#Aang is quietly listening in

[overtail]

Sick - Sokka x Reader 🔞

🪃💢

Summary: Sokka gets hurt after (Y/N) distracts him during a battle, setting off an argument. They make up in an... unusual way..

Reader Info: Female, Non bender, competitive

Warning: NSFW, Cursing, slight sexism, rough sex, underage, oral, fingering, both subs because they're teens for gods sake

A/N: This is my first time writing smut......

...

(Y/N) sat next to Katara as the light from the campfire reflected onto her face, creating a warm glow against her skin. She picked a piece off of her cod flounder, throwing it in her mouth and chewing quietly.

Aang and Katara were chatting, Toph Joining in every few seconds. They were talking about something aimless -- a conversation they wont remember in a week's time.

The air was uncomfortable, especially with Sokka's glaring. Every so often, (Y/N) would glance across the way, only to see Sokka giving her a nasty side eye.

She was getting tired of it -- she wasn't one to take disrespect like that. Sokka may think that he was some big, strong, scary man, but (Y/N) could make him cower with one yell.

"Right, (Y/N)?"

Katara elbowed her, bringing (Y/N) out of her brooding.

"What?"

She looked to the ground with embarrassment from the lack of listening. Katara isn't one to care, but there was still the shame.

"Oh, me and Aang were just-"

She began, looking down at my slumped over figure. Before she could finish, she was interrupted.

"She's probably thinking about how to sabotage me again."

(Y/N) looked up at Sokka as was barking out the rude comment, rolling his blue eyes. Katara crooked her neck to glance at him too, raising a brow at his remark. (Y/N)'s eyebrows furrowed, head tilting to the side teasingly.

"What did you just say to me Sokka?"

She knew damn well what he said. She just wanted to know if he had the balls to repeat himself. Sokka stood up walking, a bit closer to the log that (Y/N) and Katara were sat.

"I said.."

(Y/N) got up, making her way over to Sokka.

"You're probably thinking about how you're going to sabotage me again."

(Y/N) scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Sabotage you? Why can't you just accept that you suck at fighting?"

She barked back, leaning closer to him. She poked his chest, pushing him back a little bit. (Y/N) looked at the black eye he had gained from the 'sabotage'.

"Oh no, no, no. Do you find joy in my pain?"

Sokka avoided the question, turning his head to the side. (Y/N) shook her head in disbelief, looking at her feet and back up at Sokka again.

She pushed him back, emiling angrily.

"At this point, i really do. Your face looks better with that black eye."

(Y/N) teased, pointing at his purple bruise. Sokka just scoffed, pushing her back. He didn't care one bit that she was a girl -- that was clearly established when she said she was better than him.

"You're just jealous. Jealous you're a horrible person, sick girl who doesn't know how to get better."

(Y/N) was actually taken aback by this, like she was being stabbed in the back by his words. She heard a gasp from Katara, and a light giggle from Toph. (Y/N) grinned. She began to laugh, looking at Katara and to Aang. Sokka looked at her cautiously, watching as she laughed like a crazy person, tears running down her red cheeks.

"Jealous? Me? Jealous of you? I'd have to be the most pathetic person to want to be like you, Sokka."

(Y/N) walked past him, into the wall of trees that was behind him. She kept on laughing, shaking her head in disbelief at the words. She didn't quite know how to feel, but she just wanted to be left alone. To cry and scream in her faraway tent, to drown in her emotions.

But of course, Sokka had to always get the last word in.

She heard his footsteps getting louder and louder as her laughing faded into soft cries, her legs shaking as she tried to get to her tent as fast as possible. She needed to hide away, and she didn't want Sokka out of all people to see her broken heart.

"(Y/N), this isn't over!"

Somka said, grabbing onto her bicep. She ripped her arm from his grasp, avoiding talking to him. Tent. Get to your tent.

"(Y/N)! Come on-"

She tried to ignore his calling as much as she could, reaching out to the entrance of her tent. Before she could unclasp the buttons, she was whipped around, coming face to face -- well, face to chest -- with Sokka.

She looked up to his face, face full of rage. Somka had never seen her like this before, even while fighting the people she hated most.

"What could you possibly need to say that is so important you need to follow me to my fucking tent!"

(Y/N) yelled, her eyes shutting tightly. A few furious tears escaped her glossy eyes, falling onto the dirt in front of her feet.

"You know, you're a real piece of work (Y/N).."

"Guess what? You make me SICK Sokka!"

"Can you just shut up already?"

She scoffed, pushing Sokka once again. He stepped closer to her, reaching behind her neck and bringing her close.

"I'll give you another black eye-"

"Just shut up!"

Before she could react, before she could say the next rude comment, Sokka's warm lips crashed into her's. She didn't even have time to react, only instinctively leaning into his touch.

(Y/N) felt Sokka's hands fall from the tape of her neck to her lower back, bringing their flush bodies together.

She reached up to grab his shoulders, bringing him down so he was pushing against her even more. Before they both ran out of air, Sokka broke the connection, quickly leaning back and his face growing red.

"I'm so sorry (Y/N)-"

(Y/N) reached up, gracing her fingers across her lips in surprise. She wasn't even looking at him, just at her chest rising up and down slowly. She glanced up, watched as Sokka stammered out an apology.

"It's.. It's fine."

She was also red, smiling nervously at his gaze.

"I mean if it wasn't.. i wouldn't have kissed back."

(Y/N) looked to the ground bashfully, which was such a strange sight for Sokka. She was abrasive, aloof, and very strong hearted -- but this, this was different. And he didnt quite know how to feel about it.

Sokka stepped forward slowly, reaching up to place his palm on her face. He brought her chin up, looking to the ground on his left. God, he was nervous. What was he doing?

(Y/N) looked at him, smirking slightly. She was back, and Sokka felt a flutter in his stomach.

This time, the kiss was soft, slow, and tender. It was much more calm, which was good for both of them.

"Do you want to go inside my tent?"

(Y/N) said in a semi whisper, raising both of her brows. Sokka nodded, not quite knowing where this would go. (Y/N) let go of him, turning to unclasp the entrance of the tent behind them. She crouched down, stepping into the flaps and disappearing into the tent. Sokka stood there for a moment, trying to process what was really going on. This was something from his dreams; the nights he stayed up with his hands in his pants, whimpering her name as images flashed through his mind.

Sokka got on his knees, shuffling into the tent. As he glanced into the warmly lit place, he was surprised to see (Y/N) shrugging her shirt off, her shoulder exposed as well as her bra.

"Oh- sorry-"

(Y/N) laughed, turning around to grab his hand before he laughed.

"I'm doing this so you can see, stupid."

Sokka blushed, nodding his head cautiously. He sat on the felt that lined the floor of the tent. Rubbing his hands over the familiar feeling over the cloth, his attention was caught by a cold hand on his shoulder. He looked up, only to see (Y/N) nervously sitting on her knees in front of him in her undergarments.

"Oh.. oh spirits.."

He said, drinking in her body. His eyes glanced over every curve, every perfect imperfection, every freckles and every mole. He smiled, looking at her onxe again before giving her a deep kiss.

The two leaned back onto the make-ship bed, his hands caressing her sides. (Y/N) tugged at his shirt, causing him to break the kiss.

"You okay?"

Sokka didn't really know what he was doing. Hes only kissed a few girls before, like Suki or Yue, even girls back at home, but anything past that was untouched territory.

"You think you should take your clothes off? At least the over clothes."

(Y/N) suggested nervously, smiling softly. Somka let out a quick 'oh yeah', before leaning back and taking his shirt off. He kicked off his boots, taking his pants off. He shuffled his shirt off.

When he looked back down at (Y/N) he saw that she wasn't quite staring at his face, or even his chest. It was just a quick glare, but he knew what she was looking at.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that.."

The painful warmth in his crotch only grew more at the sight of her looking at his erection. She just laughed slightly, rolling her eyes.

"It's a good thing, Sokka."

Sokka smiled, shuffling over to where (Y/N) laid. He dipped down, his lips being placed against hers in an instant. He gripped her waist, dragging her closer to his hips.

The kisses were messy, sloppy with spit and their tongues lapping the sides of each others mouths. Both Sokka and (Y/N) wanted more; no, needed more.

"Sokka, can we try something?"

(Y/N) whispered against his lips, and was only greeted with an eager nod. She grabbed one of his hands that was on her waist, bringing it over to her crotch. He placed it on her underwear, not quite knowing what to do.

She grabbed the side of her panties, moving it to the side to expose her. Sokka's eyes widened at the sight, it being the opposite of what he expected. He looked over the folds, the bud at the top, and of course, the inviting entrance. She swallowed hard, trying to focus on the task at hand.

"Okay so.."

(Y/N) grabbed his hand, making a fist with his fingers. She grabbed his ring finger, showing it to him.

"You want to put this in there."

She gestures to her hole, which was wet with her slick.

"O-okay."

Sokka stuttered out. (Y/N) let go of his hand, and he took a deep breath. The tip of his finger grazed the entrance, before quickly delving into her. He eyes widened, thighs almost closing at the intrusion.

"So, you're gonna want to curl-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Sokka curled his finger, his long digit reaching the right spot. (Y/N) let out an unexpected moan, slapping her hand over her face. Sokka grew harder at the sight, and then did it again. She was more quiet this time, but the sound still made him feel amazing. After a few minutes, she was a squealing mess. Without asking, Sokka added his middle finger, causing (Y/N) to moan aggressively.

The sound was amazing, like something you could listen to over and over again and never get tired of it. He repeated the motions, eliciting groans from her sweet mouth.

(Y/N) began to grow aware of Sokka's painful erection, and no matter how good this felt, she knew this would feel better. She grabbed his wrist, which woke him up from his trance.

"Do you want to.."

She said, looking at his member. Sokka blushed, nodding quickly. He removed his fingers from her, glancing up before grabbing the band of his boxers. He slipped them off, and felt the relief of the cold air on him.

(Y/N) was staring. Staring hard. Was he too small? Did he not look right? Was there something wrong?

"Holy.."

Sokka had a good 6 inches on him, which was great for a teenager. (Y/N) was pulsing at the sight of him, her slick dripping down her ass.

"Okay, so.."

(Y/N) sat up, moving so she was on her hands and knees and her ass was facing Sokka.

"I think this is how you do it."

Sokka nodded. This was the most quiet shes ever heard him be, a whole new side of the boy.

He shuffled forward, grabbing his dick with his hand and lining himself up with her.

"Now, don't put it in my- augh!'

Her sentence was interrupted with a moan as he shoved himself in aggressively. He whimpered audibly, not used to the new feeling.

"Oh my spirits.."

He groaned, pulling himself out before sliding back in. (Y/N) moaned again, gripping the felts beneath her hands. Sokka repeated the motion, speeding up every time. Soon, you could hear the sound of skin slapping against skin, (Y/N) letting out small 'ah, ah, ah's. Sokka was letting a stream of curses fall from his lips, a familiar knot in his stomach forming.

"(Y/N).."

He moaned, grabbing onto her soft waist.

"I need to tell you- AUGH- something.."

(Y/N) tightened around Sokka, which only made his growing orgasm arrive sooner.

"You can be rude to me- ah- later!"

She said in a strained voice. Everything felt so otherworldly, like they were the only teeo people in the universe.

"Not that."

He said with a grunt, his hands tracing over her ass as he grinded harder and harder.

"Im-"

He began but realized he was about to cum. He jolted forward, trying to hold it back. That single movement pushed (Y/N) over the edge, shaking and moaning with her orgasm.

"I'm in love with-"

As the words slipped out, so did his arrival. She grabbed her waist tight, enough to bruise, and pushed into her.

"-youaughhh.."

His words were mixed with moans, his white liquid coating the inside of her. He pulled himself out, and saw his cum dripping from her pussy. He asshole was pulsating, her legs quivering, and her waist had tiny fingerprints from his grasp.

(Y/N) flopped down onto her bed, not caring about cleaning up. On the other hand, Sokka was trying to grab a hand towel as fast as he could. He reached over, softly wiping the white liquid from her and her bed. She sighed, rolling over onto her back. Sokka tossed the towel to the side, looking at her panting body from above.

"I'm not a virgin anymore."

He spat out with a toothy grin, making her roll her eyes.

"We're on the same page here."

...

EXTRA!!

Katara rubbed her eyes, stepping out of her tent and into the bright morning light. She had gotten absolutely no sleep last night. Unlike Toph and Aang who could sleep through a tornado, she was kept up all night by (Y/N) and Sokka's 'make up sex'.

She glanced over to the campfire, which occupied Sokka roasted a frog. She stomped over, punching him right in the jaw so he fell over on his side.

"What was that for?"

He asked, looking at Katara like she was insane.

"For keeping me up all night! You deserve two black eyes you little-"

Sokka scrambled up, running into the forest as Katara ran after him.

[nickeverdeen]

The ATLA gaang reacting to reader having a nightmare

Request: “Hello!

I was wondering if you could do an imagine (kidna like the bug one) on how the Gaang would react to gn reader having nightmares. Have a lovely evening,

- V”

Requested by: @verybadatwriting

(The person meant preferences so you wouldn’t get confused)

Aang

Aang sits quietly beside you, offering silent support during your nightmares

Aang wraps you in a gentle embrace, providing a sense of security and comfort

He listens attentively as you share your nightmares, offering empathy and understanding

Whispers words of reassurance, reminding you that you are safe and loved

Guides you through calming breaths to help ease your racing heart

Aang strokes your hair or rubs your back, offering physical comfort

Suggests simple activities like stargazing or cloud-watching to shift your focus away from your nightmares

He establishes comforting bedtime routines, like reading a favorite book or sharing a cup of tea

Praises your courage and resilience, highlighting your inner strength

Aang expresses his love for you, promising unwavering support through your struggles

He ensures the bedroom is a peaceful sanctuary, free from distractions or triggers

Aang gently suggests seeking professional help or trying relaxation techniques to manage nightmares

(The professional help would be Katara, though)

Shows patience and understanding, earning your trust over time

Reminds you that you are not alone, standing by your side through the darkest nights

“I’m here for you. You’re safe with me. You’re not alone in this. I’m right here beside you, Y/N”

Zuko

Zuko wakes up immediately upon sensing your distress, his instincts kicking in to soothe you

He pulls you close, wrapping his arms protectively around you and whispering reassurances

Zuko gently strokes your hair or back, offering comfort through his touch

Listens attentively if you want to talk about your nightmare, offering understanding and empathy

Just like Aang Zuko suggests techniques like deep breathing or visualization to help calm your racing thoughts

He stays awake for a while after the nightmare, keeping a watchful eye on you to ensure you feel safe

He shares stories from his own past struggles and how he overcame them, offering hope and encouragement

He offers to stay up with you until you’ll fall back asleep, providing a sense of security

Zuko surprises you with your favorite comforting food or drink to help them relax

He makes a mental note to be extra attentive to your emotional well-being in the days following the nightmare, showing them extra affection and support

Zuko softly sings or hums a calming tune to help lull you back to sleep

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe now, I’m right here. I’m here to protect you, always. You don’t have to face this alone.”

Sokka

Sokka suggests having a late-night snack together, whipping up some of his favorite comfort foods like savory meat pies or sweet fruit tarts to help lift your spirits

He offers to tell you a humorous story or joke to help lighten the mood

And to distract you from your troubling thoughts, using his quick wit and playful humor to bring a smile to your face

Sokka suggests going for a moonlit walk together, strolling along the beach or through the quiet streets of their village as they share stories and enjoy each other’s company under the night sky

He encourages you to express your feelings through creative writing

Or journaling providing you with a safe outlet to process your emotions and reflect on your experiences

Sokka suggests practicing some basic self-defense techniques together

Just teaching you simple moves and strategies to help you feel empowered and capable of protecting yourself

He offers to build a makeshift fort with you using blankets and pillows

And that creates a cozy and comforting space where they can relax and feel safe from their nightmares

He suggests engaging in a friendly competition or game together

It can be a board game, card game, or sparring match, to help distract you and boost your mood with some lighthearted fun

Sokka uses his storytelling skills to craft an original bedtime tale for you, weaving together elements of adventure, humor, and inspiration to captivate your imagination and ease your troubled mind

He ends the night by simply being there for you, offering you a reassuring hug or comforting presence as you drift off to sleep, knowing that you are not alone and that he will always be there to support you

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe here with me. It was just a bad dream.”

Katara

When you have a nightmare, Katara would immediately notice your distress and offer her support

She’s the group’s mom so she’s kidna used to it

Plus she had tons of nightmares when Aang almost died numerous times

And later when he did…

Anyway

Katara would sit beside you, gently placing a hand on your shoulder or back to offer comfort and reassurance

She would encourage you to share your feelings and thoughts about the nightmare

Assures you that you can trust her with your emotions

Katara would offer words of reassurance, reminding you that you are safe and that the nightmare was not real

She might suggest calming techniques

Like deep breathing or visualization to help you relax and ease your anxiety

Katara would offer physical comfort by hugging you if you’re comfortable with it

And providing a sense of warmth and safety

She might create a soothing atmosphere by dimming the lights, playing soft music, or offering a warm cup of tea to help you relax

Katara would offer affirmations to help you feel empowered and supported

Remindes you of your strength and resilience

Katara would stay with you until you feel calm and ready to go back to sleep

She’s ensuring that you don’t have to face your fears alone

In the morning, Katara would encourage you to engage in self-care activities that help you feel grounded and at peace after experiencing a nightmare

Throughout the day, Katara would check in on you to see how you’re feeling and offer continued support and encouragement

“I know it can be scary, but nightmares aren’t real. You’re strong enough to overcome them. I’m here for you. You don’t have to face this alone.”

Toph

Toph’s first instinct might be to offer some tough love

Like telling you to toughen up and not let the nightmare get to you

Toph might offer practical advice

Suggesting techniques like grounding exercises or focusing on your breathing to calm down

Despite her tough exterior, Toph is fiercely protective of her friends

She might offer to stay with you until you fall asleep again, ensuring you feel safe

Toph is known for her blunt honesty

So she might reassure you that nightmares are just tricks of the mind and not something to be afraid of

Toph might suggest distracting activities to take your mind off the nightmare

Like practicing bending moves or sharing stories of past adventures

Toph might share her own experiences with nightmares

Just letting you know that you’re not alone and that everyone struggles with bad dreams sometimes

Toph often uses humor to lighten the mood

So she might crack a joke or make a sarcastic comment to help you feel better

Despite her tough exterior, Toph can also be surprisingly gentle when it comes to comforting others

She might offer a reassuring pat on the back or a comforting hug if you are open to it

Toph might use her unique perspective as someone who has faced her own challenges to empathize with you and offer understanding and support

Toph’s approach to comforting you might be more straightforward and direct, reflecting her no-nonsense attitude

“Quit your whining. It’s just a stupid dream. Focus on something real. Like the feel of the ground beneath your feet.”

[sokkastyles]

Based on this post by @daily-zutara-prompts

“I just can't believe he'd do that to mom,” Katara huffed, as Zuko poured her a glass of wine. It was a vintage he'd been wanting to try, but he wasn't much of a drinker himself. He didn't like the way wine clouded his judgment and made it harder to stave off the dark thoughts that always hovered on the edges of his subconscious, threatening to drag him down into the depths. But when Katara had come asking for something strong, he'd obliged. He'd never been able to deny her anything.

Zuko poured himself a glass and sat down opposite her, holding the wine up to his nose to get a whiff of the warm Fire Nation spices mixed with the scent of fermented fruits from the isles. “Have you met her?” he asked calmly, with interest.

Katara wiped her eyes and sniffed. “Yes, once or twice,” she took a small sip of the wine, then a larger one. She cleared her throat “But, honestly, I guess I haven't been as…present in the past few weeks. You know, everything with Aang…I haven't been home enough.”

Katara swirled the wine in her glass, then took another long drink.

“It's like I've been afraid to go home.” She looked down, and Zuko could see the shame in her expression, the way she couldn't quite meet his eyes. He tried to will her to meet his gaze, wishing he could fix her sadness, wishing that she would look at him with only that joy and determination that were his favorite things about her. But she had come to him to talk, and he would do his best to listen, to be the support she clearly needed.

“No one blames you for what happened,” he said quietly but firmly, swirling his own glass and watching the dark red legs of the wine trickle down the sides.

Katara looked up, then, setting down her glass. “Oh, come on, Zuko,” she said, the fire that he remembered igniting behind her blue eyes. “The entire Earth Kingdom knows me as the Avatar's ex, the girl he left behind in pursuit of a younger, more ‘enlightened’ partner. The whole world worships the ground he walks on, just like she does. I'm ostrich-horse dung, as far as the world is concerned.”

There was no use in pretending he hadn't heard the rumors, just as she had. He regretted that he hadn't been there for her as much as he had wanted to be, but if he were being honest with himself, it wasn't just his duties as Fire Lord or his friendship with Aang that had kept him from getting involved, then. More like, he was afraid of what he would have done, had Katara chosen to confide in him about her relationship troubles. Of what he very much should not do, of the feelings he had harbored that had only grown over the years. He thought of how often he had imagined Katara coming to him to confess her feelings, to ask him if he felt the same way…

But that hadn't happened, and that wasn't what Katara needed now.

Zuko took another sip of spiced wine.

“I know you're right,” Katara said, her eyes still a bit misty. “And of course I want him to be happy, and of course I know he's been lonely, he's had to be. It's just…weird.”

“No one blames you,” he said again, even though what he really wanted to say was I don't blame you, and what he really meant was I love you. “Talk to your dad. If she makes him happy, then that's a good thing, right? I know it's hard, but it doesn't mean he's replacing your mom.”

“I know,” he said, his hand reaching out and stopping just short of touching hers.

Katara rubbed her forefinger along the rim of her glass. “How'd you deal with it?”

“Well,” Zuko said, “It's not the same, obviously. I don't care if my mom wants to forget about my dad. She'd be better off. Was better off.” Zuko took another long drink. “But I'd be lying if I said I never felt…resentful, when I found out that she had a new family and everything. A whole new life.”

Katara listened in fascination. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Zuko cradled his glass of wine.

“But you and Kiyi get along so well!”

“Yeah,” Zuko said, smiling at the thought of his half-sister. “That's what helped me a lot, at the beginning, knowing that I had this sister I didn't even know about who wouldn't have existed if mom hadn't remarried.”

“And now?”

“Now, I just…” Zuko thought for a minute. The dark shadows were clawing at the edges. Too much wine. But if he was going to drink, it would be with Katara, who he trusted more with himself than he trusted himself. “I think about how different things were back then. And I know they're never going to be the same, even the good parts.” Katara was watching him, taking in his every word. “And I think about how sad my mom was, even when things were good. I didn't know it back then, of course, because I was just a kid. But I'm not a kid anymore. And I'm happy for her happiness, you know?”

He smiled in a way that he hoped was reassuring, although he was a bit stupid from the wine. He didn't know if any of what he was saying made sense, although it did in his head when he had thought of saying it.

“Happy for her happiness,” Katara repeated, thoughtfully. “Yeah. Thanks, Zuko.”

She reached out, then, placing her warm hand over his, and her smile was warm and lovely, and he thought he could be happy for her, too. All he wanted was her happiness. That was all he had ever wanted, even if it was never going to be with him.

[hypnoticsphere]

just some zukki thoughts

Sokka kissing Suki at the boiling rock, melting into her arms, feeling the way she hugs him so close. She’s alive. Of course she is. Suki is strong.

Zuko is standing behind them, shifting awkwardly when Suki notices him. He hasn’t gotten to talk to her… ever really, but especially not after the whole… burning down Kyoshi island thing. Suki raises her brow at Sokka and he just shrugs. Suki just nods, taking that as the only answer she needed regarding Zuko.

Zuko has never been comfortable with touch or proximity. Lu Ten, Uncle Iroh and Mother were the exceptions, but, they’re gone now. So, he should hate it. He should hate that he’s squished in between Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe and Suki of the Kysohi Warriors, two people that hate him, but. . . he doesn’t. They are currently in one of the coolers, one that Zuko himself was in only a few hours ago.

He doesn’t favor the way Sokka’s elbow juts into his ribs, but he doesn’t mind the closeness. It’s almost nice. Almost.

Hakoda is there too, being the entire reason Sokka and Zuko came in the first place. He eyes him intensely, with a look that Zuko can’t quite decipher. He glances between the three of them, seemingly in thought before nodding to himself. Zuko blinks, clearly not understanding what Hakoda’s thought process could be other than planning to throw him into the boiling lake.

He shrinks down further, avoiding the man entirely, willing himself to disappear.

He doesn’t speak for the entirety of their cruise. He listens as Sokka quietly recounts what happened after they escaped for the first time on Appa. He explains why Zuko is here now, how he will be teaching Aang fire bending. Zuko can only nod, not willing to look Hakoda in the eyes.

“And we’re sure we can trust him?” Hakoda says, not unkindly.

Zuko goes to speak, to ramble about how he’s changed, that he spoke out against his father but Sokka beats him to it.

“Of course. He’s the one that helped me rescue you.”

He says it so matter-of-fact that Zuko wants to scream. He feels the way his cheeks start to burn and prays to Agni that it’s only the steam from the lake.

“Okay.” Hakoda says, trusting his son implicitly. Zuko’s mind blanks, eyes widening, how was this so easy for them. How did this trust without a second thought? A part of him wants to yell that they are weak, gullible and the reason they are in this situation in the first place. The other part of him, however, wishes he had that. Hakoda and Suki trust Sokka, not him.

He doesn’t expect them too, not after what he’s done to them, not after what he did to Katara. She was so willing to help him, to heal his scar, and he was so blinded by the thought of getting his father’s love back, he threw away that chance. That chance of friendship. Of trust.

Katara can’t look at him. He can tell Aang is struggling when looking between the two of them. He wouldn’t blame Aang if he told him to leave and to never come back.

Aang is the Avatar, and he’s focused on making the right choice, thinking in-depth about his options and the risks he’s taking. Zuko admires him, truly. He’s come so far since their first meeting at the South Pole. Zuko winces a bit at the thought, and only hopes that they, and Agni, can forgive him. If not that, trust him not to hurt them anymore.

Although, Zuko doesn’t know if that’s an option anymore after what happened with Toph. He hates it. He hates that he was scared when she came to talk to him. He burnt her. She has forgiven him, but Zuko has not forgiven himself. He has to earn that forgiveness, he knows that.

Sokka is the one person that Zuko can’t quite understand. Sokka should be furious with him, and he was, for a while, but now he’s talking to Zuko, showing him useless things, putting his trust into him.

Zuko isn’t sure why the thought of breaking Sokka’s trust makes him so sick to his stomach. Suki too, for that matter.

[jmesther]

I don’t think some people understand that different people react to trauma differently. Zuko reacted to trauma, by out lashing at people. Using his anger to drive him to achieve his goals. Aang didn’t brought up his trauma at all. He set it aside to deal with later. If his trauma didn’t bother him at all, the guru wouldn’t have said what he said. But he said no bro you need to grieve. My mom complains about her trauma, her stress every day lashing out to me and my family. Nobody knew I was suicidal I didn’t complain. I didn’t show my depression. You didn’t hear me complain about the big headache that I had listening to everything that happens in our household. Yet, you complain every single time you have a headache. Every time my mom tells me the story of the day I was born she would always say you came out crying so dramatically. I’ve come to learn how to cry quietly. The only giveaway that I’m crying is that tears are coming out, but otherwise my voice is unwavering and my breathing is even. You can deny what’s on screen for shipping purposes but you can’t deny real life. And in real life, people do with their trauma with their problems differently than others. I don’t know how to emphasize it so you people can understand it.

[wilcze-kudly]

"The comics sure as didn’t help either. In the comics Katara literally sits in a corner while Aang teaches lessons. This girl is a war hero, expert healer, master waterbender and she gets stuck making babies, getting talked down to by White Lotus goons, and quietly hanging out in the South Pole instead of doing something with her life."

Honestly, you're smart to not engage with shippers like these, because holy shit. Why are so many rabid anti-Kataangers so determined to see Katara as a miserable broodmare? Girl gave birth to 3 kids and one of the White Lotus masters asked her for her thoughts if Korra was ready to learn airbending from Tenzin...and listened when she said Korra was ready.

"Gets stuck making babies..." smh. Weird they have this energy for Katara but not for Toph or Suyin or Ursa (not that they should, but still. It's frustrating especially because it strips Katara of any agency).

Mind you I don't love all the post canon comics, but in a lot of them, Katara is much more than a passive character playing second fiddle to Aang. Picking and choosing certain scenes doesn't really prove a point well lol.

I think Katara's role in Korra's life is very underestimated and I actually love Katara's inclusion in tlok much more than Toph and Zuko getting shoehorned in in the last seasons for "star power".

I think a lot of people will also ignore that Katara did things other than having children, for example she outlawed bloodbending, and Toph mentioned that Katara was as involved in politics as Sokka and Aang.

I also find the assumption that once a woman starts having children, they take over her life quite odd and, dare I say, misogynistic? For example my mother quit her job to be a stay at home mother for a while when my sister and I were kids, but decided it wasn't her and she started a new career in which she is doing really well.

The idea thar Katara was some battered baby making housewife under the thumb of cold absentee father Aang is simply false.

And it exists purely to fuel the fantasy of another man coming to save her which is, once again, not the feminist win zks think it is.

I used to engage with Kataang antis, but I very quickly realised that these people aren't interested in having an honest talk, and if pushed they'll just fall back onto calling you a misogynist or a rape apologist or any other colourful amount of insults they can come up with. It's disheartening since I genuinely enjoy debating and carefully formulating my responses, fact checking myself and my sources, etc.

In the end I stopped interacting with people like that because I think their cattiness started rubbing off on me and I noticed my own arguments were getting more meanspirited and judgy and I didn't like that. The shipping wars are a very toxic environment lol.

[zukosdualdao]

will the scars go away with night? / try to smile for the morning light

zutara month day, 4: katara kept her scars, @zutaramonth

summary: the morning after the ember island players, katara trains earlier than usual. zuko notices the scars on her hands when she unwraps them, and they talk about some things.

warnings: references to the noncon kiss in teip. also some references to ableism wrt scarring and facial differences.

other notes: the title is a lyric from "a little's enough" by angels & airwaves.

When Katara finishes her training for the morning, running through the forms that still challenge her most in the courtyard of the Ember Island house Zuko took them to, she’s unsurprised to find Zuko waiting at the edge. She knows he usually wakes earlier than any of them to do his own training before a second session instructing Aang, and she’s often taken over the space after.

But she’d had an uneasy night of sleep after what was maybe the worst play anyone had ever put on, complete with the terrifying reminder of what was at stake in the coming weeks.

After what happened with Aang on that balcony. The way he kept pushing and then just… kissed her, like that could fix that she didn’t know what she wanted, didn’t know how she felt. After she’d already said so.

And if she can’t sleep, she might as well practice. When she’s unsure of everything else, at least she never feels more at peace than when the water yields to her command. It helps. A little.

“Sorry,” Katara exhales as she approaches, running the back of her hand over her forehead to wipe out the sweat of both exertion and the summer sun that’s finally starting to rise. “I’m done. I didn’t mean to steal the space from you,” she adds, smiling and trying not to linger on the image of his shirtless form as he leans his side against one of the pillars.

“It’s no problem,” Zuko replies, a soft smile playing on his lips. “I like watching you.” It takes a moment for the words to catch up to him, his right eye growing wide as he waves an unsure hand in explanation. “That’s not—I mean, because you’re so talented—”

Katara giggles, feeling more of the tension melt out of her as she stretches her arms and watches him stumble over the words. “It’s fine. It’s not like I’ve never watched you,” she admits in a soft voice. “You’re talented, too.”

Zuko blinks, looking… surprised and maybe a little embarassed, she thinks as she begins to unwrap her hands. He opens his mouth to say something but pauses when his gaze flits down to them before quickly looking back up into her eyes.

There’s a part of her that feels tense and strange about it—mostly, she tries not to to think about the burn scars that swirl around her hands. She often wears her bandage wraps when they’re out, so as to be ready for battle as needed, and even when she doesn’t, she mostly doesn’t mind leaving them uncovered. It’s only when she catches strangers staring too long at her mottled skin or when Aang makes passing glances at them with a look of guilt that her stomach clenches and she feels an angry kind of shame.

But… she knows it isn’t like that with Zuko, that he’s not thinking what other people are when he looks. 

My face, he’d said in the light of those green crystals, all those months ago in Ba Sing Se, far more hurt than she’d thought him capable of being before that point. I see.

“I got these a while ago,” Katara says as she raises them to show him. 

Zuko nods but doesn’t ask how she got them, though she knows Aang told him the bare details of the incident. Instead, he asks quietly, “Do… do they hurt?”

Katara considers it. It hurts to look at them. It hurts to think that Aang just… hadn’t listened to her, even though she knows it was an accident and how badly he felt afterward. But still. It was just like how he hadn’t listened to her last night when she said she needed time, needed to think, that she didn’t know.

And sometimes, she still thinks she feels the echo of the pain from the first moments after the burn, bright and searing and deep, but it usually goes away as quickly as it comes on.

Katara thinks maybe part of her does know, when it comes to her and Aang, and just hadn't known how to tell him that.

“Not usually,” she settles on softly as she moves a little closer toward Zuko. She knows the others love her, and that they would listen if she wanted to talk about it. But this is something else that she and Zuko share, something only he can understand. 

Katara so longs to be understood.

“When I first healed them, it took away most of the pain. But they still scarred. And sometimes, they still feel…” She doesn’t finish the thought, instead lowering them and turning them over, inspecting her palms as she does. “Sometimes I look at them, and I don’t think I recognize myself. See?” she adds, moving them closer to him, though she doesn’t quite know why.

Zuko nods slowly. He raises one of his own hands and hovers it inches away from her, ready to retract it at the first sign of distress.

“Is this okay?”

Katara nods, feeling choked.

Zuko traces the lines of her left hand briefly with a delicate finger. I see you, he says without saying anything at all. I do.

Katara nearly shivers at the touch, the feel of it muted but still so gentle that it sort of makes her want to cry. She looks up at his face. There’s no pity there, no fear or disgust or anything else Katara’s come to anticipate from those looking at her hands, either. 

Just a look in his eyes like he gets it, the shiny, textured skin set against his left eye making her feel safe to trust him with this.

“Aang kissed me last night,” she says suddenly, wanting to know what Zuko, the real Zuko and not some exaggerated, unreal stage version, might say to that. “And he said he wants to be with me, and he doesn't know why we're not together."

Zuko looks up to stare at her, but there’s no judgment there, nor any particular shock. He’s just searching for something.

“What do you want?” he asks after a long moment, the words like an echo of something that maybe he once heard.

Katara curls her lip, thinking it over. “For you to keep holding my hands.”

In an instant, Zuko reaches to take her other hand and holds both of them in his own. He squeezes them in a light, gentle motion. Katara swears she can hear her own heart flutter.

[dont-blame-it-on-the-kids]

A Little Less of a Family Reunion

(Rohan is about 7 and meets Jinora in his dreams)

Kidnapped au

“Whoah! Why do you have tattoos like that?” Rohan asked the older girl unsure why she would host the tattooed aunt Lin said that his father and grandfather had for being good airbenders.

“My arrows? I got them when I became a master airbender.” She answered kindly.

“Woah! How long ago did you get them?” He asked excitedly. He’s seen this spirit before in his dreams. He imagined she was a wise old airbender from when his grandfather was younger, someone sent to help him and Lin when they needed her.

“About six years ago now.” She mused, thinking it over. “I was eleven when I achieved mastery of the element air. These are an old air nation tradition.” She started to go into a deeper explanation and Rohan sat in the grass and smiled as he listened to her. Ever since he was little he would have these vivid dreams in this strange place. Creatures he’s never heard of scuttled by and he hoped to see the funny old man again, but this girl was so smart and kind.

“But that's enough about ancient times, how did you get into the spirit realm?”

“Spirit realm? I’m asleepin’ this is my dream.” He shook his head.

“No, this is the spirit realm, you must be meditating.” The older girl frowned.

“I do that sometimes! But I sleepin now.” He assured her.

The older girl looked at him for a moment and he could see she was deep in thought.

“What’s your name?” She asked after a silent few seconds.

“I’m usually called Yuka but Auntie Lin calls me Rohan.” He smiled and held out his hand to her. “What’s your name?”

“I-I’m Jinora.” She looked at him shocked and stood frozen for a moment as he saw tears fill her eyes.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” Rohan said quickly, retracting his hand as he thought he did something wrong. Jinora fell to her knees and pulled him into a tight hug.

“No, no, don't be sorry. Please- take my hand and let me see where you are.” She said holding onto him like he would fade away any moment.

Rohan nodded. “I can show you my room!” He said excitedly and held Jinora’s hand as he headed back to the spot he knew he could come and go through.

Rohan woke with a yawn and was excited to see a blue and green glowing figure of the girl next to him in the dark room.

“I’ll show you my art! Aunt Lin taught me to color.” He said excitedly and held her hand as he turned the light on and showed her around the room.

“That’s very nice Rohan, can you show me outside?”

The boy tensed.

“No, we’re not allowed outside without Mr. Amon.” He said quietly now. Jinora's heart sank. Amon was alive and had been holding onto Rohan all this time.

A commotion of something hitting the floor, a door opened and closed down the hall.

“You have to go!” Rohan said quickly. Trying to push Jinora into a hiding spot. He quickly turned the light out and hid under his covers.

Jinora heard footsteps coming up to the room and quickly went straight up to see where she was exactly.

The door opened quietly to Rohan's room and Lin came in.

“Little man? Did I hear you talking in here?” She asked gently.

Rohan sat up and nodded. “I was showing the girl from the dreams the colors I did.” He explained.

Lin nodded. “Okay, let’s get back to bed now.” She said, keeping her voice quiet. She had just been shoved from the bed and told to shut him up. Lin moved to tuck Rohan into bed when he reached up to hug her again.

“She’s really nice.” He yawned wide and closed his eyes. “And she had tattoos like you said daddy and grampy Aang had.”

Tears filled Lin’s eyes as he fell asleep. Could he have been seeing past avatars in his sleep? Were they visiting him to help guide him without any masters to teach him? She smiled sadly at the thought and gently kissed his forehead. “You get some sleep. I’ll hear all about her in the morning.” She assured him.

Rohan nodded and was quickly back to sleep.

[specialagentlokitty]

Zuko x Male!reader - wisdom

Hiiiii, it's me again! I was wondering if you could do a Zuko x male airbender! Reader where the reader is Aangs older brother? - @just-call-me-m00n 💜

Looking towards your little brother, the water tribe behind him and the fire nation ship, you took a daring step forward.

“(Y/N)!” Aang hissed.

“Shut up!” You snapped quietly.

You took a few more steps forwards towards the Prince.

“I am the Avatar, if I come with you will you swear to leave these people as well as my brother?”

The prince regarded your first a moment before he nodded his head.

You handed your glider over to the soldiers and let them lead you on to the ship.

You were chained up in a room, listening to the prince rant on about how he was going to restore his honour and be able to return home.

“All of this just to return home?” You asked.

“Shut up. I’m going to hand you over to my father, and he’ll restore my honour.”

You scoffed a little, shaking your head at him.

“Your honour is nothing that can be taken from you, you always have your honour, and only you can determine how you keep or loose it.”

“Quiet with your monk speeches.”

You shrugged a little and waited for him to leave, once it was quiet you flexed your wrist around, getting a feel for how much movement you had.

After a moment you stopped and took a deep breath, carefully moving your hand you felt the air being built up around your chains.

Finally, you trust your hands out and the chains were pulled apart with a small pop.

Falling to the floor, you crouched and leant down, pressing your ear to the metal of the ship.

You could hear the echoes of some movements, but they were a few floors up.

Standing up, you kicked your leg up, knocking the door of the hinges you started to run around and finally you found your glider tossed to the side.

Grabbing it, you sprinted straight to the top deck and before anyone could see you, you glided away.

“(Y/N)!”

Turning around, you saw the flying bison and turned around, landing on Appa’s head, you smiled at Aang as he crushed you into a hug.

“Don’t ever do that again…” he mumbled.

“Sorry Aang, no promises.”

Every single time you encountered Zuko, you would always pull the same trick, or you would somehow distract him so the rest could escape.

This time was different, Zuko was following Aang, choosing to ignore you as you ran the opposite way.

“You’re mine this time avatar.” Zuko snarled.

You spun around just to see the flames surging at Aang, and you rushed in to action, spinning around, you threw air at the flames, instantly putting them out.

You stood in front of Zuko, holding your arms out, a scowl on your face.

“You will not hurt my brother Zuko.” You sneered.

You and Zuko started to battle it out, throwing attack after attack at one another, neither of you managing to land a solid hit.

After a while, you finally managed to find an open spot, and you struck.

Zuko watched as you jumped over his flames, landing on your feet, you quickly crouched and swept your leg out, the air knocking him from his feet.

Standing over him, you had your arms up and ready.

“You will never amount to anything if you keep crashing other visions of who you are supposed to be Zuko. You must find your own destiny and create your way path in this life.”

With that, you stepped down and walked away.

“You’re really powerful!” Sokka beamed.

“(Y/N) has been training ever since he could walk, he’s the best airbender I know!” Aang beamed.

“But why don’t you have the same tattoos? It’s like a right of passage isn’t it?” Katara asked.

“Well, yes. But I did not want my tattoos, I was the best air bender at our temple, but I was still childish, I wasn’t ready to grow up and accept my markings like I was supposed to. When Aang left, I went with him so I didn’t have to grow up.”

They nodded along, they understood why you wouldn’t want to grow up at a young age, and they were glad you were here with them.

With you being Aangs brother, they couldn’t imagine you being separated.

When Zuko finally changed his way and decided to help bring the reign of his nation to an end you were beyond happy.

You met up with them after the attack on the air temple, and you walked over to the prince and sat next to him.

“I am proud of you Zuko.” You smiled.

Zuko turned to face you with a frown on his face.

“Why?”

You laughed a little and stood up.

Zuko watched you intently as you started to slowly move, gently you moved the air around you with such ease and Grace.

“Zuko, do you know what air and life have in common?”

“Nothing.”

You laughed again and shook your head.

“No, like life, air can be harsh, cruel and unforgiving, but with a little work, you can tame it, befriend it and show it how to move with kindness.”

You stopped and turned around.

“All the elements work hand in hand, each helps strengthen as well as destroy one another. Sometimes people make the wrong choices in life, and that’s okay, without taking a few wrong turns we can never find where we are supposed to be.”

Zuko sighed, shrugging his shoulders as he looked away.

“I don’t understand where I’m supposed to be in life…”

Walking over, you knelt in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder as you gave him a smile.

“You are exactly where you are supposed to be, and where you’re supposed to always be Prince Zuko. And you are exactly who you are supposed to be.”

Patting his shoulder a little, you got up and walked to the edge of the cliff and sat down, taking a deep breath as you closed your eyes and began to meditate.

Zuko walked away but he kept thinking about what you told him, he still couldn’t fully understand what you were trying to tell him.

“(Y/N)?”

Zuko walked over to where you were still sat, and he sat down next to you.

Glancing at you, he turned away back to the moonrise.

“How do I know if I am the person I am supposed to be?”

“You won’t know, it isn’t something you simply know. But you will feel it, maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow but one day.”

“Do you know if you’re the person you’re supposed to be?” Zuko asked.

You sighed, and opened your eyes.

“If I’m to be honest with you Zuko, no. I am not the person I am supposed to be, I know this. The person I am supposed to be was over a hundred years ago, when I declined my markings. That was who I was supposed to be, I was supposed to gain my tattoos, showing that I had indeed passed all my training.”

“But you didn’t?”

“No, I refused to accept that I was no longer a child, so I ran away. I gave up being the person I was supposed for my childish mentality and for my brother.”

“Would you change that if you could?”

Turning to face Zuko, you waited for him to do the same before you spoke again.

“No. I wouldn’t change the things I have done, they have made me who I am today, as have yours. You are not a bad person Zuko, I know that for sure.”

He smiled at little and you smiled back.

“Thank you (Y/N).”

“You’re much welcome.”

You and Zuko sat staring at the moon for a little bit before he spoke up again.

“(Y/N)?”

You turned to face Zuko.

“Yeah?”

“Tell me more above what the monks taught you.”

“Sure, come with me.”

Standing up. You held you hand out to help Zuko up, and when he was you let go.

Zuko brush his hand against yours, and you smiled a little bit at him, letting him take your hand in his again.

You led him away from the camp and stood staring at the stars hand in hand as you imparted on him all the wisdom that you had been taught all those years ago.

As Zuko stood there listening, he wondered why they would try get rid of the air nation, you were smart, caring and gentle, nothing like him.

He looked down at your hand in his, and turned back to looking at you.

You had taught him everything everything he knew about changing the world for the better.

And in that moment he decided he wanted you to be by his side for the rest of your times on earth, he wanted you to be the one to keep him on the right path and fix the damage his nation had created

[zukaangweirdo]

Private Intermission

It’s not that the play is bad – okay, well, it is. But that’s completely besides the point – or even that it goes out of its way to make Aang and his friends seem like a ridiculous bunch of kids – which they are, but again: besides the point!

It’s the Ba Sing Se bit.

Aang watches his developing friendship with Zuko be reduced to absurd flirting, then watches the blue spirit save Appa, and then he watches as Zuko betrays him and… he can’t watch anymore.

He stands.

“Hey, where are you going?” whispers Katara, but Aang doesn’t just now feel like answering her. She’s always worried like a mother hen, but this is one thing she can’t help him with.

The air outside is cool. It really is the end of summer, and nights are getting colder while daytime still hangs on to the last of the heat. Aang pulls his hat down over his ears a bit more and leans against the railing to look out over the water.

“Pretty night, huh?”

Aang jumps about three feet in the air.

“Don’t do that!” he tells Zuko, who has managed to sneak up behind him as quietly as an airbender. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry,” Zuko says.

He doesn’t look sorry. He looks rather amused, leaning there against the railing in all of his fire nation prince bad boy glory. Not that there’s anything really bad about him. That’s kind of the whole point of him. He’s the sweetest guy ever wrapped in a gloomy disguise.

“Why’d you follow me out here?” Aang asks, turning to look at the water again.

“Well, fake you has just woken up from a coma and is holding an entire speech about how fake me broke his heart and Katara was looking at me all weird, so I figured a break wouldn’t be that bad.”

“Oh.”

“Did you ever tell the others we were friends in Ba Sing Se?”

“No,” Aang says. “It didn’t seem like any of their business at the time, and then you kinda went and helped Azula and it didn’t matter anymore.”

“So you didn’t tell Katara I broke your heart?” Zuko teases.

Normally, Aang would laugh. Probably. Maybe.

He shrugs.

Neither of them speaks for a moment. Then, there’s cheering inside – who knows what’s happening on stage now – and Aang clears his throat.

“Are you really the one who found Appa?”

“Oh. Uh… yeah,” Zuko says.

He looks away from Aang, but Aang doesn’t need to see Zuko’s face to know that he’s blushing.

“I didn’t know that,” Aang says simply.

He thinks back to the weeks before he found Appa – or rather, as he now knows, before Appa was returned to him.

He and Zuko had been getting closer and closer. Zuko was working at the best teahouse in Ba Sing Se, which was being run by his uncle, and Aang had been coming there at least once a week. It’s how they’d come upon each other in the first place.

How many times had Aang told Zuko how much he’d missed Appa? How many times had Zuko listened silently, without a single word of comfort other than the occasional ‘that’s rough’ or ‘that sucks’?

Zuko clears his throat.

“Well,” he says. “We should get back inside, before the others start wondering where we are.”

He begins to turn away.

“Zuko.”

Aang doesn’t think. He doesn’t even stop to breathe after saying Zuko’s name. He just grabs Zuko’s hand, pulls the older boy towards him and smacks their mouths together.

The kiss is uncoordinated and messy, as unexpected to Aang as it is to Zuko. Their teeth clack against each other’s, their lips are sort of smushing together and Zuko’s eyes open wide before they close.

And it’s the most perfect kiss ever.

When they pull apart for air – which Zuko needs a lot more of than Aang because hello? Airbender? Controlled breathing? But okay, Aang is also kind of breathless – Zuko seems to be momentarily speechless.

“What was that for?” he asks.

Aang shakes his head, unsure of what to say, and walks back inside to watch the end of this horrible play.

[zeno-zero]

Roku/Gyatso headcannons!

Because why not? :3

[ These are quite old,, maybe a week old but still old regardless- ]

Gyatso and Roku were simply friends in the beginning, when they first both met : Gyatso ecstatically greets him which makes Roku smile awkwardly and shyly but nonetheless, finds it really endearing and lovely that Gyatso makes him feel at home.

As their bond grows stronger, so does Gyatsos' feelings towards Roku. His own heartbeats deafening him, yet carefully trying to listen what Roku is saying most of the time. He would simply stare and grin happily. (Just like how Aang stare and smile at Katara while talking ^-^)

Roku often teases him because how short he is (affectionately). So when time came, that Gyatso skyrockets him in height, Roku was now the one getting teased about it. (also affectionately)

Gyatso loves to push his buttons a bit, so Roku can break out of his usual calm demeanor, and have some fun with each other. No matter what age they are, you will always see them having the best time of their lives.

They embrace each other's warmth. Gyatso loves to snuggle against Roku while they're hugging, which makes Roku get all flustered and laughs quietly - his head resting on Gyatso's shoulder.

Roku crushing on Gyatso is only briefly because Ta Min is the lady he wants to be with and have a family with. But he has always kept Gyatso's gifts as a reminder of their shared memories together, and secure them in a box. To keep them safe. After Roku's death, Ta Min gave this box to Gyatso and he responded with tears in his eyes. Roku was a thoughtful man after all.

But I hope you guys like it :D

[bellatrixobsessed1]

I Am Blackened Bones (Part 7)

It is still following them. She can hear it.

She has to admire the fire spirit’s persistence; it has been tracking them for four days now, trailing closely behind, lingering just out of sight. 

Zuko runs his fingers through his hair. “Ugg! This is so frustrating! It’s impossible!” She feels horrible for thinking so, but Katara wishes that he would just shut up for a moment or two. Just so that she can hear. Can really listen. But he bellows on. “This jungle is huge and Azula might not even be here!”

“But she could be wandering around somewhere.” Aang says. “She might be happy to have someone take her home.”

“Or she’ll be more furious than ever and this is all a waste of time.” Zuko kicks at the ground. “This was a stupid idea! Of course she’s going to be angry that we’ve tracked her down! Why should anything have changed?”

“Come on, Zuko, that’s not necessarily true.” Katara says, if only to try to placate him enough to regain a relative quiet. “You’re…we’re all just a little cranky and tired from being out here for so long.” She feels horrible for the half-sincerity. For offering words of comfort with an ulterior motive of sorts. 

There might have been another snap but Zuko’s voice had made certain that she couldn’t hear it. She grits her teeth and almost tells him outright to be quiet. If only Toph weren’t so entirely invested in setting up their campfire. That should have been Zuko’s job, the fire would have been lit already. 

Finally Zuko finds himself a spot on the ground and drops down, resting his chin in his hands. “Maybe we should just go home.” He mutters as a final thought on the matter. 

“Maybe we should.” Katara agrees quietly. Although she can’t seem to ward off the tickles in her heart that come at the thought of leaving anyone, even Azula, to fend for themselves in a creepy place like this. The rustles are closer now and this time they come with a guttural clicking. For all she knows, that stomach-churning clicking could have been ongoing for a while, unnoticed beneath Zuko’s grumblings. Katara fixes her gaze eastward. The clicking comes again, although she wagers that it hadn’t stopped at all it simply lowers in depth and then rises once more. She wishes that she could dismiss it as cicadas or some type of Fire Nation variety of cricket. They have been in the jungle long enough for her to have gained a sense of what its usually nightlife is like and this is not it.

“Zuko do you…?”

“Hear that?” His brows knit.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah…” 

“Do you think that its just…” Katara begins.

But no. 

Something is wrong. 

These snaps seem much louder. 

And the fire spirit never clicked.

The fire spirit didn’t exude such a hateful, conniving aura. 

Katara squints at the treeline. And there! Six glowing eyes. She lets out a sigh of relief, they are pretty low to the ground. “I think that it’s just a small…”

The eyes shift and shoot up. Katara gulps, she had sorely misjudged; this spirit is massive. A hulking shadow with a head turning presence. And turn heads it does. Aang, Toph, and Sokka drop what they are doing, firewood and tent pegs clatter to the jungle floor and the fire that Toph had just got kindling snuffs out.

It is a skinny thing that ambles around on all fours with a sickly beige to brown gradient complexion. Its under belly is speckled with what looks like tiny red gemstones floating within nearly translucent, gelatinous skin. It breathes heavily and when it does its slippery, slimy sides suck in and suction to its ribcage. Katara thinks of thin rubber, elastic and bouncy. The texture is pimpled and difficult to gaze upon.

“What does it want?” Sokka asks. 

“I think that it wants us to leave.” Aang replies. He grimaces. “We might have stepped onto its territory.”

And that, apparently, is reason enough for the spirit to propel itself at them with an enraged clicking screech. A massive hand whips out and slaps Sokka clear across the clearing before he can even reach for his boomerang. Toph throws a wall of stone between she and its palm. A palm that obliterates the earthy wall with ease. 

Zuko blasts the hand aside with a horizontal column of fire. “Watchout, Aang!” 

Aang leaps out of the way of the spirit’s crystal-barbed tail only to find himself clobbered when it comes back around. Zuko winces on his behalf. The fight has just begun and they are already overpowered…a perfect ambush. This is no time to let her mind wander but she spares Azula another passing thought; if she has been in this jungle all this time, it would be a miracle to find her alive. 

Zuko throws blast after blast at the spirit but it seems mostly unphased. Katara’s water sinks into its skin, seeming to rejuvenate it more than anything else.

“We’re getting our asses kicked!” Toph hollars. 

Katara has to wonder if they would be faring any better had they been prepared. As things are, they don’t stand a chance. Katara gasps as the spirit extends the crystals on its tail, she doesn’t even have time to cry out before it poises that tail for a lethal blow. She closes her eyes and waits for it to come. 

She hears a shrill screech and a shatter. And she opens her eyes to writing spirit surrounded by rough shards of shattered ruby. Beneath it, almost comically small by comparison, stands a spindly spirit with a cloak of fire. It looks back at Katara and its face cracks into a glowing grin of sorts. 

A grin that is wiped swiftly away by the other spirit's retaliation. It ponces upon the fire spirit who only narrowly evades.

 Zuko springs forward with furry and two fistfuls of fire. He throws one after another but the only spirit that yelps is the one with the fiery limbs. It drops to its knees and clutches its head. 

“Zuko, stop you’re hurting it!”

“That’s kind of the point, Katara!” 

“No! Not one! You’re hurting the fire spirit.” The poor thing is on the ground writing, its hands frantically move from one part of its body to the next; it first clutches its head and then its stomach and then its head again. And then its right arm, its throat, its head, its chest, its stomach…

It is confused and it is more terrified than ever. So much so that it can’t even seem to fathom what part of it is hurting the most and so it continues its haunting twitching dance. A dance that seems to swell and crescendo as the skirmish wages on.

“How am I hurting the fire spirit?” He huffs as he throws another ball of fire. 

The fire spirit shrikes, perhaps louder than the spirit that Zuko had actually struck. 

Katara’s mouth falls agape and her words come out in a gasp, “your fire.” It must be. She watches him throw another flaming ball and the flames encompassing the fire spirit rise with a vicious roar and then seem to burn out completely. It cries out again, in time with the malevolent spirit. “Your fire!” Katara says louder. “Firebending hurts it.” 

“What!?” He looks over his shoulder. 

“I–I think that using firebending takes fire from the spirit and that hurts it.” 

Zuko’s brows crease.

“Zuko, pay attention!” Toph shouts as the other spirit’s spectral tail comes to thrash him squarely in the back. He crashes to the ground with a thud and a loud curse. The spirit is on top of him in second, four of its six eyes are fixed upon him, the other two keep a close watch on everyone else. 

Zuko brings the fire to his hands again and the fire spirit seems to wither. Drawing in on itself. There is a an eye-burning glow that pulsates brightly in the cracks in its treebark arms. The other spirit puffs up, its skin bulges, body rounding like a pufferfish on land with a glowing red belly. Also like a puffer fish, spines protrude from its body; sizable sharpened crystals that jut just shy of puncturing Zuko’s stomach. He releases a relieved breath and grits his teeth. All the spirit has to do is lower its body and Zuko is as good as dead. 

His face strains as he summons every ounce of fire in his body. There is a flame in Aang’s hand too. Sokka’s boomerang twitches in his hand, Katara can tell that he isn’t sure if he should release it. Toph too holds her boulder in place; if the spirit tries to duck, Zuko will be impaled. But he will be impaled if they do nothing. 

The fire swells in Zuko’s hands. 

And the fire spirit twitches and writhes next to Katara.

At its wit’s very end the fire spirit unleashes an absolutely nightmarish screech and charges. 

It is fast.

Admirably so. 

It moves with such a speed that she only sees a gold-orange blur. And then it is on top of the puffer spirit ripping and clawing, viciously ribboning the creature’s back. It gives a screech of its own, sucks the jutting jewel back into its stomach, and pushes it out of its back. The fire spirit gives its back one last lash before diving out of the way. 

The puffer spirit unleashes an enraged clicking growl. Katara, Aang, Toph, and Sokka attack in unison while Zuko rolls out of the way. The puffer spirit inflates in second, crystals jutting out in every which way. It pitches to the side, putting holes in the grass as it rolls towards them. The four of them dive out of the way each in a different direction. 

But the fire spirit, the stubborn, perhaps stupid, thing holds its ground extends its branch-like claws. Katara wants to scream. To shout at it to get out of the way as the puffer spirit barrels towards it. But it seems all too intent on popping its newfound rival. At the very last moment, the fire spirit finally finds its sense and leaps out of the way. But it extends a claw and holds it there as the puffer spirit rolls on by, drawing a deep red gash on the other spirit’s side. It unleashes an angry roar and discharges all of its crystals, one final act of vengeance and defiance before it deflates. 

Katara scrambles to get out of the way and Sokka throws himself over her. Zuko throws himself behind a tree, picking Toph up as he does so. Aang rebounds one of the jagged crystals with a powerful puff of air. Katara and Sokka get lucky, one gem pierces the ground just short of their heads. The fire spirit isn’t so lucky. The puffer spirit, with a particular resentment, had sent a larger barrage of crystal spines at it. The fire spirit manages to dodge three but the fourth and fifth pin it to the ground by its shoulder and splinter its arm at the elbow respectively.

Blood like lava runs thickly and slowly like syrup from the splintered wood of the spirit’s arm. Its sobs come like a rush of fire through an open door. Katara shudders, the undertones are distinctly human. 

.oOo.

The fire spirit has gotten used to pain. This variety of it is different though. Worse, if only because she hasn’t gotten used to it in the way that she has come to familiarity with that burning sensation. In some ways, the fire spirit almost misses the harsh burning when it cools away–it is a constant, a familiar affliction that is comforting in its familiarity.

The ailment that she feels now…she thinks that she is going to die. That her flame will snuff and she will be reduced to just a pile of smoking twigs and blackened bones with fading traces of orange to outline the cracks in them. 

She holds her arm out and her body trembles, the fire haloing it sputters. At first she doesn’t comprehend what she is looking at. Lava gushes from her elbow, creating a sizzling crater in the ground next to her. It gushes from what she, at first, thinks is just a fair sized hole. But then a breeze comes by and rattles the branches. Rattles her branch. Her branch is broken, snapped nearly in two. 

She screams again. A strangled sound between a shrike and a wail. 

“Oh no…” the girl with the blue eyes and braided hair mutters. “Oh no, no, no!” Without thinking she wraps her arms around the fire spirit. She throws herself back just as quickly with a cry of her own. And the fire spirit laments in double; she hadn’t meant it, but she can’t help it, she has burned the girl’s arms. Put a char in her clothing.

“Aang, help it!” 

“You’re the waterbender, Katara!” Sokka shouts.

“It’s a fire spirit, Sokka! I don’t think that waterbending on it is a good idea. I-I don’t know how to heal spirits anyways, I don’t think that I can.” She bites her lip. “Aang, can you do something?” 

The fire spirit’s firefly eyes land upon Aang and she recognizes him; the Avatar.

Yes. She knows the Avatar. All spirits know the Avatar. He can help her.

She  reaches for him with her good arm. Flexing her fingers with a sense of longing and desperation.

His voice is gentle. “It’s alright, you’re going to be okay.”

But she doesn’t think that she will be. She is always in so much pain and just when she thought that the suffering was all done with, it has come back worse than before. And so the spirit weeps. She weeps and wishes that someone could hold her. 

The waterbender’s fingers brush fleetingly over the back of her uninjured hand. It was a simple, passing gesture but there had been so much affection in it. The fire spirit could sense it. She can see the compassion and care in those blue eyes. And she supposes that that will have to do.

[ihaveacorgi]

Zuko used to love sitting on the roof as a child. It was a way to get away from the servants and nannies, the tutors and instructors, and most of all, his father. It was his happy place, his escape, the one place in the palace where he could just… be. It was just a roof, maybe nicer than most others, but it served the same function in the end. It was just a roof, but it meant so much to Zuko. And he knew Sokka wouldn’t understand that, that he had no idea why Zuko was so nervous to bring him out here. It was just a roof, afterall.

Sokka seemed to love it too, from the awed way he looked up at the stars and out over Caldera. “This is beautiful, Zuko,” he breathed, turning his brilliant smile towards Zuko. “I bet this is how Yue sees the world. It’s incredible. She would’ve loved this,” he continues, gazing sadly up at the moon. And Zuko knew it didn’t mean anything, but he couldn’t help the spike of jealousy that flared in his chest, regardless.

Zuko stamped it down and nodded. “Yeah,” he said, though he had never met Yue and knew nothing about her. It was what was expected, so he said it.

“Thank you for showing me,” Sokka said, as he leaned over to kiss Zuko. They existed like that, in stolen, hidden moments, cloaked in shadows and darkness, unable to be open like Katara and Aang.

“Sokka, I… I wanted to tell you something.” Zuko swallowed heavily. That was the whole reason for showing Sokka this place. He wanted somewhere that he felt… safe, for this. “I… um, I wanted to tell you how I got the scar.”

“Oh,” he replied quietly, his voice lacking any hint of joking or amusement in the way it so rarely did. And Zuko was sure Sokka had probably guessed. He was smarter than the entire Fire Nation court combined, and Zuko’s father hadn’t exactly hidden his hatred of his son well, nor had Zuko been able to hide his fear of his father.

“I… I’m sure you’ve guessed, what happened. O- or someone told you, li- like Uncle Iroh, or Aang might know, but I… I wanted you t- to hear it from, you know, me,” Zuko began, haltingly, stuttering and tripping over a few words as he tried to find the right ones to say. He’d never really been good at words and sharing his unfiltered thoughts rarely ended well, but he was going to try his Agni-damned hardest, because Sokka deserved to know. He deserved to know it how it was, not some twisted-up version, told by one of the witnesses and warped by hatred or sympathy. No, Sokka should know the truth, and Zuko knew there were only two people in the world who would tell it to him. And there was no chance Aang or Zuko would let Sokka anywhere near Ozai, bending or no.

“Ok,” Sokka replied, pressing a kiss to Zuko’s temple. “You can tell me, Zuko.”

“It… well, I guess it started because I asked Uncle to let me into a war council. Or… maybe, maybe it was before that. I, uh, I was always a disappointment. My father, uh, Ozai, he used to say that Azula was born lucky, but that I was, uh, lucky to be born. And, well, you know Azula. She was a prodigy, you know? She was always better at fire bending than me, and, well, Ozai always favored her. But I tried, Sokka. I wasn’t… I wasn’t trying to slack off, or fail on purpose, or make mistakes. I did my best to make him proud, but… he just… didn’t love me. Or… maybe he never loved anyone. I don’t… I don’t know. But, uh, anyway, when I was around thirteen, I asked Uncle to let me join a war council. He told me to be quiet, not to say anything. And I, I should’ve listened, Sokka. Uncle, he’s usually right, you know? But, well, I– I didn’t listen. There was this general, uh… I don’t remember who, actually. Uncle probably knows. Anyway, he wanted to sacrifice a division of new recruits, the 49th – who were probably drafted, come to think of it. But they were young, and he wanted to send them up against part of the Earth Kingdom army as a distraction and come around the back for a completely insignificant piece of land. It was… it was dishonorable. Barbaric. We were… I was told we were better, back then. That we wouldn’t… that we weren’t like that. So, I spoke out. I thought he would be proud,” Zuko spat the word. “I thought that would make him proud, Sokka. That I would be showing him I was capable of leading, of thinking about our people the way a good Fire Lord is supposed to, but, uh, that’s not what happened. The general challenged me to an Agni Kai, a fire bending duel over honor, because, by speaking against his plan, I had insulted him.”

Sokka took one of Zuko’s hands, and he realized he was shaking. “You didn’t fight the general, did you?”

Zuko shook his head. “It… it was my father’s– it was Ozai’s war room, and I had disrespected it… disrespected him. I… I didn’t fight him, Sokka. I couldn’t fight him, and I begged. I knelt and I begged, like a coward, and he burnt me. It was his right, I forfeited, he won. His words to me were ‘you will learn respect. Suffering will be your teacher,’ and, uh, and then he banished me. He told me that I… that I could come back if I captured the Avatar. For, uh, for context, your sister didn’t get Aang out of that iceberg for another, uh, three years, give or take. He expected me… no, he hoped that I would die, first from the burn, then again in exile, but I…” Zuko laughed bitterly. “I thought he wanted me back. That he’d offered me a way home because… because deep down, that’s what he wanted. That I could… that I could finally make him proud.”

“That… that wasn’t your fault, Zuko,” Sokka replied, wiping a stray tear that Zuko hadn’t noticed.

Zuko sighed, wearily. “I know, Sokka. I was a child. A stupid one, but a child. I just, I wanted you to know.”

“Why didn’t you tell us when you tried to join Aang during the war? He would’ve understood. He’s a very forgiving person.” Sokka asked, but he looked like he knew the answer.

“I didn’t want your pity. I wanted– no, I needed to know that I could… that I could do better than Ozai. I still, sometimes I think I’ll become like him. I get so angry, sometimes, and I… I wonder if it’s just in my blood. I… I asked Aang to kill me, if I’m ever like him. I made him promise. If– if he ever tries, let him, Sokka.” Zuko’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I love you, so much, Sokka, but you can’t… you can’t let me turn into a monster.”

Sokka just pulls him closer and promises him that, if necessary, he would kill Zuko himself. It’s not what lovers are supposed to say, in these situations. Zuko knows that they’re supposed to tell each other that they’d never become that, that they’d always protect each other. But this, this promise is far more comforting, because if Zuko has to die by someone’s hand, he’d rather it be Sokka’s.

And, if Sokka spends that night crying for the childhood that Zuko lost, swearing to himself that he’ll never, never do anything to hurt the beautiful boy next to him, the broken, angry, but, above all, kind boy sharing his bed. That, no matter what Zuko did, he would never raise so much as a pinky finger against him, because there was nothing Zuko could do to end up anything like his father – even back when he was screaming about honor and trying, so hard, to be just like him – then that was between him and Yue, and no one else.

[erisenyo]

Aang + literally anyone, “please come get me”

From this prompt game!

Aang + Katara, and a bit of Aang + Zuko friendship! Warning for implied canon-typical Zuko childhood, this one definitely went the angst route.

--

“Katara,” Aang grits into his phone, counting in one-two-three-four and out one-two-three-four and feeling exactly the same and starting the count again. “Please come get me.”

“What?” she asks, voice high with surprise. “But it should have just started, what—”

“People showed up,” Aang cuts in, closing his eyes and trying to focus just on the sound of the small but growing crowd behind him cheering, on Jet’s impassioned voice in the microphone, and on absolutely nothing else.

“Well yeah, that’s why—”

“Not to join, to—they’re watching,” he says, tight and aware that he’s not explaining himself well but he doesn’t know if he can with anger searing inside him like this, white-hot and terrifying in how much he wants to reach for it. “I need to go.”

“We talked about this,” she soothes, confident and sure of him in a way that normally makes him feel light and buoyant but now just makes him want to chuck his phone and lunge across the picket line at—“You’re so prepared, I know you can do this, you just—”

“Ozai is here,” Aang says, forcing his hand to loosen when he hears his phone creak in Katara’s sudden silence. “And I can’t—” Can’t punch him in the face, can’t tackle him, can’t drive the smug, superior, mocking look off his face and thank anything listening that Zuko isn’t here yet but spirits, the rage Aang is feeling— “I need to—can you—"

“I’m on my way,” Katara says, grim. “I’ll call Toph.”

Aang hangs up without even saying thank you, focusing on his breathing and trying to find some calm in the familiar rhythm of chants and call and response and the usually-heartening sound of a disparate crowd slowly rallying together behind a cause, and Aang should be up there, should be adding his voice and his energy and his conviction but it's like all he can see whenever he opens his eyes are those knowing yellow eyes, that smirk, that looks to dare him to do even a bit of what Aang is thinking and Aang wants to so bad and—

He doesn’t know if he’s ever been more grateful in his life when Katara’s battered blue car pulls up in a squeal of old brakes, Toph rolling out with all her usual grace and confidence in her own balance as Aang gives into the back, the door barely closing behind him before Katara is pulling away again, the crowd suddenly muffled and the brief flash of that amused stare worming into his brain and Aang feels so a wave of guilt for abandoning what he worked so hard to put together, for the wave of relief he feels at getting away, for the anger still clawing and twisting inside him.

“It was the right decision, Aang,” Katara says quietly from the front seat, like she can read his mind. "You know he's trying to goad you."

“Was it?” he asks, wanting to believe it but also—he should be there, he should—

“Yes,” she says, firm.

“If Zuko can deal with it—”

“Sokka is keeping Zuko on the other side of the city today,” Katara cuts in. “And Zuko has like, five emergency bail funds because he knows he doesn’t deal with it.”

Aang makes himself inhale slow and steady and deep, one-two-three-four-five, just like Gyatso taught him, just like he and Zuko practice, one-two-three-four-five-six and he feels like he could breathe forever and do nothing to cool the ugly rage inside him.

“Aang,” she says, gentle, “You do more good for Zuko when you’re here to help him than you do getting into a situation where Ozai can press charges against you.”

“Yeah,” Aang says after a moment, trying to accept the calm she’s giving him, reaching up to grab the hand he hears her twist back to offer him and gripping tight. “Yeah,” he says again, telling himself over and over again that it’s true, that she’s right, feeling the anger knot and seethe in his chest at the memory of cruel yellow eyes, at the memory of Zuko's bright-gold-and-clouded-yellow ones.

[bard-llama]

Hello there! I was wondering if you had any plans to make a sequel to Fire and Water? No pressure! Just curious.

Definitely! Unfortunately, I've been pretty stuck on the beginning of the next part, but I can share a bit of it? This book is going to be more about Earth and Air, while last one was Fire and Water (thus the titles.... 😅), so we're starting to explore the mythos around the Spirits of Earth. I have a lotta vague plans, but not a lot solid on that, so should be interesting to see how it shakes out.

I hate tumblr formatting with my whole heart, so I'm just gonna stick this under a cut. Warning: it is not very long, sorry.

The mood in Atuat was upbeat and fond as the dance party that had overtaken the settlement finished their last move, led by the Fire Prince and the Avatar. Said Fire Prince was still blushing over all the attention, but he was also smiling when his crew approached him. 

“So, where are you headed next, sir?” Crewman Taka asked.

“We’re going to Omashu to ask the King if he’ll teach the Avatar earthbending,” Zuko said. “Should be interesting.”

“Are you… going in disguise?” Ensign Sana asked, concern in her voice even as she leaned into her husband’s side.

“Hmm. Good question,” Zuko responded, not actually having thought that far ahead. “Probably? I mean, it’s the Earth Kingdom.”

“Well, good thing you’re Water Tribe now, then,” Sokka said. “You can just be Kala, it’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Zuko shrugged. 

“We can tell Bumi, though,” Aang said, confidence in his voice. 

“You sure about that?” Katara asked, something dubious in her voice. “I mean, I guess he didn’t seem particularly anti-Fire Nation, but hasn’t Omashu been fighting off the Fire Nation for like a hundred years?”

“Yeah,” Zuko agreed. “Pretty notoriously.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Aang said, that same confidence still in his voice. “Bumi won’t care. Me and him and Kuzon were inseparable a hundred years ago!”

Zuko frowned. That name was familiar. And not just because it was a pretty common one in the Fire Nation. No, Aang had mentioned that name to him before, when talking about–

“Kuzon was your friend in the Fire Nation a hundred years ago?”

“Yep! I mean, not my only one – I knew a lotta people in the Fire Nation! But me and Kuzon and Bumi, we were best friends, you know? All three of us.” Aang smiled softly, eyes distant. Then he shook himself. “So Bumi would never hold being Fire Nation against anyone!”

Zuko shared a doubtful look with Sokka. “I mean,” Sokka started hesitantly, “that was a hundred years ago, before the war.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Aang said firmly. 

“Actually,” Uncle cleared his throat, “Aang is correct. King Bumi is… eccentric, certainly. But I do not believe he would take offense at your bloodline, Prince Zuko.”

“You… know him?” Zuko asked in surprise.

“I do. Bumi is a member of the Order of the White Lotus,” Uncle said quietly. “He has been for many, many years. In fact…” he trailed off, glancing around them at the many, many listening ears.

Zuko, who didn’t much care about the Order of the White Lotus’ secrecy, arched an eyebrow in demand.

Uncle sighed heavily. “It was Pakku who brought me into the fold,” he said, keeping his voice quiet. “But it is thanks to Bumi that I am where I am today.”

Zuko’s crew, who may not have actually known about the Order of the White Lotus, mostly just looked confused. 

“And where is that?” Sokka asked, head cocked in curiosity. 

“Ah.” Uncle coughed. “I am the Grand Lotus.”

Zuko blinked. “What does that mean?”

Ku – the construction waterbender who’d initially revealed the Order of the White Lotus to Zuko and the others leading the refugees from the Northern Water Tribe who had ultimately settled Atuat under Chief Yue’s leadership – cleared his throat. “The Grand Lotus leads the Order,” he said delicately.

Zuko blinked again. “Wait. What!?”

“I joined the Order under the leadership of the last Grand Lotus,” Uncle said softly. “They weren’t delighted by who I was, but I was accepted as an initiate. Then…”

“Then Grand Lotus Zexian died,” Ku filled in. “Everyone expected that King Bumi would be the next Grand Lotus. But then King Bumi nominated…”

“Me,” Uncle finished. “It was a difficult transition, but Bumi’s word and confidence counts for a lot. Not just as King of Omashu, but as… well, Bumi.”

Zuko frowned. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the idea of Uncle being the leader of his stupid Pai Sho club full of gossips. 

“It’s still weird to think of Bumi as King,” Aang said quietly. “When I knew him, he was just a kid living in Omashu, you know? Except, well. Bumi never had a family or a house or anything. He would say that all of Omashu was his home.”

“King Bumi was homeless?” Zuko repeated, surprised.

“He didn’t live anywhere, he would say. He lived everywhere.” Aang shrugged. “He was always really good at taking care of himself. And when we were all together, Monk Gyatso would take care of us.” He curled in on himself, grief on his face. “I miss that.”

“So,” Sokka coughed. “What happened to Kuzon?”

“He spoke out against the Genocide of the Air Nomads,” Uncle said, voice solemn. “Then he left the Fire Nation and joined Bumi. Together, they’ve ruled Omashu for almost a century and successfully fought back the Fire Nation advance.”

“Whaaaat?” Sokka frowned. “There was no old Fire Nation guy in Omashu when we were there!”

“He was traveling,” Aang whispered. “Bumi told me. I hope maybe he’s back. I wanna see him again.”

No one quite knew what to say to that.

“So, you’re going to Omashu to see if this King Bumi can teach the Avatar earthbending?” Crewman Saizu asked eventually.

���Yeah,” Zuko agreed. “The King of Omashu is supposed to be the best earthbender in the world.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“So… what do you actually know about the Earth Kingdom?” asked Aimeru, one of the leaders of the troops that had defied the invasion. 

“What do you mean?”

She let out an ‘I dunno’ noise. “Never been there. Always preferred the threat of drowning to getting my limbs crushed.”

Zuko winced, but from the murmuring around them, she was far from the only one to feel that way. He himself had been around the Earth Kingdom a little bit – but he’d hardly been doing cultural research during that time. Which meant their best sources for information were Aang, who had traveled the whole world a hundred years ago, and Uncle, who had led the Fire Nation’s advance across the Earth Kingdom and held their capital under siege for 600 days.

“The Earth Kingdom is quite varied,” Uncle said slowly. “By sheer territory, it is the largest nation there is. However, the Earth King is not so centrally followed, as in the Fire Nation. Indeed, it is said that outside of Ba Sing Se, the Earth King’s power is quite limited, ever since they withdrew all military support from most of the continent. Their defenses are concentrated around Ba Sing Se – but that means that places like Omashu are more or less completely sovereign.”

“I dunno about any of that,” Aang said, “but even a hundred years ago, Omashu was kinda separate. I remember people there used to be mixed about the idea of following a distant Earth King, when their King was supposed to be the most powerful. But Oma and Shu bequeathed the line of the Earth Kings with power over the whole continent, including Omashu.”

“Really? Why?”

Aang shrugged. When they all turned to Uncle, he shrugged too. 

“If that knowledge was ever known, it has now been lost,” Uncle said solemnly.

[kumeko]

A/N: For the @crossroadszine vol II! I wrote Aang last time and wanted to keep filling in the gaps between Korra and ATLA a bit, but with Toph this time. And keep the bits of lore I liked from Korra like Toph’s one night stands XD (my headcanon came true)

…

…

…

…

When Toph was a teenager, there had only been one word to describe the air temples: empty. No matter which of the four they had travelled to, the mountain tops had been silent tombs, devoid of any of the sounds she associated with a city. Instead of laughter, the wind hissed as it ran through the long-abandoned buildings. Instead of neighbours chatting, lemurs trilled. The gang’s quiet voices as they tiptoed through the corridors had felt almost too loud.

Now in her twenties, none of that was true. Dozens of feet walked across the old stone paths, people of all nationalities quietly chatting as they wandered between the buildings. Above, Toph heard the low guttural calls of sky bison. A child whooped. A woman chided her friend. And there, on a terrace, she heard a familiar voice coo softly.

Toph quietly padded forward and leaned against a pillar as she listened. Katara stood, her weight shifting unevenly from one foot to the other. Sokka had said she was pregnant; for once, it actually was the case and not just him being paranoid. Aang crouched before her, whispering under his breath.

“Hey there,” he murmured. His voice had deepened with age. It didn’t suit the silly boy who always played pranks. “I can’t wait to meet you.”

Clothes rustled. Aang moved his hand across Katara’s slowly swelling stomach. Toph wondered what sort of expression he had. Tender, for certain. He had always been a big softie, even when they were kids. Maybe he’d have tears in his eyes too.

Had her father ever looked at her like that? In the beginning, perhaps. These days, even with their relationship slowly mending, she couldn’t quite imagine her father acting like Aang did. Then again, she never imagined talking to her parents after she left, so maybe she’d be surprised.

Four smaller feet padded up to Toph, interrupting her thoughts, and Momo plopped down beside her, chattering eagerly. Toph cracked a smile. Some things remained the same no matter how much everything else had changed.

“Toph!” Katara called, noticing her. Her hair was even longer now; these days it gave a small swish whenever she moved. Yet today Toph couldn’t hear any of the usual sounds. Maybe Katara had bound it up in a bun. As she turned, her robes swayed in the wind.

Aang jumped to his feet. He bounced as he turned towards her, too full of energy as always. “You made it!”

“Of course I did, Twinkle Toes!” Toph grinned as she pushed off the column and approached the couple. Momo chirped as he followed. “I wouldn’t miss you making a fool of yourself for anything.”

“Hey!” Despite his protest, Aang laughed. It was deep and rich, and she wished she’d been around when he’d cracked his old, high-pitched voice. It would have been a barrel of laughs.

Katara didn’t wait before hugging her, her arms wrapping around Toph tight. “It’s so good to see you again.”

She closed her eyes, relaxing. Even now, Katara’s love felt like a mother’s, and it was almost fitting that she was going to be a real one soon. “Can’t believe Aang actually knocked you up.”

“Toph!” Katara playfully punched her shoulder, giggling. “That’s so crass.”

“Someone has to be.” Toph pulled back, grinning.

“Not in front of the baby.” Aang brought her in for a hug of his own now. “I don’t want him to end up like you.”

“You mean awesome?” Toph scoffed, squeezing him a little harder. He exhaled sharply, almost coughing as the air rushed out of him, and she took it as a victory. “He couldn’t do that anyways, not when you’re his dad.”

“You two,” Katara sighed, gently pushing them apart. “Behave.” Rolling her eyes, she stepped back. “I’ll go get the others. We’re all together now!”

“And then we’ll par-ty,” Toph added, waggling her brows as she waved. Aang tensed, and she turned to him, suspicious. “I know you’re both boring, but we’re having a party, right?”

“We are.” Aang rubbed his neck. He sounded almost embarrassed. “Just…uh, maybe not here.”

“Huh?” Toph frowned, unable to believe her ears. “You had me climb all the way up this freakin’ mountain and now you’re telling me we’re not having a party here?”

“It’s just…this is an air temple,” he explained, still sounding sheepish. If she touched him, she was certain his skin would be hot.

“Last time we came here, we launched fireworks. Which, again, are kinda useless to me because I can’t see them,” Toph reminded, crossing her arms. Aang had gotten more serious with age, sure, but she hadn’t imagined he’d turned boring already. Her partners-in-crime were starting to disappear. “A party isn’t going to be much worse than that.”

“Yeah, but…” Aang took a deep breath. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he gently turned her around and steered her towards the main courtyard. “Back then, there wasn’t anyone living here. Now there is.”

Pride rang through his words as they passed by several strangers. Whereas before they had skirted around Toph, now they stopped and bowed towards Aang before continuing. It was almost strange to see people being so reverential to her old friend. Even weirder to realize he might have actually earned some of that.

“We’ve set some rules, and while we’re adding in some new twists, there’s a few hard lines.” Aang paused.

The pregnant silence left Toph with a sense of foreboding. “And?”

He mumbled, “No meat.”

Toph barked her laughter. “No meat? Seriously? Katara’s got to hate that.”

“She still does,” he confirmed with a tired groan. “And then she said if she’s having a baby, she’s eating whatever she damn pleases, so we’re going to celebrate a little farther down the mountain.”

She could just imagine Katara’s reaction, the way she’d stiffen her spine, the furious tap of her foot, the rising tidal wave of her voice. Sometimes, Toph couldn’t understand how the two got together. Other times, like earlier, she heard them together and knew there was no other route.

They were cute. Teeth-rotting cute.

Toph would never say that aloud. “You two are going to be such homebodies now.” A second later, she corrected, “Actually, you’re already homebodies.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Aang snorted defensively. “You know how creative you have to be to prank someone you see everyday? It’s a lot of work being a homebody.”

“Complaining about doing nothing—even more proof that you’re a homebody. You’re hopeless.” Toph threw her hands in the air sadly. “You’re all going to start a book club at this rate. And then I’ll catch Sokka knitting a sweater and it’ll all be over.”

“Huhh?” Aang crossed his arms and cocked his head. Confused, he asked, “What are you talking about?”

Toph raised her hand, ticking a finger as she listed off each offense. “You and Katara are having a baby. Sokka and Suki are getting married. Zuko already has a kid. Seriously, you’ve all gotten boring. When was the last time we all met?”

“That…” Aang hummed as he mulled it over. Momo clambered onto Toph’s shoulder as she waited, his tail curling around her neck like a soft scarf. After a few minutes, Aang reluctantly admitted, “You’re right, it’s been a while.”

“Of course I’m right.” Toph sighed again. “No one knows how to have fun anymore.”

“Hey, we still—I do!” Aang harrumphed. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. She wondered if he was giving that puppy pout that Katara adored. “Last month, we pranked the mayor. Together. And it was my idea.”

“A small glimmer of hope.” Toph give him a pitying look. “Your other pranks are terrible.”

“They’re all great and you have no taste,” Aang countered.

She scoffed, turning away. He wasn’t entirely wrong. They did still meet, in twos and threes, in well-planned trips that were scheduled weeks ahead of time. It was fun, but not like before. Not in the with spontaneity their journey across the world demanded, not even in the way they’d make do while repairing the world after Ozai’s fall.

Part of her felt like she was at a standstill, gathering moss in the woods. Toph fought bandits and small-time thieves during the night, politicians and scummy merchants during the day. It was too banal. Too repetitive.

Maybe wanderlust was in her bones.  

“You don’t miss it?” she asked.

“Miss what?”

“The adventure.” She shrugged half-heartedly, not sure what else to call it. “Fighting villains. Saving towns. Hell, when we cleaned this temple up years ago, we had to fight a ghost.”

Aang shuddered. His breathing quickened, his feet turning this way and that as though the ghost would reappear at any moment. “Don’t remind me.”

She chuckled. “You really hated that.”

“It wasn’t really a ghost!” he protested, rubbing his arms. “It was…I don’t know…I don’t miss that.” 

Toph pressed, not letting him worm away. “What about the rest of it?”

“The rest was great.” She could hear the smile in his voice. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, half-hugging her. “It was a lot of fun. Sometimes I wish we’d just all…go on another trip. Leave everything behind and wake up lost in the desert.”

Toph burst into laughter, remembering the last time it happened. “Sokka would die.”

“He might, and that’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Aang laughed with her. His hand was heavy and warm as he gripped her shoulder. “It was fun. I miss it. But this isn’t all that bad either.”

Her heart sank. “Oh.”

“Really, it isn’t. It’s really…it’s grounded.” Aang struggled to find the words.

Toph bit her lip. She’d heard those words more often than she liked in the Earth Kingdom. “You’re talking like an earthbender.”

“I’m twenty-five percent one,” Aang replied cheekily, jumping back when she swatted him. “But seriously, it’s nice. Before we were running around. We barely got time to sleep before we had to move. Now, we have a place to call home. A place we can stay.”

“I’ve never needed that.” If she looked back, it was obvious. She had run away from her home. He had been forced to leave. The difference between them had been there from the start.

“I don’t think you’ve ever needed anything.” He was serious now, no hint of the joking or teasing from before in his tone. “But you know, there’s other ways to have fun.”

Toph pursed her lips. “How?”

“Vacations. Trips. Pranks.” Aang turned as more Air-Nomads-to-be passed by. “Teaching. It’s a different adventure, but it’s still fun. There’s always something new. Zuko says being a parent’s kinda like that too. You still have to face the unknown, but it’s not all life and death. And wasn’t that what we fought for?”

“I don’t want the danger, just…” Toph scuffed her shoe. Those sounded fun, in the way that a holiday sounded fun. A small, temporary reprieve before the mind-numbing boring returned. “I don’t think that’s enough for me.”

“It might not be.” Aang squeezed her shoulder. “And that’s fine too. If you need to do more, explore further, that’s cool. That’s just who you are. We’re not stopping you from travelling.” Mischief coloured his voice as he added, “Just don’t forget to invite me sometimes.”

It was oddly reassuring. Toph reached up and covered his hand with hers. “I thought you were trying to be a serious Avatar.”

Aang shrugged, adding impishly, “I’m serious about everything. Even getting in trouble.”

Toph burst into laughter. Honestly, when Aang had said he was going to try living in the air temple, teaching the future Air Nomads, she had thought it was a mistake. A big one. It turned out it had been exactly what he’d needed. “You know, Twinkle Toes, I didn’t think you’d be a good teacher. Guess I was wrong. You’re not terrible.”

“I love you too.” He loosely hugged her. “And if you ever get tired of travelling and need some place to stay, well, the door’s always open.”

Toph shook her hand dismissively. “No way. I know what you eat.”

“It’s not that bad!” She could hear the pout as Aang protested. “Katara likes it most of the time.”

“Uh-huh.” Toph rolled her eyes. Honestly, as much as she loved them, between Aang and Katara, their poor kid was going to grow up without a cool bone in their body. If she had a kid—

Toph blinked. If she had a kid.

If.

Who said she couldn’t have one?

“You know what, I’m getting a kid too,” she announced. Aang yelped in surprise and she ignored him. Honestly, the more she thought about it, the better it sounded. A kid of her own. Someone she could go on adventures with in the future. Someone she could pass on everything she’d ever learned.

Aang had called it interesting. So had Zuko. Maybe she could dip her toes into it herself.

He sharply breathed in, trying to recover before he asked, “Y-You know it’s not like you can get one in the store or anything.”

“I know.” Toph’s smile grew broader. It just felt right.

“They’re…you know how they’re made, right?”

“Duh.” She smirked—now that it’d come this far, she wanted to have some fun with it. “We’re in our twenties. Obviously, they get dropped off by a flamingo-stork.”

Aang’s jaw dropped. He took in a sharp breath, but he couldn’t say anything.

Toph laughed. “Just kidding. But I’m getting a kid. One that’s stronger and better than yours.”

He squawked, “It’s not a competition!”

“I know.” Toph grinned. It wasn’t an adventure, but it was fun, and maybe she could see what this parenting deal was like. “You’ve got no chance at winning.”