#awwsummerlove

[bellatrixobsessed1]

The Match and The Fire

Day three of @avatarworldweek‘s event;  Storge-Family Love. 

Azula teaches Kiyi to firebend.

Family.

Azula didn’t quite know what it meant to have one.

Not truly anyways. Hers was a broken one. So it was easy for her to come to view her Kemurikage as family. They acted like a family, Zirin constantly poked fun at the others for their hairstyles and color. Miko, the youngest of the lot always pestered Zirin, as she was the eldest of them.

 But one by one they were taken, swept away by Zuko’s guards and escorted back to their own families until Azula had none again. It hurt to have had such a brief taste of what it was like to have people who seemed to truly care for her. A wild bunch of sisterly figures who fought with her and then turned around and fought for her when it really counted.

 They were all home now, with families that probably cared for them, and she was back in the institution. In that loathsome place where she could no longer tear Zuko’s new and picture-perfect family apart. It must be nice for him to have a new father and a new little sister. It was probably easy for him to pretend that they were his only father and sister. She supposed that she couldn’t blame him, she would likely jump at the chance to join Zirin’s family. It would be a very humble lifestyle but it was better than the one she had in present. Azula wrapped her arms around herself, she was all that she had.

 Or so she thought. She was taken aback when she was told that she had visitors. Even more so when she found Zuko and Kiyi waiting for her.

 “She wants you to teach her firebending.” Zuko spoke. “I’ve been trying to talk her out of it, I even offered to teach her, but she said no.”

 “She’s already making good decisions about her bending.” Azula muttered, though she was curious. “Why does she want to learn from me? I kidnapped her.”

 “Apparently that’s when she first found out she could do it and apparently, hands on learning is her favorite kind.”

 “It’s the most practical.” Azula agreed.

 “So you’ll teach me?” Kiyi asked.

 “I can’t.” She muttered. “I’m stuck here.”

 Kiyi peered up at Zuko, batting her lashes.

 Zuko sighed. Azula wondered if he would actually let her go free. She had no such luck though. “Tell you what, I’ll take you over here every other day and you can spend an hour with…”

 “My big sister.” Kiyi filled in. It was odd to hear, the title felt somehow out of place to Azula. She wanted it, yet she could see herself filling the role. Not like she did with her Kemurikage.

 It must have been a foreign taste on Zuko’s tongue as well. “Uh…yeah. You can spend an hour firebending with Azula.” It wasn’t ideal by any means, but it was a start. At least she would get the chance to bend again. Not that an hour would be remotely enough time to accomplish anything, neither for her own gain or for Kiyi’s lessons but it was the only offer on the table.

 Kiyi was a nuisance to her. She had too many questions and too many ridiculous tales about Zuko, it was taking away from Azula’s own practice.

 If it wasn’t, “when am I actually going to firebend?” It was, “this form is too hard, I want to learn a new one.” But Azula knew skill when she saw it and she wasn’t going to give the child easier stances when she was more than capable of preforming the harder ones. Before that, Azula had been very adamant about Kiyi learning the breathing techniques before anything else—it was what was making her a particularly powerful bender and it had left Azula with more time to work on her own bending. Something that was growing harder as Kiyi’s skills flourished.

 Very slowly over the passing of weeks, Azula found that working with Kiyi was becoming less of a task. The girl had skills to match her own. Though she was on a much lower level, she was right on par with were Azula herself had been at that age. The girl seemed to be developing a curiosity about the art of firebending itself, this was something the princess seldom got to speak of.

 A little after that, Azula decided to let the girl have fun with her firebending. She would make up games much like hide and explode in nature. These games seemed to drive the nurses crazy so she would part-take very eagerly, even if doing so meant compromising a genuine practice or two.

 .oOo.

 Every day, Kiyi would come home beaming from ear to ear. She seemed to truly enjoy Azula’s company. He thought that she had to be making things up, after all, she spoke of childish play. He couldn’t picture Azula engaging in such. Yet Kiyi, was grinning as if that was exactly what had happened.

Every other day he would catch her in the middle of practice. Azula was somewhat stern but Kiyi didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she seemed to actively try to imitate her older sister’s impeccable drive and focus. She was pretty good at it too.

All in all they were a startlingly good match for each other and Zuko didn’t know how to take it.

 Presently, he found himself pacing, a nervous habit of his. He was contemplating something; Azula was so…different around Kiyi. The two seemed to click very well. He’d been observing them so closely for those weeks and Kiyi had learned so much. He had to say that Azula seemed happier too; she smiled more, laughed more openly. He bit the inside of his cheek as he watched Azula sling Kiyi over her shoulder.

 “Put me down!” She hollered with a laugh.

 “You’re going to have to make me.”

 He watched Kiyi puff out her cheeks and with all of her might she heaved herself forward. But Azula’s balance was as sturdy as it ever was. She tired again, this time adding a boost of fire that toppled them both.

 “I mean, that was a good try but you knocked yourself down too.” Azula pointed out. “And I’m still holding you.”

 “Because you’re cheating!” Kiyi accused.

 Zuko almost didn’t want to intervene. “It’s been an hour. Actually, an hour and about ten minutes…”

 “Aww come on Zu-Zu.” Kiyi pouted. “We’re in the middle of something.”

 “You’re always in the middle of something.” He argued. “You can get back to that something when we get home.”

 “But you don’t know how to play this game.” Kiyi pouted. “Azula knows though.”

 “Yeah, well maybe she can teach me to play it when we get home.”

 The look on Azula’s face almost made his decision worth it. It wasn’t often that she looked puzzled, much less that comically confused. “I’m coming home?”

 He helped Azula to her feet. “I suppose that if Kiyi likes you, you can’t be that bad.”

 .oOo.

 Azula was quiet for much of the ride home, still trying to comprehend that he was actually bringing her back to the palace. Still trying to fully grasp that he was looking at her without fear or resentment. She scarcely noticed when Kiyi tucked herself under her arms. And when she did notice, she let the girl stay. She had grown fond of Kiyi who was so similar to her but without such a sinister nature—without the nature Ozai had instilled within her. She made a note to herself to not pass whatever that nature was onto Kiyi.

 That child was a more likable version of her, and she wouldn’t ruin that. She couldn’t, not when Kiyi was staring up at her as though she were some sort of mentor. Not when the girl was starting to prattle on to Zuko about her—speaking of her as if she was a suitable role model. Azula kept quiet and let Kiyi get comfy in her lap, something that softened Zuko’s own expression considerably.

 “I always wanted a sister.” Kiyi declared. “I’m glad I have a sister now.”

 Zuko smiled, “I am too.” His smile was directed at her. Azula could recognize a peace offering when she saw one. As completely sickeningly sappy as it was, she wanted to take it. She wanted to have a family. A real family.

[seyaryminamoto]

Avatar World Week - Summer Love Event

Day Two: Phileo  - Platonic Love

My BroTP strikes again! It’s taken forever for Azula to get used to hugs from people, but somehow it just feels natural when it comes from Toph. These two are practically like sisters by now in Gladiator and their friendship is my favorite so far, despite Azula has developed a lot of great friendships over time there.

At any rate, their friendship is pretty much the only pure thing about either of them (?) and I love that about their bond, really. Thanks again to @avatarworldweek for organizing this event!

[purpleplatypusbear21]

Agape (Unconditional Love)

Hi everyone!  Here’s my first entry for the AWW Summer Love Event 2018.

You can read it on fanfiction.net here.

Or you can read it on AO3 here.

Please favorite/follow/review! ❤

@avatarworldweek

[focusas]

What is love?

Sokka runs through palace corridors and sings:”Oh what is love?“ then he accidentally runs into Azula and they both stumble and roll on the floor with Azula getting on top of Sokka.

“Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me ...“ Sokka looks at Azula and blue fire in her hand.

“No more!“ Wicked smile appears on Azula’s face before she completes Sokka’s sentence.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

On Clouds Of Wisteria

The final day of @avatarworldweek‘s Summer Love event. Day 4;  Eros-Romantic Love. 

Aang gets ready for his first real date with an intimidatingly uptight, romantically awkward Azula. 

The garden was abuzz with life, the vernal equinox in full effect. A soft breeze carried the sent of lilac and wisteria, reminding Aang very much of home in the Air Temples. With a cheerful smile, he found himself a seat under the most potent smelling lilac bush. He carefully plucked four clusters of them and set them at the four corners of his picnic blanket. He crafted it himself specifically for the occasion, of course it had taken a few tedious sewing lessons that had him putting all of the calming meditation exercises that the monks had taught him to use. In the end he had a simple blanket of white silk and a few carefully sewn embroidered purple lilacs to show for it. He very nearly sewed in a few waves, but figured that doing so would take away from the original point. He would have plenty of time to sew another later on. Aang re-adjusted the flowers a second and third time before deciding that they were placed exactly right. He couldn’t dwell too much on it though, because Azula would be there any minute now and he wanted to make things truly special. He wouldn’t be able if he continued to spend a ridiculous amount of time fussing with the lilac bunches. So he moved on, setting an incense holder at the very center of the blanket. The pungent garden smells were lovely enough, but he wanted something a bit more sensual. So he quickly struck a match and lit the incense stick before turning to his picnic basket. He made sure to only accept the finest chopsticks, cups, and plates. He set them upon the blanket with extraordinary care and then took to unboxing their meal to be. He set out a few moon peaches and a pastry or two and then a bowl of donburi. Though he would only pick the vegetables out of it.

 The waterfalls of wisteria fluttered as another cool gust of wind brushed by. He was a little nervous, Azula liked things perfect. Even though he thought that this was pretty close to it, he figured that the princess might say different. He had no time to make any further adjustments because the woman in question brushed a particularly low-drooping set of wisteria branches aside.

 “What’s all of this?” Azula asked.  

 “Just a little birthday surprise.” He smiled. He plucked a strand of wisteria and tucked it into her hair.

 Azula took a seat and picked the flowers out of her hair. “Nice try, Avatar. I’m not the type who likes flowers.”

 Aang frowned. Not a flower type and he had chosen to have their lunch in a garden full of them. It was their first real date and he was already messing things up. “Well are you an incense and moon peach person?”

 “I might be.” She replied. “We’ll see how this afternoon goes.”

 That did little to ease the fluttering in his chest. Zuko did warn him that his sister wasn’t an easy person to love. Though Aang was certain that it was because no one ever tried, not their best anyways. He thought that Azula had taken so well to him because he had been so willing to talk to her like a human being when no one else wanted anything to do with her.

 He tossed her a moon peach, studying her face as she bit into it. With any luck, she’d like the taste of it, and that would be one thing he got right. But she was as impassive as ever, even over something so trivial. “Well?”

 “Well what?” Azula asked.

 “Did you like it?”

 “It was alright.”

 She wasn’t making things easy, that was for sure. Azula wasn’t much for conversation, not small talk anyways. Small talk was almost more important to Aang as big talk. Yet he didn’t know how to keep her engaged in a pointless conversation. Not when she was so fond of only talking about topics of importance. He was going to try anyways. “It’s nice out here, isn’t it?”

 Azula shrugged. “I suppose it is.” He could see that her mind was elsewhere.

 He sighed, “what’s on your mind this time?” He just wanted a nice lunch, and hoped with all of his heart that she wouldn’t bring up a wildly heavy topic. The kind she usually thought of.

 Momentarily, her brows crinkled. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot…” she trailed off. “I killed you. Why do you like me?”

 Aang took the princess’ hand. “I love you.”

 “That’s a strong word, Avatar. Use it carefully.”

 “I am.” He insisted. “I love you because you’re you. You’re powerful, you’re intelligent, and you’re kinder and more caring then you think you are.”

 “And you’re a dreadful liar.” Azula rolled her eyes.

 Without another word, Aang leaned in and pressed his lips to her forehead and then to the bridge of her nose.

 She cracked a warm smile, the one he had been hoping for. The one that suited her so well. The one that old him that she had love in her heart, regardless of what others liked to say about her. “What are you trying to do?”

 “Oh, nothing really.” Aang replied, “just trying to prove a point.”

 “And how is this going to achieve that?”

 He kissed her cheeks, first the left and then the right. She lifted her hands to brush her thumbs over his own cheeks with a very pleasant tentativeness. Soon, her hands fell upon her back. And soon he felt her hands rubbing up and down his back as he pressed his lips against hers. He’d kissed her before many times. At first she had been rather awkward and very uncertain, and—if he wasn’t mistaken—afraid even. She had let him do all of the work from holding her close to actually locking lips. She barely returned it the first two times. Her face was flushed, he didn’t think he’d ever seen her flustered before then. But that was also when he had first seen her softer smile and the first time he’d seen a glimmer of hope in eyes that had once been so hurt and haunted.

Each time he kissed Azula, she seemed to grow in confidence, until the act no longer left her face a shade of pink and she finally returned the gesture. Until she pressed herself closer and held him tighter.

 This time, she was the one to deepen the kiss. He could feel her bangs tickling his neck. He tucked them behind her ear as a few lilac petals broke free from their stems. It smelled divine. Her lips were on his neck and then she pulled them away entirely. But her body remained close, her arms tossed over his shoulders.

 Kissing her on the forehead one more time he replied, “If you weren’t at least a little caring, then I don’t think you’d be kissing me like that or holding me like this.”

 Azula hummed to herself, “you do realize that I don’t like being proven wrong, yes?”

 “I’ve known that for a while.” Aang replied. “But I think that this is something you should be happy to be wrong about. You’re a good person, Azula, even if everyone else tells you that you aren’t.”

 She dropped her hands into her lap and peered at them for a brief moment.

 “I promise that you’re actually really easy to love.” He pushed her bangs back again. “And you’re not as bad at it as you think you are.”

 “I would like to think that you’re right.” There was still a solemnness about the look in her eyes and her overall demeanor. So he pulled her into another hug, savoring the warmth she naturally gave off. He always found it to be rather pleasant and tremendously comforting, even if she didn’t realize it. He stroked her hair.

 “You need to lighten up!”

 Azula rolled her eyes. Maybe it was true though, maybe she did need to release her hold on the past. It would do her well to stop contemplating it so much. It would do her better to stop dwelling on how readily…or unreadily people were accepting her relationship with Aang. She took the bowl of donburi and a glass of apple juice.

 “Here, I like to add a pinch of lavender.” Aang sprinkled some into her drink.

 She supposed that trying something new would help her to, ‘lighten up’ as the Avatar so requested, so she didn’t protest the addition. She brought the glass to her lips. “It’s alright.” She commented.

 “Is everything just ‘alright’?” He asked.

 “No.” Azula answered. “This day has been better than alright. I enjoyed all of this.”

 Aang grinned, “so would you want to do it again?”

 To his delight, the princess nodded. “Yes, I would like that very much, Avatar.” She would more than like that, but feared she’d make a fool of herself if she tried to express it anymore than she did. Perhaps one day it would come more naturally to her, to express the more pleasant of her emotions. Even if she couldn’t do it just then, Aang seemed to have a sense for that kind of thing. Maybe that was why he was so fast to see and accept things that others didn’t. Perhaps that’s why he found it so easy to love her.

 Under clouds of wisteria, the Avatar made her feel loved and cared for.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Locked

Day 2 of @avatarworldweek‘s summer love event; platonic love. 

Sokka invites Azula to have a sleepover at his house. Azula is reluctant because she has suffered from night terrors and sleep paralysis since she was a child.

“You’ve never had a sleepover before?” Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No.”

“Not even once?” He asked again.

“Not even once.”

“Not even with TyLee and Mai?”

“Sokka.” Azula rolled her eyes, no matter how you rephrase the question, I have not had a sleepover.”

Sokka was delighted beyond compare. If Azula had never had a sleepover before, then he would have the honor of giving her, her first one. “Wonderful, you can spend the night here then!” He declared, already on his way to break out the sleepover snacks.

“Sokka I didn’t bring any pillows…”

“You can use mine, and the blankets.” Sokka shrugged.

“I’m not going to sleep in my day clothes, that’s not comfortable.” Azula countered.

“You can even wear my pajamas. I have everything you need to spend the night at my house.”

Despite her reluctance Azula didn’t have the heart to squander his enthusiasm, so she hesitantly agreed to spend the night. The prospect of a sleepover wasn’t too awful, but nighttime was never her forte. Even so, things were going flawlessly, until Sokka insisted that they did a Spice Girls karaoke and played a mandatory game of truth or dare with Katara. Evidently, this game of truth or dare was what led to her part-taking in the Spice Girls sing-along. All was well she supposed, she got to see Sokka dash stark-naked into Jet’s backyard, where he pressed his rear to the window until Jet threatened to call the cops. “Would you press charges for… assault.” Sokka wriggled his eyebrows. This had left Katara to mutter, “I outta call the cops on him for that awful joke.” Most of the dares involved eating things like pancakes with mustard or chocolate chip cookies dipped in mayo. Azula’s competitive nature had her taking the burnt of the horrible dares. By the end of it she was ready to light Sokka on fire and knew way too much about Katara.

“Isn’t there any other sleepover activity that we can do?” Azula asked.

“We can paint our nails and do makeovers.” In a whisper he added, “I’ve always wanted to try Katara’s eyeliner.”

She never expected that she would spend her Saturday night, winging Sokka’s eyeliner for him as he prattled on about how he looked better than the best boy bands and how BTS would hire him in no time. She rolled her eyes but continued his makeover regardless. By the time Katara was through with her, Azula herself had nails polished a shimmery blue and eyeshadow of the same color. Unfortunately for Katara, Sokka’s messy hand did her makeover. She ended up with uneven eyeliner and lopsided lashes. Azula snapped a picture on her phone, that one would be a keeper.

Various scary movies later, Sokka would find out why she never had a sleepover before. They watched three of them; Katara’s pick was Prom Night and Azula found herself drawn to The Shining, while Sokka had chosen Cabin In The Woods. Frankly Azula was thankful for the touch of comedy; not that she would say it, but she didn’t do very well with horror movies. They always kindled her paranoia, but the plots had a certain morbid allure. Katara spent all three movies under her blanket or hiding behind a pillow. Sokka was a steady flow of comic relief, muttering something akin to, “why heeeellooo sexy” every time a particularly hideous creature emerged on screen. And each time, Azula nudged him and told him to knock it off so she could bask within her own terror.

She was hesitant to turn off the lights and even more so to let the conversations die down. Sleep never came quickly for her, even as a child she was a fussy sleeper. The couch wasn’t doing her any justice either. For hours, Azula listened to the sound of the air conditioner and Sokka’s creaking ceiling fan. Sokka was a heavy sleeper, already snoring away, and Katara had decided to make her way upstairs and sleep in her own bed. Azula couldn’t blame her for that one. All in all, the girl felt somewhat alone, despite Sokka’s company. She tried her very best to fight sleep, if she was awake then she’d be safe. If she could keep her mind from falling asleep, then she could keep her body from following. But she fell into a slumber, she always did. That wasn’t the hard part.

No, the hard part was waking up.

And she always did so, but never in full.

That night was no different. Her mind woke early in the morning, when the sky was still an inky black. But her body was still sleeping, completely and utterly locked to her. A very familiar unease settled into her belly. She closed her eyes, trying her best to ignore the oppressive feeling of being watched. It always started out as a small presence in the corner of the room. A dark thing with a mouth that took up the entirety of its face and arms that were too long and too muscular for its body. Eventually it would crawl up to her and then atop her where it would sit—heavy and unmoving—forcing her to look into its gaping mouth. Within, past a wall of teeth and deep down its throat, she would see other things. Visons of her own death and clawed hands reaching out. If she couldn’t keep her eyes closed or get them to close at all, the hands would reach out and steal her breath. But she couldn’t move, not even a finger. She couldn’t call out either, her lips were as frozen as the rest of her body. It was moving closer and closer still until she could feel the entire weight of it pressing upon her. She wouldn’t open her eyes, she wouldn’t look it. But lord did she wish Sokka would wake up and knock it off of her. She shouldn’t have laid on her back, it was always worse when she did.

At the same time she was glad she couldn’t cry out. The last thing she wanted to do was send Katara and Hakoda rushing down the stairs for absolutely nothing. If she knew it that it was nothing, then why did it still bother her, she wondered. It was purely instinctually and maybe deep down she feared that one day her body would never wake. Even deeper down, she there was some part of her that wondered if the thing sitting on her chest was actually there. One of these days, it might be real.

Even so she would wake with only a memory of being terrified beyond control and without control. As it always had been. She had always suffered from night terrors as a child, they had simply evolved into sleep paralysis episodes as she got older.

She willed herself to breathe, deep and easy. Slow and steady. She first put all of her energy into lifting one finger. On a good night she could do that and then work from there until her brain finally realized that she was no longer dreaming and no longer needed to be restrained. It took longer than she would have liked, but the overbearing sense that something was in the room with she and Sokka was finally retracting.

She was still breathing somewhat unsteadily, trembling some. She ought to be used by now, but each hallucination was still uniquely fear inducing.

She needed a glass of water.

“You okay?” Sokka asked.

“Fine.” She replied, “I’m fine.”

“You’re shaking.” He noted.

She tried to deny it with a simple, “I’m not.”

“Is it because we watched all of those movies?”

“No.”

“Well you’re scared of something.”

Azula tossed her pillow at him. “I’m not afraid.”

“So what, are you shaking with joy because I’m awake?”

Azula wrinkled her nose. “Never.” She fetched her pillow, not that she planned on going back to sleep. “I have sleep paralysis. Sometimes, if I’m really unlucky, I’ll have night terrors right before the paralysis episodes.”

Sokka cocked his head. “Since when?”

“Ever since I could remember. They happened more often before I made nice with you all.” She lie herself back down and nuzzled against the pillow.

“During your stay at the institution?”

“And a little before, yes.” She replied. “Something, something about childhood trauma according to my therapist. My father wasn’t much help.” He had always yelled at her for the episodes. As a child he’d answer her terrified screams with enraged ones. Raging at her for waking him up and telling her to grow up and stop being afraid of imaginary things.

“Here.” Sokka offered her a glass of water. “You wanna watch a fun movie or something?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to sleep tonight anyways, so we might as well.” She shrugged.

“Is this why you didn’t want to have a sleepover?” He asked.

She nodded, “I don’t think that the rest of your family would apricate hearing me shriek in the middle of the night.”

He had a few jokes on his mind but refrained, he felt like this wasn’t a topic she’d like to make light of. So instead he wrapped his blanket around her. “I’m sure Katara would understand. And dad, he slept through Toph’s idea of a good time at my last sleepover, I think he could sleep through you.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Popcorn?”

“It’s 3:39 in the morning, Sokka.”

“Point?” He set the bowl in her lap. “It’s a sleepover, we’re supposed to be up at ridiculous hours, doing ridiculous things. Do you like DDR by chance?”

“I’ll kick your ass at DDR, so there’s no point in you trying.” Azula replied.

“We’ll see about that.” He declared, as he hooked up the mats to his gaming station.

This was going to be completely idiotic. But it very completely beat being pinned down by her own mind and a creature that wasn’t there. So she would play DDR with Sokka until the sun rose or she passed out again.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Suyan

I also realized that I haven’t really worked with Jetzula much in a positive light. So I made a second fic for day 1 of @avatarworldweek‘s event. 

Jet finds himself enjoying the company of a girl that claims to be half Earth Kingdom, half Fire Nation, only to find out that she’s Fire Nation royalty. 

He hated the fire but he loved her. Everything she was, everything she stood for, everything her people did—Jet hated it all. But somehow, holding her in his arms, that made it different. The fire princess slept easy…easier than she ought to, Jet speculated. She didn’t seem to know that he figured it out. It had taken much longer than it should have, weeks, but he knew it was her. He should have seen it in her eyes that she was full-blood fire. But she had been strangely kind to him and he wanted to believe her when she said that her mother was Earth Kingdom. Jet wondered if any of it was genuine; wondered if she truly loved the deep brown of his eyes as she had said. If she truly admired his creativity in battle tactics and hiding places. Or was she just trying to gain information.

 She rubbed her head against him as she adjusted positions. With a soft, sleepy sigh the princess was asleep again.

He could kill her then. It would be so easy.

 He could run his blade across her throat and she’d sleep again before she truly had a chance to wake. He could slip some white jade into her mouth and watch her struggle for breath. He could bind her up and leave her to die in some hidden place. It would be so satisfying, he could tell everyone that he had taken down a fire royal. One of the more dangerous of them. He could play a huge hand in snuffing the blight that was the Fire Nation. All he had to do was act.

 But his mind was full of memories. Showing her his woodsy hideaway. Teaching her to use his hook swords; she was so elegant with them, it seemed to come so naturally to her, the symmetry needed to wield them. Taking her down to the creek and trying to teach her to fish; this apparently lay just outside her skill sets, watching her pout at the water’s surface with her arms across her chest as he reeled in fish number seven had been a high point. She was so good at everything else.

 Jet racked his hands through his hair, he needed to act now. He poised the blade at neck level, the cool steel pricked her neck. All he had to do was dig in and slash.

But she muttered something soft and nonsensical in her sleep, it was rather precious and he remembered that she was still human.

 Taking the care not to let out a frustrated roar, he threw the blades. They clattered louder than he anticipated and Suyan—that was the name she’d given him, a false one he was assuming—bolted up right. “What are you doing?” She grumbled.

 “I got startled by a fox-antelope.”

 She shot him a skeptical look before touching her throat, her fingers coming away with a trace of blood. She always had been good at figuring things out for herself. Yet she seemed to struggle to grasp it, “you tried to kill me…in my sleep.” Her tone was unusually incredulous. It was hard to catch her by surprise but he had done it.

 “I couldn’t do it.”

 “Clearly.” She agreed. She was quiet for a while, sitting with her legs drawn up to her chest and staring blankly into the forest as the wind tousled her bangs. “When did you figure it out?”

 “A few days ago I started to suspect that you are Fire Nation. I saw a picture yesterday, of the Fire Nation princess. I can put two and two together…Suyan.”

 “If you know who I am, then you can address me accordingly.”

 “I don’t know your real name. I never cared to learn it. I planned to erase it from the world.”

 “Then do it, Jet.” She challenged.

 She was making it easy, making herself unlikable. Ignoring how he truly felt—how he could almost pretend that this was another one of their petty squabbles—he reclaimed his hook swords. She waited, staring him down as he lifted them. A fair fight, he decided, was more noble anyhow. He went in for his first cut and she ducked beneath the blade. A second swipe with his other blade and she dodged the strike. So was the rest of the battle; a series of slashes and cuts followed by ducks and parries. But no fire, not even a spark.

 She wasn’t fighting back.

When he wasn’t attacking, she stood with that indifferent expression and her hands clasped behind her back.

She remained that way when he thrusted the sword into her side. The jab wasn’t very deep but he could inflict more damage whenever he was ready…

 Whenever he was ready.

 But he stood frozen thinking about the night when he’d almost kissed her. When he told her of how his village was invaded and she told him that she had been thrown into the war as well. The sword was still lodged in her side and she wasn’t doing anything to remove it and he couldn’t bring himself to push it further. The truth was, he had come to love Suyan and he couldn’t seem to find the power to kill the woman who created her.

 He let the sword drop, it came away from the princess with a flinch-inducing wet noise. Yet, she wasn’t the one who flinched, it was he. “What are you doing?” She asked.

 He returned the question and added, “why didn’t you fight me.”

 She shrugged. After a moment she added, “I would have won.”

 Jet blinked.

 “If I would have won, you would have been dead.” She pulled the ribbon from her hair and dressed her wound. “I don’t want you dead.”

 At once he wondered just what the hell she was doing here. Surly there were more important things for a fire princess to accomplish. Yet, she was messing with him. He was almost willing to say that she didn’t want to accomplish anything in particular. “Then what do you want.”

 “I want to…follow my own path.” She answered. “My father and I have two different goals. He wants conquest and he sent me out to get it for him. I want to see the world, I want to experience it. I know everything there is to know about my own nation, but know little of the others…” She never did like ignorance, Jet recalled. She had a certain curiosity about her, always asking, always imploring. It was something he liked about, that she wanted to know as much as she could just for the sake of knowing. She came a few feet closer, “I want you to follow my path with me. You…” she paused, trying to find the word. “You intrigue me.”  

 She didn’t know much about love nor kissing, but like most things she was willing to learn. She liked to think of herself as a fast learner. “You intrigue me very much.” She said again, taking him by the collar of his shirt.

Looking into her eyes was like looking into a blazing fire that he had mixed feelings about extinguishing. So he let her brush her lips over his. She was unsure, he guessed, that could be the only reason for her hesitation. Eventually, though, she actually gave him the kiss. She pulled away quicker than he would have liked, but her hands were still linked with his.

 He didn’t even know her real name but he returned her interest. He was still weary, but he somehow wanted another kiss, even just a small one. Deep down he wondered, maybe if she loved him enough, she would help him save the world from her father. But could she turn from her nation like that?

But could he love a Fire Nation woman. One of status at that? Could he love her in spite of it?

As she brushed her fingers through his hair, he decided that he probably could, she was making it easy enough. Looking into Fire Nation eyes he had only ever seen fury and hate. But hers, they were different. They were calm yet vivid. They had a spark, as all firebender eyes seemed to have, but there was care, maybe love, in them.

 He decided that he wanted to take the chance. That he wanted to love her despite it all.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

The Gliding Dragon

Day 1 of @avatarworldweek‘s summer love event: Unconditional love.

I haven’t seen any fics at all for Azula/Teo so I wrote one. Because why not?

She was there strictly on business, or she was supposed to be anyhow. The Fire Nation needed new machines, but creativity wasn’t exactly an area of expertise among Azula’s people. Not in an era where dancing had been banned. The Fire Nation needed an inventor. Apparently, it was her job to find one, as Zuko busied himself with other matters. Frankly she believed that she should be the one fussing with foreign affairs back at the palace as opposed to making another journey to the Earth Kingdom. A place where she left empty handed, with only a small lead. None of the machinists in the Earth Kingdom impressed her well enough for her to request an alliance. But she heard tell of a machinist who dwelled in the Northern Air Temple after being displaced by a flood of sorts.

This tip had her on her way back to the Fire Nation to retrieve an airship, and then right back in the direction she had just come from. It had been so tedious. But she would only accept the finest for the Fire Nation, for her nation. Azula sighed, the things she did for it.

 She supposed that the hassle of the trip was all well enough in the end. The mechanist was highly skilled, almost beyond what she had hoped. And with the offer of a place to stay for he and what remained of the others in his village, he would put his skills to use.

Azula had accomplished her mission, with seemingly no personal gain—something Zuko was annoyingly proud of; “finally you did something out of the kindness of your heart!” She vowed that if he kept it up, it would be the last selfless thing she did.

 Azula fell onto her bed, she was exhausted. Travel was losing its appeals, she felt as though she was spending more of her life in the Earth Kingdom than in her own home these days. She didn’t know how she let herself be drawn into it. She had a strong feeling it had to do with something, something along the lines of, “a change of scenery will be good for you.”

Right.

 In the days to follow she began to see more of the mechanist’s son. She would see him in the halls, observing the Fire Lord portraits. She would run into him while on walks in the town. She would find him dining in the same restaurant as she, and never with any plans to meet up there. Beforehand she didn’t pay him much attention, her goal was to strike a deal with his father and that was it. In her time at the air temple the man had been absent most of the time, whizzing about on his glider. She had been meaning to ask him about that. Perhaps, that’s what compelled her to finally strike up a conversation with him. If she was going to be seeing him around so often, she may as well make him less of a stranger. Naturally this is when she stopped seeing him around so frequently.

 She didn’t see him again, in fact, until a week or so later when she found herself sitting on the rim of a fountain in the center of the Capital’s shopping ring. Azula wasn’t much of an artist, it was a hobby she had just taken up. It was something that seemed to be coming naturally to her. In current the princess was sketching one of the dragon statues that rested before a weapons vendor. Though it was hard to work with someone eyeballing her unfinished work. She turned the sheet over with a purpose.

 Shamelessly the man inquired, “whacha drawing?”

 “Mind your own business.” Azula muttered, before looking up to see who was addressing her. Just like that she realized her chances of finding out more about the man’s glider had just diminished some. She turned to him and mumbled something akin to, “your father’s inventions are quite innovative.”

 “Yeah, he comes up with some neat stuff.” The man wheeled himself up next to her.

 “Did he make that wheelchair glider for you?”

 The man smirked, “mind your own business.” She had half the mind to push him into the fountain. “Yeah, he made it for me a long time ago. I was always kind of stuck, ya know, watching the other kids chase each other around. I was invited but never had much fun.” He motioned to the wheelchair. “I couldn’t go as fast so I always lost tag. So my father gave me a way to see the world. I kind of think that it’s better than walking.”

 “What happened? Where you always like that.” She asked, pointing to his legs. She turned away abruptly with the faint feeling that it was rude to have asked so bluntly and in the manner that she had. Why was she so dreadful with words when she wasn’t speaking politically? If she could smooth talk into getting the better end of a deal than she ought to be able to hold up a more simplicity conversation. She muttered a quick apology for the ignorant wording of her question.

 But the man didn’t seem phased. “I’ve heard worse.” He waved it off. “But no, when I was a really young child I was able to walk. I lost the ability during the flood that destroyed my village.”

 “I promise we, here in the Fire Nation, don’t condone flooding.”

 The man laughed, “I’ll hold you to that next time it rains hard enough.”

 “I’d like to see you try.”

 “I’m Teo.” He held his hand out.

 Azula took it. She assumed that her name was more or less common knowledge and she couldn’t imagine that he didn’t recognize her, but she returned the introduction anyhow. Better to be formal in forming relationships. It would be her first friendship since Mai and TyLee. She didn’t have any enemies at this point, but she didn’t allow anyone to get particularly close either. No, the princess liked to keep to herself. It felt safer, more comfortable.

But Teo had an air about him, a laidback air. She couldn’t see him offering her any sort of drama and she had no prior connection to him. No abundant and questionable history, only a very vague memory of seeing him among those at the Western Air Temple when she’d attacked it. It hadn’t been personal, not in the way it was with Zuko. She wondered if she should bring it up at all.  

 Instead she turned her page up again and handed him the sketch.

 He held it up to the actual dragon statue. “Not bad.” He noted.

 “Not finished.” She reminded. He handed it back. Rather he tried to. “It’s yours.” She didn’t know why she had given it to him, he hadn’t requested it. But if felt like a good thing to do at the time.

 “Thanks.” He grinned. “I don’t think anyone has given me a drawing before, especially not a lady. I’m not exactly a hit with the ladies.”

 “I’m not exactly a… ‘hit’ with anyone.” Azula muttered.

 “I don’t know, I like you.” He replied. “You’re…eccentric.”

 Azula concluded that, that was rather well as far as first encounters went. It hadn’t been as smooth or seamless as she wanted it to be, but she hadn’t ruined anything yet. The truth was she wanted a friend again. She needed a friend, especially one that didn’t come with a messy history.

 She spoke with him many times after that. Each time he treated her very well, better than perhaps most people treated her. She came to know his habits and those little quirks he had; such as pushing on his aviation goggles when he was bored or trying to distract himself. She wondered if he had picked up any of her habits. He enjoyed sightseeing, Azula came to find. Teo constantly requested to see new places, and so she began showing him lesser known spots. Sections of the Fire Nation that she’d come to know because she had lived there for so long and explored it so passionately.

 One day Teo asked her if she had ever flown before.

 “Many times.” She replied. “On warships and on the back of a bison.”

 “How about with a glider?” He asked.

 “Once.” Azula replied thinking of the mishap where she’d thrown herself off of Appa in a poorly planned escape attempt. “Well it wasn’t exactly flying.”

 “A while ago I dated this village girl named Li-Roa.” Teo started. “Before we broke up she wanted to fly on my glider with me, so my father invented a glider big enough for me and my chair and for Li as well.” He explained. “I haven’t used it since…”

 “And you want to use it with me?” Azula filled it.

 “If you’re interested.”

 Somehow Azula felt honored, which wasn’t an easy thing to make her feel. But she was conflicted; she’d seen Teo on his own glider and it never looked stable. He boasted that he’d been using the same glider wheelchair since he was a boy, only changing it when he out grew it. Azula was no aviator, in fact being so high up with nothing to hold onto made her somewhat queasy, but she would never admit it. Yet there Teo was, vowing to teach her to fly. The princess didn’t know if she wanted to fly.

Not until she allowed him to slip in and convince her.

He took her hand and helped her into the chair.

 “We won’t go too high at first, not until you get the hang of it.”

 “The hang of it?” Azula frowned. “You’re steering.”

 “Yes, but you have to do some peddling also.”

 “Wonderful.” Azula grumbled. But she wasn’t one to shy away from a challenge, even if her belly was fluttering and tied in all sorts of knots. Teo walked her thought the basics; as it would turn out he neglected to tell her that she would be in charge of steering the rear glider. He explained it much like sailing, all she had to do position the glider-piece so that it would catch the most wind. As long as she did that and distributed her weight evenly the flight would go smoothly.  “If you can beat us during an eclipse where we have the disadvantage, you can do this.” Teo declared.

 “Well I suppose you’re right.” Azula agreed. Rather she pretended to. She still had her doubts.

 She had expected him to reassure her, to tell her that she’d do just fine on more time. And he did. What she didn’t expect was a hug. She could remember the last time someone had initiated one with her. But it was probably a time when she and TyLee wee close. She let him hold her for a moment before she finally returned the gesture. The nervousness that, that ignited within her pushed out the fluttery feeling brought by the anticipation of flight. She hoped that her cheeks weren’t any shade pink. He let her go and with a smile asked, “are you ready?”

 Actually, being in the air was a different matter altogether. It was exhilarating. To have her hair tossed about and her robes fluttering so wildly. She felt like a real dragon. Flying with Teo was much different than the airships and much different than the bison. This time she had some navigational control and it was fantastic. She felt so free. On top of that, she’d never had such a splendid view of her nation. Once or twice Teo called back to her to tell her that she was doing great or to ask her which way she’d like to go next. That was the thing though, in that one moment, she wanted to go everywhere.

 In time, wanting to go everywhere became wanting to go anywhere. Teo had a sense of adventure that she didn’t, not until she talked to him more. Teo kindled within her, the ability to express herself, to truly decide what she wanted to do. And she found that she was rather fond of the notion of seeing the hidden corners of the world.  She took him to Ember Island and to Hira’a. Hira’a where she revealed things about herself that she kept concealed from most others. Things that concerned her poor relationship with her mother. She didn’t ask for it and she didn’t think that she had displayed any particular signs of distress, but he took her hand anyways and he held it for a long time. That night she had sketched a picture of a bamboo mask; one of the many things that adorned the town stage. She found herself answering Teo’s inquiries more than actually watching the play.

In return he took her to the place where his village used to stand. That had been a very raw moment. One where he rubbed at tearful eyes and told her about how he’d lost his mother there and how that was the moment he’d become a freak. The princess wasn’t good with words of comfort and gestures of it came hard as well. But she had assured him that he was no more of a freak than someone who heard things that weren’t there. She noted that he probably wouldn’t be Teo without the hardships and lessons that the loss of feeling in his legs had given him.  Anyways, she was slowly learning that the perfection that she had once coveted was overrated anyhow. It was odd to admit it and if felt wrong coming from her lips. But apparently, she had done something right. Because that day was first time he kissed her. She wasn’t a graceful kisser to begin with and trying to find the right position around the wheelchair was a bit of a task, she felt a tad flustered for it. Eventually he coaxed her into sitting on his lap, from there pressing her lips against his came naturally. For some time he held her with her head against his chest and his hand over brushing over her hair, watching a few stars begin pop up over one of the many ruined houses.

A quick sketch of the ruins and the stars above, found a place among her other drawings.

 Eventually, spending so much time with her, Teo would see sides of her; the darker, rougher ones. The wilder ones that most people feared. The ones she went out of her way to bury deep and hide from him. He was the only person who didn’t seem to fear her nor to be weary of her and she wanted to keep that. Teo had been spontaneous from the start so she shouldn’t have been surprised at how readily he accepted and worked with the more dangerous of her moods. He was patient and somehow unphased by the worst of her threats, until her temper dulled again.

 Azula found it very well to know that at least one person seemed to love her in spite of her worst self. To know that at least one person was accepting of that part and didn’t demand that she make any abrupt changes. For the first time she felt at ease with someone. For the first time she felt as though she had someone who didn’t expect anything of her. Someone who didn’t love her power nor her brains, but loved the person shaped by these qualities. The person who possessed them. She just hoped that he felt as comfortable around her. That she conveyed just as much care.

She must have if he was still traveling with her.

If he still unfolded the drawing she’d given him when they first talked.

 “You still have that?” She asked one day as the sat at the edge of a dock. Jang Hui was a gem so close to home she wondered how she had never been. Last she heard, the place was a sludgy mess. The river looked rather pristine to her.

 “Of course I still have it.” Teo replied.

 “It’s a terrible drawing.” She muttered.

 “I don’t know, I think that it’s better than that lion-moose you tried to draw.” He shrugged.

 She gave his arm a swift punch. “My lion-moose looked better than you ever will.” She folded her arms across her chest.

 “Ouch.” He muttered.

 “Here.” She said suddenly, handing him an assortment of pages. She and Teo found themselves on one of the Fire Islands. It was close enough to home for Azula to know their trip was coming to a close. It seemed like it had been such a short time, had it really been over a year? It must have been; each drawing in that collection had been dated. And there were hundreds of different sketches, one from each day—a little something that meant something to her. Some were quite dismal, the ones that she had painted in some Earth Kingdom bayou for one. That part of their trip had been a mistake, it was a part that had thrown her terribly off and sent her right back into a place where she couldn’t decipher the real from the false. On those days she had drawn her hallucinations, horrifying swamp beasts and the taunting face of her father as it molded in with the scenery. The only thing that kept her from going completely under was Teo admitting that he’d been having visions of his own. The swamp had been alive with spirit energy and it had, had them both on edge.

 “What’s this?” He asked.

 “Sketches, from each day since we started this journey.” Azula replied. “I wanted to make something for you.”

 Teo flipped through the pages. Many of them were adorned with flora, trees, and other plant life—most of which were the ones he’d pointed out to her. She also had a few buildings, artifacts, and people. The one that stood out to him was her rendition of the elaborate door to the Southern Air-Temple. There was something very Fire Nation to her version of it, he thought that this was how the door would look if made by Fire Nation hands. Her latest drawing was of a very old man named Doc…or was it Shoo? He seemed to use them interchangeably. Each and every one seemed better than the next, her skill was flourishing fast, not that he expected anything else. “They’re gorgeous.”  He sighed, “but I didn’t make anything for you.”

 Azula shrugged. “I didn’t ask you to.”

 “I should have thought of it though.” He pointed out.

 “You gave me the opportunity to draw them at all.” She replied. He watched her kick her feet at the water. If he could draw, that would have been an image to capture. She looked peaceful, her hair let loose and rippling over her shoulders.

 “I guess that that’s true.” He agreed. “I wish I could do that.”

 “Draw?” Azula asked.

 “No,” he pointed to her swinging feet. “I’ve never dangled my feet in the water before.”

 Azula looked at him for a moment, contemplating something. Without so much as a warning, she lifted him from his wheelchair. The woman was stronger than he had anticipated. Carefully she set him down, took his shoes off, and turned him so that his feet finally met the water. He was overtaken by a sense of glee, it was such a simple and stupid thing to be delighted over. And yet…

 “Well? Is it everything you hoped for.”

 “Yeah, I think I can see some fish under there too!” He exclaimed.

 “A few have brushed by, yes.”

 He wished that he could actually feel them rushing by. Feel the sensations of the water. But it was enough for him, to be able to have his feet in the water at all.

 “Thanks.” He beamed up at the princess.

 She shrugged, “you act like it was hard to do.”

 “It still means a lot. People don’t realize that I like this kind of small stuff…” he trailed off. “It’s always Teo the bold and adventurous. Teo the independent and daring. No one seems to think that sometimes Teo could use some help.”

 No one seemed to think that of Azula either so she nodded in understanding. “I take it you don’t like to ask for it either.”

 He rubbed the back of his head with a goofy smile. “Not particularly.” And then he added, “I don’t want to bother anyone.”

 “You didn’t bother me.” She rather liked having someone to help, actually.

 “Would you mind helping me back into my wheelchair?” He asked.

 “Now that’s asking too much.” Azula smirked. She gave a small pause before scooping him into her arms. She was going to fufill his request, but decided that she liked holding him more than she fancied helping he right back into the chair. Anyways, he didn’t seem to mind it any. With him in her arms and the late summer sun dazzling her skin, Azula decided that she liked this much more than she would have enjoyed the throne. There was a sense of imprisonment that came with the throne, Zuko couldn’t very well just leave on a year-long sabbatical as she had just done. She rested her chin on the top of his head.

 To think, it began with one irritating political quest and one ridiculous moment at a fountain.

[purpleplatypusbear21]

Storge (Family Love)

Hello beautiful people!  Again, thank you for reading my story.  Here’s my third entry for the AWW Summer Love Event 2018.

You can read it on fanfiction.net here.

Or you can read it on AO3 here.

Please favorite/follow/review! ❤ Your comments mean so much to me!

@avatarworldweek

[purpleplatypusbear21]

Phileo (Platonic Love)

Hey there!  Thank you for reading my story so far!  Here’s my second entry for the AWW Summer Love Event 2018.

You can read it on fanfiction.net here.

Or you can read it on AO3 here.

Please favorite/follow/review! ❤  This is a summer LOVE event after all :D

@avatarworldweek

[seyaryminamoto]

Avatar World Week - Summer Love Event

Day One: Agape - Unconditional Love

There was no doubt in my mind about who I’d feature for this first prompt, as their bond in Gladiator is full-blown unconditional love by now (even the two of them are mindblown that things have reached that level xD).

Of course, I had no idea what to do at first. But then I answered that ask about the top reasons to ship Sokkla, and remembered some of my evil future Gladiator plans tied in with the Cave of Two Lovers… after that there was just no other option xD I had to do this!

Not gonna lie, I probably won’t top this on the rest of the days for this event xD but I’ll try anyways. Hope you all like it! And thanks to @avatarworldweek for organizing this event!