#and then there’s EVERYTHING about his spirit world and white lotus connections

[un-pearable]

need to find a good atla fic focusing on iroh’s formative years. i get why everyone’s obsessed with zuko but i’m fascinated by iroh’s history - i think we’ve collectively forgotten that he was the previous crown prince. he spent his childhood in the same situation as zuko - in line for the throne with a vindicative younger sibling, doing terrible things for what felt like a worthy cause. where’s the melodramatic late twenties mid thirties saga of this man grappling with his morality and impact on the world just in time to have a son who’s doomed to die

[peony-pearl]

Me connecting invisible dots that weren’t meant to be connected at all: Maybe another reason Sokka is really firm towards Iroh when he asks for help to save Zuko from Azula in BSS is because Iroh had pointed out to Yue that she had been ‘touched by the moon spirit’, to which was the catalyst of Yue sacrificing herself to give that life back. While Sokka hates to think of his sister or family or new friends dying because of the loss of the moon spirit, he still lost Yue, and there’s a part of him in his young heart that resents Iroh for bringing up Yue’s gift, because it was the moment that led to his loss of her.

[dalekofchaos]

Context for choices 1, 2 and 9

My little au on if Aang never left

For my Zuko/Azula as prodigies. Basically they are both naturally gifted Firebenders. Zuko faces Ozai in combat, but Zuko faces Ozai. As Ozai is about to finish Zuko, Zuko hits Ozai with white flame and then Ozai declares Zuko the victory and he gains his father's respect. Eventually Zuko and Azula are at a sibling rivalry, trying to outdo each other and even trying to kill each other for their father's approval and to win the throne. Ozai puts their ambitions to the test. Whomever captures Ba Sing Sei, Northern Water Tribes and the Avatar first becomes Ozai's successor.

This video better explains it

Asami as Amon

Asami witnessed the brutal murder of her mother, but it wouldn't be by just any benders. It would be the Red Lotus Society.

Zaheer planned to finish the job, but Toph came to the rescue.

the spirits would take pity on Asami and gift her energy bending and Asami would use her father's wealth to master Chi-Blocking and use their wealth to fund and arm the Equalists.

Amon or in this case Asami wins at the end of Book 1. Tarrlok is still captured by Amon, when Korra sees him and they chat, he tells the whole story of Amon as it happened in the show to her and everything. Like it goes in the show. Korra and friends go to confront Amon at the arena where Tenzin and his family are about to lose their bending. But they don’t because she gets there in time. She accuses Amon of being a bender, as per Tarrlok’s story. Amon doesn’t unmask. And he isn’t a bender. Tarrlok lied to get Korra to confront Amon so that he could capture her and he could hopefully save his own skin for the service at least. They fight. Amon takes Korra’s bending in a big demonstrative way. So all the crowd can see what comes to any benders, especially The Avatar who stand against him. Then the reveal happens. Asami is Amon.

Art by nikoniko_808

In order to get her bending back and learn how to give others their bending back (yeah, Korra wouldn’t get it back at the end of Book 1 because consequences? What’re those?), Korra has to go on a quest to learn her bending(her masters would be Toph, Katara, Izumi and Tenzin) in the Spirit World to understand everything. Korra does not cry about loosing her bending because she realized she’s still The Avatar and has to go to The Spirit World to get her bending back, to help everyone get their bending back and stop Asami

Throughout the series, we would meet Kya, Bumi, Izumi, Eska, Desna(Eska and Desna would be Korra’s siblings in this universe, because fuck Unaloq) Opal and Kai. We have the same romance between Bolin and Opal and Jinora and Kai. We would also meet Varrick and Zhu Li, because they are comedy gold. They would all help in the fight against Amon and the Equalists.

In Korra's venture to the Spirit World,

she would still see Wan’s story(because that’s the only thing I liked about Book 2) and I think in her journey in the spirit world she would see Asami’s story, in which her family were victims of the Red Lotus society and Asami learned to take bending away in the spirit world. Not only that, we would find out that Asami would be bonded with Vaatu. Asami is the darker Avatar.

Before she leaves The Spirit World she connects with all her past lives to ask what she should do about Asami. Korra has her Aang moment where she has too has to decide what to do like he did with the fire lord, only this time there's more to it than just stopping the bad guy. It’s about the person she loved. She can restore everyone’s bending by reversing Amon’s convergence, but she can't do that so long as the avatar spirit is split. And as long as Asami is part avatar, she can go into the avatar state. That's still pretty damn dangerous even with only water and blood bending. Korra realizes the only thing she can do to stop Asami? Love her.

After her journey to relearn her bending and journey in the spirit world, Korra travels the world to gain allies. From the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes and Air Nomads. Korra unites the world against Amon and the Equalists.

In the final fight, Korra defeats Amon. She exorcises Vaatu from Asami, thus ending the dark Avatar and stopping Amon’s convergence. She reverses what Asami has done and uses it to restore everyone’s bending. So she has to come to the hard part. Amon makes it clear, no matter what, even without the ability to energy bend or without Vaatu, Amon will never stop, Benders will never be safe. Korra shows Asami what she was denied. Korra loves her and forgives her. Asami gives up and accepts whatever punishment.

During Book 3, Asami would work with Korra in stopping and killing the Red Lotus society. However, when Zaheer is stopped. He is left at the mercy of Asami and for everything he’s done and turned her into. Asami kills him.

Book 4 happens. Asami's redemption is rebuilding Republic City and using Future Industries to repair the damage she's done as Amon. Blah blah blah Korra stops Kubira blah blah. Asami earns her redemption and the love of the krew and more importantly Korra. Ends with Korra and Asami venturing in the Spirit World and ends with a kiss.

[vrishchikawrites]

Hello :) Here's another prompt if you're still taking them? WWX & LWJ met as children and declared that they would marry upon their first meeting. Their guardians just thought that it was cute, and that they will forget about it over time. (They don't)

(SOFT. SO SOFT. AU without SSC and GC transfer)

They first meet when Cansge Sanren and Wei Changze are still alive. The wandering cultivators find themselves in Caiyi town and Lan Qiren is reluctantly dragged from his duties to have lunch with a cheerful Cangse Sanren.

He brings little a-Zhan along.

His nephew has just recovered from a fever and is feeling a little clingy. Lan Qiren will never admit it, but something is in his chest softens when his little nephew clings to him with a pout, refusing to let go.

Cangse Sanren's son is exactly when Lan Qiren expected him to be; excitable, curious, restless, and frustratingly intelligent. Bright silver eyes track everything, fascinated and eager to know more.

Lan Qiren reluctantly nudges a-Zhan forward at Cangse Sanren's pointed stare. She's a protective mother and if he so much as implies her son is unworthy of making acquaintance with his nephew, she will cheerfully gut him.

a-Zhan is reluctant at first. He has never been the most social child, rarely interacting with anyone but his immediate family.

But Wei Ying, also a bit shy and reluctant, peeks from behind his father's robes and smiles.

Lan Qiren has to admit it is a pretty sight. The child is plump and healthy with bright eyes and a wide, sincere smile.

a-Zhan is enamored at first sight.

Lan Qiren is astonished when a-Zhan steps forward and grabs Wei Ying's hand, pulling him from behind Wei Changze and towards Lan Qiren.

Wei Ying comes willingly, curious and entertained by the unusual situation. Lan Qiren doesn't doubt he has had even fewer interactions with children his age than a-Zhan, being the son of traveling cultivators.

"Shufu," He pulls Wei Ying's arm up as though presenting him to Lan Qiren, "a-Ying."

"Indeed," He says, secretly amused but refusing to show it, "I am Lan Qiren, Wei Ying."

Apparently, the child doesn't lack manners because he attempts to bow even with his hand still firmly held in a-Zhan's grasp.

Lan Qiren is somewhat charmed.

He is less charmed when their lunch comes to an end and a-Zhan reaches for a-Ying's hand once again, refusing to let go.

"a-Zhan, it's time to go home. Don't you want to see a-Huan?"

"Show a-Ying to a-Huan." a-Zhan insists, "a-Huan sees too!"

"a-Huan can meet a-Ying later." Lan Qiren says patiently but he feels his eyebrow twitch at a-Zhan's stubborn pout, "a-Ying is staying in Caiyi for a few weeks, a-Zhan, I'm sure we can bring a-Huan next time."

"a-Huan see pretty now."

Lan Qiren winces when Cangse Sanren muffles a laugh in her husband's shoulder and the man looks at the sky, amused but too dignified to react.

a-Ying tugs at his hand, trying to free it only to pout when he can't escape.

The scene is too adorable for Lan Qiren's poor heart. He sighs.

"Alright, let's show a-Huan the 'pretty'."

---

The little wandering cultivator family stays in Caiyi for three weeks to rest, replenish their supplies, and give their child some time to play with others.

a-Huan, of course, is just as enamored by a-Ying as his little brother. Lan Qiren is getting accustomed to the sight of a little white-clad Wei child lead around Cloud Recesses by one nephew in the morning and another in the evening.

a-Huan is at least gracious enough to let Wei Ying walk on his own. a-Zhan is stubborn. If he's in a-Ying's company, he's holding the child's hand.

Wei Ying is a free spirit and being dragged around annoys the child at first. He tugs and pouts but eventually starts reaching for a-Zhan's hand on his own accord.

There's not a single person in Cloud Recesses that doesn't adore the sight.

---

"a-Zhan," Lan Qiren sighs, "a-Ying must leave with his parents. He belongs to them."

a-Zhan is red-faced and angry, his eyes wet with frustrated tears, "a-Ying stay. a-Ying stay, stay, stay!"

Oh goodness, a tantrum.

It is, unfortunately, a drama with three actors.

a-Huan is weeping with a tragic appearance of a love-scorned maiden; eyes wide and imploring, lips trembling, and face wet with silent tears.

a-Ying is burying sobs into his father's shoulder, his little body trembling with acute distress. "a-Ying not leave," He wails, "a-Ying wants stay with a-Zhan!"

"a-Ying," Wei Changze is compassionate instead of amused, his expression soft with sympathy. He rubs his son's back in gentle motions, rocking the child soothingly, "Baba promises we'll return. We'll be back before you even have a chance to miss your friends."

"Aiya! What a mess," Cangse Sanren says, amused, "a-Ying, do you want to leave us and stay with a-Zhan? We must go so you need to choose."

"Xingan," Wei Changze chides as Wei Ying looks up with wide eyes and shakes his head, looking heartbreakingly distressed, "Be gentle with our child."

Lan Qiren huffs in disapproval, glaring at her as she smiles sheepishly and presses a kiss to Wei Ying's head, "Aiya, baobao, you'll break your mother's heart. It's alright, little treasure," She plucks him from Wei Changze's arms, her face incandescent with love, "We'll bring you to your a-Zhan every two months, I promise! We would never keep you from your friends!"

Perhaps she knows something about raising children, after all. The definite timeline goes a long way to soothe all three children.

There are still many tears at their parting. a-Zhan and a-Huan sulk for days. Sometimes Lan Qiren catches a-Zhan looking at his hand with a forlorn expression.

"a-Zhan," He sighs one day, when his nephew spends an entire evening pouting and staring at his hand, "He'll be back soon."

a-Zhan doesn't say anything, just nodding gently and tucking his hand away.

The expression on his face melts Lan Qiren's heart, "I'll convince Cangse Sanren to stay a bit longer." He thinks about asking her to just let the child attend Cloud Recesses for his education. He's very bright, possessing a native intelligence that must be nurtured.

"Mn."

"Missing a friend is natural," He says softly, "But you must understand that everyone has their own life and obligations. a-Ying belongs to his parents. He must live with them."

"Mn. Will marry a-Ying so he belongs to me."

Lan Qiren chokes on his tea, "What...?"

"a-Ying promised he'll be my wife," a-Zhan nods solemnly, like he isn't nudging his uncle towards qi deviation, "a-Huan saw."

Lan Qiren turns to his older nephew, who nods with a cheerful smile, "They bowed to me and each other. I told them bowing to ancestors can wait until they're older!"

... what?

---

Tragedy strikes and Lan Qiren sees his nephew's heart break. Once. Twice. Three times.

Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren are killed. a-Ying is nowhere to be found.

Madam Lan perishes, and his little nephew deals with the weight of grief again, silent and solemn at her doorstep.

His brother retreats entirely and his nephews are left without a father.

They don't see Wei Ying again for well over a decade.

---

Wei Wuxian arrives at Cloud Recesses like an unstoppable storm.

Lan Qiren takes one look at him, sees the jaded edge in his eyes, watches his appeasing smile, and feels nothing but wrath.

This isn't the boy he remembers, raised under the boundless love of his parents. This one has faced injustice and doesn't trust the world.

The first time the boy challenges him in class, silver eyes sharp and assessing, he throws a book at him and assigns punishment with Wangji.

Let his nephew handle his cherished friend. He needs to look at the situation at the Lotus Pier.

He keeps assigning him lines, even for offenses that warrant the cane. Wei Ying doesn't remember much of his childhood but it is clear that the connection is still there.

The three children fall into their old friendship quickly. Xichen being amused and indulgent. Wei Ying being annoying and lively. Wangji never letting go.

Lan Qiren investigates.

What he finds doesn't please him.

He pens a scathing letter.

'She entrusted you with her treasure. You've made a hash of it. What do you mean by sending that child here in such a state? Did you think I would ignore it? Will you tell me the scars on his back are warranted?

Your audacity appalls me. You swore on your honor that you would raise him as your own son. I offered to take him in when you found him but you swore he was happy with you and his martial siblings.

My nephews love him. Your son only berates him.

You have deceived me.

I swear on my honor that I will find a way to wrest him from your sect, Fengmian.

You do not deserve him.'

---

Wei Ying is a naturally good-humored child. It takes just a month of being in Wangji and Xichen's company to soften all of his edges. His mischief no longer has a jaded edge to it.

He's still far too unruly for Lan Qiren's liking but he supposes that is a symptom of his youth.

"Jiang Yanli is betrothed," Xichen says as he serves them tea. He has a solemn expression but his eyes are sharp. He's almost as fond of Wei Ying as Wangji, after all, "I see no reason why Wangji and a-Xian can't be too."

Lan Qiren stills, staring at his nephew, "Betrothal." He repeats flatly.

Xichen dares to shrug, discarding his habitual poise in his anger, "Wangji has never loved another. It's unlikely he ever will." He looks up to meet Lan Qiren's gaze, "We wouldn't be able to separate them now, Shufu, not after Wangji saw-" He grimaces.

Lan Qiren looks away with a scowl, combing his beard furiously. His youngest nephew had discovered Wei Ying's scars, after all.

"We have letters from Wei Changze," Lan Qiren says, "Discussing a-Ying and a-Zhan's formal marriage arrangements." It had all been in jest, of course. When they found out the children had 'wed' with Xichen as a witness, their amusement had known no bounds.

Lan Qiren had quite enjoyed carrying out mock betrothal negotiations.

He clears his throat, "Very well."

---

Wangji and Wei Ying are officially betrothed before the lectures at Cloud Recesses come to an end.

Yu-furen's wrath knows no bounds. Soon enough, Jiang Fengmian sends Wei Ying back to Cloud Recesses with a letter full of excuses.

Wangji takes one look at his beloved's ashen expression and turns to Lan Qiren, "No more."

Lan Qiren nods.

It is difficult to negotiate but they pull it off. It helps that Wei Changze's letters speak of the marriage as an inevitable fact rather than a joke between parents.

The Jiangs lose their Head Disciple by the time the boy is seventeen. Lan Qiren arranges their marriage by the time they're twenty.

Wei Ying never leaves Wangji's side again.

[impossiblycolorfulpanda]

ATLA - go in peace

Here’s an alternat scene of Sozin’s Comet with Aang winning over Ozai. The comet even is moved over at the end of book 4: air.

Aang: “(With the voices of all previous Avatars.) Fire Lord Ozai, you and your forefathers have devastated the balance of this world, and now you shall pay the ultimate price!”

Aang, under control of his past lives, combines all four elements together for his final attack. At the last second, however, he manages to regain control; he comes out of the Avatar State, lets his attack die out, and floats to the ground, freeing Ozai in the process.

Aang: “No. I will not let myself, or anyone else, turn into you.”

Ozai: “Even with all the power in the world, you are still weak!”

Ozai moves to attack Aang who senses it with the seismic sense he learned from Toph. He stamps down and lifts a foot up, dragging a pillar of earth along with him, deflecting Ozai's attack. He ceases his attacks when rings of all four elements started encircling Ozai one-by-one. As Aang continues to bend the elements so that it encircles the entity entirely, the elements start to glow, Ozai's head arches back and blue energy shines out of his eyes and mouth into the sky, his body is consumed by blue energy and an intense beam of blue energy erupts into the sky. The beam disappears and Ozai falls to the ground as the elements also disappear.

Ozai: “What? What did you do to me?”

Aang: “I used spiritbending to absolve you, heal you, and open all of your chakras, permanently. You can't go out of balance ever again and you can now help make a positive difference in the world, instead of destroying it.”

Cut to the comet flying away, returning the sky to the darkness of night time as Sokka, Toph, Suki, Ty Lee, Mai, Katara, Zuko and Azula are seen leaving the airship they were on.

Sokka: “You did it! You should've seen yourself, it was amazing! You were all like (Pretends to be Aang fighting Ozai while adding sound effects.) and the Fire Lord was all like (Pretends to be Ozai struggling and groaning.)”

Mai: “Sheesh, chew the scenery much?”

Suki: “Yeah, he kinda does.”

Ty Lee: “What a pretty lightshow you made.”

Katara sees Ozai, with fury, she begins to charge at him but Aang stops her.

Aang: “Don’t.”

Katara: “He killed my father! Your friend, Bumi! And the entire white lotus!”

Aang: “And now he won’t hurt or threaten anyone else.”

Zuko: “What do you mean? What have you done?”

Aang: “I learned there was another way to stop him and restore balance without having to act like him. I used bending technique that utilizes knowledge in both healing and spirituality to alter and change negative energy into positive energy, restoring internal balance in the process. It’s apparently called spiritbending. I opened his chakras for good and saved him from his internal imbalance.”

Toph: “Wow! Who taught you that?”

Aang: “Monk Gyatso’s spirit, along with Guru Patik.”

Toph: “You learn things in the craziest ways.”

Aang: “Like I said before Katara, Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing, even if it’s hard. I’m sorry I was impatient and hypocritical about it before. You should learn to forgive in your own pace and on your own terms, not mine.”

Azula: “Father? You ok?”

Ozai: “Better then ok. I can see...truly see...We are all dust, bound by one enormous universal force. No. Not universal. Not even multiversal. This omniversal force continues forever, in every direction through every reality. Everything is connected...everyone...and this is how you see things...all the time...everyday...My lust for power, my jealousy of Iroh, it isn't just evil. Ultimately, it's pointless. To tear down and to destroy is of no consequence or quality. To create is divine.”

Katara: “If it mattered to you, Ozai, you could have saved the world years ago.”

Ozai: “You’re right...”

Iroh’s voice: “There’s more to reality that meets the eye.”

Everyone was shocked and they all recognized that voice.

Ozai: “You sly fox...”

A bright light appeared in front of Ozai. It took the shape of Iroh. Everyone was even more shacked and frightened at the presence of Iroh’s divine spirit. Ozai destroyed him in agni kai. Iroh turned toward Zuko and Azula.

Iroh: “Zuko, Azula. Forgive you’re foolish uncle.”

Zuko: (Tearful and joyful) “Uncle!”

In a moment of impulse, Zuko rushed and embraced Iroh’s spirit and breaks down in sobs. Azula wanted to do the same but was hesitant to. She went to him and embraced him much slower, tears breaking loose.

Iroh: “Zuko, I left you with such a heavy burden that should have been mine to bear. And Azula, I was hard on you for...being like me...and I’m sorry...to both of you.”

They both let go.

Azula: “I should be the one saying sorry to you.”

Iroh turns to a fearful Ozai as he quickly stood up.

Ozai: “Brother...”

Iroh: “Calm yourself. Perhaps it may be too late for us but not for them.”

Ozai turned to Aang and bowed.

Ozai: “Very, well done.”

Aang bowed back. Iroh held on Ozai’s arms, he put one arm over his head and held him tight.

Iroh: “You ready, brother?”

Ozai: “Yes...I’m not afraid anymore.”

Iroh and Ozai both began to glow brightly, they disappeared and went to the spirit world together.

Aang: “Go in peace.”

[the-last-cuddlebender]

I straight up check your profile daily for the southern raiders analysis you’re working on. 👀👀 where IS IT 😩

bRUH I am so excited to drop this analysis you have no idea (It’s creeping up to 22k+ I am gonna cryyyyyyyyyyyy). The only problem is that my TSR analysis and “Moon theory” are so incredibly hard to structure and articulate. I’m happy you’re so excited for it, though!!! Truly, it’s an honor. I’ll give you a taste of my madness and what’s to come, but be warned: it may be a bit hard to follow because TSR (from how I’ve come to understand it) is about the vagueness of beginnings, endings, and cycles, so there isn’t really a starting point for me to begin with. (So it may seem a tad bit like a ramble in some points that I haven’t fleshed out yet/am summarizing for this ask)

This analysis has me on trails like THIS brilliant nonsense, and I am 1000000000% here for it:

Roku: “The spirit's name is Koh, but he is very dangerous. They call him The Face Stealer.”

Katara: “We’re going to find the man who took my mother from me.”...“That’s him. That’s the monster.”

Lion Turtle: “To bend another's energy, your own spirit must be unbendable, or you will be corrupted and destroyed.”

Roku: “When you speak with him, you must be very careful to show no emotion at all. Not the slightest expression, or he will steal your face.”

Hama: “Congratulations, Katara. You’re a bloodbender.”

(If Katara had killed Yon Rha, she would be giving up her identity--her face. Not only would she have become a killer, but she would be killing what made her Katara)

Aang: “Let your anger out, and then let it go. Forgive him.”

Forgive him--approach him for what he is, not the faces your memories or your heart are having him wear. See him for the pathetic man he is in that moment right in front of you.

Aang’s forgiveness is seeing someone for the sum of their parts. It’s judging them and seeing through into their very soul, just like the Firebending Masters saw through Zuko being the Crown Prince and Aang being the Avatar. That meant nothing to the Masters. What did matter to them was who the boys were right there, right then, right in front of them.

“Why should I hold a grudge against you for something you did in a past life? After all, you’re a different person, now. You’ve come to me with a new face.”

But anyways...

If I can give no other take-away from my analysis and moon theory, it’s that Yin and Yang are not two entities; they are three. I think the fandom’s misunderstanding of it may be why the discourse on TSR (and Aang, Katara, and Zuko) is so black and white (pun intended lol). 

“But Yin and Yang are obviously two things. Don’t you know the symbol?” I hear some people already saying.

Wrong, sir.

It has never been just Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang have never existed as just two things.

They are Yin and Yang and Wu Wei.

(Aunt Wu has her name for a reason, and she has the mark of the wise in her hair for a reason, too...AND she is at odds with Sokka in The Fortuneteller for a reason, too!!!...but that’s for the analysis😉)

Balance isn’t good triumphing over evil. Balance is good and evil. Balance is standing on the flow between two opposites--it’s the compliment that connects them. (The koi fish live in an oasis for a reason.)

I’ll explain what Wu Wei is later in the full analysis (like many things in here), but here’s some of my evidences and proofs for the “Yin Yang trio”:

The Tibetan “Wheel of Dharma”

(I’ll also explain the Wheel and Dharma and etc. later because it has everything to do with Koh and the moon) Long story short, the wheel and its spokes are representative of the 8 steps to enlightenment and the cycle of rebirth. 

Look at the hub of the wheel. It’s a swirl made of 3 parts.

It is also a white lotus

Here’s the colored version of the wheel (as an alter):

Recognize the colors?

BLUE, WHITE (or gold, depending), & RED

These are the “THREE TREASURES” OR JEWELS.

They symbolize DHARMA, BUDDHA, & SANGHA respectively. 

KATARA, AANG, & ZUKO

water, air, & fire

T H R E E

Bato: “Ice dodging is a ceremonial test of wisdom, bravery, and trust.

Bato: “The spirits of water bear witness to these marks...”

Why does Bato say spirit(s) plural? The Ocean and the Moon are only two spirits. The Ocean can’t be two things. Right?

WRONG

Yue: “The legends say the Moon was the first waterbender. Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves.”

The Moon--singular. The Tides--plural (push and pull)

Lion Turtle: “In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements, but the energy within our senses.”

The moon pushing and pulling the tide is the moon bending the energy of its world. 

Katara finding balance between “being too weak to do it” or “strong enough not to” is her bending the energy within herself.

It’s two solutions written as a question but said as a statement.

Yue: “Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves”

THE SOUTHERN RAIDERS IS ABOUT AANG AND ZUKO LEARNING FROM KATARA. Katara had already learned from Aang and Zuko all leading up to TSR. That was her studying. TSR was her test.

TSR is Zuko’s and Aang’s studying. Sozin’s Comet is their test.

Bato: “For Sokka, the Mark of the Wise. The same mark your father earned. For Katara, the Mark of the Brave. Your courage inspires us. And for Aang, the Mark of the Trusted. You are now an honorary member of the Water Tribe.”

Aang - Wise (”you’re pretty wise for a kid”)

Katara - Brave (the same mark her mother earned)

Zuko - Trusted (”I was the first person to trust you”)

Sokka - Bato ("I am to have no part in this--you pass or fail on your own.”)

Yin and Yang are nothing without their dance. The Avatar and the Firelord mean nothing if they don’t have a world to rebuild.

The valley means nothing if there isn’t anyone to live in it.

Fighting is useless if there isn’t someone to fight for, otherwise it is “selfish and stupid”

Katara had to have a reason to return from Yon Rha. She needed to have Aang waiting for her. If she didn’t have a reason to stay, then she wouldn’t have a reason to go.

To have a reason to sleep, a person has to have a reason to wake up.

Katara: “Aang. He just took his glider and disappeared. He has this ridiculous notion that he has to save the world alone; that it's all his responsibility.”

Hakoda: “Maybe that's his way of being brave.”

(Bato: “For Katara, the Mark of the Brave. Your courage inspires us.”)

Katara: “It's not brave! It's selfish and stupid! We could be helping him! And I know the world needs him, but doesn't he know how much we need him, too? How can he just leave us behind?!”

(It was, in fact, not easy for Aang to ‘do nothing’)

Katara: “I understand why you left. I really do, and I know that you had to go, so why do I still feel this way? I'm so sad and angry...and hurt.”

Hakoda: “I love you more than anything. You and your brother are my entire world. I thought about you every day when I was gone, and every night when I went to sleep, I would lie awake missing you so much it would ache.”

(AND YUE IS ONE OF THE ONES TO SAVE AANG IN THE OCEAN FOR A REASON)

Thinking and missing: a matter of mind (who) and heart (want). 

Iroh: “Who are you? And what do you want?”

Sokka: “We need to go back. I wanna see Dad, but helping Aang is where we're needed the most.”

Mai: “I love Zuko more than I fear you.”

BUT YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT THE MOON FOR A HOT SECOND???

I’LL TELL YOU ABOUT THE MOON

I’LL TELL YOU ABOUT 2 MOONS

OH

OH REALLY???

OH REALLY, ZUKO

A FEW HOURS YOU SAY?

THEN TELL ME, ZUKO

WHY IS THE SUN GOING UP

WHEN IT IS THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT A FEW HOURS LATER

AND KATARA IS SLEEPING SO YOU CAN’T TELL ME IT’S BECAUSE YOU RISE WITH THE SUN OTHERWISE SHE’D BE WIDE AWAKE DURING THE FULL MOON THAT SHE USES TO BLOODBEND NOT EVEN TWO MINUTES LATER

THIS, MY FRIENDS, IS A HARVEST MOON

WHICH IS THE LAST FULL MOON OF THE SUMMER 

(and looks off color when it rises/falls because of the angle of the rise/fall in the atmosphere...it’s normal once overhead)

AND SYMOLIZES HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF

“We’re going to find the MAN who took my mother from me.”

“That’s him. That’s the MONSTER.”

8 spokes on the wheel

Katara was 8 when Kya was killed

8 steps to enlightenment (the “Eightfold Path”)

8 phases of the moon

8 faces of Koh

“One of your previous incarnations tried to slay me! Be it 8 or 9 hundred years ago” (but time is an illusion, so hundreds mean nothing)

THE OTHER TWO MOONS THAT ARE CONSUMING MY EVERY WAKING MOMENT???:

1.) The WOLF MOON--the first full moon of the new year (a love between the wolf and the moon in the harshest winters...connection is kindof obvious lmao)

2.) THE THUNDER MOON

The Thunder Moon is the full moon of July. It is also known as the Buck Moon--for when young buck regrow their antlers.

Yue: “My hair turned white.”

Zuko: *cuts and re-grows his hair*

Aang: “I have hair?”

The Thunder Moon--the full moon of July--is also the beginning of a certain Buddhist holiday.

DHARMA DAY

WHICH CELEBRATES THE BEGINING OF BUDDHISM AND THE FIRST OF THE 8 STEPS (the first spoke of the Dharma Wheel) TOWARDS ENLIGHTENMENT

AVATAR IS ALL ABOUT CYCLES

THE SOUTHERN RAIDERS IS ALL ABOUT BREAKING THEM

I haven’t even touched Jung, Koh, Hinduism, and Buddhism yet

or the fact that Katara and Kya are the only characters in the entire series to wear moons on their clothing and that, together, they form an actual lunar phenomenon

or why the spirit oasis isn’t a complete circle

or the fact that this thing that Aang is told to chase is just like Whaletail Island:

or how important the Great Divide and the Solstice are

AND I’M JUST GETTING STARTED

BECAUSE EVERYTHING IN THE SOUTHERN RAIDERS--RIGHT DOWN TO THE SOUND DESIGN--IS ABSOLUTELY MONUMENTAL IN UNDERSTANDING THE SHOW, ITS MESSAGE, ENERGYBENDING, AND LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE

TLDR: Idk how the heck I’m going to arrange or articulate this analysis because it is WILD. Be warned: There is literally no exact beginning and ending to this analysis because the whole point of Yin and Yang is that is has no beginning or ending (...kindof...), so you’ll have to bear with me once I’m done editing it into something that’s somewhat coherent.

These are just SOME of the things I’ve been able to answer with my moon theory and analysis of The Southern Raiders as it currently stands:

Why “letting go” isn’t really letting go (as we understand it...see: Aang’s confrontation with Koh)

Why Lake Laogai and the Spirit World are symbolically the same thing.

Zuko’s advice to the bullfrog is actually a summary of the show, energybending, the origin of bending, and the definition of Aang’s “forgiveness” I stg

Why “Sokka’s instincts” are the reason Katara yells at Sokka

Believe it or not, every time Katara mentions her mother, it is at specific times for specific reasons.

^^^same thing for the moon, lack of moon, moon positioning, etc.

Katara’s mother’s necklace is more important than we realize.

Who the faces of Koh are and WHY they are there.

The true meaning of Jet’s sacrifice.

Why Jet’s episode about the dam explains the entirety of TSR as it pertains to Katara (all the way down to the little girl who runs to get her doll after the dam breaks)

Why Katara actually DID forgive Yon Rha, and the fact that she doesn’t even know it is proof that she did

^^^^^Aang’s definition of forgiveness is completely misunderstood by the fandom, and the way he “forgives” is sososo much deeper than “moving on”, and it is DEFINATELY by no means “doing  nothing” or “excusing” past actions.

The importance of lightning, Zuko, Aang, and Katara.

The absolutely monumental and not nearly talked about importance of Jeong-Jeong like holy crap.

How Katara and Azula are just as much of a Yin and Yang as Zuko and Aang but not in the way we think they are

Why Koh has the Blue Spirit’s face

Why Koh DOESN’T have the Painted Lady’s face.

Who Ni-Ni from Katara’s campfire story in The Puppetmaster is 

How and why Iroh was able to learn firebending from the Masters even though he didn’t have a partner. 

How/Why Azula had her breakdown and why she saw her mother in the mirror

Why “Leaves from the Vine” and “Four Seasons” are the same song, explain Azula’s downfall, and explain the Yin and Yang of TSR.

Why Katara and Sokka are so often mistaken for parental figures.

Why Aang’s flashbacks to the Air Nomads are so important in understanding TSR.

Why Toph and Suki disappear after the campfire in TSR.

How Hakoda, Gyatso, and Kya are all connected.

Why it is so dang important that Azula shows up in the beginning of TSR.

The importance of the Spirit Oasis.

Energybending, healing with waterbending, Aang’s trauma, and Zuko’s scar.

Why Zuko gives Katara the exact opposite advise in TSR that he gave her in the catacombs. 

How everything could be predicted and read by the moon.

WHY YIN AND YANG ARE THREE THINGS AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THREE THINGS.

HOW ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL OF THIS TIES BACK TO THE MOON AND BUDDHIST BELIEFS--AND YEAH THE MOON AND BUDDHISM AND HINDUISM ARE MORE CONNECTED IN ATLA THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE.

AND HOW IT LEADS INTO OUR MODERN UNDERSTANDING OF THE SELF--BECAUSE JUNG TOOK GREAT INFLUENCE IN HIS DEVELOPING THEORY OF THE CONSCIOUS AND THE SUBCONSCIOUS FROM THE HINDU/BUDDHIST RELIGIONS 

^^^^AND ALSO THE THEORY OF THE SHADOW AND THE PERSONA 

The ocean is a deep, dark, unknown place with a lot of hidden monsters (like Yon Rah). Katara needed a light to find her monster, but she also needed somewhere she could breathe when she came back up for air.

If she didn’t have both Zuko and Aang, Katara would have drowned. 

I wasn’t kidding when I said this was a thesis, and what I’ve said and listed here isn’t even all that I have.

btw This all does line up on the traditional Yin Yang symbol we know and see in the show, but I don’t have enough space here for that lmao. That’ll be in the analysis

I hope you enjoyed this little taste, my friend, because I need to sit down for a hot second before my brain leaks out of my ears. Sorry for the ramble. I promise the analysis isn’t like this lol. This is just me trying to summarize as best as I can. 

***Disclaimer: My points are always subject to change since I am still researching. These are the facts as I’ve found and applied them to the evidences I’ve noted from in the show. I’m always open for friendly discussion or any directions to better sources on Buddhism/Tao/Jung!***

[shuunnico]

I generally disagree. If you look at the characters, Korra and Aang’s story are polar opposites.

Korra starts off thuggish and eager to fight, who learns the value of empathy, and diplomacy. Aang starts off as a general pacifist who learns he must fight to protect the world.

Korra begins the story with being the Avatar and has to come to grips with the idea that the Avatar isn’t as important as it once was. Aang starts his story fleeing from being the Avatar and learning to accept that responsibility.

Aang has a single, overarching foe that he must beat. Ozai has no nuance and might as well be a cartoon villain. Korra must fight a fractured series of enemies, each with their own ideological underpinnings, who make arguments that their way is both valid and correct.

Having Vaatu be the ‘big bad’ of LoK undermines that inversion of Aang’s story. It’s also why Unalaq is important as a villainous character, as (regardless of how well it was handled) he highlights the ideology of both monarchy and theocracy.

The framing is the issue. The story is not about some ‘big bad’, it is about Korra coming to terms of a constantly modernizing world where everything is no longer black and white. In this way, the Red Lotus and Kuvira both fit this idea far more than Vaatu does.

Vaatu shouldn’t be the ‘end boss’. He should be the method of which Korra comes to terms with the spiritual arc. He should be the culmination of Korra’s learning about the Avatar and the spiritual aspects of bending.

Rather than a fight with spirit lasers, the final conflict should be one of spirituality. This is where Korra begins her path on understanding that not every fight needs to be won with violence.

Instead of a ‘dark avatar’ fighting with a ‘light avatar’, the final decision should be about the validity of just sealing chaos away. In the end, Korra could choose to undo Wang’s decision to create an imbalance. She could take Vaatu into herself, where within the Avatar, Raava and Vaatu become balanced and the conflict ceases.

This, theoretically, could also be the explanation for why The Avatar State continues to be powerful after Korra loses her connections to her past lives.

If you were allowed to rewrite TLoK, what would you change?

Too many things to list, for starters.

The issue though is I'd need to know what story elements are retained. If we're talking about the broad strokes (Amon's uprising, Vaatu, The Red Lotus and Kuvira) then I'd probably smooth out the transition from S1 to S2 to S3.

The biggest change would be that Korra stays depowered at the end of S1. Then she can delve into the history of the Avatar and learn the spiritual side of each element to unlock each bending style and the Avatar State.

Again, it depends on what needs to be kept. Does Vaatu/Raava? Unalaq? Losing the past Avatar lives?

I'd want to cut the "Bolin is a movie star" subplot. I'd want to keep Team Avatar together and start the recovery period between Asami and Korra earlier too.

I could see it being a spirit-realm journey. If we're forced to keep the stuff above, it could be that Unalaq helps Korra understand the spiritual side of waterbending, but uses the opportunity to free Vaatu.

From there, the damage done could've started merging the spirit and physical world. Korra, Raava and the past Avatars decide to sacrifice the accumulated knowledge of the Avatar State to keep the spirit world and physical world sequestered. This brief turmoil could make more 'thin' spots in the physical world, like Republic City, setting up the new spirit portal's creation in S4.

I'd need to work out the specifics, but in the process of keeping the spiritual and physical worlds from colliding, you could have Aang and the past Airbender Avatars bring back airbending. That sets up S3 and the required 'return of the airbenders' if needed.

At some point, after learning the spiritual side of each element, Korra could have her moment from the original S1 finale where Aang shows up and teaches her energy bending. The S2 finale ends with Korra going back to Republic City, all four elements under control, but with a weakened Avatar State, and restores the last bending from Amon in S1.

Keep in mind, this is literally just the first thoughts I have on this. But reworking S2 would heavily improve a lot of the flow of the series overall.

[deancodedinthewater]

Okay bois I hope you're ready for angst as we're getting into Zuko territory now!

Zuko has 7 soulmates. Seven soulmates that Ozai considered weaknesses. The Fire Lord ignored the fact that scarring wouldn't cover soulmate marks and tried to burn each of Zuko's marks off, after Ursa's banishment. Ursa had told Zuko from a very young age that he had to keep his marks hidden, for his own protection. She kept Ozai from harming her son as best she could (she actually did the same for Azula) but as soon as she was banished, Ozai attempted to burn the marks off of his heirs. Both Zuko and Azula have scar tissue encircling their marks.

Before his marks were burned, Zuko identified Mai as one of his soulmates. Her symbol was a curved knife and was located on Zuko's forearm, just below his elbow. Azula, partially jealous her brother has so many soulmates and partially to exploit the weaknesses she has been taught to look for, makes fun of the pair of them for this. She teases them for being almost romantic soulmates and says that they aren't because neither of them can feel that way anyway (completely disregarding the fact that they have 3 romantic soulmates between them). When he leaves the Fire Nation on the day of black sun he nearly breaks this connection. Mai repairs it mostly at Boiling Rock but it's never as strong as it could have been.

The next one he worked out as Ozai's flames licked at his eye. Or more accurately when he woke up after the fact on a ship rapidly leaving Fire Nation waters. The red timer on his left shoulder with a dragon next to it hit zero as Zuko opened his eye (the left one covered with bandages and burns twitched uselessly). Sat next to him was Iroh holding a cup of tea carefully between his shaking fingers and Zuko knew. Soulmates within your own family, that aren't your siblings, are rare and that makes them special. Zuko doesn't mention it until their reunited in the White Lotus camp and it makes every instance of separation (especially when Zuko betrays him under Ba Sing Se) all the more painful. This bond, despite Zuko's countless mistakes, never wavers or breaks and Zuko feels so grateful for that. When Iroh passes into the spirit world the timer flickers constantly between 00:01 and 00:02.

It's almost three years before he works out the next one. It's the blue one on his left wrist. He doesn't work it out because of the timer, although that helps as it hit zero when he kicked the water tribe boy off the gangplank, it's actually the boomerang that gives it away. It's an exact match for the one on his wrist. He ignores it most of the time, like Zuko's other bonds. He sees them as weakness because of his father and so he tries so hard to ignore every mark he has. When he leaves the Fire Nation, and Mai, he decides he's not ignoring soulmates anymore. It's Boiling Rock by the time he talks to Sokka about it.

The next one he works out is Aang and that's a whole bunch of bad. This small child knocks him over on a penguin and the arrow on his head exactly matches the arrow on his right shoulder. Zuko, once again, ignores the connection. It's not until they meet the dragons that Zuko accepts that the Avatar is his soulmate.

He works out Katara is his soulmate later than the boys. It's when he's holding her mother's necklace up to her neck that the blue timer on his right elbow with a water drop hits zero. Zuko's heart stutters as he realises all three of the kids he's chasing across the world are his soulmates. He pushes it down, along with everything else about soulmates and continues on. But from that moment on, he's got doubt in his mind. How could soulmates be weakness if so far all of his are so strong?

Toph he works out as he burns her feet. He panics as the green timer on his elbow hits zero. That's another soulmate he's hurt, he starts doubting that he'll ever have functional relationships with his soulmates.

When he was on kyoshi island, he realised that one of the warriors was his soulmate (just like Aang did) but it took Sokka pointing out that their romantic soulmarks are the same for him to realise that Suki was his soulmate. By ember island, the three of them are together but they haven't really told the others. They haven't hidden it either but there's always been something more important. But then, on Ember Island around a campfire, built from memorabilia from his family home, the whole group talks about soulmates. Toph mentions how hers are raised. Aang talks about how long all of his timers are. Sokka says something about Yue. And throughout the whole thing, Sokka and Suki hold his hands.

Addition detail that I need to include here: Zuko's mark on everyone else always appears on the left. When he finds out it nearly breaks him.

Set up, Sokka, Katara, Aang, Suki, Toph, Azula

[kawaiichibiart]

After seeing the idea of Sun!Spirit/Prince Zuko, I've been wanting a Tangled AU. Zuko is Rapunzel, Ozai is Gothel, Iroh, Ursa and Azula are the King and Queen, the Gaang are Flynn/Eugene but Sokka is the one who ends up with Zuko. Mai and Ty Lee are the Stabington brothers but with the twist of not being criminals and the Kiyoshi warriors are the thugs from the Ugly Duckling.

Zuko is blessed by Agni the day of his birth, he has beautiful, golden, hair and he just...Glows. Ursa is happy with her child. Iroh and Lu Ten are happy with the new addition to their family.

But we need a bad guy in this. And who else but Ozai? Ala Gothel, he puts on a cloak, and a mask to cover up his face, and kidnaps Zuko and takes him away.

He planned for this. He said he had important meetings to attend to with certain people, like Zhao. Those people play alibi. So, when he returns to his distraught wife, brother and nephew, he acts distraught as well. His son was "taken" from him.

No one would ever know Zuko was hidden away, somewhere far away from the Fire Nation, locked away, because as Agni's chosen one, he needed the "protection." Zuko is special. People will want to kill him. Listen to your father, Zuko. Your father loves you, Zuko. Your father knows best, Zuko. You can't leave this place, Zuko. You don't know anything about the world, Zuko. Men are animals and women are either weak or don't care about you, Zuko. I mean, where is your mother, Zuko? She's not here, she doesn't care about you, Zuko. There was a war around them, Zuko. You can't take care of yourself, Zuko.

And we know Gothel was manipulative. We know she toyed with Rapunzel's emotions. Ozai would be the same, but we know he'd also be worse. The day he burned Zuko? He'd go off saying he's sorry. How it wasn't really his fault. Zuko was pushing him and he snapped. Zuko, how can you blame your poor father? So, of course Zuko thinks it was deserved. Of course he blames himself. He provoked his own father, the man who was "protecting" him from the dangers of the world.

Ozai would call Zuko his "Sun" much like Gothel referred to Rapunzel as her "Flower."

Zuko has a turtleduck as his only friend/pet. Not sure on names, but something ironic would be fun. Like, he doesn't know the name of his relatives, he doesn't even know he has a sister now. But he names the turtleduck Ursa, or Iroh, maybe even Lu or Lala (one of the nicknames for Azula). Ozai doesn't know about them. He doesn't know someone in his family shares a name with a turtleduck.

And who is the one who finds Zuko? Who gets knocked unconscious, is shoved into a wardrobe, gets tied up and made to take Zuko to see something he's always wanted to see? Sokka.

He's traveling with the rest of the Gaang. Will they be like Flynn/Eugene? Kinda. Toph and Sokka the prime criminals. Aang sometimes helps them, and Katara is just there to make sure they don't hurt themselves and to yell at them for being stupid and making her worry. They need a mom, so she stepped up.

What lead them to Zuko was that they learned of the Lost Prince, Prince Zuko, who was kidnapped as a baby.

In Tangled, we know the object that Flynn steals is Rapunzel's crown. I was thinking something else for Zuko. The crown would be a nice connection, but I think something else would be better. Something that connects him to either Ursa or to Iroh. If we go Ursa, they take the Blue Spirit mask. If we go Iroh, perhaps a Pai Sho tile that was turned into a necklace or a ring. We could even have both.

Sokka and Toph don't really get why these things matter. Like, it's not a crown or a nice blade. One is just wood and the other is part of a game. What's so special about them?

So, when Zuko puts on the mask, it feels oddly right, but also familiar. Before he was taken, Ursa would show him her masks. He was scared at first, but then curiosity won out and he would always reach out for the Blue Spirit mask. And Ursa was going to give it to him as soon as he was old enough to have it. When he holds the Pai Sho tile in his hand, it feels warm. Iroh, when he was around, would take care of Zuko and would often play Pai Sho while he did. Zuko would always reach for the white lotus piece. So, Iroh decided it would be his. But Zuko was only ever interested in that one tile. Never the game. So, he turned it into something he would and could wear.

Let's get back to the Gaang. Sokka hasn't reappeared. He hasn't called. He didn't come back to tell them that it was safe. So, one by one, they enter the tower (because I had to keep that element) and they just see Sokka, tied up, two blades against his neck and a boy who is glowing holding them.

The boy is looking at them wearily. He was told this place was safe. That he couldn't protect himself, but he caught a man, held him captive. But he was still yelled at. He didn't reveal his prisoner. His father had left, with the promise of bringing him some new inks and a play scroll for the celebration of the Solstice. But now he had three more people to fight. Three more people who would try to kill him. But they don't? They don't know who he is? Why he's special? Didn't they want to kill Agni's chosen one?

Cue to an awkward moment of the Gaang trying to convince a boy who was touched by the sun to let one of their members go and to join them. That they promised to not let anything happen to him. And he agrees, eventually.

And the journey plays out just like it did in Tangled. Zuko is conflicted. On the one hand, he's seeing the world. Yes, there's a war going on, but he's actually seeing it for the first time in his life. The world is so big and he's so curious about everything. His turtleduck quacks replies to his questions. It's kinda cute, kinda sad, and overall something the Gaang think should have been taken care of long ago. On the other hand, Zuko is paranoid. He's afraid. He's worried that his father would find out and be disappointed. That he really is a horrible son and human being. He can go from happy and curious about one thing to upset and stressed about the next.

And eventually, Sokka decides that maybe they should move on. He would take Mr. Sunshine back to his house. He'd get their stolen goods back. They'd depart as friends and be happy. But no, Mr. Sunshine wasn't backing down. He wanted this. He wanted to see the world and he was going to. Sokka is frustrated the most outta the Gaang. Toph enjoys Zuko's company, Aang gets along well with him and Katara has no real opinion of him. But Sokka? Yeah, he'd rather have Zuko go back so they can move on.

I want the Ugly Duckling to be the Jasmine Dragon. Iroh isn't in the day they arrive. But you know who is? Some of the Kyoshi warriors. Suki is amongst them. In this AU, she and her warriors weren't caught by Azula. When she learns that Zuko is living his dream, she reluctantly lets them go by. She brings up the war, and he knows, but he has so much to see, and if he can help people along the way, why would he turn his back?

Things start to look up, but then, Azula strikes with Mai and Ty Lee. She was told by her father of the boy with the golden hair. He was Agni's chosen one. He was more powerful than her. He would be a great addition to her court. So, she wanted to capture him. She didn't know he was her older brother (and yes, I'm aiming for this to have an Azula redemption).

Ozai stops them, knocking them all unconscious and takes a distraught Zuko away. And Zuko lets him. the Gaang abandoned him. They let the enemy take him. They let him think they cared.

He didn't know they were being held back. He didn't know that they tried to get to him. He didn't know that they were ambushed. That they had to retreat. Mai and Ty Lee are arrested earlier for attacking the Crown Princess. Azula wants to feel betrayed but can't. She's sure they didn't attack her, Ozai says she only believes that because they lied so well about being her friends. She takes his words to heart. Her friends lied to her and she let them.

Zuko eventually finds out EVERYTHING. He's the Lost Prince. Agni's chosen was the Fire Nation's Lost Prince. And he's seen what the war started by his own people a hundred years ago. He's met the avatar. He's made friends. He met people who actually care about him. He's done with his father. But Ozai wasn't letting him go. He leaves Zuko bound in the tower in order to fight the Avatar.

Who fights Azula? Mai, Ty Lee, who were broken out of prison by Iroh, and Katara. They weren't in the Boiling Rock. They don't have to fully defeat Azula, they just need to distract her enough for her to be caught. And some miracle, the trio succeed with little injury to either party.

Aang defeats Ozai and he, Sokka, Suki and Toph take Ozai to the palace where he would be taken away. But first, Sokka demands that Azula tell him where she took Zuko. She doesn't know. She never met her brother. So, when he tells her that the boy she was trying to capture was Zuko, she turns to her father in surprise.

The man who told her this boy who was their God's chosen one but never told her he was also her older brother. That he likely left out that detail to ensure she would capture him, bring him home now that Ursa was gone, so he could keep a better eye on him. It was never about making Azula a better court. It was never about giving her a powerful ally. It was just his want to ensure Agni's chosen was his and that he held him in a tight leash. He didn't care about either of them, and when she first met her older brother, she made sure he was afraid of her. That he knew she was above him. That he would know her word was final. Ozai made sure that she would. He told her that that was how she would succeed.

Ozai admits to it. How he was so sure he'd win. How they could ask, beg, torture him as much as they wanted, he would never tell them where Zuko was or if he was okay. So, he's taken away. And the Gaang begin a new search. Azula demands to go with them. She's messed up. She heard her mother grieve for her brother. Maybe, just maybe, bringing him home would make her come home someday.

They travel back to the tower and find Zuko. He's worn out from trying to get out of the chains Ozai put on him. There are burns on his wrists and hands. But the thing that surprises them the most, is the fact that his golden hair was now a deep black, but his eyes were brighter, more golden. His glow had died. Agni's chosen got hurt, he stood out and was hurt. So he was made to look relatively normal. Only those who looked for it, would see the signs that Zuko was his chosen child.

He and Azula have a strained relationship for a while, but they eventually bond and the day one is crowned Fire Lord, the other stands proudly by them.

Iroh returns from Ba Sing Se. His brother is in prison. His niece is okay. The war was over. But the day he returns, he goes to see Azula, to tell her he would help her run things until she could take care of everything herself, and he sees her with a boy. Something about him is familiar. The boy sits by her, fussing over her. The girl's mental and emotional health is a primary thing being seen to. And when Azula sees Iroh, she motions to the boy and asks if he knew Zuko.

Zuko.

Zuko.

Zuko.

Iroh looked at the boy and saw the White Lotus Pai Sho tile necklace around his neck. His hair is no longer its golden hue. His glow died down. But his eyes shouted Agni. This was his Zuko. And Iroh ran over and hugged him. His nephew was home. His nephew was safe. His family would get better.

Zuko is surprised that this old man hugged him. But, it felt nice. It felt right. But most of all, it felt familiar.

All of the Nations celebrate not only the end of the war, but the return of the Fire Nation Prince who was missing for 16, nearly 17, years. The Prince, who few knew as Agni's chosen. The Prince, who had told a few of the people he met when he traveled with the Gaang to call him Li. The Prince, Zuko, who was polite and curious and willing to learn. Zuko, who they hoped would take the throne, but who they were happy to have to ensure his sister didn't bring the war back.

One day, he and Azula would reunite with their Mother and her new family. One day they would meet their new sister, Kiyi. Kiyi, who would hear stories of her older brother, who her mother lost, of her older sister, who her mother had to leave behind.

Her older sister, who was jealous of her. Who struggled to see her mother didn't replace her. Her sister, who after a while, was so protective of her and did love her.

Her older brother, who got hurt for being who he was. Her older brother, who was taken by his own father. Her older brother, who was so kind to her, who played with her and answered her questions.

Ursa would see her children. Both raised by their father but not together. She would never forgive Ozai. For taking her son. For lying to her daughter. For hurting both.

She and Azula struggled to rebuild their relationship. But they do, eventually. The bond isn't as strong as it should have been, but it's there. And it's a start. And that's enough for her.

Zuko, on the other hand, is still in the process of learning everything Ozai told him was a lie. He thought for so long that Ursa didn't want him. That she left him. Abandoned him. So, when he encountered with the woman who was his mother, he didn't know what to think. With Iroh, well, he never knew about Iroh. He never knew he had a family besides his father, who lied and hurt him, and his mother, who supposedly abandoned him and didn't care about him. He never knew he had a sister until the day he was rescued. He never knew he had an uncle until he showed up and hugged him, saying how he was sorry he didn't look for him, that he should have looked harder, not given up. If he could forgive an old man. He never knew his cousin, who died in battle, who wanted to teach him everything he knew. And Ursa understands. She's sad about it, but she knows this is something she has to fix. She has to prove Ozai lied. That she cared about her son. That everyday he wasn't with her, she missed him. That, for as strong as he was, he still got hurt and she should have been there to help him. She sees the burns. The scars. And promises to never leave him again.

It takes time, but their family heals. And Ursa gets to do what she always wanted. She takes her family to see plays. She gives them play scrolls to read and they discuss them once a week. She and Azula talk over tea. They're civil. It's the most they can do at the moment. But both are happy with it. She and Zuko feed the turtleducks. His friend now lives among them.

If we go with he named them Ursa, she cries when she finds out. If we go the Iroh or Lu route, Iroh has tears in his eyes and he laughs with joy. If we go with La, Azula appears indifferent but she gives La a bit more food.

And we all know how it ends:

Sokka: And after years of asking and asking and asking...

Sokka: I finally said "yes."

Zuko: Sokka.

Sokka: Okay, okay, I asked him.

[the-badger-mole]

Happy Birthday

"I'm bored!" Toph complained. "Why do I even have to be here?" Katara rolled her eyes as she rubbed her distended belly. The young heir in her womb was in a mood today. 

You are your father's child, she thought as a tiny foot connected with her kidney. She turned to Toph and smirked.

 "You're here because my husband is paranoid, and Uncle wasn't able to get here before Zuko left."

 "But you're so boring!" Toph groaned. "You can't even spar with me because of that kid!”

"You mean your little niece or nephew?" Katara winced as her baby kicked her again.  She ran her hand over her stomach. "Settle down in there."

 "What's wrong with you?" Toph asked. She frowned as she turned towards Katara. "Are you hurt?"

"The baby is kicking today," Katara explained. "Hard." 

“I can't understand why you would willingly put yourself through this," Toph scoffed. "What's the upside? After the kid is born, it's all long nights and stinky diapers." Katara waddled across the room and lowered herself carefully onto the sofa beside Toph. 

"Well, I've always wanted kids," she said. "I've had enough experience delivering them to know what I'm getting myself into. Plus there's the whole line of succession thing."

“I would have let the monarchy end with Zuko and made the Fire Nation vote for their next leader." Toph folded her arms across her chest. At nineteen, she was absolutely certain she would never experience the maternal urges her friend had apparently harbored since she was old enough to understand the concept of motherhood. Katara just threw her head back and laughed.

"That's not a terrible idea," Katara chortled. "I'll run it by Zuko when he gets home. But I would still want to have his babies regardless." Toph shuddered in disgust.

The few men she had dated in her life were fun while they lasted, but she hadn't regretted the end of any of those relationships. She certainly wouldn't want to be tied to any of them by a child.

"If you say so, Fire Lady Sweetness." She stretched her arms over her head and leaned towards Katara curiously. "When are you due?" Katara reached around and rubbed the base of her spine, suppressing another groan.

 "About four weeks," she said. "That's why Zuko asked Aang to take him. He wants to get back from Ba Sing Se as quickly as possible."

“And why did I get stuck babysitting, again?" Toph asked. Katara grabbed a cushion and threw it at her friend she missed by a lot, but it didn't matter.

 "Stop whining!" she chided jokingly. "You know you missed m-eeeoooow!" Katara doubled over in pain. In an instant, Toph was at her side, all business and worry.

"What's wrong?" she asked frantically. "Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"

 "I'm fine!" Katara waved her off. "It’s been going on for a couple of days now. This happens when you get close to birth. Your body has practice contractions sometimes." Toph frowned at her unconvinced. 

"I am never having kids," she swore. 

"It's definitely not for everyone."   Katara chuckled. Then she let out another low groan."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Toph asked. Katara nodded and pulled herself off of the sofa. Sitting was too uncomfortable at the moment.

"I'm fine," she reassured her friend. Then she doubled over and let out a sound that reminded Toph of the lowing of a goat-cow.

“You do not sound okay!" Toph jumped up and tried to guide her friend back to the sofa to lie down. "Katara, you're scaring me!"

“I'm oka-oh no!" Toph heard the sound of something splashing on the ground. She frowned. She hadn't heard a glass tumble over.

“What?" she gasped. "What happened? Katara, what's going on?" There was a silence long enough for panic to settle over Toph before she heard a reply.

“Um...my...my water just broke," Katara said quietly. Toph's brow furrowed in confusion even as relief settled over her. 

"Okay...” Toph said. “So we'll have someone bring you another."

"No, Toph," Katara took a deep breath, and Toph thought it sounded like she was trying not to cry. "I mean the baby is coming. Now." 

 "WHAT?" Toph shrieked. She clamped onto Katara's arm, unsure of what she needed to do. Normally, when something like this happened, she would turn to Katara. But who did Katara turn to when she was the one who needed help?

”ZUKO! Toph called. "ZUKO!!!"

"Toph, he is thousands of miles away," Katara reminded her. "He can't hear you."

“You're having his baby!" Toph said frantically. "He has to hear me!" 

In spite of herself, Katara actually laughed a bit before she was cut off by another contraction

"Have someone send for a physician," she instructed Toph. "And then tell a servant I need someone to take me to my room." Toph nodded, glad to have some direction.

"Right!" she breathed. "Got it. Tell...someone to come help." She turned and ran off before Katara could say anything else. 

Fortunately, the entire palace was on alert for this. The Fire Lady was giving birth to the heir to the Fire Nation, after all. There was a well practiced protocol in place. Before long, the physician followed by a couple of the palace staff had arrived with a rolling bed and were loading Katara on to it. Toph breathed a sigh of relief that her friend was in the hands of people who actually knew what they were doing.

"Wait!" Katara cried as they began to wheel her off. She reached back for Toph. "Aren't you coming?" Toph shook her head.

"What do I know about childbirth?" she asked. "You'll be better off without me." Katara shook her head.

"Zuko isn't here," pain and pleading mingled in her voice. "I need you!" Toph shook her head.

“I'm no good with stuff like this!"[

"Please, Toph!" Katara begged. That shook Toph to her core. Katara didn't beg. "Please, Toph. I'm scared! I can't do this alone!"

That did it. Toph straightened her shoulders and went to take her friend's hand. 

"Fine," she grumbled. "I'll go with you. But you had better not splash anything gross on my feet!"

At first, Toph found the whole birth process a bit anti-climactic. After all the drama of Katara's water breaking and her contraction pains, the kid was still not ready to come out.

Toph sat dutifully at Katara's bedside, cracking jokes and keeping her water glass filled. After a while, she began to wonder if Katara was even in labor after all, but the periodic groans of pain testified that she was.

"At this rate, Zuko will be home before this kid is born," Toph said. Katara sighed as she froze a bit of water to chew on.

 "Spirits, I hope so," she sighed. "I'm glad you're with me, but I really, really want Zuko here right now."

 "I'll try not to take offense," Toph deadpanned.  The truth was, though,Toph was sure that Katara couldn't be wishing harder than she was that Zuko would miraculously show up ahead of schedule. He'd only be a day or two early, after all...

"Ooooooooooh!" Katara groaned. That was happening more frequently, Toph noted. The physician and her assistants began fluttering around the room with more urgency.

"What's going on?" Toph asked nervously. 

"The baby's coming," Katara told her. She was trying to keep her breathing steady, but Toph could feel Katara's pulse quickening.

"The baby's been coming for four hours now!" Toph couldn't keep the complaint completely out of her voice. Childbirth was boring!

“No, Toph," Katara grabbed Toph's hand and squeezed. Hard. "It's time." 

"Ow!" Toph tried to pry her fingers free, but Katara's grip was vice-like. 

"I can't do this!" Katara sobbed through the contraction. "I can't do this. I need Zuko here!"

"He's too far away!" Toph reminded her. "I had someone send word, but I don't think it'll get to him in time." Katara shook her head vigorously.

 "I'll wait!" she declared. "I can't have this baby without him!"

Toph balked, momentarily distracted from Katara's grip on her hand. She had never seen Katara so...so...frightened. This was the same woman who had ended a century-long war and defeated the prodigy fire-bender princess of the Fire Nation. The same woman who had decided to move across the world and faced the impertinence of the Fire Nation's snobbiest royals in order to be with the man she loved. And she had reigned benevolently and wisely over those same snobs for two years! She couldn't do this without her husband?

"So, what's the plan here, Sugar Queen?" Toph demanded. "Just postpone giving birth? I'm pretty sure that's not how this works!" She tilted her head towards the physician for confirmation. The older woman nodded her head. In spite of the pain of Katara's grip on her hand, Toph smirked to herself. There was nothing to this child birthing stuff.

"I don't care!" Katara sobbed, squeezing her knees shut. "I have to wait for Zuko! We are supposed to do this together!"  Toph suppressed a groan.

 "I'm sure he's going to be sad he missed this, but Katara, you're having a baby!"

"I'm a healer!" Katara snapped. "I can hold this baby in until my husband gets home!" 

At any other time, Toph would have made fun of Katara's stubbornness, but she had been at Katara's bedside for hours, her hand hurt and she really, really needed to go to the bathroom!

"Your majesty, I'm afraid that might hurt the baby," the physician said, bowing and scraping as if Katara wasn't just the scrappy daughter of a barely noble family from the frozen south. Katara had experienced more in her nearly twenty-two years than this namby-pamby doctor had in all her life. Toph gritted her teeth until she was sure one of them had cracked. The physician was going to be useless here.

“Katara, stop being a brat!" Toph ordered. "You always have to have everything your way! Well, guess what? Zuko isn't here and you are having this thing whether you're ready or not!”

"Is that...supposed to be...be comforting?" Katara gasped.

"It's supposed to be accurate!" Toph snorted. "Look, you have two options. You can either put on your big girl pants and let this happen naturally, or you can be a bigger baby than the one you're pushing out of your white lotus, and make this harder than it has to be. Either way, that baby is coming out! So, what are you gonna do, Sugar Queen?"

Katara, still crying softly, slowly let her legs fall open. The physician let out a sigh of relief and went to work.

Toph had been blind from birth, but she had never really regretted not having that sense. Sure, she had no concept of colors, and she would never really be able to see the smiles of her loved ones, but she had been just fine without that stuff. This, though...this  was the first time she had ever been glad not to be able to see. As long as she lived, Toph knew she would never be able to forget the traumatic sounds of Katara’s agonized screaming. She would never forget the pain of the bone crushing grip on her hand. And she would never ever forget the fear she felt witnessing Katara go through what Toph knew had killed so many women before them. The birth of the heir of the Fire Nation throne was possibly the worst thing Toph had ever experienced.

After what felt like an age, the sounds of Katara's screams were replaced by the wailing of a baby. Katara finally released Toph's hand, and before the gore and viscera had even been cleaned from the tiny body, Katara had pulled her daughter into her arms and cooed as if she had never experienced a moment's pain in her life. Toph shook her head. She would never understand this part of the human experience.After a bit, the physician carefully pried the baby girl from Katara's arms so both mother and child could be cleaned up. It was done quickly and soon, the baby was returned to Katara.

"You did good, Sugar Queen," Toph sighed. Katara turned in her direction, and Toph knew she was smiling.

 "You did good, too, Auntie Toph." Katara reached out and took Toph's hand, gently this time. "Thank you."

“Welcome," Toph grumbled, extracting her hand. She wasn't quite ready to forgive Katara for that just yet. Katara just laughed, sounding tired, but happy. 

"What's her name?" Toph asked quietly.

"I'm going to wait for Zuko to get back so we can decide together," Katara told her. She shifted a bit towards Toph. "Do you want to hold her?"

Toph started to say no, but Katara had already guided her hand under the infant princess' head. She waited until Toph had a firm grip before pulling back.

Toph had been blind since birth, but she never really regretted not having that sense. Not really. She had been able to compensate in other ways. She would never know what her little niece's eyes looked like. Toph would never understand what it meant that the baby took after her mother's skin tone,  and had her father's smile, but she knew that few people would understand what it was to know what the baby's heartbeat felt like or truly understand the soft warmth of the baby's skin. Toph would never forget the awfulness of witnessing the baby's birth, but it paled in comparison to the memory of holding the first child she would ever love for the first time.

Part 1, Part 2

[punkinroses]

Okay before I kinda log off this blog completely for my new account and bc I don't have any intentions on doing anything with the Avatar Lian/Zutara grandbaby au I'm just gonna leave my final thoughts on what it would have gone into for if anyone ever wants to do anything with it;

So Lians airbending master would have been Jesa obviously, as the two of them ran off together to go travel the world. They would have also been accompanied by a nonbinary character who was either gonna be a waterbender and healer to help Lian learn that side of her waterbending or a nonbender who was skilled with a sword. Her Earthbending teacher was gonna be a very patient and sturdy, very self reflective girl who would have helped Lian learn patience.

Her firebending instructor would actually have been a cousin of hers. Just...not a first cousin. It would have been Azulas grandson.

Azula had fled her own imprisonment and institutionalization and hidden in the Earth Kingdom, taking on the identity of being someone from the colonies. She lived out in either a small town or perhaps even Ba Sing Se where no one could find her, eventually found a partner tho he died when their only child was just a baby. She taught her child and grandchildren everything she could about Firebending but never revealed who they were to them.

Lian would have eventually found her and found out who she was and tried to learn Firebending from her because she knew how strong her Great Aunt was and figured it could werve to help redeem her and bring her back to their family.

This, however, is foiled and Azulas actually kidnapped by one of the antagonists and her grandson is begrudgingly forced to become Lians Firebending teacher while trying to track down his Grandmother.

One of the antagonists would have been the new head of a police force of Metalbenders -- a former student of Tophs who was banished from her school and he took whwt teachings he had gotten and used them to create a new take on the Dai Li -- who his father Long Feng had once been in charge of, a fact he kept hidden from the world. Since then they had become a privatized police force who spread across the Earth Kingdom qnd he was planning a bit of a coup to regain status for his family and even take over what would be Republic City.

He would, however, be working with a far bigger antagonist for his own gains.

I am talking about that Bitch; Zhao.

Zhao, while lost in the Spirit World, would find angry, dark hearted Spirits who had bitter feelings towards the Avatar, who was supposed to be the bridge and peacemaker between worlds, a Spirit themselves reborn every generation as a mortal human to keep the Balance.

(There would have been a whole storyline about this Spirit and I believe they would have been one of the Original Spirits, perhaps even having a connection to the original benders and the Lion Turtles, but was not going to be Raava and there was no Vaatu. Since this was an AU storyline, I was gonna go all in and go back to the scrapped concept the wiki talked about the Avatar being the Spirit of the Earth).

Zhao teamed up with one of the most powerful of the Dark Spirits who wanted power themselves and Zhao wanted out of the Spirit World to become a Conqueror. Essentially a Global Domination storyline using the advances in technology, going after the Original Benders and the last Lion Turtle, killing the Avatar while in the Avatar State, and finishing what Ozai started. Mostly because I feel like with there being Spirits still pissed off about what Kuruk and Yangchen had done (and hell you could even count Kyoshis era for the Father Glowworm thing) and Zhao just being left there it could have led to a very interesting team up and a threat of an antagonist and tying up loose ends completely.

Also him teaming up with the son of Long Feng who also wants power and status returned to his name and wants revenge becausr the Avatar and Azula fucked everything for his family. Why not go after two birds with one stone? And it shows the repercussions of some of these villains kinda not getting a full resolution as seems to be a pattern with some of the antagonists in Avatar.

Lian would have been forced to face all of this head on while still trying to figure out what being the Avatar means to her, learning how to bend the elements, running from the White Lotus who want to enforce how they believe the Avatar needs to be trained, and trying very hard on learning how to connect with Aang and her other past lives for help.

And mostly finding that guidance with Uncle Iroh after she gets stuck in the Spirit World on accident and he helps her out od that meditative state after a long cup of tea together bc he needs to spend time with his great great niece. I also think it'd be cool if she met Yue at one point.

And also when she takes down Zhao if she teamed up with the Original Benders. I am talking rainbow fire with the dragons. Getting help from the Badgermoles. Jesas Flying Bison helping wreck some shit. And most importantly her getting help from the Moon and Ocean Spirits and just. Absolutely going full Spirit Kaiju as a cinematic parallel to end Zhao. But that's just my thought process on that.

Messy, I know. And like there's a lot of thoughts I had I never wrote down or fully fleshed out but these were concepts I thought of while trying to work on the Lian storyline and just. I don't really feel up to trying to get all cohesive or in a proper fic or webcomic style so like. If anyone in this fandom wants to take this over and clean it up, be my guest, y'all can go fucking crazy with it if you want it. And if you don't, that's fine too.

Take care of yourselves guys. And if anyone wants my new blog, just shoot me an ask on here I may check back at some point on the messages.

Love y'all.

[idk-my-aesthetic]

Phoenix Prince /// Dragon Princess AU

Aka a healthy (ish) fire siblings au (thats still super angsty im so sorry) where Zuko and Azula love/take care of eachother and earn the love of their people

———————————

Ursa dies in child birth, though thankfully Azula survives. Zuko’s only three at the time but he’s devastated by the loss of his mother, and vows to protect his baby sister at all costs

He’s super super involved with Azula growing up, and does everything in his power to protect her from Ozai. Bc when she’s little Ozai’s very bitter bc she “killed” Ursa, plus he already hated zuko for being too weak, plus there’s no Ursa to challenge him. so he can basically do whatever tf he wants to them and be an abusive fucking dick

But then, Azula starts fire bending and is clearly a prodigy. Ozai suddenly takes an interest in her. She’s terrified of her dad so she does w/e tf he wants to keep him happy.

Except she refuses to hurt zuko. he’s her big brother and she loves him. She (secretly) stays really close with him, though is skilled enough at manipulation that Ozai thinks she’s basically cut herself off from zuko/hate him. Which zuko is fine with, he wants Azula to be safe from Ozai and if that means she needs to pretend to hate him when their dad is in the room? He doesn’t care, he knows his baby sister and knows she loves him

Anyway yeah Ozai starts to like her better and treats her.... “better”. (Note the quotations.) but she still feels guilty that Zuko’s getting the brunt of ozai’s wrath, so she does her best to keep Ozai’s attention on how good she is instead of how much of a failure zuko is.

Quick side note: if Azula seems ooc that’s on purpose. We know her toxcicity is a result of Ozai’s influence. But here he has way less control over her. Bc Ozai mainly controls her by using fear. And while she is afraid of him, she’s not nearly as afraid in this AU. a) bc Azula has her over protective big brother being over protective and b) Ursa’s dead so there’s no mother who is supposed to protect her failing to protect her and making Azula feel unsafe

So in this she’s much closer personality wise to like a “season 1 zuko” version of herself. She’s in general cool but tends to loose control of herself. Though she also has a lot more self confidence than zuko did, and maybe a bit too much pride. She’d never hit someone who was already down and cares for ppl, but pretends that she cares for no one

So yeah. The two are just kinda surviving living in the castle and love eacother a lot

Until they hear about the whole kill ur first born thing....... (which happens about 2 yrs after cannon bc Iroh came home when he heard his sister in law died and the whole siege of ba sing se was postponed)

Instead of like. Waiting for her brother to get murdered tiny 9 yr old Azula packs up their shit and gets ready to go on the run

Unfortunately she’s (almost) too late. While she’s getting ready to leave Zuko is trying to cover for her (Ozai would be murderus if he knew Azula was gonna betrey him by leaving) and somehow manages to insult Ozai while trying to protect Azula from being found out

Ozai gets big mad, and in a fit of rage tries to kill zuko by burning half his face off.

Azula runs in at the sound of her brother’s screams, at the exact same time two gaurd rush into the royal chambers. The guards are frozen in shock, but Azula is pissed

Azula attacks her dad. At first she has the upper hand/element of surprise but... she’s 9.

she starts loosing. Her forearm gets really badly burned in a suspiciously hand-shaped pattern.

During the fight Zuko’s struggling to lift himself from the ground and help. He manages to save Azula from a killing blow by throwing some fire at Ozai, but collapses immediately after. Azula barely has a second to breathe before Ozai starts attacking again.

For a moment it legitimately looks like Ozai is going to murder his two young children in cold blood

Until one of the guards snaps.

She uses the whole fucked up situation to knock Ozai out, though she doesn’t kill him. The other gaurd is just standing there, and she has no clue who he’s gonna help so she just knocks him out

Then the gaurd grabs zuko and Azula, and fucking BOOKS IT from the castle. She does a blue spirit type thing to escape (threatening to kill either Azula or zuko) and eventually gets them somewhere safe where she can get their wounds treated

The next day the fire lord puts out this whole sob story about how an assassin pretended to be a gaurd, killed his father, then kiddnapped his children. And how he’s sending out a whole manhunt for his lost children yada yada yada

The other gaurd that was there mysteriously disappears a few days later, but not before he can spread some “rumors” about the prince and princess’s disappearance. Ozai ascends to the throne and publicly offers an enormous reward for the return of his children,,,,,, while secretly sending assassins after them. (Like.... Azula attacked him and he already tried to kill zuko he don’t give a fuck)

Iroh is obviously devestated when he finds out. and while he thinks the whole thing is a bit suspicious he starts on a journey desperately looking for his lost niece and nephew

While all this BS is happening this poor gaurd suddenly has 2 damaged af kids to take care of and a bunch of assassins to run from

So once zuko and Azula are healed enough to travel and they know zuko won’t die, they go on the run. They can’t stay in one place bc of all the assassins after them and end up going all over the world

They don’t spend a lot of time in the fire nation (for obvious reasons) but they do spend bits and pieces there. Connecting with their people, meeting freinds of the gaurd who saved them that can help (like Lt Jee who ran Zuko’s ship in cannon) and spreading the truth of what happened.

Stories about the damaged prince and princess who were so hurt by their father begin to spread. But even more stories about how the prince and princess care for their people spread ten times faster. Stories they take time to rebuild small fire nation villages damaged by floods, or how corrupt military commanders suspicious disappear after they come to town start to spread.

Ppl start calling them the dragon princess and pheonix prince. Because the princess protects her people like a dragon protects it’s hoard, by killing everyone who dares to endanger it. And the prince has risin from the ashes (you can see the burn clear as day on his face), to heal the land and his people

(Though really..... the prince and princess are both dragons and pheonixes. Because even if she seems invincible and more ruthless than her brother, the princess has been hurt deeply. Though her wound is more easily covered. And she aches for the pain of her nation, the nation she feels she wasn’t strong enough to protect. She just hides her emotions better than her brother....)

(As for the prince, yes he shows more kindness than his sister seems too. But he is just as ruthless as her if someone threatens their hoard. He’s just a bit calmer.... less trigger happy than his twin. It was his idea to take out the corrupt commandor stealing a small town’s livelihoods, after all)

They call the gaurd who saved them “the Kitsune”. They say she is a flame wielding spirit, sent by Agni himself to protect the true leaders of the fire nation

Iroh overhears bits and pieces about them. He starts to get an idea of what’s happening, but for the most part he really struggles to track them. Ppl can recognize him, and they won’t sell out their prince and princess to someone who might take them away

So yeah. The three of them are on the run together for a long time. They can never spend long in one place (assassins never stop coming after them) and dart all over the earth kingdom and fire nation, seeing first hand the effects of the war. And gaining a positive reputation both for caring about their people in a way no one since before Sozin has, as well as shaming dishonorable fire nation soldiers who mistreat those in the earth kingdom

(They almost never hurt foot soldiers who are just following orders, but any one (especially upper command) who take clear pleasure in other’s suffering are often challenged to Agni kai’s in exchange for said soldiers leaving.

Though usually just being publicly knocked on their asses by a couple of scarred kids who turn out to literally be the lost prince and princess holy shit, is enough to put them in their place)

So yeah. They travel together earning a good reputation from as soon as they’re healed until zuko and azula are 14 and 11 respectively

At that point they get separated from the gaurd.... (she doesn’t die, either captured or separated for some other reason)

So now.... all they have is eachother

The two spend the next two years on their own. They still try to do the same types of stuff they did before but now they’re in a lot more danger w/o an adult to help them. They’re basically just.... 2 increasingly ferel children struggling to survive. They live mostly off of like foraged stuff and whatever money they can make/steal from rich assholes

They continue to dodge Iroh as well bc they have no clue if he’s gonna return them to their father or kill them or w/e. Which is wayyyy harder than it would seem, the only reason he hasn’t caught them yet is that they have an alliance with June the bounty hunter who keeps sending Iroh on wild goose chases bc she has a soft spot for the weird ferel kids. (And a huge crush on the gaurd who was basically their mom/older sister for a while. But we don’t need to talk about that)

so zuko and Azula are just these absolutely feral kids being hunted by 12 dozen bounty hunters from their father, plus the “dragon princess and pheonix prince” have officially been declared “traitors to the nation that are impersonating the late children of Firelord Ozai” so there’s a good amount of the actual military after them, and they’re trying to keep away from their uncle and all his fucking white lotus freinds

They’re a little bit stressed ok??? And like super protective of eachother by this point

And then who joins the fucking search??? The goddam avatar

Bc he heard these stories about these good firebenders who protect everyone no matter what side of the war they’re on. And ofc Aang wants one or both of them to teach him

So Aang like the lovable idiot he is, is just trying so hard to adopt these crazy feral firebenders.

And ik I keep saying feral but like. I need to emphasize this bc these two spent 2 years on the run + 2 more years on the run while basically living in fucking forests cus they’re out of money, connections, and the gaurd was the only one out of the three of them with social skills. They’re a little stressed okay???

And idk I just love the idea of Aang trying to befriend these crazy feral firebenders acting like they’re just like. Wild animals or smthn. Like cornering them in a clearing and trying to offer them jerky as if they were wolves and the two giving him the blankest fucking expression

Anyway this post is about 200x longer than I meant it to be and I am so so sorry. (Especially since I can’t put in a read more on mobile)

Anyway bc it’s so long i’m just gonna do the last bit in bullet form and try to finish as quickly as humanly possible

- obvi they join the avatar and stuff

- the gaurd (who ima call kit/kitsune cus I don’t have a name for her) eventually meets/joins with Iroh. June later joins them as well as they try to find the idiot fire children

- Sokka has a big gay crush on the feral firebening guy

- Katara has a very tiny crush she refuses to admit too on Azula

- there’s also a lot of drama between her and Azula at first bc Azula is brash and Katara kinda gets annoyed at a mix of that/the lingering bias she has against fire nation ppl but they get past it

- also Azula has ~issues~ where she blames herself for their mom’s death/ is sure their mom hates them but asp their mom comes to her in spirit form and says she loves her (no fucking clue when that would happen but I love that idea)

- instead of having zuko/Azula chasing them they have a really fun variety of different random bounty hunters. Obvi including sparky sparky boom man

- the siege of the north.... happens. Though Zhao doesn’t kill the moon spirit so yue lives, and Azula and zuko manage to make a huge speech and get many of the soldiers to defect to their side instead so it ends with minimal bloodshed

- when Toph joins the group she and Azula are chaos incarnate

-mai and ty lee hear rumors and stuff and join team avatar eventually

- when they find out about the day of black sun they just. Skip trying to talk to the earth king. Cus they can just stage a cou lol they have the people on their side?? Forces from both water tribes, random earth kingdom ppl they’ve managed to befriend,,,,

- though they have to find uncle first bc he could challenge zuko for the throne. Obvi they think they’ll need to get rid of him bc they don’t really know him and think he wants to hurt them but all of a sudden??? 

- so they kinda have a few side quests as they’re preparing and gathering everyone but then it’s the day of black sun!!! And it works and shit and I actually have some other ideas too but FUCK this is SO LONG i am so sorry and will shut up now

[cozy-possum]

Avatar Katara AU

Inspired by @twinklecupcake au idea

Katara is three when she learns how to bend for the first time. This is the same day she learns to lie. It’s a quick simple one; her mother repeats it over and over until Katara doesn’t believe anything else.

I am not a bender.

Katara is four the first time a raid happens. Sokka is protecting her; the boomerang his father had given him for his birthday is raised as threateningly as he can make it. The Fire nation wants their Benders; they want to starve the child they’re looking for of knowledge. They don’t know exactly how old the child will be, but they know the child will never be a threat. They slip on ice when they are leaving; all of the benders aboard the ship.

I am not a bender.

Katara is seven when the black snow appears again and they take another round of benders, they state none of the first ones knew what to say. This is the first time they take children, none of them are benders. But they were born the same day.

I am not a bender.

Katara is nine when everything goes wrong. Her mother is lying, just like Katara does only the wrong way round. Her mother is telling her to leave so she swallows the burning lump in her throat and rushes to find her dad.

I am not a bender.

The snow and wind that chase the fire nations ships away come from nowhere, the ice that cuts the hulls of the ships melts as soon as it comes in contact with the metal. Sokka keeps Katara cuddled up with him. Hakoda doesn’t notice her eyes glowing when she sleeps.

I am not a bender.

When her father leaves is the last time she allows herself to lie. Sokka knows; he’d known probably for as long as she had; which is to say since she was born. He protects her, he protects everyone it’s what their father had told them to do. Katara practices, nervous at being spotted even though there’s no one to tell.

I am a bender.

They find him in the iceberg; frozen in a pocket of air he’d created himself. His eyes shimmer gray and Katara has never been happier to see someone use bending when he lifts himself up. As if the Sky Bison was not a giveaway. She lies to him; a half truth she reasons.

I am a waterbender.

He offers to take her to the north pole, before they go he wants to go penguin sledding. The fire nation ship alerts the others. A boy that could be Sokka steps out and snarls flames. Katara answers him with her own; unsure how she knew to do that; or why the flames that lick her lips are blue. Everyone is silent. The Avatar. The terror hangs in the air long after they’ve left the fire nation ship. Sokka is quiet, and Katara knows the way his voice falls flat there is something very wrong. He snaps at her when Aang takes them swimming; he’s crying, and shaking and scared. He’s so scared for her; Katara swallows it all and holds him, her brother needs her, the world can wait.

The Avatar has returned.

Sokka finds Suki and they decide to follow Aang to an earthbending teacher. The king is ancient and welcoming, but not who she needs. They travel onwards.

The avatar is a child.

She meets the Avatar’s of her past, an Air monk who was in hiding; they offer her Roku as a proper teacher. He explains the comet, the danger coming, how the opposite to fire is what can quell the world's end.

The Avatar is a child.

She reaches Hei Bai; she calms him; she keeps the town safe; she does her job. She feels empty, she knows she needs more than she can take. She wants her mother. The Blue Spirit finds her instead.

The Avatar is a child.

Zuko has to help her. He has to beat Zhao and if that means saving the Avatar then he will. She reminds him nothing of Azula; the only similarity is that when he wakes she is talking, soft words; but none of the threats, none of the violence. Only fear is what she speaks. He notes the blue spirit mask has been fixed, as well as the cut on his arm bandaged. He notices she runs off and he directs his men in the other direction.

The Avatar is mine.

They find a water tribe ship. They find Bato. They find home. Bato welcomes them; he swears to secrecy that he won’t endanger their father by telling about Katara. He offers them supplies; gifts and trinkets from his ship, from home. They explain the ideas they have; the plan they’re following. Bato assures he’ll relay as much of it as he can without breaking the promise about Katara.

The Avatar is mine.

They find the north pole. Sokka finds Yue. They find Pakku. He tears Katara apart. He refuses to teach her. Yue breaks; folding into Sokka and Katara knows they have to stay. If not for herself then for her brother.

The Avatar is mine.

She fights; she scrambles tooth and nail to learn to heal. She's at every meeting, in Master Pakku’s sight at every moment she can spare. She is of the Southern Water Tribe and has the right to counsel. Master Pakku relents; after he traps her in a fight; after she shatters his prison with air.

The Avatar is mine.

She has to protect the North Pole, the moon spirit is gone and all Katara can feel is drowning. Is her mother leaving once again. Yue is gone. Sokka needs her and she turns herself away from the world to him.

The Avatar is mine.

The swamp holds secrets. It always has. Katara can feel the heartbeat of it; she can feel the way the trees talk and the water move. She can see her mom, see her mom turning away like she had on that day.

You should have lied.

They meet Toph; the blind bandit. Katara doesn’t tell her parents she’s the avatar, only that she would like to help, to heal Toph’s sight. Toph leaves with them that night. Howling with laughter that Katara is the Avatar.

You should have lied.

The library should allows her to research the Avatar State; to learn about herself, in the past. She lets Sokka lead the way, lets him show her an eclipse; a chance when her waterbending will be just as strong as the full moon.When the firebenders will be helpless. The Spirit screams at them, Katara knows they have to leave, she knows what Sokka has found will save them all. She tells the spirit as much and he pulls the library into the Spirit World, never to be seen. They lose Appa.

You should have lied.

The desert might destroy them. Katara tries to keep them together. Sokka drinks cactus juice and she knows she can’t blame him. She would have; if the Avatar state could be controlled. She knows she needs to learn more about it. She assures them they’ll make it out all together.

You should have lied.

Ba Sing Se is empty. There is something in between the city and the truth and she’s not sure what it is. She knows everyone can feel it. They search for Appa; the demand to see the King. Nothing changes. Jet returns. Katara feels nothing for him. When he fights for them she attempts to heal him; he refuses. She assures everyone they won’t see him again.

You should have lied.

She meets the guru. She learns of her chakra; she opens them. He explains about hatred; about anger; about negative emotions affecting her. She lets go of how she feels for Zuko; all of the hatred of her mother’s death flowing away from him. He asks her what she feels now for him, she doesn’t answer. He explains about material attachments. He asks her to let go. She has already let go of her mother. There is nothing left for her to need on earth. Her brother’s screams drown her.

You should have lied.

The Cavern shimmers. Zuko knows who she is. He sees the true her. She offers to heal him. He’s about to take it; about to side with her. But his sisters smile and the hissing of her lightning bring him back to reality. He can never be with the Avatar. He could never go home that way. Aang takes the lightning, redirecting it with his air. Katara is still struck, she faints.

You need to trust me.

She wakes on a fire nation ship. She’s about to launch an attack. But Aang is sitting by her bed, grinning. Sokka hugs her the minute she steps above the deck. They’re both crying. She knows she died. She learns of the invasion plan. That the Fire Nation believes Aang to be the Avatar, and that he is dead. They assure her this is the best thing that could happen.

You need to trust me.

The village is dying. She wants to rip the metal from the cliffside; but instead she dresses in robes, tries to connect to her Avatar State, to ask permission of the painted lady. Instead she heals as many as she can. Sokka is furious; everyone is bothered by her making them stay. She refuses to turn her back on people who need her; it’s her job, her duty, the reason she was born. She screams at them. Sokka’s reaction is immediate. I will always take care of you. He’s soft, gentle when he explains the reasoning behind the village suffering more. That the best they can do is leave.

You need to trust me.

Sokka finds Piandao. He learns the skill of swordsmanship. He learns to help in his own way, he learns to lie. He learns he is terrible at lying. That the Master knew; that the Master knows about Katara. Sokka learns his value. He is ready to die for his family, instead he is given a white lotus tile. He is only told to use it when needed.

You need to trust me.

She finds Roku’s past. She finds Sozin, she finds the devastation he caused. Sozin let his friend fall, even in training; he would always turn. Roku explains how she needs to learn this. How it can stop the mistakes of the past. She knew she needed waterbending when they had first met Roku had explained the importance of her water calming the fire that was spreading out of control. She learns of his death, of how deeply Sozin betrayed them.

You need to trust me.

She’s a defenseless lonely old lady. Katara feels a pull when they meet. She wonders if it’s a spirit thing, but pushes it off when they find a comb. When the woman explains how she knows they’re water tribe. Sokka is nervous; they’re careful in their mentions of the Avatar, but Hamma seems only interested in Katara’s waterbending. The full moon rises and Hamma assures her the technique she will learn will push her beyond any master.

You need to trust me.

The black sun arrives. Her own father is not aware of her power. She refuses to tell him. She understands her mother’s lies. She cannot bear to see her father hurt for her. For the fire nations want for her. They miscalculate and everything starts to crumble. Her father stays behind; the adults do; it is their burden to bear, they assure. Katara cannot tell him how she’s meant to protect him, how she’s meant to save the world. She forces herself to leave, to swear to save them.

You need to trust me.

She thought she had forgiven Zuko; that was before Toph’s feet had been burned; before she realised what her father would be going through in prison. She doesn’t linger on it. She needs to learn firebending; so she accepts. His fire leaves him.

You need to trust me.

They go to the first firebenders; they dance together; both ignoring the way they can hear each other’s heartbeats. They realize it’s the egg. They are told to meet the true masters; the warrior’s of the sun only guardians. They bow and dance with the dragons. The flames are cold and hot all at once; a swirl of colours neither of them expected. They leave holding hands. They leave with more understanding and the assurance that Zuko will help.

You need to trust me.

Katara is nervous about fire bending; about learning what killed her mother. Zuko offers a compromise. He will teach her if she comes with him. He does not say where. They break into a mail facility; they find a ship, he forces the captain to look at her; there is no fear in his eyes. Instead he gives a name. Katara still does not know who they are hunting. The man is snivelling. Zuko watches, he waits. Katara stiffens; the man shakes. He knows her, the daughter of the last waterbender. He is informed she lied. He is informed as the rain stops, frozen in air and forming a shield around them, forming daggers which cut his clothes but not his skin, the air chills him. The last water bender smiles, and the rain restarts. Zuko nods, they leave. The man still snivels on the ground.

You need to trust me.

The comment light is blinding. The lion turtle never told her it would effect her. You need to trust me. She’s not sure what to expect but when she confronts the Fire lord he’s grinning, laughing at the girl in front of him. You should have lied. She soaks him twice before he throws her against the rocks and she can feel the lighting hit spark again. The Avatar is mine. She grins, forming a shield of rocks and hiding, until she grabs him, forces him to his knees, grinning, barely using any effort as Ozai struggles against her. The avatar is a child. She circles him, her energy overcoming his, drowning him for a third time. She can see the flames. She knows Azula is slipping. She needs this. Azula’s grinning in the fight. Unaware what has just happened; only that the water bender has come to help. Azula grins as she fires. Zuko jumps in front of it and she laughs as the girl screams. She barely dodges the lighting. She watches her brother. Wracked with spasms he can’t move let alone bend. She looks again. The water Bender is grinning, a snarl to match hers. Azula’s about to fire again when she can see the fire licking the water benders lips, feeling the swirling of wind that had not been there, the way the earth trembles and Katara stands and snarls. I am not a bender.

Support My Writing?

[mylordshesacactus]

Can you share more about fake avatar guy in your AU if you’re up for it?

This one’s been sitting in my inbox until I got a chance to think about it!

Fake Avatar Guy (TM), the Firelord’s son.

The awful thing is--when you have connections, it’s so easy to fake.

This is before the White Lotus, before there was any formal system in place to identify the Avatar. Oh, the Sages, of course--but as evidenced by ATLA, even Sages can be corrupted. And this was at least a hundred years pre-Kyoshi; systems of communication and formal methods of identifying Avatar candidates, especially if the spirit reincarnates in a distant rural village, aren’t up to the level we see by Aang’s time.

It’s so easy to fake.

Especially because of the simple fact that the Avatar is not traditionally told their identity until they’re sixteen.

So...it takes some doing. I genuinely don’t think the Firelord knows about the deception, because I don’t want to make the Fire Nation the “big bad” again and because I’m so in love with the image of leaving an episode on a cliffhanger of the Firelord standing with all his guards outside Girlfriend’s house...and then they show up safe and sound, because he was never the enemy.

But also, a twelve-year-old raised by that person would not come up with a plan, on his own, to pretend to be the Avatar. 

By the time we hit the series proper, the kid’s deeply invested in the scam because of the influence and false respect it earns him, but it was clearly thought up by some adult ringleader. He was clearly, at first, manipulated.

And it’s....so easy. Get extremely skilled benders from all four nations, benders who can, like Bumi, bend the elements with very small or nontraditional movements. Present them as non-bending specialists. Get your “in” at the palace--some advisor or other, a power-hungry noble, someone close to the prince--to place them as the young prince’s bodyguards. 

Wait. Wait for at least six months. So that when the kid makes a movement and an element suddenly bends that isn’t fire, the change won’t be directly tied to these new guards.

And well, no need to find some SAGES to confirm his identity, not anymore. It’s pretty obvious. Look! The kid’s waterbending!

There will be sages who know the truth, of course. Who can tell that the Avatar spirit is absent here...but there are these extremely dangerous specialist guards, and these are only the handful directly assigned to the false Avatar. And it’s immediately obvious that there’s a deadly powerful spirit magician on hand, as well.

oh, you could decry the false Avatar. You could search for and seek to protect the real one.

And you would lead this extremely dangerous, well-organized small band of benders directly to the real one. Untrained, and undefended.

They choose not to. They pray, fervently, that the true Avatar knows to hide.

I think....that the final confrontation is not a boss fight. Not even full Last Agni Kai style where it’s just sad. I think that ultimately a major theme here is going to be not like, a Big Bad represented by one nation, but...the final confrontation, the final battle so to speak, the finale--it’s going to be about unity. About the community protecting itself and one another against forces trying to divide it.

 I think the true Avatar is capable of understanding that the false one, while responsible for his actions...was also manipulated. And has been led to believe that he has no other value.

I don’t know whether she has to kill him. It’s possible he’s not even a bender at all and never was, and when his “guards” are taken out he can be apprehended by the airbenders without causing further harm. It’s possible she talks him down. I’ll admit, I don’t know the “plot” of this story past about mid-”season two”.

It’s possible, if so, that he’s the one who gets casually taken out during that attack on the Air Temple, a blow from his own side to silence him. It’s possible he is the one our hero is healing when she finally unlocks the Avatar State.

I’m not sure. I think his intentions have been malicious, I think he’s been an active collaborator. But in order for the deception to work, he HAS to have been indoctrinated into this from a young age. Our hero is, maybe, nineteen when the story opens. He’s by definition her age. And he has to have been firmly established as the Avatar by age sixteen in order to pull off the deception, and the fact is that a fourteen-year-old boy uncoached could not pull this off. He’s responsible for his own actions, but he--like Azula, frankly--is also a victim.

I don’t want to portray him as evil. I want to portray him as a kid who was an entitled bully, and is mad that his power has been taken away, and for most of this has absolutely been out for revenge because he just lost everything. But I want to tell a story about how there is no such thing as having gone so far in that you can’t stop and choose to do better from now on. And...frankly? I think there’s a difference between being an entitled bully, and being willing to set children on fire.

I think there’s a lot of space between being a good person and being irredeemable. And that there’s a lot of space between being irredeemable, and being forgiven.

Listen...he’ll never be Firelord after this. I think it’s very possible that, when the dust clears, especially if the true Avatar saved his life, he’s only too willing to let his younger sibling take his place and quietly disappear. Become a person.

He’s had enough of chasing a destiny. It brought no one anything but pain.

His family doesn’t...wash their hands of him. But he did some shit, y’all. At the very least, they’re gonna need some time before they welcome him back. He doesn’t like, become an Atoner. Zuko this dude is not. But there’s a place for him in the world as a human being.

You become the person you choose to be, and that person is shaped by the community you choose to be a part of.

It’s also possible that she offers him this choice, and he rejects it. That--honestly, more than anything that would put her in the mindset of “I can’t do it, I’m not a real Avatar”. That she saves the Air Temple but doesn’t feel like it was a victory, and then is narratively given a chance to realize that the Avatar is more than a weapon, that her power can be used in a way that brings her and others peace.

You become the person you choose to be. She’s going to try to talk him down. And he’s going to make a choice.

[quetanto]

The latest chapter from Five Ways. Hope you like it!

***

You can’t remember much Before There were lights bright lights And colours All the colours of the world A man you called Dad He could do magic He could turn fire into anything A dragon flowers a friend warmth You remember concentrating with everything you had trying to be like Dad You closed your eyes You opened your Eye Everything is connected

Now there’s just The Mission You have your cage And the Headband You hate the Headband Dad never made you wear a headband But Dad trusted you And you killed him Master doesn’t trust you You’ve always known that So he puts the Headband over your eye every time you’ve accomplished your Mission And he blinds you to the world outside It’s only fair It’s only fair A life for a life You owe him your life when anyone else would have killed you and left your freakish body in the gutter Blocked by illusion

And then One day The fight starts and you attack from afar And a man throws something at you and it hurts It’s like the Headband but sharper harder quicker there and gone You try to See The explosion rocks the world around you

and there’s a man there when you wake up.

he’s short and stocky and bald. he’s nothing like the Warlord. he’s not like Dad either. he gives you water and food. you threaten him with a look and tower above him. he doesn’t move. he doesn’t flinch. even the Warlord flinched. he doesn’t talk much about anything. just the odd question. you don't answer for a long time. and then he just sits there and takes books and reads. the Warlord could read but he never taught you. you’d never need it. but this man reads and he reads aloud. he never tries to touch you. never tries to hit you. never puts a Headband on you.

one day you go over and point to the characters, two boxed-in little shapes.

自由

he says they mean “freedom”. you don’t know what that means. you ask him. he smiles, a big goofy grin. weak. foolish. lost. calm. kind.

"To be free is…to be like the wind. Everything in the world open to you, nobody holding you back, or holding you down. To be free is to know that nothing and nobody can stop you from being who you want to be.

”Everyone has a right to be free. Everyone should make decisions only for themselves.”

The man’s dressed in long white robes with a hint of purple. But he usually takes them off when he visits you, and leaves on a brown shirt and pants. Loose clothing, good for movement and breathing.

After a month you realize you’ve been counting days again. And you remember what a month is.

And you realize that you're in a room. Not a cell, but a room. There are no bars on the window. The walls are stone, but covered in white paint. There's a mat on the floor where you sleep, and a pillow. There's a table where you sit to eat. There's a door there, and it's never locked. You can leave when you want to.

You don't want to.

There are burn marks on the floor, on the walls, on the ceiling. You don’t remember how they got there.

The man starts to bring people to see you. A lithe but muscular man with long hair, who always feels so warm. A short woman with a face sharp enough to cut, whose hands leave patterns of cool water in the air. They joke. They laugh. You begin to smile.

After two months, you can write your name.

"P'Li," says the man. Your friend. He smiles at you.

You smile back, and nod.

He takes his time, and draws two characters.

杷力

Then you write the two characters. They're not as pinpoint precise as the ones in the man's books. They're not as flowing as when your friend writes, brush darting across the page like a leaf in the wind. But they're yours.

You read them aloud, proudly.

"P'Li."

There's that wonderful smile again.

You reach out, hesitating. He takes your hand. The hand is rough. The touch is gentle. So different, so familiar.

He bows his head.

"It is an honour to know you, P'Li. I am Zaheer."

***

150 AG

Years pass.

You learn that Zaheer and his friends belong to a group called the White Lotus. They serve the Avatar. It's a thought that makes your knees buckle. The Avatar, living spirit of the planet itself. Zaheer read to you the stories of an Avatar called Roku, who could turn mountains to dust with a gesture and diverted a typhoon that would have destroyed the east coast of the Earth Kingdom. His last act was saving the Fire Nation from a volcano big enough to plunge the world into an age of ice. You can't imagine what that kind of power would be like to hold.

You learn Firebending again, from another woman who comes by every so often. Zaheer never comes to those lessons, not until you ask him to. Seeing him around makes it easier to warm instead of burn.

You learn, from Zaheer, a story of a woman long ago who had eyes that could pierce through flesh and stone, like yours can. But a kindly monk, from the Southern Air Temple, had taught her to gaze more deeply instead of more strongly. To learn to see into a world of spirits.

You learn to love that story, and the woman whose eyes pierce like your Eye, and the monk. (And you learn that on your own, every character from that little book etched in your mind so you’ll never forget the words.)

You learn that Zaheer rescued you from the man you'd always thought of as Master. He'd been a renegade Fire Nation officer, trying to carve out his own petty kingdom in the north. He'd come across you in an accident. As far as they can make out, he'd broken you in. Used you as a weapon of war against those who would take apart his empire. One day, the Avatar was called in to take him down, and he had brought with him the White Lotus.

"Zaheer over here had heard the stories," says Ghazan one night. "He wanted to see you first, I think. And he'd heard the stories of Chief Sokka taking down a Combustion Man with only a boomerang. I think he wanted to try it out for himself."

Zaheer looks so ashamed. "I regret that deeply, P'Li. I was expecting a fully-grown warrior, and--"

"And instead he got a kid just a little younger than him," says Ming-Hua, grinning. "You could literally feel the blood drain from his face."

"I could have killed you."

You hold his hand. "But you didn't," you say, squeezing it gently. "You saved me."

He blushes at that. Ghazan and Ming-Hua smirk at one another. You're not entirely sure of the cause of either reaction.

"Anyway," Ghazan continues, "after that the White Lotus kind of had to stay in the open. Too many people had seen them, and the new members. Which was handy, for a while, but come on, we're supposed to be protectors here. Not glorified bodyguards for the Avatar."

You look puzzled. "Is it wrong, to look after the Avatar?"

"It's disgusting," spits Ming-Hua. "He ignores everything the Fire Nation did, and the Earth Kingdom is doing, so he can focus on 'harmony' and all that crud. It's hypocrisy. He's trying so hard to preserve the old ways that he's forgotten everything bad that happened back then. And now."

Ming-Hua's family had been captured by the Fire Nation too, you learn later. Nearly eighty years ago, her mother had…fallen in love with her father, who was a Waterbender in the prison, Zaheer says. Their kid had been secreted away. And years later, there was a Waterbender born on a volcanic island, who didn't know what to do with herself.

"And that's why we're meeting with this Xai Bao," Ghazan reassures her. "He says he's got an answer to this problem. And he's got friends on his side, like the prince of the Northern Water Tribe."

"Tonraq?" says Ming-Hua, surprised. "Never thought that oaf would be much of a rebel."

"Nah, the other guy. Kinda scrawny."

"Unalaq," says Zaheer. He doesn't much like him for some reason.

Zaheer usually has good instincts.

"But what does this have to do with me?" you ask.

They all look at one another.

It's Ming-Hua, of all people, who speaks up gently. "It’s because of you, P'Li. The Order's been getting cranky about new members. They say you've been living on their dole for too long now. They want to make you a member."

"Isn't that good?"

"No, it's not," says Zaheer. He's angrier than you've ever seen him. "Because you deserve better than this, this cage. I’ve been trying for years to get them to let you out of this compound. You're not a weapon. You shouldn't have to be someone else's enforcer."

"Enforcer?" you ask.

Ghazan looks stone-faced. "There's this other guy in the Order, Gong Zhi. Completely out of his skull, brought in as a master Earthbender after King Bumi passed on. But he wants to use you as a guard in the White Lotus. There's plenty of them, lots of grunts, but you'd be…special division, he calls it. A tactical line of offence against the warlords."

"Why not? I want to kill warlords." And you do. You really do. You can't think of anyone else wearing a Headband to be controlled.

"P'Li," says Zaheer, pleadingly. "You won't be used against warlords. You'd be used against everyone around them. The people, the armies who don't have a choice but to fight for them. It wouldn't be attacking the warlords. You'd be sent to kill children while the Order," he spits, "arrests their masters, instead of giving them what they deserve."

You think about this.

"Is he wrong?" you ask the other two.

Ghazan doesn't say a thing. Ming-Hua shrugs.

"It's the way of the world," she says. "At least, this world."

"Then perhaps Xai Bao can lead us to a better one," says Zaheer. "Because I'm not abandoning you." He turns to you. "I made a promise that you would be free, P'Li. I'm not going to let some old men and women in those ridiculous robes decide your fate like you're a tool."

You think about that, too.

Finally: "Maybe we can listen to him, at least."

***

The Spirit World, 157 AG

She closed her eyes.

She opened her Eye.

Zaheer loved this place, Xai Bao's grove. Always so peaceful. So true to the spirit of the man who'd shown them the way.

P'Li had only been here once or twice before, but somehow she never felt out of place in this peaceful little valley, despite having every reason to. She was a warrior, not a guru. Could never be a guru.

But she could enjoy the sunshine, at least.

There was Unalaq, walking out from the forest. There was always something so…dark about the man. A midnight blue surrounded him, through her Eye, even without any water to Bend.

Zaheer, sitting cross-legged beside her, bowed his head to the man. "You bring news, then?"

Unalaq nodded back, barely spared her a glance. That was a sore spot between him and Zaheer, and P'Li wasn't going to apologize for that.

"I do bring news," said the Crown Prince of the Northern Water Tribe. "The Avatar has been found."

P'Li felt her heart skip a beat.

"It…hasn't reached our channels in the White Lotus yet…" said Zaheer.

"That's because I was one of the first to hear about it," said Unalaq. "My father was so proud," he spat, "of his little granddaughter."

"Then–"

"Yes. It seems as though the spirituality of the noble lineages has brought another Avatar to the fore again. My niece, Korra, is the new Avatar."

"And at the South Pole," P'Li pointed out. She didn’t like that point about “noble lineages”. Neither of them did.

Unalaq smiled wryly at that, acknowledged her for the first time. "Yes, well. Not for long. We're going to have to ensure that she's ready to let Vaatu forth by the time Harmonic Convergence comes to the fore."

"So that the Avatar may truly be useful again," said P'Li, determinedly.

"So the world may taste freedom," said Zaheer, hopefully.

"So humanity will finally reconnect with the spirits of the world," said Unalaq, gravely. "Are your people ready, Zaheer?"

"My friends will do what they can, Unalaq," Zaheer replied, just a hint of disapproval in his voice. "But the White Lotus is crafty. They'll probably be keeping an eye on her. And so will Chief Sokka and Lady Katara." This last was spoken with a hint of guilt that only P'Li caught.

"Chief Sokka," said Unalaq with a sneer, "is pushing on seventy years and has barely a dribble of energy flow within him. He'll be no trouble. Katara is an old woman, grieving as she watches her husband toddle around someone else's house and burn things and offer insult as easily as breathe. As for the rest…well, that sloppiness in training is why you left, isn't it Zaheer?"

Zaheer pursed his lips. "Something like that, yes."

"Then it's settled. We'll gather together again soon, once we can work out a plan. And the Avatar," said Unalaq, "will learn how to properly restore balance to the world."

P'Li was warm in the Spirit World. Zaheer was a flickering flame, warm and wild and free (and yet somehow constrained, somehow always missing something).

So why, whenever she looked Unalaq's way, did he feel so cold?

[jaxsteamblog]

Blush

Click here to read the full fic on AO3

Katara stood in the garden watching as Thuy paced back and forth, a large boulder floating beside her. As she walked, Thuy chewed on her thumbnail and mumbled under her breath.

“I don’t understand the problem.” Katara said.

“I have aphantasia Katara!” Thuy cried and flung her arms out. The boulder went flying, thankfully crashing into the outer garden wall and not the palace.

“And that means?”

“It means I have no inner eye. I can’t plan anything out.” Thuy replied, her voice thin as she whined.

“No I get that. I just don’t understand why we’re terraforming.” Katara said.

“Because it has to be perfect.” Thuy froze patches on the pond to walk across, heading toward the boulder. Katara held the stepping stones of ice as she followed.

“You can just ask him.” Katara stepped onto the grass and watched as Thuy pried the boulder loose. As it popped free, she then attempted to smooth away the dent in the rock wall.

“He’s the Fire Lord. It’s a little bit different than asking people who are expecting it.” Thuy muttered.

“I just don’t think you need to go through all this trouble. Zuko would be happy to do it.”

“You haven’t seen him since he became Fire Lord. He’s all grumpy and stressed out now.”

Katara flinched at Thuy’s words. “I have seen him!”

“I meant in person.” Thuy turned and trotted back across the pond. It took a minute before Katara followed.

It was true, she hadn’t seen Zuko in the months since his coronation. She was still technically being trained, and Zuko now officially had his kingdom to run. Plus, with Ozai and Azula in prison, he was under a lot of emotional stress.

They had talked it out over their video chats, but time was scarce for both of them. Katara was only here in the Fire Nation because it was Thuy’s birthday; she had missed his birthday a few weeks prior. What felt like her attempt to make up for it, the ever romantic Thuy wasn’t kidding about what she had said in the Avatar State. She was clearly showering Zuko with her favor, and now Katara wondered how much of it was an unnecessary bribe.

A lot of people were reading into Thuy’s birthday party plans. The televised Agni Kai had in fact almost caused an international incident. The Fire Lord had openly attacked the Avatar, which was generally frowned upon. And while Zuko had triumphed, Ozai’s betrayal left a sour taste in every leader’s mouth; they had been dealing with Fire Nation turmoil for a hundred years after all.

Since the fight, Thuy was attached to Zuko. She frequently commented on their shared ancestry; his through blood and hers through reincarnation. Whenever Toph would let her off for a break, Thuy would travel to the Fire Nation to see a show or visit a beach. It had gotten to a point where rumors were flying that Zuko was set to become her official master.

Such a practice had been abolished after what happened to Kyoshi.

It was wildly unusual - the Avatar’s master was always a Bender of their birth element - and this perceived power shift made people nervous. And if Zuko was a different person, Katara could understand the fear. But as he wasn’t a sinister person, the favoritism ended up saving him since he had no interest in political machinations.

Tonight was going to upend those rumors at her birthday party. She was planning on asking Zuko to become her firebending instructor and her official residence was going to be on the literal middle ground: Avatar Island in the United Republic.

Now, Thuy was upset that the garden where her party was being held wasn’t perfect.

Katara spent hours helping her adjust the landscape as much as she could. Toph wandered out for a moment and stood on the ground, watching them in the strange way she did. Finally, after a few frustrated minutes, Toph finally walked out and started doing the heavy lifting.

The Earthbender was terse, but funny. As Thuy kept pointing out things, Toph kept reminding her that she was blind. Thuy responded by stamping her feet and yelling “YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT.”

“Do it yourself then Wet Wipe.” Toph would retort and Katara couldn’t help but laugh.

By the time the landscaping was how Thuy wanted it and she went inside to get dressed, Katara was exhausted. She and Toph sat on the deck; Katara watched the palace staff bring out tables and chairs while Toph chewed on a piece of dried grass.

“She’s a good kid.” Toph said suddenly, flicking the grass onto the ground and rubbing it into the dirt with her heel.

“She really is.” Katara agreed.

“You gotta stop babying her if you’re going to be her master though.” Toph went on.

“Me? I’m not her master.” Katara said, looking at her in confusion.

“You sure? Who else is supposed to teach her to behave all upstanding and everything?”

“That’s usually someone who knew the previous Avatar. So, probably Tenzin.” Katara shook her head. “But Avatars don’t take a master any more.”

“I think Thuy’s gonna need it. Her parents were really smart, but the world’s changing. Borders are getting weird, loyalties are shifting.” Toph stood and kicked up a small mound of dirt. “I don’t think anyone in the swamp is going to understand it.”

“And I do?”

“I think you know a lot about shifting boundaries and making unusual loyalties.” Toph remarked and turned her head. Zuko exited the palace from further down, directing people with ladders.

Putting her foot down, Toph flattened the mound without touching it.

“The girl needs a master.” She added and walked back inside.

Letting her head loll back, Katara watched the clouds pass overhead. It was still light out, even as the day stretched on. It was almost summer again.

It was a very long time ago that she worked in Sokka’s flower shop.

“What are you thinking about?” Zuko asked as his face came into view. Katara smiled and raised her arms. Zuko moved himself so that she could put her arms around his neck. He lowered his head towards hers and she kissed him.

“Do you remember the first day you saw me in the flower shop?” She asked and released him. Zuko sat down beside her and looked up at the sky himself.

“Sure. You gawked at my scar.” He said and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She sucked her teeth as he smirked.

“You gave me a snowmelt flower.” She said.

“Did I?”

“It’s my favorite flower.”

“Is it?”

“So how long have you known about me?” Katara questioned.

Zuko sat up and looked at her. Silent, he took her hands and held them in his lap.

“Sokka is really proud of you.” Zuko started, staring down at her hands. “And he would talk about you a lot. It almost felt like…”

He drifted with a light laugh before looking into her eyes. “Did you ever watch that stupid drama about a king in the Earth Kingdom and how he was tricked into marrying this lady?”

“You are going to have to smooth this over really fast Zuko.” Katara replied dryly. Zuko chuckled and lifted her hands up, kissing her knuckles.

“There’s a noble family that has gone bankrupt so they try to get their daughter married to the king. Her cousin works at the palace and talks her up to the king every day. He ends up falling in love with this hyped up mystery woman and proposes before ever meeting her.” Zuko explained.

“So Sokka talked about me so much, he tricked you into falling in love with me?” Katara asked.

“Well, not exactly. I did have a girlfriend at the time.” He said. “I just really started to like you as a person. You were a fighter, a survivor, and then you were accepted into medical school. All I ever did was sabotage my own country and serve tea.”

“Zuko, you are the strongest person I have ever met because when life kept handing you crap, you thought you deserved so you just took it.”

“You literally carry the bond of a spirit.”

“You survived what should have been a lethal burn to the face because of how connected you are to your bending.”

“You fought through three different countries trying to save your parents.”

“You fought your father and sister, who were trying to kill you, and didn’t want to hurt them.”

“I want to tell you you’re beautiful because of how much you love the rest of the world but I still get caught up in your eyes.”

“Well I can’t think about how much you love me because I’m terrified to admit I love you that much in return.”

They both stared at each other and, as if in a staring contest, Katara clenched her mouth shut. Still feeling the blood rise in her cheeks, she nonetheless saw Zuko’s face flush first.

He turned away, covering his face with his hands, and he was steaming. Katara laughed and put her hand on his back.

“Come on hun, we’ve got to get ready for the party.” She said. Zuko nodded and then rubbed his face vigorously. As he stood, he pulled Katara up.

“You are the worst.” He said. Katara patted his chest and smirked.

“Get used to it.”

~

The party went very well. The Earth King, having basically been a shut-in, related oddly well to the equally sheltered Avatar. Tenzin and the other head monks circulated through the crowd with varying degrees of success. Rohan had shaved their head for some reason, Jinora was there with her baby, and Ikki flitted about with her new husband. Meelo was sitting at a table looking forlorn, lamenting the imprisoned Azula.

Iroh had dragged the White Lotus members out and found some Fire Nation natives that were allies to sit as the Fire Nation contingent. But Katara could tell that Zuko felt alone, standing in his uncomfortable red robes and seeing so little reflected back.

There was a lot of blue. The majority of the party was actually split between green and blue; the people from Kyoshi Island jumping sides with the blue while the Swamp Tribe balanced things out in green.

All of Thuy’s planning, with Katara’s envisioning ability, turned the small garden into a meandering spot. Small hills forced people around and turned them as if they were walking through a labyrinth. It helped people talk for longer as the short distance around took more steps than first assumed.

Toph had also raised a small waterfall in the pond, using metalbending to create a vacuum system that would keep it going. Katara didn’t comment on the bending, unsure if she was supposed to know already or not. Internally, she panicked.

The effect, with the string fairy lights in the trees and softly tinkling water, was a softer place that glowed with ambient light. Around the tables stood the large torches to keep the cool spring nights at bay, but around the pond it was certainly twilight.

After the meal and with drinks being served - with Thuy trying, unsuccessfully, to get her hands on one - Zuko took Katara by the hand. They strolled around the grassy hillocks arm in arm and Katara was surprised by how quickly the noise dissipated.

“What are the customs for birthdays in your tribe?” Zuko asked suddenly. Katara turned away from the party and regarded the pond.

“There’s not a lot of ceremony that surrounds just us as humans. It’s more about celebrations of the world around us, or the spirits.” Katara replied, staring out over the water. “Things like birthdays and weddings aren’t usually very big.”

“There are rules to birthdays here.” Zuko blanched and Katara smiled to herself.

“It must be nice though, to have things like this.” She replied.

“The necklace is a North Pole custom, right? For engagements?” Zuko asked. Katara touched her neck and shrugged.

“So I’m told. But I don’t ever see me getting rid of it.” She replied.

“Modern conventions can sometimes be more fun than custom.” Zuko said.

“What does that mean?” Katara turned as she asked and found Zuko on a knee. “What.”

“We did talk about this.” He said, holding the box out.

“In theory!” Katara whispered sharply. Her throat tightened and tears stung her eyes, but she almost started to laugh. Zuko grinned up at her.

“I love you Katara. I thought up a lot of fancy words to say but right now I am so nervous and your face is so pretty.” He said as tears fell down his smiling face. Katara did laugh then, the choking laugh that comes with tears.

“I love you Zuko.” She murmured and put her fingers over her mouth.

“Will you marry me?” He asked.

Her throat sealed shut, Katara could only nod. As Zuko gasped and stood, she could see his hands shaking and she laughed again.

“Yes, of course.” She finally managed.

Zuko slid the ring on her finger and Katara jumped on him, kissing him deeply.

“WOO!” Thuy yelled and Katara laughed. They both had to wipe their faces as they walked back to the tables; everyone stood and clapped for them. Feeling the blood rush to her face, Katara put her face into Zuko’s shoulder.

“Congratulations, nephew.” Iroh said as he walked up.

“Thank you uncle.” Zuko replied.

“Let. Me. See. THE RING.” Sokka demanded and darted around Iroh. Katara still didn’t show her face but held out her hand.

“Moonstone? Spirits Zuko, you are so cheesy.” Sokka said.

“It’s what she wanted!” Zuko snapped defensively.

“Hey Katara.” Thuy said as she slid behind Zuko.

“I thought you were going to ask Zuko to be your instructor.” Katara hissed.

“Oh I did that last week. Tonight, I just announced that you’re going to be my master!” Thuy said.

“WHAT.” Katara squawked and jolted upright. All the blood drained too quickly from her face and as everything went dark, she fainted.

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