#& he is tophs buddy which is nice

[ssreeder]

Did I just binge read the entirety of LIAB over the last week in every moment of my free time? Yes. Am I caught up now? Yes. Do I never want this fic to end but also understand all good things eventually do? Also yes. Okayyyy but seriously though reedy my fucki g h e a r t oughhhh you're so talented I love every bit of this the torment the torture the detail bby gimme gimme more!!!!!! but also god let! them! kiss!!!!!!!!!! Also the way you write Jet like ooooh buddy that inner monolog is gonna be the death of you probably (most likely) Ngl I definitely have joined the Rasu fan club why is he so sweet help tbh I'd fall for his charms also thinking about what if he became friends with Reho I'd give our precious blabbermouth 2 minutes tops before Jee wants to murder him but Rasu takes him under his wing- introducing Smooth Talker 2.0 the tea shop couldnt handle all the new business. Ahhhhh there is so much more I could scream about this fic and probably will this is my first comment okayyyy ily byeeeeeee

(Still crying over Shen r.i.p. baby boy)

Omg please for Jee’s sanity do NOT put Reho in the teashop with him omg Jee would be on the first tram out of the city! Rasu is already on his nerves and the poor guy isn’t half as chatty as our man Reho lol.

Oh & not to mention Zuko is back so I’m sure Jees already gray hair will turn white from stress lol.

I’m really glad you’re enjoying liab it always makes me smile when I hear people are enjoying the story & all of the sad dark themes that go with it haha. Hopefully we get some happy times soon & YES! zukka kisses. They deserve it haha. <3

OH & I like that you enjoy Jet haha he is one of my favorites to write I love that chaotic flawed dude. He’s a mess I don’t wanna clean up

Thanks for the sweet ask :)

[oneatlatime]

The Journey to Ba Sing Se Part 2: The Drill

Could I have Appa back please?

The Previously On segment actually didn't spoil anything for once. Nice.

I do like these tank things. In fact I like all Fire Nation technology. Not what it's used for. But the designs are neat. And more interesting than most actual military tech. You ever look at something techy, and think to yourself 'there was an artist involved here,' because that's the impression FN tech gives me. It's not beautiful, but there's a pleasing toothiness to it.

Excellent sound design on the metal screechy moving bits. And is that tank escort really necessary?

I know this is a kids' cartoon, with characters that are designed to be the audience's age. I know! And usually I can suspend my disbelief and forget that I'm watching children do very adult jobs! But this caught me so off guard I laughed. The Fire Nation's big secret project to break through the wall once and for all, that would be an absolute career making achievement for whoever is in charge, and they've given it to a bunch of teenage girls. This is where my suspension of disbelief stops.

Can you imagine the meeting where this was proposed? The Fire Lord being like "Who can lead the attack on Ba Sing Se? We lost Zhao at the North Pole, does whoever it is who occupies his equivalent rank in the Army want the job? Or even Zhao's second in command perhaps? Or how about: three middle school girls, two of which aren't even members of the military? Doesn't that sound like a good plan?" And of course all his advisors have to agree and be like "that sounds like an excellent plan your lordship; did you have any particular girls in mind or should we go scout out the local Claire's?" because the last guy who disagreed with him got his face blown off. I don't care how viciously talented Azula and friends are; a country that puts eighth graders in charge of invasion plans should have lost the war in year one, not still be winning it in year 99.

Did that random commander guy just smack Ty Lee in the face?

Problem the first of this plan: unless the Fire Nation has invented pocket dimensions or bags of holding, there is no way that that drill, even stuffed full of soldiers, would hold enough people to take a city that seemingly contains every single refugee in the entire Earth Kingdom.

Do you think those refugees got preferential treatment for arriving on an Avatar powered elevator?

"I'm the Avatar. Take me to whoever's in charge." OWN IT BABY!!!

That's one hell of an irrigation system they must have.

"He was quickly expunged." Was he? I got the impression he quit. Of his own accord.

Something tells me like forty guys throwing rocks won't stop that thing.

So... what was Mai doing that whole fight? Hanging decoratively off a rope?

I'd forgotten how stupid Earth Kingdom generals were. Luckily Sokka is there to vicariously express my opinion of them. A reverse beat up Sokka quota fulfillment!

Toph is such a little shit and I love her.

Aang sure does put up with a lot sometimes. Part of being the Avatar. It's a good thing he has such patience. Can we talk about how lucky the world is that Aang is the one tasked with putting up with nonsense like this? Imagine if Sokka or Toph were the Avatar. There would be casualties.

I like complaining too buddy. Nice to see Sokka's worth being recognised. Now can we do that outside of a life or death situation too please?

I joke about Zuko's dumbass behaviour, but let's be honest, it's inherited.

Jet. Fuckboy. You do not make it easy to even slightly like you. Guy is missing the point as much as Zuko usually does. Going straight MEANS leaving the freedom fighters behind. It doesn't mean reforming them somewhere else. And what Fire Nation threat are you going to find in Ba Sing Se for your Freedom Fighters to fight? You know, if this idiot was actually serious about fighting for Freedom rather than blowing stuff up for fun, he'd fudge his age and enlist in the Earth Kingdom Army.

Four points: How does Katara know Ty Lee's name? Is this confirmation that waterbending healing cannot remove a Chi block? I love that the trait that gives away Ty Lee's identity is the fact that she cartwheeled away. I love Sokka. Just in general.

There is no way this girl is not tripping.

Can you imagine how loud standing right next to that drill must be?

ABS

Normally I'd say that one earthbender trying to slow the drill down with spikes will work even worse than the Terra Team who tried and failed with like 40, but this is Toph we're talking about. It could work.

These children are so polite when they're committing industrial sabotage. Truly, they were raised well.

Do you ever get the feeling that whoever is in charge of designing Fire Nation armour is into a few things that he's trying to repress so hard that they're coming out in all the wrong places?

Jet seems to have lost all the manipulative abilities he had in his episode. Suddenly he's very bad at reading body language and keeps saying the exact opposite of what he should.

New achievement unlocked! 1000% agreeing with something Zuko said! That was a pretty stupid move.

Cups made out of leaves are neat.

Katara, you can't have it both ways. You can't look to Sokka to make the plan, then get snippy when the plan correctly plays to all of your strengths. He physically CAN'T bend. Either you come up with a better plan yourself, or you do as the guy you appointed planner suggests.

Points in favour of allowing Katara to murder people, exhibit 1.

Confirmed: Sokka is catnip for girls.

Even in comparison to the others, Ty Lee has a bad case of cartoon physics.

Did Katara just disarm herself? That'll come back to bite her in 3, 2, 1...

Mai gets a second personality trait! Yay!

There is no way this is actually practical armour. This is someone in procurement with a thing for sweaty bulging muscles and puppy masks.

And thus, the log ride was born. Later versions would go on to perfect the concept by introducing a log.

I felt Sokka's mud freakout in my bones. Looks like Katara giving away her water isn't going to be a problem.

Petition to let Katara say bitch. The voice actress said Circus Freak but I know what I heard in my heart.

Remember that time Sokka smacked his forehead so many times that his face was permanently red? My turn now.

Aang. I know you love your friends. But maybe a battle on top of a moving machine of destruction in the midst of an aerial assault from your idiotic allies while facing off with the single most powerful and amoral firebender in existence, isn't a place to bring your pet lemur?

Beat up Sokka quota fulfilled by little sister. It's surprising that isn't the case more often. I know Sokka took it too far, but if you don't want him telling you what to do, maybe you shouldn't have looked to him for a plan?

Toph is here! Day saved.

Finally some sense re: Momo safety.

Time for the Western showdown. There's even something that could stand in for a water tower in the background.

If Azula had just struck at Aang the second he got knocked unconscious, rather than waiting until he woke up for dramatic purposes, she would have won this. I give Zuko Hell for being a theatre kid, but he's not the only one in the family.

I would love to know what they make Fire Nation boot soles out of. They have supernatural traction.

I take back everything I said about pet safety. That was a really cool Momo assist.

Aang invents the pneumatic hammer.

I LOVE that the cut braces had an effect after all. Sokka's contribution counts!

I bet this guy's wishing he'd been eaten by a giant fishman like Zhao right about now. Have fun explaining that one to the Firelord!

HOW is Ty Lee still alive?

HOW does Azula still have knees after that drop?

HOW does Mai have such perfect timing?

ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN

They really ought to put wheels on all but the back car to reduce friction and save energy. Then again, if the Earth Kingdom is one thing, it's stupid.

So... Jet's change of heart lasted a bit less than one episode. Good job fuckboy!

So precious.

So Pretty.

Final Thoughts

This was like 90% action, with the other 10% being split between Zuko & Iroh plot stuff and Sokka playing comic relief. So there's not that much to talk about here really (she says, having found a whole post's worth of stuff to talk about).

Sokka had his bossy pants on, admittedly because he was asked to don them. Aang got to do some proper Avataring. Katara and Toph got to exercise their bending muscles. I'm not surprised that Toph was absent for much of the middle of the episode, because - let's be honest - given the right tools, Toph would have finished the Drill in one move. And then they'd be out of episode.

Actually, Mai got to have a personality beyond Too Bored To Live this episode. This is probably the most personality I've seen out of her so far. She's much more expressive when she's with just Ty Lee, rather than Ty Lee and Azula.

And Zuko! Had! Common! Sense! Iroh had to be a dumbass for Zuko to shine, but Zuko was, once again, the most reasonable character in his little B plot. For future reference: If you want to make Zuko reasonable, all you have to do is nerf his uncle and juxtapose him with a terrorist.

I loathe Jet. Always have, probably always will. But I'm still disappointed in him. His 'turning over a new leaf' - if it was sincere at all - lasted like 10 on-screen minutes. I feel sorry for Smellerbee and Longshot. I don't think their faith in their glorious leader is going to be repaid. He seems to brush off Smellerbee's opinions.

The strangest thing this episode was how few lines Azula had. I guess maybe they were using silence to try to show how calculating and collected she is compared to others, but honestly my first thought was that the voice actress had something going on. A cold? A previous engagement? It felt really weird to hear her speak so little, since previous episodes have shown she's not averse to gloating and dramatic monologues. She didn't even have much in the way of facial expressions.

I think the winners this episode were Mai, who got to have a personality; Zuko, who got a turn with the brain cell; and Aang, who got to work out pretty much all the bending he knows so far and successfully Avatar.

I did notice with some of the shots of Aang moving the big boulders the idiots were chucking down, that there was a kind of fuzziness to the air between Aang and what he was moving. Was I seeing the actual bending energy (Chi I guess) moving?

[shamelessliarkickapow]

Arrvatarr! The Last Arrbender! silly, playful, minimal angst Zutara pirate AU rated M fer Mizzen Mast

Read chapter 1 on AO3 here! Chapter 2, part 1/3

chapter 2, part 2/3

“Get out of my room.”

“Not your room anymore, buddy. All this stuff is the property of pirates now, so, you know, argh.”

The swordsman - Sokka, Zuko recalled with no small amount of venom - waved a dismissive hand at him and then reached up to take down the broadswords he had been admiring.

“Oh, these are nice.”

“You’re holding them backward, idiot. Switch hands.”

Sokka did not switch hands. Instead, he cast Zuko another of his irritatingly smug smiles. “Not really my style, though. I’ll probably trade them for new boots or something. Maybe a new bag. I’ve been meaning to get a bag.” The smugness thickened obnoxiously. “Got any bags, Prince Zuko?”

“Princes don’t tote around their possessions like vagrants,” Zuko sneered, folding his arms over his chest to stop himself from doing something violent.

“Yeah,” chortled the metalbender - Toph Bei-fucking-Fong - behind him in the corridor. “They seem to have trouble picking up and carrying anything of their own. Are you gonna get your stuff or what? I don’t have all day here.”

“You know, Katara made a pretty good point earlier,” Sokka said almost idly as he sheathed the swords and slung them over his shoulder. “You really should put on a coat or something.” Instead of just taking the swords and leaving, he continued poking around Zuko’s scant belongings, pocketing stuff seemingly at random. “It can be chilly in the brig and we wouldn’t want you to catch a sniffle during your stay.”

Zuko watched his Earth Kingdom knife disappear into one of those pockets and worked his jaw to the side. Technically, he would not be breaking his oath if he shoved this guy down some stairs or otherwise knocked him around, but that would no doubt violate the ‘good behavior’ agreement Iroh had made that won them the chance to take some of their belongings before the ship was sunk. Since there could be no escaping and any misbehavior on his part would almost definitely complicate whatever Iroh was planning, Zuko would just have to play nice with these gibbering morons for the time being.

But that didn’t mean that he had to expose a potential vulnerability by letting on that any of the stuff this pirate was stealing meant anything to him. So he stood there, stoically witnessing the ransacking of his few earthly possessions to make sure the things that mattered to him made it off the ship. He would just take them back later. That was fine. This was fine.

He had not felt so violated since Azula stole and burned his toys as a child.

Sokka paused with Zuko’s combed-wool blanket wadded under one arm and cast him an assessing look. “Unless you plan to spend your entire kidnapping with no shirt on? Which I guess is kind of a boss move, but still-”

“Ho ho!” Toph chirped. “No shirt, huh? I thought I felt a lot of skin-on-metal but it can be hard to tell with stuff that isn’t earth. Are you shredded? Got those ripply abs? What’s the chest hair situation?”

Zuko, realizing she was reaching out toward him like she meant to feel him up, took a long step away from her - into the room - and shot her a disgusted look she couldn’t see.

“Do not,” he snarled, “touch me.”

Sokka sighed behind him. “Seriously, Toph. Way to make it creepy.”

“What? We’re pirates! If somebody’s not feeling at least a little sexually threatened, we’re not doing it right. And since you and Suki are joined at the face like some kind of gross romance novel rejects and Twinkles is a kid, Sweetness and I have an image to uphold, here. Besides, she’s the one who really-”

“Don’t bring my sister into this,” Sokka nearly-shrieked. Zuko watched him pat at the air and calm himself quickly. “Look, I’ll keep an eye on Prince Zuko. You can go ahead and get the coal transferred.”

“Fine,” she huffed, then stomped off, grumbling. “Buncha lily-liver pearl-clutching prudes…”

She disappeared down the corridor and Sokka let out a deep breath.

“Teenagers, am I right?”

Zuko glared back at his shrugging, almost apologetic face. Then he snatched up his robe from where he had discarded it before bed and shoved his arms through the wide sleeves.

Sokka stood a little awkwardly, examining the stitching around the edge of the blanket he had pilfered. Zuko felt compelled to break the uncomfortable silence.

“The waterbender is your sister?”

“Katara. She might be nicer to you if you learn her name.” Sokka squinted thoughtfully. “Or maybe not. She’s not a big fan of firebenders as a general rule… and she seems to especially dislike firebender princes so, you know, probably a lost cause there.”

Zuko had gathered as much… and he also knew what her name was. He just didn’t want to let on to this guy. Her brother. Actually, he didn’t really want to talk about her with him at all.

Because talking about her felt dangerously close to reflecting on her looks and threats. And Zuko was intensely curious as to what kind of trouble she thought he might get into. What did that even mean?

But that wasn’t a conversation he was about to have with her brother.

“You’re taking the coal.”

Sokka blinked and then nodded.

“What do you need coal for? You came in a sailing vessel.”

For a long moment, the other guy just stared back at him thoughtfully. At length, he shrugged. “We use it as supplemental heat for our village through the winter. There aren’t enough hunters left to keep us in our traditional fuels - oils and blubbers. Coal is disgusting - no offense - turns the igloos black and smells awful, but it’s better than freezing to death.”

Zuko frowned at him, trying to convince himself that this could be some kind of deception… but he found he couldn’t. “And the food and medicine you wanted, that goes to your village, too.”

“That’s the piracy game,” Sokka said as he went back to picking over the last few things that sat out on Zuko’s shelf.

“You aren’t pirates,” Zuko huffed. “You’re obviously-”

“Do you want this picture?”

The portrait in Sokka’s hand was, in fact, the last thing in the room Zuko might have taken. He tried not to look at it. Sokka peered at him, then down at the image.

“Pretty lady.”

Zuko worked his jaw to the side.

“Maybe I’ll keep it,” Sokka said idly, tilting his head and smiling a little dreamily down at the portrait. “Is this, like, Fire Nation erotica or something because - mm. That’s a nice looking woman right there-”

Zuko snatched the portrait - which was obviously not erotica, it was obviously a royal portrait of a wonderful sexless woman with warm, shining eyes! - from that savage’s disgusting paws and stalked off to grab a blind armload of clothes from his dressing room.

Following along behind him, Sokka stifled a chuckle.

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Okay I have more crossover thoughts, except this time the crossover involves my original story, "The SOS Chronicles".

Not exactly sure what triggered it but I've been thinking about Avatar the Last Airbender a lot again recently, specifically my boy Zuko. And as I was mulling things over it occurred to me how funny it would be if the Avatar Gaang met my OC's, Oliver, Silas, Silvie and Cassie.

Part of what would make this so funny is because, y'know, everyone in the Avatar world is pretty prejudiced against firebenders after their nation tried to take over the world. But the SOS kiddos would love firebenders because in their minds that's one of the most useful abilities to have like, ever. Because they're coming at it from the perspective of being slaves/alone at a very young age. So the ability to just, manifest fire whenever you want? SUPER useful. You can use fire to purify water, cook food, and stay warm. Not to mention as a defense against hostile people/animals. (In case you're curious, their pyramid of element usefulness goes: firebending because of the above, waterbending because having fresh/clean water for drinking, cooking, washing is very useful. Then earthbending because you can use it to make shelters and chuck rocks at people. And then airbending, which they have a hard time coming up with practical uses for, but they acknowledge that it's still very important because they immediately understand that it represents freedom. They can't see much of a use for lightning bending tho (except Cassie, their little inventor/engineer who loves that idea), the idea of bloodbending terrifies them (tho Silvie says it'd be very useful for subduing enemies), but METALBENDING, now dang the three kids who used to work in a mine extracting spaceship fuel? Oh yeah, they can see the uses of that immediately. Silvie brings up how useful it would be for escaping from the Enforcers since their prisons are mostly metal. Oliver- when he has Almitak's power- can basically already energybend so that'd be a fun conversation for him and Aang to have. But I digress.)

So anyway, I'm just imagining the kids meet the Gaang and within ten minutes they're just hovering nonstop around Zuko, which freaks him out a little bit, and when he asks what they're doing their only response is, "You're warm." and now he has to deal with them following him around... or climbing him, in Silvie's case. Baby Aguithans just climb the tallest nice person they can find by default. (Silvie is NOT put off by his temper. She yells right back at him. He's not hurting her and baby has been treated so much worse by so many people it doesn't even phase her. The other three kids will drift away until they're done yelling.)

The best way to get at least Oliver to leave Zuko alone, they find out, is by Aang showing how he flies with airbending. Because as soon as he soars into the air, Oliver starts bouncing with excitement and squeaks, "I can do that too!" and shoots into the sky but. with no glider or visible airbending. Almitak is just sighing in resignation but also a deep fondness. Aang is very surprised but delighted to have a flying buddy.

Cassie would LOVE to talk about inventions and things with Sokka. The little bean would take one look at an airship and demand to know exactly how it works. She'd also love Toph just in general, she's got a similar sort of personality, but she's more go-with-the-flow after having been a slave for most of her life. She'd have Toph throwing rocks at her and be trying to hit them with a wrench like a very dangerous game of baseball until Silas yelled at them to stop.

Silas would like either Katara or Sokka most depending on who was being the parent of the group at that moment. Because Silas, as the oldest of his group, is the de-facto parent. He'd be THRILLED to talk about navigating by the stars with them tho (Sokka at least would have to know this since Water Tribe).

Almitak is glad the kiddos are having fun but not really enjoying himself until somebody in the Gaang brings up spirits/dragons and then suddenly he's manifesting his ghostly self like "did somebody say dragon spirit?" and half the Gaang is panicking, Aang is just excited, Toph is the most unnerved she's ever been because there is no way to sense this creature. Almitak feels bad about that and apologizes and is also forced to explain his existence.

At some point Aang and Oliver talk about how they both have No Killing rules and don't really want to hurt anyone and lament the positions they've been put into and it's really good for both of them to be able to admit that to someone in a similar situation who agrees with them. They're besties after like ten minutes.

At the end of the day all the SOS kiddos creep over to snuggle with Zuko because warm. He grumbles about it, but secretly he's kind of pleased and amused that these kids like him so much. The Gaang is extremely amused and Almitak is trying not to laugh and directing them to the futuristic equivalent to a camera in one of the kid's pockets so they can take a picture and savor this memory forever. Zuko is unaware of this until later. The SOS kiddos are DELIGHTED.

Anyway, those are just some fun thoughts I've been ruminating on recently. I have some more I might type up later but this is already long so. Hope it was a fun read!

[erisenyo]

❤️ BB-Verse ❤️

I just want some nice Sokka+Azula Spite compilations ❤️

In "Every Door" Azula motivated and kinda inspired him and I thought Sokka and Zuko would have to be married for Sokka to properly work for the FN Government. Or would that work as long as he is officially Zukos Fiancé?

Please tell me we'll be getting some Toph|Azula or Sokka|Azula snippets. ESPECIALLY those cactus juice ones. That shit sounds hilarious

The Sokka-Azula post-figuring-their-shit-out dynamic is everything to me lol. They live to get one over each other. They gang up on Zuko at the drop of a hat. They exchange bitchy opinions on stuffy ministers in a glance. Their prank wars cause property damage. They have that buddy cop dynamic down. Zuko despairs of it and not so secretly loves it.

As for Sokka working in the FN Government -- it would probably depend on just how official that fiance thing is. There are a few steps/stages (in my head), going from the initial proposal and as marriage approaches, which increasingly formalizes the relationship. At some point that would open up the option to actually be a part of things.

The big factor of course being if Sokka wanted that kind of work, as he figures thingss out. He and Zuko would both be very conscious of not putting Sokka in a position where he was going to run into a conflict of interests, and Sokka post-To Open Every Door is definitely taking some him-time to feel out the work stuff and reflect on what he actually wants that to look like.

As for Azula shenanigan snippets, especially cactus juice based...no promises but honestly sounds perfect for the next time I'm doing prompts on tumblr. It certainly cracks me up lol

[loopy777]

Not that everyone has to have kids, but why do you think Bumi II and Kya II didnt have any kids of their own? Was it because of how Aang wasnt a great dad to them?

Psychologically, their issues with Aang might be the deep-down bedrock-level root cause, but I'm not psychologist and we're talking about cartoon characters, so let's go a few levels higher.

First of all, I want to say that I agree people don't have to have kids. I'm almost certainly never going to have kids. I say this because I don't want my next statement is be misinterpreted:

Bumi and Kya are not complete people.

Think about it. Neither one has any friends. Neither one has a home of their own. Neither one has any kind of community outside their mother and their brother (and Tenzin's family in turn, which includes Korra and her various hanger-ons). Bumi had a purpose in his life with his military career, but he gives that up before we've even heard him utter a single complete sentence, in favor of becoming a freeloader in his brother's place. Kya supposedly traveled the world, but when Aang died she came back to the South Pole to supposedly help Katara- and yet she produces no contacts or information during the story's world-spanning adventures, and Korra never met her before Book Spirits.

How could either of these people consider having kids? I'm not sure they know how to have a conversation with anyone who isn't involved with Avatar Business in some way.

Even if either one theoretically managed to acquire a kid, I don't think that would make them complete people. I can honestly see both of them dropping their kid off with Tenzin and fleeing. Or else showing up at Tenzin's doorstep for his and his family's help raising the kid.

Now, maybe their inability to form connections with literally any other human being they're not related to is because of Aang's parenting. But I don't think the story's intention is for Bumi and Kya to be that damaged by their childhood. And, as long as we're looking at things from a meta-perspective, let's admit that the real reason for this portrayal is because LoK is about Korra, and Bumi'n'Kya are in an outer orbit around her compared to the more consistent cast (and even Asami literally has no one in her life but Korra and Mako and Varrick). However, the result is that Bumi had an entire military career but no old veteran buddies, and Kya is the franchise's first confirmed lesbian but has never so much as been depicted as flirting with someone never mind actually engaging in a romance.

All we have to work with is the text of the story, and that says that neither Bumi nor Kya are outgoing enough to consider procreating. The fandom likes to imagine past relationships for them with Toph's kids or Izumi, but let's face it- those kids probably would have rather died than dated one of Aang's kids, except for Lin, who wishes she had died instead of dating Tenzin, and even she never had so much as a conversation with Bumi or Kya.

If we wanted to repair this portrayal, there are some options. We could say that Bumi preferred to focus on his career, or just have someone Korra's age show up one day and say, "Nice to meet you, Dad. Remember that cute Si Wong sandbender 20 years ago?"

For Kya, it could be even easier; just introduce her grown child as someone everyone already knows about and is familiar with (except Korra, who can serve as our audience POV) and who coincidentally has never been mentioned before now despite there being plenty of logical places where it should have happened. (It's a tried and true LoK storytelling tactic! :P) Or talk about the difficulties that a lesbian seeking to have a child would encounter in the Avatar world. Or just give her a personal reason for not having a kid while also establishing that she has friends and lovers around the world.

The possibilities are endless when you treat Bumi and Kya as actual characters.

[friendship-showdown]

Friendship Showdown: Preliminary Round #5 (reupload)

Accidentally made this one a one day poll whoops!!!

Propaganda:

Aang and Toph (Avatar: The Last Airbender): no propaganda submitted

Secelia Dote and Rouji Chante (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury): I really just love their fun little dynamic because it's this super sarcastic girl who happens to be a stand in for the audience sometimes and her little buddy who's all quiet and stuff, except even though she's usually very teasing he is the one person who she absolutely will not tease and will in fact stand up for. Rouji is usually not very good at talking since he usually uses his Haro (little robot ball thing) to talk but he tends not to when it comes to Secelia, while Secelia just gets to be her usual kind of asshole but in a fun way self around him all day. They get to have chats about duels and stuff all day while lounging around on a couch together 24/7. truly living the dream they are. Rouji maybe doesn't 100% approve of Secelia's usual teasing nature but he still feels very comfortable around her without any romantic implications or anything being involved. Also this is a spoiler for ep 22 but I find it so funny how in the latest episode as of writing this all of the big characters were about to go to a space station to get the climax of the story in motion and Secelia is just like "btw could you take my little buddy with you? He's a little curious about this thing in space which keeps killing people and I think it would be nice for him to come with you. yeah just think of it like a field trip or something". Couch buddies you'll always be famous to me

Poppy Li and Ian Grimm (Mythic Quest): They have explicitly said platonic “I love you” to each other and the show has never ever taken that to imply romantic interest. They have started their own game studios together twice and they fight and argue but ultimately they work well together. Ian’s work inspired Poppy to go into game design and development in the first place and basically they’re everything

[prying-pandora666]

Only because you asked anon, and you’re so sharp I fear you’ll puncture the hull of my blog!

Azula: Chieftain, I demand you sign this bill I wrote which requests reparations from the Fire Nation for harms done to your people!

Hakoda: Azula… this is very well written but you’re asking for a lot. Won’t the Fire Lord be offended?

Azula: Of course not! It’s my brother! He’s the same blend of guilt-ridden and well-intentioned that he’s ever been! Really, he should thank me for the opportunity!

Hakoda: I’ll… go ahead and sign this then.

Azula: …

Hakoda: …

Azula: … I did it ALL out of the generosity of my heart and for No. Other. Reason.

Hakoda: Oh! Job well done, Azula. I’m proud of you.

Azula: *happy sighs*

—

Azula: *dressed as a Kyoshi Warrior* Shut up! You’re going to give us away!

Sokka: *also dressed as a Kyoshi Warrior* You literally threatened a guy just for complimenting my figure!

Azula: FRIENDS DON’T LET FRIENDS BE HARRASSED!

Sokka: YOU’RE JUST JEALOUS THAT I GOT THE COMPLI—wait, we’re friends?

Actual Kyoshi Warrior: Are you two playing dress-up and sneaking around our village again?

Sokka: You see? You should’ve let me do your eyeliner. Your make-up skills give us away every time.

Azula: YOU. ARE. A. MAN.

Sokka: A man… with perfect eyeliner!

—

Toph: Playing beach games against the boys is never fun! I can barely see in sand and they cheat!

Katara: They don’t cheat. They just have Aang.

Toph: PFFT! Whatever, I can take Aang! He’s a softie! It’s Sokka that’s the problem!

Katara: His strategies do give them an edge that’s hard to predict…

Toph: …….. I just had an idea. You won’t like it, but we’ll be unstoppable.

Azula, sunbathing on her own: What do you two want?

Toph: STOP SITTING HERE LIKE A RETIRED OLD LADY AND HELP US BEAT THE BOYS!

Azula: What, in a game? No thanks. I don’t engage in childish competitions anymore. I’m a good person now.

Toph: Not even to beat Zuko?

Azula: Oh please. We’ve put that petty rivalry behind us and anyway I’m obviously the winner.

Katara: *under her breath* My-brother’s-smarter-than-you.

Azula: !!!

Toph: Uh oh.

Azula: OH IS HE!? THEN TIME TO BRING THOSE BOYS IN FOR RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT!

Toph: …?

Katara: …?

Azula: Y-you know. Because they think their wit is so sharp?

Katara/Toph: Ohhhhh…

Toph: I don’t get it.

The boys never won a match again.

—

Zuko: Azula?

Azula: Yes?

Zuko: How do you know if a girl likes you or is just being nice?

Azula: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Zuko, later: Anyway, she must’ve laughed for like an hour. She nearly passed out, actually.

Sokka: That’s rough, buddy.

Aang: But did she ever give you an answer?

Zuko: Yes. Eventually.

Aang/Sokka: What did she say!?

Zuko: You can’t.

Aang/Sokka: Awwww!

Sokka: I was SO sure that would work!

Aang: On the bright side, she gave us an honest answer? So she must be starting to care about us. At least a little.

Sokka: Either that or she was just being “a good person”.

Aang: Good point. How can we tell which one it is?

Zuko: …. We can’t.

—

Sokka: Okay Azula! I’m calling a truce! I hate you and you hate me—

Azula: I don’t hate you.

Sokka: No, no, don’t start—wait you don’t?

Azula: Of course not! I didn’t even hate you during the war when we were trying to kill each other. You were just doing your duty.

Sokka: Oh… I… did not know that.

Azula: You… hate me? As a person?

Sokka: Hate is a strong word—

Azula: And an accurate one, apparently. Excuse me. I wouldn’t want to darken your day with my presence. *leaves* Sokka: Wow. I feel like a bad person. Was she about to cry!? Gaaaah! Way to go, Sokka! So stupid!

A month later…

Azula, drinking tea: Anyway, then I burst into tears and ran away! Haha!

Ty Lee: Wow Azula! Pretty devious of you! I totally believed your feelings were really hurt!

Azula: I was devastated! Cried for a week. More tea, anyone?

Mai: So you’re just going to pretend nothing is wrong?

Azula: Of course!

Ty Lee: Oh… but why?

Sokka, from outside: AZULA! I’M SORRY! Look I hunted and cooked a whole leopard moose for you AND made you another coat with its pelt! It’s my best one yet! Pleeeeease will you talk to me again!? No one else will play “Infiltrate Kyoshi Village” with me!

Mai: She has no idea how to respond to that.

Ty Lee: Oh!

—

Toph: You ever feel like the world is a mess and you just want to take it in your hands and SHAKE IT until it does what you say and BEHAVES!?

Azula: … are you seriously asking me this right now?

Toph: Sorry. I’m used to having these talks with Katara.

Azula: Oh she’s no fun!

Toph: THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYIN’!

Azula: Want to sneak into Zuzu’s vault and rearrange all his ceremonial crowns and robes just sliiiiightly so he thinks the pressure’s getting to him and he’s going insane?

Toph: OOH! Maybe he’ll argue with a painting of Iroh like last time! That was GREAT! If he does, you have to describe it to me again!

Azula: In meticulous detail.

—

Zuko: You and Toph rearranged all my stuff again so I’d think I was going insane, didn’t you?

Azula: Slanderous allegations! You have no proof.

Zuko: You left a note mocking me and explaining what was done.

Azula: Someone left a note mocking you and explaining what was done.

Zuko: You signed it!

Azula: *shrugs* You got me. I didn’t want you getting stressed again, but I didn’t want to ruin Toph’s fun. She can’t read the note, so I left it for you.

Zuko: Oh… That… is actually really thoughtful.

Azula: Why are you surprised?

Azula, smug: I’m a good person now!

Zuko, at the same time, dead inside: You’re a good person now…

Zuko: How could I forget?

(Want more? Check out @book4air)

Okay but people are seriously sleeping on the comedy potential for a redeemed Azula.

She canonically likes making jokes and has a wicked sharp wit. She’s also as charismatic as she is socially awkward. Just imagine the possibilities!

——

Katara: Azula, did you stew and eat the reindeer meat my dad was saving!?

Azula: Don’t be ridiculous. I’m a good person now.

Katara: …

Azula: …

Katara: …

Azula: I seared it. I’m not a monster.

——

Sokka: Hey, Azula! Wanna join us in a snow fight?

Azula: Didn’t you learn from the invasion, peasant?

*Proceeds to absolutely DESTROY Sokka’s team by perfectly commanding an army of small children.*

Azula: HAHAHA! I’VE DEFEATED YOU FOR ALL TIME! YOU WILL NEVER RISE FROM THE COLD STING OF HUMILIATION!

Suki: Why do you keep inviting her to play?

Sokka: Honestly? Improves my tactical skills to watch a master.

Azula: TAKE THE PRISONERS TO DINNER! THEY’RE BUYING!

——

Aang: Oh hey, Azula! You’re up early. Would you like to join us for morning meditation and vegetarian dumplings?

Azula: I’d rather die.

Zuko: Azula! That’s rude!

Azula: You’re right. I apologize. I’m a good person now. *ahem* Aang, if you don’t eat some meat, YOU are going to die.

Sokka: FINALLY! SOMEONE SAYS IT!

——

Toph: Boy it sure is awkward around here since Azula joined!

*no one says anything*

Toph: Anyone got any embarrassing stories about baby Zuko?

Azula: DO I!?

Zuko: Why do you hate me, Toph?

——

Zuko: I love you. You know that, don’t you?

Azula: Haha! You love me! You’re stupid!

Aang: We all love you, Azula.

Azula: … *trying not to cry*

Katara: Azula? You okay?

Azula: YOU’RE ALL STUPID!

Sokka: I think I sense a group hug coming on. Toph?

Toph: *cracks knuckles* I’ll hold her down.

[mostly-mundane-atla]

Hi there. Just wanted to drop a little line and let you know that your blog is really quite fantastic. I always enjoy seeing updates.

If I'm not being too forward, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on kakiniit or tavlugun as it might apply to either of the Water Tribes? I've always thought these tattoos were quite beautiful -- especially tunniit.

Hope this finds you well. Take care and stay safe. :)

^-^ you're very sweet!

I have a soft spot for Water Tribe women with a tavluģun. I like to think Toph held Katara still for hers (it's supposed to hurt to show how tough you are, you'd have a buddy hold you still so reactions to the pain won'r mess it up).

If i'm entirely honest though, other people have found outsiders including these tattoos in fan art to be appropriative. I don't feel that way about the tattoos themselves, but the way non-eskimo fans tend to copy-paste them onto the page one google image search results inspired canon designs, if they feel like going for the eskimo inspired outfits at all, with no other alterations is really uncomfortable. It's just taking one neat little cultural thing completely out of context, ignoring the significance, and making no attempt to respect or acknowledge the culture it was taken from. In other words, the way outsiders tend to work it in is extremely appropriative.

We also have customs for tattooing arms and thighs which i don't know why fan artists don't want to bother with. They're also done for cultural reasons but to my knowledge both reasons boil down to "art on the body is nice" (arm tattoos may depict landmarks of the woman's home for its own sake and thigh tattoos are so a baby can be greeted into the world with something beautiful) rather than being part of an important coming of age rite, reflecting status as a matron, or anything quite so personally significant. I'd also figure even with digital art, tattoos on the limbs would be more forgiving than tattoos on the face.

And the potential they have in character interactions! Tenzin asking Kya why she's planning to get her thighs tattooed when she doesn't even want kids and her asking back "do you think people are only ever between a woman's thighs when they're born?" and Bumi failing to hide how funny he finds it when Tenzin isn't sure what she means. The jokes practically write themselves

[haitanirindo]

zukka fics that live in my head rent free! 

1. what did you bury before those hands pulled me from the earth (what were you digging) by draco_sollicitus status: complete (18k words) rating: mature pairing(s): sokka/zuko  summary: Sokka is immortal; it's been tested, he knows that he can't die. He's immortal, but he's not quite a god like his sister, Katara. He's immortal, but he's not quite powerful like his friends Aang and Toph. He's just sort of Sokka: good at fixing things, good at playing pranks, good at helping people. When a bet against Toph goes horribly wrong, and an attempt to save him goes even worse, Sokka finds himself the unwilling guest of the Lord of the Underworld. And, strangely enough, every story Sokka's heard about Lord Zuko seems to be ... completely wrong. (Also, he's really handsome. Why does he have to be handsome?)

mythology nerds come get y’all juice. a very good fic. 10/10

2. Where I Want to Be by through-the-stars-to-the-pavement status: WIP (83k words) rating: explicit pairing(s): sokka/zuko summary: "'The fog was where I wanted to be.'" Everything is different. The pitch of his voice, his posture. The auditorium goes silent. No one can take their eyes off of him.… He's amazing.  Zuko had to perfect the art of acting as a child to survive the horrors of his homelife. When he got older, it was only natural to take his talent to the stage for entertainment and escape. Enter Sokka, a craftsman and set designer with a giant heart who is haunted by plenty of ghosts of his own. A tale of trauma, disability, family, creativity, and love. 

this is one of my all time favorite fics. it’s seriously so good and i think about it often

3. Teaching a Heart by @i-write-shakespeare-not-disney status: WIP (114k words) rating: teen and up pairing(s): sokka/zuko summary: Sokka is asked to go to the Fire Nation to teach the crown prince how to sword fight. When he arrives, he's surprised to learn he has to pose as a companion before he can teach the stubborn prince because he rejects every teacher. Far from home and among new customs, Sokka struggles to gain the prince's trust and friendship despite the uncertainties of the customs and dynamics he sees. As he slowly finds answers to his questions, his bond with the prince grows until it becomes something far more ardent than friendship. Doomed as it may be with the prince's approaching wedding ceremony and coronation, Sokka and Zuko find themselves consumed by what they find in each other.

i have no words, i just love this fic and it makes me weep.

4. The Road Between Action and Inaction by @donvex status: complete (17k words) rating: teen and up pairing(s): sokka/zuko summary: Sokka does a shitty k turn in the parking lot across from the bus station, pulls up to the curb where the boy is looking determinedly at his phone, and rolls down the passenger window. “Hey! Which way were you going?” He may die, but at least his conscience will be clear. The guy blinks at him. “Don’t.” Oh, he’s prickly. Or: the hitchhiker au, featuring Sokka and Zuko falling in love without even realizing it.

a classic. roadtrip fics own my ass. 

5. purrfect for eachother by lesmiserablol status: complete (3k words) rating: general audiences pairing(s): sokka/zuko summary: “Let me teach you how to be a cat person,” Zuko says. “Learning from the master himself,” Sokka grins. “Alright, this can’t be too hard. Show me what you got.” (because sometimes, it takes going to a cat café four times to realize you're in love with your best friend)

this whole series is adorable, reading it is self care

6. Ashes Inside When You Finish Your Song by @muncaster status: complete (47k words) rating: teen and up pairing(s): sokka/zuko, aang/katara, mai/ty lee summary: Sokka writes lyrics for his sister’s band. Zuko plays piano and is unnecessarily nice. Fellas, is it gay to write love songs about your friend and his golden eyes? (AKA, a modern band AU featuring The Gaang, crappy software equipment, homoerotic lyrics, and the realization that maybe, if you think about a guy every night before you sleep, you just might be in love with him.)

i think this is the longest one-shot i’ve ever read and it’s so worth it

7. a study in matchmaking by @verdanthoney status: complete (12k words) rating: general audiences pairing(s): sokka/zuko, aang/katara, bato/hakoda summary: Zuko and Sokka try to play matchmaker, but things don't go exactly as planned.

this fic makes me want to scream, in the best way. it’s so cute

8. A Predictable Story by mindbending status: complete (7k words) rating: general audiences pairing(s): sokka/zuko summary: "On this night, you shall share a kiss with a great love of your life!” That lying, scummy Aunt Wu predicts a grand romance for Sokka. To disprove her "fortunetelling" once and for all, Sokka decides to spend the night with least romantic person he knows. Zuko.

again, i have no words. this fic is cute as hell

9. that’s murder, buddy by @bisexual-atla status: WIP (14k words) rating: teen and up pairing(s): sokka/zuko summary: Throughout the streets, on quiet nights, it was rumored the screams of those missing could be heard. Some say the sounds were coming from underground. Where were the young girls? And what was happening to them? Was an evil spirit haunting Gaoling, or something more human? More sinister? My name is Zuko, and you’re tuning into another episode of ‘That’s Murder, Buddy’. Or: Sokka has no idea that his crush is the host of his favorite podcast. (But everyone else knows.)

i love the entire concept of this one, we love oblivious sokka

10. We’ll play hide and seek (to turn this around) by @crosspin status: complete (5k words) rating: general audiences pairing(s): sokka/zuko, bato/hakoda summary: Sokka gave him a sheepish smile. “It’s…well, you see, there’s this boy…” Hakoda sighed and set down the sports section. This was going to take a while. “He works at Barnes & Noble. At the big information desk in the middle. Every Saturday. And I really want to ask him for his number, but it’s super awkward because there’s always this other guy working the information desk at the same time. He’s old, like you. But I have a plan." Sokka’s eyes lit up deviously. “You come with me to Barnes & Noble today when they’re working and distract the old man. And while you have him distracted, I’ll swoop in and get the goods!” Sokka has a plan to ask out the cute boy at the bookstore. Hakoda is a begrudging participant until he meets the boy's beautiful older coworker.

this fic!! this fic! adorable, incredible, magnificent

11. feels like we only go backwards by @oldpotatoe status: WIP (88k words) rating: teen and up pairing(s): sokka/zuko summary: [Time passes oddly. Between one second and the next, Sokka has the Fire Lord pinned to the wall with his hands around the bastard’s throat. Golden eyes (one gold eye, his mind whispers) widen in shock. “Sokka?” he chokes out. And then he smiles. What the fuck? “Sokka, I—” Sokka slams his head against the wall, once, twice, and the smile wipes off his face. Good. “What,” Sokka bites out, “have you done to my sister?”] Or: An injury leaves Sokka with amnesia. His last memory is of the failed invasion, of leaving his father behind in enemy territory on the Day of Black Sun. Of hopelessness. Rage. But then he wakes up, and the war is over. Suddenly, he must come to terms with the fact that years have passed, and that he's somehow the Southern Water Tribe Ambassador to the Fire Nation. He is also supposedly friends with banished-Prince-turned-Fire-Lord Zuko, of all people. Close friends. Yeah, nah.

if you’ve been following me for a while you know this fic fucks me up beyond belief

12. breakable heaven by @fruitysokka status: WIP (43k words) rating: teen and up pairing(s): sokka/zuko summary: With his twenty-first birthday looming just around the corner, the Southern Water Tribe Elders have decided that Sokka, next in line to be Chief, needs to get married. Sokka does not want that, but he does need to get them off his back until he can figure his way out of it. What better way to do that than to pretend to date his best friend (and newly minted Ambassador to the Southern Water Tribe) Zuko? Seriously, this is a foolproof plan. Maybe one of Sokka's best. Absolutely nothing can go wrong.

this just in: sokka and zuko being oblivious makes me want to yell

this turned out a bit longer than i expected but it also doesn’t even cover all my favorites. i had to stop somewhere, or i’d be here forever. maybe i’ll make a part two someday.

anyway, enjoy!

[ur-jinji]

the fire ferret of fate

bolin x f!reader

summary: the story of a girl who manifested her soulmate as a child and a guy just looking for his ferret

prompt: the red strings of fate

a/n: this is for the second prompt of an avatar/tlok writing collaboration that @twilight-toph is doing! the masterlists for the collab can be found here :)

a/n again: also i totally didn’t get the idea off of practical magic aka the best witch movie ever to grace this world

When Y/N was eight years old, she dreamed of finding her prince charming.

She would have her parents read love stories to her every night. She remembered one myth that her mother once told her called the Red Strings of Fate, which entailed an invisible thread that connected one to their soulmate. She believed it to be true until she took the idea too literally, and was frustrated to find there was no red string attaching her parents together.

One night, Y/N had to the crazy idea to create her own soulmate. Her perfect match. She grabbed a glass jar and her mother’s herbs and spices. She collected everything and brought it into the dining room and stood on chair. She thought for a while, what her perfect match be like?

“His favorite color will be green,” Y/N manifested, picking up a random green leaf for her parents’ tea, dropping it into the jar. “And very handsome.” Another leaf went into the jar.

“Y/N? What are you doing in there?” Her father asked from the sitting area. He was listening to the radio, and she could faintly hear a Pro-Bending Tournament happening.

“Nothing!” She shouted to him as she picked up a random white powder from a bowl. “And he’ll be famous.”

She picked up a few red flakes from a tiny jar. “He’ll always have something red on him. Like the strings of fate.”

Y/N thought of what else he would like, scanning around the room. She noticed her cat owl, Mittens, looking up at her from under the table.

“He’ll have the cutest pet in the whole wide world,” The young girl manifested as she picked some sugar between her index finger and thumb, sprinkling it into the glass jar. “And he’ll love noodles!” She ran to the kitchen and grabbed a noodle from a large bowl that was meant for supper. She hurried back into the dining room and dropped the noodle into the jar.

“It’s perfect!” Y/N exclaimed. She closed the jar and shook up the ingredients. “Wait. I’m missing something.”

Y/N made her way back to the kitchen, leaving a mess on the table. She found a pitcher of water and opened the jar again. She catiously poured some of the liquid into the jar, trying not to drip it onto the floor, but failing. She set the pitcher down and closed the jar before shaking her love potion again.

“Mama, I made a magic potion!” She announced as her mother entered the kitchen, unaware that she was about to get in trouble for making a massive mess.

Ten years later, Y/N still remembered that night fondly. She kept the jar under her bed despite mold beginning to grow.

One chilly autumn day, she was dressed warmly. Her mother sent to the markets to grab a few things for dinner that night. She made her way through the streets of Republic City, smiling politely at the passing strangers. Eventually, Y/N found herself at the markets. She gently picked up a large, red tomato, inspecting it carefully. As she rotated it, she felt something on her leg, like tiny claws poking her through her pants. She looked down and saw a...rodent with red fur? She shrieked, nearly jumping out of her skin and accidentally dropping the tomato onto the pavement. The rodent flinched but continued to cling onto her clothes, and began climbing up her leg and into her coat pocket. Y/N froze, not knowing what to do. She saw it poke its head out, and look up at her curiously. The more she looked at it, it looked pretty cute. Actually, extremely cute.

“Hey! You’re gonna have to pay for that tomato!” The merchant suddenly yelled at her, pointing down to the tomato guts spread across the street.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am!” Y/N apologized, reaching into her pocket to where the thing was. She gently pulled it out, realizing it was fire ferret, before set it on her shoulder. It held one of her coins in its paws, which Y/N snatched and handed to the angry woman. The woman flared her nostrils at her and turned away. Y/N turned her head to look at the fire ferret.

“You’re in big trouble, sir,” She said sternly, but not being able to hold any seriousness. “You’re lucky you’re so cute.”

Y/N stepped away from the tomato stand and continued down the street.

“Do you have an owner, buddy?” She asked the ferret, who simply squeaked in response. “I’ll take that as a maybe.”

She made her to the next stand full of cabbages. She picked up two, paid for them, and the merchant for that stand thanked her before handing them back in a brown paper bag. The fire ferret chirped, sniffing down at the bag.

“No, mister, that’s not for you,” Y/N scolded quietly.

“Pabu!” A voice behind her shouted. The fire ferret on Y/N’s shoulder perked up before quickly climbing down her body, running in the direction behind her. She turned around and saw a guy who looks frantic and out of breath.

“Oh, is that little guy yours?” She asked as the man approached her. She instantly noticed his piercing green eyes.

“Yes! Thank you so much for finding him and taking care of him!” The guy said as the red fire ferret, she assumed who was named Pabu, jumped into his arms.

“He’s a mischievous little guy. He made me drop a tomato and then tried to rob me!” Y/N explained, breathing out a laugh.

“I don’t even know what got into him! We were reading today’s paper and he just took off! I spent, like, forever looking for him!” The guy said, giving really dramatic arm gestures. “And bad Pabu! We don’t steal from strangers!”

Pabu’s ears tucked back in response, seemingly ashamed of himself.

“I thought he was massive rat at first! He scared the hell out me,” She said, gaining a laugh from the guy.

“I’m Bolin, by the way,” He introduced himself. “You might’ve heard of me and my brother, Mako. We play for the Pro-Bending Fire Ferrets Team!”

“Oh, yeah! My father and I have listened to many of your matches!” Y/N said, smiling, and feeling a little starstruck. “And I’m Y/N.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Y/N,” Bolin replied while grinning, his emerald eyes sparkling. He held out his hand, which she took, and shook it firmly. “And you’ve already met Pabu.”

She smiled, reaching her hand out to pet Pabu’s red fur, who was planted firmly on Bolin’s shoulder.

“I have to repay you somehow! Would you like to accompany Pabu and I to Narook’s Seaweed Noodlery? They have the best seaweed noodles in Republic City!” He offered. Y/N felt her stomach grumble.

“Oh, wow. That sounds great actually,” She replied. “I just need to finish getting a couple things for my mother.”

“Of course, of course. We’ll tag along with you!” Bolin insisted. Y/N nodded eagerly, sending him a warm smile. He lifted his arm, offering it to her. She didn’t hesitate to wrap hers around it, and they began their walk down the pavement.

Pabu jumped over to Bolin’s other shoulder closest to Y/N’s and settled in between. As they made their to next food stand, her mind began to wander to the potion she made years ago.

[storiesabouthumanandthings]

Pebble Problems

After Sokka was told his proposal necklace looked like Momo made it, he decided to up his game. The following month he spent just watching the Otter Penguins to see how they selected their stones. Most pf the stones were just smooth and round, which is what he had used, but he noticed a specific stone was preferred.

 Sokka then spent the next month combing the shore to figure out what made some stones better than others. Colour seemed to be the big deciding factor. The problem was every time he saw a good stone, an otter penguin saw it first and took it away, or when Sokka was able to get the stone first, the otter penguin would steal it from him.

 Occasionally, he had to make cover stories for why he had scratches and bite marks or when his coat was torn. After many months and many unsuccessful trips to the shore, he was finally able to get his hands on the perfect stone. It shined brightly in the light and the colors seemed to shift and move. Sokka took some leather he had stored. He then had Toph help, using some of the meteor metal, to make a small clasp to hold the stone.

 Once all the pieces were together, the last action was to engrave the stone. He knew he only had one chance at this and used sketches before finalizing his design. He combined the Fire and Water symbols. The outer rim had the flames stretching out. In the center, where the normal circle swirl in the fire symbol was replaced with the water symbol. It looked like the Water was surrounded by fire.

Sokka wrapped the necklace tight in the softest furs he could find. Sokka held onto the necklace for what felt like ages, waiting for the perfect moment to propose. Waiting to be alone so it was just the two of them. He finally found his moment; on the night of the full moon, on the day of the summer solstice. It was perfect, when the moon was at the fullest and the day was at it’s longest.

“I got you a gift, to commemorate when our journey finally ended the 100 year war. And hopefully with this, start a new journey,” stated Sokka with a shaky voice. The gift was accepted but no further talk about it happened that night.

 As Zuko was walking through town the next day, alone for the first time, he could hear the whispers and feel the stares of the villagers. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, hoping they weren’t afraid of him as he was a fire bender and his last visit was very pleasant. He eventually ran into Katara who ran up to him upon seeing him.

 She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the side, “Congratulations! I am so happy for you.”

 Zuko raised an eyebrow, “uh, thank you?”

 “So spill. Who is it?”

 Zuko stops walking, “Who is what?”

 Katara sees the confusion on Zuko’s face and quickly pieces together what is going on, “You haven’t heard people whispering about you?!” she scream whispered.

 Zuko nodded slowly, “Well, yeah, but not what they’re saying. I thought they remembered the last time I was here without you guys around me. With the ship and fighting and searching for an old man that was actually a kid.”

 Katara gasped, thinking to herself that Zuko has no clue, “Zuko, I need you to think hard. What does your necklace remind you of?”

 Zuko thought for a moment, “Well, it kind of looks like yours?”

 Katara nodded, “and what does that mean?”

 Zuko thought hard and was silent for a moment before shrugging, “it’s a family treasure?”

 “Why would you think that?”

 “Well, when were trapped in the cave, I remember you mentioned you received yours from your mother.”

 “uh-huh,” Katara nodded, trying to lead Zuko to the answer.

 “So since I go this from Sokka, I assumed it was a family treasure. To show I am a part of the water tribe now?”

 Katara gasped and turned red, shaking her head.

 “If it’s not that, the what is it?” Zuko was very confused.

 Katara just walked away, shaking her heard, “no, nope, no, uh uh, nope, not my job, no, no, ……” continuing to talk to herself as she walked away.

 At that same moment, Sokka rounded the corner. Katara pointed a sharp, threatening finger at Sokka, shaking it in his face, “You Idiot! Why didn’t you? You didn’t tell? Why I!” only able to get partial thoughts out.

 Sokka stood there with with his hands up, “I don’t know what is going on but I didn’t do it.”

 Katara waved her arms, causing the snow to form around Sokka in a pillar, then pushed it towards Zuko, “Explain! Now!”

 Sokka began to stutter, “Well, it’s, like, um, this. Katara, what happened was-”

Katara, cutting him off screaming, “Not me! Him!” and stomped away.

 Sokka called back, “At least release me from the snow.”

 Katara flipped him off, “He will unfreeze you if he feels like it.”

 Sokka and Zuko stared at each other in silence for a while for Zuko spoke, “So I guess you need to explain something to me?”

 Sokka blushed, “I guess but can you unfreeze me first. This is really cold.”

 Zuko crossed his arms, “uh, no.”

 “No?!”

“no”

“Why not!?”

 “Well since I got up this morning, the whole town has been talking about me”

Sokka blushed brighter as Zuko continued, “I thought it was cause I am a fire bender but Katara made it clear that it’s about this gift you gave me.”

 Sokka nodded and turned his gaze away from Zuko, “Yeah probably.”

 “So what is so special about this necklace? I thought is was a family gift, like Katara’s, but she pointed out it’s nothing like that. So what’s the truth? Is this one of your pranks?”

 “What? A prank? Nooo, no, no, no, no. It’s nothing like that!”

 “Then what’s the truth.”

 Sokka mumbled to himself, “I thought you knew, I thought I was clear.”

 “Sokka! Tell me the truth, or you’re going to stay frozen.”

 Sokka looked up to Zuko, “Well, it’s kind of like a family gift.”

 “What is that supposed to mean?”

 “Well it’s a gift you give when you ask someone to join your family…..”

 Zuko nodded slowly, “To show that I am accepted in the Water Tribe? But Katara said it wasn’t that.”

 “Well, it is and isn’t like that.” Sokka again began to mumble to himself, “why is this so hard?”

Sokka breathed deep before continuing, “The necklace is used to ask you into my family….”

Zuko nodded slowly but still confused.

“.…as in marriage. I was trying to propose to last night. But I didn’t do it right. I wasn’t clear enough. I thought I was and I thought you knew what the necklace was about because we found out Katara’s necklace was from Pakku proposing to Gran Gran and you were there but not for that part but I didn’t remember that. So I thought you knew but clearly you didn’t and I must have embarrassed you. You have been walking around with everyone staring and you didn’t know why. You probably would have said no-”

 As Sokka was spiraling, fast speaking, and freaking out, Zuko was blushing bright, causing him to heat up and melt the snow. Neither of them noticed the Sokka was freed until Zuko leaned in and kissed Sokka, “Yes, Sokka, I will join your family.”

Sokka smiled as tears of joy welled up in his eyes. “I mean, they literally can not be worse than my family,” Zuko joked, trying to break the tension.

 Sokka laughed and grabbed Zuko’s hands tight, “Now hold me so I can warm up.”

 As they walked back into the street, Katara had gathered their friends and most of the town.

 The whole town stood silent until Sokka raised their clasped hands. The town cheered and people began to scurry in different directions.

 Zuko, now again confused, walked over to Katara, “Now what is happening?”

 Katara rolling her eyes, “Well since he didn’t explain everything!” pointing sharply at Sokka, “now that it’s completely official and public, the town will make a feast for the new couple. A heads up would have been nice, Sokka.”

 Sokka smiled, blushing, rubbing his head, “Well I didn’t know when I was gonna do it, it was spontaneous.”

Katara walked away, sighing, “You’re the biggest idiot.”

 Sokka watched her walk away. Zuko grabbed Sokka’s hand, giving it a small squeeze, “That’s rough, buddy.” They laughed together and kissed.

[calmturquoise]

Lighten Up

My Squealing Santa fic for @artymiswritesfics! I love Sokka and Zuko and while I think this reads more gen, I think it could easily be pre-relationship. I hope you like it, and happy holidays! <3

ATLA, Sokka&Zuko. Words: 1,100

“This is ridiculous,” Zuko muttered, placing his palms flat on the floor behind him as he leaned back to look up at Sokka, who was examining the small slip of paper in his hand. “You can’t play charades with two people.”

“Sure you can!” Sokka insisted. “It’s fun, and you, Mr-New-Firelord, need to have more fun. Besides, Aang and Katara are busy, and when I asked Toph to play with us, she said no! Can you believe her?”

“Wow. Toph turned down the chance to play charades?” Zuko deadpanned. “If only we could think of another sight-based game to insult her with.”

“I- you- shut up,” Sokka retorted, flushing slightly. He crumpled up the paper in his hand and shoved it into his pocket, looking determined. “You’ll have ten seconds to guess this one.”

Zuko watched with amusement as Sokka scrunched up his nose and squinted, then held up his hands formed into claws, pawing at the air in front of him. “Badgermole?”

Sokka dropped the pose and beamed at him. “See, that wasn’t so bad! Now it’s your turn.” He flung himself down on the ground next to Zuko, pushing at his side until Zuko huffed and got to his feet, snatching a folded piece of paper from the pile on the floor. “Do me proud.”

Zuko rolled his eyes and unfolded the piece of paper. He frowned down at it for a moment before putting the paper aside, then placing his arms by his sides and beginning to flap them.

“Uh, giant fly! Ant fly! Bumble fly!” Sokka exclaimed. Seeing the scowl growing on Zuko’s face he guessed, “Dragonfly? Eagle hawk? Cat owl?” Zuko’s scowling intensified as he began to move his feet, shuffling around in an arc. “Dragon? Phoenix? Oh, I know, you’re a viper bat!”

“Dragons and phoenixes don’t move like that!” Zuko snapped, crossing his arms over his chest as he drew to a halt. “And that was at least ten seconds.”

“Well, what were you?” Sokka asked, flummoxed.

“An otter penguin!”

Sokka stared in dismay. “Have you ever seen an otter penguin?”

“… no.”

“Why didn’t you try- I don’t know- swimming!” Sokka exclaimed, waving his arms in the air in an effort to convey his frustration. “Waddling? Why did it look like you were flying? They’re flightless!”

“I was waving my flippers!”

“Otter penguins have four flippers!”

“WELL I ONLY HAVE TWO ARMS!”

Sokka blinked, staring at Zuko as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “You know what? We’ll call that round a trial,” Sokka said consolingly, gesturing for Zuko to sit as he grabbed another paper. “Let’s try again.”

“I guess it’d be too much to ask that we could stop playing?” Zuko muttered. Sokka graciously ignored him, studying the words on the paper before tossing it to the side.

“Alright, ten seconds to guess this one!” Sokka said. Zuko watched in bemusement as the other teen placed his hands together, forming a sort of cup shape and beginning to wiggle his fingers. Then he lunged forward, making Zuko jolt back in surprise as Sokka’s wriggling fingers closed around his elbow.

“What are you d-“ Zuko broke off with a squeak when Sokka’s fingers pinched at a particularly sensitive area. Jerking his elbow away he cleared his throat. “What are you doing?”

“What am I?” Sokka asked, a bright grin on his face as he shoved his handful of wiggling tentacle-like fingers in Zuko’s face. Zuko barely resisted swatting them away.

“An… elbow leech?”

“There, you got it!” Sokka congratulated him, clapping him on the back as he handed Zuko another paper. “At least you’re good at guessing. Okay, let’s see this next one. Just try your best!”

Zuko glowered at him, then turned his frown onto the paper in his hand. To Sokka’s barely-contained amusement, Zuko slowly lifted his hands and placed them behind his head, flipping his fingers down in the shape of floppy ears. Then he bent his knees, and did a single hop.

Unable to help himself, Sokka burst out laughing. Zuko’s scowl deepened as he watched his friend rolling around on the floor, howling with laughter. “Come on, that one was obvious!”

“You’re just- you’re so- so bad at this!” Sokka hiccupped, wiping at his eyes as he sat up. “Was that supposed to be a hopping llama?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, first of all, you should’ve hopped at least five or six times,” Sokka said as Zuko flung himself down on the floor beside the other teen, looking disgruntled. “Second of all, you need to lighten up, dude. How am I supposed to guess what you are when you’re scowling the whole time?”

“I don’t need to lighten up, and I’m not scowli-ah!” Zuko jumped as Sokka’s fingers skittered across his side. He shot Sokka a glare, which the other teen returned with an all-too-knowing grin.

“You’re not ticklish, are you? Mr tough, grumpy firebender?”

Zukko gaped at Sokka before beginning to splutter. “Of course I’m nahahahaha, stohohop that!”

“What, this?” Sokka asked, grasping the hem of Zuko’s shirt and sliding his hands underneath to tickle Zuko’s bare stomach. “Wow, you’re really ticklish, aren’t you?”

“Nohohohoho, I’m nohohohot!” Zuko protested, well aware of the futility of his denials. He squirmed, not quite ready to push Sokka away but unable to hold back the growing need to escape the torment Sokka was unleashing on his belly. “Thahahahat doesn’t t-tihihihickle at all!”

“You tell yourself that, buddy,” Sokka said, looking more and more amused as his wandering hands made their way futher up Zuko’s shirt. With a yelp, Zuko collapsed onto the floor and broke into hysterical laughter as Sokka’s fingers wiggled over his ribs.

“Fihihine, that tihihihickles!”

“I didn’t expect you to admit it so quickly,” Sokka mused. “I guess your ribs are really, really ticklish.” The speed of his fingers wriggling on top of Zuko’s skin slowed, allowing Zuko’s laughter to trail off into hiccupping giggles.

“Is that your worst spot, or do you have others?” Sokka asked. His hands slid to the sides of Zuko’s ribs, then inched up a bit more so he could poke at Zuko’s armpits. Zuko squeaked and jerked back, forcing Sokka to pull his hands free of Zuko’s shirt as Zuko curled up into a ball on the floor.

“That’s it, no more tickling,” Zuko said, his voice muffled from how he was covering his face, though Sokka still caught the blush that was spreading over Zuko’s cheeks.

“I guess I’ll save the rest for later, then.” Sokka said cheerfully, leaning back just in time to avoid the half-hearted punch that Zuko threw in his direction.

“Don’t you dare,” Zuko muttered. “I bet you’re ticklish too.”

“Maayybe,” Sokka sing-songed teasingly. “But I bet you can’t find out where.”

He jumped to his feet and darted towards the door as Zuko rolled into a standing position. “Yes I can!”

“Only if you catch me!” Sokka called over his shoulder as he sprinted down the hallway, the grin on his face widening as Zuko took off behind him. It was nice to see the guy having some fun for a change.

[leossmoonn]

chemistry part tweleve

part eleven | part thirteen | masterlist

zuko x fem!reader

avatar: the last airbender

includes - you, zuko, suki, katara, toph, sokka, and aang

special appearences by - iron, azula, and appa (mini sky bison,,, he’s like the size of a shihi tzu)

warnings - language, little suggestive lol

you poured the chips onto the plate, putting all of the dips in the middle. you set it on the island table with the rest of snacks you and the girls had picked up for the christmas party. you were excited, but nervous for this year’s party. ever since you girls went to college, which was three years ago - well, toph just started this year - , you had made it a friend tradition to have holiday parties. you had friend-giving, friend-mas, friend year’s and galentine’s day. 

you and the girls always had aang and sokka there. you usually were the one with no date. toph had a few guys come over sometime, but they never really stuck. since this was your first time having a boy over, one that was really hot, really smart, and seemed really into you, you were beyond nervous. you were terrified. sure, you had hung out with him before, but not when you were gonna drink a few glasses of champagne. so, you decided to just be light on the drinks tonight. otherwise, you would probably end up laying on zuko’s lap, either making out with him or telling embarrassing childhood stories. 

“this looks great, guys! ooh, salsa,” sokka said, his mouth watering.

“yeah, i can’t wait to eat the nachos,” toph said.

both of their hands went to pick up a chip, but you slapped their hands away. 

“no one eats until zuko, katara, and aang are here,” you said. 

sokka frowned, “you suck. suki, tell y/n i can have one chip.”

suki chuckled, “no, y/n’s right.”

“can you let me have a chip? i’m your best friend! and i’m blind,” toph begged with a sweet smile.

suki rolled her eyes, “nice try.”

“i haven’t eaten since this morning!” toph exclaimed.

“get another snack then. these are for our guests,” you said.

toph scoffed, “yeah you mean for your boyfriend zuko.”

sokka smirked, “yeah, you wanna make sure everything is perfect for him.”

“no, i don’t! it’s just polite to wait,” you glared at them. 

sokka smirked, “suuuuure, y/n. keep telling yourself that.”

you frowned, “i literally hate you.”

“love you, too! where are katara and aang, anyways?” sokka asked. 

“they’re picking up some gingerbread house kits for us to make,” toph said.

“yeah, and that takes 45 minutes? i’m sure that’s what they’re doing,” sokka rolled his eyes. 

“i’ll text katara and see if they’re coming back soon,” you said. 

“good. text zuko and ask when he’s coming. make sure to tell him if he doesn't come in the next 15 minutes, i will start eating the counter,” sokka said. 

you rolled your eyes. “what a baby.”

you went into the living room, pulling out your phone. you texted katara, hoping for a quick response. you then texted zuko, suddenly getting anxious again. 

you set your phone down next to you. suki, toph, and sokka came over to sit down.  

“so, when are they coming?” sokka asked. 

“uh, zuko said 10 minutes and katara hasn’t responded yet,” you answered. 

“ugh! next time, one of you go with katara for shopping,” sokka said.

“yeah, cause we are faster than them,” suki chuckled. 

the front door opened and there revealed katara and aang. they had grocery bags in each hands. 

“hey, guys!” katara smiled. 

“god, finally! what took you guys so long?” sokka asked.

“we couldn’t find the special sprinkles you like, sokka,” aang said. 

“oh,” sokka said. 

“and we had to get appa,” aang said. appa flew out from behind aang, landing on your lap. 

you squealed, “hi, appa!” you ruffled his hair softly, earning a lick on the nose from him.

“appa, come here boy!” sokka smiled at him. appa just looked at sokka, turning back to you. 

“appa, come here!” toph said, patting her lap. appa walked across your lap to toph, licking her cheek.

“haha! that sucks,” you laughed at sokka’s frown.  

“sokka, you can redeem yourself by helping me with these groceries,” katara said. 

sokka sighed and got up from the couch, taking a few bags out of their hands and going over to the kitchen. as they set up the treats, you looked at the door, your leg bouncing up and down as you waited for a knock from zuko. 

“you okay, y/n? i can feel your leg bouncing,” toph said.

“yeah, what’s wrong?” suki asked. 

you kept your eyes on the door. “i’m fine,” you shrugged.

suki put her hand on your knee, stopping it. “take a deep breath, okay? zuko was so happy to receive an invitation. and isn’t he gonna wear a matching ugly sweater with you for the ugly sweater contest? it’ll be perfect.”

you sighed. “yeah, but what if i spill guac on him. or worse, i trip and fall over on him.” you shivered as you thought of the cringe that would come from those moments. 

“if you fall, i will make sure to take a picture,” katara said as she walked into the living room. 

you rolled your eyes. “really supportive, kat.”

katara smiled and sat down next to you. “you’ll be fine. like suki said, zuko wants to be here and plus, he really likes you. go and drink some water, take a deep breath, and go be the badass, hot girl i know.”

“yeah, and if he hurts you tonight, i’ll make sure to crush his bones,” toph smiled maliciously, cracking her knuckles.

you smiled at your best friends. “thanks guys, you guys are the best.”

“we know,” toph smiled.

you laughed at her comment, but fell silent once you heard a knock on the door.

oh, god. that’s him. that’s him that’s him

“are you gonna get that, or do i have to?” sokka asked, walking towards the door.

you jumped up off the couch, pushing sokka away. “i got it.”

“alright,” sokka said.

you took a deep breath, combing your fingers through your hair, and pulled your sweater down. you put your hand on the door, slowly opening it.

zuko appeared in front of you, a big grin appearing on your face.

“hey, zuko!” you said excitedly.

“hi, y/n,” he smiled at you.

“come in,” you said, stepping out of his way.

“thanks,” zuko said and stepped in. he took his shoes off and coat, revealing his matching christmas sweater.

you gasped, your eyes lighting up. “you actually wore it!”

“well yeah, it’d be lame not to,” zuko chuckled.

“true. we so have the best sweaters on,” you smiled. 

appa flew over to zuko, licking zuko’s cheek while still in the air. 

“hey, buddy,” zuko smiled. “i would pet you, but i have my hands full,” he said, gesturing to the gift bags he had.

“oh, let me take those for you,” you said. zuko handed the presents to you, you walking over to the christmas tree.

“thank you,” zuko said, walking over with appa cuddling in his arms. 

“no problem,” you smiled. 

“hey, man!” sokka exclaimed as he walked into the room. 

“hey, sokka!” zuko smiled, giving sokka a hug. 

“hey, zuko. long time, no see,” aang smiled. 

“yeah, sorry, holiday times at the JD get busy,” zuko chuckled. “we can hang over break.”

“awesome! gram-gram bought katara and i a vr headset, we can all play on it when you come over!” sokka said. 

“oh, cool! azula’s friend, ty lee, has one, too. i played on it a little,” zuko said. 

“is it fun?” you asked.

“very. maybe you can come over to my place sometime and i’ll have ty lee bring it over,” zuko smiled. 

“yeah, i’d like that,” you grinned. 

you and zuko smiled at each other for what seemed like forever before toph coughed. 

“i can feel the sexual tension between you two, please stop. can we eat now?” she asked. 

you and zuko looked away from each other, pink tainted both of your cheeks. 

“yeah, we can eat now,” you said. 

“alright! let’s get this party on!” sokka exclaimed, running to the kitchen. 

you chuckled, walking over to the kitchen. 

“zuko, you want champagne or beer?” you asked. 

“beer is fine, thank you,” zuko smiled. 

you got out a bottle from the cooler, handing it to him. “you’re welcome. so, what’d you get everyone?”

“well, i got sokka a new wallet. i bought aang a new messenger bag, he mentioned he needed one since his old one is practically falling apart.” “yeah, he's had that thing since high school,” you chuckled. 

“exactly. anyways, so i got suki a $50 gift card to sephora, katara a hoodie that says ‘riding the waves’. i got appa a little ball you can put hay in so he can exercise and eat. i got toph some airpods, and your present is a surprise,” zuko smiled.

“wow, you are an awesome gift giver. and i am very excited about my gift. i can’t wait to open the ones every gave me, not to be greedy or anything. i heard sokka got me my own personal smoothie maker,” you smiled. 

“don’t you already have a nutri bullet?” zuko asked, pointing to the machine that was on the counter.

“yes, but apparently this one can make milkshakes, too. definitely gonna sell the nutri bullet on craigslist,” you smiled. 

“wow, sounds cool. i wish i had one of those,” zuko said. 

you scoffed, “you literally live above a tea shop, you don’t need a blender.”

“hm, true. it’s great being me,” zuko joked. “i bet it is,” you giggled. 

“guys! wanna do the ginger bread house making contest now?” katara asked. 

“yeah!” you nodded, going over to the kitchen table. you and zuko sat down across from each other, grabbing one of the kits.

“alright, we have an hour do to this. the judges are toph and appa. toph will judge taste, appa will judge construction and decor,” suki smiled. 

“what? you trust a sky bison?” sokka asked. 

appa grunted, slapping sokka with his tail. you laughed, “you deserved that.”

sokka rolled his eyes. “yeah, whatever.”

suki sat down next to sokka, pecking his cheek. you looked at zuko, wishing you could do that to him. zuko gave you a small smile, wishing the same thing. 

toph held up the timer. “alright, ready… set.. go!”

you tore the box open, setting out the walls, roof, and decorations. you worked quickly, opening all your materials. you started to glue the walls to the bottom with icing. you looked up for a second to see zuko doing the same thing. 

“ready to go down?” he asked, noticing your stare. 

“nah, i’m ready to win,” you smiled. 

zuko mirrored your grin, going back to focusing on his house. 

you quickly built the rest of the walls, everything surprisingly staying up.

“aw, damn it!” katara exclaimed. you looked over to see two of her walls falling down. 

“it’s okay, baby, you can do it,” aang said. 

katara groaned in frustration, “i held them together for 5 minutes! how are you and y/n’s walls staying on?”

“it’s called having ‘the magic touch’,” you snickered. 

katara frowned, “shut up.”

“hey, mine is falling, too,” zuko said. you looked over to his, seeing one of the walls tipping over.

“well, not mine! i’m awesome!” sokka exclaimed. “and suki is, too!” 

you looked over to suki, who already had her roof on. 

“up top, babe!” sokka said, holding his hand up. suki high-fived him, “yep. we are legendary.” “nope,” you said, glueing on your roof. 

“face it, y/n, you’re gonna lose. suki and i are gonna win,” sokka said.

“hey! no teaming!” katara exclaimed. 

“oh, you’re teaming with aang. you can’t talk,” you remarked. 

“you can team with zuko,” aang suggested. 

you looked at zuko, seeing him already looking at you. he shrugged at you, “you want to?”

“yes,” you smiled. 

“how do you all team if you all have your own houses?” toph asked. 

“well, we can add our points up,” suki said. 

“ah, okay. well, grading will be extra hard, then,” toph smiled. 

“fair,” aang said. 

“no, not fair!” sokka exclaimed.  “yes, fair,” you said. “therefore, you will lose, and zuko and i will win.”

“nope, aang and i will win,” katara stated matter-of-factly. 

“you sure, kat?” sokka smirked, looking at her gumdrops who were falling off of the front of the house. 

katra glared, “you don’t even have any decorations on yet!”

sokka scowled, “yeah, well, suki does! and she’ll help us win all the points.”

“sokka! get to work,” suki ordered. 

“yes, ma’am,” sokka said and started decorating his roof. 

you turned to your own house again, resuming decorating the front of the house. 

“yours looks really good,” zuko said. 

you looked up and smiled. “thank you. yours do, too. i like the flowers on the side.”

“thanks. garden are very important for a nice house,” he said. 

you chuckled, “i agree.”

“15 more minutes left!” toph exclaimed. 

“what? how do you know that?” sokka asked. 

“i set a 45 minute timer so i would know, genius,” toph rolled her eyes. 

“right, right,” sokka said, turning to back to his house. 

“ten more!” toph said. 

“damn,” you muttered. 

“what?” zuko asked. 

“i haven’t finished my snowman,” you frowned and turned your house over so he could see the snow man you made out of marshmallows. 

“i think he looks perfect,” zuko smiled. 

you giggled, “thank you. i think we’re gonna win this.”

“me, too,” zuko smiled. 

“3…2…1, stop!” toph shouted. you put your hands in your lap, waiting for the judging to begin. 

“alright, first up is aang and katara. aka kataang. aang, give me a piece of your room, a wall, and a piece with candy. katara, do the same. appa, go ahead and judge,” toph instructed. 

appa flew around the houses, looking at every inch, nook, and cranny.

“he can’t even talk! this isn’t fair!” sokka exclaimed. 

“do not disrespect the sky bison,” you glared at him. 

sokka scoffed, “he knows it’s true.”

appa grunted at sokka before going back to look at katara’s house. 

“hm, a good amount of sweetness. nice use of the gummy worms. very good, aang,” toph said. 

“thank you,” aang smiled widely. 

toph then judged katara, going to appa to talk over the points. 

“alright. we give you guys a 8.5 out of 10,” toph said. 

“alright, that’s good!” katara high-fived aang. 

“good job, babe,” aang smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. 

“next up are suki and sokka,” toph said. 

suki and sokka gave toph pieces of their houses, appa flying around to observe. after 10 minutes after judging, toph gave them the score. 

“8 out of 10,” toph said. 

“what! that’s like a low b!” sokka eclaimed. 

“hey, it's higher than a c,” suki said, putting a hand over his. 

sokka pouted, “fine. let’s see how team (you and zuko’s ship name) did.”

you cut pieces of your gingerbread and handed it to toph. zuko did the same. you bit your lip in anticipation. you knew it was a silly game, but the winner - or winners in this case - got a free dinner to the middle ring or a 2 free drinks at the JD. you wanted the JD coupon so bad. you loved the tea, but also, it gave you an excuse to see zuko randomly. 

“hm, alright. i give you two 9 out of 10. you guys are the winners!” toph smiled. 

you jumped up in excitement, going over to zuko and pulling him in a tight hug. zuko wrapped his arms around you, giving you the feeling of warmth and safety. 

you pulled away, a bright smile on your face. 

“which do you choose. free dinner at the middle ring, or two free drinks at the JD. one of you can get each since there’s enough for both of you,” toph said, holding out the coupons. 

“i want the coupon to JD!” you said, but looked to zuko quickly. “unless you do.”

“you can take it,” zuko smiled. 

“yay!” you squealed and plucked the ticket out of toph’s hand. 

“alright, ugly sweater contest! the prize is money,” sokka grinned. 

“alright, appa will be the judge again!” suki exclaimed, walking over and putting a $20 bill in appa’s mouth. 

“okay, since zuko and y/n are wearing the same sweater, they can each have $10,” katara said. 

“alright, fair,” you nodded. 

“stand in a line,” aang instructed. you went in-between zuko and toph. you all watched in excitement, waiting for appa to hand one of you the bill. 

after five minutes, appa went to toph. 

“alright! you all suck!” toph pumped her fist up in the air. 

“you have to be kidding me,” sokka said, face palming. 

you chuckled, turning to zuko. “maybe next year.”

“yep. i don’t know why we didn’t win. all these sparkles and diamonds give me a headache,” zuko said, looking at his sweatshirt. 

“same. you can change if you want,” you said. 

“nah, i’m good. i wanna be matching,” zuko smiled. 

you chuckled, “yay! i was hoping you said that.”

zuko’s smile widened at your excitement. you felt giddy inside and found yourself staring at his lips. you felt a sudden urge to lean up and kiss him, and go back into your room and make out. zuko must’ve noticed your stare, cause he licked his lips seductively. your face warmed up and you looked away quickly, coughing awkwardly and going to pour yourself another glass of champagne. 

zuko smiled at your retreating figure, looking to your other friends. 

“so, what's next on the agenda?” he asked. 

“present opening!” aang exclaimed, running over to the tree.

you walked over to the living room, sitting down on the bean bag. zuko sat across from you. 

“alright, i wanna go first!” aang exclaimed. 

“alright. here’s mine,” katara said, picking up a big present and handing it to him. 

aang opened it and pulled out new sneakers. “oh, this is awesome! thank you, babe. i love you.”

katara smiled. “you’re welcome. i got them custom-made so they’re your favourite colors and on the logo, it has appa and my name on it.”

“my two favourite things in the world. i love it,” aang smiled, leaning over to give katara a kiss. 

suki then handed her his gift. he then opened one from sokka, toph, and zuko, then you. you ended up getting him a new gaming  headset that has boosted sound system.

“thanks, guys. you are all awesome!” aang grinned. 

“you're welcome, buddy,” sokka smiled. “my turn!”

“alright, here’s mine,” suki said, handing him a banana-shaped present. 

sokka ripped it open, holding it up in all its glory, it was a dark blue boomerang that had a small heart on one end with suki’s name in it. 

“this. is. AMAZING! oh, i love you! we are so doing it tonight!” sokka exclaimed, kissing suki. 

you all groaned, telling sokka to shut up.

sokka opened everyone else’s present. you had got him a skateboard.

“thank you, guys. especially suki,” sokka smiled at his girlfriend.  “you’re welcome, baby,” suki smiled, planting a kiss on his cheek. 

“my turn!” katara exclaimed. 

she opened her present from aang first, which was new makeup brushes, which  apparently katara need a lot. suki got katara a humidifier, toph got her a new smoothie/coffee cup, sokka got her a $50 gift card to jc penny, zuko gave katara the sweatshirt, and you got her a polaroid camera. 

“i love all these! thank you,” katara smiled at each of you.

“you're welcome,” you all spoke. 

suki went next. sokka had gifted her a 365 day jar, katara gave her a new makeup pallet, toph gifted suki a new curling iron, aang gave her a new fluffy pillow, zuko gave her the gift card, and you had bought suki a new silk robe.

“oh, these are sick! definitely gonna have fun with these,” suki held up the jar and the robe. 

“you’re welcome,” katara smiled. “alright, toph, it’s your turn.”

“alright, tell me what is it after i open it,” toph said. katara handed her a gift from her. 

katara had given toph a new pair of hiking shoes, suki had given her new guitar picks and a new guitar strap, sokka had given her a new gaming chair, which obviously wasn't there, but he said he it would be delivered to the apartment tomorrow. aang gave her a 5 candle set, zuko had given her airpods, and you had given her a turtle duck stuffed animal where she could warm up in case of cramps or stress. 

“these are awesome. thanks guys,” toph smiled. 

“you’re welcome! alright, zuko’s turn!” suki exclaimed, handing him a gift.

“thanks,” zuko smiled. 

suki had gifted him a sweatshirt with his favorite basketball team, katara had bought him a new phone case, aang gave him a new gaming headset, sokka had given him a new watch, and toph gave him new sneakers.

you nervously gave him your gift, which was pretty huge. zuko smiled while opening it, his eyes lighting up once he saw it. 

“woah, this is awesome!” he exclaimed. 

you had gotten him a new skateboard that had his name written on flames. 

“i know you mentioned you hadn’t had a skateboard since you were in high school and you wanted to get back into it,” you said bashfully. 

“thank you, i love it,” zuko smiled. 

“you’re welcome,” you smiled. “alright, well, my turn!”

“open mine first!” katara exclaimed, handing you her gift. 

you took it from her, opening it gently. she had gotten you a google home. 

“oh, katara, do you know how much i adore you?” you said.

“i know, don’t worry,” katara giggled. 

you had opened the next gift, which as from suki. she had gifted you crocs that said ‘super swag’ on each one. 

“oh, you are feeding my narcism,” you chuckled. 

“you deserve it,” suki smiled. 

you then opened aang’s gift. he had gotten you a new hoodie from your favorite show. “this is like $70! thank you!”

“you’re welcome,” aang smiled. 

you opened your gift from toph, which was a poster with all of the girls and you. 

“how did you get this one made?” you asked, staring at it in astonishment. 

“i know people,” toph grinned. 

you chuckled, “thank you.”

“you’re welcome,” toph said. 

sokka handed you his gift, which was the blender 

“yes!” you squealed.

“i knew you would like it. no need to tell me, i already know i’m the best gift giver,” sokka smirked. 

“hm, i can’t say that until i open zuko’s gift,” you said. 

zuko had handed you his gift. “thank you,” you said. 

“you’re welcome,” zuko said. 

“i’m goanna go and order pizza,” katara said. 

“yeah, me too!” sokka exclaimed, getting up. 

you furrowed your brows. “what?”

“yeah, i need to make sure katara orders the right pizza,” toph said. 

“i need to pee,” aang said. “i have to take appa out,” suki said.

they all got up and left the room, leaving you speechless. 

“what just happened?” you asked, turning to zuko. 

zuko was blushing hard, which made you even more confused. 

“i don’t know. go ahead and open your gift,” he said. 

“alright,” you said. you opened the gift, which was a small, black box. you took the top off, your eyes widening and your mouth agape. zuko had gotten you a silver charm bracelet. the charms were an otter-penguin, the first initial of your name, your zodiac sign with your zodiac gemstone, and a small circle.

“this is so beautiful, thank you,” you smiled. 

“you're welcome. read the text on the small circle,” he said. 

you looked at it, reading the words out loud. “will you… go on… a date… with me?”

you paused for a moment, lowering the bracelet and looking at zuko. 

“so, what’s your answer?” zuko asked, nervously playing with his fingers. 

“yes,” you nodded and smiled. 

zuko’s worried expression went away immediately, and was replaced with glowing, big grin. “really?”

“yes!” laughed, leaning over and giving him a hug.

“YES!” you heard everyone shout from kitchen. they all came back into the room. 

“you guys are gonna make an awesome couple!” sokka exclaimed. 

you pulled away, blushing. “shut up.”

“alright, wanna watch ‘home alone’, now?” suki asked. 

“yeah,” you nodded.

“zuko and y/n, you can sit on the love seat,” sokka smiled, wiggling his eye brows. 

you rolled your eyes, “so immature.”

“i don’t mind,” zuko smiled and shrugged. 

you smiled up at him, walking over to the couch with him. you sat down right next to him, putting your head on his shoulder with no hesitation. zuko wrapped his arm around you and rested his hand on your thigh. your heart pounded against your chest, and warmth shot down from your stomach to between your thighs. 

“do you mind my hand being here?” zuko asked. 

you took a deep, shaky breath. “nope.”

zuko moved his hand, “you sure?”

you grabbed his hand and shook your head. “i’m sure.”

zuko smirked a little, putting his hand back. you sighed contently and leaned into him more, enjoying the warmth he provided.

aang turned on the movie and you all watched it in silence. during the movie, you had moved over to zuko’s lap. you were stretching and ended up on him. you were going to move, but zuko grabbed your waist gently, setting you back down. the gesture had you grinning from ear-to-ear, snuggling into him. 

the movie ended, which signalled the end of the party. everyone but zuko was staying, which made you sad, but you knew you weren’t ready for him to stay the night with you in your room. not just yet. 

so, you just walked him up to the front door.

“thank you for the skateboard,” zuko smiled. 

“you’re welcome. thank you for the charm bracelet. when is the date, again?” you asked. 

“ah, right, sorry,” zuko chuckled. “are you free tomorrow?” 

“i am,” you smiled, clasping your hands in excitement.

“great! i’ll take you out then. make sure to dress warmly,” he said. 

“will do. see you tomorrow, zu,” you smiled.

“see you,” he smiled and went on his way. 

you closed the door, looking down at your charm bracelet dreamily. you were falling hard for this boy. 

note - hope you guys read and enjoy this as new parts are added! if you wanna be on the taglist, message me and/or reply to this post :))

taglist - @sorrythatspussynal @theblueslytherin @charlenasaxen@akiris @the-paintedlady @thatarthistorynerd @freckled-and-daydreaming @fi-chanwrites​

[friendship-showdown]

Friendship Showdown: Preliminary Round #5

Propaganda:

Aang and Toph (Avatar: The Last Airbender): no propaganda submitted

Secelia Dote and Rouji Chante (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury): I really just love their fun little dynamic because it's this super sarcastic girl who happens to be a stand in for the audience sometimes and her little buddy who's all quiet and stuff, except even though she's usually very teasing he is the one person who she absolutely will not tease and will in fact stand up for. Rouji is usually not very good at talking since he usually uses his Haro (little robot ball thing) to talk but he tends not to when it comes to Secelia, while Secelia just gets to be her usual kind of asshole but in a fun way self around him all day. They get to have chats about duels and stuff all day while lounging around on a couch together 24/7. truly living the dream they are. Rouji maybe doesn't 100% approve of Secelia's usual teasing nature but he still feels very comfortable around her without any romantic implications or anything being involved. Also this is a spoiler for ep 22 but I find it so funny how in the latest episode as of writing this all of the big characters were about to go to a space station to get the climax of the story in motion and Secelia is just like "btw could you take my little buddy with you? He's a little curious about this thing in space which keeps killing people and I think it would be nice for him to come with you. yeah just think of it like a field trip or something". Couch buddies you'll always be famous to me

Poppy Li and Ian Grimm (Mythic Quest): They have explicitly said platonic “I love you” to each other and the show has never ever taken that to imply romantic interest. They have started their own game studios together twice and they fight and argue but ultimately they work well together. Ian’s work inspired Poppy to go into game design and development in the first place and basically they’re everything

[kumeko]

A/N: For the Hold On @tokkazine! I love how these two banter and play off each other.

…

…

…

…

Every time Sokka came to Republic City, it felt like a brand-new place. Fields turned into houses turned into buildings until he could hardly recognize the place. The way people travelled, the businesses opened, even the fashion styles changed with the blink of an eye. It was almost impossible to keep up with and there was little wonder that the rest of the world could hardly keep up with the city’s innovations.

Even the people living in the city had a hard time keeping track of it all.

Still, despite how the roads changed, Sokka never once got lost when he headed to Toph’s office at the police headquarters. His body had long memorized the route, even as the sights around him changed. Including, it seemed, the actual headquarters: the building in front of him was twice the size of the old one and fancier too. Sokka stared up at the imposing brick building, bemused.

“When did they even find the time to make this?” he muttered, feeling awkward as he stepped inside. Sometimes, he missed when the department was a small, two-room affair. Toph had only one or two assistants at the time, and her title hadn’t so much been Chief of Police as it had just been The Only Police.

Now there were a dozen people looking at him as he stood in the lobby. They were all dressed in a grey uniform that looked a little like an overcoat with armoured shoulder pads. Recognizing a few faces, he waved as he quickly trotted along the long carpet to back. Toph’s office was always the biggest room in the place, and he scanned the ids next to the offices as he passed. There were two plaques labelling each room, the second in braille, and he smiles as he finally found an open door with her name on it.

Sokka poked his head in to find Toph standing next to a table, her brow furrowed in concentration as she manipulated a metal ball. As usual, when she focused, it was like the rest of the world stopped existing.

Which meant it was the perfect time to surprise her.

Slowly, he tip-toed in, the plush carpet muffling his steps. The best thing about her office was how plain it was—the blank walls were a bright white, the furniture limited to her desk, chair, and one super comfy couch. There was nothing around for him to bump into, nothing to navigate around.

One, two—

“Hey, Snoozles!” Toph chirped, smirking as she set down the metal ball. “You got to do better than that.”

Sokka pouted, crossing his arms as he gave up the jig. “How do you always know when I’m here?”

“My radar, duh?” How Toph ever learned to roll her eyes despite being blind, he had no idea. He was half certain she’d learn it specifically to make fun of him and Aang, but he could never be certain. “Come on, you’ve known that for years.”

“Not that.” Sokka snorted, slightly insulted. “I meant, how do you know it’s me? I didn’t even say anything.”

“It’s…it’s obvious it’s you.” He wasn’t sure if it was the lights or if he was imagining it, but her cheeks looked rosy pink as she dug her fingers in her thighs. “When’d you get back?”

She was the changing the subject. He would have glowered at her, but there was no point. “Fine, keep your secrets.” Maybe it was another Earth-bending skill she was developing. Grinning, he padded over to her, wrapping arm around her back for a tight side hug. “Just now! I dropped my stuff at the temple and bam! Came to see you!”

Toph wrinkled her nose, though she didn’t step away. “You smell like it too.”

“Hey, that’s the sky bison, not me.” Discretely, he sniffed himself. It wasn’t that bad.

Then again, he’d been smelling sky bison for the past few days; maybe he wasn’t the best judge. Pulling away, he sheepishly rubbed his neck. “Maybe I should have taken that bath first.”

‘You think?” Toph chuckled. Heading over to the sofa, she picked up her grey coat. He could just make out a small badge at the front as she draped it over her arm. “Let’s get dinner.”

“Didn’t you just say I smelled bad?” Sokka frowned, confused.

“Didn’t say I couldn’t handle it, did I?” Toph raised a brow, looking more amused than annoyed. “’sides, I’ve handled criminals all day. You’re the least fishy thing I’ve handled.”

Sokka guffawed, loving the duel meaning. God, he’d missed this—there were so few people who got his sense of humour. Even fewer who could make jokes. Sometimes, he dealt with Katara for so long he forgot that not everyone else was a humourless worrywart.

Hands in his pockets, he waited outside as she closed the door. “You good to go now?”

“Yep.” Toph grinned slyly, her voice lowering to a whisper as she leaned closer. “You know what’s the best part of being blind?”

He felt a little like a giant as he bent over, lowering his head so they were at the same level. Despite getting a growth spurt over the years, Toph was still the smallest person he knew. “What?” he whispered back playfully.

“I never have to handle the paperwork.” She winked at him devilishly before humming as she headed toward the doors.

Sokka laughed again as he walked apace with her. Her poor subordinates.

As they slipped out the police station, he asked, “So why the new uniforms?”

“Blame Twinkle toes.” Toph shrugged. Fortunately, despite it being mid-September already, the weather was warm tonight. It was comfortable walking around in his usual sleeveless vest, and Toph even unbuttoned the top two buttons of her dress shirt. She scrunched her nose. “He wanted us to look the same or something. I think it’s stupid.”

“Why? Uniforms are cool.” Sokka pulled the collar of his vest and stood up a little straighter. “I happen to look very good at them.”

Toph shot him a disgusted look. “I’m sure if I could see, I’d gouge my eyes out.”

“Hey!”

“Besides, if Katara or Zuko picked them, sure, but Aang?” She stopped walking and unfolded her coat. Tugging it on, Toph rested her hands on her hips as she turned to him. “Does this look good to you? I can tell just by feeling them they’re ugly.”

“They’re…” Sokka stared at it as the slightly big coat hung loosely off her shoulders. Aang hadn’t even gotten the size right. He’d seen it on the rest of her coworkers but seeing it like this—it wasn’t great. The shoulder pads were too big. The coat was really plain and out of place. “It has…a nice badge?”

“See?” Toph shrugged out of the coat before he could say anything else. Hanging it off her arm, she continued walking. “Everyone hates them except for Aang.”

“I can talk to him,” Sokka suggested, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as they walked. “It’s not like they’re completely terrible, maybe if we…”

“If you find a solution, I’m all ears.” She kicked a pebble and it skittered across the road. “How was the trip?”

Sokka brightened immediately. It was hard not to, considering the past few weeks he’d had. If there was one thing he liked about his job as an ambassador of sorts, it was the travelling. Maybe it was their journey to save the world, but he’d gained a sense of wanderlust from it all, an inability to stay still. Grinning, he started to tick off his mini adventures. “Awesome, I got to go to the Earth Kindgom again, ate the bestdumplings, save the Lettuce-man’s stall for once—”

“He’s still in business?” Toph’s jaw dropped in surprise, an utterly rare sight that he immediately committed to memory. She moved her hands rapidly as she tried to articulate as a proper sentence. “But his cart—didn’t we burn it down once?—I thought he wanted to—he’s still in business?”

“Yes, yes, I don’t remember if we did that, yes, yes,” Sokka replied easily, not bothering to hide his amused laugh. “I guess if we’re not near him, he actually does good business.”

“You just said you saved his stall,” Toph pointed out, raising a brow. She still had a look of utter disbelief, as though he had just destroyed her worldview like they had destroyed cabbage all those years ago.

“Kinda?” Sokka admitted sheepishly, rubbing his neck. “I was kinda the reason it got in trouble in the first place.”

Toph snorted, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. “That sounds about right.”

“Hey!” he protested, shooting her an ineffective glare. Now that he was older and his voice deeper, he could actually growl properly, but she still never took him seriously. Despite her jokes and how childish she acted at times, Toph was very much an old soul, as steady as the earth itself.

“Anything else happen?” she asked, ignoring his objections as usual.

There was no point in arguing. With a sigh, he shrugged. “Lots of ambassador paperwork—”

“Which is why I never want to go.”

“—and Uncle Iroh looked fine.” Sokka frowned, processing her last sentence. “I thought you couldn’t do paperwork?”

“Nah, I won’t want to.” Toph smirked mischievously, and he felt sorrier for her assistants. “Also, Uncle Iroh?”

“Look, it’s really weird calling him just Iroh, okay?” At the memory, a shiver ran through his spine. “I don’t even call our village elders by their name, and they’re like half his age.”

Toph scoffed. “I don’t think he’s that old.”

“Well, okay, maybe, but he feels like it. I tried calling something else and then he got weird about it so we just…settled for Uncle.” Sokka sighed. “And that’s not even going into how weird it is to workwith all of these firebenders. We fought them for so long, and now I have to ride with them on Appa. Like, we all had a little adventure with Zuko, right? How am I supposed to do that with a thousand people?”

“Sounds rough, buddy,” Toph agreed, roughly mimicking Zuko’s voice as she reassuringly patted his arm.

Sokka exploded in laughter; Toph’s imitations had only gotten better with time. “You should have heard Zuko whenever I call him Emperor.” He made a strangled cry; his imitations weren’t too shabby if he said so himself. “I thought I accidentally killed him.”

Toph howled with laughter. “I’m doing that next council meeting.”

He blinked. Now that she mentioned it, she did meet with Aang and Zuko on a regular basis. She was the chief of police for a city they both had founded. Curious, he asked, “Wait, then what do you call him?”

“Sparky and Twinkletoes,” she replied bluntly, without an ounce of hesitation. “What, you think I’d actually call Aang ‘respected avatar’?”

“Even in front of the council?” Now it was his turn to gape, and he almost tripped over a pothole.

“Especially in front of the council.” Utterly unrepentant about it all, she grinned devilishly. “Man, if you could have heard their gasps…”

“I’d try it, but I think Zuko would kick me out.” Sokka laughed. It was ridiculously easy talking to Toph, even for something inane as this. A cool evening breeze wafted by as they walked down a narrow street infested with potholes, but he didn’t mind it. Hell, he didn’t even mind the smell that came from the nearby developments. They could have been walking through Zuko’s palace, the way he felt.

Humming, he squeezed her hand.

Her hand.

Sokka glanced down. They were holding hands. When had that happened? Somehow, he hadn’t noticed, and even now all he could say was how comfortable it felt. Her sly insults, her warm hand, the way she walked as though she ruled the place; every part of it felt like an integral part of him coming home.

“Sokka?” Toph asked as she stopped in front of a brightly lit restaurant.

She’d laugh. No, she’d tease him about this for the rest of his life. That he was the densest person on the planet, to realize like thisthe reason he always looked for her the second he came to the city, how he kept finding her in the corner of his eyes whenever he travelled away. But he’d always been some flavour of an idiot. Suki had told him as much when they’d started dating, and Katara never failed to mention it when he’d missed the signs of her pregnancy.

He liked Toph.

Everything felt so simple the second he’d thought the words, all the pieces falling into place. Elated, he blurted out, “Wanna go out with me?”

“Wha—?” Toph blushed, her cheeks tinged an adorable pink as she gaped at him.

Sokka stared at her for a minute before realizing that he hadn’t actually explained anything out loud. “Er, I mean, you’re—”

Toph snorted. She actually snorted at his confession, letting go of his hand as she headed into the restaurant. “We’ve been dating for months now, Snoozles. What are you talking about?”

“Yeah—” He let out a strangled cry. Sokka shouted at her retreating back, “WHAT?”

Sticking a finger in her ear, she turned to him. “We’re at a restaurant, have some manners.”

It was utterly rich, coming from her, but he couldn’t deny she had a point. Already, strangers around them were gawking at them curiously, twittering softly about the Chief of the Police and one of the Avatar’s Ambassadors. Hunching slightly, he quickly stalked after Toph. “Right.”

“Good.” Her hands were in her pockets now as she entered the small restaurant. It smelled lightly of sizzling meat and spice, a strange aroma that reminded him of that firebender town in the Earth Nation. A small shop, it only had about a dozen or so tables, most of them packed with couples or small families.

Raising her voice, she called out, “Two.”

“Two?” A middle-aged woman turned away from the table she was waiting on. Recognizing Toph, she smiled brightly. “Chief Toph! Your usual spot’s open.”

“Nice!” Toph grinned as she headed further into the restaurant, to a table just outside the kitchen doors. “We’ll have the usual.”

“You have a usual spot?” he asked, momentarily forgetting about their discussion. “And a usual?”

“I’m their number one customer,” Toph added cheekily, slipping into a seat. “I swear this place changes hands like every five months, but the food’s always good so whatever.”

“Isn’t that a bad thing?” Sokka muttered, wondering just how good a place could be if they kept getting shut down. Still, it smelled good at least, and his belly rumbled in anticipation. “The food here…”

Toph’s smile grew wider. “Recognize it? It’s some sort of Fire Nation/Earth Nation fusion thing.”

“Fusion?” Considering Republic City’s purpose, he should have expected that earlier, but still. He looked around curiously. Now that she’d mentioned it, he recognized the decorations—the stone badgermoles, the copper dragons, even the fans had different styles of decorations. “No wonder it smells familiar—it’s like that town we visited.”

She hummed her agreement. Leaning back in her chair, she clasped her hands behind her head. “If you’d come like three weeks ago, you could have had the Water/Fire one.”

“Whaaat?” Sokka slumped over, put out. “Why didn’t you tell me this? We could have eaten there the last time I came!”

“You didn’t ask.” She shrugged nonchalantly.

Grounding his teeth, he crossed his arms. “Is that also how we’re dating? Cause I didn’t ask?”

“No, that’s…” she trailed off, her cheeks tinged an adorable shade of pink. “You did ask.”

“Huh?” Sokka struggled not to shout again, using all of his willpower and self-restraint to keep his tone at a neutral level. “When?”

“Months ago.” Despite her obvious embarrassment at it all, she didn’t shy away from conversation. “You asked me to go out with you.”

“I did?” He clasped his face, his fingers digging into his cheeks as he struggled to remember. What had they been doing months ago? God, he couldn’t remember, it felt like years ago. Hazarding a guess, he replied, “I think I just meant go out? Like going out to eat or going out to do something?”

“Who tells someone let’s go out when you just want to eat?” Toph hissed, daggers in her voice. He flinched.

“If we were inside, then we had to go out to eat. Besides, we both know I’m bad with words,” Sokka hotly defended himself, willing to even throw himself under a bridge to get out of this mess.

“But that bad?” Toph growled, irate. She knitted her brow as she asked, “Then why do we keep going out for dinner?”

“Because we’re friends?” Sokka held his hands up, not sure how to explain this better. “I eat with the others too sometimes.”

“Not like you eat with me,” she argued, her fingers digging into the table. “I’ve asked and Zuko and Aang said you don’t eat with them as much as you eat with me.” When he opened his mouth, she added, “And you travel with Katara, so that doesn’t count.”

He snapped his jaw shut. “It’s not that much,” he muttered under his breath, averting his gaze.

“Twice as much,” she pointed out, raising a brow.

“Oh.” Now that she mentioned it, he had been seeing her a lot recently. “I like your company?”

“You’ve given me hairpins and random gifts,” she said flatly. “You just held my hand.”

“That’s…” Sokka couldn’t deny it. His hand clenched involuntarily, remembering how firm her grip had been, the callouses on her fingertips.

“That?” she repeated.

There really wasn’t another word for it. “You’re right. That does sound like dating.”

God, no one was going to let him live this down. Anyone could do anything, and it wouldn’t match the stupidity levels of this.

“Like I’m ever wrong,” Toph derided. She leaned back slightly away from the table as the middle-aged woman from before walked by, her arms laden with dishes.

“Here you go, your usual,” the woman chirped as she set down two plates in front of them. A curried chicken sat on a bed of rice. Despite how dark brown the curry looked, it smelled faintly of pepper. “Have fun!”

Before he could say anything, the woman gave them a wink and disappeared into the kitchen. Now that he thought about it, that happened a lot whenever they went out to eat. Sokka couldn’t even explain that away, there was no good reason for him to miss that. He really was an idiot.

Gleefully, Toph dug in. “They cook so quickly.”

“What’s this?” Sokka poked the chicken gingerly, a little suspicious. Toph had unusual tastes sometimes, though he hadn’t yet determined if she genuinely liked strange food or was just messing with him. Either way, it did smell nice, so maybe she wasn’t pulling his leg this time.

“The usual,” Toph replied, mouth full. “Trust me, you’ll like it.”

If there was one thing his journeys had taught him, it was to never question food too hard. It was meat, something he couldn’t have at Aang’s, and that was good enough for him now. Hesitantly, he swallowed a spoonful. Despite the spice, he only felt a mild heat as he chewed. More than that, he felt the Earth Kingdom’s more earthy flavours blending in with the Fire Nation’s sharp ones. It was a strange sensation. His tongue felt a little numb from it.

All in all, though, surprisingly good. He took another bite, praising, “I’d eat this all the time too.”

“Right?” Toph grinned at him cheerfully, as she shoveled yet another spoonful. She looked like a chipmunk, with her puffed up cheeks. “Told you.”

It was silly, really, how bubbly he felt just watching her smile. She looked utterly ridiculous, a police chief acting like a little kid over a meal, but there was something utterly endearing about it all. His courage swelling up, Sokka boldly grabbed her hand. “Let’s go out.”

Toph almost choked on her food. Grabbing a glass of water, she forced it down before kicking him. “We’re already going out.”

“Kinda?” He didn’t bother to refute it this time. Even he had to admit the signs didn’t look good. “But I wanted to ask you properly this time.”

She flushed lightly. “Do you now?”

“Yes.” He reached over, covered her hand in his. It felt right. It had always felt right. “Hey, Toph, I really, really like you. Want to see what happens?”

“Really, really like?” she repeated, scoffing. “What are you, five?”

Despite her words, though, her cheeks were as red as flames. He wanted to kiss her. Leaning closer, he asked, “So?”

“Do I need to answer?” she mumbled. For all her cool before, she was a mess now, unravelling with every honest word. “You think I would have pretend-dated you for months otherwise?”

Sokka laughed, almost at her lips now. “No, I guess not.”

Realizing what he was after, the blush spread to her ears and neck as she angled herself for the kiss. They ended up bumping noses and he laughed again. That was just like them. “Oops.”

“You’re so bad at this,” Toph grumbled, grabbing his collar and pulling him down for a proper kiss.