#anyway i love sokka as much as the next person (maybe a little less . my mutual LOVE sokka) but nani wins this for me! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

raewritez · 3 years ago

Text

Enough | Sokka

based on this request: You want requests? I have an idea/request if you don't mind and are still accepting them, if not I’m sorry. Maybe “friends to lovers/teammates to lovers” where Reader joins the team from Ba Sing Se and while they’re preparing for the invasion, or beyond, Sokka and Reader fall in love, or start to fall in love? I hope that makes sense. Thanks! Your writing is all wonderful! <3

word count: 3.6k

The last thing you'd expected was for the Avatar to break into your house.

You'd been upstairs in your room when you'd heard a ruckus from down below, drawing you to your feet with nervousness and light footsteps. Who was it, burglars? You made your way down the stairs, body pressed against the wall. You heard muffled whispering.

"We can't just break into random houses, Sokka!"

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?! Do you have any better ideas?"

Silence.

"That's what I thought, Aang. Just trust the process."

You peered over the corner, catching sight of the intruders. A boy, a bit shorter than you, stood awkwardly in the corner of your living room. He was dressed in yellow and orange robes, his head decorated with a blue arrow. Huh. Beside him, pulling the curtain back cautiously to scan outside, was a boy seemingly about your age. He was tall, tan skin and dark hair, dressed in a sleeveless blue tunic. You didn't peg these guys as particular threats, so you stepped down.

"Uh, hello?"

They spun around with a yelp, assuming defensive positions. The taller boy held something in his hand - a boomerang? He narrowed his eyes at you.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded.

"Um, this is my house? Who are you?"

He lowered his arm, glancing around sheepishly. "Oh, uh, sorry. We needed to hide."

You raised an eyebrow. "Hide? Hide from who?"

The younger boy spoke up. "The Dai Li."

You furrowed your brows. "The Dai Li?" You questioned, confused. "Why would you need to hide from them? Did you, like, break the law?"

The older boy crossed his arms. "What? No!"

"Then why are you hiding?"

"Because they're after us!"

"Why would they be after you if you didn't break the law?"

"Because!" He was flailing his arms now, and you almost chuckled with amusement. "They - they're bad guys!"

You looked at him flatly. "That sounds like something a criminal would say."

He groaned. "Ugh, ok, ok. Once we know they're gone, we'll leave."

"Are you sure? I was gonna invite you for some tea and cookies," you teased. He glances back, as if seeing if you were serious, before turning back grumpily.

The younger boy scratches his head awkwardly. "Um, anyway, thanks for not kicking us out. I'm Aang."

You chuckle. "Yeah...no problem. I'm Y/n." You aren't quite sure why you're having a conversation with the guys who just broke into your house, but they seem nice enough. The older one's a little grouchy, but for some reason you feel safe.

Aang smiles brightly. "Nice to meet you. This is Sokka," he says, nudging his shoulder.

Sokka glances back at you. "Hey." You offer him a wave.

"So...why are you hiding in my house?"

Aang glances at Sokka, and it seems like a silent argument passes between them. Sokka shakes his head, Aang gives him an imploring look, and Sokka glares. Then he throws his hands up, mumbles a "Fine", and Aang turns back to you with a grin.

"Well, you see, I'm the Avatar," Your eyes grow wide. "And we're trying to get some important information to the Earth King. But the Dai Li don't want us to, so they're kinda chasing us."

"You're the Avatar?" You breathe. He nods cheerfully. "Wait - so, why are the Dai Li chasing you? Shouldn't they be helping?"

"Yeah, they should," Sokka says. "But they decided to, you know, not."

You're confused. The Dai Li are the highest level of protection for the people of Ba Sing Se. Why wouldn't they help the Avatar? You look around the room, spotting the closet near the door. An idea pops into your head.

"I can help." They both turn to you, looking skeptical. "I mean I can help you get out. Without being noticed."

They look at each other, hold their gaze, then turn to you and nod.

///

"I look ridiculous."

You stifle a laugh, taking in Sokka's appearance. "I think you look great. And it'll help you get by unnoticed, so that's what matters."

He's dressed in your father's trench coat, a heavy, brown beast of a thing that's so long it pools at his ankles. He's also sporting a dashing top-hat; the brim so wide it effectively shelters his face. He glares.

Aang comes bouncing in, dressed in a hooded cape that provides coverage for his tattoo. He stops short when he sees Sokka, doubling over in laughter. "Oh, you look great, Sokka."

Sokka groans, slumping over. "Let's just get out of here."

You lead them out the front door, scanning the road for any sign of threats. You step out, the boys following in tow, and walk as confidently as you can past the agents lining the street. Eventually, you successfully make it out of the middle ring. Sokka immediately sheds his disguise.

"Well, here you go," you say, looking around. Although only one ring above you, the Upper Ring is much nicer than you're used to. "Good luck with the Earth King."

Aang's eyes grow wide. "Wait! You should...you should come with us!"

You tilt your head. "Come with you where?"

"Back to our place! You could meet our friends!" He nudges Sokka, who appears disinterested. "Right, Sokka?"

Sokka's eyes snap to yours. "Oh, uh, sure. I guess."

You're about to politely decline, but Aang is staring at you so hopefully that you can't turn him down. You smile softly. "Sure, Aang."

"Awesome! Let's go."

You're led through the cobblestone pathways, eyes trailing after ornate carriages and towering buildings. Soon, you reach their house. The home of the Avatar. Sokka walks up and turns the knob, jumping back in surprise. In front of him stands a girl, not much younger than you, with her hands on her hips and her eyes bright with anger.

"Where have you been?!" She demands, dragging him inside by his collar. "We've been worried sick! I mean, you didn't even leave a note, didn't say anything-"

"We're sorry, Katara," Aang intervenes, hands raised in peaceful greeting. "We got caught up."

It's then that her eyes fall on you, gaze softening into uncertainty. She looks at Sokka expectantly.

"Oh!" He exclaims, stepping back and gesturing towards you. "This is Y/n. She helped us get away from the Dai Li."

The girl, Katara as she'd been called, offered you a slight smile of gratitude. "Thank you for helping my idiot brother."

You chuckled, grinning at the look of betrayal Sokka gave the girl. "It was no problem."

She nodded, extending her arm. "Do you want to come in?"

You glanced towards Aang, who was smiling excitedly. "Oh, yeah, sure."

You stepped inside, feeling a bit awkward. You didn't really understand why Aang wanted you to come so badly, but it was a kind gesture nonetheless. You scanned the interior; emerald walls adorned with gold plating that was probably more expensive than your whole apartment. You fidgeted your fingers, standing by while Katara and Sokka bickered about responsibility. A slam startled you out of your thoughts.

"Who's this?" A girl stepped out of the - hole? Yeah, hole, she'd just kicked a hole in the wall. Katara paused her lecture.

"Toph, this is Y/n. She helped Sokka and Aang with the Dai Li."

"Cool." She yawned, walking past you and plopping on the couch.

"We need to get to the Earth King," Sokka said, assuming a demeanor of focus and determination. "If the Dai Li aren't going to help us get to him, we'll have to do it ourselves." He briefly explained his plan, something about breaking into the fancy party that was happening later that night. They came up with roles, with guidelines for what each person should do, working together like a well-oiled machine. You felt out of place, you didn't know what your purpose was here. Aang turned to you, smiling softly.

"Y/n, you in?"

You stared. You couldn't comprehend the reason this boy had so much faith in you, the reason these kids were so willing to let you in on their scheme after just meeting you less than an hour ago. You didn't understand why you trusted them, either. You smiled.

"I'm in."

///

That was your first mistake.

When you'd agreed to break into an Earth Kingdom party with the Avatar, you didn't think you'd end up having to flee your home. You sat upon Appa's back, knees pulled to your chest as Ba Sing Se grew smaller. Sokka was steering, and the rest had their heads tucked into their hands. Except for Aang, who was lying unconscious next to Katara.

You'd remained in the city with Katara as the rest of the group separated, happy to spend some time with your newfound friend. It was then that things got messy; you found out the Fire Nation had infiltrated the government, the local tea-boy was actually a banished prince, and you found yourself in the crystal catacombs as a battle went on around you. You'd been there with Zuko and Katara, and you weren't sure exactly what'd gone down between them but it was obviously something serious, and you'd been there as he joined his sister - Azula. She was pretty scary.

You fought the best you could, your unpracticed earth-bending not doing much damage against the Dai Li agents, before Aang was struck by Azula's lightning. Now, you sat atop his sky-bison, mind racing and body numb from the shock of it all. You were in way over your head.

The five of you met up with Sokka and Katara's dad after dropping off the Earth King, because, you know, he was just casually there, too, boarding a Fire Nation ship as a means of disguise. Sokka introduced you to his father, Hakoda, who welcomed you with a warm smile and a firm handshake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Y/n. Sokka's told me a lot about you. You two must really get along well," he said when Sokka was out of ear reach, voice laced with mirth. You flushed when you registered what he was implying; the mischief gleaming in his eyes. You frantically tried to put a sentence together.

"Oh, we're not - he doesn't...I mean we do, but not like-" He cut you off with a chuckle and a friendly pat to your shoulder.

"I'm just teasing. Come on, let's join the others."

You sat with your friends and the Water Tribesmen aboard the steely deck, huddling with Toph and Sokka for warmth. Katara went downstairs to heal Aang, who had yet to wake. Your meals mainly consisted of rice as it was too risky to stop and buy more supplies. You were still dressed in your Earth Kingdom clothes; green-tinted pants and a tunic, feet clad in worn-down boots. Not ideal for posing as a Fire Nation soldier.

You were still in shock, you supposed, at how quickly things changed and how fiercely your life was ripped from you. I mean, just a few days ago you were a normal kid living in the middle ring of Ba Sing Se, where nothing remotely exciting ever happened. Then, the Avatar and his friend had broken into your house and now everything was different. You weren't upset, it was just a lot to process. You were worried for Aang and a bit overwhelmed at the reality that seemed to be your new friends' normal. So when everyone else returned to their rooms for sleep, you made your way to the overlook.

The moon beamed down over the sea - ivory light caressing the waves and kissing the surface. You breathed deeply, inhaling the cool night air that smelled of salt-water and a freedom you'd never experienced. You sat there, slightly chilly from the cold, when a warm presence took place by your side.

You glanced up, seeing Sokka's skin glowing under the starlight. Woah, had he always been this pretty? It was probably just the moon...that and your sleep deprivation. Yeah, that was it.

"What're you doing up?" He questioned, eyes cast out to the horizon. His hair was loose from its usual ponytail - wolf-tail, as he'd passionately pointed out to you days earlier - the dark locks flowing freely about his face. You tore your eyes away, following his stare.

"Just couldn't sleep," you glanced over. "You?"

He sighed, leaning against the metal. "Me neither. Just worried."

You turned to face him, face softening into concern. "About what?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "About Aang. About the Earth Kingdom...just...everything."

You moved closer, resting your forearms against the edge of the ship. He pressed his shoulder against yours.

"I get it. I am, too. Everything that's happening is just...crazy. There's no way I could've even imagined it."

Sokka tilted his head towards you, blue eyes glimmering with compassion and softness. "Yeah...how are you doing? I haven't really asked, I mean, this must be kinda shocking for you."

You snorted, nodding your head. "Well, yeah. But it's ok. I'm not the one who has it worst right now."

"Sure, but you can still talk about it. You can talk to me...if you want."

You smiled up at him, his face shadowed by the abyss of the night. "Thanks."

He offered you a grin before staring up at the sky. "You know, that's my first girlfriend," he said, pointing at the moon.

"The moon?" He nodded. "That's...rough."

///

It was finally here. The day of Black Sun.

You'd be lying if you said you felt totally prepared, but with some rigorous earth bending lessons from Toph and sparring with Sokka, you felt more confident in your abilities.

A finger poked your cheek. "Hey, are you listening?"

You glanced at Sokka's teasing grin, scratching the back of your neck sheepishly. "Uh...yes?"

"Really," he said, moving to stand in front of you. "What did I say?"

"Something about...food?"

He laughed, shaking his head. "It's ok, I'll tell you later." He looked behind him, taking in the sight of the preparing fighters and looming submarines. He took your hand in his. "Are you ready for this?"

You sigh, squeezing his fingers between your own. "Ready as I'll ever be."

He smiles down at you, and the look in his eyes is pure adoration. He reaches to tuck a stray piece of hair behind your ear. "You know, I'm glad I broke into your house."

You snort, swatting his hand away. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks a lot, nerd."

He chuckles. "Hey, I know you're glad, too. Otherwise, you never would've met me and would've been miserable and bored your whole life."

You laugh, but it's probably true. You and Sokka had grown much closer over the past weeks, days spent in playful conversation and evening strolls, in play-wrestling and heads rested on shoulders. You were the one he came to when his mind was troubled, when his energy was too spent to conjure any jokes. Yeah, you were glad, too.

You were called into the submarines - Sokka's invention, something you were unfathomably proud of - and off you went. Into the Fire Nation. Your arrival went mostly smoothly, disregarding the few punctures in the submarine walls, and you ran out of the carrier with the earth at your fingertips. Aang had flown off to fight the Fire Lord, and it was up to the rest of you to deal with everyone else. Your heart pumped loudly, blood rushing in your ears and adrenaline flowing in your veins. You raised your arms, summoning the ground upwards to knock out a few soldiers.

"Y/n!"

You turned around just in time to see Katara swoop down on Appa, Sokka and Hakoda climbing up with her. "Come on!" she yelled. "We're going to take out the soldier's battlements."

You nodded, running towards the bison and pulling yourself atop the saddle with help from Sokka. Appa lifts off, reaching between the battlements.

"Katara and I will take the one on the right," Hakoda said, his voice one of a true commander. "Sokka and Y/n, the left. Let's go."

You climb the battlement, hoisting yourself inside through the window before scanning the room. Pointed outwards is a sort of cannon, aimed perfectly towards the group of fire benders that were advancing towards your friends. You step forward, trying to figure out the mechanics while Sokka climbs in. "Oh-ho," he says, taking note of the projection of the cannon. "This thing is just begging to be fired."

You nodded, toying with the controls. Sokka stepped behind you. "Here, I'll show you."

He placed his palm over your hand, guiding it to where it needed to be. From his pocket he pulled a match - where did that come from, anyway? - and nudged it between your fingers. "Light it up, Sunshine."

You place the tip to the ignition, Sokka aiming the cannon. He pulls you back against him, arms wound tightly around your waist, and you cover your ears. The canon booms, sending out a flurry of smoke. You rush forward, fearful of the damage you might have just inflicted, breathing out when you see that it only landed between the soldiers and your friends. It didn't hit them, something you were a bit grateful for, but it allowed the fighters to evade the onslaught. Sokka chuckled in your ear.

"Not bad, not bad."

"You did all the work."

"That's not true! You were vital."

You shake your head, fighting off a grin. "Ok, we should probably get rid of this thing now."

"Agreed."

You climb back out the window, jumping onto the ground with a thud. Breathing deeply, you concentrated your mind on the earth that lay below the battlement, and with a flick of your wrist, it crumbled. From the cliffside it fell, effectively ridding you of one other thing to worry about.

Sokka let out a low whistle. "Impressive."

You turned to him, out of breath. He stepped closer, brows knitted in slight concern as he lifted your chin with his knuckles. "Hey, you ok?"

You nodded, swallowing and trying to rewatch your breath. "Yeah, still a little new to this."

His thumb stroked your cheek before he moved his arm, placing it over your shoulders. "Come on, just stay with me."

You did, gladly.

///

So...things didn't exactly go as planned.

It turned out that the Fire Lord knew all along about the invasion, and Aang never had the chance to fight him. You'd come face-to-face with Azula again, something that made your blood boil. You'd had to leave - leaving the adults behind while the kids climbed aboard Appa's saddle. You were all exhausted, slumped over and falling to your knees when you finally reached the Western Air Temple.

You tried to mull your sadness; that guilty feeling that it was you who should've been left behind instead. You knew everyone was hurting - some in ways you couldn't really fathom. Aang felt like he had failed - again - and he went to bed that night with a half-hearted side hug and tired eyes. Toph felt weak, something she hated more than anything in the world. And Sokka and Katara...they'd lost their dad again.

So when you saw Sokka on the mountainside, head held in hands, you felt that he was more important. You plopped down next to him, his eyes snapping up and softening when they laid on you. No words were spoken; they didn't need to be. Instead, he sighed, pressing his cheek against your shoulder. You ran your fingers through his hair, soothing him with your touch. You only halted when he laced your fingers with his own, pulling your hand to his lap and tracing patterns across your skin.

"It's not your fault, Sokka."

He nodded against you, but you heard his sniff. You straightened up, his head begrudgingly lifting from its place against you before you cupped his face with your palm. "It's not," you implored, desperate for him to stop feeling so down on himself. "None of us could've predicted that they knew. And with Azula...she knew what she was doing. None of this is because of you."

He glanced away, blue eyes brimming with the tears he'd fought so hard to keep at bay. He dipped his head in silent acceptance, nuzzling against the warmth of your palm. You smiled sadly.

"It's not over, Sokka. There's still hope, now more than ever. And I know we'll figure it out."

He raised his gaze, and it seemed like his soul was carried in his stare. Slowly, enough so that you thought you imagined it, his eyes drifted down to your lips. He leaned in slowly, bringing his calloused hand to brush back your hair. You were frozen, as if one wrong move would shatter you from this dream. His palm was warm against your cheek, and his nose bumped your own. Your eyes met his, close enough together that it was a bit funny to look at, and he offered you a silent question. You answered with your lips against his.

He breathed against you, fingers carding through your hair. His lips were warm and oh, so soft, and they moved against yours with ease. You wound your arms around his neck, bringing him closer. He was warm, and he was familiar, and he was safe. You pulled apart when your lungs ached for air, peeling your eyes open with effort. He was looking at you, and you were looking at him, and suddenly a grin broke out across his face. He laughed breathily, nudging his head into the crook of your neck. You laughed with him, holding him tight. You sat there together for who knows how long, melted in each other's embrace under the light of the moon. He pressed soft kisses against your neck and whispered thanks into your ears. You responded with a peck to his tanned cheeks. You were right, he knew. It wasn't over. There was time left, and there was hope. Wrapped in your arms, he was sure of that.

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thevictorianghost · 4 years ago

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If you could rewrite legend of korra and make it your own(or just in general better) how would you do it? The villains would stay the same and korra and crew are the same(personalities you can definitely tweak a bit. I would definitely not have any love triangles and make korra and asami happen in the beginning) how would you do it with your ships being canon as well?

Okay so I’ve never actually watched LOK. I’ve heard A LOT about it through watching countless video essays on Youtube and reading Tumblr posts about it. I know the who, the what and the how, I just haven’t wanted to watch it because, even though it looks cinematically gorgeous, the story was written by Bry/ke and there’s a LOT of it, worldbuilding and storywise, that I just can’t bare to watch.

So here goes. This got long. Enjoy!

1) Remove the Decopunk world.

A Decopunk world is a world where technology is 1920s-ish, but very advanced. We have cars, tanks, radio, bobs and faux bobs, cloche hats, short skirts, nice suits, etc. I adore Decopunk. The 1920s are one of my favourite eras. An optimistic way of looking at the world, partying, illegal alcohol, the remnants of the Great War... I love it. I really do. But it doesn’t work in the pre-established world of Avatar. It brings elements that are far too imperialistic and colonial in nature (which prompted the comics to be imperialistic and colonial in nature, with the Northern and Southern Water Tribe, you can find many posts about that), which came along hand in hand with the Industrial Revolution, as this article puts it so well. Please read it, it’s awesome.

Why did they feel they had to denature Avatar’s world? They already had everything they could possibly want.

The Fire Nation could be more Steampunk, which is a little less advanced than Decopunk (First Industrial Revolution vs Second Industrial Revolution) because there were elements of Steampunk in the Fire Nation Army (such as the tanks, the navy and the dirigibles). But it could be for them only. It could show us how Zuko transformed the Fire Nation from a war industry to a steam-powered country. This could be the new way to channel firebending (and please, no more “anyone can do lightning bending”, you don’t need lightning bending to get electricity and it makes Zuko, Iroh, Ozai and Azula weak in the show!).

We’ve seen waterbending used in clever ways in the Northern Water Tribe. How could Katara’s waterbending and Sokka’s engineering influence the Southern Water Tribe to make them use waterbending more? Canals, waterfalls, waterways, etc.? In new and different ways? Could the Southern Water Tribe use hydroelectricity, but in a clean, sustainable way? Why does the Southern Water Tribe port look so... mundane?

The Earth Kingdom already had a working train system in Ba Sing Se. And the postal system in Omashu. Toph could have taught earthbenders how to follow the Badgermoles way and dug tunnels throughout a nation in peace. Then boom. Subways. But instead of machines pushing the people along, you can have benders do it. Instead of messenger hawks, the postal system could run through the entire kingdom instead of just Omashu and be much more efficient. The Earth Kingdom could be praised for its fast postal system that could, maybe, work as telegrams.

I’ll come back to the Air Nomads.

Those are just examples from the top of my head. I don’t mean ��never allow technology to “””progress””” (I use that word veeeeery loosely because it has huge imperialistic undertones). I mean instead of trashing the fun parts of bending to make way for Decopunk technology that doesn’t need bending, work with it! Get creative! This worldbuilding feels... too easy. When Avatar: The Last Airbender was praised for its worldbuilding.

I adore Decopunk. I enjoy it far more than Dieselpunk and it’s much less known that Steampunk. But it has no place in the Avatar world.

2) That doesn’t mean “remove Republic City”.

First of all, it should honestly have a better name. It’s kind of like naming a city “Democracy City”. Which is way too on the nose. Harmony City sounds better, and that’s the first thing that came to mind. Anyway.

I really like the idea of a city being built in the spirit of Iroh and the White Lotus. To allow the Four Nations to live together in harmony in one city. But why is Republic City literally New York City with an “““Asian””” flair? What is up with that? I know New York is the MOST Decopunk city ever (you can’t encounter anything Decopunk without seeing New York, with its Art Deco buildings, the Harlem Renaissance, the Prohibition, etc.). But they do NOTHING with it! They just take New York, change some names, add some Asian flair, and call it a day.

I don’t want 1920s New York for Republic City. I want Zootopia.

What happens in a city where all the Four Nations are represented? How does Water, Earth, Fire and Air work together? Big cities tend to be quartered in neighborhoods, so each neighborhood could be a smaller version of their nation. We could have a Northern Water Tribe next to an Earth Kingdom next to... you know what I mean? Each neighborhood could be a small-scale introduction to the nation for Korra first, then you can send her to that nation afterwards!

Which leads us to this.

3) Have Korra follow a traditional Avatar’s journey.

I really don’t know why they decided that Korra would learn three elements before the age of sixteen (when that’s the age Avatars usually START their journeys) and then only have her learn Airbending during the entire show. Wasn’t the structure of each Book being about Aang learning one element at a time a good structure? Why go out of their way to NOT do that? Why was it the White Lotus’ prerogative to train the Avatar in the first place, too?

So let’s have Korra know waterbending first (and show Katara teaching her, please!), then she can learn Earth, Fire and Air. By going to the Earth Kingdom, to the Fire Nation, and to the Air Temples. This could help develop each nation and show us how they have grown through the years. And it could lead Korra and the audience to figure out that there’s not only Aang who has had children to represent the Air Nomads, but there were other Air Nomads who survived the genocide and we can actually see the Air Nomads as a thriving culture.

So about Republic City. As I said, we could keep it. But now that Korra is going on a traditional Avatar journey, you could have, say, one episode at the beginning and one episode at the end of each season taking place in Republic City. To show us how each Nation’s neighborhood works and as an introduction to Korra before she actually takes the plunge to travel to that nation.

Please! Build upon the Avatar world at large more! Come on!

4) Stop it with the love triangles.

Many have talked about the Mako, Korra, Bolin and Asami love triangles. I’ve read once that they don’t exactly feel like friends, they’re only colleagues who share the fact they all dated Korra at one point. Which is sad. Knowing that the Gaang is so beloved because they’re such GOOD FRIENDS first!

So work to build strong, healthy friendships first, THEN start thinking about romance if you have to. And please, if you want a ship to be endgame, don’t have it so you have to confirm it on Twitter.

Don’t.

Oh! And also. Bolin and Eska’s relationship was unhealthy as all hell and treated as “funny” and “comic relief” because a woman was being emotionally abusive to a man. That’s terrible. Please don’t do that.

5) Don’t let Katara fall to the side like she did.

Many, MANY before me have talked about how Katara got the short end of the stick in LOK. Where’s her statue? Where’s her recognition as the Greatest Waterbender in the World? Why is she day in and day out in the healing hut, when she said “I don’t want to heal, I want to FIGHT”? Does she even have a waterbending school? Or is that completely fanon? Why does she allow Aang to take one of their children on life-changing field trips while leaving their other kids behind? Aren’t they also Air Nomads by birth??

It’s okay to worship the old Gaang because, well, we all love them! I do love Aang, even if I give him a hard time a lot, but I love the character. I just don’t like the way Book 3 Aang was written. But some characters shouldn’t have everything while others have nothing. Aang is LITERALLY THE STATUE OF LIBERTY. But where was Katara’s statue? And also, what happened to Suki?? What happened to Mai or Ty Lee, too?? Or even Sokka?? He died some time ago and... that’s it??

Which brings us to this.

6) Zutara, Taang, Sukka and Mailee.

I’ve seen that picture of Toph, Aang, Sokka and Katara being edited with Zuko and Katara next to each other, Toph and Aang next to each other, and a (suddenly alive!) Suki next to Sokka. I think that’s so good! It feels so healthy!

Not all relationships that started when people were kids work out. Sokka and Suki seem the strongest relationship at the end of the show and they’re probably the only ones I could see working out in the end. Sokka could become the Southern Water Tribe Chief and Suki could become his Queen when she’s retired from the Kyoshi Warriors.

Katara and Aang would be lifelong friends, of course they would be, but I don’t really see them lasting. Aang was twelve when they started dating. They’d date a few years, then they’d decide they want other things. That’s a good thing to show kids!

I’ve written many metas about Zutara, but Ambassador then Fire Lady Katara would show a changing world, where the Fire Nation, now no longer a war industry but a Steampunk country, is moving forward, with Zuko literally marrying a woman the Fire Nation tried to wipe out. They would be equals and leave an equal mark upon the world. Together.

Toph and Aang would be amazing together. They’d be a great team, working in the Earth Kindom, helping rebuild the old Temples when the Air Nomads came out of hiding, and bringing peace around the world. I don’t think they’d be a conventional relationship. They’d do their own thing for a while, find each other for a while, work together on some projects, then continue doing their own thing. Aang being the Avatar who travels the world and Toph teaching metalbenders and working with the King in Ba Sing Se and Bumi in Omashu and wherever she’s needed. I think Toph would be much more fulfilled than what we’ve seen of elderly Katara. She doesn’t have Katara’s abandonment issues (I’ve talked about them here) and she’s more independent, I believe.

I know I haven’t talked about them much yet, but I want Mai and Ty Lee together in the end. Badass ladies challenging their respective stereotypes and create a new world for themselves. Mai could find herself away from the Fire Nation court (I don’t know what she’d do, but circuses love people who throw knives, don’t they? She could be a circus performer for a while), and I think Ty Lee, in this version, could work at the circus and with Aang to rebuild the Air Nomads. I love the idea of Ty Lee being a descendant of the Air Nomads.

All of them should be shown creating Zootopia-like Republic City. Because of course they should be! They’re the Gaang!

So yeah, that’s how I would see the world of Avatar grow beyond the borders of the original show! :)

#atla #avatar the last airbender #anti-lok #anti-bryke #zutara #sukka #taang #mailee #darkcrowprincess

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jettingtothemoon · 4 years ago

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can you do 75, 93, and 100 with Sokka? THAT WOULD BE AMAZING!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! - ✌ anon

➳ pairing: sokka x f!reader ➳ genre: fluff, a smidge of angst ➳ warnings: injury, kissing, suggestive? ➳ word count: 1679 ➳ rating: pg-15 ➳ summary: in which your daily training with sokka goes a little wrong. ➳ prompts: 75 - ‘i’ll just kiss you until you feel better, then.’, 93 - ‘you’re so cute when you’re struggling.’, 100 - ‘i’m scared okay? i- i’m afraid of losing you.’

Sokka was very adamant that the two of you needed to train twice as hard as everyone else, as two non-benders, if you were ever going to stand a chance against the Fire Nation. He truly was a warrior at heart and you really did love him for it, but sometimes he pushed you a little too hard.

“Come on y/n! You can do it. Climb like you mean it!”

Today, your over-enthusiastic boyfriend had you climbing a small cliff face. Of course, he had come up with the idea when presented with the issue of every bender in your team being able to whisk themselves up to wherever they needed to be in a matter of seconds. The two fo you, however, were not so lucky and had to train your bodies so that you could climb to such height.

It was a useful skill to have, that was true, but the likelihood of you ever actually needing it was somewhat slim. Of course, Sokka still saw it as an essential development that could be the difference between life and death in one of the battles to come.

“Sokka, we’ve been at this all day. Can’t I please come down now?”

The boy hummed, finger pressed to his chin as if he were thinking, before shaking his head and yelling up at you, “No, you can’t. Keep climbing until you reach the top.”

You sighed, rolling your eyes as you reached up for the next part of the rock.

From below, Sokka watched with pride as you climbed. Despite being a girl, you were quite capable. Suki’s influence no doubt. The two of you had shown Sokka what it really meant to be a girl, that girls could just as strong as men if they wanted to be. It was safe to say that he was in awe of both of you. Although, that didn’t stop him from woking you to the bone.

Your fingers hurt by the time you could see the top, not that it was that high. You’d climbed higher before. In fact, you had already climbed this very cliff face several times in the past few hours and every time you climbed it again it seemed just that little bit higher.

When you reached the top, you stood with your hands placed on your hips, wiping the sweat from your forehead. A victory pose of sorts as you realised in the feeling of finally being done with training for the day.

You leaned forward and cupped your hands around your mouth, shouting down at your obnoxious boyfriend. He was a nuisance, but he was your nuisance.

“Your turn!”

He looked up at you with a smug grin. “I’ll be there in less than a minute, watch me!”

Just like that, he was clambering up the side of the small cliff. You chuckled, watching as he puffed all the air out of his lungs only to quickly suck it back in, a strange way to regulate his breathing but it seemed to work for him.

He was determined to show you that he wasn’t tired, that he could keep going even after such a long day. For the most part, he was determined and would push past any hardship or obstacle that got in his way. However, it was usually Sokka that would complain and moan about his exhaustion after a long day of training. Well, when it was the others who are pushing him to his limits.

When he was in charge, like today, he never quite had to push himself too far. You had climbed the cliff twice as many times as him at least, all due to him insisting that it was more important for you to build up your stamina since he was already an ace at climbing. A lie, but you knew better than to complain. After all, it really would benefit you to train but, that being said, it would have benefitted him to work a little harder today too.

He looked almost like a spider as he climbed, long limbs moving far too quickly as he scrambled up.

“Sokka, you should slow down. You need to look at what you’re grabbing,” You warned, hoping he would heed your warning.

Of course, however, he didn’t. Why would he listen to you when he had this in the bag? He was going to impress you and beat his best time. Or, at least, that’s what he thought.

It all happened so suddenly really, although it also seemed to pass in slow motion at the same time when Sokka grabbed onto an unstable rock. It crumbled and broke apart from the cliff, his hand falling as it lost the grip that had been supporting him. In a panic, he fell backwards and soon he was plummeting down.

“Sokka!”

When he came to, Sokka found himself in his tent. He went to sit up only for the stabbing pain in his ribs to force him back down.

“Careful, I only just bandaged your wounds.” Katara scowled at her brother, clearly unimpressed that he had managed to cause himself so much harm thanks to his carelessness.

“Where’s y/n?”

The waterbender sighed, “Outside worrying about you. I’ll go get her, she can look after you now since you’re awake.”

You rushed into the tent the second Katara told you he was awake, only to find him forcing himself through the pain it caused him to sit up. Before he could blink you were by his side, hand resting gently on his bandaged back as you helped him.

“You okay? That was quite a fall. If Katara wasn’t here-”

“I’m fine, just a- a scratch,” He insisted, hissing once again as you lightly pushed a finger to the bruise on the side of his head.

You raised a brow. “Fine? You’ve been out cold for hours, and here I was thinking the fall would have knocked some sense into you.”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. I know, I should have listened to you and taken it slow, it’s my fault. I’m sorry, okay?”

With a hum, you nodded. You were just worried, not angry. Well, maybe you were a little angry at him but not as much as Katara.

When he breathed a sigh of relief, you pushed your finger a little harder into the bruise, causing him to whine in pain and swat your hand away, before walking over to the other side of the tent.

“It’s going to be cold tonight, put this on.” You threw him a new shirt, one without stains of his own blood, to wear since Katara had taken the other one to wash it.

What was funny was that Sokka couldn’t even raise his arms high enough to pull it over his head and, instead, ended up carefully twisting his body this way and that to try and find a way to do it that wouldn’t hurt.

You rolled your eyes and sat beside him, cooing, “You’re so cute when you’re struggling.”

He stopped trying altogether and scowled at you. “Are you going to help me or not?”

With a giggle, you reached out and helped him put it on, pulling his arms through it carefully so that you wouldn’t cause him any more pain.

“There, better?”

He hummed but soon seemed to change his mind. “It might stop hurting if you kiss it better.”

You chuckled again at his weak attempt to flirt but gave in nonetheless. “I’ll just have to kiss you until you feel better then.”

You started with the bruise on his head, pressing your lips to it ever so lightly. Then, your fingers lifted the material of his shirt so that you could place a gentle kiss against his bandaged torso.

When you were done with that, you were not surprised to find Sokka with his lips puckered as he waited for you. Sighing at his silliness, you shook your head but gave him what he wanted regardless.

Your lips connected for a brief, sweet moment and his hand came up to cup the back of your head. When you parted, he smiled widely. “I don’t think that was enough, I think I need more.”

The cheek of this boy even when he was pretty badly injured would never fail to amaze you. He could so easily push aside any pain and ignore any danger just to try and cheer you up. He could see the look in your eyes, he knew something was off from the moment you walked in.

As much as that cheeky grin and playful personality helped, however, this time it just wasn’t enough.

You looked away, gathering your thoughts as the conversation quickly turned from light to heavy.

His hand reached out, fingers gently turning you back to face him as he tilted his head. “What is it?”

“I just- I was really worried today,” he was silent, waiting for you to go on, “You were lucky; if Aang didn’t jump in to slow the impact, you could have died. Don’t you get that? You could have died today.”

His expression softened and he reached out for your hand, holding it in his own. “I know, I’m sorry. But it’s fine because Aang was there to catch me, just about, and Katara was there to bandage me up and-”

“You don’t get it Sokka. You could have died. Not fighting the Fire Nation, just falling from a cliff. Why did you have to be so careless? You knew that you could have fallen but you acted recklessly anyway!”

You pulled your hand away from him and turned away once again, anger bubbling inside you. It all slipped away, however, when he mumbled one more quiet apology.

“Sorry. I just- I’m scared, okay? I- I’m afraid of losing you.”

His head rested against your shoulder as he wrapped his arms around you, holding your warmth close. “I’m sorry, I know it must have scared you. I didn’t mean to get hurt, I won’t be so careless again.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

#sokka x reader #sokka angst #sokka fluff #atla #avatar the last airbender #sokka avatar #anon #sokka avatar the last airbender #✌#request #✌ anon

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missmorosis · 4 years ago

Text

here’s our bus route map for my bus ride! (masterlist!)

here’s the original event post :)

HI EVERYONE!! i just wanted to thank you all for your participation BECAUSE AAAAAA YOU GUYS DELIVERED AND UGH I WAS LITERALLY SO WORRIED NOBODY WAS GONNA WRITE ANYTHING BUTSJFLKFASDF

ALL OF YOU ARE SO TALENTED OKAY??? LIKE BYE I WAS BLOWN AWAY

I WAS SO EXCITED FOR THIS EVENT HEHEHE I LOVE ALL OF YOU SO SO MUCH!! AND THE FACT THAT YOU SPENT TIME ON THIS EVENT 😭😭MWAH MWAHH

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR 400!! MUCH LOVE AND HUGS AND KISSES :D

ALSO SORRY AHHA THIS WAS POSTED SO LATE

WE IGNORE HOW IT’S PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET FROM LA TO LONDON VIA BUS JKDFJKFJK

here’s how i formatted it!

title- author’s @!

pairing genre warnings word count their summary that they made

-> my review!

let’s take a look at our map...

starting from LA, heading to bilbao! we’ll stop along the bus stops on our way!

and yes im aware that the route is going in a weird, illogical way if bilbao is our last stop, shush i wasnt thinking when i made bilbao our last city KJDFJKS

masterlist under the cut!!

now arriving at... los angeles, California!

-> write an AU!! the AU can be literally anything: royalty AU? road trip AU? GO FOR IT!! just as long as it’s not in the canon era hehehe

first stop... “something only the stars know” - @luvoratomi

pairing: suna rintarou x gn!reader genre: secret relationship au, royal au, crown prince!suna, knight!reader, established relationship, fluff, angst word count: 544 their summary: in which you and crown prince, suna rintarou, find comfort in each other’s arms underneath the moonlight, where only the stars are witnesses of your love.

-> my review: um. nayru. OKAY IM CONSTANTLY BLOWN AWAY BY YOUR TALENT AND THIS IS NO EXCEPTION. i dont even KNOW who rintarou is but im in love with him. ALSO I DONT THINK IVE EVER READ A ROYAL AU BUT KLASDFJ THIS WAS SO?? WELL?? WRITTEN?? ive reread it at LEAST 5 times.

next stop... an untitled zombie au from @eunoianthia

pairing: yamaguchi tadashi x female!reader genre: zombie au, angst :) warnings: a lot of angst, death, a bit of gore? word count: 1.1k their summary: going to Los Angeles was a dream, and you were finally achieving it. It’s like a dream come true, going to Los Angeles and your boyfriend tagging along? What could go wrong?

-> my review: OKAY WAIT THIS IS THE FIRST ZOMBIE AU IVE EVER READ. like EVER. AND WHAT I DIDNT EXPECT IT TO HURT THIS MUCH. i- the ending- PLEASE I- i dont even know what to say. how COULD YOU.

now arriving at... 3:38 am from @arquitecturadelanada

pairing: zuko x fem!reader genre: roommates au, i would say fluff! warnings: none! word count: 1.1k their summary: As sokka’s best man zuko has to write a heartfelt speech for the wedding day, the only issue? he doesn’t believe in love, but maybe his roommate can change his perception on the matter.

-> my review: so youre saying this whole time youve been supporting my writing when YOU WRITE BETTER THAN I DO?? ugh you’re so talented this isn’t funny, and this fic ALMOST MAKES ME WANT TO BECOME AN ATLA BLOG AGAIN BAHHA- “he noticed he was considerably less stressed just by hearing his roommate’s voice” IM GONNA CRY

last stop... “what are the odds” from @hikariakaashi

pairing: kuroo x fem!reader genre: roommates au, i would say fluff! warnings: none! word count: 3.2k their summary: it was an act of desperation, to say the least, downloading the app lev recommended for him. but he was in dire need of a wedding date. so when kuroo opened up the brightly colored app titled rent a girlfriend, he knew he was in for an interesting evening.

-> my review: so uh 1) i remember writing a review for this and i have no idea where it went IM SO SORRY DSKJFJ and 2) i would do anything for kuroo to be my bf even if it was just my job 😩😩 and 3) um ??? YOURE SO TALENTED?? MISS MA’AM??

now arriving at... london, england!

-> breakup fic time </3 you can make it an angsty breakup, or a fluffy exes to lovers!

first stop... “i love(d) you”- @floralkawa

pairing: tsukishima x reader! genre: angst! warnings: none! word count: 300 their summary: one where tsukishima never showed his love. making it onesided, leading poor f/n on in a bitter relationship. of course, no one can handle it forever, can they ?

-> my review: this is the reason why i dont like angst. i felt this IN MY HEART, OKAY? NOELLE YOU LIED & SAID YOU COULDN’T WRITE FEELINGS. i hate it I HATE IT I HATE IT. but ugh youre talented enough to pull anything off and your angst is PROBABLY the only ones ill read willingly :(

next stop... “i should have seen the signs”- @kirishimas-manly-eyeliner

pairing: oikawa x reader! genre: angst! warnings: none! word count: 2k their summary: going to the city of love and london was supposed to be an exhilarating vacation after a long week of exams. as it seems, love is fake and so is toru oikawa.

-> my review: um. this kinda hurted me tho. how am i even allowed to be friends with you like ?? miss ma’am? YOURE SO TALENTED??? i hate angst and ill say it again: I HATE ANGST. IT HURTS IT HUUUURRTSS. OIKAWA MY BABY WOULD NEVER DO THAT BUT HE DID. I CANSTEALK I CANT DEAL WITH THIS

now arriving at... berlin, germany!

first stop... “Spring Chills”- @wesokkasimp

pairing: oikawa x reader! genre: fluff! warnings: none! word count: 447 their summary: you and Oikawa go for a walk on a chilly spring day. beware: banter ahead

-> my review: 😐😑😐 my heart wasn’t prepared for this. AND!! I BET Y/N LOOKED GREAT IN THAT TANK TOP; OIKAWA BETTER HAVE GIVEN HIS JACKET TO HER AFTERWARDS. jacket + tank top = cute outfit smh

next up... “warm and fuzzy”- @oikawaplssteponme

pairing: kuroo x reader! genre: fluff, a hint of angst, childhood friends to lovers, ‘boy next door’ warnings: one swear word, kuroo calls the reader ‘pretty’ however no gender pronouns are used, mini make out word count: 1.4k their summary: n/a but a quote: "The lights in your room were dim. Their golden-yellow tone shone above you, though you paid little attention to what was going on inside your room. You were much more interested in what was happening outside.”

-> my review: wait this actually reminds me of me and my front door neighbor GOODBYE AKLSJDF I MISS HIM :( ANYWAYS BAHHAHA- see you never miss 😐 i think awkward tetsu is underrated BYEALKSF THIS WAS SO CUTE I CANTASEKL

last stop... “ice cold”- @kyotarou

pairing: tsukishima x reader genre: fluff! warnings: bit of fanon tsukki, mutual pining, smidge of angst, fluff word count: 700+ their summary: n/a but a quote: “Asshole was the best word to describe Tsukishima Kei. He was an asshole to his peers, and it didn’t change towards you, his best friend.”

-> my review: mY TSUKISHIMA HEART OMG- okay OKAY I THOUGHT I GREW OUT OF MY LOVE FOR HIM BUT ITS ALL COMING BACK ASLKJFDL- oh to share a jacket and be vulnerable with tsukishima ✋😩 once again bestie youre so talented it isnt funny

now arriving at... bilbao, spain!

our only stop in this city... "break-in”- @kohi-zeri

pairing: iwazumi x reader! genre: fluff!! warnings: mentions of food and common illnesses, use of “darling” and “brat” word count: 1.4k their summary: n/a but a quote: “there’s something so… infuriating about having a migraine. especially when it’s uncalled for.”

-> my review: i cant express to you how much i love sickfics. like JLSDFLJKFSALJ SADFL I CANT- ALSO I READ THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME WHEN I HAD THE WORST HEADACHE SO WHENEVER MY HEAD HURTS I COME REREAD THIS BAHAHHA-

here’s what some of our passengers are saying...

one passenger says “Wait. Stand right there, I want to take a picture of you.”

“pretty petals, pretty pictures”- @shxyo-sho

pairing: iwazumi x reader! genre: fluff, mutual pining, just two best friends crushing on each other warnings: none! word count: 590 their summary: If you could describe your best friend, Kiyoko, in one word; what would it be? I would pick the word, flawless.

-> my review: repeat after me: kiyoko is a queen. and YOU DO HER JUSTICE I ASFDLKJ PLEASE- in all honesty i would be blushing if kiyoko said a word to me too- y/n you arent alone ✋😩

another passenger asks “Why aren’t you asleep?”

"night owl”- @atlabeth

pairing: sokka x reader! genre: fluff! warnings: stress over school and one (1) curse, but other than that it’s pure fluff word count: 907 their summary: If you could describe your best friend, Kiyoko, in one word; what would it be? I would pick the word, flawless.

-> my review: alright this isnt fair where is my irl sokka 😐 YOURE BRINGING ME BACK INTO MY ATLA DAYSDF LKSJA- not complaining tho I LOVE SOKKA SO MUCH. and “But for a “fairly smart person”, you made a lot of bad decisions.” THATS TOO RELATABLE STOP IT RIGHT NOW SFKDJK

HEHEHEHEH THANK YOU AGAIN!! SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG GOOD BYE

#morosis's 400 followers bus ride #morosis recommends #haikyuu!!#haikyuu angst #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu x reader #atla x reader #haikyuu fanfiction #atla fanfiction #haikyuu x y/n #atla x y/n

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maybe-i-dreamt-u · 4 years ago

Text

Soft sighs and simple smiles

“I’m sorry. I really am.” She said.

Zuko couldn’t really believe what just happened. Had Mai actually fucking broken up with him? He vision was suddenly very cloudy and he didn’t know if it was because of his headache or the tears pooling in his eyes. He needed to get out of there. Quickly.

He had said something before he left the room. Something along the lines of “sorry I wasn’t enough.” Or “best of luck”, but he wasn’t really sure what. He’s sure he didn’t just storm off without a word, but right now he really couldn’t remember what it is that he said. It’s not like it mattered, anyway.

The next few hours were a bit of a blur. Zuko was feeling too sick and there were too many tears streaming down his face to properly pay attention to what he was doing. Running away, apparently. At around 3 in the morning the realisation kind of hit him. Fire Lord Zuko, yes, the one who had just had a wonderful meeting with his council not even 12 hours ago, was currently sitting in a train going to Ba Sing Sai, with a big black hood on so people wouldn’t recognize him (and also so they wouldn’t see his red face and puffy eyes). That Fire Lord Zuko had just been dumped and was now heading to his uncle in hope for some comfort and good tea. Though if he thought about it, good tea was comfort.

Zuko felt more dead than alive when he entered the Jasmine Dragon, and he wanted to sleep more than anything else in the world, but he knew he had to at least say hello to the person who had supported and loved him more than anyone else. So he quickly stopped by the kitchen to hug Uncle and thank him for allowing his nephew to come on such short notice, before heading upstairs to his room. As soon as the door was closed behind him, the salty tears returned and Zuko threw himself face down on the bed, wishing he could get a fucking break from life.

As soon as Iroh had called them, Sokka knew he had to get to Ba Sing Sai as soon as possible. He knew what getting broken up with felt like (thanks, Suki) and he also knew that what his best friend (who he was coincidentally very much in love with, you know, to make tings difficult) needed, was a distraction. Or, in other words, Zuko needed his friends to come over. So Katara and Aang took Appa and collected Sokka and Toph on their way to the Earth Kingdom. They made it to the city in no less than 5 hours.

Sokka hadn’t exactly expected Zuko to be ball of sunshine, but that didn’t prepare him for the sight inside the tea shop. In the far left corner, where light barely made it though the windows, Zuko was sitting alone, drinking a small cup of tea and writing something in a leather journal. He looked like he hadn’t slept since the breakup. His matted hair was slightly covering his face, which was lacking its usual angry expression. Zuko just looked empty. Sokka’s heart broke a little. He hadn’t seen Zuko like this since Azula was put in a mental hospital.

The others didn’t seem to take the sight much better either. Katara looked like she wanted to cry too and Aang had a horrible, pitiful look on his face. And Toph, well… Toph couldn’t see so she was safe for now.

The group approached Zuko slowly and quietly, trying not to startle him, as if he was some wild animal that would run off at the slightest sign of danger. Knowing Zuko and his relationship with emotions, he probably would run off.

As they got closer to his table, Zuko lifted his eyes. He looked more annoyed, than surprised to see them.

“I fucking knew he would tell you” he said in lieu of hello and dropped his gaze back to what he was writing.

“Well hello to you too, Sparky!” Toph punched Zuko’s arm and took a seat next to him. Katara, Aang and Sokka sat down on the other side.

“Hey there, Zuko! How are you?” said Aang cheerly and Zuko answered flatly with

“Fucking great, and you?” Apart from his right hand, he wasn’t moving, but Sokka could see how tense he was.

“Oh, you know, just… Visiting a beautiful city” Everyone fell silent after that. None of them really knew what to say to Zuko when he was like this. Sokka wished he could crack a joke for his best friend, but he suddenly felt at a loss for words. Seeing Zuko so incredibly sad made his heart hurt. He just wanted to hold him tight and never let anything bad happen to him ever again. But that was against the rules, and this wasn’t even about him in the first place, so Sokka shoved that thought away for the time being.

“Look Zuko, we’re just trying to help you.” Katara tried again. Zuko just huffed in response.

“I know you and Mai were very close,” Zuko physically flinched at the mention of his ex-girlfriend, “and I know that you feel rea-“ she continued, but Zuko interrupted with a quiet

“You don’t know shit, ok? Stop acting like you know what’s going on. I appreciate the sentiment, but you really. Really. Don’t have any expertise in this particular domain.” Zuko sounded like he was staring to tear up again. Katara looked hurt, but she thankfully held her mouth. Toph however didn’t.

“I get that you’re hurt n’ all, but you really don’t have to be a bitch. We’re here for you, Sparky, not because we missed Ba Sing Sai so much, so maybe try acting like you appreciate it, and loosen up a bit.” Zuko opened his mouth to say something but Toph was quicker. “And don’t even try to tell me “Oh but I didn’t ask you to come!!” because we both know that you needed us to come and take your mind off things. I mean which one of us looks like they haven’t slept for 48 hours? Exactly. You. Now shut up and get me a cup of jasmine tea, please” She ended with an innocent smile and, for some reason, Zuko actually got up and headed towards the kitchen. Or at least that’s what Sokka thought. In the last moment, instead of going straight ahead, Zuko turned left and vanished in the back room.

“What the fuck, Toph?” Sokka stood up before he could think twice and headed in the same direction. He was going to go upstairs towards Zuko’s room but then he noticed the Fire Lord sitting expressionless in the corner of an empty staff room, knees to his chest, looking out the window. He looked like a little child that had been separated from his mother. Sokka’s heart broke a little more.

“Hey” he announced himself, in case Zuko hadn’t spotted him. His friend didn’t move, but he didn’t tell Sokka to stay away either, so Sokka slowly approached him. He sat down next to him and waited in silence. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes. Sokka was looking for the right way to tell him that he’s not alone, he’s got his friends and his uncle and yeah, it sucks now, but it’ll get better, you just have to give it some time, and, the Universe knows what to do, and frankly, they didn’t even look that cute together, and it would all be ok. Instead he just said

“You look like you could use a hug.” After a few moments of silence Zuko turned to look at him and asked

“What?” in flattest tone possible, with an impossibly tired look on his face. Sokka just shrugged and went

“I don’t know, you just give me the vibes of a person in need of a hug” he said with a tiny, knowing smile.

Zuko hummed in approval and turned to face him fully. Sokka opened his arms and Zuko slowly leaned into them, carefully placing his forehead on his friend’s chest. Sokka hoped Zuko couldn’t feel his heart beating at 1000mph and concentrated on embracing him in the fiercest hug he could muster. Slowly but surely he felt Zuko relax against his strong body. After a couple of minutes he let out a soft, little, ragged sigh and Sokka thought he might die on the spot.

Though unfortunately after a while Sokka could barely feel his legs anymore and as much as he hated ruining the moment, he said in the softest voice possible

“Bro I’m sorry to interrupt but my legs are absolutely dead, so if we’re gonna keep cuddling you have to let me move a bit”.

“First of all we’re not cuddling, I’m just receiving a comforting hug from my best friend because I feel like I’m going to die alone, and second of all, no.” Sokka felt a smile forming on his face and tried his best not to let it show.

“Ok, well if you want to keep receiving a comforting hug from your best friend, you’re gonna have to move because my legs also feel like they’re going to die alone.” Zuko only huffed at that and then he lifted his head. They changed into a more comfortable position, Sokka leaning his back on the wall, and Zuko’s head under Sokka’s chin, Sokka’s arms around Zuko’s fragile looking body. After he was sure that Zuko had closed his eyes, he texted Aang “we won’t be back for a while, don’t come looking, I’ve got it under control”. He wasn’t sure he actually had it under control, but he couldn’t tell Aang that, could he now?

The two just sat there without speaking. The silence was only occasionally broken by Zuko sighing or sniffing quietly, but nothing more. After about half an hour, just as Sokka was about to fall asleep and have the greatest nap of his existence, Zuko said faintly

“It was so sudden. I never even saw it coming” He said it so quietly that Sokka almost missed it. He starting asking himself if he had only imagined it when Zuko continued. “I know her. I’ve known her for years. And she didn’t act any differently.” That was followed by a sniffle and then, “She just- Fell out of love? I guess? That’s what she said but I don’t even know if I should believe it because she looked so sad, like I was the one breaking up with her. What the fuck is up with that?” He was now fully crying again. Sokka didn’t know what to say. He had never been great at words. So he just squeezed Zuko a little harder. That seemed to work, because Zuko went on, “I know this is gonna sound really dramatic, but I honest to Agni felt like I was dying a slow painful death as she was speaking to me. That feeling died down a bit since then though” Sokka could hear a smile in his voice. Oh the world really isn’t fair, is it?

After that he fell silent again. So they spent the better part of an hour on the floor, Zuko mostly crying, Sokka’s heart breaking, but it seemed to work. A good quarter of an hour after Zuko’s last sigh, Sokka finally spoke again.

“I know that you’re hurting immensely, and that you’d rather just brood in your room right now, but I think maybe it’s time that we go back to the others. I’m sure Katara and Toph have learned their lessons and maybe Aang will even manage to cheer you up. Also, I came here to have tea, and it’s kind of hard to drink any in this position.” Zuko didn’t even seem to hear him, so Sokka nudged his head gently. All he got in response was a simple “not yet”, so he tried again.

“Dude, it’s been like 2 hours…” to which Zuko only mumbled something inaudible. Sokka decided to let it go, but then the Fire Lord stood up, dragging the former with him.

He didn’t look Sokka in the eye as he said “Thanks. I mean it.” And then left the room. Sokka followed shortly after and counted it all as a victory.

#did I just write my first fic?#yeah I think I did #can't believe the first fic ive ever written is a zukka fic #what has my life become #anyays #enjoy #atla #zukka #zuko #sokka #modern setting au

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soopersara · 4 years ago

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Date

Well... as it turns out, it took a little over a year before I got a chance finish this one, but I got there eventually! @zutaradreams has probably forgotten all about this request by now, but I come bearing some very, very belated fluff.

AO3 | FFN

Prompt #18 from this list, originally Day 4 of Zutara Week 2010

When Katara takes a post as ambassador in the Fire Nation, Zuko wants to celebrate her and give their friends a proper sendoff. But their trip to the Equinox Festival doesn’t go quite as he planned.

⁂

"Well, I think that settles it." Katara plopped onto the bench next to him. "We've been ditched."

"Seems like it." Zuko's mouth was dry, and he scuffed his sweaty palms against his trousers.

This was not going according to plan. And technically, it was only half his plan anyway. So it wasn't really his fault that it was all going sideways.

It had been almost three years since they'd all been together in the Fire Nation. Almost three years since he'd had a chance to see Katara for more than a few days in a row, since he'd been able to talk to her outside of letters and political meetings. And the rest of his friends too. Of course he'd missed all of them.

But he would be lying to himself if he didn't admit that it was Katara who occupied his thoughts most often.

And now they were back together, all of them, and while the others were preparing to leave in a few days' time, Katara was here to stay. It had nothing to do with him personally. He knew that. The Southern Water Tribe needed an ambassador in the Fire Nation, and Katara was far and away the best candidate. That didn't mean that he wasn't excited to have her back. That certainly didn't mean that his feelings for her had gone away. He was only human, and he liked her very, very much.

It had been Zuko's idea for the group to spend some time together before Sokka and Suki left. It had not been Zuko's idea to go to the Equinox Festival. That had been Sokka's suggestion. More specifically, Sokka had suggested a double date at the festival.

Zuko had tried to protest the idea, he really had. He and Katara were not dating. This couldn't possibly be a date. He just wanted to see his friends again before they left. And spend time with Katara. Mostly spend time with Katara. But not on a date.

Not that he would mind dating Katara. In fact, Zuko would have been delighted to date Katara. But he was fairly certain that Katara didn't feel the same, and Zuko was working very hard to learn how to quit while he was ahead.

But then Sokka had talked a lot and very quickly, and somewhere along the way Zuko must have agreed to the plan because the next thing he knew, he was standing sheepishly outside Katara's door and inviting her to the festival.

He really needed to figure out how Sokka did that. It would make his most crotchety advisors so much easier to deal with.

To Zuko's surprise, Katara had agreed. She even seemed excited about it. And Zuko had begun to hope that the festival might still be the kind of celebration he had pictured. For all of them. But mostly for Katara.

Then Sokka and Suki had ditched them.

He snuck a glance at Katara. She'd taken to wearing deep blue Fire Nation silks sewn in traditional Water Tribe styles. The color, she had informed him, was reserved for warriors at the South Pole, and now that she had earned the right to wear it, she had no intention to ever wear another shade of blue again. Zuko couldn't blame her. She'd more than earned the honor.

But it was a bit of a problem too. She was luminous in her warrior's blue, and it made it exceptionally difficult for Zuko to look away.

"Since we're here anyway," he began, voice rough, "Maybe we should—" He gestured lamely at the festivities.

Agni, why was this so difficult? He spoke in front of his advisors every day, and they were much less pleasant than Katara.

She followed his gaze, then turned back, smiling. "You're right. We definitely should."

⁂

Katara was tempted to tease him. Zuko, the wise and beloved leader of the Fire Nation, who had an impeccable sense of direction honed by years at sea, was completely lost in the middle of a festival in his own city and getting more flustered by the minute.

"I just don't understand! The street performances should be in the theater district. It doesn't make sense to have them anywhere else!" He grew more and more animated, punctuating every point with a broad sweep of his arms.

The impulse won her over. "I don't know about that. I think it would make more sense to put them in the straw-hat district," she deadpanned.

"Why on earth would we put street performances in the—" Zuko met her eyes and stopped short. His brow furrowed, and he made a grumpy little sound. "You're trying to tease me, aren't you?"

Grinning, Katara took hold of his arm. "I'm pretty sure I'm succeeding."

Zuko made another grumpy noise. "For the record, we don't have a straw-hat district. This isn't Ba Sing Se. We're not big enough to be that organized."

"I'm glad," Katara answered, still holding his arm as she kept pace beside him. "It's going to take me enough time to learn my way around as it is."

Zuko's hand rested ever so lightly on top of hers. "I'll make sure you don't get lost."

Katara's heart fluttered. She'd missed him. Exchanging letters was nice, but it was nothing compared to being with him, being able to talk face-to-face. A few peace summits and meetings a year just wasn't enough. But she hadn't expected to find herself alone with him so soon. Not unless it was on official business of some sort.

She suspected that Sokka and Suki had ditched them deliberately, though she couldn't decide whether it was so Katara would be left alone with Zuko, or so that Sokka and Suki could spend some time alone. The latter made more sense, which was exactly why she suspected the former.

She felt her cheeks burn and looked forward. "Good. I wouldn't want to make the Fire Lord's personal guards search the city every time I step out of the palace."

"I'd look for you too if you got lost."

Katara looked up in time to see his warm golden eyes soften. Her grip on his arm tightened just a fraction, and Zuko looked away, clearing his throat.

"And—uh—of course the city makes a lot more sense when the theater district isn't full of koalasheep petting stalls."

Katara laughed. It did look a little odd to see children petting fluffy animals in front of ornate, gold-trimmed theaters, but as far as she could tell, the festival had overtaken the whole city.

"You really had your heart set on finding the street performances, didn't you?"

He reddened. "I was looking forward to it. I heard from the palace staff that there was going to be an outdoor production of Love Amongst the Dragons."

She poked him in the elbow. "I seem to remember you complaining about having to watch that play."

His lips pressed together. "I complained about having to watch that play at Ember Island. It's a good play. The Ember Island Players are just bad."He paused briefly. "I guess we're not going to find out if this one is any good if I can't figure out where it is."

"Too bad you're in your fancy Fire Lord clothes. Otherwise you could climb up on one of these buildings to get a better view." She snuck a sideways glance at him. "Or does that only work when you have your mask with you?"

He scowled. "Very funny."

"You're grumpy," Katara observed, smiling.

He frowned. "I am not."

"Grumpy because we're missing a play."

"I'm not."

"You're the grumpiest."

She thought she saw the corner of his mouth twitch. "Stop."

"Fire Lord Grump."

He made a valiant effort at scowling but gave in when she laughed and hugged his arm.

"I'm not grumpy, Katara." The smile was evident in his voice, and when she looked up, the soft warmth was back in his eyes.

Her stomach did a pleasant little flip. "See, now I believe you." She let her head rest briefly against his shoulder. It felt good to be close to him again. Tugging him forward, she wound her way up the street, past a cluster of children ogling a pen full of moo-sows and the parents watching from a few steps back, past a tall woman giving another group of children an impassioned lecture about the gentle nature of komodo rhinos while holding one by the bridle.

Zuko fell in step beside her, following her lead, still wearing that small, soft smile whenever she glanced back at him.

Katara gave his arm a light squeeze. "Do they perform Love Amongst the Dragons very often? Maybe we could see it some other time." She motioned toward yet another petting stall. "When the theater district isn't full of moo-sows and koalasheep."

He reddened a little, but this time, it was softened by the warmth in his eyes, by the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. "I'm sure we could. If you want to."

She felt something warm inside her. "Deal."

⁂

Her hands stayed steady on his arm, a gentle line of connection between the two of them. He softened into it. He liked the contact with her, the sensation that felt almost like tenderness.

She was just making sure that they didn't get separated. Zuko knew that. That didn't make his heart beat any slower or his face feel any less warm.

He cleared his throat and looked ahead. He was a grown man. The Fire Lord. He shouldn't be blushing so much just from the sensation of Katara's hand looped around his arm.

They wound their way past the last of the animal pens and up to the next street, where a wave of aroma washed over them. Spices and cooking meat and sweets—every type of food he could think of mixed into a single, heady aroma.

Katara groaned, and her grip tightened on his arm.

He looked down at her. "Katara? Are you okay?"

She looked up at him, her lower lip jutting out a bit. For all that she'd grown, for all that she was more graceful and mature than he remembered, she could still manage the most adorable pout he'd ever seen.

"I just realized that I'm starving." She eyed the food stands ahead. "Possibly to death."

He couldn't hold back a snort. "Somehow I doubt that last part. I've seen you sneaking into the palace kitchens in the middle of the night.

A finger found its way into his ribs. "Only because you were sneaking around too. I'll have you know that I'm very sneaky about my midnight snacks."

He rolled his eyes and poked her arm back. "The sneakiest. That must be why I hear you walking past my door both ways every single time." He paused, turning his eyes down the street again. "Though you are a lot sneakier than Sokka, I'll give you that much."

"So generous." Her head swiveled from side to side, eyes wide as she examined all the carts and stalls and trays of fried snacks stacked into ornamental spires and pyramids and spirals. "What do you recommend? I don't even know what most of this stuff is."

Zuko gave his best thoughtful face. "Well, my favorite are always the fire flakes—" He cut off with a laugh when she jabbed her elbow into his side.

"Something I can eat. I'm a waterbender. I'm not supposed to breathe fire after I finish a snack."

"Wimp."

"Says the man who couldn't eat a pickled eel squid when he visited the South Pole last time." She smiled up at him, and Zuko's heart sped up. "I mean it. What's the best thing here that isn't so spicy that it'll burn me from the inside out?"

He considered. There were kabobs of different types of meat, all richly marinated, and several of them probably too spicy for Katara's liking. There were savory buns packed with spices, and dumplings smothered in peppery broth. And fire flakes, of course. She wouldn't like any of those. But everything else seemed equally likely. Stopping in place, he scanned the booths. There had to be something that would blow her away. Something more special than the cakes and pastries she was always stealing from the palace kitchens, sometimes to deliver to him, and sometimes not.

Something special enough to make up for the play she wouldn't get a chance to see tonight. Something special enough for her.

A smile crept over his face, and he cupped his hand over hers. "Wait here for just a minute. I think I know exactly what you'll like."

⁂

Katara waited. Not because she wanted to—she had her own money, and she was perfectly capable of picking out her own snacks. But Zuko had darted off through the crowd so quickly that she didn't really have a chance to stop him, and the crowd was so thick, so bustling, that she was a little afraid of getting lost if she moved too far from where he'd left her. Though she'd grown, she still wasn't tall enough to see over the crowd, and Zuko, though tall, wasn't so absurdly tall that he stood out from the rest of the crowd.

She was a tiny bit apprehensive. She trusted Zuko, of course, but he was almost too excited, and he really didn't understand how terribly spicy Fire Nation food could be. He didn't know that some of the milder treats that he'd sent along with his messages while she was still at the South Pole had given Gran-Gran an upset stomach or that Sokka had taken the spicier treats and challenged the rest of the warriors to an eating contest that left them all in tears. Of course, Katara's tolerance was considerably higher than Gran-Gran's, but she didn't want to accidentally make a fool of herself. She was enjoying her time with Zuko too much.

Only a few minutes passed before Zuko emerged from the crowd again, beaming, his eyes crinkled in joy and excitement. He held a small paper pouch between his hands and stopped a few steps away from her.

"Close your eyes."

Katara raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"It's a surprise."

"I'm not sure I trust that smirk." She stretched upward, and Zuko raised the pouch so she couldn't see inside.

"Uh-uh. No peeking or you'll ruin the surprise. Eyes closed."

Katara made a face. "Fine. But if you're trying to feed me fire flakes, I will blow stinky spice-breath in your face."

"Noted. Now open your mouth."

She obeyed, and she felt Zuko come closer by the soft, ever-present heat radiating off of him. She wanted to lean even closer, to rest against his chest and get lost somewhere in his arms.

Zuko popped something small and dense onto her tongue. "Okay. Try it."

Almost the instant she closed her mouth, she was hit by a rush of salty, sour tang, and her eyes popped open. It was chewy, whatever it was, and the outside encrusted with a thin layer of crispiness. As she chewed, the sharpest edge of the flavor wore away, softening into a sweet, mild taste.

"What is this?" she asked, staring at Zuko, wide-eyed. It was a bit like some kind of dried fruit, but it wasn't a type of fruit that she recognized, and the slight hint of salt remained as she chewed, and she could have sworn that she knew the flavor from something, but it was just different enough that she couldn't place it.

"Do you like it?"

She nodded. Whatever that thing was, it was wonderful.

Zuko's smile grew. "Candied ocean kumquats. I remembered that your family ate them stewed when you were all in the Fire Nation, because—"

"Because they're just like sea prunes."

Zuko nodded. "I don't really get the appeal of stewing them, but the candied ones are pretty popular."

Katara couldn't keep her smile from growing wider and wider until it felt like her face would crack. The candied ocean kumquats tasted good enough on their own, but Zuko had chosen them just for her, and he knew her well enough to know that she'd like them, and he was right, and—she reached up and snatched the paper pouch from his hand. If she didn't do something quick, she was going to be in very real danger of kissing him.

"Just for that stewed sea prune blasphemy, I'm taking the whole bag."

"Hey!" he protested. "I didn't say they were bad. Just—slimy."

Grinning, Katara popped another little candied kumquat into her mouth and spun out of his reach. "I'm keeping them. All of them."

Zuko seemed to catch her teasing tone and caught up with her in just a few steps. "Give me one."

"Why should I?" She gave a little sniff and held the pouch out to the other side. "You called my favorite food slimy."

One of his long arms snaked around her, and Katara yelped, pulling the pouch in against her chest.

Laughing, she ducked under his arm and stepped back a few paces. "You'll have to fight me for them, Fire Lord." She folded the top of the pouch shut and dangled it out at arms' length.

"Are you sure you want to challenge me? I'm taller than you. I can reach wherever you try to hide them."

"You may be taller, but I'm hungry, and a very nice man just bought a snack for me." She opened the top of the pouch again, just enough to slip out another piece of candied kumquat between her fingertips.

Zuko took that as his chance to lunge, and caught her by the waist, lifting her off the ground.

Katara couldn't stop laughing. Through the irrepressible fits of giggling, she saw him laughing too. Her heart fluttered. How had she forgotten how wonderful his laugh was? It was rare, but every time she'd ever heard his laugh unweighted by stress, every fiber of her being lit up along with him. His arms around her waist were warm and strong, and being pressed against his chest was every bit as perfect as her imagination had suggested. She would be perfectly content to stay pressed up against him forever.

Smiling, he came to a halt, and holding her with one arm, grabbed the pouch with the other. "Got them," he said quietly, not pulling the pouch away from her.

His breath brushed against her cheek, and she realized anew how close he was, his face only inches away. In fact, with the way he was holding her, with her feet dangling a few inches from the ground, she was perfectly level with him. So close that if she just leaned in—

Her lips crashed into his, and she saw Zuko's eyes widen for the briefest moment before she closed her eyes. She'd kissed before. Not often, and not with many people, but this one felt different. There wasn't fluttering or uncertainty, there was no feeling that she was going to lift off the ground and float off into the sky. This felt like landing. This felt like reaching shore after weeks at sea, like her feet on solid ground after flying away from danger. This felt like home.

She only pulled away when Zuko's grip on her waist slackened enough that her feet touched the ground, and she stared up at him, breathless. Zuko's face had gone crimson—even his scar looked a shade darker than usual, and his eyes were wide.

"You—you just—"

"Did something I've been thinking about for a long time?"

"You did? You have?"

Katara smiled and pulled the pouch of candied ocean kumquats out of his loose grasp. "And I think I won these back." She dangled the pouch in front of him again.

Zuko kept gaping at her for a few seconds longer.

She looped her free hand through his. "Did I break the Fire Lord too?"

"Maybe." He looked down at her, and her heart fluttered in her chest. "Definitely a little bit."

"Hmm." She squeezed his hand and turned for the food stalls again. "In that case, I'm going to have to have you point out your favorite food in this whole place, and it'll be my treat."

"And if I say that it's fire flakes?"

She leaned a little closer to him as a cluster of people pressed past them down the path. "Then it might be a little while longer before I try that kissing thing again." She snuck a glance up at him through her lashes.

His mouth curled into a slight smile, and he returned the pressure on her hand. "Then I think I can handle finding another favorite."

#zutara #zutara fanfiction #zutara week throwbacks #zuko #katara #soopersara's scribbles

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clandestinemeetingsinthetrees · 4 years ago

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You Looked Lonely

Summary: Zuko's up late, frustrated that the gang didn't tell him they were planning to fight the Firelord after the comet. Katara finds him in the kitchen and tries to reassure him. "I didn’t want to leave you out here alone, you looked lonely.” Written for @zkdrabbledecember day 6

Can also be read on AO3

Katara had always been a worrier, that’s just what happens when you learn to the true realities of death at such a young age, you become paranoid you’ll lose everyone else you love, but now the worrying had become all consuming. The Firelord was going to wipe out the entire Earth Kingdom in just three days’ time, and they were no where near prepared.

She couldn’t sleep. Why hadn’t they just told Zuko about the plan to fight the Firelord after the comet? At the time it made sense, Aang knew he would get mad and want to act sooner and she knew how poorly Aang reacted under stress. All they wanted to do was give him some more time. How could anyone have predicted this?

She gave up on sleep for the night, they needed to pack anyways. No harm in getting a head start. They’d been at Ember Island for weeks now and with that comes the accumulation of stuff. She much preferred staying in one place than the constant traveling they’ve endured for most of the past year, and this house would be especially hard to leave. It was probably the safest place they’d found yet. They hadn’t even been attacked once. Leaving here meant giving up safety and entering a battle she wasn’t quite sure they could win…

But she couldn’t think about that now, she had to keep it together, for Aang.

She pulled herself out of bed and headed to the kitchen. Stocking up on food and water was important, once they left Ember Island, it was imperative that no one saw them coming and that meant no more trips to the market. When she got there though, she didn’t expect to see Zuko, sulking at the table with a cup of tea.

“What are you doing up?” she asked.

He sharply looked up and almost spilled his tea.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” she continued. “I thought no one else would be up, figured I’d get a head start on packing up the kitchen.”

“No, it’s fine, I’ll get out of your way.” He got up to leave but she grabbed his arm.

“Wait, I could lose some help, if you want.” He just looked so lonely. She didn’t want to leave him.

“Okay.” He looked sullen. Something was obvious up with him. For one, he never stayed up this late. He was always in bed right after dinner. Also, he hadn’t been this short with her in a long time. Just when she felt like she was starting to understand him, he hits her with another curveball.

They started packing pots and rice rations in complete silence, it was a bit unnerving.

She couldn’t take it anymore. “Zuko, are you mad at me or something?”

He didn’t speak, he just kept sorting their supplies not even looking at her.

“Oh okay, so you’re really not going to talk to me.”

He dropped the bag of rice he was holding and turned sharply towards her. She could see the fire flare in his eyes. “I’m sorry if I’m a little ticked off that everyone changed the plans, and no one bothered to tell me! Especially when those plans will determine the fate of the world!”

Oh… so he was mad about that.

She knew she should say something. It wasn’t fair of them to exclude Zuko and especially wrong of them to not even tell him after. He had seemed so fine that whole day though. Maybe a bit mad at first, but she thought he had gotten over it quickly.

“I’m sorry, that was harsh.” His words brought her back from her thoughts. “I know it doesn’t matter now, but I just wanted to sit here and be mad for a bit. I didn’t ask you spend time with me.”

“Well, if you wanted to be alone you could’ve just said something,” she shot back, a bit colder than she had intended to. “I can pack by myself.” Just what I get for trying to be kind.

He mumbled something back as he walked away.

“What did you say?”

He turned back, “I just felt bad. I didn’t want to seem mad cause it was kind of my fault for not telling you about the Fatherlord’s plan. And then I wanted to be mad, but you seemed so upset, and then Aang yelled at you and ran off and, well, I didn’t want to leave you out here alone, you looked lonely.”

She smiled, “I could say the same thing about you.”

He sat back down at the table. “I just, I don’t understand why you guys didn’t tell me. I thought I was finally becoming a member of the group. I haven’t really had many friends in the past, so this is new to me. At first, I tried to just tell myself that maybe you guys have been planning this for a while, maybe since the invasion, but Suki knew! Suki’s been here less time than me!”

“I’m sorry Zuko. It wasn’t my idea to not tell you if it makes you feel any better.”

“Thanks, it doesn’t” It was a rude thing to say, but at least it was honest.

“We—well, Aang—was just worried how you’d react and after the play he was naturally, concerned. It was late, you were asleep already and he told me he didn’t feel ready and then Sokka agreed. With firebending being so powerful during the comet, we thought it’d be smarter to attack at a time when Aang would be able to rely on his other elements more. It wasn’t pers—”

“So, do you guys regularly all get together once I’m asleep and insult my teaching methods?”

“Zuko,” she put her hand on his shoulder and he leaned into her. He felt so tense. “You’re an amazing teacher. Aang’s improvement over the last month has been incredible. I think he’s progressed almost as fast as he did with waterbending. It’s not your fault that he’s not prepared, you just haven’t had enough time.”

“Thanks,” he shrugged her off, “that makes me feel like slightly less of a failure.”

“I mean it.”

“My whole life, I’ve never been enough. I’m used to it. I was just hoping I could do right by Aang.”

“You have. We weren’t trying to exclude you. Aang was supposed to tell you. Zuko, you’re a part of this group now, whether you like it or not. I promise from now on I’ll personally make sure you’re up to date on all group decisions.”

He smiled. “Wait, I don’t know if I want that. You’ll start telling me too much, next thing I know I’ll be getting updates on all of Aang’s nightmares and Sokka’s bathroom breaks.”

“Oh stop,” she laughed, shoving him playfully. “I am not that nosy!”

“Oh yes you are!” He shoved her back. Katara, way too stubborn to let him win and much too tired to worry about impropriety, tackled him to the floor. Now it was a battle, and she was desperate to win. He pushed her off of him, but she was surprisingly strong for her size. She pushed him back against the table and he threw his arms up to catch himself, spilling an open bag of rice everywhere.

Here they were. Two sleep deprived teenagers preparing to face the biggest fight of there lives, tangled together on the kitchen floor covered in rice and laughing. It felt both like the most normal thing they’ve ever done and also the craziest.

Katara let herself take in the feeling, his breath on her neck the closeness of their bodies. If she had been a little less tired, she might have questioned why just being this close to him felt so exhilarating. But she wasn’t. So, she untangled herself from him and got to her feet with blissful ignorance.

“Sorry about the rice,” he said, “I’ll clean it up.”

“No, it was my fault. I got a little carried away.” She helped him off the floor.

“I think we both did. You should probably get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow. I can clean up the rice.”

As much as she wanted to protest, she could feel sleep calling to her.

“Okay, good night Zuko.”

“Good night Katara. See you in the morning.”

She walked back upstairs, and she almost considered checking in on Aang. The last time they had talked, he had gotten so upset. She wanted to apologize.

But it was late, and she was tired, and he was probably asleep anyways. So, she passed his room.

Later, as she rode into the setting sun to face Azula, unsure if Aang would even return, she’d regret it.

#I love seeing them just be kids for a bit in this #also idk how they ended up play fighting #you can thank my 3AM thoughts for that #zutara #zutara fic #zutara fanfic #zuko #katara #zkdrabbledecember2020 #zkdd2020 day 6

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7team7 · 4 years ago

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Sharp edges

Mai notices. Zutara from an outsider POV // eventual Zutara, eventual Mailee

A/N: ok hi i love sasusaku fics told from an outsider pov, there are a few really good ones from karin’s perspective so i was like ok sorry mai i will do this LOL (if you’re unfamiliar, karin had feelings for sasuke but he didn’t return them and he married and had a baby with sakura) this is not at all supposed to be The Other Woman type of thing, there’s no cheating, it’s really observations and another way to look at zutara yup!

Mai stood by Zuko because she knew he was a good man. She knew he cared about her. Her childhood crush on him wasn’t misplaced.

When she first sensed the distance growing between them, she chalked it up to Fire Lord duties demanding all of his time. But despite his good intentions and traits, he was not in love with her the way he was in love with someone else.

She first really noticed when he was running around the palace like a komodo chicken with its head cut off while preparing for visitors. Not just any visitors — his old friends from across the nations used the one year anniversary of his coronation as an excuse to get together. She had sensed his loneliness in the way he constantly gazed at the sky, lost in his own thoughts, in the way he sent off pages and pages of letters. But she assumed he yearned for friendship and not romance. She was only one person, she could only give him so much.

The palace was ablaze with activity in the days before the highly anticipated celebration. “Aren’t you excited?” he asked her, looking like a kid on the morning of his birthday.

His face drooped when he realized, no, of course she wasn’t. They weren’t really her friends, they weren’t here to see her.

She verbalized her feelings anyway, “Why would I be?”

“Oh! I forgot to tell you that Ty Lee is coming too. And my sister got cleared by her doctors to join us for a while. That’s something, right?”

She sighed. He was trying. He always tried his best and that was one of the things that was so endearing about him. “Should be an interesting mix,” she remarked. She excused herself to go lay down and left him to finish hanging the flags of the other nations in the hallway. Even with all his servants doing their best, no one could work fast enough to keep up with his boundless energy. He really was excited, wasn’t he?

Before she rounded the corner to her room, she could’ve sworn she noticed the way he seemed to hold onto the blue Water Tribe fabric just a bit longer. She shook her head. She must have been tired, imagining him run his thumb over the fabric before hanging it.

The Gaang arrived noisily as usual. The way they all arrived on time (at noon, peak Zuko energy time) was a little freaky. It seemed no amount of time would mess with their sync.

A seemingly endless round of hugs was exchanged, everyone chattering excitedly as they caught up with each other and made plenty of nostalgic jokes that you really had to be there for to understand.

Aang had arrived first, flying in and bowing with exaggerated politeness to “Sifu Hotman” that only served to send both Zuko and himself into a fit of giggles. Two of the world’s most powerful benders were really still kids.

Toph came stomping in next, wondering aloud if Zuko would change her life today. He gave her an affectionate noogie, and asked, “Haven’t I already?”

She shoved him, “Don’t go thinking you’re Iroh.” She was happy.

Sokka would’ve been next had he not been intercepted by Suki. They had their own little reunion on the docks before joining the group.

So that left Katara to skip up to the palace, leaving her brother behind. Mai could’ve sworn Katara was an airbender when she all but flew through the air when she launched herself at Zuko, arms outstretched for an embrace.

And Zuko caught her.

He captured her in a tight hug and spun her around, looking like they hopped straight out of an Ember Island Players romance.

When her feet met the ground again, the waterbender seemed to grow embarrassed as she quickly turned away from Zuko to greet her other friends. Zuko seemed to reach for her again, but dropped his hands and squeezed them into fists. The smile on his face was just a bit less dazzling than it had been a moment before, even when Sokka came barreling through the scene with a witty comment.

Mai tilted her head, surveying the situation. To Sokka, he was a fellow swordsman; to Aang, he was a firebending master; to Toph, he was the sibling she never had; he was their friend. To everyone — Suki, Ty Lee, Momo, Appa — he was a friend.

But who was he to Katara? The question grated on her nerves. It was too loud. She left to check on Azula.

Maybe she was reading into it too much. It wasn’t like Katara had no options: Aang’s feelings for her were obvious. She watched closely to determine if those feelings were reciprocated. Maybe time and distance had changed things.

Katara had suggested going into town to explore the marketplace and Aang jumped up to join her. But then Zuko started droning on and on about the economy and instead of being bored to death like any normal person, she started offering her own suggestions for improving revenue streams and diversifying product offerings. Yawn.

Aang trailed after then, looking forlorn. Katara had the Avatar hanging on her every word, yet she chose to pay attention to Zuko, her former enemy. That was really something.

And Zuko, he was listening to her more intently than he ever listened to his aging advisors.

Mai stayed back. She wasn’t interested in inserting herself. Time and distance only seemed to make Zuko more sure of his feelings, even if he didn’t realize it yet. She would need to reevaluate the situation herself.

Mai never felt left out as a nonbender. She had seen the way fire had destroyed her own nation.

But she had always wished they could spar together. It wasn’t about meeting halfway, she could have easily requested that he use his swords to level the playing field.

But his identity would always be tied to that of a firebender. He was the Fire Lord, for one thing. He could put down the swords whenever he wanted, but the fire would always be inside him, licking at his insides, smoking its way out in every exhale.

Fire and water were opposites, but they worked together surprisingly well. Balance, she thought as she lazily twirled a dagger in her hands while watching Zuko and Katara’s sparring session.

“You’ve improved,” he praised her, clearly impressed. Zuko wore his heart on his sleeve, something he apparently thought Mai should try. Her face pinched in for a split second when Katara’s shining eyes met his. For a waterbender, Katara’s eyes had so much warmth. Like the changing tide, they held a special sort of softness when she looked at Zuko.

“You have too. But what else would I expect? You’re the Fire Lord now,” she teased. Fighting alongside Zuko had always felt natural, but it was a joy to be able to practice against him now that they weren’t sworn enemies.

“A Fire Lord who will get rusty if he has to do anymore paperwork,” he grumbled, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“Well come on. I’m sure paperwork can wait for a little while longer. Can you show me that new move you did at the end?”

Mai remembered Zuko promising the other benders that they’d get a chance to spar with him too, but that seemed to slip his mind. He eagerly started showing her the forms. Katara picked it up quickly: it was clearly a fusion of water and firebending styles.

An understanding started developing at the back of her mind: there were things Zuko and Katara had that Zuko and herself could not have.

The session only ended when Azula came waltzing in, asking if anyone was up for a little fun.

Breakfast the next day was held outside to take advantage of the favorable weather. The pleasant breeze coupled with sunshine put everyone in a merry mood. Instead of Zuko sitting at the head of the table in his fancy throne-like chair like he would inside, everyone squished together on two long benches at one table. Mai sat to Zuko’s immediate left, at the edge of the table.

People like Aang, Sokka, and Toph were driven by hunger and started digging in quickly. Suki had clearly taken a moment to actually get ready because when she took her place next to Sokka, her hair was neater than almost everyone else’s.

Katara came in last, yawning and rubbing the last remnants of sleep from her eyes. Zuko brightened when he saw her, “Katara! I saved you a seat.” He scooted closer to Mai, brushing her side with his, but only so he could make room for Katara. Mai sighed. Why was he so clueless sometimes?

As soon as Katara was settled next to him, Zuko poured her a steaming cup of tea. She gave him a sweet smile in thanks. He pushed a plate towards her, “Here, this one shouldn’t have any fire flakes.” She dug in eagerly, nudging his shoulder with hers in silent happiness while she chewed. Zuko’s body jostled up against Mai’s as a result of being nudged, but he had never felt so far away.

“Anyone else want some tea?” he asked the table. Of course everyone wanted a sip of Iroh’s delicious breakfast brew, so they all said yes. But instead of serving everyone the way he had served Katara only a moment ago, Zuko just passed the teapot across the table so everyone could pour their own cup.

Clueless, truly clueless.

“Guess what my silly brother told me when I arrived yesterday? He said, ‘Be nice.’ Ha! As if I would ever imagine being anything but,” Azula cackled. He had pulled her aside when he noticed the way everyone (or really, Katara) hesitated around her. Her unpredictable energy still put everyone on edge.

“I can hardly believe little ZuZu is the great big Fire Lord now,” she continued. The original trio — Azula, Mai, Ty Lee — were strolling around the city. There wasn’t much to do at the palace until dinner time seeing as Zuko was tied up with his daily meetings. Bureaucracy didn’t stop, even for visitors.

“I know right. Things are so different now.” She knew what Azula left unsaid: Zuko was Fire Lord and she wasn’t. Mai still wasn’t sure exactly how to go about tending to Azula’s feelings. She was still her friend, but everything had changed so much, there was a much needed distance between them. No matter how bored she was, she would never follow the princess’s every whim again.

“I’ve been told to work on being happy for others. Even if they have what I want, even if I can’t get it. He’s still a dumb dumb, but you know. I’m working on it.” Azula examined her nails as if the conversation was completely casual, but her words held great significance.

Oh.

It would take time, but maybe she could work up to being happy for them.

She waited a day, mulling it over on her own. But she didn’t wait until everyone else went home to end it. Really, why bother?

“What are you talking about? Why would you leave? Does this mean we’re breaking up?”

She closed her eyes. The pain and confusion written all over his face were making this difficult. “Yes. I’m not the one for you and you’re not the one for me. There’s no reason for me to stay here anymore.” She wasn’t sure where she’d go, but it might be nice to see the world when she wasn’t on a manhunt.

He spluttered, “But if it’s not us, then who is it?!”

She waved her hand vaguely, “You’ll figure it out.” Even if he wasn’t in love with her the way he was with Katara, he was still emotionally attached. Since he had yet to confront his own feelings, she realized this break up came as quite the shock. But he’d get over it. There was someone who would help him. She was almost positive that he’d go running into her arms momentarily.

Mai was truthful when she told Azula she loved Zuko more than she feared her.

Zuko had done a lot of growing up, had gotten so much stronger; she was proud of him for it. But Mai had to come to terms with the fact that Zuko still feared Azula because of her capacity to hurt Katara. He still feared Azula because he loved Katara.

Katara was so precious to him, he would put his life on the line to save her — he already had.

That pained Mai to think about, it cut her to the core, it stung so, so badly to be the second choice. But there was nothing she could do.

How could she compete? The difficulties of a Water Tribe girl being with a Fire Nation boy obviously didn’t matter. They would make it work.

Conceding defeat to someone like Katara should not be so hard. Bowing out was the graceful thing to do. She wasn’t the type to make a dramatic scene anyway.

But when she finally walked away, she dug her fingernails deep into her own palms despite it all. Loving Zuko was not so easy to let go of.

She returned months later with a slew of Kyoshi Warriors to celebrate Zuko’s birthday and found that Katara had never left. She squeezed Ty Lee’s hand to say I told you so.

The girl in pink gazed up at her in wonder, “You’re so good at predicting!”

Mai muttered, “Not that hard when it’s right in front of you.” They were clearly not shy with the displays of affection now that they were officially a couple.

Ty Lee sighed in contentment when they walked into the palace, “The auras in here are so much happier than they were a few years ago, it feels great!” She turned to poke her girlfriend’s side, “Yours too.”

“Don’t make me blush,” she murmured.

“That’s why you like wearing the Kyoshi Warrior makeup, huh? But I know, I always know.” Her tone was light, but it was true. Out of everyone, it was Ty Lee who knew her best, who always stood by her. It was Ty Lee who dealt with her dreariness after breaking up with Zuko, and it was Ty Lee who gave her time and space when she hesitated to step into a new relationship. And Ty Lee was the one who made it worthwhile.

“How are you feeling though?” Ty Lee regarded the other girl carefully. Zuko had been part of her life for so long, it was no simple feat to move on from him.

“The usual, I’m fine.” Her emotions had always been low key and thankfully, no jealous beast reared its ugly head upon seeing Zuko and Katara together. Really, she was fine.

Ty Lee nodded in satisfaction. She tilted her head thoughtfully, “They look happy, too. I’m happy for them!” Ty Lee might’ve felt it more acutely, but Mai agreed. It was a good feeling, light and sweet and satisfactory. She hoped Azula could feel even a fraction of this relief in her own life.

It had taken a while for all of them to get to this point, but it was worth it and they were all good. If that wasn’t something to celebrate, she didn’t know what was.

She finally walked up to him. “Happy birthday, Zuko.”

“Thank you, Mai. It’s good to see you.”

She nodded at him. It really was good to see him so happy. It didn’t hurt anymore. Letting go of each other didn’t necessarily mean that they had lost.

A/N: I chose Mai over aang bc I feel like her quiet nature is just more observant and aang is babie. Also I don’t hate Maiko lol I just. Ship zutara :P I don’t really ship aang with anyone, so he’s j chillin, he has his own happy ending everything is fine

Please let me know what you think about this one >_< I have a few other zutara things in my wips, plus of course I need to keep updating my sasusaku arranged marriage story, so some of those will come out eventually. Couldn’t keep up with zutara week or ss month but its ok!

#zutara #zutara week 2020 #yeah we italicized the oh so what #mailee #atla #fan fic #my writing

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seyaryminamoto · 4 years ago

Text

Matching Heartbeats: Sokkla Saturdays 2020

Day 2: “As if that would happen“

On FF.net//On AO3

The discomfort had been bad enough long before it started to be accompanied by pain: Azula gritted her teeth, bearing with the unpleasant, involuntary shudders of her lower body while clinging tightly to the firm, calloused hand that held hers.

"It's… a bad one. Damn it…" Azula gasped, shutting her eyes tightly.

"Breathe, love. Just breathe through it, like you did with the last one… you're my hero, you know? Putting up with all this…"

"For the second time… if I may add?" Azula hissed, wincing at one more painful shudder before whatever had clenched up inside her body loosened up at last: the pain receded gradually, and she sighed as she sank into the pillows, breathing heavily while still gripping that same hand as hard as she had needed to.

So far, he hadn't complained about the pain a single time. It would be strange to Azula, for Sokka often complained about any form of pain anyone inflicted upon him… but watching her writhing as each contraction took hold of her body appeared to hurt him far more than a few paling fingers could.

"S-sorry…" she said, regardless, releasing his hand despite he didn't make any moves to suggest he needed her to let go.

"And why are you apologizing, exactly?" Sokka smiled, reaching up to stroke her disorderly hair gently. "What you're going through… I'm pretty sure what you're doing to my hand can't even be a fragment of what you're enduring."

"Heh… must be I've been weakened by the contractions, then," she mumbled. Sokka chuckled and shook his head. "Here I thought I was exerting all my strength in holding your hand, but it turns out it's not even a fragment of what I'm going through…?"

Sokka rolled his eyes, prompting Azula to chuckle. She had meant to tease him: it was more than a bit unnerving to see him so serious and tense, even if she knew the situation warranted it. Messing with him, however lightly as it might be, would ease her heart far more effectively at this stage than anything else she could think of.

Naturally, Sokka retaliated against her words by showing her his right hand: indeed, the area Azula had gripped the tightest was paler than the rest of his hand and arm, and she bit her lip somewhat guiltily as Sokka leaned closer to her, still holding up his hand between them.

"I'm seriously expecting my hand to fall off at this rate, Azula. And yes, it hurts like hell, and I'm willing to lose it if that's what I have to do for you. But, besides that? I'm damn sure what you're going through is a thousand times more painful than losing a hand would be. So yeah, I know you love playing around with my words, but you know exactly what I was trying to say, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Azula smiled, closing her eyes as she tried to relax – as much as someone with a nine-month-old baby bump could relax. "But I like teasing you far too much. Plus… I have no idea if my grip is really that strong right now, Sokka. When the contractions hit that hard, it's not easy to focus on anything else… so I figured, despite I knew what you meant, that maybe I am a little weaker anyway."

"Heh, you? Weak? As if that would ever happen," Sokka smiled, reaching up to stroke her hair. "You're my hero, you know. I say it all the time, but still… you've put up with every challenge life has thrown at you and you've come out on top every time…"

"Eh? Not quite sure of that," Azula grimaced. "Sometimes I didn't wind up in the best of shapes, as you well know…"

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you're the only person who's stared Death in the face as many times as you have and told him: 'You know what? Try a little harder next time', so…"

Azula couldn't hold back a chortle before a spring of laughter burst from her lips. Sokka smiled, watching her laugh at first before joining her with a few soft laughs of his own. His hand, weakened as it was, reached for hers all the same. Her fingers, so desperate, urgent and violent before, now smoothly caressed the back of his hand, and Sokka wasn't sure whether she sought comfort in their touch, or if she meant to reassure him instead.

"That's a lie, and you know it," Azula finally said. Sokka huffed, eyeing her skeptically.

"No, it's not," he declared, proudly.

"If I'd truly stared Death in the face, no matter how many times I allegedly did, and said such words to it? I'd likely have been inspired by your example in doing so," Azula smiled. "So… the lie isn't really that I wouldn't do that to Death, it's that I'm hardly the only person who does that."

"Eh… fine, then. If you insist, but my point still stands: you're strong as hell, no matter what you say," Sokka said, smiling warmly as his free hand stroked her hair once more. Upon finding a few droplets of sweat on her forehead, Sokka reached quickly for a small towel they had kept on the bed's nightstand, for the very purpose of drying Azula's brow whenever she needed it.

He dipped the towel in the basin, half-filled with cool water. Where Azula normally recoiled from cold things, she sighed in bliss at the touch of that fabric against her heating forehead. Sokka smiled warmly at her, as Azula released a deep breath, nestling as comfortably as possible in the mattress. Her thumb brushed his hand, and as gentle and sweet as the touch of the towel might be, Azula's brow was furrowed once he pulled it away.

"Another one?" Sokka asked. Azula shook her head lightly.

"Just… I guess it's dumb to worry about this now, isn't it?" she mumbled. "We're at the final stretch of the race, after all. But I can't help but wonder if… if we're truly ready for this. We've managed so far, with just one child, but do you really think we can handle ourselves, our responsibilities, while also raising two kids? I mean, there's no choice but to do it, but…"

"But you're worried," Sokka said. Azula swallowed hard and nodded. "Well… it's only natural to worry, I'd think. I'm not sure anyone can feel wholly confident about their ability to raise a little tyke all the way from being a toddler to adulthood, you know? I'd be surprised if anyone was that sure of themselves…"

"I'm just afraid of… of making the same mistakes they did," Azula whispered. "My parents…"

"Oh, well, now that's not something you should worry about," Sokka said, with a heartfelt smile. "You've already proven you're a thousand times the parent either of them could hope to be…"

"With one kid? Yes. Can it be the same with two?" Azula mumbled. "I mean, I'll try my best, but… that's where a lot of families seem to fuck up. Mine did, for sure. I know yours didn't, but still…"

"You're definitely underestimating just how good a mother you are," Sokka answered. "I'm pretty sure you'll never mess up the way they did. But, if you really need it… I guess I'll try to reassure you by promising that, if I ever think you're taking after either of them, I'll stage a full-blown intervention."

"Ah? That sounds dangerous," Azula smiled. Sokka nodded pompously.

"I'll lock us up in our room, and after I work out all your frustrations in the best possible way…"

"Oh no, please don't say that. Now I'll start wanting to be a bad mother just so you can do that…"

Sokka snorted and laughed halfway through his explanations. Azula smirked at him and he shook his head, forcing himself to focus anew.

"And after that's done, we'll talk things through and we'll figure out what we're doing wrong so we can start doing it right once we leave the room. See? Easy-peasy," he said, grinning. Azula sighed and smiled warmly at him.

"I really don't think it'd be that easy, but sometimes you believe in me so wholeheartedly that I can't help but trust you completely. It's terrible," she said, prompting him to laugh anew.

"I think your instincts trust my instincts, and that's what makes this marriage work perfectly," he decided, leaning close to press a kiss to her brow. "We'll do right by our new kid, Azula. We won't let anything go wrong. The Royal Family is revitalized, changed, renewed as it is… all the bad blood, the nasty stuff that plagued you as a kid, is long gone now. You'll be okay, and our little ones will be too. I'm sure of it."

"I wonder if anyone in this whole world has ever had as much faith in someone as you do in me…" Azula smiled affectionately, cupping his cheek. "I hope I'll never give you reason to stop believing in me…"

"Heh. As if that could ever happen," Sokka said, again, and Azula chuckled, shaking her head.

"Is that how you'll answer everything I say now?" she asked. Sokka failed to bite back a grin. "How about if I say I'm afraid you might not find me appealing anymore after my body's many changes, now that I've gone through two pregnancies?"

"Ha! That one deserves it more than the previous things you've said: as if I could ever, EVER, find you any less appealing, Azula," Sokka hissed, kissing her lips quickly as she laughed.

"I suppose, if you'd kiss me when I look like this, it must be true…" she mused. "I must look like a wreck, lying here as I am…"

"You're even more beautiful today than ever before, no matter how many pregnancies you've been through, or how many years have gone by…"

"How much weight I've put on? Granted, it's also because I was pregnant, but…"

"Didn't I tell you enough times that that's no reason to love you any less?" Sokka smiled. Azula bit her lip but grinned too.

"Fine, then. I'll stop testing you. You've become too skilled at fielding my verbal attacks…"

"It was about time I did, wasn't it?" Sokka laughed, stroking her hair. "We've been together forever now. If I couldn't hold my own in our arguments you'd likely have grown bored of me by now."

"Eh. Probably," Azula acknowledged, smirking mischievously as Sokka chuckled and pressed his brow to hers.

"I love you more every day that goes by," he whispered. "And moments like these only make me love you even more than I already did before."

"I sure hope so…" Azula said, and the edge of her smile waned as it softened into a gentle grin. "Because, loving you any less? As if that could ever happen."

"Ah? Are we really going to play that game with each other now?" Sokka chuckled. Azula grinned and shrugged innocently. "Well, then…!"

He didn't have a chance to tease Azula with that phrase again, for the sound of the opening door of Azula's assigned room cut off Sokka's words. He glanced back, and his lighthearted mood shifted once his blue eyes met his sister's own.

"Okay… our half hour's up. Did you have more contractions?" Katara asked, glancing at Azula, who nodded almost shyly.

"There was one just a moment ago. It was… intense," Azula said, unwilling to acknowledge how painful it had been. Projecting strength was a wasted ordeal, she knew, especially when Katara was going to witness the birth of her second child in a matter of hours, or less than that, and no moment in a mother's life could be as vulnerable as that… but it wasn't easy to break old habits nonetheless.

"Then I guess this is probably it," Katara sighed, biting her lip as she glanced at her brother. "Sokka…?"

"Y-you sure I can't stay?" he asked, eyeing Katara desperately now. "I… I'll be good. I promise I won't cause trouble, I just want to help…"

"Oh, Sokka…" Katara sighed, stepping closer to her pouting brother, who slouched in his chair, right beside Azula, for he knew his sister's voice tone could only herald a negative answer to his request. "You've seen a lot of stuff, I'll give you that… but I don't think you, of all people, can watch your wife go through excruciating pain without losing your mind. So… no. You really can't stay."

"I could try…" Sokka whimpered, though Azula laughed beside him.

"It might be good if you leave. You really might be so disgusted by birthing you'll choose not to sleep with me ever again…"

"Okay, now that's even worse than the last one! As if that could ever happen, Azula!"

"Uh, I'm still here, remember? I absolutely don't need to hear you two talk about your sex life, thank you very much," Katara said, with a disgusted twitch of her eyebrow. Azula couldn't help but laugh at her sister-in-law's expression, and Sokka huffed while rolling his eyes at Katara.

"Right, because Azula's about to give birth to our second kid because a spirit somehow induced pregnancy miraculously in her!" Sokka said, smirking sarcastically.

"Eh, if anything the most fun part of pregnancy is the means through which you get knocked up, it's true…" Azula smiled, and Sokka snickered in her direction as Katara shuddered, making exaggerated gagging noises.

She made her way to the nearest window, feigning to puke through it while Sokka and Azula laughed at her dramatic acting. Still, as amusing as Katara's reaction was, they both knew she was only helping them stall, letting them have just another short moment together, if nothing else.

"Well… sounds like I can't convince her, or you, after all. But hey, I'll be standing right outside the door. I'll be so close it'll be as if I'm in here anyway," Sokka declared, pouting a little. Azula laughed and nodded, clasping his hand in hers again.

"Then you'll be within range to hear me scream like a dying ostrich horse once the worst of it begins. Sweet," she said, raising her eyebrows in his direction. Sokka snorted at the comparison she had drawn, shaking his head and kissing her brow.

"Want me to scream right back from the hallway? That way you sure won't feel lonely, not even for a second," he suggested. Despite her nervousness should have been ramping up, Azula couldn't help but laugh, clutching at Sokka with a hand, hoping to keep him close for as long as possible.

"I'm sure everyone will think we're mad… eh, I guess they already think that, actually. And they might be right, since this sounds like a brilliant idea to me. Please, do it," Azula grinned, as Sokka chuckled and pressed many kisses to her face.

"Perfect," he said, just in time for Katara to huff in disbelief.

"Don't you two think birthing is a delicate enough situation to add wild hollering across a door to the mix?" she asked. Sokka bit his lip, deferring to Azula… who offered a simple enough answer to Katara:

"Nah, I think it'll fit just right, if anything," she decided. Despite herself, Katara couldn't help but laugh as Sokka grinned warmly at his wife.

"Take as long as you need to. We'll be patient out there," he said, prodding her nose with his own.

"The next time we see each other… our family will be bigger by one member," Azula smiled, just as sweetly. A blissful laugh left his lips, and his eyes glistened beautifully. Azula couldn't help but wish their next child would have eyes just like his…

"That's right," he said, beaming before reaching to caress Azula's large baby bump. "We'll meet you very soon, buddy. Hold on tight… and please go easy on your mommy, alright? She's done her best to give birth to you safely, so don't give her a lot of trouble, 'kay?"

Azula's eyes were tearful as Sokka leaned close, pressing a kiss to her bump. He had done it often throughout the pregnancy, chatting excitedly to their baby, most often singing praises about Azula that she'd only be able to silence by kissing him fiercely and busying his mouth with something other than talking. He had looked forward to meeting their child for as long as he'd known she was expecting it… and she couldn't wait to see the look on his face, once he entered the room again, to find her holding their newborn baby.

Sokka smiled at her, still caressing her womb before bringing their lips together, offering her his courage, his strength, all the willpower and certainty she had feared she'd lack in such a momentous occasion. It would be hard, she knew, but her heart was set on seeing this through to the end. Birthing was difficult enough, she knew as much by experience… but the other side of it, the joy of holding her own child, could chase away the pain far faster than any medicine or waterbending healing could.

"I love you, Azula," he whispered, once he pulled away from their kiss. "I don't want to leave… but I'll be back as soon as my mean sister allows it. I promise."

"Make sure you get a snack… and go to the bathroom right after you leave now," Azula suggested, and Sokka raised an eyebrow, amused. "It'd suck if… if, by the time this is done, you were halfway through one of your famous potty breaks…"

"Uh, yeah, fair enough, I'll take one of those now," Sokka said, grimacing as Azula laughed. "Take it easy, as much as you can anyway, and breathe just as they told you to. Though, heh, you know how this works better than I do anyway, so I guess my advice is pointless…"

"You just want me to suffer as little as possible, I know," Azula smiled. "It's fine, Sokka. I love you too. By the time the baby's coming I might hate you a little, though, for putting me through this… but by the end I'll be grateful. I promise."

"I sure hope so," Sokka chuckled, kissing her lips once more. "Whatever would I do if my wife and the mother of my children hated me, huh?"

"Oh, please… like that could ever truly happen," Azula teased him. Sokka laughed, and tears blinked in both their eyes as he pressed one more kiss to her lips.

It seemed there could never be enough kisses, enough reassurances that he was here with her, that she would overcome this challenge, like she did… but as Katara guided him to the door – just as her other helpers arrived, too – Sokka's gaze held Azula's own. The truth was that no door, no walls, would ever come between them: their hearts were closely bonded, beating as one, flooding Azula's system with her well-known certainty that no matter the distance, no matter the struggles they faced, Sokka was always with her. She hadn't been alone for years now… and as those gentle blue eyes still gazed upon hers, just before the door closed behind him, Azula knew she never would be. Not as long as the best man she had ever known stood right outside her room, waiting eagerly to return to her side.

#sokkla saturdays #sokklasaturday #azula #sokka #sokkla #steambaby incomiiiiiiing #and it is for sure a cute one #;3;#supportive hubby Sokka makes my life brighter #Azula deserves all the love #and all the reassurances #and all the encouraging #makes my heart melt when she gets all those things *gross sobbing*#anyway here goes I'm actually pretty happy with this one so I hope you all enjoy it #(... also if anyone's really sly and clever you can probably tell that there's more to this chap than meets the eye...#... but I ain't gonna confirm or deny anything *innocent whistling and walks away*)

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chaoticevilbean · 4 years ago

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Atla Youtube Au, Sokka-Centric

1/?

“What’s up, ma dudes? Time for another session of What My Friends Have Put Me Through. This time will feature Lady, Warrior, Gurl, and Princess.” The male was wearing his Southern Water Tribe facepaint, and from his background, it seemed he was indeed in one of the Water Tribes’ territories. His hair was white for this particular video, long and pulled back into a tail. His irises were bright blue, and once again left no clues as to whether it was the real coloring or just contacts.

“Alright, so this story is a bit strange, as per usual. As you all know, my friends are activists and Lady takes that to the extreme. Well, they did it again. What do I mean, you new viewers ask? I mean they started another rebellion. Now, maybe it’d officially count as just a bunch of protests, but I personally believe that once the number of protests in a single city is more than five in as many days, it’s the start of a rebellion. And yes, I did say another. I’ve got it all in a playlist if you wanna look.”

The background behind the videographer changed as he presumably walked around as he spoke. Snow and a clear sky were shown, and there didn’t seem to be any other people in sight.

“Now, it all started because of a previous thing my wonderful Lady did. If you’ve already watched the video, noice. If you haven’t, pause this and find the one labeled ‘Lady Vs Old Coot’. Very inspiring. Anyways, so they came back here and thought that maybe at least that Old Coot had changed, but no. No, instead there’s been no change. Or there hadn’t been. We all came as a group, but only myself, Kuzon, Lady, Bluey, Princess, Gurl, and Warrior. Bandit, Ballerina, and Knife would’ve come, but they were all busy. Or Ballerina and Knife were busy. Bandit hates it here cause there’s no land. Nothing to see.”

“So, we’re all here, and we spend the day touring and exploring and stuff, and then we meet up for lunch. Well, Lady starts ranting about how they’re so disappointed in everyone, especially the Old Coot, and demands that we do something. Immediately, Gurl, Warrior, and Princess all pledge themselves to the cause, and then guess what they do? Guess what they flippin’ do?” The Youtuber gave a sarcastic and slightly pained chuckle, dark seal markings emphasizing his features as he looked around a little.

“If you couldn’t guess, they asked me, me, to help them plan their course of action. Now, these are my friends. Basically my family. I’ve been through a lot with them, from overthrowing corrupt organizations to taking down drug rings to literally being Kuzon’s father one time. And through all of these things, I’ve somehow become known as the one who’s really good at planning. But they asked me to help plan a stinkin’ rebellion. I do it, obviously, but the fact that they even asked.”

“But then, apparently they told all of these people who’re following them in protest that I helped organize everything. And no one decides to tell me this, so I keep helping from the sidelines. We reach day three of protests, and it’s lunchtime, so I think I’ll just walk on over and bring some food to these people who’ve been standing outside the Council all morning. I get there, and I get mobbed. Everyone’s either thanking slash congratulating me, or they’re complaining about the protestors. It takes me an hour to find Lady and ask them what the Spirits happened because of all these people just crowding around and yelling at me.”

“Lady apologizes, but the damage is done. The warriors are asking me to end the protests. I tell them I can’t. They get mad because I’m supposedly the one in charge. I am not the one in charge. I am the one who the people in charge asked for a favor and got dragged into this mess. No one seems to get it. Then the heckin’ Council calls me in and tries to make me end it all. I kept trying to say that it’s not my fault there’s a rebellion. It was the will of one person, aided by the wills of three other people, that inspired the hopes of everyone who’s protesting. I just helped them do the most damage so they have a big impact and this doesn’t take a year.”

“So here I am.” The camera turned around, and started panning to show the barren ice devoid of any life. “I’m currently out here attempting to hide from everyone. I have enough supplies to last me a week on its own, three if I make the most of it all.” The screen showed several bags, including a green Earth Kingdom satchel, a blue Water Tribe satchel, a black Fire Nation duffel, and a yellow Air Nomad backpack. A few items are attached to the duffel and backpack, though it’s unclear what. “I’ll wait out the protests, since Bandit’s giving me a play-by-play of the progress. Once that’s done, I’ll just head back and hope that no one’s still under the delusion that I’m in charge.”

“Thus ends this day’s session of What My Friends Have Put Me Through. I’ll be back in an hour after I figure out what else to video and get bored enough to post again. Hope y’all like junk food, cause that’s all I’m serving. That being said, I’m signing off. See ya.”

The video cut to a picture of a boomerang with ‘Boomeraang’ written in calligraphy on the flat side. The entire vlog was titled ‘Lady’s 75th Revolution’.

True to his word, another video was posted about an hour later, this one titled ‘Furry Friends and Shock’.

“Sup, dudes. I’m back as promised, and this time, I’ve brought friends. Say hello to Fluffster, Rookie, and Baby.” The screen flipped, and three wolves were sitting like trained dogs in front of the Youtuber. “The biggest one’s Fluffster, since he’s obviously the floofiest. The smallest one’s Rookie, he’s pretty young. You can tell because his paws are a bit too big for him. He’ll grow into that. Then Baby’s this lovely little gal, and she’s super sweet. Took forever to stop her from licking my face.”

The three wolves wagged their tails as their names were spoken, and people who had watched that far were already commenting about how either it was impossible to tame wolves, the canines were incredibly cute, or disbelief at how it’d only been an hour and he already did something weird.

“Now, these beautifuls are strong predators. Usually, they’ll avoid humans, but I’m alone and my facepaint makes me seems less like a threat. They approached me pretty casually, not stalking or anything. I didn’t even notice they were there until I looked around again. And they’re much more tame than most wolves would usually be. Again, it’s likely because I seem unthreatening. Please do not try to do anything like this without training. I literally just did this by chance. I named them and they understand their names, but most animals wouldn’t. I mean, Foo Foo Cuddlypoops didn’t. I don’t think he did.”

Avataratlast: Who’s Foo Foo Cuddly Poops? Another friend?

- Banditrocs: Probably an animal.

Keepitreal: how did this dude manage to tame three wolves? it’s only been an hour?! and why does he wear that makeup? i’m so confused, was this all planned? does he have a crew?

- Boomeranglife: You must be new here.

“So, I’m gonna sign off soon, mostly so I can give these three some love. I think the best course of action would be to answer some of my commonly asked questions, tell you all a bit about wolves, and then give you the official goodbye until I get bored enough that my resolve crumbles. That’ll take at least another two hours with the fact that Lemur somehow managed to sneak my notepad into my bag. I wasn’t gonna bring it because I left in such a hurry, but then I’m inventorying my stuff and find it. Lemur’s such a pal.”

“Alright, gotta start the answers so I get cuddle time with the canines. My frequently asked question get put in a list thanks to my subpar hacking skills. Don’t tell Knife I said that or they’ll make good on their promise to lock me in a closet. Let’s get to it.” The screen split to show a list of questions on one side, the wolves on the other. Some of the questions were blacked out, probably due to being inappropriate.

“So, if it’s blacked out, those are hateful, nasty, or have far too many swears. The first question is the same as always, asking what my name is. My response is the same as always. Smiley emoticon. The next is my age. Under 50, above 10. My gender? Male. Is this a profile or something? Seriously, all these are about my identity. Sexuality? I let the people theorize cause I don’t care about what y’all think, unless you’re a bigot, then get off my channel, pretty please with The Moon on top. Real hair color? Hmm, I guess I can probably give you that. It’s not white. Eye color? Not white, either.”

Actlikewater: is everyone getting this?! he’s giving us information!!!

rockbeatsfire: what r y’all getting hyped up for? he hasn’t said anything

- powertoBoomerang: have you watched these before?

- - rockbeatsfire: i watched that parkour one

- - - powertoBoomerang: one - watch them all. two - you need to be more specific, and three - he never says anything about his identity besides pronouns. we have information. we can figure this out!

- - - - CaptainSparky: Are you sure about that?

- - - - - powertoBoomerang: we can figure this out maybe!

“What’s my nationality? Theorize, ma dudes. I ain��t gonna say, so go to one of those lovely blogs. Boomeranglife is really sweet, they’ve got a bunch of videos all about this sort of stuff. Actually, it might only be about my channel. I don’t really know. I just saw one of their videos and started questioning if I really was a Spirit. Ask them, and give them some love. They a nice peep.”

“What is my favorite animal? Either sabertoothmooselion, flying bison, or flying lemur. Is that seriously a commonly asked question? Am I gonna get spammed with artwork now? Do I need to have a lesson on how to draw flying bison and lemurs and all that? I’m gonna do it anyways, and all artwork is accepted, so long as you keep it PG-13. I’m around kids.”

“Am I single? I don’t know. Really, I don’t know. I could be dating Warrior, or I could be stealing Kuzon. I literally have no idea. I platonic flirt with everyone, and I’m horrible at reading social cues when it comes to romance. Wheaty? Apparently had a crush on me until three months ago. They told me when it ended so I would relax and I had to explain my oblivious nature and crippling anxiety. Ballerina? We’re married according to a small town and soulmates if you listen to a certain nomadic troupe. I might even be dating everyone on the team, heck if I know.”

“Am I a bender? Heh, that’s a good one. Can’t believe you haven’t figured it out yet. Who am I? Hold up, Ima search this.” There was the sound of keys tapping as the screen showed the videographer searching himself up. When the screen loaded, there was a bleeped out sound and the three wolves rushed towards him in concern.

“Holy Spirits! Tui, La, Yue, and Agni! *bleep* I’ve got a Wiki page! They gave me a *bleep*ing Wiki page! I’m not even that popular!”

Livelovemurder: he knows we see this, right

- Boomeranglife: I’m still recovering from him mentioning me, but I don’t think he realizes he is a celeb here

Azulastan: someone get this boy some tea! His video from literally an hour ago already has thousands of views! someone call Bandit!

- SouthernChief: on it! I’ll spam the comments of that last video. Hopefully they respond!

- - UncleTea: Good man/woman/enby!

Livelovemurder: wow, our first reaction to seeing him hurting is to contact Bandit. didn’t she once launch him into a tree?

- UncleTea: that was the first time they were officially friends. now they’re best friends

“Alright, I think we all earned some wolf facts. Did you know that wolves can live over ten years? Pretty long for any wild animal, even longer for a predator in a wasteland like this. Wolves are also extremely expressive for animals, and they’re very social. Wolves can get much bigger than dogs, except polar bear dogs, and despite what most people think, they don’t usually hurt children. Even the really small ones. They’re more likely to adopt your kid than try to hurt them. I personally believe it’s because they’re a lot smarter than most people credit them. Comment #WolfRights below and I’ll see if I can start a movement.”

“Now, I’m signing off once again, so say goodbye to Rookie, Baby, and Fluffster. See ya.”

The second video ended. Comments were pouring in about the clip, and Boomeranglife had already gotten another thousand subscribers in the time it took for the video to be played twice through. SouthernChief did indeed spam Bandit’s latest video, and had the earthbender ignore them until they mentioned that the guy from Boomeraang didn’t think he was popular.

- Bandit: He what?

- - SouthernChief: he doesn’t think he’s popular

- - - Bandit: I’ll take care of it.

Time Skip 5 Hours

The next video was titled ‘Who Sold Me Out?’ The starting screen showed Gurl in their Hei Bai mask, very clearly holding the camera. They waved at the screen before flipping the view around to show what was in front of them. The Boomeraang guy was sitting squashed between what appeared to be several people hiding underneath blankets. He was glaring directly at the camera, face set in a scowl that was once again greatly emphasized by his facepaint.

“Alright, I only got a few minutes to get this out before the others get sick of hiding under blankets. Who the *bleep* sold me out‽ Just because I didn’t realize how popular I am doesn’t mean you needed to call Bandit! Seriously, who was it‽ I’m out on the ice, having the time of my life sketching Baby and Fluffster and Rookie, and then, out of nowhere, Bison is flying towards me with Kuzon and Princess. Then they practically drag me back and I can no longer feel my legs because there’s four people on them. Whoever it was, you’re on thin *bleep*ing ice. I was fine! I was more than fine! I wasn’t the alleged leader of a rebellion!”

“You done?” Gurl asked from behind the camera.

“Yeah, I’m done.” The screen flipped back to Gurl.

“The dude’s been majorly *bleep* off because someone tattled on him. You have the thanks of the rest of us and the anger of one squished Youtuber. He refused to come out of the house, so we all decided to stay in tonight. The protests are over for the day anways, thanks to the fact that the Council is starting to give in. We promised an afternoon of peace so they could discuss it all without worrying. And we’ll be bringing you rebounders to the morning rally as well. NO EXCUSES!” The last words were thrown towards the guy on the other side of the camera, and a loud groan was heard. “He’s gonna do his outro and then y’all are gonna say goodbye.” The view reversed again.

“Signing off for now! See ya, ya traitors!”

The screen cut out.

SouthernChief: i regret nothing

UncleTea: He looked like an angry toddler, OMS.

Boomeranglife: gals! pals! dals! I got big news!

- Livelovemurder: spill

- - Boomeranglife: the NWT is having a bunch of protests all across their cities!

- - - Tyleestan: do we know who’s leading it?

- - - - Boomeranglife: no, NWT is too secretive! i just heard it from a merchant that left as they were starting. we live about as close as you can get to the north pole w/out actually being there

- - - - - SouthernChief: sucks, dudes. next time, for sure

- - - - - - rockbeatsfire: next time there’s a rebellion? does that actually happen a lot?

- - - - - - - Boomeranglife: seriously, watch the videos. I recommend in chronological order instead of by playlists

- - - - - - - - rockbeatsfire: alright, alright, i’m going

#sokka #atla #atla youtube au #youtube au #avatar the last airbender #smellerbee #katara #aang #toph #azula #zuko #suki #haru #teo #appa #momo

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bellatrixobsessed1 · 4 years ago

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Kissing Dead Pearls (Part 12)

Azula wishes that she could say her first date went flawlessly. But it didn’t. She was awkward as hell and she isn’t sure how she’d managed to get a second one. God, she doesn’t even know why she had been so awkward, they’d been friends since childhood. But she always finds herself tripping over her own emotions when it comes to love, romance, and softer things.

She isn’t meant for it. She is meant for competition and relishing in victory. For bursts of power and excitement, the thrill of a new endeavor or achievement. And yet she found herself wandering the boardwalk that evening hand in hand with her childhood friend. The sun was well on its way down painting the entirety of the boardwalk in a vivid shade of orange.

“Sno-cone?” Sokka offered. “Cotton candy?”

He had been spoiling her all night and she was the one with the cash to throw around. She’d made a promise to herself to make sure to pay for their next date and to make it a somewhat upscale one.

“Just cotton candy.” She answered. They hadn’t even made it to the tiki restaurant that he’d wanted to show her, she didn’t want to fill up on snack food before they got there. He held out a cotton candy cone, picked a small blue fluff of it off, and said, “open your mouth.”

“Why?” She’d asked holding her hand out.

He had rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna feed it to you.”

“I can feed myself?”

His laugh had been precious, she almost didn’t mind that it was at her expense. Her cheeks had slightly colored. “Sometimes couples like to feed each other.”

Azula crinkled her brows, “why?”

“Because it’s romantic.” He replied simply.

“How so?”

He laughs again. “I don’t know, I didn’t make the rule. Now open your mouth.”

Hesitantly, Azula obliged and he popped the piece of cotton candy onto her tongue. There was a burst of sugary sweetness as it dissolved.

“Was that so hard?” He nudged her.

“It was agonizing difficult.” She grumbled, folding her hands over her chest.

He slung an arm across her neck and over her shoulder. “C’mon, we’re almost there.” He pointed to a small little shack with a straw and bamboo roof. Colorful paper lanterns hung from the boarders of the roof and decorated the ceiling. On each of the four supporting posts, circled bright strands of cheap lights shaped like pineapples and flamingos.

“Tacky.” She commented with a roll of her eyes.

“Tiki.” He corrected, making her wonder why she felt so flustered when he’d been the one making the cringeworthy jokes.

Even from that distance she had heard the thrumming, upbeat drums of that year’s most popular reggaeton hit. No wonder he’d liked that restaurant so much. He took her hand again and tugged her along in an excited speedwalk. “Alright, Azula, are you ready for the best smoothie you’ll ever taste!?”

He was so enthusiastic that she had to crack a smile. “I hope that they’re as good as you say they are.”

“They have some pretty tasty onion rings too.”

It was getting easier but her tummy was still fluttering incessantly. Sokka pulled out a stool and motioned for her to have a seat. Azula looked the chair over and took a deep breath, she had to boost herself up on the lower rung of the chair and quite literally climb it to actually get to her seat, it left her feeling doubly awkward. Sokka’s chuckling hadn’t helped. He wiped a tear from his eye, “geez, sometimes I forget that you're that short.”

“Shut up!” She snapped, he only snickered harder. She was certain that he was getting a kick out of seeing her face go bright red.

There were so many couples out and about that night, and somehow she felt like she just stood out among them. As though she were some sort of fake, a bizarre parody of what a girlfriend was supposed to be and look like. Her laughs had been too forced and there had been undertones of nervousness. And for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why. She’d known him for so long and she’d never had any problems conversing with him. Never had any problems being herself.

But somehow this was different. Something about it just was.

She felt like she was on her way to ruining not just their new relationship, but their longtime friendship as well.

“You alright?” He asked.

She’d nodded.

“You just…” he trailed off and took an onion ring and then a sip of his smoothie--mango-peach--and continued, “aren’t being you.” He seemed to think for a moment before backtracking, “you seem anxious. Am I doing something wrong?”

Her heart halted. Because it was her. Something was wrong with her, not him. She shakes her head, “you’re fine, Sokka.”

He gave her a soft smile and cupped his hand over hers. His ocean blue eyes were so soft and loving, it made her feel that much guiltier. “This is your first date, isn’t it?”

She nodded.

“It’s always a little awkward at first.” He assured.

Azula thought that it ran a little deeper than that. Genuinely, she wanted the affection. Truly a kiss sounded nice. But actually receiving one? The very possibility that her night would probably end with one…? It caused her stomach to lurch.

It was just that she hadn’t ever opened up before. Never found the courage to show a softer side of herself and it just felt weird and wrong to do so.

Sokka hummed softly, “hey, I have an idea!” He declared.

“Is it a good one?”

He wriggled his brows. “It’s an idea.”

Azula buried her face in her hands, each time he’d ever said that, it turned out to be a dreadful one.

“You just sit there, okay?”

She bit the inside of her cheek. “Sure, Sokka.” She paused, “but if this is awful, I’m going to throw you off of the pier, understand?”

He flashed her a mischievous grin, “guess I better get my swim trunks on.”

That night she was exposed to the worst karaoke cover that she’d ever heard, but it sure as hell made her feel less obvious and out of place. For that night she was simply, ‘that girl with the karaoke boyfriend’.

He certainly was no siren. He was more comparable to, perhaps a walrus where vocal quality was concerned.

That night she pushed him off of the pier just as she had promised.

That night, he told her that she could take her time to get used to things, that they didn’t have to have their first kiss right away.

That night they had their first kiss anyways; on the edge of the dock she’d just thrown him from. He hugged her close and soaked her clothes with ocean water.

.oOo.

A walk on the boardwalk is out of the question, because that is where Sokka had taken her. It feels dreadfully strange to have her hand in Jet’s. It isn’t particularly unpleasant by any means. In fact, Jet is very sweet and gentle. A stark contrast to Sokka, who enjoyed playing rough with and teasing her.

It is both a relief and a sting. The contrast is so stark that she doesn’t feel like she is trying to use him as a fill-in Sokka but it very considerably accentuates that Sokka is gone and that she is with someone else.

“How about a walk on the beach?” He suggests.

That would make sense, they spend a lot of time on the beach surfing. Maybe they can have themselves a more passionate practices. But the beach is very close to the cove, she and Sokka’s cover. Though that beach isn’t the only beach, it is simply the closest one to her house.

“There’s a beach across town that I’ve been meaning to check out.” Azula says.

“Alright, a walk on the beach it is.” He beams. He slides an arm around her waist and leads her to his car.

Suddenly she feels shamefully shy again. Sokka is the only person she’d ever let touch her like that. Sokka is the only person who she thought would. Though it doesn’t feel particularly wrong to let Jet do so. It, in fact, feels rather nice to have that kind of affection again.

All the same it feels wrong. So horribly wrong to let him take her by the waist when she’d never truly called it off with Sokka. When he is probably isolated and touched-starved somewhere out at sea.

And especially when she catches herself pretending that it is Sokka who is holding her.

“What kind of music are you in the mood for?” Jet asks as he messes with the radio dials, “personally I think synthwave has the right vibe for cruising down a road by the ocean.”

“Synthwave is fine.” She forces a smile.

“Cool.” He pushes at his sunglasses and leans back in the seat.

It is nice to have the wind in her hair, to feel it warmly on her face as she watches the palm trees rush by. In some sense it makes her feel alive again. She glances at Jet who nods his head to the music. The wind flutters his hair. One hand on the wheel he reaches for his soda and has a sip before putting it back in the cupholder. “Want a sip?”

Azula brings her lips to the staw, she can slightly taste him on it as she has her drink. “Thank you.” She says, putting the cup back down.

“Yeah, any time.” He pulls into a parking spot. “Leave the boards here or do you think we’ll use them?”

Azula thinks for a moment. “Leave them. We can just walk this time.”

He nods, “sounds good, I think it’d be nice to just walk and get to know you better.”

Just like that it occurs to her that they talk almost daily but they never really had a real conversation. They mostly talk about surfing and parties. It will be rather nice to know his interests and hobbies. What his home life is like and what his pet peeves are.

He holds his hand out and she takes it as they make their way down to the sand. For much of the sunset they sit at the shoreline and dip their feet in the water, discussing more mundane things.

He really loves synthwave and his favorite color is brown of all colors. He says that it reminds him driftwood and that he used to build driftwood castles and pirate ships with his childhood friends before he’d moved to Port Tui-La. He’d called his crew the Freedom Fighters and they were ‘good and noble’ pirates. He mentioned that his first mate, Smellerbee caused a mutiny one time and took over the ship.

Azula had, had a good chuckle at this.

For herself, Azula mentioned the fish game. She also made note that she preferred tea to coffee and that blue is superior to brown in every way.

After some time of quiet, just watching the sun show its last rays while skipping rocks and fidgeting with shells Jet says, “hey, I’m sorry about your mom and Sokka. The reason I moved is because I lost both of my parents in a house fire.” He pauses. “Some men in masks just poured gasoline all around and lit it up while they were asleep. I was at Longshot’s house…” he trails off. “I never did find out who they were or why they did it. I live with my uncle now.”

Azula swallows, her belly flutters for his loss. “Yeah.” She stuffs her hands into the pockets of her shorts. “It’s...it never feels the same. There’s this emptiness…”

Jet nods. “And you can’t fill it.”

“It’s like there’s a hole. You can meet new people, but that doesn’t fill the hole, you just have a mound of sand next to the hole. You can push the sand in but it doesn’t quite fill it right.”

Jet quirks a brow. “Yeah, that’s a good way of describing it.” He pauses. “But having a new mound is better than nothing at all, right?”

She can see it in his eyes that it runs deeper than just a general analogy.

She thinks for a moment before finally nodding. “Yes. I think that it is better to try to make something new, even if it isn’t the same.”

Jet’s darkly colored eyes light up. He tenderly caresses her cheek and leans in.

For a fleeting moment she thinks that it might be too soon. She very nearly tells him not yet. But is it really too soon? It has been months. She hasn’t feel a connection like this, a warmth like this in months.

She decides that it isn’t too soon.

His lips find hers.

It is a kind kiss, soft and delicate. Her belly flutters again, both pleasantly and with a sense of melancholy. She isn’t alone.

She deepens the kiss.

A tear slips down her cheek.

#avatar the last airbender #Azula #Sokka #Sokkla #Jet #Jetzula #Fanfiction

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madebycoffee · 4 years ago

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OH ALSO I finished watching Legend of Korra and here is non spoiler thoughts: I really enjoyed it and just like atla I cried at every single season finale. I really like that the main cast while still young, is older than the lITERAL children of atla. atla still holds up watching it as an adult, but I feel like korra is a bit more my jive. There is only one episode that I won’t watch again (season 4 remembrances, when you are binging the show it isn’t necessary as it’s a recap and not as fun as ember island players which serves the same purpose in atla. Also I looked on IMDB, that is the lowest rated episode. I agree. Honestly, if you are binging you can skip it) but I can def see myself watching the whole thing again. Season 1 is my overall favorite of the series.

Spoiler thoughts below the cut because WOW I HAVE THOUGHTS (it’s long)

hi spoiler time last chance to look away

Before going into LOK I had read a decent amount of spoilers beforehand since this aired back in 2012-2014. I don’t think I even knew about it after it was nearly done so the one thing I knew was that Korra & Asami get together lol. Anyway my point is I knew what was coming overall.

Season 1: My personal favorite, I think it’s a really strong stand alone season. I thought it was really smart to begin the series in the water tribe again, as well as with Katara as that’s how ATLA started. I also think its really clever that with Aang, he was very spiritual and a master airbender already, but needed to learn the other 3 element. Korra is the opposite. It helps it not be so repetitive. We already saw one avatar working to master fire, water, and earth. I also realized how used to the world of atla I was and was confused for a split second how Mako and Bolin were brothers but one was an earthbender and one was a firebender... Yeah I know I’m dumb and I forgot that its a different world lol. -Another strong point was that no matter how in danger Korra got in season 1 she never went into the avatar state, because as she says in what ep 1? that she has never been good at the spiritual side of being the avatar. Part of me kept expecting it to happen, but even the final showdown with Amon it didn’t so I was like oh damn. The finale when she does go into the avatar state with Aang giving her the bending she lost back.... I was a wreck. Sobbing my eyes out it just HIT ME. -Other moments that hit me hard: Hearing Dante Basco’s voice as General Iroh ow my soul, Hearing through Katara that Sokka is dead, The flashbacks to the trial of the bloodbender (forgot his name??) and seeing them get bloodbent HURTS MY HEART. And every time Aang’s statue was shown. ;-; Also, just like ATLA there isn’t a main character that I dislike. I genuinely like Korra, Asami, Mako, & Bolin as a team. Lin is my favorite which not hard being Toph’s daughter lol. Tenzin and fam are a delight (though Meelo can get on my nerves but eh) TL:DR SEASON 1 IS GREAT I CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH IT AGAIN!!

Season 2: Alright so. A lot of Spirit World dealings. Unalaq being a GASP evil brother??? LOK has a thing about brothers lol. First with Amon and whathisname, now with Korra’s dad and uncle. Anyway, season 2 I really like too. Yes even the finale. And it’s been a few weeks (maybe months??) since I watched season 2 so the finale is really all that stands out. Other than that I do really like seeing the story of the first avatar. OH MAN AND IROH IN THE SPIRIT WORLD HAD ME ALL SORTS OF LEVELS OF EMOTIONAL. -SO. This was the big spoiler I knew going in, that the past lives of the Avatar are severed from Korra. I know that A LOT of people really don’t like it either. And upon hearing that plot point I didn’t like it as well. But when I sat down and watched the whole series. I actually thought it was the right thing to do. And I didn’t mind it as much as I thought. Korra can no longer call upon the past lives which is sad, but those Avatars still existed. And with Tenzin being so prevalent in the show, it really feels like Aang is still there in spirit. The reason I thought it was the right thing to do with the story, is that it let’s the show as a whole exist on it’s own. IDK how to properly explain.. I get why people don’t like it, but it makes sense to me. -And I do commend the show runners for sticking to this. There is no getting contact back with the past lives. Which, personally I approve of. Whenever you do something world altering like that it annoys me when the show takes it back. My main gripe is people dying but wAIT NO THEY’RE ALIVE!!! It lessens the stakes. And I think a through line of Korra is that actions have consequences. TL;DR I LIKE SEASON 2 AS WELL. DOESN’T LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION SINCE THE FINALE IS SUCH A BIG DEAL.

Season 3: I THINK this would be my second favorite season. I REALLY like Zaheer as I guess the ~big bad~ and the squad he has. SO much so that I’m actually upset that they all are dead by the end. I think P’Li is done the dirtiest. You see and know very little about her until an ~exposition~ line a few scenes before she dies. (But damn if the scene of Su throwing her metal breastplate around her head isn’t hardcore cool. I haven’t said yet but the fight sequences in Korra??? Amazing.) Bolin finding out he can Lavabend??? oh hell yeah that’s the good shit, same with lavabending in GENERAL. seeing what people can REALLY do with their bending is probably my favorite part about Korra. I do think Zaheer looks a little silly when he starts flying around, but hey that part is cool too. Also easily the most horrified I’ve been watching this show was the pulling the aiR OUT OF SOMEONE. JESUS. Up until that point Airbending still seemed like the least dangerous form but HOLY SHIT. I will say that the way Kuvira is if not introduced/ we’re reminded about her in the finale is a little bit more like “uhhh is Korra’s dad going to have an affair???” to me than “she gonna be the big bad next season” Also on IMDB the finale of season 3 is the highest rated finale.

Season 4: Even thought this has the same number of episodes as season 3, it feels the most rushed to me. However I do appreciate the timejump and GODTDAMN I love me some old lady Toph. I also like that Toph says that she’s watching Su & Lin through the swamp, an episode or two later Su and Zaofu are attacked and captured, and when Lin, Opal, and Bolin go to Zaofu to try and rescue, Toph is there. It’s a nice payoff. As Su was getting captured I was thinking “hmmmm does Toph see this” And she does, which has her leave the swamp, so she’s not there when Kuvira’s army is cutting vines. Because cmon is Toph was there she woulda kicked their asses. -The huge mecha suit with the spirit weapon on it is HARROWING. I like that Baatar Jr. see’s that Kuvira was gonna kill him for thE gREatER gOOD and was instantly like “oh shit well i guess my loyalties were wrong then ok” Oh and out of order but I had a feeling that Zhu Li was telling Kuvira what she wanted to hear to be sneaky and I was v happy to be proven right by Toph. I ALSO like that things like Toph being able to tell if people are lying aren’t forgotten about. Also... Cried like a baby at Zhu Li and Varrick’s wedding. Haven’t mentioned Varrick yet but hot damn if he isn’t one of my favorite characters. What I wouldn’t GIVE to have Sokka and Varrick brainstorm some truly crazy shit. 10/10. TL;DR SEASON 3 IS REALLY GOOD AND SEASON 4 IS GOOD BUT FEELS LIKE IT’S TOO SHORT.

But yeah. Overall I really enjoyed it. I looked through the episodes on IMDB and nearly everything is above 8.5 except for some of the first episodes in season 2 which I get. I can tell that this is by the same team that did ATLA. It feels so much the same. And I think there was the right amount of the original peeps or their kids but still was focusing on our core four. Other little things:

- I like that the “villains” or ig the conflicts of people weren’t anyone from the Fire Nation. (Although do we know where Zaheer is from??? Family lineage?) Well regardless, what we have is Amon: Waterbender, Unalaq: Waterbender, Zaheer: Airbender, Kuvira: Earthbender. ATLA we were fighting the fire nation, LOK has the range lol. - I do wish we could have been in the Fire Nation tho. I wanna see what’s it like over there :( - Adored seeing all the changes to the world. In ATLA we see the blimps/airships more or less being invented and then 70 years later AIRSHIPS AND CARS GALORE. And having radios/phones VERY nice. Don’t have to rely on letters or talking in person. - I really like Korra. I feel like it needs to be said lol, but I thoroughly enjoyed her as the Avatar (maybe more than Aang??) - Zuko’s face after Korra says she talked to Iroh in the spirit world I’m not crying you are.

ANYWAY. I think that’s it. I just needed to get it all out somewhere. Not a perfect show (neither is atla) but damn if it isn’t some of the best TV out there. If you read all of that woW good job.

#madebycoffee speaks #not gonna tag this as the show lol #so #non sims #nonsims #also seester i think you would like it

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onigirisuna · 4 years ago

Text

ours are the moments (i play in the dark)

a contribution to @zutaramonth, quarantine edition, day 13: hidden (and just a bit of moonbeams). view my other work for zutara month (quarantine edition) here.

cw: heavy swearing and the tiniest hint of smut. tw: cheating and abortion.

Everything happens under the moonlight; when he burns the last memories of a happy family, when she grapples with forgiveness, when he begs for forgiveness from her, when she comforts him in his sorrow. Their most vivid memories were ones spent under the moonlight –

– So they choose the new moon to create the ones they want to forget.

—

They’re back in the Earth Kingdom, two months after his coronation. His friends flood in, a little more gaunt-looking than they were when they parted ways weeks ago; ten weeks of peace talks, negotiating with rigid officials, and keeping the world from falling apart (again) has forced all of them to grow up.

They’re so young, Iroh thinks with a twinge of sadness in his heart. Too young to be this hardened by war.

But they are war heroes and war criminals – was there any difference nowadays? – and war is cruel to the young and naïve. They’ve all had to grow up, regardless of whether it was due to a mother lost, a man killed, or genocide.

The three days that they have in the Jasmine Dragon are the only ones that the world will let them have to relive their youth; so Iroh lets them. Just don’t touch the tea, the ceramics, the kettles, the incoming supply of food, stay away from the customers if you plan to play a full-body game of Elements– oh! And no going into the work room unless you plan to serve some tea!

If Zuko had received this earful three months earlier, he would have rolled his eyes; instead, he smiles at his uncle and mimes a salute. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.”

Zuko returns to the balcony; when he gets to the landing, he finds that its tiles are already upturned and the floor is suspiciously wet. “Sokka,” he starts, but the blue-eyed boy shushes him.

“Shut up, Zuko! I’m working on a masterpiece!”

The ink bleeds out on the page before he could dip his brush back in. “What the hell, Katara!”

“My hair loopies looked like black holes, Sokka! That was not a masterpiece,” Katara yells back.

“I’d say I was pretty accurate,” Sokka responds, pulling out another blank scroll. Katara sticks her tongue out in response, but pulls back as soon as she sees Zuko.

“You look well,” she says, quickly pulling her eyes away from him. She cringes inwardly, berating herself for how utterly weird that sounded. He rubs the back of his neck, avoiding her gaze.

“Thanks.”

Mai appears next to Zuko, scrutinizing her space buns.

Oh, Spirits, Katara thinks. I should’ve stayed home.

—

It happened soon after his coronation, six weeks after they’ve won the war.

In between the flurry of paperwork and long, dragging meetings, she and her friends miraculously found a common time to spend together. They rendezvous in the palace garden, each bringing their own share for the party; Katara nearly doubles over with horrible flashbacks of sand dunes and mushroom clouds when she sees Sokka carry a crate of cactus juice.

Sokka catches her blanched look. “Oh come on, it’ll be fine,” he says. “It’s distilled!”

“And besides, we’re young, Katara. Loosen up a little!”

Sokka, you fucking idiot, she thinks much later, when her vision is distorted and her head – or is that her body? – begins to sway. She looks around and attempts decipher her surroundings; in one corner, Toph is yelling angrily at Aang while he sleeps on top of overturned Pai Sho tiles. At her six o’ clock – thank the Spirits – she could hear Suki and Sokka sucking face. “Get a fucking room!” Toph yells their way.

Zuko, however, is quiet. She sees him sulking by the corner, by their makeshift dining set up, taking another gulp of cactus juice. Even when he’s drunk, he’s a depressing sight to see, she thinks somberly. She slowly picks up her glass, keeping a careful eye on it as she makes her way to him.

“Stop that,” she says, taking a seat next to him. Zuko looks at her with a mixture of confusion and offense, arching his only brow as he says, “I’m sorry?”

“Stop being so sad all the fucking time,” she says, taking her own gulp of cactus juice. She picks up an uneaten lemon tart from a plate and shoves it in her mouth. Zuko makes a noise.

“Mai walked out again.”

Katara swallows. “She always does.”

Zuko shrugs, because she’s right; Mai always walks out, only to waltz back in a few weeks after she’s cleared her head. “It sucks, though,” he says as he refills his glass. What he doesn’t say is that he’s no longer referring to Mai’s thousandth walk-out; what sucks is that she keeps coming back, even when I don’t want her to, and I can’t bring myself to say no.

I don’t know how to tell her that I want you.

But Katara catches it anyway.

She washes the tang of the lemon tart down with more cactus juice; despite herself, she starts to sober. “I still don’t know how to tell Aang.”

Zuko takes a sidelong glance, checking to see if anyone else was watching. When he confirms that they’re in the clear, he tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly.

Neither of them are married, but this thing between them feels no less than an affair. How could they tell their friends – hell, how could they tell their partners – that they’ve been hiding a (painful, sorrowful) blossoming relationship since the comet left?

For war heroes, we sure are cowards, Katara thinks bitterly.

“Don’t be sorry,” she says. “I kissed you first, remember?”

Zuko smiles at the memory; it happened under a full moon, when he woke up for the first time since collapsing after the Agni Kai.

Katara gives him a pained smile as she sets her glass down. Before she gets up to leave, she runs a single hand through his hair and briefly rests her palm against his scarred cheek. “Good night, Zuko.”

He follows her in response.

The guilt that gnaws at her heart keeps her feet running. Maybe if I run fast enough, she thinks, I could put all this behind me.

But Zuko is agile and quick and he gets to her door long before she reaches the guest hallway.

“Don’t,” she begs, her voice straining through the tears threatening to fall. “Stop it.”

Zuko tightens his grip on the handles. “But you started it. You said it yourse–”

“I know!” she yells, tears leaking down her face. “Don’t you think that the guilt eats me every fucking day? Every fucking time she walks back into your life, my heart bursts with relief and guilt and so much pain – don’t you ever think that?”

“And do you think that’s any different from how I feel?” he yells back with unmasked remorse. “I see him every fucking day, Katara. He’s in every meeting, signing every scroll beside me, and every time he says something, I keep on having to absolve for my sins because, Agni forgive me, I’m in love with his girlfriend and she’s in love with me too.”

Visions of a heartbroken boy of arrows fill her mind – there’s so much yelling, crying, too many twisted apologies – and she all but crumbles when she says, “Get the fuck out.”

Zuko steps aside this time; but before she could bring a second foot through the door, he whirls her around and kisses her.

This kiss is different from its predecessors; it’s fervent, desperate, and filled with unspoken apologies – to whom, however, she doesn’t know – and she gives in, because they’re both wretched on the inside.

They fall onto her mattress in a mess of limbs and tears. She’s crying and whimpering all at once, whispering his name through pained moans; his breath quickens as he moves down her body, his own shaking with regret, relief, and (sick, twisted) pleasure. Through their agony and remorse, they hold each other like a lifeline – only letting go when he enters her.

Wretched, like they’ve always been.

When they finish, she thanks the spirits for the new moon that shrouds them in darkness.

—

When Zuko steps away from her to inspect Sokka’s new masterpiece, Katara starts to feel her head spin; she holds onto the parapet, her face blanching with fear and nausea. In her periphery, she sees Aang and Toph whirring earth and water against each other; the quick movements and the raucous laughter almost makes her double over.

Oh fuck.

She darts for the nearest bathroom, careful not to slam the door; when her knees touch the ground, she retches all of her stomach’s contents. No, no, no, she thinks as she grips the sides of the bowl. Her head continues swimming as she attempts to hurl the last of her insides. She hears the door open behind her, followed by the sound of alarmed voices. A flurry of what happened? Are you okay? What the hell was that all about, Sugar Queen? assail her ears. Her head begins to spin again.

Katara tries to shoot a weak smile their way, but her face quickly contorts to agony as she empties her stomach once more.

When her stomach settles and her head clears, she no longer hears her friends’ incessant questioning; but the tingle behind her neck tells her that someone’s behind her, and the said person hands her a damp cloth. She wipes her mouth with it. “Thanks,” she says, her voice too weak to be heard.

“You’re a wise girl, you know,” Suki says. Katara tenses at the sound of her voice; she’s helped Suki through enough scares to know what she’s thinking.

“But it’s not Aang’s, is it?”

Katara shakes her head; Suki sighs and gently pulls Katara up from the floor. “Well, it’s a new moon tonight.”

Katara looks at her with a mix of relief and pain; Suki steps back in surprise. “You want to keep it?”

Katara shakes her head and bites her lip; she doesn’t want to keep it, but why does it still hurt?

Suki gently squeezes her arm in understanding; she then bends her head forward and whispers, “Will you be able to bloobend tonight?”

“Yeah,” she replies, still shaking from all her retching. As they cross the wooden floor of the teashop, she sees her friends cast terribly-masked and worried glances her way.

Zuko is nowhere to be found; Mai gives her a blank – yet knowing – look.

Suki never lets go of Katara’s arm until she reaches her room; when they’re sure that they’re out of earshot, Suki says, “I told them it was the new bean juice that we had on our way here.”

“Coffee?” Katara asks, amusement flitting through her eyes. Suki smiles.

“Bean juice.”

—

The bloodbending that happens that night is quick; she keeps an iron grip Suki’s arm as she forces her own blood outwards. The searing pain only lasts for a few seconds before she begins to leak red, and when she does, she holds back a strangled cry.

“I’ll wait outside,” Suki says, shutting the door behind her. Katara uses her bloodbending again to check for any abnormalities in her blood flow and eliminate any chance of blood poisoning; when she’s sure that her body is safe, she cleans up.

When she exits the bathroom, she pulls Suki into a hug. “Thank you,” she says, gripping the warrior with all that her gratitude could offer. She allows a single sob to escape her; Suki hugs her tightly in response.

—

A few minutes later, Zuko shows up at her doorway.

“It’s gone,” she says through gritted teeth and unrestrained tears.

Zuko says nothing as he walks towards her and gathers her into his arms; she lets herself cave into him as the full weight of the last month collapses onto her shoulders. With Aang in the next room and Mai in his, she feels sick, twisted, and–

Wretched, like they always will be.

#zutara #zutaramonth #zutaramonth2020 #quarantumblr #otp: thanks to you #fickle #alternate title: wild and fluorescent come home to my heart #zkquarantine

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