#runaway fire fam au

[mugentakeda]

i should just say fuck it and make an au where ursa and lu ten make a break for it with the kids

[stark-tony]

today is my 22nd birthday so i’m celebrating by reccing 22 of my favorite fics and giving my general thoughts about them.

atla

 i'm still here by owedbetter (77.7, T, zutara) "You see me."And somehow, that makes all the difference.

thoughts: One of the first zutara fics i ever read and it’s still one of my absolute favorites. The characterization of all of the characters is superb and the gradual development of zuko and katara’s relationship is amazing.

 such selfish prayers by andromeda3116 (47.6k, T, zutara)  Katara's ambition, so long set aside for the good of others, breaks free and sets fire to her soul. Or, Katara has a vision of her canon future, casts it aside, and becomes a world-changing politician instead.

thoughts: while this fic is a zutara fic, the majority of this fic is centered on katara and her helping rebuild the world after the war and it does an astounding job of portraying just that. and honestly this probably has my favorite characterization of katara i’ve ever read in a fic.

 Southern Lights by colourwhirled (501.8k, M, zutara) A world where the Avatar has disappeared from memory. Where Sozin’s Conquest was successful. Where the unsteady order of the empire is threatened as members of the royal family are picked off one by one and lines are slowly drawn in the sand.One last chance for peace forces an unlikely alliance between a homesick waterbender, a carefree Air Nomad, a runaway Earth Kingdom heiress, and the fire lord's inscrutable son. Together they must learn to shed old enmities and become the balance they seek to restore to the world.OR:The avatar has four heads.x[[Chapter 4: "And always, his eyes, cautiously watching her. Even when he thinks she isn’t looking. It drives her mad"]]

thoughts: when i say i was unable to put this fic down i genuinely mean that. like i’m pretty sure i was hooked from the very first chapter and i never looked back.

bnha

  stickers and stars by aloneintherain (1.9k, G, gen) “Aizawa, are you sure I’m the best person for this job? There are a lot more qualified people on campus. People who have been teachers for years, and—”As All Might spoke, Midoriya Izuku crawled the length of the couch, ducked under All Might’s arm, and made himself comfortable on his lap. All Might’s hands rose into the air, as though unsure of what to with his arms now that he had a toddler curled against his stomach like a cat seeking the warmth of its owner.“Um,” All Might said.

thoughts: is it not enough to say ‘baby deku’ and leave it at that?

 Butterfly by aconstantstateofbladerunner (198.8k, T, gen) The first over-night trip off campus since the training camp was supposed to be a fun break from more intense work back home. But between a bleak introduction to chaos theory, a chilly reception from the locals, and the looming threat of a villain attack, Izuku has too much on his mind to properly enjoy the fresh air. But those worries are a light breeze compared to the hurricane that accompanies what he finds on the outskirts of town.Or rather, what finds him.

thoughts: it’s incredibly well written and the horror aspect is so good. also the dad might in it is top tier.

villain eradication plan 5C: let them attack budding heroes mothers, wait appropriate time for mother to defeat them (3.4k, G, toshinko)  Targetting the civilian families of hero students should be cakewalk. Pity they decided to go with Inko first.Or the one where Inko accidentally defeats the League of Villains.

thoughts: this fic is basically inko accidentally being a badass and it’s as hilarious and awesome as it sounds

 see it all in bloom by aloneintherain (57.2k, T,  tododeku, kiribaku, momojirou, bullying) Midoriya looked over the occupants of the room with butter soft eyes. “We should do this again. Seeing everyone in one place … it’s like we’re back in school again.”Todoroki said, “It feels like a family reunion.”(Social media fic, counting down the five months to Class 1-A's ten year reunion.) 

thoughts: this series deals with social media + the lives of class 1a after they become pro heroes and it is amazing.

 remember from here on in by aloneintherain (8.1k, G, gen) Aizawa glances from All Might to Midoriya quickly. It sounds impossible—he’s never heard of a quirk that can be handed down like a family heirloom—but at the same time, it makes perfect sense. Midoriya’s inability to use his quirk at the start of the year. The strange, familial relationship between All Might and Midoriya. The slow malnourishment of All Might’s body, like his power was being siphoned away.“You’re …” Aizawa begins.“I’m All Might’s successor.” Midoriya’s proud but shaky voice rings clearly down the empty corridor.Aizawa finds out about One for All. 

thoughts: this fic deals with one for all being revealed to aizawa + midoriya getting more quirks and it is amazing

could i but teach the hundredth part by terra_incognita (5.2k, G, gen) Ito Matsu knows three things about her neighbor, Mr. Yagi: he's very skinny, he's very kind, and he has enough children to overthrow the Japanese government.Or:All Might is retired, but his former students keep coming up with reasons to visit. 

thoughts: this fic is so lovely and i adore it so much

mcu

 the talk by parkrstark (3.1k, pepperony) “Wait, man, what’re you doin’?” Rhodey asked, leaning forward.“Giving the kid his talk before he goes off to college.” Duh.Rhodey blinked. “At 3am when you’re probably too drunk to even spell your name, months before he actually has to leave?”“Yeah.”Rhodey blinked again. “Okay.”

thoughts: this fic is absolutely hilarious and poor peter is suffering throughout all of it

 call you home by Madelinedear (19k, G, pepperony) sometimes family is who you're born with.and sometimes family is a spider boy, a rich not-dad, and a kickass aunt.(or; tony, may, and peter find a place in each other's lives)

thoughts: to me, this fic is the tony may co-parenting fic. like i honestly don’t think that anything can ever top it

I Never Lived 'Til I Lived In Your Light by losingmymindtonight (38.4k, T, pepperony, character death)  As the world shifts to make space for Morgan Stark, everyone around her shifts, too. (As it turns out, this also includes Peter Parker's sleep schedule.) 

thoughts: this fic is both fluffy goodness and heartwrenching angst and it handles both beautifully.

 Lazarus, come forth by iron_spider (47.9k, T, pepperony) Tony's mind is a chaotic mess but he remembers the moment—remembers his death, remembers the red hot pain and Peter screaming, Rhodey rushing to his side. How he knew he’d never see Pepper again—but they’d fixed it. They’d fixed the world, erased the lost time, set things right—and the kid was back. The kid was crying, the kid hated him for doing what he did, but he was back. He was alive.Tony Stark was dead. But now he’s breathing again, trying to think, gasping, hands tracing the box surrounding him, covering him, suffocating him.He’s in a coffin. He’s under the ground. He’s under the fucking ground.(Tony Stark dies defeating Thanos. But then he comes back to life. He has to find out how, why, and how to live again. And how to deal with the changes in the people he's coming back to.)

thoughts: although this fic was written and finished pre-endgame but to me this fic is the fix-it fic for film.

Identity Saga by KitCat992 (400.7k, T, pepperony) An organically developed, platonic slow-burn of Avengers-fam dynamic with a heavy hand of Irondad & Spiderson. Throw in an overdose of whump, a couple of cunning villains and a big-bad hiding in the shadows, and you got yourself this hot mess.

thoughts: i just love the avengers dynamic in this series and the whump is medically accurate which is amazing.

college applications: the biggest meme by sagemb (3.3k, T, pepperony) Tony covered his face with both hands and screamed very gently. “Can I just bribe the school to let Peter in?"

thoughts: this series is absolutely hilarious and i love it

hp  

 The Changeling + Armistice Series  by Annerb (586.6k, M, hinny, rape) Ginny is sorted into Slytherin. It takes her seven years to figure out why.

thoughts: this fic is absolutely golden and i adore it so so much. the characters are so well written and the worldbuilding in this fic is fantastic and it actually has an original aspect of hogwarts (aka the parlor) that i practially consider to be canon at this point. also the depiction of slytherin house + house unity in this fic is just *chef’s kiss*

 boy with a scar by dirgewithoutmusic (208.7k, T, hinny, romione, jily)  A series of "what if" rewrites of Harry Potter, books 1-7. Cross-posted from tumblr (ink-splotch).

thoughts: every single one of these fics are exquisitely written and i wish that i could experience the beauty of this series again for the very first time.

  Hogwarts, to welcome you home by gedsparrowhawk (FaceChanger) (11.1k, G, ginny) “You understand, Professor,” Harry began, after a moment, “that I don’t have my N.E.W.T.s. I never even finished seventh year. Between everything, I never had a chance the first time around, and then afterwards there didn’t seem to be much point. Hermione argued for it, of course, but I was so tired of Britain. So technically, I am completely unqualified for the position.”“Quite a way to begin an interview, Mr. Potter,” McGonagall said, dryly.Or, three years after the war, Harry Potter becomes Hogwarts' newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

thoughts: this is my favorite harry as dada professor i’ve ever read. no doubt about it

 And the Unethical Binding Contract by justafandomfollower (14.6k, G, gen) AU. What if the Triwizard Tournament took place in Harry's first year, not his fourth? 

thoughts: this fic is beautifully written and i love the relationship that forms between harry, cedric, krum, and fleur.

Regulus Black and the Way Things Changed: A Not!Fic by imaginary_golux (8.8k, T, wolfstar) What if Regulus Black, and not Severus Snape, ended up being the turncoat Potions Master of Hogwarts?A not!fic written in bullet points, ignoring the Deathly Hallows entirely because they annoy me.Beta by my immensely patient Best Beloved, Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw, and by the delightful starbirdrampant.

thoughts: this fic may be ooc at some points but it’s so funny that that makes up for it

spn

 Broadway Musical by Griftings (12.5k, M, destiel) This is the day that marked the Holy and Blessed Union of Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle.The merging of prominent bloodlines is always a grand occurrence, but breeding pedigree hunter families like Winchester and Harvelle is something to be rejoiced. It is also something to be meticulously planned, which thankfully the Host is very good at.Or, the romantic comedy where Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle are destined to get married, Castiel is given the task of playing matchmaker and fails terribly, the entire Heavenly Host becomes a sitcom audience, God warns against male pregnancy, and Jimmy Novak is incredibly unimpressed with angels in general.

thoughts: this fic is quite possibly the single most funniest thing i have ever read. like i was straight up cackling when i was reading some of the scenes.

  Down to Agincourt by seperis (1 million+, E, destiel) There is no such thing as a guarantee when it comes to war.The outcome's known. Why try? Return your rusty sword to battered sheath, bow your head and bend your stubborn knee. Why take the field when you cannot win the war? But Harry -- he went down to Agincourt.

--Harry Takes the Field by bratfarrar (AO3 link here.)

thoughts: this fic is an absolute work of art. the characterization dean and cas and all of the ocs is astounding the world building is immaculate and the writing is so detailed and in depth. a fair warning though to the first time reader as this fic can get very confusing at times but trust me it is worth it. 

[lilla-nextgen]

About Saiya:

I essentially have two versions of her.

One follows canon to a degree. Overhaul and Dabi (Touya) are villains and they don't raise her. She grows up not knowing who they are (and thinks Shouto is her dad due to her appearance; isn't certain enough on it to even consider trying to approach him). I'm messing around with her backstory, but I think Pops wakes up from the coma Overhaul put him in and years down the road runs into a little runaway Saiya. He sees Chisaki in her and takes her in. From pictures and hearing Pops talk about him, Saiya suspects Chisaki is her dad. He eventually does tell her that he's rather certain because she has half his quirk. During a public villain attack with Chisaki (now a nomu) and Dabi does the last dots fall in place. That man has blue eyes and blue fire, much like her other half. One of the Todoroki's (I think Enji) notice her similarities to Touya. She's an older teen by this time. Blood test later and she's confirmed related to them. They welcome her into their family, but definitely feels very weird at first.

The other I've dubbed "fam AU" and it's essentially where Dabi accidentally knocks Chisaki up adhfjfm. They aren't villains, change in their past to prevent them going down that path. They were just fuck buddies with some budding feelings. Chisaki tried to cut Dabi off when he found out he was pregnant. Didn't think Dabi could be faithful and didn't want to deal with a flaky baby daddy. Dabi finds out he's pregnant regardless and worms his way back into Chisaki's life. He decides to give Dabi a chance, and in this one they get a happy end.

[mugentakeda]

scoring a job at the tea shop was too easy. but now that he’s staring at bowl of jasmine flowers next to the black blend, it might have been a dumb idea. it’s not busy enough to numb his stupid brain.

the owner, mr. dugu, a short middle aged man with greasy long hair, was all too happy to hire him. we could use a looker like you, it’ll bring all the women in!

lu ten thinks back to zhao and jiro in dismay. he highly doubts his love life will ever heal itself back to normalcy. azula would agree with that.

it’s probably for the best that zhao doesn’t know where i am, he muses, but jiro would probably try and send me money.

now that he thinks about it, mr. dugu kind of reminds him of jiro. just a few decades older, and in green. a slick and stout guy that thinks he’s all that and a bag of fireflakes. so slick, you wouldn’t see the earnest, hard working gentleman hidden beneath at first.

but his dad is in there too. with the crows feet, receding hairline, deep tea scent, big hands. laughter in his eyes, at just about anything.

in the tea shop, however, his dad is everywhere he looks. his dad is the smells, the old tea cup rings stained in the tables, every sun ray shining through the windows, the cheap peeling wallpaper with painted leaves floating in the wind.

is it betrayal, what he’s done? or is he just dying on the hill of what his gut tells him is right?

he’s forcing his heart and his gut to become one, so he can physically stand loving his father, but not liking his father, simultaneously. letting them both exist together, at the same time. it’s not life ruining or earth shattering. it just… is.

lu ten misses the parts of his dad that he enjoyed, with great guilt. the roughhousing, the morning meditation, a warm hand brushing through his feathery hair, carrying him to bed after a long day at the beach, dropping his bags and letting lu ten barrel into his arms at full force after weeks being gone, bickering over the do’s and don’ts of tea. things got spotty and more spaced out once he turned double digits, because at that point lu ten was old enough to go longer without seeing his father. he was a busy guy and lu ten had been okay with that. he’s never been someone that needed constant attention, anyway.

but those parts were only enough to satisfy the young lu ten who didn’t care what his dad was outside of being his dad. then his aunt was married into the family, and lu ten started caring about a whole lot of things.

his aunt and his cousins give him purpose. what would he be, without them? they shape his interests, his entire worldview, his habits, his sense of self. the areas of politics and legislation that he dipped his toes in as a prince were even influenced by them. he tells right from wrong by wondering, if it was your aunt and your cousins, would you be okay with it?

what ursa went through after having azula haunted his dreams. the afterbirth stench, her hyperventilating, hoarse wails. the fire sages and azulon and ozai all muttering to each other, just to add to the chaos. he’d gripped little zuko to his chest in the dark corridor across from her chambers like a vice, biting his lip in terror and cheeks flushing as hot tears rolled down his face. it was the worst thing he’d ever heard in his life, and nobody seemed to care.

then he finds out that his mother went through the same thing with him over morning tea with his grandfather. casually, like he was being informed of the weather.

she believed she had the right to name you toshiro, despite not showing any enthusiasm over you at any other time of day, azulon had grunted. i don’t know why he ever bothered with that commoner wretch. you’d still have a mother today if he hadn’t picked some halfwit dancer with a smart mouth, you know. i even went through the trouble of setting up a whole line of good, wellborn women right before him, and he didn’t entertain a single one! but i suppose it doesn’t matter now, seeing the fine young man you’ve become regardless. i was afraid you’d inherit her crassness, if you’ll forgive me.

so she got sick of the shit and disappeared. to this day, he barely knows what to do with that information.

he hates ozai for doing the same shit to his aunt that his own father did to his mom. forced, unwanted marriage. the pain and misery of childbirth. postpartum. making heirs. he fucking hates that word. heirs.

toshiro. it’s a good name.

he’d leave his dad if he were his mother, too. he did leave his dad.

mr. dugu asked after hiring him if he was a soldier, going by his posture. he’s no earthbender, and the scars are from trial and error lightning bolts. but there are nonbenders in the earth army, and lu ten can put his mouth where the money is when given a staff. so he says yes.

that must be why i like you so much, mr. dugu had sighed. my own boy is a little older than you and lives in ba sing se with his old lady, as a teacher in a little kid’s school. he’s a bender, so he enlisted to help fight- but that stubborn old prince bastard is persistent. you know the ash and blood is filthying their water? his old lady is pregnant, and she has no clean water to drink. it’s unbelievable! but that ashmaker doesn’t realize how steadfast the good people of the earth kingdom are. the spirits will deliver them, and he’ll tuck his tail between his legs and run for the hills.

filthy water also means sick livestock. and sick livestock means sick people when the livestock is eaten. sick people means sick mothers and children, and sick doctors that can’t help sick pregnant mothers give birth. and then ba sing se is cut off from incoming supplies due to his father’s army, so they’re probably rationing the medicine. so sick pregnant mothers giving birth without proper medicine, without proper doctors because they’re also all sick. that leads to dying mothers, dying newborns, or mothers and newborns dying together.

lu ten just isn’t sure his father realizes little stuff like that. or maybe he does, and just doesn’t care. and that thought makes him so angry, he doesn’t even know what to do with himself.

his father had acted like all that was happening in the impenetrable city was something funny in his letters. along with a couple of thinly veiled pleads for lu ten to quit being stubborn and join him already.

narrow, ignorant self-interest does not impress him. its ugly coming from his own father. its even uglier on a man that’s supposed to lead their fucking country one day. lu ten will not be the same. the people he loves most in this world cannot afford for him to be the same.

you have a savvy for diplomacy, zhao had snapped at him. your father could use something like that. what’s keeping you here? don’t you see benefits waiting to be reaped from this? your cousins will still be here when your father succeeds! get over yourself!

“diplomacy,” lu ten sneers out loud. then sighs loudly in frustration when he knocks the cup over with a jerky hand.

one minute ba sing se is being taken by his dad so it can become one with the fire nation. the next minute he’s burning it to the ground. if it’s the fire nation, why in the all fuck is he ruining it? is that not counter-productive? is that not hypocrisy? what diplomacy is there to be had when there’s nothing left of the city?

but then, people on the homeland get arrested for some real petty shit. the colonial towns get paid dust. his dad killed the last dragon, despite a good portion of lu tens childhood folktales composing of dragons. despite agni herself being depicted as a dragon. a million things that he never questioned before that make no sense to him now that he has the freedom and time to truly ponder.

the spirits are not to be trifled with or questioned, my son. the spirits can even judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

lu ten isn’t a man who claims to know the spirits ways, nor does he question them. he wasn’t there when they laid foundation to the earth. he doesn’t know who determined its measurements. but he does know that agni wouldn’t deliver a message so stupid and pointless.

he just questions his father, and the authenticity of his pointless quest to flatten a city being spirit-sent.

what do you wanna bet he used the wrong kind of flower for his tea and was just tripping balls?

the more he thinks about it the less grace his train of thought is willing to spare.

he’s so mad that he can’t like his dad. he’s so mad that he exists at the cost of his mother’s everything. he’s so mad that everything his proud, beautiful country stands on and believes in has the strength of a single grain of rice. he can’t bare the thought of just continuing to ignore it to maintain his sanity- he’s never been so glad to be an adult with a brain and not a kid in his own little world- but realizing things is so painful. its only ever painful. he wants to curl up in a ball and rot away. the guilt and anger is mind numbing.

do you think of me with as much frustration as i think of you, dad? do you sit and ruin your own day trying to understand what goes on in my head, or is it just me?

the fumes from the boiling teapot steam his face as he bends over it slowly, trying to curb the acid crawling up his throat like a demon emerging from hell. static curls up and down his arms and brings his hair straight up, the heat bleeding from the tips of his fingers and his palms into the counter is teetering on the edge of unbearable-

“cousin?” a little voice startles him out of his thoughts.

he pauses, and turns his head.

zuko’s standing there in front of mr. dugu, who’s grinning at him cheekily.

zuko is wearing a green apron that drags on the floor. the anger building in his chest melts like chocolate over a fire. the counter is already cooling beneath his steel grip.

“…li,” he greets, weak humor in his voice. “what’s shaking?”

the kid flushes. “i got bored and walked here from mom’s work. and mr. dugu said no loitering in his store. so i’m….. hired.”

“are you a seasonal employee?” lu ten snorts.

“i don’t even know what that means,” zuko replies curtly. he doesn’t realize his sass definitely matches azula’s. “i can bring the tea to the customers.”

“well,” lu ten sighs, “i believe i’ve scalded the hell out of this jasmine by accident. give me a few minutes and i’ll happily provide you with something drinkable.”

“…do better!” his baby cousin orders awkwardly. and so he does, because lu ten is only ever the loyal servant to his baby cousins.

zuko brings the tea to the customers. every time lu ten hears his lispy little voice thank them for their patronage in monotone, he can’t help the way his lips quirk in amusement.

“the girls in the front kept baby-talking me,” his little cousin grumps later that day. “i had to run away before they got the chance to pinch my face.”

mr. dugu laughs, and pats zuko’s little shoulder heartily. lu ten’s heart aches. he can think he hates ignorance until the sheep-cows come home, but there’s nothing crueler than seeing his father in this man’s mannerisms, who’s son could be dead or alive at this very moment, due to his father in question.

“just be glad your sister wasn’t here to see it,” he replies, lest he choke himself up with his own angsting.

zuko huffs and slides off the chair he’d been sitting crosslegged on. “mr. dugu, could i take some cakes from the back to my sister? she’s a sweet tooth.”

“it’ll be coming out of your paycheck,” the man replies teasingly.

zuko frowns like a cranky owlcat. “i don’t know what that word means either.” and with that, he stomps to the back.

“that one’s a trip alright,” mr. dugu laughs. “and you say the younger one is even worse?”

“sure is,” lu ten sighs happily. “they both are the worst. i’m wrapped around their greedy little fingers. they don’t let me hold the house keys, but they’ll let me buy them candy.”

“it’ll be like that forever,” mr. dugu says sagely. “my only son is now a grown man with a wife of his own, and soon, he’ll make me a grandfather. but at the end of the day, he’s always gonna be my precious boy. my baby. and no matter what, i want him to always know he can come back home to me. despite everything. no matter what.”

the man deflates suddenly. “if anything, i might just beg him to come back home to me, once ba sing se chases that scumbag away. i have enough room to house the three of them. my boy lives and breathes to be a teacher in the city, but this old heart can’t take not knowing….”

he trails off, and pushes over a rock with his foot glumly. “they say he has children, too. the fire nation prince attacking the city, i mean.”

lu ten’s blood turns to ice in an instant.

“i doubt one such as he would feel anything if he lost them. if a man can kill another man’s child, i believe he’d might as well kill his very own. and this father would protect every child in this village as his own. you, and your little monster cousins. you know?”

agni is a big blurry dot in his vision, and he swallows hard. “yeah. yeah, i do. this one thanks you for it.”

he holds zuko’s little hand tighter than usual as they go to pick ursa and azula up from the florist.

[mugentakeda]

the first step ursa and azula take to soothing the severed parts of their relationship involve ursa making azula laugh.

its like a crab shedding the old shell and getting a new one, azula thinks. mother had been tense and paranoid as they made their way out of caldera city, through the colonies, onto a supply ship, and across the ocean for three whole days. then they finally landed in some random earth kingdom harbor and started walking. it wasn’t until the ocean was finally out of sight and they were surrounded by nothing but trees and dirt that mother relaxed.

and how strange is that? azula hadn’t realized that she’d never seen what her mother looks like while relaxed, until she did. it reminds azula to unclench her own jaw and loosen her own tight fists.

azula isn’t worried, though. there isnt a single man walking the earth kingdom that packs as much of a punch as lu ten does, after all. what’s a bunch of mud and rocks to lightning?

however, lu ten has been working himself like a dog picking up day long jobs and favors for any person they come across to make extra coin. they still have plenty left from the jewelry and gold trinkets they traded at the port town, but lu ten is someone that likes to be overly prepared, so he does it anyway. and on top of that, he does katas and sparring with her and zuko every morning at sunrise to make sure they shake some sparks out. until they can find a place that they know for sure they’ll be settling down in, the bending will have to be kept at a low.

so, mother tries to ease his burdens by cooking.

mother quickly discovers that she is no good at cooking.

apparently, even before being wedded to father, she had never been in a situation where she needed to cook for herself. then the servants at the palace cooked for her. but now there are no servants.

zuko took a handful of the rice mother prepared, and spat it right out. he then claims he bit down on a rock.

the sheer dismay on mother’s face combined with the disgust on zuko’s were the funniest things azula had seen in weeks.

she cackles like a hyena-lynx, and doesn’t even notice how her mother turns to her, her dismayed expression shifting to wonder.

[mugentakeda]

the weirdest thing about it just being the four of them is how insistent lu ten is about him and azula getting a vote in everything. hes trying really hard to stop feeling weird about it.

at first, zuko was more than okay with just going with whatever mom and lu ten have in mind. theyre the grown ups, after all, and they make a good team. they haven’t been captured, or even chased, so that has to mean something. it never really hit him how well they got along until now that theyre alone. he can’t help but start wondering about how long they knew each other before he was born.

and things between him and azula have been… awkward. he doesnt really know what to do with how well shes been taking this. something her and lu ten both do is that when they think nobody is looking, they get these really tense and faraway looks on their faces.

zuko is pretty sure it has something to do with dad and uncle.

it might be bad of him, but hes not all that upset about being away from dad. hes terrified of what will happen if they get caught, yeah.

but they wouldnt have any kind of fun in this crazy new life if dad was here, would they?

last night, lu ten grilled a bunch of big red fish over a fire, with some steamed bamboo. mom acted out a story for them as entertainment. its something she hasnt done in… well, forever. but she would stop and ask both him and azula what happened next, they both would yell out the possible answers, and mom would pick either or and change the story depending on which she chose to make the ending unpredictable.

its the ease he feels on ember island when just the four of them go, just in a different place. so maybe it’s not as weird as zuko thinks it is.

mom and lu ten decided that leaving was the only way to be happy and have opinions, so they left. the palace rules stopped that, and nobody went along with palace rules more than dad. so he didnt get to come with. mom and ursa aren’t very upset about that, so neither will he.

at the cost of his dad, yeah, and thats traitor talk, but hes alive, isnt he? agni hasnt struck him or everyone else down for being glad dad isn’t here, has she? he’s okay with that and they’re okay with that.

zuko decides as he stares up at the blue sky peaking between the tree tops, that he wont feel bad about wanting to be happy and giving his opinion anymore. and he’s not weird for that if mom and lu ten aren’t weird.

azula is way weirder than everyone that’s weird on the whole earth combined, though. so it might be harder for her to not feel bad about wanting to be happy or giving her opinion. or being happy about things that arent weird, because only the weirdest things make azula happy.

lu ten is better at talking to her than anyone else, but…

he scoots next to her on the rotted log she’s resting on, watching mom comically struggle to help lu ten prepare breakfast.

“do you miss mai and ty lee?” he asks her, forcing himself to sound casual. she hasnt tried to set his butt on fire since they left, but who knows what might change that.

“miss them?” she repeats, but not like shes mocking him for the question- more like she’s asking herself again.

“like, do you wish they were here too?”

his sister makes a face. “why would they be here? this is a family affair.”

“just go with it. for the sake of the question.”

azula rolls her eyes, but hums thoughtfully. trails off.

he tries something else. “do you think mom’s storytelling last night wouldve been better if ty lee was there doing interpretive dance?”

to his surprise, she snorts. “probably,” she replies. “and mai would probably enjoy the macabre of it all. the more drama and bloodshed, the better. you wouldn’t know mother likes all the dark ones just by looking at her.”

azula turns to him, suddenly. there’s something mischievous in her eyes that zuko immediately distrusts. “why are you asking? do you miss mai?”

his face immediately flushes. “no! i was just asking, cus, well…”

“oh, don’t feel the need to explain yourself to me, zuzu. its just the four of us in the middle of nowhere, after all-“

“i was just asking, cus you haven’t seemed… well… sad. about leaving. dad and the palace and stuff. you didn’t even say much when we had to burn our old clothes and wear this green stuff instead.”

azula pauses. she doesn’t quite scowl at him, but she furrows her eyebrows and twists her lips in this weird, thoughtful way. she turns back away from him and sighs.

“cousin lu ten didn’t carry me out of the palace like a little baby. he had to convince me why i should choose to come with. so this is me, standing on the decision i made. why should i be sad about something i chose?”

“i was asleep the whole time, but i think i would’ve said yes to mom if i was awake, too. i just wanted to know why you said yes. cus you… had more going on than i did, back home. this is… way different, for you.”

zuko really wants to believe that she didn’t just agree because she knew that dad wouldn’t punish her if they got caught. and he won’t know if shes lying to him about it either.

“i don’t think i would’ve said yes if mother was the one that came to get me instead of lu ten. even if, deep down, i wanted to come with. and then i would’ve been mad about it forever, and hated her and you and lu ten for leaving me. because mother just took you while you were mostly asleep, and now shes just lucky that you ended up being okay with it anyway.”

zuko startles at how easily she’s talking about this. maybe it’s the distance?

“but lu ten and i… are in the same boat. we’re the same, like how maybe you and mother are the same. and he told me how he felt. and i guess i figured i’d feel the same. so i decided to do the same as him, too. and i have yet to falter, just like how lu ten hasn’t faltered.“

his sister turns to him, very seriously. “father wouldn’t have done interpretive dance to mother’s stories. one day i’ll do interpretive dance to mother’s stories, and so will you and lu ten. so only people that are willing to do interpretive dance to mother’s stories are missed by me. does that make sense?”

he thinks he gets it. in this crazy situation, not feeling bad about wanting to be happy and having opinions probably would mean the same as being willing to do interpretive dance.

“i think my interpretive dance would be better than yours,” he blurts, instead of answering.

azula blinks, then narrows her eyes. “you wish.”

[mugentakeda]

the tapping of his fathers pacing on the tile is almost enough to drive him mad.

“don’t let your brother’s incessant whining cause you to falter. this is merely a short visit to discuss the matter at hand, and then you’re on your way right back to ba sing se. he will try and whisper doubt in your ear.” the firelord stops to shake a finger at him. “do not listen to him for anything! i will help you in the best of my ability to have this taken care of.”

“i’m not,” iroh snaps impatiently, digging his palms into his eyes. “i’m not listening to him, father. he doesn’t care for lu ten and he doesn’t have to. he has his house and i have mine. empty words have little meaning to me at the moment.”

his father purses his lips. the sting of his stare digs down to the core.

“you say that,” azulon snaps, “but i believe this to be a family affair. its possible lu ten was taken advantage of because he was too busy protecting ozai’s wife and ozai’s children to protect himself. if that’s true, then ozai owes him. i don’t give a damn if he cares about him as his nephew or not. lu ten honored his house, so he shall honor lu ten in return by shutting his trap for once.”

iroh doesn’t have the strength to respond. he’d left ba sing se in a rush after receiving the news, and ordered the shipmen to get him back home on the double. he’s sick, he’s tired, he’s terrified and angry, and he misses his son something awful. the last thing iroh cares about right now is what ozai does or has to say.

there’s a heavy, sad sigh from above him. azulon slowly makes himself comfortable on the sitting cushion next to him, grunting as his bones creak. he sets the knocked over teacup straight again and refills it. the familiar heat and fragrance does nothing to soothe iroh, however.

“there is nothing i can say to make you feel better as of right now,” his old man mutters, sitting the teapot back down with uncharacteristic gentleness, “nor can i say anything sure about ursa or the children. but lu ten, he…. he is a remarkable young man. thick skinned and ornery. lightning generation at only 21, can you believe that? he beat you by a whole year. you must have faith in him.”

“it’s not about having faith in my son, father, of course i have faith in my son. but i have no faith in whoever has- has stolen him from me!” iroh suddenly exclaims, gesturing wildly. azulon flinches as his hands come dangerously close to knocking over the tea again.

your boy flagrantly disrespected you and stayed home to laze around, ozai had hissed, his narrow eyes locked straight up at the throne. both were kneeling before their father’s throne, side by side. i don’t know why you even bother. if he thinks he’s so grown up then he can save his own skin.

iroh didn’t bother to respond. he has nothing to say to his brother even on the best of days. all his life, he’s been nothing but a background character to iroh. always insisting on holing up in his room or office, never joining family dinners or celebration banquets. never one to offer his congratulations, but expects his older brother to offer his. yet, he always liked to think his word was of any significance to iroh. that he was always to be heeded. respect to his elders only means something to his little brother if there’s something to be gained.

flagrant disrespect. lu ten did not disrespect him if iroh never directly asked or ordered anything of him in the first place. he implied it, and lu ten pushed back. it hurt, but it would’ve also been the boys first true venture outside the fire nation. so iroh understood the hesitancy.

iroh would’ve just had lu ten by his side in his war council anyway. he would’ve never seen the battlefield or the city until iroh leveled it. not a spot of green would be spared by his men.

he had envisioned himself shooting a hole right through the flimsy palace wall with his lightning, and his son by his side. winning.

nothing has gone the way you made it out to be, great spirit. i don’t feel very lucky, as of late. the evening sun peaking through the tall windows of the corridor offer his thoughts no response. the general sighs heavily, and continues on his way.

the royal procession had gone through the beach house, along with the rest of the island. not a trace left behind. no sign of a struggle, either.

the procession claims it’s like they vanished out of thin air, sir, jee had whispered.

delicate situations such as this one call for holding the ones you trust most closer than ever. thus, iroh took only his personal guards from ba sing se back with him. jee is a rugged and introverted man, one that iroh knows can keep a secret, so he has been acting as his messenger man and valet for the time being.

another member of his most trusted circle is one of his longest working servants, one that belongs to iroh’s house personally. her name is su, and she is a stout woman around his father’s age. stern and silent, but trustworthy. she was the one that kept a close eye on lu ten from a distance during the periods of time iroh wasn’t around in his youth. she had been the midwife at his birth, she had been the one to pick the wet nurse.

and she had slipped iroh a journal outside of lu ten’s room. leather bound and stained in a deep red, with delicate embroidery of lotus flowers decorating its cover. it looked like something the lady ursa would gift him.

i came across this left behind in lady ursa’s garden, your highness, she had murmured fiercely. i snatched it right up and held it for you upon your return, lest it fall into the wrong hands.

the dark, warm silence of iroh’s own chambers is a small comfort, but the cold leather of the journal in his hands chains him to the cruel reality.

one of the vows iroh made for himself when lu ten came into puberty was that he would never violate his son’s privacy. he’d like to think that his son’s life possibly being in danger is a good enough reason to break it, but it still feels… wrong. especially now that he’s an adult himself.

it’ll be like eating a dollop of wasabi, he tells himself. spicy and painful one moment, then fading tingling the next.

with a sigh, he cracks it open to the back page. a few lines of familiar scrawl.

and the reason i torture myself trying to ignore all these things about him that bother me is because….

he looks away, shame crawling up his back. the candle sitting at the corner of his desk flicker along with his irregular, fear ridden heart.

a dollop of wasabi, he reminds himself. he opens his eyes again with a long breath and looks back down at the journal once more.

…well, that’s the crux of it. i just don’t know how to finish that sentence anymore.

that tells him a whole lot of nothing.

iroh flips the page back again, and is immediately overwhelmed by completely filled pages. then startled, by the sheer amount of times his own name pops up to his searching eyes among walls of scrawled text.

unease curls in his gut, like a dragon slowly rising from a slumber.

the ink doesn’t look too old. and su had said she found it in the lady ursa’s garden. and then jee said the royal procession claimed the fours’ trip to ember island was only to last three days, tops.

and as far as iroh knew, lu ten had been keeping quietly busy after iroh’s departure to ba sing se. lu ten willingly buried himself in paper work, always hunting for things he had the power to make into his business. training with lightning generation was grueling, and took hours, on top of the meditation necessary. and it takes a clear mind to even work with lightning, so…

had he done something recently to upset lu ten, and didn’t realize it? what things about iroh did lu ten torture himself trying to ignore? dramatic wording like that is difficult to overlook.

the general thinks back to how well his son can hide his emotions. lu ten’s court face beats even ozai’s, so it made him a gnarly pai sho opponent, but… he never did the backhanded comments. he can lie, but he’s a man of action before a plotting one. so you’ll never see the storm coming until it hits you directly in the face.

the letters he got back from him in ba sing se were… neutral. unbothered. he hadn’t seemed very troubled at the palace gates during his departure, either. tired and a bit wary, maybe.

but now that he thinks about it, the way lu ten looked at him had been… strange. his eyes had an emotion swirling in them that the general couldn’t read.

he rapidly rolls over the most recent letters in his head, the days right before leaving, trying to think of what he might have done to set lu ten off-

…the tiff they had on the evening before iroh’s departure.

he had forgotten about it completely.

spirits, he’d forgotten about it by the time he stepped foot on the shore. the elation of finally arriving at ba sing se, the first big step toward fulfilling the biggest thing he’s wanted to accomplish his entire life, the ultimate win, decades of planning and dreaming, inspired by agni herself…

he’d been caught up in the heat of the moment.

it didn’t even turn into an actual argument, that’s how small the tiff had been- a few things thrown back and forth during their private dinner, and the rest of it had been spent in awkward silence. iroh had let his hurt get the better of him, and he got testy.

the only thing that spoiled his ongoing luck, his relief of finally being able to go and crush his country’s most stubborn opponent, to make the second biggest win since sozin- was his own son not joining in, or showing any interest.

and that wasn’t even it. the closer iroh and his advisors got to bringing their planning to a conclusion, the more withdrawn lu ten became. whenever iroh brought it up, his son would close like a firelily in the night.

i assumed you were above teenage rebellion, iroh had muttered. i understand you want accomplishments of your own, but-

teenage rebellion? you’re joking, right? why do you always insist on- on patronizing me whenever we don’t agree on something? if you think you’re gonna guilt trip me into changing my mind, you’ve got it all wrong.

the disbelieving, ever so slightly shriller tone lu ten’s voice took on reminded iroh of his mother. she always had the habit of raising her voice a few pitches when she got upset. it reminded iroh of a coyote-eagle, once upon a time. the older lu ten got, the taller and leaner his face and physique became, the more time they spent apart, it’s like a vivid repeat of his mother. he even became a hand talker when iroh hadn’t been looking, just like fuhua.

(are habits hereditary, or had fuhua died after running away, and came back to haunt him?)

it’s probably best to start a bit further back in the journal. it might provide the context this father needs. he flips the pages for a few moments, and stops at random.

i spoke with a gentleman from the earth kingdom today during my observational trip through the colonies closest to the homeland. if you didn’t look close enough, you would’ve thought him to be any old fire nation fisherman, but i know green eyes when i see them.

his wife was a sailor that hails from caldera city. they met across the seas, in a neutral port town. they have two young twins, just barely older than zuko and azula. isn’t that something?

now, that is something iroh never bothered doing when he was a young man- it’s only now that his joints won’t let him run around chasing skirts anymore that he’s become a people person. but he’s proud of his boy for taking that initiative and having such a sense of responsibility, to go and mingle with the common man. an empathetic ruler that’s popular with his people will have the surest and furthest reaching authority, after all. iroh couldn’t name a single councilman off the top of his head that would be willing to even breathe the same air as a commoner, much less a colonial mutt.

however… this isn’t a colonial. he’s too keen on the idea of his family members’ abductors being petty, revenge seeking crooks from the earth kingdom to be okay with the idea of his son even conversing with one. for all they claim to be true and steadfast, them sneaking in and attacking an unarmed woman and her young children in their beach house just to get back at iroh is all too realistic of an idea.

but lu ten wasn’t unarmed. lu ten is one of the strongest men in the fire nation, and iroh isn’t even being biased about that. it takes prodigy to conjure lightning, and mastery to control it. and lu ten was very protective of ursa and the children- almost too protective. back in the day, during celebration parties at the palace, lu ten would damn near prowl around a pregnant ursa to fend off the careless crowd, lest they bump into her and jostle her. and he’d only been just a young teenager himself, so it was like watching a polar bear puppy that thought itself a snarly guard dog.

then a few years ago, there had been an incident where lu ten claimed zuko’s instructors were smacking him around. he’d grabbed both of the men by the collar and dragged them both viciously through the palace and right out the door- only after the sharpest scolding iroh’s ever heard since his mother was still alive. he’d never seen his son so angry. he’d chuckled at the way those old instructors had babbled apologies and fell to lu ten’s feet, while patting ursa’s back gently as she floundered.

no, it’s doubtful that an old fisherman had anything to do with it. earth kingdom or not. this is just something he needs to talk to his son about once he’s found. it would take a group of very strong benders to take lu ten down, at the very least.

he was wisecracking and friendly. we talked about his business, the officials that take care of the town and the surrounding environment, how he met his wife. he even shared his lunch during our time together- grilled fish, fragrant with sumac and citrus, and a chilled earth kingdom style mint tea. it was refreshing and unique, and i want to do it again. you’d think the fire nation would pick up these little things as it expands, but it just drowns it all out. i’m not sure if that’s a good thing. what made the food good was its earth kingdom style and seasoning, after all. what made the man interesting was his earth kingdom raised manner.

…what made lu ten think it was a good idea to write such things in a journal, and then be so careless to just forget it in ursa’s garden? he’ll have to thank su for her keen eye. if someone lacking critical thinking happened to pick this up and turn it in to his father, he’d have to deal with his son having allegations of sedition on top of everything else.

iroh, personally, is more than happy to let all traces of chilled tea get drowned out. it’s a frequent and light hearted debate between a father and son, the do’s and don’ts of tea. iroh is a stickler for tradition and enjoying the natural flavors. the fire nation boasted only the most fragrant flowers to enhance only the most delicate flavors of only the finest tea blends, after all.

his son claimed it all tasted like dinky dirt water, and stubbornly stuck with his cold hibiscus teas with herbs, and his heavily spiced and creamed saffron teas. it had been a big joke back then, but now… not so much.

a whole lifetime of a father making his son tea, sharing one of his passions. conversations over tea, tea for soothing a sore throat after screaming matches with councilmen, tea to wash down sea water accidentally swallowed at the beach. traditional methods, ceremonies, porcelain pots precious enough to buy a whole town- but it’s dirt water. yet an old fisherman from their greatest enemy shares ice water with a few mint leaves in a tin cup, and its unique.

and he wants to do it again.

the personal betrayal somehow hurts more than the blatant treachery written out plainly on the paper.

to be honest, i think that it’s a great shame that a good man like that has to be careful on his own property-property he paid for with his own money and built with his own hands- due to being from the earth kingdom, even if he has a strong marriage to a fire nation citizen. i thought about it for a long time, and realized that even if he wasn’t loyal to the crown, i didn’t mind. i don’t get angry at the idea, and i don’t think i ever have. i didn’t even think about it until i left. he made good company, offered to share his food with me, and introduced me to his beautiful children as if i was his new neighbor. i think community like that is something the fire nation needs. especially the nobility, who you’d think all have iron sticks shoved up their asses.

interactions like that are the most important ones to me, because they challenge me the most. i hate to cheapen that by thinking i just enjoy being challenged to spite my traditions and elders, or to be contrarian. that’s what coming of age means to me- looking inward, and asking the big questions.

…this can’t be why lu ten has been so distant lately.

the general slowly shuts the journal in dull horror. how long has this sickness had time to fester his son’s soul?

he swallows hard, and gingerly slides the journal in the folds of his robes. under no circumstance can anyone get their hands on it.

and later, when his gut quits churning and the candles around him quit threatening to set his room on fire, he’ll read this whole journal, front to back. brand every sentence, every symbol into his eyes. then he’s gonna burn it, bring his son home, and ask him what the hell he’s thinking.

the next morning, after letting the foul scent of burnt leather fade from his chambers, iroh finds jee.

“what can i do you for, your highness?”

“i need you to bring me the finest bounty hunter money can buy,” iroh murmurs. there’s a madness in his eyes and in his grip now that he’s had time to ponder the contents of his son’s journal, and what they entail. “and no matter what, it stays between us. i do not care what measures you must take to keep it that way.”

jee swallows hard and salutes with purpose. the poor man must be able to his see stress all over his face, but he’s barely containing himself the way it is.

this was no kidnapping. the blasted earth kingdom has everything to do with it, naturally, but it was no kidnapping.

jee returns to him that evening, followed by a lovely young woman, head to toe in black leather. her gait oozes confidence, and her narrow eyes scream danger.

this is definitely not the kind of finest iroh meant by finest bounty hunter money can buy, but he’ll take it.

“…i’ve, uh. fulfilled your request, your highness,” jee says. he looks flustered, and is clearly refusing to even glance at the woman.

“with a few breaks in between, i’m guessing. your collar is uneven, soldier,” iroh deadpans. he’d call it a shame if he wasn’t curbing an episode at the moment.

jee makes a faint noise of distress and fumbles with his uniform, blushing a deep red. iroh realizes that was the wrong thing to say at how the fair lady scowls at the crude jab.

she shoves past jee with an aggressive shoulder clip and crosses her arms before the general.

“i was promised a shitload of coin in exchange for some missing royals,” she says, voice clipped. “i don’t like to work with your kind, but good money is good money. and i can promise better and quicker results than any phony bounty hunter in the world- my companion is a shirshu. she can sniff out a rat from a whole continent away.”

a shirshu, eh? it would seem my luck has made its return after long last.

“impressive,” iroh praises truthfully. he’s a weak man for crass and foul-mouthed women. “i’d like to take a look at this beast, and then we can discuss the details and prices. i also hope you’re alright with keeping this transaction under wraps, my dear.”

she sneers. “you can call me june. and i’d highly suggest keeping a few steps away from my nyla, for your own good.”

jee clears his throat. “i’d listen to that one, sir. her creature is something else.”

iroh hums pleasantly, and keeps a few paces behind june as they go. a strange calm has washed over him now that the universe finally makes sense to him again; he has a few more people he’d like to question, and he’ll be all set. then sooner, if he’s lucky, rather than later, his sister-in-law, his nephew, and his niece will all be found and returned home, safe and sound. his son will be in his arms, whole and unharmed. ba sing se will simply have to wait.

and if they’re lucky, the dragon of the west won’t have thought up a better solution to finally grinding their sorry ashes into their own dirt by the time he gets back. but regardless, he will win.

[mugentakeda]

(to add into the runaway firefam au)

when he offers himself to take care of azula in his aunts stead, lu ten doesnt just whisk baby azula away to irohs side of the palace until ursa is well enough to bare leaving her bed.

he still needs azula to recognize as her mother, so whenever ursa is well enough, lu ten will send a lady to ask if ursa could breastfeed her. if not, he can get a wet nurse, but he always has to ask. hes not sure if whoever breastfeeds azula will have any effects on her in the future, but it cant hurt to do it anyway. if he just takes the child off her hands once the deed is done, usually.

on top of that, the nanny that ursa entrusts with zuko will take him to go see her multiple times a day, and in a few of those, lu ten will go along with baby azula.

it gets complicated when lu ten realizes that every ounce of life melts off ursas face when azula comes nearby. his aunts face is still, dull, and almost confused. like she just woke up and theres suddenly a child squirming in her lap. its not any help that zuko is a typically quiet and focused little boy that doesnt mind sitting in one place and fumbling with the same toy for hours. so he couldnt be bothered long as his mother is simply in his sights, but azula is the same as any other baby that likes to be played with. lu ten has her used to being carefully swung around and bounced in his lap, his hand patting her rear as he rocks her back and forth, pretending to nibble on her little hands whenever she puts them on his face. parroting her babbling noises back to her and cooing to her.

azula gets confused and starts to cry when she realizes ursa isnt reacting to her the way lu ten does. and when that happens, he always panics and whisks her back to his rooms awkwardly.

aunt ursa will get better, he tells himself. azula is calm now, laying in his lap, fumbling with a paper weight she grabbed off his nightstand with great interest. she is strong, and she has me to make her stronger.

the younger aunt ursa that married into his family and was still fresh from her old life, that still did things like leapt and danced and hooted in her reenactments of theatre plays, that still did things like played the floor is lava with him, that still did things like howl with laughter, has long since dried up ( there’s nothing he can do to recover that for her own children to enjoy. why did he get that privilege when ursa isn’t even his mom? he’ll spend his whole life busting his ass for strength that will never amount to being able to catch lost time with his bare hands.).

he feels like hes gonna miss this when its gone, but hes already accepted that this will be a secret that he takes to the grave. this isnt a favor lu ten wants to be paid back for. this isnt something he wants to throw in his aunts face whenever they have a disagreement in the future. this isnt just for aunt ursa, even- this is also for azula. for the future love she and ursa will definitely share. and for himself, who will never fully comprehend what the love of a mom feels like, the privilege and blessing of it, because the women that raised him were an endless moving cycle of palace servants that came and went.

its not forever. it could be tomorrow that he finds her in the gardens without a stumble in her step. maybe not good as new, but no longer in so much pain. for all agni knows, it could be this very evening. for once, his fathers proverbs ease him- for every journey, there is a destination.

future lu ten is watching a toddler azula run to aunt ursa, who has a healthy flush in the face. he just has to grit his teeth and keep it pushing until he gets there.

[mugentakeda]

okay more runaway fire fam hcs

-zuko gets gift giving as a love language from ursa. ursa loves to go to the market after work and parooze. she loves finding shit that she thinks the kids would enjoy. knick knacks and shit. she has a fondness for earth kingdom jadeite.

-ursa gives zuko and azula little potted plants from the florist and tasks them with the assignment of taking care of them as long as they can. competition comes second nature to them, and its gonna be hard for her and lu ten to shake that off, but for now, maybe ursa can make a compromise by having them compete in nurturing. hopefully, what they learn from that will stick.

-when azula and zuko arent nosing around the town, theyre messing around in the surrounding forest. one day zuko wants to see if he can cross the water and explore air temples, but for now hes gonna scout the area. the amount of trees are good for practicing stealth, even if he doesnt have his dao.

-zuko finds a baby sparrowhawk-lynx with azula. they agree to take him home and work together to convince mother and cousin lu ten to let them keep him.

-ursa is dismayed at the idea of having any kind of furry animal around the house and getting fur on their clothes and rugs. she also swears that feline type animals all smell strange. lu ten is dismayed at the idea of having a lynx around the house because they get fucking huge. (he never makes the point that its a wild animal, and not a toy- because zuko and azula do have the discipline to care for an animal. and lu ten can trust azula to be able to defend herself and zuko if something goes wrong when he isnt around)

-they keep the sparrowhawk-lynx.

-they couldnt agree on a name for him so until they could they started calling him "Beast" in the meantime. unfortunately this ends up sticking so neither of them end up getting to pick a name.

-ursa takes all but two days to warm up to him because hes a cute little baby that likes to rub his head on her skirts. ursa is a weak woman to cute animals. she starts cradling him like a newborn and baby talking him. azula will not stand for both her AND zuko babying Beast. she keeps trying to train him to attack things or wrestle with her but he just crawls on her and licks her face.

-lu ten warms up to Beast as well but also treats him and talks to him like a human child. this is a problem because Beast is a sparrowhalk-lynx that can only understand basic words and not full sentences. so whenever lu ten tries to scold him for using their shoes as chew toys he just stares at lu ten blankly. pet idiot baby :(

-hot garlic chili oil and kimchi is something that has to be made in very large batches. theyve gotten used to the mild and savory flavors of earth kingdom style food but they also cant live without at least SOME spice. ursa is working on a whole section of her back garden that will be dedicated to just hot peppers so they dont have to keep buying it from the market

-nobody has a specific role or chore assignment in the house. they just do it as it comes. it doesnt matter who all does it, or how its done. azula likes washing dishes more than folding laundry, so zuko does the laundry with lu ten. but azula doesnt like doing dishes alone after curry dinners with their thick sauces that stick on the plates, so on those days, she splits it with ursa.

-lu ten has found the perfect spot in solitude to keep up azula and zukos training- up a tall rocky trail, near a cliff that faces where the sun rises.

-lu ten keeps azula and zukos lessons conjoined rather than doing it by skill level, because the ones lu ten took were different bending courses from the ones ozai had azula and zuko take, so its new material for them both. on top of that, lu ten has to also take the time to do life lessons with them too. instead of proverbs, lu ten prefers the approach of the way he best learns- making each lesson a group discussion. lu ten thrived in the court, and loved nothing more than waiting and listening, in order to dissect the natures of the councilmens hearts. open discussion is blunt and confrontational. lu ten likes proverbs, but doesnt see them as very effective when it came to foundational lessons. their vagueness leaves too much room for misinterpretation, and azula and zuko were never allowed to leave their parroting phase by ozai, so lu ten has to be very careful about what he says, lest he starts planting even more stupid shit in his cousins' brains without thinking.

[mugentakeda]

they finally have a place.

its small, and needs some work done on it, but not anything they can’t fix themselves. they take the whole day to clean it out and finally move their bags and bedrolls inside. there are two big bedrooms, but they sleep together in the front room until they can get furniture. there’s also a washroom, with a decent sized wooden tub built into the raised floor. it’s a lucky find.

it’s a fourty-five minute walk away from the nearest town, but ursa is quite alright with that.

the next mornings breeze has a bite. she sits on the back porch with a blanket wrapped around her, watching azula and zuko meditate beneath agni’s rays together. they’ve been doing an incredible job lately, the two of them. with just about all of it- keeping the fighting at just a mild level, being as open as they can with them both (with lu ten, mostly, on azula’s part, but ursa can live with that. with time, perhaps she will feel like she can open up to ursa as well.), not being too negative about the weather or the bland food or the inability to firebend freely.

and she doesn’t feel like the fighting is only kept at a mild level to please lu ten, which is good. they do a lot, she’s noticed, to keep their cousin’s stress levels at a minimum. but this feels like they’ve been filling out the awkward patches left behind by ozai’s influence, which can only mean they’ve made peace with all these changes. a swell of pride warms her heart.

ursa sees them chatting while they sit together sometimes, and hears them whispering back and forth at night. its refreshing, after how ozai had tried to pit them against each other. she thought she’d have to help lu ten figure that out with them, but it seems they’ve been figuring it out themselves.

being even somewhat close to a large group of earth kingdom folks brings ursa’s nerves up. not as much as other things have in the past, because she’s doubtful anything can terrify her the way ozai’s looming presence always did, but certainly enough to keep her awake on some nights. her nephew has had little issue mingling with them, to ursa’s surprise, so he usually goes alone.

they have no choice but to be somewhat close to people. the town has a market, and they need furniture for this house. they need firewood, they need food, they need more blankets and pillows, they need cooking utensils and medicine and farming equipment and-

the familiar jolly tune of lu ten’s whistle announce his return, and snap ursa out of her angsting.

he’s dragging a wooden wagon covered in a ratty blanket. it’s got a lot of stuff underneath, she can tell. he’s gotten very good at haggling, even though they still have plenty of money leftover. but once they get the house furnished, ursa will just have to get over her fear of earth kingdom folks and get a job. besides, if lu ten has no issue with it, then maybe she won’t either.

“i got some stuff for good deals,” her nephew says cheerfully. “i got enough wood for maybe two beds and a table. i also got sewing supplies, along with fabric rolls and cotton. we can use that to make sitting cusions for the table.” he yanks the raggedy blanket all the way off, and shows off stacks of various things stuffed in the wagon. the children leap up and bounce over eagerly.

azula pulls out a jar wrapped in paper and cloth. there’s a light pink substance inside. “is this soap? thank agni,” she groans. zuko laughs as he shakes a pouch back and forth by his ear.

it’s a bunch of items without an overall theme. there’s lumber for building furniture, blankets, wrapped pouches of things ursa can’t tell of what, buckets of various sized stacked together, a teapot, wooden plates and bowls and cups, a little basket of many candles, a deep black pot, a large wrapped rug, white rags and towels, a saw and hammer.

“one of the pouches has string and clips for a clothing line,” he says, gesturing vaguely. “there’s also one with a bunch of nails for the furniture. i got spark rocks, too, just in case. i’m gonna make a few more trips today because i still need some stuff for the beds. the guy that sold me the wood told me to get some linseed oil for it, too.”

“what all do you need sewn? i can do that,” ursa volunteers. a bit eagerly, because she’s been feeling embarrassingly useless lately. doing the laundry doesn’t balance it out enough for her. her nephew doesn’t ask for much of anything of her, but she feels the need to earn her keep regardless.

her stomach twists, thinking about the dark days following azula’s birth. rotting away in bed while lu ten raised newborn azula in her stead for six whole months. shame and disgust at herself for allowing her fifteen year old nephew to bust his ass over a child that wasn’t his own, while she, a grown woman, who ought to be able to get over herself at this point, wallows in her misery and phantom pains.

allow this nephew the honor of helping you, he’d whispered to her, just before having a servant help him drag azula’s bassinet to his chambers. always the hand extended out to her amongst the smoke and the stink.

black hatred at ozai and the world outside of her own twists along with it.

“well, for now, just the sitting cushions. and pillows. probably some heavier blankets would be good, too. i need hay for the bedroll pads, though, so that can wait.”

“hay?” azula repeats, wrinkling her nose. “that doesn’t sound comfortable in the least bit.”

“we can stack blankets on top of the hay bedrolls,” zuko suggests. “like a pallet.”

her daughter hums neutrally. she looks unsure. she hasn’t complained much on the quality of anything too much, because she’s a trooper like that. but some things get on her nerves so much that she can’t help herself.

zuko can sleep on anything in any kind of weather at any time of day, though. so of course he doesn’t care about the idea of sleeping on hay.

“i suppose it’ll do,” azula sighs dramatically.

lu ten snorts and hands her a stack of blankets. “you and your brother go fight over who gets who.”

ursa sighs in amusement as the children almost immediately start bickering as they make their way inside.

“i think they’re good,” her nephew says appraisingly. “and eventually, they’ll be nosy and bored enough to come with me into the town. all good people.”

“is that so?” she mutters, a bit unbelievingly. “it’s a shame we can’t trust a colonial town, since they might know our faces.”

lu ten’s nose wrinkles. “the colonial towns further away from the homeland are just as much earth kingdom as this one, just with our soldiers and red drapes. i don’t think it really makes a difference.”

“you think?”

“yeah. i’ve done field trips through a few of them. the ones closest to the homeland have poor fire nation folk, and a decent amount of mixed kids. but the ones in the northwest are just regular-degular earth kingdom towns, with regular-degular earth kingdom folks. just forced to wear red and pay fire nation sales tax.”

he looks down at the plate he’s holding in his hands, and rolls it around glumly. “it’s weirder to me now than ever, since i’ve spent more time in one. i don’t know how to explain it out loud.”

there’s a period of awkward silence. she gets mixed signals from her nephew a lot nowadays, since he’s a young man now, with a lot of stuff going on in his head. perhaps it has something to do with iroh? she obviously knew of his indifference toward his father’s military ventures, as it was a driving force for him deciding to leave with her, but ursa always thought he just wanted to navigate his own path rather than be his father’s cheerleader. but lately, she’s begun to think it’s more complicated than that.

vaguely, she wonders how her brother in law is holding up. if lu ten heard anything about ba sing se while in town, he hasn’t mentioned it.

“tomorrow, i’d like a turn to go into town,” she says hesitantly. “we’ll still have some money left after furnishing the house, but i’ll need a job to help keep the income steady. i’d sooner die than take the kids out of one house of misery and put them in another. they’ll go to sleep with full bellies every night if i can help it.”

lu ten looks up and smiles at her admiringly. “i did pass by a flower shop,” he suggests. “might be something worth looking into.”

they start dragging the wagon closer to the porch so they can carry the stuff inside easier. “i’m not sure what i’ll do, personally. there’s a tea shop. maybe they can use another worker.”

“you’d be good at that,” ursa replies warmly. “you’re patient and empathetic, and make wonderful tea.”

he nods and grins again. her embittered pessimism couldn’t hold a candle to his perseverance and willpower, even on its worst days.

i’ve gotten this far, she muses. i’m free from my old chains, so the only thing holding me back now is myself. i refuse to try and do anything but preserve my peace from this day forward.

[mugentakeda]

trying to think up the most unhinged animal combination for zuko and azulas pet that they just found in the woods and took home

[mugentakeda]

runaway fire fam au oc list because they somehow just keep happening on their own??? madame yu die and anchali arent there yet but they will be soon. jiro will probably show up later as well

[mugentakeda]

jee and iroh currently

[mugentakeda]

-beast is pretty chill but also weirdly protective. in weird ways. Like ursa brought home a venus flytrap and beast thinks he needs to sit by her and growl at it from behind her whenever she cares for it. he also likes to follow her to the florist and sit guard at the entrance. all of the girls that work with ursa like to coo at him. hes a gentleman

-beast is a food begger. he likes to sit by lu ten while he cooks but he never actually knows wtf lu ten is cooking and he doesnt realize that sometimes hes begging for boiling water. zuko sneaks food for him all the time and swears to this that and the third that he doesnt but everyone knows hes the only one that does it

-he never understands what azula is trying to get him to do whenever shes attempting to train him to become a ruthless attack animal until she demonstrates but even then he thinks shes just playing with him so he'll get zoomies and smack her head

-beast is also completely monotone. he makes no expressions. he makes noises and has zoomies and stuff but he does it all with a completely blank face

-beast is pretty trained but hes still a wild animal and stuff so he still kinda comes and goes as he pleases? like he comes home and sleeps in his bed and stuff but he crawls out the window and goes hunting or climbing or whatever it is he does in the forest. he also likes to bring home the dead shit he hunts back home to offer as a present. To lu tens great dismay. azula always grades the condition of the preys remains though. the more torn to shreds the better

-beast does NOT LIKE MEN outside of the men he knows (like lu ten and mr dugu and whatever). zuko doesnt count to him cus zukos a kid. but when iroh ends up finding them (cus obviously he will) trust that beast will be there ready to get #Active.

need to come up with more Beast the sparrowhawk-lynx headcanons .

[mugentakeda]

zhao and lu ten having a past is just an idea i stole from a fic i vaguely remember where jeong jeong taught them both side by side. heres how their storyline goes but kinda simplified

lu ten joins jeong jeongs advanced bending classes and meets zhao > zhao immediately hates lu ten for being quite a few years younger than him but still at the same level as he is > they have a rivalry that ends up turning into a very strange friendship (???) as they spend more time together > zhao realizes he can use their friendship as means to worm his way into favor with the royal family. and also just get nice stuff > lu ten knows zhao is using him and the royal familys money but just lets him and even feeds into it because he has no other friends/peers beyond his family members and has bad isolation problems. thinks giving zhao what he wants will keep him around (not realizing zhao has greed that cant ever be satisfied lol) > they end up becoming close enough (nudge nudge) that lu ten thinks zhao is starting to keep his company because he genuinely cares. and in a weird way zhao does but he doesnt actually WANT to lol so whatever they have going on is pretty off and on due to zhao reminding himself to keep his distance > ozai realizes that zhao is an ambitious man that doesnt mind abandoning morals to get what he wants so he approaches zhao and introduces him to his designs for the throne > zhao agrees, and since he agreed to joining ozais secret campaign he has this weird feeling of guilt combined with his selfish greed for fame and reward. these feelings end up resulting in very ugly behavior towards lu ten. like hes trying to squash any and all positive feelings between himself and lu ten to make the inevitable betrayal hurt less. and when i say ugly behavior i mean screaming matches and very violent sparring > lu ten holds off on joining irohs siege for a good year and a half (and thats its own piece of au lore i made up lol). azulon and ozais pressuring is annoying but not enough to get lu ten to budge. ozai tells zhao in secret that in order for his plans to work lu ten meeds to be at ba sing se. zhao tries to convince him to change his mind and lu ten finally gives and announces he'll be joining his father > zhao and lu ten dont have contact at all in between that and lu tens departure. lu ten is weirded out by that because zhaos work has never before prevented him from showing up at the palace to harass him before but hes too busy to look into it > lu ten heads to ba sing se. Shit Occurs between him and iroh and it ends up with lu ten right outside the wall. zhao (who snuck to the earth kingdom to watch and wait until the right opportunity to attack lu ten when hes alone) ends up showing his face > zhao gives lu ten this dramatic speech about ozais plans and this that and the third and him betraying lu ten for x y and z reasons. they fight > the fight is more of a game of chicken then how their past violent spars have gone which lu ten picks up on but zhao doesnt let lu ten escape from the fight. thats because zhao isnt trying to kill lu ten himself - hes trying to lure lu ten in a trap set by none other than the dai li, because ozai has been in kahoots with long feng (kill my brothers son for me and ill get my brother off your city for you) > the trap ends up working and zhao leaves lu ten to his fate with the dai li earthbenders and heads straight for the si wong desert to find wong shi tongs library (until ozai has secured the throne and he can return).

in the context of the dai li lu ten au, long fengs men beat the living hell out of lu ten but long feng ends up deciding to keep him alive for insurance (to use as a hostage in case ozais plan that he told long feng about doesnt work). when what ozai told long feng ends up being true and irohs army retreats, he still has lu ten and isnt sure what to really do with him. so thats how lu ten ends up becoming the first of many test subjects that will become The Dai Li Brainwash Special (tm).

in the context of just regular degular canon lu ten just fucking dies alone and business proceeds as usual. obviously zhao and lu ten never confront each other again even in aus where he survives because zhao ends up fucking dying himself in the north pole so yeah.

as for how all that effects zuko and zhao, zhao spends a long time going back and forth over regret and feeling alone because despite his toxicity lu ten decided to ignore it and try to understand zhao anyway (even if that got nowhere basically) and nobody else is dumb enough to throw a guy like zhao a bone in terms of companionship. he stomps it down because despite those feelings he would still do it again because he wouldnt give up his dreams and accomplishments for anything and wants to continue gaining. the short lived satisfaction he got from besting lu ten in their final confrontation is sparked again when he watches ozai and zukos agni kai.

lu ten and zhao had pretty unbalanced aspects to their relationship despite that never being really realized by either of them. first of all their was the status difference, the age difference, zhaos general personality that already sucked from the get-go but took turns for the absolute worst after he decided to join ozai, etc etc. but despite that, zhao never really felt the need to actually BEST lu ten in fights??? their rivalry era was shortlived. but the fact that their relationship ended in betrayal and death made zhao believe that if he did try to keep lu ten under his thumb then things wouldve worked out more favorably, so he tries that approach with zuko by constantly tormenting and harassing him and shit. he doesnt actually see anything of lu ten in zuko because lu ten was a prodigy on top of being a willful traitor to the fire nation (which is another au lore thing thats its own thing lol), and to zhao, zuko is a naive and weak failure thats cursed to forever be used by his betters despite his blind loyalty to ozai. he just seeks to stomp out all of his remaining sympathy and humanity and for short lived justification for what he did so he can move on with his sorry life by being a huge creep to zuko.

i keep saying illmake more zhao lu ten content but never do

[mugentakeda]

it begins with them at ember island together and him and ursa chilling on the beach watching the kids play. hes like well, uncle ozai and grandfather are up my ass to the sinuses about going with dad to ba sing se. but idk if i really want to. i secretly wish the four of us could just stay like this forever. and ursa just blurts out without thinking well… why dont we? and then they just stare at each other for a while

i should just say fuck it and make an au where ursa and lu ten make a break for it with the kids