#ask fire princess ursa

[ask-fire-princess-ursa]

How do you feel about your children? Just out of curiosity.

Wait actually better question what was your life like in the palace and how did your children factor into that?

1: How do I feel about my children?

What an odd question to ask me!

I adore both my children. Yes,  me and Azula have a troubled relationship, but she is so smart and powerful. I could hardly keep up with all that. I miss when she was younger and happy enough to play with me.

Zuko, on the other hand, has needed me more since his premature birth. He always needed me more.

Yet as the fire princess, I have to guide my children to be a vision of what our citizens should pride themselves to be; their lives will be as difficult as my own. Always on show, always acting as others expect, but it is what the nation needs.

2:

Life in the palace is complicated; my life is dedicated to my duties to the nation, to my husband, and to my children.

I am spoiled and pampered daily by not only the palace staff but also my husband, who has his ways to spoil me when he feels graceful enough to do so.

Raising children in the palace is the most comfortable life the children could have.

Although I was rather a hands-on mother compared to those before me, which baffled everyone around me.

The children were provided with the finest tutors in education and firebending; sometimes Ozai was involved in the firebending techniques our children were taught.

Of course, the children had education outside the palace in our capital's finest schools, as I thought they deserved some normal interactions outside the controlled walls.

Azula made friends at the finest all-girls school our capital has, while Zuko was eagerly awaiting entry into the military school, which all men in the royal family eventually attended. Of course, Zuko was also lucky enough to be taught by the famous sword master Piandao, which will prepare him for his future.

[demaparbat-hp]

Oh, Lala...

[melzula]

All I Ever Wanted

pairing: zuko x reader

notes: this was originally requested by an anon but i also took inspiration from mitski’s song “your best american girl” while writing this. give it a listen during your read !

summary: as a peasant and servant girl for the palace, you should have known better than to fall for the Prince

The sun is warm against your skin and the grass is soft beneath you as you land on your back in a fit of giggles. Azula is unamused by your antics, but Zuko finds himself laughing right along with you. It’s a peaceful summer’s day in the palace gardens, and you spend it as you would any other day by playing with your friends.

“I caught you,” you tell him with a breathless laugh after turning your head to face him.

“No way, I was just going easy on you,” he argues with playful grin, his nose nearly brushing against your own due to your close proximity on the grass. Your heart beats fast in your rib cage as you try to ignore the rising heat on your face and play it off as a result of your exhaustion and not your nerves from lying with the Prince. You haven’t realized it yourself, but you have a crush on Zuko, a painfully obvious one that he hasn’t seemed to notice yet. What you also don’t realize is that he reciprocates the feeling, and he shares the thrill that comes with being your playmate.

“Are you two done yet?” Azula finally interrupts with a roll of her eyes as she offers you her hand and helps you up from the ground. “It’s my turn to hide this time.”

“I don’t think we can play anymore,” Zuko notes with a frown as his mother makes her way towards your group. You quickly bow in respect to the Fire Lady, but she waves you off with a smile.

“I’m sorry, y/n, but Zuko and Azula must attend their fire bending lessons now. I’m afraid playtime is over for today,” she informs you apologetically.

“Yes, Fire Lady Ursa,” you reply politely before turning to give both of your friends departing hugs. “Bye Zuko, bye Azula!”

“It’s too bad you’re not a fire bender,” Azula remarks after halfheartedly returning your embrace. “Maybe dad would let us play with you more if you were.”

Her words make your body hot with embarrassment and shame, and though you don’t voice your discomfort Ursa is instantly able to pick up on it. With a scolding glare, the Fire Lady quickly urges her daughter to apologize.

“Azula, that is not a nice thing to say to a friend.”

“But it’s true,” the girl mutters under her breath only to have her mother drag her away before she can get the chance to say anything else. Zuko hesitates then, giving you an apologetic look and promising to play with you tomorrow before rushing after Ursa and Azula.

You’ve never really cared about being a non-bender, but there’s something about Azula’s words that has you questioning your worth. As the daughter of a royal family servant with no title or money to her name, you knew you were lucky to be able to grow up in the palace and play with the Fire Lord’s children. However, you never once realized that you weren’t their equal. They were royalty, a Prince and a Princess destined to become powerful benders and ruthless leaders of the Fire Nation, and you were simply a girl who would one day grow up to live a life of servitude. You had no real future or purpose ahead of you, not like they did, and yet you were the only one unaware of your unfortunate fate.

Perhaps it’s because they never treated you in such a way, and your mother did her best to shield you from your true heritage. For now you could grow up blissfully unaware of the fact that your friends would one day outgrow you.

“Mom?” Zuko asks once they’re safe inside the palace. “Do you like y/n?”

“She’s a sweet girl,” Ursa notes with a faint smile, “and she makes you both happy. So yes, I like her.”

“Then why doesn’t Dad?”

The Fire Lady’s smile fades into a remorseful frown, and she simply ushers her son forward with a shake of her head. “Let’s not worry about that now. You’re going to be late for your lesson.”

Zuko isn’t satisfied with her answer, but he isn’t give a chance to discuss it further with her. For now, he remains content with the fact that he likes you, and his mother likes you.

That is enough for him.

~~~

The day is calm as you carefully hang the clothes to dry and enjoy the warmth of the sun basking on your skin. It’s rare that you get tasked with the outdoor chores, so you savor the opportunity for as long as you can. Doing the royal family’s laundry certainly beats scrubbing the floors of the palace, and you are grateful the spirits have taken mercy upon you today.

You’re freshly fifteen and the summer is just beginning. You’ve grown into a well-mannered young woman, and you’re old enough now to be able to take on some of the work that once fell to your mother. One day you will take her place and continue to serve the royal family until you’re no longer physically able. You’ll never get to leave, but you consider yourself grateful to live on the palace grounds. You will forever have a roof over your head, food on the table, and, most importantly, your friends.

You take great care to pin Azula’s dresses down without getting any creases or wrinkles in the fabric, and you’re so lost in thought that you don’t notice the figure carefully creeping up behind you. You’re too busy reciting the words to an old Fire Nation folk song your mother had taught you to pay any mind to your surroundings, and it gives Zuko the perfect opportunity to catch you by surprise.

“Y/n!” He exclaims with a grin as his hands land firmly upon your shoulders. You nearly jump out of your skin at the act, and your reaction has the Fire Prince laughing so hard his cheeks begin to hurt.

“Zuko!” You scold with an irritated scowl as you chuck a handful of clothespins at him in retaliation. “You need to stop doing that!”

“I’m sorry, you just make it so easy,” he teases with a light nudge to your side before taking it upon himself to pick up the pins you’d discarded.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready to leave for Ember Island?” You ask him with a quizzical look as you resume your previous work of hanging the clothes.

“That’s actually what I was coming to talk to you about,” he admits with a sheepish smile. “I want you to come with us.”

“What? You’re not serious, are you?” You retort apprehensively, halting your movements to gauge his reaction for any hint of insincerity or humor.

“I am serious. You deserve to have fun once in a while too,” he notes with a careful smile. You’re too oblivious to notice the look of admiration on his face and definitely too concerned with finding a way to let him down gently to realize he’s inviting you because he likes you. Despite your own feelings for the Prince you’ve developed over the years, you’re much too self-depreciating to ever believe Zuko could possibly feel the same. If only you knew.

“I can’t just up and leave! There’s work to be done, a-and my mother would be so upset with me if I abandoned my chores and-“

“Azula will tell our father she wishes to bring you along as a personal servant so you can come with us, and someone else will be tasked with taking on your work while you’re away. There’s no way your mom could be upset with you for serving the Princess, could she?”

“Azula would really do that for me?” You question meekly, a hopeful glint in your eyes as you hang on to his every word. You’re trying your best not to get your hopes up, but you wish for nothing more than to leave the capital city to see the ocean for the first time and feel the sand beneath your feet. As the daughter of a servant and now a servant yourself, you know you’d never get a chance like this if not for the fact that the siblings had grown fond of you over your years of friendship together. You’re lucky, because you know without them you’d truly be nothing more than a floor scrubbing peasant.

“Of course she would, she wants you there just as much as I do,” Zuko assures you. Gently taking your hands in his own, he gives them a comforting squeeze and looks into your eyes with a loving smile. “We leave tomorrow morning. Bring enough clothes to last you three days and a bathing suit.”

“I don’t own one,” you admit with an embarrassed frown, but your friend doesn’t display any sign of judgement in the slightest towards your shortcomings.

“Then I’ll take you shopping myself when we get there.”

Your heart melts at his words, your gaze falling to the ground bashfully as you try not to dwell on the fact that he’s still holding your hands. You’re in love with the Prince, and the Prince is in love with you, and everyone but you has figured out just how much you mean to each other.

Even Fire Lord Ozai, who odiously watches the scene unfold before him from the top of the palace balcony.

~~~

The shores of Ember Island are beautiful.

The waves almost seem to sparkle underneath the moonlight as they crash peacefully against the shore, and down below the lively chatter of your friends carries through the air and fills your heart with contentment. You’ve had the most perfect time here at the beach, and it pains you to know that tonight will be your last night of freedom before you must return home and resume your life as a servant girl.

The wooden doors behind you carefully slide open and closed, and soon a familiar warmth joins you out on the balcony. For a while you say nothing, simply enjoying the closeness of him as you watch Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai practice tricks in the sand below. You don’t know how to thank the Prince for all he’s done for you, for always looking out for you since you were children, for never once treating you as less than for your heritage. You don’t know how to tell him that you love him with your entire being.

So he does it for you.

“I got you something,” Zuko says after a moment’s silence, waiting for you to turn your gaze to him so he may pull out a small clam from beneath his robes. You raise a curious eyebrow at his offering as he gestures for you to take it.

“A clam shell?” You note inquisitively as you turn the gift around in your palms, carefully feeling out its grooves and intricate ridges.

“Open it,” he directs you quietly, anxiously watching your movements with bated breath.

You smile curiously at your friend before delicately pulling the top half of the shell open to reveal the contents inside. Your eyes widen in surprise at the gift that greets you, and you immediately look up to Zuko to ensure this isn’t some kind of joke.

Inside the clam sits a beautiful gold necklace with a dainty sun pendant resting in the center that shimmers under the light of the moon. It’s beautiful, and it’s certainly worth more than your own life, which is why you immediately try to hand it back to him.

“I-I can’t accept this!” You hastily insist with a quick shake of your head as you struggle to return the clam to him. “It’s too nice!”

“You can accept this,” Zuko reassures you as he carefully pushes the gift back towards you. When his efforts fail due to your persistent attempts to give back the shell, he lets out a sigh and carefully removes the necklace from the clam. “Y/n, I want you to have it.”

“But why?” You demand apprehensively, almost flinching away when he moves towards you with the necklace. You’re completely overwhelmed by his gift and unsure of what it means or why you’d ever be deserving of such a thing. You don’t want to take advantage of his kindness or his status, and you feel like he’s done more than enough for you by bringing you along on this trip, so it just feels wrong of you to take it.

“Because you deserve nice things too,” Zuko explains, and after giving you a pointed look you finally allow him to carefully put the necklace on you. The sun rests daintily along your neck, and he thinks it suits you perfectly. “I brought you on this trip because I wanted you to have fun for once, but also because… well, because I love you, and I thought a romantic setting might make it easier to tell you that.”

“You love me?”

“You haven’t noticed?” He retorts with a meek smile. “I’m not the best at words, but I know that I’ve loved you since we were children feeding turtle ducks in the pond and playing tag in the gardens. You have the purest heart of anyone I know, the sweetest smile, you are everything to me. I hope that by accepting this gift, you’ll be accepting me as someone worthy enough to be your boyfriend.”

“Oh, Zuko…” you murmur softly, eyes full of tears as you throw yourself into his arms and hug him as tight as humanly possible. You’re still shocked by the fact that the boy you love will all your heart feels the same, but you try to remind yourself not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Zuko is right when he says that you deserve to enjoy what life has to offer just as much as he does, so maybe it’s time you finally start allowing yourself the chance to finally let your guard down. You can be more than just a servant girl from the palace.

You can be happy.

~~~

You sit quietly before the vanity mirror as your mother tediously brushes through your hair to ensure not a single strand is out of place. The wrinkles in her skin crease with her nerves as she carefully begins to pin your hair back into the perfect top knot. Immediately after your return home from Ember Island, you were informed that the Fire Lord wished to speak with you. You were expected to drop your chores for the day and make yourself decent before presenting yourself to him. His request to see you surprised you considering the fact you previously believed he didn’t even know of your existence, but it made you nervous all the same. If anything were to go wrong during your meeting, you’d be jeopardizing both yours and your mother’s jobs.

“Make sure to sit up straight and no slouching,” she reminds you quietly while stopping to admire her work. “Hold your tongue until he allows you to speak and thank him for all he has done for us. It is a great honor to speak to Fire Lord Ozai, so you must treat it as such.”

“Mother, what could the Fire Lord possibly want to talk to me about?”

She doesn’t meet your eyes at first, looking away as if contemplating carefully what her next words should be. With a sigh, she sets the brush down and looks at you through the reflection. “Word has spread quickly about you and Prince Zuko, and I think he knows.”

You swallow nervously at her admission, absently brushing your fingers against the sun that hangs around your neck. You never once considered what Zuko’s father would think about his son’s choice of a partner; Ursa had always treated you as one of her own, and Azula considered you to be a good friend, but what would Ozai say of the peasant girl who had stolen his son’s heart?

You don’t have much time to mull over it further as a guard arrives to escort you from your quarters to the throne room. All eyes seem to follow you as you walk through the palace, the gold and red hues overwhelming your senses as you do your best to remain calm. You have no idea what awaits you at the end of the hallway, but there’s no escape now as the grand doors open and you’re pushed inside.

Ozai sits on the throne with a wall of flames roaring behind him. His features are stoic but his gaze is menacing as his eyes watch your meager form approach. You immediately bow in respect to the man once you reach him and kneel before his seated figure. Just as your mother instructed, you say nothing until you are spoken to.

“So you’re the girl my son has chosen to be his partner?” He drawls with a raised brow, obviously not impressed by the person before him.

“Yes, sir. It is an honor to present myself to you, my Lord,” you profess as earnestly as possible while adding another bow for good measure. You need his approval not only to continue dating Zuko, but also to ensure you and your mother are both able to continue living behind the palace walls. Even if you are there as servants tucked away in the peasant quarters, it certainly is a better place to be than out in the streets.

“I know who you are, child,” Ozai scoffs callously as he peers down at you from his place on the throne. “You are the peasant girl who managed to worm her way into the lives of my children. You are a lowly servant with nothing to your name and nothing special about you, and yet you have managed to corrupt my only son."

“Fire Lord Ozai, I-I apologize if my actions have upset you,” you quickly try to interject, but he holds a hand up and signals you to halt your pathetic rambling. Ozai does not have the time nor care to hear your excuses or explanations. That’s not what this meeting is for.

“Do you know how poorly it would reflect on me to have Zuko galavanting around the palace with a servant? Do you know how poorly it reflects on him to be seen with you? It’s a disgrace, and it is something I will not tolerate.”

“I know,” you utter quietly, trying to make yourself appear as small as you feel on the inside. Despite what Zuko has told you, you know that his father is right. You are nothing compared to him. He is the sun, the Prince, the heir to the throne. His future ahead is bright, and there is much for him to accomplish. You have no future, no plans for your life, nothing as grand or important as him and Azula. You are not the sun or the moon or even the stars that hang in his sky, you are insignificant, and you will never be worthy enough to be his.

“A future Fire Lord cannot have a maid as a wife. You must break his heart so that he no longer wants anything to do with you, so that he can move on and find a girl more worthy of becoming the future Fire Lady. You must make it appear to be your own doing and not mine, otherwise it won’t work. Have I made myself clear, child?”

“Yes, Fire Lord Ozai,” you whisper softly, a single tear sliding down your cheek as you bow to the cruel man before you. “I understand.”

~~~

The clouds that hang overhead are gray as Zuko makes his way towards the servants’ quarters. It is unheard of for any royal to ever set foot on these grounds, and so all eyes watch the Prince curiously as he approaches your humble home and knocks gently on the door. Movement sounds from the other side, and after a moment he is met with the startled face of your mother. It’s clear that she hadn’t been expecting him, and he takes her by surprise when he bows to the woman in respect.

“I apologize for coming unannounced, but I was hoping I could speak to y/n,” he utters with a look of defeat on his face. His sullen features make his lack of sleep obvious, and his eyes are full of desperation. You’ve been avoiding him for weeks and he has no clue as to why, but he hopes to figure it out soon before he starts to spiral any further.

“She’s…” your mother begins to say, glancing unsurely behind her before looking back to him, “she’s not feeling well. You can come back another time.”

“But-“

“Please, Prince Zuko, we can’t risk you catching whatever it is she’s come down with. You must go.”

She gives him no time to argue before slamming the door in his face. Zuko is stunned, but his shock quickly turns to anger as he lets out a frustrated breath of flames from his mouth before stalking off to cool himself down.

His footsteps fade into the distance as he departs, and you can only sit by the window of your room and watch him walk away. There’s a tightness in your chest that makes you feel as if you can’t breathe, and once he finally disappears over the horizon you break down into an inconsolable mess.

You love Zuko with all of your heart, so it kills you to act as if he means nothing to you. You’re trying to do what Ozai has demanded of you, but it’s agonizing and difficult. You’re too much of a coward to face him and break it off for good, so you’ve resorted to avidly avoiding the Prince at all costs. You hope that by pushing him away he’ll take it upon himself to end the relationship; it would be much less painful that way, but he’s too stubborn for his own good, and he’s persisted despite your best efforts.

The days seem to blend together as you lock yourself in your room while your mother continues to turn Zuko away. You haven’t done any of your chores or worked in days, but Ozai has not faulted you for your incompletion of tasks. Breaking Zuko’s heart is your task, and so long as you keep your word he couldn’t care less what you did with yourself.

After another week has passed, suffocation finally catches up to you and you’re forced to leave your room in order to get some fresh air. You sneak out at nightfall when the palace is quiet and your mother is sleeping so that no one can detect your presence. You retreat to the well out in the back and stare contemplatively into the water below. Clutching the sun that hangs from the gold chain around your neck, you admire the moon’s reflection in the ripples and wish you could be anywhere else but here in the Fire Nation.

“I thought I’d find you here,” a voice utters quietly, causing you to jump in alarm at the intrusion. You turn to meet the solemn gaze of the Prince, and as your back hits the cool stones of the well you find that you are cornered. You can’t avoid him now, and it’s a fact both of you are aware of.

“Zuko, I… I was just leaving,” you stammer hurriedly as you try to push your way past him, but he catches you by the arm before you can get away.

“No, not until you talk to me!” He demands, his eyes full of desperation and despair. “You’re supposed to be my girlfriend, yet you keep avoiding me. Why? Was it something I did?”

“No, Zuko, you didn’t do anything,” you insist despite refusing to meet his gaze. You’re terrified that someone will see you both together and alert Ozai, and you wish he would just release you so you could go back to hiding away in your room.

“Then why won’t you even look at me?”

Slowly, you peek your head up to meet his exasperated face. It seems he’s not going to give up without a fight, so you’re going to have to resort to doing what you’ve been trying to avoid this entire time.

“I don’t love you.”

“W-What?” Zuko stammers in quiet surprise, his hold on your arm loosening slightly. He doesn’t believe what he’s hearing from you, and his mind is scrambling to process your words.

“I don’t love you. I want nothing to do with you,” you repeat firmly, your eyes hardening as you stare up at him and yank yourself free from his grasp.

“Y/n, you don’t mean that-“

“I do mean it! I feel nothing for you, Zuko. I never have. I just felt like I couldn’t say no to you because you’re the Prince, so I had no choice but to say yes to being your girlfriend.”

Hurt flashes across his features and you’re dying inside at having to be so cruel to him. The heart of your childhood best friend is in your hands and you crush it with every word despite how much it pains you. But it’s better for both of you this way, it must be. Ozai will never let you be happy together, but apart he still has a chance to capture the promised future ahead of him. You’re doing him a favor, and you hope one day he’ll be able to see it that way too.

“I don’t understand,” he murmurs weakly, tears beginning to well in his eyes. Then, with frustration clear in his tone, “This doesn’t make any sense!”

“Did you honestly think we could actually be together?” You retort in disbelief. “Azula always said you were a fool, but I didn’t think you were this naive. A servant and a Prince don’t belong together, and you’re the only one who can’t seem to get that!”

“Alright, fine,” Zuko mutters indignantly. His sadness has quickly morphed into anger, and you hate the way it makes you feel. “Can I just ask you one thing?”

You say nothing in response, and he takes your silence as a sign to continue.

“If you don’t love me, then why are you still wearing the necklace?”

Your eyes widen slightly as your hand immediately flies to your neck to clutch the pendant, and your heart slowly begins to sink to your stomach as you realize you’ve been caught in your lie. It’s your turn now to be at a loss for words, unsure what to say as you simply stare up at him with your mouth slight agape.

“You don’t mean what you’re saying,” Zuko says firmly as he moves closer to you. “Someone else is speaking for you, aren’t they?”

“I…”

“What’s going on, y/n?” He presses gently, carefully resting a hand upon your cheek. “Why are you acting this way?”

“I can’t tell you,” you argue weakly, your own eyes becoming full of tears as you allow yourself to melt into his touch. You’ve missed the feeling of his warmth and the comfort of his closeness, and despite your mind screaming at you to remove yourself from him your heart keeps you planted in place.

“That’s nonsense, of course you can. You’ve always been able to tell me anything, so why can’t you now?”

“Can’t you just believe me when I tell you it’s for your own good?” You plead emphatically despite the wavering of your voice.

“How can this possibly be for my own good?!” He retorts in exasperation. “I’ve been miserable without you. Life feels empty when you aren’t around, and I don’t know how to deal with the fact that the girl I’ve loved all my life can’t seem to stand me.”

“It’s not like that!” You cry defensively as the tears finally begin to fall.

“Then what is it?!” Zuko demands, and you can’t seem to take any more of this torture. The lies are killing you, and you can’t help but to finally crack under pressure.

“I’m not good enough for you!” You finally exclaim as you pull yourself away from his touch. You try to choke back your sobs but the ache in your chest makes the task difficult, and you can do nothing but let your words flow freely after keeping them bottled in for weeks. “I-I have nothing to offer you, nothing that makes me special, nothing ahead of me like you do. It’s an embarrassment to the Fire Lord for you to be with me, and it will be an embarrassment for you to have me as your Fire Lady.”

Stunned by your admission, it takes Zuko a moment to process your words. He steps towards you and you flinch, effectively breaking his heart in the process. It’s clear you’re frightened, but not of him. Your fear is geared toward someone else, and the culprit must be responsible for you now feeling this way.

“Who told you such nonsense?”

“Your father,” you admit quietly much to Zuko’s dismay. His eyes immediately harden and his chest is immediately tight with anger, but he does his best to keep his emotions at bay so as to not upset you further. “He spoke to me when we returned from Ember Island and told me we couldn’t be together. Ozai demanded I break your heart so that you can move on and find another girl more suited for this life than I could ever be. I didn’t want to, I still don’t want to, but I’m doing this so that you can have a better future. I’ll only hold you back, Zuko.”

After taking a moment to digest your words, Zuko carefully steps towards you again. You don’t reject his advances this time, so he allows himself the opportunity to carefully wipe away the steady tears that fall down your cool cheeks. Despite how much of a mess you assume you must look like, the Prince still sees you as the most beautiful girl he’s ever laid eyes on.

“I don’t care what my father says,” he assures you gently as he takes your hands in his own. “You’re not an embarrassment, and there’s no other girl that could ever compare to you. I love you, y/n, and I’m not going to let anyone ever get in the way of that.”

“You mean that?” You ask with a quiet sniffle, holding his hands tight as if he’ll leave if you let go.

“Every word. Let my father and anyone else who disapproves of our relationship say what they want to say. I want to be with you, and I hope you still want to be with me too.”

His looks to you with pleading eyes that seek your reassurance, and for a moment you hesitate. Being with Zuko is all you’ve ever wanted, and now he stands here before you professing his loyalty and his love to you. The boy from your childhood had stolen your heart, and you’d be lying if you said you wanted it back.

You know being with him won’t be easy, especially not with his father’s adamant disapproval of your relationship, but you trust Zuko, and so you have to trust that everything will turn out okay. You meet his desperate gaze and gift him a faint smile, and despite knowing you’ll regret this, you wordlessly lean in to meet his lips in a kiss.

You can worry about Ozai’s wrath later. But for now, you allow yourself to melt into his embrace by the moonlit well as you share your first kiss in weeks. It feels right being in his arms once more after spending so much time apart, and you hope you’ll never have to be without his touch ever again.

| zuko tags: @ilovespideyyy @yiyibetch @eridanuswave @lammello @a-monsters-love @taeeemin @livelaughlovekuni @lovialy @alexatiu

[twinklecupcake]

Azula is the Avatar.

Nobody is more trilled than Ozai.

The most powerful bender in the world, and they've been born into his family, as a firebender. It's a sign, he knows. Azula trains. Azula becomes his weapon.

The rest of the world doesn't stand a chance.

--

Azula is the Avatar.

The tiny toddler waves her hand and pulls a ribbon of water from the turtleduck pond, laughing to her brother to look at what she can do.

Zuko tries his best, but can't do the same.

Iroh watches and breaks into a cold sweat.

---

Azula is the Avatar.

Her mother takes her away with her, and won't turn back or tell Azula why, even when she pleads.

--

Azula is the Avatar. Iroh tells her that her bending is impressive, but she must never show her father. She must never show anyone.

Azula doesn't understand. Isn't this just a sign of how powerful she is?

She shows off her bending in front of her father.

Any amusements she'd been permitted before are immediately taken from her, and her life is a rigid regiment of training. She doesn't see the rest of her family again. She trains hard, becoming her father's weapon.

He's all she has, she must make him proud.

--

Azula is the Avatar, and she shows off her bending in front of her father. The next morning, the princess has been killed.

---

Azula is the Avatar, and something about the graveness in Iroh's voice, the way her mother holds herself, convinces her not to bend earth again. Never to show anyone else what she can do.

She, Zuko, Iroh, and Ursa share the secret between them.

Zuko is exiled and told only finding the Avatar will restore his honor.

For an instant, Azula's heart skips.

But Zuko leaves, knowing full well the Avatar is in the palace.

Alone in the palace with Ozai.

--

Azula is the Avatar.

She trains in secret, bitterly thinking that if she has the power and the ability, there's no way anyone is telling her she can't keep bending anything but fire.

She lives two lives: the perfect Fire Nation Princess with her father, and disguised girl in the city who bends earth and water with the precision of a master.

One day she lets her friends - Mai and Ty Lee - in on her secret. She can trust them not to leave.

Another day, she casually bends the wall open. "Ready to blow this pop stand?" she asks.

--

One day she lets her friends Mai and Ty Lee in on her secret.

She can't trust them not to leave, so she tells them of her power, so they'll know they have to stay with her.

--

Azula is the Avatar, and she stows away on Zuko's ship. By the time she shows herself, it's too late to turn back, and her older brother helps cut her hair to hide herself.

--

Azula is the Avatar, and she trains and bides her time until her father sends her off on a ship of her own.

She brings Mai and Ty Lee, and a small, carefully-chosen group of soldiers and attendants.

Instead of heeding her father's orders, she goes the opposite direction.

--

Instead of heeding her father's orders, she fakes a shipwreck. The three girls go into the Earth Kingdom in disguise.

--

Azula is the Avatar, and after years of being her father's weapon, she turns against him. Ozai is battered by fire, earth, and water together, and Azula takes his throne for her own.

"You should have feared me more."

--

Azula is the Avatar, and she returns to the Fire Nation with all four elements at her hands. She looks Ozai dead in the eyes, wanting him to know exactly who she is.

"You should have feared me more."

[cobra-diamond]

Who Cared for Azula?

And which of them did she hurt?

Some people will read this and think the answer is obvious. The answer is not obvious. Azula in the Spirit Temple contains a particularly puzzling scene that feels eerily out-of-place and concerns the titular subject: who cared for Azula, and which of them did she hurt? I’m referring to this scene:

Spoilers under the cut.

Who is the Zuko ghost referring to? Honestly ask yourself this: who cared for Azula, and of those people, which of them did she hurt?

Her mother?

Ursa more than likely loves, and at a minimum cares for, her daughter despite us never seeing Ursa act affectionate and snugly toward Azula as she does Zuko, but Azula never hurt her mom. She was a young kid when Ursa left. Is the ghost referring to The Search? Smoke & Shadow? Azula never mentions the face change, Kiyi, the Kemurikage, any of that. Those comics barely seem to exist for this comic.

No, not Ursa.

Her father?

I’d be hard-pressed to say that Ozai loves his daughter, but he definitely cares for her. But Azula didn’t hurt her father. Failing to prevent Zuko’s coup? Mentally falling apart in the biggest moment? Lying to him about Zuko killing the Avatar? Maybe? That can’t be what the Zuko ghost is referring to, but I can believe Azula feels guilt over the events of Sozin’s Comet and that she, in part, is responsible for his current sorry state.

Maybe her father.

Her uncle?

Iroh is not shown to “care” for his niece. Be cordial, polite, neutral, yes, but affectionate? Devoted? No way. Azula only hurts Iroh after he hurt the Fire Nation, as a traitor, as per her father’s orders. Azula did not hurt Iroh personally and Iroh did not care for Azula personally either. Iroh did, after all, fail to avenge Lu Ten’s death and abandoned the siege. That’s not Azula’s fault. Other people in the Fire Nation, and Earth Kingdom, dislike him too.

Definitely not Iroh.

Her brother?

Zuko is never shown to care for his sister. Let me make something clear: siblings do no tend to leave each other as they love their parents. Perhaps in an ideal world deep sibling love is the standard, but there’s a reason siblings terrorizing each other is a meme: they want all the parental attention for themselves. And this happens between Zuko and Azula. Zuko is bitter toward his sister, highly competitive, and harbors a massive inferiority complex. Zuko is never shown to be loving, affectionate, or personally devoted to her. In fact, Azula is shown displaying more evidence of sibling love than Zuko, but that is neither here nor there. Azula has hurt Zuko, yes, but Zuko did not care for her. Zuko is not someone who cared for Azula, and who Azula hurt. He’s primarily a rival whose weakness she didn’t care for.

Not Zuko.

Mai?

Mai cared for Azula? In what way? When is Mai shown being affectionate, loving, and personally devoted to Azula? When does Mai bring Gatorade and Campbell’s over to Azula when she is sick? Mai is as biting and sarcastic and nasty as Azula at times. And how exactly did Azula hurt Mai in such a way as to draw feelings of guilt from Azula? Azula helped bring Zuko home so Mai could get back together with him. Azula “freed” Mai from Mai’s parents and Omashu. How did Mai care for Azula outside of taking orders from her nation’s princess?

Not Mai.

Ty Lee?

Maybe. Did Ty Lee care for Azula? Did Ty Lee love Azula, feel affection and personal devotion to her? She hugged her in Return to Omashu and was excited to see her, but she turned down her “beloved friend’s” offer without a second thought. Did Ty Lee want Azula as a friend at that point, or was she upset Princess Azula knew of her and wished she had never known her? Azula definitely hurt Ty Lee at the circus, without a doubt. But did Ty Lee care for Azula? All we see is Ty Lee giving Azula lousy dating advice that did nothing to assuage Azula’s self-esteem issues. That’s love? That’s care?

Azula hurt Ty Lee, but did Ty Lee care for Azula? Maybe, but likely no.

Lo and Li?

Lo and Li said they were concerned for her well-being. Nobody else ever said anything like that to Azula throughout the show, nor any expanded content since. Yeah, they might have cared for her. Maybe they even loved her. I have a hard time saying Lo and Li were good for her, but it does seem they took a personal interest in Azula. And Azula banished them unfairly. She hurt them. And they appeared to care for her.

Yes, Lo and Li.

Her servants?

Her servants technically cared for her, cooking meals, doing laundry, her hair. They seemed shocked when Azula banished the girl holding the cherries. Perhaps some of them loved her, having known her for her whole life. I find it plausible Azula’s servants felt affection and personal devotion to Azula. And she hurt them. She unfairly banished them. They didn’t deserve it. And they cared for her.

Yes, her servants.

Her Imperial Firebenders?

Maybe? I assume they were mostly men and some women. I imagine at least some of those men were attracted to their princess, and I imagine some of those women were impressed by their princess’ firebending prowess. I can’t say they loved her or were affectionate, but they were certainly dutiful, at least duty-bound. And she banished them unfairly.

Yes, her Imperial Firebenders. They didn’t deserve it at least.

Her Dai Lee agents?

Screw the Dai Lee. They are scumbags. She was right to kick their sorry asses to the curb.

Who else? Her Fire Warriors?

How did she hurt them? She rescued them from the asylum!

The Zuko ghost confused me, and I find it interesting that it also confused Azula. Of all the dialogue in the comic, this felt the most unnatural, disturbing even, and Azula’s expressions during the encounter reflect that same feeling.

The Zuko ghost doesn’t sound like the rest of the comic. Azula had responses to all the ghosts until that point. The previous discussions concerned topics that felt natural to Azula’s perspective and experiences. The Zuko ghost don’t sound like it is expressing Azula’s self-loathing and creeping doubt the other ghosts conveyed.

To me, it sounds like it was speaking fandom talking points.

Grey Delisle, many years ago, said in an interview that she thinks Azula manipulates people into being her friends because she’s afraid people will leave her. The comic almost says this verbatim.

Certain fans believe that Azula took advantage of scores of people who were weaker than her, or dependent on her as would a petty toxic individual in an abusive interpersonal relationship, regardless of her station as princess. They, without question, cite Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee as being the prime examples.

Of the three, Zuko is the only one she took advantage of for petty reasons, and primarily as a poorly-raised child. For Ty Lee, she gave her the medieval lord treatment to rip her from the smelly circus where platypus-bears lay eggs out in the open. Mai? I don’t see it. But the Zuko ghost is not talking about people she hurt in general. It’s talking about people who cared for her that she hurt.

Zuko has hurt Azula. Ty Lee has hurt Azula. Mai has especially hurt Azula. But did these people care for her? Did she betray their love they held for her?

I don’t think Zuko, Mai, or Ty Lee “cared” for Azula by the time the events of the show roll around. The Zuko ghost sounds like it is using fandom talking points from certain fans who hold the most pessimistic interpretations of Azula’s behavior.

I find it notable that Azula is drawn with a confused and disturbed expression while she is being confronted by the most off-sounding accusations. I also find it notable that the ghost delivering these accusations turns into a threatening monster. I also find it notable that she winds up killing this ghost.

Maybe it is a metaphor.

To answer the question, "Who cared for Azula, and which of them did she hurt?" It appears to be Lo and Li, her servants, and Imperial Firebenders. Maybe Ty Lee and maybe her father. But think of all the arguments over Azula and her interpersonal relationships. Does anyone care about Lo and Li getting banished? Her servants getting wrongfully accused of trying to assassinate her? Her Imperial Firebenders for being disloyal? Her father being in prison and debended at the hands of Zuko and his supporters?

Of course not, it's always Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee, but the evidence that they "cared" for her is flimsy at best. The people who Azula should feel most guilty about hurting are the ones we, as fans, and the narrative, give the least amount of sympathy to.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

── THE GLASS PRINCESS // FIVE

Series Synopsis: You wake up in a strange room with no memories, broken glass at your bedside, and a prince named Zuko as your only chance at figuring out who you really are.

Chapter Synopsis: You visit Ember Island with Jia-Li and grow closer with her and her brother. Everything comes to a head, though, when a party on the island goes wrong.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Zuko x Reader

Chapter Word Count: 7.4k

Content Warnings: complicated relationships (strangers to friends to lovers to enemies to strangers to lovers to enemies to lovers), amnesia, alternate universe, lots of secrets and lying and mystery

A/N: would you guys believe if i said i thought we’d already know reader’s real identity this many words into the fic?? anyways enjoy the fun times while they last folks because trust it will be getting angsty at some point probably

Dear Zuko,

I’m sorry for whatever I did that made you angry with me. Please forgive me. I don’t want you to be upset.

Sincerely, Ursa

P.S. Destroying Chan’s house was wrong, but since it was him, I won’t chide you. Jia-Li and I also participated a bit, so it would be hypocritical, anyways.

P.P.S. I’m not friends with Ruon-Jian anymore. 

Though you had been at sea for quite a bit of time now, you still had not grown bored of staring at the ocean. Jia-Li had sat back down under the shade of the silk canopy a while ago, eating a bowl full of ice cream and watching you in amusement as you stood at the prow and peered down into the water.

“It’s so beautiful,” you said.

“You’ve said that like a hundred times,” Jia-Li teased you.

“I know, I just…I just can't get over it. I’ve never seen anything quite so blue,” you said, though this was somewhat a lie. That blue from your memories, it resembled this water in depth, though not in texture — the water was clear and lucid, whereas the blue you remembered was harsh and matte.

“I guess I should be glad that you’re enjoying yourself already! Just think about it — you haven’t even gotten to Ember Island yet, and you’re having so much fun. Imagine how much better it’ll be once you’re there!” Jia-Li said.

“I can’t wait,” you said dreamily. “As long as we can go swimming, I’ll be happy.”

“Of course,” she said. “We’ll swim every day! My brother wrote to me, he said that the tides have been forgiving this season. Maybe I can convince him to teach you how to ride the flying dolphin fish. He always shoos me away whenever I ask, but it’s impossible to hate you, Ursa, so he’ll definitely say yes.”

You had been growing accustomed to that name. It still felt like an alias at times, but it was a familiar one, said around you so often that you barely even hesitated before responding to it.

“It’s fine if he doesn’t,” you said. “Though it would be nice to learn something like that…”

“Maybe you should ask him!” Jia-Li said. “There’s no way he can refuse then!”

“I wouldn’t want to be imposing,” you said immediately, shaking your head. “He shouldn’t have to do something just because he’s too guilty to say no.”

“No, I was more thinking along the lines of ‘you’re pretty and he doesn’t say no to pretty girls’, actually,” she said. “He’ll be happy to oblige you, but if it’s a request from his little sister, he’s likely to say no just to be contrary.”

“We’ll see,” you said after ruminating on it for a second. “Also, thank you for the compliment.”

“It’s just the truth,” Jia-Li said. “But since we’re on the subject — I know you don’t have memories, so you can’t answer about your past life, but what about recently? Have you had a crush on someone before?”

“A crush?” you said.

“Yeah! I mean, have you ever liked anyone?” she said.

“I like a lot of people,” you said. “For example, you and Ty Lee.”

“No, silly, not in that way. I mean liking someone romantically,” Jia-Li elaborated. “I know a few of the boys in the Royal Fire Academy for Boys have been talking about you, so I was just curious.”

“Oh!” you said, covering your face with your hands so that she could not see the embarrassment blooming on it. “I didn’t know that they were.”

“Sure, of course they are! They talk about a lot of us, so it makes sense, and anyways I wasn’t lying when I said you’re pretty. They’re all too scared to actually talk to you, but I’m sure that if you went to the market alone and met one of them, they’d propose on the spot,” she said.

The academies for girls and boys had separate campuses, but they were run conjointly, so that your breaks aligned and your events were held in tandem. Though you tended to avoid attending sporting matches, you had gone to one or two in your time as a student, so you supposed that must’ve been when you had become a viable prospect for whatever nonsense Jia-Li was spouting.

“I don’t talk to any boys,” you pointed out. “Even if any of them like me, I don’t know them, so I can’t say I like them back.”

“You talk to the prince a lot,” she said.

“What?” you said.

“Did you really think I didn’t notice how often you send letters to him via Bian?” she chided. You coughed uncomfortably.

“Um, well, he is my benefactor, so I have to keep him updated with my day-to-day activities,” you said. “It’s, er, part of my scholarship, you know.”

It was not, but Jia-Li seemed to buy the lie readily enough, nodding sagely, though not without a dramatic pout.

“That does check out, but it’s not nearly as exciting as a secret love affair or letters written out of pining and sent with longing, stamped with your heart’s greatest desire for a man that can never be your own!” she said.

“Sorry?” you said. “I don’t think any of that fits the situation, though.”

She sighed. “It’s okay.”

“What about you? Do you have any crushes?” you said, recognizing that this was the logical next step in the conversation. Jia-Li blushed and looked at the wooden paneling of the deck, using her fingers to twirl the hair which escaped her ponytail to frame her face.

“Yes,” she said. “Kind of. But it’s someone who I shouldn’t like, and who would never like me back, so I’ve never said anything.”

“Who?” you said. “Your family is pretty influential, isn’t it? I can’t imagine most anyone rejecting you. Unless you like Prince Zuko and are projecting your ‘heart’s greatest desire for a man that can never be your own’ onto me?”

“No way!” Jia-Li said. “It’s more complicated than him being of a higher ranking than me.”

“Then what is it?” you said.

“He’s my brother’s best friend!” she said, all in a rush, her entire face in flames at the confession.

“Oh,” you said, cringing in empathy. “I see. He would not approve?”

“Definitely not,” she said. “But there’s something worse than him not approving: marrying this boy would mean having Kaho as a sister-in-law!”

“Oh, Agni,” you said, slapping your palm against your forehead. How had you forgotten? It was the only reason Jia-Li was somewhat exempt from Kaho’s reign of terror, despite her association with you: her brother and Kaho’s were best friends. But if she liked Kaho’s brother, then what would that mean?

“That’s the scenario,” she said. “And to top it all off, he’s notoriously popular with girls. He probably wouldn’t even look at me twice. I’ll always just be Ruon-Jian’s annoying little sister to him.”

“I doubt that that’s true,” you said as you approached the docks. “Really, Jia-Li, I don’t think that's the case. You said his family will be on Ember Island at the same time as us?”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Although Kaho mentioned not being able to come — something about volunteering as a scribe for some official meeting that the Fire Lord will be hosting over the weekend.”

“Perfect! That’ll be our goal, then,” you said.

“Huh?” she said.

“We’re going to get you noticed by your crush! Who cares about the consequences? Kaho and your brother can just deal with it, and if they have something to say, then they can talk to me,” you said.

“That’s nice of you to offer, but what would you even do?” Jia-Li said.

“I don’t know,” you said. “Talk to them, I guess. Kaho already doesn’t like me, so it’s not a tragedy if she hates me more, and I don’t know your brother that well, so if he and I don’t get along after that kind of conversation, it won’t be a great loss.”

“Do you really think we can do something like that?” she said.

“We have to try,” you said. “You deserve it, Jia-Li.”

“Thank you,” she said, swallowing. “You’re a really good friend, Ursa. If you ever change your mind and decide you do like Prince Zuko after all, just let me know—”

“Jia-Li!” you warned her, though the threat fell flat, as she only laughed in return.

Jia-Li’s home on Ember Island was close to the docks, and it was right on the water. She told you as you walked up the seashell-lined path that that stretch of sand was actually a private beach that belonged to her family, so you wouldn’t have to worry about anyone bothering you while you were there.

“Sometimes my brother goes to the bigger beach a little ways away, though,” she said. “They like seeing other people our age and hanging out with them and whatnot.”

“Maybe when I’m a little more confident, we can try it,” you said. “For now, I’m just glad we have our own space where I don’t have to be worried about embarrassing myself in case I drown or something.”

“I wouldn’t let you drown,” Jia-Li said. “But I’m fine with that plan. It’s not like I have some huge desire to be on a massively crowded beach with the others, so it’s not heartbreaking for me if we just stay here the whole time.”

“Now, now, not the whole time,” you said. “We have to leave the house at some point so we can meet this guy you like!”

“I’m still not so sure about that,” she said, pulling out a key from her pocket and using it to unlock the front door. “Now hush, I don’t need my brother overhearing us. We can talk more later tonight or something.”

“On it,” you said, pretending to seal your lips shut. She rolled her eyes before motioning you after her. Carefully, you stepped into the grand foyer, scuffing your shoes on the welcome mat to rid them of the sand. Jia-Li smiled in approval, presumably at your politeness, and you smiled back at her.

“Mother, father!” Jia-Li shouted. “Ruon-Jian! Ursa and I are here!”

Jia-Li’s mother peeked her head around the corner, nodding demurely at the two of you, though it was deeper and more reverent when it came to you. She looked exactly like Jia-Li, only a little older, her features aged, the cut of her face sharper.

“It is good to meet you,” she said. Her voice was musical and quiet, carefully controlled — it was the culmination of years of training as the wife of a high-ranking Fire Nation official. It was what you and Jia-Li and Kaho and Ty Lee would one day sound like, once you had graduated from the academy and were ready to enter society properly.

“And you as well, madam,” you said, clasping your hands, bowing your head slightly. “Thank you for welcoming me into your home. It is greatly appreciated.”

“You are so polite,” Jia-Li’s mother said, the slightest traces of happiness flickering over her face. “I am glad Jia-Li has such an exemplary friend to look up to.”

“Nice to see you, too, mother,” Jia-Li said. Her mother laughed, opening her arms.

“Come here, then,” she said. Jia-Li brightened, racing into her mother’s arms and hugging her. You looked away, feeling like you were intruding on the moment and wishing you had your own mother to embrace like that.

“Where’s father?” Jia-Li said. Her mother sighed.

“He and Admiral Chan were called back to the palace for some important meeting, so they’re not on the island for the moment,” she said.

“It must be the meeting Kaho is scribing for,” you said.

“Most likely,” Jia-Li said. “Do you think he’ll be able to come back before I leave for the academy again? I haven’t seen him in so long.”

“I’m not sure, darling,” her mother said. “If he is still in the capital by the time your boat leaves the docks, I will send him a message to stay in the capital and receive you before he returns.”

“Thank you,” she said. “What about Ruon-Jian? Where is he?”

“Oh, that boy, he’s being as troublesome as ever. I believe he’s locked in his room at the moment. Ruon-Jian! Please come downstairs and say hello to your sister and her friend!” her mother said. It was strange — even yelling, she sounded soft and polite, which should not have made sense but somehow did.

“Why?” a deep, grumbling voice said. There were heavy footsteps on the stairs, evidence that Jia-Li’s brother was on his way but wasn’t exactly happy about it. “I don’t wanna meet Jia-Li and her stupid friend — woah.”

Her brother was tall and willowy, with shaggy brown hair that fell into his face, giving him an effortlessly cool appearance. His eyes were the same color as Jia-Li’s, but that was about where their similarities ended. If you had seen him outside, without introduction, you wouldn’t have been able to guess that they were siblings in the first place.

“This is Ruon-Jian,” Jia-Li said when it became obvious that her brother wasn’t going to introduce himself. He was far too busy staring at something, his jaw dropped and his eyebrows raised, though when Jia-Li spoke, he was able to pull himself together, running his hand through his hair and then smirking.

“That’s right,” he said. “The name’s Ruon-Jian.”

“That’s what I just said,” Jia-Li said.

“What about you?” he said. You looked from side to side, wondering who he was talking to, and then you realized it was you, which meant that the thing he had been staring at was also…

“Ursa,” you said. “I’m Ursa.”

You weren’t sure how you felt about the attention. Maybe you liked it, or maybe you didn’t. It was strange and fluttering and unfamiliar in the pit of your stomach, and behind your back, you wrung your hands nervously.

“Ursa,” he said. “Great name. It’s as pretty as you are.”

“Um, I guess if I knew who my parents were, I’d pass along the compliment,” you said.

“Wicked,” he said. “So, what are you doing on Ember Island?”

“She’s my friend, idiot. My roommate from the academy,” Jia-Li said.

“Shh, Jia-Li, I’m trying to get to know her better! Stop talking and interrupting her,” Ruon-Jian said. You exchanged bewildered looks with Jia-Li’s mother, while at your side, Jia-Li fumed, the air shimmering from the heat she gave off as a Firebender.

“She’s right,” you said. “I’m her roommate back at school. She’s one of my greatest friends.”

“Sick,” he said.

“I don’t think I am,” you said, puzzled.

“It’s slang,” Jia-Li said.

“I understand,” you said, although you didn’t, not fully. This way of speaking was entirely foreign to you, but you figured that if you had Jia-Li with you to translate, you’d probably be alright.

“Who’s your family, Ursa?” Ruon-Jian said.

“I don’t have one,” you said.

“Word?” he said.

“He’s asking if that’s the truth,” Jia-Li whispered. “It’s like saying ‘really?’”

“It is the truth,” you said. “I have no memories. I am the girl that the royal family sponsored to study at the academy after I was rescued from the Earth Kingdom.”

“No way!” Ruon-Jian said. “That’s so cool!”

“Not really,” Jia-Li said. “She doesn’t remember anything. Including her family. Idiot.”

“If I could forget you, I’d do so in a heartbeat,” Ruon-Jian said.

“Well, I’d do the same!” Jia-Li snapped. You cleared your throat.

“I’m just grateful to Prince Zuko for saving me and ensuring my future,” you said. “He, and the rest of the royal family, are likely the reason I’m still alive and standing before you today.”

“Word,” Ruon-Jian said.

“I am not lying this time, either,” you affirmed.

“No, that was more of an expression of agreement,” Jia-Li said.

“I am a little confused,” you said. “But I shall trust you on this one, Jia-Li.”

“Do you have plans for the week?” Ruon-Jian said.

“Jia-Li is going to teach me to swim,” you said, beaming at Jia-Li, who gave you a high-five in return. “Beyond that, no, not really.”

“We were going to ask you if you could teach her to ride the flying dolphin fish,” Jia-Li said. “I know you’d never teach me, but—”

“Definitely!” Ruon-Jian said, cutting Jia-Li off. “I’ll teach you anything you want, Ursa.”

Heat rushed into your face, and you bit your lower lip, shifting from foot to foot nervously. Glancing at Jia-Li, who shrugged, you trained your attention on the ground instead of looking at Ruon-Jian when you responded.

“I think that that would be fun,” you said.

“We’ll get started tomorrow,” he said.

“Ruon-Jian, usually I’m joking when I say it, but you really are an idiot! How can you teach her to ride flying dolphin fish if she doesn’t even know how to swim?” Jia-Li said.

“The day after tomorrow, then!” Ruon-Jian declared. “See you around, Ursa!”

With that, he bounded back upstairs, taking the steps two at a time, leaving you, Jia-Li, and her mother standing in the foyer, somehow even more confused than before.

The next day was somehow sunnier and brighter than the previous, which was a relief, as it was the day you were supposed to learn to swim. At present, you were wearing one of Jia-Li’s sets of swimming clothes, your towel spread out on the sand as you looked at the ocean with furrowed brows.

“You ready?” Jia-Li said.

“I think so,” you said.

“Let’s go!” she said. Without waiting for you, she charged into the water, flopping onto her stomach once it was deep enough for her to do so. Not even taking a second to think, you sprinted in after her, and when the water rose to the level of your thighs, you didn’t second-guess yourself. Using your legs to push off, you dove into the water, jetting through it, forcing your eyes open and laughing soundlessly as you wove amongst the flowing bubbles and colorful fish that decorated the ocean.

It was many seconds later that you pushed your way to the surface, taking a deep breath, your legs churning the water so that you stayed afloat. Some ways away, Jia-Li had done the same, though she was busily scanning the shore for where you might be.

“Jia-Li!” you called out. “Over here!”

“Ursa!” she said, clapping her hands in delight. “I guess you do know how to swim!”

“I guess so!” you said, overcome with a rush of euphoria at the weightless feeling the water afforded you. Jia-Li paddled over to where you were treading, doing the same beside you so that you two could talk.

“That means you can learn to ride the flying dolphin fish sooner rather than later,” she said slyly. You lowered your eyes.

“Maybe,” you said.

“I knew it!” she squealed. “You have a crush on my brother!”

“No!” you said, far too quickly to sound convincing. “I mean. No.”

“You do!” Jia-Li said. “I can’t understand why you’d ever have a crush on him, but I guess there’s really someone out there for everyone.”

“I don’t even know him,” you said. “Sure, he’s cool and all, but I don’t know the first thing about who he is as a person. How can I say for certain that I have a crush or anything?”

“That’s why you have to get to know him,” Jia-Li said, poking you in the forehead. “Right?”

“True,” you said. “Then I can tell you for certain how I feel. What about you, though?”

“What about me?” she said innocently.

“When will I get to meet this mysterious crush of yours? You can hardly expect to pursue him if you never even go to see him!” you said. She splashed you with water.

“I’m not about to just go visit his house for no reason! It would be weird,” she said.

“Maybe a little bit,” you said. “But there has to be a way for you to accidentally run into him! And when I say accidentally, of course it won’t be an accident at all, but it’ll appear to be one.”

“Just forget about it,” Jia-Li said. “It’s not a big deal. If it’s meant to be, something will come up.”

“If that’s what you want,” you said. “But you have to promise me that if something comes up, as you say it will, you’ll really try your hardest.”

“Okay,” Jia-Li said in determination. “If there is some opportunity for me to talk to him, I’ll do it.”

“That’s the way!” you said. “Now, let’s race. I want to see how fast I am, too.”

“First one to that bit of driftwood wins?” Jia-Li said, pointing at a smoothed-over log floating in the distance.

“You’re on,” you said. “Three, two — hey, I didn’t say go yet! Jia-Li!”

You could not remember ever having as much fun as you did during that time on Ember Island. You and Jia-Li spent hours lazing around on the beach or swimming in the water, eating whatever her family’s chef prepared for you, drinking fruit juice that was sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, oftentimes both. At night, you would stay up until the moon was high in the sky, giggling and exchanging secrets and stories, making fun of your classmates and the boys in the Royal Academy for Boys.

“You know, one of them has a shrine dedicated to Kaho,” Jia-Li told you one night. You howled with laughter.

“No!” you said.

“Yes, he really does! He found a portrait of her and leaves money and food in front of it every week,” she said.

“You’re making that up,” you said.

“Nope, I found out during one of the sporting matches,” she said. “I was a little disgusted, but now that I see the humor in it, I confess I’m entirely amused by the entire thing.”

You would sleep late into the day, sometimes missing the morning entirely and only waking up for the afternoons. Jia-Li’s mother never scolded you two for it, saying that she was happy you were catching up on your rest, since dark circles were not comely on a woman or something along those lines.

Sometimes, Ruon-Jian would spend a few minutes with you both, but for the most part, he was off with Chan, his best friend and Kaho’s older brother. When he was with you, he was usually sitting at your side, making fun of his sister and complimenting you all at once. And even though you barely knew him, you had to admit that it was nice to have someone paying such close attention to you for once, treating you as if you were worthy of his time and entirely normal, the way he was, instead of tiptoeing around you and your lost memories.

“You ready, Ursa?” Ruon-Jian said, plopping down on the bench beside you as you and Jia-Li ate breakfast — or was it lunch, at this point?

“For what, Ruon-Jian?” you said, batting your eyelashes at him. From across the table, Jia-Li pretended to gag.

He elbowed you in the side. “To learn to ride flying dolphin fish, of course!”

“Yes!” you said, shooting to your feet. “I thought you’d forgotten!”

“How could I forget about you?” he said. “The currents just haven’t been right for a beginner recently. You should’ve seen how badly Chan wiped out the other day!”

You glanced at Jia-Li. She mimed falling over, and you gave her a discreet thumbs up.

“You didn’t fall, though, did you?” you said. Ruon-Jian beamed and flexed his arms.

“’Course not. I’m way better than Chan,” he bragged.

“Very impressive. Then there must be no one in the Fire Nation more equipped to teach me,” you said.

“Not a single person,” he agreed.

“I can’t bear to watch any more of this,” Jia-Li muttered to no one in particular. “You guys have fun. I’m going to collect our clothes so that they can get washed, Ursa.”

She left without another word, though as she walked away, you thought you caught her saying something about how you could do better. Ignoring it, you followed after Ruon-Jian towards the beach behind his house, struggling to keep up with his brisk stride.

“There’s a pod of flying dolphin fish that visits our beach pretty regularly,” he said. “We should be able to catch a ride there.”

“Okay,” you said. “Is it safe?”

“We’ll ride the same one, so I can look after you, but on the whole, flying dolphin fish are very docile, so as long as the waves are gentle, it’s fine,” he said. “That’s why I’ve been waiting to take you out.”

“That sounds good,” you said. He whistled.

“That’s how we call them. Now, we just have to wait until they come,” he said, pulling you forward to stand beside him.

“Then what?” you said.

“It’s a surprise,” he said. “Just kidding! Then we swim out and find the friendliest one and get on.”

It took a few minutes, but eventually, in the distance, there were splashes. Ruon-Jian whooped in delight, grabbing your hand and dragging you after him before you could protest.

“They were fast today!” he said. “Let’s go before they decide to leave again!”

Ruon-Jian was a little faster than you at swimming, though you had been faster than Jia-Li. You didn’t feel insulted, though; he spent much of his time in the ocean, so it was to be expected that he was better than both you and his sister alike. The end result was that he reached the flying dolphin fish before you, and had already mounted one by the time you swam up to its side.

“How do I get on?” you said.

“You don’t,” he said, using his legs to hold onto the body of the flying dolphin fish and then bending over to pull you out of the water and set you in front of him.

“Thanks,” you said, suddenly very aware of how close he was to you, how he held onto your waist and rested his chin on your shoulder.

“Just rest your hands on its head,” he said. “Like that. Good job! I’ll do all the steering and stuff with my legs, so don’t worry about that for now. All you have to do is focus on your balance.”

“Got it,” you said.

“Then let’s get going!” he said, clicking at the flying dolphin fish, which took off with a push of its powerful tail, propelling itself through the water. Its speed was breathtaking, and as the wind rushed against your face, tears gathered in your eyes, tears of joy and freedom and also of regret. When was the last time you had felt like this? When was the last time you had been so happy? Why didn’t you endeavor to be so more often?

Suddenly, the flying dolphin fish took off into the air, and then you were soaring. Everything faded away, the rest of the world and Ruon-Jian and the flying dolphin fish and even you. It was all nothing. You were all nothing. There was only the sky and the sea and the smell of salt on the wind, blue taking over your vision and almost, for a second, reminding you of something else.

Then you were slamming back into the water, the flying dolphin fish not even slowing its pace as it went from air to ocean. The spray that hit your face from the impact was enough to wake you up from the daze, and you were reminded of where you were and who you were and what you were doing.

“That was so fun,” you said as you and Ruon-Jian re-entered the house, still dripping with saltwater despite the towels wrapped around you both.

“It’s sick, right? I knew you’d like it,” Ruon-Jian said. “Speaking of things you might like…my friend Chan is holding a party later tonight. You wanna come?”

You perked up at the name Chan, knowing he was none other than the object of Jia-Li’s affections.

“Yes, but only if Jia-Li can come, too,” you said.

“Aw, no way! Chan never leaves her alone, and I don’t want my best friend bothering my little sister. It’s so odd!” he said.

“It’ll be really lonely for me to be at a party where I don’t even know anyone,” you said with a small frown.

“That’s fair,” he said.

“And she’s my friend, so it’ll be more fun for me if she’s there,” you continued. “That’s why I’ll only go if she can, too.”

“Okay, okay,” Ruon-Jian said. “Fine. She can come, too.”

“Yay! Thank you so much!” you said, clapping. “It’s going to be so much fun.”

“Sure will be,” he said. “You should go get ready, though. There’ll be a lot of influential people there, so you should try to look your best.”

“Of course,” you said. “See you soon!”

Luckily, Jia-Li had been right in assuming that you and her would be the same size. You had been wearing her clothes for the entire vacation, and tonight was no different, as she picked out something nice for you to put on for the party.

“Ursa, I’m convinced you’re a miracle worker,” Jia-Li said, shaking her head. “Seriously! How is it that you managed to get us invited to one of Chan’s parties? They’re super selective.”

“Simple. Your brother invited me, and I told him I’d only go if you could, too. He was initially a bit reluctant, since he seemed to think Chan wouldn’t leave you alone, but he came around,” you said.

“You’re the best,” she said.

“I honestly might’ve just said no from the get go, but I heard that Chan was hosting, and I knew we had to attend. This is literally the sign you were waiting for!” you said. “What are the odds that your brother would invite me to a party hosted by the man of your dreams?”

“Pretty high, considering he thinks you’re really attractive and the so-called man of my dreams is his best friend,” Jia-Li said. “But I know what you’re saying, and I agree. Enough about that, though. The only thing left is for us to do our best to look amazing!”

Because Ruon-Jian and Chan were best friends, you arrived at the party before anyone else so that you could help Chan set up. His house was enormous, according to Ruon-Jian, and he had said it would be greatly appreciated if you all could lend a hand. With a meaningful look at Jia-Li, you had accepted.

“I made sure that Chan knew what food you like, Ursa, so that he could serve it,” Ruon-Jian said, his arm tossed around your shoulders. “I want you to have the best time!”

“Aren’t you so romantic, brother?” Jia-Li said dryly.

“Thank you, Ruon-Jian,” you said.

“Anytime,” he said with a smirk.

“Ruon-Jian!” a tall, muscular boy said as he opened the door to the mansion. “I thought you’d never get here.”

“Jia-Li took forever getting ready, dude,” Ruon-Jian said. “By the way, Chan, this is Ursa. And Ursa, this is Chan.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” you said.

“Pleasure’s all mine,” Chan said. “Did you say Jia-Li? Is she here?”

“I am,” Jia-Li from where she was hiding behind you and Ruon-Jian. “Hi, Chan.”

“Jia-Li! It’s been ages since I saw you last. How have you been?” Chan said, yanking her by the arm and into the house.

“Quit flirting with my sister!” Ruon-Jian shouted, though he went ignored by both Chan and Jia-Li. You patted him on the arm.

“It’s okay,” you said. “She doesn’t seem upset about it, so you shouldn’t be, either.”

“It’s just so freaky,” he said with a shudder. “Jia-Li’s my baby sister. She shouldn’t have guys interested in her, let alone guys that have been my best friend since I could count.”

“She’s grown up now,” you said. “She can make her own decisions. You should just support her.”

“If you think that’s what’s best,” he said reluctantly. “You’re pretty mature, you know.”

“It’s funny, I feel like I’ve heard that before, though I don’t quite recall who might’ve said such a thing,” you said. “It doesn’t matter; either way, thank you.”

Jia-Li and Chan were too busy talking with each other, and Ruon-Jian was too busy fixing his hair in the mirror, so the brunt of the party set up fell to you. You didn’t mind, though, liking the act of working, and you were so efficient that everything was ready right around dusk.

“The place looks great, Ursa,” Ruon-Jian said when you rejoined him in front of the mirror.

“Your hair does, too, so you can stop fiddling with it,” you said. He pulled you in by the waist, flashing a peace sign in the mirror.

“Don’t we look so good together?” he said. “It’s like…like you were meant to stand beside me.”

“I suppose so,” you said, though you weren’t sure if you would go so far as to say all that. Still, it was nice to know that someone thought you belonged with them, so when he began to lean in, you did not move away.

Right when his lips were about to brush against yours, there was a knock on the door. He drew back in irritation.

“Who is here this early?” he said. “Whatever. Where were we again?”

The moment was ruined, though, so you pretended to be preoccupied with straightening your clothes, your head tilted downwards so that he could not even catch your eye.

“These are some really punctual party guests,” you said. “No one else is here yet.”

“Yeah, punctual’s one word for it,” Ruon-Jian said, clearly taking the hint you had given him and hopefully not being too miffed about it. “Wait, it’s that group we invited when we were on the beach earlier! Should’ve known they’d be the type.”

“On the — Ty Lee?” you said.

The first one to enter, Ty Lee turned in search of whoever had said her name. When she noticed you standing beside Ruon-Jian, one of his arms still around your waist, your posture clearly still set towards him, her jaw dropped.

“Ursa?” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“I feel like that’s a question I should be asking you,” you said as she cartwheeled over to drag you away from Ruon-Jian and into a hug so tight you temporarily stopped breathing.

“We were just hanging out on the beach when we got invited to come by Chan and Ruon-Jian!” she said. “I can’t believe you’re here, too.”

“Ruon-Jian is Jia-Li’s older brother, and he’s best friends with Chan, so I think that my presence is a little more explicable than yours,” you said. “When you say we, though, who do you mean?”

“Me, Mai, Azula, and Zuko!” Ty Lee said, pointing at each of them in turn. Mai was sitting by a painting, glaring whenever someone tried to approach her, and the girl who must’ve been the infamous Princess Azula was talking to Chan while Jia-Li stood behind her, ostensibly shoved out of the way so that the princess could have her turn talking to the host.

As for Zuko, he was still awkwardly standing by the doorframe, though when he glanced over at you, his eyes widened. At first, relief filled them, but when he noticed your proximity to Ruon-Jian, a strange sort of malcontent settled over his expression.

“Zuko!” you said as he stormed over to you. Ty Lee looked at him and then back at you before promptly dashing over to Mai’s side, the only one who didn’t get glared at for daring to go near her. “What are you—?”

“Who is he?” he said.

“The name’s Ruon-Jian, dude,” Ruon-Jian said, holding out his hand for Zuko to shake. Zuko looked at it disdainfully before scoffing and then returning his gaze to you.

“He’s Jia-Li’s older brother,” you said.

“Right,” Zuko said sardonically. “That’s why the two of you are so close.”

“I’ve been staying at his house the whole time I’ve been on Ember Island, so yeah, it’s probably a contributing factor,” you said.

“I’m gonna go get some food, Ursa. There are some freaky vibes here right now that I don’t really approve of,” Ruon-Jian said, inching away.

“Do you like him?” Zuko said. You blinked, taken aback by the direct question. In his letters, he was so kind and tactful, so you had come to associate him with that sort of language. The elegance with which he wrote, the careful concern he always showed for whatever you said — all of it had caused a fondness for him to grow in you.

“He’s just my friend’s older brother,” you said. The way he was speaking now was as if he was accusing you and you had to defend yourself or face judgment, but what crime had you even committed in the first place? “He taught me to ride flying dolphin fish and invited me to the party. That’s all.”

“Of course,” he said. “He’s so cool, with his dumb hair and clothes and flying dolphin fish, so of course you like him. No surprise there.”

“Are you angry?” you said. “Why?”

“Am I angry?” he said. “No!”

“You sound a little angry,” you said meekly. “I just wanted to make sure.”

“Why would it even matter to you?” he said.

“I don’t know?” you said. “I was only asking.”

“Don’t ask questions for no reason, especially when you don’t care about the answer in the first place,” he said.

“But that’s not the case. I did care about the answer, or else I wouldn’t have asked,” you said.

“Well, next time, just ask that boyfriend of yours,” he said.

“Ruon-Jian?” you said.

“Yes?” Ruon-Jian said, appearing out of nowhere. “Here, this is for you.”

“You have such horrible timing,” you said under your breath, accepting the plate he handed you. “Zuko, have you eaten anything yet? There’s a lot of really good food out. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“It’s all Ursa’s favorites!” Ruon-Jian said. “I made sure of it myself.”

“Oh, yeah?” Zuko said with a sneer. “What the hell do you know about her, anyways?”

“Yo, chill, dude,” Ruon-Jian said, holding his hands in the air. “Who even are you? I probably know more than you! Her and I are really close, you see.”

It was probably the worst thing he could’ve said. Zuko’s face darkened, and then, before any of you knew it, he was grabbing Ruon-Jian by the collar and throwing him into a nearby vase. You jumped at the noise before rushing over to help Ruon-Jian stand.

“I’m fine,” Ruon-Jian said, waving you off as he staggered to his feet. “What is your problem, dude?”

“Stay away from her,” Zuko said.

“Who are you to say that?” you said. “My benefactor? That doesn’t mean you get to control my life, Zuko! Why does it matter to you who I’m hanging out with? He’s from a perfectly respectable family, so it’s not like it’ll reflect badly on you. I don’t get what the big deal is!”

“Seriously?” Zuko said. “You think I care what family he’s from? Do what you want! It doesn’t matter to me. It’s what you’ll do anyways, so why should I try to stop you?”

“What happened?” you said. “Why has your opinion of me lowered so thoroughly? What have I done to offend you so greatly? I know that you are angry, and I know it is because of me, but I cannot understand why!”

“There’s a lot of things you can’t understand,” he said.

“I heard a crash, is everyone — who broke my nana’s vase?” Chan shrieked as he came back into the main room. Ruon-Jian pointed at Zuko. “You! I’ve had enough of you, alright? Get out of my party!”

“I was just leaving,” Zuko said, though not without one last glare at all of you.

“See you around, loser!” Ruon-Jian said.

“Jia-Li’s right,” you said as Mai, Ty Lee, and Princess Azula excused themselves as well. “You really are an idiot. Do you know who that was?”

“Some jealous loser?” Ruon-Jian said. You opened your mouth to argue before deflating, knowing that there was no point.

“Just forget about it. Let’s try to enjoy ourselves for the rest of the party,” you said.

Some time later, there was a knock on the door. Chan opened it, and then his face fell.

“Hello, Chan,” a voice that could only be Princess Azula’s said. “Thanks for inviting us earlier, but I have some unfortunate news to share.”

“The party’s over,” Zuko said, and then all four of them were in the room, sending bursts of fire everywhere, kicking the tables in half, swinging from the chandeliers and slicing up the paintings.

“What is going on?” Jia-Li shouted, covering her head with her hands.

“I have no idea,” you said. “Hey, what are you guys doing?”

Chan screamed as Mai threw a set of knives into a pair of antique paintings on the walls and the chandelier came crashing to the ground under Ty Lee’s weight. Jia-Li pulled you out of the way of a stray lick of blue fire from Azula, and you buried your face in your hands.

“This was a pretty terrible party,” Ty Lee said, dropping lightly to her feet in front of you. “You could say we’re showing our appreciation as guests!”

“By destroying his house?” you said as Zuko kicked an entire pillar in half.

“Yep! Wanna join?” Ty Lee said.

“No!” you and Jia-Li said in unison.

“To each their own!” Ty Lee said before springing away.

“Well…” Jia-Li said. “It would feel nice.”

“What? Why?” you said.

“I thought Chan was confessing to me on the balcony earlier, but it turns out that even though he does like me, he wants to live a free and unburdened life, without the commitment of having a girlfriend. He told me that the best he could offer me is a long-term arrangement in which he does what he wants and then spends some time with me whenever I’m on the island,” Jia-Li said.

“That’s horrible,” you said.

“And while I was out there, he told me that Ruon-Jian invited Mai and Ty Lee because he thought they were hot and he wanted a chance with them,” she continued. “So there’s that.”

You scowled, and even though you hadn’t been betrayed, it felt as if you had been. Naturally, you held no claim on Ruon-Jian, but the entire reason you had grown close to him in the first place was because you liked being someone’s priority. If you weren’t even that, then what was the point?

“Jia-Li,” you said. “Since it’s the prince and princess in charge of the destruction, you could consider it a royal order.”

“You could,” Jia-Li said, a grin creeping onto her face.

“And as students of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, we are duty-bound to follow all royal orders,” you said.

“That we are,” she said.

“I think that means we have to participate,” you said.

“I think you’re right, Ursa,” she said.

“Of course, it’s not because we’re angry at Ruon-Jian or Chan or anything,” you said.

“Definitely not,” she agreed. “We’re just following in the prince and princess’s example.”

“That’s exactly correct,” you said. “After all, what are we but their humble and obedient servants?”

“Nothing, indeed!” Jia-Li said brightly. “All hail the royal family!”

With that, she ignited her hands and placed them right on a portrait of Chan as a child. You cheered before taking a steak knife and using it to cut up the curtains, tossing them into the fire she had started as kindling.

“I’m glad we’re friends, Ursa,” Jia-Li said.

“Yeah, I’m glad we’re friends, too.”

Ursa,

It wasn’t anything you did. I’m sorry; I was upset about something unrelated and took it out on you. You have no need to ask for my forgiveness — if anyone should be doing that, it’s me. Please, please forgive me for being so angry. I promise that I will make it up to you the next time we meet.

Yours, Zuko

P.S. I did not think that you and Jia-Li would join in, but I can’t say that I’m disappointed.

P.P.S. Ruon-Jian is ugly and his hair is terrible. You don’t need to be friends with him, anyways.

[waterfire1848]

Whump Azutara incoming fic

Just a small piece of it but I wanted to share. Shout out to @emluckyowl for listening to my rants on this and helping me write

Katara had to use her waterbending to see in the dark dungeon. Apparently, whoever created this place was smart enough to remember that firebenders drew their power from the sun and, with enough time in it, could grow strong enough to escape. Down here, there were no windows and only lanterns were given to the guards so they didn’t trip over their own feet. All in all, it was completely pitch black and terrifying. The blue light of Katara’s waterbending illuminated Ursa’s face perfectly and reminded Katara that, no matter how she felt, she needed to press on.

I will never, ever, turn my back on people who need me!

Ursa had come to her a few days after the war, begging for help. She said her daughter was still being held by the Fire Lord. When Katara questioned her further, she finally admitted that her child was the Fire Lord’s daughter. Katara, beyond confused, confronted Zuko, who said that he did have a sister but she died years ago when she was only nine. Ursa begged Katara not to tell Zuko about her. She didn’t believe she was worthy of seeing her son again, but she knew her daughter was alive and after days of not hearing any news…..A member of Team Avatar had to be of some help, right?

“You’re sure she’s here?” Katara asked.

“That’s what the servant said and, in the palace, the servants know everything.”

“If you’re sure.” Katara whispered, “This place is creepy.”

“I know, but I need to find my baby.” Katara had to admire Ursa’s willingness to press forward. 

The woman clearly wasn’t a warrior by any means but she didn’t let that stop her from charging forward.

“We’ll find her.” Katara promised, “Do you know what cell she’s in?”

“No, but we should try calling for her. She’ll hear us.”

“What’s her name?"

"Azula." Ursa quickly told her, “Azula. Azula!”

“Azula.” Katara whispered, trying the name out, “Azula!” 

“Hey!” Someone called.

The two knew this wasn’t Azula because they were yelled at by a voice that clearly belonged to an old man, but they still turned towards him, “You looking for the little princess?”

“Azula! Where is she?!” Ursa demanded.

“Fire Lord’s special cell. You gotta go down one more level.”

“But there isn’t a level lower than this.” Katara argued.

“There is. I remember the kid’s screams coming from below me. Her cell must be right below mine.” Ursa felt her stomach do knots. No….no, Ozai wanted Azula. He wouldn’t hurt her….right?

“Let’s get back to the surface and find Toph. She can tell us where the secret-“

“No.” Ursa said, “My baby is down here.” Without another word, Ursa went to the wall and began to press her hand anywhere she could, “I didn’t live in that palace for years without picking up on how they hide their secret doors.” Finally, her hand landed on a patch of rock that pushed in and revealed a secret door.

“Impressive.” Katara said.

“Come on.”

They walked down the stairs—still being guided by their lantern and water—until they came to another dark hallway. However, this was different than the previous ones. This one just had one large cell—probably as big as seven or eight of the ones above them—and chains all over the walls with claw marks in the rocks.

“Azula!” Ursa called.

“Mmmm…” A voice came from the cell causing Ursa to run.

“Azula!” Ursa yelled, “Azula, are you in there?”

No response.

With Katara’s help, Ursa broke through the cell door and used her torch to try and see where her daughter was inside the cell. For a moment, there was nothing but darkness and Katara started to worry that maybe all they had heard was the wind.

Then the light illuminated a figure.

For a moment, Katara didn’t really know it was a person—or alive—until it moved. The creature placed a hand in front of them which looked more like a dragon’s paw than a human hand and Ursa’s torch gave enough light for them to see her face. It took everything in Katara not to scream.

The face looked human but also like that of a dragon. Instead of skin, the person had scales almost all over their face. Mostly they covered their cheeks and forehead. Two large horns poked out of her head that looked like they were weighing on her. Her human ears were gone, replaced with two pointed dragon-like ones on the side of her head. While one hand resembled a dragon’s paw almost perfectly the other was completely human. Katara also noticed two giant wings on her back that looked like that had been painfully forced onto her back—if the blood and red skin was anything to go by. Finally, a large tail curled around her. Despite the fact that they shouldn’t be there, the girl seemed to have perfect control of her dragon features.

It’s her eyes though that almost broke Katara. They looked so lifeless, so dead, they were completely black without any understanding that there were new people in her cell.

Ursa, for her part, managed to keep a hold on her torch but was now kneeling on the ground, “Azula?”

The girl—Azula—looked at her mom then Katara, “M….m-mom?” Azula whispered.

That was it. Ursa dropped her torch and launched forward to hug her daughter, “Azula! Oh, I’m so sorry, baby! I’m so sorry!”

“M-mom? ….M…m…”

“I’m here! I promise. I’m right here.” Ursa said. She could tell that Azula was struggling with her words so she chose instead to hug her child and prove that she was really there.

Katara was moved my the touching scene but she also was a healer first and noticed Azula was shaking. Without a word, she broke Azula’s chains and, when Ursa noticed this, she helped her daughter stand up—which is how Katara also noticed that her legs resembled dragon legs as well—allowing Azula to lean against her.

“…Hurts.” Azula managed to get out.

“Katara?” Ursa asked.

“Lean her against the wall.” Katara ordered.

Ursa got her outside of the cell then leaned her against the wall. Katara pressed her water against the most visible injuries, hoping to provide some aid from the pain. Relief flooded both of their hearts when Azula visibly relaxed and stopped shaking.

Ursa pushed her daughter’s hair out of her face. Azula’s eyes were still dark, still lifeless, but she did seem to understand that her mom was here. She learned into her mother’s touch as if it would disappear any second.

“It’s okay.” Ursa whispered, “You’re gonna be okay, baby.”

[rifari2037]

12. What are your steambaby headcanons?

Fire Lord Zuko and First Lady Katara's steambabies :

Princess Kya (14), the leader - a fire bender, an heir of the Fire Nation. She has golden eyes and light brown skin. She is just, brave, determine, and sometimes mischievous.

Headcanons :

Zuko teaches Kya fire bending in every martial-style bending. She isn't surprised her father teaches her water-styles more than other styles.

Zuko teaches Kya how to redirect lightning in honour to her beloved grand-uncle Iroh.

Azula (after her redemption arc) is very close to Kya because her niece has talents and badass like her.

Azula teaches Kya how to direct lightning and she learns it quickly. 'I doubt you're your father's daughter, it took him years to do that," is Azula's way to compliment her.

Just like her father, Kya secretly learns fire bender from the source. One day, Zuko and Katara accidentally sees Kya doing the dragon dance with his dragon, Druk, and amazed by that.

Prince Kazan (12), the protector - a non-bender, the youngest master dual swords. He has golden eyes and light brown skin. He is strong, smart, tactical, and eager to learn any weapons. Kazan (火山) means volcano in Japanese.

Headcanons :

Kazan has very similar face and gesture to young Zuko, except his skin is darker.

Kazan feels insecure when found out that his two sisters are benders and he's not. Katara is the one who notices his anxiety first and asks Zuko to cheer him up.

Zuko encourage him that he doesn't need to be a fire or water bender to be a great leader. Zuko also shows Kazan his dual swords skill, tells him that weapon skills are very useful at any time.

Zuko himself who teaches Kazan dual swords techniques until he mastered it at young age. This is in my head how Zuko teaches Kazan :

After Kazan mastering dual swords, he start learns other weapons, especially water tribe weapons from Hakoda and Sokka. Dual swords still his main weapon and he still practising it.

Kazan often reminds Zuko of his childhood, sometimes it brings back to his past trauma. Zuko feels afraid that he will act like his father to his children, especially his non-bender son. Katara always reminds Zuko that he is not the same as his father at all. He is always a good father to them.

Princess Izumi (8), the healer - a water bender, a young peacemaker. She has ocean eyes and pale skin. She is calm and quiet, has a kind heart and motherly.

Headcanons :

Izumi is very close to her mother, Katara. She's almost always by her side.

Izumi has motherly nature combination of her two grandmothers, Ursa and Kya. She's quiet but wise and very intelligent.

Izumi often being a peacemaker when her sister and brother quarrel, most often because Kya playing prank on Kazan.

Katara teaches Izumi how to fight and heal, but Izumi is more interested in healing. She has excellent talents in healing.

Izumi not only a healer, she also has talent as a herbalist like Ursa. She learn herbalist almost herself. She can make poison, but prefers to use her abilities to make cure.

Years later when she turn 18, she become a good fighter and best at healing. She secretly learn blood-bending and use it to heal (only Kya and Kazan know about it).

Nb :

I thought about swapping Kya and Izumi just like in canon-TLOK, but I stick with my first HC in result, because I always imagined badass firebender Kya and calm intelligent water-bender Izumi.

I only wrote down good things about steambabies, I still haven't thought about their weaknesses.

These are my original headcanons. Every Zutara shipper allowed to use it into fanarts, fanfics, or add another headcanons, but please let me know and credit me ❤️💙

[marymary-diva17]

A princess duty to her home and people

fire lord ozai x reader

Even living in the fire nation didn't protect a person from the effect of the very long war and the fire lords that ruled the nation. There was always duty to the nation and duty to family. The fire nation had been at war with three other nations, not that many people form the fire nation approved of the war and which to stay out of the control of fire lord war, but there are times when lucky is not on your side. A person love their family and nation, but what happens when those how rule the nation the care for are coming for the family they love even more.

Y/n " ursa" you are looking for your sister she had ran off from home after meeting with your parents, the village was uneasy as everyone was on their toes as the fire lord azulan and his son ozai had come for visit. They had stopped by your house and spoke with your parents once they left, your parents soon spoke with your eldest sister ursa. She had soon elf home and seem to be rush about something, she didn't even stop.

Ursa " y/n" you had found your sister she was with the man she loves dearly Ikem. They were holding each other both seem uneasy about something.

y/n " ursa what the matter you ran off and ignored mom calls for you, what happened in the home"

Ikem " it not good"

y/n " what tell me what happened"

Ursa " the fire lord had proposed a marriage between his youngest son and our family"

y/n " what"

ursa " mother and father couldn't regret the off he the fire lord" your family had lived in this village all their lives avoiding the fire lord, due to your family tree leading to an former avatar.

Ikem " we can run away get away from here before they return and the wedding day"

ursa " no Ikem he will come after the whole village and there are families here, they are innocent he will not stop at anything"

ikem " I wont let him take you ursa I love you"

ursa " I love you" Your sister and Ikem had a beautiful relationship a relationship you wish to have, and he had asked her to be his wife. Everyone was happy for the young couple as they knew they are perfect for each other, and not it seems like they are going to be ripped apart.

ursa " i have to marry the fire lord son for te safety of my family, you, and everyone else here I can't let harm come to anyone here"

Ikem " no you can't ursa there most be another way"

ursa " I don't know I don't want to leave this life"

y/n " I have a plan"

ikem " what the plan "

y/n " if I tell you no most stop this plan you or my sister, and our parents anyone else here"

ursa " what are you planning to do" you soon looked at your sister and ikem and told them, your plan they looked at your shocked as the word left your mouth. There was not stopping you as your were doing this for the duty of your family and village, you are going to keep everyone safe.

Many days later

father " y/n you don't have to do this we can do something else"

y/n "no father I will not let nay harm come to our family or the village, this has to be done it will be okay"

mother "my daughter"

y/n " it will be okay mother you don't need to cry"

ursa " sister please let me ..."

y/n " no you deserve happiness and your happiness is with ikem"

villager " they are coming the royal carriage is coming" the villagers had came out to see royal carriage coming with all the soldiers and everything else. Everyone soon bowed as the carriage was coming by and soon it had stopped by your home, soon the fire lord and his son stepped out.

father " welcome back fire lord azulzon"

azulon " hello I came here to get may son bride and bring her to the capital with us, the wedding will happen in couple days your family will be invited"

father " yes daughter"

y/n " hello fire lord azulon and prince ozai I'm y/n the other daughter of the family and the bride to be"

ozai " father"

fire lord azulon " raise up your face young lady" you soon looked at them.

fire lord azulon " she beautiful you have been blessed with beautiful daughters"

father "thank you"

ozai " hello"

y/n " hello my prince I hope I can be a perfect wife to you"

ozai " father I think she will be a perfect bride for me"

azulon " yes she will be perfect my son well it official in days time the wedding will be held, in honor of my son and his future bride and fur princess y/n" There was no going back you had left the day heading towards the capital, you will see your family in couple day on your wedding.

ursa " thank you sister you are beautiful looking bride"

y/n " thank you I'm sorry I missed your wedding"

ursa " it okay I and ikem are happy to be here and we are happy for what you did for us"

ikem " yes thank you"

y/n " I will do it again" Ursa and ikem soon hugged you it was a beautiful moment, spending some time with your family made you happy. It was unknown to you that this will be the last time you will seem them for maybe forever or ever long time.

ozai " enjoy your time with your family my wife it might be along time since you see them again"

y/n " yes my husband"

ursa " sister I hope you do well here and maybe when you have kids we can meet them, and maybe our kids will have a strong bond like we do"

y/n " yes I hope so as well"

ikem " please write to us and when holiday comes we can see each other here or at home"

y/n " yes please take care both of you and look after our families and the village as well" ikem and ursa nodded their heads, at the end of celebration your hugged your family goodbye one last time. This is your duty for your family and village, you had taken the journey of marriage in hopes it will keep everyone else you love from home safe and sound. After the wedding your life did change but your duty had expended as well, as you welcome new people into your life that you will care for and love. Making sure they stay safe and sound from any harm that will come to them, along with make sure they live good lives and that this war will end before it starts effecting anymore lives as it has done and will do in the future.

[thetraumaking]

Accursed Crown: ATLA x Reader

Child soldier program within the Fire Nation. Princess Ursa will be having the first grandchild of fire lord Azulon, and as a gift, he sends his son, prince Ozai, to find an appropriate bodyguard for the mother of the nation.

After prince Zuko was born, princess Ursa became pregnant once more.

When she gave birth to her second. Not only did she suffer from a burn from the newborn, she didn't feel the motherly love she felt for her firstborn to her second. She couldn't hold her or even look at her. But she's not a cruel woman, so she found a wet nurse and let the other woman raise her. Well, that was the plan until for a whole day straight the baby girl wouldn't and couldn't stop crying. Even Ozai heard it and came to yell at Ursa for failing as a mother.

When the child had finally shutten up, Ozai turned to see the young guard gently holding the baby.

From that day onward, you, who was nothing but a child soldier, became the guard, the nursemaid, and mentor for the new princess.

NOT for the faint of heart!!!

Chapter 2: Old Child Chapter 3: Her Touch

Chapter 1: Prologue

Within a quiet little village, in the eastmost part of the fire nation, with a single torch illuminating a small hut, a new mother came to be. Her eyes filled with love and adoration as she lay next to her newborn.

‘You are my sunshine

My only sunshine

You make me happy

When skies are gray

You’ll never know, dear

How much I love you‘

Her voice lulled the child to sleep as her hand rubbed small circles on the baby's belly.

‘Please don’t take

My sunshine away’

Once Fire Lord Azulon assented to the throne, he passed down a “Nation's Calling.”

The Fire Nation child soldier program.

Children from unsavoury backgrounds or children from the slums were forcibly taken by the ‘collectors.’ To be trained in the art of combat and strategy.

For the greater good of the nation, those of the middle class and higher are more than accepting of the small sacrifice their people must make.

Your breath came out ragged as you dodged another punch to the face. The sudden movement makes you lose your balance as it provides an opportunity for your instructor to strike.

His foot landed hard on your stomach, you could taste your evening rations in your mouth.

Wheezing for air, you roll to the side. For every five of your strikes only two lands. And for every two, one of your instructor’s attacks lands a hit.

“Not bad, but you need to be faster than that to get your next badge, trainee number 076.” His grip on your arm is as tight as a vice. Pulling you off of the training ground for the next group to start their training. “For your age group, you’re not half bad.”

His praise meant nothing to you.

Throughout your years within the camp, it has been drilled into your and your peers’ heads that you along with the instructors are nothing but tools. A tool that must be sharpened and refined, only to be replaced and thrown away once they outlived their use.

You yourself have gone through a couple of instructors this past six years.

The earliest memory you have is being branded by your identification number. Trainee Number 076 from the first battalion second training company fourth squad. That is what you are, nothing more and nothing less. A child soldier groomed to serve the royal family. You are to serve and protect the great Fire Nation and those who rule it.

Failure is not an option.

“076,” your attention was brought back up to the older male, “I want you to focus more on your footwork. You can stay calm under pressure, that’s good, but your reaction is a bit off.” He explained.

The room he brought you to looked like an empty basement. Metal flooring, no windows, and nothing flammable in sight. “But don’t worry, we’ll work on it now.”

Before you could ask him anything, he shot a fireball at you. You felt the heat graze your cheek.

The blast illuminated the room just a bit before it went dark once more. The smell of burning hair lingered as he got into an offensive stance. His eyes glistened with something that made your skin crawl.

Taking a deep breath, you readied yourself for yet another rocky night.

It was a couple of months shy of a full year since the union of Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa when wonderful news fell upon the Fire nation.

The princess is with child.

Pleased with the news, Fire Lord Azulon looked back to the report he had been receiving on the progression of his camp. Collecting the scroll for the top nine candidates, he ordered his son, Prince Ozai, to go and take his pick for his wife.

The last assignment for the children to finish their training was to take out their prospective mentors once they had earned all their badges. Their accomplishments will be announced through a gold phoenix pendant that will be displayed on their chests. Depending on how detailed the phoenix is, the higher the ranking and skilled the soldier is.

Adored by your pendant, you stand by along with eight others. Each with differently defined pendants, only one that had the same details as yours. Red ruby eyes, each feather of the firebird carefully crafted and soldered, its beak shined and polished, talons sharpened and refined.

As you all filed in attention, the prince of your proud nation stood. Eyes sharp, carefully inspecting each and every one of you. He points at you and the one next to you. Ordering that the two of you to duel, to once and for all, know who exactly is deserving of the golden phoenix.

The next time you saw the prince and your supposed opponent was at the arena. The prince with his advisors and guards sat atop of the stadium.

Once the bell had been rung, the duel began.

Blow after blow, you masterfully evaded all of his strikes. Outside of the roaring flames and the occasional grunts and pants, the arena was in complete silence.

Nausea, fatigue, muscle ache, and overuse of your bending. Your wrists and arms sore from sporadic movements, legs aching as you drag each knee over hard molten rocks to evade and block. Bringing your fist forward, you shoot a blast of flames right past his nose.

And in a single moment of his panic, you took advantage, bringing your foot up, you slam it against his chin. You feel a crunch under your boot as you see his jaw move to the side at an unnatural angle. With a swollen chin and bleeding gums with missing teeth, your opponent now lay unconscious on the ground.

A pool of blood with bits of pearly whites was the only thing your eyes could focus on. The scent of iron and burnt flesh fills the air as the sounds of the roaring flames are now replaced with those of the roaring crowd.

With a sigh, you raise your fist in the air. Scarred, worn, burnt hands, stained with years' worth of blood and shame. Bright red blood cascaded down your forearm, the sticky liquid became your only source of warmth in the cold autumn air.

Like the warm-colored leaves falling from their trees, your own warmth drips down, one by one to the ground.

As your reward, you were taken to the palace. Rewarded by the honor of being the guard of the nation’s mother. Protecting her from any harm that may threaten her wellbeing.

076, the number that was branded onto your face, the number that serves you as your name, was now painted onto the black vale you wore over your face. Dressed in your new uniform, you stand in front of her Highness, Princess Ursa.

“I have prepared a gift for you.“ With a smirk, the prince places a hand on your shoulder, and immediately, you salute. Your vale brushes against the tips of your fingers as you bow to the princess. “Since you are carrying my heir, we have decided it would be best to give you a guard.” He looks down on you as he continues, “076 here has been under training since the age of three. I have personally seen her capabilities so I know that she will do a fine job.”

Not a word left the woman’s mouth, she didn’t even look up to see either you or the prince. Quietly, she nodded a thanks to the prince.

There was only one word to describe the princess, pitiful. She was utterly pitiful. Something that a queen of a powerful nation such as yours should never be close to.

For the past month you have been with her, ready to be at her beck and call, you noticed how beautifully pathetic she is. You know you shouldn’t be thinking such blasphemous things but how can you not when those forbidden thoughts are taking form right in front of you?

As you stand on guard by her Highness’s chambers, watching as the maids attend to her, you clench your fist.

No matter how many jewels they decorated her with or how expensive or how high-quality silk she may wear, the blatant sadness in her eyes was like a bucket of waste splattered on a canvas. Yet no one, like you, has spoken a word about it. The closest thing to joy was whenever she was alone in her room when her hand gently patted her own pregnant belly. Something close to a smile would be present on her lips as she hummed a tune.

The tune itself was slower than the one you know.

The maids left once they finished attending to the lady. Now, it was just you and the princess. You noted that there wasn’t a tense silence in the room.

“6, sit down for a bit. You’ve been standing there for five hours now.” Fortunately, the month you spent with her wasn’t for naught. You could tell that she has been slowly getting accustomed to your presence in her everyday life.

You nod and walk up to her. She looks up at you from her vanity chair, her eyes once weary now more at peace.

Kneeling, you sat on the floor. Hands neatly folded on your thighs as you hang your head low, awaiting for any more instructions.

You feel warm fingers on your jaw as it guides you to look up. As she slowly peels your veil off, for the first time, you let out a sigh as a cool breeze hits your face.

You watch her as her eyes take in your face. Her thumb runs on the branded number on your cheek as a dull ache spreads from every heartbeat in your chest.

She furrows her brows, and the scarred tissue on your face makes her heartache. What horrors have you faced at that camp? What tortures have you gone through for the sake of this accursed nation? And what poor souls have gotten their dear child stolen from them?

She felt pity for you, sorrow that you were robbed of love. Pain from the countless scars and burns on your young skin. Guilt for the empty eyes that are staring up at her.

And happiness that she has you by her side.

[the-air-nomad]

Hi there I have a request for a flick Azula X reader but I would like reader to be evil. Azula and reader, were arranged by marriage reader, is from a noble family, and is very ambitious very involved in the politics of the fire nation, and will do anything for his princess. He becomes fearful when he finds out that the Avatar survived Azula had lied to our father about the avatar reader comes up with a plan to frame Zuko, so for him and Azula, to avoid any consequences, should be Avatar appear readers plan is to assassinate the fire in frame, Zuko for it I hope this interests you

When two prodigies fall in love

You are the second born of a very powerful noble family in the Fire Nation. Although you were always smarter and better at firebending than your older brother, your parents always preferred your brother. That made you run away to the Fire Lord's castle at just 13 years old.

Well, maybe your parents were right. You had a spark of cunning and ambition from birth. And that spark burst into a devastating fire the moment you arrived in the capital.

Your talent, ambition and intelligence have caught the attention of the fire lord. One day, he invited you to train with him. You held your head high and fought him with dignity, and that impressed him.

Fire Lord Ozai made a plan, and soon, he put it into action. He exiled Zuko and arranged a marriage between you and Azula.

You tasted power like a shark tastes blood. You played your cards like a master. You were always the son Ozai wanted.

You gave Azula the attention and affection she had always wanted. You noticed the irregularities in the princess's behavior and the fact that she had become dependent on you in a very short time.

You consulted a very good psychiatrist and found out that Azula was suffering from a mental illness. You got the medicine the princess needed. And then you killed the psychiatrist. Not a single person was to know that the princess was insane.

knowing that Ozai had spies everywhere, you decided to act like a good future son-in-law, worried about his future wife and the fate of the nation.

That very evening, you requested a private meeting with the Fire Lord.

You went to his quarters and he was curiously waiting for you. You bowed to him and he told you to sit down and have some tea with him. You sat in front of him and took a sip of tea catching him with a worried and tired look.

He frowned at you. He asked you what happened.

You sighed and told him about what you discovered. You put your head in your hands and told him that you were devastated to find out that your future wife and princess was suffering from something like this.

He put his teacup down, frozen for a few seconds. Then he got up and started having a nervous breakdown. He threw flames all around him, cursing Ursa and accusing her of giving him two useless children.

You did your best to calm him down, ending up with a few burns. After he calmed down, he told you that you are his only hope, the only one who will be able to continue his mission. Ozai also told you that you must do everything in your power to control the princess. You swore on your honor to keep everything under control.

You left and went to the infirmary to have your wounds tended to. Then you went to Azula's room. As soon as you entered her room, Azula practically pounced on you with questions about where you were and how you got hurt. You told her that Ozai had a nervous breakdown and that you were his unfortunate victim.

You saw the princess's expression distort and all the respect and love she felt for her father burn away, leaving behind a burning hatred. You stop her before she tries to kill her father.

That night, as she slept in your arms, she vowed to destroy her father.

You played a double game, making Ozai think Azula was a wild fire to be contained, and making Azula think Ozai was planning to get rid of the two of you.

besides, you sent letters to Iroh, using the friendship between your brother and his deceased son to get under his skin. You managed to make Zuko and Iroh blindly trust you.

When Zuko came back and Azula told you about her killing the avatar you almost laughed. instead, you kept a calm face and congratulated her on her victory in Ba Sing Se. Then you went on a date with her, making sure the chef prepared all her favorite dishes. At the romantic date you explained that the Avatar is more than likely alive. She looked worried so you reassured her that everything would be fine. You advised her to tell her father that Zuko killed the avatar.

In the evening, you visited Iroh in his prison. You drank tea and promised to take care of Zuko and Azula.

The next day, you trained with Zuko with the Dao swords. After training, you ate fire flakes and played Pai Sho. Before the Eclipse you advised Zuko to join the Avatar.

Ozai was furious after Zuko's betrayal. You acted like you were shocked at what happened and expressed your gratitude to Agni that the Fire Lord was fine.

This way you ensured that whether the Fire Nation won the war or not, you would be on the winning side.

During Sozin's comet, you were forced by Ozai to stay hidden in your family home.

You returned to the palace as soon as you heard of Ozai's defeat. Zuko welcomed you with open arms and even named you Admiral. You thanked him and asked for Azula to be released into your custody.

He looked worried and asked you to reconsider your idea. You flatly refused and manipulated Zuko into bringing Azula back to the palace.

Once back at the palace, Azula acted like a lost dragoon and didn't dare spend even five minutes away from you.

Now you look after Azula and wield your influence from the shadows, waiting for the moment when you can strike and claim the throne.

Although I do not own the characters from avatar the last airbender, this work belongs to me! I sincerely hope you liked it. please rate it and leave a comment! follow me to see my next posts! Don’t forget that the request are open💖💖💨

You can buy me a coffe if you want:  buymeacoffee.com/TheAirNomad

[demaparbat-hp]

crawling up the walls over zuko kyosho makeup concept uGH

Bit of a sneak peek!!!

In this AU, Zuko is sort of an unofficial warrior. He wears face paint, but the style is mixed with that of a river spirit from home. He has a headband engraved with the character for fire. He fights, sometimes with the fans, sometimes with the niuweidao. Armor? Sure, but does it come in black and red?

There's definitely some Kyoshi influence in his life, but he's still Zuko. And that's something I love about him.

[melzula]

The Search

part three

pairing: Zuko x Princess!reader

notes: we finally made it to the end of the search! hope you guys enjoy :) and as always i suggest reading the comics to better understand the series

summary: Zuko finally finds his mother, and the Princess is faced with complicated feelings for Azula

~ part of the fire lilies series ~

Your heart pounds rapidly in your chest as you will your legs to continue their sprint for as long as they can. The sun is beginning to set and the valley is growing darker, and you desperately hope Misu’s shortcut will get you to Noren’s soon before you’re too late.

So much had happened since your arrival to Forgetful Valley. From meeting the water tribe siblings Rafa and Misu to the Mother of Faces, it seemed your group was one step closer to finding Zuko’s mom. But after Azula had used the Mother’s one favor to uncover Ursa’s whereabouts, things had gone awry. She’d ruined Misu’s only chance of helping her brother and run off to confront Noriko, whose true identity had been revealed to be none other than the missing Fire Lady.

Now, you and Sokka found yourselves accompanying Zuko as your trio rushed to Hira’a in hopes you’d reach Noren’s house before his malevolent sister could.

“I can’t believe your mom was right under our noses this entire time,” Sokka says breathlessly.

“We couldn’t have known,” you reply from beside him. “All that matters now is getting to her first before Azula does.”

“We should be there soon,” your boyfriend assures you both. “I just hope we’re not too late.”

“We won’t be,” you comfort him with a reassuring smile, “you’re going to be with your mother again, Zuko. Sokka and I will help you see this through.”

“We’ve got your back, buddy.”

He flashes you a grateful smile, but he doesn’t have time to say much else as your trio finally reaches Noren’s house. The surrounding area is dark save for the warm light that floods out from the windows, and you cautiously approach the home with your guards up in case Azula is inside.

“It’s so quiet,” Sokka notes, club in hand and at the ready.

“Too quiet,” Zuko agrees before pressing himself against the wall of the home and peering into the open window.

“Do you see anything?” You whisper to the fire bender as you position yourself beside him.

“What’s going on in there?” Sokka presses. “Noren’s family… don’t tell me Azula-“

“No, they’re fine,” he breathes out in relief, “they’re eating dinner.”

“Thank spirits,” you exhale, the tension in your nerves immediately leaving your body once you know they’re safe. You were especially worried about Kiyi, so it relieved you to know no harm had come to her or her family. “It looks like Misu was right about that shortcut.”

The three of you peer in at the family who share smiles and food in the comfort of their home. They looked so normal, it was almost hard to believe that the woman inside was the lost Fire Lady.

“I’m going inside. Can you two keep an eye out for Azula?” Zuko asks.

“Sure, anything you need, Zuko” Sokka happily obliges.

You gently grab hold of his hand to halt his movements as he passes and give it a comforting squeeze. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I will be,” he says. “Will you?”

“Don’t worry about us, Sokka and I can handle Azula easily.”

“I know you can, Princess” he replies with a fond smile, gifting you an affectionate kunik before releasing your hand and heading inside.

“Good luck, my love,” you murmur quietly, turning your attention to the empty fields before you once the door is shut.

“How’re you holding up, Chief?” Sokka asks while surveying the area in search of any danger. “I overheard that nasty argument you had with Azula last night.”

“I know better than to let her get to me,” you reply thoughtfully, “but that doesn’t make her words any less hurtful. I’ve been dealing with Azula’s wrath since I was four, and it hasn’t gotten any easier.”

“I bet, but you’re one of the strongest people I know. If anyone can stand up to Azula, it’s you.”

“I’m not sure if I agree with that,” you sigh, and Sokka doesn’t miss the way your eyes fall scrutinizingly to the scars on your hands. Though the pain has faded and the physical damage has healed, you’ll never be able to forget what she’s done to you.

“Hey, you’re doing your best,” your friend consoles. “You’ve been nothing but supportive for Zuko this whole trip, that counts for something.”

“Thank you, Sokka,” you say with a meager smile. “I guess you’re right.”

“I always am,” he agrees proudly. “Besides, now that Zuko’s found his mother this whole thing will be over soon and we’ll never have to deal with Azula again.”

“Are you sure about that, peasant?” A mocking voice chimes, catching you and Sokka off guard. You’d been so engrossed in your conversation that you hadn’t even noticed the fire bender’s looming presence, and now there Azula stood before the two of you with a crazed look in her eyes and an itch to take you both down.

“You’re not hurting that family, Azula,” you warn her with a glower to which she merely chuckles slyly in response. “Leave them be.”

“Don’t you remember what happened the last time you fought me, Princess?” She mocks while gesturing to her hands. “Zuzu isn’t here to protect you, and Mother won’t be able to stop me from fulfilling my destiny, but I’m willing to show you water rats mercy if you get out of my way.”

“Fat chance,” Sokka retaliates, “you’re going down!”

“Suit yourself,” the Fire Princess hums with a meager shrug. “It’s more fun for me this way anyhow.”

A blast of flames is immediately shot in your direction, forcing Sokka and yourself to drop and roll out of the way to avoid being burned by her strike. Pushing yourself up off the ground, you spot a well in Noren’s backyard and quickly begin a sprint towards the water source. “Sokka, cover me!”

“I’ve got you covered, y/n!” the Water Tribe boy calls as he hurtles his boomerang unsuccessfully towards Azula. In the meantime, you peer inside the well to ensure it’s full of water before pulling out a long stream from within. With Azula’s back turned and her focus on Sokka, you use a water whip to sweep the girl off her feet so that she lands on the ground with a harsh thud.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” you utter desperately, sincerity clear in your tone as you stand over her. Despite the hateful scowl on her face, you urge, “Let us help you, Azula. I know there must be some ounce of goodness in your heart, you can change!”

“Whatever you and Mother are planning against me won’t work. I will not be fooled!” She cries indignantly before kicking her feet out to send a burst of flames towards you. “Zuko may be foolish enough to fall for your tricks but I’m not.”

“Princess!” Sokka exclaims, rushing towards you and tackling you to the ground to prevent her flames from hitting you. “Are you crazy?! Why are you trying to reason with that psycho? You could have gotten yourself hurt.”

“I had to try,” you murmur to yourself, “I had to see for myself if there was any chance of redemption left for her.”

“We don’t have time for that now,” he urges while helping you up off the ground. “We have to stop her before she gets inside!”

Spotting her figure on the roof, you quickly create a blast of snow to propel Sokka and yourself onto the top of the house with her. Your sudden presence startles her, but she quickly regains her composure and begins to form a strike of lightening to hurtle at you both. However, before she can complete the move you send a blast of water across the roof that quickly freezes over into ice and traps her feet to the surface. Sokka promptly hurries over to the fire bender and grabs hold of her hands before maneuvering them behind her back so she can’t try to strike you.

“Let go of me, peasant!” She growls, thrashing violently in his grasp in an attempt to break free. With her feet stuck to the ice and her hands restricted Azula’s attempts at freedom are futile.

“He’s not a peasant,” you correct her firmly, “and you’re not getting out of this. I’ve done all I can to help you, to try and understand you, but it never seems to matter what I do. You’ve never liked me, even though for Zuko’s sake I hoped that one day you might.”

“Mother sent you to distract Zuko, to take my brother from me,” she remarks adamantly. “Everything was perfect after Ba Sing Se, but you made him weak!”

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about!” You exclaim in exasperation. Ever since your trip had started she’d thrown strange accusations your way that you couldn’t comprehend, and you didn’t understand why she perceived you as someone who was out to get her. If anything, you had always felt it was the opposite when it came to your relationship with Zuko’s sister.

“I should have finished the job when I had the chance,” she utters lowly, and as her eyes begin to hone in on your scarred hands a shiver of fear crawls down your spine. “I won’t make that same mistake again.”

A breath of fire blasts from her mouth straight towards you, and when you use the ice to form a barrier to block her attack she takes the opportunity to release herself from Sokka’s grip now that her feet are free. She shoves the boy backwards, and with lightening jolting between her fingertips she strikes a hole through the roof that causes the entire structure to cave in.

“Sokka!” You cry out, falling through the broken roof along with Azula. In a last ditch effort you send a blast of snow in his direction to break his fall, but you aren’t left with enough time to do the same for yourself. You slam onto the ground below you with a loud thud that has both Sokka and Zuko wincing. Your head hits the wood on impact and you’re knocked out cold, prompting Zuko to rush towards you only for Azula to send him flying across the room.

“I said get out of my way!”

“Check on y/n!” Sokka demands while helping the Fire Lord up from the floor. “I’ll deal with Azula.”

Disoriented from his sister’s attack, the boy stumbles over to your unconscious form and carefully pulls you out of the rubble. A small trickle of blood rolls down the side of your head as Zuko scoops you up into his arms and holds you carefully against his chest, making sure to be mindful of any possible injuries you may have from your fall.

“This is all my fault,” he murmurs quietly into your hair as he presses a careful kiss to the top of your head, “I shouldn’t have brought you into this.”

“Zuko!” Sokka calls, rushing over and carefully taking your sleeping figure from his friend’s arms. “I’ve got her, you take care of your mom.”

“Keep her safe,” he pleads, watching as Sokka rushes Noren and Kiyi out of the house.

Your still face is the last thing he sees before your group disappears into the cover of the night, and it’s what urges him to finally face off to his sister once and for all.

~~~

The waves that crash against the shores of Ember Island bring a sense of peace to the woman who stands with her feet in the sand and her eyes focused on the endless expanse of water. A quiet coo pulls her attention away from the sea and back to the newborn girl who lies nestled in her arms. Her beautiful golden irises stare up at her in awe, and the woman smiles warmly in response.

“Are you enjoying the family beach house, little fire ferret?” She hums, watching fondly as the child grabs onto her outstretched finger.

“Azula!” A voice calls from the balcony, and now her attention is fixed on the water bender who peers down at her from above. “Dinner is ready, won’t you come inside?”

“Of course, sister,” she smiles sincerely at the girl she had once hated with her entire being. “Elza needs to be put down for her nap anyhow.”

“She always sleeps better in her Aunt Azula’s arms,” her sister-in-law notes fondly. “I’m so happy you’re here.”

“As am I, y/n.”

“Azula,” you gasp the moment you wake from your dream, sitting up in bed only to immediately trigger a pounding ache in your head.

“It’s alright,” a voice shushes you as gentle arms carefully push you back down into bed, “you must be careful now. You took quite a fall.”

“Is Sokka alright?” You ask quietly, noting the dryness of your throat. “Zuko?”

“They’re both fine,” she comforts as you begin to adjust to your surroundings. The sunlight that shines through the windows doesn’t ease the ache you feel in your head, and it takes a moment for your eyes to focus on the person in front of you. “Zuko’s asleep, but he hasn’t left this room since we brought you in here.”

“Fire Lady Ursa?” You murmur as your eyes finally take in the sight of a woman’s gentle smile and kind features. “It’s really you, isn’t it?”

“It is,” she replies thoughtfully, but the look in her eyes seems to suggest that she isn’t sure of her own answer. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Zuko has told me so much about you.”

“Same here,” you reply with a meager smile. “It’s nice to finally put a face to the name I’ve heard in all those stories.”

“I can’t begin to express how grateful I am for all you’ve done for my son,” Ursa expresses earnestly while gently pushing back the hair from your face. “Thank you for taking care of him when I couldn’t.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that. I love your son more than anything, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Zuko.”

“He’s very lucky to have you,” she notes with a gentle smile, and once you’re able to carefully sit yourself up in bed she offers you a cup of water that you greedily finish in a matter of seconds. “I’ll fetch you some more water, but in the meantime you rest. You don’t want to hurt yourself any further.”

You watch with a careful smile as Ursa leaves the room, but a quiet call of your name has you turning to look at the chair across from you. You’d been too engrossed and in awe of Ursa’s presence to notice Zuko at first, but it’s hard to miss him now that he’s at your bedside quickly checking you over for any wounds or injuries.

“Are you hurt?”

“I have a bit of a headache and my limbs feel a bit sore, but I’m alright,” you assure him. Sighing, he carefully allows his forehead to fall gently against yours in search of comfort and reassurance that you’re really okay.

“It’s my fault this happened to you,” he utters dejectedly. “So far every time I’ve asked you to help me deal with my sister it hasn’t ended well. I shouldn’t have stopped you from returning home and asked you to come to Hira’a.”

“Zuko, this isn’t your fault in the slightest,” you argue with a frown as you gently take his face in your hands and prompt him to look at you. “I came with you to Hira’a because it’s my job as your girlfriend to support you. You’re my other half, and when you need my help I’m supposed to be there for you. Your sister is unpredictable, but I knew the risk I was taking when I agreed to travel with her, and what happened to me was just one of those risks come to fruition.”

“I just hate seeing you get hurt,” he laments quietly before carefully pulling you into a hug.

“I know, but I’ll be okay as long as you’re there to look after me.”

“I always will be,” he promises, nothing but pure love and adoration in his eyes as he looks upon your tired face.

“So what happened while I was out? Where’s Azula?”

“She ran away. Sokka, Aang, and Katara searched Forgetful Valley for hours while I watched over you but there’s no sign of her. We’ll just have to keep looking.”

“And your mother? How did she get her face back?”

“The Mother of Faces returned it to her and restored all of her old memories. I told her she didn’t have to, she had a peaceful life here as Noriko, but she did it anyway.”

“Well I’m sure Azula will turn up at some point or another. I don’t think she’d give up that easily,” you say thoughtfully. “As for Ursa, I’m glad you finally have your mother back Zuko. I know how much this all means to you, and I know how much more peaceful life will be for you now that you’ve found her.”

“Thank you, but I couldn’t have found her without your support,” he expresses earnestly before leaning in to give you a loving kiss.

~~~

“Please, please, please do it again, y/n!” Kiyi pleads while tugging at the skirt of your dress. With delighted laughter spilling past your lips, you can’t help but relent to the little girl’s pleas.

“Alright, just for you,” you tell her before taking the cup of water she eagerly hands you and concentrating on your next move. Drinking the water from the cup, you take your time swishing the liquid around in your mouth for dramatic effect before using the coolness of your breath to transform it into snow and blow out a flurry of snowflakes into the air. Kiyi’s shrieks of delight fill the atmosphere as she runs around trying to catch the snow, and from the shade under the tree Zuko and Ursa watch the scene with matching smiles on their faces.

“She’s wonderful, Zuko,” Ursa compliments, a small laugh leaving her at the sight of Kiyi and yourself catching snowflakes on your tongues.

“She is,” he agrees with a fond smile.

You’d never been able to get along with Azula no matter how hard you or Zuko tried to force it, so it was a nice change of pace to see you get along with his other little sister. He finally felt that sense of family he’d been searching for all this time since becoming Fire Lord, and he was grateful to have you as a part of it. He only hoped that with time you could grow your family together.

“It warms my heart to see you’ve found your other half. I hope you’re able to cherish your love forever.”

“I will,” he says earnestly, and it’s a promise he makes to himself and to his Princess.

You are his other half, and your love will stand the tests of time forever.

| zuko tag list: @thebluelcdy @royahllty @the-firebender-girl @coldlilheart @ilovespideyyy @yiyibetch @eridanuswave @lammello @a-monsters-love @knaite-solo @taeeemin

| fire lilies taglist: @titaniafire @emberislandplayers @kikaninchen-2 @music-geek19 @thia-aep @thyunnamed @haylaansmi @nataliahaslosthershit @idkdude776 @aangsupremacy @thirstyforsometea @ihaveaproblem98 @brown-eyed-thang @xapham @misnmatchedsox @chewymoustachio @that-bucket-hat-gal @chilifrylizard2 @kyomihann @kaylove12 @kiwihoee @freggietale @moon-spirit-yue @bubblegum-bee-otch

| atla taglist: @sirkekselord @chronic-daydreamer-blog

[lazyveran]

ask about your arranged marriage au you say >:) :evil_hand_rub:

So. to begin with. Why and How is this what happened? is it a postwar diplomatic treaty thing, and Zuko is already too married to Mai to be the one wed? How much Hell did Azula and Katara put whoever suggested it through, and how did it end up happening anyways? What were each of the girls up to prior to the engagement? how do they feel about it? What does the world look like at the time of this AU, both in terms of the big worldwide stuff and the roles and relationships between the Gaang, whatever side characters are around, and their political positions? Be warned: highly likely that I will continue to enquire

you have unleashed the most self indulgent lore dump. thank you so much for asking. my long winded rambles under the cut

the setting of this au has two major changes; aang is never discovered (im so sorry my baby boy) and iroh is a much more active player within the fire nation. essentially, iroh begins consolidating the white lotus almost immediately after azulon's murder. as such, the fire siblings become terribly co-dependant in both ursa and iroh's absence as he's constantly away scheming against ozai. zuko doesnt get burned at 14. he gets burned at 19! and azula kills ozai for it, setting off a domino effect that lands an underprepared iroh on the throne trying to end the 100 years war as per his agreement with the white lotus members (before azula jumped the gun)

the azutara marriage occurs for like 2000 reasons but the main one is that iroh is forced to make several concessions in order to end the war as his ministers are terribly pro-ozai, thanks to ozai's scheming before azula prematurely offed him, and that the northern water tribe refuses to sign and end the war with the FN, unlike the other nations. azula, having been the princess-general ravaging the earth kingdoms in a five-year long campaign, therefore didnt get to show her face in the water tribes, gets chosen as the one to marry into the southern water tribe. as both a savvy diplomatic move to solidify the peace and to work with said wife towards peace with their sister tribe. iroh has no choice but to agree, and azula as a loyal princess with duty to the throne, also has to agree. (she is terribly, extremely unhappy with this due to ursa-parallel related reasons. and its azula.)

katara is chosen both for her position as the daughter of the chief, and for her prowess as a master bender (to match azula's known reputation). katara herself has been working as a sort of renegade freedom fighter away from the south pole, mostly working against the admiral-prince zuko and his three year campaign against the water tribes. sokka and herself work with an elite team, the black tail wolf pack (extremely indulgent name please forgive me) as guerilla fighters against the fire nation essentially. katara is EXTREMELY unhappy about the marriage alliance that her father has signed her off to, but like azula, her duty to her people and to peace overrides her extreme dislike of the situation.

zuko is the admiral-prince, heir to the throne, burned and shamed by the late firelord ozai, and... marrying toph bei fong. NOW PLEASE hear me out on this. stay with me. as part of the peace agreed by iroh, and the fire nation's precarious position now that expansion and pillaging cant fund their economy, an agreement is made with the earth kingdoms to marry into the wealthiest family in the world. its purely an economic marriage, but since the bei fongs are essentially the only homogenous earth territory ''royals'' that aren't strictly attatched to one kingdom but all of them, and have a daughter to spare, well. their relationship is the funniest to me, they're very much a platonic-married-besties situation. zuko himself is conducting a dreadfully obvious affair with mai, and his siege-weapon of a wife does not care in the slighest. in fact she actively encourages it, as being wife to the heir to the fire nation throne gives her freedom away from her family to be herself. there will be rising tensions between the bei fongs and the fire royals, naturally, as well as toph's own character clashing with the 'no fun allowed' fire nation.

azutara's relationship is an EXTREME slow burn, enemies to enemy-wives to friends to lovers. they're both 20 at the time they're married, but both have been child soldiers for years. azula spends a week acting like an arrogant prat and treating her wife like a peasant through politicking power plays before katara just kicks her ass three times over and azula realises theres actually no power imbalance to play off of. she promptly begins acting like mr darcy. katara has to grapple with the very alien culture of the fire nation and stumbles through all the subtlties of both court and royal life, as well as having to deal with her enemy turned wife and the absolute paradox of a woman that azula is. AND negotiating with her hostile sister tribe into trying to broker peace after a generation of war. i think marrying azula is harder than the whole 'world peace' affair really. they're both miserable and angry and cant understand each other but still see each other

sokka will be an intermitten character, as he becomes a diplomat for the southern water tribe as well as a member of the three nations peace council set up in the wake of the war. im trying to add in suki but im unsure on how, perhaps as another representative or something. ursa will have a plotline and azula will NOT be happy about it at all. iroh is frankly wracked with guilt that in order for peace he has to make the last of his family utterly miserable. all their relationships are complicated and messy and everyone's a little awful

i think a really fun aspect of this au is my odd ideas about azula and gender. azula is, in the eyes of the fire nation, both male AND female. female as a princess, a woman who's royal duties involve marriage and so on. but her status as a master fire bender legally classifies her as male. honestly the fire nation cannot afford to disregard azula on gender lines, since she's the most powerful fire bender on the planet at this point. she's a general in the military too, a traditionally male held role, and so azula herself becomes a grey area in terms of legal gender. as such, azula is technically kataras HUSBAND, not wife. and with that comes all the expectations of a husband over a wife in a royal imperial court. very very indulgent of me i fear

i hope this lore dump/word vomit makes some sort of sense. please feel free to ask more abt this au!!!! i have many many worldbuilding hcs for the fire nation and this au <3333

[drpoisonoaky]

Therapy homework, fire siblings edition

Azula and Zuko have to share moments from their childhood in order to heal their relationship (therapy homework), even as they are there for each other.

In my own personal Azula’s redemption arc, Zuko is there helping her sister in the same way he got help.

So they talk about everything because they’re healing and they need to do it.

[Turtle ducks]

Zuko: I think those two are playing together.

Azula: Or they’re fighting to decide who will become the Turtle Lord.

Zuko: Don’t project your trauma onto turtle ducks. 

Azula: I was not. It’s a very real and possible situation in the turtle duck world.

Zuko: I am going to ignore that because I was wondering why you hate them.

Azula: I don’t hate them.

Zuko: You threw rocks at them every time we were here.

Azula:

Zuko: What?

Azula: That we never included me, you know? It was more like “Mom and Zuko and, oh, Azula is here”.

Azula: So I guess I want my mother to give me attention, and my child brain said “Let’s make chaos”.

Zuko: Oh… I’m sorry I…I never thought about it that way.

Azula: Don’t punish yourself Zuzu. We were children. It wasn’t your job.

Zuko: But now we can feed them together, right? No rocks, only bread.

Azula: You really are a softie. It’s annoying.

Zuko: Let’s take the bread.

[Children]

Zuko: Do you want kids?

Azula: Not really. You do?

Zuko: One. Only one.

Azula: Did I traumatize you Zuzu?

Zuko: Yes, but no. If I had a kid, I want to focus on them, giving them all of my love and support. Being the Firelord and doing that for more than one child it’s impossible.

Azula: Oh, you really think about this… I hate to say it, but you would be a great dad.

Zuko: Thanks. I appreciate it. Why don't you?

Azula: First of all, it would have to be adopted, so the kid comes with baggage. And with my baggage, I probably couldn’t be there as much as the kid needs. It’s not fair to them. I can’t put the happiness of some child behind my own selfishness.

Zuko: Cool aunt?

Azula: I’m going to spoil your child so much that they’ll be as insufferable as you are.

Zuko: Of course you will.

[Fire resistance]

Katara: Hey firebenders, I have a question. Do you really resist fire better by nature or…?

Azula: Yes and no. 

Zuko: I mean, look at my face. 

Katara: That’s why I’m asking. Why do you resist less than ‘Zula? I swear she could be on fire and not notice.

Azula: We didn’t have the same training. Mother stopped Ozai a lot for the both of us. But when she was gone…

Zuko: I was banished when he started his fire resistance methods…

Katara: but ‘Zula don’t.

Azula: I was burned every day in every place except the face. Well, you saw the marks.

Sokka: Why not the face?

Suki: Don’t be rude.

Azula: It was because I was a princess after all, and you know we had to be pretty and perfect.

Katara: And how do you get high pain tolerance from that?

Azula: I guess some nerves died along the way or maybe my brain learned to ignore that kind of pain…I don’t know. 

Azula: I hate him, but in battle it’s really useful. But yeah, don’t try it at home, kids.

Sokka: So if we try to burn your fac-

Katara: Don’t you dare, asshole.

[Crying]

Katara: Did they cry much when they were babies?

Azula: I bet Zuzu was insufferable.

Zuko: I was a pretty nice baby.

Ursa: You were nice, but you cried a lot.

Azula: See.

Ursa: And you weren't nice at all, young lady. But truth to be told, she didn’t cry.

Zuko: Lack of emotions, I see.

Azula: Not dumbass, it was for the balance between you and me.

Katara: She didn’t cry at all? What would happen if she was hungry or hurt herself?

Ursa: She just waited.

Azula: Of course I did that, crying change nothing. Plus, it wasn’t allowed.

Zuko: What do you mean?

Azula: Oh right, that was one of the points of our “educational differences”.

Ursa: Azula?

Azula:

Katara: Azula?

Azula: Fine.

Azula: Father didn’t really like the tears. He said that water isn’t something that should exist around a firebender. So I didn’t cry.

Katara: …but what if you did by any chance?

Azula, smiling sadly: He turned into my personal dryer. Goodbye tears.

Ursa: *gasp* But when you were a child he neve-

Azula: Don’t worry mother… It's not your fault.

Zuko: We should try to cry together anytime you want. As a therapy exercise, of course.

Azula: I-…thanks Zuzu.

Katara: And I hope he knows that you are around water all the time and he can’t do shit.

Azula: Of course master Katara, best master water bender of all times.

Zuko: Mom, we should go. They had started their own weird flirting thing.

Katara:

Azula: 

Katara: What are you waiting for? Keep going.

[Compliments]

Aang: I know It’s none of my business, but I was wondering why some compliments make you look awkward but on the opposite sides. *Points at Azula and Zuko*

Zuko: What do you mean?

Aang: Like Azula takes it so well when we say something nice about her bending or her looks but she’s weird when it’s not about that. And you get so weird when we compliment your looks or your bending. Like a yin and yang kinda thing.

Azula: Easy. I was praised for everything Zuko isn’t.

Aang: What do you mean?

Azula: I’m a prodigy and a princess. Being an excellent firebender and looking pretty at the same time is or was my job. Zuzu is a mediocre firebender, under Father’s eyes, and he burned half of his face. 

Zuko: And ‘Zula never was praised for being anything else. 

Aang: But that’s awful.

Azula: I didn’t need to be anything apart from that, Zuko was banished. That’s life.

Sokka: No, it’s not. Your father it’s a piece of shit.

Katara: And I hope we never see him again. No offense.

Azula and Zuko: None taken.

[Giving Affection]

Katara, fidgeting with the hem of her tunic: I don’t know if it’s awkward to ask you that.

Zuko: …Go on.

Katara: Okay, so when you get out of the fire nation. Do you flinch?

Zuko: …Did I flinch?

Katara: General affection. 

Zuko: Not really. My mother used to hug me a lot and you know Iroh. 

Katara: …and who hugged Azula?

Zuko: Mom before disappearing, I guess? Me on some special days. I don’t know if our father ever did that.

Azula: Neither of them. Did you go to Zuzu to get information about me? 

Katara: I want to know “your background” from another point of view.

Azula: I hate that that is a logical move. But to answer that, maybe Ty Lee was the only one. And you know Mai.

Zuko: Didn’t Mom hug you?

Azula: Do you remember that little detail that mother hated me? 

Zuko: She didn’t ha-

Azula: Don’t. Please. We already passed that point.

Katara: So it’s decided.

Azula: What?

Katara: I’m now your personal koala, whether you want it or not. Come here.

Azula: But you do more things…

Zuko: And that’s my cue to get out of here.

[Education]

Aang: Wait, really, you know it all?

Azula: Of course, it was part of my education. I need to know history, especially anything related to war, but knowledge is knowledge.

Aang: But Zuko didn’t know anything about the Air Nomads' history.

Azula: We didn’t have the same education.

Zuko: Basically because Azula is a nerd.

Azula: Excuse me.

Zuko: After you did your homework, you started to read about everything, especially history. That’s why.

Aang: So she's more prepared than you.

Azula: I am. While Zuzu cried, I trained or focused on my studies. Time is gold in war.

Katara: You didn’t rest?

Azula: Not really, but sometimes I needed to rest in order to continue. 

Zuko: No you don’t. You can’t count that as resting. 

Aang: What, why?

Zuko: It’s not my call. Sorry. But you should explain it ‘Zula.

Katara: Azula?

Azula: What Zuzu means is that the “rest days” weren’t really optional.

Aang: Oh, they force you to rest?

Azula: Not exactly…I have to rest because I couldn’t move. Training wasn’t always…educational.

Zuko: Call it what it was. That shitty excuse of man made us fight against him and beat us until we faint.

Aang: Spirits.

Zuko: And I guess me being gone didn’t make him less reckless…

Azula: Quite the opposite…that’s why learning was fun. 

Azula: But anyways Zuzu you should learn that so from now on I’m going to teach you history, physics and math. Be aware.

Zuko: Only if we take rest days. Real ones.

Azula: Don’t be lazy.

[Wake up time]

Katara: I can’t beat Azula.

Sokka: But you did remember…Oh, spirits, don’t tell me is a dirty-

Katara: NO. 

Katara: Also not in that way, dummy. I can’t get up earlier than her. It's like every time I wake up early and say “Wow, today I really got up early” she’s already awake and meditating or something. 

Ty lee: I tried for a week. Then I got tired.

Mai: It’s a losing battle. You can’t beat them.

Katara: Wait, does Zuko also wake up early?

Mai: Every day, like if he makes the sun or something.

Azula, arriving from sparring with Zuko: Talking behind my back isn’t new, but still hurts a little. 

Zuko: Same.

Katara: Why do you wake up so early? Both of you.

Azula, raising an eyebrow: Why do you ask?

Zuko: Why do you wake up so late? 

Katara: Don’t answer a question with a question. Both of you don’t know the concept of oversleeping or even slacking. Why?

Zuko: What are you ta-…Oh. 

Zuko: Lala, do you remember the “If you wake up after the sun…

Azula: …how do you pretend to use his flames”. 

Katara: Oh no.

Mai:

Ty lee: That jerk.

Zuko: So we have to stop.

Azula: I’m going to knock myself out every morning, I swear. 

Zuko: Same.

Katara: Or instead of me waking up next to my unconscious girlfriend, you could try not getting out of bed.

Zuko: You mean stay in bed until the sun is up so we can train later?

Katara: I mean yeah. At least until you wake up like a regular human being.

Sokka: But that would imply they are regular human beings and we-AH STOP.

Azula, shooting little lightning at him: Sorry what?

Zuko, burning his butt: We are having difficulties hearing you.

Sokka: KATARA HELP YOU BROTHER.

Katara, ignoring Sokka and talking to Mai and Ty lee: So you two also like to wake up late?

Sokka: KATARA.

Ty lee: Yes, but it doesn’t fit the Kyoshi Warriors’ lifestyle. And that makes Suki angry with me, a lot.

[waterfire1848]

Au. No war. Azula at age 6 is far more powerful, stronger, and better. Trains and learned everything you could ever think of, fire lightning bending, all nations bending styles moves techniques and movements, swordman, chi, hth combat, martial arts, flight. Already have blue flames that have heat temp. C 3100, hides it from everyone, only showing gold flames, and not letting them know she already also mastered the lightning. (Can redirect lightning, and the dragon dance after secretly watch iroh do it once, managed to learn it in just 5 minutes). trains even harder that she already have indigo flames have heat temp. C 4200 at age 10. Then at age 14 can do violet flames that have heat temp. C 7100. Have scars, burns everywhere from training her heat resistance to the same level of her heat temp. And now also have hear resistance of C 7100. Invented fire healing after it and healed her body that scars, burns are barely visible (no fire benders can and could burn her, since she have the hottest fire and resistance to it, while theirs are not even hot to her anymore).... Fire family (all members) along with Mai tylee are in SouthernWaterTribe (already knows hakoda's family). When ozai challenges azula in a fight (not an agni Kai) for her disobedience, expecting that he would manage to burn and humiliate azula badly. All family members/water tribes/hakoda's family all watch since they can't stop it. At first azula just let him have fun, then proceed to beat the shit out of ozai (as they fight on the ground or flying (only azula) on the air (since ozai have limit), or should I say azula beating ozai). all ozai's attack (fire and lightning) are useless to her. The audience are speechless, stunned. At the end of the battle, azula doesn't even have 1 scratch at all, and not even tired... (Water tribes are happy that ozai got his ass kick, since they are tension with him). After it, as all of them are in a dining room, hakoda and Kya ask azula if she can teach their daughter some simple or basic waterbending moves since they recognized some on the fight earlier (katara are in awe when they tell her that some of those moves are waterbending). while fire family are still jaw drop since azula hides her real strength and power in the past.... Maizula tyzula azutara Romantic.

Hello, anon!!!

1. There is no war but there is tension among the nations. Ozai constantly says that war could break out at any moment and most Fire Nationals, especially the nobility, agree with him. Since they’re worried about a war, it’s expected that the children train and become stronger. Azula and Zuko are expected to train both because of a possible war and because they’re part of the Royal Family. Zuko is a decent firebender and trains as best he can but Azula hears that she needs to be ready to fight and runs with it. When she’s younger, she trains every second of every day. Even when everyone has gone to bed, she sneaks out of her room and practices her bending, learning as much as she can to prepare for the upcoming battle. Ozai catches her once but he doesn’t notice her blue flames that she was training with when he does. Instead, she quickly changes her color back to orange. (Ozai: Azula, what are you doing? Azula: Training! I wanted to master the Chameleon. Ozai, chuckling: That’s adorable. The Chameleon is far too advanced for you. You can learn it when you’re older. Azula: When? Ozai: Wait until you reach ten. But I do admire your determination. It’s exactly what I would expect from a Princess of the Fire Nation. Now, off to bed. You have your tutor bright and early in the morning. Azula: Yes, father). Azula decides not to tell him that she already mastered the Chameleon move two months ago.

2. Azula is seven when Hakoda’s family comes to visit. Azula has no idea why a Water Tribe family is coming to the palace when they’re, potentially, the enemy. Ursa just tells her and Zuko to be on their best behavior and not mention anything about a potential war or the tension between the Fire Nation and South Pole. Azula does her job, she keeps her mouth shut, but she doesn’t like that she has to sit across from a waterbender. After eating, their parents remain to talk while the kids go into the garden. After some back and forth, Azula soon realizes that Katara and Sokka aren’t like what she was expecting. They’re not mean or violent or destructive, nothing like what her father described. (Katara: Tag! You’re it! Azula: Are we allowed to use our bending? Sokka: No! That’s not fair! Katara: Yes! Azula, using her fire jets to launch herself forward and tag Zuko: You’re it, Zuzu! Katara: What was that?!? Azula:….Fire jets. I thought we could use bending. Did…was that not allowed? I’ve never played tag. Sokka: THAT WAS AWESOME!) By the time the sun has set, Azula finds that she doesn’t want to stop playing with them. She likes getting the chance to be a somewhat normal kid but also have people who find her advanced skills awesome not because they can get something out of it but because they recognize how great of an accomplishment it is.

3. Time goes on and the Water Family continues to come and visit. Azula and Katara end up spending quite a bit of time together since Katara is also a bender and is allowed to use the training arena to practice. The two spar from time to time but it’s most time dedicated to them working separately. During one visit, the two are sparring together and Katara accidentally trips trying to avoid one of Azula’s flames and falls onto Azula. The two look up at one another with blushes all over their faces. (Katara: I….ummm….I’m sorry I didn’t mean to- Azula: You don’t have to apologize. It was my fault for tripping you. But do you…do you mind getting off me? Katara: Yes! I mean no! No, I do not mind.) Azula only realizes after Katara leaves that she has a massive crush on the waterbender but she also realizes something else. Her father’s words about tension and an incoming war seem more and more like a well done lie.

4. One day, when Azula is 14, the family is together having dinner with the Water Tribe family. During the evening, Ozai starts talking about the Fire Nation military and talking about how it’s grown insanely powerful. His words make things tense and it’s clear that he’s using the to subtly suggest that Hakoda and his family have to support them if war does break out of risk being destroyed. (Ozai: Someone could get hurt *looks at Katara and Sokka*.) Azula speaks up before Hakoda does, angered that Ozai lied to her, threatened the WT and, most of all, angry that he threatened Katara. Ozai, obviously, gets angry at her as well for her disobedience and orders her to remain quiet. Azula refuses and Ozai challenges her to an Agni Kai. Ursa and Zuko try to step in on Azula’s behalf, both of them believing that Azula is a good bender but she would get destroyed by Ozai, and Azula refuses. She says that she is more than capable of taking on her father and they head to the Agni Kai stage. At first, it looks like Azula will lose. Only Katara notices that Azula’s skin isn’t being burned by Ozai and the entire fight seems too….easy for her. It’s like she’s an autopilot the entire time. Then, at the one or two minute mark of the fight, Azula starts actually fighting. She’s not only better trained and has more skills than him but she’s also faster and smaller than him and able to avoid his attacks a lot more. (Ursa: Should we stop this? Hakoda: Why would you? Azula’s winning.). The fight doesn’t even last another two minutes before Azula beats her father and is declared the champion.

5. The two weren’t really fighting for Fire Lord title or anything. Azula does take the opportunity to banish Ozai for almost getting them involved in a war and says he’s only allowed to return when he finds the Avatar. It’s a bit of humor on her part that she accuses her father of almost destroying balance and his sentence is that he has to find someone who’s whole just is balance. (Azula: Soooooo….who’s up for mochi?) When they return inside, Ursa and Zuko are too shocked to speak but Hakoda asks for her to help train Katara which Azula happily agrees to. When the water family leaves, they leave with Azula with rumors now spreading about the powerful Fire Nation princess.