#sokka: katara wanna spar?

[ultfreakme]

Sokka when he's older should have a sword, club, Boomerang and a fan. The fan is mandatory too actually wtf is the point if he didn't continue training with the Kyoshi Warriors? He's one of them now.

[tickle-bugs]

Wait… ATLA… I need some zuko fics for suree!! ❤️

.. I know you’re not currently taking prompts at this time but maybe something to considerrrr when you arrree :3 hehe

zuko my beloved my skrunkly my sweet <3 headcanons for you as a treat <3

when Zuko snorts, a lil puff of smoke comes out his nose. I know it to be true. Iroh told me.

He has a rly sweet breathy laugh that sometimes goes silent prematurely. very giggle prone and he pretends to hate it, but if he actually did he would barbecue everybody so. checkmate.

This one might be a hot take but I feel like he might actually be great at pretending something doesn't tickle if it's one sensation in one place. I'm choosing this hill because I think it makes things so much funnier if the gaang is trying to catch him off-guard and can't. and he knows. and he's smug.

but, flipside to this coin, he's like a jumpy cat. if you do catch him off guard he will launch directly into the stratosphere and squeak. there's nothing he can do to recover.

if zuko knows you're going to tickle him he will giggle uncontrollably before you touch him, get mad that he's doing it, and then (rare phenomenon) angry giggle. very cute.

Zuko can't firebend if he's laughing because firebending needs air. When he throws his little tantrums or goes to do something reckless (and stupid), whoever is closest to him is quick to poke his sides and the air leaves him in this big woosh. If he tries to firebend (which he probably doesn't, he doesn't wanna hurt anyone), lil sparks come off his hands.

tickling Zuko is objectively funny because he curls up like a lil pillbug, but when you hit a bad spot he uncurls and every limb seeks violence. category six flailing event. Sokka comes back to camp with a black eye and Suki and Katara are ready for bloodshed, but he has to stumble through an explanation of why on earth he thought tickling Zuko was a good idea (worth it, no regrets. not pictured: toph smirking bc she could feel zuko's laughter reverberating through the ground)

mai does not know this about him until Ty Lee finds out. Mai takes full advantage and Zuko pretends to hate it with all his might.

i think if we're exiting the lil utopia bubble here for a sec zuko canonically probably hates being tickled. azula strikes me as the kind to torment him with it. but i'm choosing to remain within the bubble. i like the bubble.

zuko mirrors behaviors that he sees other gaang members doing to try and fit in. and i just. Zuko getting bold enough to poke someone and everyone is delighted because he's graduated to physical contact. and then he's like "why are you all looking at me like that"

i can one hundred percent see the gaang having like a 'days since zuko's last temper tantrum' counter or whatever. like as he mellows out it becomes harder to provoke him. Except one day Sokka goes too far and Zuko jumps him and everyone has a split-second fear that he's like genuinely snapped...until Sokka is shrieking and everything's fine actually. (the counter gets reset).

zuko and toph being touchy besties is everything to me actually and i like to think they are constantly irritating each other with lil pokes and stuff. toph likes to drape herself over Zuko at her own peril.

Aang sometimes won't take his training seriously because he's just not intimidated by Zuko anymore. Zuko's like. well. I can fix that. and aang Flees.

Zuko has so much respect for Suki and refuses to lay a hand on her and hurt her when they spar, but Suki's like. C'mon fireboy. Zuko remembers something about her that Sokka said in passing and he's like well! this will work! (i just have this visual of aang being like 'wow the kyoshi warriors are so cool zuko's so special getting to train with Suki'. meanwhile Zuko and Suki are in a tickle fight so intense that they've smashed and burnt furniture).

[unorthodoxx-page]

A Tale of Spirits sneaks and thoughts. Atla x rottmnt fanfic

So, I’ve been working on this crossover, and it’s hard.  Not really plot hard, because I have an idea where I want to go with it (I just need to commit on one of my two plot options), but it’s mainly the writing.  I don’t know how to explain it, but I want the writing to be, not really better, but different from everything else I’ve written.  That’s why I’m going to rewrite portions of Chapter 1 once I start nailing down a schedule.  I just want a certain tone and I’m spending a ton of time on certain passages to achieve that.  

Reminder: set after the rottmnt movie and after season 1 of avatar the last air bender

But here’s sneak of ch. 2

SNEAK (Sokka POV)

The spirit drops down next to him.  “So,” it says, “wanna spar?”

Boomerang slips from his fingers.  “What?”

Leo smirks.  “I saw you swinging that club around and you’ve got some skill.  Personally, I think you might do well with a sword.”  The spirit leans forward suddenly, face breaking into a wild grin, and Sokka falls back.  “That’s what we should totally do!  Come on.”

The spirit grabs his hand and Sokka freezes at the touch.  It cool, unnaturally so and there’s so much strength under those fingers.  Leo drags him into the clearing and stops a few feet away from where Aaang and Katara are trading water.  Leo drops his hand, gives him a once over and walks to the trees lining the edge.  The spirit assesses each tree with a hand under its chin, and stops before the thickest one. The spirit steps back, a hand cover its eyes before running forward.  Leo jumps, grabs the lowest branch, swings and disappears into the leaves.  The spirit’s agile that’s for sure.

“Sokka?” Katara calls.  “What’s going on?”

“Ugh, I’m not sure.”

There’s rustling, snaps, then the spirit drops suddenly to its feet without a sound.  That’s the creepiest part about this thing.  Sokka can’t recall hearing a single footstep since they met the spirit.

“Catch.” 

Something long spins through the air and he just manages to catch it.  Sokka fumbles a bit and looks blankly at the stick.  It’s surprisingly straight. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

Leo’s own swords drop to the ground and the spirit spins a similar stick in its right hand.  “Hold it like you would a sword.  We’ll start there.”

Sokka stares.  He rolls the stick in his hands nervously before shuffling his feet.  He ends up holding it how he does his club, with his feet square and firmly planted with a slight angle in his shoulders.  His fingers flex against the wood before he wraps both hands around it.  That’s how people hold swords right?  He looks up to find the spirit walking his way.  Leo’s eyes move around his form, and Sokka feels himself tense from the scrutiny.  Firm fingers nudge his elbows, push his shoulders and move his hands down.  A foot taps the inside of his shoe, forcing him to widen his stance and move a foot back.  By the end of all the prodding his feels stable, but weird.  Like he’s too far forward.

Leo steps back with a nod.  “That’s better.  Now copy my steps.”  Leo slips easily into the stance it just molded Sokka into.  Leo lifts the stick in a slow arc and brings it down just as slowly.

Sokka raises an eyebrow.  “That’s it?”

“That’s it,” Leo says.  “Do that ten times, and be mindful of your feet.”

Sokka huffs but complies.  He pulls through the move with a wobble, but he thinks it comes out ok.  Leo’s back at his side, pushing him down and tapping his feet.   He finds himself naturally complying and this new form, less bent and with a wider base, feels better. “Do it again.”

Sokka does and the stick-blade comes downs a lot smoother.  He blinks.

“That’s better,” Leo grins.  “Unbalanced a little, but it’ll get there.  Ten more, lets go!”

“But that was two?”  Leo raises….well not an eyebrow, but his brow ridges definitely wiggle.  “You said ten, I just did two,” he says slowly, “ergo I have eight left.”

“Oh,” Leo chuckles, “right, right.  I meant twelve.  You just gave me two, which means….”

Sokka drops his head.  “I owe you ten.”

[unfriedough]

Greetings fellow Zuko enthusiast. You say your ✨desperate✨ eh? Well, I’ll give you three ideas and you can just choose which one/ones you want to write (if you yk, feel like writing them at all 😳)

1. Hcs where Zuko joins the gang and falls in love with the kind and caring earthbender? Ik they already have Toph but idk maybe this earthbender could specialize in like herbology or plants. Idk, it’s whatever you wanna do.

2. A oneshot with Lee (Zuko but in ~different font~ lol 😂) where him and his uncle have competition with the coffee shop across from them. So Zuko *ahem* pardon me, Lee, goes over there to see what it’s all about and ends up like meeting the manager of the place and low-key hating them at first. But then, they like….slowly grow on each other from seeing each other around and running into each other. Eventually they start dating and well….you can decide how it goes from there.

3. Hcs for Zuko with a librarian s/o? Maybe they manage the palace library and where like just hired or smth?

Just some of my random useless thoughts. Hope your morning/evening is going well, take care of yourself! 💞

‘Flower Field’- Zuko x fem!reader

Masterlist <3

An: GOOD DAY FRIENDS. First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REQUEST YOU MADE MY DAY <3

Imma do them all I think but I’m starting with the first one for now :)

Summary:

See request number 1.

Warnings: None.

When Zuko joined the Gaang™ you were practically the first person to be nice to him.

It was in your nature what can I say

But like? He didn’t really get it?

Because the only other earthbender he met was Toph, so he kinda expected the rest to be the same-

So like, not only were you kind and caring, but also, a herbalist.

So technically a healer.

Very confusing concept for Zuko

But eventually he warms up to you too.

When Azula attacked y’all at the temple, Katara didn’t wanna heal his small burns and whatnot.

So you did.

In your tent.

Safe to say he was dying.

That’s when he realised he was crushing on you

And his reaction was just to get super flustered-

Anyways, you healed him using plants obv

“Uhh thanks.” he fiddled with his hands

“Oh don’t worry about it, cutey.”

AHHHHH

Words came out of your mouth before you could comprehend it.

Trying to play it cool though

Zuko is literally dying.

You give him instructions and whatever about what he needs to do to heal fully, then he leaves your tent.

He gets jealous when you heal Sokka or literally any other guy that could be a love interest.

Ahem Haru Ahem

ANYWAYS-

Like you would be healing Sokka after sparring and he’d be in the distance like: >:(

Sokka, Toph, and Katara catch on.

Aang does not.

Sokka ships it 100%, Toph thinks it’s funny, and Katara is not fond of the idea.

“I HAVE A PLAN, LET'S MAKE THEM BOND OVER HEALING!” sokka says

“Zuko isn’t a healer,”

“I know,”

“Are you saying we should hurt Zuko!” Katara yells

“It would be my pleasure!”

“TOPH! NO!”

She spars with Zuko and defeats him

He’s hurt

Sokka’s like “oh nooo! I’ll call Yn!”

He brings you over and you inspect the wound.

“Hm, I dunno, maybe Katara would do a better job on this one”

“KATARA’S BUSY!”

“Doing what?”

“Training!”

You eyed Sokka, knowing he was lying. What on Earth could he be up to?

“I’m sure she can pause training to help Zuko,”

Zuko is just behind you, completely flustered and dead inside.

“Nope she can't,” Sokka added.

“Okay” you sighed, not having the energy to argue.

Plus you get to spend more time with Zuko so 🤷‍♀️

You brought Zuko to your tent, and began collecting your things.

“This is going to hurt a bit” you smiled, as you gave him your hand.

Could you have given him something else? Probably. Did you want to hold his hand? Yes.

He took your hand, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

When you began healing him, he squeezed your hand really tightly

:)

So cute.

After you're done, you wrap it up.

“All done!”

Ok time skip-

So he was definitely teased a lot by Sokka. Like he caught on to the fact that Sokka caught on.

Even angstier than usual :(

You notice.

It seems like he’s avoiding you like the plague,

You are sad, bc your in love with this grumpy idiot

So one day, you invite him to get plants with you (for healing because you ran out)

He doesn't want to.

“Please, you’ve been avoiding me and I miss hanging out with you.”

He feels SO BAD

“Okay”

Yay

So y’all are picking flowers and whatnot

And you take one of the prettiest flowers there, and put it behind his ear.

Then you laugh at him because he’s blushing, but you’re covering your mouth to try not to laugh.

But your laughing makes him blush even harder.

After a while, you guys decide to sit down and chill for a bit.

“I’m sorry I ignored you,”

“It’s okay, but did I do something wrong?”

“No no you didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Oh. Then, why’d you ignore me?”

He stares for a bit, before sitting facing you.

You are so confused

He sighs

(Think of it as the gif in the start. like that's how he looks)

“It’s because I like you. I like like you. Like more than I would like a friend. I like you like a-”

You cut him off by crashing your lips into his

It takes him a second to understand but he gets it

He kisses you back with so much passion.

Then when you separate, you say:

“I like like you too,”

He’s so happy.

When you guys go back to camp, Sokka notices Zuko not avoiding you anymore.

You walk Zuko to his room, and give him a goodnight kiss.

“Goodnight!”

Just as you're about to walk away, Zuko grabs your wrist lightly.

“Can you actually stay?” he says avoiding your gaze.

Ofc how could anyone say no-

You guys cuddle all night.

Katara comes to wake y’all up in the morning.

“Oh my god, Sokka was right.”

An: I really hope I did a good job with this lol. Again, Thank you so much for the request. As always, hope you enjoyed reading, SEE YA! <3

[ly0nstea]

Collecting my thoughts on all the Azula ships:

(mostly because I don't know what I wanna do in my current fic)

Azulaang: very solid angst material, themes of forgiveness and moving on, great little moments like azula having to see the scar she gave aang, 7/10

Sokkla: immaculate, probably the two most alike people in the entire show, both desperately want approval from daddy, few (good) memories of their moms, late night invasion planning dates, making science jokes no one else understands 10/10

Azutara: solid dynamic, bond over their annoying older brothers, both very responsible they would have a very clean house, very fun friendly rivalry, they spar instead of flirting. 6/10

Azoph: also spar instead of flirting, constant banter, no one else can keep up with them. They both insist they're the better fighter but they're always tied on the leaderboard. Toph could help her learn how to be independent, azula makes too many short jokes (because everyone else is taller than her now) 8/10

Azuki: largely the same as Katara except azula definitely joins the warriors and they take turns beating up sokka 7/10

Jetzula: ANGST, they'd bond over not having mom's though. They flirt while sparring. Azula loves hookswords and she got her own. They both unlearn their biases together <3

Maizula: made enough posts on this, they're besties, 10/10

Tyzula: azula probably looks up to how free Ty lee is and envies her. 9/10

Yuezula: princess girlfriends <3, azula definitely thinks Yue is a 'soft' ruler but she's okay with it seen as it seems to work for the water tribe, they Yue thinks azula needs to chillax. They go on hunting dates in the north pole wilderness and outskirts of the fire nation but azula does most of the hunting and yue watches. 7/10

Feel free to ask any I missed, I'll probably make linger posts on them individually but this is a nice easy reference for myself

[swordgayist]

cultural appropriation in ATLA (hinduism edition)

i’m sure there’s already a ton of posts about this, but whatever, i’m still making one idc. 

ATLA’s cultural appropriation, everyone knows about it, the white people don’t speak about it, and the asian and indigenous people get ignored. we know the cycle. but i wanted to come here and highlight some of the most prominent examples of ATLA abusing hinduism, as i am kinda sorta hindu (i was raised in a hindu household, i go to chinmaya mission, that kinda shit). i might forget some things so keep that in mind.

this is gonna be divided into 3 main sections, since there are different ways that they disrespect hinduism that i don’t wanna lump together.

and i’d say i know a lot about hinduism but that doesn’t make me an expert, obviously, so if other hindus have anything to add and/or correct then please do !! and if anyone else wants to share how their cultures were appropriated then please do that as well !!

so let’s get started shall we?

appropriating hinduism

1) the avatar

we’ll start with the most obvious example: the avatar itself

i know that there are parts of the avatar mythos that are taken from other cultures as well but the idea of the avatar itself is primarily from hinduism.

basically in hinduism, the term dashavatara refers to the 10 reincarnations of lord vishnu (the god of preservation), with avatar(a) meaning form or incarnation in sanskrit, and das(a) meaning ten. it was said that whenever the world was out of balance, lord vishnu would come down to earth in a certain form to restore balance. Each reincarnation is considered a different life with a different story. the avatars of lord vishnu are often considered the saviors of the world.

so basically, the central idea of the show and the actual name of the show is largely based on hinduism.

2) chakras

many different indian religions have a concept of chakras (chakra meaning wheel or circle in sanskrit), but hinduism is the one that primarily preaches the system of seven chakras, the version used in ATLA.

chakras connect the physical body to the ‘subtle’ body (referring more to the spirit and the psyche) by connecting parts of the body to aspects of the mind. the idea is that through different forms of steady meditation you can manipulate the different chakras and allow the pure flow of energy through the body.

the whole idea of chakras on ATLA is that aang has to unblock them all to let the cosmic energy flow through him so that he can go into the avatar state at will. so yeah, pretty much that whole idea was taken from hinduism.

3) terminologies

these are just a few terms that were taken from hinduism. i’m pretty sure there are more that i can’t think of right now but yeah.

“agni” kai 

i’ll be honest i don’t know where the ‘kai’ part is from, i don’t think it’s from hinduism but if it is well fuck me i guess.  ‘agni’ in hinduism is the god of fire, so the creators used it in ‘agni kai’, the name for a firebending duel.

“bumi”

this is in reference to the hindu word for ‘earth’, which is bhoomi. this is also in reference to our goddess of earth, bhoomi devi. also this doesn’t really bother me but i wonder if the creators knew that bhoomi is a name typically used for women (as are most hindi names ending in ‘i’/‘ee’).

in general, concepts like having multiple complex gods (the spirits) who are capable of good and evil and the reincarnation cycle are prominent in a lot of asian cultures, including (and arguably primarily) hinduism.

mocking hinduism

now we get into the mockery of hinduism in ATLA, because it is very much there.

1) whoever the fuck that baboon guy in the spirit world was

now what the fuck was this.

i mean i wouldn’t say this is the most egregious example of them making fun of brown people but lord why did this even need to be there? this random guy from the spirit world has an indian accent ? and is fervently chanting ‘om’ for some reason, and it’s clearly meant to be seen as comical. also portraying brown people as monkeys....... really.

2) combustion man/sparky sparky boom man

when rewatching ATLA in 2019 i actually had no idea that this was a thing, because the last time i had watched it was as a kid and i didn’t finish it.

so lord was i in for a surprise when i saw...

now... now what.

if you didn’t know, combustion man’s ‘third eye’ is designed to replicate the hindu god of destruction, lord shiva. right down to the vibhuti on his forehead (referring to the three line markings around the third eye).

in hinduism, lord shiva’s third eye is used to reduce people to ashes, though as far as i can recall, not very frequently. the primary significance of the third eye is that it represents the ability of higher spiritual thought and higher consciousness.

the ATLA writers take the ACTUAL significance of the third eye, throw it out the window, and then take its destructive abilities to make a super duper cool and dangerous new firebending technique.

and if that wasn’t bad enough, the actual person who uses this technique, and is meant to emulate a GOD who is PRAISED, is a scary, burly, half metal man who is a villain and an assassin. not to mention the design of his facial hair replicates that super duper scary “terrorist” depiction of brown people, particularly of muslims, that white people are so thoroughly terrified of for no reason. 

this is a parody of a god, and they portrayed him as this terrifying, maniacal fucking assassin who, along with p’li, the combustion bender from LOK, is constantly referred to as a “third-eyed freak”. i’ve made this analogy before and i’ll do it again, this is like making jesus into a hitman.

now onto my favorite example...

3) guru pathik

ah, this motherfucker.

i don’t really have any problems with him as a character, i mean hell, must’ve taken a fuck ton of patience to handle aang’s “why would choose cosmic energy over katara” bullshit.

but we all know it, we see it plain as day, don’t even try to deny it.

“guru” literally just means teacher or guide, so i don’t really know why pathik needed to be referred to as “guru” so distinctively from aang’s other teachers and guides, but that’s just extremely trivial compared to all the other issues with this character.

first of all what is this character design? what is he even wearing? if they’re trying to replicate the clothes of swamis and priests and stuff this is already wrong, realized people don’t dress like this. and why the fuck does he have an indian accent? and why was this indian accent done by a non indian (brian george)?

once again, the poor but extremely heavy indian accent is clearly meant to be mocking, if it wasn’t, they wouldn’t’ve gone out of their way to get a non indian person to DO an indian accent, and instead they would’ve just gotten an actual indian person to play the role. 

and oh yeah, the onion and banana juice. because hindus just eat weird shit right.

whether it’s actually weird or not, the show certainly portrays it as weird. and as far as i know no hindu actually fucking drinks onion and banana juice.

ironic because brown people can absolutely destroy white people in cooking. but i digress.

i know what you’re all waiting for. because the guru apparently didn’t have enough fun with guru pathik, so they just had to come back to him in book 3:

where do i begin.

so this is obviously john o’bryan’s super funny and hilarious depiction of pathik as a hindu god.

usually when a god has multiple arms it’s to carry an array of things, from flowers to weapons to instruments, and one hand is typically free to bless devotees (ie. goddess durga and lord vishnu respectively):

but of course white people see this as weird and so they make fun of it, hence guru pathik having multiple arms just flailing about aimlessly (save for the two that are being used to carry the aforementioned onion and banana juice).

then there’s the whole light behind pathik’s head which is usually depicted in drawings of hindu gods to show that they are celestial.

also what the fuck is he holding? is that supposed to be a veena? because this is what a veena looks like:

and i assume the reason this was added was to mock the design of goddess saraswathi, who carries a veena:

but that right there in the picture of pathik looks more like a tambura than a veena. 

and it also just kinda looks like a banjo?

but i guess the animators just searched up “long indian instrument” and slapped it on there. actually no, that’s giving them too much credit, they probably didn’t search it up at all. 

and then the actual scene is pathik singing crazily about chakras tasting good or something while playing the non-veena and it’s all supposed to be some funky crazy hallucination that aang is having due to sleep deprivation. just some crazy dream, just as crazy as talking appa and momo sparring with swords or tree-ozai coming to life.

our gurus and swamis and sadhus and generally realized people are very respected in hinduism, they’re people we look up to and honor very much. and our GODS are beings that we literally worship. and the writers just take both and make caricatures out of them for other white people to laugh at.

4) other shit

before we move to the next portion i just wanna mention there are also smaller backhanded jabs that i can’t really remember now, but one example was when zuko was all “we’ll be sure to remember that, guru goody goody”. or when a character would meditate and say “om” only when the meditation is supposed to be portrayed as comical or pointless. or in bitter work when sokka was rambling on about karma. small things like that. but moving on.

south asian representation, or lack thereof

now i finally get to the “losing” hinduism part. by this i mean the lack of actual representation there is of south asians (the region where hinduism is primarily practiced) despite the fact that hinduism plays such a big role in the show’s world design.

i think it’s safe to say that broadly the main cast consists of aang, katara, sokka, zuko, toph, azula, iroh, mai, ty lee, and suki. 

a grand total of none of these characters are south asian. the writers don’t even attempt to add any south asian main characters. 

there are characters with dark skin, like haru and jet, but a) they’re not confirmed to be south asian and don’t have any south asian features or south asian names, b) they’re side characters, so they don’t count as representation, and c) even if they were south asian and main characters, jet wouldn’t even count because he’s portrayed as a terrorist.

the ONLY truly south asian character we get is fucking guru pathik. so yeah. not representation.

i don’t get how the creators of this show rip off of hinduism (among many other south asian cultures they rip off of), mock indians, and then don’t even have the decency to HAVE a main character who is south asian.

i’ve never gotten a chance to compile all this, and this definitely isn’t all the creators have done, but i hope this was somewhat informative.

[babypandawrites]

Light Blue Tattoos: Prologue

The Avatar

Pairing: ? x F Reader Warnings: Fighting (Un-Controlled Spar), Injury, Blood (Only a little mentioned) Word Count: 1,350 Summary: You were six years old when you met Avatar Korra, little did you know at the time, that she would become your life long friend.

Note: Do I need to be starting another series when I can barely keep up with my Sokka one? Probably not. Am I anyways? Absolutely. Y/n and Korra's ages in each part, respectively; Six, Thirteen, Sixteen

-Navigation- | -Lok Masterlist- -Last Part- | -Light Blue Tattoos Masterlist- | -Next Part-

“I’m the Avatar, and you gotta deal with it!”

Furrowing his eyebrows together, Tenzin glanced at his mother with a perplexed expression. “She’s… charming.” He leaned down to her level, watching as Korra earthbended a large chunk of rock at one of the White Lotus Sentries. “Mother, I’m not sure if I want her around Y/n…”

Katara simply offered her son a smile as she rested a hand on Y/n’s back. “You worry too much Tenzin, I’m sure they’ll be wonderful friends.” She gently nudged the young girl forward. “Go on, dear.”

Tenzin stared at his mother blankly, crossing his arms over his chest. “Her mother would never approve of this.”

“Oh don’t you pull that card.”

The two watched as Y/n nervously approached Korra, fiddling with her sleeves all the way. When she stopped, she tapped the toe of her shoe against the ground. The young Avatar took notice of her quickly, grinning wide.

“You're the airbender kid, right?”

She offered a small nod, avoiding eye contact. “And… you're the Avatar..”

Korra put her hands on her hips proudly. “You know it! Korra’s the name, learning to kick bad guys butts is the game.”

Giggling quietly, Y/n offered a slight bow. “I’m.. Y/n.”

“Well Y/n,” Grabbing her by the shoulders, Korra grinned wider. “Do you wanna go play in the snow with me?”

The sudden contact startled her, and snapping her head around she looked at her father and grandmother wide eyed. While Tenzin seemed displeased, Katara offered a nod and motioned for her to go ahead.

Looking back at Korra, she offered an anxious smile. “Um sure..”

She dropped her hands to Y/n’s wrists, before tugging her through the hall to get outside. “Come on! You can meet Naga.”

Her eyebrows furrowed together, as she let herself be dragged away. “..Who?”

“My best friend! Well, my other best friend.”

“We’re… friends..?”

“Duh!” Korra brought them to a stop once they were outside, looking at Y/n confused. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

- - -

Shaking her head softly, Y/n breathed out a laugh as she was dragged through the snow. “Korra, where are we going?”

“You’ll see, we’re almost there.” Korra grinned at her, pulling her through the snow by her hand, only stopping when they came across a large raised platform made of earth and rocks.

It looked out of place against the pure white snow.

Raising an eyebrow, her gaze shifted between the platform and Korra. “So… what is this, exactly?”

The Avatar thrust her hands forward, before pulling them back towards her, causing a small staircase to pull out of the side of the raised platform. “I started my earthbending training a couple months ago, I want to show you my new moves!”

The pair climbed up the staircase, Y/n standing near the edge of the platform while Korra took stance in the center. She stomped her foot against the ground, raising a chunk of rock from the platform, before kicking through the air and sending it flying off the platform. It landed a bit away in the snow, Y/n noticed there were several chunks sticking up from the snow- Probably from Korra’s previous attempts.

Korra grinned wide, proud of herself. “Cool, right? I can do so much more but it's all combative stuff.” She paused for a moment, before her eyes lit up with an idea. “Why don’t we spar?”

“Spar? I don’t know Korra… Dad would probably get mad.” Y/n twiddled her thumbs together anxiously. “Especially now that I have two younger sisters, I have to be a good influence on them.”

“They don’t have to know! And you gotta show me your airbending at some point- Plus it would be good practice! I know Tenzin hasn’t taught you how to fight, what are you supposed to do if you need to?”

Her eyebrows furrowed together. “You know fighting is a last resort for us, Kor. I don’t need to know how to do it anyways.”

Stepping closer to her friend, Korra threw an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t you think if you're the Avatar’s best friend you’ll need to fight at some point? I mean how am I supposed to beat up bad guys without you there?”

Y/n breathed out a sigh in defeat, hesitantly agreeing.

That’s how she found herself standing opposite of Korra on the platform, taking an airbending stance. It was getting late, the sun starting to set, leading the spar to feel very duel-y. Y/n took in a deep breath, watching as Korra did a few stretches. “Go easy on me, please?”

“Only because you asked nicely.” Finishing off her stretches, Korra took on her own fighting stance, an earthbending one.

Y/n’s nerves were set ablaze, she’d never fought someone before and even if this was her best friend, it was still the Avatar she was going against- An Avatar who could already bend three out of four elements by the time they were six. Korra wasn’t a force to be reckoned with, yet here she was. Reckoning.

Korra made the first move, a repeat of what she’d demonstrated earlier- Only this time she sent the chunk right at Y/n. Using her airbending to boost her into the air, Y/n landed on the chunk of rock for a moment, before flipping off of it and landing gracefully on her feet. Korra kicked another rock at her, and while she was dodging pulled water from the snow in a long stream and flicked it at her like a whip.

Y/n twisted out of the way, though just a bit too slow the water whip striked her on the face, a small cut opening on her cheek. She winced, bringing a hand to her face. When she pulled it away, blood smeared across her finger tips. Korra had stopped her attacks, looking at her friend worried.

“Oh spirits- I am so sorry, are you okay?” She rushed over to Y/n, encasing her hand in a thin bubble of water to heal her.

Or she was intending to heal her, until a gust of wind was blown in her face, making her stumble back. Staring at her friend, shell shocked, Korra manipulated the water around her hand to splash in Y/n’s face. “You sneaky little-!” She let out a laugh. “I cannot believe you! But really, are you okay?”

Giggling to herself, Y/n reached out to wipe the blood from her hand on Korra’s coat sleeve, receiving a disgusted noise from the girl. “I’m okay, it’s not that bad right?”

“It’s barely more than a scratch.” Once again Korra encased her hand with water, hovering it over Y/n’s cheek to heal it. “There, good as new. I didn’t think that would cut you, but then again I guess I’m used to fighting against old men with thick skin.” Grinning, she reached up to ruffle the other girl's hair. “Aw, you’re as delicate as snow!”

Y/n pouted, smacking her hand away. “Cut it out, Kor!”

---

“Y/n, you have a letter!”

She couldn’t get to her father fast enough, excitedly snatching the parchment from his hand. She’d been waiting to get Korra’s reply from her last letter, since the moment she sent it, since the contents were quite exciting.

Y/n

You're getting your tattoos? No way, that’s amazing!

I’m sure you’ll already have them by the time you get this so let me say; Congrats, baldy.

Rolling her eyes, Y/n let out a quiet laugh. Korra was right, she’d already gotten them- Though the bald comment was totally unnecessary even if it was true.

But jokes aside, that’s so cool, you're a Master now. Hopefully soon to be my airbending master- Because I’m almost finished with my firebending training and you know what that means!

I think learning from you would be waaay more fun that learning from Tenzin.

I have my firebending test in a couple of months, maybe you can convince the old grouch to let you visit so you can see me kick some firebender butt.

Hopefully I’ll see you soon! It’s been too long.

Love ya, miss ya

-Korra

[zukkababey]

kyoshi warrior sokka and blue spirit zuko having like a Thing and not knowing who the other person is until later when zuko joins the gaang

oooof anon i have thoughts about this one

sokka, dressing up like a kyoshi warrior throughout the gaang’s travels to be a badass vigilante - aang and katara and eventually toph all have their bending and whatnot, but sokka just wants to help the towns that they stay in (à la katara and the painted lady)

it starts off irregularly, but then sokka realizes how much what he does actually helps the community (like incapacitating a petty criminal that’s been terrorizing the town, stuff like that) and he starts doing it in every town they come across

one day, there’s been whispers of someone who wanders the streets at night and jumps unsuspecting citizens, someone in all in black, someone called the blue spirit. sokka asks the shop vendors what they know, but no one knows anything, except the name and its proclivity for dual swords.

sokka finds this information very intriguing - that night, he puts on the kyoshi outfit and goes to investigate.

he’s actually expecting some kind of evil spirit, based on the way that everyone talked about the vigilante; imagine his surprise when it’s an actual person holding this unsuspecting citizen at swordpoint, demanding gold pieces. and the spirit is kind of small, too, whoever is behind the mask can’t be much older than him.

sokka steps in to rescue the person being robbed, and as the person runs off down the alleyway, the blue spirit turns to sokka. while the mask covers the person’s face, sokka can tell they’re not impressed.

they fight. zuko wins. sokka is reluctantly very impressed with this kid’s fighting skills. sokka was able to hold his own for the majority of the fight - he’s getting pretty good at being a vigilante! - but the blue spirit eventually gained the upper hand. two blades are crisscrossed over sokka’s throat, and as he’s pressed up against the wall, sokka says, “who are you?”

the blue spirit doesn’t stick around to answer that question. instead, they make a run for it, leaving sokka to stare after them in fascination.

the blue spirit keeps on showing up in the same towns as sokka, and so they keep meeting. after their first few encounters, sokka realizes that even though they fight, the blue spirit never really tries to kill him, which sokka finds very intriguing. and jeez, whenever they fight, sokka can’t help but notice the easy grace the spirit moves with, the lines of their body. it’s so frustrating that no matter how hard he flirts, the blue spirit will just NOT talk back.

there’s one time when they’re fighting each other (sokka would call it flirtily sparring) and there’s a scream from down the road. they don’t even discuss it before they race off to the sound. turns out it’s this gross man trying to get with some girl who’s not into it, and sokka and zuko effectively fight the dude together.

it becomes a beautiful partnership. just two masked vigilantes fighting crime, three feet apart because the blue spirit’s swords are very sharp.

but then the blue spirit stops showing up. sokka travels to ba sing se with the gaang, thinking his time with the blue spirit has come to an end. he pretends that he’s not disappointed.

but then sokka is walking down the street when jet attacks zuko, when zuko fights jet with nothing but his dual swords. sokka is caught behind a crowd of people, so he doesn’t recognize either zuko or jet, but he does recognize that fighting style. what the hell is the goddamn blue spirit doing fighting in the middle of the streets of ba sing se with no mask on?

sokka now knows that the blue spirit is a teenage boy with short black hair, and what the hell is he supposed to do with that information? he tries to push through the hordes of people, talk to the guy, but then the police are showing up and everyone’s scattering and sokka has no choice but to do the same.

he wouldn’t have time to investigate further - things get messy and then ba sing se falls and the gaang has to leave.

the blue spirit is the one who inspires sokka to learn sword fighting. sokka would never admit it, but it’s a way to feel closer to him now that they no longer see each other. he doesn’t tell anyone this.

fast forward to zuko joining the gang and sokka pulls the classic “hey jerks, can i watch you two do your jerkbending” and even though zuko says no, sokka still watches from afar. and damn... the way zuko moves seems somehow familiar to him... but he can’t quite place it.

it’s not until the boiling rock, when they’re fighting together on the gondola, that sokka finally realizes that zuko is the blue spirit. and by the way that zuko is looking back at him, sokka is pretty sure that zuko just figured it out too.

after a mental 180 where sokka realizes it was zuko who he was flirting with, he’s like “.....do you wanna do an activity together?” and zuko is like “.... but we just did an activity together” and sokka responds with “haha oh yeah”

anyways he tells anyone who asks that zuko took him to a high security prison for their first date and zuko is just in the background like “stop telling people that!”

(zuko secretly thinks their first date was when they fought that guy off in an alleyway, but he’s not going to tell sokka that, no way.)

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

By the end of avatar it's pretty clear that the gaang have no problem with/are friends with mai (suki playing pai sho with her, katara watching, sokka including her in his picture) so I was wondering how you think mai and the gaang's relationship developed from the coronation to the end scene

“This is Mai,” Zuko said. “My girlfriend.”

The room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

Right. Mai kind of wanted to die. They were just… staring at her. She hadn’t expected a positive reaction, by any means, but no reaction at all…? Ugh. Little was worse.

“It’s nice to officially meet you!” Aang said, giving her a bright smile. The rest of the group followed with tentative waves and a few nods in her general direction.

The awkwardness might have gone on another five minutes if she and Zuko hadn’t been asked for by an advisor, cutting her introduction short. Well, Zuko had been asked for, and he’d slipped his hand into hers before pulling her along. So she hadn’t been given much say in the matter.

“They’ll come around,” Zuko told her later, when they were lying in bed. “You’ll see.” He chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “They took me in, after all.”

Mai wanted to believe him. “If you say so.”

Sokka was first.

Mai saw him struggling to walk down the steps of the palace, awkwardly attempting to maneuver his crutches but wincing every time his injured leg hit the ground.

“Let me help,” she offered, lifting his arm around her shoulders to help take the weight off his foot. Perhaps she should have waited for him to give confirmation, but in some ways Sokka reminded her of Zuko - rarely willing to accept assistance, even when he needed it. He let her take his crutches, though, and she interpreted that as a sign of silent cooperation.

Sokka gave her a crooked grin when they’d reached the foot of the steps. “Thanks.”

She nodded curtly, returning his crutches to him. “It was no trouble.” She turned to walk away, but stiffened and stopped in her tracks as Sokka placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I, uh… This is kind of random, but I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am for - for what you did at the Boiling Rock.” Sokka cleared his throat. “For saving us. Me. My dad. Suki. Zuko.”

Mai winced at the memory. The despair, the rage Azula’s eyes. The paralyzing fear that had ripped through her chest when she’d watched her friend - if Azula could ever be called that - drop into her lightning stance. And yet…

She’d do it again. A hundred times.

“I don’t think you should be thanking me for doing the right thing,” Mai said as she slowly turned around. “For doing the bare minimum, really.”

Sokka laughed. “Maybe you’re right. But from what I’ve heard, treason against the Fire Nation isn’t usually considered the bare minimum.” He hesitated, then offered her a grateful smile. “I mean it, though. If you hadn’t saved us…” Something akin to grief flickered in his eyes. An expression that was a little more raw, a little more tired. “I can’t lose anyone else,” he finally said. “So thank you, Mai.”

Mai stared at him in perhaps more shock than was necessary, because Sokka laughed again.

“Can I hug you?” he asked. “It’s kind of an official thing to dub you as part of my friend group.”

Mai hesitated, but nodded, and Sokka shuffled forward to pull her into a brief, tight embrace that Mai was surprised to find herself returning.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you as a hugger,” she said after releasing him.

Sokka chuckled. “For a long time, I guess I wasn’t.” He winked at her. “But things change, right?”

She supposed they did.

Aang was second.

Mai wondered, perhaps, if he would have been first, had his duties as the Avatar not taken up so much of his time, especially in those first days after the war had formally ended.

“Hi, Mai!” Aang said cheerily, waving at her from atop his bison. “Want to take a ride on Appa with me?”

Mai glanced around her, as if someone else named Mai would appear from behind a pillar to take him up on his offer. When none did, she responded with a hesitant nod.

She wished Zuko was there.

“Do you need help getting up?” Aang asked as she walked towards him, pausing when she reached Appa’s side. “I can provide a boost if you need it.”

Mai raised an eyebrow at him, a smirk unwittingly inching onto her lips. “Could you provide a boost even if I don’t need it?”

Aang returned her smirk with a wide grin. “Your wish is my command, Lady Mai.”

Mai was mortified to admit that a startled yelp escaped her lips as Aang airbended her up and onto Appa’s saddle, but he didn’t comment on it. She supposed he was probably used to that sort of sound being an instinctive reaction.

“Ready?” Aang asked. He didn’t wait for her to respond before gently snapping the bison’s reins. “Yip yip, Appa!”

He reminded her of Ty Lee in that respect - never waiting for an answer unless one was truly required.

Appa roared and took off into the sky. Mai kept her eyes squeezed shut for longer than she’d care to admit.

After the initial anxiety of flying higher than she ever had in her life faded, Mai found herself relaxing into her seat on the saddle, one elbow resting comfortably on the edge. Aang chattered aimlessly about post-war plans, and Mai commented every now and then if his ramblings had to do with Zuko. It was… strange. Everything about Aang caused a tiny smile to rest perpetually on her face.

No wonder her boyfriend was so fond of him.

“Wanna go higher?” Aang offered at one point, an excited twinkle in his eyes.

Mai didn’t respond at first, staring upwards at the endless pink sky. “Can you take me into the clouds?” she finally asked.

Aang laughed. “Let’s find out!”

Katara was third.

“I told you, Zuko can’t see anyone right now!”

Mai paused upon hearing the irritation that drenched Katara’s voice. She’d just turned the corner into the hallway that Zuko’s room was off of, and, trusting her better judgement, chose to hang back.

Katara was staring down a tall man in formal robes - oh. Ew. Mai recognized him as one of Zuko’s more annoying advisors. Her boyfriend hated the man, too.

“Kata-”

“Master Katara.” She glared at the noble, and respect bubbled in Mai’s chest.

“Master Katara.” Mai relished in the discomfort of the man’s tone. “I understand that you wish to allow the Fire Lord as much rest as possible, but he has responsibilities he cannot abandon -”

“Zuko can’t fulfill those responsibilities immediately after a healing session!” Katara snapped. “How would you like if someone bandaged your broken arm and expected you to lift weights afterwards?”

The advisor stared at her in confusion. “But my arm isn’t broken.”

Katara placed her hand atop the flask that rested on her hip. “Not yet.”

Mai bit her tongue to stop herself from laughing as blood drained from the man’s face. He gave Katara a hasty apology and took his leave.

That interaction had certainly raised her spirits.

But no visitors…

Mai’s grip tightened on the ceramic plate in her hands. The cup of tea resting atop it quivered. If Katara said Zuko wasn’t seeing anyone at the time, then she would respect that decision. She was no exception to the rules just because Zuko was her boyfriend.

Besides, Zuko was probably fine. She didn’t need to check on him, she was just letting her worries get the best of her again -

“Mai?”

Mai blinked upon hearing her name called. Blood rushed to her cheeks when she realized it was Katara who had spoken. “Yes?”

Katara gave her a warm smile, gesturing towards the plate in her hands. “Is that for Zuko?”

Mai hesitated, but nodded. “Tea,” she explained briefly. “I… tried to make it like Iroh does.” She took a step backwards. “But I can bring it back later, after more time has passed -”

Katara laughed, waving her hand dismissively. “Mai. Zuko would never forgive me if I didn’t let you in.” She tilted her head. “Besides. You know you’re always welcome.”

Mai’s grip on the plate slackened, and she found herself returning Katara’s smile.

Toph was fourth.

“Mai! Spar with me!”

Mai was startled by the sudden interruption, though years of practice prevented her from showing it. “Why?” She’d never been the earthbender’s go-to partner before.

“Because knives are made of metal,” Toph said, as if it should have been obvious. “I want to see if I can bend projectiles mid-air. Or at least better detect the path they’ll follow so I can earthbend a wall to block them.”

Mai raised an eyebrow. “And why would I agree to let you bend my knives?”

Toph grinned at her. “Who said anything about using yours?”

Mai’s eyes widened as Toph procured a large box from behind her back.

“We’ll practice with these. Don’t ask where I got them.”

Mai accepted the box from Toph, unable to stop the sharp gasp that escaped her lips as she admired the assortment of blades. “Alright,” she finally said, picking out a set of steel kunai. “I’ll spar with you. On one condition.”

“Name it.”

Mai spun one of the knives around her index finger. “Let me keep some of these when we’re done.”

Toph burst out laughing. “Oh, I knew I’d like you.” She smirked at Mai. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Suki was last.

They’d run into each other. Literally. Mai spilled all the papers she’d been holding, and Suki had immediately apologized before offering to help her sort back through them. She’d almost turned the girl down, but…

“I haven’t seen you much,” Mai commented as they were putting the documents into piles based on their contents. “Compared to the rest of Zuko’s friends, I mean.”

Suki shrugged. “I’ve been spending most of my time with Sokka and the Kyoshi warriors. We’re thinking about heading back home soon.”

Mai nodded. She placed a document about the differences between crowning a Fire Lord and a Fire Lady in its appropriate stack. She hesitated, then asked, “Does… Do you know if Ty Lee plans to go with you?”

Suki blew air out her lips. “I’m not sure. Sometimes I think she wants nothing more than to get out of the Fire Nation, but there are other days where… where I don’t think she can imagine leaving you and Zuko behind.”

Mai’s heart seized in her chest. Spirits, she needed to talk to her friend. New responsibilities after the war had kept them apart more days of the week than Mai liked. “I see.”

Suki offered her a sympathetic smile. “Sorry I can’t be more specific. I think I just” - she shook her head - “I don’t know Ty Lee well enough yet to read her and her feelings. The other girls had a chance to connect with her in prison, but I’d already escaped the Boiling Rock and was on the run with Sokka at that point, so I just… don’t have the same level of experience with her yet.”

Mai clenched the scroll in her hand so tightly she was half-concerned she’d tear a hole through it. “Speaking of prisons…” She licked her lips, her mouth having suddenly gone dry. “I… I wanted to apologize,” she continued after a momentary pause. Mai didn’t like how her voice had dropped close to a whisper.

Suki tilted her head in confusion, though there was a keen recognition in her eyes that made Mai wonder if she was merely feigning puzzlement. “What do you mean?”

“I attacked you and your - your kinswomen. When you were protecting Appa.” Mai smoothed the scroll across the table before placing it in its appropriate stack. She didn’t dare meet the warrior’s eyes. “We got you arrested and sent to the Boiling Rock. And - I know an apology doesn’t make up for that, but…” She forced herself to look upwards. There was no bitterness, no resentment in Suki’s gaze. It was kinder than she deserved. “I’m sorry. I don’t deserve or expect your forgiveness, but - I’m sorry.”

Mai had hurt Suki the most among Zuko’s new friends. There was no changing that. And she knew she would never be able to make up for the months in isolation the girl had endured, either, no matter what she did. No matter how much she wanted to. Wished she could.

Mai didn’t blame her for staying silent.

Then Suki sighed, unfurling the paper in her hands. “I had mixed feelings about you. For a long time.” She skimmed something on the scroll before placing it aside. “On the one hand, you put me in prison. On the other…” She gave Mai a tentative smile. “You freed me from it.”

Mai’s heart skipped a beat. “That doesn’t make it fair -”

Suki laughed, cutting her off. “At this point, I don’t think ‘fair’ exists. Not after what all of us have been through.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “But like I said. I had mixed feelings about you.” She gave Mai a soft smile. “I know how Sokka thinks you’re the funniest person to walk the Earth since his father. How Katara lets you visit Zuko after their healing sessions, even though she’s probably not supposed to. And spirits, Mai, the way Zuko looks at you…” She shook her head, winking at her. “You won my friends over a long time ago. It was only a matter of time before you won me over, too.”

An unfamiliar warmth settled in Mai’s chest, and a tentative smile inched onto her lips. “Thank you.”

Suki waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t mention it. And with you around, at least I won’t be the only sane person in our group anymore.”

Mai snorted, recalling an earlier incident of Sokka daring Zuko to eat raw tart batter while Toph egged them on. ‘Egged’ in two ways - both very different, but both equally frustrating. “Will that really make much of a difference?”

Suki snickered. “Maybe not for them, but…” She handed Mai a scroll to be placed on a stack too far for her to reach. “I think I’ll appreciate the company.”

Mai accepted the paper, and she smiled at Suki. “I think I will, too.” She placed the smoothed-out scroll in its appropriate pile. “Care to join me for a game of Pai Sho later?”

“Oh, count me in! That sounds like a great cooldown.”

Well… Mai wouldn’t describe Pai Sho in exactly that fashion. But she figured Suki would learn that on her own time, and chose not to comment. “I look forward to it.”

That night, Mai slipped into Zuko’s bedchambers under the cover of darkness, as she’d been inclined to do ever since his return to the Fire Nation. Zuko’s eyes lit up upon seeing her, and he moved to make room for her beside him on his bed. She sat down, and rolled her eyes but didn’t protest as Zuko wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her into his lap.

“Did you have a good day?” he asked, nuzzling his face into the back of her neck. He asked her the same question every night, and every night she told him the same answer - no. Then she’d gripe about whatever little thing had irked her over the course of the day. It was foolish, yet cathartic, and she knew Zuko didn’t mind. He probably found it entertaining.

“You know what?” Mai mused, thinking back to the mixture of glee and exasperation that had crossed Suki’s face numerous times during their earlier Pai Sho game. “I think I did.”

Zuko raised an eyebrow. “Wow. What happened?”

Mai shrugged. Five faces floated through her mind, all people she’d grown to care for over the past few weeks. People who’d grown to care for her in return. “Nothing special. Just… spent a little time with some new friends.”

Zuko chuckled, and she had a feeling he knew exactly the people she was referring to. “I’m glad to hear it.” He pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck. “Don’t kill me, but…” She didn’t need to turn around to know he was smirking. “I told you they’d come around.”

Mai groaned. “Oh, shut up.”

“Make me?”

She sighed, turning around so she could properly face her boyfriend. “I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?”

(Mai made sure to silence him before he could answer.)

[sokkascroptop]

traitor. (sokka x f!reader) pt 16

part 1 | part 15 | part 17

TW: blood & death. PLEASE heed these warnings

A/N: lmao you guys thought that last chapter was angsty?  

Everything had gone back to normal the next morning; it was like nothing had changed. Y/N didn’t know how to feel about it. On one hand she was grateful that they were able to go about their days like they always had, on the other hand she wished that they had achieved something more. If only Y/N could have opened her damn mouth. At which point she had to remind herself that there’s a very large possibility that Sokka liked Suki which sent her head spiraling into a completely different and unwanted direction that she avoided thinking about at all costs. What did it mean for her to like two people that might like each other? Honestly, Y/N had never realized her life was so complicated. In fact, Y/N had almost convinced herself their midnight confessions were a dream until a week later when they were flying on Appa and Sokka leaned close to her. 

“Do you think we’ll camp by a river we can skip rocks at?”

Y/N cocked one eyebrow. Sokka already knew the answer. He didn’t need her to tell him they always camped near water. “I hope so,” she replied.

The wind was howling in their ears enough that Y/N didn’t think anyone would hear but Toph scoffed from her place near the edge of the saddle. “When do you guys go out and skip rocks?”

At the sound of Toph’s voice, Aang and Katara turned to look at them. 

“Uhhh…” Sokka scratched the back of his neck nervously. 

“Sometimes when we’re not sparring we do fun things!” Y/N said defensively.

“What other fun things do you get up to?” Toph’s voice was innocent, but her face was mischievous. She knew exactly what she was asking. Y/N could hear Aang snicker from Appa’s head. 

Y/N noticed Sokka scooted farther away from her in the saddle, keeping a very appropriate distance between the two of them, his cheeks were a fiery red. She didn’t give Toph the satisfaction of an answer. Mostly because she didn’t even know what to say back. Hahah, Toph, I wish!! Y/N groaned internally at the thought. 

Y/N caught Katara’s eye from the front of the saddle. The girl narrowed her eyes at Y/N. Y/N blinked and looked towards the clouds, when she looked back Katara was still staring at her. She flicked her eyes between Sokka and Y/N in wordless conversation. You two? 

Y/N furrowed her brow, glancing at Sokka and then returning to Katara. Y/N shook her head violently. No way! 

Katara raised a solitary eyebrow and smiled. Her thoughts were clear, I don’t believe it. 

If the embarrassment of a one-sided crush wasn’t enough, now if Katara got a hold of Sokka, Y/N would get to hear him adamantly deny liking her. Y/N slid down in the saddle until her head rested on the edge. Oh endless sleep, take me now! She begged the spirits. None of them ever got back to her. 

“You guys, it’s your turn to go to town to get food.” Y/N turned around from where she was setting up her sleeping bag to look at Katara.

“Who’s ‘you guys’?” She asked.

“You and Sokka.” Aang floated a moonpeach towards Momo who snatched it out of the air and tore into it. 

Y/N groaned and flopped down on her blankets. She looked towards the sky. There was probably a few hours before sunset. “But it’ll be dark by the time we get back,” She pouted. 

“Then I guess we just won’t eat tonight,” Toph snarked. She was laying back on the bare dirt with one leg crossed over the other. Y/N kicked out her leg at Toph’s ankle making her legs fall to the ground. Toph waved a finger and a rock shot up from under Y/N’s sleeping bag, knocking her in the head. 

Y/N sucked in a sharp inhale. “Toph, I don’t care if you’re twelve and blind, I’ll still punch you in the face.”

“Do it.” Toph dared. 

A bag of coins was dropped next to Y/N on the ground before she could get up and threaten Toph properly. Katara stood above her with her hands on her hips. “Maybe the next time you mouth off,” Y/N said as she looked at Katara with a sweet grin.

She grabbed her sword and the money and at the last minute leaned over and flicked Toph on the forehead. She ran away quickly only to be tripped by a stone that wasn’t there a second before hand. 

Y/N sprawled on the ground. She lifted her head just enough to yell, “Aang, it’s not FUNNY!” 

She rolled to her feet and shot a glare back at the others who were trying to contain their laughter and went off to find Sokka who was collecting firewood. She caught him just as he was heading out of the small strip of woods they were near. 

Her eyes immediately bounced down to look at his bare arms and his bulging bicep. Y/N looked away quickly and gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Hey, we’re on shopping duty.” She lifted the pouch of coins and jingled it.

“Oh. Okay, here take some.” Sokka unceremoniously dumped half of the logs he was carrying into her arms, ignoring her protests. “We’ll drop that off at camp first and then leave.”

Y/N hummed. “I don’t think I wanna go back. I pissed Toph off and I think she’s got a rock for me to stub my toe on ready and waiting.” Y/N pointed at her already scraped knee. 

Sokka chuckled. “We have to get Appa anyways, come on. I’ll protect you.” He wiggled his eyebrows. 

Y/N’s heart fluttered in her chest. Of course, she knew Sokka was just joking. “My hero,” she said sarcastically. 

---

Y/N hefted the basket in her arms and peered over the top to read the list in her hands. “Do we have everything?”

Sokka looked into her basket and then into his. “I think so. Let’s go back, it’s getting dark.” He was right; the sky was red with fading light. If they wanted to make it back to Appa before the sun set completely, they’d have to hurry. 

Y/N knew the moment they left the streets of that town something was bound to go wrong. That niggling intuition of hers, the one that made her ears ring and the hair on her neck to stand up, was at full attention. They’d reached the woods. Trees lined a small trail and up a good sized hill was Appa waiting for them in a cave. 

Y/N heard a stick snap behind her, but when she whipped her head around there was nothing there.

“What’s up?” Sokka turned his head to join her, giving her a confused glance as he swung his head around. 

“Uh, nothing. I think.” Y/N shook her head and faced forward again. She quickened her pace a touch and Sokka easily caught up with her. Y/N kept her ears pricked for the slightest of sounds around them. She worked to drown out the regular noises like the cicada-bats and the occasional badger-frog and listen for the more unusual sounds; the breaking of twigs under feet, swords being pulled from their sheaths, bowstrings being pulled back…

Then she heard it, the unmistakable sound of a heavy boot on packed dirt. Y/N turned to face them and threw her basket to the side. Damn, the dumplings and the fruit, she’d pay Katara back personally if she and Sokka didn’t die. 

“Sokka, we have a slight problem,” Y/N warned. In front of her was a short man. She could see the sword at his waist but his face was hidden by a broad brimmed hat. Only then did she realize she had seen the same man in the market. She recognized the hat from the stand where they got the fish and the stand where they had bought vegetables for Aang. 

Sokka’s back bumped into hers. “We got a slight problem from this direction too, Princess.” 

Y/N didn’t even spare a glance over Sokka’s shoulder. “Two on two wouldn’t have been so bad if you’d remembered to bring your sword,” Y/N chastised quietly. 

Sokka grumbled something intelligible and Y/N drew her sword. “Who are you? What do you want?” She shouted at the man in front of her. Slowly, Sokka began to shift around to her right side. She saw why, the man in front of them was circling the two of them. He only stopped once he reached his companion. 

“I think it’s obvious what we’re here for,” the first one said. 

Y/N sneered. “Not really. You saw us at the market, we spent almost all of our money on food. If you wanted to rob us you should have done it then.”

“They were following us?” Sokka elbowed her in the side.

“Shut up,” Y/N growled. 

“We’re here for the girl who betrayed her nation.”

---

Y/N stopped breathing. They’d found her. They’d caught her. Even with traveling to a new place everyday and the fancy clothes and the cut hair, someone still recognized her. Y/N could feel herself starting to spiral. She knew this would happen, she told them this would happen...

It was taking too long for her to say something, so Sokka stepped in. “We don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The second man chuckled at them. 

“She does.” The first man had drawn his sword and pointed it at Y/N who snapped her jaw shut. “You think with that new haircut that I wouldn’t recognize you? I’d know those pretty eyes of yours anywhere.”

Y/N’s breathing quickened and a shudder rolled through her body. Who was behind the shadow of that hat? Who knew her face so well? But that wasn’t the only thought running through her mind. She was racing to think of a solution to the problem at hand. It was one on two. She had to get Sokka out of there. He wouldn’t do anything but keep her distracted. She was far too invested in his life for him to stick around. 

Y/N shoved Sokka away from her. “Go! Run and get Appa. Get the others!”

Sokka didn’t stop to question her and Y/N was oh so grateful. 

---

She went for the second man who had yet to pull a weapon. She understood why he hadn’t pulled a weapon when she got within ten feet of him and a knife sliced through the slide of her skirt, ripping the material. Lovely, she thought. A knife thrower like Mai.

The knives were thrown so hard they were almost invisible and she used all her concentration to block them and knock them down. When she got close enough, he pulled a dagger to fight her off with but he was fat and much too slow to be fighting sword against dagger. Her blade pushed cleanly through his abdomen. He fell heavily to the ground, a pool of blood pushing out from underneath him. 

Y/N smacked a hand over her mouth and willed herself not to throw up even as bile built up in the back of her throat. 

“Nicely done,” the other man said. 

Y/N gasped and let out a shuddering breath. Why was he just standing there, watching her kill his friend? 

He lifted off his hat and threw it to the side and the breath was knocked out of her all over again. “Kaito.”

---

Kaito flipped the blade over in his hand as he walked closer to her. Y/N walked backwards until she could no more. “You’re sticking to the shorter attacks like I suggested. That’s good.”

“W–why did you let me kill him!” she screamed. It had been easy. Kaito didn’t even try to help.

Kaito shrugged and looked at his dead companion. “I wanted the reward money for myself. He won’t mind.”

Kaito’s first blow nearly knocked her to her knees and she realized stupidly that this was the real deal. This wasn’t a sparring match on the ship a month ago where Kaito went easy on her; this was the two of them fighting for their lives. This was the match he had patiently explained to her, what seemed like a lifetime ago. She had to win. She could not let the others come back to her dead body in the woods. She wouldn’t make Sokka have to see that. Not after what he told her a week ago. She was not going to let his biggest fear come true. 

---

Blow by blow they were evenly matched. Y/N fighting for her life, Kaito for his honor. He talked while they fought, anything to distract her or throw her off so he could get a stab in. “We’ve been following you for a while. Heard about a little Fire Nation girl who blew up a factory. I knew that’d be you.”

“That was The Painted Lady,” Y/N grumbled as she blocked a swift uppercut. Y/N’s energy was fading fast. She felt like she was being drained by the second. She was sweating, her heart was pounding, her vision blurred with adrenaline. 

She side-stepped and allowed his sword to slice the flesh of her left arm so she could stab at his bum leg. Kaito screamed and fell, clutching his knee. Y/N kicked his sword away in a cloud of dust. She held her sword out threateningly, already beginning to back up to make a run for it. “You aren’t going to keep following us.”

Kaito chuckled darkly. “I’m never going to stop hunting you down. No one will. I’m a soldier and I follow my orders. The penalty for treason is death, and that’s what a traitor like you deserves. You don’t have long anyways,” He smirked.

Y/N saw red. Those words echoed in her head over and over. Traitor. That was her label for choosing the side of the light, the side that believed in harmony and peace. Well then, let it be. 

Kaito slumped face first into the dirt, his head lolling at an unnatural angle. Y/N’s sword was tipped with fresh blood. 

Y/N bent to retrieve his sword from the ground when a stitch tore through her side. It felt like a pulled muscle but that was not a pulled muscle when she looked down; that was a knife in her side. So that’s what Kaito meant by ‘she didn’t have long’. 

---

Y/N let out a hysterical laugh as she pulled the knife out. Blood began to seep out quickly and she vaguely wondered if she should have done that. It didn’t hurt but–woah–that was a lot of blood. The knife slipped from her fingers to the ground. That guy must have had better aim than she thought. 

---

Y/N blinked and Sokka was shaking her shoulders. Where did he come from? His mouth was forming words that Y/N could not hear.

“What?” She asked loudly. That ringing in her ears was loud.

“I was yelling at you not to pull it out!” 

“Oh.”

Sokka grabbed her jaw with one hand, forcing her to look directly at him. “Focus! Are you okay?!” 

Y/N smiled. His eyes were such a pretty blue. Like the deep ocean or the eastern sky when the sun was setting or– “I am now.”

“Yeah, okay.” Sokka peeled her fingers away from her sword and sheathed it. He wrapped her arm around his shoulder and slipped his around her waist. Y/N didn’t know why, she didn’t feel like she needed help walking. 

---

That fuzzy-brained, painless period didn’t last long. 

“Sokka,” Y/N sobbed. She grabbed onto a tree and would have slid down to her knees if Sokka hadn’t been there to catch her. Her other hand clutched her side. “I can’t–I can’t go any further.” She gasped as a sharp pain shot through her side. Every time she breathed it was worse and she was hyperventilating. She squeezed her eyes shut and a few tears leaked out. When she opened her eyes, Sokka was kneeling beside her with a very uncharacteristic serious look on his face. Y/N could have laughed if she wasn’t in so much pain. 

“Just a little farther. We have to get back to Katara.” He shook his head. “Giving up is not an option.”

“Okay, okay.” Y/N scrubbed her face. As she looked to him her chin began to wobble with an impending rush of tears. “I’m scared,” she murmured. It was not something she would normally admit but this was anything but a normal moment. Kaito’s words from the ship echoed in her mind: she had never actually had to face her own death before and now she was. 

“Me too.” Sokka’s face was stoic, but she could hear the shaking of his voice. She held out her hand that wasn’t trying to stop blood from gushing out of her side and Sokka hauled her to her feet. 

---

Y/N was pretty sure in the last one hundred yards it took to get to Appa, Sokka and Y/N tripped over every single root in that part of the forest. It was pitch black, their way only lit by the faint lines of the moon through the tree branches. 

Y/N was relying more and more on Sokka’s strength to get her back to Appa; he was half-carrying her and they were both breathing heavily. 

Appa grunted when they reached him. Y/N didn’t know the context of said grunt. Was he mad that it took them so long? Was he worried because he could smell blood? She was thinking about asking Aang if he could tell what Appa meant by the certain noises he made when Sokka snapped her out of her thoughts. 

“Y/N!” He said sharply. She looked up at him from where she was standing. When did he climb up to the saddle? Y/N started climbing up after him and Sokka reached down to help her. Her arms felt like they weighed a thousand pounds and under any other circumstances her face might have flushed pink if Sokka had grabbed the back of her thigh like he just did to haul her in. She collapsed onto her back, staring at the stars. 

Y/N was pretty sure that Sokka was talking to her but his voice was distorted like she was underwater. Every blink of her eyes lasted longer until she didn’t have the energy to open them anymore. 

Her last thought before fading to black was “Who’s Yue?”

---

Y/N woke up sweating. She automatically began kicking the blankets off, anything to get the heat away from her; she felt like she was suffocating. The motion set off a familiar pain in her left side that left her gasping for air. Finally, after she threw the last fur off, she stubbornly pulled herself to a sitting position. She looked around her. She didn’t remember falling asleep in a tent. Wait, was this Sokka’s tent?!

Y/N pressed a hand against her side, the pressure made it feel better and worse, and crawled to the tent opening. She pulled back one of the flaps just as someone was barreling in.

“Sokka?

“Y/N?”

“I thought I heard you wake up!” he exclaimed, pulling her in for a tight hug. 

Y/N wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder. Her head was throbbing worse than the first time she drank rice wine. “What happened?”

Sokka ignored the question and his arms tightened around her. “How do you feel?”

“I’m...okay.” Pieces of the night before were beginning to flood back. Kaito and knives. “I am so sorry for scaring you like that.” 

Y/N pulled back from their hug. Their faces were inches apart. She could feel the heat of Sokka’s breath on her cheek. Y/N’s eyes flicker to his lips and then back up to his eyes. Slowly, she backed away from him, but Sokka had other ideas. He grasped her face with both hands pressed his lips against hers. Y/N felt her stomach drop and she squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe she was dreaming. 

He pulled back sooner than Y/N would have liked, but left his hands on her cheeks, tracing over her cheekbone lightly with his thumb. There was a dazed expression on his face. 

He immediately jerked his hands away and clasped them in his lap when he noticed her widened eyes. “I’m so sorry. Spirits! I should have asked! I just couldn’t–last night, I couldn’t leave you! I got half way back to Appa and turned around! You almost died and I almost didn’t get to tell you I liked you.” Sokka ran a hand down his face. “Well, I guess I’m telling you now.”

Y/N sat there in stunned silence. Sokka liked her. Sokka liked her. Not anyone else. Y/N was starting to wonder if she was having some type of vivid hallucination from blood loss. She studied Sokka’s face which looked like he wanted to evaporate on the spot. 

“I’ll just go get the others and tell them you’re awake–” Sokka had started to stand up to leave but Y/N grabbed his hand and pulled him back down. She wasted no time in wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for another kiss. 

“I like you too, Sokka,” Y/N mumbled against his lips.

---

A/N: Did you really think we were going to get out of this with no ‘almost dying’ action?

Taglist: @myexgirlfriendisthemoon​ @reclusive-chicken-nugget​ @astroninaaa​ @aangsupremacy​ @beifongsss​ @crownofcryptids​ @welovediaaxx​ @littlefluu​ @lozzybowe​ @thebluelcdy​ @ohjustlookalive @sugarmoongey​ @fanficdepot​ @teenbiology​ @13-09-01​ @riespage​ @davnwillcome​ @naanlianid​ @creation-magician​ @lunariasilver​ @vintagerose1014516 @bcifcng​ @rockinearthbending-marauders​ @francesciak​ @thia-aep​ @aphrcditeee​ @milk-n-cheese​ @solarsuki​@sendnuwudes @humbleseame​ @my--shitty--art​ @lovingcupcake51002​ @loganrwebb​ @celia-not-cecilia​ @treestarrrrrrrr​ @p--e--a--c--h--e--s​ @velveteencurls​ @izzieserra​ @oddment-nitwit-blubber-tweak @salsasadd​ @nataliahaslosthershit​ @awkwardnesshabitat​ @lanie103​ @emogril​ @im-the-galactic-starfish​ @charlotteisabella​ @alienmotel​ @smarshere​ @crxsshatcht @starxtt @sugamonster22​ @natsbelova​ @mellisophilia​ @calumsfringe​ @whatsuphoesandbros​ @samsmultifandomblogs​ @ask-kfc-siblings @i-love-superhero​ @justasukisimp​ @grouchiest-hufflepuff​ @zukostan221 @feverish-dove​ 

[that-was-anticlimactic]

i’ll leave the pairing and whether it’s platonic or romantic up to you, but 56. “come back soon” please !! :)

"Come back soon" + platonic suki & aang

Suki shuddered, gasping for air as quietly as she could while she stumbled out of her room at Ozai’s beach house on Ember Island.

She crept past Sokka who was slumped on the couch with Zuko beside him—the two such a tangled mess of intertwined limbs that the only reason she could tell what body part belonged to who was because Sokka’s skin was darker. Normally, she would have smiled and chuckled at the sight, but tonight, it only made the sob pulsing at her throat stronger.

Finally, she made it out of the house, nearly collapsing on the porch. Only then did her emotions get the best of her, and she was crying but she wasn’t crying. It was some odd mixture, some strange sound that she couldn’t quite describe. It went on like that until she was hyperventilating, her hands clawing at her chest, pulling away at the fabric. She felt like she was suffocating.

Nights usually weren’t that hard—it was the day when she flashed back the most. Each time the sun's rays shone down on her, when she heard noises in the market, worse yet when she saw people firebending…

Nights were easier, especially when she could relish in the cool air and look at Yue until she was tired. For whatever reason, after Sokka had told her the tragic tale of Yue’s sacrifice, Suki found herself turning to the moon for comfort—even when she was locked away in Boiling Rock and couldn’t see Her.

Tonight, though, something must have happened. She wasn’t quite sure what it was, but she had woken up in a panic, desperate to escape from… well, there wasn��t anywhere to escape from, but she needed to get out of the house immediately.

She’d never been claustrophobic, but it seemed like the walls were closing in on her, coming closer and closer and closer and—

“Suki?”

She flew to her feet faster than she thought possible. Standing in the doorway was Aang, rubbing his eyes… his suspiciously red eyes.

“Hey,” she croaked, brushing herself off if only to do something with hands so they would stop trembling. “Can’t sleep either?”

Aang shrugged, his heel bouncing restlessly against the ground. “Can I… can I join you?”

“Yeah, sure,” she replied. “Let’s sit.” Slowly, she lowered herself to the ground this time so she was sitting on the edge of the porch, her toes brushing against the sand below.

Aang sat beside her, sniffling.

“Everything okay?” she asked after a minute. While Suki didn’t know Aang nearly as well as Katara or Sokka, she knew him well enough to know that this wasn’t normal. The poor boy always wore his heart on his sleeve, so it wasn’t that hard to notice that something was obviously wrong, but this silence and metaphorical stillness surrounding his demeanor was eerie.

Aang blinked, shoving his feet into the sand and flicking it around. “I don’t know.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“I—I don’t know,” he repeated, narrowing his eyes at the sand and digging his heels into it with more force. “You okay?”

She paused. That wasn’t supposed to happen—she wasn’t prepared for that. Normally, she would’ve brushed it aside—that’s what she was supposed to do, being older than him and all but…

He looked so scared, so exhausted and vulnerable that Suki felt the urge to share, even if it was more watered down than to spare him more grief.

And maybe if she shared with him, he’d feel like he could share with her.

“No,” she chuckled, gripping the edges of the dock so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. “Not really.”

Aang peered at her curiously, tilting his head, as if he were expecting her to lie too. “Oh. What’s… what’s wrong? Is there anything I can do?”

Even when Aang was in the middle of stress and hurt, he still cared for everyone else. It made Suki’s heart break, knowing that the most gentle, caring, compassionate person she’d ever met felt like he had a duty to place everyone else’s happiness above his own.

“Not really, I just… I guess I’ve been having trouble, um…” she trailed off, taking a long, careful breath. “I haven’t been processing my time at, uh, at Boiling Rock well.”

Even saying the name of the place made her shoulders tense and her heart race at a frightening speed.

Simply thinking about the place sent her into an unnatural state of panic. Talking about it was a whole different level of coping that she wasn’t entirely sure she was prepared for.

In the span of five seconds, a myriad of emotions flashed across Aang’s face: confusion, realization, horror, and guilt.

Guilt—it pained Suki in so many ways, seeing Aang’s innocent (and it wasn’t fair that really, they weren’t so innocent anymore, not after all he’s seen) eyes wide and heavy, carrying not only the burden of the world and the burden of a war he had no part in starting, but also the weight of her own personal grief… it wasn’t fair.

(It never was for them, was it?)

Aang cleared his throat uncertainly. “Oh, I didn’t realize… I didn’t really think about how you felt after that… I was so excited that Sokka and Katara got to see their dad that I…”

Suki held back a wince.

It had stung, watching everyone launch themselves at Hakoda instead of her—even at Sokka and Zuko. And she couldn’t be mad, not really. Hakoda was their dad—of course they’d be worried sick about him, knowing he’d been captured and not having a single clue about where she was (aside from vague taunting from Azula).

It was the curse of being a nonbender, the one hardly anyone knew (and that wasn’t fair—not when Sokka and Hakoda were nonbenders too).

(but even that couldn’t push down the jealousy she felt towards Hakoda—he had been there for a day. She had been there for months. It wasn’t a fair comparison, but that didn’t matter when she was left alone with her thoughts.)

“It’s not your fault,” she said, her voice flat but sincere. “You weren’t even there—there was nothing you could’ve done.”

It was true. The life of one measly Kyoshi Warrior wasn’t worth risking for the sake of the entire world. That’s what it’s like, growing up in war, knowing that your life would never be as important or essential as the movement you were fighting for.

She peered at Aang who was scrunching his nose so intensely it had to be painful. If anyone knew that feeling, that feeling of worthlessness but expected usefulness, it was Aang.

“Hey, quite that,” she gently chastised, lightly placing her hand on his knee. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

Aang wordlessly complied, which honestly worried her even more. Yes, she was glad that Aang ceased the physical anguish he was putting himself through by thinking so long and hard about something out of his hands, but she had expected some sort of fight—some protest or joke relating to how he wasn’t actually in pain.

Just resigned obedience.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, simply sitting side by side. Suki watched the night sky, staring at Yue, hoping to forge any kind of connection with her.

“Suki…” Aang finally said, glaring at the sand surrounding his feet. “Have you ever… have you ever thought about what would happen if you took off? Never look back?”

Yes.

She thought about that a lot, what would happen if she just stopped fighting. What would’ve happened if Aang and Sokka and Katara (and Zuko’s men attacking her village) hadn’t convinced her and her girls not to stay neutral in the war. Suki dreamed about being back on Kyoshi Island, swimming when the unagi was away and practicing applying her makeup, stitching the holes they made in their uniforms with the girls.

Life was easier back then.

“Sometimes,” she replied instead, side eyeing him. “Do you?”

“There are… sometimes, I think it’d be easier,” he admitted, voice small. “I’m tired. And I don’t want to fight anymore.”

“You shouldn’t have to.”

He shrugged choppily. “I’m the Avatar,” was all he said.

“Do you ever wish you weren’t?” Now it was Suki’s turn to ask the question that couldn’t really be answered. She had a feeling she knew what he wanted to say, even without seeing the confliction flash across his face and the way he licked his lips.

“Sometimes,” he eventually said, repeating Suki’s ambiguous answer from minutes earlier.

“I can’t even imagine what being the Avatar is like,” Suki stated, and tentatively, she reached her hand out and gently grabbed ahold of Aang’s nearest one.

She held on loosely enough to allow him to pull away if he wanted, but it seemed like he clung desperately to the contact.

Aang’s hands were soft, which didn’t really surprise her since he was an airbender at heart and all, but she could feel small patches of calluses around his palms. His fingers were long and lean, probably longer than hers.

She tightened her grip and Aang gave her a little squeeze in response.

“I like having you around,” he spoke up after a minute or two of silence. “You’re really nice to everyone, even Zuko and he burned your village down. You’re really strong. I’m glad Sokka was able to find you.”

I am too, she thought.

Then, his words hit her: “you’re really strong”. It was obvious with the way he said it that he didn’t mean her physical strength—that was always her highest praise from everyone back home, even when she got out and travelled a bit more. It was always “you’re really strong for a girl” or “wow, you’re really strong”. Always her physical strength. She knew she was strong, she worked hard to get to where she is, but that isn’t what Aang meant, she could tell.

“Not really,” she confessed quietly. “Sometimes I see Zuko with his arm around Sokka and I just see red and want to get him as far away from Sokka as I can. Or I’ll see him spar with Toph and he’ll bend fire and I want to grab my fan and pin him to a tree. Whenever I’m around him, I smell my village burning to the ground. Whenever he bends, I see…” Suki trailed off, shuddering and using her free hand to swipe at the invisible tears filling her eyes. “I see the sun and it’s burning me and it’s grabbing me and it’s—”

Aang squeezed her hand, and the touch was enough to bring her back to the present away from the boiling island that haunted her—following her around as a ghost, always over her shoulder, always plaguing the back of her mind.

“It’s not Zuko.”

“You don’t have to forgive him yet,” Aang told her. “Forgiveness takes awhile sometimes.”

“I want to forgive him,” she said truthfully. “But I’m not sure if I can forgive his people. Or his sister. Especially not his sister. He is nice, infuriatingly nice. It feels like he shouldn’t be. That’s all I’ve ever known—the firebenders will burn you, the Fire Nation will take everything from you. Maybe he did once. But he isn’t anymore. I just don’t know how to change—if I want to change.”

Aang groaned, leaning forward so that his head was almost pressed against his knees (he still held Suki’s hand). “I wish it all made sense.”

“You can say that again.”

“No, Suki. I don’t want to fight the Fire Nation. Does that make me a bad person?” Aang’s voice broke, but he too did not cry.

Oh.

When Suki peered down at him, he looked so young—he was so young—and to think the entire world expected a twelve year old kid to willingly kill maybe thousands of people (or, thousands more. Sokka told her about what happened at the North Pole. Neither he nor Katara had the heart to tell Aang how many fatalities there were then) and then sit down and fix everything while also being the last Air Nomad alive was… well, when she put it like that, it was disgusting.

“I don’t think it does,” she said, and Aang lifted his head, his big grey eyes staring at his in something akin to disbelief. “You’re a kid.”

“I’m the Avatar—”

“You’re a kid, Aang.”

He shut his mouth, eyebrows scrunched while he pondered what she said. “Am I really?”

Those three words broke her. The helplessness, the exhaustion, the resignation Suki heard made her want to hide him away from the world, wrap him up in an embrace so big that he would be sheltered and protected.

“I think you are. Do you?”

“I don’t know. I want to be. I thought I was.”

He stopped, but Suki nodded at him to continue, if he wanted to.

So, he took a deep breath and continued: “Growing up, the Fire Nation was full of friends and familiar faces. Then, they all became blank. Then Zuko joined us and we danced and he became just as familiar as Kuzon once was. I went to school and saw the kids and they don’t know that they’re wrong. And now we’re here and we walk through town and everyone hates me—they hate the Avatar—but they smile at me when I pass and when I wave to them, they wave back. I don’t know what to do.”

“Well,” Suki began, “this sucks. And here I thought life wasn’t supposed to be this complicated until we were older.” Because she was still processing everything Aang had said and it’s so much and she didn’t know how he did this every day. She didn’t know what else to say, there was nothing that she could say to make things better.

Aang chuckled, it wasn’t as full of life as it usually was, but it was still something.

“Thank you for listening, Suki,” he told her, looking at her earnestly. “I know you don’t think you’re that strong, but you’re the strongest person I know.”

Suki snorted. Opening her mouth to disagree, but he beat her to it.

“No! You are! You’ve been through a lot of really bad things. You were in one of the worst places a person could possibly be, and even though sometimes you can’t look at Zuko without seeing the guy who ordered the destruction of your village or the prison guards that hurt you, but you never hurt him. You still talk to him and eat with him and… I don’t know. It makes me think that maybe something good can come out of all of this.”

I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry.

Suki sucked in a breath. “Well, if you really think that—”

“I do!”

She smiled. “Well, then I need you to know that you’re the strongest person I know. I haven’t been around that much, but Sokka tells me stories. He’s told me about how you always make friends with your enemies, or you try to. About how you believed in Toph when no one else did. How you risked the Avatar State for Katara… I don’t know anyone else who could ever do what you do. I’m proud of you.”

That did it.

Aang burst into tears, hunching over as his body wracked with sobs.

Suki didn’t let go of his hand, but she used her unoccupied one to pull Aang into the hug that she longed to give him, holding him tightly and securely.

His free arm found its way around her back, and suddenly Suki felt a couple of tears escape her too. She was never a loud crier, something she was thankful for, but she didn’t pull away when one of the few that fell hit Aang’s skin and for once, she wasn’t scared that he’d notice or hear.

The two of them sat there for what felt like hours, his head buried in her neck and her cheek resting on the top of his head. They clung to each other, wordless and messy and vulnerable and real.

They held each other until Aang’s sobs died down, his voice rough and cracked.

“Thank you,” he croaked.

“Thank you,” she replied.

Then, Aang coughed, a harsh and angry sound.

As much as she didn’t want to, Suki let go of Aang (and his hand) and stood up. “I’m going to get you some water,” she told him before he could worry that he did something wrong. “You sound like you need it.”

Even still, as she started to walk away, Aang’s eyes widened and reached out, grasping her wrist so tightly that his nails were digging into her skin. “Suki…” he began, voice cracking. “I—“ he cut himself off, lips quivering.

Gently, Suki pried his hand off of her. “I’m not leaving, okay?” she whispered, and she meant it.

She felt Aang nod against her chest and she pulled away.

“Come back soon.” He spoke delicately, carefully, but that didn’t prevent the grief from seeping through his words.

Suki bent over enough to give Aang a quick kiss on the top of his head, before crouching so she was at eye level. “I always will.”

When Zuko woke up the next morning, he walked outside to meditate and found Aang and Suki coiled together on the porch, her hand draped protectively over his chest and his hand intertwined with hers.

He woke Sokka up, and the two sat with them, waiting for them to wake up.

----------

petition to let friends platonically kiss each other’s heads for comfort 2k21

but uhhh if you know me, you know i love the suki and aang friendship potential. so, may i present some platonic suki and aang:)

wow this got so long and so angsty i am so sorry haha!

also sorry it took so long, i uhhh got really busy and didn't have reliable service for a couple weeks! i am working on all of the other prompts as well!

101 ways to say i love you prompts

[fandomlit]

gif cred belongs to @baelor​

requested by @sokkasdarling​ “jealous sokka??🥺 maybe reader is training with aang or zuko or something !”

imagine sokka getting jealous when you train with aang

“wanna go into town?” sokka asked you after breakfast. “we could go shopping and get lunch. if you want, of course.”

you gave your boyfriend a smile. “that’s very sweet, sokka, but im gonna need a rain check.”

“why?” he whined, leaning down and pouting in your face.

“y/n!” you both turned to see aang waving you over with a grin. “ready to train?”

“yeah, aang, give me a sec!” you called back. “sorry, hun.” you gave sokka a kiss on the cheek before taking off toward the avatar.

sokka frowned as he watched you and aang walk toward a more cleared area to spar. he mimicked, “sorry, hun. im gonna go hang out with the avatar and ignore my totally hot boyfriend-”

“don’t be jealous,” katara snickered as she passed him. the words immediately made him jump to attention.

“im not jealous!”

[raikangaru]

It’s Sexy - Zuko x Reader

Warnings: explicit content (smut)

one shot

The sun was out and harshly beaming on us, Sokka and I were seated on the steps of the royal family summer house. Zuko and Aang were sparring, trying to help Aang somewhat master firebending. “Zuko can we take a break I’m tired”,they’ve been going at it the whole morning, I feel bad for Aang. “No! You think you can take break when you fight my father”,he huffs frustrated at the air bender,”woah, sheesh I was just asking”,Aang raised his hands in surrender, he looked to me for help.

“Hmm Zuko, how about a 10 minute break! I think Katara’s about to bring out some watermelon juice!”

“Fine!”,he agrees, huffing as he trudges over to me, taking the empty spot beside me. He snakes his arm around my waist pulling me towards him,”Nooooo, you’re sweaty!”,I whine pushing him away,”mhmm but you like me sweaty”,he whispers in my ear, his husky voice making me feel hot. “Oi, Zuko”,I slap his arm my cheeks becoming flushed,”(your name) whats for dinner?”,I turned my head to face Sokka. “Thinking or dinner already? We just had lunch”,I giggle at him,”but I’m a growing man!”,he pouts at me. “Aww you’re too cute Sokka”,I feel Zuko nudge my knee but before I could turn back to him, Katara walks up.

“Brought the watermelon juice!”

“Finally! It took so long”,Sokka comments earning a slap on the head from Katara the whole group erupts in laughing fit, me almost choking on my drink. “Oh where’s Toph?”,I wondered out loud,”she’s training to master sand bending. I’ve already given her a drink”,Katara replies and I just nod my head. A comfortable silence blankets over us as we enjoy the watermelon drink and the sun shining down on us. The weather was great for a swim, we all stare out and I lean back on Zuko, looking up to him. His ember eyes focused at the ocean beyond, I reach my hand up to move his black locks away from his eyes, his attention shifts to me.”I love you”,he whispers quietly just for us to hear. “I love you too Zuko”,I wrap my arms around his neck,”(your name), don’t forget you need to go markets. We’ve ran out of stock”,Katara breaks us out of our trance, they all just stare us and both our cheeks burns red from embarrassment, forgetting we were not in the confines of our room.

“Huh, oh yeah!”,I awkwardly laugh, “uh Aang, let’s get back to training”,Zuko tries to break the awkwardness. Zuko stands from beside and Aang groans, unhappy to continue training, Sokka calls me over and I comply, moving to sit closer to him,”since everyone’s doing training, so you wanna spar with me?”, he asks. “Yeah sure! I’ve got time to kill before going to the markets”,I smiled giving him a friendly smile, from the corner of my eye, Zuko watches our movements, I smile to myself as an idea pops in my head. I was gonna make Zuko just a little jealous.

“Come on Sokka”,I take his arm and drag him, I position us parallel to Zuko and Aang, where Zuko and I are opposite sides, a clear view of him. Sokka prepares himself, swinging his sword around, I crack my knuckles waiting for him to strike me. Sokka charges straight to me, with his sword swinging to swipe my left side, I jump away from him and clap my hands as wall of fire surrounds Sokka. “(your name)!! Don’t bend, it’s unfair!”,Sokka whines and I extinguish my flames,”fine fine, you’re lucky I like you”. I get myself into a fighting stance, I charge for Sokka but my peripherals catch something more interesting than the current spar match. I see my black haired boyfriend strip off his shirt, revealing his toned chest, his sweat dripping down his body, it was such a hot site, I want to jump him. I was most definitely distracted and the next thing I knew I had crashed into Sokka where I had landed on top of Sokka, sitting on top of his lap, a very sexual position.

“Alright, that’s enough training for today!”, Zuko yells clearly frustrated, I made sure to not look at him. “Oh Sokka, I’m so sorry”,I slowly get up from the position and help the poor blushing older water tribe man. “I should probably head to the markets, I need to prepare for dinner”,I sadly look to Sokka, I leave them heading towards the house to get the money and bag for shopping. Just as I was about to head out the main door, a hand catches my wrist and I’m jerked back into a solid chest. I already know who is it,”you coming Zuko?”,a small smirk plays on my lips, I turn to meet his eyes which still held the anger from the previous events. “Let me get a new shirt, then we can leave”,he drags me to the direction of the room we shared. He picked out a shirt then we headed out to the markets.

We blended perfectly in, considering we are actual fire nation citizens. The market was crowded, there was a lot to purchase from the list Katara has given me, so I decided to split with Zuko just to make stuff quicker. “Hi, can I get squash, some potatoes and those carrots please”, I asked the vegetable vendor,”yeah right away, gorgeous”,he flashes me a toothy grin. I shake it off, once I had paid the young vendor and was about to move to another stall but the young vendor followed me. “Let me help you out, I know all the ins and outs of this market. I can get you the best deals”,he takes the bag I had been holding,”oh no it’s alright, I can handle it”, politely declining him. “No no, please I insist”,he places a hand on my lower back guiding me through the crowd, I was not comfortable with this guy around as he was a little bit on the touchy side, though I was able to get all the ingredients and stock we needed.

“Uhm, thank you for helping. I’ll be on the way now”,I tried to release myself from his grip, “oh, it’s no worries. Let me walk you back home”,he doesn’t budge, as much as I want to burn him I cannot risk getting caught. “No it’s okay. I don’t need anyone to walk me home”,this time I forcibly try to pull away but he wouldn’t let go, he was digging his nails into my arm.

“Let go of her”,the all familiar voice of your boyfriend rings in your ears, grateful that he has come. “Dude, just stay out of this.”,the younge vendor tells off Zuko, you begin to struggle in his grip,”Let go of my girlfriend”,his voice becomes more stern, sending chills down my spine, Zuko easily rips the guys hand off my wrist and pushed me behind him. “You want to go?”,the guy yells throwing a punch in Zuko’s direction but it fails as Zuko catches it and aggressively pushes the guy down. “Zuko, let go home”,I whisper so only both of us heard, I tug on his shirt, he whirls around to face me and I beg him with my eyes, he sighs and takes my hand in his as we journey back home.

We had finally reached the summer house, the walk back home was quiet, no words were uttered once we passed the threshold of the house I dropped off all the supplies in the kitchen. “(your name) room now”,Zuko orders, I nod my head and walk behind him to our room, “in the bathroom”,I hesitate before complying with him, once I’m in the bathroom he shuts the door and I backed up but the back of my knees hit the tub. “You’re very naughty baby”,his voice lowers an octave and stirs something in me, “but I haven’t done anything”,I say quietly.

“You think making me mad is nothing?”,he steps closer to me, my body starts to heat up loving this side of Zuko, I clench my legs together to ease the heat. “I didn’t do anything”,I played innocent, looking up at him through my lashes, “silly girl, you think I appreciate you sitting on that water tribe boy’s lap or having another man have his hands all over you”,he almost growls, the sight of him mad excites me, I figit in my spot. He finally closes the gap, he presses his lips roughly on mine, impatiently biting down to ask for access which I opened for him. We break away a trail of saliva between us, his hand finds itself on my neck slighty gripping, he pushes me until I’m seated on the edge of the tub.

“Zuko”,I moan out as his other hand squeezes my breast,”you want to strip for me baby”,he coos in my ear, I nod my head. He releases me and I slowly untie the knot that held the fire nation top. I turned away from him and slid the matching pants giving him a nice view of my ass, once I was fully naked I sat back on the tub with my legs wide open. “Such a good girl”,he returns to his position but this time kneeling infront of me, his fingers playing with my clit. Pressing hard on the sensitive nub, I let out a small moan before he continues to slide it up and down the length of my pussy and inserting a finger. It feels good and I almost lose my grip on the tub, “mhmm you like that?”,he asks.

“Yes”

“That’s good, hmm why don’t you suck my cock”,he moves to get rid of his shirt and pants until he stands before me in all his glory. He was a gorgeous man, toned stomach and quite a sizeable length. I take his already harden length and pump it a few times before I slowly slid it in my mouth immediately hitting the back of my throat. I move my head back and forth making sure to massage the part I couldn’t fit in my mouth, I hollow my cheeks and try to fit as much of him inside my mouth, he grabs onto my hair controlling me. He suddenly pulls away and gestures for me to turn around, I obey he positions himself on my entrance. He slides the head first before pushing himself all the way, I couldn’t hold in my moan, he was deep inside me and it felt so good and he groans fill the bathroom. As he rocks his hips into mine, he pulls on my hair again, he moves his hand to my clit and rubs hard circles on them making me clench my pussy around him, he pulls me all the way until my back is pressed against him, hitting me even deeper. “Zuko, it’s feels so good”,I say breathlessly,”that’s right, only I can make you feel this way, touch you this way and see you this way”,he growls possesively.

I start to feel pressure build up in my lower stomach, I was close to climaxing. He rolls his hips harder and I groan at the impact, my stomach tightens and I feel myself clench around him before finding my release. “Zuko”,I cry out as I grip the bathtub like crazy, he continues to thrust into me before he stills and unloads his hot release inside me. “aww fuck (your name), such a good girl”,he slaps my ass before pulling out. I turn to face him and share a passionate kiss with him, “you know I love you”he gently tuck a hair behind my ear.

“I know but I love it when you’re mad, it’s sexy”

//

m a s t e r l i s t

hey! kinda long and a smut one shot too (woo), hope you guys enjoyed it. please leave a like so i’ll know if you guys are interested in reading more. dm me if you have requests or suggestions i’m curious on what you guys think. oh thank you for the likes on the other stories really appreciate it, have a great day!

all the love xx

[amberskywrites]

Half Joking

Masterpost

Pairing: Zukka

Fandom / Genre: Avatar the Last Airbender / Fluff-ish

Warnings: Mention of past injuries

Summary: Sokka finds out how Zuko got a scar on his stomach a few years after it happened, and isn't completely kidding when he makes a particular comment. 

Not that Zuko needs to know.

----------------------

It was rare for Zuko and Sokka to get alone time. Both of their schedules were extremely busy, oftentimes Sokka wasn't even around because he had to keep moving, attending all sorts of diplomatic meetings. Zuko spent the majority of his days making documents, having meetings about the documents, then making documents about the meetings. Whenever either of them got a day off, the other was usually busy, and on the off chance Sokka was able to stay in the palace, one of them was usually too exhausted to do much bonding.

Today however, Zuko had made sure he had no meetings scheduled, no appearances in the city, just a day off. And Sokka didn't have much to do while visiting his boyfriend in the fire nation that week. He was given the chance to spend that time relaxing, Katara dealing with the ambassadors back in the south pole. It was a rare, and truly refreshing day for them both.

They slept in, curled close together after a tiresome day previously. Then after breakfast took a walk to the gardens, where Zuko showed Sokka how to get one of the baby turtleducks to come and take food from his hands. They sparred late in the afternoon for fun, then enjoyed a nice dinner at a tea shop in the city.

And now they were once again in bed, neither intending to fall asleep at the moment, just enjoying one another's company.

Sokka was laying against Zuko, his fingers cold against the firebender's warm skin as he traced shapes into Zuko's chest. His finger trailed down to where the scar on Zuko's stomach was, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"Hey," Sokka mumbled, looking up to Zuko's face. Zuko seemed zoned out, and Sokka huffed, poking his boyfriend's cheek lightly. "Firelord Hotman, you in there?"

Zuko blinked out of his daze and glared half-heartedly at Sokka, batting away his hand. Sokka smiled and leaned up to press a quick kiss to Zuko's lips, pulling away before Zuko could deepen it. Zuko huffed softly, but raised a brow at him, waiting for Sokka to continue.

Sokka began to trace the edges of the scar on Zuko's stomach. "I don't think you ever told me how you got this," he says. Sokka already knew about the scar on Zuko's face, but Zuko had never mentioned how he got this larger scar, and Sokka's surprised with himself that he never asked.

Zuko looked confused for a moment. "Katara never told you what happened?"

Sokka shook his head, watching his boyfriend carefully. He knew sometimes subjects like this could be difficult for Zuko, if it was anything like the scar on his face. Sokka wondered briefly what Katara had to do with it, though.

One of Zuko's arms looped around Sokka's waist tightened a bit, and Sokka stopped tracing the scar as Zuko thought of a good way to tell him.

"The Agni Kai that I had with my sister, on the day of Sozin's comet." Sokka nodded. He did remember hearing about that. "Well, Azula used lightning to attack. At first I thought she was going to attack me, and I was prepared to redirect it. But she didn't. Instead she aimed for Katara. And I jumped in the way."

Sokka glanced down at the scar, eyes widening slightly. He muttered a swear under his breath, before looking back to Zuko, who looked so nonchalant about it. Sokka frowned a bit before leaning forward and he kissed Zuko again.

His hands left Zuko's stomach, one cupping the young firelord's jaw while the other went to Zuko's hair. Zuko pulled Sokka closer, almost melting as Sokka gently caressed Zuko's cheek. When they pulled away, Sokka rested his forehead against Zuko's.

"I wanna thank you for saving my sister, but I think I also owe Katara a thank you for saving you." Sokka whispered, staring down into Zuko's golden eyes. He watched Zuko's cheeks turn a light shade of pink, felt them turn a tad but warmer than usual, and Zuko nodded just barely so they wouldn't bang their heads. "Also remind me to punch Azula next time we see her."

Zuko huffed out a laugh and shoved Sokka away, rolling his eyes. Sokka smiled as he curled back into Zuko's side, resting his head on Zuko's shoulder. 

[philthepegacornfics]

Karate Kids

Sokka x Reader

Word Count: 1.8k+

Warnings: None that I can think of?

A/N: So this is my first atla fic, so please be nice... As well as I didn’t edit it... so yeah. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The crackle of the fire is the only thing to be heard as Zuko finishes recalling the events that lead him and I here.

“Well?” Zuko said impatiently after a few more moments of silence.

“Your life reads like a Greek tragedy. You know that?” I told him.

“You knew this story already, (Y/n),” Zuko rubbed his hand over his face.

“Still doesn’t change the fact that it’s a Greek tragedy,” I shrugged.

Both Sokka and Aang look at me with their heads slightly tilted. “What’s a Greek tragedy?” they asked.

“It’s like that Oedipus story,” Katara explained.

Sokka nodded his head in understanding as Aang asked, “What’s an Oedipus?”

“How do you not know who Oedipus is?” Zuko asked.

“Have you been living under a rock?” I giggled.

“Ice, actually,” Aang stated.

It was my turn to be confused. “What do you mean?”

“Aang had been frozen in ice for 100 years, until Sokka and I found him,” Katara explained.

“Still doesn’t explain how he doesn’t know that story,” Toph chimed in. “It’s been around for thousands of years.”

“Maybe it was the culture?” Katara tried to defend.

“Hey, Zuko, if it makes you feel any better, my girlfriend turned into the moon,” Sokka offered.

Zuko just blinked at the boy with the wolf tail before saying, “That’s rough buddy.”

“See! We’re in a Greek tragedy! Are we sure that none of us are blood related besides you two?” I asked pointing at Katara and Sokka.

“Aren’t you and Zuko cousins?” Toph pointed out.

“Well, kinda?” I said scratching the back of my neck.

“My uncle adopted (Y/n) when we were little. So, not by blood,” Zuko explained. “That’s why they’re not a bender.”

“Zuko!” I screeched, reaching over to smack his arm.

“Ow!”

“That’s what you get,” I stick my tongue out at him.

“Wait, (Y/n), you can’t bend?” Katara asked.

I shook my head as I looked down at the ground, completely embarrassed. 

“Yes!” Sokka cheered from my right, standing to his feet. “I’m not the only one!”

My head snapped up at his proclamation. “You too?”

“You didn’t know this?” Zuko asked, covering his face in second hand embarrassment.

“No, I didn’t know that! I thought all those times with us fighting, he just preferred his boomerang!” I defended, cheeks heating up.

“And how did you guys not know that they couldn’t bend?” Zuko looked at the rest of the group.

Sokka shrugged. 

Aang scratched the back of his head.

“Same reason they thought Sokka was a bender,” Katara said sheepishly.

“I can’t see,” Toph shrugged.

Zuko then muttered something to himself. The rest of us looked at each other in embarrassment. At this point the fire died down to just embers left.

“Let’s get some sleep,” Zuko sighed. “We have a big day of training tomorrow.”

I gave him a salute, “Yes sir!”

With that, we all headed to our beds, wishing each other a good night.

---------------------

“I’m so bored!” I groaned, plopping down next to Sokka.

He was busy watching Zuko teach Aang firebending. They were going through the motions of basics without actually bending any fire.

“Yeah, I was too, but it’s been interesting watching these two,” Sokka motioned ahead of him.

After watching for a few moments, I couldn’t help but giggle, “It’s like they’re dancing.”

“Exactly!” Sokka exclaimed.

“Can’t you watch someone else?” Zuko yelled at us.

“Katara isn’t as fun to watch,” Sokka folded his arms.

“And Toph is sleeping,” I whined.

Zuko just scoffed and turned his attention back to Aang, watching him go through the motions.

After several more minutes of watching, I couldn’t help but let out a yawn. Sleepiness consumed me. I stretched my arms and back to get more comfortable. My head was bobbing up and down as I fought off sleep.

Sokka noticed my tiredness and put his arm around me. Pulling me into his shoulder to rest my head.

“I’ll wake you up when it gets good again,” he promised me before I could say anything. 

I nodded my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes. A few minutes later, before I completely fell asleep, Sokka’s shoulders moved up and down with laughter.

“(Y/n), wake up,” he lightly shook me. “They’re starting to firebend. You missed Aang’s first attempt. Hardly any fire came out.”

I opened my eyes and looked out to see Zuko go through the motions himself. Right as punched, a small burst of flame came from his fist. Quickly, the fire turned to smoke.

Zuko stood up right and looked at his hands, confusion written all over his face. Next to me Sokka was busting a gut laughing. His laugh was contagious, causing me to let out a small giggle.

Trying again, Zuko went through the motions. Only for it to end up with the same result. He punched a couple of times, and still hardly any fire appeared. Sokka only laughed more, making me laugh. Aang looked nervously between us and Zuko.

“What the heck!” Zuko screamed.

“Maybe we just need to take a break?” Aang offered.

“This isn’t right, my bending hasn’t been this weak since I was first learning,” Zuko said.

Wiping a tear from my eye, I asked, “What normally drives you to firebend? What’s different now than what it was before?”

Zuko paused in thought for a moment, thinking it over. “I was chasing after Aang,” he finally said.

“While yes, that’s true. But you want to know what I think is different?” I asked.

“What?”

“You’re not as angry any more.”

“You’re right,” Zuko mumbled. “I hated everyone. I was so angry at my father, at Aang, at myself. I was using my anger to power my firebending.”

“That’s what I think it was,” I smiled at him.

“That’s great and all, but I’m not exactly sure that I want angry Zuko back,” Sokka said.

“We just have to learn a way to firebend without using anger,” Aang offered.

“I don’t know how to do that,” Zuko said, sounding defeated.

“Remember the stories that my father used to tell us about the Sun Warriors?” I asked Zuko.

He nodded his head.

“Maybe you can go find some ruins? See if you can learn anything from them?” I offered to him.

“That’s a good idea.”

With that, Zuko and Aang took off on Appa in hopes to learn how to firebend. Leaving Sokka and I bored, yet again. Katara quickly got fed up with us groaning, she snapped and told us that we should be training ourselves.

“That’s a good idea!” I sat up from where I was lying on the ground.

“It is?” Sokka asked, not moving from his position.

“Yeah, we can spar with each other, and become even better warriors!” I said while fully standing up.

My words caught Sokka’s attention and he stood up too. “Yeah, we’ll be great!”

------------------------

Sokka and I spared for a while. We even went and got sticks to imitate weapons. But quickly the sticks were forgotten as we fought hand to hand.

“You’re pretty good,” I commented as Sokka jumped over my leg I kicked out to try and knock his legs out from under him.

“You’re pretty good yourself,” he huffed as I dodged one of his punches.

“Wanna make things interesting?” I asked backing away from him.

Sokka put his arms down, “Interesting how?”

“We can play a game of Ninja!” I cheered, clapping my hands together.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a game where we take turns trying to hit the other person. You can only move to attack and to dodge. If the attacker doesn’t move, you can’t move to dodge. If one of your limbs gets hit, you can’t use it anymore. When you have three limbs that you can’t move, that other person wins!”

“Oh man, that sounds like fun!”

“Let’s do it!” I took a few steps toward Sokka before stepping my right leg back and putting my hands up. 

Sokka copied my motions. The game began.

“You go first,” I told him.

With a loud, “Hi-yah!” Sokka tried karate chopping my arm, which I moved out of the way effortlessly. 

I couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled out of my chest. Mimicking his noises, I tried smacking his arm that was still out. He was able to dodge my movements too.

We continued making the noises with every move we made. For several minutes this went back and forth. Neither one of us was able to make contact with the other person’s body. 

“What are you doing?” Katara asked, walking up to us. Her hands were on her hips.

Dropping my defenses, I turned around and smiled at her, “We’re playing Ninja!”

As Katara opened her mouth to replay, I felt my left arm get smacked. Sokka sounded from behind me, “Ha!”

“No fair! You cheated!” I whined, turning around to face him.

“I did not cheat,” he folded his arms. “It was my turn to attack.”

“But I was talking with Katara!”

“Not my fault you weren’t paying attention.”

“Oh, that’s it!” I cried before wrapping my arms around Sokka and tackling him to the ground.

“Hey, who’s the one cheating now?” he grunted, as we rolled on the floor, trying to be the one on top.

“Still you,” I grunted back.

Seeing this, Katara covered her face with one of her hands before walking away. Looking completely disappointed.

“Will you two get a room already!” Toph called out from across the temple. 

Hearing this I froze as my cheeks heated up. Because of my moment of hesitation, Sokka was able to get on top of me and effectively pinned me down.

“I win,” he smirked, looking down at me.

“Did you, um, did you hear Toph?”

“No… what did she say?”

“Nothing!” I lied, my voice an octave higher. 

“Not nothing, what did she say?”

It didn’t go unnoticed to me how his breath fanned across my face. We were in a very close and compromising position. I tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but nothing seemed to work.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he laughed.

The heat from my cheeks quickly spread to the tips of my ears. Trying to come up with a plan of how to get out of this, my mind came up blank until Sokka leaned down.

With his face inches away from mine, he whispered, “Now accept defeat.”

“Never,” I whisper back, slamming my lips against his.

He let out a noise of surprise and became off balanced. Using this to my advantage, I pushed him over, successfully pinning him down instead. Slowly, I pulled my lips away from his. Sokka’s eyes were shut before fluttering open a moment later.

“I won,” I smirked at him.

“I think we’re both winners here,” he replied, lifting his head off the ground to capture my lips with his again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist: @galcalirwin @dontdowhatisayandnobodygetshurt @aneclecticwriter

[kawaiichibiart]

Princess and the Pauper AU for ATLA. With Yueki, Zukka and Kataang.

Annaliese is Yue (who has brown hair and a crescent moon birthmark to represent her connection to the moon spirit)

Erika is Katara

Julian is Suki

King Dominick is Zuko

Preminger is Zhao

Madam Carpe is Hama

I'll figure out the other roles later, and I'm basing this off the Barbie movie because that's the version I know best.

But the idea goes as follow:

Yue and Katara look strikingly similar. Yue is a princess, while Katara has no royal status and works for Master Hama at her inn.

Yue is supposed to marry Prince Zuko, the Crown Heir of the Fire Nation. Unlike the movie, they have met, however, Zuko already has a partner in one of her personal guards, Sokka. And Yue is inlove with her other personal guard, Suki.

Suki takes Yue out to get her mind off the arranged marriage that was unwanted by both parties. It's there she sees Katara waterbending and creating beautiful ice sculptures. She's trying to both gain a bit more money and see if anyone would notice she was a capable bender who could be taught to fight.

Of course, Hama sees this and doesn't like it, she's been trying to teach Katara to bloodbend on a regular basis every full moon, but Katara has used it to ensure she didn't have to continue doing it. So, she just takes the money and thanks Katara for helping the inn, knowing she was trying to get it for herself so she could leave.

Yue and Katara realize that they look so much a like and have some fun together, leaving as best friends.

Later on, when Yue is kidnapped by Zhao, Suki goes to Katara so she can take over as Yue temporarily. And Katara has to learn so much about being royalty in less than a day. She does her best and Suki promises to help her.

So, the day comes that Zuko arrives and meets "Yue." He tells her how happy he is to see his bride to be. How he missed her. And Katara returns the sentiments. But she doesn't know he and Sokka are together, so when they're in the Oasis, alone, and she goes in for a kiss, he stops her and asks if she was okay, if she forgot he and Sokka were dating. She didn't, but Yue did, so she tells him that with their marriage, she was nervous about letting others see that she didn't want it. About how she didn't want them to think she wasn't doing her duty.

Katara and Zuko spend a lot of time together. And who shows up with Sokka a few days later? Aang.

Katara had never met the Avatar, but he was one of the nicest benders she had ever met. He let her have fun, told her her bending was incredible and how he would like to learn bending with her. He was still learning and improving his bending, so having someone he could call a friend with him would be better. After all, he did go to the Fire Nation to learn with Zuko, who was his friend apparently. And to the Earth Kingdom to learn from his friend King Bumi and to have sparring sessions with another friend of his, a blind girl named Toph Beifong.

So, then comes the day that Zuko is supposed to present Yue with her bethrotel necklace. But as he's about to put it on her, Zhao storms in and orders her arrest. To prove his claims, he has someone check her shoulders for the crescent moon birthmark. It wasn't there, and upon closer look, Sokka recognizes his younger sister and is shocked about everything. He wants to say something. Anything. But he can't. He's rooted where he stands as his sister is taken away to be locked in prison.

Meanwhile, back with Yue, she had escaped and was on her way back, only to be captured by Master Hama, who took her back to her inn, so she could continue working. Yue wasn't sure about it, until another person in the inn called her Katara. Yue had to then explain to this person who she actually was. And thus, her second imprisonment.

Things seems to go better though, when someone comes for her, having received a message from someone that the princess was at the inn. However, he quickly leads her into a different prison, one where Suki is at, trapping them both in. They escape and had confessed their feelings while doing so. And they head back to the Yue's home, hopefully to stop the wedding and to clear the airs and give Katara her freedom (which they didn't know was an added detail to their list of things to do).

I'm very tempted to have Hahn as a second Preminger. Like, the Chief of the NWT has chosen him as the next in line, and since Yue isn't there and the wedding has to take off (the whole point, which I haven't mentioned, was for the watertribes and fire nation to have a union between two heirs as a way to show they were coming to peace after the Hundred Year War), Zuko has to marry Hahn instead, which was worse, because at least Yue was his friend and that would make the marriage somewhat bearable. But Hahn? Hahn was a bitch in his eyes. And as Zuko is about to say no, he would wait for Yue, Zhao opens his mouth and says the sooner the two were married, the better.

Sokka and Aang sneak into the prison cells and run into Katara, who managed to use her own sweat to break out. Sokka wants to yell at her. For risking her own life, for not telling him. But that could wait. They had a wedding to stop.

And as they make their way there, they hear someone yell "STOP!" and everyone turns to see Princess Yue and Suki. Zuko lights up upon seeing them. And Zhao tries to claim that Katara had escaped, only for Yue to reveal her birthmark, and telling her father that Zhao was the one behind everything. Zhao tries to escape but Sokka, Aang and Zuko manage to catch him. He isn't arrested though, as the ocean spirit ends up taking him.

Yue's father is happy to have her back, safe and sound, and Yue takes the time to tell him she doesn't want to marry Prince Zuko. She gestures towards him and Sokka, the two happy to be have a moment together, not knowing what Yue is doing. And she tells her father that if the watertribe and fire nation were to have a wedding that day, it might as well be for the couple.

The Chief is unsure about this, but Yue keeps on insisting, telling him how she had already fell inlove with Suki. The Chief relents and agrees, calling for everyone to take their seats. They had a wedding to continue. Hahn is taken away from the altar, and Zuko stays there, waiting for Yue to take her place. Sokka sticks by Katara, Aang and Suki. All of them waiting.

And Sokka is surprised, when Yue walks over to him and pulls him over to Zuko, shocking not only the couple but everyone in attendance. Princess Yue wasn't marrying Prince Zuko. Her guard, Sokka of the SWT was.

It's not the way the two thought they'd get married, and honestly, they wouldn't be surprised if they planned a second, more personal, wedding for just friends and family. But the two get married.

After the wedding, Katara walks onto a Fire Nation ship that was heading to the SWT, she wanted some time back home. Her family, aside from Sokka, was waiting there. Aang finds her and asks her to stay with him, to continue their waterbending lessons together. But she misses her home. And Aang understands. And he gives her a necklace. So she can remember him.

And she keeps it on her at all times.

The next time she's at the NWT is for Yue's and Suki's wedding. A lot had changed since her last visit. She sees her brother and his husband and waves to them, they're still happy. She sees Toph, who she had met when she visited Sokka at the Fire Nation, and smiles despite knowing the earthbender can't see it. And then she sees Aang, who waves to her and she waves back. She sits next to him, and his smile gets bigger when he notices she's wearing the necklace he made her rather than her mother's, which was still on her person. She rarely changed the necklace, and she wasn't sure why she chose today of all days to do so, but maybe it was okay.

Eventually, she and Aang get together. The two would practice bending together and would travel to different nations in order to help them. They get married a lot later, but Katara is happy to help Sokka and Zuko with their second wedding, which was simpler than the extravagant one that was their first wedding.

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I'm still going to refine this a bit. I want to work on the characters some more. Like, I want to expand on Hama's role, I'm still not sure about Hahn, like, do I make him a second Preminger, wanting to become Chief to gain power even if it means he has to marry Zuko, or do I make him and Zhao partners in crime. Zhao would get rid of Zuko and Hahn would gain power. I want to include Toph some more. Like, there's a lot I wanna do with this. Will I write it? No. Will I draw it? Very tempted to, so maybe some illustrations???