#the final agni kai energy is written all over it

[juniperhillpatient]

Sozin's Comet Part 4: Avatar Aang Re-Watch

Wow, I'm so sad that this rewatch is over. This show means so much to me, & I've had such a great time revisiting it. Alright - let's get into the final episode. The battles are underway & everything is as high stakes as possible. I'm just going to say that I know pretty much all of us have a lot of valid criticisms of the way that this show was wrapped up, but I still love it overall & I still think the final episode is just a fantastic conclusion with beautiful fight scenes & a lot to love.

The air battleship showdown is freaking intense. The scene where Sokka is hanging onto Toph's hand & he says "I don't think boomerang is coming back. This is the end," is just insanely scary & emotional - these kids really did think that they were about to die. Suki gets +2000 iconic behavior points for rescuing them. I loved "did boomerang come back?" "no! Suki did!"

[id: Suki smiling as she stands on an airship. end id]

I love that this finale really did give everyone their badass moments. Toph gets +1000 iconic behavior points for using metal bending to steer the ship, & Sokka gets +1000 for giving up his space sword to save Toph.

Aang Vs. Ozai, well, that's just a fantastic battle. The animation, the music, the voice acting, the fight itself it's all just so good. I mean, I have to give Aang a lot of iconic behavior points for saving the world & doing it on his terms. +3000.

[id: a scene from Ozai & Aang's final battle. Aang's tattoos are glowing, & he is yanking Ozai's goatee. end id]

I already said in my last recap post that I think that Aang finding a way to defeat Ozai while staying true to his cultural identity & maintaining air nomad values is the most satisfying conclusion the show could possibly come to. However, I would like to add that this is a pretty grim fate - possibly worse than death. In this show, bending isn't just a thing you can do, it's part of who you are. Aang taking Ozai's bending was not done lightly, nor should it have been. I just think that this was a very narratively satisfying way to conclude this epic final battle & while I totally get critiques of it, I don't think there's anything I would change. Maybe the lion turtles could've been brought up sooner? But I also liked the way energy bending was explained & it made sense to me, so that's like, actually me digging for something to critique. I loved this final battle.

The final Agni Kai...And its aftermath. Azula has completely lost it after almost killing her brother. She tries to stop Katara from helping Zuko, & goes after Katara herself instead. This battle is just absolutely haunting & beautiful. It's tragic, it's intense, it's beautifully animated, the music & voice acting is amazing, & it's just a well-written battle. I wish the show had leaned more into the fact that Azula & Katara are foils - younger sister prodigies who overshadow their insecure older brothers, with distant father figures & missing mothers.

[id: Katara putting chains on Azula's wrists. end id]

It's been said before (I can't remember by who) that Azula "loses to a better version of herself" & I think that's a harsh way to put it because it's not like Azula had a chance to be anything different than what she is (that's what's so tragic about her) but it's narratively true that the only one who could ever beat Azula is her foil who was given the chance to be strong in ways she could not. I remember holding my breath the first time I watched this showdown. It's just so beautiful & sad.

***Edit to say that I'm coming back because I totally forgot to give out points. Katara & Azula each get +2000 iconic behavior points for one of the most intense battles on any show ever.

I go back & forth constantly on how I feel about Zuko as Firelord at the show's conclusion but ultimately...I enjoyed the scene where he & Aang promise to restore peace, balance & love to the world the first time that I watched & I enjoyed it this time. It's a good scene, even if I could hem & haw about whether I like this conclusion for Zuko or not all day.

[id: Zuko & Aang, in the Fire Nation Palace. end id]

I really loved the parallel of "we're friends." "yeah, we are friends" compared to "do you think we could have been friends if we knew each other back then?" *cue Zuko fire-bending.* The way that Aang & Zuko have developed & grown & the way that their relationship has evolved really is the heart of the series.

Now - the part that I flat-out hate. I think I know when to be charitable to the writers versus when to call them out, & the scene between Zuko & Ozai? I didn't like it the first time that I watched & now I hate it. I'm not a big comics or graphic novel person, it's just a taste thing. And I'm pretty much against post-series extra content, no matter the fandom, just like, in general. I just think stories should be allowed to end. SO, the first time that I watched the show with limited knowledge of the comics? I was vaguely annoyed that we got this obvious advertisement for them instead of something else more meaningful in the final episode. But, I didn't know what the comics were like so I was kinda "whatever" about it. Now that I know how fucking stupid the comics are? Bruhhhh. Fuck this stupid scene.

We could've easily had a scene with Azula instead. And yes, Azula is my favorite character, but I also feel like I'm pretty reasonable about her arc & not like, totally blinded by loving her or anything. I'm not actually opposed to Azula having a somewhat tragic/ambiguous end. I don't think she & Zuko should've hugged it out after the Agni Kai or that she should've immediately been shown as besties with the Gaang or anything. I just think we should've gotten a scene where Zuko - maybe with Katara by his side - visits Azula, & it's shown that he does want to see her heal. THIS post from @theowritesfiction already discusses how this should have happened as well as a number of other valid critiques of the finale, but I wanted to bring this up too in my own post too.

A N Y W A Y. Yeah, that's really my biggest critique, & it's all about that one scene. I actually love the finale for the most part. I totally understand the critique I've seen pretty often from a lot of you that Mai & Ty Lee were shown as good guys way too fast but like...Guys, I WISH there was a Book 4. I do. There's so much that could've & should've been expanded on. But there isn't. So....yeah, I'm glad we saw Zuko & Mai happy together. Ty Lee becoming a Kyoshi Warrior was definitely out of nowhere but I still prefer seeing Ty Lee happy with new friends to just not appearing & viewers being left to wonder if she's rotting in prison. I pretty much think the writers did the best they could with the time they had there.

The final scene at the Jasmine Dragon, well, as someone who's made no secret out of my distaste for the Katara/Aang romance, you'd think I'd hate it. But I actually don't hate it at all (the scene itself that is, not the kiss, the kiss is stupid & out of nowhere.)

I like that we get to see a final scene of the Gaang all hanging out though. I thought it was a cute & funny lighthearted way to end the show. I loved the group just hanging out & the implication that visits like this will be often & they will all be friends for life. At heart, I'm a sap.

Anyway, I'm sad to say goodbye to this rewatch. It's been so much fun revisiting this show.

[tiny-katara]

When You're Gone by Shawn Mendes is Also a Zutara Song

in denial? don't worry i'll help you see the truth.

"You never know how good you have it, oh-oh/Until you're staring at a picture of the only girl that matters, ah"

this is 100% katara staring zuko when he jumps in front of lightning for her. she's staring at him and is like "oh my god i can't lose him" and realizing she has feelings 👀

But it's alsO zuko when he sees azula shift her aim to katara and that's suddenly the only thing that matters and he completely disregards his own safety for hers.

"I know what we're supposed to do/It's hard for me to let go of you/So I'm just tryna hold on"

zuko moment where he knows he's supposed to be firelord but he just can't let anything happen to katara so he jumps anyway.

"Hold on/I don't wanna know what it's like when you're gone/I don't wanna move on/I don't wanna know what it's like when you're gone for good"

both of them are just frantically doing their best. zuko is (stupidly lol) trying to get up and help katara and she's trying desperately to get back to him. they don't want to lose each other--they refuse to.

"You're slipping through my fingertips/A little bit by a little bit"

you can't tell me this isn't katara trying desperately to get to zuko and heal him. it can also fit them reaching out during the fight, unable to get to the other but wanting and trying all the same.

"I didn't know that loving you was the happiest I've ever been/So I'm just tryna hold on"

it's that realization that they are definitely more than friends and they've never felt so understood, like genuinely understood. zuko and katara get each other better than they thought anyone ever could and they're just trying to get back to each other so it's not lost.

"I need to learn how to cope without you/I'm tryna protect myself but only you know how to, yeah"

d-do i really need to make a comment here? zuko is literally one of the only people who can redirect lightning lol. katara can do it herself, she can cope, but it's so much harder without him. she's almost forgotten what she did before she had someone who got her, someone who knew how to help her and did.

"Starting to feel like you don't need me/Wanna believe it's all for the better"

zuko hoping desperately that katara doesn't need him to win this fight, lying to himself so that he doesn't completely breakdown. he's convincing himself that she will be okay without him if this lightning is the last thing he does. he wants to think that this is better than the alternative. she'll be happy and alive and that's all he could ask for while azula chases her down.

"It's getting real, I'm missing you deeply/So I'm just tryna hold on"

katara is panicking. she's worried zuko's already too far gone. she can't picture her life with him gone forever, not even just not with her. katara knows she has to beat azula to have a dream of saving zuko, and she's holding onto the hope that she can make it in time for dear life.

so anyways... i have fallen back into my shawn mendes phase and he ships them, i swear it. the grammar and writing here is the product of losing a decent amount of sleep so my apologies if it doesn't make sense :)

[daisylovesatla]

very rough draft of the start of a zutara fan fic

AU where Aang and Katara don't end up together cuz it doesn't make sense that it would be written that way but anyway, I wrote some pages about what would happen if Zuko's lightning bolt actually hurt him a lot more than it did...my ADHD brain can't remember where I saw that AU from but when I do I will tag u I promise...anyway it's Katara by herself at the palace healing Zuko and then the rest of the Gaang arrives from the Earth Kingdom, where Aang and Suki and Toph and Sokka were all fighting against the fire nation's ambush, cuz it would take more than like. a week probably to get to the same place as Zuko and Katara. Anyway I hope it makes sense I'm tentatively posting the first chapter in case everyone hates it but it's only 3,000 words I think.

(eta the ao3 link)

Book 4: Reconstruction...:)

Book 4: Reconstruction

I need some fresh air. She sighs to herself, rubbing her sore wrists and rising up from the cushion she was kneeling on. Keeping her eyes closed, afraid of the emotions that would flood through her if she snuck a glance at him while she wasn’t intensely focused on his injury, pouring all of her energy into that one spot, both emotional and physical.

It has been two weeks since the comet, and she has been doing all that she can to support him, to try to do something that could in some small way, return the favor for his sacrifice. As soon as her back is to Zuko’s bed, she opens her eyes, and is confronted suddenly with the bigness of this place. The tall, melodramatic metal doors that weigh way more than they need to, the beds with far away canopies rustling above them. Just the mattresses here are the size of her entire igloo back home, and even though it isn’t the first time she has been surrounded by superfluous opulence like this, something about this place feels particularly daunting.

She can sense his pulse, slow, but steady, consistent, as his blood flows through his veins and with it, water. Even when it isn’t a full moon, Katara is able to feel the water in everything, including the people she is surrounded by. She has yet to decide if it is an advantage, or only makes it harder to navigate through the world.

Her legs feel like lead, and she struggles to ignore the dryness of the room, the fires lit in their mantles 10 feet above them sucking all of the moisture out of this space, the lack of water, of that familiarity, making her feel like she is choking, as her breaths become more and more shallow and her heart continues to beat faster and faster, only worsening whenever the memories of that fateful, final Agni Kai come rushing back to her, making everything feel so much worse.

No, I can’t think about that right now. Katara closes her eyes again, and takes a deep breath, trying to replicate the breathing technique Aang taught her the first time he saw her meditating. In through my nose, out through my mouth, that’s what Aang taught me. She tries not to think much more about Aang than this. Too much has happened. Aang is expecting an answer, she is sure of it, an answer she can’t give him. Yet there is a hope swimming just below the surface in her, that this now or never attitude leading up to his battle with Ozai would no longer be there in him, that fire gone, the flames put out.

I have no answer right now, she decides, as she finally gets her legs to take the final steps towards the door. Yearning for a sense of coolness against her increasingly warm skin, she presses her hand against the door, and lets it ground her as she pushes it open, nearly jumping as it creaks and struggles to with each inch that she can shove it open. What is it with rich people and big doors? She chuckles to herself as she remembers storming Ba Sing Se, when things were so simple and yet not simple at all.

Running her fingers through her thick, curly hair trailing down her back, she sucks in all the air that she can in this hallway with much better circulation, finding it easier to keep her balance and move forward. The war may be over, but she is anticipating many battles are going to be fought in the coming weeks and months, battles over territory, freedom, the right to the throne. She has to heal Zuko so that he can advocate for himself, she determines, as she envisions Ozai’s loyal courtiers’ unfounded complaints with Zuko taking the role of the fire lord. She worries for him and she worries for herself. A water tribe peasant, Azula called her during the Agni Kai. Despite her strong demeanor, her ability to inspire other people to recognize their own worth, it is still difficult for Katara not to internalize this when she knows she is surrounded by enemies, no matter how much Iroh tries to reassure her and the rest of them that this is not the case. She has spent far too much time being attacked and assaulted by members of the Fire Nation to naively assume that with a change in power, a change in attitude amongst the people will quickly follow.

Many citizens are still loyal to Ozai. They still see her and Sokka and the rest of the Water Tribe as peasants, as savages with too much power. They are still afraid of waterbenders altogether, as gossip and rumors spread around the nation about Hama in the weeks following her imprisonment. She feels a pang of guilt for how it turned out with her. A Southern Waterbender, alive after all these years that she feared she was the last one, the only one, the one expected to carry on this legacy all by herself. Finally, somebody who understood her struggles, intrinsically, who had fought for so many years to be free, suddenly imprisoned again by people from the same nation that had stolen her away from her home, because she could not let go of her anger against them, like Jet.

She does not want to think about the revenge Hama tried to take on that people. How misdirected it was. How she never wants to be as full of rage and anger and resentment that she would start to do something as heinous.

It doesn’t change that that is how many people from the Fire Nation see her people. She can’t blame Hama for that, it would be wrong to expect any one person to be a representative for their tribe, their culture. “This is all so complicated,” Katara mutters under her breath, as she struggles to breathe, to let herself be free of these thoughts. Her anger, always there, ready to burst out from inside her in the form of an uncontrollable explosion.

Katara barely notices how far she has walked from Zuko’s room, until suddenly she hears a familiar voice call out to her. Startled, she looks up from the floor where she was mindlessly staring as she strolled and sees Sokka and Suki waving over to her from the other side of the hallway.

“Sokka! Suki!” She cries out, as she runs over to them, as fast as she can. “You’re here! You made it!” As she gets closer, she notices the crutch Sokka is leaning on, and her stomach feels like it is full of sand. “Are you okay? I can try my best to heal it, but I’m pretty worn out right now…” She glances at his bandages on his leg and starts to think up the best method for healing him after so much time has passed since his injury. “I’m sorry, I wish I had gotten to it sooner…” Katara begins, but she is interrupted by Sokka,

“Hey, it’s okay! For most of my life you haven’t been able to heal me when I get hurt, so it’s not like I’m not used to being in pain,” he teases, and then lets go of Suki who he was leaning on, as he goes to embrace Katara.

She can feel hot, somehow still dry, tears flow down her cheeks as she relaxes into this hug. While news had spread quickly from the Earth Kingdom to the Fire Nation about Toph, Sokka, Suki, and Aang’s victory in Ba Sing Se, her stomach had been twisted with worry the entire time they had been apart. A lot of it could have been hearsay, and until she got to hug her friends and brother in person, she could not let go of her unease. Hell, the talk of Caldera City was Zuko’s honorable triumph, but nobody who knew the truth of the aftermath of this battle had let it slip to the public that Zuko was in critical condition right now. Only Iroh, Katara, and some of the servants who were helping take care of meals and other menial tasks knew. It would throw this world into even more chaos if every day citizens knew there was a chance that Zuko wouldn’t…no. I don’t want to think about that future. I simply can’t. The guilt overwhelms Katara, but she pushes these negative feelings away and struggles to focus on the present. Sokka’s voice brings her back to the present, as she can feel his quickening heartbeat against her chest, and his tears dripping onto her robe. “We were so worried about you and Zuko, Katara. I’m glad you’re okay.”

She stammers, as she realizes it’s time to break the news to a few more people, wishing Sokka hadn’t let go of her as quickly as he did. She desperately missed her brother, and they hadn’t ever been apart for this long before, in all their side journeys in the past year, and hunting trips prior to that.

“Yes, I’m ok,” she lets the words spill out of her before she has a chance to choke on them, “But, well. Zuko...Zuko got really hurt.” Immediately, she can see the blood drain from both of their faces, and she grabs their hands, trying to comfort them despite not having the ability to comfort herself. “I’m healing him, but it’s still going to take a while. We have to just wait for him to recover.” She smiles, weakly, and fears it looks more like a grimace. “I’m glad you guys are back, though. It’s just been me and Iroh watching over him since the fight.”

Suki squeezes her hand, and the sadness and sympathy mix together in the look she gives Katara. “I’m really glad you’re okay. We’re here for you guys,” her smile sweet and boring into the deepest parts of Katara as she finishes speaking. Katara is taken aback, as her skin crawls with the thought that Suki understands, already, what happened at that Agni Kai, even if she doesn’t know the full details.

Sokka furrows his brows, and she can feel his warmth and fear as he nods in agreement with Suki. “Toph and Aang are in the courtyard with the Turtleduck pond, can we go see him with them?”

Of course, a practical response from Sokka. She knows better though. He is close with Zuko in different ways than Katara, but this was crushing for him too. She tries her best to smile reassuringly, as she fights back tears that are full of frustration and fear and anger and a deep, hollow grief that she hasn’t felt since Aang was struck by Azula, what feels like years ago but was only 4 months ago. In these four months, so much has changed, including feeling ready to face Aang. That kiss, just up and leaving, wasn’t ok and Katara wasn’t going to accept any excuses about it, just apologies.

He left everyone to go off on their separate missions, never really knowing whether or not those separation missions would be worth the danger they were putting themselves in, and that blind faith she was able to put in him when they first met was starting to get really old.

“So?” Suki chimes, pulling Katara out of her own thoughts.

“Oh, sorry,” she blushes, “I spaced out for a second. Um…” she tries to come up with an excuse for her sudden zoning out. “I’m worried about leaving Zuko by himself for a long time, and it’s been about twenty minutes so, I better get back, but stop by with everyone, sure.”

Suki gives her a quick squeeze of the arm, as they both walk off a few minutes after listening to Katara’s directions. Her chest feels tight, and she turns in the opposite direction as them, going back to Zuko.

They still don’t know how he got hurt. She doesn’t want to tell them, after so many instances of Toph teasing her about Jet and Haru, and well, she doesn’t want to hear it. Especially when Toph can feel her heartbeat. That damn seismic sense, she chuckles to herself, trying to let herself joke around a little bit.

Suddenly she is back in front of the door. She tries to shake off her anxieties and pulls the door open, the cold handle no longer soothing her but sending chills down her spine. This time, she keeps her eyes open as she walks back in, and all of the feelings she had been able to push down while talking to Sokka and Suki started to bubble up to the surface again, her cheeks feeling hot and dry, too dry. She wished she could bend a cloud of mist around herself, but knew that all of her energy had to be devoted to healing Zuko.

His familiar heartbeat suddenly found itself back on her radar, and she tried to hold back her tears and desire to just collapse and give up. But it was her duty to heal him. Her duty to heal him, the Fire Lord, just like it was hers to heal the Avatar. There was no way that any Northern healer would be willing to come down to heal the Fire Lord, nor would they be able to get there in time. So even if there were people more skilled, more capable, she knew that in order to maintain balance, it was her job to keep his heart beating.

[plague-of-insomnia]

WIP LIST GAME

rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

(Started a new post bc last one was long)

My energy levels have been abysmal due to my chronic illness getting worse (damn insurance), so I’m not able to write hardly at all, sadly. But these are my current and future projects:

I am so bad with titles so I almost never figure that out until the last minute so you’ll have to make do with working titles for most of these 😅.

Fan fic

Where Demons Hide (Sebaciel, et al, modern mafia au) - multichapter, currently at 10/?? chapters {priority #1} Read here.

The Promise AU (Sebard, modern AU) - multipart series of related oneshots; currently 3 published and 1-3 more are in the works Read here.

Deadly Nightshade (Sebaciel, slow burn coming of age mystery, set a few years after canon) - multichapter, currently at 5/?? chapters Read here.

Modern AU Eruri WIP (Not Kuro: AoT, Eruri, CEO Erwin and Personal Assistant Levi; Levi must convince Erwin to finally live for himself and not his guilt and others’ expectations) - not yet published; planning stage, probably ~5 chapters

Mute Sebastian WIP (Sebagni, slow burn modern au with a mute sebastian and an ASL interpreter Agni) - not yet published, planned, 1 ch partly written; probably ~5-10 chapters

Canon Sebard WIP (Sebard, enemies to lovers, showing the development of their relationship from their meeting to the present of the manga) - not yet published (except some ficlets); planning stage

Dadbastian Crack (Sebaciel, enemies to lovers; Sebastian is a successful—if eccentric— YouTuber who dresses his cats in elaborate Victorian costumes and serves them as their butler. Ciel has business with him, even if he’s convinced Sebastian’s nuts) - not yet published; partly written; probably a oneshot

Artist Sebastian (Sebardagni, Sebagni, Bardagni, enemies to lovers; mafia au/bodyguard au; epileptic Sebastian) - Sebastian is a reclusive artist famous for his disturbing oil paintings, but FBI agent Bard is suspicious he’s involved with his brother Claude’s drug business and goes undercover to find out, joining his security team. But Seb doesn’t trust easily, only allowing Agni—his personal bodyguard—close, not making the job easy... It doesn’t help that Claude is still obsessed with his little brother and wants him for himself... - not yet published; in planning stages

Maneater (Sebard(Agni), enemies to... well, still enemies, but they fuck; demon incubus Sebastian and corrupt cop Bard) - ch 2 written but needs revision {taken over from @chromehoplite } Read here.

Undertaker’s Tales of Terror - intended to be a series of spooky tales, but I’ve only been able to write one so far (“The Cabin”). I have ideas for plenty more, but don’t know when I’ll be able to write them

Sequels to existing oneshots: like “Haunted & Horny” (Sebardciel) and “Voyeur,” (Sebard) I plan to write a second fic for each of these eventually.

I also have a lot of other ideas that are in the deep freezer, like a few crossovers (Pet Shop of Horrors, Kamisama Kiss) and Bard as a 40s defective that I hope to someday bring to life, but they may sadly never happen...

OW - only listing my most active priorities atm

In/Exhale: S4 - Continues where S3 left off. Kai is forced to deal with the possibility of life without his brother, and managing his mental illness crisis amidst it all. Does he choose himself or his brother/family? {delayed} Read (S1) here.

Love UnSeen - M/M romance with blind history professor MC and photographer/HS art teacher love interest set in New Orleans amidst a mystery involving the MC’s father and his family Mardi Gras Krewe {~50% written, first draft; on hold for now}

Thank you @wicked-game-black-butler and @princeofdarkness00 for the tag. I tag:

...it’s been so long, anyone can do this! Maybe @cielpansyhive and @aralezinspace and anyone else interested!

Also, feel free to send me asks about any of these any time...! I know I can be slow to respond as my energy levels are so low, but I will when I’m able :). I love seeing people excited about my writing...!

[freshtomatoesddd]

My Self-indulgent TyZula Fanfic.

Hello, i know i’ve been off this account for what seems like a million years. But firstly, if like you to know that this is no longer an art blog. Now, i will merely post my self indulgent TyZula fics. But what is TyZula? Well, it’s a ship that consists of Azula and Ty Lee, both from Avatar: The Lat Airbender. If that’s not your thing, then don’t read it.

The fics takes place after book 2. Anyway, here’s chapter 1.

TURTLEDUCKS

  Turtleducks, the perfect amalgamation of everything Azula hated within an animal.

They are small, defenseless creatures, completely reliant on their environment to survive. When they are hungry, they beg for food. And when they are scared, they simply swim away, afraid to even face whatever it was that frightened them so. What pathetic creatures.

And to think that Zuko takes a liking to them. But then again, that’s not very surprising. Much like the ducks, he too is defenseless, he too begs for food and shelter, and he too runs away from his problems. When father challenged him to an honorable Agni Kai, he cowered before him, begged for his forgiveness. What a fool her brother was, and still is.

Though, it’s quite ironic for her to be calling him a fool, when she’s the one feeding these sad creatures. If it weren’t for Ty Lee, she’d have attended to the many other things her father assigned her.

However, Azula had agreed to accompany Ty Lee in the feeding of these ducks, no matter how insignificant they may be. And much like Zuko, it seemed Ty Lee’s taking a liking to them. Something to do with how ‘cute’ they are. Though, Azula was sure that ‘cute’ meant defenseless.

     “Isn’t this fun, Azula?” Ty Lee asked.

Azula didn’t bother to face her. She wanted it to be over with, for Ty Lee to just dump the bread into the pond and take her somewhere more enjoyable, have them do more stimulating activities. Right now, that’s all Azula could think about.

     “No, not really,” Azula answered.

Ty Lee spoke as she cocked up a brow, “Why not?”

Her question was so simple, yet Azula couldn’t answer.

She wanted to tell Ty Lee, of all the reasons she absolutely loathed being in this very spot. From the sheer boredom of sitting around and doing nothing, to how it would remind her of her mother sitting here all-day round with Zuko, showering him with the love she never got.

All of it she wanted to spit out and get it over with, but they had no time. And Azula couldn’t bear to weep over her sob story right now, it would be a waste of energy.

     “I just don’t like it. This is such a waste of time; we could be doing something better.” She said with a scowl, eyes glared at the ducks as if they were plotting her murder.

Ty Lee tilted her head; intrigue ran through the girl’s face.

     “Oh? Like what?” Again, she asked her such a simple question, yet Azula couldn’t seem to answer it.

There were a million and one things Azula figured Ty Lee and her could do. They could go for a walk, visit town square and perhaps even get their portraits taken. They could be eating, talking, hugging. Quite literally anything else other than to sit around and feed these parasitic, ‘cute’ looking ducks.

This was terrible, absolutely abhorrent. What benefit do they gain from doing such things?

     “Azula, I can’t know what you’re thinking unless you tell me.”

     “I want to do something else,” the princess answered in a whisper.

     “What? I can’t hear you.”

Azula gritted her teeth. “I want to do something else.”

Finally, she was able to fully push out those words.

“Well, what do you want to do then?”

Again, what was she supposed to say? The princess already knew what she wanted, but how is she supposed to convey such thoughts?

Agni, now she was thinking like an idiot. Words! she needed to use her words. What kind of foolish question was that? If she wanted something, she should say it out right.

A sight left the girl's lips; Azula couldn’t help but notice how easy her life would be if people just knew what she wanted. Then, she wouldn’t have to waste her breath, or any of her precious time chastising an incompetent soldier, or telling Ty Lee how she wanted to hug her.

She took in a breath, as Azula never thought she’d utter such words in her life. With a heat arising from her neck, her face followed suit. The royal felt the seeds of regret brew inside of her.

     “I want to…hug.”

A few moments of silence passed by, nothing said between the two of them.

Oh Agni, Ty lee must think she’s crazy, absolutely pathetic. What kind of a fool would ask for a hug? How sad is that? She was stupid to even bring that up.

     “Wow, I didn’t expect you to actually say it,” Ty Lee giggled, “This is the first time you’ve asked for a hug.”

Azula averted her eyes from the acrobat’s grey stare.

Again, her face felt heated as her fingers tapped furiously on the grass. She couldn't bring herself to look at Ty Lee, she simply couldn't. Not in this state.

     “No, Azula, it’s fine. I’ll hug you, okay?”

     “Okay,” Azula spoke. Yet, her voice was neared a whisper, almost inaudible.

Ty Lee inched closer, and as if to fluster the princess even further, the girl couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of a blushing Azula.

With the two of them mere inches apart. Ty Lee wrapped her arms around the princess as she rested her head on the princess' shoulder. The Azula reciprocated the hug, though her hands were hesitant, as they merely hovered above the brunette’s back.

     “Relax, Zula. That’s kind of the whole point of a hug.” The brunette stated.

     “Okay,” was all the princess said, finally able to lay her hands atop Ty Lee’s back.

The brunette hummed at the sensation of Azula’s hands against her skin. A little detail that made Azula’s lips quiver; her arms had to readjust so as to prevent the evident fidgeting.

The princess pulled Ty Lee closer, savored every bit of the other’s presence.

Her head felt empty when Ty Lee was around. No matter how much trouble she found herself in, if she was there, Azula can take it. Because how was she supposed to worry, when she’s not thinking of anything?

The warmth in her face had now settled down, and turned into a fleeting sense of giddiness she couldn’t put her hand on. What was this feeling called? If only she knew.

Now, i’d like you to know that i’ve written 6 chapters, currently. And if you’re interested, feel free to read the rest here :p

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27665366/chapters/67698398