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melzula · 5 years ago

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Life Changing Field Trip

*part of the Fire Lililes series

pairing: Zuko x Princess!reader

warnings: heavy angst, lots of tears, fluff, 3.6k words in length so it’s a doozy

notes: it’s finally here! I’ve had so much fun writing this piece and I hope you enjoy

summary: “You cannot bend something that is broken, but you can heal something that is hurt.”

“You can’t just show up like that, give me a location, and then not tell me why or where I’m going,” you grumble to the moon as you load your bags onto Appa’s saddle. You’re not sure how long you’ll be gone or how far you’ll be traveling, but’s it better to be prepared.

Your bending had dwindled ever since Zuko’s arrival, and no amount of training or meditation ever seemed to help you get back on track. Zuko was a part of your team now, and you hadn’t forgiven him yet, not by a long shot, but you had been good about keeping your rage and your fury locked away inside of you. Scaring Zuko off and creating unnecessary tension wouldn’t help Aang with his fire bending, and so you kept to yourself and avoided the boy at all costs. When he entered a room you exited, if he tried to start a conversation you gifted him your silence as a response, and when he tried to apologize or chase after you you’d freeze his feet to the floor. It was simple and effective and, unlike your water bending, it worked.

But Zuko wasn’t the only obstacle in your life, and you knew you had to figure out your bending issue soon before the comet arrived. Your struggle must have been great enough to draw attention from the spiritual realm, because sure enough that night you were visited by the Moon Spirit in your sleep.

Even in your dream-like state your first instinct upon seeing her was to fetch Sokka, but she made it clear that she didn’t have much time. She gave you a location and stressed the urgency of your arrival to the coordinates. She gave no real explanation and no real direction, just some weird proverb like piece of advice that you were too tired and too dense to understand.

“You cannot bend something that is broken, but you can heal something that is hurt.”

You weren’t sure what exactly Princess Yue meant by that or how it would help you, and for a fleeting moment you wished Iroh were there to help you understand; all you really knew was that there was no time to waste. Whatever this location was and whatever importance it held, you were going, and nothing was going to stop you.

“What are you doing?”

Okay, maybe someone was going to stop you.

“It’s none of your business,” you retort harshly, glaring at Zuko who stands before you with bead head and drowsiness present upon his features. “Go back to sleep.”

“Y/n, come on,” Zuko begs earnestly. “You really expect me to just go back to bed when you’re about to sneak off with Appa in the middle of the night?”

“Yes, I do. Now go,” you scowl whilst settling yourself in the saddle and taking hold of the reigns. Your gaze is fixed straight ahead, but you make no move to go. It’s almost as if something is holding you back from leaving Zuko behind, anchoring you to him in a way that makes you nervous.

“Let me come with you.”

“I have to do this by myself. You wouldn’t understand, you never have,” you argue.

“Then let me try to,” Zuko pleads. “Princess, you’re the only one who hasn’t forgiven me yet. Neither of us can be happy until we at least try to fix it.”

A tense silence washes over the two of you as you mull over Zuko’s words. Princess Yue’s voice echoes in the back of your mind: You cannot bend something that is broken. Your resistance to mend your broken bond only seemed to make things worse for the both of you. You couldn’t sleep, you couldn’t eat, you couldn’t bend, you couldn’t feel at peace with yourself knowing that each day you pushed him away only led to more heartache. Your stubbornness and your pride kept you from accepting his apologies, but your heart cried out to you every time you found yourself missing him, and that was often.

It seemed your decision was made up for you before you were even able to decide it yourself.

“Fine. But I’m in charge, and just because I’m letting you come doesn’t mean we’re friends now,” you answer sternly, your tough exterior crumbling slightly at the sight of Zuko’s hopeful smile. Curse him and his stupid charm.

“Thank you,” he breathes in relief before climbing onto Appa’s back and settling down amongst the many bags of food you packed. A gentle utterance of the words yip yip and you’re off into the skies, truly alone with Zuko for the first time since Ba Sing Se before everything fell apart.

The stars twinkle brilliantly as they watch over your little group in the sky, the night breeze gently flowing through your loose locks and sending your sweet scent straight to Zuko’s senses. Despite being Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, you always smelled of fire lilies. You were sweet and warm and familiar, and being close enough to smell the scent of lilies reminded the prince of your nights together in Ba Sing Se. He had been a fool to throw it all away.

“So where are we going?” He asks finally to break the silence. Without turning to face him you toss your map over your shoulder for him to see. ”The Earth Kingdom? This spot isn’t even marked on a regular map. Why?”

“The Moon Spirit came to me in a dream and gave me those coordinates so that’s where I’m going.”

“The Moon Spirit? Wasn’t she a Princess?” Zuko asks, recalling the story Sokka had told him on their way to the Boiling Rock.

“Of the Northern Water Tribe,” you nod, and before you can stop yourself an admission tumbles past your lips. “You know, I almost left you during the Siege of the North.”

“What?”

“I was homesick and lonely, and you were always occupied with hunting the Avatar. When I saw what the Princess did to save her people I soon felt guilty too. Yue sacrificed her own life, her own happiness, to help her people, and what did I do? I ran away with the boy who was trying to destroy the world’s only hope for peace among Nations. But my love for you overcame my guilt, and so I stayed.”

“Wow...” Zuko murmurs in astonishment. “I didn’t know...”

“Yeah, well, there’s a lot of things you don’t know,” you grumble, immediately closing yourself off again. Zuko sighs sinking further into the saddle, and the scent of fire lilies consumes him.

After three tense hours of flying Appa begins to tire, and you’re left with no choice but to stop for the night and rest. There’s probably only four hours of darkness remaining until sunrise, so you’ll be able to get a decent amount of sleep before you have to resume your travels. You say nothing to Zuko as you roll out your sleeping bag and immediately tuck yourself in for the night. However, due to the cool and frigid air, you find that you’re much to cold to be comfortable, and so you toss and turn for a good ten minutes.

“Cold?” Zuko asks gently.

“No, I just like to shiver in my sleeping bag for fun,” you retort sarcastically, and Zuko rolls his eyes. A small huff of air falls past your lips and it takes you a minute to muster up the will to apologize. “Sorry,” you grumble. “I’m very cold and tired.”

“Would you like me to help?” He offers carefully. A beat passes before he hears the sound of you shuffling around and pulling back the covers of your sleeping bag.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” you point out firmly, and the Prince bites back a smile as he crawls in beside you. Already you can feel the warmth that radiates off of his body, and you can’t stop the little sigh of contentment that escapes you when Zuko wraps his arms around your trembling figure and brings you into his chest.

“Better?”

“Much,” you hum softly, face nuzzling into the crook of his neck as you try to soak up as much heat as you can.

You hate to admit it, but you really missed being in Zuko’s embrace. He was warm and safe, and it reminded you of the times before when you had still been together. During the first few weeks of your separation you had struggled to fall asleep, not used to being on your own and definitely not used to the absence of warmth that often slept beside you. Sometimes you’d wonder if Zuko also lied awake at night seeking your comfort, but your anger was quick to remind you that he was the one who had left you in the first place. It was Zuko who made you second priority to the Avatar, and it was Zuko who chose to turn against you in Ba Sing Se. Shivers tingle down your spine, and this time it isn’t the cold that has you trembling. He betrayed you once, and he could betray you again.

Zuko falls fast asleep with you in his embrace, but you find that you can’t sleep at all.

~~~

The snowfall is light outside as you anxiously sit through your healing class, constantly glancing towards the doorway in hopes of spotting a Fire Nation ship. The Fire Lord was due for another visit today, and that meant you’d get to spend the day with Prince Zuko.

“Princess, pay attention,” the healer chides, and you sheepishly turn your gaze back to the old woman before you.

“Water is a powerful tool for benders, used to hurt and to heal,” she explains. “Water benders fight to protect themselves and those around them. Soldiers with this gift learn how to use their power to defend our home. But these same soldiers cannot use the bending they would use in a fight to heal a wound.“

The little girls around her watch in awe as the water in her palms glows a gentle hue. She smiles, gracefully swirling the water through the air.

“A rough hand will only bring more pain and heartache. But a gentle hand? A gentle hand can mend even the deepest of wounds. As healers you must remember this: You cannot bend something that is broken, but you can heal something that is hurt.”

You wake slowly, eyes gradually adjusting to the sunlight that shines against your fatigued face. The ground underneath you has been replaced by the leather of Appa’s saddle, and you find yourself warmly wrapped in Zuko’s cloak. The boy in question is seated at the reigns, navigating his way through the clouds and towards the abandoned colony.

“Zuko?” You yawn, catching the prince’s attention. He smiles faintly at the sight of you sleepily wrapping his cloak tighter around your form.

“Good morning,” he says. “I didn’t want to wake you but I know how important it is that we get to the Earth Kingdom as soon as possible. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I... I guess I don’t,” you mumble as you rub the sleep from your eyes before digging into your bag for some breakfast.

“We should be there in about an hour.”

You only nod, looking down at the peach in your hand contemplatively. What awaits you at the abandoned colony? Will it help you regain your bending? Will you like what you find?

The journey goes by quickly when you’re lost in your thoughts, and before you even realize it Appa has landed on the ground and Zuko is helping you off the saddle.

“Good boy, Appa,” you murmur affectionately, gently combing your fingers through his fur as you feed him an entire bag of fruit. “You can stay here for now.”

Leaving the flying bison behind Zuko and yourself walk the rest of the way, finally stumbling upon the exact location the Moon Spirit had given you: a cave entrance.

“Spirits, not another cave,” you groan, and from beside you Zuko blushes in uncomfortable embarrassment. With a heavy sigh you grab Zuko’s wrist and give it a shake until he gets the message, a small flame igniting in the palm of his hand. Holding onto his arm as if he’s your personal torch, you begin your descent through the cave. This better be good.

Unlike your secret tunnel, there’s nothing seemingly special about this cave. It’s dark and dirty not romantic whatsoever, which you figure is good because this isn’t a romantic trip anyway. You’re here per Princess Yue’s instructions only and nothing else, and if Zuko doesn’t like it you have no problem freezing his feet to the floor for what will probably be the thousandth time.

“What do you think you’ll find?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m hoping that whatever it is, it‘ll help my bending,” you murmur thoughtfully.

“Maybe we’ll find another secret tunnel,” Zuko jokes with a quiet laugh that immediately fizzles out at your unamused glare. “Sorry.”

“I doubt that stupid tunnel is even there anymore,” you grumble.

“It is... I checked,” the boy murmurs thoughtfully, causing you to halt in your tracks.

“What?”

“When I returned home from Ba Sing Se I went to Elza’s end of the tunnel and found it still intact. I knew there was no way you’d be there, but I traveled to our meeting point and stayed there,” he confesses quietly, eyes soft and apologetic as they turn to face you. You shift uncomfortably under his gaze and look forward, continuing your pace through the tunnel. “I’m really sorry for how much I’ve hurt you, y/n.”

“Why did you do it?” You question. Your voice is weak and frail and your eyes glisten with tears, and Zuko doesn’t think his heart can hurt any more than it does now. “After everything we’d been through and everything we’d accomplished together, why would you betray me like that? I loved you Zuko.”

“I-“

“And then to betray Iroh? Your own flesh and blood?”

“I know it was wrong, and I wish I could take everything back. I never stopped thinking about you y/n. Even when I was with Mai, all I could see was your face in the cave looking at me with disappointment and-“

“Wait a minute, who’s Mai?” You retort, pulling away from the fire bender to look up at him with furrowed brows. Zuko’s face flushes and immediate regret fills him at having mentioned the girl.

“I umm.. After we broke up, I kind of started seeing someone else,” he admits sheepishly whilst nervously grasping at the back of his neck. The sight of your complete rage and fury makes him wish he was being swallowed whole by an unagi instead of having to face an angry Princess.

“I can’t believe you!” You cry in outrage. “I spent weeks crying over you and you just moved on to another girl like nothing!”

“She didn’t mean anything, I promise-“

“I don’t want to hear it, get away from me!” You demand, picking up your pace to try and get away from him as quickly as you can, but Zuko is hot on your heels.

“Princess, please!” You try to freeze his feet to the floor and let out a frustrated growl as your bending fails you yet again. “Just let me explain!”

“No! I’m going to talk and you’re going to listen!” You command, angrily jabbing a finger at his chest. “I left my people, my family, for you. When you pushed me aside on your hunt for the Avatar, I stayed even though I was unhappy. I stood by you despite all the mean and cruel things you did because I knew deep in my heart that you were still the same Prince I fell in love with. And when we got to Ba Sing Se I thought we could finally have the life we had planned together. Working in your uncle’s tea shop, taking walks through the upper ring at night, being able to enjoy myself without having to worry about what terrible thing you’d do next made me the happiest I’d ever been.”

“And then you threw it all away. For what? Honor? Approval from the man who abused you? Using my bending against you was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my entire life, yet you seemed to have no problem with fighting me the minute Azula asked you to. I knew then that you weren’t Zuko, not the Zuko I fell in love with.”

Tears steadily stream down both of your faces, your throat is raw and sore from yelling but you don’t care. You’re angry, you’re upset, you’re hurt, and you’re afraid of the emotions festering inside of you. But you also feel good, like a weight is slowly being lifted off of you.

“And then to hear you moved on to someone else so quick as if I meant nothing to you?!”

“I’m sorry,” Zuko offers weakly.

“You betrayed me, you broke my trust, you broke my heart, but no matter how hard I try I can’t bring myself to hate you because I love you Zuko! Despite it all I love you more than I’ve ever loved anything or anyone, and when I think about where we came from and where we are now I-I just...”

You burst into a fit of tears and welcome Zuko’s comforting arms that wrap around your figure and squeeze you so tightly to his chest. Your shoulders shake with each sob that falls past your lips, your hands clutch tightly at the fabric of his robes, and you bury your face into his chest to muffle your sobs. The boy says nothing for a long time, only holding you and soothing you to the best of his abilities as you let out all of your hurt, anger, and sorrow.

“I’m sorry I never realized how special you were and how much I truly needed you. Nothing I say can ever undo the hurt I’ve caused you, but I’ll do anything to show you just how much you mean to me. I love you y/n, you’re my other half. Uncle always said our love was a balance of yin and yang, and he was right.” You watch through your tears as Zuko takes both of your hands in his own and gives them a gentle squeeze. “Please, Princess.”

You sniffle, blinking away the tears as you gaze up at Zuko’a pleading gaze. The tricky proverb comes to mind again, only this time it isn’t as tricky. Ever since Zuko joined the Gaang you’d done everything in your power to keep him away to protect yourself, but it only made your heartbreak worse. Defensive maneuvers wouldn’t ease your pain, but offensive would. You cannot bend something that is broken, but you can heal something that is hurt. The water bender in you wanted to push him out, but the healer inside of you knew that this moment in the cave was exactly what you needed to finally feel okay again.

Without responding, you simply lean up and press your lips against Zuko’s in a loving kiss. His hands come to rest upon your tear stained cheeks as he bring you closer, kissing you so desperately it’s almost as if he’ll die if he doesn’t have his lips upon yours. The tunnel around you begins to glow, but you don’t realize this until after you’ve pulled away from each other. A tearful smile graces your lips and Zuko finds himself swooping in for another quick kiss.

“I know why the Moon Spirit sent us here,” you sniffle. “I know where we are now.”

“You do?”

“When I was younger my mother would threaten to send me to the cave of truths whenever I told a lie. It was a magical cave said to not only pull out the most personal truths of anyone who set foot inside but also grant them a lesson in exchange for their truth. My truth was my love for you, Zuko, and I learned that shutting you out is never going to fix things. Only by letting you in again, by allowing you the chance to redeem yourself, will we be able to fix our broken hearts.”

With a gentle smile, you pull the droplets of water from the air that surrounds you and swirl them gently in the palm of your hand until they freeze into snowflakes. Zuko watches in awe as the snow takes the shape of a butterfly, its wings flapping elegantly as it lands on the tip of his nose.

“My bending is back.” Zuko smiles.

“And so are you.”

~~~

The Gaang is waiting for you when you return, astonished at the sight of your intertwined hands and happy smiles on your features.

“What happened to you two?” Suki asks.

“Life changing field trip,” you reply with a simple shrug, smiling as Zuko wraps an arm around your waist and presses a kiss to the top of your head.

“Aw man, you guys are giving me the oogies,” Sokka groans only for Katara to elbow his side.

“What changed?” Aang asks, prompting you and Zuko to exchange glances.

“Our relationship has a really good track record with secret tunnels,” you giggle.

“We’re both ready to start over,” Zuko says. “It’s going to take some time for things to be normal again, but we’ll get there.”

“I’m really happy for you guys,” Katara smiles gently.

“Yeah, I was getting kind of sick of the two of you moping around,” Toph grins, and you can’t help but return the smile.

You’ve got a long journey of healing ahead of you, but with Zuko finally back by your side you know you can accomplish anything.

| tags: @titaniafire @dekahg @emberislandplayers @kikaninchen-2 @multi-fandomstan @eridanuswave @royahllty @lozzybowe @izzieserra @melacholy @music-geek19 @thia-aep @thyunnamed @kittenthekat1234567890 @haylaansmi @nataliahaslosthershit @coldlilheart @idkdude776 @aangsupremacy @thirstyforsometea @ihaveaproblem98 |

#zuko #zuko x reader #zuko imagine #prince zuko #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko imagine #princess reader #atla #atla x reader #avatar the last airbender #forbidden lovers au #fire lilies #secret tunnel #life changing field trip!

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reinerispretty · 4 years ago

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beneath the moon. (sokka x f!reader) pt16

hiiiii everyone :) i am back! i’ve finished my finals for the semester and i am so so excited to continue these fics! i’ll admit i was experiencing some major burnout and just overall not having fun anymore but i think having my worst semester ever be over will help a lot hehe!!

pt1

pt15

pt17

“We’re coming back for them,” Sokka reassured her. “We just have to get Appa first, and then we’ll all escape.”

(Y/N) looked back toward the palace. It made her uneasy to leave her friends when they might need her, even if it was only for a moment. She looked at Sokka once more, taking his hand in hers and squeezing. “You guys go ahead, I’m going to find them.”

“(Y/N)!” Sokka whisper-shouted after her, but (Y/N) couldn’t just go with them and hope that her friends would be okay, or that they would know what was going on.

The Southern Water Tribe armor that (Y/N) wore on her back weighed a few pounds, slowing her down as she ran over to Aang and Appa. Sokka reached him first and (Y/N) could hear their two voices but not the words they were saying. Sokka turned to look at her, his face contorted in an expression of anger, fear, and sadness, and her stomach dropped. “What’s going on?” She asked once she finally reached them.

Aang looked panicked. “Katara’s in trouble! We have to leave now!”

“Okay,” (Y/N) said with a breath. As scary as the prospect of Katara being in danger was, her own emotions would have to be put aside. “We’ll say goodbye and then we’ll head out.”

“There’s no time!” Aang insisted, and (Y/N) glared at him. Sokka had literally just reunited with his father, his hero, and the moment was being ripped from him. The least they could do was let him say goodbye. Katara was strong, she’d be alright. Or at least, that was what (Y/N) had to keep telling herself.

“Sokka, tell your dad thank you for his hospitality,” (Y/N) said with a slight smile. “We’ll see him again soon.” Sokka ran back to his father and (Y/N) turned back to Aang. “You,” She said, jabbing her finger at him. “Need to calm down.” She grabbed his hand and lifted herself onto Appa’s back, flopping over awkwardly in the saddle from her armor. “I know you’re in love with Katara, but she’ll be okay until we can get there. She’s one of the best fighters I know.”

Aang’s face paled. “W-what are you talking about? I’m just worried about my friend.”

“Yeah, yeah,” (Y/N) muttered. Her eyes caught Sokka as he jogged back over to them. “I’m just worried about my friend, too.”

Once Sokka was on Appa’s back, they flew off back toward Ba Sing Se, the afternoon sun behind them. Aang confessed that he didn’t know the details of what was happening to Katara, only that he had seen a vision of her being in trouble. “Normally I’d call you ridiculous,” Sokka said as he lay in a starfish position on the saddle. “But Avatar powers always prove me wrong so I’ll just shut up.”

“Did you guys manage to convince the Southern Water Tribe to go to the North, at least?” Aang asked. (Y/N) shrugged.

“I’m not sure how many of them were fully convinced.”

“I don’t know if they’ll go now that we’re not there,” Sokka said. “(Y/N) was the only reason they were even starting to consider it.”

“It would have been a nice accomplishment, but they don’t even teach women anything beyond healing. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to leave the city so exposed.” (Y/N) sighed. “Would have been nice though, so give Hahn another punch in the nose for challenging my claim to the throne.”

“You’re thinking about going back to rule?” Aang asked.

“You never told me that,” Sokka looked at her with furrowed brows.

“The war will be over at some point,” She said quietly. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed movement down below. She leaned over the side of Appa’s saddle to see the earth moving in a rather unnatural way. “What is that?” She asked Aang.

He swooped Appa down toward the movement and there, at the base of it all, was a familiar tiny girl, surfing across the rock. “Hey!” Sokka called out to Toph. “Need a ride?” Toph flailed at the sound, losing her focus and falling to the ground. Aang, Sokka, and (Y/N) winced at her fall.

“Are you okay?” (Y/N) called out, but before she knew it Toph was barreling toward them. She had used her earthbending to launch herself in the air and the three of them all scrambled to catch her safely. Toph crash landed on (Y/N), sending her rolling onto the other side of Appa’s saddle. She sat up quickly, an angered expression on her face.

“Don’t scare me like that!” She said into the empty air where she thought Sokka would be.

“Sorry,” Sokka said from the opposite side of the saddle. (Y/N) coughed as she sat up, trying to gain back the air that had been knocked out of her. The armor had protected her a bit, but although Toph was small, she was as dense as the rock she bended.

“What happened to meeting with your mom?” Aang asked, and Toph frowned.

“It was a trap,” Toph grumbled. “Two idiots captured me. Unluckily for them, I invented metalbending.”

Sokka laughed, but it slowly faded when he realized that no one else was joining him. “You’re not...you’re not joking?”

“Toph!” (Y/N) exclaimed, grasping her friend by the arms. “That’s so exciting! You invented metalbending--that’s supposed to be impossible!” She engulfed Toph in a hug and squeezed tightly.

“Get off of me!” Toph protested, squirming in (Y/N’s) arms. (Y/N) released her, but the smile on her face never faded. “But yeah,” Toph smirked. “It’s pretty cool of me. What about you, Aang? How’d it go with the guru? Did you master the Avatar State?”

(Y/N) had meant to ask Aang about that as well, but had gotten distracted. All three of them turned to look at him, but he stared off into the distance. “Aang?” Sokka asked, and the young boy tensed, turning back to stare at his friends.

“Yep, everything good with the guru! Avatar State, completely mastered,” He said with a slight laugh. (Y/N) and Sokka exchanged a confused look.

They landed at their house in the city and rushed inside. They were immediately greeted by Momo, who had crawled onto Aang’s shoulders as soon as they entered. Toph flattened her feet against the floor of the house. “There’s no one else here.”

“I knew it!” Aang exclaimed. “Katara is in trouble!”

“Oh no,” Sokka breathed. (Y/N) opened her mouth to reassure her friends, but she closed it quickly when she realized it would be no use. She knew it in her heart that Katara was in trouble and the longer they waited the further away they were from saving her.

“Wait! Someone’s at the door,” Toph said, and a second later a knock sounded against the thick wood. “Actually, I know who it is. It’s an old friend.” Before (Y/N) could inquire just exactly who Toph could have become friends with, she opened the door, revealing General Iroh.

Now normally, upon seeing a member of the Fire Nation, (Y/N) would whip out her water from the pack at her hip and immediately start fighting. But although it had been months since she had last seen him, she remembered his face. He was there the night Yue had died. He had fought against a member of his own nation in order to protect the Moon Spirit. He had fought alongside them against Azula just a few weeks prior, when she had been hunting their group through the Earth Kingdom countryside. It was safe to say that she was rather conflicted over her opinion of General Iroh, but she figured no one who had come to attack them would knock first.

“I need your help,” He said, looking gravely at the four of them. At her side, Aang and Sokka took their fighting stances while Toph simply waved. (Y/N) remained rather relaxed.

“You know him?” Aang questioned Toph.

“Yeah! We met in the woods and I knocked him down. Then he gave me tea and some very good advice.”

“Toph, I think the next time you meet our enemies in the woods, you should share it with us.” (Y/N) stared down at her friend, but it had no effect on her.

“I can’t tell someone’s an enemy by their feet,” Toph scoffed.

“May I come in?” Iroh asked, entering the home once Toph gave him permission. “Princess Azula is in Ba Sing Se.”

“She must have Katara.” Aang’s brows furrowed in anger. (Y/N) had only met Azula a handful of times, but one time was too many with the evil Princess of the Fire Nation.

“She has my nephew as well,” Iroh said.

“Then we’ll work together to save Katara and Zuko,” Aang said very decidedly, resulting in Sokka blinking his eyes in confusion.

“I’m sorry, you lost me at ‘Zuko,’” He said. Iroh placed a hand on Sokka’s shoulder.

“I know you do not like my nephew, but I promise that there is good inside of him.” Sokka shook Iroh’s hand off of him.

“Good inside of him isn’t enough! Come back when the good’s outside of him, too.”

“Katara’s in trouble!” Aang said, perhaps the most serious that (Y/N) had ever seen him. “All of Ba Sing Se’s in trouble. We have to work together.”

Sokka’s blue eyes flickered to meet (Y/N’s), the edge of his eyebrow raising as he silently asked her opinion. She spread out her hands and shrugged. “We’re supposed to help people, Sokka.” He inhaled a deep breath before nodding.

“I brought someone along who might be able to help.” Iroh led them outside, where a Dai Li agent was tied up and gagged on their front steps.

“Oh dear,” (Y/N) said, surprised at the sight. Iroh removed the gag from his mouth. It took very little to get him to talk.

“Azula and Long Feng are plotting a coup! They’re going to overthrow the Earth King!”

“Where’s my sister?” Sokka demanded, gathering the Dai Li’s shirt in his fist.

“In the crystal catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se, deep beneath the palace!”

Their group traveled to just outside the palace, where Toph confirmed that there was indeed an ancient city beneath the present one. They decided to split up, Aang and Iroh would rescue Zuko and Katara, while Toph, Sokka, and (Y/N) would warn the Earth King about the coup.

The group of three ran up the stairs to the palace when they noticed General How making his way toward them. Sokka pulled both girls behind a pillar and they watched as the General was arrested by Dai Li agents. “The coup is happening right now,” Sokka whispered. “We’ve got to get to the Earth King.”

As silently and as carefully as possible, they ran to the throne room. Earth King Kuei sat pleasantly in his seat, his beloved bear Bosco at his side. They had made it, with only a few moments to spare.

The traditional green and gold colors of the Kyoshi Warriors flashed in front of (Y/N), landing just a few inches from Sokka’s face. “Hey there, cutie,” The warrior said, and both Sokka and (Y/N’s) faces reddened, albeit for different reasons.

“I’m uh,” Sokka stuttered, but Toph used her earthbending to fling the girl out of the way.

“They’re not the real Kyoshi Warriors!”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” said the familiar voice of the Fire Nation girl, Mai. She flung her daggers at (Y/N), but she waterbended a stream of water in front of her and froze it, catching the daggers within it. She melted the ice and the sharp pieces of metal clattered to the floor.

“I don’t really have any training in throwing daggers,” (Y/N) said as she picked them up. “But back home I used to throw spears to catch dinner. It’s kind of the same, right?” She used all of her force to throw a dagger back at Mai, missing her by only a few inches. The girl quickly darted for her, so (Y/N) had to think on her feet. She encased the daggers in a water bubble, freezing it as hard as she could and pelting it at Mai.

“This fight is over,” Azula said, drawing everyone’s attention to the center of the room, where she held a flame dagger against Kuei’s throat. (Y/N) looked to Sokka, who dropped his weapon and sank to the ground. She and Toph followed suit. Ty Lee fiercely jabbed at their backs and sides, effectively chi blocking all of them.

Dai Li agents lifted them to their wobbly legs, taking the friends, King Kuei, and Bosco to the lower levels of the palace, where the prisons were. They were tossed unceremoniously into their cell and had the door shut behind them, allowing for only a sliver of light to enter the room.

(Y/N) had been thrown in last, resulting in her being closest to the exit. Blinking her eyes to help them adjust to the darkness, she stared at the door, which was fashioned from thick metal to keep earthbenders in. “Toph,” (Y/N) called out. It would take a bit for them to regain their ability to use their limbs and bend, but there was still hope. Toph grunted in response, her face smushes against the floor of the cell. “The door is metal.”

Toph grinned into the darkness.

Once each member of their party had gained their mobility, they made sure the outside of the cell was completely free of Dai Lee agents before making their escape. The door loudly crunched beneath Toph’s hands and clattered even more loudly as she tossed it into the hallway. “I hope no one heard that,” King Kuei said.

“Let’s go,” Sokka ordered, and the four of them plus Bosco ran back up to the surface. Night had fallen while they had been imprisoned, allowing them to sneak around the palace grounds with little difficulty.

“We have to find Katara and Aang,” (Y/N) whispered, stopping in her tracks just before they were about to pass through the gates.

“We’re coming back for them,” Sokka reassured her. “We just have to get Appa first, and then we’ll all escape.”

“(Y/N)!” Sokka whisper-shouted after her, but (Y/N) couldn’t just go with them and hope that her friends would be okay, or that they would know what was going on. She first went to the spot where Iroh and Aang had disappeared into the ground. The hole they had created to travel to the catacombs had been covered up by Toph, so as to not draw unwanted attention to them. When (Y/N) didn’t see Aang or Katara there, she made quick laps around the palace, evading the sight of the Dai Lee.

Oddly enough, sneaking around the palace felt comforting to her. It reminded her of being back home and sneaking past her own guards, so that she could practice her waterbending through the night. Yue would be waiting up when she returned, a disappointed yet humored look on her face.

(Y/N) was nearly finished with her second lap around the palace when she spotted them. Encased in a beam of moonlight, Katara had Aang’s arm strung around her shoulders as she attempted to carry him to safety. (Y/N) ran forward, quietly calling out Katara’s name. The girl turned around, her eyes welling with tears. (Y/N) noticed immediately how limp Aang was in her arms. The edges of his clothes were singed and at the very base of his back was a raw and angry burn mark.

(Y/N’s) ears were ringing as she stared at Aang. This couldn’t be happening. There was no way that she could be losing yet another person she loved too soon. But here Aang was, his head slumped forward and all of his weight leaning into Katara’s body. She couldn’t see his body rising or falling with his breaths. Tears fell against her cheeks one by one, the shock settling in her bones.

Numbly, (Y/N) took Aang’s other arm and slung it around her own shoulder. She led Katara to the spot where she had left Sokka, and he, Toph, Kuei, and Bosco were all waiting atop Appa’s back. Sokka hopped down to help them. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” He said quietly, looking from Katara to (Y/N). It only took a few more seconds for his own realization to set in. “Let’s get him on Appa.”

They lifted him onto the air bison and took off, fleeing Ba Sing Se. Katara pulled out the small vial of water from the Spirit World Oasis. Master Pakku had given it to her before they left the North Pole. Carefully, she moved Aang onto his side and applied the water to his back. It glowed bright blue, as it water usually did when it was used for healing, but then the color suddenly faded. From all of her years of healing training, (Y/N) knew that could only mean one thing. A sob collected in her throat and her eyes welled with tears once more, her fingers curling tightly into the fabric of her clothes.

Then, as Katara held onto Aang, his tattoos began glowing the same bright blue as the Spirity World Water. He groaned lowly, just barely enough for anyone to hear, but all of his friends were listening so intently. His eyes opened just enough to look up at Katara. He gave her a small smile before slipping back into unconsciousness, his chest rising and falling with breath. (Y/N) let out a deep sigh of relief, wiping the tears from her face.

Toph remained toward the back of Appa with Katara and Aang, while (Y/N), Sokka, and King Kuei devised a plan about where they should head next. It was mostly just Sokka and (Y/N) coming up with a plan while King Kuei listened intently. “We should head back to Chameleon Bay,” Sokka said. “My dad might still be there.”

“And if he isn’t, we have a good enough view from Appa to see them if they’re anywhere else.”

They flew back to where they had been just a few hours prior and luckily, the men of the Southern Water Tribe remained where they had left them. Hakoda walked out to greet them, his face becoming grave once he saw the condition Aang was in.

“Katara,” He opened his arms to hug his daughter, but she ignored him, instead giving orders to the Water Tribe men about where exactly to place Aang and what she would need. Awkwardly, Hakoda turned to (Y/N) and Sokka. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon after you left.”

“Ba Sing Se has been taken by the Fire Nation,” Sokka said, very seriously for a boy of fifteen.

“Princess Azula has the Dai Li under her control,” (Y/N) said. “If we don’t act carefully, the rest of the Earth Kingdom might fall.”

“Sounds like we need a plan,” Hakoda said. He smiled down at his send. “Care to lead a war meeting?” Sokka met his father’s smile with one of his own. He nodded eagerly. “Meet me in my tent in a few minutes. I’m going to get some tents set up for you and your friends.”

(Y/N) grinned at Sokka, hitting his arm playfully with his fist. “Look at you! Soon you’ll be Commander Sokka or something like that.” He turned to look at her.

“What you did back in Ba Sing Se was risky, (Y/N). You could’ve been hurt.” (Y/N) scrunched her nose.

“I said you’ll be Commander Sokka soon, not right now.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I couldn’t leave them behind. It might not have been the move you would’ve done--”

“You’re right, I wouldn’t have. You can’t jeopardize your own life to try to save people.”

“If I hadn’t tried, there might not have been any lives to save!” (Y/N) snapped. “Katara was weak and Aang...Aang was dead, Sokka. I don’t care what you say. I know I did the right thing.”

Sokka opened his mouth to fire back, but stopped himself. He inhaled a deep breath. “You’re right. But you have to be more careful. Don’t think I didn’t notice your empty water pack.” For good measure, he squeezed the pack at her hip and nothing came out. She had used it all when fighting Mai. (Y/N) hadn’t even noticed that she was out of water.

“Sorry,” (Y/N) muttered, avoiding his gaze. She felt like she was in trouble. Sokka took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze.

“Come lead the meeting with me?” He was smiling down at her and (Y/N) rolled her eyes, her own smile appearing on her lips. Sometimes, being with Sokka felt so natural that it was so easy to get back to normal.

They remained with the men of the Southern Water Tribe. King Kuei would show off Bosco to anyone who would listen and eventually, the two set off to see the world. When Katara wasn’t healing Aang, she slept on a cot at his side, to make sure that he wouldn’t need anything throughout the night. She had all of her meals delivered to the tent. The only time anyone could talk to her was if they entered with her express permission.

Sokka and (Y/N) spent the majority of their time together. They attended war meeting after war meeting. They took their meals together so they could continue their discussions of how to best attack the Fire Nation during the eclipse. Some nights, they would fall asleep among their work.

Toph spent the majority of the time bouncing between Sokka, (Y/N), and Katara, or resting against Appa’s comfy fur. Toph was perhaps the only person who was getting an actual break from anything, but during the nights where (Y/N) and Sokka would present their plans to the rest of the tribe, she would be listening intently to uncover anything that needed to be adjusted.

After about a week of remaining in the same spot, the tribe loaded onto their ships to find a new area to camp. Only a few days after they had set sail, they encountered a Fire Naiton ship. Part of Sokka and (Y/N’s) plan was that Aang could not be discovered, so they all attacked with full force and commandeered the ship. The men changed into Fire Nation uniforms while Toph, Katara, and (Y/N) used cloaks to cover the clothes that would be a dead giveaway. Having a Fire Nation ship under their control allowed them to pass through the seas without any fear of danger.

Perhaps the nicest thing about staying on the Fire Nation ship was that (Y/N) had her own room and a nice bed to sleep in. It had been ages since she had slept on anything other than a mat on the floor, so as soon as she claimed the room for her own she slept for hours, only being woken to a heavy banging at her door.

Sleepily, she stood, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she opened the door. Sokka was in front of her, a plate of food in his hand. “I thought you had died,” He said, pushing past her to enter her room. “You slept for thirteen hours!”

“‘S that a lot?” (Y/N) asked through a yawn. Her brain was taking longer to wake up than her body. “I don’t think it’s enough.”

“I brought you dinner. I tried to wake you up for it but you wouldn’t answer. You scared me,” Sokka grumbled. (Y/N) couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s so funny?”

“You’re so dramatic. I was just sleeping.” She took the plate from Sokka’s hands and began picking at the food. “Thank you, I appreciate you.” She sat on the edge of her bed and Sokka joined her.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something,” He said, and she yawned.

“If anyone tries talking to you after you’ve woken up, you’re such a monster, but you want to have full on conversations with me four minutes after I’ve woken up.”

“It’s been more like three minutes, I think,” And they both smiled. “Do you remember when you said you were going back to the Northern Water Tribe after the war?”

“I don’t think that’s what I said, but I’ve thought about it.” She rubbed her eye once more. “People are trying to challenge my throne, so I’d like to put a stop to that.”

“So you want to rule the Northern Tribe? I thought you hated it there.”

“I do,” (Y/N) said immediately. “Or, I did. But I don’t know what I’m going to want in the future and we definitely don’t know what’s going to happen once Aang defeats the Fire Lord.” She shrugged. “It’s not like I’m going to become the chief of my tribe tomorrow.”

Sokka nodded, rubbing the palms of his hands against his pants. “Okay, cool. You had me worried for a second.”

“Worried about what?”

“You leaving.” (Y/N) smiled, offering him a grape, and he popped it into his mouth.

“I’m not leaving anytime soon. Someone has to shut down your ideas about convincing animals to fight against the Fire Nation.”

“Appa and Momo do it, I can’t see why other animals won’t!” (Y/N) giggled.

“As much as I’d love to see a platybus bear absolutely wreck Prince Zuko, I don’t think it’s going to happen.” Sokka threw his head back at the mental imagery, his laugh sounding throughout the room. (Y/N) smiled at him as he laughed and realized just how unlucky she was. (Y/N), last remaining princess of the Northern Water Tribe was head-over-heels, wholeheartedly in love with Sokka.

---

PERM TAGLIST:

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FIC TAGLIST:

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#atla #sokka x reader #aang x reader #zuko x reader #sokka #aang #zuko #katara #toph #iroh #suki #avatar #the last airbender #writing #fanfiction #azula #momo #appa

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quarantineddreamer · 5 years ago

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Some first kiss fluffiness for @zkdrabbledecember ✨💙

Day 2: Please Don’t Lie

“Katara, I’m fine.”

“Please, don’t lie.” She sat on the edge of the bed as she often had in the past week rolling her eyes at his stubborn insistence.

“Really.” Zuko winced as he sat up and tried to disguise the expression by turning it to a tight smile. “I mean it, I’m feeling better.”

Katara considered him dubiously. “Sure, and I’m a platypus bear.”

“Why won’t you believe me?”

“You want me to get Toph in here to prove me right?”

He considered this for a moment, but recalled the knowing smirk the earthbender had given him earlier that morning. ‘How’s the healing going, Zuko? Are you sure your heart is alright? It’s beating awfully fast…’ “No,” he grunted. “That’s not necessary.”

Katara’s lips curled into a knowing smile. “Thought not.”

“I’m the Fire Lord now, you know. I could order you out of here if you don’t let me get to my work.”

“You could,” she admitted, “but you won’t. You wouldn’t dare.”

She was right. He wouldn’t. Didn’t want to either. Not when she was laughing like that. Thank the spirits, Toph was not there to comment loudly on what his heart was doing in response to that beautiful sound.

Her expression turned suddenly serious. “What’s wrong?” She reached for the collar of his robe without asking and pulled it to the side, exposing the pale pink of scar tissue on his chest. Her fingers ghosted lightly over it, she leaned closer, scrutinizing the surface, her breath warming his skin.

“Katara, I told you, I’m fine.” Zuko caught her hand with his, meaning to pull it away from the wound, instead he found himself holding it longer than necessary, unwilling to relinquish the contact.

“And I told you, don’t lie to me! There was a look on your face. Now, where does it hurt?” She pulled against Zuko’s grasp, already reaching for her water pouch.

He reluctantly lowered his empty hand back against the cool, silk sheets.

“Zuko?”

“Here.” His hand tapped his chest, in sync with the frantic rhythm of his heartbeat as he studied her face --memorized the elegant curve of her cheekbones, the pattern of freckles forming on her nose from time spent in the Fire Nation heat, the fierce determination in her eyes...

They softened now as they turned to the spot his finger had indicated. “There?” she asked, sounding surprised. “There’s no wound there.”

She was right, his scar was lower. He was not worried about that ache just now. In fact, the moment he had felt her hand on his chest the pain of before had been forgotten. Screw lightning. Its’ effect was nothing compared to how she made him feel.

“Is it your heart? Does something feel wrong?” Of course, she was still thinking like a healer.

“Not wrong…” Zuko clarified, attempting to ease some of her worry. At least, I hope it’s not...

Katara’s hands fluttered through the air in exasperation. “You’re just messing with me, aren’t you? To get back at me for making you take a day off? You should be resting, you nearly died. You really shouldn’t have been out of bed for the coronation. You rushed things and now look at you you’re going to take longer to heal and who knows if--”

Her speech halted when Zuko gently reached up and pulled her hands back to rest above his heart. For a moment she was silent as the vibrations sang wildly into her fingertips. Then she exhaled softly, slowly and brought her eyes up to meet his. “It’s not wrong…” she confessed quietly, understanding. It was an answer to an unspoken question.

“Really?” Zuko held his breath. He hadn’t dared hope. Why would he? What reason did he have to think she would…

She tilted forward and pressed her lips to his in a brief flash of heat, her fingers curling on his chest as she withdrew --as though to prevent her from doing so, to anchor her there in that moment.

“Please, don’t lie…” she murmured, echoing her earlier words. There was pain in her voice and tears in her eyes. “I thought I’d lost you, so please… Promise there’s nothing wrong? You’re really feeling okay?”

Okay? Okay?! He was more than okay. He was the best he had ever been. Katara had just kissed him and Agni, he couldn’t believe it... Katara had just kissed him. Still, she obviously needed reassuring. What could he say? How did he tell her that she made him forget pain? How did he tell her she reminded him of all that was good in the world when for so long there had been only bad? How could she ever understand how his heart soared at the sight of her, at her touch, at the sound of her voice? She hadn’t brought him back from the dead, she had brought him back to life.

He cupped her face, tangled his fingers in her hair, pulled her back to him, and kissed her like it was the last thing he might ever do and the only thing he would ever want to, and she kissed him back the same.

When at last they broke away for air, Katara's cheeks were flushed, a mirror of the warmth Zuko felt spreading across his own face. They sat catching their breath. Her eyes met his as he lifted her hand back to his heart with a soft smile.

“I’m all better,” he promised.

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

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think if you feel so inclined and if you liked this you can check out my other works on AO3 where I go by quarantineddreamer 🌙

Best wishes,

#zkdrabbledecember2020 #zutara #zutara fanfic #zuko x katara #b writes #the drama the EmOtIoNS -i could not resist #zutara fluff

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natequarter · 4 years ago

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the maiko tangled au several people asked for

There are rumours of a missing baby, of the Crown Prince in absentia.

It's been years - sixteen years, to be precise - and nobody has heard a word.

The Fire Lord is a hopeful sort of man, and lights lanterns every year in order of a boy most people don't know the name of. Mai, a cynical girl on the run, doesn't give a damn about possibilities when there's cold hard cash to be stolen and rich assholes to cheat out of all their money.

She doesn't strictly mean to steal the ostrich-horse, the same way she doesn't strictly mean to break into a tower in the middle of a forest because she was trying to keep Azula's cronies off her tail.

(How long have they been in the criminal underground, children trying to escape their horrible parents? She doesn't recall, and has no nostalgia for their childhood.)

The boy with the firebreathing thing on his shoulder knocks her out cold.

"Huh-"

"Don't touch me!" The boy - what even is his name? - darts around the room. Fucking lightweight. He wouldn't stand a chance against old Azulon's spies, or Azula and Ty Lee if they ever stopped trying to kill each other.

"I wa-"

"You have knives up your sleeves."

She glares. "And you know that how...?"

He winces.

"Oh no. What did you do."

"I kind of... stole all your knives?"

She tries to lunge for her knives, but he flies out of the way like some sort of acrobat (like Ty Lee), evading her grasp. Her weight pulls her over, and it's that that forces her to realise she's tied to a chair.

"Unhand me!"

"I mean, I could cut off your hands," he says, "but that seems kind of overboard."

It's then that she realises his hair, tied in a high ponytail, extends not down to his black hanfu as she'd previously thought, but down beyond his legs, winding around the room like a bizarre pulley system.

In fact, the room is extremely tall, and narrow, and climbing up here was definitely a mistake.

Funny, he looks like Azula when he squints like that.

Asides from the scar, what's up with his face?

"Don't do that, actually."

He still looks spooked. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

"Mai. I'm, uh..." She tries to think of an acceptable lie. "I juggle knives. With my friend, Ty Lee."

He believes it, thank Agni.

"Who are you?" It's accusatory. She doesn't care.

"Zuko." His name, his features... they should remind her of someone, but she has no idea who.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you, I don't know... have parents."

He shrugs. "I have my grandfather. Sometimes he goes out for a few days."

"Don't you ever go with him?"

"No? I've never been outside. It's dangerous." He pauses for effect. "I could die."

She snorts. "You? You could die? Please, any attacker would die of shame. You're far too pretty to be killed."

"Um, thanks?"

"I could show you outside, you know. Nobody murders kids like you out there."

"Really?" He looks thrilled. "But... my grandfather."

"You'd be back in time," she lies.

"Then why not?" He practically jumps out the tower.

Mai likes him.

"Whoa! What's this?" Zuko grabs a handful of plants. "It's so soft, and... green." The animal on his shoulder breaths sparks, and the leaves combust.

"That's leaves. And plants." She runs a hand through her short hair. It still sticks up an inordinate amount.

"Plants are cool."

Not all of them. She sighs. "if you insist."

The ostrich-horse she tied to the tower beckons; Mai gestures to it. "Fancy a ride?"

"'Course!"

Mai lifts him on, and rides.

(She pretends not to notice how her breath hitches at his touch.)

"Get her!"

Yelling, Azula's gang probably. Mai ignores it, steering the animal as fast as she can towards an inn. This bunch are Ozai's territory. Neutral territory, at least as far as Mai is concerned.

"Why does that weird girl with the knife want to get you?" Zuko yells in her ear. She'd forgotten she'd stolen Azula's crown. Oh well.

"Long story!"

"Are you a criminal?"

"Not the time!"

What can save you from a gang of criminals, if not a boy with a dragon and a good singing voice? She makes a note to ask the name of the damn thing before it burns her clothes off.

"-And I have a dream!" she finds herself yelling with the crowd. It's true. She does have dreams, buried under her mother's disapproval though they may be.

"What's your dream, Mai?" Zuko asks.

"I want to be..." The truth is, she once wanted to be a princess. Ridiculous. "Free."

"That's boring and doesn't have any lanterns involved though!"

"Lanterns?"

"Long story. Some other time?"

"I guess."

She looks away from Zuko (Agni, was she staring?) to find a pub of angry villagers.

Whoops.

"Are you, like, a murderer?" he yells.

"No, I just publicly betrayed and consequently got humiliated and disowned by everyone who knew me."

"Well who in all of Oma and Shu did you know to get such a bad reaction?"

"A princess!"

"You're a princess?"

"No, the girl I betrayed was. I'm just a noble. Well, ex-noble. If we're doing life stories, can I ask why you have a horrible scar on your face?"

"Druk burnt me."

"Druk?"

"Yeah." He lifted up the lizard thing.

"It's called Druk? I was calling it Lizzie." Zuko shot her a look. "Short for Lizard?"

"No?"

Zuko just stares.

Being on the run is hard. Being on the run from Azula's forces with a boy with ridiculously long hair is harder. Nearly drowning in a cave is definitely hardest.

Events move too fast for her to count; before she knows it, she's sitting in the Caldera braiding Zuko's hair. It's struck through with gold, she notices, and when he sings the strands glow. Some people would find this romantic. Mai finds it weird.

But he looks pretty in the sun, and he looks even prettier with his ridiculously long hair braided to perfection. She threads firelilies through it. Zuko grins.

"You like that, huh?"

"It looks cute!"

"It does."

"Just like you, Mai."

She blushes furiously, trying not to stutter. "Th-thanks."

Mai quickly regains her composure. "Anything you'd like to do tonight? Other than the festivals."

"I'd like to see the lanterns. Grandfather says they're on the same day as my birthday, so I like seeing them."

"I can do that, I guess."

"Thanks, Mai."

Anything for you, she almost says.

The man holding Mai by the wrists is a creep, she knows that. "What do you want with me? With him?"

"I want to live forever!" He snarls. "His hair keeps me young, see."

"No, I don't see."

"Enough with the sass." The ropes dig into her hands.

"Let me go!"

"Not until I get Zuko back. Come out, come out, wherever you are..."

Nothing.

"The nation is waiiiiting! For their prince!"

A series of things click into place, all at once. The lanterns. His absence. Who her captor is.

Zuko.

Prince Zuko, who looks like Azula and has been missing for exactly sixteen years...

What luck.

Mai doesn't have the chance to entertain fighting back before she's falling to the floor, from her precarious position. The man below her hits the ground with a thud, and she feels something break both within her and below her.

"No!"

Agonised screams, Zuko, hair and glowing and singing and-

Darkness.

"Mai!"

She wakes up, head aching. "...Zuko?"

"You were - you were dead-"

The first thing she notices is his hair. "Was I?"

"Yes! You were! Don't do that again."

"Sure," she says. "I won't."

"These are the lanterns, Zuko."

"My lanterns." The bastard is smug. Then again, he did give up some damn good hair to save her life. Fair trade.

"They look beautiful."

"I have to agree. And," he says, illuminated by moonlight, "so are you."

She stares, and then snaps out of it, and leans in to kiss him. Now that will wipe the smirk off his face.

#i will not write this fully YET #but #here goes #mai #zuko #maiko #atla #tangled

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time-to-cause-chaos · 4 years ago

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i protect you from myself

Zuko is Sokka's enemy, but he still knows he'd never hurt him. He'd never want to anyway.

(For @zukkaweek day 2, Soulmates)

AO3 link WC:1,532

Zuko wasn’t trying to actually hurt anyone. The kicks and punches of fire were all set to just graze them and surprise them enough to leave an opening for an attack. The water tribe girl had improved a lot in her waterbending since they had last seen each other, she was holding her own against 3 of his people pretty easily.

Zuko looked around and realized the avatar was gone. He groaned, this area was surrounded by woods and they could be anywhere by now.

Running into the thick exfoliation, he chops at the vines and leaves in his path.

The kid’s an airbender, he probably just flew over all of this. That also meant there would probably be no broken branches or misplaced plants to show where he went, how fun.

Zuko stumbles into a clearing and spins around, hearing a snap in the bushes. Pulling out a sword he glances at the rustling plants and stalks forward.

He’d underestimated the avatar before but he wouldn’t do it again. Kid or not, he was the chosen one and Zuko needed to take him in, then all the killing could stop and everything could become normal again.

He’d go home and would be welcomed into the palace gates with open arms and cheers from the crowd, he’d be respected. He’d gain his honor again as prince of the Fire Nation.

Zuko was surprised as a blue shadow jumped out of the bushes at him, wielding a thick tree branch and swinging it at his head.

Jumping back he sticks his sword up and the tree branch, however thick it was, is sliced clean through.

The shadow isn’t the avatar. It’s his other Water Tribe friend, the waterbender’s brother. But that didn’t matter, the only thing that mattered was that he could tell Zuko where the child is.

Zuko easily apprehends him and takes his wrists in a tight grip, holding them behind his back. Growling, he asks, “Where is the avatar?”

For some reason, his grip keeps slacking and Zuko’s struggling to get a proper hold of them. It felt like they were dipped in oil, but the boy’s wrists had cloth hand wraps on them.

The boy-Sokka, his brain prompts, pulling it up from overheard conversations- slips out of Zuko’s grip and manages to take his sword, using Zuko’s surprise to his advantage.

Sokka holds the blade to his chest and Zuko raises his hands.

“Why do you want to get Aang so bad?”

Zuko snarled and jumped, kicking at Sokka’s chest and sending the blade spinning. The weird thing was that the kick barely landed.

Pursing his lips, Zuko punched at his head this time. Same effect. The hits were landing but there was nothing else happening.

It clicked too late.

The look on Sokka’s face shows he already figured it out too.

It wasn’t that Zuko didn’t believe in soulmates, he’d just never thought about what he’d do if he had one. The topic seemed foreign to him, he’d never actually know anyone who found their soulmate and with the little he’d heard about it, a myth seemed like a good explanation for them.

Zuko knew they were real, soulmates had always been a topic he’d push to the back of his head though.

There were at least 3 ways you could physically know who your soulmate is, not being able to harm them was probably the most common one. You could never hurt them.

Zuko gulped but Sokka didn’t look appalled, just surprised. That was weird, they were on opposite sides.

With wide eyes the blue-eyed boy takes one of Zuko’s wrist between his fingers, holding it with a feathery and calloused touch.

Zuko’s too shocked at what’s going on to stop him.

The admittedly gentle hold could be interpreted as hostile if you wanted, the boy could easily bend his arm back and flip him.

...but at the same time, the touch was pleasant and cool. It was his soulmate that was touching him. His soulmate who was on the opposite side of the war. It was the water tribe boy the whole time.

Zuko’s first thought was something along the lines of, ‘Wow”, because he hadn’t realized it before but Sokka’s eyes, they captured his own and held them, staring with wonder and curiosity and other things Zuko for the life of him couldn’t place. The sharp blue was piercing into him and he had never felt so open to anyone before, like his life was on display for anyone who walked by to see.

Zuko realizes his head is spinning. The only thing he can see is Sokka right now.

Sokka shakes his wrist and Zuko realizes he asked him something.

“Why are you doing this?”, the other boy’s voice is soft now, much softer than before. Unbearably calm and smooth.

With a gulp, Zuko takes in the question and with a raspy voice asks, “Doing what?”

A small frown forms between Sokka’s eyebrows, “Everything, hurting people, trying to get Aang”, Zuko considers it, “He never did anything to you, what’ll you get from capturing him?”

If it was anyone else, Zuko would’ve already attacked them, but he’s frustrated. It’s his soulmate, it’s destiny, right?

“I can go back home if I do”, and it’s true, that’s why he wants the avatar; to go home, to not be constantly moving and searching for the avatar’s whereabouts, and to go back to the Fire Nation where everyone will be proud of him, “To get my honor back”

Zuko’s chest is floating and he feels like he’s in a dream.

“Why don’t you have honor?”, Sokka asks. The question makes him falter.

“I talked back, I was disrespectful”

“That’s stupid, I’ve mouthed off before too” the fingers around his wrist tighten, “I knew it was a mistake and I apologized”

Sokka spoke again, “That’s something you get extra chores for, not banishment”

No, that’s where he was wrong. He had to be. Zuko wanted to throw up as dots clicked together in his head, showing a bigger picture.

Zuko doesn’t know how to answer so Sokka asks another question, whispering in a hushed and soft voice this time, “Do you want to be doing this?”

Want.

Zuko doesn’t know.

“Whenever you decide, our group is open for you to join. You can’t let other people decide what you want, that’s all your choice”

“Ok”

“I promised them both I’d get back to them soon and it would be a huge help if you could stop attacking us” Sokka grimaces a smile.

“You’re going?”

Sokka looks conflicted, “Come with me, you can help us and we can help you”

As tempting as it is, Zuko doesn’t think he can.

“I won’t hurt you”, the words seem right, but Zuko doesn’t know where they came from, they weren’t relevant at all. It was true though, Zuko couldn’t hurt him, he wouldn’t and he knows that.

Sokka rests his other hand on his cheek and Zuko tenses at the touch. It was so gentle, he doesn’t remember the last time he’d felt like this.

“I know you won’t”

Zuko nods, “I’ll see you when I see you then” than as an afterthought, “Bye”

Sokka’s breath tickles his cheek as he pulls Zuko into a hug. His first instinct is to pull away but he melts into the touch after a second. Sokka’s shorter than him by an inch but his arms wrap around Zuko’s neck pulling him in, they cling to him and Sokka warmth presses against him like a wave of euphoria. His arms wrap around Sokka hesitantly and the hug gets even tighter.

Brilliant blue eyes are imprinted into his eyes long after they both part ways.

Pulling at the long sleeves of the red robe, Zuko looks at Sokka to find him snickering.

He’d insisted he could get the large wraps of cloth around him by himself and Sokka had watched him from the bed, laughing the entire time.

“They shouldn't make these so complicated” Zuko huffs.

“It’s your coronation, Zuzu” Sokka doesn’t hide his laughs, “They want you to remember it, and I’m sure this is definitely going to be very memorable”

Zuko rolls his eyes and Sokka gets up, ignoring another round of Zuko’s protests insisting he can do it himself, and grabs a length of the thick fabric, wrapping it around Zuko’s torso over his robe.

Zuko pokes him and Sokka falls to the floor in his dramatics, “You’ve wounded me” he moans, rolling.

Zuko drops next to him, getting even more tangled up in his coronation robe, “I thought I can’t hurt you,’ he laughs.

Sokka looks out from under his arms. “But you did” he whines.

Zuko responds with another laugh, “We should probably get going”

Sokka moves onto his side so that they’re both face to face and kisses him gently.

“You’re going to be a great Fire Lord”

“What if I mess up?”

“You will, but I’ll help you fix it, we all will. Even Toph, probably.”

Resting their foreheads together Zuko stares into Sokka’s eyes again. They’re clear and bright and blue, Zuko loves them.

Zuko loves him.

#zukka week 2021 #zukka #moira writes #my fics #sokka #zuko #atla #atla fanfic #avatar #avatar fanfiction #ao3 #soulmate au #soulmates #sokka/zuko #zukka week #zukka fanfiction

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sunshinelikesavatar · 4 years ago

Text

Here We Are

In which Zuko crashes a ship, ends up very far from home, and meets a Water Tribe woman and her firebending son.

AO3 Link

Lightning blinded Zuko as he scrambled across the small deck of his ship, desperately trying to tie everything down. It would have been hard enough with the storm raging (seemingly out of nowhere), tossing his ship around and threatening to send him to the bottom of the sea, but now—now—

He wished his uncle were here. He wished he was far from this ship, curled up with a scroll as he listened to a storm rage outside, dry and warm. That his mother was alive, that his father wasn’t cruel and callous, that his country wasn’t fighting a pointless war—that he could secure his belongings before he lost them to the waves that crashed over the deck—

The rope that tied him to the ship had saved him at least twice already, and as his feet were swept out from under him again, he clung to it as he was thrown against the mast. He gasped as the breath was knocked out of him and desperately tried to stand. Another wave filled his mouth with saltwater and he coughed and hacked and tried to brace himself against the wood behind him. As the ship tilted, though, he lost his footing and crashed to the ground, clipping his temple on something as he went down.

His last thought before unconsciousness took him was somewhat nonsensical, all things considered:

I hope the tea set doesn’t break.

With a sigh, Zuko nuzzled down into the pillow. What a strange dream that had been, so violent. It felt so real, though. His body hurt and ached like he’d really been thrown around in a storm, and his throat even felt raw, like he’d been coughing up water.

Which is when he started coughing, coughing until the muscles of his chest were spasming and involuntary tears from the pain were leaking down his cheeks and sparks flew between his teeth. Trying to stand to get a drink or something didn’t work—he got as far as kneeling before he had to curl forward, forehead pressed into the pillow. He wondered if he’d die like this, alone and hacking out a lung.

A cool hand rested on his shoulder, incredibly soothing. As it moved, rubbing up and down his back, the urge to cough subsided. That hand should have frightened him, but he was so relieved and distracted from his diaphragm no longer attempting to eject itself from his body that he just focused on breathing, gasping in deep gulps of air.

Exhausted and realizing that he had no idea what was going on, he turned his face on the pillow to blearily blink up at the person kneeling next to him with his good eye. There was a fire lit behind them, though, leaving him only with a person-shaped silhouette. They had been kind, though—this was obviously not his room nor his cabin on the ship, and he was laid out on something comfortable. Warm and dry and not clinging to rope hoping the sea wouldn’t swallow him whole.

He tried to say thank you, but all that came out was a hum. The cool hand on his back moved up to his face, brushing back his hair. “Do you want water?” a woman’s voice asked him and he managed a nod. It took a bit of effort, but between the two of them they managed to get him sitting back on his feet as a cup of cold water was held to his lips.

It was not any easier to see the face of the woman helping him, but he supposed it didn’t matter too much. He cleared his throat, wincing at the burn of it, and rasped out, “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

His eyes fluttered shut as he reveled in the ease of his breaths before shifting around to lay down again, bracing himself with his arm as he went. Curling into the warmth of—were they furs? It felt like furs, soft and fluffy—he told himself he would just rest a little while, just for a few minutes.

Katara watched the man as he slept, considering his face.

He was much more relaxed than he had been when she rescued him from the crashed remains of his boat. She was glad he’d woken up for a little bit to cough the water out of his lungs, even if it had left him crying (and breathing out sparks, and hadn’t that been a surprise?). Gently, she brushed her thumb against his unscarred cheek, wiping the tears away.

This was not a circumstance she could have foreseen. The only Fire Nation ships that came down to the South Pole were navy ships, armed and threatening if not outright invading. This man’s boat had been much smaller, made of wood and not metal. The broken boxes of supplies showed only the normal things one would expect to see on a personal boat: food, clothes (no armor), some trinkets and weapons, an oddly extensive collection of play scrolls, and a carefully packed tea set.

She had sent Kallik to gather up all the things he could and leave them just outside their hut so he wouldn’t disturb the man’s rest. In this particular case, she thought with a frown, perhaps it was for the best that her hut was on the outskirts of the village.

Because it was indeed a Fire Nation man currently sprawled on her bedding, a firebender, nuzzling cutely into the pillow. Pale skin and black hair could be Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation, but those brilliant gold eyes only came from one archipelago, and it wasn’t like earthbenders went around spitting sparks. So here he was, a Fire Nation man, horribly scarred and burned but born of fire nonetheless. The other villagers would not have dragged his limp form from the wreckage to save him, would not have healed his obvious head wound with waterbending or given him comfort as he cleared his lungs, but she had the beginnings of a very, very stupid plan stirring in her mind, and it required the cooperation of a Fire Nation man such as this.

Satisfied that he would rest easy, she turned her attention to his clothes drying by the fire. They were nicely made and no doubt the thin and light fabric was practical near the equator, but the weather further south required wools and furs. Shaking her head, she pulled out an old parka that had recently been given to her from one of the kinder grandmothers of the village and started to mend the obvious problems. If her plan was to work, this man would need a parka, sturdy boots, thicker pants and tunics—all the necessities, really. Even if all signs pointed to him not trying to end up here in the first place.

It was a while before Kallik poked his head through the door and grinned at her before turning his gaze to the sleeping man. He tiptoed over to her and settled by her side. “I got all the stuff I could and put it in the boxes by the door, like you said,” he whispered. “But Mom, who is he?”

She smiled at his impatience, smoothing a hand over his black hair and kissing his forehead. “It’s a surprise, sweetie.”

Kallik rolled his golden eyes and flopped against her. “Ugh, mom, I’m seven now. I’m too old for surprises!”

“Now that is just completely untrue.” She held the fur of the parka a little closer and pursed her lips. She’d probably need to patch the next tear…she set it aside for now, though. “Come on, help me with the bigger things in the wreckage and let him sleep.” Kallik pouted but followed her out.

The next time Zuko woke up, he was feeling much more alert. He could feel the sun’s energy zipping through his blood, high in the sky, calling him to wake and move and get on with the day.

A woman sat by the fire, stirring a pot of something. She turned to him as he pushed himself to a sitting position and smiled. “Hello,” she said, her voice kind and open. “Are you feeling hungry?”

To say he was confused would be to understate the situation. She was...Water Tribe. Very obviously Water Tribe, with dark skin and hair, bright blue eyes, and blue-dyed clothes that looked to be made of thick wool. The hut they were in was lined with hides, with Water Tribe decorations and stylings. And as far as he was aware, people of the Water Tribe didn’t exactly get along with the people of the Fire Nation.

His uncle had told him before to never look a gift ostrich-horse in the mouth, though, so he merely nodded and took the bowl of stew and hunk of bread she passed him. It may have been the effect of surviving the worst storm of his life (he was pretty sure that hadn’t been a dream), but the food was absolutely delicious and he did his best to eat every drop, balancing the bowl on his legs as he used the bread to sop up the soup.

She let him eat in silence, putting a lid on the pot and pulling out some sewing. He watched her work, apparently unconcerned with the strange man sitting no more than four feet away. She was patching the knees of a small pair of pants and making tiny, precise stitches with a smile on her face. When he finished, putting his bowl on the ground by the fire, she put aside her sewing and turned to face him.

“My name is Katara,” she started. “You’re in one of the Southern Water Tribe villages at the South Pole.”

He couldn’t help the incredulous “What?” that burst out of him. What was he doing so far south? Had the storm really blown him so far?

She bit her lip and continued, “Also, your ship is completely wrecked.”

Dismayed, Zuko spluttered. That ship...that ship had taken up all his savings for the past six years to buy, and the first time he took it out for more than a day, he wrecked it?

“No one here knows how to fix a boat like yours,” she was saying, “So even if it wasn’t just firewood at this point, you probably couldn’t leave in it.”

He couldn’t help the slump of his shoulders. This had been his great escape, his plan to start a new life far from his father and sister. A truly inauspicious beginning, he thought with a scowl.

The woman, Katara, got to her feet and brushed off her tunic. “I have a canoe, though, and could take you to a nearby island if you wanted.” And he was baffled by her generosity, to do so much to help a stranger from a nation at war with hers. Before he could thank her, though, she said, “But I do have an alternative proposition for you.”

He leaned back, narrowing his eyes at her. It had been too good to be true after all.

Holding her hands out to the sides, she simply said, “You could stay here.”

And that was...not what he had expected. He cleared his throat, sure he’d misunderstood. “I beg your pardon?”

She sighed and pulled her braid over her shoulder to tug at it. “I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how to sell this to you. To make a long story short—”

Which is when the door to the hut burst open. Years of instinct had him jumping to his feet, arms in ready position. He let them drop as he saw it was a child. “Mom, Mom, Mom, I figured it out, you have to see what I did, I—” The child—a boy—turned to him with—

Golden eyes.

Oh.

He felt a bit sick. He wondered if his conclusions were hasty, though. Maybe...maybe she had happily married a Fire Nation man, who just happened to be out on a trip or something. During a war. In which he knew that there had been several raids on the Southern Water Tribe around the time of this boy’s likely birth date.

Katara’s smile was warm, her eyes crinkling at the edges as she steadied her son from his rush inside. “Kallik, I told you, play outside until I call for you.”

That seemed to startle the boy out of staring at him (at his face, at his arm, and people always seemed to stare) with wide eyes. “Oh! But Mom, I had to show you right away—” He held out his palms, cupped together, and furrowed his brow. A tiny flame popped into existence above his hands. It was, objectively speaking, a sad and flickering little thing, nearly entirely red with lack of heat and threatening to go out with each puff of air as the boy said, “Look, I figured it out! I made it on purpose!”

Which implied that there wasn’t a firebender around to teach him the most basic of firebending skills, such as, say, a loving father figure.

And Katara smiled and hugged her firebending son, kissing his hair. “Sweetie, great job! I knew you could do it! You’ve been practicing so hard. I’m so proud of you.” The boy beamed bright as a sunbeam. Then she laughed and gently pushed the boy out of the hut. “But I was serious about you playing outside! We’ve got some boring grown-up things to talk about.” Kallik groaned and whined but made his way out the door.

It was pretty easy to fit together the few pieces he had. He’d heard about this sort of thing, of soldiers who had so little honor that they would...would…Swallowing (his throat still hurt but he tried to ignore it), he looked at Katara again.

She shrugged and gave him a small smile. “Well, um, that’s my son. He’s...he’s just turned seven and he started...well, firebending.” Biting her lip, she looked towards the door. “There have been a few accidents recently. Nothing deadly or anything, but he gets so excited, and, well…” Here she mimed an expanding fire. “You know.”

He did know. It was something every new little firebender had to learn to deal with, how to temper the flame in your heart so it didn’t burn the world around you. Usually, there were family members, neighbors, teachers, friends, all sorts of people to support them.

Not here, though.

“I’m not...there’s no one here to help him. And I do want to help him, but I don’t know how.”

He almost asked about the boy’s father before he decided that was a terrible ideaand he should not ever bring that up ever, what’s wrong with me? “And you think I could?”

She wiggled her hand in a so-so kind of way. “If you were just here as a teacher, that would be easiest, but the village would hardly accept that. They almost turned me away just because of Kallik.”

Which also implied that this was not her home village, which meant she had either run away, been sent away, or her family was dead and she was alone. All of those options were heartbreaking.

“But...they don’t know the circumstances of Kallik’s, um...of Kallik.” Her face started flushing as she continued, “If I could pass you off as, um, my h-husband, only just able to join us here, that would p-probably work.”

There was already one glaring hole in the plan, though. “Most firebending teachers have both arms,” he managed to get out, turning his gaze to the central fire pit. As it often did whenever it came up, the space where his left arm had once been felt overly conspicuous.

Her hands were wrapped tightly around her braid now as she steadfastly focused on something on the floor. “That might actually, uh, help. You wouldn’t seem as...threatening, that way. And I don’t mean for you to teach him to fight, just to help him control his bending.”

He wondered how he would have reacted to that as a teenager, angry and desperate to prove himself to a father that didn’t care, that he didn’t seem threatening to a village of peasants. And he tried to remember and hold on to his uncle’s words of support, that losing an arm didn’t make him less of a man or a firebender, no matter what people thought. He took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind. “So you want me to live here with you? Pretend to be your husband while I teach your son?” And was he actually considering this as a serious possibility? He hadn’t really had a plan besides “leave the Fire Nation,” after all.

“It sounds so dumb when you put it like that,” she muttered, “but yes, basically.”

And wow, there must be something fundamentally wrong with him as a person, because he didn’t even think before saying, “And it won’t bother you to have a...a Fire Nation man around all the time? With...with how Kallik, um…” He didn’t know how to finish that sentence. Actually, he was fairly sure he should just burn up into ashes on the spot for bringing up the thing that was probably the most traumatic experience of this woman’s life.

Katara was looking at him with eyebrows scrunched together before she gasped and her eyebrows flew up. “Oh! Oh, um, no, that’s...ugh. I’m just so used to talking around it.” She took a deep breath. “Kallik isn’t my biological son. His, uh, real mom, she saw his eyes and decided she didn’t want him. I don’t blame her for that, the situation was terrible. I was supposed to...I don’t know, I don’t really want to think about it. But I...I couldn’t just...leavehim somewhere, and I knew no one in my tribe would want anything to do with raising him after everything, so I...left, I guess. Just sorta packed up and…” She gestured around them at the hut. “Here we are.”

Here she was. A woman who’d left her home and family to raise a son that she hadn’t birthed, a son that had Fire Nation blood singing in his veins.

“That’s what moms do,” he heard his mother say, softly laughing by a pond of baby turtleducklings.

“I think of you as my own,” he heard his uncle say, his hand warm and heavy and comforting on his shoulder.

He cleared his throat. “Can I think about it?” Because yes, he would actually be considering this as a life path. “Maybe take a walk or something?”

Katara bit her lip and moved to one of the chests lining the walls, opening it and rummaging around. “I would like to say yes, absolutely, but people are going to ask who you are as soon as you or I go outside. I’d rather have the story straight right from the start, whether you’re my, um, my husband or just a stranded sailor or something.”

Which made sense. So instead of standing in the sun like he wanted to, he sat next to the fire and stared into the coals. And then he thought and thought and thought.

Katara was almost giddy. He was considering it! He was considering her sort-of silly plan to teach Kallik firebending!

As she sorted through clothes, putting together a pile for the man—

Oh, wait. “I’m so sorry, but I didn’t catch your name.”

The man blinked up at her, startled. “Hm? Oh, my name.” He sighed. “Okay, I’m going to be honest with you too. Just so, you know, no misunderstandings.”

Her stomach started to sink. Was he a criminal or something? Her hand went to the lid of her waterskin, ready to pull out water to defend herself. She hardly knew this man, what had she been thinking?

“I’m running from my family. My dad, he, uh, he did...this.” He gestured to his whole left side and Katara had to swallow back bile. “But he’s been pretty clear that as long as I don’t draw attention to myself or try to mess with anything about the war, he’ll let me...you know, live. So I can’t use my real name.”

She almost asked who his father was before thinking better of it. A powerful (terribly, horribly powerful) bender, apparently connected with the war—likely a general. The “who” didn’t matter so much. Instead, she nodded. “That makes sense. Do you have a name in mind?”

The still-nameless man groaned and rubbed his face. “Maybe Li? There’s a million Li’s…”

Katara laughed. “Well, you might as well pick a name you like. Do you like ‘Li’?”

His grumpy glare very clearly said ‘no.’ He sighed and let his eyes wander around the hut, long fingers tapping on his knee. “How about...Kuzon. Yeah, that’ll work.” He met her eyes and bowed with fist held in front of him. “My name is Kuzon.”

Feeling a bit like she was playing a game, she bowed as well, hands braced against her thighs in Water Tribe fashion. “A pleasure to meet you, Kuzon.”

One corner of his mouth lifted in a smile before he returned to staring at the fire.

At length, after she had straightened up most of the hut and started the non-essential mending, he groaned and twisted around, cracking his neck and stretching. He was like a seal-cat stretching in the sun, she thought with a grin.

With a gusty sigh, he turned to her. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

She blinked in surprise. “You will?”

Nodding, Kuzon got to his feet. “Yeah. I didn’t really have much of a plan besides ‘get away from my psycho family’ to start with anyways, and I like kids. I wouldn’t mind helping you and Kallik out here for a while.”

Certain her grin was a bit too gleeful, she bowed in thanks. “Thank you! And once Kallik has been trained, I’ll help you get wherever you’d like to go, okay?”

He bowed as well. “Sounds like a plan.”

Leaping to her feet, she grabbed Kuzon’s hand and ran out the door. “Let’s go tell Kallik the good news!” She heard an incredulous laugh from behind her, but he ran with her.

They found him on the rocky beach by the wreckage of the ship. “Kallik!” she called, waving him over. “Kallik, I want you to meet Kuzon, he’s—”

Three figures came around the side of the wreck, other villagers. Katara felt her words catch in her throat as she saw their eyes watching with interest. Whatever she said would certainly spread like wildfire throughout their little village. And she realized, as she felt the warmth of Kuzon’s hand still in hers, that she hadn’t really thought this all through.”

“Um, he’s...he’s your f-father.”

#zutara #zutara fanfiction #my writing

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allywrites360 · 5 years ago

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Closed Distance

Written for the prompt ‘Letters’ for Sukka Week 2020!! I had a more serious piece come to mind, but decided to go with this more simple version that doubles as a character study for Suki. Enjoy!!

Suki stretched her arms behind her slightly, shifting her fans into one hand to rotate her sore wrist. She smiled as she stepped back to watch the other warriors go through their forms.

They’d come so far since the end of the war; having fought out in the world and became all the stronger for it. Her chest swelled with pride for every single one of them. After everything they’d been through, they had emerged better.

As her eyes landed on one of the younger warriors, she flicked open a single metal fan, remnant of the ones Kyoshi had once fought with. “Don’t over extend your arm when you strike,” she said, loud enough to speak to the group as a whole. “It leaves you vulnerable for an attack.” She had made that mistake once. Back when she fought the Fire Nation princess.

Swordsmanship had never been the focus of her efforts; it had only meant to be a last ditch effort. And what a last effort it was. She still vividly remembered how her group had been taken down, one by one, leaving them scrambling for any option they could. And she had blown it. She had failed her warriors. Suki would be lying if she said she didn’t still harbour some guilt about that. She was their leader. She was supposed to be unbreakable.

Suki shook her head, calling her attention back to the moment as she ran the movement herself, demonstrating the flow from one strike to the next in quick succession, never hesitating. The other warriors turned their attention back to their own sets, mostly adjusting as she suggested. The best she could do was make them stronger now.

She sighed, resisting the urge to wipe the sweat from her forehead. The last thing she needed was a stained uniform to wash. It was hotter than usual in the dojo today, summer sun pouring in through every window and trapping its’ heat inside the small building. The uniform only made it more suffocating; chainmail is great for protection, not so much for comfort.

Her mind drifted back to when she had first joined the Kyoshi Warriors, after she had given up trying to perfectly follow every order for fear of disappointing her captain. It had been a day just like this, and she had complained about training in their armour when there wasn’t a threat anywhere to be found on the island, larger villages included. She smiled slightly at the memory of the older girl exacerbatedly explained that training with armour got them accustomed to fighting with the added weight. It could always be stripped away, but if they headed into battle, they would need full range of motion in metal.

Suki had been made to give that speech a few times herself to the younger members. Allowing her eyes to dance over the laser focused group once more, Suki stepped just outside the large wooden walled room, hoping for a hint of cooling breeze outside for a moment.

She leaned against the worn railing that outlined the small porch, allowing the sun’s heat to feel calming rather than its’ counterpart. She shut her eyes. The light summer breeze gently swayed the tassels falling form her headpiece, causing them to brush against her cheek. After a few short moments, Suki released a breath that dropped all the tension form her shoulders. She allowed her grip on her fans to loosen, setting them down with a soft noise against the wood.

She allowed her eyes to fall open once again, blinking as they adjusted to the influx of light. It was then that she noticed a messenger hawk perched next to where she was leaning, picking at its’ feathers slightly.

There was a Fire Nation symbol on its’ metal vessel. Her heart started to pick up, hitting against her rib cage. There was a black ribbon flickering in the breeze tied tightly to it.

A black ribbon. Her mind raced as she quickly fumbled to open the tube. Was there trouble in the Fire Nation? More assassins sent after Zuko? Possibilities raced through her head, all worsening the longer she went without reading the letter’s contents.

She unrolled the cracked paper as quickly as her gloves hands would allow, characters set to form whatever inevitable news they held.

‘Suki, have dinner with me tonight?’

She blinked, rereading the simple sentence scrawled in the middle of the page at least twice. She brought her confused gaze back out to the far horizon, hoping a step away from the paper might help the words take meaning.

What she was met with upon looking up didn’t slow her heart in the slightest.

Sokka. Standing in the centre of the small dirt pathway cutting through the sea of vibrant green grass, light dancing over his grin in a way that made the sight look more like an oil painting than reality.

Throwing the letter down, she rushed over to him, immediately enveloping him in a hug. His arms squeezed her back with just as much urgency, pulling her as tight to his chest as he could manage.

She held onto him like he’d disappear at any moment, lips pulling up into a smile as they stood floating in the midst of time for a moment.

“What are- you weren’t supposed to come up till next month,” she said, stepping back to properly look at him. Suki kept her arms holding onto his, not wanting to let go completely.

He shrugged in return, “Couldn’t wait that long.”

He barely had time to finish his sentence before her lips were pressed against his, every single ounce of fire in her poured into the simple action as Sokka gently pulled her in closer. The heat formed a bubble around them, almost thick enough to block out the rest of the world in its’ entirety.

It had been too long since she had seen him, but that distance never really mattered when they reunited. They clicked back into place effortlessly, starting right where they had left off. It was never easy living at a distance from the other, but both of them were willing to put in whatever work it took. What they had was worth it.

When they pulled apart, smears of white and red dotted the skin around Sokka’s lips. She bit back a laugh at that as he made no move to wipe it away. “Y’know, you never answered my question.”

“Ah, yes, the ‘urgent’ news.” She paused slightly, eyes still lingering on his, “I’d love to.”

Sokka leaned down to peck her lips once more, quickly and softly. And underlined by laughter.

The pair whirled around to face the building Suki had fled mere minutes ago, coming face to face with every single one of her elite warriors standing outside watching them. The group was caught in a fit of laughter at seeing the look on their leader’s face as they discovered why she had rushed off so quickly.

Suki didn’t need a mirror to notice the heat rushing to her cheeks. She usually prioritized focus during training, knowing how crucial it was to their success. And yet.

She stepped back from Sokka, turning to fully face the warriors. “Did I say you guys could stop your drills?” she called, voice as level and serious as she could muster.

It didn’t have as much effect as she had hoped. She was never gonna hear the end of this form her girls.

Sighing, Suki started back for the building as the rest filed slowly back inside. “I’ll see you tonight!” Sokka called, voice half overwhelmed by his own laughter as he turned in the other direction.

As Suki stepped back onto the wooden platform, boots lightly echoing against it, in spite of her embarrassment, a smile forced its’ way back onto her lips as she once again began training.

#atla #sukka #sukka week #Sukka Week 2020 #sokka #suki

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middleofnowhere92 · 4 years ago

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@imnotginnyweasly requested Ty Luko for my ATLA Valentine’s Day one shots I got so excited to write my fav OTP my hand slipped and it’s gonna be a two shot. Chapter two will be up soon.

The Worst Morning After (Chapter 1)

Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Ty Lee/Zuko (Avatar), Ty Lee & Zuko (Avatar) Additional Tags: Morning After, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Modern Era Summary: Ty Lee and Zuko wake up together. It goes downhill from there.

Read on ao3 or below the cut

Notes: It might seem implied that they had sex, but we'll find out if anything happened in chapter 2.

Ty Lee blinked awake as the sun starting to filter in through the blinds. Well, she tried to blink awake. Her mascara had effectively glued her eye shut. She sniffed the air. This didn't smell like her Bath and Body Works air freshener. This place smelled like mahogany, maybe? She rubbed at her eyes and was finally able to get them open. She glanced around. Yeah, she definitely hadn't made it home last night. The bedroom was sparse. A few traditional Fire Nation art works hung on the walls. At least this guy had a clean room, or was it a girl? Geez, she must have had a few last night. Well, either way, it didn’t really matter. It was time to go. She scanned the bedroom one more time. Her dress was on the floor by the door, but where in the Spirits were her shoes...

The person shifted next to her in bed. Shit! She had missed her window to escape. Ty Lee was pretty good with people, but sometimes she just wanted to hit and run. She wasn’t in the mood to tell her life story. She should just leave now before they fully woke up. The only problem was her dress was all the way over there… She chewed at her lip trying to figure a way out of this.

Suddenly, the other person got up and out of bed. She screwed her eyes shut to feign sleep. She heard their footsteps walk away, followed by a door shutting and the shower turning on. Perfect! This is the opportunity she needed.

She bounced up and out of bed, the cool air making her very awake. She scurried over to her dress. She picked up the pink glittery number and started to wiggle in. She forgot how tight this stupid thing was. She bounced up and down, the floor boards creaking, as she pulled the dress over her thighs. The fabric finally bent to her will and she was able to pull it all the way up. She bit her lip as she twisted her arm in an inhumane way to pull the zipper up.

She pulled and pulled, but the zipper wouldn’t budge. She sucked in as much as she could and it finally pulled up. She spun around looking for her pink glittery heels. They had to be in here somewhere. She glanced to the other person’s side of the bed, but nope. There was just a pair of black jeans crumpled on the floor.

Okay, it was time for her to go further into this person’s living place in her quest. She pressed her ear to the door for any sign of roommates. She heard nothing, so she took a deep breath and opened the door as slowly and quietly as she could. She poked her head out, looking each way before opening the door fully.

She tip toed out into the apartment, scanning for the pink glittery shoes. They were six inch heels for Spirits’ sake. They shouldn’t be that hard to find, especially in this neutral decor situation. This apartment was actually really nice and modern. A little too blah for her taste, but definitely nice. She slunk through the kitchen and hurriedly crossed to the living room, when she spotted them next to the couch. She grinned gleefully as she hopped on one foot as she shoved the other in her heel.

Once both heels were on, she decided this was the perfect opportunity for escape. She stepped on the balls of her feet to avoid her heels hitting the floor. She made a plan to call an Uber as soon as she got in the hallway, except… She huffed her bangs out of her face. Where in the spirits was her phone?

Okay, she just had to be quick. Get it and get out. She hurriedly teetered in her heels across the apartment looking for her phone case covered in pink rhinestones. It had to be around here somewhere. She crammed her small hands in the couch, not feeling anything. She groaned, but scampered through the kitchen, looking over the counter top. She was about to head back to the bedroom, when she turned back to the kitchen, grabbed a bag of fireflakes and then continued with her mission. She could never pass on fireflakes.

She stepped in the bedroom and narrowed her eyes in search of her phone. She shook out the comforter, but no luck. She picked up the pillows, but couldn’t find anything. She looked on the desk, side of the bed, but came up empty. Finally she decided to look under the bed.

She wiggled under the bed. At least it was clean under here too. She saw the glimmer of her bedazzled phone even in the darkness under the bed. She reached her arm out and she hit her phone, sending it sliding across the hardwood floor. She wiggled further under the bed stretching her arm out, if she just had longer fingers. She made grabby hands, but the phone stayed just out of her reach. She was so focused on getting her phone, she was startled when someone cleared their throat and in a raspy voice asked, “Uh, do you need help?” She let out a light scream at the fright, her head bouncing up and hitting the bed frame.

“Oww!” She groaned. This person had the audacity to snort at her predicament. She glowered, “Are you laughing at me?” They answered breathily, “No…” as they failed to keep their laughter out of their voice. She glared up at them through the mattress. They offered, “Uh, do you need me to pull you out?” She rolled her eyes, “Absolutely not! I can-” As she shimmied out from her under the bed, her extremely tight dress chose that exact moment to rip from the bottom to the middle of her back.

As she heard the loud tear of the fabric, she realized what happened and wanted to burst into tears. This by far was the worst, most awkward, humiliating morning after she had ever endured. She let her head thunk against the hardwood floor, wishing it would swallow her up. It’s not like she had any dignity left anyway. She sniffled and Raspy Voice interjected, “Oh, um don’t cry. It’s okay. We’ll get you out.” Couldn’t they just be quiet? She didn’t need to be reminded that there was a witness to the least graceful moment of her life.

She shoved herself out of the bed. When she got out she huffed and sat on the floor, her back against the bed. She glanced around, but the other person wasn’t there. They stepped back into the room and Ty Lee tried her best not to stare. He gave her a small smile and handed her a red towel, “Uh, here you can, uh, shower if you want.” He went to the dresser, “You can wear some of my stuff, it might be a little big, but, um-” “It’ll be better than this right?” She asked as she wrapped the towel around her waist to cover the giant rip in her dress.

He gave her the same tight lipped smile, “Uh, yeah.” He gestured to the door off his bedroom, “Bathroom’s over there.” She thanked him and then slunk into the bathroom to escape the awkwardness. Well, he by far was the prettiest person she had ever gone home with. Sure he had a large scar over the left side of his face, but he was really really good looking. In the brief glimpse that she had gotten, she had noticed how tall and built he was. His wet black hair had been thrown up in a top knot, a few pieces hanging down in his face. He had just been wearing sweats and a v-neck, but you could still see the muscular build underneath and the tattoos that crawled down his arms.

She cleared her head of the thoughts and cranked the shower on, turning the water as hot as possible. She looked in the steamy mirror to see her gray eyes surrounded in smudged glitter and eyeshadow, giving her the appearance of a raccoon in drag. Her braid was frizzy and her baby hairs were a mess. She looked like shit. Guess she wouldn’t be seeing this guy again. She dropped the towel, then her dress and undid her braid.

She stepped in the hot water, letting it scald her. She closed her eyes, feeling the hot water wash away her sins from the night before. She leaned her head back letting her thick hair become absorbed and heavy with water. She turned, scrubbing the mess of makeup off her face. She stayed in the shower until the hot water ran out, attempting to avoid the inevitable.

She reluctantly stepped out of the shower, wrapping the towel around herself. She put some tooth paste on her finger and got rid of the taste of last night. She poked her head out and found the bedroom empty, but a black pair of boxer briefs, a worn Blink 182 t-shirt, a black Thrasher hoodie and a pair of black sweats were laid out on the bed. At least he was kind of nice, she thought to herself. She dried herself and hung the towel up. She heard voices on the other side of the door, one being the hot guy from earlier and the other sounded like a woman on speaker phone.

The girl asked, “So how’d it go last night Sparky? Finally get some?” The guy snorted, “Can we not talk about this?” His friend brushed it off, “Give me something juicy! It’s literally the only reason I called you.” The guy sounded like he was shuffling around in the kitchen as he responded, “I thought you were gonna let me know whose place we were doing your Anti-Valentine's day at later.” The other person answered, “Well duh, your place obviously.” Raspy Voice answered, “Spirits no! There’s pink glitter all over the place.” The other voice answered, “Glitter! What in the Spirits did you take home with you last night?” The guy awkwardly cleared his throat and said, “The line’s breaking up! I can’t hear you. Gotta go. Bye!”

Ty Lee bit her lip to keep her laugh in. He seemed like a nice enough guy. His words reminded her that right, today was Valentine's Day. The sun had barely risen, but this day was even worse than the Valentine's day that Haru had broken up with her. Last night, she had gone out for a fun night with Aang and Suki to forget that they were single, but it had somehow spiraled into the disaster of a situation she was currently in. She shook her head and put on his borrowed clothes. She finger combed her thick, impossibly long hair, but she didn’t have the energy to attempt to braid it right this minute. She braced herself and opened his bedroom door. His back was turned to her as he opened and closed kitchen cabinets.

Even though she hadn’t made any noise, he seemed to sense her. He called over his shoulder, “I got your phone out from under the bed. It’s on the charger.” He pointed to it with an empty cereal box, that he then tossed in the recycling. She bounced over and saw the many, many missed calls and text messages from Suki and Aang. She groaned thinking about all the questions she would have to deal with the next time she saw them. And she spotted her bag of fireflakes from earlier, perched right next to her phone. She snuck the little bag into the hoodie pocket.

The guy looked over at her and asked, “Wanna come get breakfast with me?” She looked at him wide eyed like a deer startled by a hunter, “Oh, I don’t want to intrude.” She couldn’t possibly go out in public like this . She was already horrified that he had seen her without make up, looking like a half dead zombie. She couldn’t have anyone else witness how utterly disgusting she looked. He just shrugged, “I was gonna go anyway, since I have nothing to eat here.”

Oh. So he didn’t really want her to come. That was fine. She couldn't blame him. She tried to answer in a nonchalant tone, “I ordered my Uber. I should really head home.” He turned to finally look at her. She had never felt so self conscious, his golden eyes seemed to be able to see every flaw in her appearance, as he took in her disheveled form. She became weirdly embarrassed as he glanced down at her pink glitter painted toes. He walked away and answered, “My half sister left some crocs here. They’ll probably fit you.” He came back holding a pair of white crocs that did actually look like they would fit.

She slipped into them and his oversized long sweatpants cascaded over them. She looked up at him sheepishly, feeling a pink blush tint her cheeks, “I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” She unplugged her phone and scooped up her heels while he grabbed a burgundy hoodie. She followed him out of the apartment and down the stairs. The cold February air gave Ty Lee a chill. She tucked her long damp hair into the hood and pulled it up. He glanced at her, “Oh, fuck. Sorry. I should have given you a hat or something.”

The two stood there in awkward silence. Ty Lee turned staring off into the distance praying this Uber would get here soon. Couldn’t this guy just walk wherever he was going and leave her to sulk in her walk/ride of shame?

Thankfully, the Spirits took pity on her and her ride pulled up. She gave Hot Guy a small nod, not wanting to really acknowledge him and her embarrassment, and then got in. As the driver pulled away, he began chattering about his cabbage farming business. Ty Lee stared out the window, trying to forget this terrible morning. She opened the bag of fireflakes for comfort as they got further and further away from the scene of her horrifying morning.

#poor ty lee #ty luko #ty lee x zuko #mids atla rarepair oneshots

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awkwardpenguinproductions · 5 years ago

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Okay I’m sure you’ve gotten asked about this before but how would Zuko interact with Jet assuming he was with the gang in their first meeting with him?

You’re the first one, Nonny! 🎉

So I started writing this at 12:45am my time, and finished at around 1:30pm my time. Total active writing time was probably about 3, 3.5 hours? Honestly, that kind of turnaround is unheard of for me, but IDEK, I saw this ask and this popped nearly fully formed into my head.

Nemesis

The smarmy jerk’s got style, Zuko will give him that. He still rubs Zuko the wrong way––instincts honed over years spent in the company of soldiers recognize bloodlust regardless of how well it disguises itself under smooth charm. He and Sokka exchange irritated glances, but both Aang and Katara are googly-eyed, and if half the squad is dug in, the rest aren’t going anywhere.

The hideout’s pretty cool. Zuko can appreciate the strategic genius of the location; the trees are so tall and the canopy so thick that there’s very little chance of the Freedom Fighters (oh Agni what a stupid name) being discovered––firebenders like to be rooted, and that preference informs almost all of Fire Nation military tactics, so it’ll be a rare Fire Nation soldier that would think to look up for his enemy. That speech, though... Zuko shivers and prays to Agni, Tui, La, and the Four Winds that his new squad has the sense to keep Zuko’s firebending confidential.

The guy’s a nutcase. The elder he’s just assaulted was barely able to stand up without the cane Jet had swiped out from under him, and now he’s on the ground and Zuko has a rappel line ready but for once Sokka beats him to the punch, leaping from the perch like a diving eagle-hawk. The Water Tribe warrior catches Jet’s foot with his club as it swings towards the elder’s face, and Zuko lands behind his squadmate just as Jet snarls “remember why you fight” in Sokka’s face. When they return to the hideout and Sokka tells Katara and Aang what had happened, Jet fucking lies to their faces—if that elder had actually been an assassin, Zuko will snap his bow in half and join the Imperial Firebenders.

Zuko is awake at dawn (he is a firebender after all) so he clearly hears the whispers outside the hut. Sokka hears them as well, and without a word they both slip out and follow Jet and his cronies to a cliff overlooking a nearby village and the dam that protects it. Zuko knew Jet was bloodthirsty, but wiping out an entire village just to get rid of half a garrison’s worth of soldiers? Gaipan, Zuko remembers from reading pilfered reports back at the Stronghold, is barely worth the ink that marks it on the maps. Wiping it out wouldn’t do a single thing to uproot the Fire Nation’s foothold in the Earth Kingdom. And the guy’s bullshit excuse about the demands of war makes Zuko want to either laugh hysterically or breathe fire. This kid has no idea about the demands of war; he’s just lashing out at what he perceives as monsters.

But he’s too dangerous to be pitied, and too steeped in fear and rage to be reasoned with. When Sokka refuses to go along with their plan, and Zuko makes his opinion clear by spitting in the nutcase’s face with all of the precision trained into him by the Yuyan, Jet orders Pipsqueak and Smellerbee to take them on a “long walk”. Their hands are tied behind their backs, and Smellerbee jolts them into motion with the poke of a dagger.

As they walk, Zuko is itching to fight; the odds are much better now that it’s two on two, even accounting for Pipsqueak’s size. But a single look from Sokka banks his fire. The Water Tribe warrior is subtly leading them in a specific direction, so sublty that even Zuko hadn’t noticed until just that moment.

Sokka suddenly speaks, it’s a signal, and Zuko watches carefully for signs of what to do. He knows that Sokka is going to break left the second the other boy shifts his weight, and they turn and run in unison, so suddenly that their captors are left behind to shout and give chase. Zuko immediately sees where Sokka is going with this—the same traps they had discovered yesterday are primed and waiting. The two Freedom Fighters bumble into the traps and get snapped up like hog-monkeys, and Zuko smirks as he easily snaps the shoddy vine-rope with a flex of his arms. Even spitting mad, a blush spreads across Smellerbee’s face, and Sokka laughs as he easily undoes his own bindings.

“While you’re up there and daydreaming about how ripped Zuko is, you might want to practice your knotwork,” he quips, and Zuko cuffs him under his stupid wolf-tail.

As they sprint back towards the hideout, Sokka breathlessly outlines his plan. There’s no time to argue, and Sokka isn’t yet advanced enough in Yuyan hand-language to understand him anyway, so Zuko agrees, and they pack up Appa’s saddle and race to the village. Zuko and Appa drop Sokka off to get the villagers evacuated, and then return to the hideout to pick up Aang and Katara.

Who aren’t in the hideout.

Shit.

It’s hard for Appa to punch his way through the forest’s dense canopy, and by the time they find a hole big enough for him to get through without scraping the saddle and half the fur off his back, they’re much farther from the resevoir than Zuko wants to be. They fly back as fast as Appa can manage, but the resevoir’s full, the blasting jelly is in place, and Zuko can hear a birdcall whistling through the air. Another call answers it.

A burning arrow arcs through the sky, too far away for Zuko to shoot it down. All he can do is watch.

The dam explodes.

The village floods.

Agni, please let Sokka have gotten them out in time. Please let Sokka have gotten out in time.

Heartsick, burning with fury, he directs Appa over the flooded remains of the village, following the flow of the water. There are no bodies, but that means nothing. Until they round a bend, and then it means everything.

Sokka is waving his arms and jumping around like a maniac, grinning from ear to ear, jubilant in his plan’s success. Behind him stand the entirety of the village’s residents, Earth Kingdom natives and Fire Nation colonists and soldiers. Zuko returns Sokka’s grin, and holds out an arm for the other boy to hoist himself up on Appa’s head. Sokka waves to the people, and everyone but a few shell-shocked soldiers cheer. Zuko spots the elder from the day before, tears in his eyes as he bows shakily to the two boys.

They find Katara, Aang, and Jet just inside the treeline atop the cliff. Jet is frozen to a tree, and Katara is shouting at him furiously, tears flowing down her cheeks. Aang is sitting on the forest floor with his big, stormy gray eyes staring at Jet like the asshole had broken his heart. Zuko’s fury reignites at Aang’s expression, and he glares at Jet and wishes that he could roast the bastard to ash with the strength of his gaze alone. The flinch Jet can’t supress at the sight of Zuko is satisfying enough, he supposes.

Aang and Katara climb into Appa’s saddle, Momo flutters down to wrap around Aang’s shoulders, and Sokka flicks the reins. The bison roars and lifts off, drowning out the furious, insane screams of the would-be terrorist of Gaipan. Looking at the faces of his squad, Zuko knows that this was a lesson that needed to be learned, but it was a cruel one, and he’s not looking forward to the debrief. For now, though, he’s content to act as comfort for shellshocked Aang and miserable Katara, and smirk when Aang points out to Sokka that they’re flying the wrong way.

And I wasn’t even planning on writing a Jet redux. “Jet” comes before “The Blue Spirit” in the series continuity, which, spoilers, is when I’m planning for Zuko to join Team Avatar, so in my outline (really more of a list with a one sentence summary/prompt, some of which I look back at and go “????” because I can’t really remember what sparked each one in the corresponding ep) Zuko and Jet don’t meet until Ba Sing Se. But to be perfectly frank— “Jet” was a filler episode. It introduced the character and his motivations, but it could’ve appeared anywhere in Book 1 and been perfectly effective. So, this takes place a week or two after “The Blue Spirit”, or at least the Dragon ‘verse version thereof.

I’ll post a more polished version of this to AO3 this weekend, but I hope this answered your question, Anon!

#atla #atla fandom #atla fanfic #dragon of the yuyan #awkpenproductions presents #oops my hand slipped

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mykingdomforapen · 5 years ago

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Decade of Fics 2010-2019

Hello! Since it is nearly 2020 and I am OLD, a look back on the fanfictions (and occasional non-fanfictions) I wrote in this decade, and some snippets of hints of scenes that come to my mind first when I think of that year of writing. In some ways, I would say these would be snippets or moments of writing that I feel most attached to.

2010: One Step to Amity (Axis Powers Hetalia)

Alfred nodded wordlessly. She said nothing as she turned away from him and walked slowly down the river. She bent down after she put some distance between her and him. Alfred suddenly felt an urge inside of him to reach out to her.

"Vietnam—"" he started to say.

"Look, America," she suddenly spoke up. She was holding something pale in her hands. He frowned slightly before walking up to her and bending down next to her. Vietnam held up a mauve lotus to his eyes. It was so delicate that Alfred thought it would positively crumble if he merely exhaled at it. The petals were so fragile that it seemed that God had crafted it by merely painting with a thin brush in midair.

"During the war, most of these died," she said quietly. "From all the chemicals and the fires. I thought they would never grow back again. I thought all of that was just too much."

She offered the lotus to Alfred. He hesitated; what if it died in his hands? In the end, he finally let her gently place the flower in his palm. He could barely feel its weight, but the petals were smooth and wet on his skin. She lifted her eyes to his.

"But they did grow again," she said. "Even after all that, they still bloom. They always do in the end."

2011: Seven Pieces of Chalk (Axis Powers Hetalia)

“If I hadn’t missed your call and answered the phone, what would you have said to me?” Arthur demanded. “Would you have just hung up?”

“I don’t know.”

“You didn’t call me just because you felt like it. You should be asleep now, of all things. Why aren’t you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Something’s bothering you, right? Can’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know.”

Arthur quieted. Gilbert wouldn’t look at Arthur, hiding his face in the shadows. The moonlight reached only half of the room where Arthur sat, leaving Gilbert obscured in the darkness. Arthur sat still for a moment before reaching toward Gilbert’s cell phone, which was lying underneath his swivel chair.

“Hey.”

When Gilbert looked toward Arthur, Arthur tossed his phone to him. Gilbert quickly caught it, slightly confused. Arthur pulled out his own cell phone.

“Call me,” Arthur said sternly. Gilbert gave him a perplexed look. “Let’s get back to the start, about forty-five minutes. Call me, and we’ll pretend that I picked up my phone first.”

Gilbert almost declined. He would have too, if it was any other person—any other night than this one—but to both his surprise and Arthur’s, he flipped open the phone and pressed the dial button. As Arthur’s ringtone blared, Gilbert retreated deeper into the shadows. Arthur hesitated before picking up the phone.

“Hello?” Arthur said. Gilbert fixed his gaze on the carpet.

“Arthur?” Gilbert said.

2012: Syrgja (Avengers/MCU)

And when no one spoke, when Natasha could think of Loki and Loki only, she remembered that all of their minds were connected alongside their lives. She heard each of their thoughts as they hoped, as they waited and prayed for Loki’s return.

Brother, come back to us, please—

Loki, you can do it, I know you can, just keep breathing—

Loki, you bastard, don’t give up on us now—

Keep fighting, Loki, just keep fighting and help will come—

Come on, Bambi, you’re stronger than this, you can do it—

She did not hesitate in thinking this—she did not care if the others heard, so long as Loki did. So long as Loki knew without a doubt.

I love you, Loki.

2013: spring will come (Thor/MCU)

“So I guess,” said Thor, “that scars heal in time, too. It’s kind of sad and beautiful, that no matter what life goes on.”

Jane reached over and put her hand on his. She felt every callous, every vein. She grazed her thumb over the knuckles.

“Are you cold?” said Thor. “Let’s have coffee.”

2014: Jacob and Esau say their goodbyes (Thor/MCU)

"I said that I have no side," Loki says. "And yet I always find myself by Thor's."

2015: Though she may forget (Thor/MCU)

“You sat on Asgardian gold all your life,” Byleistr says, “where all the realms and races throw themselves at your feet because you are of AEsir family, your throne of riches and fortune, of safety and security, of approval and want—you never knew what it meant to be a Jotun, to fear for your life when someone of another realm comes across you, even when you are at in your own homeland, fearing they might cut you down for sport. You don’t know what it means when none of the realms will even look at you, because to them you are foul and savage and monstrous, and we can’t pull on costumes and masks like you can to pretend, for a moment at the very least, that we can walk out of our realm and not be killed.”

Byleistr wipes his lips with the back of his hand. Loki cannot bring himself to look at Byleistr in the eyes. He cannot bring himself to move much at all. Byleistr’s words have the same effect as the snow, the cold that Loki never admitted that he was unbothered by—numbing.

“You think you wish you were never born a Jotun,” Byleistr says. If an Asgardian’s eyes are red, it means they shall fill soon with tears. Loki realizes that with Jotun, when tears threaten to fall, they have a tinge of violet, as if even colors grow cold inside them. “You’ve never been Jotun in your life.”

2016: Better Than Seven Sons (Original Fiction)

I grabbed a fistful of his hair, right in the middle. Angus closed his eyes, and no one else really seemed to grasp that this was far more significant than an impulsive a-shave-a-quid moment but us two. I wanted to back out, suddenly—sorry, Angus, can’t do it, can’t bring myself to do it. I love your hair, Angus, I love recognising it, I love it because now it’s a symbol of pre-tumour, pre-surgery, pre-illness and from here on out we would be thrown into the uncertainty that comes with losing it and cutting open your skull. But you saw this differently, not a symbolic goodbye, but having the last laugh, and I needed to forget my own point of view.

“Count me down,” I said.

“Really now?” said Angus.

“Five!” I said.

“Four!” Others joined me. I thought someone would shake up a bottle of champagne for this, let out some firecrackers.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

2017: a land flowing with milk and honey (Thor/MCU)

“You know who that is,” says Heimdall. “Even if he decides not to kill us all, enslaving us will be the kindest gesture.”

“Well,” says Loki. “That’s surviving, isn’t it?”

The ship jerks violently, and Heimdall and Loki stumble, clutching at the dashboard to keep on their feet. Loki turns sharply to Heimdall, who does not trust him, who has absolutely no reason to. He has just watched Loki shove Thor into a pod and sent him shuttling to Norns only know where, but he cannot read Loki’s mind or intentions.

“Don’t you trust Thor?” says Loki. In spite of everything, he smiles. “I do.”

2018: Lovable (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

“Do you really hate me, Azula?” Zuko said.

That sentence already made his stomach turn, and he could feel a lump form in his throat that threatened to choke him if he did not scream it out. He had to gather himself first before he could continue, although his breath still shook.

“For almost our entire lives,” said Zuko. “Even if you were just following Father’s example. Why did you still hurt me when he wasn’t watching?”

He clenched his teeth, because he was beginning to raise his voice already. Just remembering it and saying all of this out loud was like stabbing himself repeatedly in the gut. Azula did not react to any of it. And it was painful for Zuko to admit it to himself. He had thought maybe one day, they would talk about their past and their present. And for the first time he would finally tell her how unsafe he felt around her. And when he finally told the truth, that she would care. Maybe she would feel sad, or guilty, or even apologize to him, and then he could look at her without immediately getting upset for the first time.

But this was not what he came here for.

Zuko approached the bars and reached a hand through them. The bars caught him at his elbow, and his fingertips could only skim the ends of Azula’s hair strewn over the stone. He did not want to ask all of this from Azula anymore; whatever groveling, repentance, devastation and shame that he may have fantasized before. He did not want to wait for any of these, nor let it stop him from what shall come next.

“I love you, Azula,” Zuko said. “If I go, would you believe me?”

2019: Find me after the victory (Dunkirk/Arguably can be historical fiction)

So they sat on the floor of Peter’s bedroom, cups of tea in hand and a longing to be human as destroyers lined the beaches of England, ready to be boarded. They talked until the pot of tea cooled between them, about Peter’s school getting destroyed by the bombs, about Tommy’s sisters whom he missed, about Alex’s old London haunts that no one knew if they were still standing, about a home whose soil they walked on but was still miles and miles away.

“You’re all going back very soon, aren’t you?” Peter said after a brief pause, when they took a moment to collect their breaths. “Back to the mainland to fight.”

Tommy said nothing, but his gaze flickered towards Alex. Peter pressed his lips together, with a heaviness in his heart that he could not name. He suddenly remembered the last day of his brother’s last furlough, and how in hindsight he would comb over every detail of his brother’s day, the way he helped Dad with the ropes of the Moonstone and how Mum straightened his tie, and how he punched Peter lightly on the shoulder and told him to take care of Mum and Dad, and that Peter was free to borrow his books and football so long as he did not mess anything up in his room. They would have a football rematch when he returned, his brother promised.

Peter wished he could remember every quiet moment, seen and unseen, of his brother, if only he had known at the time that it would be the last. But to know God’s timing was too much for humans to bear, as Peter looked Tommy and Alex in the eye and be forced to accept that these boys with whom he reunited after four years might leave tomorrow and die.

“Don’t worry, Dawson,” Alex said. “We won’t let you down this time.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Peter said, and he did not know what else to say.

When the clock in the living room chimed, Alex and Tommy exchanged a heavy, knowing glance. Peter already knew before Tommy said that they ought to get going. They were not going to come round again tomorrow, and probably not for a very long time.

Peter felt a sudden, overwhelming desire to be a hundred meters tall, to sweep Tommy and Alex and all the other young soldiers that Peter knew and did not know into his arms and shield them from oncoming bombs and bullets. He wanted to die for each and every one of them, to protect them from further pain and devastation and keep them safe, but he was just a young man and that would be impossible. And if Peter remembered what Reverend James taught him, it was that someone else felt the same way already, and did just that.

#LC writes #ish

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thewokewordsmith · 7 years ago

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Out of the Lightning Dream

Please enjoy this Zutara one shot that was written as a direct result of my not being able to sleep.

“You had the nightmare again didn’t you?” Iroh asks.

“Yes! I was too slow.” Zuko says out loud. “Too slow.” He repeats almost to himself this time. It was only a nightmare, but it felt so real. He was a step behind, only a step behind and he was too late. One step behind and he was unable to stop Azula's lightning. He tries to catch his breath but it’s a task that feels next to impossible when his rapidly beating heart will not go back to it’s normal pace and the sound of the blood rushing in his ears makes his head feel as if it’s ballooning in and out. If he didn't know any better he would swear that he was having a heart attack. The thin layer of sweat that covers him almost feels like acid burning away at his skin. Stripping him of all comforting and rational thoughts. It isn't real. It isn't real. It isn't real. He repeats to himself over and over in his mind. It isn't real.

The image of Katara being struck by lightning while he could only stand there and watch plays through his mind over and over. Whether his eyes are closed or opened he can see her lifeless body falling to the ground. He can hear the thud as her body makes impact with the pavement. The sound in his head makes him feel sick. Makes him want to vomit but his stomach is too tight too knotted up for anything to come out. Not real. It's not real. None of it is real. It's just a nightmare.

Not once since the day he fought his sister has he ever had a nightmare about the lightning hitting him. Even when he tries to think about it all he can recall is a bright flashing light and the pain, and then Katara's hands on him softer than a butterfly. As soft as the day she touched his scar in the crystal catacombs.

When he thinks about Katara on that unforgiving day it's different. At night when he closes his eyes he knows it won't be long before the nightmare begins. The memories of Katara saving him are soft warm and fuzzy. The thoughts about him saving Katara are cold, hard, and sharp. Like Azula's lightning. Like her laughter. That shrill high pitched maniacal laughter that loops endlessly through his mind. “I'll show you lightning.” Those words may as well be burned across his chest right along with the scar his sister gave him. “I'll show you lightning.” She had shown him all right. She had shown him the price of his own arrogance. He knew that his sister was unbalanced that day. Still he had to mock her. Had to go for the hurt instead of the take down. He'd goaded her even though he knew her history of striking out at the very people that he loved most in the world. She'd done it first with their uncle and then with Katara.

“Drink this.” His uncle says and hands him a cup of jasmine tea. “You will feel better.”

He would feel better if he could see Katara. He knew she was all right but he still needed to see that she was all right not just physically, but mentally. What kind of scars that he couldn't see had that final battle with his sister left on Katara? If he asked her about them would she tell him, or did she resent him as much as he resented himself for putting her in the position where a split second decided whether she lived or died.

He took the cup of tea from his uncle and the cup rattled against the saucer as his hand shook. He was still wound up and nauseous as the memory of the dreams worked their way through his system like a bad infection.

“She is safe because of you not despite you.” His uncle says. He always seemed to know what toxic thoughts were turning over and over in his mind.

“I shouldn't-.”

“The war is over there is no need to still try and fight the battle.”

He wants to tell his uncle that it's easy for him to say. He isn't the one who has the image of holding a dying Katara in his arms. Her eyes looking up at him full of pain and sadness as she wonders why he didn't save her.

“Why didn't you save me?" Katara says to him in his dreams. "I thought you would protect me. I thought you would save me the way that I saved you.” In the background his sister is still laughing.

“Strike me too!” He yells at her in his dream. “This isn't fair. You have to strike me too!”

She doesn't. Of course she doesn't. This is a nightmare. His nightmare and to live in a world where Katara dies as a result of his carelessness is of course a nightmare.

“Have you ever talked to Katara about what happened that day?”

“No uncle.”

“Perhaps your nightmare and Katara's nightmare are one in the same.” His uncle suggest. “Getting your feelings out in the open might do both of you good. You wouldn't want her to keep feeling the way that you are feeling right now would you?”

“No. Of course not uncle.” He takes a sip of tea. It's heated to the perfect temperature like always. His uncle knew he would have this nightmare again and was waiting near by and ready to deal with the aftermath. What would he do without his uncle? Besides his mother no one else had ever loved him unconditionally. He was an uncle only in name. In every other way he was a father. Zuko closes his eyes as the warmth of the tea flows through his body. It reminds him of a hug from his mother. From Katara. The thought about her having the same nightmares about not being able to save him unsettles him. He doesn't want her losing sleep over something that is his fault.

“I think I'll go for a walk.” He says. “Maybe it will help me clear my head.”

His uncle has set out a bucket of water for him. Probably to ladle out a glass of water for him should he need something to drink, but he takes the bucket and pours it over himself to wash away the sick sweaty feeling. To wash away the memories of his nightmares.

“Thank you uncle for always being here when I need you.”

“You are welcome Prince Zuko.”

He slips into his dress robes and shoves his feet into his boots and steps out into the cool night air. No one save for him is about the palace grounds and for that he is extremely grateful. He doesn't want to be seen by anyone right now. He enjoys the way the shadows swallows him up whole. Nothing to see. He makes his way towards the Royal Gardens. The Royal Gardens were always a favorite place of his. His father thought it odd that a boy his age would want to spend so much time among the flowers, but his father never learned to appreciate the beauty of the world. His father didn't care for art beyond collecting it as a show of power and wealth. The Royal Gardens were no different. He only tolerated them because they were home to some of the rarest flowers in the world but beyond that he could careless about them.

Zuko on the other hand appreciated every single flower in the gardens and the skill and care it took to grow them all. The gardens weren't just a display of power and wealth. They weren't merely a display of beauty either. The gardens were also a display of love. Just the smallest touch could have the biggest effect upon a flower. One touch could cause a flower to wilt or bloom. Every time Katara touched him Zuko felt like he was blooming because every time she had touched him it had been with the utmost care. It shamed him that he could not claim the same. He thought about all the times he'd handled her roughly not caring if she wilted or not. He had tried to do everything in his power to make up for the times he had not handle her with care but he offend wondered was it enough?

He had risked his life to save hers but he felt it was the very least that he could do. She owed him nothing but still she stayed here in the Fire Nation to ensure that he healed from his wounds properly. Was it duty keeping her here or perhaps something more? Stop it. Zuko said to himself. It was foolish and selfish to even think that way. She was here to heal him and nothing more. Aang was the one she wanted to be with and he couldn't fault her for that. Katara would never be his girl and he had no one but himself to blame.

He sighed. This walk was supposed to be clearing his head but it was doing anything but. He should have been focusing on the flowers. He walked along the rose section of the gardens. The fire ember roses were the first to be displayed. They were a favorite of his. The huge blooms were double ruffled like angel face roses, but their petals glowed like burning embers that sparked a fire. Azula had like to step on the roses. Crushing the head of the flowers so she could watch them stop glowing like that of the embers of a dying fire. Like Katara's eyes in his nightmares. When he held Katara in his nightmares it was her eyes he could never tear himself away from. Watching the light go out of them was like having his soul slowly being siphoned from his body. In his nightmares her eyes stared at him but he knew they couldn't see him. There was nothing behind them. No signs of life in them. Her mouth still open asking the eternal question.

“Why didn't you save me?”

It isn't real. It isn't real. It isn't real.

“She is safe because of you not despite you.” Why couldn't he just listen to his uncle's voice? It had never lead him astray before. Somewhere on the palace grounds Katara was alive and well. She was safe and that was in some way ;even if was the smallest way, was because of him. He sighed if only he could get his mind to fully commit to the idea.

He walked further into the garden trying to shut his brain down so that maybe he could get a few hours of sleep. For a moment he pondered which way he should go left or right when he heard someone weeping. It was faint but it was definitely weeping. Who was out in the garden this time of night? And why were they crying? Zuko turned left towards the sound of the weeping.

“Why did I freeze? If I didn't freeze he would have never had to-.”

“Katara?”

Katara jumped startled by the sound of his voice. “Oh, sorry.” She says. “I didn't think anyone would be out here this late.” Quickly she wiped her tears away.

“You rise with the moon.” Zuko says under his breath. “Are you all right?” He asks out loud.

“Its nothing. I couldn't sleep.”

“Oh, well that usually doesn't lead to tears.”

“What are you doing up?” Katara ask ignoring his question completely. She pats the stone bench she's sitting on.“You can sit down if you want to. I don't mind the company.”

“Bad dreams.” He says before he can think to stop himself.

Katara looks up at him. Her face is beautiful etched in the moonlight. Her white nightgown stands out against the back drop of the dark red ember roses. Her blue eyes seem darker but they are still full of light full of life. She's like a master piece painting. She is a work of art. Her hair is down free from it's usual constraints. It cascades down her shoulders in soft ripples. Zuko resist the urge to reach out and run his fingers through her hair.

“I've been having bad dreams too.”

“Want to talk about it?” He asks remembering his uncle's advice.

Katara shrugs. “I don't know if that's such a good idea.”

“Why not? I mean if you don't mind my asking.” He amends.

“It's about that day.” She says. “The day we fought your sister. We never really talk about it so I just figured that you wouldn't want to.”

“Oh. No.” He says.

“I understand.”

“No! I meant I do want to talk about it. It would be OK if it's OK with you.”

Katara swirls a strand of hair around the ends of her finger and then lets it go only to repeat the whole process again. “I keep having dreams, she shakes her head, no nightmares, they're nightmares about not saving you in time.” Her voice is so quiet that Zuko has to lean in to hear her. “In my dreams you- I have to watch you-.” She shakes her head again. “I can't.” She says and gets up from the bench. “I can't talk about this out loud.”

“I've been having the same nightmares.” He says. He walks up to Katara and puts his hands on her shoulders. “I think it means something that we're having the same nightmares. Bottling up what we're feeling isn't helping. It might even be what's causing our nightmares.”

“The nightmares are just so awful.” Katara says. He feels a shiver pass through her and he shivers himself. “If I hadn't of froze you would have never had to take that bolt of lightning for me.” She breaks down into wracking sobs.

“It's not your fault Katara.” Zuko says and pulls her into his arm. “It's mines.”

“What?” Katara ask. Her eyes are still full of tears. They remind Zuko of forget-me-nots after a rainstorm.

“I taunted Azula and to get back at me she went after you. She knew it would kill me if anything happened to you.” It was on the tip of his tongue to say that he loved her but he couldn't. She was the avatar's girl. What kind of friend would that make him if tried to come in between their relationship?

“That still doesn't make it your fault Zuko. Azula's plan from the start was to separate us.”

“And I let her.” Zuko said. “You said she was trying to play me and I let her.”

“Only because you were trying to protect me, Zuko and you did.”

He was still holding her and her arms were still wrapped around him. He may have been the firebender but she felt warmer than him. He never wanted to let her go. He wanted to whisper in her ear how much that he wanted to be with her. Every time they were together they worked so well together.

"You protected me too." Zuko reminded her.

"So your sister failed. She didn't separate us she brought us closer together."

“Maybe too close.” Zuko said and stepped out of Katara's arms.

“What?”

“I'm sorry.” Zuko said and stared at his boots. He could feel a blush creep up his face and he hoped that the darkness of the night would cover it up. “I should go back to my room.”

“Why? If I upset you I'm sorry.”

“It isn't you Katara it's me. I like you. A lot. More than I should. More than a friend.”

“Oh.” Katara says and sits back down on the bench.

Zuko can't bring himself to turn around and look at her. He feels so embarrassed and ashamed. This is not what she came out here for.

“Zuko.”

“No, please don't say it. I already know. I just hope I haven't ruined our friendship.” Just because things hadn't worked out between him and Mai didn't mean that Katara and Aang weren't working out. If she was happy with Aang then he was happy for her. The truth was that he'd rather see her with someone else than not see her at all. It didn't matter to him if she was the avatar's girl. He'd still risk his life for hers in a heartbeat. Even if he knew he wasn't going to make he'd take a bolt of lightning for her again and again and again.

“I'm not with Aang. I told him I was confused.”

“Confused?”

“About my feelings. For you.”

“Oh.” Zuko says and sits down next to Katara. “Aah. What uh w-would those feelings be?”

“I like you as more than a friend, but I'm scared. We're so much alike but were also very different. Our cultures. Our families. Our status in life. I like you but I have to think about more than just my feelings."

"Of course you do." Zuko felt his heart unravel like thread and fall somewhere in the vicinity of his boots. He stared at his feet as if he could see his heart lying there. he might was well kick it across the garden floor for the good it was doing him to have it. "You should. We both should, but we also shouldn't live our lives with any regrets. If there's one thing almost dying taught me it's that. I don't want to make up your mind for you Katara and I couldn't even if I tried."

"But you wouldn't. I know you wouldn't because I know you, Zuko. The same way you know me. Every part of me. Even my darkness."

"No I wouldn't. I wouldn't change a single thing about you, Katara. My feelings for your aren't going to change, but that's not your burden to bare it's mines. I'll respect your decision, and I hope after all of this you'll still want to be my friend."

“Good because I want to be your friend and I want to be something more. I want to be your one and your only. I don't want to live with any regrets either, and if I don't take this chance with you I know I'll regret it for the rest of my life.”

“It's weird isn't it? How the universe keeps putting us together after every time we get pulled apart. It's like were magnets once we stopped facing off against each other and turned around and actually faced each other we came together.”

“I never knew you were so poetic Zuko.”

Zuko found himself turning red again. “I'm not. Not really. Just when I'm around you.” He would hardly call comparing a relationship to magnets poetic but he was glad that Katara thought so.

Katara stood up and Zuko did to. “We should go back now before someone discovers we're missing. She slipped her hand into his. “Walk me back to my room?”

Zuko swallowed hard but nodded. He would have walked her all the way back to the South Pole if she had asked him to.

They made their way out of the garden stopping occasionally to look at the flowers. Katara's long gown came down to her toes and gave her the illusion that she was floating on air when she walked. He could relate. He felt like he was floating on air and might never come back down.

The couple came upon Katara's door way too soon for Zuko's liking. He didn't want this night to end.

“Will you be OK?” Zuko asked.

Katara nodded. “I don't think I'll be having any more nightmares.” She stood up on her tip toes and kissed him softly on the lips lingering there for a moment. They were still holding hand and he gave hers a squeeze.

“What about you?” Katara asked. “Will you be OK?”

“Yes. I won't be having any more nightmares either.” Zuko said. “Because my dream just came true.”

#Zutara #avatar the last airbender #katara #zuko #atla #good night finally!#Sorry for the typos but I wrote this on like zero hours of sleep

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firelxrdsdaughter · 7 years ago

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A Foolish Undertaking Chp 8

Read it on A03!

We’re getting close to the end I think. It’s exciting!! This is the chapter in which Iroh has trouble reconciling with how Ozai has treated his kids 8D

Something inside of Iroh snaps. It rears its ugly head, making him nauseous and rage filled all at once.

VIII

Iroh

Azula is feverish. Iroh wrings out the cloth he has been using to blot at her forehead into the container of cool water that he’d sent Zuko to get the moment that they’d gotten far enough away to stop and make camp in the wood. He places it back on her forehead, and watches her wince at the sudden cold of it.

The slice of iris that he can see past her eyelashes is bright as it settles on him, watching. She’s waiting for something. Perhaps for the other shoe to drop. Azula has learned to be cautious of him and Zuko in the last eight hours of her life, and though Iroh doesn’t think he would have handled the situation quite like this…Zuko had done what worked best at the moment, he assures himself. It makes him feel no better about the state of things.

“How are you feeling,” he asks his niece. Her eyes slide closed momentarily, and he thinks perhaps the pain has finally caused her to lose consciousness, but her eyes open again not long after, wider and more alert than they have seemed since the three of them made camp.

“How do you think,” she answers after a moment. Her pale face is far whiter than usual, skin waxy, covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Iroh feels the tight knot in his belly grow harder. His niece is not prone to admitting her weaknesses, or allowing others to see them, this much he knows. She’s cautious at best with her true feelings.

“Your wounds are not good,” he admits to her quietly, glancing down at his cursory splints where they keep her leg immobile to prevent further damage “They are far beyond my abilities to treat effectively. If we do not bring you to a healer then you will likely never be able to walk the same again. It could permanently affect you.”

Perhaps it is cruel to worry her, but Iroh wants Azula to understand the full gravity of the situation. It will make the next leg of their journey together easier on all parties, in Iroh’s opinion.

Azula’s eyes close again, but this time it’s obvious that it is merely because of the pain, and perhaps mental anguish, of her wounds. Iroh tries not to think about the pang in his chest. The sapling that’s grown out of the sympathy that he learned for his niece the moment he heard her say that her mother had called her a monster. It is foolish and sentimental, and he can afford to be neither where is niece is concerned.

Still, Iroh had not been a good man in his younger years, but none of his family members had ever called him a monster.

Perhaps this is exactly what Azula wants, however; this feeling of sympathy. The need to prove to her that he’s not all bad. He hates that it is a gamble with the child. He wants to treat her as a young girl, and not an adult threat, and yet he has little choice in the matter.

“You’re being very brave,” Iroh tries, watching her. Her eyes slide open again, steeled.

“I am a soldier,” she says flatly, “I have endured worse.”

A soldier. The word curls at the base of Iroh’s tongue. He thinks of his beautiful Lu Ten, and the words coming from his lips too. Too young. Too inexperienced in battle. He should not have sent him to command at the front. He had been too willing to let his son play soldier.

Something inside of Iroh snaps. It rears its ugly head, making him nauseous and rage filled all at once.

“No,” he spits the word out, setting aside the bandages he has picked up to re-wind, the turf smacking under his wide palm, “you are not a soldier, princess Azula you are a child.”

The girl seems genuinely surprised, looking at him askance, leaning back into the bedroll that he’s set her upon to do his work. The words spill out of Iroh unbidden but he lets them come as they will.

“Your father has stolen your innocence from you and turned you into a woman before your time! When will you see that an injustice has been done to you and that you do not deserve to have been treated this way? That you are not a weapon, but a person who has yet to figure out who they are? Your brother already struggles with this but at least he had a fighting chance, with your father’s disdain. You have never had a chance in your life simply to be you. And you would go back there? To him? To the life you have been forced to lead so far?”

She searches his face still, swallowing hard. He watches the bob of her throat up and down with the motion.

“Is it so wrong to have a purpose?” She’s still defiant, her chin raised in pride for what has been done with her. Iroh’s grief threatens to overcome him. She is just a child. Agni she is just a child.

“There is nothing wrong with having a purpose, but that purpose should be decided upon by you,” he says. “You should have the right to choose what you wish for your purpose to be, instead of being told what it is by someone who does not have your best interests at heart!”

“You know nothing of my father’s intentions!” Her voice echoes around the clearing. This burst of emotion from Azula is new and unexpected, but it’s what Iroh has been searching for the entire time that he has had her under his care. He might have celebrated under different circumstances.

“Don’t I?” He gives her a pointed look, eyebrows raised as the level of her voice raises to match his previous one, denial thick in her tone. “I watched him grow up. When Fire Lord Azulon could not be there to raise him, I was the one to do it. I know your father very well, young lady.”

Iroh takes in a deep breath, levelling out his emotions, loosening his shoulders.

“You have two options before you, Princess Azula.”

She presses her lips together into a pale, thin, line, and fixes him with a look. Iroh forges forward.

“Either you can decide that you will not cause us more grief, that you will cooperate and not attempt to reinvent what happened in the village today, and I can find you a proper healer who will set the bones well, ensuring that you will have very few complications.” He sets the options out before her like a map, “Or, you can continue to be difficult and cause us problems, and I will leave the bones set as they are, and you can spend the rest of your life handicapped by this injury and likely unable to ever come back as you were. Useless to your father’s cause.”

This last has her face paling yet further, and Iroh nearly feels sorry for saying it, but he cannot afford this emotion, he knows. He has to push it away, and pretend that the idea that she might legitimately choose the second option does not cause him anguish.

“Well?” He sits stone faced, waiting for her answer.

Azula looks away from him, brow furrowed, her lips pursed in that familiar expression of displeasure that she has displayed so often since they kidnapped her. Then she takes a breath, lips parting.

“I will behave myself, uncle,” she promises, voice flat again.

“Good. Then I will take you with me into the next town over and we will find a healer.”

“And until then?”

“Until then, I can only hope that your discomfort will not be overtly intolerable.”

“That’s your drastic measure, is it?”

“I think you should count yourself lucky that it was your brother who took the drastic measures and not me.”

“Says the man who has just informed me that I may never be able to regain normal use of my leg again.”

“I only wish to arm you with the truth, so that you may make an informed decision on the matter,” he tells her truthfully enough. “I will not deny that Zuko’s solution was a little on the extreme side, but you were warned.”

Azula scoffs, disdainful, but does not argue back again. Iroh soaks the cloth in the water once more, wringing it out methodically, and placing it back on the princess’ forehead with a huff and then silence. His amber gaze turns pensively out toward the dark trees surrounding them beyond the scope of the campfire, searching the shadows for any signs of danger.

There are none. He is surprised that they were able to shake the soldiers that Azula had alerted, but he is grateful. He knows well enough that they have only hindered themselves more by wounding her. She cannot move quickly now, and it will mean that only one of them can fight at a time without a handicap.

It feels like the bars of a cage closing around him. Iroh shakes the sensation off.

There is a crunch of undergrowth, the slither of a footfall, and then Zuko reappears from the woods, looking between his uncle and his sister silently, grim. Iroh lets out a breath, and settles himself, smiling briefly at his nephew.

“Any sign of someone following?”

“No. I think we’ve finally lost them. For now.”

Iroh nods, feeling a sense of ease return to him despite his previous rage at the young girl lying at his knees. So he had been right.

“We must discuss where we will go from here, Zuko,” he informs his nephew then. The young man nods in return, settling himself at the far edge of the camp, away from Azula and her sickbed.

Iroh glances down at her. “Don’t go anywhere.” He can’t help but smirk at his own joke. She rolls her eyes at him, but says nothing.

The old man stands, crossing the clearing to sit next to his nephew, a package of dried meat in hand to share with Zuko. The former prince of the Fire Nation murmurs his thanks and takes a bite of the jerky, staring over Iroh’s shoulder at his sister’s still form on the sleeping roll. Cautious.

Even injured, Azula can pose a threat.

“She seems to have seen sense,” Iroh tells him in low tones, “and to understand the gravity of her situation. We will head toward the nearest town starting in the morning. We need to find her a healer, and I must make contact with some old friends in order to make our way easier…”

“Old friends?”

“Yes. I have traveled the world before now, and I have made many friends and acquaintances in my lifetime. They will no doubt be happy to help us out. Especially now that we are truly fugitives from the Fire Nation and not simply…banished Royalty.”

Zuko closes his eyes, breathing out sharply through his nose. Iroh reaches across the short distance between them, squeezing his nephew’s shoulder. The boy cracks an eye open, staring at Iroh in a way that he has not seen before. The old man’s brow screws up in bemusement, wondering at the troubled look on Zuko’s pinched features.

“What is the matter, Zuko?”

For a long pause, the former prince does not answer, but then his lips part, and he takes a breath. “Nothing. It’s…nothing.” He looks away briefly.

“What exactly is your plan, Uncle?”

“To find us somewhere safe to live.”

“Okay but what does that entail? I mean where exactly do you imagine is safe for us now? We can’t really just waltz into any towns without the need for extreme caution. Even if the next town isn’t a Fire Nation colony, that doesn’t mean our wanted posters won’t be out and ready for any bounty hunters that want to bring home a big prize.”

“This is true,” Iroh agrees, “but it is unfortunately something we will have to face regardless. We either face death in the Earth Kingdom if discovered, or we face death in the Fire Nation if we are captured. There are precious few options left to us other than to disappear, at least for a while.”

“But I don’t — !” Zuko presses his mouth into a thin line, much like his sister has a tendency to do. Much like their father in his youth. “I don’t want to disappear into obscurity. I want my throne. I want to be forgiven for — “

“For what, prince Zuko? You never did anything wrong to begin with.”

“Yes I did! I spoke out of turn. Dad banished me to teach me a lesson, not to get rid of me permanently.”

Iroh feels himself sink a little. Zuko is still so naive about this. So blind to the truth. It feels wrong to dash his hopes, but Iroh cannot so easily allow him to continue living in an illusion as he had done before. There had been hope before. There is no turning back from what they have done now.

“I know that that is what you wish to believe, Zuko…But the truth of it is that your father sent Azula to come and arrest us. His intentions were to lock you away in the Fire Nation, not to bring you back into the fold.” He reaches out, pressing his hand to his nephew’s wrist. He squeezes.

“Your father…is not a good example of what a father should be. I know that it is hard for you to accept because you want nothing more than to please him. To be accepted for who you are…But your father is not going to do that. He has demonstrated as much. There are still those in this world who care for you, though, and you are not alone.”

“People like you?” There’s sharp anger behind the question, though it borders on dull and hopeless. Iroh’s brow furrows.

“Yes. People like me.”

Zuko is silent, staring off into the wood, his hands still as they hang over his knees. Iroh cannot quite read whatever slips over his beleaguered features, the conflict within him rising and falling like waves on a remote shore.

“Zuko…”

“I’m tired,” he says glumly. “I’m going to sleep. We should start early if we’re gonna make it to the next town over in good time. Wouldn’t want Azula to be permanently damaged now, would we?”

Zuko’s hand slips out from under Iroh’s grasp, and the old man retracts his touch, letting his hands settle in his lap as he watches Zuko unfurl from where he’d been seated to trudge over to his sleeping roll. The boy hits the ground with a solid thud, grabbing the fabric to pull tightly over his shoulders, a defiant ball staring off into the woods beyond their camp.

Iroh bites back a heavy sigh, taking a piece of jerky for himself, and then returns to his vigil at Azula’s side. When he sees her face he finds that she appears to have fallen into a fitful slumber. He will not bother her for now. She will need this rest and more if she is to heal.

Iroh settles his back against the tree, closing his own eyes.

He surrenders to the peaceful dark of meditation.

#ooc #drabble #A Foolish Undertaking #chapter 8 #fic #iroh #uncle iroh #zuko #prince zuko #azula #princess azula #atla #avatar: the last airbender

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tophagentofchaos · 5 years ago

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Mai:

Helped orchestrate and stage a coup in a city known for its security and being unconquerable

Went toe to toe with some of the most skilled benders of her time

Took down a third of the Kyoshi warriors

Committed treason

Committed treason in such a cool way

Fought off dozens of highly trained prison guards to aid in a prison break

Fucking told the Princess of the Fire Nation she miscalculated...holy shit

Went to prison herself

Can fucking throw knives

Scares the shit out of pretty much everyone

Zuko:

Got banished at thirteen for indirectly calling his father a bitch

Survived having half his face burned off by his dad

Manages to infiltrate all the air temples without a sky bison

Beat a thirty or forty something year old firebending master in a duel at sixteen

Can fucking breathe fire and does so for dramatic effect

Broke a metal chain with his HEEL

Breaks into the Fire Nation despite being banished and infiltrates Avatar Roku’s sanctum

Breaks into a Fire Nation stronghold and broke out The Avatar (read: committed treason) bc he didn’t want that asshole Zhao to be the one to do it

Got to interact with June (ik that’s not rebellious but she’s so hot and rebellious herself that I’ll count it by proxy)

Survived an assasination attempt

Broke into the Northern Water Tribe undetected and kidnapped The Avatar

Became a Fire Nation fugitive (treason round two: electric boogaloo)

Fought off a miniature earth kingdom militia with FIRE and SWORDS

Commits highway robbery at least once

Gets accused of firebending, takes it as an opportunity to fight a customer, steals two swords from a guard, then beats the shit out of the person who accused him who may or may not have been his ex

Breaks into the base of a city’s secret police and frees the Avatar’s bison

Sends an assassin after the Avatar, which he would casually mention when he later tries to join them

Decides you know what, fuck my dad, and commits treason for a third time

Gets lightning shot at him and has the chance to end his dad but decides “no, this isn’t poetic enough I’m gonna let my rival do it”

Finds a group of people who were thought to have been gone for thousands of years

Learns to firebend from fucking DRAGONS

“That’s rough buddy”

Breaks into prison

Takes his ex girlfriend’s uncle hostage

Breaks out of prison

Goes on a revenge mission with someone he wants so badly to approve of him that ends with her learning not to forgive or forget, but to move on.

Beats his sister in a superfueled Agni Kai

Takes a bolt of lightning to protect his friend

Commits to helping the world heal from his family’s hundred year long war

I think Izumi’s best bet would be just. Being a very well behaved kid and utterly perplexing her parents

it must have been so hard for izumi to shock her parents in her rebellious teen phase because they both committed treason and went to prison at 16

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akaiikowrites · 7 years ago

Text

look to your kingdoms pt. 3

Summary: When being the silently dutiful girlfriend of the Avatar starts to chafe, Katara takes up the mantle of the Painted Lady once more and finds herself in the process. [Post Series Canon Divergence AU]

Notes: for @zutaramonth 2017, day fifteen, unmasked. one. two. ao3. the question you gotta ask yourself is do they kiss? and the answer is...yeah. yeah they do.

It’s been so long since anyone called her by that name. Katara. Almost she resents answering to it but answer she does. “Yes.”

Slowly he draws the blade away from her throat. It did not leave so much as a scratch but she imagines she can still feel it’s cool press. Forcing the air from her lungs, she finally looks over her shoulder, catches sight of a mask. The colors of her nation stare back at her, painted over the tusks and horns of a demon face, and she blinks in surprise.

“They’re out,” he says. A gloved hand touches the small of her back. “We should go.”

She nods and turns back to the half hidden escape route. All the boys have disappeared into its darkness. Lips pulling into a grimace, she ducks into the tunnel and hears him follow her. Something grates behind them. Perhaps the mechanism that covers this route when not in use. Then the hand is back on her, urging her along, and she tries not to focus on the warmth bleeding into her skin that contrasts with the chill of the earth around them.

Long minutes pass in nearly absolute silence. She keeps a hand out to glance against the walls. At several points that is all that keeps her from missing a sharp turn. Finally there’s a ghostly silver light ahead. Eagerly she rushes forward until she spills out into a small clearing surrounded by gentle foothills.

Two dozen boys, ranging in age from six to sixteen, stand in a loose ring. Perhaps none of them saw her in the dark of the dungeons because they gape in surprise. They don’t have long to react.

Zuko gestures for them to cluster up and then starts down a path that none of them had noticed. The boys follow him, giving her curious looks as they pass, and she waits. Instinctively she knows that Zuko means for her to take up the rear. A waterbender on a full moon night can do so much. He’s one of the few people in the world who knows exactly how much. Of course she watches their collective back.

For nearly an hour they pick their way through the hills and gullies. The moon has begun to drop toward the horizon when finally they reach the river and Zuko gestures for a halt. Several of the boys show signs of injury as well as exhaustion and hunger.

Power still floods her veins. It’s easy to summon up water from the river and walk toward one of the younger boys who holds his arm to his chest.

One of the oldest boys steps forward, jaw jutted forward in challenge, and says, “Who are you?” He’s effectively blocked her path. A thin sheen of sweat covers his brow. Maybe from their hurried march. But more likely, she thinks, from the fear of her and the water coiled round her.

"You stupid, Zhan?” one of the other boys asks. “Can’t you see the marks?” Red streaking across her cheeks, her arms, her chest. The one unmistakable sign of the spirit who’s mantle she’s taken. “That’s the Painted Lady!”

Zhan’s cheeks flush. “I...” His eyes dart over her and then he takes a half step back. “I didn’t mean...”

“I know,” she says. Gentle. “You meant to protect them.”

The boy she’d meant to tend comes to her, instead, looking up at her with the faltering stoicism of the very young. “Can you fix?” he asks. He holds up his arm. A deep cut adorns it, red at the edges, and she feels anger flare in her gut. But she does not let that come through in her face.

Kneeling, she portions out some of the water and settles it over the cut. It glows as she pours her will into it. The boy’s arm heals easily. Knitting together beneath her experienced hands. When finally she lifts her hands away it’s as if the wound had never been. She allows herself a smile at the boy’s complete wonder. More children rush to her begging for her aide and she gives it.

Only once the last scrape has been healed does she give in to the temptation. Looking over her shoulder, she sees that mask once more, hiding any hint of what Zuko’s thinking. That reckoning, she thinks, is yet to come.

Fire burns in a small pit. They brought the boys home and then, with the same instinctive understanding that made them so deadly on the battlefield together, disappeared into the hills. Zuko has not removed his mask. She has not removed her cloak. It feels a bit like a standoff.

“You’re the Painted Lady.” No question. Only a statement of fact. “And you’ve been here, in my country, for the last year.”

She bites the inside of her cheek and debates how to answer. As if there’s a choice. There never has been. “Yes.” Because they’ve always been honest with each other. And that’s still the same, at least.

Exhaling in a way that’s not quite a sigh, he reaches up and pulls of the mask, letting it drop to the forest floor carelessly. With his free hand he rubs at the back of his neck. “I should’ve expected that,” he admits. “When I first heard the rumors. Spirits don’t just show up and starts fixing the problems of the far provinces. You do.”

“I didn’t for years,” she says. Thinks of all the good she could’ve done if only she’d refused the gilded life offered to her. Ordered for her, really, when she thinks of how everyone had expected her to be with Aang. But that’s not an excuse. How easy it had been to walk away in the end.

Zuko snorts. “It was only a matter of time.”

Which isn’t what she expects him to say. Not at all. “It certainly took everyone else by surprise,” she says. There are scrolls in the bottom of her traveling back that attest to it.

Golden eyes meet hers across the fire and he smiles. “Katara, you never turn your back on people who need you.”

Before, she’d thought that she would have to ask if he was upset. It felt like there would be a reckoning because she had disappeared for a year and a half, because she broke the Avatar’s heart, because she came into Zuko’s country to mete out justice. How could there not be a reckoning?

Now she understands that they’ve long moved past ideas of reckonings.

Four days into their journey back to the capital, they pause atop a volcanic ride, and he runs callused fingertips over her arm. “It’s not paint,” he notes. There’s only a hint of surprise in his voice.

Before they had left the river valley she scrubbed her face clean of the red paint she used to mark herself for battle. The red swirls on her arms had remained. “They’re tattoos,” she says. “A man did them for me in a village on the border islands.”

It’d been the twentieth village she had helped in the guise of the Painted Lady. She’d come back streaked with saltwater and blood. Triumphant and terrible. Paint smudged away and the tattoo master had looked at her with no judgment, only kindness, as he offered to make the marks permanent. part of her had wondered if that would be alright. If she could truly be the Painted Lady. But she thought of all the villages that yet needed her and she lifted her chin and she accepted his offer.

Zuko nods, though he knows none of this, and says, “They suit you. The mark of a compassionate warrior.”

The words feel like an echo and she’s reaching for him before she can stop herself. Palm laid flat against his cheek, she feels the coarse skin of his burn, and murmurs, “The mark of a banished prince.” Maybe it was intentional because one side of his mouth quirks up into a half smile. Her other hand goes to the scar hidden beneath his clothing. “The mark of a true king.”

Beneath her palm, his heartbeat picks up and his lungs surge with an unusually deep breath. One of his hands covers hers where it rests on his chest. It’s warm and despite years of kingship has lost none of it’s rough strength.

“Katara,” he says. “Come back with me.”

They are a day’s journey from Caldera City and the Palace. If she returns, there will be questions and reunions and arguments. Returning means rejoining the world. Maybe she is fierce and whole in her own skill again, maybe he says her name with the same gentle reverence he always has, maybe it would not be so bad to go back.

“Why?” she asks.

Stepping closer to her, he reaches up to weave his fingers into her dark hair. “Because the world needs you.” His thumbs brush along her jaw and tenderly tip her head up. “Because my country needs you.” His breath is hot along her lips as he bends down. Though his hold is firm, she could pull away if she wanted, and he gives her this moment to decide. “Because I need you.”

Katara surges up into him. They kiss, brave and messy and wild, like they’re going to make up for all the years apart. Peace is still not something she recognizes in her mouth but she thinks, she hopes, that it might feel something like this.

#zutara month 2017 #zutara #guys i pulled it around at the last minute #this totally makes up for my execution failure in the last part #shut up it does #i promise it does #kaii writes zutara

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