#she said shed kill zuko for 'what he did' but azula... deserves a pass??? what does she mean..

[mx-paint]

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[redrobin-detective]

I don't know if you're still accepting prompts, but how about something to do with ATLA? The gaang (and/or Iroh) steal Zuko for after he's overworked trying to run a post-war country on his own, and have to hide from his guards while goofing off. Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing some of the prompts xx

I would absolutely love towrite something for ATLA, I haven’t written for it in a long time but it’s sucha rich world that I’m eager to stick my toes in it again. I hope you’re proud;I did actual research for this one.

It started, as most ofheadaches usually do, because of Aang and Sokka. The group- he refused to callthem by their childish nickname of ‘the gaang’ despite Sokka’s bestattempts- was in Fire Nation officially because of a peace conference but inactuality because Zuko’s 18th birthday was just a few months away. They hadbeen unable to gather due to conflicting schedules last year and the WaterTribe siblings were insisting they celebrate now. While Fire Nation citizenswere typically deemed of age at 16, the passage to adulthood was delayed until18 on the poles and was a significantly more momentous occasion apparently. 

Despitethe fact that he was stressed over running his still half ruined country, finishingpreparations for the opening ceremony of the peace conference this evening,trying to figure out how not make a fool of himself onan international stage (still a work in progress) and dealing with the generalchaos that came when the Avatar’s entourage… he was still happy to see his friends. 

“We should play somegames!” Aang, the Avatar, the single most powerful being in the known universegrinned, grinned as he balanced on his head. 

“Don’t you have work todo?” Zuko moaned, resisting the urge to undo his top knot and run his handsthrough his hair. “You can’t possible have enough free time to justifydistractions like that.”

“Not normally but you’reonly going to be a kid for a little while longer!” Aang pouted, airbendinghimself upright. “I know you’re busy, we’re all busy, but we never seeeach other anymore except for official stuff and we deserve some time tocelebrate your birthday since we’ve missed every other one up until now.”

“My birthday’s not evenuntil the next season, you just want an excuse to play around,” Zuko grumbledbut it’s nice in a way. They’ve been friends for two, going on three, years butthe fact that they genuinely seem to enjoy his company still continues to be arelief and a pleasure.

“Yup!” Sokka interruptedwith a wide grin, inserting himself into the middle of the group and assertingas the leader of, whatever this was. “Now what can we play? It’s pretty hard tohave snowball fights and build snow tunnels in this abysmal hot weather-”

“The temperature is justright you Water Tribe Id-”

“-and ‘Kill the Firebender’seems a bit rude now that the war’s over and all,” Sokka continued, talkingover Zuko. He scrunched his face up in deep though before snapping his fingers.“I know! We can do some good old fashioned leg wrestling and frozen walruscarcass is always fun.”

“What’s that?” Aang, everthe vegetarian, asked with a grey expression.

“Oh we haven’t played thatin years,” Katara clapped with a giddy expression. “Don’t worry Aang, oneperson is the frozen walrus and is held up by the feet of everyone sitting in acircle and is passed around. Whoever drops them is the next frozen walrus.”

“I’ll pass,” Toph said,lounging on Zuko’s plush bed while dangling a reed from a nearby plant over thebed for Momo to chase. “But I’ll kick all your butts in that ball kicking gameafter you’re done your weird walrus game.”

“Those both sound great,”Aang said, practically vibrating with excitement. Zuko set down his importantdocument-that he absolutely was studying very carefully- down to address theteen. “I’ve told Sokka and Katara about airball but we also had a game called ‘hideand find’ where everyone but one person hides and that person needs to findthem!”

“We had a game like thatcalled Sardine-Trout where one person hides and everyone else seeks them andthen hides with them!” Sokka added enthusiastically. Zuko felt that he wasrapidly losing control of this situation, if he ever had it in the first place.

“Wait, come on you can’tactually be thinking of playing games when we’re supposed to coordinating thisevent,” Zuko explained, gesturing to his very important paperwork no one elseseemed to care about.

“What kind of games did youplay in the Fire Nation?” Katara asked, “Aang played a few when he went toschool here but I’m sure someone of your standing played something moresophisticated.”

“Not really,” Zuko shrugged.“Azula and her friends were the only kids my age around. I guess we chased eachother around a bit when we were young but it quickly became all about bendingtraining and avoiding Azula’s manipulations.”

“That doesn’t sound veryfun,” Toph said quietly from the bed, letting Momo take the reed and run offwith it. The atmosphere in the room plummeted and Zuko hated himself for beingat the center of it, again. How hashe had these friends for two years and still be so insanely bad at it?

“Well now it’s doublyimportant that we play right now,” Aang said loudly, shattering theuncomfortable silence. “The conference doesn’t start until later tonight and everythingis pretty much ready; we should be able to have a little bit of fun,” he insistedas he tugged Zuko to his feet. “Just for a little while, just for a fewminutes. We have the rest of our lives to fix the world, we only have so muchtime left to be kids.”

“I-” Zuko protested weaklyonly for Sokka to grab his other arm with a determined expression and, beforehe knew it, Zuko was lifted and bodily dragged out of his study room and outtowards the courtyard.

“Unhand me, I am the FireLord!” He shouted in a way he wanted to be imposing but just sounded whiney,his years at sea all over again.

“We’re not citizens and webow before no king,” Toph grinned, looking entirely too delighted by the chaos.“Just shut up and enjoy yourself, Sparky, Katara’s got that look on her face.”

“You’re blind,” he murmuredbut sure enough, Katara had a steady, slightly pinched look that told him thisactivity would be seen through whether he wanted it or not. What a mess hisfriends caused, how lucky he was to have them in the first place.

Aang asked for minutes butgot well over an hour. Zuko shed layer after layer of royal clothing as thegames got more intense until he was stripped to just his undershorts and casualshirt but there was no shame, not when he managed to sneak a ball past Toph bykicking it high into the air where she couldn’t see it. He paid for it nextround but boy did it feel good.

Aang was right, as heusually was in an annoying, roundabout way. Everything up until now had been aprelude and the real work, the work that would lay the foundations for a peacefulfuture, was almost upon them. There wouldn’t be much more time for little frivolitieslike this so taking this time now, playing out the childhood he never reallyhad, it was nice.

It was almost worth it toountil the ambassador from the Earth Kingdom caught him losing to a Water Tribepeasant in leg wrestling. He’ll never live down that shame.

[purpleswans1]

Thoughts of a Concerned Stepfather

Here’s a self-indulgent character study I wrote for the ATLA fandom a couple of weeks ago to help me get back into the writing biz. Note: contains spoilers for “The Search”

See also on FF and AO3

Noreen thought he was dreaming when he saw Ursa on that stage. It was, after all, a scene straight from his dreams. The light of the rising sun highlighted her hair, her face was filled with the despair from the life she was forced into, and she was standing in the middle of the stage waiting for him.

It wasn't until she got up to leave that he realized it was real.

Upon realizing that yes, this was real, and yes, that was his Ursa crying on the stage, he did the only comforting thing a stranger could offer and bought her breakfast.

Speaking with her again after all these years was better than anything he could imagine. He was so happy when he was finally able to reveal himself to her, and the tears of relief she shed broke his heart. She told him why and how she came back, and he told her how she could be free, safe, and with him again.

But over a decade apart had taken their toll on her, and although she was still the headstrong actress he'd fallen for, she had other people she cared for now: her children.

While they stayed in Forgetful Valley, Ursa told Noreen all about the kids. Zuko, her pride and joy, a kind boy who never stopped trying even when it was hard and would feed the turtleducks whenever time allowed. Azula, a bright and talented perfectionist who loved to laugh and cartwheel with her friends.

A vicious, jealous part of Noreen wanted to hate the children. They had Ursa's love and adoration, and were the children of that tyrant Ozai. They were still part of Ursa though, and for that he knew he should try to understand.

When the Mother of Faces finally appeared, he could tell that Ursa was still on the fence about staying with him. When the spirit gave her an option that would free her from the guilt, Noreen was filled with relief. Now, he would be able to have Ursa all to himself, with no lingering connections to her life with Ozai.

It wasn't until much later, when he held his daughter Kiyi for the first time, that he realized just how cruel and selfish it was to interfere in the connection between a parent and child.

Two years after Noriko had come into existence, Noreen heard some interesting gossip from the capital.

Noreen was constantly on the lookout for news about the royal family. He had to be ready in case someone came asking about Ursa. Since Noriko had lost her memories she wouldn't pay attention or know to be concerned, and it fell on Noreen's shoulders to watch out for any dangers to their little paradise.

Although the news wasn't threatening, it was still worrying. Zuko - the little boy Ursa doted on - had refused to fight in an Agni Kai against his own father, and had been injured and banished as a result. The left side of his face was badly burnt; likely to result in a permanent scar. His only hope of returning home was to capture an old legend nobody had seen in a hundred years.

Watching Noriko nurse their newborn, Noreen was glad that she didn't remember her firstborn. It would break her heart.

Three years later, wanted posters for Prince Zuko were posted all around the Fire Nation. It was rumored that Princess Azula was personally leading the hunt for her brother.

Noreen caught Noriko looking at the poster once. She had that sad, far-off look in her eyes that she sometimes got. When he asked her about it, she said that she felt sorry for the Prince for some reason.

It seems the Mother of Faces couldn't completely sever her ties to her children.

A few months later, a talented little girl who liked to cartwheel conquered the city of Ba Sing Se and won the war against the Earth Kingdom. In addition, a kind boy who liked to feed turtleducks killed the Avatar and was being honored as the rightful crown prince of their nation.

Idly, Noreen wondered whether these kids had been destined to grow up and become that, or if being separated from their mother had changed them.

A couple of months passed, and news reached Hira'a that the Avatar was still alive and Prince Zuko had turned traitor. Noreen wasn't really sure what to make of this, and distracted himself with making sure this year's production of Love Among Dragons went off without a hitch. Well, at least as smoothly as any stage production could be.

Fire Lord Ozai had been deposed. He'd lost a battle with the Avatar and had lost his bending as a result. Noreen was secretly happy to hear this; that tyrant finally got what was coming to him.

Zuko had become the new Fire Lord and had decided to end the hundred years war. Noreen had to admit this was a good thing; the war had stolen almost all of the nation's resources and forced domestic concerns to fall to the wayside.

One of Fire Lord Zuko's first orders, though, was to send out search parties for his mother. Noreen had hoped that Ursa's children had forgotten about her or simply decided that they didn't care, but it seemed that it wasn't the case.

Noreen embraced his wife and child, and started counting down the days until it all fell apart.

A little over a year later, the troupe was putting on his favorite play again when he noticed some strangers in the audience. It wasn't uncommon for people outside the town to come in especially to see a play, but these strangers were particularly unusual.

The first one he noticed was the bald boy with a blue stripe on his head. He was wearing a headband, but Noreen had heard enough about Avatar Aang to guess that was to cover his Airbender tattoos. He was accompanied by a boy and a girl who, by their complexion, were clearly not Fire Nation natives. There was another girl with them whose attitude was worrying, but it was the other boy that Noreen really noticed.

One look at the scarred face of the Fire Lord, and Noreen knew that the day he'd always feared had come.

Noreen was a little nervous bringing the Fire Lord and his friends into his home, but it was the only polite way to get some privacy and give them enough information to leave. He must have hid his anxiety well though, since nobody picked up on it.

Watching Kiyi interact with her half-siblings was... interesting. She has always enjoyed getting to know new people, and these guests were no exemption. Azula didn't look like she had much experience with kids (or interacting nicely with people in general) but Zuko gave Kiyi his attention and acted as a buffer between the two girls.

It made Noreen feel a little guilty for not being totally honest.

Noreen had seen them go into Forgetful Valley, and with the Avatar he knew it was only a matter of time until they found the Mother of Faces. As such, he wasn't particularly surprised to see the Fire Lord at his doorstep again.

He knew that Zuko was probably here to break up his little family, but when he saw how happy Kiyi was Noreen invited him to dinner.

The questions the Fire Lord asked were a little concerning. Why was the idea of a family dinner every night so alien? He then asked Noriko if she was happy, and when he heard her answer, he smiled.

Then, the Fire Lord stood up to leave.

What? Why wasn't he trying to take Noriko away? Was he really content with the knowledge that his mother was happy?

He was Ozai's son. He was the most powerful man in the fire nation. He could easily burn down the entire town, and he had powerful friends who could do worse.

But...

But he was also Ursa's child. He was the boy who fed turtleducks and fought even when it was hard and was the apple of his Mother's eye.

Noreen thought back to everything he'd heard about Zuko over the years - how Ozai had always told him he was worthless, how Ursa had been required to sacrifice herself for his life, how his own father had scarred and banished him, how his own nation had seen his as a traitor - and realized that he had suffered just as much as Ursa had under Azulon and Ozai's cruelty.

Deep down, Fire Lord Zuko was just a kid who'd lost his mother and been through hell, and managed to overcome it all.

He deserved to have his mother back.

"Go ahead, young man. Do what you came to do. Tell her you haven't forgotten who you are."