#always worried about baby boy aang

[ssreeder]

sreedie. it is time.

NO SOKKA baby people want to be your friend you just DONT LET THEM

pls sokka thinking he can gaslight himself out of being in pain is so in character but so. goddamn Frustrating

sokka is giving anna from frozen with his whole “my firebender’s awake so IM awake” deal

listen I get why sokka is like oh I should cut back on the swearing if I wanna Grow as a person but like,,, as an australian the concept of swearing being Bad is just so foreign to me lmao

I think it’s a really interesting component of the zukka relationship (highlighted by your traumatic drowning scene thx sreedie) that sokka’s instinct is to try to hide in/behind zuko??? like he’s obviously very protective of zuko too, but I think that in a way, even when sokka is on the offensive and is the person defensive zuko from the outside world he’s still using zuko as like, idfk a shield?? of sorts??? to deflect away his fear for himself and all that jazz… does that make any sense whatsoever????? idfk lads

STOP ik it’s a super serious moment but all I could think about when sokka was like “he had to do it for zuko” wAS THE FUCKING let me do it for you tiktok sound T-T

not aang talking like an actual certified therapist at 12 years of age omfg- wish I was that emotionally well adjusted fr

damn sokka really said #codependecy

FUCK PLEASE TELL SOKKA ABOUT YHE FUCKINF VEINS PLEASE SREEDIE IM STRESSED AS ALL HELL

F U C K

Y E S

finally ohmygod

katara: I can feel the toxins in zuko’s blood

iroh externally: oh?

iroh internally: whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck

LMFAO zuko calling sokkatara momo while his body is actively trying to kill itself as a JOKE is the most zuko thing ever. the most comedic thing about this boy is his absolutely Disastrous timing (by which I mean it’s impeccable)

PRISON PALS I still love that moniker <3

noooo not zuko worrying about shen when we know damn well shen got kebabed >:(

can katara please tell sokka that zuko wants him by his side. like girl. please.

okay I really do Not want this to happen, nor do I think it actually Will happen bc uhm duh, but it would be like,, so ironic of zuko did just die. like they went through all that and for what LMAO (it’s not funny it’s Not Funny why am I giggling to myself)

FINALLY A MENTION IF THE MIRACULOUS TEETH KEEPING OF ZUKKA NATION

lmao sokka is worrying himself into a early grave bc he cares so much about zuko but he’s also 100% ready to immediately assume that zuko let him down by outing sokka as a liar (I mean he’s right, but still. harsh)

woah woah woah sokka calm your tits man, rasu might be sex on legs but your sister is only 14 and that’s just gross

SEE rasu my reasonable child <3 (he’s also so snarky I actually love him so. much.)

insane how fast sokka switches from “rasu >:(“ to “rasu :D” when he learns that rasu knows zuko lol

YOU CANT TAKE THE NERD OUT OF SOKKA BABYYY (same.)

“sipping the sauce” LMAO

uh yeah rasu I think jee has every right to be worried ngl

sokka is just out here exposing himself bc he’s JEALOUS I cannot anymore with this boy

“prince zuko is a character without trying to be one” yKW I JUST REALISED?? ZUKO HAS MAJOR MR BEAN ENERGY just more homocidal and uh,, traumatised

god thinking about jet’s amputation has me squeamish as FUCK

sokka rearranging his book stack so the sex book is in the middle is so relatable agsjekfpf it’s giving the same energy as getting a massage and hiding your underwear between the rest of your clothes after you get changed into the robe thing

not sokka being endeared by zuko’s love for the art of thievery <3 mood

SHIT FUCK QUON

DICKHEAD

OMG WAIT IS HE GONNA RECOGNISE SOKKA AS RHE BITXH THAT ZUKO KISSED PRIOR TO KIDNAPPING

damn. after all that and sokka just exposed himself. cant even blame it on zuko this time buddy.

you can always count on little sisters to put you back in your place (as the little sister can confirm)

woag.

not the angst train going past us like choo choo motherfuckers.

I am not going to bag katara in any way, shape, or form for pretending to be sokka to get information out of zuko bc I would’ve so done the same thing with like,, zero hesitation. maybe I’m just a lying liar who lies though so idk

anyways: screaming, crying, destroying your living room and smashing all your lightbulbs.

I’m so mad that there’s no zukka reunion BUT !! you did give us a library which I was SUPER not expecting but enthralled by nonetheless so ig I’ll have to forgive you

ANYWAYS hope life has retired from kicking you around bc that’s my job and I’m the only one allowed to make you suffer >:(

also I just reread my last comment and realised I already said I’d smash all your lightbulbs so ig this is just a trend now. have fun living in medieval times forever ex-lover <3

Oh shit that’s so true, Sokka is very Anna and Zuko is very Elsa haha. (Odd how that happened lol)

Soooo I do think Sokka depends on Zuko WAY too much, emotionally physically mentally - but if that’s all he has to keep him waking up in the morning who am I to stop him. (But building up his own physical strength, dealing with his own issues instead of just focusing on zukos trauma, and allowing other people in his life to get close to him and then help him would be GREAT ;))

Sokkatara is now canon I’m obsessed with the nickname leekie beloved your brain is too big.

Rasu was like “oh no this kids crazy” & then Sokka said “tell me about Zuko” and rasu twirls his hair and giggles “SURE” & that’s how friends are formed. Take notes.

Katara & Sokka just need to get into one big “getting along shirt” and call it a day… but I kind of think Sokka would try to claw his way out… so yeah we don’t do that.

Lies are being exposed and Sokka has ZERO ground to keep standing on so he better accept the help or he is really going to drown. Ha.

LEEKI STOP SMASHING MY LIGHTBULBS I GOT TWO FLASHLIGHTS AND I CANT DEAL WITH IT ANYMORE.

Alright ex love I will see you soon!! :) <3

#but not actually #I won’t be SEEING YOU #but I’ll be arounndddddd #I was going to post the next chapter this weekend #then it was Eid #& my beautiful beta was raging #like a badass #& in the meantime I rewrote like #… two POVs #so yeah I kind of went backwards haha #probably next weekend #unless soemthing incredible happens #which I’ll keep ya posted <3 #LOVE YOU LEEKIE!!! #leekie tag #liab #ITF #ask

[ourimpavidheroine]

following the last ask... how did Bolin and Opal break to the rest of the family the Pearl and Emerald situation. They suddenly had an infant to take care of and no means to were Pearl was escaping to. None of the other family members knew she was pregnant. How did the family react, did someone go out looking for her while Bo and Opal took care of Emerald since she was underweight at the time? I mean, the parents must have been worried, since she was fighting that infection and with what the midwife said about her emotional state. Did pearl eventually contact them to tell that she was safe or did she contact Su YIn or someone else she was close to, to deliver the message to her parents. I hope Pearl one time, when she is older and her relationship with Emerald is better; that she apologise and thank her parents for raising Emerald. Will Pearl ever tell her parents what happened before Emerald was conceived and her traumatic birth and the lack of care she got from the midwife? Even though Opal and Pearl have their "stuff" between them- I feel like Opal would be pissed that someone treated her daughter like that. Also, how is Pearl and Norbu's relationship- does she tell her parents how it was growing up being constantly pushed to the side for her sick brother. Sorry for rambling! Thank you so much! Bolin is my fave character and I just can't help myself. Take care and happy easter!!

You don't have to be sorry for rambling! Having people passionate enough about my fic to ask follow up questions is a huge compliment, believe me. :)

I don't think Bolin and Opal had to worry about telling the rest of the family; Opal called Sitiak to ask about a midwife and then Wu to ask for help with the baby things. If she called Wu you can be SURE he immediately contacted Nuo, who would have run to Su. I mean, the news probably took a bit to get up to the Northern Air Temple but the rest of them are in Republic City and Zaofu and they would have known by the end of the day Pearl showed up.

I've never written it, but Mako keeps in pretty close contact with Pearl over the years. He helps her out, serves as a contact person for her, gives her money. The same with Su, and with Bu as well. I have written that Sayuri actually has a good relationship with Pearl when they are adults and they are in contact quite a lot. I also imagine Korra would keep an eye out for her best friend's daughter. People look out for Pearl. And she does sometimes show up to family gatherings and such - she's there when Ikki gets married, for example, and she drops everything to help Sayuri when San and Zhi's camp gets invaded. She's always welcome, even if the family knows not to expect her.

I do think Pearl goes underground for awhile there after she leaves Emerald, but Mako finds her. That's what Mako does, after all. I would expect he would tell her parents that she was safe and healthy and that he would spend some time with her, make sure she was okay.

Well, since Pearl did tell both San and Emerald how things were for her when Emerald was born as well as when Bu was small I think it would get back to her parents. Would she tell them herself? I don't know! I've never gotten that far in the story. Same goes with Bu.

I do think she would eventually acknowledge to her parents as well as her daughter her thanks for all of it. Pearl isn't a heartless person, not at all. She would have done very well as an Airbender in the time when Aang was a boy. She just doesn't really fit in with what's expected of her as an Airbender in Korra's time, that's all.

One of the things I really loved about TLOK is how we see Tenzin, as an airbender, struggling with being a "real" airbender while married with a wife and children, living permanently on Air Temple Island. A lot of fans came down on Aang for traveling around and leaving Katara alone there but a)he's the Avatar and it comes with the job and b)Aang doesn't even know who his birth parents were, he was raised communally and canonically was traveling around quite a great deal on Appa before he turned 12, even. Katara's southern waterbending tradition of a nuclear family is not his culture. Tenzin, in many ways, really takes after Katara, and family - as in his own family - is clearly so important to him. That not how airbenders had always lived.

Opal was raised in a very close-knit and wealthy, sheltered Earth Kingdom/earthbending family. She comes at airbending with the background and knowledge of that noble earthbending family, not an Air Nomad. Not a bad thing! Just how she is. Pearl isn't like that, and doesn't do well with those kind of restrictions that really go against her airbending nature. Pearl just is who she is.

[cabbageslost]

Live Reacting Live Action AtLA - ep 1

Okay, fair warning to y'all, I'm not going to be worrying about keeping this a spoiler-free zone, so scroll on by if you're needing to keep it unsullied for you.

..

That said, I actually kept myself awake to watch the first episode on Netflix when it drops. Watching now, and planning on writing down my (admittedly sleep-deprived) thoughts as it goes on. I'm heading into this pretending it's like a (high budget lol) "fanfic" with good special effects, so that I can allow myself to more easily move past any alterations. Let's goooo..

..

Loving the intense music of the very first scene and... omg are those pigeon-rats? LOL

Okay, this earth-bending is already better than in the little teaser-clip where Zuko/Iroh fight the guards.

Oof, Sozin. Much wicked. Already hate him. Aang. So precious. Already love him.

The Air Temple. Oh my word, I love this. It's so alive. <3 I'm gonna have to take a moment before the "and then the fire nation attacked" bit.

Gyatso telling Aang "always remember who you are." Wonder if Zuko's mom will tell him the same later on like in the animated series.

Awww, we love an Appa-the-goodest-good-boy moment.

Wait, so they just like fire jet up there? To the temple that can only be reached by a flying mount? Lame. I was expecting maybe dragons (since the animated Aang didn't seem to think they were that uncommon), or some climb-y machine. Not a fan of the "firebending = jet propulsion for all" idea. Maybe it's just a comet thing.

Hold up, did he crispy up Gyatso? Gyatso who in the animated series was fairly un-singed and literally surrounded by fire soldiers? I'm not sure I like that either. (And my brain is blocking the obvious fact of all the tiny airbenders in the corner bc *sob*.. though that was a thing that was true from the first one too.)

Awww, baby waterbending! What was she in? Oooh, "whole village" is a bit bigger, and has a name too. I dig it.

Hmmm, no waterbending his iceberg up. Slight disappoint there. Maybe later? Wait, ask and ye shall receive. And the first Zuko scene.

"I hate this, bringing him back is unsafe and dumb." *tosses a fur on top to keep him warm* Very Sokka-ish.

You guys, you guys! We get to hear Katara's Gran Gran telling us the stories of when the fire nation attacked. If someone besides Katara had to deliver those lines, she'd be the next pick. I'm down.

"We're only friends with our own kind." Ah, a nice setup for what will be the stark contrast of the eventual Team Avatar having friends from all 4 nations. <3

Hmm, Iroh doesn't have Zuko drilling basic forms anymore. Instead he has "never been sharper." Clear that this version is leaning towards all things fire being strong. I wonder what it'll mean for his duel with Zhao though.. it was a nice reminder in the original to see how important the basics are vs flashy stuff.

Small moment of sadness for no penguin sledding moment. Ah well. Let's see the new Zuko/Sokka showdown. ;)

Larger moment of sadness for no absolute sass of "I bet I could take you with my hands tied behind my back" moment.

Okay, but Katara gets a bigger moment, so it helps a bit.

Southern Air Temple was quite rushed feeling. Maybe there's more in the next episode? And I hope they do also touch on Aang being excited to learn waterbending alongside Katara. That was important in the first one, I felt like.

..

Overall, I think I'll enjoy this live-action. It's not going to replace the animation for sure, but I'm intrigued at least.

#atla

[firelxdykatara]

Let me start by saying I've never watched Legend of Korra. like, the most I've watched was any bending scenes/fights and all the Zuko and Toph clips (admittedly, I didn't watch any of the Katara clips because..well..honestly I didn't want to see her be so meek). But I've always felt kinda...bad for liking Mako since the few posts I did read made it seem like both Korra and Asami were better off without him and I didn't want to accidentally fall into the category of sympathising with a man who didn't treat women right. Even when I watched what few clips he was in -Mako seemed a little serious but not anything bad- I thought it was just because I didn't see enough of him to see why he was so bad for Korra and Asami.

And then I read your post on Mako and how he had to do anything and everything to take care of Bolin and my heart kinda broke. I don't know if this is right, but it kinda feels like Mako is being treated a bit like Katara's being treated. Like, they both fit the sibling-turned-parental-figure roles and some of the fandom seems like they can't accept that both are still teenagers who...well, still act like teenagers. seriously, I'm gonna be mad if I ever see another 'take' about how Katara is bad for acting more teenager than mother 😤. And the parallels between the non-con kisses that their respective Avatars gave them, with both Mako and Katara shouldering the blame (though in Katara's case it's more of a "she's supposed to like it! She's the Avatar's girl uwu") . It just rubs me the wrong way how neither of them get any slack for acting less than amazing when they both spent years carrying their trauma and shielding their siblings from that same hurt.

Sorry if this is bothering you or if it doesn't make sense; I'm just kinda fed up of seeing people side with the Avatar no matter what the situation was, especially when Korra and Aang were actually in the wrong *coughnon-conkisscough*

You're not bothering me at all, don't worry!

Honestly all of this makes a ton of sense, someone who's never seen the show and only has fandom's word to go on could be excused for thinking Mako's a fuckboy who was intentionally leading the girls on rather than a kid who'd been raising his baby brother alone on the streets since he was eight years old and maybe not the best at navigating personal relationships and didn't know how to deal with the fact that he had feelings for two incredible girls at the same time. That shit's hard to deal with even when you have parents and had a happy and comfortable life and are just in high school trying to get through the day, but you throw that in the mix with 'became a parent at eight years old' and 'struggled to get enough to feed his brother, nevermind himself, while they lived on the streets' and then everything that happened during the series, and it's like, cut this kid some slack maybe????

Also the comparisons with the way the fandom treats Katara are also spot on. Obviously in Katara's case there's also an added element of racialized misogyny, because she's a dark-skinned girl and the only dark-skinned girl in the main cast, so that gets added to the fact that she was also the gaang's 'mom friend' and you get fans unironically calling her a 'bitch' for -checks notes- getting reasonably upset after being pushed to her limit and losing her cool--but in Mako's case, he actually fills the same niche in the krew that Katara did in the gaang, and he gets a lot of the same treatment, which I think winds up coming at him from the opposite side of the fence so to speak. Because he's a boy, he automatically gets the blame for anything that goes wrong with the love triangle--up to and including the avatar violating his boundaries and kissing him without his consent--because Korra and especially Asami are precious girls and could do no wrong.

And the thing is that it gets kinda complicated because Korra did also get a lot of racialized misogyny flung at her by the racist&misogynistic dudebros of the fanbase who hated that a brown girl was now the avatar, but that wound up overshadowing the very real and reasonable criticisms that can be made of her character and her behavior. Especially in Book 2, where she gets angry enough at Mako for -checks notes- doing his job and not wanting to jump to conclusions that she TRASHES HIS OFFICE!!!!! IN A FIT OF RAGE!!!!!! (which of course Mako gets blamed for and a lot of fans will frame that as Korra getting 'reasonably upset' which lol no)--and the fact that this occurs in the same season as Bolin getting trapped in an explicitly toxic and abusive relationship with a Water Tribe girl (who happens to be Korra's cousin) that is played for laughs the entire fucking time makes me think that Bryke just have very troubling ideas about how it's ok for women to treat their significant others, particularly if they happen to be men.

(Although let it not be said that they didn't write toxic relationships from the other side, Varrick spends the entire series mistreating Zhu Li and then at the end he decides he's in love with her and they get married [in a very Western ceremony, incidentally], and nothing is ever mentioned of the awful way he treated her for the entire show.)

So yeah like, it really, really bothers me that Katara and Mako share similar niches in their respective teams and both of them get a whole lot of untoward hatred for -checks notes- being teenagers and having feelings and sometimes expressing them. They both deserve so much better from their respective fanbases, and I think the biggest reason Katara has a bigger and more devoted defense squad is because atla is still pretty widely regarded as the best installment of the franchise and a lot of people just don't care to even watch lok. The bulk of the lok fanbase is anti Mako and it's hard to maintain any resilience as a fandom in the face of that lmao.

But I'm always happy to talk about how much I love him and if I can only turn the tide one anon at a time then that's ok.

#mako #atla #lok #lok fandom salt #lok critical #lok salt #salt for ts #Anonymous #asked

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Ryuu

@azulaang-week-2021 Day 2: First Child

Azula is worried that her son doesn't love her. She doesn't want their relationship to be like the one that she has with her own mother.

Sometimes when he calls her mother she finds it unfathomable. She never found herself motherly. Even when she had looked in the mirror and saw pregnancy very plainly. Even when Aang held his hand against the bump. Even then it still didn’t quite connect. It, in fact, had been a turbulent time. For the better part of nine months she was absent, inhibiting her body but vacant all the same.  She isn’t sure how Aang could be so patient with her. 

Even when the baby was born she couldn’t seem to fathom that it was her own. That it is her own. Holding it in her arms didn’t feel real. It didn’t feel as though those were her arms. Or maybe it had felt like she was holding someone else’s baby. But he had her eyes. 

He has her mannerisms too. Her stubbornness, her fierceness, her cunning, and her coldness. When the boy is angry he is a force. When he is angry he hates her with all of his soul. He is too much like her. 

Too much for her comfort. 

It is no wonder he talks mostly to his father. She bites the inside of her lip. She is once again watching from afar as Aang teaches him to airbend. Though he has that spark in his eyes, there is no fire in his belly. And so she can’t find means of bonding with him there either. 

She supposes she had anticipated this from the moment her belly had begun to swell--that her baby would resent her just as she had resented her own mother. Ryuu leaps into the air with the largest grin on his face and a loud giggle. Aang claps at how fast the boy learns new katas. 

Azula takes a deep breath and hastily retreats back into the palace. 

She doesn’t understand. She has been preparing herself for this from the very start of her pregnancy. It shouldn’t hurt so much. She hadn’t particularly wanted a kid anyhow. 

.oOo.

“Why don’t you go play with mother?” is always met with a fuss or tears or both. He hates her through and through and she is certain that he has only become more hateful since she started putting effort in. 

“What did I do wrong, Avatar?” She mumbles. “I’m not like my father, am I?” 

Aang shakes his head. “You’re nothing like him, Azula.” 

“That’s just a lie.” She replies flatly. 

Aang takes her into his arms. “You haven’t hurt Ryuu like your dad hurt you.”

“Then why does he hate me?”

“He doesn’t hate you, Azula. He just doesn’t know how to talk to you.” Aang rubs her back. “You want to teach him bending and history lessons. He just wants to play and talk about this bug that he ate.” 

Azula crinkles her nose. “I can’t relate, I have never consumed insects for fun.” 

Aang laughs. “Neither have I! You don’t have to eat bugs with him, you just have to let him think that you think eating bugs is the most fascinating thing in the world. Or just listen to him talk about saber tooth moose-lions, he loves those. He can tell you all about them.” 

Azula furrows her brows. “But I already know all about them?” 

“Pretend like you don’t.” He gives her a little nudge, “he’s playing with his stuffed moose-lion right now, ask him about it.” 

At her hesitation he gives her another nudge. She stands up and makes her way towards Ryuu, stopping momentarily to give Aang an uncertain glance. “Just don’t talk about politics.” Aang advises. 

Azula takes a deep breath, perhaps she should just let her son do all of the talking in that case. She finds herself standing before him. In her shadow he brings his play to an abrupt halt. Azula clears her throat. “What do you have there?”

“It’s a saber tooth moose-lion.” He doesn’t look up from the toy. 

She kneels down. “Did Aang get that for you?”

“Dad buys all of my toys.” 

Azula flinches, “I’m not sure what to get you.” She grits her teeth, she is supposed to be talking about moose-lions. Ryuu shrugs, he lifts the stuffed toy up and frowns at it as though her taking interest in it has poisoned its value. “Why do you like moose-lions?”

“Why don’t you like them?” Ryuu asks. 

Azula shrugs. “I don’t not like them. I suppose I just don’t think much about moose-lions…” she trails off. “So you’ll just have to tell me about them.” 

Aang gives her a thumbs up and Ryuu cautiously turns towards her. “Well there’s a lot to know about moose-lions! First of all, they eat meat and they hunt in the day time and mama moose-lions are really big, do you know how big they can get?”

“How big?”

He holds his arms out as wide as he can, “they can get as big as an army tank.” He pauses. “Sometimes they eat fish.” 

.oOo.

Aang breathes a sigh of relief. It has been well over an hour since the discussion started and they are still talking, although he isn’t sure if Ryuu is still talking about moose-lions. Whatever they might be talking about, Aang is thrilled that the discussion has lasted this long and that the boy is beaming from ear to ear. 

Eventually Ryuu climbs into Azula’s lap. The princess shoots him another uncertain glance before holding their son against her chest. 

That night he is pleased to watch her tuck the boy into bed for a change. 

And more pleased still to hear the boy ask for a bedtime story. Decidedly, this is the time to intervene lest Azula resort to a wartime story. He finds a spot on the bed next to Azula and rests his hand atop hers. 

“How about a story about the Western Air Temple?” Aang offers, only for Ryuu to shake his head.

 “I want a Fire Nation story.” He looks at Azula.

“What kind of Fire Nation story?” Azula asks. 

He thinks for a moment. “Uuummmm, something about dragons!”

Azula clears her throat, “my cousin Lu Ten used to tell me dragon stories. I don’t remember them exactly…”

“Then make something up.” Ryuu snuggles against his pillow.

.oOo.

“You did great, Azula.” Aang assures her. 

“I don’t know, it sure didn’t feel like I did.” 

He presses a kiss to the back of her neck. “This is our first child, of course you aren’t going to know exactly what you’re doing. Zuko and Mai are still figuring things out with Izumi. You made him smile today.”

“Yes, today. What about tomorrow?”

“We’ll find out when tomorrow happens.” Aang gestures for her to lay down. He watches her attempt to make herself comfortable. He knows that she has a lot on her mind. A lot of hope and a lot of dread. He rubs little circles upon her back. “Trust me, he has a lot more lion-moose facts to give you. He’ll tell you about how school is going if you ask him. He’s already at the top of his classes.” 

“Naturally. He is my son.” She mutters. “But that does please me to hear. He is a smart boy.” 

“Tell him that.” Aang grins. “He loves compliments. Just tell him the things that you would have liked to hear when you were his age.” 

He makes it sound so simple. Or maybe it is she that is over complicating things. She had, afterall gotten on quite well with Ryuu when they were talking about silly trivial things. Things that, in retrospect, a small child would enjoy discussing. “Do you think that he’ll like me better when he’s older?”

“I think that you’ll find more common ground.” Aang agrees. “But he already loves you Azula. He tells me that he’s sometimes worry that you don’t love him.” He pauses. “He’s only five. You have to tell him that you love him.”

Azula nods, she supposes that it would have helped to have heard her own mother say as much. “I can do that, Avatar.” 

“Good. Tomorrow morning, you tell him that.” He kisses her on the nose. “And just so you know, I love you.” 

[babypandawrites]

Allies, Pt. 12

The Siege of the North, Part Two

Pairing: Sokka x F Reader Warnings: Implications of Death, I think that's all? Word Count: 3,286 Summary: With the Fire Nation waging war on the Northern Water Tribe, you didn't expect things of the past to be brought up, but, when do you expect anything at this point.

Note: And here we have, the final part of Allies :') But don't worry- the story will continue in a sequel 👀 Phew I did not mean for this to take so long, but I was having a really hard time with the end and ended up having to change where the reader was towards the end for me to... actually be able to write the chapter. Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed the story thus far! It means the world to me, really. It's crazy to think about how I've been working on this for four months! I hope you guys will stick with me for the months to come while I write the sequel :') I'll be carrying over the taglist to the sequel since it's the... same story just a different name heh. Let me know if you want to be added or taken off! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and that you all have a great day! <3 Also hi sorry bringing this poll back up bc the results are currently tied!!!

-Navigation- | -Atla Masterlist- -Last Part- | -Allies Masterlist- | -Next Part-

Taglist: @boomeraangin | @brokennerdalert

Eyes blinking open, Y/n slowly came too. Her vision was blurry, and her head was pounding. Faintly, she could hear someone talking, but her head was too fuzzy to make out who it was and what they were saying. Her vision clearing, she could see a rocky ceiling, which seemed… odd. Was she in a cave?

When she tried to sit up, she found that she couldn’t move. Her arms were trapped against her sides, and her legs were bound together. Groaning quietly, Y/n twisted onto her side. Aang was on the ground a few feet away from her, hands bound behind his back. He didn’t seem… present.

Observing the situation more, she noted the figure that stood at the entrance to what she was assuming was a cave. They were still talking, and her head was finally clear enough to make out what they were saying.

“I don’t need luck though, I don’t want it. I’ve always had to struggle and fight and that’s made me strong. It’s made me who I am.”

Struggling weakly against her bindings, Y/n furrowed her eyebrows together. “..Zuko..?”

His head turned to the side slightly, an acknowledgement that she was awake, but he didn’t turn to face her. “Don’t bother trying to get free, I’ll just knock you out again.” He paused for a short moment. “Sorry about that, I just.. I knew you wouldn’t give up. You never have.”

Zuko had… taken her too. Why…?

Grunting, she continued to struggle against the rope, stopping only when Zuko rested his hand on her arm. “What did I just say? Did I knock you in the head that hard?” Sighing, Zuko settled on the ground next to her. “I’d prefer if you didn’t make me knock you out again. You probably think otherwise but I don’t want to hurt you.”

Opting to stay silent, she shuffled in place. He watched her carefully, before awkwardly looking about once she stopped moving. He took in a deep breath, when she started shuffling again. “Are you.. uncomfortable?” Being met with silence, Zuko glanced at Y/n to see she was looking at him with a blank expression. “I can sit you up, if you want.”

Not receiving an answer once again, he let out an annoyed breath. “Conversations usually go both ways, Y/n.”

Still, she looked at him blankly. “I don’t think people typically converse with their captors, Zuko.”

“Well, we used to be friends!” Crossing his arms with a huff, Zuko slumped against the cave wall. “I guess the key phrase is ‘used to be’, isn’t it?” He clicked his tongue, before breathing out a sigh. “I didn’t capture you to turn you in, we could… still be friends.”

Y/n took on a pensive expression. “Then why..?”

“Why did I capture you..?” Receiving a nod of confirmation, Zuko shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t… I don’t know.”

“You don’t… know..?”

“No! Okay?! I just-” Breathing out another annoyed breath, he dropped his head into his hands. “Why? Why did you leave? I thought… I thought we had each other's backs and… and you just up and leave?! Just like that?! No explanation, no nothing!? So why?!” Continuing to stay silent, Y/n grimaced internally at the rise in Zuko’s volume. The more he spoke, the louder he got. It was almost hard to imagine that this was the boy she grew up with.

Zuko scoffed, shaking his head slightly. “Fine then. It doesn’t matter anyways- You’ve chosen your path.” He let out a laugh, one edging on hysterical. “You know, I thought maybe I could sit here and convince you to come back, but I can see that isn’t going to work… The Avatar and his friends have won your favor.” He was silent for a moment, seemingly calming down from his outburst. “Uncle told me that I shouldn’t be mad at you, that I should respect your decision to find your own path. How can I do that when your so-called path is going against me?”

Before Zuko could continue, Aang came too, returning from the spirit world. Attention turned to the boy, when he started to struggle against his bonds. After a short moment of futile struggle, he sat up to face Zuko.

“Welcome back.”

“Good to be back.” Aang spoke with a threatening tone, blinding reaching around with his hands- which were tied behind his back -to try and find Y/n’s wrist. Once he was able to grab onto her wrist, he took in a deep breath and blew Zuko away from them while simultaneously shooting both him and Y/n out of the cave. The two landed in the snow outside, where Aang started to caterpillar crawl.

It didn’t take long for Zuko to get to them, grabbing Aang by the collar and lifting him in the air once he did. “That won’t be enough to escape.”

Suddenly, Appa appeared above them, before landing on the ground. Y/n breathed out a sigh of relief. Katara got off the bison, as Zuko dropped Aang back into the snow. “Here for a rematch?”

“Trust me, Zuko, it’s not going to be much of a match.”

Katara blocked a fireball Zuko shot at her, sending a wave of ice towards him. Once the ice reached him, she encased him in a pillar of ice that she raised high from the ground. When she dropped him, he fell to the ground unconscious.

Sokka jumped off of Appa, rushing over to Aang to cut his bonds. “Hey! This is some quality rope!” He commented, before moving to Y/n to free her as well.

“We need to get to the oasis! The spirits are in trouble!” Aang got up, and ran to Appa, while Sokka helped Y/n to her feet.

Everyone was on the bison, ready for take off, but Aang hesitated on leaving, looking towards Zuko’s knocked out form. “Wait, we can’t just leave him here.”

“Sure we can. Let’s go.”

Y/n shook her head softly. “No, Aang’s right, we can’t leave him. He could die.”

Aang jumped off Appa, and grabbed Zuko to bring him up onto the bison. Sokka watched him with a somewhat exasperated expression. “Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let’s bring the guy who’s constantly trying to kill us!”

As they started to fly back to the Spirit Oasis, the moon changed to a blood red, casting a red light over everything. This seemed to affect Yue, who held her head in pain, letting out a groan.

Sokka looked at her concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I feel faint.”

Aang, with a hand to his head, looked at the moon. “I feel it too. The Moon Spirit is in trouble.”

Yue glanced at the moon as well. “I owe the Moon Spirit my life.”

“What do you mean?” Sokka questioned.

“When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they’re born… But I was born as if I were asleep. My eyes closed. Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me… that night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white, I opened my eyes and began to cry- and they knew I would live. That’s why my mother named me Yue, for the moon.”

They neared the oasis as Yue finished her story, to find Zhao there- a bag in hand and Momo on his head trying to stop him from what he was doing. The group got off Appa when he landed, sans Yue and Zuko, ready to fight Zhao and the other Fire Nation soldiers in the oasis.

“Don’t bother!” Zhao held a knife to the bag he had, which must have had the Moon Spirit trapped inside.

Aang dropped his staff, raising his hands in surrender. “Zhao! Don’t!”

“It’s my destiny… to destroy the Moon… and the Water Tribe.”

Y/n glared at the man, resisting her urge to attack him. “You’re insane.”

“Destroying the moon won’t just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone- including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world.” Aang tried to reason with him, but Y/n wasn’t sure words alone would stop the man.

“He is right, Zhao!” Heads turned to Iroh, as he approached.

“General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?” Zhao spoke in a bored tone.

Iroh lowered his hood. “I’m no traitor, Zhao, the Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance.”

Unsurprisingly, Zhao continued to hold his threat on the Moon Spirit, the knife he held at the bag it was captive in not dropping.

“Whatever you do to that spirit I’ll unleash on you ten-fold!” Iroh pointed a finger at Zhao, before taking on a firebending stance. “LET IT GO, NOW!”

After a moment of stillness, Zhao faltered, lowering the bag. He kneeled and released the fish of the Moon Spirit back into the pond. The red light casted from the moon returned back to normal.

Seeing something move in the corner of her eye, Y/n’s attention moved to the right, just in time for her to see a figure sneaking away. Careful not to draw attention to herself, she followed after them, noting that Zuko was missing from Appa’s saddle as she snuck by. He was taking the chance to sneak away, while everyone was focused on Zhao. If she had anything to say about it, he wouldn’t be getting far.

In her pursuit, the moon fell dark, probably thanks to Zhao. It’s not a surprise that he would try and kill the moon spirit, even after letting it go. Keeping her distance and staying as hidden as she can, Y/n continued to follow Zuko- Only stopping when he did. Eyebrows furrowing together, she watched as he shot a blast of flames to a lower area from where they stood- Which was shot at Zhao.

The man stopped in his steps, looking up at Zuko incredulously. “You’re alive?”

“You tried to have me killed!”

He shot several more blasts at Zhao, which he was able to dodge. When he tried to run off in the other direction, Y/n moved quickly to grab her bow and an arrow, shooting it at the ground in front of him. Both Zhao and Zuko were shocked by this, not having noticed her before.

“You tried to have him killed?!”

Zhao’s gaze darted between the two, before primarily focusing on Zuko. “Yes, I did. You’re the Blue Spirit- and enemy of the Fire Nation! You freed the Avatar!” Pausing, he pointed to Y/n. “And her!” His words dripped with venom.

“I had no choice!”

Zuko fired several more attacks at Zhao, while Y/n readied an arrow- though she waited to shoot it until the right moment. Zhao avoided the attacks, removing and dropping his smoking cloak as they subsided. “You should have chosen to accept your failure- your disgrace! Then, at least you could have lived.”

Returning the fire, the two end up in a short exchange of attacks, before Zuko blasted Zhao in the chest, knocking him down. Having seemed to realize Y/n was waiting for the right moment for attack, Zuko glanced at her. “Now.”

Though she didn’t need his signal- In quick succession she fired two arrows at Zhao, one pinning his sleeve to the ground, the other pinning his pant leg. The two jumped down to the lower level Zhao was, landing on either side of him as he struggled to free his clothes from the arrows. Zuko took on a firebending stance, while Y/n pulled another arrow through her bow. They both waited to attack, watching the man carefully.

Finally wiggling the arrow free from his shirt sleeve, he scoffed, looking between the two. “Two traitors working together again, hm? I’m not surprised at this point.”

Y/n narrowed her eyes when the Admiral quit trying to wiggle the arrow pinning his pant leg down free, quickly pivoting on her heel at realization. Twisting to the side, she narrowly dodged the arrow when he threw it at her. This initiated the fight once again, Zuko sending a relentless stream of attacks. Realizing her bow wasn’t going to get her anywhere in a close range fight, Y/n hooked it away onto her quiver, running at Zhao while he traded fire blasts with Zuko. She grabbed onto his arm as he tried to send an attack at the prince, yanking it to the side so the blast shot to the right. He twisted his other arm to send a fireball right into her face, which she was able to duck away from as she released his arm. The momentary distraction gave Zuko the opening to shoot a powerful blast at Zhao, knocking him back a bit.

Unable to keep his attention on both of them at once, Y/n was able to swipe her leg at his ankles while he was focused on Zuko, knocking him down. Not relenting, Zhao shot a blast at Y/n, catching her off guard and knocking her down. She rolled out of the way of another blast, before Zuko helped her off the ground- While firing at Zhao. The two looked at each other briefly, sharing a nod.

Running at Zhao once again, Y/n twisted, ducked and dodged the attacks sent at her, while also giving room for Zuko to send his own blasts at the man. Once close enough, she started throwing punches at Zhao, taking his attention in the fight. The close proximity of the fight didn’t stop him from using his fire, leaving parts of her clothes to be singed. She ducked when he tried to punch her with a blazing fist, giving the opening for Zuko to send another powerful blast at Zhao, knocking him down once again.

He didn’t get up this time, rather looking past the two with a horror ridden expression. “It can’t be!”

Furrowing her eyebrows, Y/n turned to see what he was looking at- The moon. In the heat of the battle, she hadn’t noticed it started to shine bright once again.

Suddenly, water rose up coalescing around the bridge they were on, taking the form of a large fish like creature. It reached out and grabbed Zhao, pulling him off the bridge. He struggled against it, before Zuko reached out to him. “Take my hand!”

For a moment, it seemed like he was going to grasp onto Zuko’s hand, but instead drew back- an expression of hate taking over his features. Zhao was taken under the surface of the water, disappearing. Crossing her arms, Y/n looked at the surface of the water in near disbelief.

Silence lingered in the air, it only being broken when Zuko quietly cleared his throat. Looking up from the surface of the water, she glanced over at him. He took a minute, before speaking up.

“Listen, Y/n… I’m… sorry. For everything. I- Ugh, what am I even trying to say here.”

She raised an eyebrow in amusement. “That you’re sorry?”

“Yes- Wait, I already said that..” He breathed out a sigh, holding a hand to his forehead. Laughing softly, she held out her hand.

“Truce?”

He hesitated for a moment, before grasping onto her hand, a soft smile tugging up his lips. “Truce.”

Tugging him a step closer, Y/n put an arm around his neck, bringing him into a hug. Zuko tensed at the action, but returned it nonetheless.

“We can still be friends..” Mumbling quietly, she broke away from the hug. “But I need to get back to them.”

“I.. understand.” He paused. “Actually, no, I don’t. But… I won’t stop you.”

Offering a small smile, she slipped past him, intending to go back to the oasis. She stopped on the way there, however, seeing that her friends were gathered. Katara waved her over, inviting her into the group hug they were currently sharing. Running over, she joined them, a wide smile on her face.

---

Sea water gently splashed up against the sides of the boat, spraying past the railings. The more Y/n sat with her back against them, her head leaned back, the more the back of her shirt and her hair dampened from the water. Eyes closed, she took in a deep breath. With her terrible track record on boats, she didn’t know that being out at sea could be so… relaxing.

“Can’t sleep?”

She shook her head softly in response. “You can’t either?”

Sokka breathed out a quiet, somewhat tense, laugh. “No..” He paused for a short moment. “Do you mind?”

Opening her eyes to see that he was motioning to the space on the deck next to her, Y/n offered a soft smile. “Not at all.”

Muttering a small thanks, he gave a weak smile in return, before settling down next to her. He sat close enough for their shoulders to press together, the close proximity made her heart race.

Silence lingered over them for a long moment, before Y/n spoke up. “I heard what happened… With Yue.”

Breathing out a soft sigh, Sokka tilted his head back, looking up at the moon. “Yeah… I figured you would.”

“I’m sorry for bringing it up but- I just wanted to say if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m always right here.”

“Thanks..” He paused for a moment. “You know, I went to that shop you were working at once when you weren’t there. I was trying to catch you there, that… didn’t work out- Obviously.” He breathed out a quiet chuckle, digging into his coat pocket. “But I did meet that lady you worked for, and she asked me to make sure this got to you.” He held out a bracelet, the one she’d been looking at in the shop before she started working there.

Her eyes widened slightly. “I forgot about that.”

“That’s why she asked me to give it to you. Let me see your wrist.” He tied the bracelet around her wrist, once she held it out to him.

“Thanks.” She spoke with a smile, twisting her wrist slightly causing the stone to glint in the moonlight.

“It’s no problem.” Smirking, he took on a slightly teasing tone. “I didn’t expect you to be a jewelry person.”

Pressing a hand to her chest, she feigned an over exaggerated offence. “Just because I lived in a forest and can fight better than you doesn’t mean I can’t like girly things.”

He looked at her offended. “You cannot fight better than me!” She leaned a bit closer to him, raising an eyebrow. “You wanna test that theory?”

Falling silent, he gulped. “No, I think I’m good.”

They were both quiet, before breaking into a short fit of laughter. Leaning back against the boat's railing, Y/n hugged one of her knees to her chest.

Once again, silence fell over them. After a few moments, a sudden weight was on her shoulder. Tensing slightly, she looked to the side, to see that Sokka had fallen asleep- His head now leaning on her shoulder. She opened her mouth to wake him up, but stopped herself.

Something in her didn’t want to wake him up… The closeness was… Nice.

Letting her eyes fall closed, she leaned her head back, absentmindedly fiddling with the bracelet tied around her wrist. She felt so calm, but still her heart raced, and she wasn’t sure why.

With certain thoughts and memories coming to mind, however, the pieces started to fit together.

And it was in that moment, Y/n realized.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar the last airbender x reader #atla x reader #reader insert #sokka x reader #sokka x y/n #sokka x you #team avatar #slowburn #book one allies

[sokkas-honour]

hii if ur taking requests can i get a zuko x reader where they get into an argument & they dont talk to each other for sometime but then they make up & its just angsty & super fluffy? also can it be when zuko's firelord? thank u!!

ofc you can! hopefully this works :) it’ll be a two parter

The ember island failures: part one - zuko x reader

summary : zuko and you had been growing slighty apart from all his duties as firelord. in order for him to catch a break as well as spend more time with you, you both planned a trip to ember island months ago but what happens when the avatar shows up stating he had a diplomatic trip with the firelord planned the same day you’re set to leave

wc : 1.8k

notes/warnings: i tried to make this as gender neutral as possible but didnt know how to switch out firelady to it being gender neutral so i apoligise. i use a curse word here and there but thats about it. stay tune for two though!!

part two

taglist (always open) : @draqondance @biqherosix

you woke up, excitement cursing through your veins as you immediately remembered what was happening today, you were heading to ember island with your boyfriend to finally have some time alone to relax, away from all of the problems in the world for just a few days. your excitement dimmed a bit as you realised zuko was long out of bed but it didn’t matter, you’d have him all to yourself later today.

you finished packing a couple of things, even taking the time to make zuko’s bag so that he didn’t have another responsibility on top of everything he already has to deal with. your excitement was still going strong as you gently put a couple of bathing suits into your bag. once you were done, you called a nearby servant that you adored to bring the bags to the airship.

your smile and happiness filled the nearby palace corridors, making nearby servants and guards chuckle as it had been a while since they’d seen anyone in the palace seem so carefree. you made your way to the kitchen and asked the cook if you could have a fruit tart and of course he gave it to you, you had always been so nice to him and his staff, constantly complimenting the food, they couldn’t wait for you to finally become firelady.

munching on a fruit tart, you made your way to the courtyard where zuko and you met each morning if he’d awoken long before you. you waited patiently while watching the baby turtle ducks splash around making you smile at how adorable they were. suddenly, you heard a voice that you recognised but it wasn’t the raspy one you loved but the chirpy voice of the young avatar.

“y/n! it’s so good to see you!” he exclaimed while walking towards you, turning your head to meet his gaze you grinned. it had been a couple of months since you’d seen your friends with whom you’d traveled the world with in order to defeat the old firelord. though his presence did confuse you.

“aang! it’s been so long!” you met him half way and embraced him in a hug, god it had been a while.

“it has, it really has. i’m sorry that i can’t talk for awhile, appa has become a bit impatient these days but hopefully we can catch up on him while we see how yu dao is going! speaking of that, any idea where zuko is?” he chirped. his words bright and cheery confused you, since when were you and zuko going to yu dao? you were both supposed to leave for a couples getaway to ember island, not a diplomatic trip to the ex colonies.

before you got to ask your friend about what the hell he was talking about, you saw the love of your life from over his shoulder.

“aang! it’s so great to see you!” his sweet, slightly raspy, voice beamed. his facial expressions all showed the sheer amount of happiness that the firelord felt to finally see a friend of his that he’d been away from for awhile. with greeting aang on his mind, zuko didn’t notice the look of confusion on his partner’s face.

the airbender turned around, his back now facing you, in order to embrace his close friend.

“there you are! how was the fire nation been since i last saw you two?” aang asked after they separated from their hug. he had directed the question to the both of you but you were still confused as to what was going on to even bother to answer the question but apparently your face didn’t express your current feeling as your usually attentive boyfriend hadn’t looked at you in any way other than just happiness. he even made his way next to you, placed an arm around your waist and gently kissed your forehead as a way to say good morning.

“it’s been worse that’s for sure.” he joked nervously, not wanting the avatar to be worried. both boys turned to you for your answer but were met with silence until you realised they were waiting for you to speak.

“yeah, it has.” you absentmindedly said but quickly composed yourself as to not alert the benders near you. you added on to your response in a more cheery and reading manner. “firelord business has been stealing this boy from me.”

all three of you nervously laughed.

“we should probably start heading out, appa’s been a bit impatient these last couple of days so i don’t want to keep him waiting for too long.” aang was the first to speak, urging the couple to bring their stuff into the flying bison.

“i’ve already told a guard to bring my bags to the barn, i just need to double check something with a general and i’ll meet you out there.” zuko informed him and removed his hand from your waist. he turned around but before he could even make a step, you grabbed his wrist to stop and interrogate him.

“when did you plan this trip to yu dao?” you asked rather harshly as his head turned to face you in order to hear what you wanted to say.

“aang wrote to me about two weeks ago in order to check on how they’re doing ever since they’ve been left to do their own thing. didn’t i tell you about this the other day.” he turned his body around completely to face you.

“no, you haven’t told me anything zuko. we haven’t had more than ten minutes to each other in so long!” you exclaimed and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, he was so sure he’d told you about it.

“i’m sorry then, i genuinely thought it’d told you. now, if you don’t mind i’m gonna go to general ikoso to make sure that he’s got everything under control. then i’ll come back to say goodbye okay?” he reasoned with you, eyes darting to your grip on his wrist, trying to make you get the hint to just move on and let him do his job.

“don’t you even remember what today was supposed to be? or are you stupid enough to forget about it?” you asked accusingly, removing your grip rather aggressively.

“hey guys, i’m just gonna go wait by appa. y/n, it was to see you, zuko, i’ll see you by appa.” the airbender awkwardly said trying to get out of the area, not wanting to see any sort of fight between his friends. you felt a bit guilty about bringing this up while aang was around but you couldn’t bother to wait.

“that’s fine aang, youre good.” you turned your head briefly to give him a small smile before he rushed out awkwardly and turned back to your boyfriend.

“no y/n, last time i checked it wasn’t our anniversary, it isn’t your birthday or mine. believe me, i would never forget those even when i’m swamped with work.” zuko smiled warmly reassuring you which just made you even madder.

“you’re right, you didn’t because i would be even more pissed at you.” you calmed down a little making him chuckle a bit at your statement. you continued.

“you forgot about the fact that we’ve been planning a trip to ember island for months!” your anger and annoyance came back, completely ditching the softer tone you’d taken just a second ago.

you watched as his face went from a simple smile to confusion, to realisation to then regret and embarrassment.

“shit, i completely forgot we even planned that, it’s fine we can reschedule.” he asked for forgiveness while attempting to reason with you, if only he knew that it only pissed you off.

“no we can’t zuko! i’ve been prepping for this for months! it was a time for us to finally see each other because you’re never around! i understand you have duties as a firelord, believe me, i agreed to deal with all of this when i followed you to the fire palace after ozai. but you also agreed to make time for me! and guess what? you’ve completely neglected me for the last couple of weeks!” you vented, your voice getting louder and louder as you continued.

“y/n-”

“no! listen to me! not only have you been neglecting me but you have also been neglecting yourself! you wake up before me and go to bed after me, so not only do i not see you, you’re barely getting any sleep zuko! you’re tiring yourself out, i can see it, aang probably saw it, hell everyone who works in this stupid palace can see it! you’re gonna hurt yourself and you keep denying to open up to me or even just relax!” you interrupted him, not wanting him to interrupt you before you finished. your tone switched from accusing to just pleading after you took a breath. “you promised me this trip! you promised yourself this trip! two weeks, that’s all i’m asking for zuko! everyone in this damn place was ready to take over while we enjoyed time together, something we haven’t experienced in months. please zuko, i’m sure aang would understand.”

his eyes had averted from your gaze a while ago and was just staring at the ground, trying to figure out what to say to his partner that as he personally believed was in the right but he just couldn’t take a break now. him cancelling a diplomatic mission could come to hurt him later but he knew that aang could deal with it.

you stared at him while his gears were turning, your right hand had suddenly placed itself on his upper left arm to add to the fact that you were pleading him to understand your point of view.

he lifted his head and stepped back, making you drop your hand to your side and search for his gaze to try and anticipate what he was going to say.

“seeing how yu dao is going is more important than a stupid little trip y/n.” he harshly stated, his usually warm gaze turned rather cold which took you aback. you swallowed literally and figuratively the information, taking in your boyfriend neglecting the trip that had planned months ago, his mental and physical health, and your relationship together.

“well zuko, if you feel that way, i guess i’ll see you in two weeks. believe me, my trip wouldn’t have been any different than my every day life.” you replied, your tone matching his before sharply turning on your heals and left towards the docking area before he could even reply.

zuko watched you leave, realisation washing over him at his words as you were out of his eyesight.

“damnit, how stupid could i be?” zuko cursed under is breath, head leaning slightly on his arms. he took a deep breath and made his way to the stables where he assumed appa was with his head down in shame. he just hopped that when you saw each other again everything would be forgotten.

#zuko x reader #atla zuko #zuko #atla x reader #avatar the legend of korra #avatar x reader #gaang x reader #aang x reader #aang #firenation #atla #avatar the last airbender #firelord zuko #ember island #appa #firebender #firebender x reader #fanfic #sokka x reader #zuko imagine #avatar the last airbender imagine

[saby-chan]

Why the ATLA comics fail when it comes to Zuko and his family

To whom ever took their time to actually stop and read this post, thank you in advance for not skipping my post and willing to stay and read my humble opinion! I hope I won’t disappoint you!

As a relatively newcomer to the ATLA fanbase since 2020, I’ve come across a lot of interesting debates, comments and rants about the show, characters and fandom in general, but nothing has captivated me as much as the dumpster-on-fire that are the ATLA comics, more specifically: The Promise and The Search. 

On one hand we have the hardcore fans who want them to be animated or serialized into the Netflix live action, praising the comics for the new views and subject matters they’ve brought into the show’s lore, while on the other hand we have the furious Azula fandom who is really angry for the fact that best girl didn’t get the redemption arc she rightfully deserved so much after the painful event that was the Last Agni Kai and the even more angry fans of the Urzai ship (yeah, the people who actually ship Zuko’s parents unironically) who hated the retconning of the show’s cannon since the comics basically took a huge fat dump on what was previously established as official cannon, when the Search entered the scene, but between these two sides, who has the more valid point? In the end, are the comics good cannon or bad written fanfiction?

Well... Here are my two cents on this matter since I myself happen to be an Azula and Zuko fan and had huge expectations from these comics (since I wanted more from my fave hot-headed fiery siblings duo) but ended up disappointed: the comics are indeed a huge mess and actually bad written fanfiction when it comes to Zuko and his family! Don’t click off yet, because I actually documented the reasons why exactly the comics fail in this area:

1. The author of these comics is not part of the BryKe duo

Yes, I would like to start with the fact that if you actually take a second to look up who in the heck took the time to write these two books, you won’t find Bryan, nor Mike, but a fellow man named Gene Yang. This is important because while the wiki of both The Promise and The Search state BryKe as the creators, that doesn’t mean that they were the actual minds behind these comics, but rather because ATLA is their “baby” and these comics involve their characters, over which they have copyright. Mr. Yang here is the actual brain behind the plot, as the main writer, which explains why we find huuuuge inconsistencies between the show lore and the comics, especially Zuko wise.

My main issue with Mr. Yang isn’t that he isn’t BryKe specifically, but because he did an unforgivable mistake in his writing process: He projected himself into Zuko’s character, based on the relationship Zuko had with his father. This is a documented fact from an interview in which he explains that he sees himself and his dad’s relationship into Zuko and Ozai and used that when writing their interactions and built Zuko’s character in the comics. And this is wrong because when you have an already very developed and complex character such as Zuko, you can’t just come in and be like “Oh, I was an angsty teen just like him in my teenage years, fighting with my dad and whatnot, so he must have the same thought process as me!”. NO! This is bad fanfiction writer behavior! Zuko has his own personality and philosophy, which he developed over the course of 3 seasons and is not defined by only 1 unfortunate aspect of his past, so you can’t just base his whole mindset and actions off of your own personal experience just because you had the same daddy issues he had!

2. The whole “Promise that you will kill me if I turn out like my dad!” nonsense in The Promise

Reason number 2 why these comics fail and go under the category of “bad fanfiction” is because they fail to convey the core essence of the source material. The whole point of Zuko’s redemption was that he realized the wrongdoings of his ancestors and his own mistakes. He outgrew his desire of gaining his father’s acknowledgement in favor of choosing his own destiny. Having him worry that he’ll turn into his father is utter nonsense and feels like poor angsty drama material for the sake of angst. At this point in time, Zuko has overcame that obstacle in his life a long time ago and should be at the level where he himself is the “Uncle Iroh” for other people and in no way someone concerned of becoming their own worst enemy!

Not only that, but the whole point of Aang’s journey and the story of the show as a whole was to teach us, the viewers, the importance of forgiveness, empathy and love in life. Aang didn’t spare Ozai, aka “the ultimate evil” just to flex in front of his pals or because he is a “ 12 y/o vegan pacifist monk kid”, but because he knew that killing someone, no matter of what they did or wanted to do, wouldn’t restore balance into the Universe, on the contrary, him killing the villain would have meant perpetuating the “endless cycle of hate” that plagued the world. So having Aang promise to kill his best friend in case “they turned into an evil maniac like their dad” contradicts Aang’s whole character and it’s a nonsense that throws into the trash what we’ve learnt throughout the entire TV series.

3. Azula deserved (and was supposed) to have a redemption ark

This might still be pure speculation, but I count it as a documented reason because I’ve heard quite a few people saying that there should’ve been a book 4 in the show, aka “Book 4: Air”, and no, it wasn’t The Search, but actually Zuko and Azula’s journey as Zuko helps his younger sister heal her broken mind by being her very own “Uncle Iroh”. Sure, they prolly were going to end up looking for Ursa, but the journey should’ve ended with them actually being happy and a family again and not the bs we got in The Search where a still very unstable Azula runs away and becomes the “Next Joker”! The only problem is that M. Night had to pop up and curse the world with his movie, which forced BryKe to delay the project (and eventually abandoned it in favor of Korra).

All in all, either if BryKe had this preplanned or not, it made sense for Azula to get a redemption ark, she deserved it because she was just a broken 14 y/o child! If Katara’s mom’s murderer deserved to be forgiven, so did this poor child who had no fault for what happened to her since she had a dysfunctional family! What Gene Yang did in his poorly written fanfiction was to just antagonize a broken child, turning her into a monster for the sake of friggin angst!

4. The Search is the worst of the two, being flat af character wise

And finally, getting to the point that I personally find the most annoying about these comics: The Search. This one... This one is a mess on a hella lot many levels, and just to list a few: characters are flat as fudge, being either black as vanta black (like Ozai and Azula) or pure white like Gene’s Gary Stue OC, Mr Ikem (or how I like to call him, IKEA man) and his ‘victim’ rendition of Ursa, Azula gets to suffer more for no reason (see reason number 3 to why I find this as a no no), Ursa’s whole character sucks ass (man, I could write a whole thesis on why Yang’s version of her is terrible and doesn’t match the strong woman we got in the show) and Zuko does morally wrong stuff (my man literally used his unstable sister to bribe their dad into spitting info about Ursa... Show Zuko would never do that!;-;)

Oh boy, as a person who’s seen a ton of anime and other media and read many books, I can’t begin on how much I despise this type of writing: flat characters are the worst!

 ATLA characters in the show are nothing close to being flat! What I mean by that is that none of them fall perfectly into pure white (aka goodest of good characters with no imperfections) or vanta black (aka lowest and darkest twisted monsters out there), each of them are various shades of grey (like Aang who is a very light grey because despite being a very kind and nice character, he still isn’t a “perfect hero” since he ran away from his duties, practiced tax fraud with Toph, had insecurities and even threatened to kill people on ocassions like with the sand benders who took Appa) and this is a good choice because that prevents them from becoming what’s globally known as Mary Sues and Gary Stues (aka those either “perfect” characters with no flaws and/or unlimited power, or the twisted monsters full of flaws).

And the other reason why many other people hate The Search: it literally negates previously established cannon. And here comes my short essay on why this comic fails Zuko’s family (since we’ve already talked enough about Zuko himself).

In cannon and even interviews with BryKe, it was clearly stated that Zuko’s family was “once happy”. Where is this “once happy” family in The Search? All I see is pain, deception, lies and betrayal, nothing close to anything that resembles happiness. Okay, some of you might come in and say that “It’s because it was never the case! It was only lies and Zuko trying to convince himself that he didn’t live in hell forever!” and here is WHERE YOU WERE ALL WRONG! And why? Because, my dear fella, where were depicted the flashbacks of Zuko’s “happy family” in The Beach? Ember Island. And what do we know and had been even quoted in the show?  "Like waves washing away the footprints on the sand, Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate. Ember Island reveals the true you." (direct quote from the show). Exactly, no matter who you are or how hard you try, you can’t hide your true self when you are on the Ember Island, best example being Azula, who’s impenetrable though shell cracked and revealed the true vulnerable child that was underneath. If Azula couldn’t resist the “spell of the island”, no one can. So this means that Zuko’s family was indeed happy once and yes, Ozai wasn’t always the douchebag we got to know in Season 3 (I have a whole nother essay on my theories regarding what could be his real past story and why he’s actually the “Zuko” of his generation, based on stuff I gathered from old wiki entries and character analyses I made, but that’s for another time, lemme know if ya’ll are interested).

And what I guess is the biggest proof why The Search did this family’s past trash is comics Ursa herself. My dude, if this woman were indeed the victim of years of endless abuse and never loved her husband, I guarantee you that she would’ve been closer to what we saw in Todoroki’s mom from BNHA and Zuko would’ve gotten that scar or even worse long before the Agni Kai, not from his “daddy dearest”, but from “mommy dearest” herself, because no sane woman would be soo affectionate and attached to a child that’s the perfect copy of their abuser, sepecially appearance wise (again see Todoroki’s mom’s case from BNHA because the stories are really similar) and in no way would’ve she been willing to sacrifice her life for said child’s sake. With this ocassion, I remind ya’ll folks that according to the ancient ATLA cannon wikis on Nick’s site, Ozai was designed with Zuko’s appearance in mind, being meant to be like a “grown up scarless version” of Zuko. So yeah, remember this with a grain of salt that whenever you simp over grown up Zuko, you involuntary simp for Ozai too.

So yeah, I guess this kinda concludes my “not so short” rant about why the comics fail and are bad fanfiction. Lemme hear your thoughts in the comments and if you agree, feel free to leave a like and even reblog.

Bye bye and remember that Momo is the true strongest character of the show!

 Saby out.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #atla comics #zuko #azula #ozai #ursa #fire siblings #the promise #the search #atla rant

[atlabeth]

talking to the moon

summary: dealing with the aftermath of the worst event of your life. 

pairing: sokka x fem!reader but solely platonic. stan big brother sokka 

a/n: this became so much longer than i initially meant for lmao. it was just supposed to be sokka and y/n talking but then i. wrote the whole death scene and a whole backstory and. im sorry. i made myself sad while writing this 

wc: 4.1k 

warnings: so much angst, death, mentions of suffocation, mentions of arranged marriages, one mention of blood, one single curse i think, lots of anger and lots of sadness but some fluff at the end 

based on the song “talking to the moon” by bruno mars 

living in the northern water tribe wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. 

as a waterbender, it should’ve been a perfect haven. a renowned master to teach her how to fight and become a master herself, a constant feeling of power being around ice and water all the time, and a comfortable life as the daughter of two important councilmembers that worked alongside chief arnook. 

but the only thing y/n had come to know of this place was a complete and utter loss of freedom. 

she wasn’t allowed to learn martial waterbending simply because she was a woman. master pakku wouldn’t even give her the time of day, and when she complained to her parents they cited century-long traditions and told her that was just how things were. 

y/n felt comfortable being around water and ice all the time, but it’s not like the power of the moon helped her when she hardly knew anything in the first place. it was slightly easier to try and teach herself new techniques that she learned from watching master pakku and his students, but it still almost always ended in failure. 

and of course, her noble heritage simply meant that she would be married off once she reached the appropriate age for the benefit of her family. yippee. 

but there was one benefit that came along with being the daughter of nobles that worked closely with the chief. 

princess yue. 

she was without a doubt the nicest girl that y/n had ever known, and they quickly became each other’s closest friends. y/n thought that maybe she wouldn’t like her because yue was two years her senior, but it didn’t matter in her eyes. yue showed y/n a side that she never showed anyone else; the carefree, energetic, loving side. the side that told y/n fantastical stories while they rode together the waterways. the side that encouraged y/n to waterbend whenever she could and to try as hard as possible to get the martial techniques down because ‘i know you can do it!’ the side that was absolutely fascinated by her waterbending, the side that shrieked in surprise then dissolved into giggles every time y/n soaked her at the end of the session. 

yue was the bright light in y/n’s boring days, and y/n was a needed reprieve from yue’s duties.

the young girls didn’t know that there was so much coming for them. 

~~

team avatar visiting y/n’s home was one of the most exciting things to happen to her. it was like a breath of fresh air in the monotony of her life, and it didn’t take too long for y/n to become friends with all of them at the celebratory dinner the night they arrived. 

y/n and katara instantly struck off. as waterbenders of the same age they already had a connection, but it was only strengthened the longer they stayed. y/n had never cheered so loud when she fought against pakku. 

it was impossible not to like aang. he was even younger than y/n with an infectious positive attitude and a smile always on his face. he even offered to help teach her waterbending along with katara after learning from pakku, which was a great plan until it wasn’t. 

her association with sokka came from her association with yue. he was infatuated with the princess almost immediately — it wasn’t a surprise, y/n was sure every boy in the tribe had a crush on her in some form — but he was also very kind to y/n. as time went on, they developed more of a sibling-like bond and y/n loved it. she was an only child raised to the highest expectations, but she was allowed to let loose around sokka. it also helped to see him make a fool in front of himself every time her and yue were together. 

things were looking up for y/n. she had three new friends that all liked her best friend, and she was actually learning a little bit more about fighting with waterbending from katara. everything was perfect. 

until the fire nation attacked. 

y/n had been with yue and sokka when they saw the black snow and immediately rushed back to the tribe to warn everyone. that was how a fourteen year old noble girl who barely knew how to defend herself like y/n got involved in a fight against the fire nation. 

after rescuing aang from zuko and, at aang’s request, bringing the unconscious prince with them, they started traveling back to the spirit oasis. y/n sat in the back of the saddle with sokka and yue, a new friend and her oldest friend, when yue suddenly grabbed her head with a small groan. y/n looked around and the world around them had turned red as blood. something was very wrong.

“are you okay? sokka asked, reaching for her instinctively as if to protect her from whatever was hurting her. 

“i.. i feel faint,” she muttered.

“i feel it too,” aang added. “the moon spirit is in trouble.” 

y/n’s eyes widened as she stared back at yue, horror dancing in her eyes as she shook her head. “no, no it can’t be. yue, you know what that means—” 

it wasn’t hard to catch onto the fearful tone in her voice and katara set an amicable hand on her shoulder. “what are you talking about, y/n?” 

thankfully, yue took over. “i owe the moon spirit my life.” 

“what do you mean?” sokka’s eyes went between y/n and yue, y/n’s worried gaze trained on yue as she explained how the moon spirit had given her life as a baby. when she was done, the water tribe siblings were staring at her in disbelief. 

“if the moon spirit is in danger then we need to save it.” y/n’s voice was hardened as they got closer to the spirit oasis, stretching her fingers out to get the blood flowing again in case she needed to bend. she didn’t know very much about combat besides what katara had taught her, but hopefully it would be enough to at least aid the rest of the team. 

appa slid to a stop in the spirit oasis and aang, sokka, katara, and y/n all hopped off of his back and got into battle stances. sokka took out his boomerang, aang wielded his staff, and y/n and katara got ready to bend. 

“don’t bother,” zhao spat. he held up the bag with tui and positioned his fist next to it, posing the very obvious threat. y/n’s eyes widened and her hands fell the slightest bit. he wouldn’t. 

it turned out that he very well would. 

y/n thought that they would be safe, that yue would be safe once he released the fish after iroh’s threat, but she should’ve known a man like that would never be satisfied. just as the normal hues of the oasis had returned, zhao let out a yell and blasted the koi with fire, plunging the world into various shades of grey. 

y/n let out a strangled cry as she realized what it meant, and she wanted to unleash all of her fury on zhao. she wanted to make him hurt, make him understand just what he had done. but it seemed that general iroh already had that plan as he started firebending viciously, swiftly defeating the soldiers after zhao had gotten away. 

y/n felt like she was in a haze, following through with her movements but not actually there. the four of them rushed towards the water and yue soon joined them, all looking down at tui in horror. the moon spirit was gone, dead, killed. 

her worst fear had come true, and she stared at yue’s blue eyes, the only thing that still had color, mouth opening and closing as she tried to think of things to say. 

“there’s no hope now,” yue mourned. “it’s over now.” 

“no it’s not.” 

y/n watched in amazement as aang merged with the ocean spirit and left to defend her home, but it melted away once again when she joined the siblings, iroh, and yue at the front of the water.

“it’s too late. it’s dead.” katara stared at the dead fish when iroh placed it back into the water. it truly did seem like it was over. y/n felt none of the usual power she felt at night. if she tried to bend, she knew nothing would happen.

iroh seemed to notice yue as she stepped closer and he raised his eyebrows. “you have been touched by the moon spirit. some of its life is in you.” 

“yes, you’re right.” yue set her jaw and y/n immediately knew what she was thinking. “it gave me life. maybe i can give it back.” 

“no!” y/n and sokka cried at the same time. y/n’s voice cracked and she had to do everything she could to prevent the tears from falling. “yue, no. you don’t have to do this.” 

“it’s my duty, y/n.” her kind blue eyes, an image that would haunt y/n for years to come, glistened with unshed tears as she walked over to the oasis. this time sokka grabbed her hand to try and stop her. 

“i won’t let you! your father told me to protect you!” sokka usually guarded his emotions but this time the fear in his voice was obvious, and it hurt. he didn’t want to lose her. he couldn’t lose her. 

“i have to do this.” 

y/n wanted to scream at yue to stop, try and knock some sense into her, hold the girl that she loved back from sacrificing herself. but she just stood there, frozen, as yue hovered her hands over the dead fish. tui began to glow, and yue collapsed. 

y/n rushed over to her as sokka caught her and she fell to her knees. the tears were falling, she didn’t care, her friend was gone, she was dying. y/n felt yue’s ice cold hand on her arm and she grasped it with both of her own. her and sokka were barely holding it together as they watched the girl they both loved die in their arms. 

“y/n..” her voice was already faint, she was using up all of her strength just to talk to them in her final moments. “thank you for everything. never forget what you are fighting for. i will always cherish our friendship.” 

a choked sob escaped y/n’s lips and she gripped yue’s hand as tightly as she could, like maybe if she didn’t let go then she would come back. she couldn’t even hear what she said to sokka, all she could hear was the pounding in her head. this couldn’t be happening. 

and then she was gone. the ice cold hand in y/n’s grip was gone, the girl they were cradling was gone, and in her place was just emptiness. iroh placed the koi fish back into the water and the entire oasis filled with light, and the energy around the lake turned into yue. she was ethereal. she was a spirit. she was gone. 

yue came closer and wrapped y/n in a hug, feeling more like a gentle breeze than a real person hugging her. she then kissed sokka, and a faint smile graced her lips. “goodbye, i love you both. i will always be with you.”

and with that, she was gone. 

y/n couldn’t hold it in anymore. she started sobbing, tears wracking her body and making it hard to breathe. she wrapped her arms as tightly as she could around sokka, burying her head in the space between his shoulder and his neck, and he returned the hug. they were just two kids who had watched a girl they loved sacrifice herself. what else could they do but hold each other and hope to all the spirits that they would be okay?

~~

y/n left with aang, katara, and sokka when they decided to set course for omashu. she couldn’t stay at the northern water tribe. all it served as was a constant reminder of that fateful night, the night that she had lost her best friend. she saw yue in everything, and she knew she would lose her mind if she stayed. so she asked if she could join them on their journey, and they agreed. y/n felt a constant pit of emptiness and hoped that helping the avatar would absolve some of the guilt. 

it didn’t. 

“this is your fault, y/n.” 

the blue eyes that haunted y/n so often appeared once again, staring back at her unflinchingly. there was a certain hardness behind them, a coldness that pervaded her skin, making its way to her heart. but she couldn’t look away. 

“you should’ve been able to save me.” yue’s voice, normally soft spoken and kind, reverberated throughout the endless void y/n was trapped in. 

she looked beautiful, otherworldly. the fabric of her dress floated around her at the edges and her white hair, the ever present reminder of her connection to the moon, flowed down her back. yue appeared the same as she had when she sacrificed herself, and it was the way she would look forever. y/n’s heart ached for her friend, knowing that she would never live out the rest of her life, never get to be the ruler she was meant to be. 

she tried to talk, but her voice wouldn’t work. her throat felt like it was closing up slowly, and her limbs might as well have been cast in concrete with how heavy they all felt. yue’s icy glare disappeared from view, but her voice was still all around her. 

“you did this to me. you’re the reason i’m dead. you should’ve been able to save me.” 

the words repeated thousands of times on top of each other, becoming louder and louder that it was all she could focus on. y/n was suffocating underneath it all, she couldn’t take it. she wanted to sob out how sorry she was, tell yue that her biggest regret was not being able to save her, reach out and bring her into her world again. spirits, she wanted her best friend back so badly. 

“YOU SHOULD’VE BEEN ABLE TO SAVE ME.” the words echoed through her skull so loudly that she felt like it was going to crack from sheer force. 

y/n eyes suddenly flew open and she lurched upwards, breathing heavily, a scream on the edge of her lips that she was barely able to bite back. she clamped her hands over her mouth until she could be sure it wouldn’t come loose, and it took even longer for her breathing to get back to normal.

it didn’t look like she had disturbed the sleep of the others, but she couldn’t stay here. she got out of her sleeping bag and rushed out of their camp, making sure she stayed light on her feet so that the others could continue to rest. momo perked up as she ran past him, and y/n shook her head and raised a finger to her lips. he seemed to get the hint and went back to sleep, and with a strained smile y/n continued out. 

it was at that moment that a certain water tribe boy groggily sat up, able to catch the end of a tunic dress disappearing into the woods after he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. he thought it was katara at first but a quick glance to his side proved that his sister was still asleep. it was y/n’s spot that was empty. he immediately knew why she was gone, and he got up to follow her; there was no way he was going to leave her alone right now. sokka didn’t exactly want to be alone either.  

‘you should’ve been able to save me.’ they were words that never left y/n’s mind; at this point it was a part of her conscience. the princess had never actually said the words, her last moments had been spent reassuring y/n and sokka before she faded away, but it didn’t matter. she was constantly wracked by guilt, and though sokka did a good job at hiding it, she knew he felt the same way. she wondered if he was plagued by the same nightmares she had. it was no surprise it happened tonight of all nights — today marked one month since yue died. 

no. since yue had been killed. 

she might’ve given her life for the moon spirit willingly, but y/n blamed zhao, that fire nation admiral, for her death. he was the one that killed the moon spirit, so he was the one that had killed her best friend. she had never felt as much rage as she had in the moment that he blasted tui with fire. 

she hoped he was dead. 

y/n got to the edge of the woods and stared at the night sky, the slight breeze and the ambiance around her doing little to ease her mind. she sighed and leaned back against a tree, staring at the sky in hopes it would give her some kind of answer. but all it did was make her feel even worse.

i know you’re somewhere out there somewhere far away

yue was there. the moon was there, but yue was the moon so she was there. it felt like a cruel joke, having her so close but so far away. always within her sight but never in her reach. she longed for the days when she was able to pull the princess away from her duties to engage in a snowball fight with her friends or when yue asked her to show off her waterbending with the childlike wonder she never got to show or when things were normal and her friend wasn’t the fucking moon. 

i want you back, i want you back 

y/n felt the familiar stings of tears behind her eyes and she slowly slid against the tree until she was sitting on the ground. she bit the inside of her cheek so hard she drew blood in an effort to stop the tears, but it didn’t matter, they fell anyways. 

the empty feeling she constantly carried with her got better over time, but tonight it was just coming back with full force. she was reminded of everything that she had lost and it hurt. spirits, it hurt so much. 

my neighbors think i’m crazy  but they don’t understand you’re all i have, you’re all i have 

she pressed the heel of her hand against her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out her feelings, when she heard some branches snap. she opened her eyes and looked up, the corner of her lips quirking up when she saw who it was. 

“hi.” her voice was faint, barely noticeable, but it was all she managed to muster.

“hi.” sokka’s eyes were sympathetic as walked over to her, silently questioning if she was okay with his presence. she nodded and scooted over to make room, and sokka slid down against the tree next to her. 

they sat in comfortable silence for a while, feeling solace in the other simply being there. y/n’s eyes stayed glued to the sky, y/e/c irises reflecting the light of the stars. now that her sobbing was done, she just felt tired. traveling with the avatar was physically demanding with all the fighting and running they did, but this was mental. 

she was tired of feeling worthless. tired of feeling guilty, of feeling angry, hurt, heartbroken, regretful, helpless, weak. 

tui and la, she was so damn tired. 

at night, when the stars light up my room i sit by myself talking to the moon trying to get to you 

y/n tore her eyes away from the sky and looked at sokka. he felt the slight movement and made eye contact as well. y/n couldn’t help but think how similar his eyes were to yue’s. 

“do you talk to her too?” the question came suddenly from y/n before she even knew it, and her voice was just as soft as before. “to the moon, i mean.”

sokka’s gaze turned wistful as he watched the moon and nodded. “all the time. even if i’m just talking to myself in my head, it feels like i’m talking to her as long as the moon is out. sometimes it helps. it makes me feel like she’s still here, or like she’s watching over me. other times..”

“it makes you feel worse,” y/n finished. he nodded again and she sighed heavily. “sometimes i hate it. just looking at the moon makes me want to scream or cry or yell until i can’t anymore, because i hate it for taking her away from me. and i know she had to do it, but the irrational part of me is angry at her for leaving. and then i feel guilty for caring about myself more than her when she’s the one that’s gone, and i just—” 

her voice caught in her throat and the tears started to fall once more. it felt like she couldn’t even think about yue without crying and it made her feel even more weak than before. 

in hopes you’re on the other side talking to me too 

it hurt sokka’s heart to see her like this. yue’s death had affected both of them, spirits, it had left a hole in his heart that he was still trying to mend, but as time went on he had gotten better. but y/n had known yue for years, they had such a close bond that when sokka wanted to know advice on how to get yue to like him he came to her. and now her closest friend was gone and she had left her home and her family behind to help them on their journey.. he couldn’t imagine how she felt. but he wasn’t going to let her go through this alone. 

sokka wrapped his arm around her and though she flinched at first, y/n immediately relaxed when she realized what he was doing. he was trying to comfort her by just being there, and she appreciated it immensely. y/n leaned her head against his shoulder and the two of them sat there in silence once again, watching the sky.

or am i a fool who sits alone talking to the moon 

“you don’t have to feel guilty,” sokka murmured. “she doesn’t blame you for what happened and she doesn’t blame you for how you feel. i know that she’s watching over us right now.”

“you think?” he nodded and the smallest smile graced her lips. “she doesn’t blame you either. every time you hung out together she would come running back to me telling me how much fun she had and how she already felt so close to you, and how much you brightened up her days. she truly loved you, sokka.” 

sokka laughed humorlessly and shook his head. “i loved her too. i didn’t think it was possible to fall for someone so quickly, but she proved me wrong.”

“she was good at that. proving people wrong.” 

do you ever hear me calling? 

more silence passed. 

y/n opened her mouth and closed it again, trying to find the words.

“yue?” she started off timid, but her words gained more confidence as she went on. “i.. i don’t know if you can hear us. but if you can, i just want to let you know that i- that we miss you. not a day goes by where i don’t think of you, and i hope that you are watching down on us. because we love you. and we always will.” 

“thank you for everything you’ve done.” sokka spoke up now. “i hope you’re at peace, yue, wherever you are.”

cause every night i’m talking to the moon  still trying to get to you

y/n swore that the moon glowed a little brighter in the night sky when they finished. 

she didn’t know how time passed so quickly, but her and sokka ended up falling asleep out there, his arm around her and her head on his shoulder.

and for the first time since the siege of the north, y/n slept without nightmares. 

#atla fic #atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #princess yue #song fic #blurb #sokka x reader #sokka x y/n #sokka #sokka fic #yue #writing

[flameohotwife]

For the fluff prompt ask: 45 (Kataang, obv)? 👀

45. "You're hurt. Please just let me heal it." from this prompt list.

1.5k words. Rated G. Read on ao3.

Fire and rocks crashed down around them as Aang bent an airshield, but there were so many of them. The rebels had ambushed their tiny camp; it was just Aang and Katara and Appa and Momo on their way back to Air Temple Island from meetings with King Kuei in Ba Sing Se. Aang had immediately sent Appa and Momo to the dark night skies for safety, tucking the bison whistle into his robes for later, and the two of them fought, side by side, against at least a dozen men.

“You’ve got to get out of here!” Aang shouted to Katara as they took advantage of an opening and tore towards the nearby stream.

“And risk having to bring you back to life again?” Katara shot back at him. “Not a chance.”

Aang smirked in her direction as he easily dodged a boulder that fell between them, causing them to run off in different directions through the trees. As much as he hated having Katara in danger, he loved having her by his side for battles like this. She made him feel more confident, and they had always worked so well together, pushing and pulling and complementing each other’s every move. When they worked as a team there were very few foes that could take them down, and that was without the use of the Avatar State.

But Katara’s water skins had quickly become useless as the firebenders dried out the air around them. They had to retreat to water, and that opened them up for more attacks.

The rebels descended on them as they ran, and soon there were flying shards of rock in addition to the boulders, which acted almost like arrows. They were small but sharp, and Katara felt more than one cut into her before she got within reach of the water. She hoped Aang was faring better than she was.

As soon as she could bend water from the stream, though, it was all over. She quickly had their pursuers frozen in ice, and Aang made quick work of the rest of them once he joined up with her. Locals had heard the fight from the nearby town, and law enforcement was there to deal with the rebels before the two of them had finished putting the fires out.

Attacks like these were becoming more and more frequent, the closer they came to unifying the former colonies into what Team Avatar called the United Republic. A few rogue benders from both affected nations had joined forces to oppose their efforts, not wanting their land taken from them or their homes ‘corrupted.’ No matter how many speeches Aang gave about peace and balance and hope, these rebels always found them after. This time was no different.

Finally, the dust settled and they finished quelling the last of the flames. But when Aang noticed blotches of red dotting Katara’s blue robes, he all but flew to her side, heart racing again.

“Hey, Sweetie, you’re hurt,” he said, trying not to show the panic that had suddenly overtaken him.

“Huh? Oh,” Katara replied, looking down and noticing the cuts on her arms and back, and one low on her hip near her abdomen. “It’s nothing, Aang, don’t worry about it. Let me check you over, hm?”

“Katara.” His voice was firm, but his eyes were pleading. “You’re hurt. Please just let me heal it.”

She rolled her eyes but smiled at him and acquiesced, sitting down on the bank of the stream and holding her arms out for him to start.

Aang had never quite achieved the healing success his wife had, but after years of practice he was at least able to mend minor cuts and scratches like these. The water seemed like it was glowing brighter than usual in the dark of the forest. Luckily none of the rock shards had cut her very deep, but he still reached a little further with the water to be sure she was okay; that there was no internal damage from the impacts.

He moved from her arms to her back, and despite Katara’s earlier protests she sighed in relief as he closed all the small wounds, leaning into his touch. When he healed the small gash near her abdomen, though, knitting her flesh back together and reaching further with the water as he had done with the others, he stopped abruptly, water crashing down into her lap.

“Aang?” Katara asked, looking up at him. His eyes were wide and his mouth was flopping comically like a fish, and she shook slightly in an effort not to laugh outwardly at him.

“Sweetie?” she tried again, but Aang just smiled his brightest smile and swept her into the tightest hug.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he finally asked, quietly, into her hair, still clutching onto her for dear life. There was no judgment or accusation in his tone, just open wonder. Awe, even.

“Tell you what?” Katara had never felt more confused, but Aang just bent another small orb from the stream and pressed it fully to her abdomen this time with one hand, taking her hand with his other to feel with the water as well.

As she took control of the glowing water, probing further into the tissue there, she felt it. A small, barely noticeable change in her chi. Or, maybe, it wasn’t actually her chi at all. A faint bundle of energy that was not quite her own. She couldn’t be more than a few weeks along—she wasn’t even expecting her monthly bleed for another couple days.

“I… I didn’t know,” she said, simply. She looked back up at him and they both laughed and hugged again, shocked as they were. They hadn’t exactly been trying for a baby, but they hadn’t been doing anything to prevent one, either, now that they were married. They’d figured they would let things happen in their own time, without the pressures the world wanted to place on them. Now that it had, they couldn’t have been more elated.

“A baby,” Aang sighed. “A baby!” He took Katara’s face in his hands and kissed her with more love and adoration than he’d thought possible. In one instance his love for her had doubled, had increased an impossible amount, because she had doubled his world. There would be time to discuss names and logistics and redecorating their small house and rearranging their lives, but for now, all that mattered was that they were going to have a baby!

“It’s still really early,” Katara warned when he pulled away, feeling his excitement grow. His joy was contagious, yet she knew how often women miscarried before reaching their second trimester. “We can’t even be a month along, yet. Lots of things can happen in the next couple months so…let’s keep this to ourselves? For now?”

“Yeah,” Aang replied dreamily. He understood the risks, but also felt confident that the universe would do that to them, after all they’d been through to get here. Neither of them were supposed to be alive. Katara should have died in the Fire Nation raids and Aang should have died at the Air Temple with all the other Air Nomads, or under Ba Sing Se during the war. Yet here they were, creating new life together. New life that he had just felt with his own hands. He had never felt so ecstatic.

“It’ll be our secret, for now,” he agreed, “but I’m still going to dote on you, you know.” He stood, lifting her in his arms and pulling out the bison whistle once she was on her feet. “Let’s get home, hm?”

“Okay,” she laughed. Her own happiness and wonder, while slightly dampened with a healthy dose of reality, was still hard to contain, and it bubbled out of her as she hugged Aang again. She felt so much potential within her, not just for new life, but for renewing their lost cultures. For a new, small person with Aang’s beautiful spirit. For new love, that was already growing. She couldn’t seem to stop hugging him, even as Appa arrived to pick them up.

Aang swept her up in his arms again and airbent them both into the saddle. They settled against their bags and snuggled up for the ride, hands intertwined and Katara’s head resting softly on Aang’s chest. “Let’s go home, boy,” he called to Appa. “Yip, yip.”

Appa groaned and thumped his tail, and they were off. As they soared up to the sky, both their hearts were soaring, too. A baby, they kept thinking, over and over. A baby!

“I can’t wait,” Katara whispered, just loud enough to be heard over the wind. Aang’s smile—a permanent fixture for these last few minutes—widened, and he held her tighter. He pressed a kiss to her hair, still dirty and smoky from the all-but-forgotten battle, then moved their entwined hands to rest on her abdomen.

The sky brightened slightly before them as the sun’s first morning rays licked the sky. As they flew East towards home, they couldn’t help but feel their future brightening as well, full of promise and hope with their little secret. Their baby.

#kataang #kataang fanfic #katara #aang #atla #ficlet prompts #kataangtag #northerngoshawk #asks

[levitatingbiscuits]

star wars/atla crossover prompt: after his death obi-wan is reborn in atla

There were few things worse, to Obi-Wan, than leaving something half-done. Thankfully, for Jedi, “unfinished business” was hardly a concern; after death they still had an eternity to keep working for the good of the galaxy. 

When Vader’s saber cut through him, Obi-Wan was not afraid. 

But then he opened his eyes and found himself in a pile of baby lemurs and began to get worried.

I have a bad feeling about this...

-

Obi-Wan spent the majority of his second childhood--baby lemurhood?--worrying about Luke.

He hadn’t been able to bring himself to take Luke on as a padawan learner. He’d wanted to give the galaxy’s last hope a long and peaceful childhood, and thankfully Luke had gotten it. He was a young adult by the time the empire came, still naive and wide-eyed when his father had lost a limb and gotten married at the same age. 

Seeing Luke like that, so happy with the family his grandmother had been bought by, sometimes made Obi-Wan shamefully wish they’d left Vader on Tatooine the first time they met him. It was selfish and it was cruel, but then again, so was Vader.

Even so, Luke had gotten next to no training from him. He’d anticipated being around to guide the boy, even after death. He wanted, more than anything, to atone for his mistakes with the father by teaching the son to be better. That would not happen now.

He allowed himself to wallow until he was large enough, relatively speaking, to fend for himself. He hadn’t relished being carried about by a protective mother lemur and squashed by his... siblings, he supposed he should call them, and though he was grateful he wasn’t eager to adopt the typical lemur lifestyle. 

Now that he could come and go as he wished, Obi-Wan set out to explore this new planet. His new wings quickly became essential, as his surroundings were built as though for an avian race, or at least one that could fly. He quickly came to the conclusion that it must have been a temple, though one long abandoned.

And then he found the first body, bones stripped bare but otherwise undisturbed, and reconsidered.

He thinks that, if Sidious had left the Jedi temple in ruins rather than making it into his palace, it might have become something like this. 

The irony did not escape him.

-

Obi-Wan stayed in the ruins of another monastic order that had been eradicated, because he didn’t know where else to go. 

The Force felt strange here, as if it had taken a different color or a different shape, but its embrace was as familiar and as comforting as ever, its commands just as clear. And it told him that he must stay there.

Obi-Wan set about learning about this lost culture, as he hoped Luke would with his own. He found murals and statues and even a moldering scroll or two. The sect here seemed to have made a martial art out of Force use itself, rather than relying on lightsabers. They could move things without touching them, float, even fly with the assistance of gliders. Obi-Wan tried as many of the techniques as he could, with allowances for his inconvenient size and physiology, and some of them worked well enough. Even here, on a far-flung planet he’d never heard of, the Force still provided.

One day, children’s voices shattered the silence, and for a moment Obi-Wan feared that he was hearing the echoes of the massacre they had endured, just as he had when he saw the footage of his former padawan slaughtering the younglings. But no--these were present and excited, and when he crept up on them to watch, only one of them looked to be a survivor of the massacre--the other two had hair.

After a bit of a mishap with the older boy chasing him around the ruins in an attempt to eat him, which had devolved into hysterical cries about “air bending monkeys” after Obi-Wan had sent his club flying with the Force, the younger boy picked him up and laughingly explained that he was a flying lemur and “don’t be silly, Sokka, lemurs can’t airbend!”

Was that what they called the Force here?

Well. Obi-Wan supposed he could keep that ability under wraps, for now. He would have also been a bit perturbed to see a tooka-sized animal using the Force like a Jedi master, especially when he was young.

And then the boy found the body of his old master, which looked far too old for that to make sense to Obi-Wan, and flew into a rage unlike anything Obi-Wan had seen before, even when training the Chosen One himself.

He hopped on the girl’s shoulders when she tried to comfort him, even so, and projected kindness and safety and understanding to the child until he sank back down to the ground. The boy fell into her arms, and Obi-Wan hopped into his lap and let him hug him as he cried.

The girl, in her kindness and her maturity, almost reminded him of Padme as a child queen--but there was old hurt and rage there, lingering under the surface, that felt like Anakin had whenever he spoke of his mother.

But the boy... despite clearly being another Chosen One, in some capacity, he reminded him of Luke. His innocence, his grief, his idealism--all brought to mind the boy he’d left behind too soon.

And maybe, Obi-Wan thought, as he heard the boy speak of being the last of his order, felt his loss and his guilt and his anguish in the Force as if it was his own, he reminds me a little of myself, too.

-

In which the lemur really can airbend... in a manner of speaking. It sure looks like he’s airbending when he uses the Force, anyway. And he’s pretty helpful in teaching Sokka swordplay, too.

Inspired by that scrapped plot thread where they were gonna make Momo monk Gyatso’s reincarnation. I actually always really liked the idea. I thought it was touching and an interesting nod to the Air Nomad’s clear Buddhist roots, not to mention that line about Aang’s love for his people getting reincarnated into new love. Obi-Wan can’t really teach a padawan when he can’t talk but it’s still a lot easier than weathering Anakin’s terrible teens.

#Anonymous #my writing #crossover #atla #star wars #momo the lemur #Obi-Wan Kenobi #he takes one look at zuko and is like 'did anakin also get reincarnated' #he and iroh hang out #iroh is delighted to meet a lemur that can play pai sho and has better taste in tea than most humans #aang #katara #sokka #the southern air temple #prompt

[f0xfordcomma]

re:union (kataang week 2021) DAY FIVE

prompt: healing

re:union

chapter five: her hands, again

summary: "They sat in silence while Katara worked. Her hands guiding the glowing orb of water down his chi pathways, following the line of his arrows from the nape of his neck down his muscular arms to his wrists. The silence, Katara suspected, wasn’t helping keep the tremble out of her touch, keep her surgeon’s hands steady, but the thought of breaking the silence made her all the more antsy."

read it on ao3

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It had really only been an hour.

Zuko realized, once he had regained his wits and dealt with the matters at hand, that he actually had no idea how Aang was with babies. He was the Avatar, though, and his closest friend. And really, it had only been an hour. Of course nothing could have gone wrong. Of course he trusted him with his daughter. Of course he did…

Returning to the Fire Nation embassy in a similar huff to the way in which he had left it, Zuko found two guilty looking pre-teens, one cradling a sleeping baby Izumi, the other preparing an ice-pack, hunched around a scowling and scraped up Aang.

“What did you two do to him?”

“Nothing! We were just playing out in the courtyard, and he wanted to show us some airbending trick, and well…”

“Kiyi tripped him.”

“I did not!”

“Did too!” Zuko surreptitiously snuck Izumi out of Tom Tom’s arms before Kiyi’s inevitable strike knocked the accusatory boy on his backside.

“Guys, guys! I’m fine, really. It turns out my air-scooter is just a little bit rusty. Absolutely not your fault.” The kids didn’t hear him, already a tangled pile of elbows and mean names on the floor. Aang met Zuko’s gaze with a glint of guilt in his eye. “How was your emergency?”

“It’s been handled. How were the kids?”

“Great! We had lots of fun!” Aang’s voice was cheerful, but his expression was pained. His attempt at easing Zuko’s worries with platitudes pushed through clenched teeth was not going to cut it, and he knew it.

“Clearly…” Zuko appraised his friend once more, realizing that he was clutching his left arm with his right rather awkwardly. He groaned. “I’ll send for Katara.”

⬭

Her hands were cold on his skin before she even bent the water from the basin up to meet them. They ghosted over his shoulder, tapped his collarbone, adjusted his elbow. Each spot she touched felt electrified. Each touch reminded him of the last time he had touched her. How familiar it had been. How formal this felt.

“How do you dislocate your shoulder with a bunch of kids?” Her voice was warm, amused, but not quite teasing, not quite yet.

“Oh, well… it was an accident really. Air-scooter…”

“Ah…”

“Yeah.” He instinctively brought his uninjured arm up to cover the infrared embarrassment emblazoned on his neck.

Upstairs, baby Izumi started to fuss. “Excuse me,” Zuko, pacing and clearly deep in thought on the other side of the room, cleared his throat. Taking his leave, Zuko glanced briefly at Aang and Katara, appraising the awkward tension between them and clicking his tongue at himself, realizing that, perhaps, he should have left them alone much sooner.

They sat in silence while Katara worked. Her hands guiding the glowing orb of water down his chi pathways, following the line of his arrows from the nape of his neck down his muscular arms to his wrists. The silence, Katara suspected, wasn’t helping keep the tremble out of her touch, keep her surgeon’s hands steady, but the thought of breaking the silence made her all the more antsy.

“It—It’s good to see you, Katara.” His voice broke as the silence broke with it.

She bent the water back into the nearby basin, deliberately turning away from him as she did it, knowing full well that her face was aflame.

“It’s good to see you too.” She still wasn’t facing him, nervously drying her hands on her skirt even though they were bone dry the moment she expelled the water from them. “You—you look older.” She immediately tensed up and bit her tongue, realizing how her comment could be misconstrued.

Aang, pushing through his own bouncing butterflies at the compliment and Katara’s resultant discomposure, chuckled. “What? I thought I was looking pretty good for my age! Not a day over 84, as far as I’m concerned.”

Katara spluttered, but she had turned to face him now, ignoring the blush that she was still sporting in favor of holding her own against his teasing. “I don’t know… you can’t even stay on your air scooter, Oldtimer. It might be time to put you out to pasture…”

Aang’s jaw dropped at the jab and he threw his arms, both now back in tip-top shape thanks to Katara’s healing, in the air. “I am young and sprightly, thank you very much! I only fell because the kids were distracting me!”

“Sure, Aang. I believe you.”

Aang fought the urge to stick his tongue out at Katara, only stopping himself when he caught her eye and realized how much she, too, looked older. Her body had filled out in places, her face had thinned out in places. Her eyes still sparkled with resilient hope, but they held more wisdom, more discernment. His breath caught in his open mouth and he sobered at the sight of her. “Honestly, I’m pretty out of practice. I, uh, haven’t really been doing much bending lately.”

“Not keeping up with your katas, pupil Aang?” She chided but her voice was soft and fond.

He omitted the fact that he had never missed a day of waterbending. Every evening he’d wade in whatever water he could find and feel the push and pull. It was a relief on days when everything around him felt like squishing and stretching. It was a relief on days when he missed her. He waterbended everyday.

In the other elements, though, he’d gotten lazy. Toph would probably chuck a boulder or two at him the next time he saw her, and Zuko would glare in that unnervingly disappointed way only he could. (Fatherhood, Aang thought, was well suited for Zuko.)

He had kept up more with his airbending, if only to show the acolytes and to navigate the haunts of his childhood in the way that they were designed. But he had to force himself, sometimes, to fly. It was less than exhilarating when he was surrounded only by memories of the people he once flew with.

He wanted to tell Katara about the times he would lie in the orchard on his back with Gyatso. How they would watch the birds coast through the air, drafting off of one another. “See how the birds always flock together? Flight is a communal activity, air is a communal element.”

He wanted to tell Katara about the games that they would play as children in the air on their gliders. Diving and diverting and drafting. Dancing around one another in the air to the music of the wind and their own laughter.

He wanted to tell Katara about the way that they spoke to one another, words flowing in on the wind, stories building upon stories, voices rising over voices.

He wanted to tell her how silent it had been. How empty. How even the birds had seemed to have abandon the place long ago.

“Just didn’t really have anyone to practice with.” He told her instead.

“Now you do! Come on.” He followed her out toward the harbor, wondering the whole way if it was too late to nonchalantly take her hand.

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

look y'all! They spoke to one-another

@kataang-week

chapter one

chapter two

chapter three

chapter four

chapter six

chapter seven

#kataang week 2021 #kataang #ao3 #foxford writes words #avatar the last airbender #atla #katara #aang #healing

[stitch1830]

Okay I do not know why I’m sharing this but I have thoughts about Taang and I’m trying to write a one shot for it, but it’s taking longer than I’d like it to so here's me rambling lol.

The dunebaby kids all have names that have some sort of meaning to it (at least, for them). In some translations, Lin means “fine jade, gem” and I’m sure Aang tied that into something super sweet and meaningful (for another day to discuss lmao). Gyatso was in honor of Monk Gyatso, and Kenji in some translations means “second son, strong” and even “healthy.” From what I’ve found, Suyin can mean “simple sounding, unadorned sound.”

Also side note, my ‘research’ is based on simple Google searches. Take it with a grain of salt if you will. Anyway…

Why would they name their kid simple sounding and plain? (Also, I suppose you can look at this from any Suyin HC, but I’m just tailoring it toward Taang).

I guess my silly/long-winded HC is that Toph’s pregnancy was difficult, just physically and emotionally draining. She was tired all the time and had to endure like an extra week of the pregnancy because the kid just wouldn’t come out. To make matters worse, the baby didn’t move a lot and that concerned not only Toph but also Katara a bit.

The birth was just as bad. Long and exhausting like usual, but the progression was taking much longer than anticipated and it worried Katara enough that after the baby was born, she did her own check-up on the baby before Toph and Aang could really have a look at her or even hold her. While Katara whisked her away to an examination table, the baby was quiet for a few minutes and everyone held their breath in suspension.

But when the baby finally did cry, Toph and Aang basically burst into tears from exhaustion, relief, and joy. With their other children, they had kind of taken for granted how easy and uncomplicated the pregnancies and births were. Everything about having a baby with Lin and Gyatso was happy and fun, so it made it easy to complain and joke around about stuff. Then this baby rolls around, and she keeps them on edge the entire time with fear and worry of the unknown. Thoughts becoming as dark as wondering if they would even bring a baby home.

Then the baby cried. A cry that was loud and adamant and rather plain, and it made them realize what a beautiful sound it was. Because it was beautiful. Beautiful and simple.

And so they named her Suyin, to remind themselves to not take the small things for granted. And every time Suyin cried and moved and complained as a baby (even as a child), they always found themselves remembering that things could have turned out very differently had Suyin not cried out after she was born. Sometimes it was hard to remember, because boy did Suyin scream her head off a lot. And she only liked being held by Aang. And she was a brat during feeding time. And she never slept.

But she was healthy and strong and the simple but loud screams of discomfort meant that her parents could figure out what was wrong; they didn’t have to wait and hope that everything would be okay. They could always figure out what was bothering her.

So despite the fact that Suyin Beifong was the loudest, fussiest, most complicated Beifong baby, Toph and Aang considered themselves lucky to have their little Suyin.

#taang #atla #toph #aang #toph and aang #suyin beifong #dunebabies #taang headcanons #this is me rambling #I needed to find reasons for the kids names lmao #and this is my excuse for suyin #thank you for coming to my taang talk #don't you love the bits of information that you DON'T need in order to read one shots? #yeah me too lmao #like this will probably never come up again. #we'll see #it be like that

[sparkles-and-trash]

Zuko & Sokka; adventures of being dad’s, ft. Izumi - headcanons

requested by anon: Zukka dads taking care of Izumi 

note: I’ve already done something a little similar, so this isn’t like, 100% new, but I will never turn down an opportunity to talk about Zukka being dad’s!! 

I feel like kids maybe weren’t really a part of Zuko’s plan? 

in fact the idea kind of terrifies him

he’s just so scared to do something wrong yanno?

both because of his own trauma, but also because of his general awkwardness, like

how do you hold a baby?

what do you even say to a baby?!

Sokka is the exact opposite

he always wanted kids, he is very natural with them, and do to it with Zuko?

he couldn’t be more excited!! 

they talked about different ways to go about having a kid, the Fire Nation Council and many of the older ones in general would prefer a blood heir, and Zuko and Sokka do consider it, but...

after the war, even years after, there is a high need for orphaned children to be adopted, and as both of them are also very affected by the war, they feel kind of a connection to that situation? 

for some reason, they both expected a boy?

Sokka knows boys, he trained the kids in his village before he left with Aang, yanno? 

but then… Izumi!

and my god, she is… so small

Zuko, who was super neurotic beforehand, but he is such a natural with her, and he just, he’s so in love with her

Sokka?

disaster

or, not really, of course, but he feels like it!

at the beginning, he is overwhelmed with feeling like she’s the most delicate thing in the whole world, he constantly worries about her, about doing the right thing, always

but together, they are perfect parents, and Sokka quickly learn that Izumi ain’t made of glass lol 

they’re totally the kind of parents that can just sit and stare at their kid as she sleeps for hours

can I just... talk about Aunt Azula for a bit? 

because I think it’s so important ahhh 

so, Azula, she’s been getting a lot of therapy and help since the war, but she is really apprehensive about meeting Izumi at first

she acts like she just doesn’t care, but deep down she’s terrified of hurting her

but then they’re visiting her one day, the three of them, and as Zuko and Sokka has to leave to room to talk to some hospital staff about something Fire Lord and Ambassador stuff, Sokka just kinda hands her over to Azula before she can react

Sokka is the first to enter the room again, and finds Azula quietly crying and smiling at the tiny girl

she never wants to let her go

and she really wants to be a good aunt, man, she does

and with time, patience and lots of talking it out, Zuko is ready to let her be just that

Aang cries so hard when he first meets her sklgshgd

Toph is surprisingly good with kids, and they love her, too

Izumi can be a little shy around new people, she takes a while to warm up?

but not with Toph

she’s always so excited to see her, even if it’s months in between and she would usually be shy

Toph is def the type of Aunt to throw Izumi around and play rough with her, while Aang runs after them panicking, and Katara, Sokka and Zuko just quietly drinking tea in the background

she calls Iroh Grandpa ofc

Hakoda and Iroh are both great with her, and she loves being with them, esp when they’re all together

Katara is surprisingly(?) the aunt who always tells Izumi embarrassing (and as Izumi gets older, a little scandalous) stories about her dads

both Zuko and Sokka is very set on setting off time to just be a family, no matter how busy things get

they are new at it, yes, and they were raised in a war; but damn it, if they aren’t the best dads Izumi could ever wish for

atla requests are open! 

#in my world the whole gaang are good enough parents and have happy kids no I do not take criticism on that :) #zukka #izumi has two dads #izumi #zuko #sokka #zukka as dads #atla #atla tag #avatar the last airbender #zuko x sokka #aunt azula #azula #sokka x zuko #baby izumi #aang #katara #toph #zukka headcanons #atla headcanons

[the-last-cuddlebender]

I’m Here

The airbenders had a secret, beautiful-sounding, wordless-word language, and Aang is a lonely lil bird after he becomes the last airbender. ...so the Gaang improvises. 

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

A/N: A lil Gaang-love hurt/comfort/FLUFF one-shot because Aang needs a hug, and the Gaang will start taking people out at the knees to give him one. 

Rating: G (H for hugs)

Words: 3,491

ArchiveOfOurOwn

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

When Aang was a boy in the Southern Air Temple, he talked with his friends in whistle-speak all the time. 

They sang challenges over gales when they surfed around with their gliders, they stitched banter out of wind when they raced their bison, and they bled joyful congratulations and soft comforts into the air when words failed—when babies were born or when elders died.

He and his friends often used it to sneak around the temple. They channeled winds so high-pitched that the elders, sleeping or not, couldn’t hear them. Two tunes were a gusted high-five, and eight lifts and two pauses were a jest and a smack on the back. It was even their calling card on hot days when they were too lazy to move from their sunning spots or their bison’s backs to find each other to play. The passing breeze carried their conversations and their laughs, and it curled warmly around them with memories of good times. 

But, sometimes, when he was without a partner in the woods, Aang whistled a whirlwind that echoed across the canyon.

/I’m here./

And then he waited. And someone, somewhere, would always call back. Sometimes it was to chastise him for wandering too far, and sometimes it was to make fun of him for being so scared. He didn’t care, though. Their winds wound around him and comforted him all the same.

He hated silence. Mostly because he was so used to hearing his friends and Gyatso speaking or whistle-speaking all the time that, when it was quiet, it felt like he was alone in the world. Like something was missing.

Like he had been forgotten.

He wasn’t the only one, though. All airbenders didn't like to be alone, to an extent. Nomads migrated together. 

...But then the storm happened. And the Fire Nation. And now he was fighting a war he was a hundred years late for.

But even now he finds himself doing it on instinct. Sometimes it’s when they’re lounging as they set up camp, and other times it’s when he goes off on his own to collect kindling. Usually, it’s when he lounges on Appa’s head with his eyes on the sky, and the wordless words burning at the back of his mind spill out in braided winds.

His friends don’t notice the pain pinching his face whenever he catches himself doing it. And they couldn’t possibly feel his heart cringing—frozen—before convincing itself to keep beating. His family adores his whistle-speak, though he doesn’t tell them what it really is. He doesn’t want to talk about it. Whistle-speak was never about talking.

They say it sounds beautiful, like the wind itself was singing. They ask him on occasion—many, many occasions—to do it, just because it was pretty. 

It gets harder to hide how sad it makes him. But he would have preferred the sad feeling to what came when sadness became easy to bear.

He starts to feel nothing for the wind that carries his words without words. 

Just thinking about it made his eyes sting.

Aang loves his friends, his new family. He loves the smiles his whistle-speak puts on their faces—even Zuko’s face, once he joins them. He loves the relaxed atmosphere brought on like a spell as the winds wind around them, too.  

But he hates the pit each lyric digs deeper into his chest. The emptiness consumes him in pieces, and it only grows deeper with each note he sings. Because although he loves what they sow on his new family, his heart always bleeds into his winds those questions that never get answers—and that never will.

/I’m here. Where are you? I’m here. Are you there? I’m right here./

Aang doesn’t stop doing it, even though the silence yawns wider and wider every time. He does it without thinking when he’s alone, on instinct when it feels like his back is facing the void. 

/I’m here./

His shoulders curl to his ears, and he waits for minutes at a time. It’s only when he starts worrying why faces from a lifetime ago aren’t answering him that he remembers. He grips his staff tighter and shuffles away. He kicks the dead leaves even though their crunching screech raked across his ears. Even they are better than silence. He whistles softly between each step.

Sometimes he whistles things that Gyatso often did. Whistle-speak wasn’t as individual as a person’s voice, and if he bent the air just right, he could almost pretend it was his old master’s. He did it just to hear it. Just a familiar security. 

/Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you, Soft. I thought I might find you here. Are you alright?/

He keeps doing it even after it loses its ability to make him cry.

The Gaang eventually catches on, but not until after the war. Not until after Appa starts calling for other bison and looking sad, one day leaving them for several weeks and coming home with two other bison. His family had all guessed what Appa’s calls were for, so they weren’t surprised when he came home with friends. 

But Aang had always felt not as alone since Appa was alone with him. And after his buddy comes home with other bison and he hears them ‘talking’ softly to one another late at night when all else is quiet and he is alone in his bed, Aang finds himself whistling a broken tune. Even Momo finds more of his own after searching hard enough.

Now, he was truly alone. And the silence is deafening.

That’s when his new family notices something isn’t right. It gets eerily quiet, and they can’t find him one day. They split and search for him. 

It’s Sokka who finds him. 

He finds Aang sitting on a branch high up in a large, ancient tree. The young Avatar is hugging one of his knees while the other leg dangles, and he is whistling. The whistle is soft and soothing on Sokka’s ears even though the sound somehow carries for miles. 

After a few seconds of whistle-music, Aang stops, waiting expectantly. He swings his dangling leg to tic off the seconds.

Sokka waits to see what the airbender paused for. After a near minute, a bird somewhere deeper in the forest chirps and tweets, not holding a candle to the melodic sounds Aang can make, and after a few seconds, it stops, waiting.

And then Aang whistles again. And then he waits. 

And then the bird sings again. And then it waits.

The back and forth goes on for a while, and Sokka thinks Aang’s gone crazy. 

But then, when next the bird sings and Aang prepares to answer, another bird cuts him off. 

Aang flinches like the newcomer had smacked him in the face. Sokka winces along with him, and Aang hugs his leg a little tighter, hiding the lower half of his face behind his knee. His shoulders curl to his ears. His leg stops swinging. 

The two birds call to each other, singing together, without him. They harmonize like it was the most natural thing in the world, knowing the lyric and rhyme of their shared song so well that they don’t need to take pauses in their duet. They fly further and further away, taking their songs with them, now that they’ve found each other. 

Their chirps fade and die somewhere beyond the mountain, though their last notes echo like footprints left in their wake.

And then it’s quiet. It’s quiet for a while. It’s almost creepily quiet without the birds or Aang making any music. Sokka could’ve sworn he heard his heart beating. Even the wind died, and the trees were all still.

And then, like a beaten animal approaching its master, Aang whistles again, just a few notes. Hardly a song. More like a call. A plea.

His whistle carries loud and far, but just like the birds, it disappears into the mountains.

And then he waits. 

And he waits. 

And he waits.

He waits so long that Sokka starts to shift and sweat. Gravity itself was growing heavier in the quiet.

Aang waits some more.

Sokka’s lungs suddenly feel three sizes too small, and his heart falls somewhere by his stomach. That moment is when he realizes that Aang’s whistles are more than just the melodies of pretty songs. They’re the lyrics as well. 

He knows this because, when next Aang whistles, the sound is wet and choppy as his shoulders shake and he hugs both of his knees to his chest. His lyrics are so raw and broken and desperate that it makes Sokka’s chest cave-in like they were strikes from a metal pole to his sternum. Aang’s whistle was a universal sound, as unmistakable as a smile was for happiness or tears for sadness—a wolf’s howl after being separated from its pack.

/I’m here./

Sokka doesn’t know how Aang wants to mourn since he went out of his way to be alone, so he leaves him to get back to the others. 

And as he leaves, more whistles and long pauses follow behind him, like the mournful wails from the creatures in the sad stories told by tribesmen who’ve been at sea for too long. 

...The group discusses this finding, and Zuko, who studied air nomads in his quest to capture the Avatar, pieces everything together. They are all heartbroken and think back on every time Aang had whistled and how much they liked the sound and how they even sometimes asked him to do it. They all feel horrible. 

But Katara has a plan, and Sokka has the brainpower to make it work. 

So over the next few weeks, Katara and Toph follow close behind Aang whenever he wanders off. They study his songs, and Toph, having the best ears of all of them, can pinpoint almost every note that he makes. When they rejoin the others, Katara makes little ice vases and bends water atop them to emulate the whistles, and Toph is the gauge by which the pitch is corrected. They do this as well as they can for as many notes as they can (also trying to write down Aang’s songs like sheet music, but it is very difficult). 

Once they have enough data, Sokka spends several weeks, as often as he can with Zuko’s assistance whenever the Firelord has time, whittling the sizes, diameters, and depths of the correct notes into a type of ocarina. He makes one for each of them. Every ocarina is about the size of their palm and is given a little personalized flair that Sokka is quite proud of. 

They spend weeks and weeks practicing Aang’s songs. They dodge him and collaborate their schedules like they were planning to invade the Fire Nation while undercover all over again.

And then, one day, they master a few of his songs. They’re not nearly as flowing or clear or beautiful as Aang’s whistle-speak (Zuko said that’s what it was called)—and the sounds don’t carry nearly as far—but they were as good as they could get. It was, after all, impossible to capture the songs of the wind unless you were born of them.

...And not too long after comes the day to surprise him. 

Aang is up in his tree again, singing and waiting, when, from out of nowhere, there comes a response. 

He damn near breaks his face as he falls from his branch to the ground. He slips on the dead leaves and falls three more times as he scrambles to stand. 

Aang’s pulse pounds so loud in his ears that each thump feels like an earthbender somewhere is lifting and dropping a mountain. He has no idea what the whistle-speak said, so he asks, on impulse, one of the same questions he had been singing since he woke up in the South Pole. 

/Are you here?/ 

And he gets four responses.

/I miss you./ 

/I’m here./ 

/Where are you?/ 

/I’m here./ 

And Aang’s heart throws itself so hard and so fast against the cage of his chest that it felt like it might burst out of his torso. 

He chases their sounds, whistle-speaking like he was talking a million miles an hour—

He skids to a stop when he sees them. 

He stares, and they stare back. 

He is still high on adrenaline and frozen in place when he notices the small blanket they were sitting on. And the tea and small fire pit. And the few bits of burning incense—incense that he hadn’t smelled since a lifetime ago.

His confusion is nearing critical mass, but then Katara plays her ocarina. 

And Aang freezes, his breath leaving him like he had just been thrust under icy water.

There’s an awkward pause as he doesn’t respond, but then Sokka plays the same notes that Katara had.

And then Toph.

And then Zuko.

And each lyric plucks Aang’s heart in his chest.

/I’m here./ they all say.

Aang only makes it three steps towards them, his shaking legs not letting him run over and hug them before his first sob breaks him into a kneel. The next brings him to his knees, and he is surrounded by warmth and kind voices just as he learns to breathe again.

And he weeps.

He weeps so hard that even the presence of his past lives at the edge of his mind is somber and sad.

But his family holds him closer, holds him tighter, and they each tell him that he is theirs and that they will never let him go. They won’t let him drown in the silence anymore.

They eventually break apart, and Zuko places something in his hand as Aang chases away the last of his tears. It’s an ocarina. The wood is smooth and the whittling is sloppy, but the focus put into each cut is clear and shakily sanded as carefully as one could. 

It has a messy, squiggled air nomad crest carved onto its front, and on the underside, protected under a thick coating of lacquer, are the names of his family in four sets of handwriting that he recognized. And there’s a message, right beneath, in Sokka’s nearly illegible but very carefully carved font. 

/We’re here./

Aang vaults himself into his big brother’s arms. 

Sokka pats his back and tries to hide from the others how tightly he returns his hug.

There’s tea and more talk, and Toph asks Aang to teach them the ‘whistle-speak’ like she was asking him to share the code to unlock some large safe. Aang just smiles and asks them to teach him since he didn’t know how to work this thing.

He doesn’t need to learn, but he wants to. He wants to learn and have them share as much with him as he with them. He wants them to learn together in that moment.

And so, Aang teaches his family the language of the wind, the whistle-speak of his people.

The silence becomes a passing thought like a fading bad dream. 

And when next Aang is by himself and feels that inky blackness winding around him like chains and sinking into his racing heart like claws, he swallows dryly, scared like he was about to jump from a cliff without his glider, and he whistles.

His lyrics are weak and timid in the night air, but they carry far because they came from an airbender’s lungs. 

/I’m here./

There’s a long beat of silence, but then, in the distance, there comes an answer. It’s incredibly high and scratchy because whoever was making it was blowing their lungs out trying to make the sound travel as far as possible, but it was a response, nonetheless. 

Then there is another, a little further to the left. And then another. And then another, close by. 

/Oh, there you are./ 

/I’m here./ 

/Where are you?/ 

/Looking for you./

Something blossoms in his chest. It’s warm like he’s never felt before. It makes him feel all fuzzy inside. 

Aang whistles again.

/I love you./

He gets four immediate responses—one now much closer than before.

And there are no pauses in their group duet. 

/I love you./ 

/Are okay?/ 

/You okay, Soft./ 

/Find you here./

He is laughing and crying when Katara—the closest whistle—appears at his side, looking concerned. She doesn’t get more than three doting questions in before Aang is hugging her and drowning his jumbles of tearful laughs into her dress. 

The others whistle more—high, fluttering sounds concerned with the lack of Aang’s response. Katara one-handed whistles back a choppy response. 

/I’m here. Soft okay./ 

She hugs him tighter and rubs his back. Aang melts into her until even his legs give. Katara kneels with him on the ground, and she pulls him deeper into the protective circle of her arms, guiding his head to her shoulder and rocking them as she fills his ears with gentle words and soft coos. He is laughing and crying so hard that he can’t speak, and his grip becomes desperate like he thought she would be ripped away from him.

Katara holds him closer. She fists handfuls of his robes like she was silently promising to never let him go. She kisses the dip of his neck and shoulder, and, for the first time, whistles without her ocarina.

/I’m here./

Aang cries harder and for a while before he stops, not because he wanted to or because he had emptied all that he was feeling but because his body had nothing left to give. But by that time, his family had whistled demanding their location, and Katara had vaguely answered one-handedly. Everyone is there as he chokes down his final sobs. He just smiles, now, utterly exhausted. 

They sit on their knees and hug him until their legs tingle numbly. Aang is too exhausted to walk when they get up, so Zuko crouches and makes a ‘come on’ motion with his hands behind his back. 

/I’m here, Soft./

Aang’s smile is tired but blinding as he crawls onto his Sifu Hotman’s back and latches on like a koalapanda. He doesn’t have the strength to form words. When he tries, it’s a gargled hum. 

He whistles. 

/You’re here./

Zuko laughs and pats his leg.

And Aang gets four responses. 

/I love you./ they all say.

Aang closes his eyes and hangs his arms over Zuko’s chest. Katara and Toph hold his fingers in a gentle grip to remind him that they were there. Sokka walks behind him with his hands on Aang’s shoulders—patting and rubbing his back intermittently—, and when Aang teeters dangerously on unconsciousness, Sokka is half-keeping him pushed up on Zuko’s back. 

And on the way back to camp, his family practices a little whistle-speak conversation without their ocarinas. Aang didn’t know they had been practicing such a skill, and he doesn’t question the choppiness in their winds (the sounds are almost scratchy because they were blowing and not bending the air, but he could not give any less of a damn. They curled around him just the same).

Aang gently, tiredly, chimes into their conversation, forcing himself awake, even though he couldn’t even force his eyes open, so he doesn’t miss a single lyric. 

...They keep the whistle-speak their little secret for the longest time—years and years—, but when their kids all learn it with their own ocarinas, their offspring exploit it as much as they can. 

And their collective parents are driven crazy by the antics they accomplish with it. 

Except for Aang.

The once boy now man lets them get away with anything short of a felony. He even plays dumb when Katara demands that he at least try to stop Bumi the next time the toddler tries to raise hell with his sister and little Lin. 

Aang nods his head but crosses his fingers, and he couldn’t care less about that little guilt as he sits on the roof and listens to the whistle-speak of their little ones’ conspiring. Their plotting reminds him so much of him and his friends when he was a boy—the time gray and faded in his mind like a past life—that it nearly pains him from how happy it makes him. 

And then, one night, little Tenzin is awake. And he is alone. 

/I’m here./

His shaky whistle is wet and high-pitched like a choked whimper. 

/I’m here. I’m here./

And Aang is at his side in an instant. He hushes and coos him, easing away his little tears and rocking him in the protective circle of his arms. Small hands curl chubby fingers into his robes like his son thought his father would be ripped away from him. 

Aang smiles and soothes him to the tune of a whistled lullaby, gentle winds curling around them.

/I’m here./

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

I think imma make a part II because everyone ALWAYS needs more hugs

Bonus Point about whistle-speak

PREVIEW OF PART II: “Are You There?”

PART II: Are You There?

#Sokka is ~the big brother everyone needs~ #protective gaang #aang needs a hug #avatar the last airbender #atla #the legend of korra #lok #post #whistle-speak #gaang #kataang #zukka #aang #katara #sokka #zuko #toph #wholesome #hurt/comfort #fluff #sweet ending #bumi #kya #tenzin #lin beifong #someone give tenzin a hug #ao3 #rated h for hugs #myfanfictiontag #myhctag

[su-univeralai]

Hi Su! I have a question....

What were Toph and Aang's reactions to all their pregnancies/incoming dunebabies?

Oh boy! This is something I have strangely haven't thought too hard on, but here goes something:

So I HC them popping out babies from a young age, earlier than the rest of the Gaang, which is a shock to everyone. Gyatso is the oldest of all the next gen babies except Azula's daughter, who is three years older than him.

Gyatso: I think Gyatso is born when Toph and Aang are around 18 or 19, and is definitely a surprise. They had been dancing around admitting their feelings for each other until they were 16 and now 2-3 years later, they've got a bun in the oven. They both intended to be life partners, but Toph hadn't considered being a mother, yet. Both were nervous about being parents because Toph didn't have a great time growing up with hers and Aang grew up in a community. But with a lot of help and bothering from Katara, the pregnancy goes well and the Gaang eases their nerves of becoming parents.

T&A = 19

Three years later

Lin and Tenzin: Gyatso begged Nana and Amma for a little brother or sister since he could talk. Toph had always intended to have multiple children once they had Gyatso since she hated being an only child, so now was a perfect time to have a kid. Of course they were shocked when she heard two heartbeats instead of one, and that got them nervous for a new reason. They'd be outnumbered lol. Even as wombmates (lol) Tenzin and Lin fought with each other, making for a rough pregnancy.

T&A = 22, G = 3

Six years later

Suyin: Su was another surprise baby. After the roughhousing that the twins did in Toph's womb, she was good with three kids, but fate had another idea when Su was conceived. Now, in their late-twenties and with the rest of the Gaang popping kids out left and right, they didn't have to worry about Su being younger than the rest of her siblings.

T&A = 28, G = 9, L&T = 6

Five years later

Songa, Kera, and Choekyi: Yet another surprise with becoming pregnant. An even bigger surprise when they realized they had one-upped themselves by having triplets. Aang and Toph had tried having another kid a couple years after Su was born, but never succeeded and gave up. With Gyatso, Lin, and Tenzin now being adolescents, and there being triplets on the way, Nana and Amma roped the three of them into contributing to taking care of the rapidly growing family.

Toph was done with giving birth after Choekyi came out and threatened Aang not to get her pregnant again.

T&A = 33, G = 14, L&T = 11, S = 5

But alas, another three years later Gyun came around.

Gyun: Toph was not happy finding out she was pregnant again. Weren't seven kids enough? apparently not. Even the rest of the Gaang had stopped having kids at this point, but Toph and Aang were making an army of dunebabies - unintentionally of course. Aang was thrilled to be having another kid because their family was starting to become like his childhood, a community as a family, but everyone had the same parents!

T&A = 36, G = 17, L&T = 14, S = 8, SK&C = 3

One year later

MeiLin: They actually conceived MeiLin quickly and was trying for her, wanting Gyun to have someone around his age to play with. By this time, Toph being pregnant was a family affair and everyone took part in raising the family. MeiLin and Gyun are known as Irish twins because they were born within a year of each other.

T&A = 37, G = 18, L&T = 15, S = 9, SK&C = 4, G = <1

Three years later

Tiao Wu: The last surprise, and a difficult pregnancy. Toph destroyed the fighting ground she was practicing on when she felt the heartbeat of Tiao Wu in frustration. Katara had told her that she couldn't get pregnant anymore just a few months ago, but lo and behold, another baby. Aang nervously laughed more scared at what Toph was going to do than worrying about a 10th child. Let's just say that Katara got an angry welcome the next time she and the family visited.

T&A = 40, G = 21, L&T = 18, S = 12, SK&C = 7, G = 4, M = 3-4

LMAO Ok stitch! Here are the reactions of all the children that Aang and Toph have. I think... more than half of them were happy surprises? That's 21 years between the oldest and youngest of the dunebabies

#dunebabies madness #many happy surprises #they be popping out babies left and right #taang #thanks for the ask stitch! #ask me about my dunebabies #chaotic energy here