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nothing-more-than-hot-leaf-juice · 4 years

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Hi fren! Been following ur blog for a while and honestly I love it! I was wondering if I can get ur thoughts on something :)) remember in sozins comet when Iroh refused to fight ozai becuz “history will see it as more violence, a brother killing a brother to gain power” but then cue to Azula and Zuko who are fighting for the throne and it’s fine?? with them?? doesn’t that count as more violence as well? Thank if you ever come across this :D

Okay, first off, I think it needs to be clarified what Iroh actually said in that scene in regards to sending Zuko to defeat Azula because the two situations are very different and everyone involved knew that. The exchange went as such:

Zuko: Uncle, you’re the only person other than the Avatar who can possibly defeat the fatherlord.... we need you to come with us.

Iroh: No Zuko, it won’t turn out well.

Zuko: You can beat him. And we’ll be there to help.

Iroh: Even if I did defeat Ozai, and I don’t know that I could, it would be the wrong way to end the war. History would see it as more senseless violence: a brother killing a brother to gain power. The only way for this war to end peacefully is if the Avatar defeats the Firelord.

(dialogue, etc.)

Iroh: Zuko, you must return to the Fire Nation, so that when the Firelord falls, you can assume the throne and restore peace and order. But Azula will be there waiting for you.

When I see the argument that Iroh sending Zuko after Azula was hypocritical, I think it ignores the reality of the situation and the pragmatic approach. Because Iroh was absolutely correct throughout this whole exchange. Here were the facts as of this point:

1. Iroh and Zuko were declared traitors and could not legally assume the throne once Ozai was defeated, meaning Azula would assume the throne by default.

2. By this point in the series, Azula had shown at every point that she was just as enthusiastic about waging war and had shown no remorse for the suffering of the Earth Kingdom at the hands of the Fire Nation. She was particularly enthusiastic about the two major affronts against the Earth Kingdom: conquering Ba Sing Se and using Sozin’s Comet to burn down the Earth Kingdom.

3. Azula was the one who had the idea for the ‘let’s use the comet to burn down the Earth Kingdom’ plan in the first place and was proud of that plan. If Ozai was defeated, she would have used her position to go through with the plan anyway.

Realistically, this situation is in no way ideal, but the reality is that Azula did need to be stopped from assuming the throne. Make no mistake, if she had the opportunity to do so, she would have been at Ozai’s side burning down the Earth Kingdom instead of staying in the Fire Nation. She was dangerous and needed to be stopped and that was evident from her actions throughout the entire series.

And the situations of Zuko defeating Azula and Iroh defeating Ozai are completely different, mainly because it was never Zuko or Iroh’s intention for Zuko to kill Azula like everyone else was planning with Ozai. The intent with Zuko going after Azula was to stop her from being crowned, which was a thing that needed to be stopped, otherwise, the war would have continued. And Iroh was absolutely correct in his assumptions: Zuko and Katara arrived in the Fire Nation just before Azula was crowned Firelord. And in the end, as we all know, they didn’t kill her, they just removed her as a threat so Zuko could assume the throne. There is a difference between taking out an actively harmful force in a position of absolute authority (Ozai) and stopping a harmful force from taking a position of absolute authority (Azula).

There’s also the facts that 1. Iroh had his own history as a general who held siege on Ba Sing Se for 600 days, allegedly committed war crimes, and wasn’t exactly well regarded in the Earth Kingdom. 2. Like he said, a fight between Iroh and Ozai was not one that had a clear victor. Iroh was not the right person to defeat Ozai, Aang was, for many reasons. (There’s also the fact that Iroh’s arc came full circle as he freed the city he once laid siege on, but that has less to do with the pragmatic rationale behind the match ups and more to do with thematic purposes.)

And this is a thing that also bothers me. There’s an argument that Iroh failed Azula and that part of the reason she was how she was fell on him and I don’t think that’s fair. And this post by @withyoutilltheendofthecredits articulates why:

the ideas “azula was a victim of abuse who was manipulated and hurt by ozai” and “azula had a hand in a lot of trauma for zuko due to her awful treatment of him” can and should coexist

I think it’s important to keep in mind whenever we talk about Iroh, Azula, and Zuko how their dynamic was in season 2. Firstly, Iroh’s priority through this show was to keep Zuko safe. In season 1, he wasn’t so much there to actively help Zuko find Aang (and on multiple occasions seemed to work against Zuko’s mission), but rather was there to stop Zuko from making stupid decisions that would get him killed while offering emotional support and training him to be a better firebender. Does he actually want Zuko to kidnap the Avatar and return to his awful, abusive father? No. But he does want Zuko to have something that gives him hope, something that keeps him going. And Iroh’s priority is to be there to make sure this kid doesn’t do anything too reckless.

In season 2, Zuko technically no longer has his mission as he’s deemed an enemy of the Fire Nation and Iroh more explicitly works to help his nephew mentally and emotionally extricate himself from the family members that hurt him. At the beginning of the season when Zuko is excited about going home after Azula lies to them, Iroh voices his suspicion because unlike Zuko, who’s still holding onto the idea that he can win his father’s love, Iroh is able to look at the situation objectively and knows that if Zuko goes home, he’s not going to be safe and he is not going to be met with any sort of love.

Zuko: Did you listen to Azula? Father’s realized how important family is. He cares about me.

Iroh: I care about you!

And through the rest of the season, Iroh tries his best to take advantage of their new freedom by showing Zuko that he does deserve control of his own life, happiness, and unconditional love. He’s trying his best to help him through this difficult time because part of Zuko’s emotional struggle in this is reconciling with the fact that no, his father doesn’t want him, at all. When he was banished, he had the ‘if I get the Avatar I can go home’ thing to cling onto, but Iroh and everyone else knew that Ozai never actually intended for Zuko to succeed or return. So Zuko has to deal with that in season 2 and doesn’t get to that point, he still tries to capture Aang and he still joins Azula in Crossroads of Destiny because he’s not ready to let that little bit of hope that he could return home go. It isn’t until he takes a stand against Ozai with the “it was cruel and it was wrong” speech that he really discovers who he is and what he wants and the main reason he’s able to come to that conclusion is because of Iroh’s treatment of him in season 2.

In season 2, Iroh not only protects Zuko from physical harm and takes care of him in regards to sickness, food, and water, but tries to drill into his head that he didn’t deserve the treatment from his father and shouldn’t throw his life away trying to please him. That he can have and deserves a peaceful life. And Zuko keeps going down the self destructive path because he’s been convinced for so long that him proving himself to his father is more important than his personal safety or happiness. Iroh just wants him to put himself before the man that abused him. He hates it that Zuko almost gets himself killed multiple times for the sake of Ozai. There’s their talk in The Avatar Day and their fight in Lake Laogai that bring this to the forefront:

Iroh: Even if you did capture the Avatar, I’m not so sure it would solve all our problems.

Zuko: Then there is no hope at all

Iroh: No Zuko, you must never give into despair.

Iroh: And then what?! You never think these things through. This is exactly what happened when you tried to capture the Avatar at the North Pole. You had him and then you had nowhere to go.

Zuko: I would have figured something out.

Iroh: No! If his friends hadn’t found you, you would have frozen to death!

Zuko: I know my own destiny.

Iroh: Is it your own destiny? Or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?

And as Iroh acts as Zuko’s protector and tries to break him away from his self destructive mentality, how does Azula fit into that? Here are the interactions between Azula, Zuko, and Iroh in season 2:

Azula trying to take Zuko and Iroh as prisoners to the Fire Nation with no remorse

Azula attempting to shoot lightning at Zuko in the first episode of season 2 and Zuko only being saved by Iroh redirecting it at the last second

Azula shooting Iroh and seriously injuring him (it could have been lighting, but I think it was just fire)

Azula trying to capture Iroh and Zuko in Ba Sing Se and succeeding

Azula manipulating Zuko into going back to Ozai

Objectively, Azula is a threat against Zuko’s safety and there’s a good chance she would have killed him in the first episode of season 2 if Iroh hadn’t stopped her. He knows exactly how dangerous she is and made the decision that he was going to do what it took to keep Zuko safe, which he did. With this exchange in Bitter Work.

This isn’t Iroh saying ‘I have no sympathy for my niece whatsoever and am choosing to ignore her’. This is Iroh saying ‘Azula has proven herself to be an objective and real threat and I need to keep Zuko safe from her.’ And he was correct. I feel like this stance is reasonable when the last two times she saw them she tried to shoot Zuko with lightning and actually shot Iroh.

And the reality of the situation is that Iroh shouldn’t have had to be the one to raise Zuko or Azula. He wasn’t their parent and he shouldn’t have had to be responsible for them. Ideally, Ozai should have been the one to do that, but that wasn’t the reality of the situation. And Iroh was faced with a choice: go with Zuko who was banished, injured, and lost, or stay with Azula who was not in a good home with a good influence, but who was still the favored, prodigy princess. He had a choice of which kid to stand behind and I think it’s fair to say that Zuko needed Iroh more when he was banished.

Ideally, there shouldn’t have been a choice for Iroh. Ideally, Iroh shouldn’t have had to raise his nephew. Ideally, Azula should have had a better parental influence who didn’t encourage her violent streak. But it was by no means an ideal situation. Azula was dangerous and remorseless and Iroh was entirely correct when he saw her rising to power and realized ‘if she isn’t stopped now, there is no telling what she’s going to do’. Because he knows exactly who raised her.

#hot leaf meta #atla #avatar the last airbender #azula #iroh #zuko #tw: abuse #the babes are asking

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attackfish · 3 years

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Ahhhh! I love the AU where Zuko is Lu Ten's younger brother and Azula an only child. What happens after Bumi sends him off with Aang? Do he and the GAang vibe? I imagine Aang is totally down for a new BFF and Sokka is probably pretty suspicious.

Continued from here: [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], and [Link].

1. Sokka once speculated that an Air Nomad child could possibly be a Fire Nation spy. He certainly isn't about to cheerfully welcome an actual bona fide Fire Nation prince into their midst. It takes two separate incidents to overcome this particular proclivity on Sokka's part, the first being That Time A Giant Angy Spirit Kidnapped Them, And It Was All Zuko's Fault. ("It wasn't my fault!" "Yes it was, the Fire Nation burned his forest, that makes it your fault." "That's not fair!" "Hey, I don't make the rules, buddy!" "If anything, it was your fault! You dragged me outside and tried to fight the thing!" "Hey, both of you, show some respect. Hei Bai is a guardian spirit." "Awww, Katara!")

2. But anyway, there just isn't really a way to get dragged into the Spirit World by a cheesed off panda spirit with somebody, without bonding, even if one of you spent the last hour complaining about needing to pee, and the other kept telling you to find a bush or something. ("These are spirit bushes! Do you want to find out if spirit bushes eat the people who pee on them?")

3. The second incident is one that is, well... Spirit shenanigans are only to be expected, traveling with the Avatar. Sokka has come to realize weird stuff like that just comes with the territory. But not everything that happens traveling is weird. Some of it is just horrible in a perfectly ordinary, human kind of way. Jet falls under that category. Jet who lied to Katara and Aang, and tricked them into helping him almost kill children, Jet who tried to kill Sokka and Zuko, Jet who let his thirst for vengance make him into exactly what he wanted to fight, Jet who should have been their ally, but wasn't, not in the ways that mattered. Jet, who reminded Sokka uncomfortably of himself, and showed him the costs of ruthlessness.

4. They should have known something was up right away. It's the way he looked at Zuko's back like he wanted to stick a knife in it. He gave Zuko a weird feeling. But Zuko pointed out that it hadn't been so long ago it was Sokka looking at him like that. Not, Zuko added, that he wants to be left alone with any of these guys. Yeah, Sokka does NOT blame him. But then Jet wants to kill a harmless old man, and Sokka and Zuko blanch. He later claims the man was an assassin, but something about it rings false to Zuko and Sokka, and it feels like it's them against Jet and his gang, and against Aang and Katara too. Then they overhear Jet's real plans, what he really wants the water he's getting Katara and Aang to gather for him, and Jet orders his gang to take them both for a "long walk," a walk to the afterlife, Sokka can tell, from whence they won't be able to tell a soul about Jet's plans. But Jet and his gang underestimate them both, and they escape to warn the village.

5. But if Sokka's being honest with himself, what really seals the deal for him was that time he and Katara get sick, and Zuko doesn't, having had Fire Swamp fever as a little boy. Not only does Zuko take care of him and Katara, but when Aang doesn't come back from fetching the frozen wood frogs Zuko sent him for, he takes a wild scary blue theater mask out of his pack, and his dual swords, and goes looking for him at a local Fire Nation fortress. Not only does he find Aang and rescue him, but, let's repeat, he had a theater mask in his bag, and put it on to do the rescuing. What kind of absolute madman! What style! What flair! Sokka approves.

#avatar the last airbender #sokka #zuko #katara #aang #posts i created #do you want to ask a question it doesn't have to be a question #five headcanons #sokka the meat and sarchasm guy #zuko is a dweeby little turtleduck #katara is the answer #aang d'awww #jet and his freedom fighters fighting freedom

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theotherace · 4 years

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Fic Recs: Taang

I’ve made two or three rec lists over the past few months, but I thought I’d make a proper, comprehensive one that’s easy to add to in the future. Not all of these are exclusively Taang, but they all feature the ship to some degree. I will only recommend one or two stories per author, but some profiles are definitely worth checking out further. So! Here goes.

Multi-Chapter, Complete

Whisper Into the Sky by damagectrl – Toph has two choices: Go home and get married or have the family fortune and her inheritance given to a stranger. Her problem: She wants to keep her ties to her family, but is quite content traveling with Aang. Her solution: Fight her way through suitors for her freedom. Literally. | General

The Slow Path by Tazmainian Devil – Eight years after the fall of Ozai, Aang returns to the friends he left behind. | T

A Matter of Honor by Adridere – Almost 4 years after the war. Aang is engaged to Katara and is up to Zuko to teach him the facts of life. Yep, the bees and the birds. Crazy kings, bananas and the ultimate contest for the hand of a reluctant maiden. | M

Roommates by breeeliss – An unlikely tale of two unlikely people being forced to live together under unlikely circumstances.| Modern AU | T

Fall of the White Lotus by Boo-82 – Three years after the war Zuko is living a life of duty while Katara reluctantly travels the world with Aang. So, when General Iroh orders them to find Zuko’s mother and save his Order they seize the opportunity with both hands. It’s the beginning of an adventurous journey of discovery, but as time runs out a rising threat puts their bond to the test. | T

Half Asleep by The Crushinator – Five years after the Hundred-Year War, Fire Lord Zuko is hit with an assassin’s dart, and falls into a coma from which he cannot wake. A week passes, and his prognosis is grim. But Katara could swear she hears him in her dreams… | T

Yaaburnee by aviatordame – Avatars aren't meant to belong – that's as much as Aang can fathom. | M

Getting Lucky by roca-dos – Crazy things happen in college every day. | Modern AU | T

All Fall Down by DJNS – Aang copes with a tragic loss and finds renewed hope in an unexpected place. | M | Warning for Major Character Death

The Princess & the Badger-Cat by panaili – In a land never torn apart by the Hundred Year War, the sixteen-year-old Avatar Aang is trying his best to keep the balance between the four nations, including the increasingly antagonistic Fire Nation, which, despite his friendship with the Crown Prince Zuko, refuses to acknowledge him. Elsewhere, Sokka and Katara have been separated on their quest to find their missing father, and Sokka, pursued by the same bandits who kidnapped his sister, finds himself on the balcony of some rich girl’s house in Gaoling. Oh, and a sorcerer has turned him into a badger-cat. It’s just one of those days. | Teen and Up

Reborn by Jakia – Life. Death. Rebirth. This is the cycle that all spirits must abide to, even the Avatar. Aang and Toph face death and the reincarnation cycle. | T

New Girl by tiffaniesblews – After coming home early from a business trip, all Katara wanted to do was surprise her boyfriend, Jet. Imagine her surprise when she got home and Jet was in bed with another woman. Not wanting to live with her ex, and unable to live with her best friend, Suki, Katara takes her brother Sokka's offer to move into his loft with his two roommates. Aang is perky and sweet, the owner of a st. Bernard and a cat, who's often confused about his direction in life. Zuko, on the other hand, is a closed-off bartender, who takes some time opening up to others.The four could not be more different, and yet? They work out perfectly. Even if Katara's feelings for Zuko get a bit more complicated as time goes on. | Modern AU | Mature

The Ties That Bind series by LdyKirin – An exploration of the ties that bind for good and ill. Toph and Zuko are both shaped by the family they were born to and the family they choose. Lots of found family feels. | T

What Happens In Kyoshi by BlackVelvetBand – Prince Zuko, and the GAang take a vacation on Kyoshi Island. Flirting, fighting, and embarrasment ensue as Sokka takes it upon himself to defend Katara's virtue...in a dress? A short,chaptered fic featuring Zutara, Sokki, and Taang. | T

Under the Night Sky by mycomfortblanket – Aang hears the chattering of teeth during a cold night. Was an AU that I found on tumblr that I made fit into this story. Orginal prompt: "We have to go camping together and share a sleeping bag even though we are complete strangers | General

On The Precipice by JoyDragon – They’re just best friends. Or maybe they’re teetering on the edge of being something more. | General

Oneshots, Complete

Air and Stone by Wolvenfire86 – A few Taang stories munched together. My first submissions. I hope everyone likes them. Please review, it makes me feel special. | K+

Taang Week 2020 series by teabagginses | Teen and Up & Mature

Our Little Secret by IrisPlumeria – Toph and Aang, sat next to one another dressed in their finest under paper lanterns and surrounded by copious amounts of food and friends, cringed at the disgusting noises coming out of Sokka’s nostrils as he blew his nose into Suki’s handkerchief. “I can’t believe two of my best friends are finally married!” Sokka sobbed, earning a supportive pat on the back from Suki, who didn’t flinch at the snot coming out of his nose. “I’m so happy for you guys!” Toph and Aang's family are happy for their nuptials, but will they be able to survive their wedding party without letting slip a big secret?Written for Taang Week 2020 - Tradition. | General

All Roads Lead To Ba Sing Se by irisbleufic – "I was thinking," [Mai] said, tucking her last remaining dagger into her belt as she strode to meet him, "that it's about time I let Fire Lord Zuko know that I quit." When Kuei smiled at her, she could see the sunshine at which she once cringed."Notice that's six years overdue is better than none at all." "Indeed," said the Earth Queen, and grinned at him. | Teen And Up

Lady Fu’s Fortune Telling by Lady Cleo – Katara and Toph visit the local fortuneteller to get their fortunes told. Added a part two with Zuko and Aang. | T

The Perfect Companion by Morna – Aang seeks comfort outside of the arms of his wife, Katara. Taang, slightly lemony. | T

Box by JoeMerl – Written for Taang Week, one-shot. Toph ticks off Bumi, but Aang is willing to fight his old friend tooth and nail to get her out of trouble. Humor, light romance. | K+

2 am by shmulia – Whoever set off the fire alarm at 2 in the morning is on Katara's shit list. Even if he is hot and shirtless. | Modern AU | K

And its sequel, 11:45 – House parties aren't Katara's thing. Sokka's drunk, Suki's on a mission to set her up, and Toph is... well, Toph. But for every cloud there's a silver lining, and for Katara it comes in the form of a second chance with her neighbour... | Modern AU | T

Treat by PsychEmpress – She felt the corners of her own lips quirk as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “Consider this my treat,” he said and Toph allowed a smile to break out. OR In which Toph is a stressed architecture student who gets a free cup of coffee from the handsome waiter after she helps his friend. Taang. Mentions of Sukka. | Modern AU | T

Sawaru by metacognitive – This love is simple. Non-Korra compliant. | K+

Newlyweds (and basically everything else) by PandaCookie – Everyone’s a bit hopeless right after they’ve been married. | K+

Rhythms by xcgirl08– For now, though, her child’s heartbeat was hers to contemplate. | K

Tenderness by Adridere – He wanted to keep her, even though he was not supposed to. He promised her freedom, and she promised him sanity in his own household. She kept her part of the bargain, but he found a way not to keep his. | M

Holy Matrimony by Loopy – After their marriage, Zuko and Katara deal with conflicting religious beliefs, and look to the friends for advice. Between the Zutara and the religious satire, every single person who reads this should feel offended. | General

Blind Maiden’s Grace by Adara_Rose – You can learn a lot of things from a flower… | Not Rated (I’d say General)

Etched in the Earth by Dance_Elle_Dance – She knows the feel of Aang’s footprints better than her own, and that reality scares her. | Teen and Up

No One Asks About The Scars by voleuse – Write about how you learned to curse in order not to be cursed. | General

When in Rome by dtmars – She wasn’t stupid. She knew what she was doing and what she was getting herself into. They both did. | Modern AU. | Explicit

Like Real People Do by DerAndere – The moon is full and bright when he falls out of bed, awake, asleep, inside a dream, and starts walking, driven by the feeling he does not understand, tugging on him relentlessly, and he is Aang, and he is not, and the world is cold. | General | Full Disclosure: This is my story.

Meet Me Under The Table by avatarfan16 – A story of how Toph and Aang find love, in the most unusual of places. TAANG | K+

Aftermath by Zaram'delar – In any celebration, there's always one or two people with a habit of disappearing. Taang drabbleish series. | T

I Choose Dare by for_darkness_shows_the_stars – An ode to how Aang, under the power of a mighty temptress, was forced to grow a beard. Oh, and the birth of his first child, too, he supposes. | General Audiences

Multi-Chapter, In Progress

Heartbeat by AngelicBee – Avatar Aang's soulmate probably died 100 years before, but he can't help but feel she's closer than he thinks. | Teen and Up

a mighty ocean (or a gentle kiss) by poweradequeen – no, the title doesn’t make sense but i don’t care. i couldn’t think of one so now you’re stuck with a cheesy line from two by sleeping at last.it’s a taang fine arts university au. because i said so. | Teen and Up

Neither is Love a Cage by cali-chan – Love is the freedom of flying accompanied. It is letting be without possessing. PG-13 (possibly M later on), drama/romance/angst, Zuko/Katara + Aang/Toph, post-finale but diverges before LoK canon.

Operation: Zutara (REVAMPED) by dtmars – Everyone could see that those two were in love with each other. Everyone except for them. So Toph takes the initiative and fills in for Cupid to give them a little push, while Aang just tags along for the ride. | Teen and Up

Taang One Shots by stitch1830 – A collection of short stories about Toph and Aang that I've had saved in my notes for a few months. Stories are in the ATLA/LOK universe (not canon compliant), and typically revolve around their relationship and family. | Teen and Up

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gaangadventures · 4 years

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Hi! I’ve just found your blog and will you marry me?!? AANG CONTENT?!?? ! I saw the requests open and if you’re still open for them could I request a Zuko x reader? Zukos been awed by readers sheer power over and over cus he’s a sucker for strong women. And when he joins the gaang he is soo smitten with the reader and every one sees it but the oblivious reader. And he enventually asks for everyone’s help but during the ember island play she finds out cause they over dramatize his big crush?

Awww! We should probably meet before getting married lol Sorry for taking so long with the request, life has been kicking my butt. Here you go! c:

As a former citizen of a small village in the Earth Kingdom, you always longed for adventure and there weren’t many ways to leave your family farm. Or at least not without having to take something from them, and you had refused to. You knew they had little enough already.

But it was different one day, after meeting the avatar himself and his friends. As an earthbender, you weren’t sure where you could go but you wanted to go everywhere. And if you could beat up some Fire Nation soldiers, then you would be having the time of your life.

You had gone into the market for some feed for the lone ostrich horse, and a few of the Fire Nation soldiers had caught wind of the avatar. You were sure that he could actually take them down himself, but you weren’t exactly going to test that theory, and you trapped them in pillars of earth before helping the group out of the market and towards your family farm.

That was how you had met them anyway, and you had asked to join them that day. You hadn’t exactly expected them to say yes either, but they had, and you were overjoyed. So were they, but you assumed that Katara was more or less just glad to not be the only girl there.

Shortly after you joined however, the adventure you always wanted seemed to be a bit much at times.

First, there was the general that actively tried to get Aang into the avatar state and had put all of you in danger for it. Then there were the nomads that you had wanted to leave in the tunnels, you couldn’t believe how carefree they could be in the middle of a war. Even after all that your group had done to get into Omashu, you all found out that the Fire Nation had overtaken it and that Aang had to find an earthbending teacher himself. You offered, but you still had much to learn for it yourself.

And your least favorite place happened to be the swamp. Everyone there had visions of some person they already met and lost or in Aang’s case, were going to meet. You however, had a vision of your family. You had left them, and who knows if you would see them again, but you kept reminding yourself that it was okay, and they understood why you did.

The next place was some odd avatar-hating village, and Aang got arrested. But it was okay, because the day had ended with him out of prison, you beating up some soldiers, and some weird dough-like thing that you immediately spat out after tasting.

In another Earth Kingdom town, your group had gone to an underground earthbending tournament which you had a blast watching. You had wanted to participate as well, but ended up following the rest of them as they looked for the Blind Bandit. The day went well, considering Aang had managed to get an earthbending teacher and so had you, despite her parents originally saying no. You had assumed that her parents never changed her mind like she said, having done the same thing with your own.

After Toph had joined, there was a strange metal contraption constantly following them by way of Appa’s fur trail. It had turned out to be the Fire Nation princess herself, and her two nonbending but still dangerous friends. You had helped Sokka and Katara with the other two that you had yet to learn the names of, while Aang was dealing with the last one. There was a fight because of course there was, you were starting to wonder just how many more fights you would have to go through in this. That was not to say you didn’t like to fight. You excelled at it.

That had also been the first time you had actually met the Prince Zuko that had literally followed them around the nations, and the first thing you wanted to know was where his ponytail had gone. Sokka had made sure to tell you all about it, but had left out the fact that he could actually be considered attractive, not that you would say that part out loud, and especially not when he was your enemy as well.

You had definitely been thrown for a loop when Azula had shot Iroh with lightning, only for Zuko to refuse help from any of you, even though Katara would have been the only one able to actually help.

Your second least favorite place was the desert, even though you thought the library had been amazing, apart from Wan Shi Tong getting upset that you guys had actually only come to learn how to defeat the Fire Nation. But Appa had gone missing, and you were absolutely convinced none of that was Toph’s fault. Another part of the desert that you didn’t like much were the buzzard wasps, but at least you had begun learning how to bend sand, which was definitely odd.

On your way to Ba Sing Se, they ended up meeting a few old friends of theirs, the Kyoshi Warriors and you had been quick to introduce yourself as well. Mostly since you had grown up hearing about them, and how amazing they would be, you really aspired to be more like them.

Of course, the ticket lady wouldn’t let any of you get onto the ferry without passports, and Toph had managed to get all of you, only for the group to go the other route to Ba Sing Se when a pregnant lady and her husband had mentioned that their things were stolen. The Serpent’s Pass, you thought was aptly named when going through it. The serpent was terrifying, and you severely hoped that you wouldn’t have to go that way again.

But at least you had made it through before Ying had her baby, which you thought was surprising considering she was quite far along. She asked you if you wanted to hold her, and you declined, having held more babies in your life than you probably would have liked, not to mention you hadn’t particularly wanted to hold any more. At least for now.

The new family had separated from you and your own group when you finally reached Ba Sing Se, only to find out that the Fire Nation trio was back again and they were trying to take down the wall with another metal thing. You had been helping Toph and Katara bend the awful rock and water combination and successfully kept a few of them back that way.

Ba Sing Se was a horrible city in your opinion, the Dai Li only being a part of it, but you were having a big issue with how the poor had less opportunities and the like.

You were partially glad when you left with the group, but heavily concerned for the avatar you’d come to think of as a younger brother. He had been shot with lightning and actually died, it was a miracle when Katara had healed him.

The weeks passing seemed to grow longer and longer, and nobody said it but everyone could tell that there was a lot of concern and worry for Aang when he hadn’t woke up. You spent your days learning how to bend metal like Toph, and it had taken you a while to even start.

Once he was awake however, you had to leave the boats you’d grown somewhat accustomed to and wait for the solar eclipse to grow nearer.

Unfortunately where you had to wait happened to be in the Fire Nation itself, and you hadn’t exactly wanted for more red in your wardrobe but it couldn’t be helped.

The next month or so, you weren’t sure how long it actually had been and couldn’t be bothered to remember, Katara had helped a coast village with its sick by posing as a river spirit and had even blown up a Fire Nation factory with Aang and finally scared the soldiers away from the town by continuing the ruse. Sokka had acquired a master of his own and made his own sword out of a piece of rock that fell from the sky. Toph had been scamming people in town, occasionally with your help but you ended up stopping when you thought that it would be too obvious. Katara had ended up finding another Southern Water Tribe bender, but unfortunately due to decades of being in prison had gone mad and had been kidnapping innocent people and trapping them under a mountain.

Hama had actually terrified you more than anything else had, but you couldn’t help but pity her at first. Your empathy had been shut off when you saw how Katara had to bloodbend her that night, and how upset she was.

The day of the invasion had been off to a good start, but it had been cut short when everyone learned that the Fire Nation already knew of the solar eclipse and had planned for it.

All of you had regrouped, apart from the adults that had gotten arrested for being a part of the invasion, and had gone to the Western Air Temple. Having never gone to any of the air temples yourself, you had quite a bit of fun exploring this one.

When the prince himself appeared and offered to be Aang’s firebending teacher, you wanted to throw a rock in his face and probably would’ve, had anyone else started a fight. It had been his choice to join his sister in Ba Sing Se, and now he wanted to join the group that he’d been chasing this entire time? Needless to say, you held a grudge against him, and you wouldn’t hesitate to earthbend him to the edge of the cliff if he tried anything.

The next day however, Toph returned with burned feet and Zuko had come back yet again. After his apologies, Aang had accepted him as his firebending teacher shortly after that.

It seemed like everyone but the ones that could earthbend had gone on a field trip with him, oddly enough, when Aang and Zuko had gone to learn real firebending, then it was Sokka and Zuko apparently breaking Hakoda and Suki out of prison but they also brought back a prisoner named Chit Sang too. Then it was Katara’s turn, and she went with him to confront the man who killed her mother. Thankfully, she hadn’t killed him.

Instead of camping out, Zuko had offered up a new place to sleep at, and it was a house that apparently no one goes anymore. You were a little weirded out at the thought of it, and Katara thought so too.

“Doesn’t it seem weird that we’re living in the Fire Lord’s own house?

“I told you, my father hasn’t come here since our family was actually happy. And that was a long time ago. It’s the last place anyone would think to look for us.”

“True, but still weird.” You piped up, doing your own stretches as the two firebenders had finished with their training.

“You guys are not gonna believe this. There’s a play about us.” Sokka said, walking out onto the courtyard with Suki, holding a rolled up poster, looking awfully smug.

“We were just in town, and we found this poster.” Suki continued, while Sokka rolled out the poster and held it up so all of you could see it.

“What? How is that possible?”

“Listen to this.” Sokka started, before beginning to read off the poster itself. “The boy in the iceberg is a new production from acclaimed playwright Puan Tin who scoured the globe, gathering information on the avatar from the icy South Pole to the heart of Ba Sing Se. His sources include singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war, and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage.”

“Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island players.” Suki finished, before Zuko began to groan.

“Ugh. My mother used to take us to see them. They butchered “Love Amongst the Dragons” every year.”

“Sokka, do you really think it’s a good idea for us to attend a play about ourselves?”

“Come on, a day at the theater? This is the kind of wacky, time-wasting nonsense I;ve been missing.” And with that answer, you all headed out to the theater to see whatever play this would end up being.

Upon arriving, you all settled down into the seats, Katara sitting next to Toph and you sitting next to her, much to Aang’s disappointment, you were sure. You expected Aang to just sit down next to you, but no, Zuko had.

“Why are we sitting in the nosebleed section? My feet can’t see a thing from up here.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll tell your feet what’s happening.” Katara answered to Toph, while your gaze was awaiting on the curtains.

They opened to show what was supposed to Katara and Sokka on a boat in the sea, back in the South Pole you assumed. You almost laughed at Sokka’s excitement to notice the two when he grabbed his sister’s shoulder and pointed from each other back and forth.

“Sokka, my only brother.” The fake Katara let out a sigh, dramatically gesturing to the painted “ice glaciers” on her side. “We constantly roam these icy south pole seas, and yet, never do we find anything fulfilling.”

“All I want is a full feeling in my stomach. I’m starving.” ‘Sokka’ responded, making the real Katara and Sokka give each other a look as the audience burst into laughter.

“Is food the only thing that’s on your mind?”

“Well, I’m trying to get it out of my mind and in my mouth. I’m starving.”

“Is that all that guy says?” You grimaced, starting to dread when your character showed up.

“This is pathetic. My jokes are way funnier than this.” Sokka exclaimed, while Toph laughed at him.

“I think he’s got you pegged.” With that, the rest of you turned back to the play.

“Every day, the world awaits a beacon to guide us, yet none appears. Still, we cannot give up hope, for hope is all we have and we must never relinquish it, even. . . Even to our dying breath.” Fake Katara began to sob, and you drew in a breath through your teeth when Katara crossed her arms.

“Well, that’s just silly. I don’t sound like that.”

“You have your moments.” You admitted, but even you would agree that this was an exaggeration for sure.

“Oh man, this writer’s a genius.” At least Toph was having fun.

“It appears to be someone frozen in ice, perhaps for 100 years.” ‘Katara’ said, when a light shone down onto a floating iceberg.

“But who? Who is the boy in the iceberg?” Fake Sokka asked, the two climbing up the iceberg.

“Waterbend, hi-ya!” Fake Katara cried out, drawing her hand down as if to actually crack the ‘iceberg’ herself, only for it to break and reveal fake Aang, whose actor was a girl apparently.

“Who are you, frozen boy?

“I’m the avatar, silly, here to spread joy and fun.” ‘Aang’ giggled, and you looked to the avatar himself, only to see him frowning deeply.

“Wait, is that a woman playing me?” He asked, right as a fake Appa showed up and went around the iceberg in a circle while fake Katara gasped.

“An airbender. My heart is so full of hope that it’s making me tear-bend.” She began to fake sob, falling to her knees and grabbing onto fake Aang’s leg.

“My stomach is so empty that it’s making me tear-bend.” Fake Sokka cried out, falling to his knees as well and grabbing onto ‘Aang’s’ other leg. “I need meat.” With that, you really couldn’t help but laugh, even when both Katara and Sokka were beginning to glare at you.

“But wait! Is that a platter of meaty dumplings?” The actress for Aang mentioned, pointing up at nothing in particular.

“Ooh, where, where?” ‘Sokka’ quickly asked, only for ‘Aang’ to start laughing.

“Did I mention that I’m an incurable prankster?”

“I don’t do that. That’s not what i’m like. And I’m not a woman.”

“Oh they nailed you, Twinkletoes.” Toph joked, laughing at the play as she basically had been this entire time.

A new boat showed up on the stage, this time carrying Zuko and his uncle.

“Prince Zuko, you must try this cake.” ‘Iroh’ offered, while fake Zuko was looking out at sea with a telescope.

“I don’t have time to stuff my face. I must capture the avatar to regain my honor.”

“Well, while you do that, maybe I’ll capture another slice.” Fake Iroh said, before literally shoving the cake into his face and eating.

“You sicken me.” ‘Zuko’ said, with a disgusted look on his face, and you let out a laugh.

“They make me look totally stiff and humorless.”

“Actually, I think that actor’s pretty spot-on.” Katara joked, and Zuko had been quick to turn to her.

“How could you say that?

“Let’s forget about the avatar and get massages.”

“How could you say that?” Fake Zuko cried out at Iroh’s suggestion, only for you to laugh when you saw the look on Zuko’s face.

The scene panned out to show Aang the actress at the Southern Air Temple, with a tail sticking out of the fake bushes.

“Hey, look! I think I found something.” Fake Aang kept digging into the bushes, only to come back out with a fake puppet of Momo on his shoulder and a fake arm hanging from his side. “A flying rabbit-monkey! I think I’ll name him Momo.” He laughed, before moving the puppet so it would look like it was talking.

“Hi, everybody. I love you.” At the sight of it, both you and Aang let out a low groan. Momo did not deserve this slander.

With another scene, it showed a Kyoshi Warrior, which you assumed was supposed to be Suki before ‘Sokka’ came out, dressed in the same Kyoshi Warrior ensemble.

“Does this dress make my butt look fat?” He said, making the real Suki laugh, as you turned to look at the couple.

“So nobody told me you were a Kyoshi Warrior? I do have a question though. Did you look as good as Suki does?” You couldn’t help but tease him, although this was definitely bringing up some topics that you had missed out on.

The scene changed yet again, but this time was showing what was supposed to be King Bumi. Was he really that buff?

“Riddles and challenges must you face if you are ever to leave this place.” It showed fake Aang pushing a boulder, fake Sokka running from a gorilla rabbit, and fake Katara groaning as she was trapped in crystals.

It cut to a different part of the play, showing a pirate boat and pirates began to surround the trio. The pirates continued to fight each other as the trio actually got out quite safely.

“Why did you have to steal that waterbending scroll?” Fake Sokka asked as they crept away from the pirates.

“It just gave me so much hope.” Fake Katara answered, sobbing yet again.

“I really hope my character isn’t as bad.” You added, wearing a grimace, since you knew Katara didn’t cry nearly as many times as this one made her out to be like.

“The avatar is mine!” Fake Zuko cried out, while fake Aang was chained to a wall with soldiers surrounding him. “Wait, who’s coming?” He pointed to a different part of the stage where a person with a large blue demon-like mask held dao swords.

“I am the blue spirit, the scourge of the Fire Nation, here to save the avatar.” He exclaimed, before the soldiers began to drop to the ground dramatically and he somehow defeated fake Zuko as well as simultaneously untying fake Aang.

“My hero.” ‘Aang’ said, before leaving the stage with the blue spirit.

The scene changed, and it showed a sobbing ‘Katara’ with a fake Jet, hanging from a rope.

“Don’t cry, baby. Jet will wipe out that nasty town for you.”

“Oh, Jet. You’re so bad.” Toph laughed, while Katara tried to hide her face, and you just lightly patted her shoulder with a slight look of pity.

“Look! It’s the Great Divide. The biggest canyon in the Earth Kingdom.” Aang mentioned, standing atop fake Appa.

“Eh, let’s keep flying.” Fake Sokka shrugged, while you only leaned back into your seat.

“Don’t go, Yue. You’re the only woman who’s ever taken my mind off of food.” The two actors dramatically kiss, before fake Sokka turns away with a gag. “Wait, did you have pickled fish for dinner?”

“Goodbye, Sokka. I have important moon duties to take care of. And yes, I did have pickled fish.” Fake Yue said, going up into the sky with the moon.

“You never told me you made out with the moon spirit.” Suki chuckled, and you glanced at the couple to see tears in Sokka’s eyes as he shushed her.

“Shh, I’m trying to watch.” Turning back to look at the stage, you saw the actress for Aang in a fish spirit costume, crushing fake fire Nation ships.

“The avatar is back to save the day! Yay!” He said, kicking and stomping on the rest of the fake ships before falling onto the floor as the curtains closed.

“So far, this intermission is the best part of the play.” Zuko mentioned when all of you sat on the steps outside of the theater.

“Apparently, the playwright thinks I’m an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time.” Sokka angrily shoved jerky into his mouth, as Suki teased him.

“Yeah, you tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics.”

“I know!”

“At least the Sokka actor kind of looks like you. That woman playing the avatar doesn’t resemble at all.” Aang lamented, putting his hands over his head, as Toph shrugged.

“I don’t know. You are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys.” With that, Aang groaned and Katara interrupted when he stood up.

“Relax, Aang. They’re not accurate portrayals. It’s not like I’m a preachy crybaby who can’t resist giving over-emotional speeches about hope all the time.” Everyone had clearly been looking at her but nobody said a word, until she asked. “What?”

“Yeah, that’s not you at all.” Aang backed her up, sitting back down and rubbing the back of his neck.

“Listen, friends. It’s obvious that the playwright did his research. I know it must hurt, but what you’re seeing up there on that stage is the truth.” Toph offered, and you tilted your head.

“Not quite I don’t think, this is definitely exaggerated.”

As the group went back into the theater, the scene was apparently when you had met the group, seeing as it looked like your hometown.

“Well, here we are in the Earth Kingdom.”

“I’d better have a look around to see if I can find an earthbending teacher.”

“Hey, is that the avatar? Get him!” A Fire Nation soldier exclaimed, pointing at fake Aang, when fake you appeared on the stage.

“No, don’t take him! I need to leave this town and abandon my family forever!” ‘You’ cried out, fake earthbending the soldiers out before running with the group. “I don’t want to live on this farm anymore! I want to beat up people!”

You grimaced at their portrayal of you, but at least the actress looked somewhat like you, even if the personality was quite a bit off.

“That’s not. . Quite true.” You added, seeing fake you leave with the rest of them.

The scene was changed into another Earth Kingdom town, and you assumed this was where Toph showed up.

“Well, here we are in the Earth Kingdom again. So we can find an actual earthbending teacher.” Fake Katara repeated, the four of them standing next to a suspiciously large rock.

“This must be where I come in.” Toph whispered as fake Aang ‘flew’ around the audience with a rope.

“I flew all over town, but I couldn’t find a single earthbending master.”

“Here it comes.” Toph said, leaning forward in her seat.

“You can’t find an earthbending master in the sky. You have to look underground.” Fake Toph was apparently a very large and buff man, throwing the fake rock off stage. Which only caused everyone but Toph to start laughing, yourself included.

“Who are you?” Fake Aang asked, as fake Toph spat away from him, before proudly pointing to himself before beginning to flex his arms.

“My name’s Toph, because it sounds like tough, and that’s just what I am.”

“Wait a minute. I sound like a guy. A really buff guy.” Toph said, already starting to smile when Katara turned to her.

“Well Toph, what you hear up there is the truth. It hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t have cast it any other way. At least it’s not a flying bald lady.” Toph answered, making Aang frown as you bit back a snicker.

“So you’re blind?” ‘Aang’ asked, waving his hand in front of ‘Toph’.

“I can see you doing that. I see everything that you see, except I don’t see like you do. I release a sonic wave from my mouth.” Fake Toph explained before beginning to scream, causing everyone in the audience to flinch, apart from the actual Toph of course, who only grinned. “There. I got a pretty good look at you.”

The scene changed to show Iroh and Zuko who apparently had long hair now.

“Zuko, it’s time we had a talk about your hair. It’s gone too far.”

“Maybe it’s best if we split up.” Fake Zuko dramatically flipped his long hair as the two actors walked off the stage, only for everyone to come back with fake Azula as well.

“Azula, my sister, what are you doing here?”

“You caught me. Wait, what’s that? I think it’s your honor.” She said, pointing up and everyone in the cast looked away from her as she slipped away.

“Where?”

“She escaped. But how?” Fake Katara asked, and it switched to show Azula and Aang at the wall of Ba Sing Se with the drill.

“If she continues drilling, this wall will come down for sure.” Fake Aang said, throwing a fake rock at her.

“Yes, continue drilling. The city of Ba Sing Se can hide no longer.” Fake Azula said as ‘Aang’ continued throwing rocks, but it never showed how it ended as the scene changed to show a mind-controlled Jet.

“No, Jet, what did they do to you? Fake Aang cried out, dodging as fake Jet swung out with his hooks.

“Must serve Earth King. Must destroy!” He exclaimed as a fake rock fell onto him, before curling up underneath it so his body wouldn’t be showing.

“Did Jet just die?” Zuko asked, as Sokka answered, gesturing with his hands.

“You know, it was really unclear.”

“I have to admit, Prince Zuko, I really find you attractive.” Fake Katara said, now seemingly in the crystal caves of Ba Sing Se as fake you was looking for a way out, hardly paying any attention to the two.

“You don’t have to make fun of me.” The actor said, turning away and then turning back when fake Katara sat down onto the same rock as him.

“But I mean it. I’ve had eyes for you since the day you first captured me.” With that, you noticed the real Zuko and Katara briefly glance at each other with mildly disgusted looks as Aang frowned at the stage.

“Wait. I thought you were the avatar’s girl. And besides I’m in love with someone else.” Fake Zuko then said, beginning to walk away and very obviously looked towards fake you. ‘Katara’ laughed, before starting to say.

“The avatar? Why, he’s like a little brother to me. I certainly don’t think of him in a romantic way. Besides, how could he ever find out about this?” She hugged him, and you looked at the stage in confusion.

“There’s no way you two would do that.” You said, knowing for a fact that Katara was crushing on Aang, and she had already divulged that he kissed her the day of the invasion. “But what I don’t get is why the actor looks at me when he says he’s in love with someone else. What’s up with that?” You questioned, only to get radio silence from everyone there. You shrugged, figuring that you would weasel the answer out of someone later.

“Oh, you’re getting up? Can you get me some fire flakes?” Sokka asked Aang when he walked out of the theater after that debacle. “Oh, and fire gummies.”

“Well, my brother, what’s it going to be? Your nation or a life of treachery?” Fake Azula said, only for fake Zuko to contemplate things.

“Choose treachery. It’s more fun.” Fake Iroh said, drinking some tea as ‘Zuko’ walked over to him and paused.

“No way!” ‘Azula’ yelled before he pushed ‘Iroh’ over onto the ground and headed towards his sister’s side.

“I hate you, Uncle. You smell, and I hate you for all time!” As he left the stage with ‘Azula’, the Earth Kingdom flag fell onto the actor for Iroh.

“You didn’t really say that, did you?” Katara asked, and you frowned when Zuko answered.

“I might as well have.”

The next scene was Ty Lee and Mai taking over Ba Sing Se, only for Aang to appear out from behind the throne.

“Avatar state, yip-yip!” Fake Aang proceeded to be brought up from the stage by a rope as fake Azula appeared.

“Not if my lightning can help it.” A ribbon was thrown at the fake avatar who pretended to be electrocuted and fell to the floor. “The avatar is no more.” At that, the whole audience seemed to cheer, apart from your group.

You stretched during the intermission, thankful to be out of the seat.

“It seems like every time there’s a big battle, you guys barely make it out alive. I mean, you guys lose a lot.” Suki mentioned, only for her boyfriend to quickly respond.

“You’re one to talk, Suki, didn’t Azula take you captive? That’s right, she did.”

“Are you trying to get on my bad side?”

“I’m just saying.”

“Does anyone know where Aang is?” Katara interrupted the couple, and you hoped that the two might finally talk about how they feel.

“He left to get me fire gummies like ten minutes ago, and I’m still waiting.” Sokka complained, only for his sister to turn away from him.

“I’m gonna check outside.” She said, walking out of the theater, as a child dressed up as Aang pretended to fly around.

“Suki, what are the chances you can get me backstage? I got some jokes I want to give to the actor me.”

“I’m an elite warrior who’s trained for many years in the art of stealth. I think I could get you backstage.” And the two walk off, leaving you with Zuko and Toph.

“Well, I think I’m going to go check out how bad Sokka’s jokes are. Maybe you can tell her now.” Toph suggested, before following Suki and Sokka.

“Wait-” But you had cut Zuko off before he could continue.

“Tell me what?” Would someone finally tell you about why fake Zuko looked at you when he said he was in love with someone else?

“I-uh.. The actor wasn’t entirely wrong.” He partially confessed, only leaving you with more questions.

“Wrong about which part?” You simply couldn’t understand any bit of it.

“I’ve kind of been in love with you for a while.” He quickly answered, glancing at you to see your reaction before looking away.

“Wait what-” You said, only momentarily confused before shaking your head. You didn’t exactly understand why, and that’s exactly what you said. “Why? I don’t get it. There’s nothing special or anything about me.”

“You are far from ordinary, Y/N. You’re so strong and-”

“So what you’re telling me, you’re attracted to strong women?” You teased, oddly satisfied upon seeing the light pink of his cheeks as he groaned before letting out a sigh.

“Yeah.” He admitted, before continuing. “I even asked everyone for help with this.”

“Wait, is that why you had told me I was pretty the other day? And why I found flowers in front of my door the next morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I thought you were hot when we first met, so we’re even.” You shrugged, looking at him from the corner of your eye.

“Do you still think that?”

“What do you think?” You answered his question with a question, leaning closer to him until your faces were merely inches apart. “Y’know, I started training to get my mind off you.”

Just as your lips were almost touching, you had closed your eyes only to quickly open them and pull away when you heard a wolf-whistle.

“It’s about time!”

#Avatar The Last Airbender #atla #avatar fanfic #atla fanfic #zuko x reader #aang #katara #sokka #toph #suki #female reader #earthbender reader #zuko

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wesokkasimp · 4 years

Text

impulsive (part one)

TW!! mild swearing, mentions of death, bad makeout scene

word count: 8766

You woke up to a splitting headache. For a few minutes you couldn’t concentrate on, much less remember, anything. All you could do was focus on the pounding in your head while you pitied yourself.

Then, it all started to come back, bit by bit. Azula had split off from you, Mai, and Ty Lee to find the Avatar, tasking the three of you with finding his friends. You had found and fought them pretty easily, but things took a turn for the worse when the sky bison flung your comrades into the water. You were spared from the lake, but had been knocked unconscious by the male Water Tribe peasants toy. That was probably where your headache had come from. But that didn’t answer the question of where you were. Suddenly, your thoughts were cut off by a shout.

“Guys, something’s moving in the tent. I think she’s awake!”

Okay, that was definitely not Mai, Ty Lee, or Azula. Something wasn’t right.

You tried to sit up and stretch, but found that your hands had been bound. You realized that your ankles were bound, too. An uneasy feeling began to settle in your stomach. It couldn’t be…

The tent flaps began to shuffle. As an unfamiliar figure entered the vicinity, you caught bits and pieces of conversation. Spirits of the islands, now was not the time for a migraine.

“Are you sure she’s awake?”

“She doesn’t look conscious…”

“Is she falling back asleep?”

“Hey! Whoever you are! Don't…”

****************************

You woke up again, this time with a milder headache and a clearer mind. Unlike the last time you woke up, you were not alone in the tent. The waterbender you had fought with Mai and Ty Lee was sitting by your feet. As if on cue, she noticed that you were no longer passed out.

“Hey, you’re awake again! How are you feeling?” the girl spoke, genuine concern lacing her voice.

“Who are you? Where did Mai and Ty Lee go?” you mumbled.

“My name’s Katara. You and your... group fought me and my brother yesterday. Sok- er, my brother hit you with his boomerang and you were knocked unconscious. Appa knocked your friends into the lake, and they were taking a while to get out of the water. We didn’t just want to leave you there, but we had to get going to see if Aang was alright. So we, um… Took you with us.” the evidently uncomfortable girl explained.

“What’s an Appa? Who’s Aang? And most importantly, who gave you the right to kidnap me!?” you barked at the now annoyed peasant.

“H-hey! We may have just saved your life, so I would be a little more grateful if I were you. My brother hit you pretty hard, I had to heal some of your head injuries after we set up camp. Appa’s our sky bison, and Aang is the Avatar. Y’know, the person you’re trying to kidnap?” the Water Tribe girl snarked.

Suddenly, a boy entered the tent. You recognized him from your fight at the lake the other day, and he looked similar to Katara. He must be her brother.

“Did she finally wake up? I heard shouting.” the boy asked his sister.

“Yeah, she did. Now, if you could kindly untie my hands I can leave and we can pretend this never happened,” you huffed, not wanting to waste another second with these low-life peasants.

“We can’t just let you go! You’ll probably try to kidnap Aang, and even if you don’t, you’ll definitely tell your little girl gang where we are! We need to stay here for a while so that Aang can learn earthbending, Toph said that he’d pick it up quicker if he learned all the basics in the same spot,” the boy sneered.

“Who are you? And who’s Toph?” you asked, seemingly innocent. In reality, you were gathering possibly useful information to give to Azula when you were finally released.

They would release you, right?

“I’m Sokka, the guy that hit you in the head with a boomerang,” he stated smugly, pride washing over him as he watched you scowl. “Toph is… Well, I’ll just get her in here.”

After a few uncomfortable beats of silence with the waterbender, the boy entered the tent again, this time with a small girl following him.

“This is Toph. She’s teaching Aang earthbending,” Sokka sighed. He was clearly already exasperated.

You took in the girl standing above you. She was quite small and delicate looking. As your eyes traveled to her face, you noticed her eyes were glazed over. Realizing she was blind, you let out a hearty cackle.

“What’s so funny?” the girl demanded. It seemed she also had a bad temper.

“Oh, nothing,” you sighed. “I just think it’s a little funny that the best earthbending teacher the Avatar could find is a tiny blind girl.”

A chunk of earth shot up from the ground and smacked you square in the forehead the second you finished that sentence.

“Hey! H-how can you see where I am?” you squeaked. Perhaps you had underestimated this girl.

“I see everything with my feet, dunderhead. Ever heard of seismic sense? You’re lucky that’s all I did, because trust me, Princess, I’m capable of a lot more,” Toph chuckled.

Okay, this girl was definitely a force to be reckoned with. Your gut was telling you, and your gut never lied. You made a mental note to report all of this to Azula.

“Well, it’s been fun, but I really need to get going. I know you guys don’t trust me, you’d be fools if you did, but what are you going to do with me? I’m a world class combat expert, I’ve been in worse situations, so unless you're planning to keep an eye on me 24/7 and putting better restraints on me I’ll probably escape by dawn,” you drawled.

“She has a point, y’know. Azula is the princess of the Fire Nation- it would only make sense for her to have the best team of warriors money can buy,” Toph stated.

“Azula isn’t paying me,” you scoffed. “I’d never accept pay. Serving beside someone in the royal family so closely is the one of the highest honors someone could get- that’s payment enough.”

“You think hunting down and kidnapping the world's last hope for peace is honorable?” Katara said, shooting you the deadliest glare you’d ever received.

“The Avatar isn’t the world's last hope for peace. If the other nations would just cooperate with the Fire Nation-”

“How could you expect us to cooperate with conquest?” Katara screeched, cutting you off in the process.

“Look, now is not the time to get into this argument. Right now, we need to figure out what we’re gonna do with…?” Sokka sent you a questioning look as he realized you hadn’t shared your name yet.

“Y/N.” you sighed.

This may be harder than you initially thought.

****************************

The group had come up with a temporary plan. They replaced your rope restraints with earth ones Toph made. They already had a night watch system in place, so they decided that whoever was doing night watch would simultaneously watch you.

You didn’t get a wink of sleep that night, so lucky you got to stay up through all four shifts. Katara had the first shift. Her shift was uneventful, it seemed she didn’t have the best social skills. She reminded you of Azula in that way. A lot of ways, actually. They were both 14, powerful benders, and overshadowed their older brothers. You couldn’t be positive about anything, but you were pretty good at reading people, and from the small amount of time you’d spent with these four misfits you had picked up a bit of jealousy on Sokka's end. Probably because his sister was a bender and he wasn’t. It was understandable- you’d probably be jealous of your own older brother if he possessed bending and you didn’t, even if it was a weak element like water. Lucky for you, you had firebending, the most superior element. Although you supposed it would be nice to be an earthbender right now. You had been thinking for hours about a way to escape with your firebending, but so far it had been in vain.

The next person on the night watch was Sokka. Unlike Katara, he attempted to make small talk with you.

“So, how long have you known Azula?” the watertribe peasant questioned. You thought about the question, and after deciding there wasn’t a way your answer could be used against you later, you answered,

“About two months. She knew Ty Lee and Mai from The Royal Fire Nation Academy for Girls. I went there too, but we didn’t know each other. When her father asked her to hunt down her brother, she saw my name on the top of a list of elite soldiers. She asked me to join her team, and I accepted.”

“You were in the military?” Sokka asked. His eyes widened, probably wondering why someone as young as you was in the military. After all, you were only 16.

“Yup. My family was pretty poor, until some soldiers came to our house one day and saw my brother and I were firebending prodigies. We got moved to a fancy housing unit near the Fire Nation Royal Academies. After I graduated three years ago, I was enrolled into the military,” you answered. You didn’t know why you were telling him all this, but Sokka was surprisingly easy to talk to.

“Wow. I can’t imagine joining the military that young. In the Southern Water Tribe the minimum age for joining is 17,” Sokka replied. “I actually tried to join when I was 13, but my father made me stay.”

“That was a mistake on your tribe's part. You’re a strong, able, young man. You could’ve been trained in a few months and then your tribe would’ve had another set of hands,” you stated cooly.

The boy only hummed in response. He knew it was pointless to try and get you to understand why sending a child into battle was wrong. He knew how the Fire Nation carefully bred its children to be cold-hearted, logical, and violent. Yet he couldn’t help but feel that there was something different about you. On the surface, you seemed like every other Fire Nation noble he’d come across: arrogant, cocky, and ruthless. But underneath, he saw more. Remorse? Guilt? Like you knew in your gut that what you were doing was wrong, but the Fire Nation had trained you to trust them and only them? He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he had seen something similar in Zuko. It was more apparent in you, though.

The rest of Sokka's shift went without a word. The third shift belonged to the Avatar himself. This was the first time you really got a good look at the boy. He was shorter than you expected, but besides his height everything about him radiated maturity. You thought about what he had gone through to get that maturity- learning about the genocide of his people a century after it happened, the Northern Water Tribe fiasco, and being hunted down by two of the worlds most powerful firebenders. All in a few months, on top of the normal stresses of being the Avatar. You felt a pang of sympathy for the boy. Even if your loyalties belonged to the Fire Nation, you had never thought the genocide of the Air Nomads was anything less than barbaric, even if you would never dare say that out loud. But the Fire Nation had evolved for the better. Things were different now.

Right?

“You must hate me,” you chuckled darkly. Your voice was humorless.

Aang looked confused as he asked “Why would I hate you?”

“I’ve been hired by someone to kidnap you, and wholeheartedly agree with what they're doing. Don’t worry. I’d hate me too,” you replied.

“I don’t hate anybody. I could only hate someone that truly had no good in them, but there’s good in everyone. Even you,” the monk said. He smiled up at you.

You were surprised at his words. You shouldn’t have been. He was a pacifist monk, after all. Not many people had ever tried to see good in you. Why would they? You were a soldier that served your nation loyally. Nothing more, nothing less. There didn’t need to be good in you. In fact, it was better if there wasn’t any good or bad in you. As long as you stayed loyal and obeyed the Fire Nation, everyone seemed perfectly content with leaving you be.

The rest of Aang's shift went by without another word between the two of you until the very end. Aang started to stand, eager to get back to sleep, when you started to speak,

“Hey! I just wanted to, um, apologize.”

Aang's eyes widened in surprise. Was it possible? Has his ~inspirational~ words touched your heart this quickly? Reversed the years of brainwashing and abuse the Fire Nation had exposed you to? Maybe you would even willingly join their team! Maybe-

He was cut off by your explanation, “What happened to your people, I mean. Not, uh, trying to kidnap you.”

“Oh,” the young Avatar replied. “It’s alright. It’s not like it was your fault.”

Okay, not exactly what he was looking for. But hey, at least there was some good in you. Not wanting a race of people to be brutally murdered or wishing an entire culture to be wiped out was… a start.

Finally, the fourth shift started. Toph. You didn’t have much respect for any of these kids, but Toph was definitely the one who had garnered most of your respect. Despite her lack of sight, Toph was the most powerful earthbender you had ever seen. In a way, her blindness enhanced her abilities by heightening her other senses. She didn’t take shit from anyone, which was something you were insecure about. Being in the Fire Nation militia, you had to take shit from your superiors, unless you wanted to be discharged. Or worse.

It seemed that Toph was not a morning person, so about 25 minutes after her shift started, Toph dozed off.

For a second, you couldn’t believe your eyes. What luck after such a pitiful few hours! But there was still the problem of your restraints. You hadn’t really taken in the campsite, as you had thought you wouldn’t have the chance to escape. While you were looking around, a sharp rock caught your eye. Perfect.

After scooting over to the rock, which took more time than you would like to admit, you raised your arms and brought them down hard upon the rock. The restraints broke instantly. After doing the same with your ankles, you surveyed the land. You figured you only had about an hour until somebody woke up, so you had to get moving quickly. You had a pretty good sense of direction, and that sense was telling you to go west of the campsite. You began spriniting in that direction. You knew you wouldn’t be able to sprint like this for long, but you had to get a head start. Once “Team Avatar” realized you had left, they might go looking for you on their giant flying bison.

****************************

You had been traveling for two days now. You weren’t anxious about a Team Avatar member hunting you down anymore. That was a worry of the past. Now you were more concerned with getting something to eat. You had found some hope when you came across a town, only to be disappointed after finding it was abandoned. Even though you were hungry and thirsty, you were also absolutely exhausted, and this town could provide shelter. You walked into the first building you saw, ready to pass out as soon as you hit the floor. In fact, you were so completely out of it that you didn’t notice the building was already occupied. You simply entered, found a nice corner, and hit the deck.

While you may not have noticed the other occupants of the decrepit building, they noticed you. Well, one of them. A certain banished prince, to be exact.

He watched as you slept, not even sparing him a glance before you fell asleep. It was a bit shocking, to say the least. Any normal traveler would walk in, realize the building was occupied, apologize, and find another place to rest. This behaviour was suspicious. Too suspicious to not give you a quick once over.

Zuko walked over to you as quietly as possible, even though he didn’t need to worry about his volume. You were an impressively heavy sleeper, especially when you were exhausted like this. He crouched over you, taking in your features. His face softened for a moment as he saw the pure exhaustion gracing your eyes, hardening again soon after. What did he care if you were well rested or not? You were just some random traveler. He looked around in your corner and saw that there was no weapon. You didn’t even have a small travel bag.

Assured you were no threat, Zuko walked back over to his sleeping uncle and decided to turn in after a long day of training.

****************************

You woke up feeling more refreshed than you had in days. That was the best sleep you’d had in, what, seven weeks? You began stretching your limbs, feeling ready to continue your search for Azula. Then the hunger pains hit.

You doubled over, letting out a small moan of pain. That small moan, however, was all it took to awake the Dragon of the West.

As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he looked around to make sure his nephew was okay. The prince was sleeping peacefully beside him. As you let out another hiss of pain, Iroh whipped his head around to see you, a young girl, clutching your obnoxiously loud stomach. He had conquered enough small Earth Kingdom villages to know what starving looked like, and that’s exactly what he was seeing.

“Excuse me, miss,” he all but whispered. You whipped your head around, suddenly on high alert.

“I apologize, I did not mean to startle you. But I noticed that you seem quite hungry,” your stomach growled in response as Iroh spoke. “My nephew and I have a little extra food to spare, as well as some exquisite tea. Would you like to join us for breakfast?”

Under normal circumstances, you would have been way more skeptic of an old man you’d just met offering you food. But you hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since the night before you got kidnapped, and this weirdo was your only option.

“I suppose,” you sighed.

“Wonderful! I will get started on breakfast. Would you like ginseng, green, or jasmine tea?”

“Jasmine,” you responded.

“Good choice. Jasmine is my nephews favorite,” the old man replied, a fond look painting his face.

As Iroh started breakfast, you couldn’t help but feel as if he looked familiar. Perhaps he had been on the news? Or possibly one of your textbooks? You shook off the feeling immediately; no. It wasn’t possible some filthy traveler had made it into a textbook. You laughed internally at the thought.

About 45 minutes had passed since Iroh began preparing breakfast, and he had finally finished cooking the meal. You walked over to the corner of the room the old man and his nephew had been staying in as Iroh beckoned you over. When you got close enough to the younger man to get a good look at him, you got that same familiarity ebbing at your insides. It wasn’t an unsettling familiarity, just… strange. But you supposed everything about this situation was strange.

Just as you began to sit, you were interrupted.

“I’m sorry, young lady. But could you wake up my nephew? As you can see by the bandages, I got hurt quite badly recently and cannot move around very well,” the old man said sheepishly.

“Sure,” you replied. This old man seemed nice enough, and he was making you, a complete stranger to him, breakfast. So you didn’t mind waking up his nephew. It was an easy task.

Or so you thought.

As you walked over to the sleeping boy and crouched over him, your breath hitched in your throat. Oh wow. This boy was quite the looker. His scar made him look all the more badass. You shook off these thoughts as quickly as he came. No. You didn’t have the time to pursue relationships with boys you didn’t even know.

You put your hand to the sleeping boy's arm gently, shaking him just enough to wake up. Waking him up wasn’t the hard part. The hard part came after he woke up.

You know, the part where he proceeded to attack you.

You let out a squeak of surprise as he leapt onto you, pinning you to the floor in the process. All your normal reflexes and strength had gone with your full stomach. On top of that, you didn’t want to hurt this guy, spirits forbid his uncle reclaim your breakfast invite. His arms were by the sides of your head to keep from crushing you. He leaned down to your face.

“Who are you, and what are you doing?” the boy growled into your ear, his voice extra raspy considering he had just woken up. He sent you a glare that rivaled the one Katara had sent you the other day.

“Lee! This is not how we treat our guests. I invited this young lady to sit with us for breakfast and asked her to wake you up,” Iroh scolded.

“Uncle, you can’t just go around inviting random people to sit with us at meals!” Zuko protested. “It isn’t safe.”

“Hush, nephew. She’s joining us and that’s final,” Iroh retorted.

Zuko sent you a final glare before getting off of you.

The meal was pretty silent at first, not that you minded. You were pretty focused on stuffing your face. After a few minutes of comfortable silence passed, Iroh started some small talk.

“So, young lady. I don’t believe you told me your name. What is it, if you don’t mind me asking?” Iroh inquired.

“Y/N,” you responded. “I don’t think I caught your name either.”

“Mushi,” the man responded. “And this is my nephew, Lee.” he gestured to the boy sitting next to him. Said boy sent you another glare. You sent him your snarkiest stare back.

“So,” you began, “Mushi. Where are you from?”

“I come from a small village in the Earth Kingdom, you’ve most likely never heard of it. My nephew and I left a few years ago in search of a better life,” Iroh answered as his gaze traveled to the small travel kettle. “Oh! The tea is ready.”

Mushi took the kettle off of the fire. Huh. Fire. That wasn’t there when the old man had first invited you to breakfast, and you hadn’t heard him trying to make a fire. Unless he was a firebender, which was impossible considering he was from the Earth Kingdom, how did he start a fire so easily?

You brushed it off. He probably just had a lot of experience or something, right? Yeah, yeah. Sure. Instead, you turned your attention back to ‘Mushi’ (you suspected that wasn’t his real name), who was pouring some jasmine tea for his nephew. The smallest fond smile graced the boy's face as his uncle poured his tea. His smile was a nice change of pace from his usual scowl. You wished you could see him smile more.

Wait, no. What were these thoughts? You couldn’t go around ogling at boys like a school-girl! It was simply out of the question. You had one purpose in life: Serve. The. Fire Nation. Maybe someday your parents would arrange a marriage for you or something of the like, but you had no intention of falling in love.Wishing someone happiness and a crush were two very different things. Besides, you could never fall in love with someone just because of their looks. You weren’t that shallow.

Once you had finished breakfast, you walked back over to the corner you claimed to pack up. After noting that there was nothing to pack up, anxiety started to settle in. Realizing you didn’t even have a weapon to defend yourself with, you started to feel full on panic. You had been so preoccupied with escaping Team Avatar and staying alive that your lack of, well, anything had slipped your conscious.

This was not good. You were in the middle of nowhere with nothing but the clothes on your back.

Mushi must have taken in your state of dismay, because he walked over to you and placed a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“You seem a little lost, Y/N. Is there any way I could help you?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. But I think I’m going to have to stay in this town another night until I can figure something out,” you sighed. Every moment you became more and more anxious about how Azula would react if- no, when you returned. Would she be angry about it? Or did she view you as a disposable tool? You hoped for the latter. If that was how she saw you, maybe she would be pleasantly surprised when you returned. While “disposable tool” might not have been the exact way you described yourself, it certainly was close to that. Serving your country was a noble thing, and if you died doing it, it would be an honorable death.

“I think you are making a wise choice. It would be foolish to go out traveling with no resources. However, because you are staying, I do have to tell you something. I have not been completely honest,” the man muttered, looking at you sheepishly.

“What are you talking about?” you asked, incredulousness gracing your features. How could he have lied? He’d barely spoken to you, for spirits sake!

“My name’s not Mushi, and my nephew is not Lee. We’re not from the Earth Kingdom. Our names are Iroh and Zuko, and we hail from the Fire Nation,” Iroh explained.

“Oh,” you said, relieved it hadn’t been something worse. “That’s fine. I’m from the Fire Nation too. But why didn’t you just tell me in the first place?”

“I was not sure if you were from the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation. Most people are not comfortable revealing that information to strangers. People from the Earth Kingdom do not always react kindly to Fire Nation citizens,” the old man replied.

“Damn right,” you scoffed. “Personally, I think they need a little lesson in respect.”

Iroh hummed in response, not showing any other sign of agreement or disagreement. He didn’t want to scare you off or fight you, but he also didn’t want to show any agreement with what you’d just said.

“Are you a firebender? I’ve been teaching my nephew, so if you’d like to train with us, you’re more than welcome,” Iroh inquired.

You thought about the offer. You hadn’t trained in a week. You had decided not to bend at all while you were traveling to conserve energy, so your bending was probably a little rusty.

“Sure, I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” you responded.

“Great! My nephew and I are currently working on a special technique that we started yesterday. We’re redirecting lightning. I actually made it myself,” Iroh replied eagerly.

“Wait, you can redirect lightning? Does that mean you’re a lightning bender?” you asked, dumbfounded. Lightning bending was one of, if not the most, powerful forms of bending. Because it was so powerful, the only people who got to learn it were members of the Fire Nation royal family.

“Yes, I can conjure lightning. But I don’t do it often,” Iroh chuckled.

Then it all began clicking into place for you- of course! Prince Zuko and former heir to the throne General Iroh! It hadn’t clicked sooner because of Prince Zuko’s banishment. You hadn’t heard his name in a few years, and he had just kind of left your consciousness.

“So you’re General Iroh? The Dragon of the West? The only man to ever conquer Ba Sing Se?” you squealed. General Iroh was a hero of yours. He was a strong asset to the Fire Nation and an even stronger bender. His loss of Ba Sing Se had been disappointing, and you personally thought he should have stayed. Still, losing a son must be hard. The loss of Lu Ten, whom you had thought was going to be the Fire Lord one day, was devastating for the entire Fire Nation. On top of all that, he was stripped of his heir status. The details on that had always been shady, as Fire Lord Azulon never mentioned anything about his wishes for Ozai to become the Fire Lord while he was still alive. Not to mention Fire Princess Ursa disappearing right before Ozai’s coronation. Still, reading into it too much was a waste of time. Fire Lord Ozai was a strong leader, and that was what the Fire Nation needed.

“Uh, yes. I did conquer Ba Sing Se for some time,” Iroh replied, trying his hardest to hide the discomfort that had now taken over his face. “But let's not focus on that. We should get to training.” he urged.

You walked outside with Iroh towards a cliff, where Zuko was waiting. As he spotted you, his eyebrows shot up in surprise. Surprise quickly turned to annoyance as he said,

“Uncle! Was inviting her to breakfast not enough? Why is she out here?”

Iroh looked impatient while saying, “Zuko! Where are your manners today? Y/N here is a bit stranded, so for the time being, she will train with us.”

Realizing his uncle had called him by his real name, Zuko sent Iroh a glare, but he didn’t say anything about it. Zuko didn’t want to give himself away completely.

“I just remembered- you need to be in a calm state of mind for today's exercise. I need to go make some ginseng tea!” Iroh said, hurrying back to the decaying building to start the drink.

You groaned internally. You had grown quite fond of the old man already, but you couldn’t say the same for his nephew.

An uncomfortable silence took over as he just stood there awkwardly.

“So, how long does it take for your uncle to make tea?” you asked, hoping to quell the silence and get an estimate of when you could begin training.

“Half an hour for ginseng. He likes to get it just right,” Zuko answered. He was clearly annoyed by your presence, as he has hoped to work on the lightning technique his uncle created. But alas, he couldn’t give away that he was from the Fire Nation. I mean, really? Why had his uncle agreed to letting you train them? A free meal was courteous enough, no? Now a whole day of training would be wasted on teaching some random girl the basics of hand to hand combat.

“Is he coming back while the tea steeps to get us started?” you sighed.

“No, he usually stays by the tea. He doesn’t want anything to happen to it,” Zuko explained.

“Well, in that case, do you want to get started without him? Just to warm up?” you asked.

“Sure, why not?” Zuko mumbled sarcastically. Was a moment alone with his uncle too much to ask for?

As Zuko got into a standard position for hand to hand combat, you crossed your arms and shot him a confused look.

“Spirits, don’t tell me you don’t even know basic fighting stances,” Zuko groaned.

“Of course I know basic fighting stances!” you countered. “But why are you in a hand to hand combat stance? I thought this was a firebending session.”

Zuko froze. “You know I’m a firebender?” “Uh, yeah! I also know who you are, princey, in case you haven’t picked up on that either. Now are we starting or not?” you cried.

Zuko stayed frozen. “How do you know who I am?” he demanded.

“Your uncle told me, idiot. You were also the heir to the throne of the country I live in for a hot minute. It took me a while, but you’re not unrecognizable,” you replied.

“Oh.”

“Yep.”

After another few minutes of awkward silence, you spoke again.

“So hottie, are we sparring or not?” you asked, now impatient.

Zuko started to nod before he realized the nickname you had just given him.

“What did you just call me?” He tried his best to sound intimidating, but it was challenging considering his voice had gone up an octave.

You smirked. “Hottie. Y’know, short for hothead?”

“Oh,” Zuko sighed. He didn’t know if he was relieved or disappointed.

“You’re also, like, totally hot,” you said nonchalantly. You knew you shouldn’t have been flirting. That’s what you had been telling yourself all day. But he was just too easy! His cheeks flared up immediately after you called him hot. And you never got to flirt! You were always too busy training, or on a mission. Besides, it’s not like this will go anywhere. You’ll have your fun for an hour or two, and by the end of the day you will have figured something out and leave.

While you were trying to justify your flirting, Zuko was busy having an existential crisis. He was, for lack of a better word, bamboozled. Just… what? How could anyone, much less a pretty girl like you, find him attractive when he had a giant fucking scar covering a third of his face? He had barely even spoken to you, and his words had been cold at best. Why did you still find him attractive? Though he supposed he was thinking the same about you. Sure, he found you annoying and maybe even a little arrogant, but he recognized your attractiveness.

“O-okay. We can get started now,” Zuko stammered, his blush quickly spreading.

“Alright,” you giggled. “But be warned, I’m a little rusty.”

You and Zuko got into position swiftly. After stretching, Zuko got into an intermediate bending stance.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

As the first plumes of fire left your hands, you felt feelings you only ever felt while firebending. Grace. Comfort. Complete and total warmth. Firebending had always been a form of escapism for you, and it had killed you to temporarily stop. But now, as you focused on the flames erupting from your hands, you felt a sense of peace.

Zuko was surprised by your skill. He outmatched you, but not by nearly as much as he thought he would. It was clear you were naturally gifted at firebending; your elegant movements said that much. Zuko had the best private teachers money could buy at his disposal growing up, so he being better than you was a given. He assumed you went to one of the many Fire Nation public schools growing up, but after seeing your bending, he realized you must have gone to a pretty good private school.

After the quick warmup, Iroh came out with the tea.

“Sorry I took so long. Ginseng is always fussy,” the retired general sighed.

“Nephew, since I already told you all this yesterday, how about you take your tea and meditate for a few minutes while I catch Y/N up to speed?” Iroh asked.

“That works,” Zuko said. Oddly, after the brief spar with you, Zuko found all his annoyance at you disappearing.

****************************

It had been a grueling day of training. You were a fast learner, but it appeared that you were not going to master this technique any time soon Zuko tried to help you, but so far it had been to no avail. Iroh left to rest about half an hour ago, after raising his eyebrows suggestively at Zuko, who rolled his eyes at the gesture.

“You’re not getting you chi low enough,” Zuko groaned. This was the fourth time he was explaining this to you. “You need to let it travel through your stomach.”

“What the hell does that even mean?” you cried, growing frustrated.

“Just- I’ll help you,” Zuko mumbled, trudging over to where you were standing. He positioned himself behind you, putting his hands on your arms.

“It’s like this,” he explained. He guided your right arm a bit higher, and put your left arm at a much lower angle. His arms dropped from your arms to your waist.

“You have to guide the chi lower,” he repeated.

You did the motion again, making sure your arms were in the position Zuko had put them in. The places he had touched were still tingling from his warm, rough hands.

“Good job,” Zuko muttered. His hands were still placed firmly on your waist.

“Well, you’re a pretty good teacher,” you giggled. Y/N, you thought. You were trying to have as much fun with this boy as you possibly could.

“Is that so?” Zuko murmured, suddenly feeling confident. He didn’t get to have much fun either. And his uncle was always teasing him about not being good with girls. Maybe with you, he could kill two birds with one stone. Have some fun and get some practice around girls. He’d need it someday, to court his future Fire Lady. “Maybe I could teach you other things. Like firebending.”

“I know how to firebend, Zuko,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“You don’t know anything too advanced, though,” Zuko retorted.

“True, true. I guess I could take you up on that offer. But with all the things you’re teaching me, I’m going to have to teach you a few things in return.” “Like what?”

You smirked, tilting your head back until it was under Zuko's chin. “Oh, you’ll see. But for now, teach me some firebending.”

Zuko's heart inexplicably started racing at your mysteriousness. Was he simply nervous that he didn’t know what you were going to be teaching him? Or was it the way your voice went a little lower? The new close proximity of your faces? The knowing smirk on your face?

Still nervous, Zuko took his hands from your waist. “Okay, in that case, I’ll teach you something I invented. I call it fire daggers.”

****************************

“You’re doing pretty well. You just need to push a little more chi to your wrists,” Zuko explained. He had been teaching you how to create fire daggers for about 45 minutes, and you had almost mastered it.

“Okay,” you replied. You took a deep breath, and tried your hardest to focus all your chi to your hands. You felt the warmth become more concentrated around your palms, and finally, you let out two, very concentrated fire daggers.

“Finally!” you exclaimed. “Wow, you invented this?”

“Yeah, but it took a while to perfect,” Zuko admitted. “So, what are you planning to teach me?”

“Oh, can we do it after we eat? I’m starving,” you said, careful not to tell him what you had in mind.

“I’m actually not very hungry. But you go eat with my uncle. I’ll train until you can come back.” “Sounds good.” You headed to the shabby building, leaving Zuko to train. As you were walking, you began thinking of what you would teach Zuko. You hadn’t planned that far ahead. Spirits, what about this boy made you so impulsive? Oh well, you’d think of something.

“Hello, Miss Y/N!” Iroh greeted.

“Hey, Iroh,” you responded. “What’s cooking? It smells good.”

“Some jook,” Iroh replied. “Where is my nephew?” “He’s still outside. He’s not hungry so he’s training some more.”

“Classic Zuko,” Iroh sighed.

He served you a bowl of jook, which you happily began to eat. As you were eating, your mind wandered to other places. Team Avatar, to be exact. You thought about how they treated you. Sure, they put cuffs on you, but that was expected. They weren’t complete fools. You thought more about the way they had tried to make you comfortable. They offered you water, like, every fifteen minutes. And food, which you had refused. That wasn’t a good idea in hindsight. Sokka had even tried to make you more comfortable by making small talk, and Aang had been polite when you initiated conversation. If it had been the Fire Nation who captured them, there would be no such hospitality. Why had the enemy been so kind to you? Maybe- no. How could you think such a traitorous thought? Still, now that it was on your mind, you had to let it out.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” you asked, fidgeting with your spoon.

“Of course. What is on your mind?” Iroh questioned.

“Do you think this war is… right?” you sighed, not meeting Iroh’s eyes.

“What do you mean?” “Just… I was captured a few days ago, by the Avatar and his group. And some of the things they did and said got me thinking. Is it possible that the Fire Nation is in the wrong? We refuse to see good in anything but ourselves. I was taught from a young age to never show mercy; that mercy is weakness. But the Avatar and his friends were nothing but hospitable to me. I mean, what is the reason for this war? Conquest? Why are we trying to conquer the world? My school books say the Air Nomads were planning to invade us, but the more I think about that, the more absurd it sounds. They were pacifists, for spirits sake!” You hadn’t planned on saying all that, but once you started talking, you couldn’t stop. You felt confused, and now angry. Had the Fire Nation really been lying to you this whole time? Was everything you knew a lie? You felt like you were suffocating, shocked by the things that had come out of your own mouth. If you weren’t a faithful servant to the Fire Nation, who were you?

Iroh stared at his bowl of jook for a few seconds, contemplating what you had just said. Then, he spoke.

“Morals are something you must develop for yourself. Take a look at the facts and your own life experiences, and form a code of ethics to follow. I know how difficult it can be to question what you were taught, but we must always be bettering ourselves. Don’t take the easy way out, and always remember to trust your gut.”

You understood what Iroh meant. It’s easy to just follow someone blindly, especially if they’re manipulating you. Developing your own moral code, while harder, would be more fulfilling and worthwhile in the end.

“Thanks, Iroh. I have a lot to think about,” you breathed at a barely audible voice.

“Of course, take your time.”

You slinked off to your corner, figuring you had about twenty minutes until you had to go to Zuko. You hadn’t eaten much jook. You thought about your brother, who had always been the perfect Fire Nation citizen. He never questioned the Fire Nations wishes, not for one minute. You had always looked up to him, and longed for his praise so badly, so you didn’t question the Fire Nation either. And look where that got the both of you. You were here, stranded in an abandoned Earth Kingdom village, and he was, well, dead. Killed in battle at the ripe age of 17, just as you were about to graduate from the Fire Nation Royal Academy for Girls.

It was in that moment that you finally understood what Katara had meant. Why would the remaining two nations comply with the Fire Nation when the Fire Nation was trying to overthrow them? Complying wouldn’t result in peace. It would result in chaos.

Well, fuck. Now what were you going to do? You couldn’t go back to Azula, and your gut was telling you not to stay with Iroh and Zuko. You had to get going by tomorrow morning.

“Iroh, I have a favor to ask,” you said.

“Anything, my dear,” he answered.

You rubbed the back of your neck sheepishly. “Do you have, like, an extra canteen of water I could take? Or a little bit of extra food? I really need to get going tomorrow morning, and-”

Iroh cut you off. “Of course, Y/N. I’ll get a few things packed up for you, but in the meantime, I think my nephew is waiting for you.” “Thanks, Iroh,” you said, smiling. Iroh nodded in your direction as you jogged out the door.

Feeling much more optimistic and more sure of yourself than you had ever been, you sauntered over to Zuko, who was doing a few cooldown stretches.

“Oh, hi Y/N. I was just finishing up. Are you ready to repay me yet?” he chuckled.

“Not quite yet. Follow me,” you said in a teasing tone. Zuko got up and followed you despite the confused look on his face. Oh, how naive, you thought.

You led Zuko to a crumbling wall you had spotted earlier during training. When you stopped, Zuko began speaking.

“What are we doing over here? What are you even teaching me?”

You could tell he was getting impatient with you. Oh well, just give the boy what he wants.

“Never knew you were the eager type,” you giggled.

Zuko’s witty comeback died in his throat as you yanked him by the arm towards you and effectively pinned him against the wall.

“Wh- what are you-”

“Quiet, hottie,” you murmured. “Class is in session. Would you consider yourself a hands on learner?” “I guess so,” he whispered. The almighty Fire Prince was melting into a puddle right before your eyes, at your hand nonetheless. He really was too cute for his own good at this moment. His eyes wide instead of the default glare they were set in, his entire face red.

“Good,” you responded. You took his hands, which were hanging limply at his sides, and stationed them on your waist. You then placed your hands firmly onto his shoulders. Zuko shuddered under your touch.

“Ready for the demonstration?” you asked, serious tone not at all fitting for what you were about to do to this boy.

“U-um, well, I… ah-” Zuko sputtered. Was it only this morning he was glaring at you for joining his meal?

You rolled your eyes. “Lesson one: Talk. Less.” you stated.

You leaned in until your lips were just barely brushing Zuko’s. You could hear his breath hitch in his throat. But you weren’t done having fun with him yet.

At the last minute, you turned away from his lips, instead opting to place a feather light kiss on Zuko’s cheek teasingly.

You pulled away from Zuko slightly with a sly smile, just enough so you could see his face. His expression was shocked, confused, and longing.

Perfect.

“You don’t have to be so stiff, you know,” you giggled. “Move a little. It-”

Zuko cut you off with his lips, grasping at your waist like his life depended on it. You gasped into his mouth before hurriedly kissing back. Sure, you’d kissed a guy or two in your life, but none of them felt like Zuko. He tasted like jasmine and woodsmoke. His lips moved against yours with passion and vigor as he let out little sighs into your mouth. Your hands left Zuko’s shoulders, going to his chest instead as you grabbed fistfuls of his shirt.

You pulled away from the kiss, smiling as he chased after your lips.

“Why… did you do that?” he whispered.

“I had to teach you something, didn’t I? Did you learn anything?” you asked.

“Talk less,” Zuko said, his eyes hazy.

You chuckled. “Yeah. Remember that one.”

You walked off, leaving Zuko to contemplate what just happened.

****************************

You left that same night. Iroh had gone to the nearby forest to forage for some plants, and Zuko was still standing at the wall, dumbfounded. That left the building you had stayed in empty. There was a small bag sitting in the corner you had slept in, packed by Iroh. You found a compass in Iroh’s bag, found which way west was, and started off in the direction, taking the compass with you. It didn’t matter; Zuko had one in his bag. You checked.

You weren’t quite sure where you were going. Going back to Azula was obviously not an option, but the Fire Nation wasn’t a good choice either. There would be too many things to explain to your family, and you could be sent to jail for abandoning Azula. Or worse. It would be better for the time being if you were presumed dead, not that anyone besides your parents and perhaps a few of your friends would care.

That left a few options. You could become a nomad of sorts, jumping around from town to town, never staying long. You weren’t built for that sort of life, though. The few weeks traveling with Azula had been enough to last you a lifetime. Omashu, now New Ozai, had become occupied by the Fire Nation. The Northern Water Tribe was secluded and virtually untouched by the war, as the recent invasion attempt had failed. Unfortunately for you, it was nearly impossible to get to, even by high-tech warship. That left settling down at one of the abandoned Air Temples or Ba Sing Se. The latter seemed less lonely and more attainable, so off to Ba Sing Se it was.

****************************

“Fine, but you’re closing tomorrow!”

“Okay okay. Thanks, Xia!”

You washed the flour caked on your hands from hours of work, left the keys in the small tray by the back door, and began your walk back to the small apartment you lived in, apron in hand.

You had been living in Ba Sing Se for two months now. After forging some papers and departing the ferry that took you to the city, you landed a job at a small, but lively bakery that locals of the outer ring loved. Your weekly salary was enough to pay for rent, food, and a few recreational activities too. Overall, you lived a comfortable life, and you would have been happy to spend the rest of your days in the life you’d built for yourself, even if you had to pretend there was no war.

You had been hearing about a tea shop from some of your neighbors. It wasn’t new, but there was a new employee that really knew his way around the drink. You hadn’t had a cup of tea since the ginseng shared with Zuko and Iroh, and you certainly had the money for it. Deciding to treat yourself, you walked into the store and ordered a cup of jasmine tea. After paying, you sat down at a table by the window and waited for your tea to be served. Drumming your fingers on the table, you thought about how much your life had changed in just a few short months. You had gone from a loyal servant to the Fire Nation, ready to sacrifice anything and everything for a facist tyrant, to a normal young adult working in a bakery. You couldn’t help but feel grateful you had fallen into this timeline. What if Sokka’s aim had just been a bit off and you hadn’t been knocked out? You’d probably still be out there with Azula, hunting down the world's last hope for balance. Crazy how one little action can have such a huge impact.

As you thought about Azula, your mind wandered to her older brother. You smiled at the thought of Zuko. Your time together had been brief, but you looked back on it fondly. Sure, he could be very aggressive and intimidating, but he could also be quite shy and bashful, if you got him in the right situation.

Looking back on the kiss the two of you had shared, you blushed. You felt giddy and slightly embarrassed at the same time. You had been so impulsive in that moment, but you couldn’t help it. He was just so cute, stuttering under your soft gaze!

“Order up,” a raspy voice stated behind you.

Ah, your tea. You turned around to accept the steaming cup, tip in hand, but something stopped you from reaching out to take the drink from the rusted tray.

That something was the wide-eyed stare of a certain Fire Nation royal family member.

“Oh,” you choked. “Hi again.”

a/n okay i know i said literally yesterday that this would be out in december but you never know when motivation will hit ig. this isn’t the full thing but i think that’s understandable since this bitch is loooong. the second part will probably be shorter. the other zuko h/cs will still be out before thanksgiving! requests are still open as well, but i want to finish this so it may take a little for me to get to them. thank you to @ladyamaya (sorry it’s not letting me tag you :() for requesting this. sorry it took so long. also, sorry if this sucks :)

#Zuko #ba sing se #zuko x you #zuko x reader #zuko x y/n #sokka #katara #aang #toph #iroh #zuko angst #zuko fluff #bad makeout scene sorry

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sokkastyles · 4 years

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firelxdykatara

Part of what is so incredibly frustrating about Aang’s arc in book 3 (or lack thereof) is the fact that his culture--despite being ostensibly wiped from the face of the planet, and we’ll set aside for the moment how little sense that makes in general, nevermind from a narrative standpoint--has hints of depth that are never explored. @inkmyname touched on it when pointing out that Aang is very selective about which parts of his own culture he interacts with and attempts to preserve

(which he cherrypicks several times over the course of the series, by the way…)

Because while it is absolutely true that AN culture is horrifically underdeveloped, part of that is because the single solitary living Air Nomad is never allowed to actually engage with, question, learn about, and understand his own culture. This is where Guru Pathik never appearing again after Aang leaves in book 2 (to ignore his own culture’s teachings and attempt to hold on to a selfish attachment he was told he would need to willingly give up in order to achieve true enlightenment and master the Avatar State, I might add) becomes a serious issue--because here was an actual, living, breathing adult with an adult’s understanding of an extinct culture, and he just... vanished from the narrative completely, the moment Aang decided that his feelings for Katara were more important than the adhering to the teachings of his people.

Which means that, yet again, what we were left with was a child’s very basic understanding of his own people. He could parrot aphorisms and wise proverbs he was taught by the monks, but he could exhibit no true understanding of them. He could maintain a vegetarian diet (at great strain to Katara, who had to make sure to cook things Aang would be willing to eat, despite having grown up in a climate where not eating meat would mean starving to death) and profess that he cherished all living creatures, but he could not examine when pacifism may not be the right choice--he could not acknowledge that even his precious monks would take lives if they had to. If other lives were on the line. (See: the fact that he never once seems to realize that Monk Gyatso’s corpse being surrounded by a bunch of skeletons in Fire Nation armor means that Monk Gyatso killed living breathing human beings in an attempt to defend his own people. I do not think he would have hesitated if an entire city-state were directly in the line of fire, no pun intended.)

If you took any twelve-year-old and froze them in a time capsule and woke them up a century later, they may be able to remember some proverbs, a verse or two from some religious text, a few general rules governing social behavior... but they would not be able to reconstruct their entire culture based only on their fallible childhood memories and a few recovered artifacts.

And it is explicit, in the text of the show, that Aang is perfectly willing to discard the teachings of his people when they conflict with something he wants. His people’s teachings say that he should release his attachment to the girl he likes--he evidently misinterprets this to mean he must forgo all connection to her (which is never so much as implied, and if the tenets of Buddhism were to actually be adhered to, giving up his attachment to her wouldn’t even mean that he couldn’t still love her and that a relationship would be out of the question if she loved him in return--merely that his selfish attachment to her needed to go, because he was not entitled to her feelings. this was a lesson he desperately needed to learn, rather than being rewarded for his selfish behavior by having Katara realize at the literal last second that oh, yeah, she really DID have feelings for him), and refuses on the grounds that... he wanted to date this girl who had never once shown romantic interest in him. Because that’s certainly worth throwing his own people’s teachings about spirituality and enlightenment right in the trash.

So the argument that killing Ozai would have killed the last remnants of his culture, and so he needed to find a pacifistic solution in order to preserve them, already doesn’t hold water--because Aang showed very little concern for preserving his people’s beliefs, or anyone else’s (he’s actually... pretty disrespectful of other cultural practices at numerous points in the show and is never really taken to task for it, by the narrative or any of the characters), at any other point in the show. And something that this particular segment of the fandom always loves to claim is that in saying that I’m saying that I wanted a kid to murk a dude on screen in a Y7 show--but that isn’t it at all. None of this is to say that Aang should have killed Ozai (although whether he was allowed to remain alive should have been up to a tribunal of EK and WT citizens, not just the Avatar, but that’s another discussion entirely)--but it is to say that Aang being able to take a third option was not handled well, either from a story perspective or a character one.

What we should have gotten--and what Book 3 seemed to be primed for--is a season long arc of Aang finally mastering the Avatar State and completing his character arc. The foundation was there, the potential beats were lined up, the earlier hints (such as an entire episode dedicated to showing both Aang and the audience that sometimes the object of your affections doesn’t like you back, and that’s ok, because if you love them you should want them to be happy, and if we just ignore the last twenty seconds that completely undermines the entire message [particularly in light of the epilogue] then we’re golden) there to provide some structure for the remainder of his arc.

Instead, what we wound up with were a bunch of useless filler episodes leading up to the failed invasion (which had some gems, like The Puppetmaster and Sokka’s Master, but when weighed against episodes like The Headband and Nightmares and Daydreams, it’s hard to say if they were worth the cost), and then Zuko’s journey into the gaang’s good graces crammed into the last few episodes before the finale. It isn’t until the episode before the finale that Aang even admits to anyone that he can’t enter the Avatar State, and it isn’t until the finale that this is actually ‘resolved’--by a pointy rock showing up at the exact right place to, i guess, jar his chakras loose. Because that’s how it works.

The result is a season that has some of the best single episodes in the series, while having the most disjointed plot, the worst pacing, and the least satisfying finale out of all three seasons. In HP fandom vernacular with which I remain intimately familiar, AtLA may have won the game, but season three absolutely did not catch the snitch. And I haven’t even gotten into the fact that Aang’s moral dilemma over needing to kill Ozai should have come up much earlier in the narrative--prior to the eclipse invasion at least, if not even sooner than that, but I still cannot fathom what Aang planned to do to the man if he actually got to him before the eclipse ended and he was powerless--because this post is already long enough.

The upshot of it all is, though, that Aang’s arc is deeply unsatisfying for a lot of people because it relies on contrivances in order for him to even survive the battle he was supposedly training the entire series for. And he was handed every victory he actually achieved, particularly in that final battle, rather than earning them via his own choices.

He didn’t choose to seek out the lionturtle--it kidnapped him. He didn’t choose to regain the Avatar State--he was thrown against a well-placed rock and it was reactivated automatically. (I know I frequently engage in percussive maintenance myself, but come on.) He did choose to ignore Katara’s words and body language and kiss her anyway--and he was then rewarded with a relationship without so much as apologizing to her for his actions. (And, notably, Katara was given no space on screen to work through her own feelings--it was just assumed that they were there, and she had them for Aang, and it was just a matter of him being persistent enough that she realized it. Which is very much not the message we should be sending the children to whom this show was aimed and marketed.)

I really can’t find anything in Aang’s arc, as presented in the show (rather than the idealized version a lot of Aang stans seem to have constructed for themselves), that is meant to be some sort of ‘ideal’, either from an irl perspective or from a story one. And it remains a constant source of frustration, because all the tools were there, all the potential was there--it’s just that none of it was ever realized by the narrative.

@firelxdykatara I want to reply to this in a different post because I don’t want to continue arguing on OP’s post anymore. The thing is that it does seem like there was an attempt made to build this conflict up, but it was just...forgotten. Which is especially weird when we talk about the parallels between Aang and Zuko, because there are several places where Aang’s internal struggle is paralleled with Zuko’s. And this is part of what makes Aang’s arc not hold up to Zuko’s, unfortunately.

One of the things that should have been explored about the Air Nomads is the fact that they actually did Aang quite badly by telling him that he was the Avatar too early, and that seemed like it was an important plot point and part of Aang’s internal struggle...until it wasn’t. A lot of people say that Aang’s desire to avoid conflict and be a kid is an Air Nomad trait, and it kinda is, but from what we saw in the flashback, we know that not all Air Nomads were like this, and Aang’s relationship with Gyatso - which I REALLY wanted to be explored more - was actually contrasted with the rigid ways of the other monks. We saw this in Aang and Gyatso playing pranks and in how Gyatso tried to shelter Aang and let him be a kid a little longer, which he should have been able to do. Aang ran away because the Air Nomads were trying to take him away from Gyatso! This is a pretty standard coming of age plot, growing up and realizing that not every adult is good and right all the time and has your best interests in mind (Zuko also learns this in his flashback, in much more violent way). And Aang was so angry and hurt and betrayed when he recounted it in “The Storm,” and it’s a direct parallel to the way Zuko’s father betrayed him. What happened to that? What happened to that anger? What happened to “how could they do that to me?!”

But there’s no follow up to this. I think they could have done more with the Guru Pathik character possibly in order to fix this, like maybe showing Aang being resistant to learning from him because of those lingering negative feelings. But then, Pathik himself is one of the weakest parts of the story, and is little more than a racist caricature. That’s part of the problem.

Similarly Aang trying to reconcile his unhealthy attachment to Katara and his love for Katara was part of his internal struggle...until it wasn’t. And once again it’s paralleled with Zuko’s arc. Like, the episode where that conflict is introduced, “The Avatar State,” is the same episode where Zuko chooses to go with Azula back to the Fire Nation and chooses his unhealthy attachment to his father instead of Iroh. This conflict runs through that season (again paralleling Zuko’s arc) and is brought up again in the finale for book 2, and the resolution is even hinted at:

Aang: Well, I met with this guru who was supposed to help me master the Avatar State and control this great power, but to do it, I had to let go of someone I love. And I just couldn't.

Iroh: Perfection and power are overrated. I think you were very wise to choose happiness and love.

Aang: What happens if we can't save anyone and beat Azula? Without the Avatar State, what if I'm not powerful enough?

Iroh: I don't know the answer. Sometimes, life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving, you will come to a better place.

There we have it! Aang didn’t need to give up his love for Katara, nor did he need to exchange her for power. It’s a false dichotomy. The show is really good at setting up false dichotomies only to break them down in other places, but with the Avatar state arc they just...don’t quite manage it. It seems like they were trying to set it up, too, by paralleling Aang’s fall at Ba Sing Se with Zuko making the wrong choice, but there’s no follow-through.

Instead of Aang experiencing a conflict with his cultural identity, suddenly the Air Nomads become these idealized figures who are always right in book 3, primarily so he can lecture Katara and Zuko on the evils of revenge. If this is Aang trying to hold on to the last vestiges of his culture and not wanting to acknowledge how his last interaction with the monks was a negative one, the story needs to show that! THAT would be an interesting character conflict! But instead they drop that story entirely and make it about whether Aang is going to kill Ozai, because Aang is so good and wise and everybody else suddenly wants him to kill for some reason. Which of course he isn’t going to do, because it’s a nickelodeon show. It’s not just that the lionturtle is a deus ex machina, it’s that it’s a solution to a problem that never felt like a real problem and was put in place of actual real character conflict.

And although I’m not a huge fan of Kataang, this absolutely could have been done WITHOUT sacrificing Kataang. When the narrative suggested that he needed to give up Katara to become the Avatar, when Aang went into the Avatar state and said “I’m sorry, Katara,” I actually shouted NO at my screen. Because Aang should NOT have to give up love in order to become a hero, and that’s not what the Buddhist idea of getting rid of earthly attachments means, anyway. It means getting rid of unhealthy attachments, and as you said, that was shown in Aang’s behavior towards Katara. And it seemed like the writers were working towards Aang having a realization that his behavior towards Katara was unhealthy, that if he loved her he needed to actually have a real conversation with her about her feelings and give her space to say no (even if she says yes in the end), and that never happened.

There’s also a reason Iroh has this conversation with Aang in book 2. If we want an example of someone who has achieved a spiritual balance in their life, and given up earthly attachments in favor of living simply, Iroh is that character, and he’s a much better example than a westernized Guru caricature or a twelve year old spouting pithy aphorisms about revenge, because Iroh’s wisdom comes from experience. And Iroh’s advice is that sometimes life is like a dark tunnel, and that you need to go through the dark to get to the light. Iroh also admits that he doesn’t know the answer, because like all truly wise people, he is wise enough to know that he knows nothing. That’s why Aang having spiritual knowledge handed to him so that he can avoid having to make a decision feels like a cop-out. The show didn’t even tell us until the last second that what the knowledge was was energybending, because the writers KNEW it was a cop-out.

And the choice between power and love? Is not even made. Aang still gets to have a super special power bestowed upon him and beats Ozai because he learns how to bend energy, the most powerful and special form of bending of them all, guys. It’s actually super frustrating because the writers CAN resolve this in a meaningful way. They do it with Zuko, who also has super special powers bestowed upon him in the climax of the story, but in the end it’s not power, it’s his frienship with Katara and his willingness to sacrifice for her that saves him. Wasn’t Aang supposed to be making a similar choice about Katara? Hmmmmmmmm.

#not tagging because i don't want to keep arguing about this

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mycomfortblanket · 3 years

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Written in Ink chap 4

Toph isn’t completely sure what makes her wake up so early, but she knows it’s going to be one of those mornings where she can’t go back to sleep no matter how hard she tries. She can feel Aang’s body pressed up behind her and judging from his deep and even breaths that she can feel on the back of her neck, he is still asleep.

Turning her face more into the pillow, she inhales his scent from the fabric, and hopes that she can maybe pass out from lack of oxygen by doing this so that she can go back to sleep.

Pushing her head further into the pillow is when she feels it. The hardness that is pressing just below the swell of her ass. When she had leaned forward to push her face more into the pillow, it had caused her hips to move back slightly and brush against him.

Her face stills in the pillow, she bites back a grin. Toph knew it is something that normally happens in the morning, but for some reason, it gave her a strange sort of satisfaction.

Moving back to her previous position- pressed against his chest- she brushes against him once more and a hand quickly reaches out and grips her hip, “God, quit doing that,” his voice sounding strained and still rough with sleep.

Toph lets out a snort, “Didn’t realize you were that into me,” she says with a slight wiggle of her hips. Another groan comes from his lips and his fingers dig into her skin.

“Don’t flatter yourself, it’s morning. And you doing that isn’t making it any easier,” he says, rolling onto his back, away from her slightly.

Toph pouts slightly as he pulls away taking his body heat with him. She turns around to face and pulls the blankets up to her chin, “What’s for breakfast?”

“Funny that you think I’m making breakfast after what you just did.”

She laughs under her breath, “Well, when you take me home, can we stop somewhere and get something to eat? I would kill for some hashbrowns.”

An hour and a half later, they were sitting in a booth at their nearest Ihop looking through their menus. Well, Aang was looking through the menu. Apparently, Toph comes here so often she already knows what she wants.

He looks up at her and can’t help but blush more. They definitely look like they’re an awkward one night stand couple. Her hair is messy and unbrushed and she’s wearing one of his hoodies that is way too big for her.

Every time he glances at her, he can’t help but remember how he was taken out of his dream by the brushing of her ass against him, and then she had the audacity to do it again. He knows it’s wrong to say this, but he’s glad she is blind so that she can’t see the blush that hasn’t left his face since they got out of bed that morning.

“You know, I can feel you blushing from here,” she says with a smirk, reaching out for her drink.

“Urgh,” Aang drops his head to the table, “Why did you do that to me? I am a good man, and it was just cruel.”

Toph laughs and cuts into her pancakes, “Whatever, it was funny and you know it.” The sleeve of the hoodie slides back just slightly and he is able to catch the sight of his Name on her skin and he sucks in a breath.

“What?” she asks. How she heard that, he doesn’t know.

“Uh, nothing. Your Name is all.” It’s Toph’s turn to blush as she pulls the sleeve down and pulls it into a palm to hold it there.

It’s a moment before she raises her face to him and the blush starting to recede. “Where… Where is yours?”

Aang looks down at his plate, biting his lip before glancing back up at her. Her face is guarded and her eyes are casted downwards. He can feel her building up a wall between them for some reason. He doesn’t think this conversation is too personal, considering what she did this morning, but he can feel her distancing herself.

“It’s on my chest, just under my heart along my ribs,” he says in a low tone. All he gets is a nod in response. He stares at her for a moment, gathering some courage to ask his next question, “Why don’t you like the Names?”

Toph’s eyebrows fly up for a second before she drops into a neutral face, “What, are you wanting to do the soulmate thing now?”

“No, I’m not ready for that. I just want to know your perspective of it.” He can see her clench and unclench her teeth a few times, trying to figure out what words would be appropriate for this.

Aang thinks she is just about to tell him off right when her shoulders slump down and she lets out a deep breath. “All my life, things had been decided for me because I’m blind. What school I went to, who my friends are, what I wear, everything. I barely got to move out… actually I wouldn't have been able to move out if Zuko didn't kidnap me. The Names are just another thing that has been decided for me, and I can't stand it. I should be able to choose who I want to be with and when I want to be with them.”

Aang nods his head slowly and takes a bite of his eggs, “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Toph jerks her head up a little, completely surprised by her answer. Most people tell her that it’s stupid, that she's missing out on the greatest feelings. But, instead, he seems to understand.

“What about yours?”

He snorts a little, “Eh, we’ll get to that another day.”

“Little too depressing for you?”

“Ha. Yeah. You could say that.

-----------------

Katara walks into the living room to see Toph lounging on one of the couches, her earbuds in, most likely listening to an audiobook.

Walking over to her, she nudges her leg to get her attention. Toph hits the pause button on her headphones and pulls one out.

“I noticed that you didn't come home the other night,” Katara asks in a teasing tone.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I slept over at Aang’s.”

Trying not to be too forward and scare her off, Katara walks into the kitchen and grabs a bottle of water before returning to the couch. “Well, what did you guys do all night?”

Toph doesn’t answer immediately which makes Katara automatically assume, “Oh my god, you didn’t.”

“Didn’t what?”

“You slept with him! You totally slept with him! Tell me everything, was he any good?”

Toph sits up in shock, “Dude! What the hell? No, I didn’t sleep with him, it wasn’t like that.”

“Where did you sleep then?”

“Uh… in his bed? But we didn’t do anything, it was just platonically sleeping next to each other.”

Katara crosses her arms and sits back into the couch watching Toph, looking for any signs that she may be lying. “If you guys didn’t have sex, then what did you do?”

“Er… he- uh. He read to me.”

“He read to you?! You don’t even let me read to you! That’s totally not fair,”

“Yeah, well, you know. Heat of the moment and everything,” she says with a wave of her hand and moves to put her earbuds back in.

“You like him.”

“What?” she asks, stopping just before she is able to push play.

“I said, ‘You like him’”

Toph lets out a snort and settles back into the couch, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Plopping down on the couch, practically smooshing Toph’s legs into the cushions, Katara’s face is pure giddy, “Oh my god, you totally do! You didn’t even deny it!”

Pushing Katara off, Toph gets up and makes her way to the kitchen, hoping that the conversation won’t continue. But, knowing her roommate, that’s not likely, “Come on, T., just admit it!”

“There’s nothing to admit,” her voice low and solid.

“Yes, there is! Come on! It’s not the end of the world? What’s so wrong about liking him?”

Toph opens the fridge and grabs one of her smoothies and leans back against the fridge, thinking about the conversation. Even if she does like him, it’s not like she is about to admit that, especially out loud.

“I’m not confirming or denying anything, Princess. We’re just two people that hung out last night who just so happen to have each other’s Names on their bodies. It’s fine,” she says, pushing off from the fridge and walking towards her room.

“Whatever! I know you Toph, and you can’t lie to me!” Katara calls out just as she is shutting the door to her room.

Dropping onto her bed with her head hanging over the side, she chews on her lips considering what Katara had just said. She goes over her feelings for just a moment and as soon as she starts feeling that fluttering in her chest, she rolls over onto her stomach and grabs her phone.

“Siri, call Aang.”

-----------------

Sitting on the sofa with his laptop in his lap, Aang attempts to work through some homework problems, but the motivation is just not there . His phone starts ringing, and honestly, it sounds like it’s under his butt, lodged into between the cushions.

He shoves a hand underneath him and feels around for the phone but isn’t able to get to it in time for the phone call. Looking at the screen, he sees that it’s Toph who was calling. He raises his eyebrows in confusion but swipes to call her back.

“Hey. You going to bring me some chinese?” is her immediate answer to the phone.

“Uh, no. Was not planning on it. I’m doing homework.” She lets out a very exaggerated groan at this.

“Just bring me some chinese and your computer and you can do your homework here.”

“No, I can’t.”

“And why not?”

Aang smiles slightly, “Because, knowing you, you’re going to talk nonstop and distract me from homework and then I won’t get anything done.”

“Please, you barely know me.”

“Am I wrong though?” She doesn’t answer immediately but instead, grumbles something out unintelligible.

“Fine, whatever.”

“What are you doing, though?”

“Well, I was listening to a book before Katara interrupted me with probing questions about our sex life,” she says nonchalantly. Aang chokes on air for a second before he realizes she’s kidding.

He doesn’t say anything for a moment, “I didn’t realize we had a sex life.”

“Oh, but we do. Very kinky. Surprised we didn’t break the headboard,” she says, still pretending to be serious.

“Oh, yes, you are right. Very kinky and very lavish, exactly what we are.” He can hear her laugh through her nose which makes him smile. He loves her sense of humor, the dark and sometimes explicit things she says always keeps him on his toes.

“You want to go do something later? I hear that there is a silent movie playing at the theatre,” he asks.

“Ha-ha. Funny.”

“No, but seriously, there’s a movie that just came out that I want to go see, do you want to go?” He knows this is dangerous territory; going to the movies is a typical first date kind of move. She is silent for a moment, and he swears, he can hear her thinking through the phone.

“Yeah, sure. But, you’re buying.” A breath of relief escapes him and a tiny smile plays on his lips.

----------------

“Now, I know that I missed some parts because of the whole not seeing thing, but that movie sucked.” They’re walking out of the theatre, the bag of popcorn is still clutched in Toph’s hand while her cane slides in front of her, occasionally tapping the concrete.

“Yeah, the trailer seemed so much better. Although, seeing Blake Lively in a bikini for most of the movie was pretty nice.”

Toph snorts and elbows him in the side, “Perv.” As they get settled into the car, her phone starts singing ‘ Holding Out For a Hero’ .

“Yell-o” she says in greeting, putting the call on speaker.

“I’m going to Zuko’s for the night, I left some dinner in the fridge for you,” Katara’s voice comes through the speaker.

“Ahhh, thanks, Mom. I’ll be sure to eat that."

“Where are you?”

“Aang and I went to a movie- which sucked by the way- but we’re on our way home now,” she says, shoving a handful of the popcorn in her mouth.

“Ohhh, you and Aang went on a date?” Katara says in a suggestive way.

“Hell no, I just didn’t want to go to the movie by myself,” Aang pipes up from the drivers side.

“Oh, shit. Am I on speaker phone? That’s my bad.”

Toph snorts a little and says through the popcorn, “Anyways, I’ll be home soon. I’ll make sure to lock the door so the big bad men don’t come and get me.”

“Alright, have a good night and make sure to use a condom!” Katara shouts before disconnecting the call.

Toph groans and drops the phone into her lap, “She’s so irritating.” Aang’s shoulders are shaking with laughter.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s kind of funny. You make jokes about it all the time, but the moment Katara says something about it, you’re all ‘She’s so annoying, why does she joke about it, it’s not even funny’,” Aang says in a high pitched voice trying to mimic Toph.

She lands a punch on his arm, “Whatever, I do not sound like that,” she says with a huff and crosses her arms over her chest.

A few hours later, they’re laying on her bed listening to some music and jumping from topic to topic about everything and nothing. Aang sits up slightly and turns on his side, resting on his elbow, “What’s it like being blind?”

Toph lets out a snort at the question, “What the hell do you mean ‘ what’s it like to be blind’? How am I supposed to answer that? What’s it like being able to see?”

He shrugs a little at her answer, “Yeah, but like, how did you learn to do stuff?”

“The same way you learned to do stuff, dipshit.”

He laughs at her abrasive answers, “Never mind, you’re not getting what I’m trying to say.”

Toph turns her head towards him, “Well, try and explain what you’re wanting to know better and maybe I’ll answer differently,” she challenges.

Huffing, he drops back down to the bed on his back, their shoulders just barely touching. “Okay, fine. I guess, what I’m trying to say is, Do you feel like you’re missing out on things because you’re blind?”

A thoughtful look passes over her as if she hadn’t ever actually considered the question, “I mean, not really. Although, lately, there are some things that I wish I could see. I don’t feel left out, if that’s what you mean. Everyone includes me in everything and they never mention my blindness so it doesn’t feel like it’s really an impairment. It’s just… somethings, I guess, would be nice to see.”

“What do you want to see?” His brows coming together in confusion. He never considered her wanting to see certain things but not care about others.

She takes a deep breath and turns her head so that her eyes are trained towards the ceiling, “Nothing, it doesn’t really matter.”

“No, come on! Tell me,” he asks, his voice low and coaxing, as if trying not to scare her off.

Toph purses her lips in thought and closes her eyes, and for a moment, he doesn’t think she is going to answer. “I’d like to see you,” her voice is low, barely even a whisper. The breath in Aang’s lungs is immediately stolen.

“Me?”

“Yeah,” her voice stronger now, more sure, “I’d like to see what my soulmate looks like, if you’re really as attractive as everyone says you are.”

Aang laughs lightly at her answer, he really was not expecting this. He turns his head to face her and looks at the slope of her nose, the freckles that dust across her cheeks, the beauty mark just under her jaw, her ink black hair.

“Here, sit up, let’s try something,” Reluctantly and with a groan, she sits up and turns to face him. He takes her hands in his, and slowly brings them up to his face and rests them on his cheeks.

“You really want me to feel out your face?” her eyebrow quirking slightly.

“Yeah, you can’t tell me you haven’t done this with other things.”

“I- I mean, uh yeah, I have. It’s just, this is a little personal, feeling someone else.”

Aang shifts closer to her until their knees are touching, “Well, have at it.”

Toph takes a deep breath and swallows visibly before her fingers slowly skirt over his skin, fingertips just barely touching him. He stays as still as he can while she maps out his face. She traces over his cheekbones, his jawline, the hair on his head. While one hand is, once again, tracing his cheekbone, her other hand slowly goes down his nose until it drops off at his lips.

She stops there for a moment, almost as if asking permission to touch his lips. She swallows again and feels along the bow of his top lip and the plumpness of his bottom. He smiles slightly at her, and she feels the creases of his cheeks as he does so.

Her fingertips linger just a second longer on his lips before moving down to his jaw and skimming over his throat and neck to the expanse of his shoulders. She feels how broad they are and how his collar bones are hard beneath his skin.

The whole time she is mapping out his face, Aang keeps a close eye on her own face, watching the small expressions that flicker across her face as she goes over the dips and edges of his face. When she came to his jaw line, her mouth quirked up in a small smirk, and since then, he hadn’t been able to take his eyes from her lips.

He is fascinated with how they move. She would occasionally bite the inside of her cheek which would shift them just slightly and his eyes tracked their every movement.

Neither of them realized how close they had leaned into the other until Toph dropped her hands from his shoulders, “Hey, Aang?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I try something?”

He doesn’t even answer her, but instead leans forward to push his lips against hers.

#taang shit #aang #atla #avatar the last airbender #taang #katara #toph x aang #aang x toph #zuko #fluff #love you guys

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vulcan-highblood · 4 years

Text

(Blue) Spirited Away

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender Pairing(s): Gen Chapter: 3/? Words: 4k Summary: Prince Zuko wasn’t able to escape the Northern Water Tribe after the disastrous conclusion to the Siege of the North. However, Aang is more than happy to invite his old pal, the Blue Spirit, to join him and his friends on the first leg of their journey to the Earth Kingdom.

(An AU where Aang never learned the true identity of the Blue Spirit, Zuko is desperate, and Spirits enjoy interfering in the lives of mortals)

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

Read it on AO3

Chapter 3: Lost and Looking

Aang couldn’t believe it. The warriors really hadn’t been joking when they’d said that the Blue Mask Guy could disappear like a polar bear dog! He’d been right there, and Aang had turned around for a second, and he was gone! Just like when Blue Mask Guy had rescued him from that Fire Nation fortress, he remembered. The guy had been wobbling really bad after getting hit in the head (mask?) by an arrow, but he’d managed to stagger to his feet and Aang had dragged both of them to safety. He’d set the guy down on the ground, put his back to the guy for a second just to look in his robes to see if he still had frozen frogs (he did), and when he’d turned back around the guy was gone.

Part of Aang had started to wonder if he’d ever been there to begin with. And now he was at the North Pole! But why? “Hey!!” he shouted, “Mask guy?” He didn’t even know his name! “Masky?” Aang shouted, using the wind to carry his voice a little farther. “Blue Mask Guy?” Why was the guy’s mask so familiar, though? He recognized the guy, now, of course, the two swords and the way he moved so fast and quiet was hard to mistake. But the mask itself was familiar too… if only he had paid better attention during the spirit tales at the temples…

But no, he realized with a frown, that wasn’t where he’d seen that mask before. Where… oh! He remembered then, where he’d seen it. He’d gone to see a play with Bumi, they thought they’d bought tickets for a theatre troupe performing Clash of the Earth Masters, but when they’d arrived, it had turned out that they’d been given the time for Love Amongst the Dragons instead. Despite the goofy sounding title, Bumi and Aang had been pleased to discover there was a lot of intrigue, excitement, amazing stunts, battles, and really cool dragon costumes! The antagonist of the play, The Dark Water Spirit, had worn a blue and white mask almost identical to the one worn by the blue mask guy. In the play, the blue-masked spirit had been an antagonist, a trickster who had fooled the Dragon Emperor into binding himself to a mortal form. A spirit who fooled dragons rather than facing them head on… it made sense, then, that this guy had chosen a guise like that to break into a Fire Nation stronghold, since the Fire Nation was the home of the dragons. But why was he in the North Pole? There were no dragons here, were there? There certainly shouldn’t be, Aang couldn’t imagine that the cold dry weather would be very good for their scales. Kuzon’s dragon sure hadn’t liked the cold air up high, preferring to fly closer to the surface than Appa.

Of course, he’d figured out quickly that most people couldn’t fly as high as he and Appa could when he’d first taken Bumi for a ride. He hadn’t understood at the time why Monk Gyatso had cautioned him about flying too high, but then Bumi got sick. That was when he’d learned that airbenders naturally drew the air to their lungs when they went too high, but other benders - especially earthbenders - didn’t have that ability, and going too high could make them really sick. Of course, he’d apologized to Bumi after the incident, and Bumi had felt better soon, but it was a lesson he remembered, and meant that he’d kept a close eye on Sokka and Katara whenever they had to fly too high, and he tried to keep that time limited. Now that he thought about it, maybe that was why Kuzon’s dragon hadn’t gone as high, since Dragons were the original firebenders, much in the way that Air Bison were the original airbenders. But the sun was high up in the air, and it seemed to do just fine.

Waving the thought aside, Aang refocused. So the guy was wearing the mask of a water spirit antagonist to the Dragon Emperor. That probably meant something, right? Maybe he was fighting the Fire Lord, too! He had sure been helpful once before. It still didn’t answer why he had come to the North Pole, but then, they hadn’t been expecting the Ocean to fight back. Maybe he’d come to help fight the Fire Nation here, too?

Filling his lungs with air, Aang yelled once more, “WHERE DID YOU GO?” making a face at his own volume as he did so. It didn’t seem to make a difference, the whole area was silent and still now. Shoulders slumping into a sigh, Aang started to trudge off in a random direction. He still wasn’t exactly sure which way was back to Sokka and Katara, and he should probably climb another building to try and figure that out, but he didn’t really feel like it when he’d just failed twice. He’d hoped to bring the blue mask guy back to Chief Arnook, but instead he’d just brought up more questions. Why had he broken into the place where they were holding all the firebenders, but not take anyone? He didn’t understand what was happening. Maybe he should go back and ask Katara and Sokka if they had any ideas!

He winced at that. He hadn’t exactly told them that he’d been kidnapped while they’d been sick. It hadn’t really seemed important, and then they kept having more adventures after that, and it had slipped his mind. Now he was beginning to regret that, since he had the feeling that Sokka, at least, wouldn’t be happy about being left in the dark on the subject. Still, he didn’t really have a choice. He hadn’t been able to keep Mask Guy around, but maybe Sokka could figure out a way to convince him to stay.

Nodding to himself, Aang scrambled back atop the most sturdy-looking building and swept his eyes across the landscape, this time looking for familiar territory. He thought he recognized an area ahead and to the right, so he decided to head that direction.

~~*~~

How long did it take to tell someone you were leaving? Sokka wondered absently, frowning as his stomach rumbled slightly. He wasn’t hungry. Well okay, yes, he was hungry, he was always hungry, but he didn’t want to be hungry. He was tired, and sad, and now also worried about Aang. Where was he? It was, like, a five minute walk to the reception hall where Chief Arnook was probably coordinating the rebuilding efforts. How in La's name had it taken Aang so long that the sun was starting to sink below the horizon again? Admittedly, they were only a few months on from the North’s Winter Solstice, so the days were pretty short, but Sokka was fairly certain that Aang was supposed to be back by now.

“All right, that’s it,” he declared, standing and stretching his back out. “You coming, Katara?”

“Coming where?” Katara asked, glancing up from where she’d been going over their supplies and creating tight bundles to pack up their food and other sundries.

“To find Aang,” Sokka replied. “He’s been gone for hours, and we both know it doesn’t take that long to talk to someone.”

Katara’s eyes widened suddenly as she leapt to her feet. “Zuko!” she spat. “We never saw what happened to him after he left-”

Sokka felt the blood drain from his face at her words. He hadn’t even considered that, he’d sort of assumed that any firebenders left in the city were either in pretty strict confinement or dead. But this was the jerkbender they were talking about. If anyone would find a way to skulk out of this and kidnap Aang while he was at it, it would be Zuko. “Oh man,” he said nervously. “Yeah, we definitely need to go find him.”

Katara nodded firmly, her packing forgotten in light of this new information. “Come on,” she commanded, somehow managing to forget that this whole manhunt had been Sokka’s idea, and who had put her in charge?

Sighing, knowing by now when to pick his battles (and it certainly wasn’t when Aang was involved), Sokka followed her from the hut and down the street. He hadn’t really had a plan beyond ‘go find Aang,’ though, and it seemed that Katara hadn’t had a plan either, as she slowed to a stop in the middle of the road to glance at him. “Which way?” she asked, frowning as she spun to and fro, examining each side street like it might be hiding the airbender behind any corner.

Sokka considered the question. “Maybe we should just head for the ceremonial hall?” he suggested. “That’s where Aang said he was going, so if we’re going to find a clue, that’s a good place to start -”

“Hey guys! Where are you going? Did you finish packing?”

“WUH!” Sokka did not yelp, he simply… expressed his surprise. Loudly.

“Aang!” Katara exclaimed, whirling around to face their absentee airbending Avatar. “Where were you? We were just going to look for you!”

“Oh, right,” Aang at least had the decency to look somewhat sheepish at the accusation. “Well, I went to tell the Chief we were leaving, but when I got there, they were talking about this guy in a mask who broke into the firebender prison with his swords, which sounded cool, and they were looking for him, so I offered to help-”

There seemed to be no end to this sentence in sight, so Sokka sighed inwardly and steeled himself for the rest of the run-on, since there seemed no point in trying to interrupt Aang until he’d finished his explanation.

“Because I’m pretty good at finding things, but I didn’t want to bother you guys or Appa, so I just walked around the city for the while, and got a little lost, I think, but that was okay because I found him! He was wearing a blue and white spirit mask and he had two swords and I recognized him!”

Hold on, that was weird. “You recognized the guy with swords and a mask?” Sokka demanded incredulously, not sure how one pulled off something like that. It was a mask, how could you recognize someone whose face was covered?

Aang paused then to take a breath, and suddenly his posture shifted, his shoulders hunching slightly. “Oh yeah, I uh, I never told you guys about what happened when I went to get those frozen frogs,” he said.

Frozen frogs? It took Sokka a moment to realize what Aang was talking about. “The frozen frogs that you put in our mouths?” he demanded incredulously. “Like the frog that gave me this wart?” he added, sticking his tongue out and pointing.

“I keep telling you, Sokka, there’s no wart!” Katara groused, giving him an exasperated look. “We even had Healer Yugoda look at it and she said the same thing!”

“My tongue feels different! I know it’s the frozen frog that did it!” Sokka insisted, though since his tongue was still sticking out, it didn’t look as though Katara or Aang were really able to parse his words. With a sigh, he released the sides of his mouth and pulled his tongue back in. He got no sympathy from these people, none. Why did he even bother?

“So what happened when you got the frozen frogs?” Katara asked Aang.

“Weeeell, I… kinda got captured by the Fire Nation?” Aang said weakly.

“You WHAT?!” Katara shrieked. Sokka was very glad he wasn’t the one facing down that particular yell, his sister had a pair of lungs and she was not shy about using them. “Was it Zuko?” she demanded.

“No, no!” Aang frowned a little, then. “Worse, actually,” he said after a minute. “Even when Zuko manages to capture me, he usually just ties me up with rope and says he’s taking me home. Zhao is worse. He put me in chains and said that they would keep me alive, but just barely,” he shuddered a little, obviously still feeling anxious about what had been said to him.

Sokka tried to imagine keeping Aang tied down and barely alive, and had to suppress a shudder himself. He hated the Fire Nation, especially Zhao. Sokka felt the anger he’d been fighting back surge through him again at the name. Zhao, who had killed the moon spirit -as good as killed Yue. While Sokka found himself suddenly caught up in his anger, though, Katara was focused on the details.

“Wait, so Zhao kidnapped you? And you didn’t tell us?” Her hands were on her hips and she was giving Aang one of her patented looks.

“I was getting frozen frogs!” Aang protested, “Besides, I escaped!”

“How?” Katara demanded. “You just said you were in chains!”

“Yeah, but the guy in the blue mask showed up and cut the chains with his swords! It was awesome,” Aang mused. “I really thought he was going to cut me in half, at first. He’s really scary looking in the mask.”

“Okay, hold on, you lost me,” Sokka cut in. “Who is this guy in the mask?”

“I don’t know,” Aang said, “But he saved me from Zhao, and he fought firebenders with nothing but two swords and a bunch of cool moves.”

Sokka spared a moment to mentally mourn the fact that apparently this guy’s non-bender status was enough to warrant the designation “cool moves,” while Sokka was still relegated to something of an afterthought. Unfair, that’s what this was. Sokka had cool moves, too!

“But then when we were escaping, his mask got hit with an arrow so I had to drag him away,” Aang continued, “And when I looked up, he was suddenly gone! Poof! Like a spirit!”

Like a spirit. Tui and La, Sokka was so tired of these stupid Spirit Tales coming to life around him. First magic water, then the Avatar, getting kidnapped by angry bear spirits in a forest, the girl he liked turning into the moon, and now some masked guy vanishing into thin air? He was so over it. “Okay, so he walked off while you were distracted,” Sokka interrupted. “Not like it’s that hard.” He pointedly ignored the disgruntled look Katara shot in his direction. “What does this have to do with…” he frowned. “Wait. Are you telling me the same guy who busted you out of Zhao's Fire Nation Prison is here? Now?!”

“Yes!” Aang insisted. “I met him in the abandoned area where the catapult damage hasn’t been repaired yet - I think he was sleeping, actually,” Aang mused, breaking off mid-sentence as he considered the idea before shaking his head and returning to the topic. “And he was still wearing the mask and had the swords, but he was wearing furs that were more pale, instead of all-black like he did when he broke me out.”

So the guy knew how to disguise himself for different terrain. Sokka found himself feeling impressed despite his instinct to dislike the guy. Maybe he was cool, after all. Not as cool as Sokka, of course, but he’d leave his options open, he guessed. “So what did he do?” Sokka demanded.

“What did he say?” Katara added.

“Nothing!” Aang said. “I mean, he looked pretty tired, and once he saw it was me he put his swords away. But when I asked him what he was doing, he didn’t answer. Actually, I don’t think he can talk? But he like, waved his hands at me some, and when I looked around to figure out how to get back to you guys, he disappeared again! Like a spirit!” He leaned forward conspiratorially, “Actually, I think he’s wearing a water spirit’s mask,” he stage-whispered. “I recognized it from a play called Love Amongst the Dragons.”

Setting aside the fact that Aang apparently had terrible taste in theater, Sokka considered this statement. “What water spirit?” he finally asked.

“Uh, the Dark Water Spirit, I think?” Aang said.

“Huh. I don’t know that one,” Sokka commented. Not that he knew much about any lesser spirits, he was doing good to know of Tui and La. Or Yue and La, now, he guessed.

“Maybe we could ask Master Pakku!” Katara suggested.

“He’s probably busy…” Sokka began to protest, but Katara was having none of it.

“This is important!” She insisted. “If he’s wearing a water spirit mask, maybe he’s from the water tribes, and that’s why he’s here!”

Aang’s face seemed to say that he was about as convinced as Sokka, which was to say not at all, but he also wasn’t about to argue with Katara.

Sighing, Sokka decided he wasn’t in the mood to argue either. “Fine, fine,” he grumbled under his breath, “Let’s go talk to Master Pakku.”

~~*~~

The old man was getting ridiculous, Pakku reflected wearily. Honestly, it had been barely a day, and already The Grand Lotus was getting antsy, threatening to go out and find his nephew himself. His nephew! The Fire Lord’s Firstborn Son. The Avatar’s pursuer. And, if the stories of the Avatar’s group could be trusted, a singularly unpleasant individual. Why Iroh would be so set on bringing back that horrible child was quite beyond Pakku, it was good riddance as far as he was concerned.

But the old man was getting more anxious as the day dragged on, and Pakku hadn’t managed to find the boy among any of the Fire Nation prisoners… Nor, he’d noted with an equal measure of satisfaction and disappointment, had they found Admiral Zhao, the moon-killer. From what he’d heard, the boy was not an especially competent bender. He wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn the boy had failed to subdue Zhao, and had been lost in the night’s chaos. But the old man refused to believe it, insisting that his nephew was out there, somewhere, and outright refusing to leave until the nephew was found!

Didn’t he know what a risk Pakku was taking even housing one firebender? True, Iroh had clearly acted on their behalf last night, and even more importantly, in favor of the spirits and the balance of the world itself. Normally this would be enough to at least give him the benefit of the doubt, if he weren’t also the Dragon of the West, and that wasn’t exactly something he wanted to advertise. The longer they put off his departure, the more likely they were to be discovered. Pakku couldn’t risk that.

“Grand Lotus, I urge you to look at this from my perspective,” Pakku said, practically tossing a plate of sea-prunes onto the table as he sat, accepting a steaming cup of kelp tea and sipping it while glaring over the rim of the teacup at Iroh.

“And I urge you to look at it from mine,” Iroh replied, voice calm but resolute. “I cannot in good conscience leave until I am certain of Prince Zuko’s safety.”

“I’ve already given you my word,” Pakku insisted, his sour expression having nothing to do with the sea prune he popped into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, washing the pickled snack down with another sip of perfectly balanced kelp tea, trying not to feel insulted by the fact that Iroh was somehow better at brewing his own culture’s tea than he was himself. “I will ensure that Zuko is seen safely to the Earth Kingdom, just as I am ensuring you passage.” Although I personally disagree that he has earned this special treatment, considering his reasons for coming here are significantly different from your own, he thought irritably. “I’ve already sent word to our contact in Omashu to be watching for him, precisely for a situation such as this,” he added.

Iroh simply sipped his own kelp tea, his eyes watching Pakku without so much as a hit of malice, as he simply said, “I am afraid that is not acceptable to me. I must know.”

Pakku set his teacup down in order to pinch the bridge of his nose in what was likely a fruitless attempt to ward off an oncoming headache. “Grand Lotus-”

“Please, Master Pakku,” Iroh interrupted, his voice catching, “I must know. I can’t bear not knowing.”

Pakku had never married, never had children of his own, yet he’d felt his heart tug at the mere sight of Kanna’s necklace worn by Katara, had felt his heart and mind settle at hearing that she still lived. He could not in good conscience deny Iroh the same chance to find his answer, even if that answer turned out to be one different than the one he expected - no, needed - to hear.

Inclining his head slowly, Pakku sighed. “One more day, Iroh. Then we need to start considering… other possibilities.”

“I understand,” Iroh said, his shoulders set in a stubborn way that reminded Pakku unsettlingly of Katara when she had decided the world should be a certain way, and nothing could convince her otherwise. “I am sure you will find him soon.”

For Iroh’s sake, Pakku hoped that was the case.

#blue spirited away #blue spirit #gaang #master pakku #sokka

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janedrakey131 · 4 years

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zukka hp au part 5

I’m so flattered people like this au. I didn’t think I’d be posting again so soon, but I had some more ideas last night. If you’d like to catch up:

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 part 9 part 10 part 11 part 12 part 13

If you would like to join the tag list

My brief, very long, not at all fleshed out plan based roughly on what year Sokka is in and other associated events:

First year

Sokka’s first year is boring

He meets Zuko, makes some friends in his house, probably a bunch of OCs

He finds the kitchens on day 2

Hogwarts just hires people who like to cook, who cares whether they’re magical beings or humans or whatever, there’s all sorts of really cool kitchen magic though

He’s always asking questions in class and you can tell why he’s a Ravenclaw

He wants to learn about everything

And once he knows how to do more than shoot a few sparks, he’s going to start inventing

He’s going to do some truly awesome things with transfiguration and potions

And I can’t wait for him to start arithmancy

Like let me tell you, Sokka is a genius, and he’s probably going to be the only one who understands magical theory

This just ended up being a rant about Sokka, so moving on

Second year

The fun starts

Katara and Aang are finally here

Sokka doesn’t know Aang is the avatar

I’m very tempted to have both Katara and Aang be in Hufflepuff

And they run into Sokka in the kitchens

He does a double take, like who is this boy with my sister??

But Aang’s a sweet kid

So Sokka is immediately like we’re bros now, I don’t make the rules

Iroh starts working at Hogwarts (sorry, I changed my mind from herbology) as the potions professor

He comes in on the train with Zuko who just got banished (I actually...might change the specifics)

Sokka doesn’t know what to make of that

Azula is also skulking around annoying Zuzu

But I think she secretly cares a bit and threatens anyone that looks at his scar wrong, because Zuko helped her a lot with some stuff

I think she’s going to be in the same year as Katara and Aang? I’m not sure

I have plans for Azula

I think Mai and Ty Lee are going to be in Zuko’s year, but closer to Azula

Mai and Zuko will date at some point

I think Mai will end up with Ty Lee

But she and Zuko had a short relationship

I think it was more expected of them by their families that they date

But they’re good friends now

I’m not doing this betraying and cheating and hurting other characters to find out who you are thing

Everyone is having wholesome relationships that just don’t work out

(Sidenote, I’m changing things, and characters might end up a bit OOC for atla, and I’m really sorry, but this is just wish fulfillment for me)

Anyway, there’s a plot to find the avatar

The mini gaang (toph isn’t here yet) learn the prophecy (still working on it)

Third year

They find out about Sokka and Katara’s mom

I don’t think Hakoda really knows what happened either. I don’t think he was in the country at the time

I also have some ideas for the water tribe/fire nation beef, but I just made the realization that if I spell everything out in these posts, what’s the point of writing for Ao3 XD

But spoilers, it’s going to be pretty angsty

But I like happy endings, so I may find a way to fix it

Ish

I have this whole idea that if Suki or the Kyoshi are also werewolves, they have really cool rituals to respect and honor the moon spirit and that allows them the ability to turn into wolves whenever they want and not just the full moon

So other people can also be born as werewolves, but different groups have different ways of being a werewolf

Also, I believe I said Zuko starts following Suki around thinking she’s the avatar

And then Sokka decides to fake being the avatar (I completely forgot when I said this would happen, so I’m assuming it’s this year or the next)

This is about when Sokka’s letters to Hakoda start going on about Zuko’s everything even more

Fourth year

Zuko (Zuko’s fifth year) witnesses something unspeakable

Sokka is kidnapped

Zuko saves Sokka

That’s all the detail I have on this XD

But the unspeakable thing and the kidnapping are going to be this year’s mystery

Zuko, the idiot, still thinks Sokka is the avatar at this point

Aang is like no

But doesn’t bother to say he is

So Zuko thinks Katara is the avatar for a hot sec

But has some nonsense logic that there’s no need to stop following Sokka, because if he or his sister are the avatar, of the two, Sokka’s more likely to give something away

Which okay, Zuko, not actually terrible reasoning, except Sokka’s been leading you around by the nose for ages

There’s none of this the avatar rotates which element they can use

Because that’s predictable

And half the fun is that Zuko is trying his best, but has zero clues

Fifth year

This is the big question

I’m not sure what to do with this year

I hope Sokka can start inventing

I want him to make some cool shit

There won’t be an equivalent of the DA as far as I can see :( I can’t figure out how I’d structure that

I think it would be really cool to see them all learning how to use their elemental magic though

Toph and Zuko don’t really need the help

Katara and Aang have always had to deal with all the crap going on, so they haven’t had much time for it

I’m wondering if I should bring in Paku

Aang has it rough, because air magic users are really rare now

So I think he might work with Iroh, because he’s studied other styles of magic extensively

Sixth year

I think Mai had to figure out she was bi

I truly think Zuko doesn’t have time for gender

For like five years, he’s like DO YOU KNOW WHO THE AVATAR IS and if you don’t, he’s already forgotten who you are

So my headcanon is that he’s pan and when he and Sokka eventually get together, Sokka doesn’t know anything about his orientation and just knows he dated Mai, so he’s like “are you cool with me being a dude? Sorry, I just know you’ve dated Mai, so just checking haha?”

And Zuko’s so done with all the random crap he’s dealt with that he’s like “wow, you have a dick? Congratulations”

But then realizes Sokka’s actually concerned and talks it out

Anyway, everyone’s leveled up now, we’re all masters at elemental and non-elemental magic (seriously, Sokka could’ve sat for his NEWTs last year if he wanted to. He’s that far ahead and magic is that intuitive for him)

I have no idea what will happen this year lol

I kind of want an invasion of Hogwarts, I know I’ve been trying not to just blindly follow the books completely :/ So I guess we’ll see?

I’ll have to work on that

I’m such a sucker for the villain waits until the end of the school year to attack

Because it’s so dumb

Like I will find the avatar! *shakes fist* But education is important, kids

Like okay, Sozin

Maybe I can have Roku finally escape that mirror

I kind of want the past avatars to be spirits that anyone can interact with

But most people don’t know how

So the Kyoshi can interact with Avatar Kyoshi as well as other relevant spirits

Seventh year

????

The plot?? Who knows yet

I do know that Zuko’s graduated

And they’re all crying and like wtf do we do now

Because Sozin’s still around and they’ll miss him

And finally Zuko leaves

And he shows up as the assistant DADA professor and he’s like “Hi, Zuko here” and then he’s like “I mean, fuck, Professor Zuko, I mean, fuck...just call me Zuko. You guys all know me”

And the gaang is all like wtf Zuko, we thought we would only see you for breaks

And he’s like you really thought I’d leave you

The plan is that he’ll be an apprentice for a year or so and then take over as professor

Toph punches him so hard, Katara has to heal the bruise

I can guarantee a happy ending

I’ll do whatever angst on the way, but they’ll all be happy

I’m like 89% sure they’re all going to end up working at or around Hogwarts (why work for the government, when you can invest in teaching all these talented kids)

One more thing, there is going to be rep in this au. I know there’s at least one aro ace character. Multiple bi characters. One gay character. One pan character. One trans character that I know of, but I need to plan that out a bit more. Some of these orientations and identities, I can’t speak to personally. For instance, while I know a decent amount about the medical aspects of transitioning, I don’t think I’d be able to write the experience of gender dysphoria and give that its due right now. So unless it’s something I have first hand experience with, most of the individual emotions as part of figuring things out might happen off screen. That doesn’t mean I won’t bring up issues the characters may have had in the past, but any that I talk about, I’d have to do more research into first. Also, partly because this is mostly from Sokka and Zuko’s perspectives, we’re mostly going to be present for what other characters tell them about their experiences

I hope you continue to enjoy this au! Sorry, this got so insanely long. The next couple weeks are going to be a bit crazy for me, so I thought I’d write this up while I had the chance. I’ll be back soon though! If anyone has any suggestions or questions, please let me know :)

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 part 9 part 10 part 11 part 12 part 13

If you would like to join the tag list

#zukka #hp au #part 5 #atla au #atla #zuko #aang #sokka #toph #katara #azula #sorry this is so long #next ones will be shorter #maybe #lgbt rep #next up is magical theory #i hope i can make this a fic

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saang · 4 years

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taang week 2020 // @taangweek

day three: the spirit world

word count: 2112

“I don’t know,” Sokka said. “Why are you asking me?”

“She was your girlfriend, wasn’t she?” Katara responded.

“Yeah, for like five minutes,” Sokka shrugged. “Before she turned into the moon.”

“Guys, topic, please?” Aang brought them back to the problem. “The moon and ocean are out of sync, we need to fix this.”

“How do you suppose we do that?” Toph asked. “It's not like we can ask Yue.”

“No,” Aang sighed. “But I do know someone we can ask.”

“You seem very hesitant,” Zuko noticed. “Are you sure?”

“It’s not my favourite option, but it seems like it’s my only one.”

“Can you clue us in?” Suki asked. “Because I’m kind of a little lost right now.”

“I’m going to go to the spirit world and ask Koh.” Toph flinched at Aang’s words. The name sounded weirdly familiar, in a way Toph did not like.

“Isn’t that who you asked about the moon and ocean spirit the first time?” Katara asked.

“And while you were in the spirit world, Zuko kidnapped you?” Sokka asked.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.” Zuko awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Aang waved it off. “It’s all in the past, we all make mistakes.”

“You're so optimistic,” Toph shook her head. “Almost too optimistic.”

“I am taking that as a compliment.” Aang smiled. “Okay, it is very important that none of you come with me.”

“Why not?” Toph asked, only a bit concerned.

“The spirit world is dangerous,” Aang informed them. “You can’t bend in the spirit world.”

“I can’t bend in the normal world,” Sokka said.

“Koh is dangerous, I don’t want you guys to have to go through what I had to go through.”

“What did you go through?” Suki asked, very concerned. “Should I be getting out my sword?”

“No, it’s fine,” Aang said. “But just don’t follow me. That is what I’m saying.”

Everyone reluctantly agreed to not follow Aang into the spirit world. He sat down on the floor and started meditating.

“What if I followed him?” Toph wondered out loud.

“The only advice he left us was to not follow him,” Zuko said, “And you want to?”

“I don’t know,” Toph shrugged. “I just think it might be fun.”

“You wouldn’t be able to bend,” Sokka said.

“And because of that you wouldn’t be able to use your seismic sense,” Katara added.

“Which means you’ll actually be blind,” Suki out her hands on her hips.

“I’ve always been ‘actually blind’.” Toph reminded them. “And I didn’t have my seismic sense when I ran away the first few times, and I got by then, what would be different now?”

“Aang said it was dangerous,” Zuko started but was cut off by Toph.

“Twinkletoes thinks everything is dangerous.” Toph rolled her eyes. “If my boyfriend is going to be in danger, shouldn’t I at least be there to help him if he needs it?”

“I think Aang knows what he’s doing,” Katara said. “And I think we should respect his wishes of going alone.”

“He is the only one who’s faced Koh before,” Sokka pointed out. “He knows more than we do about this.”

That name again. ‘Koh’. Toph knew she knew that name. She had heard it before. Somehow, somewhere, for some reason. She just didn’t know why or when or how. She felt a tingling in her cheeks at the mention of the name. She felt chills run down her spine. Toph knew that this ‘Koh’, whoever he was, was dangerous. If Aang were to go up against him, Toph would be by his side.

“I’m going,” Toph said it with such finality that everyone was taken aback enough to almost let her do it without question. Almost.

“Toph,” Katara warned.

“I have a bad feeling about it. Aang shouldn’t be going alone.”

“Then maybe we should let someone who can see.” Sokka regretted the words as he said them.

“You think just because I’m blind I won’t be able to help?”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then how did you mean it?” Toph sat down next to Aang. She scoffed when Sokka didn’t respond.

Toph closed her eyes, she drowned out the sounds around her. Katara asking her not to go, Sokka apologizing, Suki telling her to stay safe in the spirit world, Zuko telling her she better come back alive and well. She focused on what had become her lifeline, the one thing she could always count on; Aang’s heartbeat. It was slower, calmer than normal, as it usually was when he was meditating.

She took a breath in, exhaled, and repeated the process. Focusing on Aang and the spirit world. She could feel the ground give way to grass. It tickled her shins. She could tell she was in the spirit world when she couldn’t feel her friends around her.

It was weird, not knowing her surroundings. For so long she had been able to tell what was going on around her. She could feel ants ten feet away, earth in purified metal. All of that was gone, she was in completely uncharted territory. She slowly got up. She could hear birds chirping in the distance, at least they sounded like birds. Toph didn’t really know if birds existed in the spirit world.

She was alone, and for the first time in a very long while, she was scared. She walked aimlessly, toward what she hoped was the edge of the field. As she walked, a voice got clearer and clearer.

“I am very sorry, sir,” Toph recognized the voice immediately, “Ma’am?”

“Aang!”

“Toph?” Aang’s head turned around at her voice. “I thought I told you not to come.”

“You know I never listen to instructions,” Toph walked closer to Aang, attaching herself to his arm. “What’s this guy’s deal?”

“You two are trespassing on my territory.”

“Yeah, and does it look like I care,” Toph said.

“Leave or I will make you leave,” the spirit said angrily. Aang attempted to calm the situation, but Toph seemed deadest on escalating it.

“Oh? How are you gonna do that?” Toph antagonized. When the spirit didn’t respond, Toph took it as an invitation to keep talking. “How about you leave?”

“This is my territory!”

“Not anymore,” Toph said simply. “Now scram.”

The spirit was so shocked by Toph’s bluntness, it actually left. Aang turned to Toph. Seeing as they were alone with no spirits trying to attack them, Aang figured it was the only time he could really talk with Toph.

“Toph this place is dangerous,” he told her. “Koh is dangerous.”

“You think just because I’m blind means I can’t be of help? That I can’t protect myself?”

“No, of course not!” Aang said. “I know that in any situation you could take care of yourself.”

“So why is it so bad that I’m here?”

“Because Koh is different, Toph.”

“Will you stop saying that name?” Toph asked. “It gives me a bad feeling just listening to it.”

Aang didn’t respond, Toph could feel the hairs stand up on his arms. “Aang? Is something wrong?”

“Toph,” Aang said it blankly, with no emotion. “I need you to do me a favour.”

“What’s the favour?”

“I need you to not move, or speak or do anything, especially not show emotion.” Aang tightened his grip on Toph’s hand. “I know it sounds like a really weird request but, please do it. For me.”

Aang had never acted so stoic or protective before. Toph knew something had to be wrong. Very wrong. She could hear rustling behind her.

“Trying to protect her? How sweet,” The voice was eerily familiar, it gave Toph the same chill down her spine as that horrible name. She assumed the person speaking and ‘Koh’ were one and the same. Her suspicions were confirmed when Aang started speaking.

“Koh,” Aang said.

“Avatar Aang,” Koh smiled. “Who’s your lovely little friend? She’s got a lovely face. It would make a beautiful addition to my collection.”

“This isn’t about her,” Aang interlocked his and Toph’s fingers. “Leave her out of it.”

“Oh, but she’s just enticing.”

“I’ll make you a deal,” Aang offered.

“A deal, you say?”

“You let Toph go, you can add my face your collection.”

“That is quite tempting, I must say.” Koh crawled his way behind them. “An Avatar’s face in my collection.”

Toph’s breath was heavy in her lungs. The air around felt unbreathable. She hadn’t moved since Koh showed up. She knew Aang had a reason to do all of this, she knew she was actually in danger. Aang would never ask something like that of her without reason. She assumed the only thing keeping her alive was Aang’s hand in hers,.

“Alright, I’ll let her go,” Koh said. Aang let go of Toph’s hand. He nudged her to leave.

“It’s okay, go,” Aang assured her. Toph blinked, scared of what would happen to Aang when she did leave. Hesitantly, she put one foot in front of the other. It hurt to just walk away. To leave Aang in the presence of that thing.

“One more thing,” Aang said.

“You’re making a lot of requests, but I suppose since you’re giving up your face I’ll allow you one more thing.”

“The moon and the ocean aren’t in sync,” Aang explained. “It’s wreaking havoc with the water benders. I just want to know why.”

“Well, it would seem that they are out of balance with each other.” Koh curled around Aang. “Taking more than they give back. It’s upsetting the balance, fix the balance, fix the havoc.”

Koh laughed, “not that you’ll ever be able to tell your friend that. Now about that face, why don’t you show me a smile?”

“Never in your wildest dreams.”

“Oh, but we had a deal. Your face for the girl,” Koh said. “You’re not going back on your promise, are you?”

“If you thought for a second I would actually give you my face, you obviously weren’t thinking straight,” Aang’s voice was still as stoic as ever.

“Need I remind you, you cannot bend here?”

“Need I remind you that I don’t care?” Aang started walking away from Koh. “That will be all for today, Koh. Thanks for your help.”

“We had a deal, Avatar.”

“You cannot hold anything over me as long as I do not show emotion,” Aang reminded him. “I believe the cards are in my hand this time. Goodbye Koh.”

“You might leave here today, Avatar Aang.” Koh needed. “But next time, you won’t be so lucky.”

Aang opened his eyes to Toph’s face right in front of him. He was a bit startled, but he was glad to see she still had it.

“Okay, tell me what happened back there,” Toph demanded. “I think I deserve to know that much.”

“That was Koh.”

“Oh, really?” Toph said in mock surprise. “I gathered that much, thanks.”

“Koh is also known as the face stealer,” Aang started explaining. “He preys on people’s emotions. If you don’t show any emotion, you’re safe.”

“That’s why you didn’t want me to move or speak,” Toph realized. “Koh could have stolen my face.”

“Exactly, and I’d much rather you have your face.”

“You said you were going to give Koh your face. How did you escape?” Toph asked.

“Well, I’ve faced Koh a few times before. I know how to handle him,” Aang shrugged. “If I don’t show emotion, he can’t do anything to me.”

“So you just escaped him? Just like that? By not showing emotion?”

“I mean, I’m here arent I?”

“That seems too easy.”

“If I’m being honest, I really didn’t think it would work,” Aang laughed. “I was just hoping it would, the whole time.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay, I guess,” Toph said. “I like you with your face.”

“You can’t even see it.”

“No, but I can feel it,” Toph ran her fingers along the bridge of Aang’s nose. “And from what I’ve felt, I like it.”

“I’m glad,” Aang smiled. He reached towards her, cupping her cheeks in his hands. He kissed her, revelling in the fact that she was okay. Her lips, her nose, her pale green eyes, they were all still there.

“Did you at least get any information about La and Tui?” Toph asked when they separated.

“Surprisingly, yeah.” Aang stood up and pulled Toph up with him. “How about we go tell everyone else the information risked my life for?”

“Sounds good to me.” Toph laced their fingers together. She could feel his heartbeat with her seismic sense, it was steady and comforting. Most importantly, it was still there.

#taang week 2020 #taang week #taang #atla #avatar: the last airbender #toph beifong #toph #aang #toph x aang #taang week day three

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