#ozai suspects that zuko is still alive and is in hiding | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

theerurishipper · 1 year ago

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I feel like Zuko was part of pretending that Aang was dead, since he reaffirms it when Azula asks him, although he never did take part in her lie. Unless I'm interpreting what you said wrong lmao.

Anyway, you're right about everything else. All this talk about Azula being afraid of having her face burnt or whatever is silly, because Azula isn't afraid of that. I'm sure she has a fear of Ozai, but in the finale, she is shocked, shocked, at being treated like Zuko, which reads to me that she never really thought that it was something that could happen to her at all. No matter what, Zuzu would get all the blame and she'd get off free. Azula was also abused, but in a different way than Zuko, and to make this about her simply protecting herself from Ozai because she's afraid of him is missing the point. She doesn't think he'd hurt her like that. She's trying to gain an edge over Zuko while also covering all her bases and making sure nothing taints her image. Of course, it is protection, but it isn't, like the stans say, out of sheer terror and desperation or whatever.

And another thing. It's not like Azula was lied to. She already had her suspicions that Aang was still alive. If we're talking about honesty, why did she neglect to inform Ozai of that? Are we, as sensible people, going to blame Azula for that? Then we shouldn't be blaming Zuko either. Azula was already suspicious of Aang's death, and it's not like Zuko was part of whatever she said to Ozai, because he didn't even see him until weeks later.

It also falls flat because Zuko hiding the Spirit Water from Azula doesn't change anything, because Azula already has suspicions about it and he knows that. Trying to lie about it is a way of making himself less vulnerable, but it's not like it hurts Azula, since she is in charge of the situation and has the same suspicions he does, just without the knowledge of the Spirit Water. And considering that the lie was that he was dead, it would be dangerous for him to reveal it, wouldn't it?

Him hiding it doesn't hurt Azula. He knows what she suspects and he doesn't want to give her more ammo to use against him. You can see that it's Zuko protecting himself from Azula by the way the scene is framed, with her standing above him and looking down on him, in a position of power over him. Her lies place him in actual danger, especially since Ozai is more prone to placing the blame on Zuko than Azula anyway. She's using her position as the favorite to control Zuko again. She's also protecting herself, sure, but that doesn't make it right. In any case, they both know that if the secret was revealed, that Azula didn't manage to kill Aang, Zuko would be the first target. And Azula doesn't care enough about her brother to want to protect him even if he did tell her. She'd just use it against him.

Their argument seems to be that Zuko was screwing Azula over by not revealing the Spirit Water because it would get her in trouble if Ozai found out the Avatar was alive after she told him she killed him. Which I don’t know what to make of. I mean, I guess? If you look at it upside down, maybe? I don't know. You're probably better at answering this than me, OP.

Welcome to my workshop on Tumblr Look at this shit lmao. People unironically say this. You're right about these Azula stans, fucking hell.

These people would sound like trolls, if I didn't already know that they really are that stupid and vicious.

You can see my response to OP. Lol at "we can go back and forth all day about who is to blame..." No, we can't. It really isn't that much of a mystery. I pointed out that it's stated in the show three times that Azula lied about Aang's death because she believed he was still alive, but someone else corrected that it's actually four times, because I forgot about one. Aang being still alive was also Zuko's motive for hiring the assassin, because Azula had threatened him very obviously with it an episode before.

Also lol at "Well she only lied because Zuko lied." First of all, Zuko didn't lie. He has no obligation to tell Azula about the spirit water, especially since he never wanted Ozai to believe that he killed Aang and had no part in the lie Azula told. He openly told Azula that he was worried because he didn't capture the Avatar, and this was before anyone thought he had killed Aang. He had no idea that Azula was going to give him the credit for it, nor did he ask or want her to, and he wasn't worried because he thought Aang might still be alive, he was worried because he didn't capture Aang, which he told Azula in the book two finale as well as in the premiere of book three. Zuko had no part in pretending Aang was dead. Azula was the one who told that lie, and then forced Zuko into a position where he had to maintain it.

Azula also is much less likely to take the fall if Aang turns out to be alive than Zuko is, and she knows that. That's why she's not worried about following Ozai's orders the way Zuko is. She was not trying to protect herself out of necessity by lying, she was trying to build insurance for herself, because she knew Ozai would be more likely to believe her and blame Zuko if anything went wrong. She only gets away with this lie because she is Ozai's golden child and Zuko is the scapegoat. And she knows this. She wasn't forced to lie, she did it because she saw another way to cement her advantage and assert her control.

It's also especially nasty to act like Zuko has an obligation to tell Azula or Ozai about the spirit water, since it was something Katara offered to him in a moment of compassion for his pain. Pain which Ozai caused and Azula constantly mocked him for. The fact that someone who is supposed to be Zuko's enemy offered to heal the scar his family gave him tells you everything you need to know about who Zuko owes his loyalty to. And it ain't Azula.

Like, of course Zuko isn't going to tell her about it. What do you think Ozai would do if he knew that someone had offered to heal Zuko's scar? That, rather than his son learning his lesson about "respect," Zuko came close to realizing that he didn't deserve to be abused? It's more than just Aang being alive, Zuko keeping the spirit water, and what it means to him personally, secret means that Zuko knows that what his family did to him wasn't inevitable or deserved, and that there are people who care about him and want him to heal. Zuko having to keep this secret from his family and being made to feel shame and blame over it is a metaphor for what it's like having to live with abuse.

#ATLA #Zuko #Azula #Meta #My meta

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musictelevision · 4 years ago

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The Sun and the Moon ☯

“Tell me the story about how the sun loved the moon so much, he died every night to let her breathe.”

Emotional Tether Folklore: Two people, preferably benders, who are connected through spiritual interference. They are chosen at birth by two specific spirits. Throughout life, they both will experience feelings and visions from each other. This is a rare occurrence, it only happens every 100-200 years. Together, the two are powerful. Apart, imbalance will occur.

Summary: Y/N is the older sister of Sokka and Katara. Once their mother died, she step forward and watched over her siblings, even though she was only just ten. Years later, Y/N is travelling with her siblings, helping the avatar master all four elements. During this adolescence adventure, will she discover mysteries about herself she’d never imagined? All her life she has resented and ran from the Fire Nation. Now, could she possibly connected to the Prince of the Fire Nation himself?

A/N: I’ve really gotten into ATLA in the past few weeks, so this happened. I really couldn’t just sit back and not write a Zuko fic. This will be multiple chapters, and will have semi-slow updates. A masterlist and helpful links for a smooth reading experience will be added. I am going to try to make it as accurate as possible. I hope everyone does enjoy, feedback is always accepted!

Warnings: violence, fighting, death, sad elements, cussing, blood, gore, adult themes (later on, will be warned on what chapter if it occurs) !!

Themes: relationship developments, self love+hatred, acceptance, forgiveness, friendships, adventure !!

Soulmate AU?/Slow Burn/Connection (Unspoken)/Zuko x F!reader

Chapter One : Beginnings ☯

The Southern Water Tribe Village ☽

“My love, you should go to bed,” Gran-Gran whispered across the room. Sokka and Katara cuddled together in peaceful bliss, she did not want to wake them. Their father had left earlier in the morning, it had been an eventful day to say the least. With her father left, she couldn’t shake the fact that he would never return. In some ways, you could say, they were orphans. It only brought her thoughts to one sole person: Kya. It had been a few months since the deadly attack. She could still picture the beastly man looming over her mother.

“Where is the water bender!” He forced once more. Y/N hid behind her mother in fear. They had been inside doing chores when the ships reached shore. Y/N shut her eyes pretending she was somewhere else, maybe penguin sledding with Sokka. Anywhere but here. He became more hostile, roughly moving closer towards the two.

“Where is the water bender.” They knew where the bender was, in fact she was in the same room, hiding for dear life behind her mother. The other, hopefully still alive, was outside with her brother.

Y/N felt paralyzed. The big man pried even more, making some blows at Kya. Y/N could feel herself starting to bubble inside, her emotions were something to be reckoned with. She’d almost destroyed the entire village over a temper tantrum years prior. Though she was much older, her bending was not under control. It grew from emotion. Y/N noticed the ice around her cracking at every blow he made, Kya did too.

He stood tall once more, shadowing over the two. Y/N thought death would be different, that she would die of old age. She hadn’t even lived to see the northern lights.

“Mom!” Katara ran through the door only to be taken back by the large man in their home. The fire nation solider turned towards her, fury in his cold ember eyes. He seemed like he was getting impatient.

“Just let them go,” Kya finally said desperately, “and I will give you the information you want.”

“Mom-” Y/N pleaded. She was in shock, would her mother really turn in her own daughters? Y/N wasn’t ready to go, but if it meant saving the tribe, she’d be willing to do it.

“You heard your mother, get out of here!” the man hissed. Tearfully she ran over to Katara, holding on to her for dear life. Being her big sister, it was her unspoken responsibility to keep Katara safe.

“Mom I’m scared,” the younger girl cried. Their mother looked at them, and smiled.

“Go find your dad sweetie, I’ll handle this.” Kya spoke before facing the man once more. Y/N practically dragged Katara away from their childhood home, running as fast as they could to find their father.

“DAD,” Y/N screamed. The ice she stood on cracked under her feet, yet she couldn’t care. The imagine of her mother’s fearful look swarmed her mind, it made her feel sick.

“Mom is in trouble there is a man in our house,” Katara shouted. Y/N held her hand tightly, making sure she didn’t loose her grip. They were the last water benders in the tribe. The two were vulnerable and easy targets, but she would never let Katara know that.

“Kya!” their father cried out as he followed them back to their home. Sokka followed close behind.

Her mother’s dead body laid on the floor.

She didn’t want to remember the rest. Her father left to fight for their tribe after the devastating invasion. He seemed more, cold. Y/N couldn’t help but notice just how much Kya’s death changed him. Maybe his coldness was directed towards herself. She couldn’t bring herself to ponder that thought.

“Dad isn’t coming back,” Y/N remarked. Gran-Gran paused, calculating just the right thing to say. Sokka rustled in his sleep slightly, before settling once again.

“I can’t shake the fact that he’s going to end up just like mom. Besides I am the reason mom is dead. No wonder Dad left, he can’t even look at me.” Gran-Gran shushed Y/N quickly. Sokka and Katara did not know the reason Kya died, and Gran-Gran wanted to keep it that way. It was Hakoda’s wish.

“Come child,” she waved the young water bender out into the crisp midnight air. Y/N followed the elder eagerly. The moon, full and bright, lit the entire village. The stars shined brightly, she thought of her mother. Kya always told her the magic of the night sky, how the moon and stars worked together so gracefully. Gran-Gran stood at the edge of the water, patiently waiting for the young girl to join her side.

“When you were born, your mother suspected you would be a bender. That was a dangerous thing to be,” she paused with a long sigh. “However, the moon spoke to your mother the night you were born. The moon was the brightest it had ever been that night, the whole village awoke from its light. The moon shinned for you, and Kya knew that.”

Y/N smiled to herself. She’d never known this much about herself before. It still didn’t make her feel better, why was Gran-Gran telling her this anyway? It didn’t change anything, her mother was still gone and her father still hated her.

“But,” Gran-Gran continued abruptly. “The sun rose early that morning, bright as ever. It was as if the balance had returned for a day. We thought maybe you were the avatar.” They both sat in silence pondering her last statement.

The avatar? What a joke. Y/N had begun to believe such a thing never even existed in the first place.

“I’m sorry I’m not,” Y/N muttered keeping her eyes fixated on the moon.

“No child, that is not your destiny. Your mother knew that you would be apart of restoring balance to the world, but just not in the way. The moon spoke to her. The great spirit told her to protect you from all harm.” Y/N’s eyes filled with tears, but she did not dare let them fall. Her mother was protecting her, she knew that the day she met her end. But to protect her over some prophecy a moon spirit said? It made her blood boil.

“Of course, you won’t be alone in this.” Gran-Gran smiled to herself, leaving Y/N only to formulate more questions.

“Why would the moon find any sort of balance in me? Why would the sun react with the moon? How will I ever find another person to help me? This is so stupid, how do I know If you’re even telling the truth? Gran-Gran this is ridiculous. No moon spirit cares about me! If they did they wouldn’t let her die or let dad go!”

The eldest villager didn’t answered. She knew it was impossible to know. It was the truth, but it would take Y/N years to accept that.

“Do not dwell on the unknown, it will be revealed when the universe allows it. What you do with this information is your choice,” Gran-Gran slowly confirmed before making her way back to her respected residence.

“Ugh,” Y/N belted. She waved her hand towards the water before her in frustration. The water reacted with her swift movement, sending a wave towards the horizon. The sadness and confusion hit her, almost like a punch to the chest.

She chose to never speak of the information Kanna gave her. It still plagued her mind every so often, but she ignored every aspect of it. In her eyes, she was a normal southern water tribe citizen.

But in the back of her mind she knew, that was far from true.

That night at the Fire Nation Palace ☽

Ursa had done what she had to. It was for him, her son, Zuko. She had protected him his whole life, just as she was instructed to. The sun spirit made that clear to her on the day of his birth. This incident was no different, just more drastic changes would have to be made.

She quickly made her way through the palace halls, her frail body still humming with adrenaline. Killing the fire lord, what was she thinking? Leaving now would only make it clear just who did it. Was being on the run from the crupt fire nation worth saving Zuko? A million times yes. Stopping to catch her breath, her attention caught by the bright orb in the night sky. It always gave her peace of mind, the moon.

Azulon had instructed Ozai, her husband, to kill her first born. If only Ozai hadn’t spoken in such a heartless arrogant way, this wouldn’t have happened. To kill his child? It was horrible. He would do it though, if it meant keeping his honor. Ursa questioned why Ozai was so empty and power hungry. It was an answer she’d never know.

Some servants scurried pass her, bowing in the process. Did they know? They would soon, everyone would. She had to make herself scarce before then. The paranoia was sinking in ever so quickly. It was the only way to save herself, leaving. But, Ursa couldn’t help her mind race to Zuko.

Zuko.

The room he occupied was dark. There the young prince laid sprawled out on the crimson-colored king sized bed. Snoring slightly, he peacefully slept. The moon light coming from the window lit his raven colored hair perfectly. It felt wrong to wake him, he looked so content. But, it had to be done. For all she knew, it could be the last time she would ever lay eyes on her son. It was a little past midnight, in the morning the whole world would know.

She sat on the corner of the bed next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Zuko had never been a heavy sleeper, especially with Azula as a sister. Her unless torment made him keen and aware of his surroundings, a good habit.

“Mom,” he muttered groggily. Why was she here? His mind was still fuzzy.

“Zuko,” Ursa urgently spoke. Ursa quickly grabbed him by his sides, lifting her son up to face her. He blinked a few times, trying to focus with his tired eyes.

“Please, my love, listen to me,” this made him try to focus more. Her voice was hoarse almost like she had been crying.

“Everything I’ve done, I’ve done to protect you,” with this statement she pulled him into a hug. The last hug. She squeezed tighter than normal, he did not question it.

She finally pulled away after what seemed like minutes. He was such a beautiful boy, how could she leave him? Would he parish without her? Would he be taken advantage of? Only the spirits could know. Footsteps could be heard in the hall outside his chamber.

“Remember this Zuko,” she started facing him once more. Her voice was more stern this time, like she wanted to send a message.

“No matter how things seem to change, never forget who you are,” her voice said in a whisper tone. Ursa hoped he’d listen, and take those words to heart. It was all she could do for him. From now on, Zuko would be on his own.

The prince watched her in tired confused as she turned towards the door. He wanted to say something, question why she had come, but he couldn’t. The tiredness was overwhelming, taking over before he could object. She sadly looked back once more, before pulling her cloak over her head.

Hastily she ventured back trough the halls, leaving swiftly without a trace. By the time the fire nation caught word of their deceased leader, she was long gone. Just a memory. Ursa’s life she once knew was far behind her.

She looked up to the two spirits in the sky. The setting moon and the rising sun. Their harmonious relationship was on display in the sky. How wonderful the colors of the night collided with the morning sun, she thought to herself.

“Watch after him,” the woman pleaded to the two spirits that occupied the sky.

“He will make you proud.”

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azure-firecracker · 4 years ago

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For your prompt list, can you do #36- "I never wanted to hurt you' for Azutara.

I'm gonna set this one up a bit if that's ok. This prompt reminds me of a scene from the soulmate au I'm working on (hopefully will one day finish lol)

If you don't wanna use this then that's absolutely fine. With that being said, here's the relevant info.

-Soulmarks are rare to appear. Everyone has a soulmate, but the only thing that's guaranteed is that you'll be in the general vicinity of them at some point in your life. The mark won't appear until you directly speak to each other, in this case it was the throne room scene from the show. When you are both aware of the mark, you become spiritually connected. This connection is different for every person. In thier case, the mark worked two ways 1) during moments of high stress, the non-stressed one's spirit is pulled to the other (think astral projection but they can't be seen) to provide support/comfort. 2) they see various memories of the other through dreams. I plan on using this aspect to build a connection between them since they hardly directly interacted during the show. Katara's memories and some of the actions Azula witnesses from Katara both inspire her to want to be a better ruler and show her that Katara is her equal. Katara sees a lot of the more negative memories of Azula, like when her mother implied there was something wrong with her, harsh training from Ozai, her mother disappearing, Zuko's Agni Kai. Azula also has anxiety from her past traumas so, needless to say, Katara's been providing quite a bit of comfort (Azula has a mark mirroring Katara's necklace and Katara has one of a Blue Dragon going down her spine)

Next point - the Crossroads of Destiny never happened. Azula freed Katara after seeing the soulmark. She didn't tell her about it and instead offered a deal. Her freedom in exchange for information on Zuko's location. Azula had the Dai lee lower the walls before trying to capture Zuko, so he had already fled when she goes to capture him.

Azula gets called back to the fire nation by Ozai, leaving War Minister Qin in charge of the city. When she gives her report to Ozai, she left out the info about Katara, which Ozai knew about thanks to Qin's report sent via messenger hawk. He accuses her of trying to hide her failure and also brings up her inability to capture Zuko. He decides to overlook the slight in lieu of her victory but threatens her to never fail him again. Katara saw all of this and her spirit is pulled behind the princess as she returned to her room and proceeded to lose her public composure, falling into a panic attack. That was the first time Katara provided comfort but the relevant part is Ozai's threat.

Later, on the Day of Black Sun, Azula had decided she was going to leave the capital, planning to teach Aang firebending. Her plan was to safely slip into the night after the invasion (she didn't leave during it because she needed to make sure her people were protected). She set up a plan to stall Aang using far more Dai lee than she did in the show. She gave them orders not to capture him however. With the invasion thwarted, she went to give her report to Ozai. She didn't get a chance to speak as he started laying into her about allowing the Avatar to escape. (Katara astral projects in. At this point her body is on Appa as they prepare to flee) When she tried to speak Ozai back handed her yelling/asking when she became so weak. The sudden movement shifted her shirt enough for Ozai the see a hint of blue in her neck. He pulls down her collar revealing the soulmark. The last thing Katara sees is Ozai throw Azula back, causing her to stumble as he calls he a born traitor throwing lightning in the process.

This is a spoiler point. I have Ty lee rescuing Azula with airbending. As the lightning kept from Ozai's fingers, she slammed him with a gust of wind, sending him flying. The lightning, with it's trajectory changed, strikes Azula in the shoulder. When Ozai looks back, the room is empty.

Ty lee, following the spiritual connection through Azula's aura, brings her to the Western Air Temple.

I'm curious to see your take on what happens next and this prompt seemed to fit it quite well. Perhaps you'll have Katara speaking to an unconscious Azula. Or maybe you'll have a couple scenes, one when Azula arrives and another when combustion man attacks, having Azula wake up, stumble out and strike him with lightning leading to Katara freaking out about her condition. There are really a lot of different ways this could go. If you decide to do it, I admit I'm very interested to see what you come up with. 🙂

Sorry this took so long but I really wanted to make sure I got this right, especially after you left all of those wonderful comments on my fic! This AU is absolutely incredible, and I hope I did it justice.

***

Katara awoke with a gasp and found herself lying on a flat stone ledge. Around her were her friends, each looking dejected after their recent failure. But Katara had other things on her mind.

She hadn’t told her friends about the blue dragon that had appeared on her back in Ba Sing Se, or where she really found herself when she “fell asleep.” She wasn’t exactly sure why she hadn’t told them. It was partially because they had so much going on already, but partially because she was afraid they wouldn’t trust Azula.

Azula...the girl had turned out to be so much more than Katara had ever imagined. Far from pure evil, she was a broken teenager with fierce protectiveness deep inside her, and Katara had found that they weren’t as different as she’d once thought. She was her soulmate, as strange as that was. Katara never would have expected it, but she had come to care deeply about her.

She paced the Air Temple in worry, wishing she could do more than just move her spirit into Azula’s mind, that she could help in some way. The last thing she remembered was seeing the girl at the mercy of her father. Katara thought she would know if Azula had died, but her heart still ached with fear.

« Help! » came a cry from far above. Katara leaped to her feet and glanced up into the sky. There was a Fire Nation airship zigzagging towards them. Sokka raised his sword, but Katara held out her hand to stop him. This ship was clearly being flown by someone who didn’t know what they were doing. Something wasn’t right.

The ship suddenly tipped forward, pointing straight down and hurtling towards the bottom of the canyon. At the last moment, Katara saw a strange form leap from the front window towards them, falling just short of the edge of the cliff. Katara raced towards them, but Aang was faster, leaping off the edge with his glider, falling into a dive. A moment later, he was back, and he wasn’t alone. Ty Lee was hanging on to his feet with one hand, and somehow she was helping propel them through the air. Was she...was she airbending? In her other arm was the limp body of Azula. Katara felt her heart leap.

Katara raced towards them as they landed on the side of the ledge. Aang and Ty Lee began a conversation, but Katara barely registered it. She ran straight to Azula and dropped to her knees, instinctively scooping the girl up in her arms. Thank the spirits, she thought. Azula was alive, if weak.

Quickly, Katara drew her water out of her pouch, her hands moving over Azula’s shoulder, feeling the electricity coursing through her. Healing Azula was, in some ways, the easiest thing she’d ever done, because the pattern of her heart and her spirit was so similar to her own.

Azula stirred in Katara’s lap and slowly opened her eyes. As her vision cleared, she groaned, and tears instantly filled her eyes.

« I’m sorry, Katara. »

Katara blinked. « What for? »

Azula sighed, tears still spilling down her cheeks. « I’m sorry that you’ve got me for whatever this soulmate thing is. You’ve done everything for me. You showed me compassion when no one else would, you calmed me down, you were open with me when you never had to be. You made me a better person. And me? All I did was hurt you. I tried to kill your friends, and now my father won’t stop until he kills me too. I’m a failure and a monster. » She looked up, right into Katara’s eyes. « I never meant to hurt you. »

Katara suspected that the girl’s weak physical state was part of what was making her so vulnerable. She’d never seen Azula be so honest, even with herself. It made her heart swell, with sadness for the girl who’d been made to believe she was a monster, when Katara knew that that couldn’t be further from the truth.

She pulled Azula up into a tight hug. She’d never hugged her before, but it felt right. Like they’d been made to put their arms around each other just like that. « Azula, you’re my soulmate. I...I love you. I love you because you’re a person, because you’re passionate and strong and human. You could never be a monster. »

Azula didn’t speak, maybe because she was still too injured, maybe because she had nothing to say. She just wrapped her arms tighter around Katara, and held onto her like she was the most important thing in the world.

A voice came from behind them.

« Wait a second. She’s your WHAT?! »

***

This was a super fun prompt! You’re amazing so I hope it made you happy! This is an amazing idea and I can’t wait to see where you go with it!!!

#ask the theater nerd #mini fics #avatar the last airbender #atla #atla azula #azula atla #azula avatar #azula #katara atla #atla katara #katara avatar #katara #azutara #kazula

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sokkasssboomerang · 4 years ago

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Iroh’s Daughter HC

This is me at 3am writing things that are on my mind, its my first time doing any of this stuff so sorry if its super bad! feedback is always welcome! Thanks for reading

-You were the daughter of Iroh, cousin of Zuko and Azula, Niece to Ozai and Ursa (however you want to take it)

-Ofc being the daughter of Iroh meant you were so well loved, by Iroh and Lu Ten.There was nothing that could separate your loving family

-well that’s a lie, Ozai could. Ozai always despised you, its more because you were a non-bender the same age as Azula

-Although you seemed to have a clear disadvantage against Azula, you always matched her in fights. As in, you and Azula were perfectly balanced, no one could beat the other

-but no one really seemed to mind it. Did it still make Ozai and Azula upset? yes but they never did anything about it

-That was until you beat Azula in a match once. It was a shock to Ozai and Azula (the only ones there)

-unfortunately for you, your father and brother were off at Ba Sing Se in the war and were not there to witness your victory, but Ozai was there, and he was NOT happy

-he hired some hit-man to kill you that same day you beat Azula, you were only 10 but he didn’t care. It was a plan that only he and Azula knew about, no one else.

-you were lucky enough to catch the hit-man by surprise as they were talking about Ozai with the money they earned and make a getaway, but with your father and brother in Ba Sing Se, you knew you couldn’t go back to the palace.

-So you hid in the capital city, waiting for the day you could go back to the palace with your family but that day never came, as you heard about your brother’s death, you were heartbroken. you had still stuck around but decided to escape when you heard that Ozai became firelord.

-You ran off to a small village in the earth Kingdom, Chin Village. Thats where you became friends with the Avatar and the two water tribe siblings. You helped the Gaang restore Kyoshi’s image and helped them fight the fire nation soldiers.

-After that you all became fast friends, Sokka even claimed you as his newly adopted sibling, and the group brought you as you all traveled the world together. It really did not take much convincing from their part to get you to come because you always hated that town even though you were thankful for its protection over the past 4 years.

-When Toph joined the group, you and her hit it off immediately. You both loved to make tease and play pranks on the other members of the group. For the first time in a long you truly felt at peace, you had found your home.

-But things took a sharp turn when the gaang was chased by Azula, Ty-lee and Mai. It had been 4 years and although they have not changed much, the sleepiness in you didn’t give you the opportunity to register who you were facing.

-That was until you had split up the group, you and Aang in the deserted town while Katara and Sokka took Appa.

-When you first saw Azula, you did not believe your eyes. You never imagined seeing her again, rather yet, fight again. She was overjoyed with the sight of you, she had been waiting 4 years for this rematch.

-Although you hate to admit it, you would have been dead if it was a one-on-one with Azula, she took these past years and trained vigorously, whereas you can barely remember the last time you did a sit up. If it weren’t for Aang, you do not know how long you would have lasted against her.

-Seeing Zuko was a shock as well, he really just popped up out of no where.

-if you thought seeing Zuko was surprising then seeing your old man might have made you passed out from the shock, but it probably would have ended horrible given the circumstances.

-Iroh was shocked to see you as well, so shocked that he was still staring at you when Azula caught him off guard and shot lightning at his body.

-seeing your father fall to the ground was heart wrenching, you hadn’t even said a word to him yet and he appeared to be dying right in front of you. You cried and begged Katara to heal him but alas Zuko refused, he did not even let you get close to your dad.

-Zuko yelled about how you never cared to reach out to him for 4 years and refused to let you stay and “pretend to start caring now”. He even threw rapid fireballs at you when you inched closer to Iroh, forcing the group to pull you away and towards Appa.

-You were silent for weeks after the incident, not knowing if Iroh was dead or alive killed you, he was the last person left of your family. It broke your heart knowing you did not spend enough time with him.

-But alas you knew deep down that Iroh is strong and that he would make it, so after some weeks you finally sat down at the fireplace with the Gaang and told them the truth, not that you lied before, you just never really told them your past.

-You expected them to yell at you, banish you, hell even murder you. How could they not? The crown Princess of the fire nation sat next them, the Princess to a nation that hated them.

-Instead Sokka burst into tears, crying about how brave you were and how he couldn’t believe (arguably his favorite) little sibling had gone through so much and he cried into Katara’s shoulder as she tried to console him. When Katara looked at you, you knew that she understood you and was not upset at you for hiding your past.

-Aang looked so shocked yet he told you how proud he was of you and your bravery, while Toph yelled about how cool and badass you were and she went on to rant about how shes going to pummel Azula and Ozai to the ground if Aang does not do it first

-Right then and there at the fireplace, as you watched the scene unfold in front of you, you realized that you truly have found yourself a new home and family and you weren’t going to let go of this family anytime soon. You had already been separated by your first family and you were going to do anything to keep this one together.

-That’s why when Appa was kidnapped you were furious, almost as furious as Aang, ofc you can never share a bond like Appa and Aang, but that didn’t stop you from scarring the sand benders and having them running with their tail in between their legs. You marched all the way to Ba Sing Se and little did you know that would be the best choice you ever made in your life.

-While in Ba Sing Se, you never stopped looking for Appa and on one long stressful day, you had gotten into an argument with the cabbage man for putting the missing poster on his cart. After that long argument, you really craved some tea to calm your mind. So you headed to the Jasmine Dragon, the infamous tea shop that caught the eye of a lot of upper ring folk.

-Before you even entered the shop, your eyes landed on Zuko and Iroh. Your first instinct was to run, that was the fastest you ever ran in your life. You ran straight to the house that the Gaang lived and hid in your bedroom for the next day, trying to come up with a plan.

-In the end, you decided to go back to the Jasmine Dragon. You told yourself you were going to keep an eye on Zuko but really, you missed your dad and really really wanted some of his tea.

-So the next day, you left the house secretly in well designed disguise, you gave yourself fake bangs and covered half your face. When you were sure no one would recognize you, you crept out the front door and made your way to the tea shop.

-It did not take long for Zuko to make it to your table after you sat down, luckily for you, he did not suspect a thing. Though he did find it odd that you had your hair styled different than all the upper ring folk. Zuko did not suspect a thing the entire time you were there. And thats why you kept coming back to the tea shop.

-Everyday you came in and ordered Iroh’s tea which you did not realize you missed so much. As clueless as Zuko was to your identity, Iroh easily found out who you were.

-Although Iroh usually stayed in the back making the tea, this particular day was extremely busy in the shop. So Iroh decided to get to know some more customers and deliver tea himself.

-He casually came by the tables and talked his way through the shop. When Iroh came by your table, you made eye contact with him and he could recognize those eyes anywhere, even with bangs covering most it. His eyes bulged out of his sockets and he had a shocked face, but he quickly recovered himself. Iroh was grateful that he already set the tea on the table or else he knew it would have spilled everywhere.

-He did not mention your true identity and played along with your act, and you did not suspect that he knew a thing. So you kept coming back to the shop, becoming his number one customer. You had no clue Iroh was aware of your true identity, even when he asked you to stay after closing time and sit and have tea with him. You thought it was because you were such a loyal customer, secretly those days where you stayed behind were your favorite days.

-You and Iroh spent hours talking about what happened in the past, he found it as a wonderful way to learn about what you have been up to in the past 4 years and you were just grateful to finally be able to sit down and talk to him again that you did not want to overthink anything. You loved spending time with Iroh, and occasionally Zuko as he would sometimes pull a chair and sit down as well.

-There was one day where you sat with Iroh and you were talking about your time in Chin Village, and Iroh not being able to hold back asked you about how you ended up there. (Because all he knew was what Ozai told everyone, you and Azula were dueling, you had lost and out of shame you ran away.)

-You were shocked that he asked for the story, it never occurred to you that Iroh would not know of that traumatic experience. But you also did not really want to relive and explain it, because in your mind you would be giving away who you were (even though Iroh already knew but you didnt know that he knew), that’s why you were glad that Zuko was clumsy enough to drop a tea cup in the backroom.

-After that day, Iroh never mentioned the past, he decided to wait until you were ready to share. However Zuko was curious about you, a customer who comes in alone and shares tea with his uncle for long hours after closing. He wanted to know why you were so mysterious. So he asked

-Iroh was telling a story about pirates and the southern raiders, when Zuko walked up and interrupted Iroh and bluntly asked if you had family. Though you were surprised by the sudden question, you felt ready to answer.

-So you sat there and explained how you lost half your family, and had an uncle that tore you away from your family, and how you abandoned your father, who probably hates you now after seeing you with his enemy and by the end of it you were ugly crying.

-Iroh looked at you with sad eyes and said “I never hated you” and you just stared at him. like really, it took a whole minute before you spoke, then you nearly screamed “how long did you know?!” to which he explained that he could spot your eyes a mile away.

-and you finally got that fatherly hug you really missed from Iroh....and then another group hug with Zuko because he needed comfort after hearing about what his dad did

Lmao this took me an hour, it is probably hella sucky but i just really wanted to get this out of my system, anyways thanks for making it this far! I really considered adding some Gaang at the end when yo tell them you found Iroh but idk if i should've. Sorry if i made you lose some braincells, haha. Have a great day/night thanks for reading

#atla #iroh x reader #Avatar The Last Airbender #avatar headcanons #atla headcanons #azula #zuko #sokka #aang #katara #avatar headcanon #alta headcanon #avatar: the last airbender #jasmine dragon #ozai

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carnistcervine · 5 years ago

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Twin Avatars + Zuko

Okay, so you know my Twin Avatars AU? I just thought of something. What if I combined it with Avatar Zuko and had Zuko be the Dark Avatar? :'D

-So while Aang ends up frozen in an iceberg, the current Dark Avatar dies fighting against the Fire Nation.

-While Aang is in the ice, Chiaro goes into stasis. With it's twin in hibernation, Scuro also goes into a sleep of sorts.

-Avatars are born and die, never knowing their fate and eventually the cycle swings back to fire and Zuko is born.

-No one knows that Zuko is the Dark Avatar, not even Zuko. Since Scuro is basically hibernating, when Zuko received his burn, he's unable to access the Avatar State.

-So Zuko is banished and sent to find and capture both Avatars, his father knowing full well that neither had been seen for a hundred years.

-Zuko scours every corner of the globe having no idea that he's one of the Avatars he's looking for.

-He doesn't consciously notice the pull of destiny drawing him to the south pole when Aang is about to be released.

-When Aang is released from the ice, Chiaro awakens.

-Instinctively, Zuko knows that the light he saw bursting into the sky was the Avatar. He can't explain why(or rather he doesn't want to accept the reason) but he just knows.

-When Zuko and Aang meet, their spirits resonate and they both just know. Zuko knows that Aang is the Light Avatar, but more importantly, Aang knows Zuko is the Dark Avatar.

-Zuko is confused, he feels like he's meeting up with a best friend that he hasn't seen in ages, but he knows(thinks) that the Light Avatar is his enemy.

-Zuko reacts to this confusion the way he usually does, with rage.

-Of course, Aang happily points out that Zuko is an Avatar too, and it goes poorly...

-Enraged, Zuko denies the accusation wholeheartedly.

-Both Zuko and Aang feel the draw of their inner spirit's platonic affection. Aang is heartbroken by Zuko's rejection. Zuko breaks his own heart by refusing to allow himself to be friends with Aang.

-Aang surrenders to Zuko, hoping that he can maybe talk some sense into him. It doesn't work, Zuko's only interested in fighting Aang.

-Aang hurts because his platonic soulmate hates him and is trying to fight him, Zuko is twisted up on the inside because a deep, ancient part of his spirit loves his fellow Avatar very deeply.

-While Aang is in the Avatar State, Chiaro tries to reach out to Zuko. Zuko resists wholeheartedly, nearly going into the Avatar state himself.

-When Aang escapes on Appa, Zuko finds that he doesn't have the heart to try and strike them down.

-Aang looks back at Zuko who just watches them as they get away.

-Sokka and Katara can hardly believe that Zuko is an Avatar, but being an Avatar himself, Aang can confirm.

-Aang suspects from the scar on Zuko's face that he was tortured into turning against him.

-Suddenly Katara really wants to help the scarred Avatar.

-Sokka doesn't like or trust firebenders, but he can't deny that letting the Fire Nation have their own Avatar would be disastrous.

-Of course Iroh immediately has several questions for Zuko. Because if Zuko is the Avatar... this is very important and it's critical that he is properly trained.

-Obviously Zuko completely denies being the Avatar and tries to make his uncle drop the subject.

-Seeing as Zuko hasn't bent any other elements(yet), Iroh decides to drop the subject.

-With Scuro finally awake, Zuko's avatar abilities begin to show.

-It's not too long before he starts to earthbend. The first instance being on Kyoshi, right in front of everyone.

-Everyone is shocked, but Aang is just like, 'I told you so!'

-Zuko manages to get away, but now the world knows the Dark Avatar has returned.

-The Gaang start making plans on trying to capture Zuko so they can help him.

-Iroh confronts Zuko about being the Avatar.

-Zuko continues to deny the blatant truth, and Iroh loves his nephew but sometimes the poor old man feels like he gonna have a stroke.

-Iroh is afraid that now Zuko's crew know what he is, they'll kill him, but instead they just go along with Zuko.

-Avatar, what Avatar? Zuko's obviously just a cranky firebender.

-Iroh isn't sure if he's relieved that the crew are willing to put themselves on the line to help Zuko, or concerned that they're more-or-less letting him skirt by on his denial.

-Either way, Zuko's crew refuse to turn against him. Though it's less to do with Zuko, and more to do with their undying loyalty to his kindly Uncle.

-They realize that Zuko's the only thing keeping Iroh in this world, and don't want to hurt the old man.

-Even if they think Iroh deserves better than his bratty Avatar nephew.

-The crew end up helping Iroh go behind Zuko's back to find an earthbending teacher.

-The past Dark Avatars start to reach out to Zuko, the most recent ones visiting him in his dreams.

-While Aang is sad and heartbroken over Zuko's rejection, he has Sokka and Katara to help him. Meanwhile, Zuko is rejecting those around him and feels horribly sad and heartbroken deep inside.

-Going back a bit, because Zuko never has to get his ship repaired, Zhao never gets the opportunity to taunt him and find out about the Avatar's return.

-However, he does find out when Aang goes into the avatar state at the Southern Air Temple.

-Zuko tries to follow Aang, but he's a bit late and is incapacitated by strange headache when Aang goes into the avatar state.

-With the knowledge that the Light Avatar is alive and active, Ozai has all resources towards capturing him officially handed over to Zhao.

-Zhao of course throws this up in Zuko's face.

-Once it becomes revealed to the world that the Dark Avatar has returned, Zhao is officially relegated to his capture as well.

-Though, it's a well kept secret by the Gaang and Kyoshi warriors who exactly the Dark Avatar is.

-Iroh continues to slyly try to get Zuko to learn earthbending. He goes through his connections in the White Lotus to try and locate an earthbending teacher, but in the meantime, he has Zuko study earthbending scrolls.

-Obviously Zuko is pissed because he's in denial about being a damn Avatar, but Iroh manages to convince him to study and practice the forms by telling him that diversifying his techniques will strengthen and improve his firebending.

-Technically not a lie, but we all know what Iroh's really tryna do.

-The stress, past avatars trying to nag him, and heartache of being separated from Chiaro all have a severe negative impact on Zuko's mental state.

-He ends up restless, and sometimes slightly delirious.

-Iroh worries deeply for him, and tries to figure out ways to get him and the Light Avatar back together.

-When Zhao ends up capturing Aang, the past Avatars help Zuko break into the stronghold and break Aang out.

-The Light and Dark Avatars being kindred spirits, Aang recognizes Zuko even in his disguise. But Aang doesn't say anything. He plays dumb, because he'd do anything to have his platonic soulmate back by his side.

-When Zuko is knocked out, Chiaro takes out and sends out a blast of light in a fit of rage.

-With the soldiers and Zhao temporarily blinded by the dazzling light show, a Chiaro-possessed Aang flees into the night with Zuko.

-Aang doesn't even bother with the 'could we be friends' speech, he just fucking kidnaps Zuko while he's still unconscious.

-Zuko wakes up before Aang can bring his friends to coherency, and promptly bolts.

-Once Zuko gets back to his ship, he just tells his uncle that he's tired and he goes to bed.

-Zuko keeps trying to chase the Gaang down and capture Aang, and the Gaang keep setting up traps to kidnap Zuko.

-Zuko finds himself feeling increasingly torn about what he wants to do.

-Despite himself, he starts to enjoy the groups antics.

-He tries to tell himself that he hates them. It doesn't work. He tries, but it doesn't work.

-Getting his ship blown up makes him go into the avatar state.

-In the North Pole, Katara actually hides while Aang crosses over into the spirit world.

-The Gaang's plan is to use Aang as bait and to incapacitate Zuko. By either freezing or hitting him.

-Zuko is suspicious of when he sees Aang unguarded and all alone, but as soon as he touches him, Chiaro drags him into the spirit world and effectively incapacitates Zuko.

-While Zuko is trapped, the spirits circle around Zuko and nag the hell out of him. Talking about duty and his destiny and role in this world.

-Zuko isn't hearing a single fucking word of this and yells in angry.

-As soon as Aang comes to his senses, Zuko is dragged right back to his body as well.

-Only problem is that Zhao now knows that Zuko is the Dark Avatar and has the whole group surrounded and both Zuko and Aang captured.

-Zhao reveals his grand plan to kill the moon, and everyone is horrified.

-Iroh stands to defend the moon spirit and breaks out of his restraints and helps his uncle.

-The Gaang break out and defeat Zhao's forces, Zhao seeing that he's loosing, takes Yue hostage.

-Zuko takes exception to this and takes Zhao down, protecting Yue in the process.

-Thoroughly defeated, Zhao tries to take a parting shot at the oasis pool, but a dark shadow reaches out and drags him in before he can harm the spirits.

-Zuko tries to save Zhao, but Zhao is too prideful to accept Zuko's help.

-Now leaderless and unable to beat the waterbenders, the Fire Nation retreats.

-Zuko and Iroh sneak off before the waterbender guards can come to the scene to capture the defeated firebenders.

-Zuko and Iroh have already boarded their raft and set themselves adrift when an unknown passenger jumps on.

-It's Yue.

-Yue says that the moon spirit told her to join them.

-Zuko already hates it.

-The north is freaking out because their princess is missing and Aang vows to find her and bring her home safely.

-They trust his word because he is the Avatar who helped save their home, but they can't help but wonder where the mysterious Dark Avatar went.

-Yue ditches her royal robes and changes up her hair to help hide her identity.

-She also ends up going by Mochi.

-Iroh, Zuko, and Yue traversing the Earth Kingdom.

-Yue learns more about the world outside of the north, and Zuko starts to chill out a little more and gets closer to accepting himself as being the Dark Avatar.

-He even finally relents to learning proper earthbending, and disguises himself as an earthbender.

-He finds that he gets quite good at it.

-His uncle playfully jokes that it's cause he's a bit of a rock head.

-However Zuko does still end up going off on his own for a bit.

-When he goes to the village and confronts the asshole soldier, Scuro possess him and puts on a terrifying show.

-The horrified town chases him out with pitchforks and torches, calling him a half-spirit abomination.

-The world still doesn't know that Zuko is the Dark Avatar, but Azula figures it out fairly quickly.

-When Iroh is shot by Azula, Yue heals him and helps Zuko look after him.

-The Gaang are still trying to capture Zuko tho.

-It's only after Zuko scares them off by nearly going into the avatar state, that as the Gaang are flying off, they realize that was Yue with Zuko.

-When they get to Ba Sing Se, Yue works at the tea shop too, and she's excellent at customer service.

-When Azula kills Aang in the avatar state, Zuko is too shocked to move. Part of him is deeply saddened, watching his platonic soulmate die, another part is enraged at Azula, and the rest of him just doesn't know what to do.

-It takes everything in him to hold Scuro back and he collapses on the spot.

-Azula takes Zuko back to the Fire Nation and tells Ozai that even though Zuko is the Dark Avatar, he slayed the Light Avatar in the name of the Fire Nation.

-In his time back at the Fire Nation, Zuko feels a deep pain and dread welling up within him.

-He can also feel Scuro writhing within his skin everytime he sees Azula.

-Scuro wants to kill Azula. Badly.

-Zuko knows, he can feel it in his Avatar Spirit that Aang is alive.

-Zuko doesn't have the heart to hire an assassin to kill Aang.

-The world thinks that the Dark Avatar has turned traitor. Perhaps corrupted by his own inner darkness?

-The Fire Nation attempts to groom and train their Avatar for war and destruction, but with his own inner conflict reaching a fever pitch, Zuko's strength wanes and he falls ill.

-He's tormented nightly by horrible nightmares. It gets so bad that he starts to drink drugged tea to get peaceful rest.

-Then, the war meeting happens and Azula gives the suggestion to raze the Earth Kingdom.

-Zuko doesn't sleep that night.

-The next day he confronts his father during the eclipse and tells him point blank that he's taking his rightful side by the Light Avatar and together their gonna come back and take him down.

-When Zuko goes to join the Gaang, the others are all "grrr" but Aang just immediately tackle-hugs him and starts crying because poor Aang has been waiting for his platonic soulmate to come around for SO LONG.

-Zuko can hardly believe it but, he's crying too.

-Also, while Zuko was in the Fire Nation, Yue joined the Gaang!

-Zuko teaches Aang firebending, and Aang teaches Zuko airbending.

-On the day of destiny, Yue and Katara take down Azula, and Zuko and Aang take down Ozai.

-Aang is a pacifist, and Zuko can't actually bring himself to kill his own father, so Aang ends up energybending that bitch.

And that’s all I got. I just wanted to write this out and get it down, because I actually really kinda like this idea.

#ATLA #avatar #ATLA AU #Twin Avatars AU #You already know it's gonna be an angsty ride #but with a happy ending

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alynnl · 6 years ago

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A Greater Cause (Iroh’s Escape, the Day of Black Sun)

Lynn here! And here is my next installment of however many infinite number of head-canons I have for the Avatar: Last Airbender universe! Since Iroh is my favorite character, many of my theories are centered around him. This particular set of scenes did get very long and super dialogue-heavy, but I had a clear vision of how I wanted it all to flow.

As with all my documents: Spoilers abound, heavy amounts of speculation, and pretty obvious signs that I am a fan of Iroh (and Jeong Jeong now too.)

With that intro out of the way, let’s dive into another off-screen scene, where Iroh escapes from the prison tower on the Day of Black Sun, and meets up with his comrades, the Order of the White Lotus!

A Greater Cause

Confrontation Iroh was brought back to the Fire Nation in chains because of Azula’s successful coup of Ba Sing Se. Ozai stepped in front of his cell to gloat, and Iroh turned his back on him. It still didn’t stop Ozai from making (a rather over the top, dramatic) speech with hand gestures and all.

“Oh, Iroh. How the tables have turned. You grew up as father’s favorite, the prodigy, the exalted crown prince. And now you’re just a common traitor. You have nothing, while I have everything. You’ll spend the rest of your miserable life here, reminded of that fact every single day. I’ve won. And no one is coming to save you.”

Ozai cackled and saw himself out, and Iroh simply kept his gaze fixed on the wall. He knew that Ozai threw away his humanity a long time ago, but he never imagined that he’d actually hear those words from him. The speech still stung somewhat, but it wasn’t not enough for Iroh to give up hope. He knew that there were still others who were on his side, even if they were far away. He would reach them somehow.

Codes and Secrets Iroh’s first days in the prison tower were quiet, with no visitors to see him. After about a week, there was a surprise waiting for him at the bottom of his rice bowl. He was careful to hide a small slip of paper as he read it. It was written in code, but it didn’t take long to decipher.

The message read, “You are not alone.”

He knew that someone from the Order of the White Lotus was nearby, and they would be his link to what was happening in the outside world.

On the other side of the slip of paper, the code gave him instructions - to eat all his food and send back empty dishes if he was fine, to leave his tea untouched if he was tortured or mistreated, and to refuse his food entirely if the Fire Lord decided to put him on death row.

Fortunately, Iroh was able send the message that he was doing well, at least for now.

While the days went by and started to blend together, Iroh endured the rudeness of the warden, received the kindness of another prison guard, and found ways to send coded messages back and forth to the Order. They spoke of Bumi’s capture, the fall of the Earth Kingdom, and the rumors on whether the Avatar was dead or alive. Through their codes and secrets, Iroh devised a plan to retake Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King.

If he were able to escape and join the rest of the Order, he’d use his firepower during Sozin’s Comet as a way to turn the tides against the occupation forces. This plan was a long ways from being realized, but it was set in motion and met with approval. When he could, Iroh trained and conditioned his body until he was almost as strong as he was in his prime in preparation to free himself. He acted as if he’d gone insane from isolation when the warden suspected anything.

Iroh was visited by Zuko a few times during his stay in the tower, but he could only return his nephew’s conflict and anger with silence. It hurt internally to see Zuko fall back into his obsessive patterns over the Avatar, his honor and the meaning of loyalty. There wasn’t much time to save him from Ozai’s corruption, as well as his own inner turmoil.

Iroh kept his personal struggles out of the details of his coded letters, but the fact that he had not written about Zuko (when he usually spoke so highly of him,) spoke volumes. He made arrangements for Zuko to learn the story of Avatar Roku and Sozin, as well as giving Zuko the crown prince’s headdress. It was a last ditch effort to convince Zuko to take a different path than his more violent ancestors, and choose the path of balance over power or perfection.

It wasn’t clear which choice Zuko made in the end, and time ran out to hear his reply. The eclipse was tomorrow, and all the firebenders would temporarily lose their element. It was the best time to break out of his jail cell, when no one was expecting it. Iroh warned one of the nicer prison guards not to be around the next day, in order to spare her what was to come.

Iroh received one more coded message that a member of the Order would be waiting for him at the harbor, but they were planning on infiltrating further if he couldn’t make it there. Either way, they would show a white lotus tile as a signal of who they are. Iroh’s last note to the Order told them to stand their ground, that he would come to them.

And so Iroh rested, saving his strength for the Day of Black Sun, where an invasion, a jail break, and an important meeting were all about to take place.

The Moment of Truth There was little sunlight filtering in from the sliver of a window up in the prison tower. From the amount of sunlight that did pass through, Iroh could tell the eclipse was coming soon. Moments before the sun was blocked out, he heated the edges of the bars, and then pushed open the cage-like structure he was held in. Hearing the commotion, the warden came around the corner, looking surprised.

“What are you doing? How did you get out?” The warden lit a flame as a warning. “Stay where you are! I will use force on you!”

Iroh stepped forward fearlessly, prompting the warden to charge at him with a firebending strike.

Iroh put out the flame, and then threw the warden against the wall with just one hand, stunning him.

No one was able to sound an alarm just yet, so Iroh continued forward, easily defeating any of the guards who tried to stand in his way, and made sure to only knock them unconscious rather than killing them. Once out into the streets of the capital, he hid in the shadows, doing his best not to be spotted as the soldiers continued to look for him. Soon, the Solar Eclipse began.

Iroh continued his advance past the capital, and into the mountain pass. He slipped past the invasion forces of waterbenders and earthbenders by not drawing attention to himself. As he ran, Iroh caught a brief glimpse of Sokka, Katara, Toph and Aang. While internally relieved to see they’d survived the coup of Ba Sing Se, he knew he couldn’t join them and abandon his own plans with the Order.

As the solar eclipse was reaching its end, Iroh made his way through the city of Caldera, where many of the civilians had retreated, but some of the soldiers still remained. A squad of ten men stood between Iroh and the harbor, spears pointed at him.

“You’ve gone far enough, Iroh! You’re outnumbered! Surrender now and we won’t have to do this the hard way.”

Iroh only smiled at them calmly, which caused two of the soldiers to back off a few steps.

“Your numbers do put you at an advantage. But do you really have me outmatched?”

“We’ll show you!”

Two of them charged towards him, spears pointed forward and ready to strike. Iroh grabbed both weapons, taking them from their wielders into his own hands. He wasted no time in taking down the first two soldiers, and fended off attacks from the others.

In a matter of minutes, most of the squad was lying on the floor in various stages of agony, and the two who’d backed off quickly threw down their weapons, holding their hands in the air.

“We surrender!”

“Don’t hurt us, please!”

Iroh simply walked past them, but kept one spear in hand, showing them that he wouldn’t let his guard down. He then proceeded to the harbor, were many ships waited.

Brothers in Arms There was a lone soldier standing by a cruiser with his helmet still on, hiding his face. He didn’t appear to be taking a fighting stance, but simply stood still, as if he was waiting for someone.

Iroh stepped closer, keeping an eye on him. Before he could speak, the soldier reached into his pocket, taking out a white lotus tile.

“I’ve been waiting for you. Were you followed?”

“I’m alone, as far as I can tell.”

As the eclipse was completely over, Iroh dropped the weapon he was carrying and formed a small flame in the palm of his hand.

“Of course, if anyone tried to capture us now, they would receive a very unpleasant surprise.”

“Then let us proceed. We should be out to sea long before their reinforcements arrive.”

Iroh followed his mysterious ally into the small cruiser, closing the door behind them. Once they were inside, the other man took off his helmet, revealing his face. It was none other than Jeong Jeong, an old friend and fellow member of the White Lotus.

Iroh wasn’t entirely surprised to see him, but he felt great joy in meeting him again.

“Jeong Jeong, it’s really good to see you! You look well.”

There was a smile on Jeong Jeong’s face as he walked over to the cruiser’s furnace, and lit the coals within.

“And you always find yourself in some kind of trouble, Iroh. This will be the second time I’ve had to come to your rescue.”

Iroh chuckled, and smiled warmly. “You have my gratitude. I did well to count on you. I will find a way to return the favor.”

“Don’t forget that we have an important mission ahead of us. If we both survive and emerge victorious, consider your debts repaid.”

“It will be an honor to fight alongside you. It’s my hope that it will be our final battle.”

“It looks as if Prince Zuko is not with you. What did he decide in the end? Will he rally behind us?”

Iroh grew quiet at the mention of Zuko, looking thoughtful and keeping his face neutral.

“You don’t know the answer, do you?”

“I don’t know where my nephew is, but I want to think he will do what is best. Piandao is still near Caldera. He should give us a message soon if he hears anything about him.”

“Do you think he will oppose us?”

Iroh looked Jeong Jeong in the eyes with a calm, contented expression.

“Somehow, I don’t think we will have to worry about that.”

“For your sake, I hope you are correct.”

The ship sailed on. Soon the sun was setting, and day was turning towards night. Iroh took some time to himself to wash up, put on fresh robes, and share a dinner of stir-fry in Jeong Jeong’s company. They both reminisced about the past and spoke of their hopes for the future, before eventually going quiet.

When the full moon hung brightly in the dark sky, Iroh stepped out onto the deck and looked upward, hands folded behind his back. Jeong Jeong decided to join him, asking Iroh what was on his mind.

“Almost four years ago, I left the capital to follow Zuko. We were on a ship just like this one. In the first days of our voyage, it was just the two of us. We didn’t have much, but we had each other. For me, that was always enough.”

Jeong Jeong saw just how much the memory was affecting Iroh, and felt sympathetic towards him. He placed a hand on his shoulder as a gesture of comfort. Internally, Jeong Jeong swore that he would lose all respect he might have for Zuko if he turned out to be on the opposing side.

But on the outside, Jeong Jeong said, "You're still attached to him, in spite of everything you've faced recently. You still choose to open your heart."

"I suppose you'd call that foolish."

"On the contrary, it is the bravest action you could ever take. But it also leaves you quite vulnerable."

"I know that. It is my choice, regardless. I have done everything I can to change his mind. And now I must wait for him to come marching home.”

“I understand how worried you must feel, but you need to look after yourself, Iroh. It’s getting late, and you need rest. We should head inside.”

“Yes. You’re right, Jeong Jeong. We should both ease our minds with a cup of tea! This time it will be ginseng, just like old times.”

Jeong Jeong seemed surprised that Iroh remembered the type of tea they shared during their fateful meeting many years ago. But then he smiled, quite pleased.

“I believe that will be suitable.”

Iroh prepared the ginseng tea, getting it just the right temperature and flavor. He served it to Jeong Jeong first and then himself, sitting across from his companion at the table.

Iroh suggested they share a toast before their upcoming battle, and Jeong Jeong gladly accepted.

They both raised their teacups in the air.

“To the White Lotus!”

“To victory.”

“And to family…”

“And lifelong friends.”

After their toast, they took a drink of their tea. With their minds at ease, Iroh and Jeong Jeong took turns resting and keeping watch. After two and a half days of sailing, their ship pulled into a makeshift harbor on the Earth Kingdom, where other ships from various tribes were docked. The Order of the White Lotus was truly coming together in a way they hadn’t for many years.

Meeting Place Iroh and Jeong Jeong stepped out of their ship to find many tents and banners of the White Lotus set up. A camp had already been made ahead of their arrival. As they walked onto the land, they were both greeted by Pakku and a rather enthusiastic Bumi.

Bumi was the first to speak up, spreading his arms out in glee. “Well, look who we have here! We finally have the guests of honor to join our little welcoming party!”

Jeong Jeong regarded them with a simple nod, and Iroh smiled brightly. “We couldn’t celebrate your safe return without a little fireworks, Bumi!”

Pakku chimed in, a tad sarcastic. “I almost thought you’d be late to your own last stand, Iroh. We were about to storm the city without you and take all the credit ourselves.”

Iroh chuckled, amused. “I’m sure you’d show them a thing or two, Pakku. But there’s always safety in numbers, even among masters like us.”

“Even so, you’d be amazed at what you can do as an army of one, if you just think a few steps ahead!” Bumi exclaimed. “I took Omashu back with my own two hands! You should’ve seen it!”

Jeong Jeong glanced at him, deciding to speak up. “That sounds like quite the story, Bumi, but it will have to wait. I can’t help but notice that someone is missing. Has anyone received a message from Piandao?”

The others grew quiet, and simply shook their heads. The cheery atmosphere was starting to fade, but Bumi came between his compatriots and wrapped an arm around both Pakku and Iroh, while keeping his smile as he regarded Jeong Jeong. “Now, there’s no reason for any of us to get gloomy! We’ve all come this far, I’m sure he’ll make his way here!”

Iroh nodded in agreement. “Out of all of us, he is the best at improvising. Piandao will arrive when he needs to. For now, we should see how well our strategy is really coming together.”

The four of them met in a tent that had a large map of the city of Ba Sing Se. There were red pieces to represent the Fire Nation forces, dark green pieces to represent the Dai Li, and white pieces to represent the Order. Their strategy was to break through the wall and fan out, overwhelming both sets of their opponents before they had a chance to react and regroup. It was especially important to take out any communication towers, to prevent messengers from reaching the Fire Nation capital for reinforcements.

Bumi mentioned that on his way here, he found the Earth King, Kuei traveling as a commoner alongside his pet bear. When the time was right, Kuei would take his rightful place back on the throne of Ba Sing Se, and call an official cease-fire. For now, he was resting quite easily in his own tent.

As Iroh and the rest of the Grand Lotus team continued to work on their tactics for the upcoming mission, they were interrupted by their tent flap opening, and someone stepping inside.

It was none other than Piandao, who showed up with a plate of steamed buns.

“Good afternoon, everyone. I hope I’m not interrupting the important part of the meeting. I thought I’d come with a little surprise since I’m here so late.”

The others looked up, each of their faces a mixture of joy and relief.

Jeong Jeong had his arms crossed, looking at his comrade reproachfully. “I certainly hope you have a good reason for your tardiness, Piandao.”

Bumi took one of the steamed buns. “Having something besides rice in this camp is a good enough reason for me!”

“I had three airships following me.” Piandao explained. “It took me a while to lose them. It wouldn’t do us any good if I led them here. I did see something interesting on my way here though.”

“It can’t be any more interesting than your last report.” Pakku remarked. “You told us that Aang and his friends were alive, and that Sokka asked you for sword lessons!”

“I saw the Avatar’s bison retreating from an airship attack on the Western Air Temple. Prince Zuko was with the Avatar and the others, and it looked like he was defending them. From the direction they were headed, they must be at Ember Island right about now.”

A mix of emotions came over Iroh as he heard Piandao’s report. But overall, the sense of calm prevailed, and he felt that at last, he’d made some small triumph. At long last, he’d finally gotten through to his nephew. Even if he couldn’t see him face-to-face right now, Iroh had every reason to keep his faith in Zuko.

“Whether it’s before our separate missions are complete, or afterwards, we will meet again, Prince Zuko.”

He glanced at Piandao, nodding towards him with affirmation. “Thank you for your message. You went through so much just to get the information here. It means a lot to me.”

“It was worth the effort. We all need to have our minds clear if we’re going to succeed.”

“Yes. From here on, we will look forward.” Iroh looked at his fellow Grand Lotus members and straightened up his back, standing at attention. Out of respect, the others did the same. “We need to gather the rest of the Order to the center of camp. I wish to speak to them before we march ahead.”

The others nodded, and the five of them split up.

The General Returns In just a half hour, the Order of the White Lotus lined up to meet all in the same place: older and newer members alike. It wasn’t long before Iroh stood in front of them, flanked by the other Grand Lotus.

There was something different about Iroh’s gaze. It was not the jolly, cheerful man that many of them knew, there was a fierceness in his eyes that only a few had seen before. His face did not strike fear into others or make them bow their heads, but instead gave them the automatic response to look towards him with respect. Even if he’d long retired from the army, he still had the stance and presence of a General.

All eyes and ears were on him as he began his speech.

“Members of the Order, by now you all know why you’re here. For some of you, it is your first true battle, and for many of us, we have lost count of the times we have fought for our own lives and those of the people that we love. For generations, my homeland and my own family were responsible for starting this war and continuing it. For years, the Fire Nation has taken whatever they wanted, and given nothing in return but fear, destruction, and despair. I know from experience. There was a time I marched under their banner, as have many of you.”

“But now we are here, without division, malice, or prejudice. For many years, we have fought for peace and given hope in the Avatar’s absence. And now, we stand together, whether we were born in the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, or the Fire Nation for a single, greater cause. It is time we stood tall and proud, with steel and our elements for what is truly right! In the name of the Earth King, and for a beautiful city that some of us have called ‘home,’ we will fight back!”

“We will show the Fire Nation that they cannot take whatever they want, that there is incredible courage in each of us, that from destruction comes restoration, and even in the deepest despair, there is always hope. So I ask each and every one of you to fight your hardest, to protect one another, and to stand strong in the battle ahead of us. If we do that, and allow the great spirits to guide us in our cause, we will prevail.”

There was a sea of cheers and applause as Iroh concluded his speech. Even Bumi, Piandao and Pakku joined in the fanfare, raising their fists with pride. Jeong Jeong was never one for such large displays, but he nodded towards Iroh with approval.

With their morale high and all their hearts set on a single goal, the Order of the White Lotus was ready to march under Sozin’s Comet and fight for the freedom of Ba Sing Se.

It was going to be Iroh’s final battle, not as a conqueror, but as a liberator.

-End.

#Iroh #Jeong Jeong #Piandao #Pakku #King Bumi #White Lotus #Zuko #Headcanon post #meta #ATLA Meta #ATLA #At long last it is here!#It took me so long to deliver!#long post #my scene building continues #Thank you to all my readers #you keep me going in the darkest of times #And you celebrate in the best of times!#this would not be possible without you

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zuko-always-lies · 2 years ago

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@renbol

When did Azula feel sympathy for Zuko and tried to be kind? I believe she didn't really mean to be kind to him. You can see this in the scene where Zuko asks her why she lied to Ozai about killing the avatar. She directly threatens him that if the avatar survives, he will receive punishment

The “scapegoat” theory(Azula only brought back Zuko as a scapegoat for the Avatar surviving) makes no sense:

1. If Avatar is actually dead, then Zuko gets all the glory and favor for killing the Avatar, while Azula gets none of it.

2. If the Avatar turns up alive, Zuko gets most of the blame, but Azula is still the person who told Ozai and the entire court that the Avatar was dead(without having the confirmation of a dead body) and the person who convinced Ozai and the entire court that Zuko, who was regarded as a traitor and a failure, had proved himself worthy. All of this reflects very negatively on her.

Moreover, if Azula at Ba Sing Se was honestly convinced that the Avatar was still alive, she could have easily secured Ba Sing Se, sent Zuko and Iroh back to the Fire Nation as prisoners(and those accomplishments are easily enough to earn the gratitude of her father), and then continued to pursue the (now wounded) Avatar together with her friends. This route would have high rewards and few risks.

Additionally:

1. She made her offer to Zuko before their fight with Aang and Katara, a fight whose outcome she had no way of knowing in advance.

2. She had zero idea about the spirit water, and never learns about it in canon. If she did, I imagine she would have confiscated it from Katara when she had the chance.

Azula also seems to have creatively mischaracterized the truth about something else to make Zuko look better:

Ozai: I am proud of you, Prince Zuko. I am proud because your sister conquered Ba Sing Se. I am proud because, when your loyalty was tested by your treacherous uncle, you did the right thing, and captured the traitor. And I am proudest of all of your most legendary acco mplishment. You slayed the Avatar.

Zuko played no real part in capturing Iroh and didn’t even lift a finger against him (Azula’s Dai Li agents did the hard work both times), but apparently Azula credited him with Iroh’s capture.

What about the scene you bring up?

While, here is where Azula begins to suspect that Aang survived:

Azula: You seem so downcast. Has Mai gotten to you already? Though actually, Mai has been in a strangely good mood lately. Zuko: I haven't seen Dad yet. I haven't seen him in three years, since I was banished. Azula: So what? Zuko: So, I didn't capture the Avatar. Azula: Who cares? The Avatar is dead ... [Zuko looks away.] unless you think he somehow miraculously survived. Zuko flashes back to when Katara explained about her vial of spirit water in the Crystal Catacombs. Katara: [During flashback.] This is water from the spirit oasis at the north pole. It has special properties so I've been saving it for something important. Back to the present. Zuko: No. There's no way he could have survived. [They glare at each other.] Azula: Well, then I'm sure you have nothing to worry about.

Azula only notices that Zuko is acting suspicious at this point, when they’re back at the Fire Nation. Zuko has already received a hero’s welcome at this point. She asks him a direct question, he lies to her, but she suspects he’s lying to her. Notably, if Zuko has been afraid that the Avatar is still alive ever since the fight at Ba Sing Se, then he’s been hiding it from her for weeks, which is a huge deal given that the Avatar is a huge threat to Fire Nation national security.

What is her reaction?

Azula: Please Zuko, what ulterior motive could I have? What could I possibly gain by letting you get all the glory for defeating the Avatar? [Approaching close to Zuko she places a hand on his shoulder.] Unless, somehow, the Avatar was actually alive. All that glory would suddenly turn to shame and foolishness. But you said it yourself, that was impossible. [Zuko begins to leave.] Sleep well, Zuzu.

Dumping responsibility for Zuko’s lie on Zuko. This isn’t great behavior for her, but it wasn’t her original plan. And I think she was far from convinced that the Avatar was necessarily alive(she only had Zuko worrying to go off of, and Zuko is a drama queen who works himself into frenzies over nothing), but she was deliberately fucking with Zuko’s mind here in retaliation for Zuko yelling at her when she’s trying to sleep.

Zuko's character growth came from other people learning his sad backstory and feeling bad enough to let him slide.

#Zuko #Azula #Azula cannot see the future

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wickedwitch1997 · 7 years ago

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Katara, of the Fire Nation - Chapter 20

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18 Chapter 19

Katara awakens wrapped in Zuko’s arms, he is nudging her shoulder with his nose.

Zuko woke before the sun was up, he laid with Katara until the sky started to turn pinkish, he tried to slip away, but Katara was on his arm, pins and needles raced up his hand and to his shoulder as Katara shifted in her sleep.

“We have to get up,” Zuko whispers, kissing Katara’s skin gently as she groans unhappily.

“Five more minutes,” she sighs, Zuko chuckles from behind her and Katara looks to her window, “The sun’s barely up!”

Katara rolls over and wraps herself around Zuko, grumbling as she buries her face in the crook of his neck.

“Kat,” he groans, trying to pull out of Katara’s hold, “Come on.”

“Five minutes,” Katara says, now wrapping her legs around Zuko and holding him like a koala.

“I’ll give you massage if you let go,” Zuko negotiates, Katara doesn’t answer right away, her hold softens and then she looks up to Zuko.

“Now?” Katara asks, Zuko shakes his head.

“I have to work,” Zuko sighs, “I am the Fire Lord, remember, and getting up early to go to my own room and dress for the day is a requirement.”

Katara huffs and then lets Zuko go, conceding to her fire lord as she stretches her back.

“I’m expecting that massage sometime today,” Katara says, watching as Zuko rolls out of bed.

Zuko laughs as he pulls his pants up as they slip down on his hips.

“Tonight,” Zuko promises, swiping his tunic from the floor.

Katara smiles and then lays on her chest.

“Hey,” Katara says as Zuko heads towards the office doors, she arches her back and lifts her rump in the air, “Sure I can’t convince you to stay?”

Zuko looks at Katara and growls low in his throat, he stalks back to the bed and Katara rolls onto her back, smiling in victory as Zuko leans over her and presses his lips to her’s.

As Katara’s chest heaves, Zuko breaks the kiss and pulls his sash across Katara’s stomach.

“Happy?” Zuko asks, quirking his eyebrow at her.

Katara huffs in response and then Zuko turns and leaves, ignoring Katara’s sweet, sweet pleas to stay.

Walking away from Katara’s bed is the hardest thing Zuko has ever done, but he has to get a start on his day, starting with returning to his own room and getting dressed.

Katara sighs and then rolls out of bed as the door closes, she pulls a robe on and then heads to the bathhouse, Katara showers, letting the water run over her body, washing away the of last of the night before. Katara notices a small bruise on her breast, and she frowns and touches it gently, as she does, she can remember the feel of Zuko’s mouth there, how his tongue swirled before he sucked.

Katara heals the bruise with the water, she then runs more healing water around her neck, where she distinctly remembers Zuko’s mouth sucking.

Katara goes about her day, she runs into Zuko a couple of times, she tries to get him to blush by winking at him, but Zuko ends up winning when he licks his lips tantalizingly at Katara during lunch.

When the pair alone in the office it’s harder for them to concentrate, especially when the only thing that Zuko wants to do is place Katara on the desk and fuck her on top of all the papers. They manage to keep it professional, mostly, Zuko does initiate a break when he kisses Katara roughly.

When Katara and Zuko leave the office, her lips are still tingling softly, but that doesn’t stop her from noticing Kiki and Sikkack as they slink around a corner. Katara thinks about it and she realises that Kiki has never been far from her, no matter where she goes.

Katara frowns, but she does not follow Kiki or approach her, instead she waits until she sees a messenger walking down the hall with three letters in his hands.

“Are those the ambassadors’ letters?” Katara asks, stopping the messenger as they pass each other in the hall.

“Yes,” the man answers.

“Can I see them?” Katara asks, the messenger looks around uneasily and then Katara sighs and then produces a coin from her pocket.

The messenger hands over the letters and Katara takes them back to her room, she carefully peels the seal off Kiki’s envelope and opens the letter.

Katara is shocked when the letter contains details of everything Katara has done since midday yesterday all the way to midday today. The letter even includes how Katara and Zuko shared a bed last night.

“What is this?” Katara asks herself, she opens Sikkack’s letter and finds that the northern ambassador has been accounting for all of Zuko’s actions during the same time frame.

“So what are you reporting?” Katara asks, opening the last letter.

The ambassador for the earth king has been reporting the movement of Zuko’s army, it also includes maps of where the army is currently residing, it includes numbers, and weapons as well as a list of a handful of soldiers and generals. The ambassador has written on some of the maps, circling cities and farmlands.

“Motherfuckers,” Katara snarls, her chest alights with fire and she storms out of her room. Katara finds Kiki, walking down a hall, walking away from Katara.

Katara storms up to Kiki and grabs her arm, she steers the ambassador into the closest room, the empty bathhouse.

“What the hell is this?” Katara asks, holding up Kiki’s letter and making all the taps turn on so that no one can overhear them.

“Katara…”Kiki stammers, avoiding Katara’s eyes.

“Why are you recording all of my movements?” Katara asks, the heat in the room rises as steam starts to rise.

“I was told to, by chief Tikali,” Kiki says.

“Tikali?” Katara frowns, “The chief of the north is Arnook.”

“Not anymore,” Kiki says, she looks around uneasily, “Tikali took over, he overthrew Arnook.”

“And why is my father having Sikkack track Zuko?” Katara asks, the water roars over her voice and Katara watches as Kiki squirms.

“Katara… your father lost the chiefdom in a fair fight against Tikali,” Kiki says, “He’s brought the tribes together, and holds his seat in the south.”

There is only one way for a chief to lose his chiefdom. Katara grabs Kiki by the throat and slams the water bender back into the wall.

“Choose your next words very carefully,” Katara warns, her eyes darkening as she forms an ice point over her hand.

“He’s not dead,” Kiki informs, struggling against Katara’s hold.

“Why haven’t I heard about this yet?” Katara asks, she fastens her hold round Kiki’s neck, “How long has it been?”

“Three months,” Kiki says, “He’s keeping him alive as leverage, in case you or Sokka try to stop him.”

“Where is Sokka?” Katara asks, her hand loosening.

“He disappeared in the fight,” Kiki says, taking in a deep breath as her throat is freed, “No one knows where he is.”

Katara snarls and then let’s go of Kiki completely.

“Tikali is corroborating with the earth king,” Kiki says, touching her throat, “They’re planning to overthrow the fire nation and bring it under their control.”

Katara’s anger spikes, her hand crumples Kiki’s letter and the waterbender gapes as if she’s been stabbed.

“He has my father too!” Kiki gapes, “If I don’t send those letters, he’ll kill him!”

Katara looks to the wad of paper in her hands and then back to Kiki.

“Rewrite it,” Katara says, throwing the paper on the ground, “You know which parts to change. Bring it to me when you’re done.”

Katara walks out, she returns to her room and then looks to the other letters, she takes them into the office and rewrites Sikkack letter over and over until the two letters are exact replicas, save for a few details she altered.

Katara then looks to the last letter, and as she does, Zuko walks into the office, sighing heavily.

“Zuko,” Katara says, standing, “We have a problem.”

“What is it?” he asks, noticing Katara’s hard face.

Katara informs Zuko of what she has learnt and the fires in the room raise angrily.

“I’ve rewritten Sikkack’s letter, Kiki rewrote her’s but I don’t know what to do with this,” Katara gestures to the war maps, “Zuko, they’re planning a coup.”

Zuko’s anger boils and rises in his chest, smoke curls from his nostrils like a dragon and his scar tightens as he frowns.

Zuko and Katara slave over the last letter, changing it and littering it with lies before sending the three letters away.

“I wish for permission to leave,” Katara says, once the messenger leaves, “I need to go home.”

“No,” Zuko says immediately without a thought, “No, it’s too dangerous.”

“I have to,” Katara says, “he has my father.”

“And what is your plan?” Zuko asks, watching as Katara paces in front of his desk.

“I’m going to sneak into the south, hide on a cargo ship and then jump overboard before docking,” Katara says, she’s thought about it a lot, “You’ll have to cover for me here, tell them I’m sick, contagious, have someone you trust help you falsify the evidence, I’ll be gone for a week, two at most, if I’m gone longer, tell them that you’ve sent me away. Tell them that I’m on a mission for you, it’s plausible; I’ve done covert missions for you before, they won’t suspect a thing.” Katara wrings her hands together and then turns to Zuko, “I’ll sneak into the village and take Tikali down.”

“Will you kill him?” Zuko asks.

“If I must,” Katara answers without hesitation, “he has my father and Sokka is missing. The tribe is a part of my blood too, I have to fight for it.”

“It seems like you’ve thought this through,” Zuko says, standing, “Very well, then I’m going with you.”

Katara’s eyes widen as Zuko stands in front of her.

“No,” Katara says, “I have to go alone or they’ll be suspicious. Besides, you need to be here, to intercept the messages and change them if necessary.”

Both Katara and Zuko were taught how to write by Iroh, but it was Ozai who taught them how to copy a person’s handwriting so no one could tell the letters apart.

“Kat, I don’t want you to get hurt,” Zuko says, cupping Katara’s face in his hands, “I need you.”

“I won’t get hurt,” Katara says as Zuko kisses her forehead, “I will come back to you. But I need to do this.”

“You know, I could order you to stay,” Zuko sighs, putting his forehead to hers.

“Then do it,” Katara challenges, she kisses Zuko’s lips and then adds, “But I will still leave.”

“I know,” Zuko sighs, stepping back, “When do you plan to leave?”

“Tonight, when everyone is asleep.”

Zuko sighs and hangs his head in defeat.

“If you don’t come back…”

“I will,” Katara says stepping towards Zuko as he leans on his desk, “Zuko, I will always come back to you.”

Zuko sighs and Katara presses her lips to his again.

“Besides,” she hums, breaking the kiss, “You still owe me a massage.”

Katara returns to her room and changes her clothes, she packs a bag full of provisions and spare clothes, as she zips the bag, Zuko walks in.

“I’m going to miss you,” he says, leaning on Katara’s door.

Katara smiles and Zuko walks towards her, he leans his head on her shoulder and she hugs him.

“When?”

“Soon,” Katara says, looking to the night sky out her window, “in a few hours.”

“Stay until I fall asleep?” he asks, standing and looking at her bed, “I can’t bear to watch you leave.”

Katara nods her head and Zuko goes to her bed, he sits on the edge of her bed and then looks at Katara as she drops her bag.

“I love you,” he says, Katara’s heart races in her chest as Zuko holds her stare, his eyes piercing through her entire existence, “I had to tell you that, I’ve been thinking about how to say it all day. Now you’re leaving and I knew I had to say it before you left.”

Katara takes a deep breath.

“You can say it back when you come home,” Zuko says, stopping Katara with a silencing hand, “Come home, that’s an order.”

Katara laughs and then sits on her bed with Zuko.

Zuko ends up falling asleep with his head in Katara’s lap as she runs her fingers through his hair, and when his breathing is even and his body is relaxed, Katara slips out from under him and then kisses his temple.

“I love you too,” Katara whispers, she runs her hand through his hair again and then slips out her window, letting the darkness swallow her whole.

Katara sneaks onto the royal docks and then onto a cargo ship bound for the southern water tribe.

The fire nation has been sending food and other supplies to all the other nations, sharing their wealth with others to make up for the hundred year war.

Katara hates being in the cargo hold, it makes her feel like a child, caged and scared all over again.

“I’m not afraid,” Katara whispers, hiding from crewmen, “I am powerful, I am a weapon.”

Over the past few months, Katara has found comfort in the words that used to scare her, she has embraced her past and is now at peace with the fact that she is a weapon, but she also knows that she is much more than that.

The night before the ship is meant to dock, Katara slips onto the deck and jumps overboard before anyone can see her, she bends the water up to her and slips below the surface without a sound.

Katara bends the water around her to form an air pocket, she then finds the current and lets it carry her to the South Pole. Katara comes up on the coast, right near the abandoned fire nation ship, the air bubble breaks and Katara is soaked as she breaches the surface.

Katara planned to use the fire nation ship as a base for herself, but there are lights on in the ship and workers are pulling it apart.

“What are you doing?” Katara whispers to herself, she sinks back under the water and rides on another current, this one takes her past the tribe, far behind it, to the cursed lake, a frozen lake that almost always has a snowstorm raging over it.

Katara finds a large space of earth that shoots up from the sea floor and rests like an island over the ice. Katara places a hand on the ice near the island, intending to melt it so she can surface, but through the ice, she can feel vibrations.

Katara frowns as she feels the vibrations of footsteps, no one should be out this far. Katara can also feel the vibrations of people talking above her, she takes a guess and assumes there are at least four or five people.

Katara is about to melt the ice and attack the people above, but then she hears the thump of something big, the vibrations of the thump causes the ice to groan under the pressure and Katara decides that it won’t be worth the risk of facing whatever rests above the ice. So she rides the current again, she stops in the middle of the lake, she opens the ice and then surfaces, Katara is soaked again as she climbs out of the water, she shivers and closes her hole before wrapping her arms around herself.

Katara bends the water from her clothes and skin, drying herself instantly before she grabs her bag and pulls on the thickest coat she brought.

But winter in the fire nation isn’t nearly as cold as summer in the water tribe, the coat is not thick enough, but it will do for now.

Katara feels vibrations from the ice, they rocket up to her knees and makes her hair stand on end. Katara looks up and finds a large beast barrelling towards her, there are shouts coming from behind it. The beast continues to charge and Katara turn to run, she ploughs through the snow over the ice and her heart is thundering in her throat as she considers summoning a snow storm for cover.

“APPA!” one of the voices shouts, Katara turns her head as the voice calls out again, clear as day it calls, “APPA!”

“Appa?” Katara frowns, she skids to a stop and then turns as the beast that charges her turn out to be the Avatar’s shaggy sky bison.

The sky bison stops in front of Katara and then tackles her with his head, he nuzzles against her and then licks her with his disturbingly warm tongue.

“APPA!” the bison’s master calls and Katara pushes Appa off her as Aang skids to a stop next to them, “Katara?!”

Katara laughs as she bends the saliva from her skin, she rubs the bison’s nose and looks to the avatar.

“Hey,” she says, catching her breath as she runs her gloved hands through Appa’s fur, “Hey, Aang.”

“Katara!” he beams, in a split second, the monk wraps his arms around Katara, hugging her tightly, “What are you doing here?!”

Before Katara can answer, another voice calls out.

“Aang!’ it calls, and Katara’s smile widens as Sokka races into sight.

“SOKKA!” Katara shouts, she runs into her brother’s arms and holds him as his eyes widen in shock.

“KATARA?!” he gapes, pulling her back and holding her at arm’s length as he looks her up and down, making sure that it is indeed his sister, “By the spirits!”

“You’ve grown,” Katara notes, noticing how much taller Sokka is, he stands a foot taller than her.

“And so have you!” Sokka says right back.

Sokka hugs his sister tightly and then feels her shiver against him.

“Come on, the other’s will be thrilled to see you,” Sokka says, he takes off his coat and wraps it around his sister before escorting her back to where she heard the vibrations under the ice.

“Look who we found!” Aang announces, walking into a large ice hut with a proud smile.

“Katara!” Toph and Suki beam, racing to the waterbender and hugging her.

The ice hut is where the earth island stands, the hut is gigantic, the earth only covers half of the floor space.

“The old gang is back together!” Suki beams.

Katara laughs as Appa squeezes through the door and flops down, half on the earth, half on the ice.

“What are you doing here, princess?” Toph says, “Not that I’m not happy to see you, the spirits know that I’m glad to see you, but last we heard, you were in the fire nation.”

“Is Zuko here too?” Aang asks, “How’d you know where to find us?”

“Zuko isn’t here,” Katara says, “I intercepted some letters from the ambassadors a couple of days ago, Kiki told me what happened and I came here to help.”

“How’d you know we were here?” Sokka asks, grabbing another coat from his own bag.

“I didn’t,” Katara shrugs, “I was meant to go to the fire nation ship to figure out what to do next, but they were tearing it apart. So I came out here.”

“Appa must have smelt you through the ice,” Aang says petting the sky bison’s nose, “He took off like a spear.”

“Why didn’t you write?” Katara asks, her eyes glaring at her brother, “They said you were missing.”

“We couldn’t send a hawk from this far in,” Sokka says, “And Momo can’t fly that far.”

As if on cue, Momo lands on Katara’s shoulders, wrapping his front paws around Katara’s head.

“So what’s your plan?” Katara asks, looking to Sokka, but Sokka just shrugs his shoulders, “You don’t have a plan.” Katara untangles Momo from her head and holds him in her arms.

“We’ve been trying to gather intel,” Sokka says, “But Tikali is a powerful waterbender, he has surrounded himself with powerful benders, both water and earth benders.”

“So he called in the avatar and me to kick some butt!” Toph proclaims, pounding her fist into her hand.

“But you too got your asses handed to you,” Katara assumes, Toph lowers her hands and Katara nods and then puts Momo down.

Katara purses her lips in thought and then moves to the fire that burns in the middle of the room, she misses Zuko’s heat; she misses him.

“So what’s your plan?” Sokka asks, watching as Katara stares into the flames.

“I’m going to find Tikali,” Katara says, her eyes staying on the fire, “and I’m going to end it.”

“You mean to end him,” Aang says, his voice full of judgement, “You’re going to kill him.”

“He has my father, Aang,” Katara says, her voice hollow as she watches the fire dances on crackling logs, “He has my tribe. This world cannot handle another Phoenix king.”

Katara looks over to Aang, his face is pale and eyes wide. A log cracks and splits from the heat, sending embers shooting skywards.

“You can’t do that,” Aang says, his arms folded over his chest. Katara can see that his muscles have become more defined.

“I can,” Katara says, her voice icy cold, “And I’m not going to let some thirteen-year-old kid tell me what I can and can’t do.”

“So you’re just going to waltz on in there and say, ‘my name is Katara of the southern tribe, you’ve taken my father, prepare to die’?” Sokka says, mocking Katara in a deep voice as he breaks the tension and the silence between Katara and the Avatar.

“Well,” Katara says, shrugging with a smile, “That’s one option.”

“No, it’s not.” Katara laughs at her brother as he frowns at her, “I was kidding you can’t do that.”

“Well, I could,” Katara says, she looks back to the fire as the heat warms her bones. “I’m going to do recon,” Katara says, her voice turning serious and filling with determination.

“We tried that,” Suki says, “and we failed, the only reason we’re not captured is because we retreated into a snowstorm. Twice we failed, what makes you think you will succeed?”

“I’m the Fire Lord’s weapon.”

@squishysuho @the-weird-fob-fangirl@thegaang6@pepewntz@solidaritree@waitingtillthesmilescomeback@miraculoushipping@auzlon@tiernanka@lovelylittleladyl@standby-reality @beealexageek @danielslilangel, @azn-quxxn @asongstress1422

#Katara of the Fire Nation fic #damn #just a little break from the smut #i promise #zutara will be right on track #maybe #i'm trying my hand at action #zutara #katara #zuko #goals #fire nation #water tribe

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lykegenia · 7 years ago

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The Things We Hide Ch. 7

he Southern Water Tribe stood for a hundred years against the Fire Nation, indomitable until Sozin’s Comet tipped the balance in Fire Lord Ozai’s favour. Now, as planned, the South is decimated, Chief Hakoda is a puppet on his throne, and Princess Katara is a political prisoner held in the Fire Nation capital to ensure his good behaviour. But Ozai has little time to gloat. A vigilante masquerading as the Blue Spirit is causing unrest among the people, rebel ships still hound his navy, and right under his nose the South’s most powerful waterbender waits with the patience of ice to strike at the very heart of his empire and bring it crashing down.

Chapter 1 on AO3 Masterpost here

Words: 5383 Pairing: Zuko x Katara Chapter Summary: Looking to find information to help the Water Tribe's cause, Katara slips out in a night-time disguise, not expecting to meet a familiar face.

Read it on AO3

“What did you find out about the Blue Spirit?”

Katara stood in cleared room in her private apartments, bending a globe of water back and forth between her hands while Nila practiced the same form next to her. The doors and windows were shuttered to avoid prying eyes, a necessary precaution after the Fire Nation guards’ orders to tighten security, but one that drove away all hope of a breeze from the gardens. The weather still hadn’t broken, and it was making all her people irritable.

Nila was considering her answer. As a truth sensor, one who used the subtle flow of blood to detect lies and hidden truths, she was better than most at sniffing out information from the people around her, but even her abilities could only do so much in the face of house arrest. The entire Southern entourage had been confined to the compound since the attack on the harbour – ‘to avoid harm to our most treasured ally through misguided retaliation’ – and now Nila’s only contact with the outside world was the woman who had been employed to bring groceries from the morning market.

“The common people seem to like him, and I hear there are countless tales of him helping fight injustice on the streets when the guard stand by and do nothing. Officially, the guard seem to be treating him as the main suspect in the harbour attack, which is to be expected, I suppose.”

“That’ll backfire. He’s showing the people they can fight back, if they want,” Attuk said from his corner, where he sat sharpening his knife over his knee. “And if a spirit is rebelling against those at the top, then the people are bound to follow suit sooner or later.”

“Can we use that?” Katara asked. “Could he be an ally?”

Nila shook her head. “Only fools and blind men walk in front of a strange polar bear-dog. We couldn’t afford to trust him, and that’s if you could even find him in the first place.”

“If he’s disgruntled Fire Nation he might be sympathetic,” Attuk pointed out. “He could go where we can’t, listen at doors we don’t have access to.”

“A street thug is not a spy, no matter how sneaky he seems,” Nila snapped. “And unless he’s someone very important, he definitely wouldn’t be able to help us find out where the Fire Lord put our waterbenders.”

“We need to look ourselves,” Katara decided, before the two of them could get into a real argument. They were cousins, brought up in the same household, and made an active sport of nettling each other.

She streamed her water into the pail in the corner of the room and came out of her bending stance, a frown creased between her eyes. The problem of the missing waterbenders had been at the forefront of her mind ever since she had received Mimi’s letter, and she had turned it over and over until she had looked at it from what seemed like every possible angle. They needed to be found, or the plan they had worked so hard for would likely come to nothing. The trouble was, they had no place to start looking.

“Oh no,” said Attuk. “I know that look. That’s the look that gets me in trouble with Hama for letting you go gadding about.”

Katara shot him a long-suffering look. “I have never gadded in my life. But you’re right. On my, err, excursion the other night, I passed a guardhouse I think I could find again. I bet they’d have maps of the city, and that would be a start, at least.”

“They might also have guard rosters,” Nila added. “We could get a better idea of how they organise themselves. If I could just -”

“No.” Katara’s voice was firm. “We’ve been over this. If I get caught, then it needs to just be me, so the rest of you don’t get compromised.”

Nila shook her head so the braids tucked behind her ears came loose, but she didn’t protest. “Very well. But it would help to have more avenues open to us. I’ll see what can be arranged.”

In the corner, Attuk heaved a weary sigh and dragged a hand down his face. “And I suppose I’ll be helping by distracting the guards, won’t I?”

When Katara sneaked out of the mansion that night, the moon had yet to rise. She had decided to forego her warpaint in favour of a fukumen that obscured most of her face. Her blue eyes might give her away as Water Tribe, but she wasn’t planning to let anyone get close enough to see the details of her face, and she had swiped her skin with black grease to hide its colour. Tonight was about planning and reconnaissance, but just in case, she had tied a weighted sash around her waist – a silent weapon, one that fit well with her bending style and one that, unlike a dagger, could not be turned against her by an unskilled opponent.

The guardhouse was easy to find. It stood higher than the other buildings of the district, topped with a lookout tower that could also serve as a defensive turret in times of trouble. Only one guard stood at the post, shoulders relaxed in a way that told Katara she could probably slip by unnoticed, if only she was quiet. She would have more trouble finding her way once inside, but from what she could see several of the top floor rooms contained shelves and cabinets full of scrolls, and looked promising.

She could feel the moon just below the horizon, but its waning glow would make little difference to the well-lit streets. Even so, she angled her approach in a wide arc, letting the shadows hide her as she leapt from roof to roof towards her goal. The shopfronts below appeared deserted, but she remained wary. All it took was for one person to look up, and she would be revealed plain as day in the lantern light. Finally, she made it to the roof of the guardhouse. She waited, but the sentry gave no sign of alarm, and after a few minutes she felt easy enough to lower herself into the shadows under the gable roof.

The window closest to her had no lock – no doubt the building’s architects had thought they were unnecessary two storeys off the ground. It slid open on oiled rails, just wide enough for Katara to slip through and drop to the floor, alert for any sound of detection.

Everything was silent, the dim lamplight shining through the rice-paper screen door opposite just enough to see by. Katara straightened, allowing herself the luxury of curiosity. The room she found herself in was large, with a large, ornate desk and a larger, more ornate chair behind it, and large, ornate cabinets lining the walls. Every free surface was taken up with displays of weapons and armour, though when she looked closer, none of them were battle worn – for show, then. Had she not been so intent on being quiet, she would have snorted at the obviousness of the commander’s inferiority complex. Because this was definitely his office.

Ears straining for the slightest movement in the corridor, she tiptoed up to the desk, which was scattered with papers difficult to read in the dark. She conjured a glove of healing light out of the humid air, and the weak shine allowed her to sort through to find what she needed. It seemed the guard captain had been organising an escort for a supply convoy along the coast. She tucked the notes into her shirt. The route would probably be changed once he realised they were missing, but it would be far more difficult for them to move all the munitions factories and defensive points marked on the map – and that was if the captain was brave enough to report the loss in the first place, which she doubted.

She was about to move away to one of the corner cabinets when she caught sight of an interesting shape half hidden under a paperweight. When she tugged the sheet of paper out to get a proper look, the Blue Spirit’s unsettling mask grinned back at her. The writing next to it listed his crimes and a general description, along with instructions to capture him at any cost, preferably alive.

Without quite knowing why, Katara folded the poster away with the other documents she had stolen.

At that moment, she heard voices outside. The water in her hand dropped to the floor with a splash and the room went dark. She barely had time to hide herself in a corner before the door slid open and two men stepped into the room. One was obviously the commander, and he scowled at the younger, taller man who followed him with a placatory tilt to his head.

“I thought you should be informed, sir – Yizuka has gone to the wards with some of the others, more of them this time.”

“And why should this be news to me, Lieutenant?” the commander grumbled.

“You have to know what they’re up to, sir. We’re the guard, we should be protecting people, not extorting from them, and Yizuka shouldn’t be allowed to –”

“Let me make something clear to you, Lieutenant. We are paid to guard the city, and we do. Just think how much worse off the people would be without our protection, if they had nothing standing between them and the barbarians wanting to take everything away from them.” The captain turned and stalked behind his desk. “Consider this a warning. Next time it’ll be court martial, now get – where did all this water come from?”

“Sir, look!”

Katara’s reaction was instant. The young lieutenant didn’t even have time to raise his hands in a bending stance before she was reaching out with puppetmaster’s fingers, plucking at the flow of her enemies’ blood to bend them to her will. For an instant, the soldiers went rigid, eyes popping in surprise, and then they slumped to the floor, unconscious. She relaxed her grip and paused, breathing hard. Bloodbending was difficult enough during the full moon, and the effects of the technique she had just used tended to be unpredictable, but the two seemed sound asleep, and would probably wake soon. It was time to leave.

The moon had risen while she was inside, brighter than she had expected, and if she wasn’t careful the sentry would definitely see her. Climbing out of the window, she scanned the nearby rooftops for a route that could take her homewards while also keeping her hidden. That was when she caught sight of a distant figure leaping across the rooftops of the merchants’ quarter, heading for the labyrinthine wards where the city’s commoners made their homes.

Was he coming, or going? Lila might have warned her to stay away from him, but nobody ever learned anything by being cautious, and Katara was flushed from her burglary, certain that she could match him – few could survive a battle with a master waterbender. Abandoning thoughts of a soft bed and an early night, she climbed to the edge of the guardhouse’s roof and set off after the Blue Spirit.

He didn’t travel in a straight line. Instead he zigzagged with purpose through the dark streets of the wards, as if looking for something. Katara followed. After about twenty minutes, she knew he had spotted her, because his movements became easier to track. He seemed content to let her follow him, and did not change his pace when she tried harder to catch up with him. It put her on her guard, remembering a hunting trip with her father when the snow lion they had been hunting had turned in a blizzard and started stalking them instead. She decided to hang back, to be patient like the water, to let his curiosity bring him to her.

He stopped on a roof, crouched in the shadows. After a few moments of absolute stillness, he struck out again, this time with purpose, using the steeply sloping roofs to hide his advance, and Katara knew he had spotted his prey. When he dropped down to street level she hurried to where she had seen him vanish, and paused, taking in the scene.

Four members of the city guard loomed in front of a shop doorway, their leader, a burly woman with burn scars on her bare arms, held a globe of fire aloft in her hand. It was a small thing, but the light it cast was enough to illuminate the terrified face of the merchant they had come to threaten.

“There’s been word, Chizo,” the burly woman said. She seemed to be in charge. “Streets are getting more dangerous. There’s talk of rebel benders on the loose.”

“N-no, please!” the man called Chizo squeaked. “I’ve already given you all I can afford! I’m just an ordinary merchant, I can’t –”

“Funny, that, I could have sworn I heard you entertained a pair of clinking Earth Kingdom nobles just the other day.”

Chizo sobbed. “They weren’t customers! They – they were from the colonies. They came to sell me samples of a new kind of tea. I have some left, if you want to try it!”

Katara wondered why nobody was helping this poor man. He was making enough noise that the whole street should have heard, but the nearby houses were silent, the windows blank and dark. What kind of society allowed those in power to bully those who could not defend themselves – how could the Fire Lord let such injustice stand? Every lesson she had been taught declared that the ruling should protect those they governed, and yet many of the people in the capital lived in squalor, in cramped houses on dirty streets, terrified of the guard that was meant to keep them safe. The sheer brazenness of it made her blood boil.

“What do you think, boys?” the guard captain was asking.

Her lackeys sniggered. “Sounds like a good cover story, boss – something a spy might say.”

“No! I swear, I’m not a spy! A week – if you come by in a week I’ll have the money for you, but I’m not a spy, I’m not.”

“Not buying it.”

The guard captain raised her hand – whether to smash the shop or strike Chizo – but before her fire could flicker more than an inch from her fingertips, a shadow detached itself from the darkest corner of the street and darted forward, closing her fist and extinguishing the fire. The Blue Spirit ducked then, barely avoiding a blow swung at him by another of the guards as he somehow swung to put the guard captain between him and the attack.

“No firebending, you fools!” the captain screeched. “You’ll hit me!”

“Wh-what do we do, then?”

After the first instinctive response, the guards had backed away, overawed by the Blue Spirit’s reputation and the sight of that implacable, grinning mask.

“What do you think, idiot?” another one of them snapped. “Do you know what the reward is for capturing this guy?”

“Get him!”

The guards rushed in, but it was obvious they had little experience fighting without their bending. The Blue Spirit deflected their punches easily, slipping through the gaps in their stances with an ease that almost suggested premonition. As Katara watched from a nearby rooftop, however, she realised he could only predict his enemies’ movements because they lacked originality – they had the rigidity of patterns learned by rote from an ungifted teacher. The Blue Spirit knew the patterns, and how to exploit them – he must have trained with firebenders.

She was so preoccupied watching him she almost missed the form of the guard captain, who had struggled free of the brawl while everyone else was distracted. Backing away to a safe distance, the brawny woman settled into a beginning stance and inhaled a deep lungful of air. Firebending comes from the breath.

Katara dropped from the roof before she even registered the decision to move. She had to stop the other woman from firebending. In these dark streets, the light and the fwoosh would be enough to call in a whole battalion of the city guard, and they would all be standing in the way of her route home. The Blue Spirit was still preoccupied.

She pulled the red sash from her waist as she ran, and flicked it out just as the first flames ignited from the captain’s fist. The weighted end of red silk doused the flames, wrapped the captain around the wrist, and when Katara whirled and tugged the slack tight, the momentum brought her opponent crashing down. She was up again in an instant, flashing out with fast, fiery punches, but Katara danced around the strikes. With both of them in the fray, the guards were confused, unsure who to target, and within minutes they lay crumpled and groaning on the cobbles. The shopkeeper, Chizo, had used the distraction to scramble into his shop and bolt the door shut behind him.

The two warriors regarded each other. Katara felt a stab of unease as the silence stretched. This was the second time she had faced the Blue Spirit, and he had sought her out in the harbour because of the destruction she had orchestrated there – to help her, or to catch her? His breath barely whistled between the leering teeth of the mask, and if not for the faint pressure of his blood against her fingertips, she might have made the same assumption as the guards and mistaken him for a creature made of smoke.

He took a step towards her, swords still drawn, but a sound behind him made him flinch just as an arrow came whistling out of the darkness.

Archers! Katara no longer had time to worry whether the Blue Spirit was friend or foe. She stepped past him, arms raised to call down a fog. The effort of it brought a painful throb behind her eyes – even the air was dry, here – but within seconds vapours condensed out of the air to obscure the approaching group of soldiers.

It didn’t stop their arrows. First one twang, then a second, and arrows burst through the mist, their aim off, but only just. And she couldn’t risk bending and giving herself away.

The Blue Spirit grabbed her arm. Even as he tugged and indicated with a nod of his head for her to follow, she couldn’t help marvelling at the warmth of his hand through both his clothing and her own. Another arrow sped out of the darkness, and he tugged again, towards a side alley that would give them a head start on their pursuers.

They almost didn’t make it. The captain’s show of firebending must have been seen from one of the outposts in the city, and as knowledge of their target’s identity spread, it seemed like every guard on duty emerged to hunt them down, and without the Blue Spirit, Katara knew she would have been caught. He knew the cramped streets of the wards, how to turn to avoid oncoming patrols, and when to take to the roofs to avoid being spotted. It might just be self-preservation that drove him, but he moved seamlessly with her, and eventually the sounds of pursuit grew distant enough for them to slow their headlong rush and breathe.

When they finally stopped, slipping into a dark, abandoned house somewhere near the factory district, Katara took a moment to quell the unease threatening to rise up her throat. She had completely lost track of where she was. Sometime before dawn, she would have to find her way out of these slums and back to the mansion, all without being seen, or revealing to the Blue Spirit exactly where she was going.

Thought of him made her turn. In the light of the moon through the window he watched her – or did he? His eyes were invisible behind the mask, his only movement the slight rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. It made the trim outline of his figure hard to trace against the shadows, except for a tiny stripe on his shoulder where the fabric was torn and pale skin showed through. A trickle of blood seeped from the wound the first arrow must have made as it cut past him.

Without thinking she took a step forward, but stopped when he dropped defensively and put his hands to the liangdao strapped across his shoulder.

“No, I wasn’t going to…” Katara lowered her voice, hoping that would be enough to disguise it. “I can heal your arm.”

The faintest twitch in the mask, a glance to the injury and back, but no relaxing of his defences.

“Please,” she said. “You probably just saved my life. It’s the least I can do.”

The Blue Spirit straightened and very carefully lowered his arms, still alert, but no longer hostile, and Katara nodded her thanks. The floorboards creaked as she crossed the room to his side and reached out for the cut on his shoulder. He ran as hot here as he did in his hands, and she was very conscious of the weight of his gaze as she pulled back the sheer fabric of his shirt to get a better look at the wound. Ideally, she would have liked a candle to make sure it was clean – where was a firebender when you needed one? – but even in the dark she could feel the channels of his blood already working to heal, and that would have to do.

“Hold still,” she instructed, and fisted her hands in his sleeve to back up the words. When she summoned healing water from the air to her fingertips he craned his neck for a better look at the glow, but otherwise remained patiently motionless as she examined him. The wound was deeper than it looked at first glance, and had the moon been full she would have realised how much blood he was losing. She tried to ignore the fact that the arm under her palm was solid, lithe muscle.

Before she could bring the water to the cut on the Blue Spirit’s arm, however, they heard a deliberate tread on the stairs below them. A light flickered below. Katara’s hand dropped to the sash at her waist, and in a flash of silver the liangdao were in her partner’s hands, curved edges trained on the new enemy.

“I know you’re there!” a quavering voice shouted up at them, full of the high swoops and low scratchings of a boy on the cusp of adulthood. “Whoever you are, you’d better clear out! We’ve got nothin’ worth stealin’ and you’ll be real sorry if I catch you.”

They exchanged a look, but did not move.

After a few moments, curiosity seemed to overcome whoever was downstairs, and they heard a creak as the would-be defender climbed towards them. The Blue Spirit started to back away as the light grew brighter, lifting his swords in a defensive stance, but when a scruffy head peeked over the floor, he relaxed. The boy was scrawny, about Katara’s own age, and under his simple sleeveless jacket looked like he had grown a lot in a very short time and with very little food. The lantern dangling from his hand wobbled though he made an obvious attempt to steady it.

He focussed on Katara first, his eyes narrowed. “I’m giving you one final warning, thief. Get out of here, or I’ll – I’ll call the guard!” A thought suddenly seemed to occur to the young man, and she didn’t fail to notice the new light of greed in his eyes. “I bet you’re the ones they’re hunting!” he gasped. “There’s probably a reward out, and –”

A shadow stepped in front of Katara, and for a tense moment she watched the Blue Spirit face-off against the stranger, whose jaw had gone slack. When he spoke again, however, his tone of voice had changed completely, taking on a note of awe that made him sound a lot younger.

“No way… I know you!” He shook himself and bowed. “Forgive my rudeness, Blue Spirit. If I had known it was you, I never would’ve said I’d get the soldiers, no matter the reward. Mom said if it weren’t for you, Sasura would have disappeared like Kiri last month. You probably don’t even remember her, but she was so grateful after what you did. She was badly shaken…” The young man scratched the back of his head. “You know, some people say you’re a spirit, but they’ll be so jealous when I say I met you. Although if I say that, the soldiers will probably come.”

As he chattered nervously, Katara and the Blue Spirit relaxed and put away their weapons. Katara glanced out of the window, trying to gaze how much of the night was left. Daylight came quickly so close to the equator, and if she wasn’t careful, one of the royal guard might spot her returning. She wondered if the Blue Spirit had similar concerns, but before she could think of a way to politely make an exit, a rasping voice called up from below.

“Haku, who are you talking to?”

The young man glanced fearfully at the Blue Spirit, who shook his head. “N-nobody, Mom!” he shouted.

“I thought I heard you talking.”

“I’ll be right down,” he answered, then turned back to them. “You guys should go. I swear I won’t tell – not the guards, not anybody.”

Katara nodded in thanks and stepped towards the window, but when the Blue Spirit made to follow a low groan slipped from the mask and he listed drunkenly on his legs. She had forgotten about his wound.

“Are you hurt?” Haku asked, his dark eyes round. “Here, let me help you. I can’t let you go out like this if you’re hurt, not when you probably got it helping out someone like me.”

The Blue Spirit tried to shrug him away, but Katara had joined in and he couldn’t fight off both of them. Together they guided him down the stairs into a room that seemed to serve as bedroom and kitchen in one. In one corner a haggard woman lay on a patched bedroll, and barely stirred as the three of them crossed to a low table by the window.

“Mom,” Haku explained sadly at Katara’s questioning glance. “She works in the factory, not much else work for a non-bender. Her lungs are bad. I do what I can, but there’s no medicine for soot in the lungs, not really.” He darted away as soon as the Blue Spirit was seated against the wall, crossing to the other side of the room to rummage in one of the few cupboards the family possessed. “You’ll need needle and thread for that. I watch the doctor sometimes, so I can help. There isn’t any proper salve, but I’ve got some white spirit somewhere which would at least stop any infection, and –”

He stopped when he noticed the blue glow emanating from Katara’s hands. With a yelp, he dropped his first aid kit on the floor and leapt between his mother and the two strangers crouched on the other side of the room.

“You’re a witch! Don’t come any closer!”

Katara paused in her healing, at a loss. The Blue Spirit looked at her, then shrugged off the floor and padded towards Haku before pulling at the cut edge of his sleeve to reveal the wound, now nothing more than a thin pink line along his pale flesh. The young man’s eyes went wide and he looked at Katara again.

“Wait, no, bring back that glowy stuff!” He paused, suddenly bashful. “Do you think – could you use it on my mom, lady?”

Frowning, Katara stood, wondering whether she could. Talented though she might be, she didn’t know enough about Fire Nation diseases to know how to heal them with water. And a worker in a factory made munitions that would inevitably be used against those of her people that were still fighting.

The woman on the pallet coughed, and Katara’s compassionate nature won out. Stepping past the Blue Spirit, she knelt next to the woman’s head and passed a hand over her torso, feeling for the energies that flowed beneath the skin.

“I’ll do what I can,” she said in the low rasp she had adopted to disguise her voice.

There was fluid in the woman’ lungs, and something heavy that had wound deep into her blood and disrupted the lines of her qi, which Katara didn’t fully understand. She could feel the Blue Spirit hovering behind her, watching with those inscrutable wooden eyes. The back of her neck prickled, but she ignored it and began to work. At first there was little change, but as she drew the illness out of the woman’s lungs she erupted in phlegmy coughs that wracked her whole frame.

“You’re choking her!” Haku made to push her out of the way, but the Blue Spirit stepped between them, and a few short seconds later, the rasping breath eased, and the woman slumped against the pallet. Katara’s forehead beaded with sweat from the effort as she flicked the mucus into the waste bucket in the corner of the room. Much of the infection was still there – she could feel the inflammation – but she was already so tired, and without the help of a full moon she could do no more, not if she wanted to make it back to the mansion in one piece.

“She’ll sleep easier now,” she told Haku, who came to kneel beside her. She cooled her patient’s brow with the barest touch of ice. “Try to keep this place free of dust, and if you can add ginger to her tea, that would help as well.”

“I will – thank you!” Haku bowed low and fiddled with the frayed hem of his tunic. “And I’m sorry for before, for calling you a witch.” He looked closely at her then, their faces barely a few inches apart, and it looked like he was about to say something else, but Katara was too aware of time pressing, and stood up before he had a chance. She had to hide her surprise when she realised the Blue Spirit had already slipped out of the room, completely unnoticed. If not for the fact she had seen him bleed, she might have been tempted to dismiss him as a figment of her imagination.

She paused by the door and bowed to Haku in the Fire Nation style so she wouldn’t give herself away as a foreigner, and then she was out and sprinting along the dark street. She didn’t allow herself space to think. In less than a block she had gained the roof of a shop selling noodles, which gave her a commanding view of the surrounding district and the fastest way to the noble quarter. Somewhere out there in the shadows, the Blue Spirit might be watching her, but there was already a lilac cast to the night sky, and she decided to hope as she set off that he had more important concerns than following her home.

By the time she crawled into bed, exhausted, the sun was peeking above the rim of the Caldera, and she could hear the morning drill of her guards beyond the walls of her room. Hama would be upon her soon with a lecture about foolishness and recklessness, but for the moment Katara had something more confusing to think about.

When her father had been defeated, she had come here armed with a plan to bring the Fire Nation to its knees; when she had imagined the people, she saw them all in blank face-guards and spiked armour, and their destruction had barely troubled her. But first with her night at the docks, and now with her flight into the wards, she was beginning to see the complexities of Fire Nation society. Haku, the guard lieutenant, the shopkeepers in the wards, they were just people.

It would have been so much easier if they were monsters.

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