mai and Ty Lee in Samurai Champloo' road trip adventure idea.) And I just. Don't. Find. It. Funny.

LoK: Book 1 - Air

Favorite: The Voice in the Night This might be my favorite Korra-centric story in all of LoK. Later attempts to focus on her character were damaged by the terrible writing and plots, and the earlier stuff lacked some weight due to just getting to know the cast. This episode is at the sweet spot where we're familiar with the cast and the story can make the most of the potential, before the later burden of the terrible story can drag things down. This episode is focused on Korra dealing with her fear while having to be a hero to the city, relying more on character dynamics than plot, and all the stronger for it.

Least Favorite: The Spirit of Competition What if 'The Beach' starred less interesting characters, focused more on immature romance, and tried to squeeze drama out of tired old cliches of character dynamics? And the sense of humor was equally flat? This episode.

LoK: Book 2 - Spirit

Favorite: Beginnings, Part 1 Despite the problems with the whole 'Good Light Spirit vs Evil Light Spirit' thing, I like most of the setup and depiction. I just wish it had been treated as a legend, and the events and visuals hadn't been confirmed. Imagine if we could have had multiple versions of the story of Wan and Raava, each one slightly different depending on the point of revisiting the story!

Least Favorite: Civil Wars, Part 1 This might be the most grating episode of LoK, ever. Between the childishness of the whole Water Tribe troubles and the extra-childishness of Tenzin and his siblings screaming at each other, I think it's possible for a viewer to have a headache by the end from clenching their teeth so much.

LoK: Book 3 - Change

Favorite: The Stakeout This is the only good season of LoK, and I think my favorite scene in the whole thing is Korra's conversation with Zaheer. I love a villain who can convincingly argue his point, even if you know he's willfully blind to the failures of his perspective. The staging, the delivery, the dialogue- it's all the very peak of LoK.

Least Favorite: Old Wounds This episode wanted to be "Zuko Alone" and failed so, so hard. The framing story -- Lin being subjected to literally painful memories by acupuncture -- is awkwardly and pointlessly implemented. The finale is just Lin and Suyin screaming their feelings at each other and then feeling better, something even more dumb than "The Beach" by not even being an homage to a beloved 80s movie. And even aside from the quality, I cannot abide anything that doesn't acknowledge Suyin as a terrible person as both a child and adult. The whole thing makes everyone involved less compelling, and it's a chore to sit through when the rest of the season is so good.

LoK: Book 4 - Balance

Favorite: Beyond the Wilds I'll admit that I've only ever watched most of LoK once, so I don't remember much of this book. But this episode has the scene with Zaheer in it, so that's why I picked it. Despite the fandom reputation, I think this season is back to being terrible, and while I don't have any real complaints about "Korra Alone," by that point I was so tired of Korra as a character that I bounced off it pretty hard. I still overall like Korra as a character, but I can only care so much about her pain and suffering after being forced to watch "The Spirit of Competition." There's a reason horror movies go with immature teenagers as their victims of choice- it's not like they're real people we can feel empathy for.

Least Favorite: The Calling Again, I'm not familiar with how most of this season breaks down, and I was very tempted to ding the finale for that stupid giant mecha and the emptiness of everything with Mako in it. And if I remembered better which episodes have the most Prince Wu in them, they would have been major contenders. So, in the end, I picked the one with the most Meelo in it. I hate that kid.

[thebakingqueen5]

KW 2023: Confession/Whisper

Day 3 for Kataang Week 2023 hosted by @kataang-week with the prompt Confession/Whisper!

Links: AO3 || FF.net

Summary: 7 days, 7 prompts, 7 snapshots of their lives, and my 7th fricking year of having done this. Welcome to Kataang Week 2023 Day 3: Confession/Whisper. “Tell me something you’ve never told anyone before.” Or, the one where Aang and Katara find themselves unable to sleep.

Word Count: 2.7k

Preview:

"Couldn't sleep either?" he whispered, tucking a few strands of her hair behind her ear.

Katara sighed in contentment and laid her head back down in the crook of his neck. "Something like that." She looked up at him as she absentmindedly traced patterns over his heart. "I blame you, you know."

"Me?" Aang murmured, mock-affonted. "What ever have I done to displease Master Waterbender Katara of the Southern Water Tribe?"

The airbender stifled a laugh in the short silence that followed, not needing to see his wife to be acutely aware of the eye roll she was giving him.

"I wouldn't say displease, per se," she said, "but I swear this baby is determined to make me nocturnal."

Aang grinned and kissed the top of Katara's head at the mention of their child. Granted, they wouldn't be born for a good seven months or so, but that didn't stop the butterflies in Aang's stomach every time the baby was brought up. Their baby.

"Oh come on," he admonished. "I'm sure our baby just wants his mother to enjoy the moonlight more often. He's my child- how could he have anything other than your best interests at heart?"

The waterbender pouted. "No being cute right now. Someone should tell her that her mother would like a good night's rest, moonlight be damned."

Aang chuckled softly as he moved his hand to play with her hair splayed out on the pillows underneath them. He turned his head to look at her, awed as always by how beautiful she looked next to him.

"Let's play a game then," he whispered. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Tell me something you've never told anyone before."

[auduux]

Prologue Preview

For a fic i'm calling "Cherry Blossoms" for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. There's a post somewhere on my profile explaining the premises but it's pretty outdated and honestly kinda hidden but still-

---

"Listen, I need your help."

"You need my help? Funny. Just a few months ago you were telling me I wouldn't see the light of day again." Rasi purred, tail flicking playfully. The doublebender was almost a walking cat, the only thing he was missing was fur, paws, and a cat’s face. Corruption as bad as he had was commonly only seen in tribenders, but rumors are he had mastered waterbending and airbending so it wasn't surprising. His skill in both only furthered the evidence, especially his bloodbending. Viha still shivered each time he thought about it.

"I am at my wits end, cat. You are my only option." Viha stressed, fingers twitching and leg bouncing. They were both annoyed and nervous tics. He tried to stay as still as he could, but he couldn't stop those two things. Damn his odd body.

"Mmm. What's in it for me?" The cat asked, turning away briefly. He was playing coy, toying with the chief of police, but really, he did want something in return. He doesn't do free work.

"I..." He started, hesitating, looking down, "I'll let you go. Go free." He finished, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was the last thing he wanted to do but he really needed their help.

"Oh?" Rasi asked, eyes narrowing. They had their head in their palms now, staring at Viha expectantly with a grin. Two small fangs slightly protruded from under their top lip. It added to their cat appearance.

"I need your help tracking someone down. I can't tell you what I’ll need you to do after you locate him but that is not where this deal ends--STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" The chief said, banging his fist down on the metal table. It shook slightly but not enough to affect the bender in front of him. They stopped looking at him as if they wanted to eat him in an act of mercy anyway. They always stared too long or too hard at him, or started outright flirting with him, hell they did it in the middle of court. It threw him in such a loop that they had to reschedule--whether that was on purpose he still couldn't tell.

"Spirits, you fucking jackass. I'll brief you later, the guards will take care of escorting you out. Make any trouble and I’m going back on the deal. Now and later, one word of you getting involved in anything not authorized by me and you're back in jail." Viha sneered, pointing a finger at them as he stood and leaned over the table. He got close, probably too close, but they only smiled. The same shit eating grin they always had. Dammit it pissed him off. He growled at the lack of response, quickly spinning around and leaving, sighing heavily once he exited the room.

[raebellian]

Why I love Katara from ATLA

Katara is underrated and doesn’t deserve all the hate people give her. Like everyone else in the Gaang, she was an invaluable member that they couldn’t have survived without. Hear me out—this is going to be a long one.

First, her role as team mom: We all know that the Gaang saw Katara as a motherly figure—even Sokka, her older brother. Remember The Desert? Aang was having a mental breakdown over Appa, Sokka was high on cactus juice, Toph couldn’t see, and Katara literally held them together. Sure, sometimes Katara lost her temper or acted bossy, but come on! Whose mom doesn’t? In fact, Toph and Sokka agreed in The Runaway that even though Katara got on their nerves sometimes, it was that exact trait of bossiness that the Gaang relied on so much. And I think a lot of those scenes where Katara fussed over things were super cute; it literally made the Gaang seem like a little family.

Second: I know people hate on Katara for talking about her mom so much. But admit it, we were all annoying at one point in our teenage years. And imagine if something happened to your mom or a similar parental figure. If you were a young child when it happened? If you spent years and years thinking it was your fault? If your father was always away and you had to step up as your own mother’s replacement, forced to shove that darkness deep down, hoping for the day when you could get some closure?

When Aang realized he lost his people and broke down in The Southern Air Temple, Katara was there for him. She said it was okay to be sad, that she understood, that she was going to help him. She didn’t have to do that. She barely knew him at the time. But grief is grief, no matter its size and form and how it’s dealt with, and she found a way to get through to him. Same with Haru and Jet. Katara reached out to them by exchanging stories with them, and listened to theirs with compassion as well. 

Of course, everyone expresses/copes with grief in different ways, but Katara’s grief wasn’t any lesser than her friends, nor were her coping mechanisms any less valid.

Let’s talk about Sokka. He admitted he saw Katara as a mother, and that he couldn’t even recall Kya’s face. He also seemed to be much closer with Hakoda throughout the show. Might I also remind you of Sokka’s general goofiness and rather out-of-the-blue sexist attitude at the beginning. I really doubt the sexism was due to Southern Water Tribe Culture—or why would Kanna go there to escape the sexism of the north? Sokka likely developed that mindset as a coverup for his grief, whereas Katara had to bottle up her feelings and step up as the motherly figure as a young child. Sokka’s coping mechanism was to goof around and pretend nothing got to him, and Aang avoided his duties and hardships until he eventually learned to confront them. 

Yes, Katara said some awful things to both Sokka and Aang in The Southern Raiders, but she was a teenage girl mourning the loss of the person she loved most in the world, and whom she seemed to develop her whole personality and identity around. Sometimes you lash out, lose control, and accidentally hurt your loved ones—especially if you’re just a child forced to grow up too fast in a war torn world.

In any case, there’s no doubt that Katara regretted what she said to Sokka right after she said it (look at her expression in that scene), and it’s almost certain that she went and made up with him afterwards. It wasn’t the first time one of the siblings accidentally hurt the other, and it certainly wasn’t the last time either. But there’s no doubt that the siblings loved each other unconditionally, which gave them the ability to make up no matter what, every single time without fail.

Third: I know a lot of people criticize Katara for her initial mistrust of Zuko. True, Katara tends to hold grudges. But from her pov, Zuko did break her trust (which she gave out quite readily, especially for someone from the water tribe) and none of Team Avatar actually witnessed Zuko’s epic redemption arc firsthand. Katara also felt extremely guilty and scared for almost wasting the spirit water on Zuko’s scar, which would’ve ended Aang for good.

The others in the Gaang had more inclination to trust Zuko due to Iroh defending him when he came to them for help in Ba Sing Se, while Katara was stuck in a creepy underground cave probably having a panic attack and fully expecting to be killed at any given moment. I’d probably lash out too if someone locked me up and suddenly yeeted in a guy who tried to kill me and my friends on multiple previous occasions, even if his hair did have a major glow up. 

Speaking of Zuko and his glow up... oMg hE’s sO hOt! Cute fictional boy with dark hair, we all stan!!! Draco in leather pants, anyone? While I love Zuko as much as any ATLA fan, he did his fair share of bad things. The entire first season? His betrayal of Iroh? Sure, Katara had her moments, but did you guys really forget how Zuko treated Iroh? How he constant belittled him on the ship in S1 and in the prison in S3, while still demanding Iroh’s advice? Of course, Zuko got better and gained redemption and forgiveness—he absolutely deserved it in the end—but doesn’t Katara deserve similar sympathy after making far lesser mistakes than Zuko? Is it because she’s not an attractive bad boy? Imagine Katara as a hot dude with a brooding, chiseled face, and I guarantee you the same people who hate her so vehemently will automatically stan her. It’s almost as if there’s a double standard for female characters or something...

In conclusion: Katara cares so, so much with all her heart about everything and everyone, loving and hating with equal passion, and I think that’s beautiful. She is the epitome of gentle yet unyielding femininity (as opposed to Toph’s brashness or Azula’s coolness), and we need more female characters like her who are unabashedly feminine and proud of it. In today’s society, girls are often shamed for being girly, hence the “mean popular girl” trope and the “not like other girls” trend. That’s why we see so many tomboys in fiction, girls who are strong and tough and one of the guys. That’s why we see so many ice queens in fiction, who are equal parts beautiful and deadly in everything they do. Of course, these types of girls are just as valid (and why Toph, Azula, and so many other ATLA girls are so popular and iconic), but women irl are so incredible because of their diversity—not only in appearance but in personality. 

That’s what makes ATLA so good: each character has their strengths and weaknesses and undergoes an incredible character arc. Each member of the Gaang is unique and essential and they all balance each other out personality-wise. Without Katara, ATLA would not be the masterpiece it is, would not be so acclaimed for its incredibly written characters. Without Katara, western animation would be lacking of an incredibly written character, a POC girly girl who is soft and gentle and nurturing and can kick ass in a dress and fancy hair. Without Katara, little girls who grew up watching ATLA would grow up with perhaps many good female role models, but they would miss out on one in particular who would teach them it’s okay to care too much, it’s okay to cry and be angry and hate, it’s okay because in the end things will always get better and so will you. That it’s going to be okay, and there’s always hope and light in the world no matter what life throws at you. That’s what Katara means to me, and that’s why I love her so much.

~Raebelle