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the-badger-mole · 3 years ago

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Can you write a short story with a jealous Zuko?

PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE

Zuko was used to being overshadowed. By Azula; by Lu Ten; by Avatar Aang. It still often annoyed him to know that the most he could aim for was second best to someone else, no matter where he was. But he never minded when it came to Katara. Give her enough time, Zuko often told himself, and she could bring the entire world to its knees. She'd saved his life in more ways than he could count. She had saved them all, and there would never be enough people singing her praises as far as Zuko was concerned. She stood out no matter where she was. Even in spaces where the Fire Lord should have been the center of attention, Zuko knew he didn't stand a chance when Master Katara entered the room.

It should have annoyed him, Zuko thought, but it didn't. She was sunshine, for all she was a child of Water, and she drew everyone towards her like plants reaching up for Agni's rays. When she laughed, it filled the room- a bit too loud to be polite, but too infectious to really be upset over. She talked with high-ranking nobles with passion, leaving them stunned at her knowledge and convictions- this woman who was barely not a child anymore. She had earned the grudging respect of Zuko's council, which even he hadn't succeeded in doing. He should be jealous, but he watched Katara make her way around the room with pride. Maybe he wasn't as eloquent or magnetic as Katara, but he was her friend. He knew her in a way few- if any- in that room would ever know her.

Someone- Iroh, Zuko guessed- had signaled for the band to start playing. Business was done for the day. Soon the crowd had reshuffled itself, and couples began making their way to the dance floor while everyone else made their way to the buffet tables lining one end of the hall. Katara met Zuko's eyes across the room, and with a warm smile, made her way over to him. She seemed to glow supernaturally. Zuko cast a surreptitious glance to see if some prankster had aimed a spotlight on her. Was it just Zuko? How was no one else being blinded by the way the light reflected off her smile? Her hair? Her skin? Zuko swallowed hard, trying to unstick his tongue from the roof of his suddenly dry mouth.

Katara's smile widened and she opened her mouth to greet him.

"Excuse...um...p-pardon me." Katara turned in surprise to the young man who had approached her. Zuko recognized him vaguely, and he scrambled to place a name. Katara spared him the ordeal of guessing.

"Lord Jee-Soo," she smiled politely at King Kuei's cousin, though Zuko could see an odd tightness in the corners of Katara's eyes. Jee Soo, however, did not notice. His face was tinged pink and he leaned forward in a stiff, formal bow.

"I-I hope I'm not disturbing you," he said. "I was hoping that...that maybe you...er, that is...would you grant me the honor of a dance."

Zuko froze. A shock went down his spine as if someone had walked across a carpet and touched his skin. Katara gaped at him in surprise. Her cheeks flushed a pretty dusky red. Jee Soo smiled at her, nervous and hopeful. She cast a glance at Zuko, trying to communicate... something.

"Oh!" Katara gasped. "Well... I was just going to..." She cast another look at Zuko before she shrugged and smiled at Jee Soo. "Um... sure, I'd love to."

Zuko watched silently as Jee Soo wrapped a clammy-looking hand around Katara's and led her out to the dance floor. His hand squeezed his punch cup dangerously tight as Jee Soo slid his arm around Katara's waist and pulled her as close as propriety would allow. His breath caught in his throat as the young Earth Kingdom noble said something that caused Katara's nose to crinkle in amusement.

"Take care, Fire Lord Zuko," Iroh sidled up to his nephew, with an affable smile and a knowing gleam in his eye. "Someone might think there's trouble between the Fire Nation and Ba Sing Se the way you're glaring at young Lord Jee Soo."

"I'm not glaring!" Zuko insisted hotly. Still, he turned his scowl on his uncle instead.

"She would have danced with you if you'd asked," Iroh told him. "I'm sure she still would."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zuko grumbled.

"Oh no?" Iroh tried unsuccessfully to hide his amusement. "My mistake. It's been a long time since I was young and in love. Perhaps I don't remember the signs as well as I thought."

"Perhaps not!" Zuko knew he was being peevish, but his uncle was overstepping. Zuko had admitted to having a small crush on Katara years ago, and Iroh had never forgotten, even though Zuko had gotten over her a long time ago. She was dating one of his best friends at the time.

But not anymore.

The traitorous, smug voice in his head sounded annoyingly like his uncle. It was true that Katara had broken up with Aang, but it made no difference. Even if he wasn't over Katara- and he was over her- she and Aang hadn't split on the best of terms. It wouldn't be fair to either of his friends for Zuko to insert himself in the middle of that.

On the dance floor, Jee Soo seemed to have gained some confidence. He twirled and spun Katara with expert ease. If Katara had been hesitant to dance with him before, she seemed happy enough now. Her eyes were bright and her face pink with the exertion of the dance. She was having a good time, and Jee Soo gazed at her as if half in love already.

Zuko could dance. He could dance at least as well as Jee Soo. Others may outshine him in literally every other part of his life, but Zuko's mastery of dance was part of what made the Blue Spirit so deadly. Maybe he could challenge Jee Soo to a friendly competition. Katara could be the judge. Maybe the first prize could be a kiss...

Zuko shook his head. Dangerous territory. She was just coming out of a serious relationship. With one of his best friends. True they had broken up almost a year ago. Also true that Aang hadn't been in close contact with any of them since the breakup. And there was speculation that things had ended because Aang had cheated. But Zuko didn't know that for sure. No one knew for sure except Katara and Aang. Suki probably had more of the story, which Toph probably bullied out of her. And Sokka at least suspected if his coldness towards Aang at the last summit was any indication.

Dangerous territory. Friends don't go after a friend's exes. Even if you happened to have had a thing for said ex before your friend started dating them. Even if that ex was also your best friend.

Jee Soo dipped Katara, causing her to let out a nervous, but giddy laugh. Her hands clutched at Jee Soo tightly, to keep herself steady, but as a result, they were much closer than they started at the beginning of the dance. Jee Soo's face lit up with a grin as he did it again. And again. And again.

Didn't this guy know any other moves? Katara was going to catch on to him, and she would be annoyed. Wouldn't she? Zuko knew she'd been out with a couple of other guys since the breakup. Nothing serious, though, Suki had informed him. No one who lasted more than a month. Still, Zuko wasn't sure what her type was anymore. Jee Soo reminded Zuko a bit of Aang, but just because Katara had dated Aang for three years doesn't mean he was her type. Maybe she was into quieter guys who got way too deep in their own heads and overthought hypothetical situations until they lost entire nights of sleep worrying about problems that didn't actually exist. Yeah...for sure that's what Katara would find attractive.

How long was this song, Zuko wondered. Jee Soo was dipping Katara again, though she seemed to be getting tired of it. Her smile was that polite, tight smile that she'd given him earlier when she wasn't sure she wanted him to interrupt her. Zuko saw her say something to him, probably asking him to keep her upright for a while. Jee Soo laughed and shook his head and said something teasing as he pulled her closer. Katara's smile fell away completely, and Zuko saw she was getting mad. He was halfway across the dance floor before he'd even realized he was going to go over. He was ready to yank Jee Soo away, and if necessary, deck the creep for not respecting Katara's reasonable wish. But before he got to them, Jee Soo had stepped away with a deep, embarrassed blush on his face.

"I'm so sorry," Jee Soo was saying as Zuko got closer. "Honestly, I was just trying to...well, I didn't mean to upset you or offend you."

"It's alright, Jee Soo," Katara said patiently. Her smile was back in place. The song ended, finally, and another one started up.

"Would you...like to dance again?" Jee Soo asked.

"I'm a bit tired," Katara begged off. "But I'll bet Kimiko would love you to ask her. Don't say I told you, but she's been checking you out." That didn't seem to soothe Jee Soo's disappointment, but he accepted the rejection graciously enough.

"Seems like you had fun," Zuko said. Katara sighed tiredly and slipped her arm through his.

"I thought the song would never end!" she groaned. "It was like dancing with Aang. Fun for the first minute, but he was doing way too much. All the dipping gave me vertigo." Zuko heard that with interest.

"I didn't realize you weren't having fun," he tried to keep his voice even as he led them away from the dance floor over to the punch table. "I would have come rescue you if I'd realized. We should come up with some sort of sign when you want me to cut in."

"You never dance at these things," Katara pointed out.

"I'd make an exception for you." Zuko blushed and scrambled to cover. "I mean, I'd do it if it saved you from some over-eager guy who can't take a hint."

"My hero." Katara scrunched her nose up at Zuko and leaned against him. It was adorable! Zuko had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from grinning.

"Actually..." Katara said slowly. "I was coming over to ask you to dance before Jee Soo interrupted."

"Really?" Zuko's voice hit an octave it hadn't hit since he was fourteen and his voice was still dropping. He cleared his throat, trying to ignore the fact that Katara was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Yeah," she nodded her head. "I know you don't really like dancing, but maybe you can preemptively cut in for me? Someone told me that Lord Hino's son wanted to ask me for a dance." Zuko grimaced. Lord Hino was one of his most trusted advisors, but his son was a famous klutz with two left feet. No woman left the dance floor without bruised feet when she danced with him.

"You told Jee Soo you were tired," Zuko reminded her. Why, he yelled internally, would he say that? Fortunately, Katara just shrugged and looked up at him coyly from the corner of her eye.

"I'd make an exception for you," she said quietly. Zuko froze midstep. Katara looked up at him in alarm. There was a spectacular blush rising from her neck towards her hairline, and a panicked retraction already on her lips. Zuko turned to her and took her hand. Then in a move that would have pleased every last one of his etiquette tutors and his uncle, if he was watching, Zuko bowed elegantly and brushed a feathery light kiss on Katara's fingertips. He lifted his gaze with an impish grin.

"I would be honored," he said, "to have this dance." Katara nodded speechlessly and allowed Zuko to lead her out to the dance floor again.

Zuko was used to being overshadowed. He wasn't the most powerful bender, or the most charismatic leader. He wasn't the most handsome man or the most eloquent. But there on the dancefloor, with the most beautiful woman in at the ball in his arms, he knew that no one could match him for dancing. Katara seemed to agree because she accepted his request for another dance. And another. And another...

#zutara #atla #zuko is a lil' jelly #katara is a queen #zuko is sprung #ask the badger mole #thanks for the prompt nonny

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beifongsss · 4 years ago

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love amongst the dragons [zuko]

Pairing: Zuko x reader

Requested?: Yes! By an outstanding anon!: “hiya there I saw that you’re open for request and i’ve read all of your Zuko fics and they are incredible! I want to request a Zuko x reader too please in which it’s several years after his coronation and he’s back on vacation to Ember Island with the Gaang and Uncle Iroh, as it happens his favorite play “Love amongst the Dragons” is being performed and Zuko dragged them all to the theater, just for him to become mesmerized by the leading female performer which is the reader :) thanks xx”

i changed the request just a bit i’m sorry anon :(

Summary: When Iroh dragged everyone to the theatre while vacationing on Ember Island, Zuko did not expect to be so entranced by the lead play.

.masterlist.

Surprisingly, it hadn’t been Sokka’s idea this time.

Instead, it had been Iroh who had suggested that they go see “Love Amongst the Dragons” as soon as they got to Ember Island. It had been a few years since the Gaang had been on Ember Island but the stress of being Fire Lord was getting to Zuko so Iroh had written to all of his friends, inviting them to a week long retreat at the famed island. They had all accepted of course, especially when Iroh promised to bring them some of his favorite tea leaves.

Aang was undoubtedly the most excited, agreeing with Iroh’s idea almost immediately. Everyone else was a little hesitant, remembering the last time they had gone to see the Ember Island Players.

“C’mon Zuko,” Aang said, walking up to the older boy with a pleading look on his face. “Didn’t you say that it was your favorite play when you were a kid?”

“No,” Zuko snapped, looking away from Aang. “It was my mother’s favorite.”

The conversation had ended there, or so Zuko had thought. Halfway through the week, he had agreed to let Katara plan out a day’s schedule. He hadn’t expected her to give in to Aang’s request so easily although looking back on it now, he wondered how he expected her to deny her boyfriend anything. Especially when he had those big, sparkling eyes.

And so Fire Lord Zuko found himself being dragged into the theater by Toph, who was the only one he was scared of disobeying.

“C’mon Sparky Pants,” Toph said, tugging Zuko along as she made her way to the front row. “We got good seats this time so I can actually see what’s going on.”

Zuko huffed and rolled his eyes as he sat next to the small earthbender, Sokka sitting on his other side. Suki filled in the end of the row while Iroh, Aang, and Katara filled the second row. Toph turned to talk to Iroh, who was sitting directly behind Zuko, about the play and proceeded to ask him various questions. Zuko tried to ignore the girl, pouting as he realized that he was going to have to watch another butchered play.

After a few minutes, the lights dimmed and the theater’s manager stepped out on stage. His eyes quickly flickered to where the Gaang was sitting and Zuko sunk in his seat as he realized what was coming.

“Good evening everybody,” the man spoke, a wide smile now on his face “Thank you for joining us tonight for a very special showing of “Love Amongst the Dragons”. Tonight, we have our very own Fire Lord and the Avatar joining us. Please enjoy the show.”

The audience applauded as they all shifted their gazes to where Zuko was sitting. After receiving an encouraging kick from Iroh, he straightened up and forced a smile onto his face as he looked around and waved. Once the lights fully went out, he slumped in his seat, letting out a loud sigh as Toph snickered.

He elbowed her softly, the two of them bickering quietly before Sokka suddenly began to repeatedly slap Zuko’s arm.

“Shh! It’s starting. Look!” Sokka was already invested in the play even though there wasn’t anything remotely interesting happening. Zuko let out another angst-filled sigh as he focused on the play, barely paying attention as the Dragon Emperor took the stage and the play began. Zuko couldn’t deny that the play wasn’t as bad as he remembered it being, but that still didn’t mean he was enjoying it.

Zuko’s eyelids were drooping as the play continued, the young Fire Lord barely paying attention as the Dragon Emperor was bound to the mortal world by the Dark Water Spirit and forced to take the name Noren. In fact, Zuko was about to give in and sleep through the play when his attention was caught by a loud, clear voice. He jolted up, his eyes landing on the actress who had just appeared on stage.

The entire theater went silent as you emerged, speaking your lines so smoothly that it seemed as though you were merely having a conversation and not acting. You were wearing a gorgeous blue dress, the hem swaying as you walked forwards. Your steps were swift but gentle, making it seem as though you were gliding across the stage.

Zuko was so entranced by you acting that he didn’t look away from you once, not even when you subtly looked over to the area where they had told you that the Fire Lord and his friends were sitting in. Your eyes swept across the audience as you spoke, and you had to take a deep breath when you accidentally made eye contact with a pair of piercing golden eyes. You mentally thanked the makeup artist, glad that your blush wasn’t visible.

Back in the audience, Zuko’s jaw dropped slightly as his eyes met yours and he mentally thanked the spirits that Toph had gotten front row seats. You were gorgeous, ethereal. Your (H/C) hair was styled perfectly and your eyes were sparkling. Zuko felt a bit breathless.

“So,” Toph whispered, leaning in towards Zuko. “I take it the leading actress is hot?”

Zuko stayed silent, looking at Toph with a panicked expression as he wondered how she knew that if she was blind. Snorting, Toph explained. “Your heart rate shot up when she came out Sparky. You’re not the most subtle.”

A scowl formed on Zuko’s face but before he could reply, Sokka did it for him.

“Hey Zuko, buddy,” Sokka said, looking at the boy. “Maybe you should close your mouth before you catch any flies. Not that I blame you, she’s beautiful.”

“Who is?” Suki asked, leaning in close so that she wasn’t too loud. Zuko stuttered for a moment before Sokka once again spoke.

“The lead!”

“Oh yeah, she’s gorgeous,” Suki agreed, leaning back in her seat.

“If only I were single,” Sokka and Suki sighed in unison, giving each other slightly offended looks before dissolving into a fit of giggles. Zuko rolled his eyes at their antics before focusing on the play once again.

The rest of the play passed flawlessly, and Zuko found his attention captured by you every single second you were onstage. For once, he didn’t feel bored. It wasn’t only because you were attractive (he had given up denying that statement after Sokka had elbowed him for the fiftieth time), it was because after years he was finally seeing his mother’s favorite play being performed the way it was meant to be.

Even on stage you didn’t remain oblivious to the gaze that followed you around. Sure, you had whole audiences who watched you, but the stare that the Fire Lord was giving you was intense and you began to wonder if he wasn’t enjoying the play. Your fellow actors had noticed as well, and during the intermission you found yourself being teased about your new “admirer”.

It was also during the intermission that the manager slipped backstage and informed the cast that the Fire Lord and his friends would be coming backstage after the show. The cast all slipped into a panic as you tried to clean up the space as best as you could. The rest of the play passed by in a blur, everyone anxious for what was to come. Even with the nervousness, you never messed up once and Zuko’s eyes stayed on you the whole time.

On stage, Noren managed to defeat the Dark Water Spirit and reunite with your character, who ended up being the Dragon Empress. In Zuko’s opinion, the play ended way too quickly. He found himself clapping a little too loudly, causing Sokka to give him a sly glance as he stretched slightly and began to make his way out of the row. He didn’t get too far before Iroh gently grabbed his arm, causing him to stop and look at the older male in confusion.

“We are not leaving yet Zuko,” Iroh said, a suspicious glimmer in his eyes as he smiled at the boy. “The theater manager is an old Pai Sho buddy of mine and he agreed to give us a tour backstage.”

“You mean we’ll get to meet the actors?” Aang asked, exchanging excited glances with Sokka. Iroh nodded. The group began to walk towards the stage, Toph staying behind slightly as she noticed that Zuko hadn’t moved from his spot.

“Try not to embarrass yourself Sparky,” she teased, punching his arm as she walked past him. Grumbling, Zuko followed the small girl backstage and came to a stop next to Sokka.

“Ah, Sotar!” Iroh exclaimed, embracing the theater manager. The two men laughed and greeted each other before he turned and bowed to Zuko.

“Fire Lord Zuko,” Sotar said before turning and bowing to Aang. “Avatar Aang. It is an honor to have you here. I hope the play was to your liking.”

“It was awesome!” Aang replied, bringing a smile to Sotar’s face. He turned to Zuko but before he could answer, someone bumped into him. Zuko turned to face the person, coming face to face with the lead actor.

“Forgive me, Fire Lord Zuko,” the actor said, bowing deeply after regaining his balance. “I lost my balance.”

“It’s alright,” Zuko replied quietly, shifting closer to Sokka. “Your performance was great.”

“Jenor is the finest actor we have,” Sotar boasted, smiling proudly at the actor. “We are truly lucky to have him.”

The actor, Jenor, blushed lightly at the praise before speaking. “Thank you, but I’m afraid the real star of the show is (Y/N). I wonder where she is.”

“I’m right here.”

The group turned around as a quiet voice spoke. Zuko’s breath caught in his throat as his eyes landed on you. Spirits, you were prettier up close.

“Um, thanks,” you said, the blush dusting your cheeks visible now that you had taken off your makeup. You ignored Jenor’s gaze as you remembered the teasing from earlier.

Zuko’s eyes widened in embarrassment as he realized that he had spoken out loud. He immediately avoided your gaze, instead shooting a glare at Sokka as the boy tried not to choke on his laughter.

“Good going Sparky,” Toph whispered, a smirk playing at the edge of her lips. Zuko rolled his eyes at the younger girl before focusing on you as you walked up to him.

“Fire Lord Zuko,” you said, dropping into a dramatic bow. You proceeded to do the same thing to Aang before giving slightly smaller bows to everybody else. “I am (Y/N) (L/N), lead actress of “Love Amongst the Dragons”. It is truly an honor to be in your presence. I hope you enjoyed the show.”

Zuko didn’t trust himself to speak without embarrassing himself again and instead chose to stay silent, merely bowing his head in response.

“Zuko, where are your manners?!” Iroh spoke, coming up behind his nephew. “My apologies Miss (Y/N), my nephew greatly enjoyed the performance. He was so impressed by it that his eyes didn’t leave you for a single second!”

This time, Sokka couldn’t hold back his laughter, resulting in Suki grabbing his hand and pulling him away from the group. “We’re gonna go look at the ummm, at the costumes!”

Aang engaged in a conversation with Jenor, and the two of them began to walk away slowly, trying to escape the awkward situation created by Iroh. Zuko stood in Iroh’s grasp, trying his best not to shoot a glare at his uncle as Katara stared as him.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” you finally said, smiling softly at the retired general’s words. “We all put in a lot of work.”

“It was most impressive indeed,” Iroh said, straightening up and looking around. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have quite a bit of catching up to do with Sotar.”

You gave Iroh one last bow before he hurried off, trying to locate his old friend. It was silent for a few seconds before Toph finally spoke up. “Hey Katara? Where did Aang go? He promised me he was going to be my guide for the night!”

Katara smirked slightly at Toph’s words, knowing that the girl didn’t need a guide. She reached over and grabbed the girl’s hands before looking at you and Zuko apologetically. “I’m sorry, we really have to go find Aang. It was nice to meet you (Y/N), you are an amazing actress.”

You thanked the Water Tribe girl as she walked away before facing Zuko, who was currently struggling as he tried to figure out what to say.

“So,” he finally spoke, losing his train of thought as he noticed the small smile on your face. “You like acting?”

The smile on your face widened at his words. “Yes I do, Fire Lord Zuko.”

Zuko’s face scrunched up at the use of his title, not liking how formal you were being. “You don’t have to call me ‘Fire Lord’. Just Zuko is fine.”

You nodded silently before speaking again. “Alright Zuko. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you choose to come watch the play? I’m certain that as the Fire Lord, you have more exciting things to do.”

Zuko smiled at your teasing tone, relaxing slightly as he realized that you were treating him as normally as you could. “We’re on vacation. My uncle remembered that this was my mother’s favorite play and Aang insisted on watching it.”

“Oh?” you asked mildly surprised. You vaguely remembered Fire Lady Ursa and you felt your heart ache slightly for the Fire Lord. “It was?”

“Yeah,” Zuko nodded, still not meeting your eyes for fear of freezing up. “She would make us watch it every year when we came here on vacation. I always begged her to leave me at home.”

“Why?”

“Because the Ember Island Players always butchered the play,” Zuko said immediately, his eyes widening when he realized what he had said. He glanced up to meet your eyes, prepared to apologize for offending you.

Instead, he was met with eyes full of mirth and his panic subsided faintly as you began to chuckle.

“I-I’m sorry,” Zuko said, trying to take his words back. “I didn’t mean t-”

“No, no,” you cut him off, sending him an apologetic smile. “You’re absolutely right. Not to sound rude or anything, but I think that was partly due to the fact that the previous lead actress was so hard to work with. I think that the play has become somewhat better since then.”

“Definitely,” Zuko said, chuckling along with you. “They certainly made the right choice when casting the lead actress. You did an amazing job.”

It was your turn to blush as Zuko kept speaking.

“You’re very talented, (Y/N). You have such a powerful stage presence and the delivery of your lines is flawless. You truly stole the show. I think that the audience was more focused on you than they were on Jenor and you managed to keep everyone captivated.”

“Including you, my Lord?” you asked, a flirtatious lilt to your voice as you spoke. Zuko’s next words faltered as his eyes met yours and you felt yourself smirk lightly as a deep blush spread across his cheeks.

“Especially him!” Toph’s loud voice rang as she leaned against Zuko’s shoulder. You burst into laughter at the young girl’s words and Zuko found himself speechless at your laugh. Apparently everything about you was beautiful.

“I thought you were going to find Aang,” Zuko said through gritted teeth, pushing Toph off of him.

“I was but Iroh sent me to tell you it’s time to go,” Toph said, a wide grin on her face. “Oh, and he also told me to tell (Y/N) that he’d love it if you joined Zuko here for a cup of tea at the Jasmine Dragon next time you’re free.”

Zuko groaned at her words and shot a glare at his uncle, not wanting to meet your eyes for fear of rejection.

“I’d be honored to,” came your reply. Zuko’s head whipped around and he stared at you as you grinned at him. “That is, if it’s okay with the Fire Lord.”

A little starstruck, Zuko simply nodded. You stepped closer to him, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. “It’s a date then.”

Zuko grinned dazedly as he was pulled away by Toph, a teasing smile on her face as she led him to the rest of the group. You looked after them for a few seconds before walking away, only pausing to laugh at their conversation.

“I can’t believe your uncle has to set up your dates for you.”

“Shut up!”

taglist!

@musicalkeys, @mywigglybaby, @bubblebars, @iguessthefloorislava, @dekahg, @boxofteenageideas, @bottledcostcowater, @butterflycore, @coldlilheart, @the-firebender-girl

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slythergirlimagines · 4 years ago

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Just Us With Some Hugging -Part One

Prompt: Prompt #1- Fake dating with Prince Zuko!

@darthsokaaa thank you for your request! I hope I did it justice! Who doesn’t love some Prince Zuko;) Masterlist

Just Us With Some Hugging- Part 1

You and Zuko had been close since birth. Your mothers had been best friends and the closest of confidantes, and because of this you had spent nearly every moment of your life with Zuko. As you grew up, Zuko became a trained fire bender and you became a trained warrior. Even during his exile, you were checking up on him through letters.

It had been nothing to pick his side over Ozai’s, and easier still to join forces with him against Azula to place the rightful Fire Lord on the throne. As soon as Zuko was crowned, he named you a member of his personal council. For three years, everything had remained somewhat peaceful, and Zuko and you had fallen right back into your friendship as if you’d never spent any time apart.

That’s why when Zuko had all but manhandled you into this conference room, you didn’t expect anything unusual. Maybe an important meeting, or just some time to catch up and talk. Never in your wildest dreams could you have predicted that he would ask you to pretend to be his girlfriend.

“What?” You say, blinking in shock.

“Y/N, it would just be for the duration of the Peace Celebration. Just a short little weekend, nothing much.” His face is a little flushed, his cheeks a light pink. Zuko has always struggled to ask for help, particularly anything dealing with emotions. Anxiously, he starts rubbing the back of his neck.

“I know it’s a lot, but think about it! We’d get to have a fun trip to Ba Sing Se. And it’ll be a fun party! We’ll get to see everyone again, they’re all coming this time.” He gestures with his hands. It’s almost endearing.

You’d be lying if you said the idea didn’t have any appeal. It’s been a long time since you’ve seen any of the Gaang. After the war, everyone had spread out and getting together had been nearly impossible. This would be the first Peace Celebration that everyone would be able to come to.

If you were extra honest with yourself, the idea was appealing for another reason entirely. Somewhere along the endless years of friendship, you had fallen in love with Zuko. Maybe it was seeing his growth as a person, or maybe it was his devotion to Fire Nation and righting Ozai’s mistakes. Maybe it was just that he was the single most attractive man you’d ever seen.

Regardless, you were in deep. And that was really the reason that you couldn’t say yes, as much as you might want to. You knew if you let yourself get that close to Zuko, it might ruin everything. Your friendship with Zuko was one of the most important aspects of your life, and you would never forgive yourself if you let your own feelings ruin what you all had.

“Zuko, I really don’t think...”

“You know, I’m kind of the Fire Lord, I could command you.” He says quietly. His voice is huskier than normal, and heat instantly floods your face.

Why was he doing this to you? It wasn’t fair that he was able to do...well to do that! He had no idea how much power he held over you, how you would do anything for him. And now that he had asked like that, there was no way you could say no.

Something in your expression must have given away your broken resolve, because Zuko’s face breaks into a huge grin.

“Thank you!” He exclaims, jumping up and happily running around the table to throw his arms around you. He’s warm, like all fire benders are, and hesitantly you hug him back and tuck your head under his chin. You’ve never been particularly affectionate friends, but the embrace doesn’t feel as unnatural as it probably should.

“I haven’t even said yes yet.” You grouch. You can feel the reverberations of Zuko’s low laugh in his chest. It’s too much, being in his arms like this.

“I know you.” Is all he says in reply. His words send warm tingles down your spine. With a final sigh, you pull away from Zuko, breaking the hug.

“Why do you need me to do this again?” You ask. Your eyes trace over his face, memorizing the contours and lingering on his scar. He used to act so ashamed of it, the scar he never asked for. Now he wears it like a badge of honor. You knew his troubles stemmed from his perceived lack of honor, but you can’t help but feel he was wearing his honor the entire time, right here on his face.

“I told you. Uncle drives me crazy with his matchmaking. He keeps telling me that ‘A single tea leaf makes the worst tea.’ Or something like that. I don’t even know what he means!” Zuko throws his hands up in defeat, breaking your trance. You snort, but don’t comment. Frustrated as he may be, Zuko loves Iroh.

Zuko had briefly mentioned the matchmaking to you before, but he had always played it off as a joke. You had no idea that Iroh was being so serious about it, or that it bothered Zuko so much.

“Why don’t you just tell him that you’re too young to settle down? You have a Nation to run, after all.” You interject.

Zuko looks at you and rolls his eyes.

“You know Uncle. He never listens when it comes to this stuff. I told you about the girl in Ba Sing Se he made me date!”

You force down the irrational swell of anger that builds in your chest. Zuko had mentioned the date in one of his letters, and it had bothered you for reasons you never wanted to think about.

“We need to talk logistics here.” You recross your arms. “What’s our story? How are we going to pull this off in front of our friends and your uncle?”

Zuko begins rubbing the back of his neck. The sleeves of his red robe fall down a few inches, and you quickly avert your eyes before you’re caught staring.

“I don’t think it will be too hard.” Zuko says. He’s too nonchalant about it all, which is mildly infuriating. He sees the irritated look on your face and hurries to explain. “I mean, we’ve been friends forever and we’re always around each other. It was bound to happen right?”

Your heart stutters and nearly stops. Did you hear him right?

Zuko clears his throat.

“I mean for story purposes that is.”

“Right.” You say. There’s a long awkward pause. You’ve never been comfortable with silence, so you hurry to break it.

“So one day we just decided ‘This is it.’ And I jumped your bones?”

The sarcasm lightens the mood, and Zuko laughs. His amber eyes twinkle in the light, like they’re shining.

“How come you jumped my bones?” He teases.

“We both know I’d have to make the first move, you’d never do it.” You challenge him.

A weird static energy settles in the room, reminding you of Azula’s lightning. Zuko has never looked at you so intensely. You swear the air is crackling.

“Right.” He says, and is it your imagination or are his eyes flickering to your lips?

The spell is broken by one of Zuko’s men opening the door.

“My Lord, I’m sorry to interrupt...” He trails off, looking between the two of you.

You and Zuko both notice the lack of space between you, and jump apart.

“Right, no it’s fine.” Zuko says, clearing his throat and gesturing for the man to come in.

You take the opportunity to leave while you still have some dignity left.

“Oh, and y/n?” Zuko says before you’re out the door.

“Yes, Zuko?” You ask. You hope the blush isn’t too noticeable on your face.

“I’m glad you said yes, because I already told Uncle last week.” His face splits into a cocky grin, and his scar crinkles.

Your infuriated scream echoes through the whole palace, mingling with his delighted laugh.

_____________________________

You’re already reconsidering this arrangement by the time you reach Ba Sing Se. Zuko looks astoundingly good when he’s more relaxed, and there’s no way you’ll be able to control yourself like this. Today he wears the clothing of a fire nation commoner. The deep red is striking against his skin and dark hair. It also highlights his scar and the amber of his eyes.

Ba Sing Se is gloriously overdecorated. There are flowers and banners covering every visible inch of the city, and they blend together in a colorful blur as the train moves through the city. Zuko smiles, face turned toward the glass, eyes taking in all the festivities. It’s been too long since you’ve seen him look so peaceful.

He turns from the window and catches your expression.

“What?” He asks, self-consciously.

Your voice is too soft when you answer him.

“Nothing. Ba Sing Se looks good on you.”

You have no idea where your boldness comes from, as Zuko shifts uncomfortably under the complement. Before you can tease him about it, he switches topics.

“Ok, so we’re really going to have to sell this thing, aren’t we?” He starts, making you roll your eyes.

It’s a typical Zuko move to save the panicking until right before. You had already done your fair share of freaking out, and had already done your meditation. You were a lot calmer about it all than you expected to be.

Of course, you knew that would probably change the moment you had to start pretending, but for now you were ok.

“Meditate Zuko. Deep breaths.” You tell him, giving him a gentle kick to the shin. He rolls his eyes, but takes the advice anyways.

“It’s going to be okay.” You tell him. “We just have to be us with some hugging. Or handholding. They know us and they know how we behave normally. We just have to act natural.”

Zuko nods, and a strand of black hair falls in front of his eyes. He flicks it away, and then settles deeper into his seat.

“Just us.” He says.

“With some hugging.” You amend.

He cracks an amber eye open and you shrug at his expression.

“It’ll be weird if we don’t touch each other at all.” You say.

“I didn’t know you had such a deep desire to touch me.” He says, with extra emphasis on the word “touch.”

Your body begins to tingle again. This has been happening more and more frequently with Zuko, where one of you says something with a double meaning. The electricity settles in again, but is broken by the abrupt stop of the train.

An enthusiastic stewardess comes to escort the two of you off the train. She’s pretty and she notices Zuko immediately.

“Welcome to Ba Sing Se!” She chirps happily, more at Zuko than you. You can’t help your irrantional flare of jealousy.

Zuko, noticing your aggravation, slings an arm over your shoulders and smirks.

“Yes, sweetheart. Welcome to Ba Sing Se.”

You give him a hard elbow to the ribs, and laugh at his grunt of pain.

Iroh is waiting with open arms when you get off of the train. He immediately takes Zuko off of your hands, and tries to smoosh Zuko as close to his body as he can. Zuko does a very un-Zuko thing and hugs back with as just as much force. It warms your heart to see them interact. Iroh breaks the embrace and hugs you next.

“It’s so good to see you both again!” He says. “And with such happy news.” Iroh wiggles his eyebrows and winks at the two of you.

“Uncle!” Zuko groans, throwing his hands up exasperatedly.

“Sorry, Sorry. Couldn’t help myself, y/n.” Iroh chuckles.

“It’s ok!” You try to say brightly, but it comes out breathy. If you don’t get it together, you’ll expose your own lie before anyone else can.

Zuko takes your hand in his, and shoulders both of your bags on his other arm. You do everything you can not to think about the fact that Zuko’s incredibly warm hand is wrapped around yours. You definitely don’t think about what this hand has done before, or what it could do if it wanted.

“Uncle, where are we staying?” Zuko asks.

For once you’re grateful to the heat of Ba Sing Se, for it camouflages the fact that you’ve started to sweat.

“We’ve set up a lovely house for you two and all of your friends! You’ll all be together.” Iroh says, bouncing around.

“Is anyone here yet?” You ask him. You can fight the excitement bubbling up inside you. You hadn’t seen your friends in a long time, and soon they’d all be here!

“Everyone but Aang and Miss Katara.” Iroh says. “They’ll be here later.”

You have an extra pep to your step as you wind through the streets of Ba Sing Se. Zuko laughs at your enthusiasm, and squeezes your hand. Iroh notices and practically starts glowing. A stab of something goes through you as you think about the lie you’re telling, but it all fades away as you let yourself enjoy the moment and the warmth of Zuko’s hand.

_________________________________________

In an effort to keep peace and spread good will, Ba Sing Se had been selected to host the annual Peace Celebration- a celebration honoring the peace ushered in by the Avatar, the end of the war, and the continuing efforts to preserve it. Ba Sing Se had been the natural choice to host the whole affair. Not only was it the biggest city, but it was the most neutral. And Ba Sing Se certainly knew how to throw a party.

You and the group were currently sandwiched tightly around a table. The whole Gaang was here. When you had arrived at the house, it had been a nonstop hug fest. Everyone had been so glad to see each other. Toph had taken you to your room across from hers, while Sokka had taken Zuko to his. You had fully expected the shakedown from Toph about your relationship, but she had said nothing. That scared you more than anything, because it could only mean she was waiting for the right time.

Zuko had told you about Toph’s ability to sense lies, and you had been privileged enough to see it first hand. If anyone was going to figure out your secret it was Toph.

You had wanted to get Zuko alone and tell him about your fears, but there hadn’t been time. Aang and Katara had arrived and then everyone had to get ready for the party. Now you were all here, and it was basically life as usual. Except for the fact that you were anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Katara and Aang were making eyes at each other, Sokka and Toph were competing to see who could hold their liquor better (Toph of course was winning), Zuko and Iroh were engaged in a discussion of the rebuilding of Ba Sing Se, and that left you and Suki to make awkward conversation.

You admired Suki a lot, but you hadn’t really gotten to know her well. Both of you had been sitting in silence. Suki takes a slow sip of her drink, and twirls the edges of her short brown hair.

“So you and Zuko?” She asks, nodding her head at the arm Zuko had wrapped around your shoulders.

You take a long sip of your drink, and then nod.

“Yeah.” You say quietly.

You had been waiting on pins and needles all night for this. Toph had yet to spring her trap, and Suki’s question seemed to catch the attention of the entire table.

“Yeah! Tell us how that happened!” Sokka says, half of his drink spilling over the rim of his mug. Like Zuko, Sokka has grown into a man since the war, well a childish man but a man none the less.

“Well...” You start.

“It just happened.” Zuko interjects, saving you. You start to take another sip to finish your drink. “And then y/n jumped my bones.” He laughs.

The surprise of his statement chokes you, and you start coughing. Zuko breaks into carefree laughter, and starts patting your back. The Gaang quickly joins in laughing, except for Toph, who cocks her head and stares with unseeing eyes at Zuko.

“I’m...going...to....murder....you.” You tell him, as you try to catch your breath. Zuko smiles warmly at you, and reaches up to smooth a piece of hair behind your ear. Your heart skips a beat, as he catches your eyes with his.

Toph and Sokka resume their contest, and you sigh with relief. Maybe she’ll be too drunk to tell or care if you’re lying. Zuko catches your eyes again, and it’s all you need to know that you guys are on the same page. Crisis momentarily averted.

“Come on, let’s dance.” Zuko says, pulling you away from the table.

“Zuko? Dance?” You hear someone mutter behind you.

“Zuko, if we act too different they’ll find out!” You hiss at him when you’re a distance away from the table. You try desperately to wiggle out of his grip.

He ignores you, and seamlessly incorporates you with the other dancers.

“I just want to dance with my girlfriend.” He bends his head down, whispering in your ear. “Is that too much to ask?”

He has a wicked grin on his face when he pulls away, and you would give anything to be able to bend him across the room.

“It is when you never do that! You never danced with Mai.” You point out, and then instantly regret it. Mai was a sore spot with Zuko. You watch as Zuko freezes, losing his buoyancy from earlier.

“I would’ve. She always said no.”

You shuffle closer in your embrace trying to offer him some comfort. You always put your foot in your mouth.

Zuko and Mai’s breakup had been awful. The relationship had been bad for a year, but when it finally came to a head, it had been explosive. Zuko had been positively horrid to deal with for weeks.

“Oh.” You say like a genius, but it isn’t really your fault that you can’t speak in coherent sentences with him holding you like this.

“Yeah.” Zuko says, and you know that if you don’t act now he’ll brood for the rest of the night.

“Well I’m a hell of a better dancer than Mai, so you’ve definitely upgraded.” You say flippantly.

Zuko smiles at you and pulls you closer.

“I certainly did.” He says.

Maybe it’s the alcohol, your close proximity, or the fact that Zuko has just told you that you are an upgrade from your biggest rival, but something in you snaps. Without warning, you find yourself leaning up and pressing a kiss to Zuko’s lips.

(A/N: I’m doing a part 2! This just seemed like a story that needed to be broken into two parts! Let me know if you enjoyed it and don’t forget to submit a request if you want me to write something! I do write for multiple fandoms! I’m currently working on my other requests so keep an eye out for those this week! You should be able to see all the fanfiction I’ve written by clicking on my tag slythergirlimagines)

#slythergirlimagines #zuko x reader #atla #atla fanfic #zuko #iroh #katara #aang #sokka #toph #fire lord zuko #fake dating #fanfic #avatar the last airbender #prince zuko #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko x you #zuko x you

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chitsangenthusiast · 4 years ago

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good afternoon i bring with me a (slightly rough) wip of zuko getting to see his daughter for the first time after she's born <3

(featuring some zuko teasing bc the gaang can't help it even at his daughter's birth, and sokka also getting to hold her!!)

—

She’s born in the middle of a scorching summer, under the gaze of a shining moon and on a bed covered in caribou-hare pelts.

Zuko knows when she’s arrived; he’s already crossed the length of the reception room by the time the clamor behind the separating screen abruptly cuts into a breathless silence, and his heart beats in expectation when Suki pokes her head out. She’s exhausted, she’s excited, and she’s dragging him in before he can even fathom any kind of thought.

He comes in just as the midwife finishes in clearing her nose and mouth, to reveal a tiny face and the full sound of his daughter’s fair wail.

Daughter.

Zuko stumbles.

A bubble of absolute glee spills from his mouth as he’s pushed into a chair next to the bed because, from here, he has an even better view. Poking out above her little arm is a head covered in a wet smattering of dark hair and already full eyebrows, with impossibly round cheeks showing off pouting lips and red gums while she cries. She’s loud, she’s announcing her presence, she’s so small.

Zuko chokes on an exhilarated gasp. That’s his daughter.

He reaches out, then falters. As he watches her settle into the soothing warmth of bare skin, all he wants is to fall forward to her, to tuck her into him and rest his hand on her small back to feel how she lifts the entirety of her body as he cries and breathesin her first moments. But he’s not sure who he can touch or even what he can touch on the bed, and he instead throws an absentmindedly desperate hand out to stop himself from grabbing at the furs as he works to remember how to properly take in air.

Someone grabs it—Sokka, he can tell by the calluses on his fingers—and directs it down. Instantly, instinctively, Zuko splays his fingers to cradle her head and strokes his thumb over his daughter’s ear.

His hand curls perfectly around her, and he chokes on another exhilarated sob.

“Katara—”

“She’s beautiful,” Katara immediately returns. Her eyes flit up to Zuko’s, just for a moment, before sliding back down to the baby resting on her stomach. She’s holding a tiny fist in her own hand, running tired fingers up and down a forearm, and she can’t look away either. She’s crying, Zuko realizes, tears just like his own, and she shakes out little relieved sniffles when he and Sokka quickly clasp her heaving shoulders. Katara’s head falls back to the pillows—from the exhaustion, from the relief of their touch, from those strong, healthy cries—and her hand joins Zuko’s on his daughter’s head as she lets out a breathless laugh. “Oh wow, she’s really perfect, Zuko.”

“Thank you,” he gasps out, and then no other words come. His face is a reservoir of open gratitude even when he can’t get anything else out, he knows Katara understands him when she lightly runs a thumb against his hand in response to his spasming grip on her shoulder.

Thank you.

Aang is let in shortly after, buzzing out of his body as he rushes to Katara’s side, with Azula jumping at the chance to barrel inside too. He’s been through this before with Bumi, but his hands still shake slightly as he cups her face and leans down to kiss her forehead with a long, deep inhale. Katara reaches out a free hand to hold onto him, and just smiles at the comfort of his happiness.

Her other hand is still in Zuko’s grasp. He hasn’t been able to bring himself to let go just yet, even after moving to the other side of the bed so that his good ear could better pick up her murmuring, or after her careful transfer of his daughter into his his bare arms, and now together they hold onto an exposed arm left out of the blanket.

Snatches of conversation happen around him, slight jostling occurs as everyone works on the after care, but Zuko is captivated only by the bundle in his arms. Their eyes are locked—she looks up at Zuko, and he stares right back. When Katara has to let go, he takes over to admire his daughter with his thumb, tracing it across her plump jawline, smoothing down the soft hair on her head and over her eyebrows.

Toward the end of the pregnancy, when Aang and Katara came to stay at the palace to prepare, Zuko used to sometimes stare at her. It was hard, trying to imagine what a child between them would look like, and a niggling thought that circled in the back of his mind—quietly, in a determined attempt to not let it fester too much—had him wishing, hoping that his daughter would have more of Katara in her than him. Beyond possibly gold-tinted eyes, what worth did his ancestry have to offer in the face of so much goodness from Katara’s?

(He got scolded for ruminating over this, then given an extremely long hug, and then scolded again for his incessant doting over a Katara who did not need to be doted over, much to Aang’s cackling amusement and Zuko’s embarrassed chagrin.)

But his daughter looks so much like him, and in such a breathtakingly sweet way that leaves him stunned. He can see the small flicks of her eyes moving as they roam over his face; they’re so light in color, tawny almost like how Azula’s were when she was born, and he wonders if they’ll be bright like his or darken into a strong amber like Uncle’s. She also has his nose, a wide little thing that he can’t help but bop a finger against, and her cheeks may be big but Zuko thinks she has his chin.

“It’s crazy how alert she already is,” Aang says, smiling as he peeks down at her across the bed. “I hope her cries get louder though, she needs those firebender lungs so she can shout like you can, Zuko.”

“Don’t do that to me,” Azula instantly scoffs, taking her place next to her brother, then smirks at his lukewarm glare. “I can only handle one loudmouth at a time, and Zuzu is plenty already.”

“Hey—”

Sokka snorts, and responds faster than Zuko can continue. “Well, when she’s right, she’s right.”

Suki overtakes their snickering with a bright burst of laughter, and his daughter’s head rolls toward the noise. “I thought blessings for babies by airbenders were supposed to be good-natured?”

“Oh, sure,” Aang laughs as he takes a cool cloth from her to wipe at Katara’s neck. “She will have a loving heart, an inquisitive mind, and a steadfast head on her shoulders that will push her through anything she sets herself to achieve. But I also hope she gets a set of good strong lungs, just so Zuko can see what we’ve put up with over the years.”

“Can you all be nice to me for five seconds,” Zuko grumps lightly. “I’m literally holding my child right now.”

“I think Aang’s gonna be right too,” Sokka happily jumps back in, dropping a heavy hand on Zuko’s shoulder as he leans over him to coo into her space. “She’s already got his frown.”

“Sokka!” Katara chides, but her laughter is still the loudest above everyone else’s at the falsely disgruntled scowl they receive—which is indeed replicated perfectly on that little face. “You know you can’t say things like that, or she’s going to end up looking like you!”

Sokka just chuckles, and the happy sound thrums through Zuko’s nerves. He’s pulled back already, giving him room to curl around his daughter like she’ll be able to protect him from the teasing—and Zuko forcibly swallows down the heavy desire to pull him back in.

“If that happens, it’ll only be because we look like, Katara.”

“Alright, move over punks!” Toph is as gleefully brash as ever when she steps into room with Lin on her hip and Iroh following close behind her, but Zuko can see the excitement lighting up her face as she beelines over. “Stop hogging the kid!”

Suki makes quick work to take Lin from her while Aang moves to pull Bumi from Iroh’s arms, and the four of them maneuver themselves onto the bed around Katara. She grouses lightly, but still looks incredibly contented to now have her son within arm’s reach. Iroh moves to take up residence on Zuko’s free side next to Sokka, and rests his hand on Zuko’s other shoulder.

“Oh, nephew,” he breathes out in deep admiration, and Zuko can feel his elation all the way down to his bones. “What a remarkable little beauty you have there.”

“Do you want to hold her?” he asks, after Iroh has showered Katara with a slew of his own sincere appreciation. Katara shies a little at the praise, but her smile remains firm even as her eyes droop slightly, and Zuko has a feeling Aang may soon kick them all out into another room to let her sleep.

Iroh’s steady joy though is infectious, and the room alights with an even more blanketing warmth from it. He reaches out eagerly to gingerly take her into his arms, and his eyes shine as he coos down at his granddaughter.

“Welcome to the world, little one,” Iroh hums, “There are great things in store for you here, just you wait and see.”

Azula gets to hold her next. Not for as long as their uncle, too nervous to hold something so tiny yet also noticeably too unwilling to give her up, and Zuko feels his eyes start to prick as sheer happiness crashes over him at the sight.

Sokka is the third one, composure fully cracked and delighted tears flowing as he wetly hiccups between stunned laughter.

“What an awesome little kid,” he says, his watery grin is as wide as his eyes. He then carefully cradles one of her hands into his palm, and welcomes her with a gentle handshake.

“Hello, Izumi,” he murmurs, and Zuko’s heart sings. “It’s so good to finally see you.”

Zuko doesn’t have anything to say in response, burstingly overwhelmed.

Instead, he quietly marvels at how well Izumi fits into his arms as he brushes a finger over one of her eyebrows. He glances up, to commit to memory the full picture of them together—their eyes catch, and his breath hitches at the deep adoration he spies in those blue eyes.

Sokka shakes himself a beat later, and looks back down at Izumi with a blazing grin.

“Man, you really do look just like your dad, don’t you, little princess?”

She does, but she undeniably has pieces of Katara in her too. Her complexion is slightly darker, and there’s already a slight wave to her hair that Zuko idly traces in amazement. He’s somewhat certain she has Katara’s lips too, and she hasn’t smiled yet but the thought that she could also end up with that same spirited smile makes his chest ache in private joy. It’s thrilling, the notion that even when his friend isn’t around, Zuko will still be able to see her signature grin light up the Fire Nation.

Zuko glances back up while Sokka continues to look down at his daughter.

He allows himself a moment to stare.

And carefully, very carefully, he thinks about how Katara and Sokka have the same smile.

#dadka #this is a planned scene of a twoshot that i'm hoping to get up soon bc i just want it done lol #(that i've......been workin on since octobor riprippp)#((also sorry for completely dropping the ball on everything else i had promised for today! i uhhhhh did not get them done lmao rip))#did i disappear so i could crunch this out before i go antiquing? yes lmao #did i queue a bunch of dad zukka and izumi art for today? also yes lol #welcome to my birthday we're celebrating dad zukka and izumi in this house today!!!!#wipwed #wip wednesday #own post #my writing #long #long post

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damianwaynerocks · 4 years ago

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Zuko & The Waynes

tag list: @bi-fr0000g

batfam x avatar crossover

PT 1

Description: Prince Zuko has just seen a light; the Avatar has returned. He was just about to go capture him, when he falls through a portal, and lands in Gotham City. He’s angry. He was just about to regain his honor, to regain his father’s love. After he is adopted by Bruce Wayne and becomes Zuko Wayne, the second youngest child, Zuko starts to have second thoughts about regaining his honor. Living as Zuko Wayne makes him think that maybe, just maybe, he’s deserving of love just the way he is.

This started out as an incorrect quote, but then I loved the idea of Zuko having his Book 3 realization through becoming a member of the bat family, so I did. Also, there will 110% be a part 2.

this takes place in episode 1. like the beginning. he hasn’t even seen aang yet.

Fire Navy Ship, Near the South Pole, Earth 24

The story of Zuko Wayne begins with a bright light over an icy sea.

A bright light rocketed into the sky, parting the clouds. A boy with his left eye horribly scarred in a military uniform on a Fire Navy ship, his black ponytail fluttering in the wind, gripped the railing of the ship as he watched the light.

"Finally!" Prince Zuko yelled, whirling around to face a smaller man in a similar uniform who was playing some sort of board game at a small table, "Uncle, do you realize what this means!?"

Iroh, Zuko's uncle, looked up at his nephew with a calm expression, a game piece in his outstretched hand. "I won't get to finish my game?"

Zuko rolled his eyes and he turned back around, staring at the space where the light had been. "It means my search is about to come to an end." At his uncle's disinterested sigh, Zuko turned around again, gesturing behind him. "That light came from an incredibly powerful source! It has to be him!"

"Or it's just the celestial lights. We've been down this road before, Zuko," Iroh said, placing the game piece back on the board before looking back up at the prince. "Please, sit. Why don't you enjoy a cup of calming Jasmine tea?"

"I don't need any calming tea!" Zuko snarled, "I need to catch the Avatar-" he broke off to shield his face with his arms from the sudden wind.

A small purple tornado was in between Zuko and Iroh, pulsating with a strange light. It started to flatten into a portal, moving towards Zuko.

"Zuko, Move!" Iroh cried, lunging to grab his nephew out of the portal's way, but his cries never made it to Zuko's ears as the prince fell into the swirling vortex.

Crime Alley, Gotham City, Earth 2

"Oomph," Zuko grunted as he landed on a hard concrete surface. He sat up slowly, resting his hand on his forehead, dizzy. He blinked several times, trying to take in his bizarre surroundings.

A carriage-looking device was rolling through the street, no animals pulling it.

There were poles on either side of the street with lights shining out of them, lights that weren't coming from lanterns.

However, the most bizarre thing he could see was the man dressed similarly to a wolfbat in front of him.

Zuko scrambled to his feet, igniting a fire in front of his fist threateningly. "Stay back!" he snarled.

The man said nothing, looking at him closely. Zuko's skin was crawling; there was something unsettling about this man- or at least, he thought it was a man.

After thirty seconds of only the sound of Zuko's heavy breathing, the man spoke. "What's your name?" he said in a deep, gravely voice.

Zuko tightened his fists. "I am Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation," he said, "Now tell me; where am I!?"

"Gotham City," the hulking man replied.

Zuko swallowed. His father had made sure that Zuko knew the name of every city in the world.

He'd never heard of Gotham City.

"You've never heard of it." The man's words were more of a statement than a question. "Well, I've never heard of the Fire Nation. It doesn't exist."

"What are you talking about!?" Zuko was struggling to keep his voice even at this point. "The Fire Nation is the most dominating force in the world!"

"Not in this world, it isn't," the man growled.

"What do you mean 'this world!?'"

"You fell through a portal, you claim to be a prince although there is no record of a prince named Zuko ever existing, and there is no such thing as the Fire Nation," the man listed, "It's clear you aren't from this world."

Zuko's eyes flew open as his breathing became heavier. A different world? That wasn't possible. The fire in front of his hand fizzled out as he gripped the sides of his head.

The man was silent, before; "Come with me."

Zuko, too mind-boggled to argue, followed the man robotically to one of the carriages. The man opened the door for him, and Zuko stepped in. He didn't register anything else until he heard another man speak.

"Batman," an elderly man on a holographic screen was saying, "How was your night?"

"Alfred," Batman grumbled, "Prepare a room. I'm bringing someone."

"Would this 'someone' happen to be another child?"

"Yes," Batman replied. The man sighed.

"Of course I will prepare him a room, but Batman, you really need to get a hobby other than collecting children," the elderly man said before the screen disappeared.

"H-How did you do that!?" Zuko asked, dumbstruck, "How did you speak to that man!? He isn't in this carriage!"

"Car," Batman corrected him, "And it's video chat. I'm assuming technology was not as advanced in the Fire Nation?"

"We had war balloons," Zuko defended with a sniff. He looked out the window at the surroundings zooming behind them. "How are we moving so fast?"

"Five cylinder engine."

"That makes no sense."

"It will, once you've been here a while."

"What are you talking about!?" Zuko said with a start, "I need to go home!"

"That portal," Batman said, turning to look at him, "has been a problem for the past three years. It only opens annually. We'll try to get you back, but you'll probably have to wait until next summer."

"Next summer," Zuko repeated. His eyes narrowed. "That's unacceptable! I just found the Avatar, I need to capture him so I can regain my honor!"

Batman said nothing. Another screen appeared, the words 'call from Nightwing' displayed. At Batman's word of approval, a man with black hair and a domino mask appeared on the screen.

"Batman!" Nightwing yelled with a wide smile, "I hear I'm getting a little brother! Who is he?"

"Someone who came from Ziphran's Portal," Batman replied. Nightwing whistled lowly.

"Ooh, a dimension hopper! Like Jon! They can bond- no Damian this does not mean he won't be your friend anym- Damian put down your utility belt you are not hurting your new brother."

"I'd like to see him try," Zuko snorted.

From off-screen, Zuko heard someone screech, "Was that a fucking challenge?!" before Nightwing turned around, scolding whoever it was for using that kind of language. The video feed cut out as they pulled up to a waterfall.

Batman drove the car through it, entering a cave. Zuko's eyes widened. There were machines everywhere. More high-tech than Zuko could have ever imagined.

Batman stopped on a circular platform, and the doors opened. Zuko stepped out, looking around at the room. His gaze landed on three people.

One was Nightwing, the other a boy in a red and green outfit who looked to be about thirteen, and another boy around Zuko's age in a red outfit. All were wearing masks.

"This is Zuko," Batman introduced, putting a hand on Zuko's shoulder, who quickly ripped it off. "He's a prince from a place called the Fire Nation."

The boy in red laughed. "Prince? Aww, poor Robin isn't the only prince anymor-" he was cut off as the youngest punched him in the stomach.

"So, are we adopting him?" Nightwing asked excitedly, looking Zuko up and down. Zuko stepped back nervously, not used to someone being so happy at the thought of spending time with him.

Batman didn't answer, instead looking down at Zuko. "How did you get your scar?" he asked.

Zuko almost didn't respond, but the glare Batman was giving him was too much. "I spoke out of turn and told my father that we shouldn't purposely kill our troops," he spluttered, "And so he challenged me to an Agni Kai, and when I refused to fight him, he lit my face on fire."

"Ope, he's got trauma!" the boy in red yelled from where he was seated at a chair, "And black hair! He meets all the qualifications for adoption!"

"No!" Zuko snapped, glaring at the boy, "I can't stay here! I have to capture the Avatar so I can regain my honor!"

The boy laughed again. "Okay, Edgelord, chill. You'll be able to go back in a year."

"He will be staying here," Batman said before Zuko could verbally assault the boy, "Because he's from another world, we can't put him on the streets."

"So, we should introduce ourselves!" Nightwing suggested. He took off his mask. "I'm Dick Grayson," he pointed at the boy in red, "That's Tim Drake," he pointed at Robin, "And that's Damian Wayne. There's also Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Duke Thomas, Stephanie Brown and Barbara Gordon."

Damian rolled his eyes. "Father did not adopt Brown or Gordon."

"Maybe not legally, but emotionally? Waynes." Dick turned back to Zuko, "We usually aren't all here together, but my apartment in Bludhaven got bombed and Tim got sick of his neighbors, so we're here until we find a new place. Jason's coming in a couple days to see Alfred, and he's supposed to start coming to breakfast once a week."

At that moment, two girls walked down the stairs. One had blonde hair, the other black hair. The blonde one smiled. "Ooh! Bruce, you got a new one!" she did a flip off of the stairs, landing in front of Zuko. "My name's Stephanie! I'm excited to get to know you!"

Zuko glared at her. "You won't have the chance to get to know me. I'm leaving so I can capture the Avatar. I need to regain my honor!"

Stephanie scrunched her nose as she took in Zuko's hair. "The only thing you need is a hair cut."

"On it," the other girl- Cassandra -said, before taking out a throwing star from her pocket and hurling it at Zuko, slicing his ponytail clean off. Zuko's jaw dropped as he watched it fall to the ground.

"No!" he yelled, "My top knot was the only thing distinguishing me as a member of the royal family!"

"Oof," Stephanie winced, "Sorry, dude, but it's ugly."

"On that note," the elderly man from the call- Alfred -said from the top of the stairs, "I think it's time Master Zuko get some rest. He's had a long day."

As Alfred spoke, Zuko realized that he was, indeed, dead on his feet. Maybe it was lack of sleep, maybe it was the fact that he didn't have anywhere else to go, or maybe it was Dick's bright smile, but Zuko felt that he would be safe at this place. He nodded, trudging his way up the stairs.

Alfred led him to a room on the third floor, and turned on the light. Zuko scrunched his eyebrows in surprise.

"How did you do that!? You just flipped that switch and that lantern lit!"

"It's a lightbulb, Master Zuko," Alfred explained, "I take it your world didn't have electricity? Here, almost everything is automatic, made to make activities easier. I'm sure you'll grow to enjoy them. Take a shower while I get you some of Master Timothy's clothes to wear to sleep."

"Shower?" Zuko asked.

"Yes, it's like a bath but the water falls on you." Alfred led him to a smaller room in his bedroom. "Here, I'll show you."

As Zuko stepped into the shower, his mind was reeling. A shower was warm rain solely used for washing. Cars were carriages with no animals to pull them that traveled ten times as fast. He was in another world, away from everything he'd ever known.

Away from Uncle Iroh.

Zuko sighed, stepping out of the shower, grabbing a towel to dry off with. He opened the door of the bathroom, and saw clothes on the bed. Putting them on, he noticed how strange they were.

They weren't robes. It was a plain red shirt and the comfiest pair of pants he'd ever been in. It was the comfiest outfit he'd ever been in, really.

But it wasn't Fire Nation apparel. Alfred must have taken his military uniform to wash it. His ponytail gone, Zuko had nothing to remind him of home.

As he laid his head on the pillow, one last thought fluttered through his brain: I'm completely alone.

The next two days consisted of Zuko staying either in his room or wandering around the manor, trying to learn the layout. Alfred would bring him meals three times a day, but other than that, he left him alone. He was starting to relax. If these people were going to hurt him, they would have by now.

On his fourth day, Zuko was in the library, when he overheard Damian complain that he had nobody to practice broadsword with.

"I'm good with those," Zuko said. Dick and Damian looked up from the corner where'd they been.

"Finally, someone who is willing," Damian replied, "Come, Zuko, let's go."

Damian and Zuko were circling each other, each holding blunted broadswords. Dick was watching from the sidelines, smiling.

Zuko struck first, spinning around and using the momentum to drive his sword into Damian's side, who did a backflip to dodge.

Damian rushed forward, slashing downward at Zuko's head. The latter quickly brought up both swords, blocking Damian's attack.

They were evenly matched, the 'princes' were. The fight went on for an hour, neither landing a hit on the other.

A 21 year old man with black hair came in 30 minutes in, cheered Zuko on, yelled that his name was Jason, and at the 45 minute mark began texting on his phone.

Finally, the two called a truce, both drenched in sweat. Zuko turned to Jason and Dick.

Dick was smiling widely at him, and Zuko was shocked at the effect it had on him. The smile made him feel like he was the only person in the room.

Zuko nodded at Dick, before turning to Jason. "What's that?" he asked, gesturing to the phone.

"This, my dear boy, is a phone," Jason waved it in the air. "You can talk to anybody in the world with it, no matter how far away they are, and they get it instantly and respond instantly. And you can search through the internet, which is like a giant library with every single thing you could ever want to know about in a split second."

"Seriously?" said Zuko, "That's insane."

"Tim's already working on one for you," Dick said, "He's putting all of our phone numbers in it and stuff." he gasped, slapping Jason on the shoulder. "We gotta put him in the group chat."

Four hours later, Zuko had his phone, and was in the group chat called 'The Waynez'

dick: YO ZUKO'S HERE duke: whaddup dude i'm duke i'm in san fran rn

Zuko frowned. He went to safari, and googled "san fran."

zuko: what are you doing there? duke: mission with kon tim: how is my bff duke: if he doesn't take those stupid sunglasses off i will literally steal his kneecaps jason: lmao me

Zuko sucked his teeth as he read the conversation, hopping on to his bed. "Steal kneecaps?" he muttered, "Just what kind of family did I get myself into?"

zuko: what kind of family did i get myself into ? dick: the best! jason: just wait till b lets you join us in our nightly activities zuko: like that nightwing and batman thing? zuko: also does b stand for bruce or batman? jason: it stands for Bitch jason: & yes that thing. i'm red hood, tim's red robin, duke is signal, and damian's robin damian: if you call father a bitch one more time jason: iF yOu CaLl FaThEr A bItCh OnE mOrE tImE jason: what are you gonna do ur like four feet tall damian: say goodbye to your kneecaps motherfucker dick: DAMIAN NO tim: AHAHDJ DAMIAN duke: GUYS HE'S GONNA THINK YOU'RE SERIOUS jason: you literally started it??

Zuko let out a huff of laughter. Siblings who only fought in a joking manner?

He could get used to this.

Zuko was nine.

He laughed, looking up at a younger Uncle Iroh with shining, happy eyes, unscarred. "I love you, Uncle!" he chirped.

Iroh smiled warmly. "I love you too, Zuko."

"ZUKE!"

Zuko woke from his dream with a start to see a figure standing over him.

Dick grinned. "Hey, do you wanna go on a- put that fire out, it's me -do you wanna go on a drive?"

"But it's-" Zuko looked at the clock beside his bed "It's 2:00 AM! And I was sleeping!"

"Did you have any dreams?"

"No," Zuko lied, looking at Dick's shoes, "I don't have dreams,"

"Fine," Dick said, putting up his hands in surrender, "Don't tell me. But come on, get dressed!"

"But it's so early!"

"It's only 2:00 am, I'm usually out right now!" Dick huffed, before walking to Zuko's closet and grabbing jeans and a blue t-shirt- Alfred must have gone and got him clothes -and threw them at him. Zuko groaned as the clothes hit his face.

"Alright, alright!" Zuko gave in, getting out of bed with a stretch of his arms. "Give me five minutes."

"I'll make you some coffee, so you'll be awake!" Dick said as he left the roof, shutting the door behind him.

"Coffee?" Zuko said aloud as he put on the clothes, slipping blue Nike tennis shoes on. "What's that?" His phone chimed- the group chat -and Zuko grabbed it off of his nightstand to look at it.

dick: hey Tim I'm giving Zuko some of your coffee

tim: ??? why

dick: So he'll stay awake. we're going on a drive.

jason: take the bat mobile i dare you

dick: no we're taking my mustang

jason: coward

dick: ANYWAY

dick: i don't think he's ever had coffee before

tim: like ever? fine but only this once maybe then he'll go to Starbucks with me

tim: SINCE NOBODY ELSE IN THIS FAMILY WILL

damain: will you all be quiet, I'm busy.

jason: yeah he's at emiko's

duke: OH SHIT

damian: i haven't spoken to emiko in months, you imbecile.

jason: that's not what Roy said, brat

"Who's Emiko?" Zuko asked Dick as he opened the door to his room where he was waiting for him.

"She's this girl Damian tried to get to join his team," Dick explained, leading him to the kitchen as he put a pack of coffee into the keurig, "Jason gives him crap about her because they're so much alike."

Zuko nodded. "So, what exactly is coffee?"

"It's this drink that has caffeine in it, which is a drug that gives you energy, in simple terms," Dick explained, "Tim loves it. I don't think he's addicted, but he loves the taste." Dick poured the coffee into a different cup, took a gallon of almond milk out of the fridge, and poured some into it. "Starbucks is a huge coffee chain. They're all over the world. They have tons of different recipes, but almond milk lattes are how I like mine." He handed the cup to Zuko.

Zuko took a sip, and he hummed. "This is really good," he said, "Kind of bitter, but good."

"Right?" Dick led Zuko to another room and opened the door to a garage filled with cars. He pressed a button on his keys, and the car blinked, the doors opening. "Hop in, Zuke!"

"Don't call me that," Zuko grunted, getting in the car as he took another sip of the coffee. Dick, not fazed, told him to buckle up and took off.

"Did you have music in the Fire Nation?" Dick asked as they drove down the road, not yet in Gotham.

"Yeah," Zuko replied, looking out the window. "We had sungi horns and folk songs."

"So... no My Way by Queen Key, I'm guessing?"

"What?"

Dick smiled widely and turned on the radio. "Play My Way," he said to the car, and a song started playing.

Zuko's face scrunched up as it started. "This is music?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Meanwhile I'm turnt as fuck!" Dick sang off-key, "I left my pizza in the oven that bitch burnt as fuck!"

Zuko raised his eyebrows with a flat look on his face, but to his annoyance, he found himself not minding the song. And eventually, with Dick's calming presence and encouragement, Zuko began to sing with him."Bitch, my way! My way! My way!" the brothers sang, Zuko's voice quiet while Dick's was loud. As the song ended, Dick handed Zuko his phone.

"Here, pick one!" he said, before turning his eyes back to the road.

"I won't know any of them, though," Zuko reminded him, "What if I pick a bad one?"

"Then we'll sing it anyways!" Dick replied, "Because you picked it out!"

Zuko looked down, scrolling through the playlist. Go Hard, Watch Me, Love Story... he didn't know any of these songs, but tapped the song Starstrukk.

Dick gasped as the song started. He turned up the volume until the car was vibrating from the bass. Headbanging, Dick started screeching.

“Nice legs, daisy dukes, makes a man go WOO HOO!"

"Dick, wasn't that a whistle?"

"I can't whistle so I have to say woo-hoo."

Zuko found himself liking this song too, and once again, sang along with Dick at the second chorus.

"I think I should know!! How!! To make love to something innocent without leaving my fingerprints out!! Now!! L-O-V-E's just another word I never learned to pronounce!"

"Here," Dick said, grabbing the phone and pulling up the lyrics, "Sing along!"

With the lyrics in front of him, Zuko sang the rest of the song with Dick, gradually getting louder until the both of them were screaming at the top of their lungs. At the end of the song, the two laughed.

"That was so good!" Dick praised. Zuko started to answer, before both of their phones chimed.

tim: zuko did you like the coffee

zuko: yes

tim: ok good we r going to Starbucks tomorrow

duke: ?? don't you have work??

tim: i'll tell them I'm spending time with the newest wayne so i'll be late tam will understand

duke: bro bruce hasn't had a press conference about him yet

tim: tam knows I'm red robin i think she can keep this secret

zuko: what time?

tim: 9 so u can sleep in

damian: you're being oddly nice, drake, you're never that nice to me

tim: i literally took a bullet for you like three months ago.

zuko: it's okay, you don't have to wait that long for me

tim: ?? what r u talking about ur my brother, ofc i do

Zuko blinked, not expecting that. They'd only known him for two days, and they considered him family? "Isn't it really soon to accept me?" Zuko said aloud to Dick, "I mean, I haven't helped or contributed or anything."

"So?" Dick gave Zuko a weird look. "You don't have to earn our acceptance. You had it from the moment Bruce decided to adopt you."

Zuko didn't answer. He must be lying, or just trying to make him feel better. You can't just accept someone into a family without cause.

"Now," Dick turned down the volume, "Look outside!" Zuko did as he was told, and his eyes flew open.

It was beautiful. Multicolored lights blurring as they sped past them, architecture that Zuko had never seen. "It's gorgeous," he whispered.

"I figured you'd like it," Dick chuckled. They drove around the city for a while longer, Zuko in awe. Finally, they pulled back into the garage at the Manor.

"So, you have fun?" Dick asked as they got out of the car. Zuko nodded.

"Yeah. I did."

"WAKE UP!"

Zuko lurched awake, glaring at Tim above him. "Do you guys always wake each other up like this?"

"Only when there's things to do!" Tim answered, "Now come on! We'll take my car. I'm so excited man."

Zuko, exhausted, yawned as he followed Tim down the stairs to the garage he'd been in seven hours earlier. Getting into a Ferrari, they took off.

"So, Zuko, what was life like in the Fire Nation?"

"Very different."

"How so?"

Zuko pursed his lips together, not answering. Tim shrugged.

"Alright. Keep your secrets." Tim pulled into a parking lot and shut the car off. "We're at the second most glorious place in the universe!"

"What's the first?"

"My therapist's office," Tim replied casually, "My friend Kon's making me go. I'm the only one in the family who goes, even though we all need it."

"What's therapy?" Zuko inquired as they got out of the car.

"It's, like, treatment for your mental health. Your issues. Dealing with your past. I needed it for sure," he pointed at his head, "Lots wrong up here." He laughed. "You probably need it too, Edgelord."

Zuko grunted in response as they stepped inside the building. Tim inhaled the air with a smile. "Doesn't that smell amazing?"

It did smell good. It smelled like coffee. He'd only smelled it once before, but Zuko had decided that it was one of his favorite scents.

"So, Dick gave you his almond lattes with no sweetener, right?" Tim looked at Zuko with a raised eyebrow. At his nod, Tim added, "Was it too bitter or was it good?"

Zuko looked around the coffee shop, surprised at the number of people in line. "Too bitter," he answered.

"Okay," You could tell that the gears in Tim's mind were turning, and he asked, "Are you hot right now?"

"I'm always hot, I'm a firebender-" he was cut off by Tim slapping his hand over his mouth.

"Maybe in your world, people are open about powers," Tim said sternly, "But in our world, if anyone finds out who you are, bad things will happen. That's why Batman and everyone else wear masks."

Zuko nodded, and Tim took away his hand. The firebender cleared his throat. "Well, yeah, I'm always hot. Doesn't usually bother me though."

"So do you think you'd like a cold drink or a hot one?"

"Cold coffee?" Zuko echoed, crossing his arms over his chests, "I'll try it."

"Alrighty," Tim said with a grin, gesturing for Zuko to follow him to the line. Zuko flinched as he saw people staring at him, at his scar. Hearing mutters about it, he looked down, trying to hide it.

Noticing this, Tim scowled. He raised his head high. "My name is Tim Drake-Wayne, ward of Bruce Wayne," he said loudly, "And if any one of you continue whispering about him, or make him uncomfortable in any way, I will personally sue you for harassment!"

Apparently the name 'Wayne' carried some weight, as everybody looked away. Tim turned back to Zuko. "So, let's try a caramel macchiato."

Zuko took a drink after the barista handed it to him, and he nodded. "I love it, really good."

"Starbucks is always good," said Tim, "Now come on, let's get you back to the manor."

Another week passed, and Zuko started to grow comfortable. He wasn't happy there, sure, but the Waynes were welcoming, and he was actually starting to consider them friends.

In therapy, Tim had been talking about his trauma, and because it helped, he'd roped the family into doing the same.

Zuko was shocked. He couldn't believe how much they've went through. Damian's childhood. Jason's death and resurrection. Bruce and Dick watching their parents die, and their sexual assaults. Tim, who'd watching everyone he cared about die. Cass, who was treated as nothing more than a weapon for most of her life.

Finally, it was his turn. "Do I have to do this?"

"Zuko, if I have to, you have to," Damian snorted. Zuko sighed, biting his lip nervously.

"So, my mom was banished before me. Then when I was 13, I was sitting in during a military meeting, and I spoke up, telling my father that he shouldn't purposely kill our troops," he laughed bitterly, "So instead of grounding me like Bruce does, he challenged me to an Agni Kai, and when I wouldn't fight him, he lit my face on fire and banished me, saying I could only return if I captured the Avatar, who hadn't been seen in a hundred years."

Jason whistled lowly. "No offense but your dad fuckin sucks."

"He only did it to teach me respect!" Zuko snarled, clenching his fists.

"Jason," Tim scolded, "The rule is that after we share our story, nobody comments on it."

"Okay, but Zuko's acting like Damian did when he first came here," Jason argued, "Thinking that the people who are supposed to protect them are allowed to hurt them." He turned to Damian. "Is that something your grandfather would do?"

"Yes," Damian said without a beat, "Absolutely."

Zuko gritted his teeth. "You're wrong. All of you!" He rose to his feet and stormed up the stairs to his room.

My father loves me, that's why he gave me the chance of capturing the Avatar! Zuko thought as he slammed the door to his room. If he didn't care for me, he wouldn't have gave me a chance to earn back his love!

Then why do these people love you without conditions? a small voice in his head spoke.

Zuko clenched his fists, and started punching the wall. He continued punching until his knuckles were bloody. He continued punching until he fell asleep.

And yet, he woke up in his bed. He blearily opened his eyes, confused as he looked at the spot where he'd fallen asleep. The holes in the wall were there, but the blood was gone, and his knuckles were bandaged. Looking to his nightstand, Zuko saw a note.

I'm sorry for carrying you without asking, but I didn't want you to hurt your back from sleeping on the tile. Come down to the cave in the morning to change your bandages. - Bruce

Bruce had listed him off the floor solely so Zuko's back wouldn't hurt. He'd cleaned up the blood in the middle of the night so Zuko wouldn't have to see it. He'd even bandaged his hands.

This family didn't make any sense.

A week later, Tim and Zuko were at Starbucks. Zuko was sipping his caramel macchiato, repeatedly checking his phone while Tim worked on his laptop.

Tim raised an eyebrow. "Nervous?"

Today was the day that Bruce Wayne was announcing that he had adopted another kid. There would be pictures of him, Zuko would have to post on the Instagram that Tim had made for him, and he couldn't imagine all of the comments about his scar. "No, not at all."

"It'll be okay," Tim said, shutting his laptop so he could better face Zuko. "It can't be worse than whenever Damian was revealed. 'Bruce Wayne has love child?' "Young Wayne looks to have serious mental health issues'" he rolled his eyes, "Damian was so mad."

"When will I be interviewed?" Zuko asked, tapping his fingers against the table.

"We don't know yet," Tim replied, "We're hoping to get anybody but Vicky Vale. She's a vulture." he paused. "But don't worry. We'll all be there with you."

"I'm not worried," Zuko insisted, "I just... need to know so I can clear my schedule."

Tim raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Oh? Brooding take up a lot of time?"

"Shut it, Tim-Wit." Zuko's phone chimed, and he jumped with a start before looking at it. Sure enough, the article titled 'Bruce Wayne Adopts Another' was up.

"It's out!" Tim said, "Great! Time to post on Instagram!"

"What?" Zuko panicked, "Already? But- but my scar!"

"It'll get shown eventually," Tim pointed out, "Plus, Dick and I already have our pictures picked out. Dick has the one of you smiling when he got you two matching shirts."

Zuko smiled softly, tugging on the hem of the before mentioned shirt, a dark blue Ralph Lauren.

"And they're up!" Tim said with a grin, shoving his phone in Zuko's face, "Take a look!"

"That's a good picture," he voiced. Tim nodded, muttering an agreement, before showing him Dick's post.

Zuko replied to Jason’s comment with an eye roll, before he froze, the caption sinking in. He blinked in shock. Dick would... die for him? He shook his head. "I still don't get why you guys care for me so much. Like I said, I haven't done anything to earn it."

Tim gave him a sad look. "Zuko, don't you get it? We don't love you because you did something to earn it or whatever. We love you simply because you exist."

532 notes · View notes

ultranos · 4 years ago

Note

Here's another question along the same lines. Who do you think would have the hardest time reconciling with Azula post canon? I would probably think that it would be Mai and Ty Le, since they were the ones who were hurt and affected most often by Azula and I'm not sure if they would want to reconcile with her after what they've been through. On a similar vein have you seen Aaron Ehasz's ideas on an Azula redemption?

So, that’s a bit harder and honestly depends on how I view Mai and Ty Lee’s mental states. And, honestly, how sympathetic I want to be to their various social positions and psychologies and how hypocritical I think they’d be.

Because personally, a lot of the emotional manipulation dynamics in that friendship come from the social structures (and Ozai’s fucked-up parenting). For example, I see the critical mistake Azula makes that leads to the breakdown of the friendship to be blurring the line between soldier and friend. She recruits them as a commanding officer/royal but still tries to be in the category of “friend”. That’s never a good thing to mix up, and the mixed signals inevitably blow up in a predictable way. Like...it’s kind of shitty to treat your friends as subordinates! And to use fear to “control” them! (actually it’s shitty to try to control your friends at all) Azula tries to and, well, we see what happens. And it’s fair for Mai and Ty Lee to begrudge her that.

However...I also question whether or not Azula would want to reconcile with Mai and Ty Lee. That bridge is fairly burnt, but the thing is, it really wasn’t Azula holding that torch. The betrayal at Boiling Rock was huge and fundamentally damaging. Yes, she threw them in prison. Thing is, she kind of had no choice. Mai and Ty Lee did, in fact, commit high treason right in front of an officer of the state (the princess) and witnesses (the guards) by letting the country’s most-wanted traitor go. Even if Azula wanted to, she can’t sweep that under the rug.

Because here’s the other side of the line “I love Zuko more than I fear you”: Ozai would consider Mai and Ty Lee as soldiers under Azula as a commanding officer. Their failures fall on Azula’s neck. Ozai burned half of Zuko’s face off already. What would he do to the child who let said traitor go free and then tried to cover it up? There’s a reading here that Mai basically told Azula “I love Zuko more than I give a shit about if your dad decides to see if his other kid is just as flammable”. That between Zuko and Azula, Mai would be fine sending the latter to her death. And told her this in the most knife-twisting way possible.

I don’t know about you, but Azula is also well-within her rights to not want anything to do with either of them after a betrayal like that. I think for personal healing reasons, she would deserve a chance to acknowledge harm done and apologize for that. But if she wanted to walk away after that, that’s entirely fine. It’d could be healthy for all three of them.

Which kind of leads me to your other question. Yeah, I’ve seen the tweets about Aaron Ehasz’s ideas. I’d worry how much of that becomes kind of misery-revenge-fantasy-by-proxy? Like, the kid is already close to rock bottom. She doesn’t need to go further, because that’s just shitting on the character honestly. And she doesn’t need to don a sackcloth and beg on her knees for forgiveness from people. What the kid needs is a safe space to heal, to figure out right from wrong and how to be a person, to screw up a few times. She’s not going to get that in a situation with the people she hurt and the people who hurt her breathing down her neck (even if they mean to be helpful!). And while Zuko being the one to lead her back has a certain narrative poetry, Zuko is also a hot-headed 16-year-old boy. I didn’t have the emotional maturity this kind of task would require at age 20. The person who should “be Azula’s Iroh” is...fucking Iroh himself, instead of dropping yet another monumental task on his nephew’s shoulders.

#nos answers things #atla #this is An interpretation #mai at boiling rock was extremely baller but it's important to note the extent #Anonymous

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nova-is-a-writer-now · 4 years ago

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FOOLS pt.3

[[Zuko x Reader]]

<- previous next ->

Summary: Zuko and Y/N had liked eachother for a while even though neither of them knew it. Y/N tries to get over her crush for him, failing miserably. So just when she decides to let go and embrace her feelings, the new Fire lord finds himself feeling jealous and decides to take matters into his own hands.

A/N: I’m still impressed by how many people have liked this series and I’m so grateful to everyone who reads, it’s getting a little angsty in here so be prepared. (Edit: I wrote that before actually finishing this part, scratch that cause things got REALLY FUCKING ANGSTY. Also this part is a little shorter than the others but believe me, it’s as much as your little hearts will be able to take.) As always if there’s any mistake or anything let me know.

Side note I’ll wait for a request to start writing pt. 4

Warnings: Angst but it’ll end well i promise

-IF YOU HAVE ANY REQUEST DONT HESITATE TO ASK-

You walked up to your friends once again, noticing someone was missing. “Hey... where’s Zuko?” You asked everybody as you saw the packaged dress in Katara’s hand.

“He said he had business to attend at the palace, acted really weird and stormed out the marked.” She replied looking at you with concerned look in her eyes.

“That’s...weird. Maybe he got bad news, firelord stuff.” You said more to yourself than to the others.

Sokka interviened, cutting your thoughts short. “He did say we could stay and eat around here, so let’s find a place, I’m starving.”

———————————

After lunch, you and your friends walked around the market a while longer. You saw the same thing you had seen the day before from the carriage, people were happy. This was a major concern for all of you once the war had come to an end, how would the people of the Fire nation take the new way of things?but Zuko definitely did a great job with it all.

Sokka ended up buying a bunch of junk against Suki’s advice, while you and Katara bought some pieces of jewelry to go with your dresses, Toph bought a set of nunchucks which worried all of you a little bit, and Aang bout a toy for Momo.

Soon enough you were back at the palace, Zuko still no where to be seen. You tried not to pay much attention to it, yet worry still lingered in the back of your mind. It was almost dusk when you proposed the idea of setting up a campfire outside for old time’s sake. It felt like forever since all of you had sat down around the burning flames to talk or eat or simply lay down and look at the stars. So after a while, when everyone went to their chambers to leave the things they’d bought and change to a more appropriate attire for the weather, the group was back outside setting up the fire.

You laughed at sokka who tried to light it up, struggling thanks to the fact that the only wood you had found was very old and affected by the humidity of the Fire nation’s weather. Ever since Aang learned how to firebend and Zuko joined the gaang, he hadn’t had to light up a fire from scratch.

“Hey, Sokka. It’s ok, we get it, it’s been so long since we’ve done this, you’ve kinda lost your touch.” You teased, knowing he was mostly trying to impress Suki with his abilities. Toph who was sitting next to you suppressed a laugh.

“I haven’t lost my touch, Y/N!!” He replied not taking his eyes away from the wood in front of him. “Actually it’s not a ‘touch’, it’s ability and knowledge, ok?”

Your only response was to laugh looking over at Katara. She looked at him worried and said “Are you sure you don’t want me to water bend the humidity out of the wood, Sokka?”

“No, Katara! No bending, just ability and knowledge”

“I could get the flame started for you” interviened Aang.

“Is no one listening to me? Ability and knowledge!!”

All of you let Sokka stay entertained trying to light up the camp fire for a few minutes more, after that you collectively and non-verbally decided you didn’t want to be there all night waiting, so you signaled Suki to distract him while Katara and Aang worked their quick magic. When he turned back around he saw the sparks consuming the wood slowly at first and then turning into a bigger flame. He smiled satisfied with himself and turned to look at all of you. “See? Ability and knowledge.”

“Of course it is , babe.” Suki hugged him from behind while the rest of you held a laugh.

The laughs and giggles didn’t take long to begin. It had always been so easy to get along with eachother, like you’d been friends for way longer that you really had. Before all of this, you never had any real friends at the Northern water tribe, the boys didn’t like you because you were a girl, and the girls didn’t like you because you liked fighting and bending. But when you met the gaang, it was like you could finally be yourself and not be judged, they were more of a family to you than anyone else had ever been.

You’d been outside for a while when you heard steps getting closer behind you, the night sky already spread above you. You were about to turn around, big smile on your face assuming it was Zuko, when you realized the look on all of your friends’ faces. The smile faded as you turned your head around. In fact, it was Zuko who was approaching the campfire, but he wasn’t alone. Holding onto his arm was Mai, in a jaw-dropping dress, looking as beautifuly dark as ever. You were sure the sound of your heart breaking must’ve been heard through out the entirety of the Fire nation.

Mai? You asked yourself internally making an outworldly effort to take your eyes away from them. Everyone but you greeted them equally as shocked, then he proceeded to take a sit in a log placed right in front of you, pulling Mai into his lap. There were a few seconds of awkward silence before Sokka started speaking again. You could hear his voice, but you weren’t paying attention to his words. Your eyes were glued to the floor, too scared to even dare to look up, your face lacked any color and a now familiar knot in your throat and tightness in your chest were forming again.

You reminisced to the previous months. After Mai and Ty Lee had been released from Boiling Rock, Zuko told you he’d talked to her. They’d left things in good terms, she understood why he did what he did, and he realized how he’d treated her wasn’t the best. But you were sure that didn’t mean they were back together, I mean, that happened almost a year ago, and this was the first time you’d seen Mai since the coronation.

Has he been seeing her in secret all this time? Why keep it from me? Did he know I liked him all along and was simply trying not to hurt my feelings? But why now? And why like this?

All these thoughts ran through your head while you tried your best to keep the tears that were threatening to roll down your cheeks inside. Suki’s touch dragged you out of your head. “Y/N?” She called in a soft and low voice.

“Yeah, sorry.” You replied looking up at her.

“Wanna go get some snacks from the kitchen?”

“Sure, let’s go” You took her hand and walked with her away form the open and into the palace.

Once you were sure you were out of the group’s sight, you let out a deep breath you didn’t know you were holding up until then.

“Oh, Y/N. Are you ok?” She pressed your hand reassuringly

You forced yourself smiled at her. “Yeah, everything is fine. I’m ok.” You lied.

“Zuko is an asshole for doing this. If you want me to punch him in the face I can do that, I’m still training all the time, I’m sure I could kick his ass no sweat.” She tried to lighten the mood while leading you to the kitchen.

“No Suki, thanks. It’s ok. It’s not like we’re a thing or anything, he can go out, be with and do what he wants with whoever he wants. I’m no one to tell him otherwise” you spat, trying to convince yourself as much as Suki.

You finally arrived to the kitchen. Chef Karou took one look at you before noticing something was wrong. “Child, what happened? You’re white as a ghost.”

“It’s nothing Chef, I just got a little dizzy out of the sudden, but I’m ok.”

“Well you’re in luck, I have your favorite dessert freshly made. That’ll make you feel better.”

You and Suki carried each a basket of treats and small snacks Chef Karou had sent for you and your friends. You had to brace yourself before walking back outside, only to realize Zuko and Mai weren’t there anymore, instead a head of white hair filled the space where they’d been sitting before.

“Iroh!” You called handing your basket to Suki and walking up to him.

“Hello, my dearest.” He replied, opening his arms to give you a hug. He’d always been one to give great hugs. Since you met him, the two of you had connected through Zuko. He cared for him deeply for a very long time, and even though you had just met him then, you cared about him too. He’d shared his wise words with you, advising you about your worry regarding the war, and you listened to his stories in return. He was warm and caring and he had a very special place in your heart. Hugging him helped release the tightness in your chest that had been building up for a good while, and that came with a few tears as well. “Miss Y/N, there’s no need for tears, this is a joyful reunion.”

“I’m just...very glad you’re here.” You tried to explain wiping the wetness from your cheeks.

“I’m very happy to be back, and to see this nation be rebuilt and led honorably. Talking about leaders... have you seen my nephew around? I haven’t gotten the chance to greet him yet.” He asked looking around for him.

“I um... I guess he’s back at his office or in his chambers.” You hoped he couldn’t tell the way you were trying not to let Zuko mess with your head.

“Do you mind calling him for me, dear? I’m a little tired from the trip.”

You wanted to say no, specially since you knew Zuko had left with Mai, but saying no to Iroh had always been a hard task for you. “I... yes, don’t worry, I’ll let him know you’re here.”

And with those words you walked off to find him. His office was your first stop, you hoped he was there, sitting on his desk and going through paperwork as you’d seen him do many times before, because if he was that meant Mai wouldn’t be there, and you wouldn’t have to deal with seeing them together anymore. But to your despair, he wasn’t.

Gathering all the strength you had left, you made your way to his chambers. The walk there seemed painfully short, you wished you’d had more time to prepare, although after knocking on the door and proceeding to open it, no amount of time could’ve prepared you for the sight. Zuko and Mai were both sitting on the edge of his bed, he had his hand on her jaw, holding her tightly in her place, while her hand layed on his neck, holding onto the roots of his hair. They were kissing... really kissing.

The sound of the door opening made them realize someone was there and forcefully Zuko pulled apart. He looked at you for a few torturous seconds before saying. “Y/N, what can we help you with?”

We, it was such a dumb thing to notice but you did. Zuko said we, as in him and Mai, as in the girl who’s throat he had his tongue down mere seconds ago.

“Your uncle is here, he wants to see you.” You replied, your voice slightly shaky making you pray he didn’t notice.

“I’ll be right there... anything else?” His tone was one you hadn’t heard before, it was harsh, merciless, out of everything that had happened that evening that small detail was what hurt you the most.

“No, good night.” With those words you turned back around closing the door behind you. You couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, your heart ached in a way you’d never felt before. You cursed yourself in silence for being so dumb, so gullible to even think Zuko would think of you as anything more than a friend, a colleague. You cursed yourself because you knew this was how things were going to end from the very beginning.

Now he was kissing another girl and you were alone in your room, sitting in the dark, thinking about how you were going to pick all the pieces of your heart and put them back together.

A/N: sorry don’t hate me <3

Tag list: @harmlessoffering @zukoshonourr @marvel-ing-at-it-all @booksandwonderlands @bison-whistle @darthsokaaa @royahllty @godoftheabyss @ilovespideyyy @literally-anythin @daddystevee @annie-are-u-ok @whalerus @galacticamidala @mangoberry43 @eridanuswave @katherinethedork @littleninjablake @taeeemin

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maybe-a-fangurl · 4 years ago

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The Moon and the Sun (Zuko x Reader) part 1

Wow it has been forever since I posted and I am so sorry for everyone who sent me requests like I am going to start working on them all again, but for now here’s a fic I started a while ago and kind of forgot about until they put atla back on Netflix and reignited my love for Zuko. Also I'm just kind of going off of my old taglist so if you want to be added or removed just let me know but as always thank you for reading, hope you enjoy, and requests are open.

Part 2 Part 3

Masterlist

“You’re so infuriating.” Zuko said at you as the two of you were standing on the deck of the ship. The whole crew was busy packing all of their things since Zhao had demanded they leave to join him, so the only person on the deck other than the two of you was Iroh, but he knew better than to step in when the two of you were arguing.

“I’m the infuriating one? That’s so funny Zuko.” You said in a sarcastic tone as you sent him a glare. “I’m not the one who is too full of themselves to let their friend heal them.”

“I don’t need you to heal me.” He said in a cold tone and you just shook your head as you stepped closer to him.

“No, you don’t want me to heal you.” You said as you looked up at him. “There’s a difference between needing and wanting something, trust me I would know.”

“Apparently you don’t because then you would understand that I need to find the Avatar to restore my honor, and you would understand that Zhao is going to the North to capture the Avatar and my hopes of returning home.” He said, and you wanted to scream at him, you knew that he wanted to restore his honor, but you didn’t agree with how he was going to restore his honor, and he knew this. “And now I don’t even have a crew to give me a chance of reaching the North before him.”

“That’s your problem Zuko, you only see what you want to see in a situation. You only see the part of this that concerns the Avatar and your idea of restoring your honor.” You said, finally deciding to let all of the words out that you had wanted to since you discovered that the Avatar was still alive. “You never lost your honor, not to me, but you have lost your way. What you did that day in the meeting, was the right thing, your father hurt you Zuko, and he doesn’t deserve everything that you are trying to do to please him. It will never be enough for him because he is a horrible person but you aren’t, he doesn’t deserve to have a son like you Zuko.” “You don’t know what you’re talking about Y/N, you aren’t even really a part of the Fire Nation so of course you wouldn’t. You’re just an orphaned water bender who happened to be found by a general who had just lost a child and wanted something to fill the space.” He said in a cold tone and it caught you off guard. Sure, you and Zuko had had arguments, you had known each since you were just babies, so it was bound to happen at some point. But he had never said anything to intentionally hurt you, not like he just had. “You don’t even belong in the Fire Nation so I wouldn’t expect you to understand why I need to restore my honor.” “You’re right, I don’t belong in the Fire Nation, but I’m glad I don’t because all the Fire Nation has caused is pain and suffering and I would never want to be a part of that. You think that capturing the Avatar is going to restore your honor? All it is going to do is make you a monster by taking away the world’s last chance at peace.” You said as you started to tear up, but you wouldn’t cry in front of him, not right now. “I’ve stood by you while you’ve become obsessed with the idea of honor, but I can’t anymore Zuko.”

“Then leave, I never asked you to come with me!” He yelled as he swung his arm out, sending a line of fire out. The fire hit you in the side, causing you to let out a gasp as you grabbed your side that was already burning with pain. You looked up at Zuko, eyes wide at what just happened, and you watched as all of the anger melted away instantly and his face was filled his worry and regret. He put a hand out as he stepped forward, trying to check on you, but you shook your head as you stepped away from him.

“Stay away from me.” You said as the tears from earlier started to fill your eyes again not only from the pain in your side, but also in your heart as you thought over what he had said. You looked up at him as a single tear ran down your face. “I’ll be gone by morning.”

“Y/N I’m sorry, please let’s just talk about this.” He said as he looked at you with panic all over his face. “Please just stay and we can figure it out.”

“No, I think we’ve done enough talking, and I got the point.” You said before turning around and walking off of the deck and to your room.

Once you reached your room and closed the door a sob escaped you as you practically collapsed onto your bed. You kept your hands on your side scared to look at the burn, if you looked at it it was real. But as the burning continued you knew that you couldn’t ignore it so with a deep breath you removed your hand to see the burnt fabric and skin. You sat up and slowly pulled off your shirt, cursing as the fabric hit your side, and once it was off you turned to the pot of water on the floor and slowly brought some of the water out and over towards you. You brought the water to your hands and once it began to glow, you slowly put them on your side, wincing at the sudden contact. You focused on your side the best you could, but the steady stream of tears was making it hard to see what parts of the burn were the worse so eventually you gave up and with an aggravated scream you sent to water across the room and into the wall. You looked at the water on the floor and let out another sob at you laid back down, burying your head into the pillow. You weren’t sure how much time had passed since you had been laying there crying but at some point, you heard someone knock on your door, you stayed silent hoping that whoever it was would leave you alone but to your dismay the door opened.

“I brought you some tea.” Iroh said with a sad smile on his face as he stood at the door, not wanting to come in if you truly did not want him to.

“You didn’t have to bring me any.” You said but you were already sitting up, your blanket pulled around you and you could only imagine how horrible you looked right now.

“I know that tea isn’t going to fix what happened, but it may give you some comfort.” Iroh said as he closed the door and walked over to you, sitting the tray down before pouring you a glass. Once he handed you the small cup he poured himself one and sat down before you. You didn’t know what to say to him, you knew that he was probably blaming himself for not stepping in sooner in the argument, before it got bad, but you both knew if he would have it would have only made matters worse. “I am not going to justify what he did, but I will say that he did not mean to. He does not know how to control his temper and I hope that after this he will take more of an effort to learn how.”

“I know he didn’t mean to, but he did mean what he said.” You said as you looked over at Iroh, you could feel your heart breaking in your chest as you thought of your next words. “I have to leave, I can’t stay here anymore.” “I understand.” Iroh said with a sigh and you turned your attention back to the cup in your hands. “Where will you go?” “I don’t know.” You said as you ran your thumb over the rim of the cup. “Maybe I’ll go to Ba Sing Se, I would be safest there.”

“You would be safest there, not even I could get through the walls.” He said, and you nodded, keeping your eyes on your cup. Iroh let out another sigh before standing up, causing you to look up at him as he put his cup on the tray and moved it so that it was out of your way but still there if you wanted more. “I am going on a walk, the crew is already gone so it will just be you and Zuko here until I return. I hope I see you before you leave, but if I don’t I wish you safe travels.” “I’ll miss you.” You said as you stood up and wrapped your arms around him, ignoring the pain in your side as he hugged you back. You felt tears start to fill your eyes again and you tried your best to keep them at bay, you knew that if you cried Iroh would too, and you did not know if you could handle seeing him cry right now. “Thank you for everything Iroh.” “I am the one who should be thanking you.” He said as he pulled away from the hug and gave you a smile. “I have a feeling that we will meet again someday.” “I hope we do.” You said as you gave him a small smile in return. He just nodded before making his way to the door, giving you one last glance before heading out. Once the door was closed you took a deep breath before you started gathering your things. You slowly put all of your clothes into your bag before grabbing your water scrolls, you grabbed all of the small things you had brought with you and gotten over the few years you had been traveling around in search of the Avatar. You picked up the small picture you had of you, Zuko, and Azula from when you were kids, it brought a small smile to your face as you looked at it, you were so young and carefree then. After you had everything in your bag you decided that you needed to talk to Zuko before you left, you couldn’t leave things off like they were. So you grabbed your bag and walked to his room, sitting the bag on the floor before knocking on his door and after no answer you slowly opened the door.

“Uncle, I want to be alone right now.” Zuko said and you stepped out from behind the door to see that he was lying on his back looking up at the ceiling.

“It’s me actually.” You said in a quiet voice, Zuko was up and in front of you in a matter of seconds, and before you could react he pulled you into a hug.

“Y/N I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to burn you and I didn’t mean what I said, I don’t know what I would have done if you wouldn’t have come with me.” He said as he wrapped his arms around you ever tighter, scared that if he let go you would be gone forever. You ignored the pain in your side as you wrapped your arms around him.

“It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean to.” You said, and he pulled away from the hug enough to see your face but was still holding you close to him. He gave you a small smile and you could see the tears in his eyes, but he looked behind you and seen your bag laying on the floor and you watched as the smile disappeared from his face.

“You’re leaving?” He asked as he pulled away from the hug completely and looked at you, but he was still close enough to you that you could reach out and touch him if you wanted to.

“I’m sorry Zuko, we haven’t seen eye to eye on things lately and after today I know if I don’t leave that something bad could happen between us.” You said as you looked down at the ground, trying to keep the tears from running down your face. “Our paths just aren’t aligned anymore, my destiny isn’t with the Fire Nation and I don’t know what it is but it’s something I have to figure out on my own.” “I understand.” He said, and you knew it was a lie he didn’t understand. He wouldn’t tell you, but he thought that you leaving was his fault, that he hurt you and now you were scared of him. He had sworn years ago that he would never hurt you and today he had broken that promise.

“I wish I could stay Zuko, I really do but I can’t.” You said as you looked down at the ground and closed your eyes, trying to keep the tears from escaping. The pain in your chest was making it hard to breathe, you were leaving the one person who knew you better than you knew yourself and the person that you knew best, he was your best friend and you knew that you were in love with him. But that was another reason you had to leave, you were letting your feelings for him keep you from doing what you thought was right.

“Where will you go?” He asked, and you looked up to see he was already looking at you, searching your face for any sign that you were lying, that you weren’t leaving and that you would stay with him.

“I’m not sure yet, I may go to the Earth Kingdom for a while.” You said as you looked up at him. You knew that if you stayed any longer that you wouldn’t leave, so you pulled him into another hug, he immediately wrapped his arms around you and you just stayed in his arms for a few moments. With one final breath you lifted your head up to look at him and before you could stop yourself you did the one thing you had wanted to do for years, you kissed him. It was short, but it was something that you needed to do. And as soon as your lips left his, you stepped out of his arms and walked to the door grabbing your bag as you stood with your back facing him. “Goodbye Zuko.”

“Goodbye Y/N.” He said as you walked away, as soon as you were out of sight he knew he had made a mistake, he should have never let you leave, but it was too late because you were already gone.

You walked away from the ship, tears running down your face until you turned around and it was barely visible. You stood and looked at it, thinking about going back, that was until you seen the ship go up in flames. You ran as fast as you could to the ship and once you got there you seen Iroh standing there.

“Iroh.” You said, and he turned around to look at you, and once you seen the tears running down his face you sunk to your knees as you looked at the ship that was now just flames, you were overcome with grief as tears started to run down your face. But as you looked at the flames your sadness was overcome by anger, someone did this to the ship. And you had a feeling you knew who it was. So, with a deep breath you stood up and wiped the tears from your face. “Whoever did this will pay.” “Y/N, do not let anger and pain turn you into something you are not.” Iroh said and when you looked over at him you seen the worry on his face as he looked at you.

“I won’t be getting revenge, I will be getting justice.” You said as you grabbed your bag off of the ground and looked away from Iroh. “I’m going to the North Pole.” “I don’t think that is the best idea.” Iroh said and you just shook your head as you turned your back to him.

“It’s the only thing I can do.” You said before you started to walk away. You would go to the North and warn the Avatar about the invasion and when the time came, you would be the one to deal with Zhao.

Part 2

@heavenlyhemminqs @cal-pal-cuddles @rosesfromcth @tpwkcal @caswinchester2000 @frickin-bats @winchestergirl907

#zuko #prince zuko #avatar #atla #zuko x reader #zuko x y/n #fire nation #avatar the last airbender #sokka #katara #toph #aang #suki #iroh #momo #appa #gaang #atla tmats

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koala-otter · 4 years ago

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a little gaang modern AU

more (zukka!) prompts coming but for now have some modern AU silliness featuring the gaang as a bunch of goofy young adults on a road trip

might write another part to this but also might not :) (so lmk if you like it)

that’s all i have please enjoy

2k words

Aang rings the doorbell of the small, white house only for the door to swing open as soon as he pulls his hand back. Katara stands in front of him with a dazzling smile, immediately grabbing his arm to pull him into the foyer.

“I watched you walk up,” she explains. She lets him go and starts up the stairs to her room. “I just have to finish packing, and I’ll be right down. Two seconds.” At the top of the stairs, she turns and calls back down to Aang, “Sokka’s in the living room!”

Aang smiles as he watches her go and tugs on the straps of his backpack on his shoulders. He hears someone walking toward him, but where he expects to see Sokka, Hakoda appears in the archway leading to the kitchen and dining room.

“Aang,” Hakoda says warmly, coming forward to clasp the young man’s arm. “It’s good to see you.”

“You, too, Chief Hakoda,” Aang replies, grinning broadly.

Hakoda stands back and looks down at the empty space next to Aang. “No Appa?” he asks of the dog normally at Aang’s heels.

“Appa hates long car rides, so Gyatso offered to take care of him for the week,” Aang explains. “Now that he’s getting older, we just want to do what’s most comfortable for him.”

“Makes sense,” Hakoda says with a sympathetic smile. “How is your grandfather?”

Aang shrugs, but keeps the smile on his face. “He’s managing. I keep asking him to lower his hours at the bakery, but he won’t let up.”

Just then, Sokka walks in bearing a duffel bag over his shoulder. “Hey, Dad, have you seen—Aang!” Sokka rushes over to rub his bald head, even though Aang has grown taller than him in the last year.

“Hi, Sokka.” Aang laughs good-naturedly as he pulls away. “Are we ready to go?”

“Almost.” Sokka turns back to his father and asks, “Have you seen my keys? I can’t find them anywhere.”

“Are they not on the hooks?” Hakoda asks, gesturing to where they’re mounted on the wall.

“My car keys,” Sokka clarifies.

Hakoda’s face betrays his complete ignorance of their location. “Maybe you should ask—”

“They’re in the pocket of your blue hoodie.”

The three men look up to find Katara coming down the stairs, a large tote bag tucked under her arm, and her wavy hair loose and bouncing around her shoulders. She points out the hoodie in question, tossed on a bench under where the family hangs up their jackets, while she steps into a pair of white sneakers.

“You left them after we got back from dinner last night,” she explains as Sokka fishes through the sweatshirt.

He holds the keys up triumphantly. “Finally, men, our journey begins!” he cries. He lowers his arm, tossing the keys in the air and catching them, and then flinging the hoodie over his other shoulder. “All right, let’s go.”

They each take turns hugging Hakoda and promising him to drive safely, and then pile into Sokka’s car, a fifteen-year-old SUV, sporting big tires and a fairly high ride height, handed down to him by his father.

“Aang, you sit in front,” Sokka says as he pulls open the driver’s door and climbs up into the car.

“Why does Aang get to sit in the front?” Katara asks even though she’s already seated behind them.

“Because Zuko’s actually going to sit in front,” Sokka replies matter-of-factly, checking his mirrors, “and I don’t wanna fight with you when I have to tell you to get in the back.”

Katara scoffs. “We wouldn’t have to fight.” She grabs the backs of their seats and leans toward Aang. “Aang, trade seats with me.”

“Okay,” Aang says readily. He unbuckles his seatbelt.

Sokka puts his arm out across Aang’s chest to keep him where he is. “Aang, don’t move,” he says. “Katara, he’s 6’3”, you’re going to make him sit in the back where there’s no leg room?”

“You’re about to make him sit in the back where there’s no leg room!” Katara exclaims.

“Uh, guys,” Aang says uneasily, “it’s really no big deal.” The fight is typical of the dynamic he’s been managing since they were all kids.

“See?” Sokka says, finally pulling the car out of the driveway and out onto the road. “Aang says it’s no big deal.”

Aang hears Katara retreat to the backseat with a little huff of breath.

“Don’t worry, Katara,” he says, craning his neck to look back at her. “I’ll be in the back with you soon.”

Katara smiles back at him despite herself.

It doesn’t take long for them to arrive at Zuko’s house, and as soon as they do, Sokka gives two short blasts on the horn. Almost immediately, three figures emerge from the house. Zuko and Suki wave goodbye to Iroh and begin walking toward the car, while Sokka jumps out and runs over to help grab their bags.

“Hey, Iroh!” Sokka calls out to the older man. He kisses Zuko’s cheek and grabs his boyfriend’s black leather backpack.

“How wonderful to see you again,” Iroh says kindly. His expression turns analytic as he scans the space between Sokka and the car. “Where is your sister? I thought she was going with you.” It’s no secret that Katara is a favorite of his.

Katara rolls down her window and thrusts her upper body through the new hole in the door. “Hi, Uncle Iroh!” she calls.

He waves at her enthusiastically. “Have a fun trip,” he tells her. “You must be very excited; you are practically glowing, like an early summer moon flower.”

Aang cannot help smiling and agreeing as he watches Katara brighten.

“Thank you,” she says sweetly. “You look wonderful, too! I hope Zuko’s help at the shop is giving you the chance to get more rest.”

“He didn’t say I was glowing,” Suki hisses to Zuko. After going over to Zuko’s to wait for their ride, she’s just spent an hour bonding with Iroh herself.

“You don’t write your thesis and buy three pots of tea at the shop every day,” Zuko whispers back with a shrug. In a louder voice, he says, “We should hurry. We don’t want to be stuck in traffic.”

“Zuko, where are your manners?” Iroh stops him. “You haven’t asked your friends if they’d like any tea.”

“But, Uncle, we’re about to leave,” Zuko says in a slightly exasperated tone.

“So? It’s no excuse not to offer them a refreshment. You’re in for a long drive.”

Zuko turns to his friends with a sigh. “Would anyone like a cup of tea?” he asks, clearly conscious of his uncle watching expectantly from behind him.

“I’d love one,” Aang says, popping his own head out of the car, “but Toph just texted me asking if we were on the road yet, and I really don’t wanna see what she’ll do to me if I tell her no.” He waves his phone in the air. “Sorry, Iroh!”

Iroh raises his hand in the air as a greeting. “It is no problem,” he says with a smile. “You mustn’t keep her waiting.”

“We’ll come by the shop as soon as we get back,” Aang promises, gesturing between himself and Katara.

“Well, you heard him, team,” Sokka says, leading the charge back to the car. “Let’s not keep Toph waiting.”

Aang gets out of his seat so Zuko can sit next to Sokka, and Katara moves into the middle so Suki and Aang can sit on either side of her. They all wave goodbye to Iroh as the car pulls out of the driveway and heads for the highway.

“How far is it to Toph’s house anyway?” Suki asks after a while.

“Well, I wouldn’t really call it a house,” Aang says thoughtfully. “It’s more like an estate.”

“It’s the old Beifong summer home,” Katara clarifies, “built over a hundred years ago with their mining fortune. ‘Estate’ might not even cover it—it’s not quite a palace?” She looks to Aang for confirmation. “But it’s as close as you’ll get to one today.”

“And the real question,” Sokka adds, removing his hand from Zuko’s thigh to raise it in the air, his index finger extended to emphasize his point, “isn’t how far it is, but where it is.”

He puts his hand back, and Zuko smiles contentedly.

“Wait, what?” Suki asks. “Did you just say we don’t know where we’re going?”

Sokka shrugs and glances in his mirror before moving his eyes back to the road. “Don’t worry, I put together the directions,” he says. “Zuko?”

Zuko pulls something out of the glove compartment and unfolds it to reveal a laminated map of the western Earth Kingdom. Roughly-drawn red arrows point to blue circles sketched on top of mountain ranges and lakes, and a looping dotted line has been thrown in, too, seemingly to throw the viewer off any sort of trail. Suki tries to study the markings. Katara sighs when she sees them. Aang takes one look and chooses instead to stare out the window.

“The Beifong summer home sits in a valley between two mountains an hour outside of Gaoling,” Zuko explains. He points to the map. “Here.”

He waits for Suki’s nod before continuing.

“And we’re all the way over here,” he says, pointing again. “So, we have to go through—huh.” He studies the map. “Oh, we have to go through here. But wait, that’s not right. The Serpent’s Pass? Oh, no, what I meant was here. Or, hold on.” He stares at the map and its markings again, and the only sound in the car is the rush of the wind coming in through the windows.

“Sokka, this is impossible to read!”

Sokka gasps. “You called it ‘meticulous’ before,” he says with an accusing tone.

“Yeah, before I actually tried to use it.” Zuko shakes the map. “How the hell are we going to get there with this?”

Suki leans in close to Katara to whisper, “Boy, am I glad it’s not me up there.”

Katara stifles a laugh into her hand.

“Look, I made the map, so I can read it,” Sokka says with finality in his tone. “It’ll take us right to the Beifongs’ front door.”

“But Sokka, you’re driving,” Zuko almost complains.

“So? I can look over if I need to.” Sokka starts craning his neck to view the map on Zuko’s lap. “I can even keep one eye on the road while I—”

“Sokka,” Katara says sharply.

“All right, all right,” Sokka says, focusing back on the stretch of road in front of them. “Sheesh.”

“Come on, guys,” Aang says cheerfully, “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

“I asked if you were prepared this morning, and you said you were,” Zuko continues arguing.

“I was! I made the map!” Sokka cries indignantly.

Zuko shakes the map once more. “How is this prepared?”

Sokka sighs in aggravation. “Look, if you’re so worried, Wan Shi Tong it.”

“What?”

“I said, just look it up!”

“Are you crazy? The Beifong summer home is not going to be on Wan Shi Tong maps,” Zuko says almost condescendingly.

A loud beep sounds from the backseat, followed by an automated, wise-sounding voice monotoning, “Starting route to the Beifong Summer Villa.”

Everyone but Sokka whirls around to look at Aang.

“Hey, look at that,” he says. He holds his phone up with a grin. “They have it.”

Katara laughs out loud as Zuko begrudgingly looks up the address on his own phone. Everyone settles into companionable silence, allowing the sounds of the wind and the automated voice giving directions to replace any conversation. After a while, Suki even begins to drift off, her temple pressed against the glass of her half-open window. Aang watches the trees and the other cars on the highway pass by them, until he feels a tug on his arm.

He looks down to find Katara looping her arm through his and leaning her head on his shoulder. She tilts her head up when she feels his eyes on her.

“Is this okay?” she asks.

Aang nods. “Yeah, of course.”

“Good.” She smiles lightly and lets her head drop back down to his shoulder. “It’s a good thing you’re here,” she says quietly to him, amusement in her tone.

A light blush rises in Aang’s cheeks, and he cannot help grinning. When Katara’s this close, he can smell the jasmine of her perfume.

“Yeah, good thing,” he agrees.

The smile stays on his face as he looks back out the window.

#my writing #atla #atla fanfiction #atla fanfic #fanfiction #the gaang #aang #katara #sokka #zuko #suki #toph #zukka #kataang #kataangtag

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epilepticzuko · 4 years ago

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It's time for me to honor my url and give you my epileptic Zuko headcanons aka me projecting into Zuko not for the first nor the last time since @haikyuupaladin (very easily) convinced me that Zuko has epilepsy

The thing is, seizures are basically your brain sending the wrong electric signals to your body, which results in every firebender being at risk of seizures if they don't control their abilities properly, even if not everyone ends up having them, even less actually developing epilepsy

But I like to project onto Zuko so he's epileptic now

The first couple of times he bends anything, nobody notices, not even himself, because he was having absence seizures (a good example of how these work is when people stop talking mid sentence, look into space while doing nothing, then start talking again as if nothing had happened. The person in question doesn't know it happened), which everyone dismissed as him being distracted or daydreaming

He goes a couple years not noticing he's having seizures, and they start to be more and more uncommon once he starts to get a grasp of firebending in general

He's actually a pretty good bender, he's just not as good as Azula because Azula's body doesn't need to be silently bending seizures away (which is also the reason he seems to be unable to bend lightning, because his body is already busy keeping him away from seizures, which reduces the energy he can use to bend external things)

Everything is fine, until his mother is gone and the stress rises in ways he had never experienced before

Not-so-fun fact: stress is one of the most effective seizure triggers. So suddenly Zuko is not only having absence seizures, but he's also having myoclonics (these ones can be summarized as sudden jerks of the limbs) which are... specially unfortunate when you have the bitchlord as a father

Because Ozai already didn’t like Zuko, and now Zuko is accidentally spilling food and drinks in front of people, and Ozai is sure he's doing it in purpose to make him look bad

If it wasn't clear, he's not, but Ozai sucks

Now, as I'm projecting, I'm going to say Zuko's seizures are also triggered by strong emotions, you know, the only kind of emotions he seems to have

So things only get worse after he's banished :)

Seizures of all kinds become a daily thing, that is, until Iroh catches on what's going on and explains to him what epilepsy is

It doesn't make Zuko less angry at life, but at least he's now more open to follow Iroh's breathing exercises and accept to sleep a little more (still not well, but a little more than usual)

His seizures start to become more and more spaced out with time, especially while they are living in Ba Sing Se, ans even more so after the whole being at war with himself thing

After he leaves Ba Sing Se and guilt is creeping in, he starts to get auras (it's this weird thing one gets before having a seizure, it's hard to explain), but at this point he has learnt so much he is able to fight seizures before they happen

He still has a big one after the day of the black sun because confronting your abusive father takes a tool on you, and this leads to him not remembering very well what happened. One moment he was confronting him and the next he was being licked by Appa

Whom, by the way, is really good to have around after a seizure, because he's super soft and one wants to lay on something soft after your body decides to act without your consent

After his visit to the sun warriors, his seizures start to be the most spaced out the have ever been, it’s almost like he didn’t have epilepsy at all (almost, he still has war stress). Turns out learning a better way to firebend is like getting the right medication

The dragons also tell him they have epilepsy too and therefore every epileptic person is blessed by them, sorry not sorry, I don't make the rules, I am now blessed by dragons

The idea of bloodbending is specially terrifying for him because he knows firsthand how bad it feels to have your body acting without your permission, but at least seizures aren't controlled by anyone at all

Yeah, he's 100% on board with making bloodbending illegal

Back to epilepsy, the rest of the gaang only finds out about it because Aang spaced out in front of Zuko and, naturally, he jumped to conclusions and got that weird kind of excitement you get when you find someone who also has epilepsy (with a side of “if even the avatar can’t avoid epilepsy, then maybe I’m not so disgraceful!”)

Aang was just daydreaming tho

That doesn't stop everyone from asking about his previous rambling about epilepsy and giving him a stern talk about how he’s not disgraceful

He and Toph start the disabled rich kids club just because they can (even though Zuko still feels kinda weird about thinking of himself as disabled, but he’ll get over it)

Toph promises to kill anyone who tries to put stuff in Zuko’s mouth during a seizure (seriously people, we’re not going to swallow our tongues, the whole wallet in your mouth only helps to break jaws)

Zuko has never had a tonic clonic (the kind of seizure most people think about when they hear the word seizure), but he’s not going to deny Toph the pleasure of planning murder

Everything’s cool until he receives Azula’s lightning and he’s having almost daily seizures... again!

The assassination attempts aren’t helping

It eventually gets better again tho

So much better he starts to manage to go several months seizure free and, eventually, years

By the time Izumi is born, he has been seizure free for five years, hooray!

Toph is kinda bummed she won’t get to make people swallow their own wallets tho

Except Zuko is not the only epileptic person in the world, so she does end up getting the chance to do it and now everyone in the Avatar universe knows better than to put wallets in people’s mouths

And when movers get invented nobody even thinks of using strobes, Toph defeated evil before it started, all hail Toph, the end

#zuko #avatar the last airbender #atla.txt #toph #aang #epileptic zuko #epilepsy headcanon #seizures #katara #bloodbending #lightningbending

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metellastella · 4 years ago

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Oneshot: Injury by a Firebender: The Dragon of the West and the Avatar

“Don’t touch me.” the monk said sharply.

Iroh’s bronze eyes blinked in bewilderment at the harsh reprimand from the lighthearted airbender. He had gone in to hug him, because he was clearly upset after their training session. The boy had been burned before, and this one had been simple enough for Katara to heal. So he wasn’t sure what had suddenly caused this shift in mood.

“Are you all right?” the fatherly man asked with a tinge of panic.

The boy was silent.

His silver eyes cut into him. Iroh began churning up thoughts, trying to puzzle out what might be wrong, as he had when Lu Ten had gotten into moody episodes or angry fits.

“Aang,” the man said with a choked noise, “I am so, so sorry.” “It’s not your fault.” But the words were not forgiving in tone. They were hard. They projected ‘I understand this, but my feelings are very different from welcoming you back into my space right now.’

“What can I do to make it up to you? To make you feel better?”

Aang’s shoulders screwed up.

“Just . . .”

He breathed three times.

Iroh recognized how he expanded his diaphragm as far as it would go, sucking in all the life-giving air his lungs could stand, and then releasing slowly like a leaking gas tank.

The words from tutors from his own boyhood spoke to him,

‘Picture you are drawing in the prana, the life force around you, and with each breath out, imagine you are cleansing yourself of fear and weakness.’

“You don’t normally act angry or forceful like Zuko,” the airbender analyzed. “But you do have your rare moments. If you could just . . . be extra quiet for the next few days, that would be a spiritsend.”

“Of course. I will be totally silent, if that’s what would help.”

The monk relaxed further. “What made this one worse? Was it something I did specifically?”

The monk opened his eyes and gave him a strained smile. “Toph and Zuko see you as the father you never had, Sensei. Or,” he corrected, “Does the Fire Nation use Sifu?” “Either is fine.”

“Or do you prefer Master?” “Aang, it really doesn’t matter. You insist on this formality, even though I’ve told you it’s not necessary.”

“You see it as formality,” the monk bowed his head. “We saw it primarily as affection.”

“Ah! Well then I am honored.”

“It is not a sign of dominance or status,” the monk went on. “But, like ‘Uncle,’ from Zuko, a friendly honorific.” “Like -chan! Or -san.” “Exactly. Like family.”

The boy was silent for a few moments, and his brief happiness vanished. “I had my own gurus, so although I want to see you as a parental figure, it feels as if I am betraying the dead by doing so.” The words dropped on him with all the force of the boy’s ten ton bison slamming into the ground.

Tears gathered in the old man’s eyes.

“It’s not your fault,” the monk said again, much gentler this time. “I want to like you, Master Iroh. But, the man that you, as a boy, kowtowed to as respect to an elder? He brutally murdered my elders.”

Iroh couldn’t breathe. “Katara complains at me how ‘Zuko reminds me of my dead mother, and how am I supposed to deal with that,’ well.” The preteen laughed harshly. “I have to go meditate after she says things like that, or I will end up saying some very nasty things to her. She is like a noblewoman who complains that it is too hot, while fanning herself. I am the peasant out in the fields, toiling away to serve her up her dinner plate.” Iroh was convinced that he was having an out of body experience. He hadn’t felt this completely flattened by confusion since Mahimata, the Earth Spirit essentially mentally tortured him.

“Nobody seems to understand exactly how much pain I’m in.” The boy went on in a monotone. “When we started out our journey, I would cry almost every day, as a normal person grieving their entire extended family’s death would. Sokka totally understood. He’d hug me, and rock me. Katara on the other hand, could not handle it. Grieving periods for one person are usually about at least a year, the monks would say. We had a couple of elders join the Spirit World, during my lifetime. So. If we were going to do some simple math here, how long would I need to grieve just every single one of my boyhood playmates, aside from an entire population of my people?” Iroh was beginning to feel faint from lack of oxygen.

“Katara could not see me like that. It drove her insane. She’d let Sokka handle it. And I didn’t understand why at the time. I was hurt. I was beyond hurt. She acted so motherly all the time, and then when I needed her most, she abandoned me? I didn’t say anything to Sokka about it. I just cried. And tried to do what the monks said, look for the gratitude in the situation. A way to look at things from a positive angle. Impossible task, surely. I’d like to see the Mechanist be good enough at problem solving to unravel that one. After several meditation sessions, I finally ferreted out a way to look at it differently. This was ‘good.’ His macho attitude didn’t extend into berating a younger boy to ‘be more manly’ as you might expect.”

He repeated the deep breaths.

“Because, if both of them, my new family, had been unable to comfort me . . .”

The stab through the veteran’s heart was more painful than any blade that had ever gotten through his defenses and sliced into him.

“Katara saw me as the savior to the world,” the monk said distantly. “So, not only was she hurt by my pain, because her empathy is strong. Every time that would happen, she would think that the world was lost, that we really couldn’t do it. I was too broken to be able to do this. Later on, she said, ‘Aang, we can just run away. You are only one person. You can’t solve this. There’s too much history. Too many people involved. I’ll bet my soul to some wicked spirit, that when the Avatar was established, the elder spirits never expected him to have to do something like this!! This was all a mistake. A slip of Fate. Surely, we need to just let you talk to them, and they’ll say the same thing!’”

“I was very tempted by that offer,” the Bridge Between the Worlds said ponderously. “What if I just found some secluded spot for a couple of weeks, in order to go into deeper meditation trance states, and negotiate my way out of my responsibility? Were the spirits that merciful? Maybe.”

He shrugged. “Maybe I should ‘have faith’ that the spirits would be fair to me, a poor little boy who did nothing to deserve this.”

Several more breaths, and Iroh could feel the wind around him reacting this time around.

“I had a dream, where Roku spoke to me. He apologized for how he acted. That I needed more empathy from him, too. That he was not just my Guide, but also my elder who loved me.”

A loud sob escaped him, and his element whooshed in response.

“And now, when I sleep, I am in his arms. Like a baby who sleeps next to their mother. Sokka doesn’t have to do it so much, although he is still completely willing, and reminds me daily. Katara has gotten a little better.”

His next breath out was like a release valve, preventing overload from a too-full tank.

“Nowadays, Roku murmurs things to me like, ‘It’s ok if you fail, Aang.’ ‘Just try your best.’ ‘That’s all any of us can ask from you.’ ‘You won’t be penalized by the Spirits.’ ‘You won’t even hear a harsh word from any of us Avatars.’ ‘And we most certainly will be there to comfort you.’ If I die, whether by disgruntled protestors, or by assassins trying to re-ignite the war, then the Air Nomads will truly have left the world. I try, during my meditations, to rein in that all-encompassing, all-too-likely scenario. Meditation is meant to quell anxiety after all,” he said a bit bitterly, “and all its attendant visualizations. I guess I am just lucky that, although my anxiety is centered on the entire world, I also have more powerful meditation states than the average person as well. It is suited to the task.” he said flatly.

His silver eyes glanced around his surroundings.

“Had I been born somewhere else than the Air Temples, where meditation for bending is not taken so seriously, I’m not sure what mental state I would be in. I could be catatonic, for one. I’m sure I would’ve hurt or killed people in fits of rage by now, Avatar Spirit involved or not.”

He paused. “There has never been a child Avatar in the Spirit World. Ever. None of the spirits I have talked to in dreams knows what will happen if that comes to pass. Will I be a child in perpetuity? Some of the more feminine ones cluck over me like a mother hen and say, ‘You poor dear, you will feel very lonely here, should you die.’ ‘You will be the only one of your kind here, just as you are on the Material Plane.’ ‘We will lavish you with attention, little one.’ ‘You deserve paradise after death, probably even more so than any human who has ever existed.’ ‘Don’t be afraid.’” His tears drew tracks down his cheeks.

“‘You’ve never had a mother, have you, love?’ ‘Your gurus were so mastered in their minds that they could provide that feminine touch to you.’ ‘We don’t mean to disrespect their culture, dear, but it seems terribly sad to us, still.’”

He let out a broken chuckle and quavered in a slightly otherworldly voice, “Roku, you brute, you had better take over as the next Avatar’s Guide if that happens. Expecting a child who had barely begun to live to mentor a sixteen year old? The fire fields will freeze over before we let you off the hook.’” The boy wiped his eyes.

“I have lots of ‘people’ rooting for me. Not only rooting for me, but allowing the possibility that I will fail. And that, is what every boy and girl in the world needs.”

#Avatar The Last Airbender #aang #zuko #iroh #airbender #air nomads #fire nation

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justcallmehermione · 4 years ago

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One more chapter closer to the end!

Title: Small Bump Rating: M for some delicious smut Pairings: Linzin, Tokka (implied), and Kataang

AO3

FF.net

Chapter 14: Maybe It Wasn’t Meant to Be Author’s Note: Wow, I couldn’t believe all the comments I got on the last chapter! You guys are absolutely wonderful and I’m sorry for that twist. I hope these last few chapters make up for it!

Summary: Lin and Tenzin deal with the aftermath of pregnancy loss and decide to return home to get some schedule and routine back in life.

Lin spends the rest of the week in isolation. Tenzin tries to be there for her as much as possible, but also needs some time to himself. They're both trying to sort through the feelings they have after this very traumatic experience. Luckily, Lin's body was recovering, but her and Tenzin’s emotions still needed some time. The two spent most of their time together holding hands, not wanting to let the other stray too far. Never in their wildest dreams did they ever think they would find themselves in the situation. They both felt very unprepared for how to continue to move forward. Zuko suggested that Lin share what happened to her in the park in order to help sort out her feelings. Tenzin was reclining on the bed, his back leaned against the headboard while he held Lin in his arms between his legs. Her head was resting on his chest and she could hear his heart beating as she began to share what happened that day.

“After watching Izumi give birth, I was honestly a little traumatized. No one has ever really described what it's like to deliver a baby to me. I know how it all works, but I didn't realize all of the hard work and pain and suffering that went in to bring new life into this world. I got scared and I needed time to myself.”

“You're very right. Nobody really talks about what happens when a woman gives birth,” Tenzin agreed.

“And since we were expecting…” Lin stopped herself from continuing, thinking about all of the things that could have been.

“It's understandable, Lin. You don't have to say it if you don't want to.”

She nodded and continued, “You stopped me in the hallway to talk, but I wasn't ready. You respected my personal space and let me go sort through my feelings before we talked, which I appreciated. I really didn't know where I was headed because I was lost in my own world and then I ended up in the park and before I knew it, someone hit me and blocked my chi and I was unable to move and defend myself.” Tears were now flowing freely down her cheeks as she remembered the events in the park.

“I wish we knew why,” Tenzin told her, his own tears falling.

“All the man said was that in order for the Fire Nation to be glorious again, the Airbenders needed to stay extinct,” she said through gritted teeth. Tenzin was shocked by her explanation. He could not fathom why someone would want an entire culture to be wiped off the face of the Earth, especially not the culture that he and his father had been working to restore for the last two decades or more.

“I’m sorry, Tez. But I couldn’t do anything to stop him,” Lin tried to frantically explain, “He paralyzed me with the chi blocking and even though I saw everything, I couldn’t do anything…” She was openly sobbing now, her whole body shaking.

Tenzin looked down at his wife and wiped a tear away. He put his hand under her chin and nudged it so she was looking him in the eye. “Lin, I am not mad at you. I don't blame you for any of this. Absolutely none of this is your fault. That man is absolutely horrible and I hope he gets the justice he deserves in the end.”

“But I couldn't protect the baby or myself. If only I had stayed within the palace walls everything could be different now.”

“Lin, we cannot change the past so it does not do well to dwell on it. What happened happened and wishing we could go back and change things isn't going to help us now.”

She sighed, “You have a point. I still can’t help to blame myself a little bit. I just feel terrible about what happened and I don't know if I could ever face your dad again.”

“I know there was a lot of hope for our baby. A lot of people had expectations for him or her, but none of that matters right now.”

“But your father isn't getting any younger,” she tried to argue.

“None of us are. And people will just need to learn how to be patient,” he rebutted.

“But what if...” she hesitated, worried about his reaction to her idea.

“What if?” he jostles her in his arms a little, urging her to continue.

She sighs and rests her hand on his chest alongside her head and continues, “What if I don’t want to try to have another baby, like ever? Because honestly, I don’t know if I could go through this again. And I know how important having a family is to you and your dad’s legacy. I don’t want to keep you in a relationship with me if we don’t have the same goals in life. I can’t deny the world the next generation of airbenders.” She closes her eyes bracing herself for his reaction.

Tenzin thought for a moment. He knew his duty to his father was to carry on his legacy of restoring the Air Nation. However, he also said sacred vows in the front of his friends and family, promising to love and cherish his beautiful wife for the rest of his life. He also absolutely loves the woman in his arms and he knew he would until the day he died. Nothing, not duty, not family, not enemies could ever prevent him from loving Lin with his entire spirit. He would do absolutely anything for her and he was willing to sacrifice everything for her.

“Lin, the only people in our relationship are me and you, no one else. We are the only two people who can dictate what we do with each other and with our lives. We also swore a vow to love and cherish each other for our entire lives. I love you and there is absolutely nothing or no one who will ever stop me from loving you and standing by your side.” He bent forward as she rose up a little bit and the two shared a deep kiss.

“I love you too,” she breathed.

“Good,” he smiled down at his beautiful wife, “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

“Are you sure, though?” She insisted.

“Yes, my love. You are mine and I am yours for the rest of forever.” For the first time since the incident, Lin was able to smile back at her husband thanks to his words of assurance.

After another week passed, Lin and Tenzin were ready to depart the Fire Nation and return home to Republic City after their long honeymoon. Their bags had been packed and Oogi had been saddled, all that was left was to say goodbye to their friends. Fire Lord Zuko and Daichi were standing with the couple in the courtyard of the palace.

“I’m sure Izumi will be here any minute,” Daichi assured his friends.

“Well, thank you for all your hospitality, Zuko,” Tenzin bowed respectfully to the Fire Lord.

“You are both welcome here any time,” Zuko assured him, bowing back, then grabbing Tenzin in a hug.

“Thank you for everything,” Lin said, hugging Daichi then Zuko.

“Would you like one of us to send word if we find anything new about the man from the park?” Zuko asked hesitantly. Tenzin looked at Lin, signaling he would be fine with whatever she wanted.

Lin replied, “Yes. When I get back to work with Republic City PD, I may even use some of our resources to see if I can find anything as well.”

“Okay, just remember ‘Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel, you can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving, you will come to a better place,” Zuko offered.

Tenzin smiled, “That was one of your uncle’s lines wasn’t it?”

Zuko smiled back, but there seemed to be a hint of sadness in his, then replied, “Yes it was. Uncle Iroh always knew what to say for every occasion to make me feel better. I just try to continue that for him and for the people I love.” Lin threw her arms around Zuko again and stifled a sob. When they broke apart, Tenzin wrapped an arm around his wife and kissed her forehead. Just then, Izumi appeared, walking as quickly as possible without disturbing the sleeping baby in her arms. She looked a little frazzled and very tired.

“Please, no sudden movements or loud noises,” she begged in a whisper, “Baby Iroh just went back to sleep and I started dozing when one of my maids reminded me you two were leaving.”

“Do you want me to take my grandson?” Zuko offered.

“I can take him back to the room, Izumi,” Daichi offered at the same time. Izumi looked relieved to have such an amazing support system.

“Okay, sure,” she handed the baby off to its father then turned to give her best friend a big hug.

“I’m sorry for everything,” Izumi whispered in her friend’s ear. “I wish you nothing but the best from here on out because you deserve only the best.” Lin squeezed her friend a little tighter in response.

“Thank you,” she whispered back. She turned to Daichi who was holding the still sleeping baby. She leaned forward and Daichi tilted the baby so she could get a better look.

“He is absolutely precious,” Lin told her friend, “I am so happy for you.” She smiled, genuinely at her friend. Izumi’s eyes were starting to tear up, but she wiped them away hastily, not wanting to cause her friends anymore pain.

“Thank you,” Daichi said for his wife while she gathered herself, “We’re very happy to have him and can’t wait to see what kind of person he grows up to be.”

“Well, he’s got some great examples to show him how to be an excellent person,” Tenzin complimented them.

“Thank you again for everything,” Lin said to the trio of Fire Nation royalty.

“I hope we can see each other again, soon,” Izumi told her friends.

“We’ll start planning our next get together once we’re back home,” Lin assured her.

“Goodbye everyone,” Tenzin said, waving at the group while he grabbed his wife bridal style and hopped onto Oogi. The flying bison took off on command and started carrying the couple back home to Republic City.

“Are you ready to be home?” Tenzin asked his wife after some time up in the air.

She shrugged, “I don’t know. I think I’m ready to get back to some sort of routine and normalcy. I think it will help with the recovery.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” Tenzin joked.

Lin rolled her eyes, “Yes, but, I’m nervous about what the media is going to do. I mean, they were all over my pregnancy once word got out. I hope the same doesn’t happen about the incident.”

Tenzin looked thoughtful for a moment then told her, “Well, we could always just say forget it and go on another vacation.”

Lin smiled at her husband, “I guess it does pay to have our own personal flying bison to take us wherever we want whenever we want.”

“Oogi does come in rather handy at times,” Tenzin agreed.

“Anyway, there is something I’ve been looking forward to regarding our homecoming,” she shared.

“Oh really? What’s that?”

“Being married to you,” she said cheesily, leaning close to her husband and kissing him.

Tenzin hummed into the kiss, then replied, “Yes, being married to you is the best part of our homecoming. Will you let me carry you into the threshold of our home when we arrive?”

“Only if you promise to carry me straight to bed, undress me immediately, and spend our first few hours home making love,” she declared.

“Well that could be arranged if we delay seeing our family for dinner when we get back,” he thought aloud.

“I could wait to eat. Besides, another kind of hunger is a little more pressing right now,” she admitted.

“We don’t have to wait to fulfill that,” Tenzin told her, leaning over her, causing her to lie flat in the saddle.

“What happened to not wanting to give Oogi the oogies?” she reminded him.

“If you promise to be quiet, I don’t think he’ll know the difference,” Tenzin whispered. Lin was about to laugh, but it was cut off by a deep, passionate, open mouthed kiss that Tenzin had started. She opened her mouth in return, allowing his tongue to move around her mouth. When Tenzin pulled away, he saw Lin’s eyes had darkened, her pupils going large as she stared at the man she loved.

Tenzin smiled down at her, “You are absolutely beautiful and I love that you are mine.” She smiled back, then pulled him down to continue their kissing. Tenzin moved from her mouth and planted kisses all along her jaw, moving down her neck, pausing at her cleavage. He quickly untied the dress she had been wearing and started to kiss her breasts. His mouth covered one nipple, sucking gently, while his hand moved to the other, rubbing and squeezing it. Lin moaned at his touch and Tenzin grew harder thinking about how turned on his wife was.

“It’s getting a little chilly up here,” Lin said between heavy breaths, “And it’s no fair that I’m partially nude and you’re still fully dressed.”

“I want to take my time with you, love,” he told her, “Be patient and you’ll be fulfilled.” “I don’t want to be patient right now,” she whined, “I want you in me.”

Tenzin smiled at his wife, “As you wish.” He quickly tugged his pants down, exposing his erect cock. Lin moved the skirt of her dress out of the way and spread her legs a little wider, allowing Tenzin to kneel comfortably between them. Tenzin licked his two fingers on his hand and inserted them into Lin. She was already so wet and he didn’t want to wait any longer either. He knew he could take his time with her, make proper love to her when they got back to Republic City. Out here, flying over the ocean on his sky bison, after the tragedy that had occurred in the Fire Nation, Lin needed him as much as he needed her. She needed Tenzin to express his love in a physical way that he hasn’t been able to in a couple weeks. Tenzin was not going to deny his wife this reassurance and quickly slid his cock inside of her. She immediately started rocking her hips before he was even in all the way. He tried his best to match her erratic rhythm, holding his release until he felt her walls quiver and clench around him.

After they both climaxed, Tenzin lay down next to his wife, the two of them breathing heavily. Tenzin lazily slid his pants back on as Lin wrapped her dress back around herself. Once they were both covered, Tenzin reached for his wife to snuggle closer. Lin obliged and scooted to him, resting her head in the crook of his arm while he draped the other over her waist.

“I love you, Lin. In this life and the next.”

“I love you too, Tenzin, always.”

A/N: I hope after the fluff and smut of this chapter, you can forgive me for breaking your hearts in the previous one. As always, please like/give kudos, comment, share with fellow Linzin shippers. I start work again tomorrow, but I’m so close to finishing this fic and hope to wrap it up within the month!

#linzin #fanfic #atla #tlok #my writing #justcallmehermione #tw: pregnancy loss #tw: miscarriage

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carnistcervine · 5 years ago

Note

(Also, this makes me wonder how Sokka and Jet's respective loved ones and enemies react to their infections. May I get some headcanons? :O)

Okay, first, thank you so much for these lovely asks.

-When Sokka gets burned, he doesn't notice it at first. The adrenaline of the moment temporarily numbs him from the pain of the initial injury. However, as he comes down from the high of battle, he notices an increasingly painful burning in his arm.

-This is when Sokka realizes that he's been burned.

-He tries to hide the burn from Aang and Katara, and keeps them in the dark about his growing inner turmoil.

-Katara notices the change in her brother, but doesn't know about his burn. She notices how depressed and withdrawn he's becoming and tries to help or cheer him up in some way. She feels helpless when nothing she tries works.

-She feels horrible and does her best to hold it together and gently tries to get him to open up to no avail. But for the sake of her brother, she refuses to give up on him.

-Aang hasn't known Sokka long enough to know that something is very wrong with him, but as the Avatar he does sense a gradually shifting change in his energies. He has his own concerns, but leaves them unspoken for now.

-As Sokka's fire curse symptoms begin to become more pronounced, Katara takes notice. Sokka is able to still hide most of them, but can't hide his steadily increasing temperature.

-Katara suspects that Sokka is ill and tries to maybe slow or settle down until he feels better.

-But Sokka insists that he's fine and pushes them to keep going. They aren't safe staying in one place for too long.

-Not too long after this, the curse gets the better of Sokka and he passes out as he is officially converted into a firebender.

-Now Aang's fears have been confirmed, and Katara finally sees the true source of turmoil for her brother.

-When Sokka comes to, he's mortified to know that his friends have realized he's been infected.

-However, Katara and Aang refuse to leave his side. Despite Katara's grievances with the Fire Nation, she could never abandon her brother. As someone who lived before the war, Aang understands that being a firebender does not make you evil or bad in any way.

-Now knowing that he brother is a firebender, Katara refuses to let Sokka suppress his bending. She won't let her brother drive himself into madness.

-It's a hard battle, Sokka knows, and has personally seen his own mother succumb to the madness. Only able to helplessly watch as she clawed her own burning throat out and collapse dead in the melting snow.

-Of course, Katara also remembers this, and is her main motivation for trying to save Sokka. She desperately doesn't want to lose anyone else to such a terrible fate.

-She and Aang manage to get Sokka to use his bending a little, just enough to stave off the madness.

-Well, almost. Sokka does show some symptoms due to his refusal to get enough sun and his suppression of his bending.

-Sometimes he'll space out a little or say something that doesn't make any logical sense.

-And then Aang and Katara would make him stand in the sun and heat some water for tea.

-The group keep Sokka's firebending under wraps as best they can. Partly because of the fear that the Fire Nation will take Sokka away, and partly due to the paranoia surrounding firebenders.

-Eventually they do run into Jet and his group.

-The other Freedom Fighters don't realize this, but Jet knows right away that Sokka is a firebender. He confronts Katara in private about it. He agrees to help her and keep her brother safe as a way to further entangle her into his manipulation.

-But deep down, he already loathes Sokka, not for anything he's said or done. But simply for the fact that he's a firebender.

-While Aang and Katara are completely oblivious and naively falling right into Jet's hands, Sokka instincts are setting off alarm bells about Jet.

-Jet plots on how to get rid of Sokka, but can't seem to get him alone.

-Jet goes on his patrol mission without Sokka. However, Sokka has a nagging voice somewhere in the back of his head. It tells them to follow them, but in secret.

-Jet attacks an innocent old firebender who is minding his own business, going for a walk. He's about to strike the old man when Sokka finally lets out some proper fire in the form of a fireball. Jet leaps back and Sokka jumps down and takes a defensive stance in front of the old man, proclaiming that he's not going to let him kill an innocent person. Jet tells Sokka that no firebenders are innocent, pointing his blade at Sokka's throat.

-The two are about to go at it when Katara calls Jet from not too far away. He sneers at Sokka and he and his cronies leave him with the old man to distract Katara.

-Later that night, Sokka tries to get the group to leave, but Katara wants to hear Jet's side of the story. Jet of course claims that nothing happened, his patrol was completely uneventful and he hadn't even run into Sokka. Katara worries that Sokka's madness is worsening. Jet latches onto that, but Sokka tries his best to argue that he was completely lucid when it happened and Jet's a thug. In trying to argue his case, Sokka ends up letting it slip that he's been hearing a voice. Katara is deeply worried, but Sokka just storms off, unable to get through to her.

-Jet consoles Katara as she opens up about what fire madness did to her mother.

-Of course, now that his suspicions are confirmed, Sokka spies on Jet once again and finds out that he's going to flood a village. Sokka wants to warn Aang and Katara, but he already knows they won't believe a thing he says. So he tries to stop Jet himself.

-Being weakened from his deliberate avoidance of the sun and his suppression of his own bending, he fails and Jet has his cronies march Sokka off to be discretely taken care of.

-Of course, they can't match Sokka's Water Tribe superior knot knowledge, so he gives them the slip and runs straight for the village.

-The firebender soldiers are pretty shocked to see a beaten and out of breath fellow firebender approach them. He's shouting a rambling something about some thug trying to flood the place? It's clear to them that this poor firebender hasn't been properly cared for and is suffering from some terrible bout of madness. Judging by his clothes, he's likely been beaten and abandoned by his family, poor thing. So they try to get him to calm down and come along with them so they can help him.

-But the old man that Sokka rescued earlier, says that he ran afoul of the same thug Sokka speaks of. While, he admits that the youth seems to be suffering from a mild case of fire rabies, it may be in their best interest to evacuate. After all, if he's wrong, then all they did was waste a few hours or so.

-Thankfully, this gets the whole place evacuated just in time. The soldiers are absolutely mortified to see that the boy's predictions were true. They leave Sokka in the care of a healer. They intend to help him recover from his madness and then they'd have him sent off to the Fire Nation to be properly trained. But first, there was some retaliation due for this "Jet" character.

-Obviously Sokka isn't just going to stand by and be taken in by the Fire Nation, so he breaks out and finds his friends. Unknowingly helping the firebending soldiers find the Freedom Fighters.

-Katara is just coming to her horrifying realization, when suddenly, the forest starts going up in flames. Sokka bursts out from the trees and embraces Katara, gently teasing that he told her so.

-Jet is hit by a stray fire blast and is burned. He begs Katara for help, but Katara refuses. Maybe a little taste of the infection will teach Jet some empathy.

-At the moment, the Gaang manage to get away, as the soldiers are more concerned with dealing with the guerrilla terrorists that tried to wipe them out. However, it does not escape them that the young, maddened firebender is traveling with the Avatar and a waterbender. Word quickly spreads of another freshly infected firebender that needs to be trained into a proper firebender.

-For the Fire Nation, Sokka isn't just another nobody to be knocked out of the way. He's a potential asset. A mind to be molded to the ways of fire. A sign that they are edging ever closer to their goal of world domination.

-During their next encounter with Zuko, the Fire Prince only has to take one look at Sokka to know that he's been infected. Zuko promptly makes it his mission to not only capture the Avatar, but to see to it that Sokka is trained. Of course, Zuko and Iroh can actually agree on that second goal. Neither are interested in brainwashing Sokka into aligning with the Fire Nation though, they just both understand the importance being able to control elemental powers. And also, Zuko sees Sokka as being one of his own and refuses to let another firebender suffer.

-Zhao attempts to capture Sokka as well, seeing as corralling stray firebenders gets him points with his (increasingly fewer) superiors, and more promotions.

-When Azula comes into the mix, she also tries to capture Sokka. She sees him as a potential pawn. And also, a good future Fire Lord should know how control her subjects.

-The less said about what the Dai Lee want to do to Sokka, the better.

-The Northerners don't trust the firebender in their midst, and the only thing keeping them from dousing Sokka is the fact that he's the Avatar's companion. They do their best to keep a wedge between him and Yue.

-It doesn't work because Yue finds that she really likes this goofy firebender. Sokka has a heart to heart with her about his bending and she suggests to him that he ask the spirits to free him from his curse.

-When Zhao goes after the moon spirit, Sokka tackles him and scuffles with him while the Gaang and Iroh fight off his forces. Sokka is badly hurt by Zhao's superior firebending, but in an equally desperate and ingenious move he knocks both of the into the pool.

-The oasis pool is much, much deeper than it looks from the outside(seriously how is this physically possible?). Ominous shadows lurk in the dark and Zhao is dragged into the abyss. Sokka tries to swim to the surface, but he's weakened from his injuries and his inner fire has already used up all of his breath. However something does pull him back up.

-When Sokka awakens after being pulled from the water, he finds that the spirits have healed his wounds, but the curse remains.

-Sokka is initially very nervous to meet up again with his father. He's terrified that he won't accept a firebender son. However, firebender or not, Hakoda loves his son. He'd never abandon or forsake him.

-Suki is nice to Sokka's face but has her own reservations after seeing what the infection does to people. However, she does slowly grow to trust that Sokka has not been taken by the fire.

-In concerns with Jet, the Freedom Fighters disband after Jet is burned. Only Smellerbee and Long Shot stay by Jet's side, his two ride or dies.

-As much as they want to help Jet, and not have him become a firebender, the only water healers left are in the North Pole or Ba Sing Se. Both are too far to walk to before the infection would set in. Smellerbee convinces Jet to give up on this lifestyle and just live a quiet life as a refugee in Ba Sing Se.

-Reluctantly, he agrees.

-Smellerbee and Long Shot carefully watch Jet for signs of madness, as they know he's suppressing his bending.

-However Jet is an old hand at hiding the dark truths about himself.

-He starts to slip when he sees Iroh heat his tea.

-Jet is inevitably arrested by the Dai Lee.

-There are rumors that Ba Sing Se kills any and all infected with the fire curse. This is not true. Long Feng and his Dai Lee actually have much use for them.

-That being said, the less said about what the Dai Lee did to Jet, the better.

Lmao I think I went a little overboard. :'D

My inbox is always open to anyone that wants to talk or inquire about my AUs or ideas and such~

#ATLA #avatar #Bending Curse AU #Sokka #Jet #Yes I love this #Pls send me asks and stuff peeps #I love stuff like this

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anxtheroliveinthehouse · 4 years ago

Text

Bathed in Flames.

Hello, I wrote a little something. I also posted it on AO3 if you’d rather see it there.

rating: G || no warnings || fandom: atla/atlab || character(s): Zuko, Mai ||

additional tags: other main characters mentioned, vignette, angst, Zuko-centric, Zuko’s scar, angst and feels, teen angst, guilt, dysfunctional family, family issues, personal growth, bending, Iroh is a good uncle, meditation, dreaming

summary: Three vignettes written about three of my favorite parts Zuko's character arc: where he came from, what he did, and who he became.

There were times when he didn’t dream. His sleep was left unmarred by troubling visions of destiny or night terrors of dishonor. However, this wasn’t a night of blissful awareness, as most nights were. He was only half asleep, one part of his brain could still hear the crackling of the fire in the center of his chambers as well as the sound of the water sloshing against the sides of the ship. The air was tainted with the smell of coal burning deep within the belly of the ship. The blazing hot life inside the engine called out to him, the flames he could clearly feel licking up his legs and torso, arms and back, until it entirely engulfed him.

It could have been terrifying for someone else to experience. However, it was only natural for him. Firebenders could sense their element when it was in close vicinity, and of course the stronger the source, the more it made itself known to the benders that controlled it.

This was perhaps the only time of the day in which his bending abilities and his sense of fire did not soothe or calm him, ground him or give him balance. When he slipped into his own dreamworld where he couldn’t hold back his ridgid control on his memories, he fell into the deepest pits of despair. The sound of the crackling fire and the sloshing of the water on ship and the sense of the great roaring fire within said ship only brought him back to the day of his Agni Kai.

The torches that filled the viewing benches around the arena crackled the same as the one in his room. The water in the moat around the arena sloshed against the stone structures that confined it as did the sea against his confining ship. The engine rumbled . . .

Zuko distantly felt the rumbling through his bed from the floor. It wasn’t enough to rouse him from his half-aware state because of how long he had been on this Godforsaken ship. Regardless, the rumbling only further enhanced his painful memory. The rumbling was the way the crowd stomped and cheered for the fight between father and son. It was the sound of the searing flames his father unleashed upon him even when he begged for mercy.

The pain was all he could remember after looking up to see the fire reaching for him. The agony remained for days and days afterwards. It smarted him for weeks to come, the skin always sore and hurting. It would never feel normal, always tight and dry like leather. He was lucky to make it out with his eye and eyesight.

Barely aware he was doing it, Zuko reached for his scar, covering it from any further harm. It was a pathetic attempt. His father could sear through his hand and probably his skull as well. The threat always lingered with him. His father was clear that if he were to return to him, Zuko would be killed.

Banging on his chamber door startled him out of his sleepy brooding and into his fully awake brooding.

“What is it?” He snarled.

“Prince Zuko, we have reached the Southern Water Tribe.”

Cruel excitement swirled in his gut. “Gather your men. We disembark as soon as the ship’s nose crosses into their village.”

Zuko dreamed pleasant visions for once when he was back inside the Fire Nation’s capital, he was home . It felt right to be there. There was always the bonus of having Mai in his arms. Her hair brushed against his chin and her breathing against his throat. Something about those feelings lulled him into a sense of security.

The dreams, while happy and contented, were sure to bring anguish to Zuko when he woke. He dreamt of the Avatar, alive and well. He dreamt being on the shores of the Fire Nation watching the kid sail through the wind off the ocean on that contraption of his. He kept happily gliding without a care in the world, whooping and laughing all the while. It was almost like the scene took place a hundred years prior. When there was no war and the Avatar had visited the Fire Nation as a normal boy. He had friends here and a good relationship with the people.

Of course, Aang was enjoying himself, as were the other three. Toph had busied herself trying her hand at sand bending a sandcastle, though Zuko could tell she wasn’t a huge fan of it. Katara and Sokka were out in the water with Sokka trying to surf but ultimately failing, eventually Katara bended a wave that was easy enough for her brother to ride on. This only boosted his ego.

Zuko smiled, genuinely smiled, at the scene. Maybe this was paradise? Some idyllic world where the crown Prince of the Fire Nation was friends with the Avatar.

As soon as the vision began, it was swiftly taken away. Zuko stirred, feeling the coattails of happiness in its wake. He opened his eyes to the choice he had made. He chose not to fight with the avatar, but against him. His sister had shot down the boy with lightning and killed him, yet gave Zuko the credit. It wasn’t long afterwards that the guilt set in. A myriad of emotions crashed over him. Anguish was the best descriptor. The Avatar’s words echoed to him as he laid there watching his girlfriend as she slept.

If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?

It was the day of Zuko’s coronation. He was dressed in robes that reminded him of his father. They were heavy on his shoulders. Or perhaps it was the weight of the responsibility that he now carried. Even though he had not been officially crowned as the new fire lord, he had inherited the position after his father had been forced out. As Ozai’s oldest child, Zuko was set to be crowned and carried the burden of the entire fire nation.

Not even a week ago he was still on the run with the avatar, fighting and sneaking around. He had been starving, imprisoned, shunned, and beaten the first time he had been away from home, right after the Agni Kai. And since then, Zuko has been at his lowest in the past year. He hadn’t even thought he could go lower. Then to be humbled when he joined the avatar’s gang and redeemed himself.

What a journey he had been on.

When Zuko found his own eyes in the mirror of his dressing room, he couldn’t believe the contrast in what he found. He recognized himself, but he had changed so much that he was unsure. He had aged and lost weight, leaving his cheeks hollow and his face gaunt. He was wearing the fire lord’s robes, a sight he never thought to be possible. His hair had grown long enough to be put into a top knot which a hair piece would be placed signifying his new status. It was almost too much to comprehend.

The scar was the only thing that grounded him. It made it unquestionable who Zuko was seeing in the mirror. The person he saw was a product of their journey. Whether the wounds were physical as the scar on his face or invisible as were the ones on his heart, they were testament. They would be his legacy.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He faintly felt the candles and low embers of the incense burning in the room. When he took a breath, the few sources of fire flared and grew brighter. Then, Zuko meditated. Everything he was worried about was being pushed aside in his mind. He thought of Iroh and his tea to help.

The first thing Zuko came across in his thoughts was his sister. Azula was still wailing and fighting for escape. This particular thought was unexpectedly painful to deal with. There was so much driving force between them from their father that once he had been removed, it left this awkward, empty space. He always loved his sister, but it wasn’t like how Sokka loved Katara. It was a cold and distant concern. At times, Zuko questioned if he did actually care. He was afraid that maybe too much time and pressure had permanently estranged them. It felt like they could never be able to pick up the pieces or try to have a semblance of normalcy, but he knew he had to try and bridge the gap. Though, in the state Azula was in, that would be completely impossible. Maybe the healers Zuko sent to her would be able to help her.

He pushed the thought away and made it smoke in his mind. It drifted away.

Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph were all going on more adventures. Really they were supposed to be helping people in their transition out of the fire nation’s hold. However, Zuko was sure they were prone to stir up trouble. Deep down he worried for their safety, especially now in the midst of great change. There were already reports of rebellions both in and out of the fire nation. Secret groups were being formed and threats on his life were being sent out. He could only imagine what hung over Aang’s head.

The thought became mist, and drifted before settling on another worry.

His mother was still alive. It was a thought that had been pushing for attention in his mind even when he needed to stay focused. He missed her so much at times he felt like he would implode. The first thing he did when he had the power to was order an investigation into the whereabouts of Ursa. Even so, he was planning a visit to see his father. There was a chance the previous fire lord would at least give him something, but Zuko wasn’t optimistic.

The thought turned to rain. Curiously when he opened his eyes to find the rain he began to feel, he found fat tears rolling down his face.

He wiped them away. They had caught him off guard. No more would his emotions catch him unaware. He needed to be comfortable in his ability to feel them, name them, and, to an extent, control them. His empathy was the tool he needed in becoming a great fire lord. One that Ozai refused to acknowledge during his time in power. Hopefully, Zuko would be able to hold onto it.

Hopefully, Zuko would never become his father.

#avatar #Avatar The Last Airbender #atla #atlab #Zuko #atla zuko #fanfiction #avatar fanfiction #fanfic #ao3 #archive of our own #vignette

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