#zuko's voice is so nice... no complaints | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shorkbrian · 3 years

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This isn’t a request (or maybe it is) but would you ever consider writing a part 2 to that aizawa and shinsou family bonding fic👀 and do you have any plans to write more zuko?? Bc I didn’t really see him like that but after your mechanic fic I couldn’t get him off my mind for weeks.

Anyway I love all your fics!!! Thank you so much for writing them and sharing them with us<3

I have several requests for a continuation of that, so maybe!

As for Zuko, I rlly want to write more of him lol he’s just so inch resting.

Very awkward with interpersonal relationships, but has the ability to be suave if he’s not thinking too hard about it and just acting on impulse. Pre-redemption Zuko is entitled, has anger issues, no grasp on healthy boundaries, sadistic, a brat, etc etc.

Like you lose your dog, worried sick about the poor thing. You decide to put up posters around your dingy neighborhood, a picture and your phone number attached below.

Your mood improves when you get a text that night, as soon as you get home from putting up all the “missing” posters.

Hey.

Your dog is missing? I saw you putting up posters.

Immediately you respond, hope blooming.

Yes! Have you seen him? I’m really worried. Thanks for contacting me btw.

There’s a few moments of waiting until the stranger responds.

I’ve seen him around. You need someone to help you find him?

So the stranger doesn’t have your dog. It’s disappointing, but you probably shouldn’t have expected your puppy to be found within minutes of you putting up the posters.

If you wouldn’t mind keeping an eye out, that’d be wonderful. Thank you so much! I’m (Y/N).

I know.

Confusion furrows your brow before the next message dings through.

You put your name on the poster.

My names Zuko.

-----

A day passes without any news, then two. On the third day, “Zuko” texts you again.

Have you found your dog yet?

You tell him (you’re pretty sure it’s a guy) no, and the stranger gives you his condolences. Feeling a bit awkward, not sure if you should respond or let the conversation drop, you turn the questioning back to the stranger.

Do you live in this area?

Yeah. Down by the supermarket on 4th and Sinclair.

That makes sense - that’s one of the first places you’d put up a poster. No wonder this guy texted you so soon.

That’s a nice area. I’m closer to the park... I think my dog might’ve wandered off into there.

You should take some treats with you and walk through that area. Call his name maybe?

Yeah, maybe.

The more you thought about the suggestion, the more appealing it sounded. perhaps it would work? It was barely 4pm, still plenty of daylight left for you to walk around for a bit.

So that’s what you did, wandering through the park with a bag of treats, lowly calling your dog’s name as you kept a sharp eye out for anything furry.

There weren’t many people out, but the ones you did encounter barely paid you any attention.

Except for a man, seated on a bench, his eyes following your movements. It was creeping you out - no matter where you moved you felt the prickle on the back of your neck that someone was looking at you.

Maybe he was just curious as to why you were walking around with a bag of dog treats, a leash, but no dog.

You were paying more attention to scanning the underbrush than the stranger, so it made you jump when he cleared his throat a few steps behind you, having moved from the bench.

“Oh, Jesus Christ-” You whirled around, a hand on your chest as adrenaline surged through you.

The man frowned. “Sorry, wasn’t trying to scare you. Are you looking for your dog?” He looked... unique, a large, angry scar decorating the right side of his face, eye slitted and milky on that side, almost hidden by his shaggy black hair.

You nodded, and the man spoke again. “By any chance, is your name (Y/N)? I saw your poster.”

Perking up, you took a step forward. “Yes! Yeah, that’s me, have you seen my dog? Do you know where he is?”

The man shook his head, clearing his throat again. “No, uhm... I was the person who texted you - Zuko.”

Oh.

It felt a bit... odd, knowing that this man had texted you, sought you out, met you in the park that he suggested you go looking in. Was he stalking you? Or was he just trying to help you find your dog?

How were you supposed to respond to him?

Zuko beat you to it. “I’ve been looking for him, no luck though. He seems like a good dog.”

“He is.” You agree. Your dog was the best, always made you feel safe whenever you went out for walks, guarded your apartment, stayed alert and ready while you slept. “Thank you for looking for him, you don’t have to.”

“I don’t mind.”

More awkward silence.

Shifting your weight on your feet, you sealed up the bag of treats. “okay, um, well it’s getting dark, I think I’m going to head home now.”

“I can walk with you.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine.” You assured the strange man, flashing a smile. He was too... friendly for your taste. You weren’t sure you felt comfortable with him knowing where you lived.

When you got home, your phone dinged as you locked your door. it was Zuko.

Sorry for scaring you tonight. I didn’t think you’d actually go to the park. I like to sit there and feed the ducks, so I’ve seen you and your dog a couple of times. I’m not trying to be weird.

That was honestly almost kind of sweet. You could visualize it, the tall man sitting on the bench and throwing seeds to the ducks that lived in the park, minding his own business as people passed by. Maybe the man was just a bit socially awkward? You could understand that.

No worries. Nice meeting you!

-----

He kept texting you, checking in, asking about your dog, asking about you.

Zuko seemed like a nice guy, if not a little awkward. Maybe a little lonely, but wasn’t everyone?

You learned that he lived by himself, had moved here a couple years ago, and that he liked the town. Friendly people, good weather, nice shops and local stores.

Weeks had passed since your dog had gone missing, and you found yourself getting more and more sad, sinking into the feeling like goop.

And then Zuko texted.

You should come over.

Your mind raced - he wouldn’t be texting you unless it was important, it was nighttime, you had learned the man wasn’t overly fond of visitors.

Zuko? What’s up? Have you found my dog?

A pause, two minutes before his next text came through.

Just come over.

You huffed, frustrated, excited.

Please just tell me, do you have my dog?

Five minutes of silence.

Yes.

-----

The excitement you felt was making you jittery, hands almost shaking as you climbed up the stairs to Zuko’s apartment.

It wasn’t what you were expecting. You thought he lived by the supermarket, and technically he did, but it was a ways away. Zuko lived in a run down, dingy complex a few streets over, and you tried not to judge, but it wasn’t exactly the most savory of neighborhoods.

Really, you weren’t super jazzed to be coming to his place, not so late at night, not alone. But he had found your dog, said he didn’t have a leash nor a way of getting him to you. Said he didn’t mind you coming over so late.

You didn’t feel comfortable, but it’d be okay.

Except your dog was nowhere in sight when Zuko welcomed you inside.

It was dark, only the light of his laptop illuminating the small living space - a studio apartment.

“Zuko? Where’s-”

“Your dog’s probably been dead for weeks.”

You froze.

“You’re focused on a lost cause. I don’t think he’s coming back.”

What’s going on? Why did he have you come-

“Zuko, you’re scaring me.”

The man in question is between you and the door - the door he’s just locked. Your heart starts to beat faster in your chest.

“I’ve watched you walk him every day for the past year, you always take the same route in the park. How have you not noticed me? It’s not like I’m trying to avoid your attention. It’s insulting. Do you not like my scar? Is that why you always, always ignore me?”

His voice is level, but you can feel the irritation seeping from him, feel it infect you with fear.

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking abo-”

“I’ve noticed. You’re very absentminded, aren’t you? Is that why you need a dog with you to protect you? I could’ve snapped you up at anytime since he’s been gone.”

Zuko crossed his arms, leaned back against the door. You didn’t like this, didn’t like how dark it was, what Zuko was saying, how his one good eye was gazing at you with a smug aura.

“I really wasn’t going to even bother you. You’re just some pretty little eye candy I get to see everyday. But then you put up those posters, and your number and name were right there. Couldn’t stop myself.”

The man rolled his eyes. “Plus, you’re real easy.”

He hadn’t moved from the door, but now he straightened, rolling out his neck, taking a step towards you. “This’ll be fun. Hope you don’t scream too loud and get me another noise complaint.”

#zuko #dark zuko #atla #yandere #Yandere zuko #tw.dark content

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taetaespeaches · 4 years

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“You should kiss a girl before you leave.”

yoongi x reader (or oc) genre: fluff word count: 2.5K

a/n: Lovelies!!! Ya girl is back from camping, and my god did she write!!! We are getting into the folklore angst for Yoon and Kid, but before we get into the heavy shit, we have to set it up with some cute getting to know each other fluff. This takes place the night after their second date, “You just want to get back to your Zuko fan fiction.” So they’ve had their first kiss, they’re super giddy to see each other, and yeah. There are like two more fluff fics after this one before we get into the angst of it all. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! :))

p.s. anyone who isn’t a fan of Min/Kid... I’m so sorry because that’s all you’re getting for AT LEAST the next week. Get ready for a honey boy take over y’all.

THERE was something thrilling but terrifying about receiving a text from Yoongi saying he just arrived outside your apartment complex. You kissed yesterday, and you hadn’t stopped thinking about it, or him, since.

The knock on your door was a cue for your heart to follow the thump, becoming light and fluttery as if it would fly right out if you could open your chest.

You took a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves, before you opened the door to a smiling Min Yoongi, skin slightly flushed from the cold weather.

“Hey,” you greeted lamely, a wide grin spread across your face. You wondered if you would ever not feel so giddy to see him.

“Hey,” he replied before patting his own chest, bringing his hands to run along his bare neck. “Shit,” he sighed. “I forgot the scarf.”

You giggled at the comment, opening the door open and stepping aside for Yoongi to walk inside.

“Look who owns a coat,” you joked, tugging on the side of the garment as he began entering your apartment. As he walked in front of you, your back to the front door as you both stood in the middle of the frame, he turned toward you, gummy beam pointed in your direction.

“I’m gonna kiss you, Kid,” he whispered to you.

“Ok,” you bit back a grin, chills spreading across your body as Yoongi’s hands found your waist. You made him lean all the way in, Yoongi noticing you didn’t meet him halfway, scoffing just before his lips met yours, your mouth curving up as you giggled into the kiss.

“Brat,” he smiled into the action, just before pushing you firmer against the door, deepening the kiss just slightly. After a moment of your lips moving together perfectly, he broke the meeting, resting his forehead against yours.

Placing your hands at the back of his neck, you playfully frowned. “No scarf, huh?” He kissed his teeth and you sighed. “Well, I didn’t finish my Zuko essay either.”

“No fanfiction?” He asked in feigned shock, stepping back as he looked you up and down.

“Essay,” you corrected.

“Right, not fanfiction,” he grinned teasingly, making you roll your eyes. Shoving against him, you pushed him inside your apartment before closing the door behind you.

You watched as he looked around the small but nice apartment, decorated in photos of friends and family, stacks of books atop tables, a record player across the living room and a few candles. “Do you want a drink?” You asked him, Yoongi’s gaze slowly shifting from the room to you.

“Uh, yeah,” he nodded.

“Any preference?” Yoongi shook his head, following you into the kitchen. You hummed in thought, looking inside the cabinet with various bottles of alcohol. Grabbing the bottle of red wine, you held it up to him. “This ok?” He simply nodded as he watched you place it on the counter, opening a drawer to your side to grab a corkscrew. As you worked on opening the bottle, Yoongi looked around at the kitchen cabinets.

“Wine glasses?” He asked, you pointing to the cupboard. You watched Yoongi walk past you, dragging his feet on your tiled floor as he went to retrieve the glasses.

It was a few more moments before the sound of glass clinking sounded across the room just as you pulled the cork out. Another few seconds passed before Yoongi’s shoulder brushed against your own as he appeared next to you, placing the glasses on the counter.

“Thank you,” you turned toward him with a soft smile. Instead of responding, he gave a small grin back before leaning toward you and kissing your lips quickly but gently. The ease of the action had your head spinning, though you forced your attention to the bottle, lifting it to pour as Yoongi stayed facing you, sporting a fond grin.

Handing him his glass, he nudged his nose against your temple, whispering, “thank you, Kid,” before leaving a kiss to the spot as he turned straight ahead and took a sip of the alcohol.

“I want to show you a song,” you told him suddenly, his eyebrows raising. “It’s nothing like super special or anything, just something I’ve been listening to a lot lately.”

“Show me,” he encouraged, turning his whole body to face you as you reached for your phone, searching up the song. He inspected your features as you began playing the song, a slow lofi R&B beat resonating through the kitchen, feeling his eyes on you.

He listened intently for a moment as a slow voice dragged through the lyrics lethargically. “What is this?” He asked quietly, almost afraid of disrupting the atmosphere.

“It’s ‘Will He’ by Joji,” you told him. “For whatever reason I’ve been obsessed.”

Just as you finished speaking, Joji sang the lyrics will your tongue still remember the taste of my lips? Will your shadow remember the swing of my hips? Yoongi pushed a piece of your hair behind your ear. Will your lover caress you the way that I did? Yoongi set his wine glass down, bringing his hand to your chin to turn your face toward him. Will you notice my charm if he slips up one bit?

Your gaze fell to his lips and lingered as the chorus of the song started. Cause I don’t need to know, I just wanna make sure you’re okay. Yoongi leaned forward just slightly, you closing the rest of the gap as you kissed him, struggling to balance the bottom of your glass as you gently but hurriedly discarded it on the counter. I just wanna make sure you’re all safe. As soon as the glass was down, you moved your hand to thread it into Yoongi’s hair at the back of his head, letting out a low, quick moan into the kiss as Yoongi wrapped a hand around your waist, pulling you flush with him.

Forgetting about the partially drank wine, you pulled your face from Yoongi’s, his lips attaching to your neck, another small moan slipping from you. Turning around in his arms, Yoongi adjusting his position to hold you in a back hug. He kissed the side of your neck as you led him toward the couch. Standing in front of the sofa, you grabbed Yoongi’s hand and tugged on it, gesturing for him to sit.

He followed your lead, lowering himself onto the couch as he looked up at you with hooded eyes, you smirking as you placed a hand on his shoulder moving to straddle him. Your lips were on his as soon as you settled atop him, Yoongi’s hands holding onto your hips as he hungrily kissed you.

Your hands settled on the sides of his face and as a low groan left his lips, you smirked into the kiss, Yoongi soon smiling afterward.

“I promise I didn’t come over for this,” he chuckled against your mouth, you pulling away to look at him.

“Is that a complaint?” You teased.

“Absolutely not,” he said instantly, leaning forward to catch your lips in a soft kiss. “Just making it clear that I actually like you,” he told you more seriously.

“I like you too,” you replied with a small smile.

His thumbs began soothing circles overtop your pants, a soft tingling sensation overtaking your body from the sweet gesture. “How was your day, Kid?”

Your eyes widened at the question. Yeah, he liked you, but you had never had a person ask you about your day as you straddled them. As random as it was, your heart swelled when you noticed the genuine curiosity in his eyes. Damn, Min, who are you?

“Kind of long, actually,” you replied. “Better now, though.” With a soft smile, you leaned forward, brushing his hair off his forehead before placing a sweet kiss to the spot.

“Same,” he said simply, leaning forward to rest his forehead against your shoulder, leaving a linger kiss to your upper arm.

“Tell me about it,” you told him, bringing your hand to rest at the back of his head, massaging his scalp as you dug your fingers into his hair softly. Yoongi looked up at you, almost scrutinizingly, as he cocked his head to the side. “I want details, Min, don’t spare a thing.”

Yoongi attempted to hold back a wide smile, failing, as he directed his gaze to the empty sofa seat next to you both. Suddenly, he was leaning to the side, falling into a lying position, you falling with him. Facing each other as you both reclined on the couch, he began telling you about his day.

As you listened to the gently spoken words leave his pouted lips, you observed his features and basked in the tone of his voice, all while your body tingled from the drag of his fingers up and down your side.

You don’t know how much time went by as you both listened to each other speak about your days, bounced jokes off each other, laughed as you bickered, and opened up about insecurities within your respective jobs and where the future could take you both. As you spoke, Joji’s album In Tongues played on a loop.

The conversation never lulled, only falling into comfortable pauses occasionally. It wasn’t until Yoongi yawned, you teasingly sneaking your finger between his lips as his mouth closed, that you both realized how late it must have been. With his mouth closing over your finger, he pulled a feigned disgusted expression as he leaned back, grabbing your hand as he chuckled, bringing your limb to his lips, leaving a soft kiss to your knuckles.

“I have to be at dance practice at 6 in the morning,” he told you, a sadness overtaking the brightness of his orbs.

“You should probably head out then, huh?” You asked, smiling softly to show him it was okay.

“What time is it?” He questioned as he pulled his phone from his pocket. He hummed as he looked at the screen. Meeting your gaze, you raised your eyebrows. “2 am.”

“Oh?” Your eyes widened comically, Yoongi grinning at the expression. The man placed his hand at the small of your back, pulling you toward him so he could kiss your cheek softly. “You need to get home,” you mumbled, Yoongi humming dismissively as he pressed a series of kisses to your cheek. “Yoongi,” you whined through a giggle, Yoongi cutting you off as he moved his lips toward your lips.

You kissed him back. Of course, you did. Your lips moving together, both of you momentarily forgot about Yoongi’s impending departure. When Yoongi’s hand slid to your abdomen, fingers toying with the waist of your bottoms, he finally broke the kiss, resting his forehead against your own as he sighed.

“I should go,” he spoke, his voice huskier than before, you clearing your throat as you nodded. You moved first, sitting up and stretching your arms over your head. Yoongi pulled his phone out to order himself a ride home, running a hand through his hair as he did so. “The car will be here in three minutes. A silver Toyota Camry!” He added with playful enthusiasm.

You turned around to look at him, giving him a wide-eyed expression. “A silver Toyota Camry?!” He sat up, shoulders shaking in light laughter as he placed his large hand on the side of your abdomen, kissing your lips, your hand finding the side of his face as you kissed him back. “I’ll see you again soon, right?” You whispered against his lips.

“As soon as possible, Kid,” he assured you, kissing the side of your mouth. “You have my time, remember?”

You nodded. “I don’t think you know how happy that makes me,” you told him, a vulnerability in your tone that he had never heard before. Even as you talked throughout the night, bringing up topics of fear of failure, and of losing passion for your dreams and goals, that tone never appeared until just then, as you admitted how happy you were to have his time.

It was in that moment Yoongi realized how much it meant for you to let someone in and allow yourself to feel this way for them. The awareness brought a nervousness. What if he wasn’t enough? You watched as the thoughtfulness passed through his eyes, his mind traveling outside the current moment, and you suddenly felt uneasy.

Yoongi simply gave you a forced small smile, pressing one last kiss to your lips before saying a quiet, “me too, Kid.”

With that, he stood up and made his way to your door, you following behind. As he pulled the door open, you almost worried he was going to walk out without looking back at you, but of course he didn’t. Turning to look at you, he smiled, reaching for your hand and pulling you to him. You wrapped your arms around his waist and he brought his around the back of your neck.

“I’ll see you, Kid. I promise,” he told you, you nodding against his chest.

“I’ll be waiting, Honey Boy,” you assured him, Yoongi’s chuckles vibrating against your frame. He kissed the top of your head before stepping back, your arms falling to your side as he reached for the doorknob, preparing to exit the apartment. “Bring my scarf next time, you thief,” you teased to lighten the mood, Yoongi’s gummy smile spreading across his lips as his shoulders shook in laughter.

“I think I might keep it for a bit,” he said as he stepped outside your door. “As a safety net. I have to keep you around, Kid.”

“Oh, shut up,” you said sassily. “I think you know you have me.”

The smile slowly faded off Yoongi’s face as he stared at you thoughtfully. “I really hope that’s true,” he told you as you grabbed onto the door frame.

“You should kiss a girl before you leave,” you told him popping your hip out as you stared at him.

The gummy grin was back in an instant as he stepped toward you, placing a hand on your waist, bringing his lips to yours, though he hovered over them as he whispered, “As you wish.” He kissed you without hesitation, though the action didn’t last near long enough. You would kiss him forever if you could.

“Bye, Kid,” he told you through his adorable smile.

“Bye, Min,” you grinned right back, watching him as he left before closing your door.

Looking around the apartment, it suddenly felt bland and empty. It was too quiet. Spotting the partially drank wine on the kitchen counter, you were struck with the realization that you were all in with Yoongi. All you could do as you cleaned up the glasses and recorked the bottle was hope Yoongi felt the same way. If not, there was no doubt in your mind that he would shatter your heart.

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nova-is-a-writer-now · 4 years

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Fools pt.2

[Zuko x Reader]

<- previous next ->

Summary: Zuko and Y/N had liked eachother for a while even though neither of them knew it. Y/N tries to get over her crush for him, failing miserably. So just when she decides to let go and embrace her feelings, the new Fire lord finds himself feeling jealous and decides to take matters into his own hands.

A/N: I’m so happy you guys liked this cause I like it so much toooooo and I was worried my writting would mess the idea up but it ended up pretty good. This once again got a little long so it’s def gonna need a pt.3 but I’m gonna wait til someone requests it to write it.

Side note, I’m not a native speaker so if some of the grammar is wrong or something let me know <3

Warnings: Angst but it will end well i promise

-IF YOU HAVE ANY REQUESTS DONT HESITATE TO ASK-

The sun had set on your way back to the palace. You couldn’t really remember when you’d fallen asleep, you tried to stay awake as long as you could but you’d spent the night before awake worrying about what would happen the next day. The weather became more forgiving as the night sky glimmered above you, you’d dare to say it even got a little chilly. What woke you up was a set of slender and calloused fingers putting strands of hair that had fallen to your face back into their place. Before opening your eyes you heard Zuko’s soft voice. “Hey... we’re almost at the palace.”

You finally opened your eyes and were shocked to see where you had fallen asleep. “Zuko...” you muttered in a raspy and still a little sleepy voice “why am I using you as my pillow?”

The Fire lord chuckled softly and you could closely hear the vibrations that sent through his chest as you were slightly laying on it. A faint blush ran through your cheeks as it had done many times that days.

“You fell asleep and then started chattering your teeth. It was pretty annoying honestly, so I sat over here to help warm you up.” Zuko explained as his fingers kept playing with your hair. His arm was around you and you were pretty much leaning on him fully. It was just then you realized how warm he was, one of the benefits of being a fire bender you guessed.

You faintly smiled looking back down and before you could say anything else the carriage stopped. The small door opened to show you the front view of the castle and that helped clear your memory. Aang and the others were here, that’s why you came back. You jumped out of Zuko’s grasp and out of the carriage to start walking fast to the entrance. As soon as the big doors opened you saw Katara’s face smiling expectantly. You didn’t wait more than a second to run into her arms and squeeze her into yours. Her laugh filled the room as the two of you almost fell from how hard you’d ran into her.

“Y/N, I’m loving this but I kinda can’t breathe” she muttered in a muffled voice.

You laughed and let go of her taking a look around you for the first time. The next one to receive your unforgiving hug was Sokka. You wrapped your arms around his neck and made him stumble a couple steps back before he wrapped his arms around your waist. “Someone’s happy to see us.” He expressed as he tightened the hug before letting go.

“Are you kidding? It’s felt like forever since I last saw you, and it’s actually been forever since we’ve all been here together.” You turned more to your left to give Suki her hug, feeling how she was the strongest and most stable one of the three. She was a strong hugger too so it was you this time who had to let go.

Finally you walked up to Aang being a little more forgiving with him, as you’d always felt like if you hugged him to tight he might break. When you were done you looked at all of them in surprise, barely even hearing Zuko’s steps behind you. “What are you guys doing here?” You asked

It was Katara who spoke first. “Well it’s almost been a year since the war ended” she turned to look to Zuko this time as he was greeting Aang and moving on to her. “Your uncle was the one to call us here, he’s organizing a commemoration gala and wanted us to surpise you.”

You moved your attention from Katara to Zuko and asked “You knew about this?” as you saw his golden orbs go back to you.

“I had no idea” he assured you. “Is my uncle here too?” He asked once again to Katara.

“He had business to finish in Ba Sing Se but he’ll be here by tomorrow” it was Aang who intervened this time.

Before anyone else could speak Toph appeared around the corner. “Oh great, you’re back. How was your date?” With those words your heartbeat stopped and restarted again at an impressively fast speed.

Every pair of eyes in the room turned to look at you and Zuko realizing for the first time the two of you had been out together and alone. “Date?” Sokka asked raising an eyebrow. You knew he was never gonna let this go.

“It wasn’t a date” Zuko said from a place he’d stood in behind you. Your heart fell at those words. I mean, yeah he never explicitly said it was a date, and deep inside you knew it wasn’t, but you had hoped that in a way it could’ve been. What hurt you the most was how fast he was to correct Toph, as if he couldn’t stand the idea of your picnic being a date. “Y/N was bored to death and I was too stressed from Fire lord stuff so we took a day off and ate lunch.”

The silence that came after surely couldn’t last more than a couple seconds but to you it was so awkward and shameful it might as well have been two hours. Finally Toph was the once to speak once again. “Well... are we gonna stay here all night and freeze or are we going inside to eat? I’m starving”

——————————-

You did as much as you could to not let Zuko’s comment ruin your night. You got to spend time with your friends for the first time in a while, and at first, swallowing the tight feeling in your throat was hard, you didn’t want to look at Zuko for the rest of the night. The worst part was you knew Zuko hadn’t done anything wrong, it was you who was dumb enough to think a day out could become something else... something more, he was being kind and nice and you turned it into something you knew would end up hurting you. If anything the one you should be mad at is yourself.

But after just a few minutes at the table, listening to Katara and Sokka’s stories about how it was like to go back home after so long, how they’d received them like heroes, how gran gran was so proud of them, Aangs tales of how the other nations are doing and Suki recieving good news from the Kioshi warriors sometimes, soon enough the feeling faded. It would resurface every now and again when Zuko’s eyes would meet your own, an almost worried look on his face but faint enough for only you to notice, but you managed to keep your attention on everyone else.

When dinner was over, Suki was the one to propose the idea of having a girls-only sleep over. Toph, Katara and you agreed, while Sokka told Aang and Zuko they would have a boys night then. You wasted no time making your way to Toph’s room and away from the dinner table. As soon as you walked in you threw yourself dramatically to her bed as the rest of the girls walked inside after you. Toph was the last one and closed the door behind her.

“So... are you gonna keep drowning in your sorrows or are you gonna tell us what happened today at your date.” She jumped to the bed as Katara and Suki took a seat too.

“It wasn’t a date, Toph.”

“You sure wanted it to be” she joked leaning back into her pillows.

“Toph!” You yelled throwing a small cushion at her face which surprisingly she caught with her hand.

“Um... Y/N? Did we miss something? Are you and Zuko...” Suki said looking at you expectantly.

“No! There’s not a me and Zuko, things are like they’ve always been, we’re friends, that’s it.” You responded exasperated

“But... you want to be more.” Katara added, it was more of a statement than a question.

“Ugh i don’t know.” You replied covering your face with your hands. “I mean yeah but it’s dumb and it’s not gonna happen, so no.”

“Well he did seem pretty concerned when you sprinted out of the dining room” She pointed out moving over to braid your hair. She liked to do that because she said it reminded her of when her mom used to do it to her.

“You didn’t tell us what happened today in your little trip” Toph interviened pushing you softly with her foot.

“Nothing, i think. I mean... at one point I think we were about to kiss? But then a guard interrupted us with the news of you guys being here so we had to leave.” You felt a heat take over your body as you remembered the moment when Zuko’s face had been only inches away from yours. “Oh and I kinda fell asleep on him on the way back and he hugged me to warm me up. That’s it”

“That’s it? Y/N you’re really dumb sometimes.” Toph said “If he almost kissed you and you were all cuddly in the carriage then there’s no way he doesn’t like you.”

“He called himself my ‘friend’ while we were eating, and you saw how he got when you said we were on a date. It’s like the idea of it it’s unbearable to him.” You sighed deeply as you felt Katara finishing up your braid. “I think the best thing I can do is get over it.”

“Don’t do something you’ll regret later, Y/N” Suki advised you as she put a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

“Yeah...that’s what I’m trying to do.”

—————

That night you had more fun than you remembered having in a long time. Gossiping about boys was first on your sleepover to-do list. You heard Suki complain about all the Southern Water tribe girls who would dwell over Sokka, and how he would be so oblivious about it, it could become so frustrating. “It’s like he doesn’t even notice how all this girls have their eyes glued to him when he tells stories about his travels and basically need a bucket to store all their drooling.” And Katara didn’t have much complaining to do on that area, she said she sometimes would catch girls looking at him in awe but honestly that’s how everyone looked at Aang, besides she was sure Aang was too busy to even pay attention to anyone other than her. Despite complaints about their boyfriends, the two girls seemed to be very happy.

You talked, laughed and ended up falling asleep cuddled together by the end of the night. You missed that, you really did.

But as all good things, it had to come to an end. The sun was rising on the horizon by the time you woke up and decided to go to the bathroom. With your eyes still half closed from the light, you didn’t even notice when you walked into Zuko. You felt his strong chest covered by his work attire and a pair of hands holding you so you wouldn’t trip.

“Y/N” he said surprised to see you. “Good morning.” Zuko smiled at the sight of your sleepy eyes and morning head.

“Hey” you greeted him back “working early?”

He put his hands down from your shoulders and back to his sides before answering “Yeah, actually. I want to get some things done before mid-day. I’m taking all of you to the market to find something to wear for the gala. I asked around and it sounds like Uncle went all out.”

“He’s getting here today right?”

“Later tonight, yeah” Zuko replied. You tried your best not to but it was impossible not getting lost in his eyes for just a second. You’d never noticed how bright they got in direct sunlight, it was like you could even see the golden and orange specks flying in his orbs, just like a wild burning flame. You couldn’t tell if you wanted this to happen so bad you imagined it or if it actually happened, but you could swear his eyes drifted down to your lips for a split second. He was the one break the silence again. “So um... wake the girls up and tell them to get ready, we’ll be on our way at mid-day.”

You were taken out of your trance and forced to answer. “Yeah, will do.” And with that the Fire lord was on his way back to his office and you were left standing alone, like you had many times before.

——————-

The market was filled with people that day. It was bigger than any market you’d ever been in before, it took up blocks upon blocks where sellers would set their carts or open their shops for costumers to come in. There was an entire street dedicated to clothing, so you and the girls decided to separate from the group to go into a store where Katara had seen a particularly nice dress, while they went off to find Zuko’s personal tailor who had a shop right around the corner.

You didn’t even take two steps into the store before Katara whined“Isn’t this the most beautiful thing you’ve seen?” Holding up an aqua marine dress against her.

“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.” Said Toph, who was standing next to you.

“Ha ha, hilarious Toph”

“It’s really pretty Katara, I think it would look great on you.” intervened Suki looking at her and then turning around to look for one herself.

“I’ll go try it on.” She said walking to the back side of the store where you assumed the dressing rooms were.

You started to walk around trying to find something too, you liked shopping but you were never too good at deciding what would look best on you. A couple dresses caught your eye, but for all of them you ended up deciding they weren’t enough for the occasion. Your search came to an end when you heard Suki yell at you from somewhere in the store. “Y/N!! You need to see this right now!”

You followed the sound of her voice to the opposite end of the store to see her standing in front of a dress. Before she moved to the side to let you get a sight of it she said “You’re gonna love this.” The dress she picked was a long, puffy formal dress, it was mostly red from the bottom but as you looked up to the waist and chest it faded into a deep red and finally to black in the shoulders and sleeves. The neckline had a V shape that would show the shape of your breasts but still was formal and discrete enough to fit the occasion. The back was made out of a very thin lace fabric that would make it seem like the only thing laying on your skin were some black details simulating the shape of flames with some slight golden details on them. It really felt like the dress was made for you.

You were speechless for a couple seconds which Suki took as a hint of you loving it as much as she did. She started to push you to the dressing rooms saying “You need to try it on” until you finally were in one closing the curtain behind you. You thought it wouldn’t take you more than a few minutes to put it on, but in reality it took around ten. Because the dress was very wide and voluptuous, getting it no happened to be harder than it looked and you ended up needing to ask for help from one of the girls that worked in the store. When you finally got it on and looked at yourself you were sure that it was the one.

You were about to walk out when you heard a male’s voice outside the dressing room. “Y/N?” You recognized Zuko’s voice calling you “are you there?”

“Yeah im here.” Almost forgetting what you had on you walked right out to meet him. His eyes fell on you and widened instantly, he looked at you up and down not saying a thing for a good while before you asked “Well? Do you like it?”

“I-I um... yeah, you look... wow” he stuttered back not taking his eyes off of you. You hadn’t seen Zuko this nervous or stuttery since he first met you when he joined the gaang. It was sweet and it made your cheeks gain color once again.

“I’ll take that as a ‘I do like it’.” You chuckled a bit before asking “Where are the girls?”

“They um... they’re already out. It was getting a little crowded in here so they sent me in to look for you.”

“Oh, ok. I’ll take this off and then pay for it, I’ll be done in a second.” You said walking back into the dressing room. Taking it off was significantly easier to do that putting it on, thank the spirits.

Once you walked out Zuko was still waiting for you there. Right as you were about to go pay for the dress, you were sure you saw through the window a familiar face walking in front of the store. You pulled out a bag of coins and handed it to the boy standing next to you. “Zuko... do me a favor. Can you pay for the dress for me? I need to go outside really quick.”

He had a confused look on his face but nodded, taking the bag into one hand and holding the dress in the other. He saw you run outside while he was giving the coins to the old lady who owned the store, faintly listening while she said “She looks beautiful in it doesn’t she? You’re a lucky young man” If he had been paying his full attention, maybe he would’ve corrected her, but his eyes were glued on you. You had stopped a guy in the middle of the street who you looked at with awe and surprise. When he was finally done paying for the dress and the old lady was done packing it up, he walked out of the store only to find this guy holding your face in his hands really close to his, your hands rested on his neck as he approached you and gave you several kisses in your cheeks and forehead while you laughed. The final straw for him was when you raised your hand to his cheek, moving away a bunch of hair that barely covered his face. He was completely sure you were about to kiss him.

Zuko’s heart dropped and his vision turned red. He couldn’t stand looking at you anymore, so he walked up to Aang and the others faster than he meant to.

“Zuko. Are you ok?” Katara asked realizing how his deemeanor had changed.

“Fine. Give this to Y/N.” He ordered handing the dress to her. “I have business to attend at the palace, if you want you can stay and eat around here.”

And without waiting for a reply he took off walking furiously out of the market.

Tag list: @whalerus @galacticamidala @littleninjablake @katherinethedork @eridanuswave @mangoberry43 @taeeemin

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loopy777 · 3 years

Note

RE: WIPs game: Actress Mai. what is she acting in? besides her ongoing starring role as Repressed Perfect Child?

Ah, "Actress Mai." This is a headcanon I keep chipping away at in the hopes that I'll eventually have something I want to publish. I have a whole host of little ideas and scene concepts, but only one actual WIP.

It started with the idea that Zuko and Ursa are theater snobs. Sure, Ursa apparently attended Ember Island Player performances, which Zuko disdained, but my thought is that she took what she could get in terms of live theater with her family even if she agreed with his criticisms. However, I like to headcanon that Mai loves the Ember Island Players, hates classical theater, and generally is the type of person who thinks that Michael Bay movies are great and more people should just turn off their brains and allow themselves to be entertained.

Why?

Well, because character conflict is what makes stories interesting. Zuko gritting his teeth through Mai's praise of how the EIPs finally made "Love Amongst the Dragons" interesting? Gold! Ursa and Mai getting into heated drunken arguments about theater styles? Gold! Mai convincing Kiyi of the good points of the controversial 'Love Amongst the Dragons II: Love Harder' (which is canon to at least two of my Maiko fics) while Zuko and Ursa grit their teeth? Solid gold!

This fun little conflict turned into something more, though. If Ursa and Mai are dark mirrors of each other in terms of theater tastes, then it felt like Mai needed a little acting history to parallel Ursa's own. But Ursa could be a publicly known actress because she was a peasant; such a profession was okay for her. Mai is a noble, though, and an acting job would be seen as beneath her, especially as a woman, as Polite Fire Society knows (or thinks it knows) that 'actress' is really just a polite term for prostitute. This is a takeoff from some real-life history stuff that I first learned of through Sherlock Holmes stories. Apparently, Irene Adler being an 'opera singer' was a thing British readers would recognize as being of a sordid nature.

So I decided that Mai did some secret, illicit acting anonymously during her childhood and teenage years. She stumbled across an opportunity, gave it a try, and found it fulfilling despite the social stigma. She liked being able to project emotions of all kinds in public, while at the same time shielded by masks or makeup or costumes or whatever. She liked being other people, people who find love with their heroes or die tragically to teach everyone a point or villainously ruin everything around them as a force of vengeful nature. It was the only opportunity for expression that she had, as well as a quiet form of rebellion. So for years she snuck out of the capital, down to Harbor City, and acted in all kinds of plays for a troupe that accepted not paying her as a fair trade for keeping her anonymous.

Naturally, moving to Omashu put a crimp on that, and so it ended.

So the idea is that Ursa eventually learns this about Mai after years of their butting heads over theater opinions, sees the parallels and perpendiculars in their lives, and grudgingly comes to respect Mai's completely wrong opinions about theater as at least being informed. And Mai, who is good at acting and does know the classics and would be wasted in the Ember Island Players, helps Ursa out with some plays she writes (still anonymous, although Zuko and Ursa know) even though Mai privately thinks the dialogue is too stilted and the stories kind of cliched.

But I have had trouble beating all of this into a proper story. I want to do flashbacks to Mai on stage, I want to show her conflict with Ursa, I want to reveal how Ty Lee found out and used that to get Mai to accept running away to the circus, I want Zuko's reaction to finding that his wife can recite soliloquies from all the major classics, I want Kiyi becoming an Ember Island Players groupie, etc. It's just missing a plot to hang it all on.

So here's a snippet of one of my attempts to construct something:

Noren grimaced. "Honestly, I was impressed we got enough people to fill out all the parts, never mind understudies. This play-"

"-is important," Ursa finished for him.

He hesitated just a moment before nodding. "And it's important for the same reasons that it was tough to get actors. I'm sure once Zuko sees it and can give it his official approval-"

"But he can't see anything without a Rinzen." Ursa thought about her son out there in the audience, anonymous amidst the 'peasants' of Hira'a. Zuko didn't mind mixing with his people, despite being their Lord, but the only reason he was here, tonight, was because Ursa herself had written the play, and he was a good son who would always support his mother.

Zuko had even brought his friends, including the Avatar. Aang was a delightful young man, and always very nice to Ursa, but she couldn't help but feel trepidation at his presence. After all, Avatar Roku, Ursa's grandfather and Aang's previous life, was a major character in this play, and while the story was based on real events, it was Ursa's hand that had shaped his dialogue and actions. She was putting her thoughts and philosophies, her very heart, out on the stage for public assessment, and this was tricky material. Would it do right by history?

Plus the lead actress was sick, and going by her complaints and the smell of the privy, perhaps dying.

Ursa had to tell herself that her audience, her friends and family and neighbors, wouldn't enjoy this play becoming a disaster. None of them were that bad. This wasn't the Capital. And she wasn't a princess. Not anymore.

So why had she taken it on herself to write this play, to positively dramatize a story of an ancestor who a few years ago was considered a heretic and traitor, to will into being a performance right here in the Fire Nation of a play that featured a heroic Air Nomad character whose actress was currently trapped in the privy?

Because her nation had hurt the world, and she wouldn't leave it to her son alone to do all the work of helping to fix that. That's why.

"Maybe," she ventured, "I could play the part."

Noren frowned. "You? But you're playing the Lady of Glass, and the characters share several scenes."

But Ursa was already analyzing the copy of the script that existed in her mind. "Rinzen has a lot more lines than the glass spirit, and I'm the only one who knows them. And playing a spirit is a lot easier than playing an Air Nomad. A spirit is just a voice, a costume, and some special effects. An Air Nomad character is a performance, and we're fresh out of actresses."

Noren's head tilted from side to side. "We could ask Kiyi. She knows the play by heart. She's a bit young for the part, yes, but-"

"No," Ursa cut him off. "She'd say yes if we asked her, but she hates being on stage. I'm not going to do that to her. I'd rather call off the play and see if our Rinzen is feeling better tomorrow."

Noren blanched at the very thought and made a gesture of good luck. "Well, maybe we can find a new Lady of Glass. And adjust the Rinzen costume. So are you thinking we'll just go on stage and ask the crowd who wants to join the cast, or maybe-"

And then there was a shift behind Noren, the red curtain over the office's doorway being pulled aside to reveal a living shadow. It seemed to Ursa that a chill had entered the room.

Lady Mai, Intended to Fire Lord Zuko, had arrived.

Ursa stiffened as Mai stepped into the office and let the curtain fall back into place. Time and familiarity had not made it any easier to be in a room with her son's lover. She had no real doubts about Mai, no resentment over the early difficulties Zuko that had apparently been overcome, but it was hard to reconcile Azula's shy and dour childhood companion with what existed now. Mai walked around covered with knives, watching everything; she never spoke unless there was an explicit need, but her gaze was always focused and her eyes missed nothing.

And it was in Mai's kind of silent, watchful abyss that Judgement grew. Ursa did not have a good feeling about how Mai likely judged her. How could a child of the Fire Nation's capital, someone who had become strong alongside Azula, a world-class warrior whose last stand for the life of her lover was already the subject of at least one popular poem, have any empathy for Ursa's life or the mistakes she had made?

Mai looked at her with dull eyes. "Is everything okay? The crowd is getting restless, and Zuko was worried. I told him I'd check on things so that he wouldn't miss the beginning of the play."

Ursa hesitated against that flat, low voice, and Noren stepped in to answer, "Our lead actress is sick. Ursa and I were just discussing options. There- uh, there aren't a lot of them."

Mai might as well have been told that dinner was planned to include green sprouts, but they were all out and so the yellow ones would be substituted. "Which part?"

Ursa swallowed. "The Air Nomad girl, Rinzen."

Mai quirked an eyebrow. "The heroine." She was still and silent for a long moment, and then sighed. "Zuko's really been looking forward to this. I guess I can help out. All right, I'll be your Rinzen."

Ursa wasn't quite sure she had heard that right. "You- you want to take the part? But-" Her voice faltered, as all the possible objections swirled through her mind. Mai was, to put it simply, completely lacking in charisma and non-threatening presence. She spoke without emotion. She moved so efficiently that no one in the back of the audience would even notice her. And she was so disinterested in everything that she'd probably nod off in the middle of the performance.

Noren offered a troubled smile. "Thank you for the offer, but acting is harder than it looks. It's not just about going on stage and reciting lines. An actress needs-"

"It's Nomad part, right?" Mai shrugged. "So we want a high, bright voice. Circular gestures. A bounce in all the movements. Here, like this." She stretched out her arms, shook her head, and then-

-and then-

-and then Mai was no longer there. The woman in red and black looked like her, but there was a wide mischievous smile on her face, and her eyes were big and bright. She stepped towards Ursa- no, they weren't mere steps. She kicked her heels high with each one, and the way she shifted her weight flirted with almost being a dance. She held her arms up at her side as she moved, and then when she reached Ursa, swung them dramatically to bring her hands together into a sign of respect.

She bowed, and in a voice that positively rang and filled the room, said, "Are you not the Firebender Avatar, Roku? What a fortunate wind blows to lay my path upon your own!" She rose again, and trotted in a circle around Ursa. "I say, you are taller than I expected, and must be quite heavy. Are you sure you're keeping up with your Airbending, young Avatar?" She raised a hand and held it out to the side.

Noren recovered before Ursa did, realizing what was going on, and quickly found a rag and placed in the waiting hand.

Mai's eyes never left Ursa the whole time, and as soon as the rag was in her grip, she moved again, taking a stance that had clearly been modeled on Avatar Aang's own style, and held the rag out in front of her, dangling it from her fingers and bouncing it in the air.

Mai gave a laugh that was echoed through the little room. "Your beard flutters in my breeze! Come, young Avatar, let's have a spar!"

There was a beat, and Ursa was tempted to deliver Roku's next line in response, but then all at once the younger woman slumped, letting the grandness leak out of her limbs. When she straightened, Mai was back, standing like a blade made of shadow, her face blank and her eyes dull.

Ursa blinked. What had she just witnessed? So many questions swirled in her mind, and she decided to ask the most important of them: "You know all the lines?"

#avatar mai #mai #ursa #avatar ursa

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sebsunset · 4 years

Text

Creation, Both Haunted and Holy - CHAPTER 2!

I’ve been working on this thing for weeks straight, to make it as amazing as possible!

As always, I am dragging @muffinlance‘s AUs into my work

this is the angsty one :) yUP, the year-old au!

and don’t worry, i have another one in progress... also using a muffinlance- inspired au- one of the more obscure ones, i think!

Mother Hama is. Suspiciously nice to write, and very angsty

TRIGGERS: Graphic-ish descriptions of wounds and child abuse! Please beware, my dudes! Things will get better soon, but this is really really bad right now!

LINK: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25578904

OR, READ HERE :)

In the moon’s light, an urutau-vulture screeches out its song, pure and eerie grief ringing out in the wind.

And that’s how Zuko’s mind briefly comes back to reality.

Awareness fading in and out with each breath he wheezes through.

With wakefulness, comes the purest of agonies. A mouth open, voice too hoarse to scream out for help.

The hot pain, all over him, the memories tugging at his head, the memories of-

The burning. A cleanse that felt so dirty, like-

Oh, the sheer smell of it-

Of him.

The smell of cooked meat is his.

He wheezes out a cough, remembers the time Mom had no servants to help her, and had asked Azula to light up the fire for them to cook.

He tries thrashing about, to get a good view.

Mom ought to be around there, around somewhere.

(Even if it’s been so long since she was last around.)

She must be there, somewhere he can’t see, maybe in the blurry shade of the trees. She will bring a bucket and cool water, and she will hold him and-

“W-Where’s mom?” he tries asking, to nothing, to no one.

But only one of his ears hear it, the raspy, damaged sound that he can hardly recognize as his own voice.

He tries to ask again, words broken, tear tracks he can only feel in one cheek.

The burning pain he struggles to breathe over.

He doesn’t know what happened, but he can’t move. Can’t do anything, nothing but begging for it to go away.

“Where?” his voice comes out, finally.

The pain in his throat finally registers with the blabbered words, and suddenly he feels like he’s been screaming for all too long.

I’m sorry, Larva, says the feeling of hands on him. I’m so sorry it came to this.

Ghostly hands that don’t quite hurt when they touch his left side.

There is no shadow to hold him, though.

He can’t remember what happened, but the questions come to his mind nonetheless.

Why does it hurt so much? Why is his arm numb, why can’t-

Go to sleep. I’ll keep you safe, little Vessel.

The voice is soft, warm.

And, as the moon sings her song, his brief moment of awareness fades off.

Only one eye closing, as he breathes out again.

Painful, laboral.

His last thought is that he hates it.

The tone in the voice.

It’s all too-

It’s in the way the moon sings, as the boy’s skin peels off.

It’s in the way he doesn’t let any infection set in.

Scabbing away as the days pass, as Vaatu tries to heal him.

But there’s a reason the two of them were together. Glued, some might say.

Possessed, united fully.

He is part of Zuko, he is his mind and he is confined, locked away from seeking any further help. Not while the boy is that hurt, not while he can’t be awake and alive on his own.

Were it not a tragedy of occasion, his tendency to lock himself in the tiniest confides would be quite entertaining to watch.

Maybe, were it not happening to him, of all creatures.

Truly, he has been reduced to cowering on corners, to being not much more than a shadow.

Was it selfish, to wish for freedom when he had given it up to save his Vessel?

The two of them had done it.

An Avatar State of their own volition.

A sacrilege against the nature of a human body, a way to twist and bend their souls, braided together into a necklace of rope.

He doesn’t want to tell his boy what happened.

What the two of them had done.

He was too young to know what their purpose really was.

What would happen next, once he managed to get Zuko awake for more than a few minutes, enough time for them to scavenge, to do anything?

But keeping him awake, at that moment, would be nothing short of insane.

Yes, he must change. But this is too painful. Vaatu can feel the pulsing, the infection begging to seep in, to eat away at their flesh.

The way the dead limb hangs limply, charred black. The way the damaged leg attracts flies, like a plate of fruit slathered in honey, only kept away by him.

Blisters that look like they could open into eyes, watch the world for them all.

And so, Vaatu brushes off the sickness, scares away the vermin.

Lets his presence seep through, for nothing can keep him from affecting the world, not even being tied so deeply to his vessel.

The woods grow around them, thick foliage, colorful flowers in the vines.

No other spirit to bless or curse them.

Just the lonesome pocket of the world to which Vaatu and his Vessel have gone.

He is the eye of the shadow, the chaos that lurks deep in that tiny, undisturbed piece of the world.

He is a warning to the creatures.

He warns the world to stay away, lest it feel his disruption. His returning strength, his effect on the world around them finally taking place again.

Now that they are united, he can see that they could easily become unstoppable.

Rotting limbs thrown into any position, blackened flesh still smelling like it's been cooked.

The way it all brews in the two of them is nauseating.

The sickness is in the bursts of consciousness, when the one eye that can close opens up, blurry from tears.

When his head faces up and he sobs, lonesome and in pain.

Vaatu tries keeping the pain at bay, even if just by lulling him to bed.

Their vengeance is yet to be completed.

Disaster will strike again, he will make sure of it.

He tries telling, he tries consoling.

We will come back, he says. Rest for now, their fate is incoming.

But he is just a voice in his head, the feeling of a ghost-limb that can't really pull back hair, brush away feverish sweat.

Even if their Vessel is growing more powerful, Vaatu feels as weak as he can be.

But, as consciousness slips away again, he can’t help but notice the way the world is shifting around them.

The way the rabbit-mice has started chasing the otter-fox.

It is a victory, but it feels wrong.

Unsteady feet, weight put all into one as Zuko drags himself up.

The pain is hot and hard, it almost drives away the overwhelming hunger.

He didn’t think it could get that bad.

It could be worse, Vaatu says, but his voice still sounds angry.

Maybe not at him, but angry nonetheless.

(Angry like-)

When coherency slips away from his mind, when the pain is too much, as each of his slow, measured hops grows more and more exhaustive, he feels something in him beg for destruction.

But he won’t.

In the same way that Vaatu won’t bring him food, in the same way he will stay quiet, never saying a word of what happened to him.

Zuko wants to proclaim that he isn’t forgiven, but for the moment, his focus is on the steps.

Barely more than hops, as his one useful hand hangs onto trees.

Bare feet, grass scratching up against the angry, still-bleeding skin.

The question is pressing, rubbing against the back of his mind, as he cries out and whines, intense pain barely dimmed.

How is he alive?

All firebenders are taught about the sheer power of their fire, about the great deeds and prowesses they can achieve.

About how much damage they can inflict upon their enemies, when they chose not to end their suffering.

It should be infected.

I am trying not to let that happen, Vaatu whispers in his head, like it's a secret, like saying it out loud will destroy their chances of it getting any better.

He isn’t moving in the shadow.

“The left side feels green.” he says, barely noticing he’s speaking at all.

Sunlight streams in through the gaps in the foliage. The moon is going to rise up soon, and the world is orange and it all feels green.

Find help, the voice instructs. You need someone to help you.

“First, food.” he argues, hearing the rumbling of his stomach. “I mean- Where there is food, there are people.”

You make a surprisingly decent point, he says, and there ought to be some farmhouses around here.

Zuko shudders.

People watched back there, people saw his shame burned into skin, his last rite of passage.

His whining sounds pitiful to his own head, but he can’t make his mouth shut up.

Involuntary sounds, flinches and shudders, as he drifts through.

Tall grass scraping against his wound, every touch sending new jolts of it.

The gentle breeze, the falling petals of flowers, blown away by the wind.

All so gentle. The kind pulsing of the world’s fiery heart, a piece of peace in the battlefield of its little nations.

And all so, so very painful.

Maybe this tells more than it shows, but pain is hard to show through words, hard to show through barely coherent thoughts, by the mind of a child who had never been through such great agony before.

A bad leg that can’t sustain his weight much longer.

Tiny complaints amidst panting.

He feels like he is the only source of noise. The world is eerily still.

Holding its breath.

Zuko shudders, tree bark scraping at tiny hands.

He looks down on himself.

A foot half-blackened. White and violent red, all blistered and-

Cooked. Broken.

Zuko doesn’t look at his left arm.

He is all too broken, all too destroyed by the time he’s been through.

You aren’t, says the voice.

Scabs that peel away too easily, like they were never meant to form.

Droplets of blood calling for any animal. He is prey, and the world is so, so very much now.

The disorganization of the world doesn’t manage to feel quite right, quite how it should be.

Like someone’s disrupted it before, like they’ve re-organized the world into something it shouldn’t be.

Something hangs in the air, hidden but never overshadowed by the smell of his tracks.

Yes, deliberate.

They’re onto something, he realizes.

A pike of wood, somewhere from which a scarecrow once stood.

“A garden.” he says. “I think we’ve found a garden.”

Purring at the back of his head, his blurry eye half-focusing around him.

A bush at the entrance.

Calling to him.

Food.

It has to be food.

Overtaken by hunger, he can only see them.

The rest of the garden is just carrots, little beets and a cabbage or two.

Nothing that looks that sweet.

And so, Zuko drops down, hisses in pain and twitches about, before grabbing a handful of berries in his one hand.

Vaatu takes a minute too long to realize they’re the kind used to make rat poison.

Her abode is a humble one.

A tiny inn she’s set up, rooms rarely occupied.

Of course, she has other places for travelers to sleep in.

It’s her lair, made of damp wood, of floorboards that creak comfortably under her old feet. Of roofs that leak, of the smell of a harmless old person.

She has a thousand little closets, a million nooks and crannies.

Hidden memorabilia, memories she’s carved back up for herself.

All wheatered by rain and by soot, but kept clean and tidy, far away from the fire.

She didn’t have many clients, but she had more than enough time to tend to the ones she had.

And so she did, for a time.

She kept herself satisfied, working towards her goals day in and out.

Followed through with a routine, day in and day out. Cooked plenty for herself, made sure she had the energy to follow through with her tasks.

That night, she can feel the full moon.

A welcome presence above her, making the world pulse with her divinity.

She has blessed the woman with her presence, and so, that night, she will go…

Watch the moon.

It’s a nice way to talk about the indulgence in her favourite of all things.

When she can make the world malleable around her, when she can dance and sing, pulling at the strings that bind the world together.

She smiles, feels it pull at her eyes.

That night will be formidable, she thinks

With finality, she treks along.

Yet, she doesn’t feel alone.

How can she, when the full moon rises, making the world finally feel alive again?

The leaves crackling under her feet as she strides, the roots and branches snapping under her like she is a mighty beast.

Remainders of the sun’s warmth slowly seeping out, Tui taking her rightful place in the throne of the sky.

Her court of stars, rising slow and steady in its march.

And the world is silent around her. She knows it ought to be gawking at her, the last of her kind.

“Oh?” comes out of her mouth, before she can even stop herself.

An ear strained out.

“What is that…” she tsk-s in amusement, looks around with a half-absent mind.

Just what poor creature dares it, to choke in her garden, to foam over the leaves of her poison, to die in Hama’s territory?

Wakefulness comes slowly.

His brow furrows in confusion, only half his vision able to focus.

But he doesn’t need to.

All Zuko sees is darkness.

He shivers, suddenly hit with the sheer cold of the room.

It's eerie.

He doesn’t know where he is.

He lashes out, trashes about.

His feet burn. Tied together with rope.

There are no windows, the space cramped. The sickeningly sweet smell of mold, the only sound meeting his ears, his own panting.

Like a piece of bread that’s been left hanging around for all too long.

Something is wrong.

It’s in the way his tongue feels garbled when he tries to talk, it’s in the way he can’t quite move.

It’s in the involuntary twitching of a dead limb, that he can’t stop, even when it hurts.

He can’t sit up, wouldn’t even if the dizziness would let him.

Vessel, are you okay? comes to his head.

Why didn’t you stop me, he tries asking. Where are we? Why are we here?

There are no little hands in the shadows, no feeling of a ghost hand touching him.

But the pain is dulled, pushed back.

Cloaked.

“Where am I?” he looks around. “Va-Voice, where are we?”

Someone brought us here, Larva. Get up, I’m curious.

“Then move on your own.” he spits. “I’m tied up. Stupid.”

Regret makes him shake his head, but Vaatu is too old to hold up a grudge.

I can’t. We are united now, Larva. We are one in the same, and wherever you go, I go too.

“Chained?” he remembers. Like he is. Stuck, chained.

Chained. But fret not, my Larva, for stagnation will not come back to us. For now, though, you shall recover your energies.

A groan, as he lifts his hand, swipes a bug from his brow.

You sound like Uncle goes unsaid, but leaves the taste of bile on his mouth nonetheless.

Shudders, head shakes. The feeling of strands of patchy hair brushing against his shoulder.

He may not be alone, but there's no armor, no protection.

Zuko shivers, suddenly cold.

A part of him would give anything for that surge of power, for the feeling of the elements at his will, ready to be summoned up, to be harnessed and used as he deems fit.

For anything that can protect him, even with the collateral damage.

He can’t do anything, but he struggles to turn to his side nonetheless, to crawl out of the pile of rags that was his bed.

He can’t get up, so he drags his body along, pulls it slowly.

A trail of blood from his left side, scraped against the floorboards.

Dragged by his hand, whining and growling.

He can’t untie himself, no matter how much he tries.

Some kind of different knot - intricate, woven tight.

Vaatu guides him slowly, words that barely register to his mind.

Nausea, the feeling of ants crawling at the tips of his fingers as he drags himself to the door.

Get to the door - away from the fabric, it burns too easily - and then you can burn through the rope.

And suddenly, he wants to scream.

“I’m not burning myself. Shut up!” he plops onto his right side, drool pooling at the left corner of his mouth.

Beyond his control.

You know how to control the heat. It wouldn’t hurt. It's like pulling a bandage.

“Shut up.” he tries screaming, but his voice comes off hoarse.

… I apologize. I understand your fear, Vessel.

“I’m not forgiving you.”

I won’t let you stagnate for long, but feel free to stand your ground for a few more days.

“I’ll give you a week.” A bit of snark, that comes off soft.

A dry chuckle that breaks through the darkness.

He rolls his eyes, but can’t bring a smile up. He knows it would hurt. It would sting on his face, it would pull at the burns.

He reaches the door, struggles onto his knees, pulls at the handle.

Rattled, shaken, pulled and pushed with the feeblest of strengths.

Breaths growing quicker, as the weight of what he had done sets onto his shoulders.

Oh, what he did-

You should’ve eaten your vegetables, comes out as a light-hearted attempt, falling so very short.

“Shut up.” he wants to yell, because he’s locked in a strange home and oh Agni-

It’s dawning on him, slowly and steadily, just what he did.

Just what happened.

He hurt them.

(He did much worse.)

Falls to the floor. Looks at his one hand.

Now only one. Covered with little burns, old marks of his failures set onto his wrists. Little reminders of hands that were once there.

His breath, puffing out as smoke in the dark, cold room.

And suddenly, tears are falling down onto his hand.

(Father did that.)

No voice to comfort him. Nothing but the oppressiveness of his lonesome state.

Zuko wants to drown in tears, but his left eye refuses to cry, his bony body refuses to shake with sobs just yet.

So he just shrinks in there, holds himself close through the pain, pretends someone else is there to hold him.

"W-why?" He asks, feeling only half of his mouth move.

Words coming out garbled, blabbered through tears.

No answer comes, and he feels all alone.

He is a big boy, he wants to remind himself.

A big boy indeed, and that's why he cries and cries and cries, ignoring how the hollow place of the moon is soon filled by Agni’s eye.

The walks back home tend to be a less than exciting ordeal.

Oh, of course there's glee. Catharsis, even.

But lately, there’s some more than that. There’s the weight of the years on her shoulders, the soreness on her legs, the ache engraved deep into her bones.

That’s the vengeance of her people, of the men and women slain, torn down from the inside, overtaken by insanity.

She was meant to do it. It was why the art had come to her, it was why she had mastered it.

To bring down the rain of vengeance.

Nonetheless, that particular walk was made through with a quicker step, with a less vengeful head.

She had spent so long hurting, and the ones who hurt were the ones who learned how to heal the best.

She knew where to make it ache, and she had studied plenty of how to heal before.

(Kanna and her, studying scrolls that would be burned less than a day later, until late at the night.

Listening to the tribe's men sing and dance around the campfire, laughing and betting. Rolling their eyes, t hey healed eachother with little kisses by the moonlight, as Hama listened to Tui's song, to the calling of the full moon.

And with her friend's mittened hand in hers, she closed her eyes and felt the warm pulse of a world suddenly coming to life.

In the night's light, the cold wind whipping against their warm bodies, they danced together.

A dance that would soon turn into brisk movements, into desperate jabs.

But, at the moment and to that very day, the times before were painted with a rose-tinted glass.)

What mattered was that she had a patient, someone hurt as badly as she once was.

A son of ash and soot, a child with an eye burned open, blinded but still moving.

A child whose mere existence, whose life was astounding to her. How could that little thing keep going, how could he crawl to her and lay by her grassbed?

A little creature that proved her either insane or lucky enough to have a spirit in her hands.

He was going to be useful, she had decided when she found him foaming at the mouth, turning and twisting, rubbing dirt all over the open wound.

She’d cleaned him up, she had left him a nice little room, for an ashmaker that had yet to pay her back.

He would be grateful, that was certain.

And she’d seen first hand, how gratitude could destroy a man. Break down his flesh, make him bow and worship like a dog.

(She'd stood, suspended in her cell, watching an affair below.

The guard with bright yellow eyes, a glint like that of golden daggers, pointed towards her favorite prisoner.

A young woman, barely more than a girl.

She was from a neighboring tribe. Beautiful button nose and plump lips, bowing down low, foreign words slipping off her tongue.

She was meant to sing to the moon and the sea, but she sung their tribe’s songs upon anyone’s request. Danced as well as she could, tied up in chains.

A slap to the back of her head, something in the dirty ashmaker's speech.

A correction, two apologies delivered in a low bow.

Forgiveness in the form of a plump bowl of jook and not much else.)

Her garden blooms around her.

What little use she could make of the soil there. Little plants, poisonous berries. Nothing too beautiful or lavish. She was just a humble old woman, afterall.

She’d been nice, asked around the village. Seeds, some tools. She was sweet and defenseless, and nobody ever dared suspect her to her face.

The village had never been a tribe.

And the house she lived in had always been just that. A house. Some might stretch it and call it a lair.

Not quite a home, as much as she tries to keep it cold, to make it feel like one when she closed her eyes, and look like one when she dared open them up.

That place is still a land of fire. Lava below her, the sun all too hot, not a single break in his wicked reign.

She misses the polar winters. They’d always been so good for weeding out the weak and the fiery alike.

Perhaps her glasses are tinted blue, contrasting all too sharply against the blood-red of that place.

But the point still stands in her mind. That place is no real home.

It doesn't have the foundations to be one.

It doesn't have the people to make it one.

There’s no Kana or Panuk or any of the children running about. There is no tribe to embrace her, no new stories to tell around the campfire. No dealings with the neighbors, and no polar-bear sled dogs to lead to the market every month.

There’s only the oppressive loneliness of a single person lost in the sea of snakes.

But for now, she can rejoice in the luxury of a new toy. One that can be mended, sewn and filled up with the truth. A child of ash, all hers.

(Malleable as the water she’d once sculpted into ice.)

Slow footsteps, steady smile. A bit of excitement, despite the bits of a lazy cat in her demeanor.

The doors of the inn, all open and empty.

Until the locked closet.

It’s their smallest room. It’s perfect for someone that small, that frail.

A plant left in a pot too big will soon spread, grow out of control.

If he grows up well enough, if his leaves twist and bend and his roots stretch out as he tries to reach the sun, she will put him on a leash.

Hama had been wanting something to keep her entertained.

He sobs and heaves and nearly vomits once or twice.

Snot and bile, no comfort, no caress.

Not a word amidst the fit. Nothing that he can hear, nothing that can make itself noted in his mind.

His body hurts, but there is no infection to take him away, to lend him a hand.

He can’t think straight. Repulse fills his throat whenever he thinks of himself, whenever he opens his eye for enough time to truly see himself.

And he can’t do this, he thinks.

Like any child does, he slips into a spiral, falls down and down.

Thoughts swirling in his head, screams that his throat can't force out.

Until something breaks through, snaps him out of it.

The sound of a door creaking open.

A tiny stream of the morning’s light drifts into the room, so gentle yet so bright, revealing dust that doesn’t quite form bunnies and mold growing on the walls of a cramped closet.

The decrepit coldness is suddenly accentuated, with the gentle warmth that hits his back.

He shudders, suddenly, as the light is taken away.

When he turns, a figure stands, back-lit in the doorway.

Old and hunched, his blurry eyes barely able to focus on anything but her kind smile.

He turns to her, ready to question why she left his legs tied up, why she locked him there, how long he'd been alone, what she wants to do now-

“Are- Are you-” he tries stuttering out a question, but suddenly, he realizes he doesn’t know just what he wants to ask.

She comes closer, looks down upon him.

“Bow down and ask, young one.” she says, gently. “Be respectful of this old woman, won’t you?”

Vaatu growls at the back of his head, and, for a second, he forgets that his friend is simply locked inside his mind, with no real effect on the world once they’re not alone.

So, he breathes in deep, pretends there’s nothing wrong inside him.

And drops down in a rigit bow, so the kind woman won’t burn him.

“I am Hama. Who are you?” a cane pokes his burnt side, the arm that’s no longer there.

Deep breath. He knows who he is, and so will she.

“I’m Zuko. Son of-”

“Nobody.” she says. The harsh word startles him, slipped in such a gentle voice. “Not anymore. Not after what happened to you.”

He tries again.

“Zuko, son of P-”

A poke from the cane, right in a blister. He flinches and hisses, unable to stop himself.

“You are a son of nobody.” she says, her voice sweet as the smell of moldy grain. “After all that must’ve happened to you, it’s better as that. Poor thing.”

That silence lasts for a few seconds, before her voice returns, kinder, to his sight of nothing but fetid floorboards.

“Now, young one, tell me, what have they done to you?”

He won’t say. He won’t speak out again.

Not when Vaatu hisses, pure in his anger, taking over his head.

“Don’t you think you owe me that, after all I’ve helped you with?” a cane pokes his head, gently thumping against his skull. No real intention for pain, not on his bad side.

He gulps down something.

A single tear hits his lip, salty against the bitterness in his mouth.

Why does he cry? Why do the tears betray his mind, why does his gut feel so raw?

“I- I was burned.” he says.

“That I can see.” she says, gently. “Now come on, darling. I must know your affliction to heal you.”

“I was burned and banished.” he says. Words spilling out dirty and fetid and spat out like falling teeth.

But he tells no more. Hopefully, she won't see any tales of spirits, any curses or blessings to destroy.

(What if she wants to cleanse him, too?)

“Oh, dear.” she says, voice perfect in compassion.

Be careful, Vessel, Vaatu says in his head. His voice no longer a hiss, just a thought at the back of his mind. Do not trust her. Do not.

“That is very unfortunate.” she says. “Then, you aren’t Zuko, are you? As a banished boy, you have no name.”

“I- I still have my honor.” is the only defense he can give her.

And she laughs.

It would be warm, infectious as any other disease, were it not happening at that moment, when he felt raw and when his vulnerability was so easy to turn into anger.

“I am Hama, and you are Nobody.”

This is the point where the scene should end. Here, it should all fade away to silence, to maybe a sob or two, a twitch or whine at his own discomfort, until he is instructed to get up.

But please, remember just who we are talking about.

Nothing ends when or how it should, down here.

“B-But-” he tries stammering out, his heart thundering in his chest. His voice can’t come out as a scream, but it tries.

Maybe, a part of him thinks, his voice will be heard then.

She pokes him again, straight at the ribs.

“Nobody.” she says. “Nobody, with that attitude.”

If only she knew, he wanted to say.

Be nobody, Vaatu whispers, locked inside his head.

Zuko wants to fight. He wants to bite and gnash and destroy, to bend and twist and fall upon that state again, that state that made him-

“Not nobody,” he says. “I- I’ll prove to you. I’m not nobody. I swear on my honor.”

He can feel her smile.

“Son of nobody, then.” she says. “But make good on that promise, please.”

Hissing in his head, he looks up.

Tap, straight at a hollowed-out cheek.

“Stay down.” she says. “The light might hurt your eyes, so keep down low, son. I’ll get you something to eat.”

#writing #fanfic #atla #atla aang #atla zuko #atla hama #avatar #avatar zuko #vaatu #avatar vaatu #fanwork #fandom #fanfiction #fantasy #angst #muffinlance #mother hama au #hama #avatar hama

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raikangaru · 4 years

Text

Love - Zuko x Reader

Warnings: explicit content (smut)

suggested one shot

you may listen to the song as you read. the story is based from it

His royal robes stands out in the crowd, bright gold and red sticking out like a sore thumb. I haven’t seen him in a year, he had aged, stress lines and dark bags mark his face but he was as handsome as the day I left him. My heart clenches at the sight of him, I have missed him, I almost wanted to approach him. He continues to browse the wares of the market, surrounded by his royal guards, I shake my head before continuing on with my own errands. It was unexpected to see him but I’m not mad that I did. I return to my previous actions and selected the fruits I had wanted to purchase, smiling at the old lady as she packed up my items.

“Here you go dear”

I thank the nice old lady and turn back to where I had seen him, just to see him before I go but he was gone, I sigh sadly but go on anyways to my next stop. A hand circles around my wrist and on instinct I jerk it away but the hold stays tight on my arm, I look to the scruffy man with a horrible smile,”sir please let go of me,”I asked tugging on my arm,”no can do little lady,”he flashes me a smile, rotten teeth on display. “I suggest you don’t get me angry sir,”I tried again heating up my hands but he was suddenly ripped away from me. I turn to my saviour and familiar ember eyes meet mine,”I-Zuko, thank you,”I gape at the man before me, he was even more handsome up close. He pushes me behind him as his guards arrests the creep, “what a pleasant surprise to see you (your name),”he tilts my head up and rubs his thumb over my bottom lip,”still as pretty as ever, kitten,”he whispers into my ear and I stiffen you at the familiar nickname, dropping my purchases.

“Zuko, you know I’m not your kitten,”I bend down to pick up my groceries, “you use to like being called that,”he counters an almost sad look passes his face. “Why don’t we catch up as old friends?”he suggests, “I think it’s better if we don’t Zuko, I’m not interested,”I huff as I straighten up and prepare to be on my way but he doesn’t make a move to leave me alone,”are you not going to let me go until I agree?”,I quirk an eyebrow as his guards began to surround us, his flashes me an innocent before I sigh in frustration. Why does he act like everything’s alright between us, I’d hurt him. I was selfish and I couldn’t return his feelings the same way.

“Fine, lead the way almighty Firelord,”

He brings us to a very fancy restaurant, fit for the Firelord to dine in, “this is my favourite whenever I visit,”he says as he pulls the seat for me,”it seems like your taste,”I commented. “What would you like to order?”he picks up the menu decorated in gold and red, “just order what you usually get,”I try to relax myself and reach for the tea. He smiles and speaks to the waiter and a few minutes after plates of food are being served.

“I think this is a little too much Zuko,”I stare at the servings before us and he just laughs and gestures for me to begin eating, he scoops food unto my plate, urging me to try everything. He orders us a bottle of sake and we both drink a couple of shots. “Why can you never feel the same way?”he asks all of a sudden,”what do you mean?”I know what he meant but my head was swirling with too much alcohol,”love me,”his voice stiff and his eyes burn into me. As if trying to read my soul,”I don’t want to be tied down to you, I want to do other things,”I point to him. “But I can give you the world,”his eyes held sadness but I shake it away.

”I don’t care.”

He stands abruptly, gripping onto my hand tightly as he drags me to god knows where, the next thing I know I’m in his private quarters. His hand snuggly around my neck as he forces me to stare up at him, “why are you so difficult kitten?”,his lips leave a burning trail down my forehead to my lips, nibbling on my top lip biting my soft flesh before he pushes his lips against mine.

“Zuko, I don’t want to do this,”I muttered against his lips but I don’t stop, I don’t want to. His hands find my hair, pulling slighty to angle my face upwards, I can’t deny I don’t feel good because fuck it does. We break away a single strand of saliva connects us, he trails his kisses down my neck biting down on the skin marking his claim. “(your name), just let me have this,”his voice husky, I move to unravel his royal robes slipping them off his broad shoulder and running my hands on his well defined abdomen. He hikes up my dark robes, bunching them up to my hips before “Zuko,”I mewl out as his hand grazes my swollen clit,”such a cute sound, kitten,”he applies more pressure on my nub, rubbing harsh figure eights on it, I grip on his arms digging my nails into him as a wave of pleasure washes over me.

My head rolls back as he quickens the pace, a burn stirs up in me making my legs wobble, my high coming quick but as soon as it came it disappeared. “Oh, not yet my little kitten,”he steps away from me, clothes in disarray and neck covered in purple and red, I was mess and he loved it. His eyes clouded with lust as he unraveled me from my clothes, reducing me to my birthday suit, “got on the bed,”I bow my head in submission and sprawl myself out in all fours. A smack meets my ass cheek, tingles of pain running through me, biting my lip as the burn in pussy intensifies. God I just need him to fuck me, it must be the alcohol talking.

“So wet kitten, just how I like it,”he runs the head of his cock over my slit, coating himself in my juices,”please Zuko, just fuck me,”I begged, swallowing my pride and that was all it took for him as he roughly pushes himself inside. My back arches in pleasure as his cock filled me up, “yes, just like that. Fuck me hard please,”he pulls my hair arching my back even further. “Say it louder kitten, I need you to beg for me,”his hips rams into me as his fingers dig into my side breaking skin. His pace was relentless, giving me no time to breathe, he was fucking his frustration into me and I loved every second of it, the familiar burns starts to rise in the pit of my stomach. The sweet feeling of relief so close, I can feel myself clenching hard against him, wanting to milk his cock.

“Fuck fuck fuck”

The sensation is almost unbearable, losing all control my body finds release, my orgasm almost blinding as he chases his own, keeping up with his pace. “Shit,”his warm cum fills me up, hot spurts pain my walls white, he slowly pulls out, leaving me feeling empty as his cum seeps out of me.

We both lay, skin sweaty and bare on his silk sheets, catching our breaths from our wild ‘exercise’, his arms find themselves around me but I push him off, they had both agreed on this being the last. “I gotta go Zuko, it’s late,”I make a move to get up but his arm halts my movements, dragging my frame back to him and pressing himself closer. I attempts to get up again but is denied,”just a few more minutes, please,”his voice deep nipping on the shell of my ear, causing heat to burn in my core again. “Spend the night with me,”his hot breath sends shivers down my spine, he gently rubs my hips and burries his head in the crook of my neck.

I stay still and wait for his breathing to even out, until he’s in deep sleep, I slowly wiggle myself out of his hold, making sure to be very careful to not wake the noble man. I stare at his laying figure painted by the moonlight streaming in from the window, he looked ethereal, a beauty out of this world but I have to leave. I quickly dress up and pack what little belongings I owned, I look back at him once more before jumping out his window.

“I’m sorry Zuko, I’ll always be selfish. I can’t love you the same”

m a s t e r l i s t

i want to apologise for my absence, it’s been tough but thank you to @me-being-sad24-7 for suggesting this one shot. i am still in need of a job or something to help me earn money, i am juggling my uni work and tryna to find extra cash on the side. sorry for projecting these things to you guys, if you enjoyed the one shot leave a like and comment. thank you and have a great day!

all the love xx

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damn-stark · 4 years

Text

Crossed Stars Ch.2

Marvel x Star Wars crossover

A/N- I like how this turned out and I’m excited to keep writing for this story, thanks to everyone for all the nice feedback on the previous chapter, I love you all!! As always leave your thoughts!!

Warning- light swearing, angst, slow burn, mentions of violence

Pairing- Steve Rogers x reader, Poe Dameron x reader

Takes place during- the first 20 minutes of endgame

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

———

“Now that we told you who we are, it’s your turn.” The blonde women repeated.

You exhale deeply, “People looking for answers,” you answered as you slowly lowered your blaster.

“In war ships?” The little sentient interjected.

You shrug, “we’re desperate.” You hang your blaster back in your holster and rest your hands on your hips, “now explain what you did to our people, before we have to use those war ships. And trust me you don’t want to see what happens when they’re used.”

“We don’t who you are or what you’re talking about.” The blond women spoke again.

“First tell us what you did, and then we’ll consider introducing ourselves.” Dameron spoke as he lowered his own weapon, “people from our galaxy disappeared. We want answers not a war.”

The Avengers looked to one another and seemed to share the same grim expression, one your crew and you shared too. The man that seemed to be the leader turned to all of you with a frown, “it looks like we’re on the same team. Our people disappeared too.” He sighed, “we don’t want a war either, so if you all want, you’re all welcome inside, we have the answers you’re looking for.”

—

“Are we sure we trust them?” Commander Zuko asked in a low whisper.

“What choice do we have? If they wanted to fight they would’ve fought the moment our ships came out of hyperspace.” You explained in the same whisper, “we have to at least hear them out.”

Dameron nodded, “y/n’s right, they say they have answers, let’s just hear what they have to say.”

“What if this is a trap?” Commander Zuko kept probing, causing you to sigh and mentally roll your eyes.

“Then we’re dead.” Jessika answered sarcastically.

Commander Zuko scoffed, as you held in a laugh before finally joining the Avengers around the holographic computer that displayed the map of the planet, with numbers that only increased by the second...much like the one at home.

In fact a lot of stuff so far seemed to be the same from where you were. You expected a lot of stuff to be different, considering that you’ve never knew of this galaxy, but so far a lot of stuff seemed the same, even the human and their ability to speak basic. But then again you haven’t left the perimeters of this place, only seen it from the sky before you landed, and as far as you could tell it was a much better looking Coruscant.

“Before we begin to explain what happened, I’ll introduce myself,” the leader began as his eyes examined the group, “I’m Captain Steve Rogers.”

You smiled shyly and introduced yourself first, “I’m General Y/N L/N.” Captain Rogers turned his eyes to you, returning the smile and holding your gaze for a lingering moment before Dameron quickly interrupted it.

“I’m General Poe Dameron.” He introduced, shooting Steve a very discreet glare, the rest of the people you came here with introduced themselves thereafter, leaving the rest of the Avengers to do the same.

The blond women introduced herself as Natasha, and the droid that actually turned out to be a man in a suit was Colonel James Rhodes. A smaller man in a loose suit jacket was Dr. Bruce Banner, while the man sitting queitly in the corner was Thor, leaving the little sentient as Rocket.

As you were going to start the awaited conversation you felt a sharp poke on your side and as you looked down you saw an offended Artoo. “Ow! Yeah sorry.” You turned back to the Avengers and sighed, “this is Artoo, my droid, and the ball over there is BB8.”

“Your droid?” Captain Rogers queried as he put his hands in his pockets.

“Yes.” You smiled, “You don’t have any?”

“No.” Natasha interjected in a confused way.

“Interesting.” Rocket commented with a hidden smirk.

“Anyway focusing back on why we’re here.” Commander Zuko added, completely dropping the subject from before, “we need answers.”

Steve sighed, “You might want to take a seat.”

—

Understanding what happened was confusing and hard to hear, they barely seemed to understand. But apparently the cause for everyone’s disappearance was because of a mad Titan called Thanos had powers, stones, that he used to wipe out half of the population all over the universe. Supposedly because “the universe needed correction.” That he did this because it was needed and that everyone should be grateful. But everyone was feeling everything but that.

The Avengers didn’t even know that the stones affected everyone that far, in fact they didn’t even know the galaxy stretched that far. And disappointingly enough they had no way to bring everyone back, they just like you were victims of the snap.

“So theirs no answers? No way to bring them all back?” You continued to ask, hoping that in that second something would come up.

“No..we’re still trying to figure that out,” Captain Rogers answered with a sad look, tears of his own seeming to pool his eyes as he recalled the memories of what happened, “but it’s hard, we’re hoping that the people we’re looking for have answers.”

You wipe your tear that slipped out and keep your eyes downcasted to avoid any questions or pity from those around, so far you’ve been holding in everything, just hoping that their will be answers.

“We have to find that monster.” Commander Zuko asserted, “he’s the one that did all of this, he’s the one that’s going to have answers.”

“Sure.” Rhodey shrugged, “do you know where he is?”

“Let’s find him.”

“That’s what we’ve been trying.” Rocket remarked. “But we have nothing, we have to wait.”

Everyone grew quiet, awkward silence surrounding the room for a long while before Natasha thankfully broke it. “If you promise not to try and kill us, we can work together. After all we’re on the same team, we all want our people to come back.”

Your group all shared a look, one that seemed to express the same, one that didn’t need words. “We just got out of a war ourselves,” Dameron began, “we don’t want another one, so yes we agree to work together for a solution.”

Captain Rogers got up from his seat and nodded shaking each of your hands in agreement before he added something else, “you’re all welcome here, theirs room for all of you. I imagine it was a long trip, so if you all want, Natasha and I can take you guys to where you can stay.”

“Thank you, Captain Rogers.” You smiled, one that was a little more forced than the one before, but still was meant to be genuine, even after the disappointing answers provided today. All you wanted was your family back and you still had hope, you were still holding on to that. Which is why you didn’t want to accept that they were really gone, why you avoided expressing any tears now...even if at first it was all you could do.

Being here though was an excuse to avoid those feelings, an excuse to stop being sad, focus on the glimmer of hope these people gave you...they never gave a clear answer to a solution, but you were too stubborn to not think their might be one.

—

“No don’t be ridiculous, Rocket is not going to eat you Artoo.” You chuckled, before he beeped a series of complaints thinking otherwise, making you laugh that much more at your droids dramatics, “or take you apart for parts. I promise I won’t let him get close to you.” The little droid sighed in relief and let the calm morning silence engulf you once again.

It had been the morning after your arrival to this strange little planet, and sleep was something you couldn’t get, so you decided to watch the sunrise what seemed to be hours ago. Much to your disappointment their was only one sun. You missed tatooine’s binaries suns, as hot as they were when they hit your skin on those long days you still missed them.

Being here didn’t feel like home, as pretty as this place was, as green as it seemed and as clean as the air smelled—not like the one compared to Coruscant’s stuffy and nasty polluted air, this just wasn’t home. Hopefully though you were going to go home and be back with the friends you called a family.

“Hey.” At the sound of a distant voice and approaching footsteps you turned slightly to find Dameron approaching you.....you should’ve known— without sparing him a second glance you turned back to admire the blue lake in front of you.

“General Dameron,” You muttered.

Dameron sighed at the sound of what you called him as he sat at your side, “you still with that.”

“With what?” You questioned innocently as if you didn’t know what he was referring to.

“Titles...” he answered, “we’ve known each-other for too long and know each other too well for you to continue with that.”

You shoot him a side glare making both droids roll away to avoid hearing the arguing they suspected would happen, but all you did was ignore his comment which only got him annoyed.

“What about six months ago? Titles to you were irrelevant then.” Dameron grumbled under his breath, purposely making sure you heard him.

Your eyes widened and you turn to shoot him a burning glare, “I told you to forget that.” You seethed, hiding the heat you felt rise on your cheeks. “what do you want?” You hiss, completely changing the subject before he could ruin the morning even more.

He stayed quiet for a moment, regretting the remark he had made moments ago. You already disliked him enough and he felt like he only made it worse. “Just came to check how you were doing...I’m sorry about—”

“I’m fine.” You huffed as you cut him off before crossing your arms over your chest, “you can leave now.”

Dameron let out a silent “oh” sound before he shuffled to his feet, his shoulders dropping and a long frown showing on his lips. A look that made you sigh—he had lost his friends too...not just you and all you’ve been was a complete bitch that just ignored his feelings for this whole situation. “Poe, wait...” you called making said man stop at the sound of his name. “I...miss them.” You say in a hushed tone.

He hesitated for a moment, letting out a shaky breath before he sat back down at your side, “I miss them too.”. Tears filled your eyes, but again you couldn’t let yourself feel upset, so you swallowed back your tears and dropped your head to hide your emotions from him as he continued, “do you think their will be a solution?” You furrowed your eyebrows at his question, something he noticed and continued to explain himself, “I just mean it’s a monster with powers that we can’t fight, and that we don’t know anything about.” He pauses for a moment not sounding like the man you knew, “we can’t use the force like Rey could....we’re just pilots.”

“What’s so wrong with simply being pilots? We were just pilots when we defeated Starkiller base and Palpatine’s fleet.” You reminded him, hoping that your words would ease him or encourage him—something that came easy, but also something you didn’t expect to do. However you felt though, saying those words made him show a small smile. “Plus, we need to have hope that their will be a solution, that we will get them back. Because we are.” You didn’t know what you would do if you didn’t find one.

“You’re right,” he nodded, sounding somewhat more hopeful than before and as he was going to continue, the sight of Captain Rogers caught the attention of the both of you—yours more than his, causing him to drop what it was he was going to say as the captain approached the both of you.

“Good-morning, General L/N, General Dameron.” He showed a kind smile before he showed the same serious look since you arrived here.

“Good-morning, Captain.” You replied with a soft smile.

“Morning.” Dameron answered, more insincere than you, mostly because he noticed the way you so easily smiled at the Captain and seemed not tear your eyes away from him since he got here.

“We invited your other friends for breakfast, I just wanted to ask the both of you too.” Captain Rogers explained, “but if you want to eat breakfast together then you’re welcome to do so.”

Quickly you dismissed his insinuation about Dameron and you, “no, no we’ll join the rest of the group.” You answered with a small nod before he motioned for Dameron and you to follow him. Albeit Dameron stomped behind, while Artoo joined you as you walked at Steve’s side. “You’re little planet seems nice..as far as I have seen,” you continue, “it’s a shame that we only just discovered of your existence,”

“Really?” He questioned curiously. “Why is that?”

Artoo answers for you with a witty remark, making you laugh and agree with him, “like the droid said.”

Captain Rogers only looked more lost, his face expressing all kinds of confused emotions. “You understand it?”

You quirked your eyebrow in amusement, “yes, do you not?”

Captain Rogers simply shook his head.

“Well to put it nicely, he said it’s because you’re galaxy is irrelevant...until now of course.” You simply shrug. He chuckled lightly before silence took over for a moment, that was until you broke it, “You can call me y/n by the way, the title is not needed.”

He smiled a genuine smile, “okay, y/n, you can call me Steve.”

——

It had been a quiet couple days since your arrival, no solutions yet, just waiting. Waiting for their people to be found for a clear answer and waiting for a location, just simply waiting for something to happen. Something you were able to do, all because that’s what you could do, what distracted you from the ugly truth you didn’t want to accept.

Talking and meeting the people that were letting you to stay in their home, letting you help was slow, but understandable, nobody seemed to be in the mood for long conversations, or simply conversations at all. Everyone was still too badly affected and hurt by the events, by the loss of everyone you all knew. The people you talked more too were the ones you came with, mainly because you didn’t want to get close to people that you weren’t going to see after this was over and you had found something.

That still didn’t mean you could talk about them though, mainly one person in particular, “would it be wrong to say that I think that Captain Rogers eyes seem to shine like blue kyber crystals?” You mused as you lay next to Jessika on the grass.

Jessika shrugged with a smug smile, “You’re not wrong.”

“Neither of you have seen a blue kyber crystal.” Dameron grumbled with a hint of jealousy seeping through his voice.

“False.” You pointed, your smile faltering at the memory, “Rey....showed me one before and they match his eyes.“ you pause and your grin widens, “plus his eyes aren’t his only good feature. His beard is great too, I like a man with a good beard like his.”

“He can pull it off,” Kará followed, “but Thor can pull it off better.”

“True.” Jessika agreed, all while Commander Zuko and Dameron scoffed in annoyance. Jessika noticed and turned to the boys with a mischievous look, “Poe it’s okay if you have a crush on Natasha, you’re single, theirs nothing wrong with it.”

Your smile slowly began to drop after Jessika’s comment, your eyes shifting from Dameron and Jessika as you awaited for his answer. An answer you never received or were going to as Commander Zuko interrupted. “This mission is serious we’re not here to act like children.”

The girls and you all shared the same annoyed look before you remarked, “lighten up commander, it’s harmless fun.”

“Fun, General? Half of our galaxy disappeared and you’re having fun?”

You swallowed thickly, anger completely replacing the little amusement you had felt before. “Yes I know that, we all do, but we can’t just sit and cry. Not when theirs a solution, hope.”

“Might. Their might be one.” He corrected you, infuriating more.

“No. Their is.” You replied defensively.

Just as he was going to argue back the ground below you shook, causing all of you to stand up and be on guard immediately as you looked to the night sky. Finding something glowing, something that seemed to be a person carrying a ship down to the ground.

All of you turned to each other before rushing towards where the ship had seemed to land, finding that the avengers had noticed the same thing and waited. None of them had weapons pointed to the women or the ship, not like when you landed, in fact they seemed to be relieved. Letting you come to the conclusion that the fragile looking man, and the sentient women that came out of the ship were the ones they were waiting for, they were the people with the answers.

—

What could you do besides listen? Their was no need for you to input anything into Steve’s and the fragile looking man you now knew as Tony Stark argument. They have a complicated past and their was much more hidden in his words than just simply about what went on. Anyway if you did happen to want to add something, you had the feeling you would be shot down immediately...by that same fragile man, so to avoid any more stress to the situation you and the rest of your crew just listened and took in the occasional weird looks you would get from Tony.

It wasn’t until the sentient women named Nebula, said she had a location, a more hopeful answer to a solution that your crew and you finally decided to join the conversation without it feeling like you were intruding.

“Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. And when he worked he talked about his Great Plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him.” Nebula explained as she tried to hide the emotions she felt of this situation, “I’d ask, where would we go once his plan was complete? His answer was always the same, “To the Garden.”.”

You sit back in your chair, and listened to what Rhodey had to say, “that’s cute. Thanos has a retirement plan.”

Dameron walks to stand behind you and asks the more important question, “so, where is he?”

Rocket followed by clicking something that sparked a holo-map to life, “when Thanos snapped his fingers earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions.” The map of earth displayed what rocket explained, shooting off a powerful wave of what affected even your galaxy, “no ones ever seen anything like it. Until two days ago,” the map then changed, enhancing more on the planet you needed, “on this planet.”

You narrowed your eyes to look at the map in front of you as Nebula added, “Thanos is there.” Hearing that made you feel more hope than ever before. The fact and knowledge that their was finally something, a long awaited answer to your long search and problems felt like a sign that it was going to work out.

“He used the stones again.” Natasha mused as she studied the map.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Dr. Banner chuckled an unamused laugh, “we’d be going in short handed, you know?”

“Look, he’s still got the stones, so,” Rhodey interjected,

“so, let’s get em.” Carol quickly interrupted.

You stand to your feet and nod, “agreed. Let’s do it, we can use them to get everyone back.”

“Just like that?” Dr. Banner questioned unconvinced.

“Yeah. Just like that.” Steve agreed.

Natasha commented, “even if their is a small chance that we can undo this I mean, we owe it to everyone that’s not in this room to try.”

“If we do this, how do we know it’s gonna end any differently than it did before?”

“Because before you didn’t have me.” Carol quickly responded to Dr. Banners question.

“Or us.” You add confidently.

“Hey, new people.” Rhodey remarked, “everybody in this room is about that superhero life.” He turns to Carol to direct his question to her, “and if you don’t mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?”

“There are a lot of other planets in the universe. And unfortunately they didn’t have you guys.” Carol shot back, making you hide your smile at her words. But it also seemed that you weren’t the only one who payed attention to her remark. Thor had too, and it wasn’t until the point when he stood up just now that you remembered he was here too—but unlike you he didn’t seem to enjoy carols remark, going up to her with a serious face and studying her intently.

All until he extended his hand to summon an axe to it, following by misleading you and everyone in the room with a compliment, “I like this one.”

“We’ll provide our fleets and the squadron.” Commander Zuko added as he walked up to the table, getting approving looks from the avengers and your own crew, all before Steve confidently stated something you all agreed too, something you couldn’t help but smirk to.

“Let’s go get this son of bitch.”

—

“All fighters prepared for jump to hyperspace?” Dameron voiced through the comms, as you and the squadron waited at the side of the Avengers ship.

“Yes.” You responded before trailing off to talk to Artoo, “You got it all ready, buddy? It’s a short ride from here and the other planet.” Artoo responded with approving sets of beeps all before he commented something that made you roll your eyes in a lighthearted way, “you are so right, I would be nowhere without you.” You chuckled softly, before securing your helmet, “now you ancient droid, get ready to jump in 3...2...1.” As you mouthed the last number, Artoo not failing to listen jumped to hyperspace.

Even if it was a short ride compared to the one you made to get to earth, and even if you had been in hyperspace millions of times, your breath still got taken away at the sight of the passing colors, and it was something that you were never going to get tired of.

Seconds after arriving, Carol came over the comms, “I’ll head down for recon.” their was no need to wait too long or have the option to join her as just minutes later she flew back up...in an odd and amazing way, no helmet or pack to fly down, just her and her...abilities. Yet something else that left you in awe. “No satellites, no ships, no armies, no ground defenses of any kind. It’s just him.”

That was weird...someone with powers he had would be protected at all costs, not just alone, unless he—no, it’s as Nebula said before, he’s just retired...right?

“I don’t trust that,” Dameron commented what you were thinking. “He can’t just be alone.”

“But he is.” Carol responded.

You gripped onto the handles of your stirring wheel letting out a deep breath, “I agree with Dameron...we shouldn’t trust him. We’ve faced problems like these, we need to take precaution. For now the fleets are going to be on standby, but the squadron and me will fly down first.”

The avengers hesitantly agreed with what you had said, all while the small squadron you had came with didn’t bother to think of the answer, they all simply agreed,

“We’ll follow your lead, Red.” Jessika informed you, making you smile and rapidly move forward and into the planet. And of course the planet had to be beautiful, breathtaking even, damn shame such a horrible monster lived in a planet such as this one.

Artoo soon beeped in with important information, one that proved carols previous statement about Thanos being alone. And however correct it was, it still wasn’t going to ease you, in fact that kept you more on guard and even got you scared. The more you got closer to where Artoo had found him in the scanners the more scared you seemed to get.

As you caught sight of the little hut in the middle of nowhere you knew that was him, you were now closer than to ever to the solution, to getting back your family. With that in mind, you quickly agreed to blowing up the hut to surprise attack the Titan living inside. “Target on lock, get ready Carol.” Your thumb ghosted over the blasters button, something you didn’t give a second thought to press. Exploding the hut in sight, feeling proud and happy as you did it, all before you quickly flew past it and landed a few feet away from the other landing ships.

As soon as you landed, you jumped off your cockpit and followed after the remaining avengers, Natasha and Steve to head towards the problem, with Dameron quick to fall by your side. Just as you were going to comment on it, you kept your mouth shut. One, even if you told him that he should stay behind he wouldn’t listen and two...well this was his fight too and you had no right to tell him to stay...in fact and something you were too proud to agree too, you were relieved and glad he was by your side.

Dameron was familiar and you trusted him and all you needed in a space full of strangers was someone familiar, someone you trusted and again something you could never admit, he was someone you felt safe with. And as you heard screaming coming from the hut, you were anything but angry he was by your side.

“Oh, no.” You look down after Rockets upset whisper, noticing the gauntlet that you figured was what you were looking for. Only nothing was there, no stones, just a burnt and melted gauntlet with evidence that something you couldn’t dare think about happened.

“Where are they?” Steve asked the man you knew was no one other than Thanos, it was evident, he was the one in a headlock and with burnt scars on half of his face that matched the gold gauntlet.

“Answer the question,” Carol snarled as she tightened her hold on his throat.

“The universe required correction,” Thanos groaned, making your eyes water and your whole confident demeanor drop at the sound of words, knowing that what he was going to say was going to be nothing you wanted hear. “after that, the stones served no purpose beyond temptation.”

Poe met your saddened gaze, his look reflecting your own, tears of his own held within. Yet as you knew what Thanos answer meant, you were stubborn to accept it, they couldn’t really be gone.

“You murdered trillions!” Dr. Banner shouted as he shoved the Titan to the floor.

“You should be grateful.” Thanos dared to say, causing Dr. Banner to go in for a nasty kick to his face.

Carefully you moved towards Thanos, blinking back tears as you spoke up, “where are the stones?”

Thanos looked up to you with a cold and knowing look, before saying what you knew he was going to say, “gone. Reduced to atoms.”

Your breath caught in your throat, tears finally slipping out as you heard the truth you had been ignoring, a truth you didn’t accept before.

“You used them two days ago!” Dr. Banner pointed out.

Thanos lifted his head higher and looked to Banner, “I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me. But the work is done. It always will be.” He pushed himself up higher, “I am inevitable.”

Poe shook his head and stepped to your side, “h-he has to be lying.”

“My father is many things.” Nebula interjected in a upset voice, “a liar is not one of them.”

With that everything just shattered within you, all hope, everything just broke, all efforts to hold yourself together slipped. In order to not show it in front of everyone, you stumbled away from the group and fell to your knees in the field in front of what used to be a hut, dropping your head on your hands as your shoulders shook as you began to sob.

They were gone, every single person from your galaxy, those you had promised to protect were gone. Rey, Finn and Chewbacca were gone. Really gone, and their was nothing you did to bring them back, nothing you did to stop it....what were you going to do now?

You broke away from your thoughts as you felt someone grab your shoulders. Instantly you lifted your head and already had a hand on your blaster, only to drop it back in your holster as you noticed that it was Poe knelt in front of you.

“Th-their has to be something, something we can do from home.” You stammered quickly, making him frown, his tears finally rolling down his cheeks before he cupped your cheeks, “they-they can’t be gone....Poe.” Said man was surprised you hadn’t pushed him away, that you let him hold you for so long, but it was also something he didn’t point out or mind. You needed the comfort, you both did.

He tucked loose strands of hair behind your ears before sliding his hands back to continue cupping your cheeks. “They’re gone y/n, we can’t do anything about it. We have to go home now.”

“No, they’re not gone. I-I know you don’t believe that.” You cried before he pulled you in for a hug, a hug you returned and eased into.

“I have to...even if I don’t.” Poe whispered, his voice breaking before his shoulders started shaking as he cried at the truth. One you couldn’t accept. Their had to be something you could do. You couldn’t accept that you failed, that their was nothing. You couldn’t go home, you had to do something.

You were going to do something.

Tagged- @itsbuckyb1tch, @kaitlynw011 , @blushingwueen , @80sthottie , @thescarletknight2014 , @bbuckysbeardd , @ellvswriting , @sakurashortstack , @whatthefrickfrackwereyouthinking, @danicalifxrnia , @lanatheawesome , @perryoncw , @panic-onthegroundsofbrooklyn , @abysshaven , @valeecruz16 , @gummy-bears16

Permanent taglist- @ms-dont-care

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boomerang109 · 3 years

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♧ i want one 😡

send me a ♧

of course!!

You’re my: bestie, co-podcaster, most-consistently-talked-to-friend

How I met you: the zuko jesus/judas post (i don’t know what was happening tbh, and SOMEONE deleted it so....)

Why I follow you: other than the obvious, i appreciate that you clearly cúrrate your material. whenever i check in on your blog there’s only a few new posts, you put up a few quality posts instead of spam reblogging (i’m a spam reblogger tho so, no shade towards the many people i follow who do that)

Your blog is: relatable—full of great quotes and hard hitting posts, amazing queer stuff, bullying hella, and high quality fandom posts. also i love when you post about your life, it’s always great to hear about (yes even when it’s a complaint/rant, i enjoy knowing how you’re doing

Your URL is: funny. peak creativity. also we match (our names and then a number) which is cute

Your icon is: you!!! i literally smile everytime i see your icon. not even because i was there (and viiiiibing very much) when you drew it, but also just cause it’s so pretty and i love the bi pride and the fact that it’s YOU

A random fact I know about you: you have a rainbow shoebox in your closet and have been almost kidnapped multiple times

General opinion: i literally want to grab you by the shoulders and shake you because i literally see so so many people loving you because you’re so freaking amazing, but you can’t see it. which is insane. please, read this with your little voice that negates all my compliments turned OFF. read this with a voice that believes what it reads, or at the very least reads it neutrally. cause i promise i won’t write anything that isn’t true. you’re so resilient and strong (and if you can’t at least admit that, after all you’ve survived, than your mean inner voice has not turned off as requested). you are kind and patient (you’ve literally listened to me complain so often, you give amazing advice, and put up with how terrible i am at communicating). you’re beautiful (you literally are. your hair is gorgeous, you look so pretty without makeup and yet you’re so good at it and so you elevate your looks so much? and you’re so fashionable!!). you’re so fucking intelligent. and i know you don’t believe that but my reasoning is too important to even go into parentheses. first of all, if you weren’t book smart, that’d be okay cause you’re CLEARLY life, people, etc (aka the important types) smart. but you literally ARE traditionally intelligent too. abby, i literally spend my ENTIRE day working on schoolwork and i still don’t comprehend most of it. and you are able to spend just a few hours and still pass classes. do you understand how incredible that is?? i know you don’t, cause you’re always thinking you’re dumb when you’re literally not. (not to mention the fact that your brain literally makes it hard to study or sit in class or do homework, so even if you had a normal amount of time it would STILL be harder for you than it is for most people). you being in a shitty situation where you can’t dedicate the amount of time you want to to school work, doesn’t mean you’re not intelligent. the fact you’re still in school despite working essentially a full time job AND taking care of multiple children AND running a podcast AND continuing to talk to friends?? like, you don’t seem to realize how fucking spectacular that is but it really really truly is. because not only are you doing more than any one person should have to, but you’re doing each of those things so so well. literally, this is already so long and i didn’t even talk about how important you’ve been in my life or how much i love talking with you or so many other things you deserve to hear, but i’m trying to go to bed before midnight tonight so i’m gonna cut myself off. but please, abby, please do whatever you can to be neutral to yourself. i know being nice to yourself is probably too much to ask, but i just don’t like hearing you say so many terrible things about someone i love so so much. so everytime you start to think one of those self-deprecating thoughts, imagine a little boom with their water pistol going “NO ABBY’S AMAZING” cause i really hope one day you can see how incredible you really are

A random thought I have: grace and clara if you see this, i probably won’t be answering your asks yet cause i have some other things i want to do before bed. but no one is being ignored, im just bad at answering asks. (also Clara i think im ignoring yoy on multiple platforms, that’s just me being terrible at communicating. one of them was literally just me going ‘oh I’ll answer that in one second’ and now it’s been 48 hours so like. whoops. you’re probably not surprised but i do still feel bad cause i appreciate our friendship and ignoring people, intentionally or not, doesn’t exactly help portray that very much)

#ask a boomerang #abby tag #idk if this was coherent #the point was I love my friends very much #and everyone should send Abby compliments cause she’s very mean to herself and she doesn’t deserve itt

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sokkathebluewolf · 4 years

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A review Why you do that? Making Sokka mention 28 in his vows now everyone think he slept around after the best time of his life? They both dont deserve this June slaves Hina Tylee now this Please don't make more girls fall for him involve with him feels like the whole fic turned around this Haru deserves better Tylee is flirting around

Don't get me wrong This is your fic and you can do anything you feel fit I'm merely giving an opinion ''cause Gladiator has things which you handled the best There is a Reason for this success I just hope this plus 1 girl thing in Sokkla relationship Stops But I always respect you with your great work(:

You do realize how utterly laughable it is to tell me “DON’T MAKE MORE GIRLS FALL FOR HIM IT FEELS LIKE THE WHOLE FIC IS TURNING AROUND” and then say “you can do anything you feel fit, I respect your work (:”, right?

This is not respect. This is not “constructive criticism”. This is not an opinion so important and valuable that it warrants being repeated about a million times across A YEAR. Most people? They give out their opinions, negative or positive, ONE TIME, and leave it be, because what matters to them is CONVEYING how they feel, not forcing a writer to constantly explain themselves or write whatever they would be comfortable with. Actually? Most people who have given me negative opinions so far have been like that, except one guy who was outright flaming my story because he wanted to wank to it, and he couldn’t believe he had to read 97 chapters to finally reach the smut. That I’m comparing you to this reader and reviewer is PROBABLY a bad sign, don’t you think?

Sokka didn’t MENTION 28: Sokka acknowledged his past mistakes because he’s a grown man who knows to feel remorse when he hurts people he loves. That he brings up having hurt her, to this day, isn’t in the purpose of going “HEY HEY AZULA REMEMBER WHEN I BROKE YOUR HEART LOL”, it’s in the purpose of saying: “I’ve learned from my mistakes and, as it has been for YEARS, I will devote myself to NEVER hurting you again”. That, anon, is a PERFECTLY VALID SENTIMENT for a wedding vow, and one that requires far more character growth and complexity than “Lol I’m so happy we were both virgins because that is the only kind of pure love that has ever been valid in the universe, anything else doesn’t count”.

Hell, you’ve literally made me go right back to the chapter to look at what he says, exactly: “I messed things up between us over my damn stupidity”, he... is literally beating himself up about this. To this day. He’s not talking about it proudly. And yet you’re here complaining as though he were?

SPOILER: More people will have feelings for Sokka in future chapters. In fact, I want to make it even MORE people than I’d originally planned after receiving all these asks. I’d rather derail my story into something you can’t stomach reading than cater to you. Azula will outright JOKE about being “jealous” in a future chapter, and Sokka will know it’s a joke! :D And I’m NOT lying about this to mess with you, it IS going to happen and your persistent asks absolutely WON’T make me alter my content. And why is it going to happen, you’ll ask? Why, because nice, charming, charismatic guys like Sokka attract people whether they want to or not. It’s what they DO about attracting others what matters to me! :’) And that Sokka rejects other people who attempt to be with him should be, I think, a much more important message about loyalty to someone you love than “I ONLY EVER ATTRACTED ONE PERSON IN MY LIFE AND MARRIED THEM”. Because I know that’s virtually the only thing you appear willing to accept, going by the first ask.

And holy crap, Ty Lee is... flirting around? Flirting around... with Haru. The guy she’s in a committed relationship with, whom she’s going to marry. The whole situation is meant to be insanely ironic considering Ty Lee is with the guy she SHOULD be with but it looks like it’s something else? (Hell, nobody even KNOWS it was Ty Lee, Mei Xun didn’t stick around long enough to discover the woman’s identity, so her reputation’s actually safe?) But you’re just so emotionally compromised by anything regarding Sokka being with anyone else, even if it’s 1. not true because he’s MILES away, with Azula 2. a joke 3. a plot device for a FUTURE EVENT, that you just can’t grasp this irony at all?

Ty Lee, by design in this story, has ALWAYS been pretty damn liberal about flirting and relationships. Despite we’ve mainly just heard such relationships mentioned on the side, rather than witnessing them directly, she is objectively the cast member who’s had the most relationships, whether serious or casual or just occasional, with other people. And even then, she’s getting married. Even when she’s had so many people in her past, she’s settling down with Haru for good. And Haru? Haru is THRILLED. Because he loves her. Because she loves him. Because HER past does NOT have a single thing to do with THEIR future. And yet you seriously read these chapters, where Ty Lee is having a lot of fun with her fiancé, and your brain just translated this as “OMG TY LEE IS A SLUT HARU DESERVES BETTER!”? Seriously?

I feel like I’m getting asks from a childish version of Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy. Everything that isn’t straightforward needs to be explained point by point, apparently, and even then, you don’t get it. I literally went to literature school and was told to write intelligent fiction so readers would feel compelled to unravel its complexities themselves... apparently that was a big fat lie? :’) Your persistence actually has convinced me that it is.

Oh and, for future reference (because I KNOW you’ll come back, that’s all you ever do): not because you throw compliments at me later to “cushion” your complaint does it mean you’re respecting me and my story. You can’t slap someone in the face and then go “Oh your cheeks are so plump that I bet it doesn’t hurt”. You can’t just disregard my request that you keep these sorts of questions to my PERSONAL blog rather than the fic’s blog, and pretend you respect me. You can’t come to me time after time with the same complaints and attitude, watch how I’ve basically gone from initially responding with discomfort (because, in my personal blog, there are MANY asks that predate yours, where I’d already explained my reasoning to someone else who apparently didn’t get it, which means the subject wears me out, A LOT), then seeing that I started ignoring your asks, then seeing I closed the inbox so I could regain some sense of normalcy in my life that you refused to let me reclaim, and then seeing that I’m answering with outright hostility, and pretend that it’s ME who has a problem.

If someone I respected responded in any similar manner to ANYTHING I said to them, I’d basically feel like shit and never talk to them again because I don’t want to be a burden or a problem for someone whom I value in any way. You, apparently, would rather be a problem, and to no avail, because all you’re achieving so far is convincing me to continue writing things that will make you riot until you stop reading my story. If you CAN’T stop reading regardless of the horrifying, amoral, dreadful decisions I’ve made? Congratulations: you still don’t have the right to tell me what to do with my story. And until you GENUINELY understand that, your compliments don’t mean anything to me. I have readers I value who have conveyed complaints, MANY TIMES, in an actual respectful manner. Readers who are even bothered by the same thing you are. And yet I’m even FRIENDS with them. Imagine that :’) It’s almost like the problem isn’t having whatever opinion you do... but rather, the intent of IMPOSING your opinion constantly and persistently until you’ve driven me to lash out as bluntly and cruelly as I may! To the point I’m outright saying I’m going to rewrite my story into becoming EVERYTHING you don’t want it to be so you leave me alone!

And if you’re not the one who’s been here for a year, and this is not really an echo chamber (despite all of these messages have the same complaints, wording, tone, format, style, punctuation and grammar mistakes), yet you SAW that other people have been doing this for a long time, and thought it was PERFECTLY FINE to join the party? You’re no less of an asshole than the rest of them. No matter if it’s your first time voicing your “opinion”. Because it’s NOT about what you’re saying: it’s about HOW you’re saying it. It’s about trying to guilt trip me into writing whatever you want and claiming the story is going off the rails because something makes you personally uncomfortable. This is NOT objective criticism. This is SUBJECTIVE, ENTIRELY. This isn’t a real problem in storytelling, it’s a personal problem for you because it clashes with your moral values. And NO ONE is forcing you to continue consuming content that goes against your moral values, you’re choosing to do that yourself.

If you’re to live by any of the words you said in these two asks, make it “This is your fic and you can do anything you feel fit”. Because that’s literally what I’m going to do. It’s what I’ve done over EVERY complaint in poor faith I’ve gotten, ranging from “quit writing so much happiness it’s boring” to “where’s the sex you prude”. And it’s what I intend to continue doing. What kind of criticism do I value? “This particular scene features a factually contradictory line with a previous event”, such as Zuko claiming he never went to Sokka’s house when he in fact did, and I plain and simple FORGOT about it. What more kinds of criticism do I value? “You need to work out the Gladiator League’s system better because it’s not a solid business venture”, and this one was right? And yet it was too late to fix it, despite it’s 100% spot-on and I should’ve worked it out way better than I did. Another? “Sokka may have gotten over the fact that Azula captured him and tossed him in a slave market too easily”, because? It’s a perfectly valid sentiment? I disagree because Sokka is canonically shown to get over grudges relatively quickly, and yet I CAN see why it seems too fast for some people. What else do I value? Maybe suggestions on wording problems! I’ve made a lot of stupid wording mistakes, in virtue of being a non-native speaker. I’ve done my best to amend those, but it’s a work in progress even now.

Point and case being: in literature, and thus, in fanfiction? Constructive criticism isn’t “WRITE WHAT I WANT TO READ BECAUSE I WANT TO BE PERFECTLY COMFORTABLE WITH ALL I CONSUME”. Constructive criticism is given by people who KNOW storytelling. So I’d only consider it constructive criticism if it’s given by people who can read those chapters and see that the ENTIRE purpose of that conflict is to trigger growth and development as both Sokka and Azula realize their own mistakes and shortcomings with each other. So, someone who’s giving actual constructive criticism wouldn’t come to my inbox a million times with the same complaint... someone who’s giving constructive criticism would come to my inbox, ONE TIME, and say “Hey, maybe this alternative to conveying Azula is instinctively jealous over her canonical insecurities about being a monster and earning people’s love and loyalties COULD have been preferable, despite I know you can’t change that anymore as it’s fundamental for your story”, or “Hey, I thought of another way for Sokka to convey that he realized their interest in each other could result in something TERRIBLE if they ever acted on their feelings, a way for him to not act on that specific impulse to flirt with Suki to push away Azula, but to act on ANOTHER, believable, IC Sokka-compliant impulse that might still convey exactly what you needed to”. But again, even if it were complaints like THESE? I can’t change anything anymore. It’s TOO LATE. If I think it’s too late to fix Zuko saying “lol I never went to Sokka’s house” when it’s not true? It’s WAY TOO LATE to rewrite chapters that are over SEVEN years old, and I don’t even want to do it to begin with. But I WOULD concede these criticisms. I would accept them. I wouldn’t consider them offensive to me, or my work, or disrespectful in any way.

Constructive criticism is NOT about forcing an author to agree with you, or to do whatever you ask them to. Constructive criticism is about helping an author convey what they were conveying in a better, smoother way. If you CAN’T understand what the author was conveying? You don’t qualify for offering constructive criticism. If you need explanations as to why the author did anything they did? You’re, again, not qualified to offer constructive criticism. Your criticism, in any such cases, is NOT constructive, no matter what you’re telling yourself. This is a VERY important distinction, and one you can’t pretend isn’t valid just by throwing a bunch of compliments at me after telling me I’m ruining my story.

Until the day you DO understand the difference between constructive criticism, and subjective complaints? Your opinions will not be considered valuable enough to affect my story in a positive way. And the more disrespectful you show yourself, by continuing to disregard my DIRECT request for you to stop coming back with these complaints, as well as the direct request to stop sending these questions to this blog? The less your opinions will count for me. I don’t bend over backwards for anyone. And I’m definitely not going to do it for you.

#anon #ask #how long will it be this time #before you return?#I should hold a betting poll #I might actually become rich #that'd be the only silver lining for all the crap you've given me for a year

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avatar-the-last-jerkbender · 4 years

Text

“It’s not heavy. I’m stronger than I look.”

The first time she ran into the fairy, Katara was caught unawares.

She and her steed were cantering along a stream, on the lookout for monsters when she heard the cry for help.

Frowning, she got off and walked towards the hunched over figure in the grass. Running her thumb over the hilt of her sword, she called out, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine dear, I just need some help getting up.” The woman’s voice was slightly shaky, yet the skin on the back of Katara's neck still prickled.

Wordlessly, she pulled the old lady up, letting the other woman grab her arm for support. There was a basket near her, tipped over with a few apples spilling out.

“You dropped your apples ma’am,” Katara said.

“Oh! I hadn’t even noticed. Could you please pick those up?” She leaned heavily on her cane and smiled weakly at Katara.

Exhaling harshly through her nose, she knelt down, putting the apples back in the basket while keeping the old woman in her line of sight. Not trusting herself to speak, the adventurer thrust the basket towards the lady.

“Lovely, dear. Now how about a reward?” A frail hand reached towards Katara, holding a beautiful, shiny red apple.

Suspicions confirmed, Katara gave the woman a grim smile. “No,” she said sharply before pulling out her sword and slicing the apple clean out of the lady’s hand. “I’m not stupid enough to eat fey food.”

The elderly woman’s kind face transformed into a scowl before she changed into a dark-haired male. “Oh, goddammit,” he cursed, voice delightfully low.

The fairy was taller and broader than she’d expected, forcing Katara to tip her head back to meet his eerily golden gaze. “Do you make a habit out of tricking travellers and capturing them? That’s not very nice,” she chided.

He scowled once again, crossing his arms. “They usually fall for it too. What’s your name?” the fairy asked abruptly.

Katara thought for a minute, turning the query over in her mind before replying. “You can call me Kat.” The less of her name the fairy knew, the less power he had over her.

The golden-eyed creature hummed. “Well, you can call me Zuko. And I assure you, I will trap you eventually. You’ve been giving us a lot of problems.”

The adventurer rolled her eyes. “If your brethren keep attacking villages I will keep killing them. It’s just my job.”

“Well stop doing it,” Zuko snapped before swiveling away and unfolding paper thin wings from the back of his clothes.

***

Unfortunately, avoiding Zuko was not something fate had in store for her. Sometimes he appeared in his true form, flinching away once she gave him an earful. Sometimes, the weather would change just so, and a flower would bloom in the middle of a snowfield, or the temperature would suddenly drop and Katara would hightail it out of there as fast as she could. Other times an odd looking lizard, bird, or dog with an unnervingly golden gaze would pad up to her and she would swat at it with her sword, newly modified with runes.

Never to kill. She hadn’t gotten any complaints about Zuko wreaking havoc yet, and a part of her hoped it would stay that way.

Despite the fact that he was always scowling, and constantly trying to lure her to the fairy realm, Zuko actually wasn’t bad company.

“How do you even hold this?” he had asked her one day, staring incredulously at her sword. When he had tried to touch it, he immediately hissed and pulled his hand away, glaring at Katara as she burst into peals of laughter.

She shrugged, laying back in the grass. “It’s not that heavy. I’m stronger than I look.” Her soft appearance and lithe build had deceived many into thinking she didn’t kill mythical creatures for a living. Speaking of killing mythical creatures… “You know, there haven’t been many fey attacks lately. Would you have anything to do with that?”

“Yes.” Zuko leaned against a tree, braiding daisies into a crown.

“You’re putting me out of a job,” Katara complained, allowing herself to feel a measure of relief. Fairies couldn’t lie. They often spoke in half-truths and twisted their words but with Zuko, what he said was always what he meant.

It was rare.

“You can kill other things. Unicorns. Cyclops. Mermaids.”

“That’s true,” she mused. If Katara didn’t think about it too much, Zuko almost passed for human. But then she remembered his pointed ears, the razor sharp teeth, the terrifyingly gold eyes and she was snapped back to reality.

“Kat…” She turned towards him at his hesitant tone, Zuko’s gaze downcast as he fiddled with the daisy crown. “Will you marry me?”

Katara shot up from her position in the grass, and grabbed at the earth. “What?!”

“You could've just said no,” he mumbled, the tips of his ears reddening slightly.

“No, no, I’m just… surprised.” She was. The proposal was unexpected, and there was the small matter that they were different species and one wrong step with him would <i>fucking kill her</i> and did she even like Zuko?

“I’m sorry! It’s just… I think you’re really brave. And smart. And beautiful.”

“Zuko, I’m a human. I like being human.” Katara kept her voice soft, trying to handle the situation as though it was made of glass. Because it might as well have been.

“You’re right. Asking was selfish. Sorry again.”

She waved it off, absorbing the strangeness of the situation. “But I can give you something else.” The wording was intentional- things given freely had power and she could tell Zuko noticed by the way he stopped slouching, posture alert. “My name.”

The air around them chilled and Katara fought off a shiver. “I thought you didn’t trust fey,” the fairy said, voice cold.

“I don’t. But I do trust you. And if you take advantage of this…” the adventurer let out a breath. “...I have friends. I would rather it not come to that though.”

Zuko nodded, finally letting the air warm up again. “Do you want my full name too?”

“Sure.”

Crawling over, she whispered the syllables into his ear, noticing the shaky inhale he took before doing the same for her.

cross-posted to AO3

#100 ways to say i love you #zutara #zuko #katara #zuko x katara #atla #dont actually ever tell fairies your name that is a very bad idea #ramblingraccoon writes

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amixiifish · 4 years

Text

Heat- Chapter 21: Courting Gifts

“Katara?”

“Yeah?”

“We can’t afford expensive pieces of jewelry, right?”

“No. I didn’t know you liked jewelry, Zuko.”

“I usually don’t. But this is a courting gift. And it would cost us, like, 3 bags of gold.”

Katara whips around. “We don’t have that much money!” Katara hissed.

Zuko nods, showing her the necklace. It was an intricately woven gold necklace with a small ruby nestled inside ornate gold weavings.

“Correction: We didn’t have that much money. Who knew gambling would be so helpful?” Sokka mused. A messenger hawk sat on his arm. Zuko seems irritated at first but when the hawk hops onto his arm, he relents and lets out a small smile at the hawk.

“Gambling,” asked Katara, deadpan.

“Well, not really. Toph used earth bending to win money,” Jet explained.

“That’s cheating,” Zuko frowned.

“Not if they cheat first,” Toph counters petulantly.

Katara rolled her eyes. “It’s still cheating. Just that both sides are doing it.”

Aang at least had the decency to look sheepish.

“I don’t have to listen to you! You’re not my mom!” Toph yelled.

“This is going to end badly and then you’ll be in trouble!” Katara yelled back.

They both storm off in opposite directions, Katara going to the river and Toph building a rock tent.

“I don’t have to return the necklace, do I?” Zuko asked Jet.

Jet shook his head. Sokka smiled. “I’m glad you liked it,” he told the omega, wrapping his arms around his waist. Zuko sighed

“I should probably talk to Katara.” he said. He presses a quick kiss to each alpha’s cheek and goes to try and clam down the angry bender.

“I should probably try to talk to Toph,” Aang says.

“She’d kill you if you got too close,” Jet warned.

“On second thought, Appa and Momo look lonely,” Aang says, swiveling around.

Sokka chuckled. Jet was looking past him as Zuko tried not to laugh while calming down Katara, who was using exaggerated arm movements.

“Did you tell him yet that you already have preparations for a betrothal necklace?” Jet asked.

“No. He already has enough to worry about. Let’s not add to the ever-growing list, shall we?” Sokka responds calmly.

“Hmm,” Jet says.

They look over to see Katara accidentally waterbend a mountain of water onto Zuko. She immediately apologizes and tries to help him get out of the cold water but with a small grin, Zuko tackles her into the water. The pair were laughing, clearly unaware that Zuko had ended up straddling Katara’s waist in a way that suggested far more than just simple fun.

Sokka and Jet were constantly having to backtrack and check their anger. Usually aimed at Katara, they also were often angry at Toph and Aang for being too close or spending too much time with their omega. They were calmed at night when Zuko storms into their tent and falls into one of their laps, complaining about how sore firebending practice had left him. Sokka would often let out replies that weren’t deemed worthy of just simple courting.

But the pair were understanding. They had brought up the prospect of sex once only to have Zuko freezing as panic caused muscles to snap into a defensive position. They understood Zuko wasn’t quite comfortable with sex just yet. They never pressed the idea, though suggestive comments and terrible jokes did make Zuko give them unimpressed looks.

That night when Zuko came over to the pairs’ tent, he was pouting. He just sits and lays next to Sokka, burying his face and somehow managing to hide a majority of his body under Sokka and the sleeping covers. Jet laughs at the fact that at his angle, the only thing visible of the Crown Prince was a fluffy cloud of black hair.

“Shut up,” Zuko muttered, weariness seeping into his tone.

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Sokka asks.

“It’s Katara! I swear she thinks we’re having s… You fucking pervert, of course, you of all people would want to see me in panties.”

“Who wouldn’t with an ass like yours?” Jet teased, pressing against the back of the omega.

“I- Shut up!” he says back, a slight pink hue visible on his cheekbones.

“Just sleep. We’ll figure out how to calm down Katara in the morning,” Sokka said, laughter coloring his voice.

“You’re so mean!” Zuko whined. “You’re laughing at me! You have no right. You named that guy Sparky-Sparky Boom Man and your hawk Hawky. How unoriginal can you get?” The aforementioned hawk let out a squawk at being called upon.

“Darling, you hurt me!” Sokka said in a mocking tone of false hurt.

Jet let out a laugh but buried it in Zuko's shoulder when the omega glared at him.

Jet’s eyes widen in surprise as a small squeak escapes the omega as his breath tickles the side of his neck. Sokka’s grin is blinding.

“Are you… ticklish?” Jet asked, unable to keep the glee from his voice.

“No?” Zuko says, and it’s anyone’s guess who he’s trying to convince.

“Spirits, you are! Our omega is ticklish!” Sokka said, laughing.

The pair attack the omega who dissolves into laughter after they tickle. He squirms as tears of mirth gather in his eyes.

The alphas stop to press feather-light kisses across the omega’s face. Jet looks down and pauses at what he sees. “You’re wearing the necklace?” he asked.

“Yeah, of course. You got it for me, why wouldn’t I?” Zuko questions once he could breathe once again.

“Just didn’t think you would like it that much,” Jet responds, liking the way the gold stands out against pale skin.

Zuko smiles and presses a kiss to Jet’s lips. Jet smiles into the kiss, content with how the day had unfolded.

The trio was gently lulled into sleep in comforting silence.

“Hey, Jet,” Sokka says, sleep heavy in his voice.

“Yeah,” Jet responds, words barely audible.

“Zuko does have a nice ass, doesn’t he?”

“Shut up, Sokka, and go the fuck back to sleep,” a voice came from under the blankets.

Sokka smiled and pulled the omega closer to him, eliciting a complaint from the other alpha.

“Sounds like a plan.”

#katara #jet #aang #zuko #sokka #toph #zukka #jetko #jetokka #our fic #atla #omegaverse #heat (amixiifish)

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bellatrixobsessed1 · 4 years

Text

The Art Of Remembrance (Part 30)

Azula drinks in the warmth of the fire. Her mind is still abuzz from their venture to the Vine Research Facility. She lays herself on the ground, feeling worn out and pessimistic. Truth be told, they hadn’t expected to find anything on the first go around. No fool would remain in one place after losing such a high profile captive. Even still, it had been decently embarrassing to have to relay to the rest of her party that her team had come up nearly as empty handed as everyone else. Embarassing to let everyone know that they’d wasted their time. At least she had been able to present the maps and notes. Though she can’t help but think that they were too convenient to be anything less than a decoy or a trap. A trap, she can work with. A decoy is completely useless.

Azula presses her fingers into her temples and groans in frustration. The maps all pointed to the Foggy Swamp. This is where they had been planning to go next anyhow. It might be that she is overthinking things again. Really what is the harm in following those maps if they had already been planning on going in that direction anyhow? At least now she can account for possible mishaps.

She runs through various scenarios and possibilities and formulates a reaction plan for each. For this she is thankful for the notes. It keeps her mind from conjuring up images of Sokka’s lightly burnt chest and an imagined scent of charred flesh. It also keeps her from dwelling too much on how Katara, Mai, and TyLee seem to be avoiding her again. Toph and Aang have come to check on her. Aang had offered her a little insight on the Foggy Swamp and they’d had a fairly enthralling discussion about the place. Apparently, she is going to have to brace herself for hallucinations and startling phantasma.

She is alone again, with the pair having retreated off to bed. Azula knows that she ought to be sleeping too. She sits up and draws her knees to her chest as she stares into the flames. She decides that she is in need of another distraction.

Sokka too is slumbering but she wanders up to him anyhow and gently shakes him awake. She imagines that he is probably growing tired of this routine of her rousing him from sleep because it refuses to come to her.

He mumbles something sleepy that she can’t make out. “Sokka?” She calls with volume and abruptness enough to make him jolt. He practically tosses the blanket off of himself.

“Geez, Azula!” He exclaims. “Having trouble sleeping again?”

She nods, “not for the reason you think though.”

He sits up and strokes the stubble on his chin. “Zuko says that you never liked failure, does it have something to do with that?”

Azula nods, “that’s part of it.”

“What’s the other part?”

“Come show me the lights and I’ll tell you?” She offers.

His blue eyes light up with glee. “You want to see the lights!?”

“Yes.” She replies. “Now that I’m not sick and frostbitten, I might be able to appreciate them more.” She doesn’t particularly have to say any more, he is already tugging on a heavier pair of pants and his parka. She hasn’t even taken her own off.

“Do you want me to heat up some tea and we can drink it while we watch the lights?”

“That sounds nice, Sokka.” She certainly isn’t one to pass on a little extra warmth.

.oOo.

Sokka ignores any and all protests as he bundles Azula up more adequately. She already has her parka on but her mittens are still uselessly wet from their journey home. He steals them away from her and comes back with a dryer pair. Along with a few pairs of socks and hats, they had been hanging above the fireplace and heated generously. She grumbles various protests at him being so fussy and overly-nurturing with her but such complaints begin to fall short when the pleasantries of toasty mittens start to settle in. He can’t get her to admit her satisfaction out loud but when he turns around to fetch the tea, he catches her pressing the mittens to her cheeks.

He is not yet satisfied with the temperature of the tea so she certainly won’t be. He leaves it to continue to a boiling point. As he does so he fetches a hat. He is thankful for her top knot, it saves him the trouble of having to sweep her long locks out of the way while he fixes the hat over her ears.

“Sokka, I already have a hood, I don’t need…”

“Frostbitten ears and fingers.” He fills in. “I know that you like matching things but I don’t recommend losing an ear or another pinky.”

Azula shoots him a vaguely humored pout and clutches her left hand. Without giving himself a chance to second guess, he takes that hand a gives it a small kiss. He quickly retracts to check on the tea. “Alright, I think that it’s done.” He pours a cup for her and gives her one final once over. “And I think that you’re all set…” He pauses. “Maybe we should get you another coat?”

“Another coat?” Her brows crinkle and her nose scrunches. “I don’t think that I’ll be able to move if you add any more layers.”

Alright, so he might have overdone it a little.

“If anything, I should take one off.”

He chuckles. “Okay, I think that we’re ready to go.” He takes her hand and leads her out and into the snow. It isn’t all too late in the night and, with luck, the luminous display will settle her mind enough for her to sleep. He hopes that her nights will be less insomnia riddled. He would be lying to himself if he said that it wasn’t at least slightly annoying to be woken every night. He just hopes that he doesn’t express as much.

Sokka finds that standing with her is more than enough to make up for that.

She is particularly quiet as she gazes up at the dancing sky. He can’t tell if she is actually looking at the delicately churning curtains or if she is staring at the stars and moon. They are particularly bright tonight. He has trouble finding a place in the sky that isn’t strewn with cosmic glitter. The moon itself hangs in the sky like a silvery saucer. Its surface throws glimmering light over the fallen snow. For once there isn’t a flake in the air.

It is just as well because he doesn’t have to squint against falling snow to enjoy the lights. All things considered, it is a rather warm night for the poles. He almost feels bad for bundling Azula up so heavily until he notices the ever so slight shiver over her body. “You getting cold?” He asks.

She shakes her head, “I’m not cold.” The teeny tremor in her voice betrays that fib.

“Come here.” He offers with a soft laugh and an eye roll.

The princess wanders back to him, her gait made awkward by snow and a layer too many of clothing. He pulls her close, her back pressing into his chest. He holds her around the middle and rests his chin on her head. He feels her arms curl up to grip the ones he has around her.

He had come out here to look at the lights but instead he is looking at her. At that rare moment where innocent delight is plain on her face. Even beneath the scarf, he can tell that she is smiling.

.oOo.

Azula can’t say that she has seen anything like it; turquoise folds over pink and pink cascades over teal. And then it seems to explode in shades of blue and magenta and hints of green and purple. They dance like silks on a clothesline caught in a summer breeze.

Now that she is truly observing the display she can understand why Sokka enjoys it so. It is just awe striking enough to pull her mind away from the freezing air. Just majestic enough to quiet the unrest in her mind.

“I like them.” She finally says. It is something of an understatement.

“I told you that you would.” Sokka replies, giving her a little squeeze.

She pulls her gaze away from the lights and turns around to look up at him. She can see the curtains of light reflecting in his eyes. Kind eyes. Warm eyes. Frosty in color but warm no less. His smile is rather charming too, especially when it reaches those eyes. It has been a while since she has seen him so happy. Maybe she hasn’t seen him this happy before now.

“I’m really happy that you like them, I was worried that you didn’t and I was just bothering you.” He says. “The first time I tried to show you them.”

She shrugs. “I was just sick and…” she looks back at the vast expanse of the tundra. “Sick and waiting for something to shamble its way out of there.” She admits.

“Fair enough.” He replies. “What’s bothering you tonight.”

She presses her lips together and hovers her hand above his chest.

“Still?” He asks. “I told you that it was alright.”

“It isn’t alright with your sister. Or Mai and TyLee. I know what they think of me…”

Sokka sights. “Kat just gets protective, ever since mom died…”

“Your mother is dead?” She probably should have known as much. Thinking back on it, she’d only ever seen his father around. Perhaps she’d thought that the woman had simply been away, off somewhere else in the world. Or maybe it is simply that she hadn’t had much time to connect those dots.

“Yeah. It was the war, when I was just a kid.”

“How young were you?”

“Maybe seven or eight. Something like that…” He trails off.

“My therapist says that I have mother troubles too, I don’t remember them though.” At her slight laugh he gives one of his own.

“Anyways, ever since that happened, Katara’s been all protective and motherly. She doesn’t want to lose anyone else. She just needs some time to cool off.” He shrugs. “She’ll see the whole picture once she does.”

“What about Mai and TyLee?” She asks. “They’ve been looking at me as though I’m going to set them on fire at any minute.”

“That’s probably because they haven’t seen you like this yet.”

“Like what?”

“Sniffling and buried in a ridiculous amount of parkas.”

“That is your fault?” She crosses her arms.

“The parkas are, yeah.” He agrees with what she believes is self satisfaction.

“Maybe I should have asked them to join us…” She thinks aloud.

“I think that there will be other times for us to talk as a group.” Sokka shrugs. “They just need to get used to the new you.” He cups a hand over her cheek.

“I suppose.” She replies. She watches her words trail away on the mist that slips from between her lips. It reminds her that it is absolutely frosty out.This time she doesn’t think that the distraction of the lights will be able to take the bite away.

“You’re cold.”

This time it isn’t posed as a question and she doesn’t plan on lying about it anyways.

“Let's get back inside then.”

“How long do you usually watch them for?” She looks back up as they begin to walk back.

“An hour or so.”

“In this weather?”

He shrugs again, “I’m used to it.”

Perhaps she should make a goal of building up her cold tolerance.

“I bet that I wouldn’t last as long as you on a beach.” He points out. “True.” She cuts him a smug smile; as smug as she can make it anyhow with the icy air practically freezing her face into stiffness.

She stuffs her hands into her pockets and her mind begins to ruminate on Katara, Mai, and TyLee again. She finds it hard to believe that they will get used to her, especially if Sokka’s tales of her are to be believed. And she thinks that they most certainly are. “What if they don’t get used to me?”

“You’re going to have a whole boat ride to the Earth Kingdom to show them that you’re a fun person to talk to.”

Her belly flops just thinking about being trapped on a boat and in another awkward dinner conversation. She might just have to get used to them too. She is coming to realize that socializing doesn’t exactly come easily to her. That she likely comes on too strong. That she is too blunt. And that she sometimes isn’t sure what to say at all. It is this that finally compels her to ask the other thing that has been occupying her for quite some time. “Do you love me?” She asks it quickly enough and abruptly enough for him to ask her to repeat herself. It is harder the second time, now that it isn’t an impulse question. But she manages to inquire again.

.oOo.

Sokka’s strides slow to a halt. The question has thrown him. He supposes that the question was just waiting to be asked. Though he didn’t expect her to ask so soon. As so, he hasn’t yet figured out how to answer it.

The part of him that still has hopes for Suki is reeling. And the thought that Azula recovering her memories will nullify everything else that they’ve been through still nags him persistently. And yet when he looks upon her, he only feels a pleasant flutter. Especially when She stares up at him like that.

He swallows. At his hesitation, her face seems to fall. He swallows harder still.

He has delayed too long. He isn’t sure if it is hurt or anger that he sees on her face. Whichever it is, it carries her the rest of the way back to his home. He watches her disappear inside. At her departure he is sure that he does love her. It wouldn’t hurt him so much if he didn’t.

#Avatar The Last Airbender #Azula #Sokka #Sokkla #Fanfiction

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