#i think his appearance would be just strange enough to call into question whether he's human or not

[boundlss]

@fintastica / universe hopping starter call! ( mark twain )

Incidentally, just before it happened, he'd had the optimistic thought that he was just starting to get the hang of using the dimensional doors to get himself in and out of 44's archives.

In fairness, Twain has never quite had an incident like this before that left him somewhere completely unfamiliar. At worst, the doors would fail to show up, and he'd be locked on one side of the archive for a little while until 44 felt guilty enough to let him in. This sort of thing---a completely unfamiliar destination---maybe shouldn't have even been possible.

"Well, damn. Guess it's definitely a little possible..." he mumbles to himself, struck with the feeling that the scenery doesn't actually seem completely unfamiliar. As he continues to observe it, he notes that it looks a little bit like the grounds of a school. It's only in looking around that he notices; wherever the doorway had taken him, he's not alone.

He startles, a late reaction to the unexpected company. A student here, maybe?

"... Uh. Hi."

[ayyy-pee]

𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕀𝕥 𝕊𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕜

Discord 18+ - Twitter

Pairing: Tomioka Giyuu x Female Reader

Summary: Will he survive this war? 

Will you be alright without him? 

Will you be lonely if he never returns?

And arguably, the most important question – will his line end with him?

The clock is ticking and who knows if he will ever make it back to you.

He’d never given much thought to children, but Giyuu had also never given much thought to marriage before he’d met you.

or

Giyuu and reader get to work on making a baby.

Story Warning: BREEDING KINK GIYUU, LACTATION KINK GIYUU, Smut, Giyu and reader are secretly married, P in V sex, Profanity like yall should know, Vaginal Sex, Cunnilingus, Giyuu is a munch, Unprotected Sex, Multiple Creampies, Mating Press, Freaky ass Giyuu fr

Art by: michi_ia (Twitter)

A/N: This was a request from one of my amazing readers! This one shot takes place in the same universe as Hidden Affairs (Sanemi x Reader fic!) They can both be read as standalones as they involve different readers! Hope you enjoy!

It’s eerily quiet tonight. Just as it’s been for the past several weeks. A storm is brewing, slowly but surely. Giyuu feels it, they all feel it. It’s like a simmer just under the surface, waiting to boil over at any moment. That’s why all of them were called to Ubuyashiki mansion. The plan has been set in motion and Giyuu knows what his role now is.

But will he make it back alive?

That’s the question that plagues his mind at this very second as he approaches his home. He can see the dim candle lighting illuminating the space through the windows and he knows he won’t be alone once he’s inside. No, he’ll be able to see you. And it’s all he’s been looking forward to since he stepped foot on the mansion grounds.

“I’m home,” Giyuu murmurs as he slips out of his haori. He lays it carefully on the table beside the front door.

“Welcome back, my love,” your voice floats through the air like a song, calling him to you. You’re in the bedroom and when Giyuu enters, he sees you’re already snuggled into the futon on the tatami, clearly ready for bed. “How was the meeting?”

Giyuu sighs, crossing the space and falling to his knees at your bedside. He leans forward and kisses you softly, reveling in the way that you, as always, can melt away his worries with just your skin on his. “It’s…” He debates on telling you the truth. That it’s not looking good. That he and the other Hashira, the Master, are all in imminent danger and that it’s likely to come soon. But as he watches you, so sweet and caring, he knows he can’t lie to you. “I’ll have to leave…to be close. He will come soon.”

He, being Muzan. Though Giyuu doesn’t dare speak his name in his home.

“I see…”

You recover quickly, but Giyuu has already seen it. The sadness and concern that flashes across your features. He feels guilty that he’s the cause.

“And the others?” You question, trying to change the subject. You know Giyuu hates talking about matters like this with you. You dislike it as well. Because he can’t be as honest as he wants to be with you. It’s for your safety and honestly to protect your sanity. It’s enough that you’re fully aware of the position he holds as a Hashira, and yet you insist on staying with him. Not that he could ever let you go. Even though he knows it’s selfish for him to have you, he would rather be a selfish man than be without you.

“Same old, same old. Still a little strange without Uzui, but we are managing.” Giyuu kisses you again before standing. Just as you do every night, you’ve got a bath waiting for him, and he’d like to get in and soak so that he can get back to you before sleep takes you for the night.

“That’s good. Everyone is well?”

“Yes.” He purses his lips as he fiddles with the rest of his garments, debating on whether or not to tell you this. But he thinks you may find this amusing. “Shinazugawa looked as though he was seconds away from ripping my head from my shoulders before the Master appeared.”

He hears your soft giggles behind him. “Were you sitting too close to his lady again?” You tease.

Giyuu shrugs, though you can hardly see the movement. “For Hashira, they are very bad at concealing their secrets. They smell of sex every time they arrive.”

“Yes, but it’s very cute to see. I’m happy she continues to keep our secret even though she has no idea we know hers.”

Ah, yes. Shinazugawa believes Giyuu is interested in his beloved, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. See, what the other Hashira (aside from Shinazugawa’s love) doesn’t know is that Giyuu is married - happily, at that. His colleague only found this out after running into you in town, carelessly dressed in Giyuu’s haori as yours were in the wash. And when she confronted you about the very familiar garb you were wearing, you just “felt that you could trust her with their secret”. It’s worked out for you both so far. It’s made you and Giyuu’s fellow Hashira closer, and Giyuu is simply glad you have a friend who you can confide in. He doesn’t even mind playing the messenger between you two, typically passing along stories and jokes from you to his associate when you’re all called together for a Hashira meeting. 

But it’s also placed a large target on his back, a certain white haired psychopath surely waiting for the right moment to shove his blade down Giyuu’s throat.

“He believes I have feelings for her, you know? Almost blurted out their secret in a jealous rage in front of us all.”

“What?!” You gasp, scandalized. “You’re kidding.”

“No. He hates me because of it. It’s quite obvious.”

You hum, mind going a million miles a minute as you mull over this information. “Maybe it’s due to you being so unapproachable and distant. You don’t spend much time with the other Hashira. Perhaps it makes you unlikable.”

Giyuu winces, your words touching a sore spot because this isn’t the first time he’s been told he’s not liked among the Hashira. Kocho once said something similar.

“I’m not unlikable…” he grumbles, lips curling at the corners when he hears your laughter again. You tease him too much. “I’m going to take a bath. Don’t fall asleep on me.”

++++++++++

“Shall we try for a child?”

The question leaves Giyuu’s lips before he can talk himself out of it. He debated on saving this question for the morning as he joined you beneath the blankets, but his bath left him to sit in silence with nothing but his thoughts.

Will he survive this war? 

Will you be alright without him? 

Will you be lonely if he never returns?

And arguably, the most important question – will his line end with him?

The clock is ticking and who knows if he will ever make it back to you.

He’d never given much thought to children, but Giyuu had also never given much thought to marriage before he’d met you.

The prospect of a child never appealed to Giyuu before, but the closer he gets to this inevitable battle, the more it’s on his mind. If anything were to happen to him, he would not want you to be alone. He would want to leave you with something of his, something that you’ll be able to look at and be reminded of him if worse comes to worse.

“What brings this on?” You ask, more quiet than normal. “I mean you…you’ve never discussed children before.” You roll onto your side, propping your head up on your elbow. The moon casts almost an ethereal glow over you, your beauty clear even in the dim lighting of your bedroom.

He shrugs. “I suppose I’ve never thought about it.” His blue eyes gaze into yours. There’s something there, something behind your eyes that you’re not saying. If it were a no, you would say so. You’ve never been one to mince words. If it were a yes…well, you’d say that as well.

“Is this truly what you want?”

“Yes.” He sits up, pulling you into his lap. His fingers play with the strings that hold your top together, gently tugging. It loosens, exposing your collarbone to him and he can’t resist placing a gentle kiss there. “Wouldn’t you enjoy it?” His lips ghost your skin lightly, and the sigh that rushes past your lips is music to his ears. “Caring for this small person, a perfect mixture of you and I?”

You place your hands on his shoulders, head tilting to the side to make room for Giyuu as his lips explore your neck, your throat, the swell of your breasts. “Yes,” you whisper. The sleeves of your top slip from your shoulders, a new part of you exposed for Giyuu to now claim, and you let him. You let Giyuu do whatever he wants with you when it comes to this. You’re always so pliable as soon as his arms wrap around you.

“I want it,” you breathe, hands pulling Giyuu from your shoulder and cupping his face. You press a soft kiss to his mouth. “Let's have a child.”

Wide eyes beam at you in the moonlight, a look of appreciation swimming in them. How did Giyuu get so lucky to have a wife like you? His hands guide your top down, revealing your smooth skin to the night air. His lips caress your breasts, breaths ghosting over your slowly hardening nipples. He takes one into his mouth, groaning at how the soft flesh fills his mouth. Your body is beautiful — a face that would bring a god to their knees, curves in all the places Giyuu appreciates, a form that molds perfectly to his, made for him and only him.  

Giyuu lets his mind wander while his mouth presses sweet kisses to your chest. What will you be like when you’re pregnant? Will you crave for certain foods? He’s heard that that is common. What will you look like when you’re months into your pregnancy? Will Giyuu be there to witness your belly grow round with his child?

Something clicks in Giyuu’s mind at that moment. And while he’s not usually rough with you, he can’t seem to control himself when a guttural moan bubbles from deep within his chest and he wraps an arm around you, flipping you both over. He settles his hips between your legs, rolling his hips against your core, reveling when your back arches off the futon as you moan. And Giyuu dips down, capturing your mouth with his and swallowing each and every sound you make.

It’s all dry humping and moans, whispered “I love you’s” and peeling each other’s clothes off until you both lay bare. Giyuu listens to the way your breath hitches as he kisses his way down your body. His lips brush over all of your sensitive spots on the way down, only stopping when they reach the most sensitive. Your chest heaves with heavy breaths as Giyuu peers up from between your legs. This is one of his favorite views, particularly at night when the soft glow of the moon illuminates your body in such a way that he can’t help but be painfully erect.

Giyuu is a man of very few words. Everyone knows this. Even with you, he is not particularly talkative, but as Giyuu takes in the sight of you, legs spread wide and the puffy lips of your pussy coated with your arousal shimmering in the moonlight, he must let it be known. “You are so beautiful”. He licks his lips, groaning because he is eager to have you, eager to taste you, feel you, breed you.

“Wider, my love,” Giyuu commands, and you do as you're told, spreading your legs to further expose your aching cunt to him. “Perfect,” he whispers, hands coming up to caress the inside of your thighs where he plants tender kisses along the plush flesh. He leans forward, burying his nose into your core and inhaling deeply.

And this may seem odd to those whose jobs don’t revolve around breathing, but there’s something about your scent that has changed. Giyuu can’t place his finger on it. Maybe your scent smells sweeter? Or perhaps your scent is simply more intoxicating because Giyuu has reached a level of arousal that is new to him. But there is without a doubt something different.

He decides not to dwell on it any longer when a desperate and hushed “please” reaches his ears. He realizes then that your thighs are shaking, eager for him to proceed. So he presses a soft kiss to your glossy lips. You gasp quietly, back arching immediately and Giyuu takes that moment to lick a fat strip through your folds.

The groan he lets out is deep, animalistic almost. It vibrates through your core and the sensation makes you reach down, weaving your fingers through Giyuu’s dark tresses to grab hold.

“O-oh, Giyuu…” You gasp as he presses his tongue to your clit, his eyes roll back when he feels the slick pour from your core and straight into his mouth. He laps it up eagerly.

“You taste divine,” he groans into you and you moan in response, hips rolling up to grind your cunt against Giyuu’s mouth, begging for more. And Giyuu obliges, lips sealing around your clit and sucking, licking, nipping at your swollen bud until you’re practically fucking yourself on his tongue.

“Giyuuuuu,” you keen, back lifting off the futon again. You moan loudly, fingers clutching Giyuu’s hair and pulling him further into your pussy. “Right there–” you pant. “Right there! Please don’t stop–”

Giyuu grunts, wincing because his cock is throbbing painfully against his abdomen. He can feel the moisture beneath him, his tip leaking with his arousal. Surely this will stain the fabrics, but that doesn’t matter at the moment. He brings a hand to your pussy, pressing his thumb to your clit and rubbing tight circles. You’re thrashing, moaning his name over and over, damn near about to pull his hair out when Giyuu plunges his tongue into your clenching hole, and he has to will himself not to cum when you cry out and your soft walls clamp down on his tongue immediately. Your hips come up to meet his mouth, grinding your soaking cunt against Giyuu’s face. And he loves it.

Giyuu loves the taste of you. He’s not much of a drinker, he’ll admit. Never much cared for the taste of liquor and has never experienced being drunk in his life, but he imagines it feels similar to the way his head is swimming just off the taste of you.

By now, the futon is sticky with his precum, and it doesn’t help that Giyuu has now been mindlessly rutting against the fabric to find some sort of friction. He longs to make you cum on his tongue, but he also longs to bury himself inside you. But you make the decision for him, tugging his hair until Giyuu finally pulls his mouth away from your center. He crawls along your body, the echoing sound of his length separating from the stickiness of the bed filling the room.

He’s face to face with you, his lips and chin glistening with your wetness and it takes him by surprise when you run your tongue from the tip of his chin, all the way to his mouth where you press your lips to his in a passionate kiss. He groans, eyes rolling to the back of his head when you murmur against his lips, “how do you plan on putting a baby in me if you don’t fuck me?”

Giyuu thinks that if Muzan doesn’t end up being the death of him, you will be. He puts a hand to the back of your neck, pulling you closer and whispering, “Forgive me, my love. I got carried away.” He slips his free hand between your bodies, a fiery heat blooming in his cheeks when he feels the way his cock is dripping onto your cunt. This is it. There will be no going back once he goes forward with this.

“When I’m done, you’ll be with child,” he says, seriously, as though it’s a fact. Because in his mind, it is. Giyuu grips his length, stroking himself slowly, rubbing his tip against your clit as he lets his mind wander briefly, and lets your moans fuel his runaway thoughts. 

His head is consumed with the image of your breasts, swollen and dripping with milk and he has to halt his strokes to stave off the sudden urge to blow his load. He’s a little surprised, actually. Giyuu has seen and rescued his fair share of pregnant women, and didn’t think twice about it. Forgot about them the moment they weren’t in his direct line of sight. But you…you who consumes his every waking thought…the idea of you with leaking nipples, allowing Giyuu to taste the delicious nectar that your body has produced? It’s a thought so arousing, he has to tuck it away mentally, save it for when he’s alone on his missions so that in the late hours of the night, when he’s wrapping his hand around his cock, the image is still fresh.

He’s not sure when he slipped inside of you, let alone flipped you both over again so that he’s now on his back while you ride him. You take him all the way to the tip, moaning loudly every time you sink onto him. The intense waves of pleasure bring time to a standstill. Your nails are sunken deep into Giyuu’s abdomen, steadying yourself as Giyuu’s hips thrust into you at a bruising pace. On a typical night, Giyuu wouldn’t be so rough with you, so greedy with you. But tonight, while his mind is focused on a single goal – ensuring he leaves you with his offspring growing inside your womb – he feels like a crazed man.

Your cries grow louder, more high pitched and your movements stutter momentarily. When you cry out that you’re going to cum, riding him faster and faster, walls fluttering around him, breasts bouncing beautifully, Giyuu’s mind is back on his prior thoughts – dripping, swollen and full…

And then Giyuu is crying out with you, gritting his teeth as he fucks up into you, emptying his balls to the point that he’s lightheaded. His vision blurs as he keeps pumping into you. He hears the squelching, feels the splashing of his seed dripping from you and onto his abdomen, and Giyuu pulls you down to take his entire length again and again until he finally comes to a halt. His hands grip your hips tight, eyes honed in on where you sit flat against him as your sweet pussy cradles his cock.

“Don’t move,” he growls, surprising himself with the gravelly sound that just left his lips. And you nod, whimpering above him. Within your walls, Giyuu can feel his length still pulsing, spurting pathetic, weak strings of his seed. This orgasm has his chest heaving, hands shaking. He grits his teeth, using his hands to rock your hips back and forth.

“You’re going to be an incredible mother,” he coos, finally releasing his hold on you. His fingers ghost along your skin, from your chest, over your nipples, down to your abdomen where he places his hands flat against your stomach. He focuses on fucking you deeply, burying his cock as far as he can, pushing his seed as deep as possible. “Our child will be so lucky.”

“Yes, my love,” you breathe, eyes closed while you continue to take all of him so well. “And you’ll be an amazing father.”

Your words turn him on, more than he’s ever been. He rolls you both over once more and when you’re on your back, Giyuu takes a moment to pull out and admire his work. His eyes are locked on your core, dripping with evidence of him, pulsing and hungry for more. And he’s still so hard. He wants to give you more, needs to give you more. So Giyuu slips back into your pussy easily, the lubrication from the mixture of both your releases making you both shudder.

He’s so fucking sensitive, but he can’t bring himself to care. Not when your greedy cunt is still squeezing down on him, trying to milk him for all he’s worth. He hooks your legs over his shoulders, pushing forward until a knee rests on either side of your head. And Giyuu thinks he may black out, because he doesn’t know that he’s ever been this deep inside of you before. He can feel his seed spilling from you, slipping down to your ass where his balls are pressed so hard, it keeps the thick liquid from flowing any further. 

“One more…” he grits out, brows knitted together in determination. “Need to make sure it sticks.” Then he’s fucking you again, one palm resting on the back of each thigh, balls smacking loudly against your ass with every rough thrust.

“Oh my god, oh my god!” You gasp, fingers gripping the bed sheets tightly, and Giyuu whimpers in response. Your pussy is tightening around him, a vice grip already greedily trying to pull whatever he has left to offer from him.

“I want your baby,” you murmur into Giyuu’s ear and he groans, voice rough with desire. His thrusts pick up speed, searching for more pleasure.

“Do you?” He moans against your shoulder when he feels himself hit a particularly soft spot within your walls. “I’ll give you one. I swear I will –”

“Yes!” You practically scream. “Right there, Giyuu–”

“Fuck –” His eyes are closed, mouth slack as he pumps wildly into you. You’re so wet, so tight, so soft and as much as he wants to keep fucking you like this, he’s about to cum embarrassingly fast for the second time tonight. He can feel his balls get a little tighter with each sticky thrust. “Shall I b– ah…shall I breed you once more? Fill you up…ngh…until you’re dripping with my seed again?”

“Please–”

You hardly have to finish your words, because Giyuu is grunting loudly, bottoming out just as he spills himself into you, giving you every drop he has to offer. “Stay still,” he tells you, still thrusting into you, even though he can go no further. He pulls back once more, then sinks balls deep inside of you, breathing heavily as he empties himself. “Need you to take it all, my love.”

“I will,” you pant, his perfect little wife.

You stay like this for some time, Giyuu plugging your pussy until his cock softens inside you. Then he pulls out slowly when he has no other choice. You sigh in relief when you’re able to finally put your legs down as Giyuu lies beside you. He scoops you into his arms, kissing you all over your face, silent apologies for being so aggressive with you. You’re both catching your breath while Giyuu softly runs his hand up and down your spine.

“I wonder if we’ll be successful.” Giyuu mutters when the silence is too much and his thoughts become so unbearable he has to share them with you.

You wiggle out of his hold, sitting up to look down at him. You’re smiling, a cute and goofy smile that Giyuu only sees when you’re up to something. Or when you have a secret that you’re finding impossible to keep from him. So Giyuu sits up as well, brow raised in curiosity.

“What is it?” He asks suspiciously. His eyes narrow when your smile widens.

“It was successful…” You take Giyuu’s hand and press it to your stomach. “about two months ago.”

Giyuu is confused. His eyes are stuck to where you have his hand. Two months ago? Successful?

You can see the confusion clear as day, even in the darkness. “My love,” Your hand cups his cheek and like instinct, Giyuu leans into the touch. He still hasn’t torn his gaze from your joined hands. “Giyuu…look at me.”

And he does, back rigid as he stares at you with wide eyes. The cogs are turning, finally. He thinks he may have figured it out. But there’s a teasing smirk sitting on your lips, and Giyuu doesn’t know if he should believe you or not.

“A-” He swallows, mouth suddenly dry. “Are you…?”

You pull Giyuu towards you to place a sweet kiss to his lips.

“I’ve been with child for some time. I just wanted to wait to be certain. I planned on surprising you today, but your meeting ran so late and…” Your hand covers your mouth, hiding the small giggles threatening to bubble up from your chest. “Well, it’s just so cute when you get all serious and focused like that.”

You fall back onto the bed, your pretty laughter filling the room, and Giyuu can’t help it. He laughs, too. Your laughter is so infectious he can’t resist.

It’s a strange mixture of elation, fear, maybe relief. He’d accomplished his goal before he even knew it. But with him leaving to go to the mansion tomorrow, knowing what is planned, he’s now got a new sense of dread seeping into his bones.

But it also gives him a new sense of purpose, outside of returning to you. 

Giyuu must defeat Muzan. 

Giyuu must survive. 

Giyuu must get back to his wife, to his child, to his family.

No matter what.

[sgiandubh]

She saw, she was first, she scored, homerun

Heh. But Marple only tells you what is convenient for her, right?

This time, I do not have the clip, like she does, simply because as I said, I could not be arsed to watch it. But a trusted friend did, all five hours of it (thank you, dear 😘😘😘😘) and sent me very decent screencaps of S + June Brunette at that tennis event. She sent them a couple of hours ago, while I was busy having a life and lunch, you know (I can prove it anytime, but will always protect my Circle of Trust). Sorry for the delay.

As you know, this blog does not believe that hiding information is the best thing to do. I never did.

Following are the screencaps I have received, in order, and with very precise comments. If anything is wrong, let it be my and her sin. But it is not and you will immediately see why.

Context: S and June Brunette's juiciest appearance in that very exposed spot of the VIP area coincided with Mansour Bahrami's match. S came first, at around 03: 04:49.

Two other people who were seated on those seats before his arrival get up and leave (perhaps prompted? perhaps uninterested in Bahrami? we can only speculate) - all this perhaps about 20 to 30 seconds before S arrives, alone:

He takes a seat and quickly arranges his jacket on his knees, perhaps sends an SMS (I am not Mrs. Graham and, unlike many other people across the street, never pretended to have infrared surveillance material):

Meanwhile, she pops in, at around 03:05:10. Unmistakably Panikian - the yellow outfit was a dead giveaway and he practically pointed when, where and for what to look, in his post: 'and of course, the legend, @mansourbahramiofficial'.

Heh: he was far from surprised and she did not chitchat at all ('is this seat taken?' etc). She just sat down: it was a very natural thing to do:

Then, he takes her in a bear hug. Kinda, sorta. Making sure they are well exposed, unlike you know, that other time:

I am told it was a matter of seconds before he wrapped his arm around her neck. Well, that is the rebuke I have been waiting for about three weeks, right?

At about 04:03:41 and until 04:10:03, she goes out, for some reason (🚹? 💄? 📳? your guess is as good as mine):

My candid question is.. who is Light Green Arrow Woman? This is the first time I see her clearly in those screenshots I (one more time, for the people in the back) have been sent by a trusted friend. Could she be a chaperone of sorts? I am told that on the video edit Marple made a modo suo, she seems to be interacting with Mrs. Panikian, but I would have to see that:

A selfie is taken, to properly document the bullshit (after she helped herself with some more champagne):

Whatever Marple calls 'quite the hug' is a kiss on the cheek, and you can see it quite clearly on her edit, if you really are freaked out by this cheap arrangement:

Prompted by the impromptu (heh) 🔦 + 🍾cocktail, she took it very seriously. A pity she did, without having the slightest idea of the strange place she landed in.

That would be it, to be honest. The pics and stills of these two individuals where he does wear a jacket, that our side published first yesterday are from the first part of the program. I do have a couple of more stills from then, but you have it all on that edit. There is no need to add more pics to it, doesn't bring anything new to the table.

And now, onwards for some more context.

Such as this post on June 13, 2024:

With this very peculiar hidden comment:

From a very peculiar sock account:

Mmmhm. Joined in June 2024, follows nobody and is followed by nobody, and yet felt the need to change the username already once? I mean, what the fuck is this cheap game, right here?

So, for those of you naive (I am elegant) enough to think this Brief Encounter was organic, think twice. Somebody followed whatever the scheming was and that somebody tried to warn the woman. Whether about the Inglorious Pap Walk or about Kissgate (the message was posted around June 15th), is to be debated. But still...

And there is some more, of course : I may not be willing to fuck my (already complicated) eyesight with edits and frames and screenshots, but I am not yet dead and I still have all my brain faculties.

Around the same time Mrs. Panikian began to be followed by S on IG, she also began to be followed by a very decent (give or take a couple of details) physical alternative to My Personal Someone. Who would kill me if he could read this post, btw. That is, if you could kill someone with cold shoulder treatment and an icy gaze (Spanish style all the way):

Quick, let's see what his Personal Life insert tells us:

I mean, D'OH: in case you wondered who the fuck that warning sock account was. NEED I DRAW IT?

Nah, can't be Margot, what were we thinking?

🙄🙄🙄

He followed her not so long ago, but well, he wasn't active since March, LOL:

And look how cute, they are fresh (?) mutuals, as of very recently/now - I might be wrong, but I don't think I am:

Tattoos, fitness venues, filthy porn bots in his 'Tagged' section, rumored to be single since at least last year. Rings a bell? Oh, surely not. Especially when you find out that this guy is also a mildly hot topic on Data Lounge (hope dies last):

Similar profiles (but Eggold is apparently a staunch Catholic - the gay conspirators grin with glee), similar PR problems. Alice to the rescue?

At any rate, she is up for grabs, people: 'looking for a man with a decent sense of humor who doesn't troll women's IG pages' - LOOOOOL. Meet the bloody OL fandom, doll - how's that for trolling? Betcha didn't see what real trolling is, yet.

On a sidenote, in an effort to leave no stones unturned, I have even looked for the edits on her Wikipedia page, until I realized they were unsubstantial and made by a clearly obsessed fan of Miss Universe contests (yeah, such people exist):

Surely enough, that user was blocked for sockpuppetry, which means 'abusing multiple accounts'. But Panikian was not her main obsession and for once, this has nothing to do with the current cheapo story that they try to peddle us. Whoever 'they' are.

That's all for now, ladies. Thanks to all three of you who sent tips and raw info for me to connect. You are wonderful!

It's going to be an interesting summer, for sure.

Ship on, ladies, still the same old, tired, boring BS. But also an interestingly symmetrical rebuke to TS Kissgate - if only...

[p1nkshield]

Welcome to chapter 3 of the unnamed prompt fill! I had some trouble with tagging people so if you asked to be tagged and I didn’t it wasn’t on purpose! Also lmk what you think this should be called!

The dining room erupted in shouts of confusion and disbelief.

“What do you mean ‘I thought you knew’ Jason?!? How are we supposed to predict that your rock would evolve like a Pokémon?!?” Dick questioned as the spaghetti that was once on his fork inched towards his shoe.

“Bruce was the one who put me on babysitting duty in the first place!” Jason defended

Bruce’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion “I asked you to keep an eye on an unknown asset from a mission, I had no idea the core was anything more than a power source.”

“What?!? How could you not? He was screaming every time they turned that damn thing on!”

Jason surveyed the perplexed looks on his family’s faces.

“Wait…ONLY I COULD HEAR HIM?!? YOU ALL THOUGHT I WAS JUST TALKING TO A ROCK FOR WEEKS?!? NOBODY SAID ANYTHING?!?”

They all rushed to defend themselves as they all grew more and more embarrassed over their lack of communication regarding Jason’s recent behavior.

Silence washed over them as the child in Jason’s arms stirred securing a tighter hold to his sleeve.

Jason suddenly remembered where he was.

He looked to Alfred, panic stricken and croaked out “help”

Before he could do so another icy orb of light appeared, gracefully transformed into a scroll and flitted gently into Alfred’s hands. Without batting an eye he read aloud.

“If this message has been sent correctly it should currently be in the hands of whomever is the leader of the household entrusted to watch over Young Phantom as he recovers from his injuries. I may have pulled a few strings in the time stream in order to get him to the safest place with enough ambient ectoplasm to allow him to fully heal. Please know that the child you guard is much more powerful than he appears as he is of the infinite realms, a dimension most likely beyond your comprehension.

CW

P.S. Tell Danny that yes, this is normal and yes, his usual haunt and his humans are safe when he asks”

Nobody looked anymore informed by this information.

“Well isn’t that terribly vague.” Alfred noted as he deftly swept up the child from Jason’s arms and carried him to the nearest guest room. Jason followed closely behind him.

Bruce let out a long, tired sigh. As soon as he heard the words ‘the infinite realms’ he knew who held more information about this subject.

“Constantine.” Batman steeled himself for the conversation ahead.

“What a pleasant surprise! The ol spookster has called me of his own volition. What sort of world ending threat is it this time?”

Batman chose to ignore the nickname and remark and began to ask “what do you know about the infinite realms?”

Constantine choked on his drag of cigarette.

“Who… tf… told you about the infinite realms?” A look of genuine worry was painted across his face as he coughed and recovered from the shock.

This wasn’t good, Constantine solemnly addressed his colleague.

“Bats do not meddle with this. If you can back away now. The denizens of the infinite realms vary in strength and temperament. It’s a gamble as to whether they help you or try to skin you alive and with their power set they absolutely can.”

“Too late”

Constantine groaned and looked to the ceiling searching for reason as to why he befriended people who got themselves into such strange and dangerous situations.

“Elaborate please, Batarang.”

“We’ve been elected to watch over a ‘Young Phantom’ as he heals from being unprecedentedly wounded. My team wasn’t aware of this until last night when his situation became more… clear.” Batman began to explain until he was greeted with a new peculiar high pitched noise emitting from the other end of the call.

“You have THE NEW KING?!? Nonono you’re in deep. Don’t call me anymore you only bring destruction to my life! Now I have to come over! Maybe I can smooth things over. Who hurt him this bad?!? Mortals? Mortal humans? It was, wasn’t it? I can see it on your face! You stay right there. DON’T DO ANYTHING. I’ll be over in five seconds.”

Constantine hung up on him.

Bruce sighed as the screen of the bat computer went black.

That went well.

@chrysanthemum9484 @kyrianclawraith @blankliferain @pastalavistamf @sara0055 @pike-s @xye-chan @blackroselina @malice-of-the-sunrise @gin2212 @meira-3919 @addie-lover-of-stories @undead-essence @onlyhereforthechaos @charcoalstainedbones @mimilikey @ectoradiation @persephoneblackrose @farmercale @claudiashq @boo-ghosties @56thingsinaname @insomniaxonline @thefanficcup @alixanterm @terzatheunderscorerima @skulld3mort-1fan

[undiscovered-horizon]

"A hammer and an anvil" - Hvitserk x Reader

<I just wrote the dialogue, liked it a lot and wanted to make it into something ok? T_T>

SUMMARY: You're the daughter of a foreign jarl who hasn't chosen sides in the war of young Lothbroks. Neither can you. The consequences would be far-reaching and dire. However, your will is not as strong as your father's and should Hvitserk ask, you know the guilt will not stop you from being by his side. The question is: will he?

WORDCOUNT: ~ 1k

People call that arrangement by different names: between the Devil and the deep sea, between a hammer and an anvil or between a rock and a hard place. No matter where the point actually is, Hvitserk is there. And it shows.

Has he made the right choice siding with Ivar? Was the choice ever his to make? What if Ivar, desiring your father's great army, whispered a few sweet words into your beloved's ear?

You're watching him stare at the ceiling in your hut. For the first time since you've met him, Hvitserk's eyes are vacant. Normally shining with mischief and his merry persona, now they're empty. Dead. He starts to feel like somebody else.

Hvitserk's fingers are slowly dragging against your skin, painting patterns with no rhythm or merit. Truthfully, he seems to be oblivious to his little habit.

Examining his profile, you can see your shield in the corner of your eye. The green paint on it is supposed to symbolise vitality and greed but now, considering the consequence of the days to come, it's the colour of grief and fear. Behind the shield is hidden your sword, freshly sharpened. Hvitserk was eager to do it for you and at first, you thought it was just him doing something for you like he always does, but now, watching his chest rise and fall in ragged breaths, you're beginning to think he just wanted to have something to do. Some way to occupy his busy mind.

The inside of your home is warm - the countless furs and burning fire. Despite that, your body feels cold as though the dread residing in the pit of your stomach is already pulling you towards your grave. Whether literal or figurative, you're not quite sure.

"Can you promise me something?" you whisper. The sound of your voice is quiet enough to almost be drowned out by the cracking firewood.

But Hvitserk heard you. He listened. Like he always does.

He tilts his head to look at you. Your noses are maybe an inch apart. His lips are curved into a smile but the sad, blank look in his eyes has stayed; his freight is arrogant enough to make itself at home inside his mind.

"Anything you want, love," Hvitserk whispers back. His breath is warm on your cold cheeks. It smells slightly sour like dry wine.

"Do not ask me to join the battle. Do not ask me to fight your brothers." You swallow your tears. The love you hold for him would not only make you defy your father but carelessly start a chain of horrid events that not even Kattegat's Seer could completely envision. Knowing your own weakness, you have to trust that maybe Hvitserk can save you from yourself. "Because I would." A bitter scoff escapes your throat. "Gods know I would do terrible things if you asked me to."

Hvitserk appears unmoved by your confession. His smile grows unnoticeably wider as his palm rests on the side of your face. A stray tear, slowly rolling down your cheek, is swept away by a gentle brush of his thumb.

"But I won't." His tone is decisive. "I don't have to heart to do so."

Instead of staring at the wooden ceiling, Hvitserk is now watching your face. The same strangely vacant and yet intense look haunts his eyes. Something akin to determination shows in his expression as though the answer to his plight is written on your face in a language he can almost decipher. If he stays up all night, looking at you, maybe by the first light of dawn, he will know exactly what he's supposed to do.

"Tell me you'll come back," you interrupt the silence once again.

Both of you know he can't say it with certainty. Nevertheless, lovers tend to believe they can somehow enchant reality.

"Of course I will," Hvitserk says with conviction. He almost makes you believe there is no other option. "Dying in battle and seeing my father in Valhalla is something I'm dreaming of but if living means I get to see you one more time, I will cling to life like a man gone mad."

Although you know his poetics through and through, they never fail to make your heart flutter. Judging by Hvitserk's stubbornness in saying them, he knows the effect he has on you and enjoys it greatly. His usual humour and charming demeanour fool you for a moment that nothing of great importance is about to happen. It's just another night like many you've had with him and are going to have.

"You speak in such a beautiful way, I often wonder if your words are honest."

His hand moves from the side of your face to cradle the nape of your neck. Hvitserk pulls you in gently and kisses you in an equally tender manner. His lips linger against yours, it's almost sentimental.

"They sound beautiful only because they are honest," he tells you. This time his kiss is more intense. "How else am I supposed to speak to a beautiful woman if not with beautiful words?"

Your giggling breaks the kiss. For a moment, you swear you could hear his low chuckle; for a moment, the world was just right.

Hvitserk's eyes aren't blank anymore. Now, there's a turmoil of happiness and sadness inside them. If a kiss is what brought him back to life then maybe he wasn't simply being charming when he compared you to a goddess countless times.

A playful smile creeps onto your face. Gently, you drag your fingers against his chest. Hvitserk inhales sharply.

"Well, I've heard beautiful women also like crude, dirty words."

"Do they?" he asks with faux surprise. Hvitserk pushes you on your back and puts his weight on top of you. His warm hand is brushing against your bare thigh. "Tell me more," he murmurs against the soft skin of your neck.

[nukaberries]

howdy! if this blog is still active, could you do new vegas companions react to courier six being a synth? idk how they'd find out, prolly either six telling them or a close call with a courser. it's up to you!

This puts anything I've ever requested on Tumblr to shame because this is such a cool idea?? I'm obsessed with crossing over the Fallout games - which is probably why MacCready's my favourite companion - so I find stuff like this so fun to write. I also just love requests like this because it gives me the chance to challenge myself, I feel like I write the Fallout 4 companions better (I definitely have more hours in 4 than any game), so I love getting the opportunity to write for New Vegas companions too!

//

Companions Reacting to the Courier Being a Synth (Includes: Arcade, Boone, Cass, Lily, Raul and Veronica)

Arcade Gannon When the courier reveals the truth to him, he's more embarrassed than anything that he didn't figure it out himself. He's never seen a robot look so unmistakably humanlike before, leaving him with a lot of questions for the Courier. After all, he's seen them eat, drink, sleep and bleed like any normal, breathing human would - can he even be sure this is the same courier that he first met in Freeside? For a while, Arcade will keep a wary eye on the courier, unsure what to believe, whether he can trust the courier, whether he's been able to trust them at all. Eventually, he comes back around, which is arguably worse for the courier, as they spend most of their time answering questions like "do you have an off switch?"

Craig Boone He doesn't think much of the strange man who'd just tried to ambush the courier, even in spite of the odd outfit that was surely far too warm for someone to be wearing in the middle of the desert. It's only when the courier appears shaken up and Boone finds some kind of component when looting the man that he thinks to question anything. The courier is dismissive at first and says that they simply just got caught off guard by the assailant, of course, Boone doesn't believe them but he doesn't see the point in pushing. When the courier inevitably tells him, it doesn't change much for him, he'll naturally be curious at to how the courier's existence is even possible, but as long as they're still willing to take the Legion down with him, he doesn't care what they are.

Cass Similarly to Boone, the revelation of the courier not being as human as they seem doesn't particularly bother her. She'll probably make a couple of jokes here and there, usually ones that the courier has heard a million times before. It doesn't make any difference to Cass though, sure, it's a little weird but she'd seen weirder just by minding her own business at the Mojave Outpost.

Lily Bowen She's fully aware that she's in no place to judge the courier for what they are and she makes that clear the moment that her companion reveals they're a synth. It doesn't necessarily change anything about the courier for her and if anything, she encourages them to talk about what they went through at the Institute, so long as they feel comfortable telling her. She'll remind them that she's still their grandma and she loves them no matter what.

Raul Tejada When you're around for long enough, you hear a lot, specifically whispers of robots posing as humans in the East, spying for their masters and replacing innocent people. Of course, none of that ever sounds like more than old myth to Raul. That is until a run in with what the courier later explains is a courser leaves Raul to deal with a revelation about his new friend. Admittedly, it's a lot for him to take in, especially after hearing so many bad things about synths for so long, but eventually, he figures nobody would want to make a synth replacement of him and if he's been able to trust the courier for this long, then surely he still can.

Veronica Santangelo Being a Brotherhood Scribe, Veronica knows quite a bit about the Institute already, but since hardly any of her fellow comrades have actually gone to the Commonwealth, her knowledge is limited. Still, it causes some uncertainty when the courier tells her the truth about their identity. She's only ever heard bad things about synths and this does seem like the definition of technology gone out of hand. It takes Veronica a while to warm up to the idea that her friend isn't going to bring her or anyone else any harm, but it'll take a bit longer that it would the others to earn back her trust.

[thelampisaflashlight]

The ghouls, but it's how I currently headcanon their personalities. Below the cut.

Aether: Overall, he's a giant goofball and loves a good night out with friends.

People tend to assign him a very "fatherly" role due to his appearance and his tendency to take care of his friends in little ways, but he certainly doesn't see that as strictly something a father, or any sort of guardian, would do.

Friends can take care of their friends and not be their parent!

That being said, if someone called him the "mom friend" he would wear it as a badge of honor, because that means his friends trust him.

Dewdrop: Comes off as a bit of a grump, though in an endearing sort of way.

Despite putting up a wall in front of others, when he's with his friends, he smiles easily and more often than he realizes. Very expressive when he's not trying to hide his emotions, and is known to be a bit of a crier when he's happy.

He's very used to people judging him based off of his appearance, for better or worse, so instead of dwelling on what others might think, he just does whatever he pleases.

Short hair, long hair, skirts, pants, dresses... The world is his oyster and he's here to tell people to "shuck" it.

Cumulus: Very independent and knows what she wants in life, actually getting it is another matter entirely.

She has a lot of interests and hobbies that she doesn't talk about a lot, because 1.) She's afraid people will judge her for them, and 2.) Sometimes enjoying something alone is the best way to experience it.

Due her her looks, she often finds herself being burdened with the problems of strangers who see her as easy to talk to/approachable, but this has lead to her learning a lot of... unfortunate/uncomfortable things about people she either just met or barely knows at all.

Although she's always happy to provide a listening ear to a person in need, she'd really rather just be able to eat her lunch in peace, thank you very much.

Sunshine: As curious and creative as the day is long.

She's always working on something new, be it music, art, or some other sort of craft, she's always got something in her hands... because, truthfully, she wouldn't know what to do with herself otherwise.

A very active, social creature, who feels the most alive around others, and when she's not? Well, that's why she has all those hobbies to keep her busy!

She has some self worth issues, and, if left alone for too long, will question whether or not she has value when she's not entertaining others.

A classic case of "Please check in on your funny friends." if there ever was one.

Swiss: Like if the weird uncle met another weird uncle and they got together and had a baby.

He's a charismatic sort who could light up a room with his smile alone... if only because they're so shiny. He's strange in cryptid sort of way, and, worse yet, he knows it.

Bold and adventurous, he's the sort that loves to take the lead, not for the fame or the glory, no. It's more so because he lives life by the rules of that one Cyndi Lauper song.

Ghouls just want to have fun, ya know?

However, in spite of this, he's not an extrovert. If anything, he's an introvert that's a bit too good at masking how much he's rather be at home right now. Ehn. C'est la vie.

Rain: Quiet, but not shy, no, and many a person has learned that the hard way.

Very fond of presenting himself as a demure, delicate gentlemanly sort, but he very much knows what he's doing when he's looking at you through his eyelashes and playing coy.

Still, there are times when his softer side is genuine, but that version of himself, the one that snorts when he laughs and gives the biggest, brightest smiles, is reserved for his friends.

He needs a lot of alone time, and it's clear when he hasn't gotten nearly enough.

When he's overwhelmed, he can be a bit abrasive, but he's always very open about when he's having a bad day or needs his space, so there's that at least.

Cirrus: The friend you go to when you've done something you don't want anyone else to know about, that helps you without asking too many questions.

The true ride or die.

A very blunt person who tells it like it is and doesn't sugarcoat things, even if a bit more tact would be appreciated.

She has a very broad sense of humor, and laughs easily at even the simplest of jokes, but, hey, farts are funny, okay?

Tends to be a bit bad at physically comforting others, and isn't sure how to initiate hugs.

Mountain: A lot of people see him as the calm, tranquil one, but he's also incredibly stubborn and uses beating the shit out of his drums as a healthy means of dealing with years of pent up frustrations and anger.

That's not to say he's always angry, but he does have a temper, and while he manages it well, he has been known to snap when pushed too far.

Very particular about who can be around him when he's having "quiet time" as some people have very different ideas of what that means.

Secretly thrives in chaos, and, because of this, is the perfect person to ask for help when shit has hit the fan.

Needs a nap, like, yesterday.

Aeon: Bright eyed and bushy tailed, and oh so ready to tear some shit up! But, also, like, only if that's okay? Please tell him it's okay.

No, really, he needs to be explicitly told he's allowed to do it.

He's confident in his skills as a musician, and he's not too worried about how he fits into the band, but socially? To be honest, he's not sure if he's doing anything right.

Has a bit of, "HEY, MOM! MOM! LOOK WHAT I'M DOING!" energy, but that's to be expected.

Not really a personality trait, but he can't say the word "macaroni" right.

Aurora: Like if the playlist you made when you were fourteen came back to haunt you as an adult, but in a good way?

She's so full of confidence and wonder, it's hard to believe that she can be so happy with everything going on in the world.

"Never a bad day." she'll say, even if the rain ruined her picnic, or someone's been mean to her.

Never a bad day.

Someone should really tell her it's okay to admit when something is wrong before squashing it all down causes her to break.

[anonymousewrites]

Clan of Three (Book 1) Chapter Twelve

Father Figure! Mandalorian/Din Djarin x Teen! Reader

Chapter Twelve: The Offer

Summary: Mando gets an interesting message, and he has to consider bringing his foundlings closer to danger.

            (Y/N) flipped their dagger between their fingers after they finished the latest job. It had been a simple one, just a bail jumper, but Mando knew a low-profile job would help them lay low while making some money. It had gone well, and Mando, (Y/N), and the Child were back on the road, flying through space until they came across another planet Mando was willing to stop on and find a job.

            (Y/N)��s fighting had definitely improved. They were more adept at thinking in the moment and adapting to the fight. It came naturally to them, like their senses were attuned to understanding what their enemy was planning on.

            Not for the first time, Mando wondered whether their natural talent at being in battle and their strangely heightened senses could be attributed to their weird abilities. Mando had never been around one, let alone two, people with “magic,” so he couldn’t know for sure, but nothing really felt out of the question.

            Mando turned back from where he was watching (Y/N) twirl their Ushti dagger when a sudden holographic communication came through. Mando let it play.

            The small form of Greef Karga appeared on the Razorcrest dashboard. “My friend, if you are receiving this transmission, that means you are alive.”

            Mando focused more intently. Something seemed somber in Karga’s done. (Y/N) and the Child sensed it too, growing quiet and leaning forward.

            “You might be surprised to hear this, but I am alive too. I guess we can call it even,” continued Karga’s message. “A lot has happened since we last saw each other. The man who hired you is still here, and his ranks of ex-imperial guards have grown. They have imposed despotic rule over my city, which has impeded the livelihood of the Guild. We consider him an enemy, but we cannot get close enough to take him out. If you would consider one last commission, I will very much make it worth your while.

            “You have been successful so far in staving off their hunters, but they will not stop until they have their prizes,” said Karga. “So, here is my proposition: Return to Nevarro. Bring the children as bait. I will arrange an exchange and provide loyal Guild members as protection. Once we get near the client, you kill him, and we both get what we want. If you succeed, you keep the children, and I will have your name cleared with the Guild, for a man of honor should not be forced to live in exile. I await your arrival with optimism.” The message ended.

            A moment of silence passed as the Child and (Y/N) watched Mando.

            “What are we gonna do?” asked (Y/N).

            “The job would benefit us, but if it went wrong, I’d be dead, and you two will be back with the Empire,” said Mando honestly.

            “But if we did it, your name would be clear, and the Guild and the Client wouldn’t be after us,” said (Y/N).

            Mando turned around in his seat. “It will be dangerous.”

            “I’m willing to fight,” said (Y/N) fiercely.

            Mando considered for a moment. But only for a moment, as his desire for his honor and to really rid the world of the Client threatening his foundlings overcame any feelings of doubt. Mando turned back to the control panel. “We’ll grab some reinforcements.”

            (Y/N) perked up. “Cara?”

            “And the Ugnaught,” confirmed Mando. “We can’t trust the Guild members yet.”

            “I wouldn’t anyways,” said (Y/N) as Mando redirected the Razorcrest towards Sorgan.

l

            Mando and (Y/N) walked into the Sorgan bar they had visited on their last trip. Inside, Cara was finishing up some sort of wrestling match, gleefully proving her strengths over the large alien before her and collecting her gambling money. Cara turned and paused when she saw them.

            “Looking for some work?” asked Mando.

            Cara chuckled. “Let me get a drink.”

            Mando and (Y/N) sat down as Cara bought a bottle of alcohol and took a seat across from them. Mando let her pour a drink before explaining the situation. Cara was somber as she listened, carefully weighing her options.

            “It seems like a straightforward operation,” said Mando. “They’re providing the plan and firepower.”

            “We’re the snare,” said (Y/N).

            “That’s why we’re coming to you,” said Mando.

            “I don’t know. I’ve been advised to lay low,” said Cara. “If anybody runs my chain code, I’ll rot in a cell for the rest of my life.”

            “Aren’t you a veteran?” asked (Y/N), raising an eyebrow.

            “Yeah, but I’ve been a lot of things since. Most of them carry a life sentence,” said Cara. “If I so much as book passage on a ship registered to the New Republic, I’m…” She trailed off and made a face.

            “I have a ship. I can bring you there and back with a handsome reward,” offered Mando. “You can live free of worry.”

            “I’m already free of worry,” said Cara. “And I’m not in the mood to play soldier anymore. Especially fighting some local warlord.”

            “He’s not a local,” said (Y/N). They made eye contact with Cara. “He’s imperial.”

            Cara was silent before smirking. “I’m in.”

            Mando nodded. “Grab your weapons. We have another stop to make at Arvala-7.”

l

            The Razorcrest landed just outside of the Ugnaught’s vapor farm. He met them outside and nodded in greeting, calmly walking them into his home.

            “You have grown. Stronger,” observed the Ugnaught, nodding approvingly at (Y/N), who just shrugged. “The Child hasn’t grown much,” he observed, glancing at the Child.

            “I think he might be a Strand-Cast,” said Mando.

            “I don’t think he’s engineered,” said the Ugnaught. “I’ve worked in the gene farms. This one looks evolved. Too ugly.” He gestured to Cara. “This one, on the other hand, looks like she was farmed in the Cytocaves of Nora.”

            “This is Cara Dune. She was a shock trooper,” said Mando.

            “You were a Dropper?” asked the Ugnaught.

            “Did you serve?” questioned Cara.

            “On the other side, I’m afraid,” said the Ugnaught. “But I’m proud to say that I paid out my clan’s debt, and now I serve no one but myself.”

            From behind him, a very familiar droid entered the house with a platter of drinks. It was IG-11, the droid that had tried to kill (Y/N) and the Child. (Y/N) grabbed the Child’s new cradle, fashioned on one of their latest jobs, and pulled him behind them as Mando stood and pulled a blaster. Cara reacted with him, her training come in handy with quick reflexes.

            “Would anyone care for some tea?” asked IG-11.

            The Ugnaught raised a hand. “Please lower your blasters. He will not harm you.”

            “That thing is programmed to kill the kids,” said Mando watchfully.

            “Not anymore,” corrected the Ugnaught. He gestured to the IG unit calmly placing the platter on the table. “It was left behind in the wake of your destruction. I found it laying where it fell. Devoid of all life. I recovered the flotsam and staked it as my own in accordance with the Charter of the New Republic. Little remained of its neural harness. Reconstruction was quite difficult but not impossible. It had to learn everything from scratch. This is something that cannot be taught with the twist of a spanner. It requires patience and repetition. I spent day after day reinforcing its development with patience and affirmation. It developed a personality as its experiences grew.”

            “Is it still a hunter?” asked (Y/N).

            “No. But it will protect,” said the Ugnaught.

            Mando stared solemnly at the IG unit. “Tea?” it offered. Mando sighed.

            “I must tend to the Blurrgs,” said the Ugnaught, rising.

            He left without another word, in a very Ugnaught fashion. Mando rose and followed to speak with him. (Y/N) watched for the entrance. Cara leaned back.

            “So, you’re still traveling with him?” she asked.

            (Y/N) glanced back. “Yeah.”

            “You move differently,” observed Cara. She grinned. “He taught you to fight better, didn’t he?”

            (Y/N) smiled. “He did.”

            “Good,” said Cara, nodding. “You good at it?”

            “Of course,” said (Y/N), crossing their arms.

            Cara chuckled. “Knew you had the fight in you.”

            (Y/N) smiled and looked over at the Ugnaught and Mando. They were walking back over. “I think he convinced him.”

            The Ugnaught approached them. “I, Kuiil, will join you. IG and I shall protect. And the blurrgs will join me as well.” Cara and (Y/N) frowned, looking at Mando, who didn’t react. “I have spoken.”

            The group was ready to go.

l

            Kuiil fed the blurrgs and patted them on the head before letting them rest aboard the Razorcrest. (Y/N) and the Child were watching Cara and Mando arm-wrestle.

            “I got you, Mando,” said Cara, grinning.

            “Care to double the bet?” said Mando, straining against her.

            The Child’s eyes softened in worry as he saw his father, for what else could he call the shiny man taking care of him?, in what he thought was a fight. He raised a hand, looking directly at Cara, the woman “threatening” Mando. He clenched his little fist.

            Cara gasped and let go of Mando to clutched her neck. She was acting like she was being choked.

            (Y/N) felt a ripple run through them, and they looked down to see the Child’s movements. It was the abilities they shared. “Hey, hey, hey, buddy, no! Stop!” They covered his hand, and the Child blinked in confusion as he let Cara go. “She’s a friend!”

            “That is not okay!” gasped Cara.

            “Hmm. Very curious,” said Kuiil.

            “Curious?! He almost killed me,” said Cara.

            “Hey, he thought you two were fighting. He was trying to help Mando,” said (Y/N), patting the Child on the head.

            Mando deadpanned. Of course they would encourage the kid fighting. “It’s fine, kid,” said Mando, looking at the Child, who perked up. “We’re friends.” The Child babbled happily.

            “The story you told me of the mudhorn now makes more sense,” said Kuiil, nodding to Mando. He looked at (Y/N). “You can do what the Child can.” It was a statement, not a question, but (Y/N) nodded shortly.

            “What is it?” asked Mando.

            “I’ve heard rumors of what it is they can do,” said Kuiil.

            “Really?” asked (Y/N), eager for possible answers about the strange powers they displayed. They needed some explanation about the chaos going on around them.

            “What? When you worked for the Empire?” muttered Cara.

            “When I was sold to the Empire, it was indentured servitude,” said Kuiil.

            “Yet somehow, you walk free,” said Cara.

            “I bought my freedom through the skill of my hands and the labor of three of your human lifetimes,” said Kuiil sternly. “Do not cast doubt upon that of what I am nor whom I shall serve.”

            “Tell you what. I could really use your craftwork right now,” said Mando, diffusing the tension. He picked up the Child and motioned to the makeshift cradle. “Can you pad this container so the child can sleep better?”

            “I shall fabricate a better one,” said Kuiil. “Then perhaps this Dropper can see how one can win their freedom with the skill of one’s hands.” And then, without another word, he set to work creating a new cradle for the Child while the Razorcrest flew towards Nevarro.

            “So we’re headed to Nevarro,” said Cara.

            “Have you ever been?” asked Mando.

            “No,” responded Cara. “We lost a lot of our forces there. The city’s dug in pretty deep. No cover when you drop in. It stayed in Empire control until the end of the war.”

            “The warlord we’re taking out was an imperial officer,” said Mando.

            “What station?” asked Cara.

            Mando looked at (Y/N). “Did you see any insignia?”

            (Y/N) shook their head. “Nope. I just knew that he seemed important, and even the doctor guy was scared.”

            “And I took out the safehouse when I snatched you and the kid,” said Mando. “More imps have reinforced since.”

            “There’s something more going on,” decided Cara.

            “Maybe,” said Mando.

            “Probably,” added (Y/N).

            “We’ll find out more when we land,” said Mando.

            (Y/N) nodded, and out of habit, they began twisting their knife in their hand. They were preparing themself for a fight. They knew something would go wrong, nothing could be this easy. But (Y/N) had to do it. They knew they did.

Taglist:

@im-making-an-effort

@gr33n-d00dles

@alexpangender

@painstakingly-juno

@treehouse-mouse

@theurbannoodle

@pedropascalsidechick

@dmitrytherat

@dilfsaremyfavourite

[fluffypotatey]

Back on my "Dragonlords with dragon traits" bullshit and man. Imagine if they had eyeshine. It's caused by a reflective layer of tissue in the eye, called the tapetum lucidum, which is how nocturnal animals see in the dark. (Best example is how a cat's eyes glow when you shine a light at them.) It's not noticeable under normal circumstances because they're usually around other people in the daytime, or if it's dark, there's usually torches, a fire, some kind of light source that'll hide it.

But imagine being on night watch, coming around the corner in a dark corridor, and all you see is a pair of eyes shining in the dark at you like

And you almost fucking shit yourself, but then you hold out your torch and it's Merlin. Just Merlin. The servant with the silly ears and stupid scarf. That's all. Right?

ok so imagine:

You're a guard on the nightwatch. It's your first time here. Typically, you would be tasked with patrolling the second floor courtyard during the day but there weren't enough guards for the nightwatch (too many prisoners escaping and whatnot), and staffing chose you because you were new to the castle anyways.

So, it's your first day on the job. You're partnered with one of the seasoned guards. He's a little strange. Always snacking, always giving you furtive glances with a sly smirk. You really want to knock him off his socks, but the job comes first (unfortunately).

After hours of silently contemplating whether it'd be worth the loss of another job by hitting your companion right in his smug face, the two of you hear a loud crash near the kitchens. You can't tell if you're relieved or disappointed by the distraction, but both you and your companion investigate the noise.

"Who's there?" you shout.

Your companion smacks the back of your head.

"Yeah, great going there, now they know where we are and could kill us!"

Such a paranoid watchman, you think to yourself.

No one responds to your shout, but there's some shuffling and a shadow appears near the torchlight. Despite your companion's protests, you move quickly to the shadow and find--

"Merlin?"

The servant freezes, sighs, and turns around grumbling about something or whatever (you don't care enough to listen). He lifts his head up to the hallway's ceiling, praying (you bet) that maybe this night ends quickly. When he brings his head back, you yourself freeze as you are met with red-like eyes flashing right at you.

"Uh..."

"Again, Merlin?" says your companion. "You said you were done with stealing the pastries during the night."

Merlin gives your companion a sheepish look and turns away almost like a little kid caught stealing cookies from the jar. You can't help but notice that his eyes are no longer that strange reflective look now. They reminded you a little of a cat or an owl or...anything that doesn't resemble a human.

"Yeah, I know," Merlin says with that soft smile of his. You forget why the servant had unnerved you in the first place. "Old habits, ya know?"

"I understand." Your companion nods then grabs you by the arm. "Well, I guess we'll just leave you with a warning then! Remember to be careful on your way back to bed. I heard there's a monster prowling about."

Merlin gives a nod in response with a blinding smile. Again, his eyes give that same reflective look like an animal's would. You can't help to flinch.

The two of you walk away from the kitchen (more of, your companion drags you but semantics). You're still a little unnerved from what you saw that you don't even pay attention to where you're being dragged to until you arrive back where patrols began.

"What's-"

"You saw nothing."

You blink, surprised at your companion. He's clutching your arms very tightly, looking right at you (too close, if you're being honest).

"Merlin," he says slowly, "was just getting a night snack, right?"

"Right."

"You saw nothing strange."

You open your mouth to protest or maybe question why this should matter. Or maybe why Merlin's eyes were so strange. But he cuts you off shaking you a little.

"You saw nothing!"

Feeling a little delirious, but thoroughly shaken, you nod. You're beginning to piece together why the guard is doing this, but not everything is there. Yet.

"I saw nothing."

[aphroditelovesu]

Hello 👋 how are you doing? I hope you are well. So I wanted to know what do you think about Eris (from Acotar)? He Is such a polarized caracther (most caracther in acotar are polarized now that i think about it)know a lot of people that absolutely love eris and are obsessed with him, and i also know a lot of people who despise him, which is strange that people have so many strong feelings about him, given that he barely appears in the story. People in the fandom Call him Rhys 2.0 (derogatory), and while he does have a lot of characteristics that reminds me of Rhysand, I think he has enough going for him to stand on it's own. Like I said he is a minor caracther ( at moment. There has been speculation about Eris getting his own book)but people have such strong opinions about him that I wanted to know where are you on the spectrum. Do you love him? Do you hate him? Or are you neutral? What kind of Yandare would he be?

I saw that you are going to write for Rhys, Tamlin and Lucian. Would you take request for Eris, Tarquin and Helion? How far are you in the books? Have you read all of them?

Hi, I'm fine and you, anon? Answering your question:

I haven't finished all the books yet because I'm reading three books at the same time, but I know pretty much everything that happens because of the spoilers I've received, so I already have an overview. I read up to A Court of Wings and Ruin, I'm stalling to start the next books but I will read them eventually. I plan to write about all the High Lords, even Beron depending, I didn't add to the list because I wasn't sure anyone wanted to, but I don't mind writing. I don't mind writing even to King of Hybern and Amarantha. So yes, I would love to write to Eris and the others.

My thoughts on him are not many, because as you said, there is almost nothing about him. From what I read and he appeared in the third book, I liked him. I don't know why, maybe because I like two-faced characters. I don't hate him but I don't love him, but if is going to have his book my perspective will change. What I can say so far is that I like what's been shown of him. I don't think he looks much like Rhys, some things may remind him, but Eris, at least for me, is very different from Rhysand. I personally believe that if his book is written, Eris would become one of the most popular characters in ACOTAR (more so than he already is).

The type of yandere he would be, in my opinion, is the obsessive-possessive type. Maybe even a little overprotective (not as much as Tamlin), but he would be zealous about his obsession while also being stern, I think. Eris isn't mean to them, he's just... Him. Like, Eris is very possessive, very much so, he believes his darling belongs to him and he will burn alive anyone who gets too close to his S/O.

His and only his. Regardless if you have the mating bond or not, Eris would be incredibly possessive and jealous of his darling.

His obsession would come as a secondary factor, a product of his possessiveness and the love he believes he feels for them. Eris is the type to love hard and the love he feels burns like fire. I don't think he's sadistic, I don't think he enjoys inflicting pain on you, but he will punish you in other ways.

He would love you with everything, but he wouldn't accept being left out or even contradicted in some matters. Eris would be the romantic type if his obsession reciprocated his feelings, but his greatest yandere trait is a possessiveness that can and probably will become murderous, not to you, but to others.

Whether platonic or romantic yandere, Eris will still remain very possessive and jealous. Now imagine that, Yandere!Eris w/Yan Platonic!Rhysand!Sibiling? 👀

~ Lady L

[seyaryminamoto]

The Shadows in her Reflection: Sokkla Saturdays 2023

Chapter 2: Spring

Rated M

On FF.net//On AO3

She was restrained, trapped in a dark web of tendrils that weaved through her arms, and legs, and…

She cried. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

Smoke and darkness swallowed her, and the pale glow she released dimmed, and dimmed, and…

Yue's desperate eyes locked onto hers, wordlessly pleading to be saved.

Azula gasped and sat up, chest heaving: again, one of those nightmares. Again, Yue haunted her in dreams in a way she couldn't understand.

"You okay?"

Over the past months, no one had been around to ask that question to her. Truth be told, no one had dared ask it for much longer than that. Her allies, the false Kemurikage, had never bothered asking that question… perhaps because none of them were okay. It might have been redundant to ask at all.

But it wasn't something redundant for him, her sudden, new companion who piloted the hot-air balloon in her stead. He was helpful, at least, in providing her time to rest better than she had in a long time… but she wasn't sure she felt all that comfortable near him, anyways.

"I'm fine. Just… a dream," Azula said, shaking her head. Sokka nodded.

"Well, now that you're up, we can have breakfast," he said. Azula grimaced.

"I'm not going to cook for you," she said. "And you'd better be grateful that I won't. I'd likely make us both sick."

"In all these years, you haven't learned how to cook?" Sokka asked, with a slight smirk. Azula scoffed.

"I may have lost my titles and my position in society, but deep inside, I will always be a Princess," Azula said, stubbornly.

"Which means you've been stuck eating whatever scraps you could find, steal, maybe buy on occasion if you had any money on you?" Sokka concluded. Azula shrugged.

"You know, people happen to drop money in the weirdest of places. Did you know commoners enjoy tossing coins into fountains?"

"You… you fished out coins from fountains and used them for…?" Sokka blinked blankly. Azula smirked.

"It was quite helpful. I for one welcome their generosity. It was like collecting a tax, only, everyone paid it willingly. Strange, wouldn't you say?"

"People usually do that because they're making wishes and they think they'll come true," Sokka said. Azula snorted and laughed.

"Fools that they are. Did they expect spirits to fulfill wishes by paying them actual money? Spirits are a lot more irksome than that. They don't fulfill wishes, they demand that you fulfill theirs, going by my experience... though it's worth noting, too, that Yue actually assisted me at collecting the coins ever since she took to invading my head."

"She assisted you?" Sokka asked, perplex.

"Indeed. She was reflected off every one of those coins, so she took to calling me, guiding me to the next one, and the next… and the next thing I knew, I was eating the best bowl of spicy ramen I'd had in years," Azula snickered. "I suppose that was a rare case where she was surprisingly helpful… even if she kept showing up in the bowl's broth later, too."

"It has to be so surreal… seeing someone that way," Sokka said, frowning. Azula shrugged.

"It's unnerving and stressful. But it makes no matter, my entire life has been exactly that for the past years and I'm still alive and kicking," she said, with a dry grin. "At any rate, enough about my strange experiences. What's this breakfast you're setting up, exactly?"

Azula was surprised to find Sokka had actually packed some food from the Northern Water Tribe upon his venture into the Palace to gather his things. She hummed appreciatively as he offered her what he described as mooncakes, and he handed her a cup of water to down the food, too…

Azula glanced into it with a pang of nervousness: never before had the dreams meant anything deeper. Every time she glanced into her reflection, Yue was there. She always felt the uncertainty of whether she would be or not when she had those unsettling dreams, where Yue appeared to be suffering terrible hardships…

But just as ever, Yue smiled and waved at her when Azula glanced into the water's reflection.

"I didn't poison it, you don't have to look at it like… oh. Oh, wait. Yue?"

Azula raised an eyebrow skeptically at Sokka, as though it was a given that she'd see the Northern Water Tribe Princess in the liquid. It had become such a natural matter to her that she could barely fathom Sokka forgetting about it. He seemed nervous now, swallowing hard and running a hand over his hair.

"You don't need to be so self-aware. She can't see you from that angle," Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka scoffed.

"You try feeling less self-aware when the person you loved and lost is… potentially looking at you?" he said. "Also, when they're attached to someone who had nothing to do with them, instead of you…"

"I'd hand her over to you in a heartbeat if I knew how," Azula said. Sokka grimaced.

"I know, I know. But spirit mumbo-jumbo makes no sense," he sighed. Azula nodded.

"Truer words," she said, before downing half her drink.

"Oh, uh… good morning, Azula."

"Oops. Nearly swallowed you there, now, did I?" Azula said, pulling the drink back with a mocking grin. "Did you sleep well too? Any happier now that you're traveling with someone you actually like, for whatever reason you do?"

"Heeeey…"

"Well, I was doing that already. It's… well, interesting traveling with you, Azula."

"Interesting. That's a fine choice of words, Princess Yue," Azula sneered. "Admit it, my lifestyle is utterly nerve-wracking for you. I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat constantly, wondering if I'm going to get myself killed one way or another, sooner than later…"

"If she does worry about that, she shouldn't be that scared. Nobody's ever going to catch you, now, are they?" Sokka cut in. Azula smirked at him.

"And if they do, I'll make them regret it," she said. "You're only allowed to exist around us because… well, I'm sure Yue would throw a tantrum perpetually if I dared hurt you. It would be terribly irritating not being able to drink anything or look at myself in any manner of reflective surface without hearing her whine about whatever I did to you… sometimes I'm not even looking and she still so very kindly starts rambling to me anyhow."

"You know, as much as I'd love talking to her… I can't deny it would be a little distressing to see someone everywhere with water or reflective surfaces," Sokka said, with an awkward grin. "Can't imagine how it must be to take a leak and, uh… uh. Ew."

"You really have a worrisome imagination," Azula blinked blankly. "I, uh… shall endeavor to never look at any reflective surfaces whenever I need a bathroom."

"… Well, I don't talk whenever you're in the bathroom because I know you…"

Azula most certainly didn't need to hear whatever Yue would say next: she swallowed her drink fully, and with that, Yue's voice was extinguished. Despite himself, Sokka snorted and raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"Was she revealing something, uh…?"

"Something I most likely didn't want to hear? Yes," Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka chortled. "She is shockingly naïve in some ways. I suspect she merely wants to be friendly and doesn't understand that doesn't work with someone like me."

"Or maybe that's just the way she is," Sokka said. Azula crooked an eyebrow. "What?"

"You actually think she's not covering up that she hates being stuck with me?" she asked. Sokka frowned. "Don't look at me like that. You're no happier about it than she must be…"

"Wait," Sokka said, raising an eyebrow. "You think Yue… doesn't want to be with you?"

"Why would she be, if she could be with someone she actually cherishes? Like you?" Azula said, simply. Sokka scratched the back of his neck. "I'm under no delusions that anyone would choose to be stuck with me. As far as I know, Zirin couldn't wait to see the back of me by the time she did her mutiny."

"I'm not going to pretend you're talking out of your ass because I know people have been hounding you and chasing you and you haven't had the nicest life…" Sokka said, crooking an eyebrow. "But do you really think nobody would ever willingly choose to be near you?"

"You're not exactly an example to the opposite, are you?" Azula asked, skeptical. "You're here because of her. If Yue weren't around, you'd only want to be near me to shackle me yourself. Much like Zuko would love to."

"I…" Sokka said, frowning.

She wasn't entirely wrong: he had never given a second thought to Azula on a level that didn't relate to how dangerous she was. His first impression of her, back in Omashu, was nothing but confusion over facing a group of girls around their age, in charge of such a delicate operation like trading a child for a king. Then, she had broken out the blue firebending and from that point onwards, she was someone to fear, avoid, or fight should there be no other option. She always seemed wary of him in battlefields, no doubt aware of how dangerous his weapons could be… but ever since the war ended, she had fallen from grace and lost her way. No one had ever regarded her or treated her as anything but a problem to be dealt with since then… and it was clear now that such behavior had taken a real toll on the firebending prodigy.

"Lie to me about this and I will throw you overboard," Azula said, curtly. Sokka sighed, raising his hands.

"I won't lie. I wasn't exactly going to the North Pole with the idea of sitting down for tea and cookies with you," Sokka said. Azula smiled dryly.

"That's progress. A little honesty goes a long way," she said. Sokka snorted.

"Zuko says you always lie, though. Honesty is what you want now?"

"Zuko liked to say that whenever I was telling him truths he didn't want to hear, is more like it," Azula said, giving Sokka pause. "Such as when I told him our father was going to kill him under our grandfather's orders. Funnily enough, now he knows for certain that it was true and he still goes around telling his friends that I always lie. How about that?"

"Well… Zuko's not the sharpest tool in the shed, I'll admit that much," Sokka said. Azula smirked.

"If you're not just saying that to amuse me…"

"I'm not! I've always bickered with him over weird choices he makes, believe it or not," Sokka said. "It's honestly not that hard to see that he could've approached you the wrong way. But you also have to admit, you don't exactly make it easy for people to see who you really are, do you?"

"Why am I expected to do that?" Azula asked, amused. "You're always acting like a fool to mislead other fools into underestimating you. How is it fine when you do that, but when I…?"

"When you act like you would kill people willy-nilly, like you don't care about anything but a throne, when you manipulate your brother into making unhinged decisions with no regard for how that might just bite you in the ass later?" Sokka asked. Azula frowned. "I… I don't want him to reach a point where he stupidly chooses to do something he regrets to you, Azula."

"Why?" Azula asked. "What is it to you if he, I don't know, chooses to execute me alongside my group? Would make your life easier… ah, but I wouldn't be able to communicate with Yue for you. That's right."

"Not like you're doing much of that so far," Sokka said, raising an eyebrow. "You never tell me what she's saying, and when you do, it sounds like you're…"

"Lying? Only once in a while," Azula smirked. Sokka scowled.

"She didn't think I'm not as handsome anymore. You can't convince me of that," he pouted. Azula snickered deviously. "See? You were pulling my hair! Anyone can tell I've actually gotten better with age, Azula! I'm buffer, I've got some facial hair…!"

"What makes you think women like facial hair? Or teenage girls, in her case?" Azula asked. Sokka winced. "Also, heavily muscular men. If Princess Yue liked you lanky and beardless, why would you be any more appealing to her now?"

"You… stop making me second-guess myself!" Sokka squeaked. Azula couldn't hold back another cackle of devious laughter. "Seriously, you…"

She laughed in a rather wicked way… but somehow, it brought a smile to his face too. It was contagious, slightly amusing. She had a mean sense of humor… but even if she was mocking him, Sokka couldn't help but find it slightly funny, too.

"Anyway," he said, trying to stifle his smile. "If you give me reasons beyond Yue to think you're not a hazard to the world…"

"I am one, though. Proudly."

"Then… give me reasons to want to keep you safe so you can continue tormenting your brother?" Sokka asked, with a dry grin. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Why… why would you want me to do that, exactly?" she asked.

"Because I want to prove a point here," Sokka said. Azula scoffed.

"Well, then… I ought to continue tormenting him because it's funny. That's the main reason for it," she said. "Someone with the temper and lack of restraint of my brother simply cannot have an easygoing, calm and quiet life. It would be terribly unfulfilling. He would always know he's lacking something… and that something is being teased mercilessly by his sibling. Simple as that."

"Okay… let me translate that," Sokka said, blinking blankly before rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. Azula eyed him skeptically as he seemed to work harder and harder on processing her words… until he finally delivered his grand epiphany: "Zuko is too much of a stubborn idiot and he's set in his ways, stuck on reading and interpreting you in one set way, and the only way you can be part of his life is to continue acting exactly as he expects you to. Thus, you continue to torment him as you have because you can take advantage of such situations to give him trouble that deters other people from stirring trouble too… you're protecting him in a rather twisted way. With you as the bad guy, the rebel against his righteousness, the Fire Nation indeed grows stronger because they're banding against you, rallied by Zuko. On a more basic level… you're just the annoying little sister because you don't know what else to be. But ultimately… you care about him, don't you?"

"How dare you…?!" Azula gasped, her face a mask of utter affront and outrage…

Her cheeks flushed slightly. Sokka smirked.

"You…! Shut up!" Azula snapped, the weakest possible comeback she could have offered him. Sokka's smile couldn't have been wider. "That's not what…! Ugh, you're impossible! Your mad interpretations about me are entirely out of place! I have a purpose! I have a right to do everything I have! It has nothing to do with Zuko being my brother or…! Just shut up!"

Sokka shrugged, saying nothing else indeed. Azula glared at him until she couldn't look at him anymore��

Five minutes later, she exploded, and Sokka had to hide his amusement behind a hand.

"Whatever mad fantasies older brothers may have, the truth is you're all pains that we have to bear with! You're our burdens, not the other way around!" she lashed out. Sokka shrugged.

"Maybe so."

"Don't just condescendingly say I'm right! Prove me wrong, damn you!"

"Right, right. That's what you do with Zuko, right? Say things to piss him off and…"

"Quit analyzing me! What do you think you are, damn you?!" Azula scoffed.

"Sometimes I'm, uh, Wang Fire, actually. I helped Aang talk through his problems once!" Sokka declared, proudly, though the grin waned before long. "Or, uh, I thought I had. Maybe I'm doing a better job with you, though!"

"A better job at pissing me off. Unreal. You have no business peering into my business," Azula snapped. "Whatever I do, however I handle Zuko, is not your problem. Or anyone else's."

"Thing is… he has the power to fuck up your life if he ever catches up to you. And he got kind of close this time," Sokka said.

"And I ask again: why would that be of any concern to you? Just because of Yue?" Azula asked, arms folded over her chest.

"Well…" Sokka frowned. "Maybe it really isn't just about her after all."

"Right. It's because you're worried about Zuzu…"

"Azula… this is the first time I've actually talked to you."

Azula frowned, glancing at him in confusion. There was no sign of mirth in his face anymore.

"You mean… the first time you've talked to me with no overt aggressiveness on either side?" Azula asked. "We've exchanged plenty of barbs and jabs at each other. I mocked you over your girlfriend in the underground tunnels, remember? What a fun day that was…"

"It sure was," Sokka said, eyebrow twitching… but he was quick to recognize her intent just as she smirked slightly. "You're trying to take back control. Trying to trigger an emotional reaction out of me. If I recognize it, then…"

"Could you stop?! What's the matter with you?" Azula lashed out. Sokka laughed, hands behind his head.

"This… this is actually way more fun than it has any right to be," he said. Azula snarled. "You're a challenge."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Azula said.

"I mean… it's like we're dueling when we talk. You know?" Sokka smiled eagerly. "Like everything you do or say could be a fake-out, and then you'll attack me through another front once I leave an opening for you to exploit. If I recognize the bluff, you back down and look for another angle. It's… interesting."

"Interesting?" Azula said: her heart felt slightly strange upon hearing that word again, this time from Sokka rather than Yue.

"You have to take some pity on me here, can you?" Sokka sighed, looking at her helplessly. "Do you think I ever have complex conversations with Zuko? Conversations with multiple layers that actually challenge me on an intellectual level?"

"Well… no," Azula admitted, with a cruel smirk. Sokka shrugged.

"The best I can get is Toph, basically, because she's always ready to give as good as she gets and she's got a damn good mind for insults. So at least that's kind of funny. But any bigger ideas, anything less material and corporeal and I lose her just as well, she tells me to shove it, and so on. My sister? Well, there's not much point in trying to get any productive results there because no matter if I'm right, in the end I'm somehow wrong, she wins and I lose. Simple as that."

"And your girlfriend?" Azula asked. Sokka froze. "What, no fun banter there for you either?"

"Heh. Not really," Sokka said. Azula frowned.

"That's an opening, you know? And you're doing nothing to cover it up. I'm being nice right now and giving you a chance to cover it up indeed… do it or I'm going for the kill, Sokka," she said, with a dry grin now. Sokka sighed.

"She gets mad at me, is all," he said. Azula's smile waned. "If I push any banter further, she doesn't know how to respond and… just gets mad at me. Conversation sputters and dies just like that."

"Huh," Azula raised an eyebrow. "Sounds… boring."

That Sokka smiled at her remark should have been an alarming sign, but Azula didn't read it as such right away. He shook his head though, looking at her eagerly.

"You, though… I have the feeling you could go for hours. And somehow, that sounds like fun to me," he said.

"You won't say the same things if I indeed go out of my way to bicker you for hours and you end up losing," Azula said.

"Might be worth it even if I do," Sokka smiled, leaning back on his seat and sighing.

"I suppose you didn't bring up the Avatar because arguing with him is akin to kicking a puppy…" Azula said. Sokka chortled and shrugged.

"That's probably a good way to put it. Though, make no mistake, he has a temper of his own. But he's very much an emotional, spiritual guy. He listens to anything I question and gets filled with wonderment over it but that's about it. Can't get much out of it either."

"Sad. You must be terribly lonely," Azula said. Sokka's smile waned.

"Guess… a bit."

She frowned, glancing at him in confusion. His eyes flickered towards hers too, a smidge of guilt in his eyes… did he feel bad for saying that, when she had been acquainted with far worse loneliness for far longer? Or…?

It struck Azula suddenly that he was choosing to travel with her, someone who wasn't a total stranger simply because they had been enemies for too long for that to be the case. As much as he might pry into her business, he had done very little of opening up, himself. Why hadn't his girlfriend joined him on this journey? Why wasn't she part of his investigations? Why hadn't he tried to argue with his friends, reason with them, so that they could be part of this confusing journey over Yue, too?

Was he as lonely as she was?

"Anyway, uh… sorry if I'm too annoying," Sokka said, with a tight-lipped smile. "I'm not trying to piss you off, believe it or not, I just… was having fun. At your expenses, yes."

"Which would certainly justify me pushing you off the balloon if I cared to," Azula said. Sokka chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, it'd be fair. But anyway, uh… we're in this balloon indeed."

"Yes."

"Where are we going?"

Azula frowned: they were evidently floating south, but they hadn't chosen any destinations just yet. She frowned as she raised the cup she had emptied earlier, urging Sokka wordlessly to fill it again: she needed to talk to Yue.

The Moon Spirit was quick to smile brightly once she realized Azula had as good as summoned her anew. The utterly ridiculous situation didn't go lost on Azula, even now. She most likely would never grow used to this, truth be told…

"Where are we going?" Azula asked, bluntly. Yue's smile froze on her face. "You said you want to see the world? Well, tell me what you want to see and we'll figure out how to make it happen. But without any directions we're just going to float aimlessly and burn through our fuel, so… care to make matters clear now, Yue?"

"Right, right. I'm sorry. I didn't really tell you what my idea was, and you're on your way nowhere because of that…"

"I don't need rambling apologies, I just need an answer: where are we going? What exactly do you want to see?"

"Oh. Well. I actually… I've thought about it a little bit, while you weren't around, and I realized there's two things I'd like to do. First… well, I want to see a lot of the world, the cities and nations I never could visit while I was alive. But more than that… I want to see the other seasons. Spring, summer, fall… I've only ever known winter. So… that. That's what I want."

"You want to see… the spring," Azula recited, blinking blankly and glancing at Sokka, who frowned at the words. "That's the directive. What do you think we should do to fulfill it? It's not going to be spring up here for another six months…"

"Not in the northern hemisphere… but it is spring in the southern one right now," Sokka said. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Huh. That's true," she said. "Then… somewhere in the southern hemisphere, but not your home. That's basically winter too, isn't it?"

"Yeah, the Southern Water Tribe isn't exactly what she'll want to see," Sokka said, with a weak grin. "A place with more… flowers, I guess. That's probably the main thing she'd like, right?"

"Is it?" Azula said, glancing at the cup. Yue smiled and shrugged.

"In the south… that would be, well, anywhere below Omashu? I remember the maps, I saw many growing up…"

"Good to know you remember your geography. But yes, that's basically it," said Azula. Yue bit her lip.

"Say… there's one person I don't know much about, but I'd like to. And maybe a good place to start would be by seeing her hometown."

"Uh… who are we talking about, exactly? And where is that hometown?" Azula asked, crooking an eyebrow.

"I mean… Suki. Sokka's girlfriend."

"Huh?!" Azula winced. "Are you… are you a masochist? Yue, why would you…?"

"If she's someone Sokka loves, then… I would like to get to know what kind of person she is. He's going to spend his life with her, isn't he? I… I want to be sure she's a good person. Someone kind, someone good, someone worthy of him…"

"I'm not entirely sure he needs or deserves any of that… but I can assure you that, in all my cruelty, I would never inflict that kind of punishment on him," Azula said, with a grimace.

"What's going on now? I can't hear any of it, Azula," Sokka pouted. Azula grimaced, glancing at him with uncertainty. "Why is she a masochist? What is she asking for?"

"She…" Azula said, breathing deeply and shaking her head. "Well, she wants to meet your girlfriend, apparently."

Sokka's wide eyes spoke for themselves. Azula shrugged, gesturing at the cup in her hand.

"I'm simply saying it's absurd, right? She's your ex, that one's your new girlfriend, why would you want to bring them together at all…?"

"W-well, it's not like you'd scream to Suki that Yue is in a mirror or a water pool or…" Sokka said, running a hand over his hair nervously. "But… wait, she really did say that? You're not just pulling my hair and saying something just to find a weakness to exploit, are you?"

"Oh. So that's what you think I'm doing?" Azula asked, with a sardonic grin. Sokka huffed.

"Well, it's not like you haven't lied about whatever she was saying before, or were you always completely truthful?"

"He's right, you did lie about how I thought he was more handsome before…"

"You… quiet down," Azula snapped at Yue, who huffed and pouted. "Whether I lied before or not, I am telling the truth now and you don't believe me. Who does that remind me of…? Right, that person you called an idiot just a while ago! What does that make you, I wonder?"

Sokka winced: indeed, every conversation with Azula was as good as a minefield… and he refused to step on mines. Even if he set them off, he wouldn't lose his way. He breathed deeply and nodded.

"I… guess I did say that. And it's still true. But come on, cut me some slack here," Sokka said, looking at Azula helplessly. "Why would she ever want to meet Suki, of all people? She can't even meet her properly, to begin with…"

"She said something about getting to know the person you're going to spend your life with," Azula said. Sokka's eyes widened. "And frankly, while I can understand not wanting to take me to Kyoshi Island out of fear that they'll come chasing after us and try to kill me, it's rather odd that you would be so apprehensive about visiting your girlfriend, isn't it?"

"It's… w-well… it's just not the best time, I guess," Sokka said. Azula hummed.

"If this isn't the best time, then when will it be better?" she asked. "Yue wants to see the spring, and she wants to see it in Kyoshi Island. Not doing it now means delaying it a whole year, doesn't it? And who knows if you'll have sorted out your problems by then."

"Yeah, I… yeah," Sokka admitted, grimacing.

"So?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows.

"Wait… problems? What does that mean? Azula… is Sokka okay?"

"I have no idea. He's trying to be mysterious, is my guess," Azula answered Yue, who gazed through the water in anguish.

"Is she worried about me?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"I suppose she is, but she's been worried about you for years as it is, as far as I understand. Nothing new under the sun."

Her words gave Sokka pause. Azula frowned upon acknowledging as much, reading in his expression that he was distressed over potentially causing Yue's distress, too…

"I'm sorry. There's no real problem, I just… I wasn't expecting this, Yue," he said, with a weak grin. "We can go. I'm sure… I'm sure Suki will understand. I'll make her understand."

The way he spoke carried over none of the confidence his words would have warranted. Yue, however, didn't seem to pick up on that: she smiled brightly, giddily, at a skeptical Azula. The Fire Nation Princess raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing Sokka, wordlessly asking if he truly was fine with this course of action. A new, pained smile suggested he had already made up his mind… and so, the firebender sighed and shrugged.

"Very well, then. We shall set our course for Kyoshi Island."

...

"I don't understand. She should be here by now! We've been in the city for almost a month already!"

"Zuko, maybe they deceived you. Those girls could have done that…" Katara said, with a grimace. Zuko scoffed.

"You're not about to say I should've brought Toph along to interrogate them, are you?"

"Wouldn't have hurt," Katara said, with a shrug.

"She's busy recruiting metalbenders all across the Earth Kingdom, isn't she?"

"Well, I think she's in Ba Sing Se right now? Last thing I knew, at least," Katara said.

"And she was only just returning from Omashu when I told you guys about Azula. And for that matter, you're all busy too! I can't just… pluck you out of your lives for months to no avail, can I?" Zuko groaned, burying his face in his hands.

He sat with Katara, Aang and Bumi in a room within the Northern Water Tribe's Palace. The Avatar played happily with his son, and he shrugged at Zuko's mournful groans.

"I'm having a good time. So is Bumi," Aang grinned.

"Sokka had to go, sure, but he left without a hitch," Katara said, with a sigh. "And with just that weird letter. And he hasn't answered the one I set to him in Republic City yet…"

"See? This is not sustainable! What if Azula is gearing up to attack the Fire Nation while I'm gone?!" Zuko exclaimed.

"You don't have to raise your voice just because you're worried, Zuko," Aang pouted. "Calm down. Katara… do you want to go find Sokka? Would that make you feel better?"

"Would make me feel better to find my sister, too," Zuko growled at him.

"You're not my wife, I'm more worried about her, sorry to say," Aang said, grinning at Zuko. He rolled his eyes, shaking his head and dropping it on his hand as Katara smiled warmly, if with a hint of mischief, at the Avatar.

"I don't know. We could try to go and come back, though? I feel like we can't leave Zuko alone or he's going to lose whatever sanity he's holding onto," Katara pointed out.

"Am I holding onto any?" Zuko asked, shaking his head. "Here I thought it was all gone."

"Huh. That would explain staying here forever, on a single lead with no evidence, across a full month, wouldn't it?" Katara said. "Guess you really did lose your marbles."

"If he did, I could lend him these…" Aang grinned, raising his trick marbles: Bumi squealed happily at the sight of them.

"Da! I want! Da!"

"Here we go! Marble trick, just for you, Bumi!"

Zuko groaned, watching them play, careless about Aang and Katara's playfulness with the child. He couldn't stop thinking about his terrible decision-making… about how Azula never failed to teach him the wrong lessons. He fell into every trap, every pitfall, every…

"Fire Lord Zuko, sir? Fire Lord Zuko!"

Zuko jumped up from the cushion he had been sitting on, as though something had bitten him in the ass. The Fire Nation soldier that barged into the room, pushing past the curtain that hung on its threshold, looked considerably upset about whatever he had to inform him of.

"Did you find something? Did you find her?!"

"My Lord… there are tracks. We just found them, they're most definitely old, but… a hot-air balloon was left outside the city, in a cavern, and then it seems to have been taken away again. It looks like…!"

"Like the one she stole?" Zuko gasped. "The proportions of the tracks you found, they match…?"

"They do, sir. We believe it was her."

"She… she did come here. She came here…!" Zuko exclaimed – Aang and Katara were no longer quite as calm and easygoing as before, rising to their feet too. "And she left again. She… b-but why? What did she…?"

"Wait," Katara frowned. "Wait, Zuko…"

"What is it?" Aang asked her, as the Fire Lord turned towards the waterbender. Katara's eyes shifted from side to side, a hand slipping through her hair.

"A month ago… Sokka left us almost as soon as we arrived, right? And he… he took a bunch of things with him. His luggage, it looked like, but also food, from what the kitchens reported?"

"You think he's chasing after her?" Aang asked.

"Well, it's either that, which I doubt, considering he just wanted to find out what's up with the moon, or…" Katara said. Zuko's eyes widened.

"She… she did not. She could not! She wouldn't…!" Zuko gasped, shivering. The possibility only struck Aang moments later.

"You think… Azula kidnapped Sokka?" Aang gasped.

"She wouldn't have. She couldn't have, though, right?!" Katara asked, with a nervous laugh. "I mean, he picked up his stuff, so… so he had to be leaving deliberately."

"He did leave deliberately, but maybe she intercepted him halfway there," Aang reasoned, frowning. "Which means that Sokka isn't answering your letters because… he's not home. Wherever he is…"

"He's… where she is," Katara said, staring at Aang in horror. "Aang… my brother is Azula's captive? My brother is…!"

"That's… that's it. That's enough!" Zuko snarled, rage swirling inside him. "If this is truly what she's done, she's gone so far out of line that there's no line to speak of anymore! Forget it! We're going to find her, track her down now!"

"Y-yes, Fire Lord! We'll send word…!"

"To every corner of this planet. Every single nation!" Zuko bellowed. "Tell them she's a wanted criminal! Tell them she's traveling with the Avatar's brother-in-law! Send descriptions of them both… and tell them the Fire Nation will pay a massive reward to anyone who retrieves her, dead or alive!"

"D-dead?! Zuko…!" Aang gasped.

"I said… I've had it," Zuko snarled, shaking his head. "I'm done playing her games! I set the rules now! I'm Fire Lord, and she's not getting away with this for another second!"

Katara grimaced – she understood Zuko's anguish and fury… she couldn't, however, imagine ever giving out an order of the sort if her brother went off the rails somehow.

Which he might just have. It looked likely that Sokka's sudden vanishment might be connected to Azula's quick visit to the Northern Water Tribe, somehow… but a wretched, unwanted, guilty thought crossed her mind, and as much as she wanted to swat it away, it didn't go anywhere: what if he hadn't left in duress? What if her reckless, crazy brother had chosen to, somehow, hitch a ride with the Fire Nation Princess…?

There was no way he'd done that. He was busy investigating the moon. He couldn't have been so foolish, no matter if he was angry over how nobody took his problems seriously. He couldn't have joined up with Azula somehow just to get back at everyone for disregarding his concerns over Yue… or could he?

...

A journey on a hot-air balloon sounded far easier said than done. While the vessel was not exactly slow, it wasn't all that fast, either. They ran out of coal eventually, and they spent a fair few days looking for more supplies in the Earth Kingdom – Sokka knew a guy, it seemed he had friends everywhere, even earthbending friends in coal mines in the Earth Kingdom – before setting out anew, aiming to reach Kyoshi Island just as the springtime blossoms bloomed.

Sokka seemed to grow more nervous as they approached, but he held his own as they finally landed by the shore, in a grand cove where, as he explained, they might just witness some gruesome spectacles if the unagi decided to eat an elephant koi or two.

"Fascinating. The fishy princess shall be in the water to witness the carnage, too. Just the way she likes it," Azula mocked Yue as she stepped closer to the shore. Yue pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Maybe the fishy princess can communicate with the fish and tell them not to eat each other," she suggested. Azula snorted.

"Go on, then. I'd like to see how that goes," she said.

"What was that…?" Sokka asked.

"She's biting back when I'm an asshole. Nothing much other than that," Azula said. Sokka chuckled.

"You know, it's weird but the two of you kind of make a fun team," he said. Azula scoffed.

"You take that back."

"I will not," Sokka declared, proudly. "You have about the most pointless things in common and you're completely opposites in just about everything else…"

"Wait. But I'm smart, aren't I? Are you saying Yue is stupid?" Azula smirked: in the water, Yue gasped, and Azula actually cackled at her reaction. Sokka scoffed, bumping her hip with his.

"Jerk. I didn't say that!" he said. "But the obvious points in common between you two is that you're both princesses and…! Uh, that's about it."

"Exactly, and if we're opposites in just about everything else…"

"She's smart too! Just, not in the way you are!" Sokka exclaimed, flustered, as he stalked out of the balloon's basket and approached the shore. "She's kind, and pure, and sweet, and you're mean, rude and… and…!"

"Spicy," Azula decided, smirking. Sokka's cheeks flushed. "What? It's the opposite to sweet, or isn't it? Maybe you wanted to call me salty instead? Acid?"

"You're impossible," Sokka groaned.

"Ah! That means you're possible, Yue! Congratulations!"

To Azula's utter confusion and surprise, though… Yue covered her mouth with a hand and laughed. Azula raised an eyebrow, not suspecting the girl would be amused by her bad joke.

"Well, I… I'm glad that amused you," Azula said. Sokka raised his head, glancing at her in surprise.

"You made her laugh?" he asked. Azula shrugged.

"She has a terrible sense of humor. Like mine, I guess. Or maybe ours. Yours is worse than mine, as far as I understand…" Azula said. Sokka smiled a little, glancing at the water again.

"Well, I'm glad she's happy to be possible. Guess we could go on playing that game later, but… for now, Yue, this is Kyoshi Island. As you can see, there are lots of trees with cherry blossoms this time of the year…"

Azula turned around to look too, just as Sokka was explaining. Yue seemed to struggle to see, but she smiled at every glimpse she got of the flourishing trees at either side of the shore they stood at right now. As much as Azula had expected Kyoshi Island to be nothing noteworthy – and the infrastructure of the towns she had seen as they flew over, towards the southern shore of the island, certainly wasn't –, the natural beauty of the place could not be denied.

"The first time I came here, it was, uh, fall? Maybe late fall," Sokka reasoned, brushing his stubble with a thumb. "And you really couldn't see how pretty it could be just yet. There was a fair bit of snow all over the place too, but most of the trees were pretty dry. I only got to see it like this when I visited later."

"Can you ask him… if he lives here?"

"Yue wants to know if you live in this place," Azula said. Sokka raised his eyebrows.

"Uh, no. I'm living in Republic City right now. Suki… well, she is here, or is supposed to be," Sokka said.

"Won't we go say hi?"

"Oh, this is burdensome," Azula rolled her eyes. "She asks if we won't say hi."

"Well, I thought… maybe later?" Sokka grinned awkwardly. "I figured we'd stay out here for a little longer and enjoy the view! I bet the unagi will show up soon and Yue can show you just how strong her control over fish is by then, right?"

"Right…" Azula said, glancing at the water again: Yue grimaced, and Azula smirked. "Or maybe she was just bluffing."

"I'm not! I… I was completely honest. I can… try?"

"Go on ahead, then, I dare you to…"

Azula couldn't finish the sentence when she heard a whistling sound in the distance.

Before she knew it, though, before she could so much as react, Sokka had tackled her to the ground.

She would have raged at him for it – she fell over a few rocks, and her knee had crashed against a particularly sharp one that had ripped her outfit, perhaps even drawn blood… but a glance to her left revealed around eight arrows, firmly sunken on the ground. They would have pierced their bodies if Sokka hadn't jumped when he did.

"What the…?!" Azula gasped: Sokka, atop her, pushed himself away from her while retaining a protective stance before her…

Turning to face a group of armed women in face paint, bearing dark armor upon their green uniforms.

Sokka snarled as Azula pushed herself up awkwardly: Yue, in the water, appeared to panic over the sudden attack, too.

"Are you okay? Azula…!"

"I'm fine. I'm fine…" Azula as good as mouthed at her, disregarding the pain of her knee.

"Brave of you to show your face around here," one of the Kyoshi Warriors said, startling both Azula and Yue: was she talking about her? Did Kyoshi Island issue a warrant for her arrest too? Or was she talking about…?

Sokka sighed, raising his arms defensively: the Kyoshi Warriors didn't lower their weapons.

"Where's Suki?" he asked. Azula raised an eyebrow: she recalled all too well when he had asked the same question to her, years ago… now, though, the tone with which he spoke couldn't have been more distant from what it had been on that day.

The apparent leader of this group of Kyoshi Warriors lowered her bow, though her hostile demeanor didn't shift yet. The others followed her example.

"She sent us to find out what kind of brigand had snuck into the island on a hot-air balloon. Guess we know now," the warrior said.

"Am I actually a criminal around these parts now?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Maybe you should be," the warrior growled.

"What the hell is going on?" Azula asked, pushing herself up. Sokka gritted his teeth, glancing back at her.

"Don't… just keep your head down. If they notice who you are…"

"Why does it look like they're ready to kill us, even though they haven't?" Azula growled.

"Well…" Sokka said, grimacing…

The answer to that question would be granted sooner than later, Azula supposed.

"Keep your hands up. You too," the warrior said. Azula scoffed.

"Please, do it," Sokka said. Azula rolled her eyes.

"I could set the whole lot of them on fire, just saying. I nearly did once."

"You don't need to do it again. Trust me."

"That's a tall order. I have no idea what's happening here, and I'm not sure I even want to know anymore."

Sokka sighed as the Kyoshi Warriors approached them: without further fanfare, they pushed Sokka and Azula to walk into a small road that eventually led to a humble fishing village, as far as Azula could tell… was that truly the backwater, rundown place Suki had been born to? Kyoshi's great home? It was laughable. Clearly, the Earth Kingdom had no idea how to properly honor its heroes…

They were embarrassingly paraded across the town, and as much as Azula did as Sokka had told her by keeping her head down, the unfortunate truth was that more than one person seemed to grow to suspect her identity rather quickly. None would do so faster than Suki herself, though…

Though the same was true, of course, to someone standing right inside the dojo she and Sokka were dragged to, where the older warriors had been instructing a new group of recruits.

"What…? No!" Ty Lee gasped at the sight of her, losing track of her mission at once. Azula cursed inwardly, rolling her eyes.

"Yue's already dead, but I think I'm going to kill her all over again for putting me through this…" Azula hissed. Sokka growled threateningly at her, and she responded by stomping on his foot.

"Ow! I…! Ugh, behave yourself! And… hey, Ty Lee! Nice seeing you again," Sokka said, with an awkward grimace as he inched away from Azula.

"What are you…?" Ty Lee gasped, hands over her hair. "Sokka, what are you doing here? And with Azula? That's even more messed up than just…! Goodness, we have to send word to Zuko at once, we…!"

"No!" both Sokka and Azula shouted at unison, startling the Fire Nation-born warrior.

"Look, I get how this looks, but this really isn't the time to overreact, Ty Lee," Sokka grimaced. "I know you don't understand what's going on, and I could explain if you let me, but…"

He trailed off when a dojo door, probably the one that led to the leader's office, swung open violently. Both Sokka and Azula watched with apprehension… as a shocked, confused, and ultimately furious Suki stepped into view.

"Sokka," she said. He swallowed hard.

"Hey," was his eloquent response.

"You… you showed up with…?" Suki said, glancing at Azula next. Her face shifted from confusion to disdain and disgust. Azula glared at her with no shortage of both things, too. "Well, isn't that rich."

"You certainly aren't, true," Azula said, with a dry grin. "This place could use a makeover or two. Might want to make a better first impression to first-time visitors such as myself…"

"Azula, stop being rude!" Ty Lee said, frowning. Azula responded with an eyeroll, making an ungodly effort not to raise her middle finger in the woman's direction.

"Don't worry… we sure will be rich, after Zuko pays us for capturing you," Suki said.

"Don't," Sokka said: to Azula's surprise, he stepped in front of her, and he breathed heavily as he gazed at Suki pleadingly.

He was… protecting her. Or rather, he was protecting Yue. Yes, that made far more sense… but he was still standing between her and a hostile party. That, in itself, was odd. A rather unusual experience Azula couldn't quite remember having lived through before. Usually, she was the threat others were protecting their allies from…

"Look… I know this is messy and I know you don't like it, but we need to talk. This is a lot more complicated than it sounds like, Suki," Sokka said. Suki offered him an unamused smile.

"I bet it is. As usual," she said, rolling her eyes.

"What would you rather do?" Ty Lee asked her, worriedly.

"I'll hear him out. Why not?" Suki said, with a dismissive smirk. "Might even help me be sure I've made the right choice all along and everything."

"Make any wrong moves and we will have no mercy," the warrior who caught them by the shore said. Azula scoffed, smirking at her.

"I'm all too aware of what Kyoshi Warrior mercilessness looks like… I can't say I'm scared," she smirked.

"You should be," the girl growled, her bravado failing to find its mark.

Sokka grimaced as he entered Suki's office: as much as they had been together for a long time, he hadn't actually visited this place all that often. Suki had been living in the Fire Nation, on the most part… then, she went to Republic City with him. A little over a year ago, she had returned home, permanently. He had merely visited her once since then… and it hadn't turned out quite as well as he would have liked.

So now, he marched into the room feeling the weight of a lost decade dragging him down to take his seat before Suki's desk. The Kyoshi Warrior Azula seemed to defy so much pushed her to take her seat by Sokka's side, and she didn't bother leaving afterwards, either. Azula scowled, glancing back at the door to find it closed… but there were at least seven Kyoshi Warriors inside the office. Most of them were looking at her, no doubt expecting they would need to subdue her… she wondered if Sokka would even try to help her, if it came to that. He might just back off and roll over, trying to make up for whatever he'd done to piss off Suki so much…

But that, in itself, was a whole other matter. Azula had sensed he wasn't being truthful about everything whenever the subject of Suki came up, but she hadn't anticipated anything quite like this. Had he cheated on her? Not that she'd blame him much, if he had. As averse as she was to betrayals, she had no love for the Kyoshi Warrior. Someone who treated her own boyfriend as a criminal probably didn't deserve much pity, anyway.

"Explain yourself," Suki growled, standing on the other side of the desk, refusing to take her seat. Moreover, one of her hands rested on her sword's hilt. Sokka gritted his teeth. "The last I knew, you were her prisoner. A campaign to hunt her down is underway, did you know that?"

"You… what? I was her prisoner?" Sokka frowned, glancing at Azula in confusion. She hummed, reclining carelessly on her chair.

"Let me guess… my dear brother picked up on the fact that I was, indeed, in the Northern Water Tribe. Your departure, by just leaving a suspicious letter, brought him and his friends to assume that I took you against your will," Azula said, with a wild grin. "Funny that he'd be so shortsighted. If I had wanted to take you that way, there would have been no letter to begin with."

"The wanted poster reached us barely yesterday," Suki said, spreading it before their eyes: Azula scowled at the sight of the unpleasant depiction of her facial features, which appeared to emphasize her mental instability with marks under her eyes and disorderly hair.

"Could've given me a smidge of dignity, the bastard," she hissed.

"I'm not entirely sure you deserve any, but frankly? You're not much of my concern right now," Suki said, surprising Azula. "You didn't take him against his will?"

"Nope," Azula said. Suki smiled unpleasantly… and then turned her attention to Sokka.

"Then I have no real qualms with her. If anything, maybe I should thank her," Suki said, dropping the poster and glaring at Sokka intently. "Otherwise, I guess I might have seen you again in, what, a decade? How long before you finally wrapped your head around the embarrassment you left in your wake, Sokka?"

"I…!" Sokka grimaced, covering his face with his hands. "Look, Suki, I'm sorry! I've told you so in every letter I sent you, but…!"

"You could have said it to my face. You should have said it to my face. And yet… even that isn't something you deigned to give me, is it?" Suki said: her voice gave away just how badly hurt she was. Azula blinked blankly, folding her arms over her chest and eyeing her uncomfortable traveling companion.

In doing so, her eyesight traveled a little further: a small mirror hung by the wall, an ornament, perhaps connected to superstition of some sort. Naturally, Yue's face peeked out of it, and she looked as confused and troubled by this sudden upset as Azula was. Sokka breathed out slowly and gazed at Suki with remorse.

"You're right. I fucked up, and I've been doing exactly that, constantly, for months," he said.

"For years, I'd rather say," Suki said. Sokka nodded.

"True. More accurate that way," he said. "But if you want to talk about this, don't you think maybe we ought to…?"

"Sokka, if I'm alone with you I might just end up beating you to a pulp. So no, I don't think so."

"Suki…"

"Let's go back in time for a minute and think about what brought us here, can we?" Suki said, arms folded over her chest. "You urged me to leave my job as Zuko's bodyguard so that I could move with you and live in Republic City. After many years of insisting on it, and by insisting, I mean basically every conversation we had, which weren't actually that many, suggested that we were only growing so distant because we weren't around each other constantly…!"

"Well, that's what I thought then! But…!"

"But what? By the time you finally had me to yourself, you realized you didn't actually want me at all?" Suki asked. Sokka grimaced.

"I got busy! A lot! It's not like being a council member in growing a city is easy, and honestly, I thought you'd want to involve yourself in…!"

"In the political side of things? Why, I didn't. I was ready to retire as a Kyoshi Warrior and start a life with you… and you weren't ready to do the same."

"Well, come on, now! How do you expect we would've gotten by if I had done the same thing? I would've had no job, no income, no way to buy a house or afford basic food…!"

"As if you couldn't have gotten a less demanding job: you don't even like politics!" Suki exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "You were miserable, grumpy, constantly in the shittiest mood and I got sick of it! More so once you started rambling about how the moon was acting up! Oh, the moon, everything's about the moon, we sure have time for the moon but not for the girl you actually were with…!"

"Suki, don't…" Sokka snarled: Azula glanced at Yue, who covered her face in apparent horror.

"And when I left because I was sick of it… you come to Kyoshi Island!" Suki smiled. "Just as I'm getting my life together, you decide you have to try to win me back somehow… and you sure tried, for two weeks you were the best you ever had been with me! You pushed yourself, you forced yourself to be the perfect boyfriend, of course you did! And then… and then, after the biggest festival, in which you even involved yourself, you organized a bunch of things, you helped make it the liveliest the island ever saw, you went down on one knee…!"

Azula's jaw dropped, glancing at Sokka in confusion: he was engaged? He had proposed to Suki? Why had he never…

"And said nothing."

Oh. Then he hadn't proposed after all.

"Suki, I'm…! You have no idea how bad I feel about it, you really don't, but…!"

"Don't give me your bullshit now," Suki said, shaking her head. "It was your chance to prove you wanted to be with me. That the moon wasn't the core and center of your entire existence, that you could love me for who I was and not just use me as some sort of rebound…!"

"How could you be a rebound after ten years of relationship? Suki, I loved you!"

"You did, now, did you? So why didn't you ask me to marry you? Why, Sokka, did you stop short of doing exactly that when you had the chance?"

Azula grimaced: it was hard to believe that Sokka had a problem of this magnitude… and that Suki apparently was completely correct to say that she had nothing to do with it. If the situation had any less importance, she might have joked around and asked for snacks with which to enjoy the argument… but even Azula knew better than to do that right now. Yue's anguish in the mirror actually moved a fiber in Azula's heart… the girl was anguished. She was terrified. When she had lost her way over that comet's appearance, when she had connected with Azula as she had… Sokka had seemingly lost his willingness to spend his life with Suki. Her problems, whatever they were, had caused his…

"Suki… no answer I give you will help," he said. Suki gasped, looking at him in disbelief. "I thought I was ready. I chickened out. And you know why I ran away?"

"Why, probably because the entire island would have hunted you down otherwise?"

"Because I would have done it again!"

Suki froze. Azula grimaced as Sokka rose to his feet, gritting his teeth, fists tight.

"I wasn't ready. I might never be ready. I wanted to be the man you deserved, I tried! But I failed. No man would chicken out at that stage when he's sure of what he wants in life. And I thought I was sure… but I wasn't. I hesitated. You don't deserve to be with someone who hesitates. Someone who doubts they're making the right choice when it should be the best choice they ever made."

"You… you were questioning that you wanted to marry me, then, right as you were on your knees?" Suki asked, with a dry grin. "Well, why didn't you think about that before going down on one knee indeed? Why couldn't you spare me the humiliation, the fury, and just say to my face that you were done with me?!"

"I… I was stupid," Sokka said.

"Understatement of the century," Suki growled.

"I never wanted to break your heart," he said. "But I… I didn't know I could walk away until I did it. I didn't think you'd want me in your life again after that."

"No kidding, I don't. I frankly don't," Suki said. Sokka gritted his teeth. "And you're here now with… the most absurd kind of company, hoping that I'll forgive you, maybe? Whatever you came here to do…"

"That's not why I'm here."

Azula winced: she glanced at him almost pleadingly, trying to get through to him. Sokka ignored her, and Azula shook her head: if he was hellbent on digging deeper once he was in a hole, she sure wasn't going to stop him…

"I… may have learned something about what was going on," Sokka said, gritting his teeth. "With… with the moon."

"Ha! Fascinating. And you thought I'd want to know that?" Suki smirked, derisively. "How very nice of you to drop by in person to do that. You could've written a letter to say whatever you found out instead…"

"This is… difficult to explain," Sokka said, gritting his teeth.

"No doubt. Because I can't see how it involves Azula in the least," Suki said, harshly.

"Would you feel better if I explained that part myself…?" Azula offered. Sokka shook his head.

"Thanks, but no thanks," he said.

Azula shrugged: that was about all the generosity she would offer him… no doubt, he expected her to tell the story in such a way as to make matters look worse than they were. She might have done that out of sheer amusement over chaos… but she wasn't quite sure she wanted to stir the pot of Sokka's estranged relationship with Suki any further. Her personal inexperience with relationships made these waters particularly awkward to navigate…

"Something's actually happened to the Moon Spirit. We don't know what," Sokka said, firmly. "But Azula… somehow has become the host of Yue's spirit? To a fault?"

"She… what?" Suki said, glancing down at Azula in confusion. Azula blinked blankly, offering her a dry grin and a small wave.

"That doesn't make any sense," Ty Lee said, stepping closer and staring at Azula intently. Her intervention soured Azula's smile all over again. "That can't be true, Sokka, she only has her usual awful aura, no one else's…!"

"Maybe Yue's aura is as awful as mine and that's why you can't see it," Azula said, with a dry grin.

"Is it, really?"

The reflection of Yue in the mirror might have spoken… but Azula saw her silhouette awkwardly reflected on Ty Lee's dark breastplate, instead. She huffed, shaking her head – of course Ty Lee would decide everything was a lie. Someone as dishonest as her, judging others over dishonesty, was certainly a dark joke...

"It's not as simple as what you think. I don't mean that Yue is like… inside Azula as literally as that," Sokka said. "She sees her in mirrors or reflective surfaces. Like metal, or water, or…"

"She's in your armor right now, actually," Azula said, grinning in a most unpleasant way at Ty Lee, who winced and looked down at her breastplate. Yue swallowed hard and waved, even, but nobody could see it besides Azula, as always.

"You… you're joking," Suki said, looking at Sokka skeptically. "You're not seriously trying to tell me you believe that…!"

"Azula knows things she can't possibly know otherwise," Sokka said, looking at Suki helplessly. "Things I… never told anyone."

"Ah. Of course," Suki said, with a dry grin. "I bet it's got to be real fun, sharing stories about your first love with Azula. No doubt she's very understanding and empathetic and… and everything I never was, apparently, huh?"

"Suki, you didn't exactly make it easy for me to open up to you either, so as much as I'll own up to my shit, please own up to yours," Sokka snapped. Suki scoffed. "I can't get over what happened with Yue just because it'd be more convenient if I did. It's something I'm bound to feel guilty over until the day I die…!"

"Then tell Azula to convey all those concerns to Yue, why don't you?" Suki said, sarcastically. "I'm sure Yue will tell you it's all fine, she forgives you! She has no trouble accepting you again after you spent ten years with me, surely! But me, I'm the jealous fiend who can't even fathom her boyfriend having a first love that wasn't her… because, you know what, maybe that really is what I am! Because you were mine! Because I met you first, and somehow you latched onto her in a way that you never did over me!"

"Suki, if I'd just broken things off with Yue, this wouldn't be the mess it is," Sokka said, fiercely. "I didn't just end a relationship: she died in my arms! How do you expect me to just get over something like that?!"

"I don't know, but clearly, I'm out of line. And I'd like to extend that to being out of your life, next," Suki said. Sokka closed his eyes, shaking his head too. "It's a damn formality to say it at this point… but it's over. I'm done with this. I'm done with you. I'm sick and I'm tired of this nonsense… and I can't stand another second of being second place to a goddamn orb in the sky. I'm done."

"Fine," Sokka said. Suki scowled at him. "It's over. Find someone who can give you everything you want, Suki. You deserve that much."

"I'd say so do you… but you don't know what you want to begin with. You're bound to just take Azula on some ridiculous journey that will break her so she'll end up fully possessed by Yue and then… then you'll get to be with her again! Is that what your plan was, by any chance? Because considering how obsessed you are with her…!"

"Could you stop talking about her, about me, that way?!" Sokka exclaimed. "I'm not a monster, Suki!"

"Hard to tell lately," Suki snapped. Azula winced upon hearing those words. "You've done enough breaking my heart as it is. Might be it was about time I did it right back. Honestly, I'm glad you came. I'm glad I could say all of this to your face. Goodbye, and good riddance."

"That's… that's it?" Sokka asked, with a dry grin. "You're letting us leave, just like that?"

"Ah, right. She's a wanted criminal. I'll let Zuko know she was here, if that's what you…"

"No! That's exactly the opposite of what I… Suki!"

"Why shouldn't I tell him? In fact, why shouldn't I restrain her so Zuko can collect her, and then I could feed you to the unagi? That might actually make me feel better," Suki said, with a dry grin.

"Well, goodness… someone's trying to give me a run for my money," Azula said, staring at Suki with wide eyes. Her words actually gave her pause. "Feeding your boyfriend to the unagi? Or ex-boyfriend, as the case might be… that's something else entirely."

"I'm sure you'd relate if you'd ever had a relationship like this. But that would require finding someone who could stand to be in close proximity to you for longer than five minutes," Suki said. Azula smirked.

"Well, Sokka and I have been on this journey for well over a month now. Sounds like I've had more intimacy with him than you in recent times, huh?"

Suki's glare was fierce… but this time, Sokka didn't step in to stop Azula from saying outrageous things. Instead, he stood in place, brow furrowed, clearly displeased and disappointed.

"We're not here because we want to mock you or ridicule you. In fact, now I realize why it looked like Sokka never wanted to come here in the first place," Azula said, with a dry grin. "We came here… because Yue wanted to see the spring. To see the world she never had a chance to when she was alive. And she can't just pass over from me to someone else, because trust me, I've tried to make it happen and it hasn't. So, if Sokka wants to fulfill Yue's last will, he has to do it with me, like it or not."

"If any of this is true, and I sincerely struggle to believe it could be…" Suki said, glaring at Azula. "Why here? It's spring in a lot of other places in the world. You didn't have to bring her here, if she's even there at all and you're not just conning Sokka somehow…"

"Frankly, if I wanted to con someone, I'd pick someone a lot easier to deceive than this annoyance," Azula said. Sokka grimaced: was that a compliment or an insult? Was it both? "It'd be too much work, don't you think? But at any rate… we're not here because Sokka missed Kyoshi Island's spring: it's because Yue wanted to know what this place was like. She wanted to know… what Sokka's girlfriend was like."

Suki froze in place: she didn't believe any of it… but Azula's words gave her pause, even so.

"One hell of a first impression you've made, I dare say," Azula smirked. "Guess she'll be happy to know there's no more competition over Sokka's heart anymore, if nothing else. And of course, having the unagi eat him means she'll meet him in the Spirit World that much sooner and they'll get away with being together forever while you're…"

"Shut up!" Suki snapped.

"Azula…" Sokka said, eyeing her pleadingly now. She shrugged, raising her hands innocently.

"I'm just saying…"

"What is any of this to you, though?" Ty Lee asked: Azula's mood darkened again as she glared at Ty Lee.

"I could very well ask you the same thing. Doesn't even make sense to me that you're here at all, in Kyoshi Island, but it's even less logical that you'd be in this room right now… nobody called you in, so you can very well leave so neither of us has to bear with being in each other's presence for longer than necessary. That's about as civilized as I'll be with you."

Ty Lee gritted her teeth, tearing her gaze away from Azula. The fallen Princess scowled before turning her attention to the irate Suki again.

The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors let out a cry of frustration, kicking at her desk in irritation as she covered her face in her hands: she had too much information to process, too much anguish to work through. Clearly, she didn't want to do it right now, in front of them.

"I… I'll let you go. Both of you," she said. Sokka's eyes widened. "I don't… don't care how true your damn stories about Yue may be. I don't. I'm done with this, done with you, and you're going to get lost and not return until I finally feel like I can exist anywhere near you again, Sokka. And I will tell Zuko…"

"Suki, please don't. I beg you, as much as you may hate me…!"

"You have one day before I send word," Suki said. Sokka froze. "Nobody… nobody will bother you until then. Get out of this island, go wherever you care to, and stay away from me. That's all you need to do. Am I clear?"

"You… yeah. Loud and clear," Sokka said, frowning: it hardly felt like generosity… but that certainly was as good as he'd ever get from Suki by now. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry it came to this."

"No, you're not."

Azula's chest tightened: she'd heard those same words once before, just after she offered an apology of that nature. It had been false, when she spoke it… it wasn't, in Sokka's case. In neither case, however, it changed that the person they spoke to had refused to believe them by principle alone.

"Get out. And for your sake, leave before I regain my senses and have you chained and locked down for Zuko to take you to face his justice," Suki said, glaring at Azula.

"Very well," Azula said, raising her hands defensively and standing next to Sokka. "Let's walk back-to-back, shall we? I'm not sure I trust them not to try to stuff us full of arrows again. Though, do tell, what exactly would you have told Zuko if your troops had killed me by accident?"

"What makes you think that would have been a problem?" Suki said, raising an eyebrow. "I suppose I'd have to answer to Katara if I killed her brother, but you?"

She handed Azula the wanted poster. Azula's heart pounded with anxiety as she pulled it open, not focusing on the picture this time…

Wanted: dead or alive.

Her eyes widened. A burst of fear, one she had experienced sparsely, bloomed a lot more powerfully than before. Sokka clasped the poster, gasping upon reading its contents.

"Feel free to take it," Suki said, dismissively. "I don't particularly care to collect paintings of Azula. Just get out now, I… I can't look at either of your faces anymore."

Sokka gritted his teeth. He urged Azula to get going, placing a hand on her shoulder and guiding her away. He reached the doorway, knowing all the Kyoshi Warriors were watching him, and he cast a final glance at Suki.

She held his gaze for one moment. Regrets, pain, confusion poured between them… things had soured beyond belief, beyond repair. One day, perhaps, they might be friends again. One day, perhaps, they might build bridges, if just small ones. But as far as their relationship was concerned, there would never be another chance for them. Unlike Zuko and Mai, and their countless breakups and returns to each other, this was it for Suki and Sokka.

"Goodbye," Sokka said, finally.

Suki might have expected something else. Something more vindictive, something more cruel… but that was cruel enough to make her snarl, covering her face with her hands as she wept at the loss of the one man she had truly loved. He walked away without offering her any comfort. Not that she would have taken it, if he had offered any at all. He had a destiny that didn't involve her, Suki had suspected and feared as much for a long time… but now she was entirely certain of it. Their relationship would never recover from a blow as harsh as this one had been… and that would be for the best. She had already known they were over… it was as good as a formality to confirm as much.

But to think he had been with Azula for over a month… to think he could stand to be with someone as dangerous, as unhinged, as wild as her, but not Suki? When he finally had tried, he had wound up running away. Why? What had she done wrong? Why had she lost him? Why…?

She glanced at the mirror Azula had constantly glanced at. Fear reared its head again… as she wondered if, perhaps, Yue had wanted to find out whether Sokka's girlfriend was worthy of him or not. If their twisted story was true at all… then she would likely conclude the opposite, instead. Suki had envied Sokka's bond with Yue, resented it… she had never been able to understand or accept it. She had wanted to be his first love… she had wanted to be his only love. Her failure to accept Yue, to show Sokka that he could trust her, that he could talk to her about the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe, that he could open up to her and she'd embrace it… was that why they had failed? Was that why their love had crumbled? Was it her fault? Or was it his?

Was it simply that they just weren't meant to be?

The town wasn't much to look at, Azula thought so again as they marched through it and out into the wilderness anew. It was already growing darker by the time they returned to the same shore where they had nearly been shot full of arrows: Kyoshi Warriors watched them from afar, as though to ensure they would indeed leave, as they were supposed to. Azula glared at them before focusing on Sokka again. He sighed, approaching the water anew… and dropping on his knees in the sand. A heavy frown decorated his face as Azula sat beside him, legs crossed.

"I… didn't quite expect that to turn out so poorly," Azula said. "But I did read from your behavior all along that you didn't really want to come here."

"I didn't. I also didn't think failing to propose to your girlfriend was a capital offense in this island, but what do I know?" Sokka said, dropping heavily on the sand, falling on his back. "I didn't tell you because… well, who wants to admit something that embarrassing in the first place? But I honestly didn't know for sure that it was over, simply because we never made it official that it was…"

"Running away from your lover for about a year sounds a little official to me," Azula said. Sokka sighed.

"It's complicated, okay?" he said. "There's… a lot more baggage here than you think. For one thing, well… the truth is I wasn't ready for a relationship when I got together with Suki. Yes, it started as a rebound, without a doubt, and I thought it'd be good for me. But then you captured her and I kind of took for granted that you'd have killed her, so…"

"You did?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is that why you started crying when I told you she wasn't dead?"

"Well… it meant I had failed her. I hadn't tried to save her, had I?" Sokka sighed. "I never even thought about doing it. And then? After Zuko joined us, I… I asked him where important prisoners would be taken. Which is how I wound up at the Boiling Rock."

"Ah, yes. Fun times," Azula said, bitterly.

"I know that place has to be a nightmare to think about, for you," Sokka said. "But on my end, the truth is that I… I didn't go to the Boiling Rock to find Suki, Azula. I was looking for my dad."

Azula froze. She blinked blankly, glancing at Sokka in confusion. He covered his face with his hands, groaning in irritation.

"I wanted… to find him and make up for how I'd failed him. He got captured in the invasion, and I felt so guilty and… and when we got there? I didn't find him, but I found Suki, at first. I rolled with the punches, you know, but… a part of me always wondered if she'd have wanted me back at all, if I ever told her the truth."

"Did you never tell her…?" Azula asked. Sokka shook his head. "Huh. My, my…"

"It sounded like a bad idea at every point in time. Things were never going as well between us as they might have looked like," Sokka said. "At first, because I basically never really needed to be with her, and it was just fun to come across her whenever our paths converged, you know? Like… like your picking coins out of fountains, maybe."

"Pfft. So Suki was a lucky coin lying on the pool before you?" Azula asked, amused. Sokka groaned.

"Sounds like an awful metaphor but most of all because it still… feels true," he sighed, pushing himself back up to a sitting position. "I decided we could do better than that eventually, right? That's why I spent so long trying to convince her to come join me in Republic City. But… things weren't exactly great after she moved in, you know? She had her way of doing things, and I had mine. And the conflicts we got into weren't exactly fun. She always had her way in the end, but always got so upset when we clashed to begin with and… it felt awful. Like I couldn't do anything right. And maybe I couldn't, but maybe I just stopped trying… because I was sick of working for something that never made sense. I constantly found myself thinking… is this what I was looking for? Is this what love is supposed to be like? And… and I guess after she got sick of it and left, I convinced myself that it had to be. That I had to prove I would be there for her. So, I came here, and I tried my damn best. I did everything her way. I never questioned anything again. I agreed with everything she said, and I…"

"You were killing your own spirit just to ensure hers would thrive?" Azula concluded. Sokka gritted his teeth, closing his eyes tightly too.

"And when it came down to it… marrying her meant doing that for the rest of my life," Sokka said, glaring at the horizon. "I thought… it wasn't fair, was it? And on top of that, the moon had started acting up. The real reason why she left Republic City exactly when she did? It's because I was worried about it. Instead of offering to help somehow, or providing comfort, or… anything? She just… got jealous, I guess. I don't know why she never could wrap her head around my relationship with Yue. It might be my fault because I never opened up about it in the first place… but she didn't exactly make it easy either."

"Why?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The first time I nearly kissed her, well… I had told her I lost someone I loved. I meant Yue," Sokka said. "She said she could relate because she liked someone who 'went away'. She was obviously flirting and talking about me and… and it felt like all she wanted was to be with me, which, you know, that's flattering! But she never really stopped to understand why I wasn't ready. It… it didn't seem to matter much that I wasn't. And I forced myself to go for it because… I thought it'd help. I thought that I might learn how to move on if I was with someone else. But I didn't."

"You've been with her for all this time while feeling… like you can't truly be yourself with her, then?" Azula asked, folding her arms over her chest. "Well, that almost makes it sound like I'm far better off staying single as I have been all this time. Beats having to deal with that kind of nonsense. I have enough problems in my life as it is."

"I'd tell you you're missing out, but unless you actually can bond with someone who's ready to go the distance for you, and for whom you'd do the same? Yeah, maybe it's not," Sokka sighed.

"Is… is that what you and Yue were like, then?" Azula asked. She glanced at the water, and she saw Yue's refracted reflection in it. It was hard to judge her reactions from this angle, so close to the water…

"Honestly? I don't know," Sokka admitted, with a sad smile. Azula raised an eyebrow. "I know I was ready to do anything for Yue, far faster than I was for Suki. I didn't need to talk myself into doing it, it came out naturally. But… I don't know if she felt the same way. I don't know if she ever really loved me to the point where she'd do anything for me. Maybe… maybe I wouldn't have loved her as much, if she had."

"Wait, what?" Azula blinked blankly.

"She loved her people, Azula. She loved her city, her hometown, her family… I wasn't the only one who lost Yue when she became the Moon Spirit," Sokka said, gazing at the darkened moon again: it hovered before them, in the twilight sky. "And if she had not made that sacrifice just because she wanted to be with me, well… the world as we know it would have been ravaged by the Ocean Spirit and we'd all be dead, likely. So… she made the right choice. I wasn't the right choice for her… just as I'm not for Suki. I probably never was. She's better off without me."

"Well… I'd rather say you're better off without her," Azula told him. Sokka smiled a little, looking at her in disbelief. "Truly, though… someone who stifles you to that extent should not be your partner. I would never stand for it."

"You're too headstrong for that. I ought to learn a thing or two from you," Sokka chuckled.

"Finally, someone realizes that. You're certainly smarter than most, Sokka. Congratulations," Azula smirked, and he laughed even louder.

That he could laugh at all after a break-up was quite surprising. Perhaps ending that relationship was more akin to loosening a heavy weight upon his shoulders… Azula bit her lip, nudging him lightly with her foot by swaying it to the side, bumping it into his boot.

"Are you alright with this?" she asked. "All of it? It almost feels like… you were ready for the break-up to happen by now. But if you're not feeling up for this weird journey of ours anymore…"

"I thought you'd be more upset to know we're being hunted now. Especially on those terms," Sokka said, glancing at her with unease. Azula scoffed.

"Well, Zuzu has decided to come out and play, I suppose," she said. "Not that I'm all that worried or scared. He's about as threatening as a tadpole. At worst he'll spread some disgusting disease on me, but…"

"You're sure you want to underestimate him to that extent?" Sokka asked. Azula scoffed.

"Underestimate?" she said.

"He has the power of his entire nation behind him," Sokka said. "And he's in good terms with the other nations' leadership too. He has a terrible temper. And I don't know if his patience has really run its course by now."

Azula frowned. She glanced at the wanted poster she was still holding: the art was outrageous, the threat of death was preposterous… but was it that genuine? Did Zuko truly not care whether she was alive or dead anymore?

"Do you really think he… he's reached that point now?" Azula asked. Sokka gritted his teeth upon hearing genuine fear in her voice. "I mean… I could fight him. I know I could. I'm stronger than him, always have been, but… I suppose, if he catches me off guard? Or, of course, if he reaches out to you in secret and convinces you to turn on me…"

"He would fail," Sokka said, simply. Azula huffed.

"So confident and certain, are you?" she said. "Why should I trust that you'll never turn against me?"

"Well… for starters, I don't want to," Sokka said. Azula raised her eyebrows. "Like I said, our conversations are about the best ones I've had in… well, maybe ever. Might be the only thing that rivals this is when me and my dad discuss anything we're both really interested in, but that's different anyway…"

"So, I have to live on for you to talk to me. I could do that from the inside of a jail cell, now, couldn't I?" Azula said, skeptically. Sokka smiled.

"You could. But then you wouldn't be able to take Yue on this crazy trip and we'd all be poorer for it," he said. Azula huffed.

"Of course. Well, I suppose I owe you something after all, fishy princess," Azula said: Yue grinned from the water, as good as clapping enthusiastically, and Azula smiled before shaking her head. "Be as cheerful as you want to be… the truth is you're sorry for how things turned out here, aren't you?"

Yue's enthusiasm reeled back, and she sighed.

"I… I didn't know Sokka was going through something so difficult. I guess neither did you, so… we had no warning. We really didn't. Say… you should scold him for me."

"Scold him?" Azula repeated. Sokka raised his eyebrows as Yue pouted.

"We deserve his honesty. We're all in this together, aren't we? If… if he's troubled, or in pain, or anguished, he should tell us about it. It's only right. If we can help him sort it out, we will. If we can't, well… we'll just sit in silence with him and let him know he's not alone."

"Huh," Azula said. "Well, Sokka, it appears you pissed her off."

"I… what?" Sokka said. Azula chuckled as Yue scrambled to contradict her.

"Fine, it's not quite as bad as that… but she says you need to come clean about complicated, difficult, troubling things," Azula said. Sokka gazed at her in confusion. "She says we'll help you sort it out. Now, I don't know who exactly told her she could make that kind of decision for me, but she appears to be making it anyway…"

"Oh, please! You're sitting with him by the beach, talking out his problems, talking about yours! Even if I hadn't said anything about helping Sokka from now on, you'd already have done it without my prompting you!"

Azula had no answer for that. Yue didn't often lash out, but it was even rarer when she could leave her speechless too. Sokka blinked blankly, recognizing Azula was reacting to something… not realizing what it was, however.

"What happened now?" he asked. Azula grimaced.

"She's, uh, accusing me of being dishonest about that last thing, I suppose," Azula said. "Didn't really notice I was being quite so nice to you. No worries, Sokka, it won't happen again…"

"I wouldn't mind if it did."

"Hence why it won't."

Sokka chuckled, shaking his head and relaxing on his forearms again. Azula glanced at him wistfully, somehow uncertain about their silence now, even if it shouldn't have bothered her.

"I… never realized things between you and Suki weren't all perfection, even though it makes enough sense that they weren't," Azula said. Sokka shrugged.

"Eh… happens at times. Not everyone can be like my sister and Aang, clearly," he said. Azula sighed.

"Clearly," she repeated. "You've had worse luck with these things than I have, feels like."

"Why? Never had a boyfriend who turned into the moon? Or one you dated liberally and weirdly for ten years only to realize you actually made no sense together, leading you to run away right before a marriage proposal?" Sokka asked, with a bright, sarcastic grin. Azula snorted.

"Never had a boyfriend at all, rather," she said. Sokka's eyebrows rose. "I've never really… had anything of the sort. So it's difficult to fathom your point of view, I'd say. It doesn't make a lot of sense for you to be this devoted to Yue after she died, as far as I can tell. You get nothing out of it. You cut things off with Suki and you seem to think it'll be for the best for her, too… I would dare say she's not entirely certain of that, considering her last-minute leniency. Apparently, you're a better catch than you appear to be."

"Why, thank you. That's about the nicest thing you've ever said about me," Sokka said, with a dry grin. Azula bowed her head towards him.

"I do try," she said, mockingly. He laughed, shaking his head. "My point is, though… judging by what you've been through, it feels like it's not worth it. You're putting in efforts that will yield no results… Yue can't come back, can she? Even if you help her experience and see everything she couldn't… there's no true reward for what you're doing, is there?"

"Love isn't about rewards," Sokka said. Azula frowned. "At least, not for me. When I love someone, I want what's best for them. I want them safe, happy, healthy… at peace. If Yue has been anguished over my life, over how I've handled my romantic partners, over how I've been suffering over what's going on with the moon? I'd definitely like to appease her and help cheer her up. I don't know if I can get my life together… but if it'll help her find peace of her own, I'd love to do it."

"You want a decent life… for other people's sake, rather than your own?" Azula asked, skeptical. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"Guess you're about to call me an idiot for that, are you?"

Azula grimaced, though she didn't say anything this time. Sokka raised an eyebrow. Her gaze drifted towards the water… then she shook her head abruptly.

"I was told… that what you've described is not love. So perhaps you've deceived yourself all along… or those who said that to me were mistaken, but that seems unlikely."

"What?" Sokka said, pushing himself up fully. "What does that mean?"

"It means… that kind of devotion is something I'm familiar with," Azula said, with a shrug. "You give and you give, you do everything for the other person with absolutely no concern as to whether your efforts are reciprocated or not. And if it kills you, if it destroys you? That's the least of your concerns. It's worth it, you think… and then some smug know-it-all pretending to be a medical expert shows up to tell you that all those things are terribly unhealthy and that that's not love at all, that you are not loved, that you were never loved, and that what you were doing wasn't love either. So… I'm sorry to say that you might be as lost in life as I am. A sad place to be in, isn't it?"

Sokka frowned, sitting upright properly again. He seemed to mull her words over for a moment, and Azula eyed him skeptically as he did.

"You're talking about your father, aren't you?" he asked. Azula winced, tearing her eyes from him again.

"It's not just him," she said. "My… my nation, altogether. I… I did everything I could to fulfill my duty. None of it went against our code, our belief system. But in comes Zuzu, breaking every precept, every doctrine, allied with our long-time enemies, pretending to be the answer, the beacon that the nation should follow… and they do exactly that, without questioning it just because he has a crown on his head. No one… no one fought for me. No one protested my treatment. No one demanded that I, the truly loyal child of the Fire Lord, was given any dignity. I was stuck in a damnable straight jacket, fated to rot in that damn place until Zuko… until he needed me for his own ends. And to hell with what I wanted, what was good for me, what I deserved, what I was owed…! None of it mattered. None if it has ever mattered. I'm just… the annoyance to be rid of. The pest that assails and burdens the poor innocent people with her antics and her madness. Why… why did I do any of what I did during the war? Why did I follow my father's beliefs and constantly fulfilled his expectations when he discarded me just as well? He must be brimming with pride over Zuko right now… the son he made stronger by treating him like a pebble in his shoe, a problem to be rid of. And Zuko came back, over and over again, to prove him wrong. Which is exactly what he wanted, worth noting… he just expected Zuko wouldn't go as far as to betray him, but even so, he must be thrilled that his firstborn would claw for power by any means necessary. Just as he did."

"Any means necessary?" Sokka asked.

"He didn't win our Agni Kai," Azula said, with a dry grin. "He would have, make no mistake… but he became Fire Lord because I got locked up in an asylum, not because he defeated me lawfully. The one time he had a chance to do it, I… I attacked your sister, as I'm sure you know. I knew I was losing, I shouldn't have been. Sozin's Comet was powering me, so… it was infuriating that Zuko would have control while I was losing mine. So, I tried to reclaim control. When your sister, for whatever reason, walked into the battlefield… I knew I could throw him off by attacking her instead. So I did that. He got burned when he jumped between my attack and your sister. The Agni Kai's winner is the one who burns the opponent. That's the basic rule. That's why my father defeated him, and he didn't even fight back that time. And… I burned him too, with lightning. And then your sister defeated me. And even then…"

"By that logic, Katara should be Fire Lord," Sokka concluded. Azula scoffed.

"What?"

"Well, you burned Zuko, she beat you, she wins the Agni Kai in the end. How about that, I'm the brother of the real Fire Lord," Sokka said. Azula's lips curled into a disbelieving smile.

"That's not what I… what?" she said. Sokka snickered.

"We should definitely bring it up to Katara. She'd demand her dues, you know she would. Fire Lord Katara, married to Avatar Aang… and Zuko deposed. Does it sound funny, at least?"

"Funny… and entirely unreasonable," Azula admitted, with a chuckle. Sokka smiled sadly at her.

"I'm sorry," he said, startling her. "No one… no one ever really bothered hearing your side, did they?"

"Well… why would anyone?" Azula asked. "I'm just… a nutcase who needs to be diagnosed, tossed into a cage and left to rot there. I'm a threat, a menace, a problem to be rid of. If given so much as a foothold of power, I will evidently use it to take revenge on everyone who ever wronged me, see? So… you should stop being so nice to me. It'll only backfire on you. You'll wind up regretting it…"

She said the last words with a mocking, sing-song voice that did nothing to hide the gravity of what she was talking about. Sokka grimaced, gazing at her with remorse.

"Guess… guess I'll try to brace myself for it, in case you do decide to do that," he said. Azula frowned, eyeing him skeptically. "But considering you haven't thrown me overboard off the balloon so far, and we've been traveling together for quite a while now…"

"Your terrible cooking sometimes tempts me to do it, just so you know," Azula pointed out. Sokka scoffed.

"Like yours is much better," he said. "Maybe, out of the three of us, Yue is the one who would have cooking skills, wouldn't you say?"

"Her?" Azula smirked, glancing at the water. Yue grimaced, flustered and uncertain. "She begs to differ, looks like. Besides, she and I are royal. You're the commoner. You're the one who should know how to…"

"Look, I can roast whatever I hunt or fish, but that's as far as my culinary talents extend," Sokka said, though a spark of an idea came to mind over Azula's previous words. "Though… just so you know? Back home, I'm kind of like a prince, myself."

Azula scoffed: in the water, Yue's eyes brightened upon hearing words she had first heard from him, so long ago. The Fire Nation Princess glanced at the Water Tribe one, finding her giggling sweetly over what Sokka had said. Azula blinked blankly before turning towards the smug non-bender…

"You're not," she said, curtly. Sokka scoffed.

"Am too! I'm the Chief's son, I'm privileged over everyone else, and that means I didn't need to cook to save my life because someone else was doing it for me for most of my childhood," Sokka grinned, proudly. Azula's jaw dropped. "So, see? For all that matters, I'm as royal as either one of you."

"Fancy that: we're the royal losers," Azula said: Sokka yelped, and Yue gasped. "No, but, really! I'm an actual Princess, and I lost my title, the throne that was granted to me, my nation, and I'm now a hunted criminal, aren't I? You… you're not really a prince and you're pretending to be one over weird motives, but even if you were somehow, you're on the run with me now and you most likely have nowhere better to go or nothing better to do if you're here… and Yue is seemingly a stowaway in my head, stuck in every reflective surface I ever see. Instead of living it up in golden palaces and gilded cages… we're on the weirdest trip I've ever been on, instead, and living like anything but royalty."

"The Royal Exiles…" Sokka said, with a slow smirk. Azula's eyes widened. "I like the sound of that!"

"You don't have to give us a name! Besides, I'm the only exile. You're just… weird. And Yue is, uh, gone," Azula said. "Figure out a better one that properly represents all our experiences or don't do it at all."

"Ugh, I'll have to think it over, but this is tricky, damn! You help me!" Sokka said, poking her ribs with a finger: Azula winced, hands instinctively in a defensive kata, and Sokka only smirked at her reaction. "Oooh… someone's ticklish."

"And someone's got a death wish. Don't you dare do that again, or you're going to pay for it," Azula said: as usual, the infuriating man with her only seemed to take her threats as challenges, going by the proud smile on his face.

"We'll see about that," he smirked, teasingly. Azula huffed.

"The Forsaken Royals," she growled. Sokka raised his eyebrows. "Why not?"

"That sounds very depressing," he said. "I want something more uplifting than that! Exiles at least sounds like we're on our way to have adventures and…"

"Misadventures, rather. The Royal Misadventurers?" Azula smirked. Sokka scoffed.

"I think we're a work-in-progress. Maybe that's what we ought to call ourselves," he said, with a slight smile. "I don't really know if there's something that binds us all together… but I guess it would be Yue, huh? She's the one who got attached to you, for whatever reason, and I joined this ride because of that."

"And for some reason you still haven't decided you've had enough of me and my malice… you're certainly an odd one, Sokka," Azula decided. "The Odd Royals…"

"Huh. That's a valid name, because we'd need one more member to be the Even Royals, after all…"

"You…!"

She snorted and burst out laughing. Sokka smirked proudly at the sound, watching as she rolled to the side, trying to keep him from seeing how embarrassingly she was laughing at his simple, foolish joke…

"T-that was… not funny. Not at all…" she said, returning to herself, a hand still over her mouth. Sokka smirked, nudging her foot with his this time.

"I think that is one thing we have in common, actually," he said. "All three of us. We laugh at bad jokes, even when we don't want to. Well, you don't want to, I don't mind laughing no matter who made the joke…"

"Because you're unrefined. I have some dignity to preserve," Azula said, smirking.

"Do you, now?" Sokka smirked.

"Well… maybe I'm not doing a great job of it right now, but I do," Azula said, her smile waning as she glanced at him. "You… are feeling better now?"

"Oh…" Sokka blinked blankly, frowning upon hearing the question. "Weirdly enough, yeah. I… heh. It felt pretty awful when it happened, and don't worry, I'm scared enough of Suki's wrath to know we'd better get going soon. But… maybe I should've just called it quits forever ago instead of letting it drag out. Strange, though, that just sitting here with you for a little while was… well, that helpful. Thank you."

"I… well, I won't make a habit of talking you out of your bad funks. So don't expect it to happen again," Azula said. Sokka smiled.

"That you did it now was enough, I think. You don't owe me anything," Sokka said. "If anything, I'm the one indebted to you. All the unresolved feelings and conflicts I had over Yue… you're helping me sort through them even if just by telling me about how she's doing. And you ended up helping me with Suki too, even if you didn't deserve getting dragged into it. I'm sorry that you did."

"Well, I'm not sorry to see the last of her, if I just did," Azula said, with a dry grin. "She'll always hold a grudge on me for defeating her back during the war. Which, yes, I'm sure you resent me for because we were enemies back then, but…"

"You know what?" Sokka said, with a slight smirk. "Since we're sharing terrible truths about how awful we are…"

"You… huh?" Azula blinked blankly. "You're not about to say you're glad I…"

"No, but I will say… one time she made fun of me and the others for losing fights as many times as we did, and I may or may not have shut her down by bringing up that she lost against you," Sokka said, with a guilty grin. Azula gasped, covering her mouth with a hand. "Yeeeeah… not my finest moment, true. Maybe that's when our problems really started, huh? Well, no, never mind, that was after the Boiling Rock after all…"

"You… used me to win an argument against your girlfriend?" Azula asked, with a devious smirk. "Careful, now. You're going to start growing on me, Sokka, and I don't think either of us wants that…"

"Azula, we've been stuck with each other for the better part of a month: we've grown on each other like weeds by now. Too late to worry about that at this point," he said, with a careless shrug.

"And you… don't mind that?" Azula asked. "Do I need to remind you of who I am? The scary criminal Princess who would set the world on fire if her mental state allowed her to…?"

"Honestly?" Sokka said, looking at her earnestly. "I get the feeling I'm only just getting to know who you really are."

Azula frowned. There was no hint of mirth in his voice, or his countenance…

"Those things you said… they're elements of you, but not the full picture," Sokka said, with a shrug. "And I barely even know how genuine any of it is anymore. For someone who apparently is a terribly dangerous criminal with no restraint, you sure have showed plenty for all this time."

"Just because Yue would be all too upset if I did anything that might hurt you," Azula said, rolling her eyes. Sokka smiled.

"Then may she protect me long enough to grow even more on you, to the point where you won't want to hurt me anymore by your own volition," Sokka grinned. Azula winced.

Did he understand what those words meant? She doubted it. He was a normal person, ultimately, regardless of his attempts to establish that he was like her, like Yue…

Azula sighed, shrugging in defeat. Sokka chuckled, reaching out to clap her shoulder gently.

"Come on, then. Let's get out of here before Suki changes her mind and starts hunting us right now," he said. Azula huffed.

"It sure is terribly inconvenient, traveling with a wanted criminal. Wanted for crimes of heartbreak and emotional distress on a Kyoshi Warrior… and somehow that makes you a far more serious menace than someone who's kidnapped children, stolen over half the assets in the Palace's safe chambers, torn the hulls of battleships just before they set out on important missions, among many other ordeals that cost the Fire Nation far more money and expenses than anyone ever could quantify…"

"What can I say? I'm truly that dangerous," Sokka said, lowering his voice menacingly, teasingly. Azula laughed, despite herself, shaking her head.

"What a pair we make. Uh, trio, rather," she said, glancing at the water. Yue, of course, giggled at Sokka's teasing words.

Azula couldn't quite help but smile, even if she feared she shouldn't have reasons to do so. There were more than enough reasons why Yue should have attached herself to anyone but her… but maybe after this conversation, after picking up on the main thing Sokka didn't have in common with them, Azula had started to suspect just why the Princess had chosen her, if she had chosen her at all.

Azula's people, her nation, had forsaken her. In their own way, Yue's had done the same thing. Whether they loved them or hated them, ultimately, they were Princesses who had given their everything to a cause that had destroyed them. They had become sacrifices, pawns in someone else's game, ready to die if that was what it took to keep their campaigns alive, strong, thriving. If Azula's father had asked her to sacrifice herself fully for him, she would have hated herself for hesitating. She would have hated herself for thinking it wasn't fair. She would have forced herself to go through with it… no matter the cost to her person.

Yue had made the sacrifice by herself, for no one else could do it in her place. Just so, the world had moved on without her, just as it had without Azula. Sokka was the strange, single person who hadn't given up on either of them. Maybe he hadn't cared one bit about Azula until this ordeal had begun… but now, there was a sincerity in his words, his attempts to understand her, that Azula simply couldn't overlook.

But could she be right to suspect the true source of that connection between herself and Yue? Could she be right to believe that Sokka should not look to bond any further with her… for neither she nor Yue were fated for anything but loneliness?

Maybe that was why they were stuck with each other. Maybe they were walking in each other's shoes, in a twisted way. Maybe their only chance at humanity, at reclaiming the possibility of a mundane, simple life, was the tall, kind, humorous and thoughtful man who opened the balloon's basket door for her to step on it, first. Azula nodded in acknowledgement, and he followed her aboard before beginning the work to take to the skies anew.

She might never find peace. Yue most likely wouldn't, either, regardless of her attempts to do so through this strange journey. But if this was the closest either of them would ever get to friendship, companionship, to staving away loneliness and experiencing so many of the blissful things they had been deprived from? Azula intended to take it. She wasn't a good enough person to spare Sokka from the anguish and suffering that would most likely follow after trying to help someone like her, to no avail. She would cling to him, make the most of him… and once she was ready, she'd simply have teach herself how to let go, just like everyone had let go of her, so long ago. Just like everyone but Sokka had let go of Yue.

[it-happened-one-fic]

Far More Than My Love - Diluc

Author's Notes: I wrote this fic while listening to Dolly Parton's song "Don't Call it Love." (I recommend you try it, it's a really sweet song!) In initially it was going to be a fic for Twisted Wonderland's Azul Ashengrotto, but I just couldn't get it going so I spun the wheel of fortune and wrote it for Diluc instead. This fic has actually just been sitting a google document gathering dust for a while now, but I didn't know what to post today so it's finally getting to debut. Which reminds me, this is first Diluc fic I'll be posting which is both exciting and nerve-wracking since I've read a lot of good ficlets for him on here already. Reader is gender neutral as per usual. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Fluff/mild angst (kinda?)

Word count: 817

I sat, hand lazily intertwined with his and leaning against his side as we both gazed at the crackling fire in his hearth. 

No one could have predicted that so much snow would start falling quite so suddenly. If they had, I wouldn’t have come to the Dawn Winery for dinner no matter how much I’d wanted to see Diluc or looked forward to Adelinde’s cooking.

But I couldn’t say I regretted anything as I sat curled up by his side in an oddly domestic scene. It was almost enough to be embarrassing…. But then I felt too at peace to get flustered.

His thumb casually swiped across the side of my hand, rubbing in an almost rhythmic manner that was oddly relaxing. I glanced over to see him staring towards the dancing flames, their golden light reflected in his ruby-colored eyes. 

He was thinking about something. What exactly, was hard to say, but his thoughtful gaze was easily enough to make me curious. I tilted my head so I could better observe him, debating whether I should question his pondering expression or not.

Glancing down, he met my gaze, but his thoughtful, if perhaps concerned, expression remained, “If you were asked…. What would you say I felt for you?”

His question caught me off guard, but it did answer some of the questions I’d had. His invitation to dinner had been… sudden.

It wasn’t odd for Diluc to invite me over for dinner. He was, after all, quite affectionate. What was strange was that he’d done so in front of everyone over at Angel’s Share. Usually his invitations were more private, only being offered when it was just the two of us or even via letter. The fact he’d done so in front of so many people had struck me as odd. That, paired with the question he’d just asked, made me wonder if someone had said something.

Because despite being Mondstadt’s vigilante hero and uncrowned king, Diluc could be quite insecure sometimes. He seemed to have difficulty believing that I was happy being with him and loved him.

I had never once doubted his affections for me and I couldn’t be happier. But Diluc often seemed to question whether he was good enough for me. And that was sad, because no man could ever make me feel as loved or happy as he had done and would no doubt continue to do.

 I frowned slightly, at both his question and my thoughts before shaking my head and offering him a reassuring smile, “That would be rather hard for me to answer. After all, I don’t know your thoughts or feelings at any given moment. But if I were asked, I would tell them that you loved me.”

He nodded, but didn’t seem entirely reassured. In fact, he turned to look back towards the flames with an even more pensive expression than before. 

I frowned once more at my failed attempts to reassure him and found myself nudging him, determined to both improve his mood and change his thought processes.

He looked down as soon as nudged him with my shoulder, an expectant expression on face that made me smile, “If they asked you how I felt for you what would you say?”

He blinked in silent surprise as I echoed his question back at him. But then a slight smile appeared on his face, “I would say you loved me far more than I deserved.”

I shoved at him, half-playful and half-annoyed, “Don’t say that! You deserve every bit of love I give you and possibly more! Especially what with all you do for me and everyone here.”

He shook his head and opened his mouth, undoubtedly about to say something about how that wasn’t true, but I cut him off with a new question, “Well then, what would you say if someone asked you how you felt about me?”

He stopped, his gaze holding mine as a slow smile curved across his face. It was one of those moments where an impossible amount of affection glittered deep within his eyes. One of those moments where I didn’t see how anyone, including Diluc himself, could ever question his love for me or the fact that I loved him. Because how could I help but love such a man?

He twisted, carefully taking my hand in his, “I would tell them that you are far more than my love. Love could never encompass all of what I feel for you.” 

I’d been fully prepared to tease him, but all such intentions had disappeared as soon as he began to speak. That gentle look in those red eyes that so many viewed as too intense, but I had long viewed as the greatest comfort in the world.

“If someone were to ask me how I felt for you I would tell them that you are my everything.”

[practically-an-x-man]

Which of our OCs would get along the best, and which would absolutely loathe each other

Ooooh good question! I'm gonna try to organize this as best I can...

Rae: - Would get along with: Kayla! They had somewhat similar backstories in a way, coming into their power as retaliation for trying to protect someone they love, and she'd appreciate Kayla's sense of justice and devotion to doing good - Would loathe: Director Hawke. For one thing, she's a superhuman who isn't a witch (she's a mutant), so there would already be tension there, and Rae has such a strong sense of justice that it would end in more than a few fights

Robin: - Would get along with: Pippa comes to mind, I think they'd bond, but I also think she'd develop a fondness/friendship for Hyun-Ki while trying to save him from Jessi's control - Would loathe: Jessi. Between being deaf and having sonic powers herself, she's immune to Jessi's hypnosis, and it leaves her with a complete and utter hatred for how she chooses to use her powers.

Madison: - Would get along with: I'm going with Liah, actually. She's a bit pacifistic for Madison's tastes, and Madison would definitely insist on teaching her some sort of self-defense, but overall they'd get along really well (and seeing Liah be so comfortable with her nonhuman appearance would help Madison get more comfortable with her own mutations) - Would loathe: Hm... Esme. She'd feel very shallow and image-focused to Madison, whether or not that's true, and they wouldn't get along.

Ophelia: - Would get along with: Siv for sure. I mean, we've chatted offhandedly about it, but I really do think they'd make good allies and would be friends despite all the rampant taunting of each other - Would loathe: Max. She'd respect his tech out of academic curiosity, but they'd be on opposite sides and it would end in a lot of really nasty fights and property damages.

Jasper: - Would get along with: Cory! They'd be alt besties for sure - Would loathe: Ameerah. At first they might bond over their shared empathic abilities, but then Jasper would learn what she does with her ability in behavioral therapy and would get so disgusted that they can't go back.

Katherine: - Would get along with: Reggie! They have so many similar experiences to bond over together! - Would loathe: Onnie for sure. As someone who's worked closely with actual gods, Onnie's god complex would really get on her nerves. And that's not even mentioning all the issues of morality and violence.

Quinn: - Would get along with: Jay. He reminds her of Billy, for one, and they can bond over their experiences with their disabilities and how they came into them - Would loathe: In a weird way... Pyrrha, actually. It's really just jealousy of her prosthetics - she doesn't know the backstory behind them, so to her it just looks like Pyrrha has access to boundless tech that grants her all the mobility Quinn has lost. If they actually got over themself and tried to make friends, they could get close, but Quinn just can't get past the unconscious biases and jealousy of everything Pyrrha's able to do

Kestrel: - Would get along with: Arya. They'd bond over their love of harmless chaos and both being changelings/fae-related, and Kestrel would be largely immune to Arya's siren-calls so there's no risk of danger there. - Would loathe: Also Director Hawke. I was trying not to have any duplicates in this lineup, especially since you have so many OCs to work with, but the fact of the matter is that Hawke would try to sell Kestrel on the black market.

Eris: - Would get along with: Anyone that would give them a good fight, and be strong enough to get back up and do it again. Max and Laila come to mind. - Would loathe: Meredith. They don't understand her hesitance or refusal to just jump into a battle, and she gets just as irritated by his reckless violence - it's a strange detail to get hung up on, but it grates on both of them and they can never really bond.

Nikoletta: - Would get along with: Cassandra. Her dark magic and immunity to Nikoletta's shadow-touch would make her about the only person Nikoletta can relax around, and they're fairly similar women even beyond that. - Would loathe: Ember. She's not used to having people reach out or try to help her, so she'd distrusting of Ember's selfless tendencies and assumes he has some ulterior motive (even when they really are just trying to help). For a long time, Nikoletta believes that no action truly comes from the goodness of someone's heart, and believes Ember's always out to get something from her.

Indigo: - Would get along with: Thalia. She'd really respect her for defying what was expected of her and building her own life out of it, which is something Indie's always struggled to do. - Would loathe: Athena seems like the most obvious answer, but yeah it would be Athena.

Prometheus: - Would get along with: Hailey. They probably eased her nightmares while she was overseas, and continues to ease her nightmares even after her death (she's still conscious, and technically still exists in the Waking world... it counts, okay?) - Would loathe: The Negative Speed Force. It reminds them too much of other nightmares, or even themself as a nightmare before they became Prometheus

[nubian-queen22]

Fire We Made - Chapter 1 (The Arrival)

Neteyam used to love flying long distance. The feeling itself was one that he grew to enjoy even when his father wasn't aksing for patrols. Never did he once think that this flight would be to his new home. It is said that a leader must die in order for one to rise in the Omaticaya clan. To see his friend, Tsarem, take his birthright would be bittersweet ahd it not been for his siblings capture and rescue many night's before.

Now the prince had to leave everything he once called home behind. His grandmother, searching for Spider, even his aunt and grandfahters' resting place had to become distant memories for the sake of his safety; at least that's what his father, Jake Sully had said.

Now the family has to take a journey ebyond the forest. Beyond the war. Whether or not the sky demons will follow is left a mystery to Neteyam. Only now, the only thing to focus on was staying on course to their new home.

The island of Awa'atlu. Home to the Metaykina clan. A place surrounded by water and those who inhabited the shores. As the family remained in flight, horns were blown signaling to the metaykina that strangers were here.

As the rested their ikran's on the sands of the island, Neteyam could'nt help but feel strange, as if The great mother was plaguing his emotions with an unkown feeling. Many of the Metaykina surrounded the family out of caution and curiosity. Among the clan appeared two boys, Anoung and Rokto, who were sons of the chief.

"What is that?" "Is that supposed to be a tail?"

The boys have only forgotten that even as strangers, they were insulting the family of the Toruk Makto, one of which fought and won wars against the sky demons.

Just as both boys continued to heckle the Sully family, Tsireya finally makes her appearance from the shallows via ilu. This only cathces the attention of Lo'ak, the youngest son Jake and little brother to Neteyam. From her appearance and aura, Neteyam knew that Lo'ak was simping big time.

Aonung- "It's too small, like how can they even swim?"

Tsireya then scolded her brothers insults to come to hault. At least she was able to show respect when it arrived in her clan.

Tsireya- Don't Roxto, Aonung enough!

The young girl hissed at her brother obnoxious behavior before glimsping at the family, more specifcally at Lo'ak who only just replied "hey" only to have Tsireya blushing.

Great, how can this day get any more drama filled for Neteyam?

That question was later answered as both his parents and the chief , Tonowari, and his mate Ronal, discussed terms of uturu for the Sully family.

Neytiri- Uturu has been asked.

Both reef leaders used their love language, eye contact, to communicate the final decision.

But before Tonowari could voice his final decision, he lets out a yelp towards the skies.

Moments later, the clouds looked as if they were moving. The clouds morphed into a beast, and said beast was one the Sully's knew all to well, another ikran.

The ikran screeched as if it responded to the calls of the Chief. The slight blue color was keen to match with the air and sea.

(all rights for the ikran go to Pinterest and the creator)

The ikran landed away from the grouping with grace and delicacy to show the rider, a another female na'vi. The girl was different from the Sully's and the Metaykina people. Adorned with light blue skin and clothing made of netting, pearls, and shells, the girl showed poise let alone beauty to all who looked.

It was from that moment, Neteyam knew the deifinition of being left speechless.

Who was she? How is hse able to claim a ikran if she is born a Metaykina?

The girl walked through the divide the clan has made causing all who saw this to begin their whispers of praises to the Great Mother. What made this girl important to give such acknowledgement?

Beckoned by the calls, she approached Tonowaria and Ronal giving her greetings.

???: I see you, mother . I see you, father. You called for me?

(picture created with Bing AI)

Neteyam could shake the sound of her voice. As if it was laced with the sweetest honey and yovo combined.

Jake- (whispers) Is this who I think it is?

The girl only smiled towards Toruk and his mate greeting them in repsect.

???: I see you, Toruk. Neytiri, I see you.

Tonowari: I understand there may be questions. Jake Sully, this is Nayl'a Vayr'i, the daughter of our Great Mother. She was brought to our shores from a storm long ago. From then on we have taken her under our care as this was he Mother's prophecy.

Nayl'a Vayr'i

Neteyam couldn't shake the name out his mind.

Tonowari: Toruk Makto and his family will reside her. Teach them the ways of our people, so they will not feel useless. My sons and daughters will guide your children the ways of our shores.

Aonung not pleased attempted to defy his father's commands, however this was not successful. Roxto only showed no emotion as he only exchanged minor looks towards the second eldest Sully, Kiri, who looked unamused at all but the environment.

Tsireya joyfully grabbed her sister's hand and walked towardxs the Sully family.

Tsireya: We will show you our village, and you new home.

As the young girl guided the family cautiosly, Neteyam saw this as his chance, to at least find out a little more about this daughter of Ewya. However, this alone was not going to be a easy mission.

To be continued....

[uminohotaru]

Journey to the Land of the Gods

Banana Fish spoilers warning!

I'm late to the party but yeah, I just finished Banana Fish if you know what I mean. And maybe my heart would rather switch to smth else now and heal but my brain won't stop thinking about that story. So I feel the need to rant into the void, at least. I have no idea whether there are Banana Fish fans among my subscribers but if you haven’t seen it, I really REALLY recommend you watch this masterpiece, and that you better scroll this post without glancing under the cut since I'm going to analyze the end. Or rather, why could that story have had no other ending. 

And it all has probably been said and discussed a thousand times but hey, I’ve told ya I’m late to the party, and I haven’t read any thorough analyses except those in the youtube comments below random videos, so now I need my own chance to rant. 

During my short journey through the BF content (finally I can google it all I want without being afraid of the spoilers yay!) I came across different opinions on the ending. Mostly pain, of course, but then it’s either acceptance or denial. My first reaction was violent denial. But funny thing, as much as I wanted to immediately forget the Garden of Light and drown myself in fix-it AUs (the latter, I still do read), I realized quite soon that I can’t. That no matter how painful it is, the original ending is the thing that MAKES SENSE. No, Ash dying like that wasn’t something that had been decided on for the sake of shock, as some of the most bitter opinions I came across accused. Neither it devaluates the whole struggle and his final decision to leave to Japan with Eiji and have a normal life. No, there was something a lot deeper there, I realized once I’d cried my eyes out. As heartbroken as I was, I just couldn’t bring myself to hate it and reject it, and I tend to do that with the endings I do not like, as it happened with some other stories that I rejected with my whole heart and even devoted a good amount of my time to write the fix-its for. But strangely enough, it was not the case with Banana Fish. Its finale just makes sense. In fact, it makes so much sense that I’d go as far as to say that this whole story is the story of a journey to death which stemmed from the image of the leopard’s inscrutable journey to the summit of Kilimanjaro, the House of Gods. I can almost see the author being captivated with that image, and as someone who’s been writing from the young age I know that often (not always but still) you start the story from its finale. You take some resulting picture that for some reason appeared in your head and mesmerised you, and begin to unravel it, like an investigator: what could have happened? who are those people? why did they end up like this? Of course, it is only my assumptions but if I allow myself to guess, I’ll say the entire character of Ash, him being the wild cat, has originated exactly from that short excerpt of Hemingway. 

Kilimanjaro is a snow-covered mountain 19,710 feet high, and is said to be the highest mountain in Africa. Its western summit is called the Masai "Ngaje Ngai," the House of God. Close to the western summit there is the dried and frozen carcass of a leopard. No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude.

The concept is here. It was never a question whether Ash dies, it was the question of how and why he dies. Just like the riddle he’s been pondering on—what was the leopard doing near the summit? What did it seek there? Was it climbing or trying to descend? And that in either case, it must have realized it won’t return. The direct parallel to that leopard, in the end Ash finds the answers to all those questions for himself, on his own journey to the Land of the Gods.

The Japanese characters for the name Izumo literally mean “out of the clouds,” evoking images of a place where the seen and the unseen worlds blur together.

Long before there was a Kyoto or Nara, this region was the center of what was known as Shinkoku, the Country of the Gods.

This is no coincidence. Japan in Banana Fish, and for Ash especially, is the image of the world untouched by the evil where you don’t need a gun, rather than a real country with the same amount of evil and dirt as any other. The fact that Eiji describes it as the country where there are 80 thousand gods, and that he is from Izumo, the Land of the Gods, of all places, makes the spiritual connotation all the more evident. The white peak of Kilimanjaro soaring over the wild jungle, an impossible image of two different worlds in one--there could not have been a better symbolism. Ash, the character who in one of the early episodes says, “I’ve never repented, not even once”, cannot even imagine himself in such a world, just like the sinner can’t seriously think about paradise, or a leopard about climbing a snow-clad peak, so of course his immediate reaction is “Are you nuts? me in Japan? what I’d be even doing there?” But the invitation is there. And deep inside, he realizes that yes, he wants that. To be with Eiji, the angel, in his Land of the Gods. Yet his hands are stained with blood. He's been ruined and tainted in most horrible ways. Is it even possible? But what Eiji sees is his beautiful, fragile, wounded soul, and he says—yes, of course you can, and I will take you there, let’s begin with learning the language. This is when it starts—Ash’s journey from the jungle and toward the summit, toward the Land of the Gods. Or well, that’s when it becomes more or less a conscious decision. And maybe that is also when he realizes it will probably cost him his life. 

He tries to stop and turn back, more than once. Tries to convince himself that he will never belong there, that his fate is to be just another scum on these streets, in the world he has learned how to survive in, his jungle. Just as, more than once, he understands that no, he would rather die on his way to that summit, having decided to take this journey—but die with love, rather than remain in the jungle, even as the king, but empty inside. He has seen the white summit of Kilimanjaro above the wild forest, and that’s it—he can’t tear his eyes off it. 

He learns to repent. He learns to pray. And he even takes the ultimate step—asking God to take him in place of Eiji. Just like Aslan from Narnia, a representation of Christ, he learns such a deep love that he willingly choses to sacrifice himself for another; and it’s not to say he couldn’t sacrifice himself for his friends earlier—he could, risking his life constantly to save others, not exactly cherishing it too much to begin with. But his bargain, for the lack of a better word, with God in ep.23 was something different. It was a conscious offering, a prayer to the God whom he wouldn’t even consider asking for anything earlier, the scarred soul that he is—take me instead of him. Not in the mess of the fight, say, covering Eiji with his body from a bullet, but through a prayer, in the quiet hours on his knees before that window basked in the rays of light. The difference between an act and a prayer in that sense is the difference between one moment and eternity. I'm offering myself in his place, give him the divine protection, change his fate, please God--I'm willing to pay the price. It is different.

Eiji who had a 50% chance of surviving, I believe, survived exactly because of that, at least we can say that it was implied. Ash’s spiritual journey, from being the one who “never once repented”, through finding the spirit to hope and to say I want that, please take me to the Land of the Gods, and to finally offering himself in place of the one he loves—that journey is simply amazing. 

That's why his life could not be taken simply in the mess of the fight. Narratively it would have diminished that huge journey. So he defeats the strongest enemies and survives. Like Cain says, Ash will only die if he brings it on himself. The leopard dies near the summit, but you are not a leopard, you can choose—says Eiji. And we truly can say that Ash chooses to die—from a non-lethal wound (which is more clear in the manga.) Even then, God leaves him the chance to reconsider, to return to the jungle and lick his wounds. In a way, he is safe while he stays in the jungle. But once he tries to reach Eiji, to reach the Land of the Gods, after that prayer, it is no longer so as if fate says, you've exchanged your life for his, that's it. So Ash chooses to pay and to die, and he dies on his own terms to an extent—in the peace of that library, the only place in the “jungle” that has always been his refuge, a part of another world, and he dies smiling—which implies it is not the Grim Reaper who comes for him unlike back then in the hospital, bringing dead calmness devoid of any pain as well as of joy. No, what Ash sees in that moment is some beautiful and happy scenery, so we can say that yes, he sees the Land of the Gods, his paradise where their souls are together, the exact scene from the ED2. He dies, but he ends up reaching it.

So why does Ash, not the logic of the narrative, choose death? For one, this is his part of the bargain with God: and when he is attacked exactly at the moment when he finally runs to reunite with Eiji, he realizes that. Eiji has been able to live on because Ash offered himself instead. And he should have died exactly because he covered Ash with his body, exactly because there is a price for him staying in the jungle, as well as for Ash breaking from the jungle, and from the beginning, Eiji took multiple risks and he took that last bullet meant for Ash, too, because basically his very residence in Ash’s world was the act of his love and desire to save Ash. So of course, he does. But Eiji does more than just saving his life, he saves his soul—since in the end he provides the chance for Ash to say nope, I will not have that, I will ask God to save you and take me instead. Just like Aslan the lion's sacrifice that results in his rebirth. The pinnacle of his spiritual journey, his ticket to the plane going to the Land of the Gods. No, we couldn’t have had Japan as the real 3D country in this story. We simply couldn't.

...One of the distinguishing features of Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine: the shimenawa, or immense straw rope hanging from side to side in the front. The Kaguraden building shimenawa is the largest of its kind in Japan, measuring eight meters in diameter at its largest hanging parts.

It is a reflection of the main god enshrined here, Okuninushi-no-Okami, the god of human relationships. The Japanese word for this is enmusubi, which we can translate literally as “bound fate.” 

[evieismol]

Roadtrips, portals, and other things (like being 3 inches tall)

A short gt one shot I wrote based on a dream I had.

Word count: 700 words

Alana had had quite a few weird days in her life. There was the time she’d found out her ex boyfriend was cheating on her, with her friend Delaney’s coworker, at said coworker’s baby shower. Tthe time she and Delaney had missed their bus and ended up hitchhiking several hours with a former cult member. The time Delaney had invited a random twitch streamer to join them on spring break.

Delaney was generally the common denominator when it came to weird events, actually. Alana had come to accept that about her friend years ago. At the very least, it made for some good stories (and a panic attack or two). Still, this day took the cake even by normal Delaney standards.

When Alana had gotten a call from her college friend two weeks ago asking if she wanted to go on a roadtrip to Washington State, she’d happily accepted. Her remote job meant she didn’t have to worry about taking days off to travel. And life had been beginning to feel a bit boring lately. She’d thought a weeklong trip to the gorgeous Pacific Northwest was the perfect way to liven things up a bit - plus whatever hijinks Delaney ended up pulling them into.

What she hadn’t thought was that she’d find herself standing in a field of grass far taller than she was, staring up at their now giant former friend who apparently wasn’t human, next to a tropical beach on an island that wasn’t supposed to exist.

Yeah, this one definitely takes the cake, Alana thought.

“Are you freaking out? Don’t freak out,” Theo said, crouching down to be closer to their height. He still towered over them. When he’d said they’d be three inches tall after going through the portal, she hadn’t really conceptualized just how big everything - and everyone - else would seem in comparison.

“Just-just a little,” Alana managed. She took a deep breath that was meant to be calming, looking around at her new surroundings. Where cars, skyscrapers, and the perpetual gloom of Seattle had sat moments before, an entirely different scene now lay. The field they were in stopped abruptly at a cliff, and beyond that, a thin, sandy beach, dotted by palm trees. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon, painting the sky in pastel hues. Behind her, there was what looked to be the start of a suburban neighborhood. If suburban neighborhoods were usually full of tropical plants, free of cars, and composed of nearly endless varieties of architecture making up the houses as opposed to cookie cutter buildings.

“Well, I guess that’s to be expected,” Theo replied.

“A kiddy pool. That’s a strange place for a portal,” Delaney said casually. She was taking this all pretty well, it seemed.

“Precisely,” Theo replied. It was then that another individual fell into the field, appearing from seemingly thin air just as they had.

“Jack. Took you long enough,” Theo said. Jack was a friend of Theo’s, and by that Alana meant, also not human. She and Delaney had only met the man a few hours prior, but Theo said he’d known him for several years and they could trust him.

Hopefully we can trust Theo, Alana thought. Earlier that morning, when Delaney mentioned meeting up with their old friend, she never would have questioned whether or not she could trust him. The three of them had been pretty close in college, and it was only time and distance that had resulted in them drifting apart. At one point she’d even thought she knew about everything going on in his life. That was decidedly not the case.

“I was making sure no one was watching,” Jack said, drawing himself to his feet and dusting himself off. “So, how long do you think they’ll have to stay here.”

“Couple days, maybe,” Theo said. “Until that detective gets bored.”

Right. As if everything else that had happened hadn’t been enough, there was that. The fact that Delaney and Alana had ended up right in the middle of a black market antiques investigation. Something they had absolutely no involvement in, but Theo apparently did.

God, I really know how to pick friends, Alana thought.