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releasemefromthevoid · 9 months ago

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MY ATLA LIVE ACTION S1E6 THOUGHTS

EP5 - EP7

Not gonna lie guys, this episode was pretty solid. As always with adaptations that take place in an alternate canon, there’s things I enjoyed and things I very much didn’t.

First I have to say that they adapted one of my favorite episodes from the original this time around. They essentially mixed up episodes 12 and 13 (“The Storm” and “The Blue Spirit” respectively). That means we were largely focused on Zuko and Aang. That was a great choice to entice viewers like me, actually. I found the interpretation of the events of The Blue Spirit especially to be done very well on the whole.

I have some things to say about The Storm though. There was one very obvious change in Zuko’s backstory that I just don’t know if I can ultimately get behind, if not just because I don’t know what the writers are trying to say about this new version of him. Maybe it will make sense later. Either way, I’ll talk about it when I reach the end of the series and make a full review post, likely tomorrow.

Lastly, there was one changed regarding the crew of Zuko’s ship that I’m just so down for. Makes things come together nicely, feeling more personal in a way.

More on that under the cut, with the live reactions

oh. zuko backstory. right here right now?

zuko is giving innocent energy when preparing for the war council, but he’s not reading as a child. there’s something about knowing he’s like 12-13 going into the agni kai that really hits different. i hope the show can make up for that

so this is the setup for the storm. but with no storm. i’m glad the story is being told at least

except iroh isn’t going to tell the story right now i guess

crescent island lets go

fire sages with the funny little hats. and here’s shyu

well, i guess that there’s no fun locking doors anywhere, huh. where’s the whimsy :(

roku. roku buddy what. he’s a silly guy what

i’m kind of digging this roku

wait holy shit they’re referencing the mother of faces? that’s insane, isn’t that a comics or legend of korra thing (haven’t read/seen either)

is that all the roku we get?

okay,, so aang is captured by june now. are we gonna get back to save katara and sokka anytime soon? or i guess this could be a substitute for pohuai stronghold?? as katara and sokka are out of commission and aang has been captured. i’m guessing zhao’s gonna get him at some point and zuko’s gonna blue spirit it up.

interesting that ozai invited zuko to speak. it’s no longer “i spoke out of turn”, it’s just an undermining of the general’s tactic. which, of course, is no less cruel, it’s just interesting. one way to resolve this huh?

yeah there we are, ambushed by zhao

there’s some significance in the yuyan archer severing iroh’s topknot. i wonder what they’re going to say with this. if anything

so we ARE going to pohuai. iroh is really talking it up, huh. “impenetrable”, “armies have tried and did not succeed”. oh boy here comes zuko

please let the blue spirit have some incredible fight sequences

yessss get that tsungi horn in here i love the blue spirit theme

zuko you goddamn ninja legend (can you tell the blue spirit is a favorite episode of mine)

not as much of a fight going in as i’m sure it will be going out, where’s that bucket of water takedown, huh?

THE LADDERS FUCK YEAH THEY KEPT IT IN

iconic fight scene. it might have been shorter, but i’m very happy with it

this was Such a turning point for how we see zuko in the cartoon. they changed both the characters for this adaptation, so it’s not quite the same, but i feel like the pohuai/aftermath scenes were done justice

a lot more words exchanged here. aang’s showing an incredible amount of emotional intelligence here. within this continuity i suppose that makes sense. the line “i have a feeling you’ve been hurt more than enough” is hard hitting, but still odd to me. how did aang put that together from the information given to him?

zuko. fights back against ozai in the agni kai. there’s even a moment where he would have won, but hesitated. i don’t think i really like the fact that he fought back at all. while the suggestion that zuko is at this point more skilled than ozai (and with better morals to boot) is incredibly interesting (since he is also supposed to be very much a child), does this undermine ozai as a threat at all? he’s no less cruel or manipulative for doing what he did, but i digress. also what does it say about this version of zuko that he fought back at all. it’s weird to think about

HELLO?? so the 41st was saved?? and is now zuko’s crew? they weren’t sent to the earth kingdom anyway or left ambiguous?? this is. actually not an unwelcome change. this feels a lot more personal, and i’m kind of impressed with this cool new interpretation of the 41st

i didn’t say it earlier but what’s up with the iroh voice over?? this episode and the last have had voice overs and it’s. just a little weird to me? an odd decision. feels a little forced, but i guess they were like “we gotta speed this up guys”

liked: the 41st being zuko's crew, the pohuai stronghold fights, the focus on zuko and aang

worried about: zuko's characterization

disliked: zuko fighting back against ozai in the agni kai

#atla #atla live action #atla netflix #avatar the last airbender live action #avatar the last airbender #long post #this one was largely good #lets keep this energy please

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goldenavenger02 · 1 year ago

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from sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes

"so you should go get some rest because you look exhausted."

"I'm fine, Suki," Zuko shrugged her off, which she had expected from the stubborn fire bender, "but I need to finish my work for the day before I rest."

"Whatever you say, boss,". Takes place a month after the finale.

'Political affairs are no place for a child.'

Those words his uncle had spoken while struck deeply with grief rang throughout Zuko's mind as he found himself at the head of the table in a far too big robe that hadn't been tailored to his size and a small crown that held a heavy weight attached nestled in his hair tie.

He had never been the obvious leader despite the name of the Firelord being his birthright; that had always been Azula with her ability to act just as she was supposed to in any situation where she was being looked upon in any sort of regard. She had always been ready and prepared to handle being on the throne.

Even though he was older than her, he didn't feel wiser or stronger than his sister. Instead, he felt like a small child rummaging through their parent's closet and trying on their clothes. He felt like a mockery, a fake ruler like this was not his place.

His little sister, despite everything that had been planted in her mind by his father, deserved to win the Agni Kai title.

But by the look that King Kuei and Chief Arnook were giving him now, waiting for him to speak, he knew that they regarded him as the Firelord, even if he didn't feel that way himself.

So he swallowed down his nerves, forced his hands into the pockets of the robe to hide their shaking, and managed to force his voice to leave his lips.

"Thank you both for meeting me here so quickly. I know that the two of you are busy with the rebuilding efforts in both the Earth Kingdom and the North Pole, as am I with the Fire Nation, so your presence and urgency are both greatly appreciated."

"Of course, Fire Lord," Zuko swallowed down the weight that the title held over his head as King Kuei spoke, "I'm sure that we are discussing the issue of bringing all of these countries together. However, I hope your plan includes removing the fire nation from our land."

Zuko agreed, "I've been in contact with the Avatar despite his infrequency in the Fire Nation, and we're working on putting together a plan on how to do it. The other regions are welcome and encouraged to participate as well, which is why I have called you both here."

"Well, why don't we get started then?" Chief Arnook's suggestion had been one that Zuko was grateful for as he got up to lay out the map of what he and Aang had in mind for the regions across the table.

…

Suki couldn't stop herself from slouching against the wall as the meeting behind the doors continued quietly. If it had gotten heated, then she would at least be allowed to enter to ensure Zuko's safety, but instead, she was stuck with waiting outside until it concluded.

When Sokka had pitched the idea to her of being the head of security for the fire lord during the transitional period, she would be lying if she said that she hadn't jumped at the chance. Zuko's coronation had been met with all different types of controversies from loyalists to his father as well as citizens who were concerned about letting a newly sixteen-year-old run a nation, which led to her desire of being on the frontlines to make sure that the power shift went smoothly.

But she would also be lying if she said that the private meetings that she was forced to stand outside of weren't extremely boring.

When she heard footsteps approach, however, she did stand up straight just in time for both King Kuei and Chief Arnook to exit and had no idea she hadn't been at attention for the entire four-hour-long meeting.

"The Earth Kingdom will be in touch." King Kuei confirmed with a nod toward the open door that Suki assumed was in Zuko's direction before the two men walked off down the exit.

That gave her the chance to take two steps from her post to face the fire lord, who at best was clearly overwhelmed and exhausted and at worst, still had residual pain radiating through his body as a result of the Agni Kai he had been in just a few weeks earlier.

"Okay," Suki sighed as she stepped forward so she could shut the doors behind her, waiting until Zuko looked into her eyes, "What else do you have to do today?"

"I still have to meet with Chief Hakoda-"

"Who is Sokka and Katara's father and will understand the rescheduling." Suki cut him off, watching as his face turned up in annoyance despite continuing.

"And I have to relay the information from Chief Arnook and King Kuei to Aang when he gets here."

"Which could be in twenty minutes or two days because he's in and out of every nation right now," Suki supplied with crossed arms, waiting until she received a nod from Zuko before continuing, "so you should go get some rest because you look exhausted."

"I'm fine, Suki," Zuko shrugged her off, which she had expected from the stubborn fire bender, "but I need to finish my work for the day before I rest."

"Whatever you say, boss," she stood up straighter so she could escort him to where they would be meeting up with Hakoda at the entrance, "but I will be telling Katara about the residual pain you're experiencing when she returns from the South Pole."

She could hear his scowl behind her as they walked, but given that it didn't have the same bite that she had grown used to, she knew that she was in the right about his current deteriorating condition.

Suki just wished that she could have been wrong about it.

…

The first of many bombs went off in the dead of night.

Zuko knew fully well that it had to be from his people who were angry about his ascension to the throne and who were shocked that someone who had been exiled from his kingdom just three years earlier was now in charge of all of them.

He couldn't blame them for their feelings either, especially when he couldn't even take his title seriously and knew that he may very well be unworthy of the throne.

Despite his internal feelings, however, he knew that when Suki woke him from his slumber that night that he still had to follow the procedure for the emergency that had been drilled into him as a small child of getting into the deepest level of the palace and waiting for instructions from the head of security.

"Stay here," Suki insisted as she passed the ring of keys to Zuko, pressing them tightly into his palm, "I'll give you a signal when this passes. Three knocks."

And with a nod of Zuko's head, she was going back up the stairs and locked the door behind her, leaving him in the dimly lit room with his uncle and the steadily pulsing pain in his abdomen that radiated throughout him.

"You're worried." Iroh finally spoke after a few minutes and it clicked that the entire time they had been in silence, Zuko had been aimlessly pacing.

"About the innocent civilians. The ones who aren't loyal to my father who just wanted to get some rest for the night." Zuko insisted while still refusing to sit down as his lightning scar continued to pulsate shocks of pain throughout his body.

'Azula wouldn't sit quietly. She would be out there, fighting against the opposing side.'

Zuko knew that his sister was extremely misguided, a pawn in Ozai's game since she had been a toddler and even though she mainly used intimidation and fear to her advantage, she did have good leadership skills in a crisis and was able to think clearly despite the chaos.

Even if many would call her evil, he knew that she wasn't entirely gone and that she genuinely wanted good for the fire nation.

"But I will say," Zuko added after a few moments, finally making eye contact with his uncle again, "I wish I was allowed to help ward off these extremists."

Iroh nodded as he rested his head against the wall before responding, "But you know why you can't."

"Because I'd be proving their point by being on the frontlines attacking them. It also makes me a much easier target despite having the Kyoshi warriors on all sides."

But to Zuko's shock, Iroh shook his head in response before giving him the answer.

"Most nations agree that their leader joining the fight is a good thing, it means they care about their people. But you, my nephew, are still injured from the Agni Kai. Going out there injured would guarantee your defeat and maybe even your demise."

Zuko nodded and finally took that as a cue to sit down to try and dissipate the pain that had been radiating through him all day, resting the back of his head against the cold stone wall and letting it sink into his body.

"Is it getting worse?" His uncle wasn't able to mask the concern in his voice, but Zuko knew that he wouldn't hide it either regardless of the circumstances.

"No, I don't think so," Zuko responded, watching Iroh's shoulders loosen with the lack of tension that had only been brought on by his worry, "the problem is that it's not getting better either. But Suki is already planning on speaking to Katara when she returns, so there's no need to worry about me."

Iroh nodded as he stood up to walk over and sit next to his nephew, putting his hand on his shoulder before speaking, "You finally found people to call your family."

Zuko knew he should have been comforted by that statement, that Iroh could see that he was finally freeing himself from the chains that constrained him to Ozai's grip and authority, but he wasn't for one sole reason.

'He feels like Azula is just as awful as my father.'

However, he was unable to ask his uncle about his sister because his exhaustion and pain made his strength from the adrenaline start to dissipate, resulting in being unable to keep his eyes open long enough to see the end of the attack on his people.

…

Zuko didn't know how much time had passed when he awoke again; all he knew was that he was in his bed now and no longer hiding underground which only meant one thing.

'The attack is over and we won.'

Despite the victory that he had drawn his conclusion for, however, he couldn't stop the pit in his stomach from growing due to the anguish that came from not knowing who had emerged without any major injuries and who hadn't.

'Was the prison breached allowing for my father's escape? Was the mental hospital breached? Is Azula injured, or worse?'

But before he could ponder on his worries much longer, his thoughts were interrupted by the head of the Kyoshi Warriors making her way into the room; despite the scratches that marked his face, the victory in her eyes shone brightly even though her face was otherwise emotionless as she approached.

"How are you feeling?" She questioned while gently pressing her still armored hand to his face, "You started running a fever in the bunker last night."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah. But Iroh explained that you can tend to make yourself sick with stress and there aren't any other signs of infection, so there isn't much reason to be worried," Zuko let out a sigh of relief at that statement, "but, he said he'll handle any immediate aftermath of the bombing until Katara gets here in a few hours and can give us the okay for you to resume your royal activities."

"But-"

"Fire Sage order," Suki cut him off which immediately shut him up because he had fought with them many times before, he refused to fight against their judgment now, "I'm not gonna fight with them."

"Can you just answer one question for me?" Zuko pleaded, waiting until she nodded before he asked, "Did the bombs breach the prison or the mental hospital?"

He watched as Suki stiffened, and he braced himself for the news he didn't want to hear but what she said was both comforting and worrying for him only based on the way that she reacted.

"Azula and Ozai are both alive and uninjured," and with that, she started to leave, only to turn back to him with what felt like a fake tender smile, "I'll be watching for Katara if you need me."

And with that, he was left alone in his empty room yet again, watching as the light breeze from the cracked windows brushed past his curtains and against his warm skin; under any other circumstance, this would be soothing to his mind but in this particular moment, all he could feel was dread and confusion.

'After everything, I know that I shouldn't be concerned with Azula's safety…but why is Suki angry that I am?'

…

Suki knew that biting her fingernails out of worry was not only a bad habit but also unprofessional. She was currently representing the injured fire lord, after all. She knew that she could stand at attention until Katara arrived.

But, she hadn't slept since the night before and still was unable to appoint another member of either the royal guard or the Kyoshi warriors due to them either aiding in the clean-up or protecting Iroh as he tried to get to the bottom of who had hidden the bombs.

Which meant that she was alone in the massive palace with Zuko, her swirling thoughts and a desperate hope that Katara would arrive soon.

And if she hoped that Sokka was with his sister so she could demand to know why he had thought she was equipped to handle the stubborn, newly crowned Firelord, that'd be nice as well.

It wasn't like she didn't want to help Zuko with the transition into power when he had been considered more useless than dirt by the entire world less than two years ago. She would be lying if she said she wasn't looking forward to the challenge.

However, she couldn't understand his thought process; his city had been attacked by people who would relish seeing him dead for his father to be reinstated, nearly killing so many innocent citizens and his royal guard.

But his first question was if his father and sister, who had been the main cause of torment and abuse throughout his entire life, were not only alive but uninjured. Suki didn't know why the question had made her so snappy and standoffish toward him, but it did.

Before she could continue to let her thoughts be so angry that she chewed off all of her fingernails, however, she heard the door open which forced her to stand at attention for the incoming force heading toward her and more importantly, the one she swore to protect.

Her stiff stance only relaxed when the person came into view and she could see that it was Katara, whose face was drawn up in concern and seriousness. Suki would have been shocked if her face wasn't carrying the same expression but she still accepted the warm hug that came from her friend's embrace.

"Oh, your face," Katara's voice was soft as her thumb gently traced over one of the still sore gashes that covered her face from the night before, "did anyone else get hurt in the attacks?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Suki expressed, giving the water bender a chance to remove her hand from her injured cheek, "I've got it the worst as far as I know. But I can handle it."

"You're almost as bad as Zuko," Katara clicked her tongue while bringing her hand back to her side, but the comment made her remember what she was going to discuss with her boyfriend if he had been at his little sister's side.

But he was nowhere to be seen, most likely helping Toph in the Earth Kingdom with some idea she had rambled about involving a metal bending academy.

"Are you sure you're okay, Suki?"

And it was the genuine concern in Katara's voice that finally brought her internal struggle to the surface along with a steady stream of tears that broke free from her gray eyes onto the red rug that sat beneath their shoes.

The hug that she was given was less of a greeting and much more of a desperate attempt to comfort based on how tight she was being held onto, but all she could focus on at the moment was her concern spilling out of her mouth as fast as the tears fell from her eyes.

"I want to help Zuko and the fire nation, that's the whole reason I let Sokka talk me into this in the first place, but I just can't understand how after everything that happened, the first thing he asked me this morning was if the prison or the hospital had been breached. If his father and sister were uninjured, I don't know why he continues to let himself get hurt by them. How they still control his life behind bars."

It took Katara a few minutes to respond to Suki's cries; in fact, the entire hall was dead silent except for the sound of Suki's sobs.

When her anger, concern, and sadness finally started to move away from her soul, however, that was when the water bender who was wise beyond her years, finally spoke up.

"Because no matter how we accept him as one of our own, they are still his family by blood. Given the positive relationship he has with his uncle, I think that he is desperately hoping that Ozai and Azula, especially Azula, may still have some good in them behind the layers of evil."

"But he doesn't need his father who physically scarred him," Suki protested, still fighting her tears, "and he doesn't need his evil pawn of a sister either."

"You're right, he doesn't need them," Katara agreed with her statement, "however, that doesn't mean he can just leave them behind, no matter how much they hate each other. It's going to take him a long time to accept that even if he wants them in his life, they don't want him. That's where we'll come in."

"So, do we just let him be delusional about Azula switching sides then?" Suki was aware of how bitter her voice was, but after her first-hand experience with the fire princess in the Boiling Rock, she couldn't care less.

"We don't have a choice with how stubborn he is. I was shocked that he joined our side in the first place."

And with that, Suki finally accepted defeat; even if half of what Katara was saying was true, and she believed every word that she said, then there would be no changing Zuko's mind.

'He'll just have to learn the hard truth himself.'

Suki didn't realize that her gaze had fallen onto the red rug that covered gold tile as her tears finally slowed to a stop until she felt a soft hand graze her shoulder, which forced her to look back up at Katara's face, feeling her fingers gently push back her hair to make sure she looked presentable before she gestured to the door with a tilt of her head.

"Let's go see what trouble Zuko has landed himself in this time."

She wasn't sure if she could hold back her feelings unless she stayed perfectly still and quiet, but it was her duty to ensure his safety and even though it was just Katara, she had made a promise to Sokka, to Zuko and most importantly, to herself.

'And I will not break that promise, especially not out of frustration.'

So with the poise and grace of a true Kyoshi warrior that she always tried her hardest to exhibit, Suki followed Katara inside Zuko's quarters and straight to the fire lord himself, who was slightly dozing off when they approached.

"Zuko," Katara's voice was just barely above a whisper as she gently touched his left shoulder, effectively getting him to open his eyes and turn to look at her which allowed her to raise her voice to its normal volume, "how much trouble are you causing already?"

"Depends on who's asking," Zuko's tired and pained face was turned up in a small smirk which elicited a small laugh from Katara, but just as quick as the smile appeared, it faded back into his forever cold face, "it's just a stress fever. This time last year, I was considered a traitor, so I'm not exactly used to this level of power."

"Yeah, I remember," Katara affirmed while slowly pushing back the red and gold comforter that adorned the bed of the fire lord, "that doesn't mean we shouldn't be sure."

Suki watched as Zuko resigned any efforts to conceal the pain and let his hands fall to his tunic, undoing the loose tie around his lower waist with a grimace before letting it fall off his shoulders and laying back down onto the pillows.

The sight of the small but centered star-shaped mark in the middle of his abdomen that made streaks up to his right shoulder and knowing that the sister he so badly wanted to be on his side had caused it nearly made Suki speak her mind right then and there.

'Azula has hurt him in the same way Ozai has. Treated him like dirt on the bottom of her shoe and then physically scarred him with her bending.'

The only glimpse of a silver lining was that Aang had taken Ozai's bending from him, making it impossible for him to hurt anyone, including Zuko, ever again.

'But if Azula manipulates Zuko into believing she's changed…'

She was brought out of both her thoughts and stoic stature by the sound of a soft grunt of pain and looked to see Katara deep in focus as she bent water over and around the large wound. If she had been as close to Zuko as the others, she may have offered her hand to hold as a source to take the pain out.

But she was his security guard first, and he was being taken care of and even healed, so she stayed at the end of his bedside and forced herself to look away from both the lightning wound and the scar that covered most of the left side of his face, choosing the intricately carved bed frame to focus on.

"It's not getting infected, thankfully," Katara finally spoke, which was met by a sigh of relief from Zuko, "but the inflammation is high and you could use a few more healing sessions. Between that and the stress fever, I think you know what my recommendation is going to be for the next few days."

"Let my uncle act as fire lord and try to rest?"

"Get some rest, but yes," Katara nodded as she bent the water back into the small bowl at his bedside, allowing him to retie the sash that kept his tunic secure to his body, but Suki focused on the fact that Katara's blue eyes were now looking into her's, "I'll be here until Aang arrives, but you're in charge of making sure he follows my directions."

"I don't need to be babysat, Katara." Zuko protested as he sat up with a wince, leading Katara to roll her eyes at him before looking back at Suki.

"You can see that he proved my point," she huffed before turning back to the fire lord, "lay back down and think of it as her protecting the best interest of the fire nation or whatever will get you to sleep that isn't your body giving up from pure exhaustion."

Suki could have sworn that she watched the fire lord himself stick his tongue out at his healer before laying back down, but it was one of those "blink and you'll miss it" moments and frankly, she had bigger things to worry about.

"I'm going to find someone who can get some food for him, but I'll be back," Katara explained before walking out of the two large doors, leaving her alone with her thoughts and the injured fire bender.

"What?" Zuko asked as soon as the doors fully shut, forcing Suki to whip her head toward him and question him right back.

"What are you talking about?"

"What is going on with you? Yesterday morning, you were your usual self and now you won't even speak to me," He explained which made her curse her readability internally, "did I do something wrong? Is it something I can fix?"

"You can't fix everything, Zuko." Suki couldn't keep her angered but teary breath to herself, "And it's not your fault either."

"What are you talking about, Suki?"

And with that genuine question with zero signs of anything but earnest concern in it, she finally cracked and told him exactly what had been bothering her all day, "I'm talking about Azula."

"What does Azula have to do with any of this?" Zuko's voice remained steady as he spoke, but instead of concern for her well-being, he now sounded defensive about the enemy.

"Your city, your people were attacked. Thousands of people could have been killed last night and the first thing that comes out of your mouth is about the prison and the hospital."

"Do you know how detrimental it would be to the throne and the world if my sister or even my father escaped? You and I, along with Katara, Sokka, and Toph would be on a hit list with Aang at the very top," Zuko's anger with her was obvious now and the way he spoke made it sound like she had overreacted with her assumption about his sister, "I was making sure that those extremists hadn't succeeded with their plan to free my family."

"But that's the problem, Zuko!" Suki snapped, sending the fire lord into a stunned silence at her tone, "You're still calling them your family! You don't owe them anything, not after what they've done to you! Not after you were banished, scarred, and nearly killed by both of them!"

Suki finally took a breath to try and get herself to calm down, and when she looked back up at Zuko, who was tracing two fingers over the scar that adorned the left side of his face before letting his hand drop, she nearly let the dam blocking the tears in her eyes burst.

"There is still part of me that hopes Azula will see the light and the errors of her ways, but she's my little sister. Letting go of what my father did to me is going to come easier for me because he hasn't loved me in a very long time, but Azula…she was cruel, yes, but until the Agni Kai," he stopped to let his hand touch the lightning wound, wincing as soon as contact was made, "I never guessed that she would act in the same way our father did towards me."

"I..," Suki trailed off, forcing a deep breath into her lungs before starting again, "I wasn't trying to hurt you more, I just wanted to make sure-"

"That I wouldn't fall for any of her manipulations?" Zuko filled in the blank, which she could only nod in response to, "That's understandable, I would do the same," he agreed before taking a deep breath with a wince, "is there a reason though?"

"What do you mean?" Suki questioned, using her armored sleeve to wipe her tears away.

"That you're so worried about how I think of my sister?"

"Because you have been through so much at both of their hands. You never deserved to be treated like that and now that you have a chance to be free from it, it feels like you aren't taking it," Suki explained quietly, fiddling with her armor as she spoke, "and even though we haven't known each other for very long, it's hard for me not to care about you."

Zuko nodded before moving slightly so that his head was on the pillow rather than his upper back, obviously growing tired; Suki knew that was her cue to go stand outside, but she couldn't stop herself from approaching him and gently squeezing his left shoulder.

"I'm gonna go keep watch, okay?" She asked, expecting just a tired nod from him as he started to let his eyes flutter shut, but she had not been prepared for what he told her in response.

"Thank you for agreeing to look out for me. I greatly appreciate it."

She couldn't stop herself from smiling, knowing that he wasn't harboring any of his anger toward her, and responded with a wink as she spoke.

"Whatever you say, boss."

#Avatar The Last Airbender #atla #Zuko #suki #katara #iroh #other characters mentioned #post sozin's comet #hurt/comfort #angst #friendship #found family #past child abuse

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randomnumbers751650 · 2 years ago

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This analysis got me thinking on what Aechmea's plan might be. According to him, there's no more purely human emotion than vengeance. I guess this shows that he has a low opinion of humanity to say the least.

But then comes chapter 97 and Doctor Ayumu also has a similar view of humanity. As the trope says, humans are bastards. But Aechmea and Ayumu react different to it. Ayumu wants Phos to burn the bridge and the most common interpretation I see is that Phos refuses to pray for the lunarians and go find their own happiness away from them.

So, as far as I can see, Phos had two options: either pray or don't pray. This reminds me of the moral conflict in the finale of Avatar The Last Airbender. Everyone was giving the green light for Aang to kill Ozai, but he didn't. Instead, he removed his fire powers from him.

Up to this day I see people criticizing Aang for not killing him, even saying removing Ozai powers was a fate worse than death. I must admit I don't understand why this debate is even a thing. If Aang had killed him, he would've won the war in the Fire Nation's terms - a dispute of strength. But Aang is the last Airbender, is this is the way of the Air Nation? The avatar is supposed to guide the nations and thus removing the powers from Ozai is more in line with what the avatar is, what Aang is.

Phos's dilemma is more complex than Aang's, however. If Phos doesn't pray, Aechmea will be right: Phos is human because he can avenge himself. Ayumu will be right, humans are yucky.

But if Phos prays, Aechmea will get what he wants: a free pass to Nirvana. It's been stated that the remaining lunarians are the worse of the worse humanity has to offer. So, is there a more dastardly plan than make Phos pray for them to go to Nirvana without deserving?

They aren't supposed to enter in Nirvana because of their many sins and flaws, so instead of working on them, improving as people, they'd rather explore loopholes and find ways to tore down the gate of the heaven. Phos is a kind child and Aechmea is counting on this kindness so that Phos can open the gate for him.

So, Phos either allows himself to be manipulated and let unworthy people in Nirvana, giving Aechmea a de facto victory or Phos refuses to pray, giving Aechmea a moral victory. Ayumu doesn't seem to care about Aechmea's moral victory, following the most common interpretation.

I really don't know what the alternative option would be. Vengeance already failed once. What if burn the bridge mean something else? Still, it raises deeper questions: can mankind "save" itself? And what does being saved mean?

Personally, studying and teaching institutional economics, one thing I learned and teach is that all institutions can be "hacked". No matter how oppressive or near perfect it is, people are always exploiting loopholes and defending vigorously these loopholes. We think ourselves really smart because of it. I've always saw HnK as a critique of transhumanism and a portrayal of the limits of human spirit because the Lunarians society is really the culmination of a post-scarcity society and, yet, all them want to do is to die. So they aren't hesitant about making Phos suffer if it means to that. Now we can only wait for what Phos will do.

#houseki no kuni #houseki no kuni spoilers #spoilers #in brazil theres a thing called jeitinho #and a saying #there's no jeitinho for death #that sounds really relevant right now

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unfriedough · 3 years ago

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zuko/sokka love triangle where they’re nothing pining after y/n? we like zuko ofc!

‘Jealousy’- Zuko x fem!reader

Masterlist <3

An: GOOD DAY FRIENDS. Hahaha so I still exist. SORRY I DIDN'T POST FOR LIKE EVER. I was just caught up doing idek what. Anyways, I’m also sorry for responding to this request so late, but I hope this is good enough to make up for the wait. (Hey that rhymed!)

Summary:

See request :p

(Ok so there's a slight plot twist, and this is mostly about Zuko. But ya know,, I hope it's still good.)

(OH and I added the Keep reading thing because it's a little longer.)

Just thought I should add this here: if In ANY of my fics, something doesn’t apply to poc, SEND AN ASK!!! I NEED TO FIX IT.

Warnings: Jealousy (in the title LMAO)

“I don’t even know how I got to this point.” Zuko thought.

“H-hey yn,”

“Oh! Hey Zuko!” you smiled.

“Your hair looks nice,” he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Thanks, I would say yours does too, but it always does!”

He blushed furiously at that, mumbling out a thanks he’s not even sure you heard.

In the distance, a twig could be heard snapping. The pair turned their heads to the source, only to see a very happy blue eyed water tribe boy, holding something suspiciously behind his back.

“Sokka!” you neared Sokka rapidly, excited to see him.

“Hey Yn!” he grinned, pulling out a bouquet of hand picked flowers from behind him. “For the pretty lady,”

You giggled, taking the flowers from his hands, marvelling at all the pretty colours. Whilst you were lost in the blossoms, the firebender had stormed off, completely and utterly enraged.

“Where’s Zuko?” you looked around, looking for said person.

“Uh he just left,”

“Darn it.”

Zuko hadn’t really talked to anyone else throughout the day, keeping conversations to the bare minimum.

“How could Sokka like Yn? I thought he liked Suki? Does Suki know?” the firebender pondered as he worked through the firebending forms with his trainee. “IS SOKKA CHEATING ON SUKI?”

His thoughts were cut short by the last airbender himself.

“You okay, Sifu hotman?”

“I’m fine,” he grumbled.

The avatar was immediately taken aback by something, Zuko didn’t yell at Aang for calling him ‘Sifu hotman’. This was new?

The fire bender showcased a few more forms, before finally having finished his training for the day.

Zuko grumbled and stomped like a child having a tantrum all the way back to his tent.

(Dinner time :)

The former prince had yet to arrive to dinner, so they took the time to discuss him.

“Anyone else noticed that Zuko’s been acting more angsty today?”

“Yeah, he didn’t yell at me when I called him Sifu hotman,”

“And he avoided me all day!”

A few hums of agreement were passed along.

Not from you or Sokka though.

Sokka knew exactly what was happening, but you were unsure.

Before you could try to come up with a good enough idea, the center of the discussion himself came into view. You waved at him, and signaled towards the empty spot next to you. You could swear you saw the edges of his lips curve into a smile, but it was gone in a blink. Zuko sat next to you, Katara passing him a bowl of mush?

Although conversation was flowing gracefully between the rest, Zuko couldn’t get his mind off of you and that moron Sokka.

“How could she like him? He’s with Suki? Could Sokka really be cheating on Suki? I need to tell her about the flowers, ok ok! uhhhhh I’ll tell her after dinner.” Zuko thought.

He was snapped back to the present when a hand landed on his bicep.

“You okay?”

“Oh uhh, yeah, sorry,”

“You sure? I’m not meaning to intrude, but you seemed upset all day? You can tell me anything, you know?”

He looked into your worry filled eyes, and gulped, directing his vision somewhere else. His eyes landed on the bowl in front of him.

“I’m just a bit worried.”

“About what?”

“Uh Aang, he’s not a fast learner.” he lied.

“HEY WHAT?! YOU SAID I WAS!” Aang yelled, completely confused.

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out, you're pretty smart.” you grinned at Zuko.

He smiled slightly at you, mouthing a ‘thanks’. Meanwhile Aang eyed Zuko angrily.

“I’m a fast learner.” he mumbled to himself.

Later that night, practically everyone retired to their tent, except for Zuko and Suki. The kyoshi warrior was on her way to Sokka’s tent, before the firebender stopped her.

“Suki, I need to talk to you.”

“Uh ok, sure.”

The pair went to a more secluded spot, and Zuko made sure that no one else was there.

“Suki, I think Sokka’s in love with Yn.”

She raised a brow.

“Well, today, he gave her flowers and said For the pretty lady,”

“Oh yeah.” she deadpanned.

Zuko’s face fell.

“You knew?”

“Yeah.”

“And you're okay with it,”

“Yup,”

The firebending prince stared at her, completely confused. Before finally realising.

“You guys are so weird,” Zuko grumbled as he walked away, leaving a giggling Suki behind.

The firebender needed another plan, and so this was plan b: ask Katara to pair them up for chores.

Katara was brushing her hair when Zuko appeared behind her.

“Hello,”

“Uh hi.” she said, continuing her task.

“I need to ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“Can you pair Yn and I for the market today.”

Her eyes widened, and she turned around only to find a blushing, fidgeting Zuko, and suddenly everything clicked. The waterbender smiled softly, and nodded.

“Will do,”

“Thanks Katara,”

She smiled again as he walked away.

“What a dork,” she thought aloud.

“Ok, Sokka is feeding Appa, Aang and I are cooking, Toph is making sure no one is around our campsite, Zuko and Yn are on market duty.”

“I hate market duty,” you pouted and Zuko panicked. “Let’s go,”

Zuko got up and followed, both of you grabbing a basket before leaving the temple and heading to a nearby town.

As you two wandered the streets, occasionally stopping at a fruit stand or two, you noticed an antique shop.

“Ooh! Let’s go inside.” you held his hand as you pulled him into the shop.

A lovely Jasmine scent filled your senses, as you dragged Zuko through the aisles.

Your attention jumped to an ornate watch, and your hands rose to hold it. It felt heavy, and looked gorgeous, you stroked your thumb lovingly across the textured surface, dust coating your skin.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a stopwatch, isn’t it gorgeous.”

“Ah, that’s one of my favourites too,” a man’s voice sounded.

When the pair’s attention turned to it, you were met by a quite handsome man, around your age.

“I’m Lee,” he said, and Zuko felt a ping of jealousy rising.

“Yn,” she replied.

“And who’s this fella?”

Zuko didn’t answer, narrowing his eyes at the guy.

“Okay,” he said. “You looking to buy it?”

“I’m a bit short on money,” you laughed, “but it’s a nice thought.”

“How about this: I’ll get it for you, and you go out on a date with me?”

You directed your vision back to the clock, it was really breathtaking, but you weren't one to go on dates with random people.

But then again, he was really cute.

You looked back at Zuko, who seemed really mad.

“Actually, I think I’ll pass.”

He nodded and walked away. You held Zuko’s hand as you left the store.

“That was interesting.”

You said, attempting to lighten the mood, but once you looked at the firebender, he seemed to still be eyeing the shop angirly.

Some things just never made sense with that boy.

Once you were both back at camp, you made your way to the kitchen, unpacking and ranting to Katara as you did so.

“Like damn why 200 for a stopwatch I’ll just look at the sky like what?”

Katara laughed before whispering to you:

“How did Zuko react to that guy asking you out?”

“He seemed annoyed, probably because he wanted to leave.”

“Hm, okay,”

You stared at the teen in front of you.

“What are you plotting?”

“Oh nothing,” she said, in a sing-song voice.

Ok plan c: Zuko was getting desperate. Extremely desperate. So he recruited Katara. It went something like this.

“Katara,”

“Uh, hi?”

“I need to ask you something,”

“Again?”

He clearly deflated in front of her, causing the waterbender to laugh before telling him to ask her.

Zuko smiled before starting:

“So, Sokka likes Yn.”

“He does?”

“Yeah, long story, anyways-” he cut himself off, an angry blush covering his face, extending to the tips of his ears.

“Do you like Yn?” she said, knowingly.

The firebender’s blush somehow became more furious as he brought up his hands to cover the evidence.

Katara burst out laughing at his reaction, drawing attention to the two of them.

“What’s so funny?” Sokka yelled from the other end of the court yard.

The healer simply shook her head, as if to signal it was nothing.

Zuko’s blush got more pigmented at an alarming rate once he noticed your eyes on them, and then he noticed you were next to Sokka. His blush dropped, and his heartbeat quickened, Zuko stalked off to who knows where, Katara following in pursuit.

“Yes, I do.”

It took her a minute to understand he was answering her previous question, but when she did, she nodded.

“So what do you want me to do,”

“I don’t know, help me?”

“Uh ok,” Katara put a finger on her lip as she thought, “I have a plan,”

Ok plan c part 2, Katara’s plan: field trip.

You and Zuko rode on Appa for a while, looking down at the scenery. Once Zuko found a nice spot, he landed Appa and the both of you set up the picnic.

“Zuko, this was such a cute idea!”

“Thanks, but it was really Katara’s idea.”

“Why’d Katara suggest for us to go on a picnic?”

Zuko’s brain was blank, what on earth was he supposed to say?

“I’ll assume you don’t know either.”

He nodded.

The rest of the morning was spent laughing and sharing tales, as if living in a bubble.

The way back was also fun, cuddling with Zuko on Appa because he was warm.

Or maybe because you were in love with him.

Nevertheless, the day was enjoyable.

But when you got back, things went south.

You had all been around the campfire, when Sokka pulled you aside.

“Close your eyes.”

You followed his instructions and felt something tie around your wrist.

“Ok, look.”

Once you opened your eyes, you saw a handmade bracelet around your wrist, carved by Sokka himself.

“Oh Sokka, it’s beautiful.”

You pulled the watertribe boy into your arms, and he grinned at Zuko, who was scowling.

Rest of the night was awkward between you and Zuko to say the least.

Plan ??

Zuko had lost count at this point, probably already through the entire alphabet, yet still nothing.

Today was his breaking point. Something about today’s previous events had him on edge, and seeing you so close to Sokka made his blood boil. Sokka was just about to say something when Zuko stormed near the two of you. Sokka’s brows furrowed and his grip on your waist tightened, pulling you closer to him.

“Hey Zuko,”

“Hey Yn, I need to talk to you.”

“Oh uh, sorry Sokka I’ll be right back.”

The watertribe member glared at the firebender.

Zuko took you somewhere private, before starting,

“Yn, I’ve had this on my mind for sometime now, and it’s killing me to not know how you feel. I like you, like a lot, like-”

You crashed your lips onto his, and after a moment of shock, he leaned in too. The kiss lasted for a few seconds, before it was broken by you.

“I like you too Zuko, but I would have appreciated it if you had told me earlier.”

He smiled at you, you were finally his, wait were you?

“Does this make us a couple?” he asked, scared you would shoot him down.

“If you wanna be.”

Zuko smiled, content and happy. A squeal could be heard from the hallway, Aang. “YOU FINALLY DID IT ZUKO!”

“Katara told you?!”

“What about Katara?” you asked.

“Haha,” Zuko rubbed the back of his neck nervously, he had a lot of explaining to do.

The next day, everyone was boarding Appa to leave their current home. Sokka walked up to Zuko, holding Suki’s hand.

“Congratulations man,”

“Aren’t you upset with me?”

“Why would I be upset?”

“Because, you like Yn?”

Sokka smiled.

“Actually, it was this whole thing to prove to her that you like her back, because she didn’t believe me, so we pretended I was into her so you could confess.”

“What.”

An: WOW PLOT TWIST WOW. Thanks to my sister for the idea of the plot twist because I am a weak woman that refuses to hurt Sokka. This wound up being 2037 words and not edited (because I don’t feel like it lol). Thank you so much to anyone who followed, and for all the support. As always, hope you enjoyed this story, SEE YA! <3

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babypandawrites · 4 years ago

Text

Azula Daughter HCs

No one asked for it but, Anon of my last post got me thinking about it so Azula Daughter Hcs :)

Also I’m getting through requests very slowly but surely! I’m sorry to everyone who’s had to wait for a while- I promise I will get to them eventually though! A lot of the time my brain just itches to only write certain things so requests can be hard sometimes but they are fun and get me working my think muscles!

-Navigation- | -Atla Masterlist-

Honestly, one day Azula just popped by the Royal Palace again after a while of being gone and had a daughter with her. She was still a baby when Azula brought her around, and she’s grown up in the Palace her whole life.

When Azula showed up with her daughter, she still wasn’t mentally sound- So Zuko took it upon himself to make sure she didn’t majorly screw up this poor child.

Though his over cautiousness about it is doing more harm than good- at least on Azula’s end.

This has no negative impact on little Miss Fire Princess though, she’s a very happy child- though she doesn’t really understand why she sees her mom the least out of everyone. But she just kind of goes with it.

She has a journal that she’s had and been writing in since she could write. It was a birthday gift from Suki :)

Speaking of Suki, she’s still working as a guard with Ty Lee and the other Kyoshi Warriors at the royal palace and the kid loves her.

If Zuko is busy and Azula isn’t around, she’ll always seek company with Suki before anyone else. If Suki is busy, Aang or Sokka is her next choice if they’re around.

That journal I mentioned earlier? She uses it to write stuff down about the time she spends with Azula, when she brought it up with Zuko he asked to look at what she’d written down.

Safe to say he was pretty relieved to know that in their alone time Azula was doing a pretty okay job. But that doesn’t make him that much less concerned for his niece.

She calls Zuko ‘Uncle Zuzu’- picked it up after hearing Azula call him Zuzu.

No one really knows who her dad is, if Azula knows she hasn’t told anyone and probably never will.

Azula is putting in an effort to get better because of her daughter, but in the process her old self slips sometimes.

The first time this happened was not good.

She’s not a bender, and Azula may have let a little ‘Pathetic’ slip out upon finding out. Big yikes.

It was enough to push her daughter to tears, and started a life long self consciousness about herself for not being a bender.

Zuko miserably failed at trying to make her feel better about it after she ran off crying.

This was when she had her first “You don’t understand!” moment.

Knowing that he in fact didn’t understand, Zuko asked Suki and Sokka to talk to her about it.

They made her feel better, assuring her she doesn’t have to be a bender to be strong. It helped- sort of.

Again this caused her to have a nearly life long insecurity about this.

Well maybe not life long, but, she doesn’t get over it for a while okay.

She didn’t talk to Azula for a bit after that happened though. Probably a few weeks because she is a child and a bit dramatic.

Not that her being upset over that is dramatic, she was done being mad after maybe a week but didn’t talk to Azula for a couple more because of dramatics.

She was just trying to her her mom like she hurt her.

And it worked.

I feel like this is getting a little long, so I’ll leave it here but if you guys are interested in more lmk! Also if you interested in child hc’s for other characters, lmk too. I really liked doing this one and would totally love to do kid hc’s for other characters if you guys wanted :)

#atla #atla x reader #azula #azula x reader #headcanons #atla headcanons #reader insert #mom azula #azula daughter #azula & reader #not ship #clearly #does this count as reader insert?#these came from a reader insert so ill pretend it counts

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today-only-happens-once · 4 years ago

Text

out of focus

title: out of focus

word count: 3955

summary:

The actions of a Fire Nation admiral during a meeting causes some problems for Sokka. The words of that admiral causes some problems for Zuko. They try to take care of each other.

“What did the admiral mean,” Sokka blurts out without really thinking about it, “when he talked about insubordination?”

Zuko freezes, the rag half-out of the bowl and his other hand still bracing Sokka’s (not quite holding it… far too gentle to be holding it). “What—uh. I, uh.” Zuko stops. Takes a breath. Tries again. He still doesn’t look up at Sokka. “When I was younger, I spoke out at a meeting.”

Warnings: burns (description of), violence, threats of violence, discussion of canonical child abuse, characters curse but no curse words are written, character is non-permanently injured, yelling/arguing, trauma

A/N: me? writing a zukka AtLA fic and posting it an hour short of midnight? Apparently, it’s more likely that you’d think.

Read on AO3

Zuko has the patience of a saint, Sokka thinks to himself.

It’s an unusual thought, he realizes. A year ago, if you’d told Sokka that he’d come to think of the Banished Prince as ‘patient’, he’d probably have thrown his boomerang at you. A year ago, Zuko was one of the most short-tempered people he knew. A year ago, Zuko was the face of the enemy.

A lot changes in a year.

Sokka barely stifles a frustrated sigh. The attempt does not seem to go unnoticed by Zuko, who glances at him quickly before the corner of his mouth twitches with something like amusement. The meeting had been going on for hours, and Sokka can’t help but feel that very little progress on the treaty had been made. It wasn’t for lack of trying, Sokka knows, but war leaves messy problems in its wake. He knows that both the literal and metaphorical shrapnel left behind by a century of conflict can’t be swept away in a night or a week or a month.

It doesn’t make these meetings any easier to sit through.

“I want immediate release of all prisoners of war,” an Earth Kingdom ambassador demands.

“I second that,” Sokka hears his father--sitting across the table from him--add, a bit more calmly but no less firm. “I have men in those prisons that haven’t seen their family in a decade.”

“Of course,” Zuko replies at the same time a Fire Nation soldier snaps, “absolutely not.”

Zuko levels a hard look at him. “Admiral, people who were arrested as prisoners of war have no need to remain so after the war has ended.” He looks to Hakoda, then to the Earth Kingdom ambassador. “I’ll draft that mandate tonight and will ensure it’s circulation as soon as possible.”

“This is an outrage!” The slam of a fist against the table makes Sokka’s hand fly to the boomerang strapped to his hip instinctively. The admiral is on his feet.

“Admiral,” Zuko says, his voice steely as he rises from his own chair. The Fire Nation soldier cuts him off.

“Where is the justice for the Fire Nation families whose sons and daughters were slaughtered by those criminals?”

“Admiral--”

“I remember a time when you cared about Fire Nation soldiers! And it’s hard to believe you’ve forgotten, seeing as you ought to be reminded every time you look in the mirror--”

“Enough!” Zuko snaps. “You will watch your tongue or you will be escorted out. You approach insubordination.”

“You are a child,” the admiral sneers. “Though one that ought to know a thing or two about insubordination, given your father’s attempts to brand you with a permanent reminder of its consequences--”

“Warriors!”

“Then again, he always was twice the leader you will never be. Long live the Phoenix King!”

Sokka sees the warning signs—the slight shift of weight, the clench of the man’s fists—and leaps to his feet. “Zuko--!”

“Sokka!”

There’s a blinding light and scorching heat. Sokka feels something slam onto his shoulder and he dives instinctively for cover as the familiar roar of a fireball explodes in front of him. The flames are bright and lick around him, and Sokka throws a hand up to protect his face. He blinks the spots from his vision as he yanks his boomerang out of his belt.

Zuko is standing beside him, his stance ready and his hand outstretched, having evidently dispelled the fireball that had been launched at him. Sokka leaps back up to his feet and hurls the boomerang in his hands towards the Admiral, hitting his hand right as he moves to launch another attack and forcing it to go wide. A burst of flames slam against the wall to the left.

The room is in chaos.

Sokka barely hears the shouts of alarm and curses over the roar of dying flames. He sees his father, already on his feet, diving underneath a bolt of red fire. Across the room, the Earth Kingdom ambassador jerks their hand. There’s a rumble in the ground before it rises and anchors around the Admiral’s feet, holding him in place.

Sokka sees the admiral’s gaze meet his own and narrow. The Fire Nation soldier bares his teeth in a snarl, his fist shooting out. Before Sokka can blink, Zuko steps in front of him, dispelling the flames just as the door ricochets open. Two Kyoshi Warriors flood in and in a series of quick strikes, the admiral drops. Awake, but limp.

Sokka thinks idly that he’s grateful that Ty Lee taught them how to block chi.

“Your father should have killed you that day!” the admiral shouts as he’s dragged through the doors. “He showed mercy on your pathetic, worthless—” the door slamming shut cuts him off.

The silence that follows makes Sokka’s ears ring. He can still feel stale adrenaline coursing through him, his heartbeat pounding in his chest. For a moment, nobody moves. Zuko awkwardly clears his throat.

“Apologies for the, uh, disruption. It shouldn’t happen again.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Firelord Zuko,” Hakoda assures him, but there’s something odd in his father’s expression when he looks at Zuko that Sokka doesn’t understand.

Zuko says something in response, but Sokka doesn’t catch it. As the adrenaline bleeds out of him, his muscles relaxing, Sokka realizes that his fists are still clenched. Sokka forces them to relax, and hisses as it sends a jolt of hot pain through his left hand. When he looks down, he realizes that the skin on the top of part of his hand near his knuckles is a blistering, angry red.

Sokka’s hiss doesn’t go unnoticed. Zuko looks at him over his shoulder, his brows drawn together in confusion before his eyes fall to Sokka’s hand. Then, they go wide.

Zuko turns back around suddenly to address the room, his back straighter. “We will adjourn the meeting for the afternoon. We will reconvene tomorrow.”

“Firelord Zuko—” an ambassador from the Northern Water Tribe protests, but Hakoda interrupts him.

“I think we could all use a breather, Kovrik. Coming back tomorrow with a clear head is a good decision.”

“Yes… yes, I suppose that’s fair.”

Sokka is finding it increasingly difficult to follow the conversation. His hand hurts, and it’s taking every last drop of his willpower and pride to grit his teeth and swallow back the whimper that wants to push up his throat. It’s not until Zuko’s face is taking up his entire field of vision that Sokka realizes everyone but the two of them and his father have left the room.

“Let me see,” Zuko says quietly, then curses under his breath when he looks at Sokka’s hand. “Where’s Katara when you need her.”

“Do you have anything that can help?” Hakoda asks from behind Zuko.

“Yes, sir,” Zuko replies, his brows still furrowed in concentration. “Though it’s not quite as immediate as waterbending healers. But it should help with the pain, and prevent infection. Follow me.”

Sokka feels Zuko take his elbow and guide him out the door of the meeting room and down the hall. He’s distantly aware that Zuko is moving quickly—not quite a jog, but only barely shy of it—through a network of corridors. His hand feels like it might still be on fire, and Sokka looks down at it again just to be sure that’s not actually the case. He tells himself that he’s endured injuries more painful than this. The broken leg was worse, he thinks, though it does little to actually help with the burning sensation in his hand.

He’s vaguely aware that Zuko says something quickly to two guards that are flanking a set of doors before he rushes in. Sokka looks up and realizes it’s Zuko’s chambers. He’d only been in here a couple of times before, largely while Zuko was still recovering from Azula’s lightning strike in the weeks following the end of the war.

“Wait here,” Zuko tells him before disappearing through another door on the far side of the room.

“You had good reflexes in there,” Sokka hears his father’s low, soothing voice speak up. He’d had almost forgotten he was there. Hakoda moves the chair that had been beside the bed closer to Sokka in a clear direction to sit down.

“Lots of practice,” Sokka replies as he sits. He hisses a little again as his hand flares and grits out a swear behind clenched teeth.

“Easy,” Hakoda says softly. He places a bracing, comforting hand between Sokka’s shoulder blades. It’s grounding, and he’s grateful.

“Wish Katara was here,” Sokka tells him, echoing Zuko’s comment from earlier.

“I know. Unfortunately, I don’t think she’s coming to Caldera for a while. She’s still in Ba Sing Se with Aang.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Her magic water comes in handy though.” Sokka gives his father a tight smile. “Get it? Hand-y?”

Hakoda snorts just as the door opens again. Zuko has his arms full of a large bowl, his hands fisting a few vials and some bandages. There’s something pinched about Zuko’s expression, and the way he doesn’t meet Sokka’s eyes as he kneels in front of him feels odd. The bowl is full of water, Sokka realizes, as he sets it on the ground and begins to empty the vials into it.

“Can I see your hand?” Zuko asks, and the question—for some reason—catches him off guard.

Sokka blinks. “Yeah. Sure.” He grimaces as he places his hand in Zuko’s, but the excessive gentleness surprises him so much that Sokka almost forgets that his hand hurts.

Zuko was many things, but Sokka can’t remember a time—even after he started to get along with the Fire Prince—that he would have described Zuko as gentle. But his grip on Sokka’s hand is careful. Almost excessively so.

Zuko hums in the back of his throat as he inspects the burns. “I don’t think it’ll have permanent damage,” he says quietly. “But I still need to treat it so it doesn’t get infected. It… might hurt, a little. But then it should feel better.”

“No permanent damage. That’s good,” Sokka says. He swallows, and nods. “Okay.”

For a long moment, the only sounds that fills the room is the quiet splash of water in the bowl as Zuko submerges the cloth rag again and wrings it out. Sokka lets his gaze float around the room.

Zuko has left it mostly bare. There’s a portrait of Iroh and a woman that Sokka remembers being the Fire Lady—Zuko’s mother—hanging on the wall near the headboard of the bed. On the dresser beside it is a drawing that Sokka did of the group of them months ago. He sees a pile of papers on the desk across the room. He thinks one of them has Aang’s signature at the bottom, but it’s too far away for him to know for sure.

Bright, painful heat searing his hand slams his attention back to Zuko in front of him and Sokka yelps, yanking his hand away. Zuko grimaces, retracing his own hand.

“I’m sorry,” he says, sounding more earnest than Sokka expects. “This part is painful, but it’ll stop hurting in a minute.”

Sokka fights to pull his breathing back under his control. In through his nose, out through his mouth. “Right,” he manages, his voice tight. “Right, sorry.”

“Don’t be. I know it hurts.”

Something about that line—and about the fact that Zuko still hasn’t met his eyes since returning from the other room—drags Sokka’s thoughts back to the conversation in the treaty meeting. There were several things that the admiral had said to Zuko that Sokka didn’t quite understand. He could only remember pieces of things said, but they repeat in Sokka’s head like disjointed pieces of a puzzle that he can’t quite make fit together.

seeing as you ought to be reminded every time you look in the mirror… insubordination… your father’s attempts to brand you… consequences…

Sokka’s gaze falls back to Zuko, dutifully bowed in front of him. There had long been pieces about Zuko that Sokka had found puzzling. Things about him that didn’t quite fit together. Sokka considers himself a person pretty good at figuring out how things worked together, and that extended (with less success) to figuring out how parts of people make up the sum of their whole.

Zuko, though… Zuko had always been something of a mystery. But as the words of the admiral ricochet in his mind, there’s a picture beginning to come together that is still just a little too hazy, a little too out of focus, to fill in the spaces that Sokka felt were missing.

“What did the admiral mean,” Sokka blurts out without really thinking about it, “when he talked about insubordination?”

Sokka’s brow furrows as Zuko presses the rag to the back of his hand again. Sokka realizes that his hand has stopped hurting, but he’s too preoccupied with what Zuko said to pay it much mind. “After the stuff at Ba Sing Se? When you went home?”

“No, I, uh.” Zuko clears his throat. “Before that. Before… yeah. Earlier.”

Your father’s attempts to brand you…

“What happened?” Sokka asks. The way Zuko’s shoulders seem to tense doesn’t escape his attention, and there’s a part of him that wonders if perhaps he shouldn’t have asked. But it also feels like a question that once asked, is too late to take back.

Zuko pats Sokka’s hand dry with another towel and begins to gingerly wrap a bandage around it. He keeps his gold gaze steady on the work. Sokka keeps his gaze steady on Zuko.

“My uncle allowed me to attend a war meeting where they were talking about some battle strategies to use against an Earth Kingdom battalion. There was a general that wanted our newest fleet to serve as a distraction while we mounted an attack from the rear,” Zuko begins. There’s something off about his voice, though. Something detached and careful. He keeps wrapping the bandage. Around and around and around.

Sokka frowns. “That’s not fair,” he says. “Your newest recruits? They’d be slaughtered by an experienced battalion like that.”

Zuko sighs, his lips pressing into a thin line. “Exactly,” he says in a low voice. “And that’s what I told them. I wasn’t thinking. I just… yelled at him.” Sokka opens his mouth to disagree—it sounds like Zuko was thinking, unlike anybody else at that meeting—but Zuko cuts him off as he secures the end of the bandage to Sokka’s palm. “My father didn’t… take it well. I was challenged to an Agni Kai, and I thought I would be facing the general in it, so I accepted.”

Zuko gathers the bowl and empty vials as he stands, crossing the room to set them on the edge of his desk. Sokka stands up slowly as Zuko does so. The pieces that had been out of focus for so long are starting to come together, and Sokka feels his stomach rolling with a leaden weight against what he can sense is coming.

“No…”

“It wasn’t the general,” Zuko continues, his voice so quiet that Sokka is sure he would have missed it if it hadn’t been dead silence around them. “It was my father.”

“You faced your father in an Agni Kai?”

“Not exactly. I…” Zuko stares down into the bowl of water beside him, his gaze distant. “I couldn’t fight my own father. Instead, I begged him for forgiveness. I was met with a fistful of flames.”

Zuko gestures vaguely at his face, and Sokka’s blood turns to ice.

“He…” Sokka’s throat closes, cutting off the rest of that sentence. All this time being chased by Zuko—all this time being friends with him—and he’d always assumed that the scar was the result of a training accident, or a fight with a firebender he lost. Sokka thinks bitterly and viciously that the second assumption wasn’t far off but his own father—

“I was banished after that,” Zuko says, and his voice is hollow and empty and wrong. And he finally, finally, meets Sokka’s gaze. “I was told to bring the Avatar back and all would be forgiven, or to not come back at all. That was before you and your sister woke Aang up from the iceberg.”

Sokka stands very, very still. He glances down and realizes his hands are trembling. He curls the non-bandaged one into a fist to get the shaking to stop. “How old were you?” he asks, and he doesn’t know why—of everything he could say—that’s the question that tumbles past his lips, but he feels like it matters.

“Thirteen.”

“Thir—” Sokka cuts himself off, scrubbing a hand across his mouth and swallowing hard. “Thirteen. Tui and La, when I was thirteen—”

Sokka breaks off again, his throat closing, his gaze falling to his father. When Sokka was thirteen, his father had left to go fight in the war and told Sokka he couldn’t come along. He’d protected Sokka, and though Sokka had found his way into fighting in the war regardless a few years later, he knows his father had only been trying to keep him safe. The idea of his own father striking him—let alone with a fist full of flames to his face—was incomprehensible.

Hakoda doesn’t look back at Sokka. His gaze is trained on Zuko, and there’s something in his eyes that Sokka doesn’t quite understand. But he’s seen it before. It was the same look Hakoda wears when he hears other water tribe soldiers recount war stories. The late-night ones. The ones where their voices betray the weight on their shoulders and tremble with the generations of nightmares on their backs.

Sokka takes a sudden, faltering step forward, and Zuko instinctively tenses. Sokka freezes. “Zuko…”

Zuko shakes his head. He coughs a little, as if trying to clear his throat. “Anyway. That’s—that’s what the admiral was talking about.”

“You…” Sokka tries again, his voice carrying just the barest hints of hysteria. “You were his kid.”

“Yeah, well.” Zuko’s gaze meets Sokka’s again. “He spent most of my life wishing I wasn’t.”

“Zuko,” Hakoda speaks up, his voice a low, soothing rumble to Sokka’s trembling nerves. “I… hope you understand that you didn’t deserve that.”

“I know, sir,” he replies, sounding steadier than Sokka feels. Sokka feels a little like the ground has shifted beneath his feet as he stares at his friend across the room. Zuko continues, frustratingly calm. “It… I didn’t at first. It took me a long time to understand that it was wrong of my father to do that. But I know now.”

“Where is he?” Sokka demands, flushing with a sudden and intense fury.

Zuko blinks, looking taken aback by the vehemence charged through Sokka’s voice like a steel rod. “Where’s who?”

“Ozai.”

“Sokka, what are you gonna do? Fight him? He already lost.”

“Against Aang, not against—did Aang even know?”

Zuko’s brow furrows and he rubs the back of his neck. “Um. I guess I don’t know. I never told him. I… never told any of you.”

“Yeah—and what’s that about, huh?” Sokka demands. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Sokka,” Hakoda warns, but Sokka’s words are already bubbling up throat and spilling past his lips, hot and bitter and angry.

“What, did you think we wouldn’t care? That it wouldn’t matter?”

“It doesn’t matter!” Zuko waves a hand towards the window that overlooks the courtyard. “My father already lost to the Avatar, Sokka. The war is over. The fighting is over. Aang took his bending. And that—I don’t know about you, but that’s the best, most justified end to his legacy I can think of.”

Sokka is still shaking. He can’t explain why. He knows, logically, that Zuko is right. He’s right. But Sokka can still feel his hands shaking, can still feel his heart hammering in his ribs with the urge to run something through with sword, can still feel the way his eyes sting with tears he won’t let fall. Sokka clenches his jaw and rips his gaze away from Zuko out towards the window, where he can see the sun setting on the horizon and painting the palace courtyard in an orange light.

“Wherever he is, I hope he rots,” Sokka says finally, and yet it still doesn’t feel like enough. “He deserves worse.”

Sokka looks back at Zuko, whose gaze is a little wide. He looks… taken aback. Sokka cocks an eyebrow.

“Don’t tell me you disagree—"

“No,” Zuko replies, shaking his head. “I just… Nothing.” The corner of his mouth tugs upwards in the barest hint of a smile. Sokka doesn’t understand why, just like he doesn’t understand why it uncoils the tight knot of burning anger in his chest.

Sokka takes a deep breath. Wills himself to relax. It helps… a little. There’s a beat, and then Sokka hears his father take a step forward. “Thank you for helping Sokka’s hand, Firelord Zuko.”

Zuko blinks, and Sokka swears his cheeks take a faint pink tint as he rubs the back of his neck. “Oh. Uh, of course, sir. And… just Zuko is fine.”

Sokka glances over and sees Hakoda smile, inclining his head. “Understood.” He looks to Sokka. “I should draft a letter to Bato tonight to update him on the treaty. Will you be okay without me?”

Sokka rolls his eyes teasingly. “Yeah, dad. I think I can manage.”

Hakoda squeezes his shoulder, nods to Zuko again, and quietly slips out of the room. The silence afterward seems to stretch, and Sokka feels the lingering tension bleeding out of him as he looks at Zuko, who quietly shuffles through the papers on his desk. Sokka watches him for a beat, his gaze lingering a little on the scarred tissue across his face. Sokka swallows.

There are other questions Sokka thinks he could ask. Like why—after doing that—Zuko was still so bent on returning home to his father. But there’s a part of Sokka that thinks he maybe understands.

Spirits know that he understood what it was like to crave the approval of your father.

“Hey,” he says, and Zuko’s gaze snaps over to him. “I… thank you for telling me. I… know that wasn’t easy, and… it means a lot that you trust me with that.”

“It… it wasn’t a question of trust, you know,” Zuko replies quietly, averting his gaze. “Not telling you, I mean. It was just—”

“I know,” Sokka says, and means it. “But I also know what it’s like to have things you don’t necessarily… want to relive. So it means a lot that you told me.”

The corner of Zuko’s mouth twitches again. He takes a deep, slow breath. “Thank you for listening,” he says.

“I like to think I’m a pretty good listener,” Sokka teases, shrugging.

“You are,” Zuko says, with far more sincerity than Sokka felt was warranted for what he’d meant to be a joke. Sokka blinks at him, and Zuko clears his throat, ducking his head a little. “I was thinking of getting some tea. There’s a place just outside the palace. It’s not as good as Uncle’s, but um. Did you want to come?”

“Yeah,” Sokka replies with a small smile. “I could use a cup of tea.”

#avatar the last airbender #zukka #zukka fanfiction #zuko fanfiction #zuko #sokka #not ts #we interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast to give you this fic for an unrelated fandom woops

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concernedbrownbread · 3 years ago

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Roleswap AU

Warning: Referenced Child Abuse

Across the battlefield, Zuko stood, his eyes blank and any spirit he had ever had burned away with the skin around the left side of his face. He stood like he used to when they were children, his stance relaxed and just confident enough to make people hesitate. Despite Azula’s prodigal skills, Zuko had always been better.

Easier, as well, to mold. Azula remembered now, as she saw the scar, why she had left that night. The night Father held down her brother and taught him resilience, and Zuko had sat there and taken it. He hadn’t even screamed.

Azula used to think she was a monster, until she saw Zuko that night.

“Azula?” Katara asked, “What now?”

She glanced at the other girl and then suddenly remembered the firmness of her friends' voices reminding her you’re not a monster.

She wouldn’t kill Zuko today.

(Basically my take on "what if Zuko was a prodigy as well, and was much easier to influence." ) Words: 1395

Warnings: Child abuse, Zuko being messed up, unhealthy coping mechanisms

Notes: My excuse to write a badass!Zuko and a good!Azula went dark after I refused to stop writing. Completely unedited because I got too excited and wanted to post. Also, I continue to be bad at writing action, to no one's surprise Also on Ao3

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Perhaps I should kill him, Azula thought, cold and meticulous and ultimately merciful. There was something cruel about keeping a human alive, when their eyes were so empty.

Azula used to think she was a monster, until she saw Zuko that night.

“Azula?” Katara asked, “What now?”

She glanced at the other girl and then suddenly remembered the firmness of her friend’s voices reminding her you’re not a monster.

She wouldn’t kill Zuko today.

To be fair, seeing the flickers of white curling against the blue in his flames, Azula wondered if she even could. She herself had only managed to turn her flames purple.

“Where’s Toph and Sokka?” Azula asked as she returned her mind to the fight before her, blasting away a Dai Li agent with ease.

She glanced at her brother. She just stood there, unflinching.

“No idea,” Mai said, managing to drawl even now, “But Ty Lee was with Aang. They’re headed this way.”

As much as Azula loved her current friends, she’d certainly missed the flat disinterest of her old friend that made this situation a little bit more amusing.

“Why is he just standing there?” Katara hissed as she ducked below a flying boulder.

Azula moved sideways to dodge the same boulder before sending a flame after the agent that has sent it. She huffed, glancing over to her brother, who still hadn’t moved, even as his flames started spreading enough to become an obstacle for them.

“He’s waiting,” Azula said quietly.

(She remembered, now, suddenly, how he had waited patiently, as she complained about the palenquines that were arriving late, and then, still impassive, told her she could ride his shoulders all the way back home.

How he had been stoic, even then, blank and unmoving, but his eyes had been so bright.)

“Azula!” Katara yelled, her water smashing against earth that would have broken her skull. Azula gave her a grateful smile, ignoring the look Mai sent her way.

There was a loud crashing somewhere to Azula’s right, behind the wall of white flames now blocking her view.

“Help has arrived!” they heard, and Azula had never been quite so happy hear Sokka.

A blast of wind blew past them, taking the Dai Li down. Aang was here too. Shit.

Ty Lee cartwheeled over to them, avoiding flying stones with ease. Toph grinned her little gremlin grin and sent bigger rocks flying back. Aang flew over to them.

“Hey!” he said, “Let’s go - Appa’s just out - “

A burst of flame, singing Aang’s clothes. Wildly, Azula looked to where Zuko was standing - only to see he had moved.

He was fast - of course he was, what wasn’t he good at - and Azula found herself flying off to the side before she could even react. She would never roll her eyes at Sokka when he complained about how much being blasted bu fire sucked.

“Aang,” she tried to yell, “Get - “

A stone wall slammed into her, pinning her down to the ground. Disoriented, she looked up, to see the Dai Li moving aside as Zuko glided across the room, eyes set on Aang as he and the Dai Li batted past Katara’s water with ease.

“Oi!” Toph said, punching her rock-encased fists together, “I don’t care if you’re Azula’s bro, I’m beating the shit out of you.”

Zuko stared at her flatly. Azula struggled against her bounds.

Toph fought through the Dai Li with ease, but Zuko only stood by and watched. Calculating.

“Need help?” Sokka grinned.

Azula glared, “Just do it.”

“Ah, the great Fire Bender is at my mercy,” he smiled, even as he broke her restraints with his boomerang.

Any witty comeback Azula would have come up with was lost when she hurt Toph scream.

Her feet were burning.

Katara moved out of her shock and put out the fire, kneeling beside Toph to try and heal it, but the damage was done. Azula looked at Zuko - remembering the boy who used to feed turtleducks, even as Azula tried to burn them - and saw no remorse.

He was gone. Her brother was gone.

Even now, as she watched Zuko take down her friends one by one, she could see Ozai’s hands gripping him. Whispering into his ears and cradling his hand, so gentle and soft in a way that he knew would never fool Azula but would always make Zuko weak.

Death is a mercy, Zuko once said, and Azula had been so young then, too young to understand.

The thought came back to her, the nagging thought of ending it here, but Azula knew that this wasn’t the time.

The situation seemed all too desolate. Even with them all, they didn’t stand a chance against the Dai Li in their home ground. Katara was trying to protect and heal Toph at the same time. Ty Lee and Mai were back to back, cornered. And Sokka was nowhere to be found. Across the battlefield, her eyes made contact with Aang, and she knew he was thinking the same.

“I’m sorry, Katara,” he said.

The Avatar State. So his training had been fruitful, at least, But then she saw Zuko, saw his fingers pressed together and his stance became firmer.

Azula didn’t know why she moved. Why she reacted the way she did. Why she even cared about this stupid monk kid and his (Azula’s) little friends. She didn’t know what she was doing, really, until she was in front of Aang, ready to take lightning for him.

Somewhere, she thought she heard Ty Lee scream. But when she opened her eyes, there was nothing.

For a moment, the world was quiet. For a moment, Azula looked into her Zuko's dead eyes and saw … fire.

“Azula,” he whispered.

The single word sent a shiver down her spine, and for a moment, she thought she saw -

But the moment broke as the ground shook. She craned her neck up to see Sokka had arrived.

Zuko took up his stance again but the momentary distraction had been enough. Toph was back - not on her feet, but that wasn’t going to stop her - and sent a wave of earth crashing straight into Zuko’s side.

“You bitch!” she spat, and Azula could very well understand that sentiment.

“Get on!” Sokka yelled, as Appa rumbled loudly, his experience with the Dai Li making the sky bison angrier than Azula had ever seen him.

She got on, shoving Aang along who was still dazed from his near death.

“I didn’t know you could stop lightning,” he said.

“I can’t.”

Azula looked back, to where Zuko was already getting back on his feet. Their eyes connected again.

For a moment, she thought she saw her brother. Still in there. Still alive.

But his eyes had gone cold again, and he signaled for the Dai Li to surround them. They got out in the nick of time, just as the ground rose to meet them, trying to bind them to place.

“You’re brother is creepy as hell, Azula,” Sokka managed to say as they all struggled to catch their breaths and slow their hearts.

Azula remembered a boy who held her hand as she realised that neither of her parents loved her. She remembered a child who held her and said, I’ll love you for the both of them.

She remembered Zuko burning, and she knew that her brother had died that day.

“Next time,” she said, careful to let her voice be steady, “We should kill him before he kills us.”

There are no complaints there. Not vocally, anyway. But the part of her mind - the part of her that had given in to her friend’s persistent kindness, and the part of her that remembered Zuko’s warm hands on cold nights - was screaming.

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help-i-need-a-cool-username · 4 years ago

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Recently saw a tiktok that was like "if you ship [toph and zuko] than you have issues or you see something galaxy brained that i havent" and stumbled upon the concept of aroace Zuko and i concocted this idea ages ago so im posting it now: the epic Toph x Zuko Marriage of Convenience

Okay what you are all thinking of is book 3 Toph and Zuko, which totally dont have romantic chemistry and with the added age difference is prob why no one ever considers this ship. Four years when you're a teenager is a big difference. Four years when you're in your twenties and beyond isnt that big a deal. So they're adults and they've been friends for years at this point.

You also gotta sit back and look at what they are. Toph is the only child to a very rich and very well known Earth Kingdom family. Her family name in general is huge and carries a lot of weight but you also got her own accomplishments: Master Earthbender, the Creator of Metalbending, the Avatar's Earthbending teacher, and shes a war hero. Thats big. And then you got Zuko, who at this point is the Fire Lord. Zuko himself comes from a prominent Fire Nation family, seeing as he's royalty. He's also descended from a Avatar, but i dont think thats all that well known. Zuko is a Master Firebender, the Avatar's Firebending Teacher, and a war hero. On top of being famous both these people have credibility to fall back on.

So what im leaning into here is not exactly a marriage alliance seeing as the Earth Kingdom has its own royalty but its definitely a political move

Anyways Zuko has a lot on his plate, dismantling his dad's empire and all that. When he's nearing 30 the council is all like "you need to find a bride". Zuko writes up his ex-girlfriends and finds out they're either married or he just cant bring himself to trap someone into a marriage with him after knowing how it destroyed his mom. So he's stuck with no one of his own choosing so the council and high up nobles are trying to fix him up and not-so-subtly set him up with their daughters. Half of Team Avatar comes and visits (lets say Toph, Aang, and Sokka) and witness the behind the scenes of all this. They're having tea with Zuko and two people come in at different times and try to casually talk about the marriage thing. Toph can hear things that happen in the hallways too. Zuko is all "noooooooo guys why is this happening to me" and Sokka probably finds it funny but also a little sucky, and Aang probably hates it because "Zuko should marry for love!". And Toph is all "I know right" because she can totally relate. Her parents were looking for matches for her since she was born, and now that shes visiting again they've started back up again. Her and Zuko start swapping match-making stories ("so i come home and this boy and his father are there and my mom is all like 'Toph have you met __'" "I'm in the throne room for a meeting on road construction and this guy derails the whole thing so he can introduce his niece to me"). Later on after Toph has been listening in on the palace for a few days now and shes starting to really feel sorry for Zuko. Sokka just keeps making jokes until Toph snaps at him. Aang is pretty oblivious and probably spends all day at the market looking for souvenirs to bring home for Katara. And one night while Zuko is up late doing paperwork by candle light Toph stops by because her body cant sleep at night sometimes and they get to talking and Toph jokingly throws out "what if we just married each other? Then everyone will get off both our backs!" and they're laughing and after they've calmed down Zuko has a light bulb moment and he's like "wait, that might not be a bad idea". They spend all night working out the details to their hypothetical wedding and a day later decide to actually go through with it. Theres uproar from the council of course because Zuko didnt choose their pick Toph isnt Fire Nation nobility. And then Zuko starts listing all her family's importance and stuff and the council is forced to admit to themselves its not actually a bad idea. Plus marrying Earth Kingdom would make the Fire Lord more relatable to the colonies where theyre having a lot of problems with people of mixed heritage right now. Sokka and Aang hear rumblings of this because palace servants gossip and they're debating wether or not to believe these rumors when they run into Toph and just ask her and shes all like "yeah we're talking about it" and they boys flip out. Aang still maintains that everyone should marry for love but Toph and Zuko won't budge.

Over in the Earth Kingdom Toph's parents are ecstatic because the only better option Toph could marry was Earth Kingdom royalty. They completely endorse it and only argue to not seem like pushovers and when topics revolving money come up (ex. dowery). The Earth King gets in on this because its too good a opportunity to not capitalize on it. The Earth Kingdom is abuzz because a foreign King is marrying one of their own. Everyone is hyped and Team Avatar are the only ones who find the whole situation weird because to them its not a fairytale its their actual friends.

All-in-all they get married in the Fire Nation and the guest list was awful to make but people from all over the world are there. Toph's mother freaks out the whole time because "what if Toph falls down all those steps!" The wedding is mostly all Fire Nation tradition but Toph wears a Earth Kingdom wedding dress because everything is political now. Toph and Zuko have a relatively fun night and Sokka has the time of his life. And their marriage actually really works out for them because they're friends. They make fun of fancy people and rant to each other in the evenings. Toph is still running metal bending schools but either now they have to come to her or she gets stuck with a Fire Nation security team for like 3 months of the year she spends in the Earth Kingdom and she gets flashbacks to her childhood. And Zuko is sometimes all "i miss my wife" and the servants are all "awwww they're so in love" but the truth is he wants to talk sh*t with her and because shes blind he always has to write letters with the interpreter's opinion/gossip in mind. Toph still sneaks out all the time because shes not giving up her independence willy-nilly and is not above pulling the blind card to get out of things, which irritates Zuko sometimes because that means he has to deal with boring meetings by himself. They gaang visits all the time and by the time Republic City rolls around Toph manages to get herself sent as a "ambassador" (her and Sokka have some fun their shared meetings) and then to stay on to help set up the police force, which is a little dicy since shes representing the Fire Nation but also shes teaching only metalbending so its a controversial thing. This also gives Zuko a excuse to visit Republic City more often so he can see everyone since they settled down there.

#hinacu atla #atla #avatar #toph beifong #zuko #zuko x toph #prince zuko #fire lord zuko #avatar the last airbender

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littlegiantposts · 4 years ago

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movie night

pairing: todoroki x f!reader

warning: strong language probably. possible anime/manga spoilers! grammar mistakes :( I suck at writing

summary: It’s not that Y/n didn’t want friends, it’s just people always found her intimidating

a/n: this is completely self-indulgent lol sorry about that, so like yeah I’m gonna be saying y/n, but also i am deriving her personality, attitude, looks from a character that I’ve sort of made up in my head haha. also idk if this is like a headcanon, imagine, or like a scenaro....so sorry. And like, sort of a side note, I love making main characters that are like sorta op so y/n’s quirk and story is sorta insane, but you guys dont really have to worry about it too much because its not really in this so....yeah, i guess its just some context. I wrote this while listening to a playlist I made, titled, “ur a badass hero with class 1-a” on spotify so if ppl wanna hear it, I will post a link to it lol. OH and class 1-a are in their second year! That’s a lot, sorry! But, I hope you enjoy!

y/n’s quirk (if ur curious): controlling the 4 elements (aang from the last airbender vibe lmao); but she also got a companion named koda (think of Moro-no-kimi from Princess Mononoke for the look)

Y/n was never good at making friends. It’s not like she didn’t try, because she did. When she was a little kid, living on Catalina Island, she made a lot of attempts to make friends with fellow children in her pre-school and middle school. It just seemed that they wanted nothing to do with her, talking bad about her behind her back or acting as if she just didn’t exist.

It started to get exhausting for Y/n to keep trying and ending up always failing. So, when enrolling in the top hero school, UA, Y/n thought that maybe, just maybe, things would be different.

Nonetheless, it’s not like she had absolutely no one. She had Koda! Her best friend in the whole wide world, well her only friend, which was her pet wolf. However, Koda doesn’t like being called a “pet”, let’s stick with her companion. They are quite the inseparable duo.

Y/n looked down at Koda from her desk who was lulling herself to sleep on the floor as Present Mic was teaching an English lesson. Y/n wished she too can sleep at this moment, “It wouldn’t hurt if I just closed my eyes for just a couple minutes.” Y/n thought. Oh, she was wrong though.

“Alright! We are going take a short break since we need to get our new textbooks,” Present Mic’s voice rang through her ears with all his elongation and passion, “Y/n and Todoroki! What about you two go get the books from the library!” Y/n would have jolted at the mention of her face, but she was honestly too tired to do so.

She nodded her head, got up from her desk, and looked at Koda if he was going to follow her. Of course, he perked up at the mention of her name and was going with her. A small smile was now on Y/n’s lips. Y/n was glad that she knew she can depend on Koda, always in her corner.

As she pushed her chair away from her desk, getting up and walking towards the door, she didn’t realize that most of the class was either looking at her or the half and half boy, for he had to endure the trip with the enigma that is Y/n.

The class just doesn’t know Y/n that well. She was one of the new students this year, along with Shinso. However, they at least knew of Shinso from last year. Y/n was a brand-spanking new addition to the class. Not to mention, her introduction to the class was nothing short of intimidating.

Aizawa knew Y/n had a lot of strengths. In fact, he used her skills as a type of learning lesson for the class. Not to mention, he completely singled her out during the “lesson” as he instructed the class that Y/n will have a bell that is tied around her belt. All they had to do was get the bell. Y/n, being the competitive person she was, didn’t back down at this challenge. Safe to say, no one was able to get the bell that day.

Y/n sighed at the memory. “Maybe, if you had some chill, you would be able to get a friend, Y/n” a voice in her head said, causing Y/n’s shoulders to shrink and her hands to be stuffed into her pockets. (Yes, she has pockets with her uniform. Yes, she’s still wearing the school uniform skirt. She sowed pockets into them for this very habit.)

“Uh, hey wait up.” a deeper voice called, already identifying who it is.

Y/n turned to right, looking at Koda for a brief second. From far away, one would think he was just grimacing, but as Y/n was closer, she can see he was very close to full-on growling at the sound of his voice.

Koda doesn’t really like Todoroki and Y/n always found it funny. Koda found everyone else real entertaining. As much as Koda was a wolf, he really was a people’s person. If Y/n didn’t know any better, it seemed Koda had a better relationship with her classmates than she actually did.

Y/n adopted a tired smile as she reacted to Koda’s growling at Shoto. She then looked behind her, seeing Todoroki jog lightly towards her. Her small smile soon faded away.

“Even if you try again to be a friend, you know that people will always end up fearing you.” Y/n honestly wanted to bang her head against a wall because this annoying voice was truly the bane of her existence.

Y/n stopped in her tracks. Koda made eye-contact with her, almost telepathically asking her, “Why are you stopping for him?!”.

“I may be aloof, but I have to at least be polite.” Y/n told her wolf companion. Koda only let out a breathe of frustration as he also stopped as well.

Todoroki soon caught up to the duo and was on Y/n’s left side. And the three began their trek to the school library.

There was some silence.

For Todoroki, it was so awkward. “Why don’t you say something to her?” he asks himself, “Or are you going to let another opportunity slip?”

You see, Shoto Todoroki admired Y/n. She was incredibly skilled with her quirk. She was confident, but not arrogant. She was an innovator, while still accepting old principles. She was naturally smart, but always open to learning. To him, she was so balanced. He couldn’t help himself as the admiration started to soon feel like a crush on the dark haired girl.

For Y/n, she didn’t think anything of the silence. In fact, she was grateful for the silence. More silence, means less time for talking. Less chance of Y/n making a fool out of herself.

“You seem more tired than usual. Trained a lot yesterday, I presume?” And Todoroki broke the silence that Y/n was trying to insist.

“Yeah, trying out a new technique with my water.”

Y/n was surprised.

She really could have been more blunt with her answer.

Theoretically, all she really had to respond with was a “yeah”, but she decided to add that last part.

Why? Why did she feel inclined to go into more detail? Now, Y/n was confused.

“That’s cool.” Todoroki wanted to hit himself in the head. “That’s all you got to say? What a conversation this is” Shoto mentally sighs. He feels like his heart is going to burst at how fast its going.

“I’m actually trying to freeze it, but that turns out to be harder than expected,” Y/n almost slapped her hand on her mouth.

Why is she going into more detail? This doesn’t make sense. She’s been quite blunt lately when people try to talk to her, so what gives?

Is it Todoroki, himself? “Maybe he put a spell on me or something.” Y/n didn’t think the “icy-hot bastard” would dabble in witchcraft, but things were just not adding up in Y/n’s mind. All these thoughts woke Y/n right up, ridding herself of her tiredness.

As for Todoroki, his mind was going into overdrive. “She’s having trouble with freezing water? She must know that this is my specialty. Is this her way of spending time with me? Does this mean the feelings I have for her are mutual? Perhaps, we can train together and I can help her with freezing.” The mere thought of spending time with Y/n outside of class made his cheeks warm up.

He was an absolute love-struck fool for Y/n.

“Oh, we’re here.” Y/n stated the obvious as they stand in front of the school’s library, halting Shoto’s mental mumbling, which almost resembled one of Midoryia’s ever-present babbling.

Shoto Todoroki immediately shot his arm forward to open the door for Y/n, but Y/n was thinking the same thing and they reached for the same handle.

Their hands touch.

And Todoroki thinks he can die happy now. Y/n’s hand is so soft. Much to his dismay, Y/n immediately drew her hand back as if his hand was scalding hot water.

Y/n mumbled a quick “sorry” and places her hand on the other handle as there are two doors to the library, she opens it and immediately walks through it as Koda follows in tow. Koda dawns an absolute confused look as he didn’t know what the hell that interaction was about.

The actual task of getting the books aren’t that hard. In fact, it was an easy and quick task.

So, why is this causing Y/n’s mind and heart feeling like they are overheating.

As they walk back to the classroom with stacks of textbooks, Y/n thought, “Okay, there’s no way in hell that he will try to talk to me again, especially after that awkward incident. Now, let’s breakdown why the actual hell you acted that way, Y/n.” She mentally scolded herself like she was a child.

Todoroki, as always, had a different plan and decided to continue the conversation, “You know, if you need help with freezing water, I can always help you since that is part of my quirk.”

Y/n has officially short-circuited.

He is voluntarily asking? Voluntarily. Asking?

Asking if Y/n wanted to train together?

This has never happened before, and she doesn’t know how to respond. “I would like that. I typically train in the morning and sometimes after school” is what Y/n felt like saying. It is as if her mind and mouth were working against each other.

However, Y/n’s thoughts were cut short as she heard the chatter of some of her fellow classmates. They three of them were very close to their classroom as their door to the room was wide open.

“Hey guys, if we’re having a movie night tonight, do you think we should invite Y/n?”

It was Midoryia who asked the question. Y/n, Shoto, and Koda stopped dead in their tracks at the mention of her name. Shoto and Koda looked at Y/n with a worried expression. For her own good, she probably shouldn’t be listening, but she couldn’t help but be curious of her classmates’ plan in regards to her.

“It’s not that we don’t want her there. It’s just that, who is up for asking her?”

Silence. No one responded to the question.

Koda notices how Y/n’s grip on the textbooks tightened. Shoto noticed how your head was now titled downward, hiding your face.

“She’s just so intimidating. And not to mention that training exercise we did when we first met her. She’s sort of scary, to be honest.”

“Scary. You’re scary, Y/n. Terrifying.” She couldn’t help but repeat her classmates’ thought of her. She was just torturing herself at this point. No point in dwelling on first impressions, but as this is affecting her current relationship, or lack thereof, with her classmates, she couldn’t help it.

“Y/n-” Todoroki tries to interject before Y/n gets the wrong idea.

But, it’s too late.

“No, it’s fine. Thanks for the offer though, Todoroki.” Y/n’s words were slow. As much as her brain was going a million miles per hour, her mouth was evidently slower as her breathing was heavier.

She wanted to disappear, or at least get swallowed by the ground. She kept her head down as she strode into the classroom. Her classmates being oblivious to Y/n’s knowledge of what they truly think of her, paying no attention to her.

Shoto was basically frozen in place, next to the door, but he gained composure and walked in the class as well, a couple seconds after. Y/n quickly placed her books on the front desk where Present Mic sat behind of, she sat back in her seat that was in the back of the class.

Y/n watched how Shoto was still standing in front of the classroom as he was stopped by his classmates. Now, they were just chatting, probably talking about the upcoming movie night.

Y/n felt jealousy bubble up inside her. She wished she can chat like how Shoto was effortlessly talking away to his classmates. Or how Midoryia stopped him with such ease to talk about a social event.

Y/n yearned for some friendly interaction. That’s what she wanted when coming to UA.

She wanted to be normal. As normal as she could be. A normal teenager.

“Things don’t always go according to plan, huh?” Y/n pouted and placed her head on her desk and just waited patiently till the school day was over.

Koda worriedly looked at Y/n. “She’s going to want to train after this. And I bet she’s going to push herself harder because of today.” Koda knew Y/n very well. Knew her like the back of his hand, well, paw.

And, Koda was right. Y/n was in gym gamma, completely exhausted. Sweat covered her body as her muscles were screaming at her take a break. Her labored breathe continued as her body was trying its best to keep up.

Y/n was frustrated. “Why? Why am I like this?” she kept repeating like a mantra.

“I want to be normal. Why can’t I be like them?”

“Why?”

“You’re a monster. It’s actually quite simple.”

Y/n threw a punch with her fist encased in water, and it wasn’t until after that punch was thrown, she realized that there was now an evident hole in the thick, solid concrete wall.

Y/n fell to her knees. Koda hurriedly made his way to her, making sure she didn’t do anything too stupid. Once Koda was close, she was doing something unexpected.

She was crying.

Hot streams, cascading down her face. She started to hiccup, her breathing erratic. “A-am I scary to you, Koda?” her voice was so small.

Koda nudged his way in between her legs and nestled his head into her neck. Y/n, full on sobbing now, wraps her arms around Koda and her cries are muffled by his fur. Wailing and self-deprecating questions can be faintly heard from her if anyone were to enter the gym.

A couple minutes passed. Y/n’a breathing returned to a calm rhythm.

“Thanks, Koda. I needed that,” Y/n sniffles, “C’mon let’s go make dinner, I’ll whip you up something special for putting up with me today.” Koda’s tail immediately began to wag at the thought of Y/n’s cooking.

Y/n was an independent person. She likes doing things on her own as much as can. She doesn’t eat the food from the school cafeteria, instead, she opts for making her and Koda’s meals from the kitchen that is provided to them in their dormitory. And indeed, she made a delicious dinner for both of them.

Now, the hard part. Because of how long her training took, showering, and making dinner, Y/n knew that her classmates were in the common space already, probably preparing to have their movie night. And, she had to pass them. It was a short distance, short walk, Y/n was trying to reassure herself. Just walk straight towards to the elevator and you’re safe.

Y/n takes a deep breathe and walks out of the kitchen. The chatter of her classmates emerges to her ears, but as she walks towards the elevator, the chatter dies down.

“Oh no.” Y/n’s eyes widened in fear. “Way to go on ruining the mood, Y/n.”

Thankfully, the elevator was quick and the doors slide open, making an easy escape for Y/n and Koda. She let out a breathe she didn’t even realize she was holding in as the doors slid shut. Y/n looks at Koda, who was already looking at her, “It’s better this way, anyway” Y/n didn’t know if she was telling Koda that, or herself.

On the other side of the elevator’s doors, her classmates collectively let out a sigh, “Well that was another chance we wasted.” Kaminari was the first to break the awkward silence.

“Tch. Like any of you have the guts to actually ask her.” Bakugo chimed in.

“Oh please, Bakugo, I know she intimidates you, too.” Mina fired back.

“Whatever.”

“She heard you guys.” Todoroki suddenly talked. Everyone casted their attention to him, “Earlier today, I mean. She heard you guys when you were talking about inviting her to movie night.”

The once light-hearted atmosphere in the room was now tilted with guilt.

“She heard all that?” Midoryia incredulously asked, only imagining what you would be feeling because of their words.

“She must feel terrible.” Ochaco openly voiced her thoughts.

“She probably hates us.” Kirishima adds in.

“She means well, I promise. I think we just need to give her a chance.” Todoroki tries to reason with his classmates.

“First, we need to apologize.” Midoryia proposes as he looks among his classmates. His classmates collectively nod their heads in agreement

“You’re right. Well, good luck Midoryia.” Kaminari pats his back as encouragement. Everyone else either gives an encouraging smile or a thumbs up.

“Ha?! What?! You guys already decided that I’m going to be the one to apologize?” Izuku was flailing his arm around and was checking everyone else’s reaction.

“Well, yes. It’s your idea and you are one of the most apologetic people here.” Iida explained to an overthinking Midoryia.

After regaining composure, he realized that this was probably the best option, “Okay, I’ll, I’ll go now.”

Midoryia makes his way to Y/n’s dorm room. He was nervous. He only had very limited interactions with Y/n. So, he really didn’t know what to expect. Before he knew it, he was before your door.

On the other side, Y/n was chowing down on her food. She took a swig of her water, “So, how’s the food? I tried a new technique on roasting the veggies.” Y/n babbled on for a bit, but she realized that Koda’s plate was hardly touched. Her gaze landed on Koda who was sitting on her bed with a very obvious frown, staring at the door. Y/n immediately knew why.

“Hey, if you wanna go hangout with them, I can push the buttons on the elevator for you-”

Koda was irritated at how difficult Y/n was being, she can just ask them if she can join. It was simple. Koda used his mouth to latch on to Y/n’s sleeve and started to drag her to her dorm’s door.

“H-hey Koda! Not cool, man! You know, I can’t go down there.” Y/n tugs her sleeve away from Koda.

Koda turned to his last resort. He did his signature pout.

“Oh, please. You know that stopped working on me awhile ago. Besides, we can have our own movie night, right?” Y/n tried to reason, but her reasoning just felt sad.

Before Y/n could step away from her dorm’s door, she heard a knock. The two quickly tuned their heads at the door as if something miraculous just happened.

Y/n took one step toward the door.

“It’s Midoryia.” Koda began to wag his tail, “don’t get your hopes up too quickly.”

Y/n opened the door only a slit for her head to poke out, “Oh, hi Midoryia. Is something wrong?” she asks.

“U-um, no nothings wrong.” he responds as nerves start to take over and he doesn’t continue on.

“Okay.” With that, Y/n closed her door. Koda wanted to scratch his eyes out. This was her chance! For someone who was the top student in her class, she was so stupid. “He didn’t want anything. Sorry to disappoint, Koda-” another knock interrupted her.

She looked at the door, “It’s still Midoryia.” Koda rolled his eyes.

Y/n went to to open the door, again, only opening a bit, “Yes, Midoryia? You sure something isn’t wrong?”

“Uh, well I was wondering if we can talk for a bit.”

“Oh, yeah sure.” Y/n stepped out of her door, and shutting it.

However, Koda was right on her trail, but was shut out by the now closed door. He pouts at the door. And how holds his ear to the door, interested in the conversation that has yet to come.

“So, what’s up?” Y/n asked the green-haired boy.

“I, we, as a class, wanted to apologize for our words today.” Midoryia spoke in a remorseful and quiet tone.

Y/n was taken back. “So, they know that I heard what they were saying? Must have been Todoroki’s doing.”

“Look, it’s fine. I know I’m intimidating-“

“But it’s not fine. We shouldn’t have treated or talked about you that way.”

Y/n was stunned at his words. He took that as a sign to continue, “and we were hoping, if you’d be okay if we start over and become friends.”

Y/n remained cautious with her walls, “You know, friendship isn’t really a perquisite for this course.”

“Of course, I know that. We all do, but it doesn’t hurt to have them, right?”

Y/n felt like tearing up. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to put her trust in that last statement of his.

“I’ll be be down in 5 minutes,” Y/n stated rather blandly, but it didn’t matter to Midoryia.

“Great! See ya!” He waved and started to head back to the elevator, before he pressed the button, Y/n called him once more,

“Midoryia?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.” and nods his head. He couldn’t be more thrilled that this will all work out.

As for Y/n, she opened her door to her dorm, and closing it as she stepped inside.

As soon as she was in the comfort of her own room, she broke into her happy dance. Her fists clenched, eyes shut, shoulders scrunched, jumping in the air, squeals make their way pass her lips, with the biggest smile on her face

Koda felt a wave of relief of wash over him. He was glad that she was finally experiencing acceptance.

After the moment passes, Y/n sighs and looks at Koda, ruffling his fur on the top of his head.

“Well, shall we?” Y/n said in an extravagant manner as she opened her door and bowed.

Koda, playing along, held his head high and strutted out. Y/n let out a light-hearted laugh and they made their way down, together.

Once Y/n actually made it to the common room, all of her classmates were looking at her, stopping their conversations as well. The confidence that Y/n help was long gone, feeling now awkward yet again.

However, the silence didn’t last too long as the class enveloped her in boisterous apologies, hugs, and pats on the back.

To say Y/n was overwhelmed was understatement. She had never been around these many people, giving attention towards her. It was new territory she had yet to cross.

“Guys, you should probably let her breathe.”

That was Todoroki. Y/n pried her eyes away from Mina who was asking what conditioner she uses, and looked at Shoto. Y/n mouthed a “thank you” and he simply nodded.

The class went back to their seats, muttering apologies again for getting in her personal space.

Now, Y/n faced yet another problem:

Where is she going to sit?!

She kept standing where she stood for a good couple seconds, scanning the area for any good spots.

However, there was actually only one spot open. And, it just happen to be next to Todoroki.

Y/n mentally prepared herself and started her path towards him. Of course, Shoto knew this. He was the one who made sure he saved a seat right next to him just for this occasion.

But things don’t always go according to plan, right?

Rightly so, right before Y/n could take the unaccompanied seat, Denki was coming back from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn, plopping right down on the seat.

“Oh, hey Y/n! I’m glad you made it! You want some popcorn?”

“No, I’m good, thanks though.” Y/n was able to play it off as she chose to sit on the floor in front of the couch, which coincidentally was in front of the seat that Shoto resided.

Shoto was irritated. He wanted you to sit next to him. For crying out loud, that was the whole reason he had this seat open in the first place. All he does is sigh, catching Y/n’s attention.

Y/n turns back to Todoroki, sending a small smile his way, but then turning back to the screen as her fellow classmates were arguing on what to watch.

Y/n put her hand to her chest. This is weird. Why is her heart rate so high? She’s not usually like this. Maybe Todoroki did cast a spell on her.

Y/n couldn’t think about it too much as the movie began playing.

#bnha shoto #todoroki shoto #shoto todoroki x reader #midoriya izuku #mha x you #mha x reader #shoto todoroki x y/n #mha angst #bnha imagines

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momsopposed2theoccult · 3 years ago

Text

Not Alone

So I wrote a thing. It’s Tokka-ish but could be interpreted as romantic or platonic. I’m currently waiting on an Ao3 invite so I’ll probably post it on there as well once I receive my invite, but for now I figured I would post it on here because I’m excited to share it with you all! Oh and here’s a friendly reminder that Post Plus is bullshit and you will never, ever have to pay to read my writing. Writing is something I do for fun, and I post it on Tumblr because I want other people who love these characters as much as I do to be able to share that experience with me. Not to mention that I’m not looking to get sued by Nickelodeon.

The first time that Sokka noticed there was something wrong with Toph, she had been six months pregnant.

The two of them were lounging around her living room, Sokka stretched out across the couch with his left arm dangling off the side and Toph relaxing in an oversized armchair, her swollen feet perched on the ottoman in front of her and one hand resting on her rounded stomach. It was an unusually hot summer’s day, and the two old friends had happily retreated into the sweet relief of Toph’s newly installed air conditioning.

“Sokka, do you think I’ll be an okay mother?”

Sokka was taken aback by his friend’s blunt question.

“Well, just as long as you pay better attention to the kid than you did to Appa, I think you’ll be golden,” he joked, reflecting back briefly on the memory from their war days.

The then-tiny girl had tried with all her might to prevent Wan Shi Tong’s library from collapsing under the weight of Sokka’s own impulsive curiosity, all while trying to rescue their beloved sky bison from his captors. He would never forget the look on her face after it happened, nor would he forget the months she spent perfecting her sandbending afterwards, determined that she would never make such a mistake again.

Perhaps that had been the wrong thing to say.

Toph’s eyebrows scrunched together in a look of concern as she rubbed absentminded circles on the curve of her stomach with a flat palm.

“Sokka, I’m serious. Do you think I’ll be an okay mother?,” she repeated, some anxiety creeping into her voice.

“Well, yeah. Sure. Why wouldn’t you be?,” Sokka replied, although he couldn’t ignore the uncertainty in his own voice as he attempted to soothe his best friend’s anxieties surrounding the tiny life growing inside of her.

Toph exhibited many admirable qualities, but she wasn’t exactly nurturing. He couldn’t help but recall all the plants she had failed to keep alive over the years, or the way Katara was constantly scolding her for swearing in front of Bumi and Kya, or the way she tensed up around babies, as if she were afraid she might break them.

Toph sighed, blowing her sweaty bangs out of her face.

“I don’t know, I’m just… not great with babies. I never know what to do with them, y’know? They’re just so tiny, I always feel like I’m gonna break them in half or something equally barbaric.”

“No, no, I’m sure you won’t-,” Sokka began to reply, but Toph had not yet finished lamenting.

“And most kids get to have their dad there, but, y’know, any hope this kid has of ever meeting that lousy excuse for a man is long gone,” she huffed angrily.

“Daddy’s an asshole, isn’t he! Just a big ‘ole deadbeat loser!,” she said in a mocking babyish tone, giving her swollen belly a little pat.

Sokka rolled his eyes at his friend’s dramatics, but he couldn’t help agreeing.

The guy’s name was Kanto. He had been a bartender at one of Sokka and Toph’s mutual favourite dives, and an okay enough guy depending on who you asked, but as far as Sokka was concerned, he was the scum of Toph’s beloved earth.

The two of them had been getting a drink together like they always did on Friday nights, when Toph had caught the bartender’s eye. And honestly, Sokka couldn’t blame him. He certainly couldn’t deny that she was no longer the grubby twelve year old he had met all those years ago. He wasn’t going to pretend like he didn’t notice the curve of her hips or the way her tank top rode up her waist exposing a sliver of stomach. And he couldn’t ignore the way that other men checked her out nor how weird he felt about it when they did. Kanto had been one of those men. After a round of free drinks and a disgusting amount of quite frankly obnoxious eyebrow waggling, Kanto had somehow convinced Toph to come home with him, much to Sokka’s disdain. The rest was history.

The two of them had been an item for a couple of months. Toph claimed that she was happy with him, but Sokka didn’t need his friend’s talents as a human polygraph machine to figure out that she was lying.

He wasn’t all bad, he really wasn’t. He never laid a hand on her or anything like that. But Sokka couldn’t help noticing the subtle comments he made about her weight or her outfit or how she spoke just a little louder than he thought a woman should, nor could he miss all the changes she made to her beautiful, wonderful, perfect self just to fit his mold.

Sokka hated that Toph’s signature confidence could crumble so easily under the will of a man like that. It made his blood boil.

Toph began to fall apart when he finally left. Then when she found out that she was pregnant, she broke, and Sokka had been there to help pick up the pieces.

So yeah, not exactly Sokka’s favourite guy.

“You know you don’t need him, right?” He assured her.

“Yeah, yeah. I know,” she replied, brushing him off with a faint smile that she didn’t quite put her heart into.

Picking up on his friend’s feeble attempt to mask her obvious worry, Sokka got up from the couch and walked over to where Toph was sitting. He placed one hand firmly in hers and the other gingerly on her stomach.

“Toph, you’re the strongest person I know. Believe me when I say that if anybody can do this on their own, you can. But you won’t have to do it alone, because I’m going to be here for you every step of the way. Do you understand me?” He assured her.

She nodded in reply.

“Yeah, I understand. And thank you.”

But he could tell she didn’t really believe it.

____________

The second time that Sokka noticed something was wrong with Toph had been two weeks after Lin’s birth. Four old friends had gathered on Air Temple Island for a belated celebration of the new mother and child. Aang had cooked noodles, one of Toph’s favourites, but Sokka couldn’t help noticing that the latter had hardly touched hers.

“What’s wrong, Toph? Normally you gobble this stuff up in under five minutes,” Aang asked, voicing Sokka’s thoughts exactly.

The earthbender continued to absentmindedly twirl a piece of noodle around her chopstick, never bringing it to her mouth.

“I’m fine. Just not that hungry,” she assured them.

Sokka caught Aang’s eye and they shared a skeptical look. Katara looked at Toph with concern and a vague familiarity, as if something had suddenly dawned on her.

“You know, if something’s bothering you, you can always talk to us about it, right? I know that this is a new experience for you, and I understand if you’re feeling a little lost-,” Katara started, but was cut off by her friend’s inevitable defensive reaction.

“Oh, so you think this has to do with Lin? You think there’s something wrong with me? You think I’m not fit to be a mother? Well guess what? Lin and I are doing just fine on our own!,” Toph yelled in response to her friend’s gentle attempt to help her.

“Toph, I don’t think that’s what she meant. What she was trying to say is that being a new parent is stressful enough as it is, and I can’t imagine having to do it alone. We’re here for you if you need our help or advice,” Aang tried to reason with his angry friend, but to no avail.

“You know what, Aang? You can take your ‘advice’ and shove it up your ass. I don’t need your help, I don’t need anybody’s help. I’m a great mother!,” she shot back in response.

Sokka sighed. There was no reasoning with Toph when she got like this. Her fits of defensiveness and anger usually masked deeper fears and insecurities that could be difficult, nearing impossible to coax out of her at first. It was usually best to give her time to herself to blow off some steam, and only then could she be convinced to admit the truth about what was bothering her.

“I’m gonna go take a nap. That is, unless Sokka here has some unsolicited advice for me too,” she voiced in a warning tone implying that if Sokka did happen to have any comments to make, he better keep his mouth shut about them.

Sokka threw up his hands defensively.

“No, no, by all means, go take a nap.”

“Great, at least one of my friends doesn’t fancy himself a shrink.”

Toph stormed off in a huff to the guest bedroom, and although her fit of anger concerned him, Sokka was glad to see her getting some much-needed rest. The dark circles under her clouded eyes implying sleepless nights as of late hadn’t escaped him.

“What was that all about?,” Aang wondered aloud. “I’ve never seen her get that angry over nothing. We were just asking if she was okay.”

“I dunno. She hasn’t really been herself recently, has she?,” Sokka replied.

“I mean, she called me Aang. Just Aang. She only does that when she’s really upset.”

“Well, it is your name,” Sokka reminded him, although he too couldn’t help noting with concern that Toph had neglected to make use of her favourite choice nickname for their airbending friend.

“You know, right after I had Bumi I didn’t feel like myself either,” Katara shared. “It was like, before that moment, all I had to take care of was me. But then all of a sudden there was this tiny little human being who relied on me to survive, and I wasn’t sure if I could do it. I felt like my heart was walking around outside my body, and if I made even the slightest mistake I would destroy it forever. I doubted myself a lot. Everything was just so new and overwhelming, and some days I didn’t even want to get out of bed.”

“So you’re saying that you’re pretty sure that’s how Toph feels about Lin?,” Sokka asked tentatively as realization dawned on him.

Katara nodded.

“I do. Sokka, I think you should be the one to talk to her. She always listens to you. I’m not sure how you do it,” Katara remarked.

Sokka couldn’t deny the truth of the statement. In their twenty years of friendship, he and Toph had sought comfort in each other’s presence countless times. They had a mutual understanding that the other members of their group had often tried to imitate but could never quite replicate. Sokka went to Toph, and Toph went to Sokka. It was an unspoken agreement.

“Don’t worry, I will. I just think we should give her a little time to cool down first.”

“Good idea. You don’t want her to bite your head off,” Aang chimed in with a laugh.

____________

About an hour later, Sokka made the journey down the hallway to the guest bedroom to check on Toph and hopefully coax her out of her mood. He opened up the door to find the room dark and Toph laying on her side on the bed. She was trying to feign sleep, but Sokka could tell she was wide awake. Baby Lin was in her crib whimpering, supposedly for her mother. Sokka picked her up in his arms and rocked her back and forth, cooing softly.

“Here we go, Linny. It’s okay, Uncle Sokka is here.”

The child began to cry. She didn’t want her uncle, she wanted her mom.

“No, no Linny, don’t cry. Shhhh, Mama’s right here, see?”

Sokka carried Lin over to the bed where Toph was lying and tried to shake her awake, but was met with Toph’s hand slapping him away and an irritated growl.

“Go away, Sokka.”

“Toph, I just wanna talk,” he tried.

“Don’t you understand the meaning of ‘go away,’ dumbass?” She snarked.

“You’re really going to swear in front of the baby?”

“Great. Now you think I’m a terrible mother too. It’s fine, join the party,” she said in a sarcastic, vaguely accusatory tone, followed by her best attempt at rolling her sightless eyes.

“Toph, nobody is calling you a bad mother. We know you’re perfectly capable of raising Lin on your own. All we’re asking is that you let us help you. You’re not invincible, Toph, despite what you may have led yourself to believe.”

Toph paused, letting Sokka’s comment sink in.

“I- I’m sorry,” she began. “I know I was being kind of a bitc- a jerk back there. And I know you don’t actually believe I’m a bad mother but, but I’m not sure if I believe it. I’m so scared, Sokka. I don’t think I can actually do this alone. I- I know I said I could, but- but I think I was just lying to you, and to myself,” she choked out as tears began to cascade down her face.

Sokka raised his eyebrows in alarm at his toughest friend’s unexpected breakdown. He pulled her close to his chest and began to rub her back.

“No, no, Toph, don’t think that. You can do it, you can. But you don’t have to, because we’re going to be here for you every step of the way. I’m going to be here for you every step of the way. You don’t have to do this alone, you hear me?”

“Yeah- yeah I do. I do hear you,” she replied with newfound confidence, wiping her tears on his shirt. “And- and you know I’m blind, right? Not deaf. Of course I hear you,” she joked with a familiar smirk.

Sokka chuckled, glad to see that he finally had his best friend back. He pulled her closer to his chest and just sat there for a minute, planting a kiss on the top of her head and burying his face in her hair. Their moment of peaceful rest was broken by Lin’s frantic crying.

“It’s alright baby girl, it’s alright. Mama’s here,” Toph assured Lin as she picked her up and cradled her in her arms. As she carried her sleepy child back to her crib for some much-needed rest, whispering to her in soothing tones the entire time, Sokka couldn’t help noticing how at home she looked all of a sudden. How safe and comfortable she was with her baby in her arms.

She was going to be just fine.

#fanfic rec #tokka #nora speaks #nora writes

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agentcalliope · 4 years ago

Note

Azula and Hakoda headcanons post-Azula's healing? *eyes emoji* (I don't mean to make every ask abt Hakoda, but I am trying to be thought-provoking.)

They all offer to come, so she wouldn’t have to do it alone. None of them did it, alone, they say. They all had each other.

She knows that, of course. Aang, Katara and Sokka. Zuko, Toph and Suki. She wasn’t there, for theirs, but they’re all here for hers. Just that is enough. Azula’s been practicing for so long that she’s perfect, and that’s not a lie.

Besides— she won’t be alone, not really.

And so, Hakoda takes Azula ice dodging. The others watch from the shoreline, their figures becoming smaller and smaller until they disappear. It’s just the two of them, Hakoda and Azula, on the cutter sailing ship. The wind whipping at their faces. The sky so, so blue above. Hakoda sits on the deck and sways with the turns and twists as Azula steers, secures the mainsail, and controls the jib. He is calm. She is calm. They both know she is prepared. And when it is over— face red, top knot undone, sweating profusely, breathing heavily, heart pounding, muscles aching— she stands with her shoulders back and head high as Hakoda dips his fingers into black paint and draws it across her forehead. He asks the spirits to bear witness. Azula holds her breath.

She earns the mark of the Trusted.

This? This is not how it began.

Hakoda first hears about Azula through Katara. Knew about her before, of course. The favored heir of Fire Lord Ozai. The prodigy. The weapon. Hakoda holds his daughter close to his chest and squeezes his eyes shut, listening to her breathe Tui and La and she’s alive thank you thank you. Katara tells him about the Agni Kai— Herself. Zuko. Azula. The haunting, agonizing screams. The tears. All Hakoda can think, thanking every spirit out there that Sokka and Katara are alive and okay, is that this girl has tried to kill his children, all these children, over and over again. He cannot forget. He will not forgive.

But she is a child herself, isn’t she? Hakoda sits on the couch, his children leaning against him. Sokka’s on his right and Katara’s on his left. He glances over at Sokka and tucks a strand of hair behind his boy’s ear. Looks over at Katara and watches her eyelids flutter. She murmurs in her sleep and nestles against him. Just children.

Just a child.

Hakoda knows that children are molded and shaped and made by war.

And their mothers.

And their fathers.

Hakoda thinks about Zuko. Fire Lord Zuko. His children whisper when they think he can’t hear. They talk about the Fire Lord. Not Zuko. Zuko keeps visiting him, although it hurts. You can see it in his eyes. I don’t understand. He visits Azula, too. He’s really trying with her. He’s trying so hard.

Dad would never pit us against each other like that. Dad would never hurt us like that.

Here, is a boy with a mark on his face in the shape of a hand. A boy with a sister who was believed to be perfect in every way that he was not. Was loved by their father, when he was not.

Here, is a girl with blue at her fingertips and believed she was perfect and loved until she wasn’t.

And she screamed and cried and broke.

It’s… sad. Hakoda realizes. It’s just. Really, really sad.

He pulls his children closer.

(Hakoda takes Zuko ice dodging. Takes Toph and Suki, too. His children and Aang and Bato and Iroh cheer from the shore, and the smiles on all their faces feels warm enough to melt all the snow and ice in the South Pole.)

(He listens to Katara talk about how Azula apologized to Aang about what happened in Ba Sing Se. Hakoda hears from Sokka that Azula’s living back in the palace, which so far, hasn’t been reduced to ashes. She is trying, they say. She is trying so hard.)

Azula is smaller than he had expected her to be.

Zuko has a hand on her back as he introduces them, and she extends the Flame and bows slightly. Hakoda bows back.

“It’s good to meet you, Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe.” She says.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Princess Azula.” He replies.

She sees Chief Hakoda many times after that. She hasn’t spoken to him since Zuko introduced them, that first time. Why would she? Why would he?

Once, at dinner, Katara jokes with him. No, taunts him. Azula grips the table and waits for his anger and frustration. Instead, he laughs.

Once, Sokka’s losing to Zuko as they practice with blades. Azula stares at Sokka, and then his father. Waits for his displeasure and disappointment. He cups his hands around his mouth, and shouts Go Sokka!

She is learning, and unlearning. This father is... a lesson. He is fascinating.

The man who is chief, who is the father of Katara and Sokka, watches Azula as she practices her katas in the garden. She swallows a biting remark and takes a deep breath, extending her arms and shifting her weight to her front leg. Exhales. Continues on as he leans against a pillar and folds his arms. Slowly, eventually, Azula realizes that she’s okay with this. She doesn’t feel uncomfortable. Or uneasy. It doesn’t feel the way Ozai used to watch her as she flawlessly performed— and she would feel perfect and powerful.

When she finishes, Chief Hakoda waits for her to walk over to him.

She does, and then she, too, waits.

“What do you know about ice dodging?”

She travels to the South Pole with Uncle and the chief.

She’s not sure blue’s a good look on her. It makes her amber eyes look harsh. The people are wary of her, and she understands why. The children hide behind their parents. Of course she understands. The grandmother cooks her food and sews her furs but does so with tight, pressed lips. Of course she understands. It would be hard not to.

Azula spends her days shivering on the ice and sweating on the cutter sailing ship. The chief shouts over the wind, instructing her how to rig the mainsail and steer and no not that! She ducks just in time to avoid the beam of wood. Chief Hakoda is not so lucky. Hand on his stomach, and weezing, Chief Hakoda says it’s okay, Princess, you’re learning. Azula clenches her jaw and forces herself to nod.

She learns, and practices, and practices and learns.

She finds that the Chief is a good teacher.

Slowly, eventually, the children of the tribe giggle when they see her. They aren’t afraid anymore, and beg to see her blue fire and laugh as she tosses it into the air and makes sparks. The people smile and wave as she walks pass. She talks with them, sometimes. Gran-Gran clucks and pinches her cheek, spooning more sea prunes into her bowl. She eats without complaining, nods when Gran-Gran tells her she’s still too skinny. Chief Hakoda becomes Hakoda. Princess Azula becomes Azula.

The cutting sailing ship feels like home beneath her feet.

And honestly, she doesn’t mind wearing blue, so much. Uncle says it compliments her eyes. She knows he’s right.

Hakoda says she’s ready to ice dodge. For real. She knows he’s right, too.

Her brother and his… her… friends come to watch.

They all, even Suki who still has a hard time looking at her (Azula understands, of course), offer to help.

But Azula has a really, really good teacher. And she won’t be alone, not really.

And now, here, Azula stands still and tall as Hakoda draws the paint across her forehead.

She earns the mark of the Trusted.

Azula blinks, makes the Flame with steady, shaking hands, and bows low to ground.

And then, she lets them hug her. Zuko first. Lets him whisper in her ear how proud I’m so proud of you, Azula. And then lets Uncle. He is crying, wiping at his face and holds her close. And then Aang. Katara. Sokka. Toph punches her arm, first, but then hugs her tightly. Suki nods.

Azula meets Hakoda’s eyes, and sees a glimmer of what she always thought she saw in father’s. What she was told was there. What she convinced herself was there. She looks around and sees it in Iroh’s eyes, too.

Azula smiles.

This? This isn’t even the ending. Not even close. This is still the beginning. She is still learning, and unlearning. It will be life long, but spirits Azula’s going to do it.

And she’s not alone.

YE ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE

#azula #hakoda #Zuko #atla #avatar

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