#at first they assume she's like. back home at one of the poles. Sokka does not clarify

[incomingalbatross]

Absolutely no offense to Sokka/Suki, but I think there should be AU content where Yue becomes the Moon but then she and Sokka just... keep dating. She uses her spirit powers to hang out with him somehow and, well, the one benefit of having given your life for your people is that at least you don't have to give up your love life for them now, right? Sokka adapts easily enough to having a spirit girlfriend, because it is frankly not the weirdest thing that's happened to him.

Potential futures, ranked from most to least angsty:

Sokka being the Moon's Husband until he dies, bringing the inevitable, tragic yet beautiful until-the-end-of-time parting that ends mortal/immortal relationships.

Avatar-world variant: Sokka dies but reincarnates, and the Moon shines more brightly on every one of his future selves, whether he knows why or not. (Sometimes he does.)

Sokka also ascends to spirithood at some point by virtue of Being The Moon's Husband, and basically becomes the Knowledge Owl Guy's nemesis because he A) is very involved in the mortal world and B) thinks that information should be free.

Variant: Sokka replaces the Ocean Spirit through some convoluted turn of events, making him and Yue the new yin-yang of Water.

Related, but different: Sokka just gets a nice house in a corner of the Spirit World where Yue stays between moonset and moonrise. If Iroh can, why not Sokka?

Anyway, this way you get the wholesomeness of these two finding happiness and love together even after everything; the comedy of Sokka actually DATING THE MOON and probably being very chill about the weirdness; and the incredible potential of an immortal spirit Sokka.

#Sokka declares himself the guardian spirit of every Avatar #'the Avatar IS the Guardian Spirit of the WORLD--' '--which is why it's so important somebody looks after you!! duh. #also perpetually showing up to mentor/haunt scientists and inventors he approves of #but also living!sokka carrying on a long-distance relationship with yue ❤️ #talking to his girlfriend whenever the moon is visible #yue appearing to him whenever she can #probably can only fully manifest on the full moon or something but you make it work right? #he talks about 'my girlfriend yue' in casual conversation and it takes a LONG time for new people to figure out that relationship #what do you mean she said x last week?? they've never met her?? #at first they assume she's like. back home at one of the poles. Sokka does not clarify #'my first girlfriend turned into the moon' 'that's rough buddy' 'it was! but we're in a really good place now #*smiles at moon* 'so maybe there's hope for you and your ex.' zuko:??? #atla #Sokka #yue #Sokka/Yue

[bonesbuckleup]

Lord, this answer got long. I’m a little embarrassed about it, but I wrote it, so it’s getting posted. It’s a literal essay. Sorry but also not?

TLDR: Yes, the show is arguably unfair to Sokka about Kya, but it also follows a pattern where Sokka stays quiet about Bad Feelings and plays by the rules established for his character. Katara, meanwhile, grieves loudly and often, and appears to be under the impression that because Sokka’s grief is silent it doesn’t exist, which also fits her character/interactions completely. Neither of them are right or wrong, but it sets them up on inevitable collisions.

Now. If you want to join me on a cactus-juice fueled descent into madness, proceed below the cut.

Number one. We’re referring to this exchange in “The Southern Raiders,” where the Gaang is talking about Zuko and Katara going after the man who killed Kya, which is vicious and brutal and never reflected on:

Aang: You sound like Jet. Katara: It's not the same! Jet attacked the innocent. This man, he's a monster. Sokka: Katara, she was my mother, too, but I think Aang might be right. Katara (angry, yelling): Then you didn't love her the way I did! Sokka (visibly hurt, softly): Katara.

And that’s it. Upon returning, Katara apologizes to Aang and not, as Anon is absolutely correct in pointing out, to Sokka, who is 100% the more injured party. Now. Is it possible this is one of the rare missteps from the atla writers? Yes. Absolutely. Is that the answer I’m about to write a literal fucking essay about? No. Because it’s more painful fun to take it as face value and talk subtext.

First, a reminder that this show is fucking good at what it does. It teaches you how each character grieves as we go: Aang explodes, often triggering the Avatar state, usually crying or angry, and when he does try to repress his Bad Feelings it rarely lasts longer than a day; Toph either shuts down or gets mad, but either way she doesn’t like people seeing her having Bad Feelings and often storms away, knowing that she can’t control it no matter how much she might want to; Zuko yells at the sky in a rainstorm or yells at his dad in an underground tunnel or challenges Zhao to an Agni Kai or yells at his uncle in a jail cell and generally is an emotive nuclear bomb because the boy has feelings and if he keeps them inside for more than three seconds he might explode okay.

Then we have Katara and Sokka.

Let’s start with Katara, since she has the most textual and straightforward displays of grief. She’s really the only one to talk about Kya’s death in Book 1. If Sokka mentions it, it’s barely in passing. I don’t think we hear Hakoda address her death at all (which I’ll return to in a moment.) Katara’s grief is loud. It’s angry. It’s still very much a living thing for her. She thinks she sees Kya in the swamp and breaks down crying, and tells Aang and Sokka about it with no hesitation. When she’s angry and sad at Hakoda for leaving, she acts out and is visibly upset with him, yells at him, cries at him. She out-loud hates Zuko when she comes to the conclusion that he told her about Ursa and got her to talk about Kya to manipulate her. It isn’t that her grief is performative, because it’s a very real and terrible thing, but it’s a grief that’s to be witnessed.

Then, Sokka. Sokka’s grief is more complicated because it exists almost entirely in subtext, especially in regard to Kya. We really only hear him talk about Kya twice, both in Book 3. First, to Toph, when he tells her that he can’t remember what Kya looks like. Worth noting, however, that even though it is Sokka talking, this is still centered on Katara and Katara’s grief. The next time is when Zuko asks what happened to Kya, and Sokka tells the story that leads into the initial flashback. Sokka doesn’t talk about his mom. This is a fact of the show. It’s such a fact of the show that, in “Southern Raiders,” after the exchange at the start of this post, while Katara and Zuko are on the hunt, Sokka doesn’t bring up Kya again and is messing around with Aang. Like nothing has happened or is currently happening--which I’ll come back to in a moment.

So while we can use Kya as a perfect example of how Katara grieves, we can’t really use her for Sokka. So let’s use Yue instead. Moments we see (or don’t see) Sokka grieving Yue:

In the opening to Book 2, we briefly have a shot of Sokka with the moon imposed behind him.

“The Swamp,” where Sokka’s vision is of Yue accusing him of not protecting her. This one is one of the more textual moments of grief--”I think about Yue all the time”--but what’s awful great about it is how Sokka tells Aang and Katara. Aang, obviously, has no qualms about sharing his vision. Katara openly talks about seeing Kya. Sokka only tells them about Yue when explicitly asked. Even then, he doesn’t mention what she said to him. From this, we can assume that Sokka is still holding onto a lot of guilt over her death--guilt that he won’t let Aang and Katara see. Anyway. Moving on.

“The Serpent’s Pass.” After spending all day panic protecting Suki, he tells her that he lost someone, but doesn’t go much further into detail, just saying that he can’t when she tries to kiss him. Of course, this is all happening in front of the moon. Again, though, Sokka stays vague. He doesn’t tell her any details.

“The Puppetmaster,” Toph posits that maybe the moon spirit has gone mean and is kidnapping people. Sokka snaps at her, in a moment definitely meant for laughs, saying, “The Moon Spirit is a gentle, loving lady. She rules the sky with compassion and ... lunar goodness!” It is a funny moment, but here’s what we can take from it: Toph doesn’t know about Yue. Toph is a Feral Bastard a lot of the time, but she also knows where the line is, and I don’t think she’d’ve said that if she’d known.

“Boiling Rock,” in arguably the most quoted (and well deservedly so!) line in the entire show. “My first girlfriend turned into the moon.” “...that’s rough, buddy.” COMEDIC GOLD. Also, weirdly, the literal only time that Sokka explicitly tells someone about Yue in the course of the show.

“Ember Island Players” which I haven’t hit in my rewatch yet, but I definitely remember a moment where Suki asks Sokka when he was gonna tell her he made out with the moon, and he tearfully shushes her. Again, played for laughs, but the implication is that he still hasn’t told Suki about what happened.

This plays perfectly into the same way that Sokka (doesn’t) talks about his mom. When the Bad Feelings come, Sokka either avoids them and finds a distraction (Goofs with Aang--see, told ya we’d come back to that) or stays silent. When someone explicitly asks him about the Bad Feelings--what he saw in the swamp, what’s eating at him in “Sokka’s Master,” why he’s panic-protecting Suki--he’ll answer, but often talks around the actual issue. (Interestingly, it’s in regard to Suki we see the most explicit manifestation of Sokka grieving as Azula taunts him during the invasion: he cries, he attacks Azula, he yells and questions her despite the fact he knows she’s wasting their time. I think this one hits him because, as this beautiful post points out, Suki’s the protector in the relationship, and Sokka can actually chill out for 2 seconds. But he let his guard down, and Azula got Suki. Anyway. That’s probably a different essay: back to the matter at hand.) We even see this in “Boiling Rock.” There’s a moment where they think Hakoda is not with the other political prisoners. Sokka’s tense, drawn tight, but the only thing he says is, “No.”

Basically, we’ve got Katara, who grieves loudly and rages and is kinda like white-water rapids that churn and churn and churn. And we’ve got Sokka, who, to quote John Mulaney, looks at his grief and says, “I’ll just keep all my emotions right here and then one day I’ll die.” Iceberg grief, to keep the water metaphor going.

And where did these come from? Yup! Water Tribe gender roles! What we know from the show is that, while the South is typically more progressive (women can train as benders and marry who they want, at least) than the North, it’s still very rigid: the men are warriors/hunters/protectors, the women stay home to cook/clean/child-rear.

Now: subtext! And why I think they are this way!

We’ll start with Katara. The last waterbender in the South Pole. She no doubt grew up doted on. If I say she’s most likely a little spoiled, I don’t mean it in a bad way--I mean it in a she’s the last living remnant of this aspect of their culture kind of way. When raiders come, she’s probably the first priority to protect. Kya dies to keep her safe. Her needs are generally put before the community as a whole. (This isn’t to say that Katara doesn’t contribute or care about her community, because she 100% does). But! Especially in Book 1, we see Katara often considering her opinions as facts (trusting Jet, the waterbending scroll) and doesn’t always pause to consider the larger impact that her actions will have (scroll and Jet again, challenging Pakku, dressing up as the Painted Lady despite the fact the factory will hold the village responsible). And many of these actions are good! But we see a lot of Katara being pretty self-centered--what can I do, how does this impact me, how do I feel about this? And this isn’t a bad thing! This aspect of her character makes her complicated and complex! Katara loves her family and protecting people and caring for them! She’s extremely empathetic! But she also struggles to meet people where they’re at when they emote in a different way than she does (see: her clashes with Toph, her initial problems with Zuko joining the group, the above interaction with Sokka). It’s also worth talking about how Katara witnessed her mother’s death, which no doubt makes her grief about it a sharper thing.

Then, again, Sokka. Also loved in his community! But a normal kind of love, I’d assume. He probably was raised on stories of the Fire Nation dragging waterbenders away. No one exemplifies the Water Tribe ride-or-die mentality quite as well as Sokka, or the gender roles of the man as the warrior/protector, so you gotta believe Hakoda raised that kid to look after his sister at all costs, which we see throughout the show (already preparing to go after Aang in the South Pole because he know Katara’s going anyway, “You burned my sister!”) And he isn’t there when his mom dies. He finds out later. He goes from feeling like a victor who helped chased the raiders away to the worst realization of his life. I have to imagine he’s ashamed by the fact that he thought everything was going to be okay, which leads into his worldview of assuming that nothing is okay ever in any circumstance.

Finally, Hakoda. Who never, unless I’ve forgotten something, talks about Kya. All we know is that their family fell apart after her death (per Sokka in “The Runaway,” learning how Katara stepped up to hold everything together) and sometime after he took the warriors and straight up left. He apologizes for leaving but doesn’t address the fact that he left Katara and Sokka with no parents at all, only the war. This is, uh, not exactly echoing a healthy coping mechanism?

My theory: Kya dies. Since the Water Tribe is so embedded in gender roles, Hakoda probably shut down and/or checked out emotionally for a while. This leaves his kids on their own to deal with their shit, and we learn Katara does everything she can to keep her family going. As the most protected individual in the South, Katara’s probably been taught that emotions equal attention, and uses her temper/caring/sadness to help bring her community closer. Meanwhile, Sokka, who hero worships his dad, watches Hakoda go stoic and learns that “real men” shove their shit down. Additionally, Katara’s grief is deafeningly loud, and Sokka’s number 1 role is to keep Katara safe. He’s taught that the Bad Feelings only get in the way and make things worse, and so he learns to be fine no matter what kind of terrible is going down around him.  Basically, Katara learns to use grief as a needle and thread, and Sokka learns to bury it as deep as he can and avoid it at all costs. Opposite reactions to the same trauma. Katara gets mad and demands to be heard and listened to and seen, and Sokka gets sarcastic and prepares himself for the day the Fire Nation ships come back for his sister.

So. Back to those above lines from “Southern Raiders.”

From a writing standpoint, I do wish the final moment was between Katara and Sokka versus Katara and Aang. They could’ve had an almost identical interaction, but it would’ve been more nuanced. I don’t think that Katara needed to apologize, but I think we needed some acknowledgement from both of them: Katara continuing the lesson she’s learned about how her pain doesn’t entitle her to hurt other people (including Sokka, who is there no matter what she says or does), and Sokka that Katara’s process of grieving had to involve this catharsis.

Or. Maybe not. Because again--subtext. Their grief works in such different ways that I have to imagine this isn’t a new fight. It was probably brutal and vicious for a very long time. Maybe that’s part of what made Sokka try and go with the warriors. Maybe that’s part of why Katara gets mad so quickly in the first episode of the show. But eventually, unable to find an answer, they just...stop talking about it. Because the two of them don’t talk about it. Katara only talks about her mom with people who aren’t Sokka, and Sokka does exclusively to Toph and Zuko.

The only time I can think of Katara and Sokka talking about it together is the exchange at the top of this post, and it gets ugly fast, and it isn’t brought up again. It’s a fight that will never be resolved, because they fundamentally can’t react to one another in a way that can be universally understood.

“You didn’t love her the way I did!” Katara yells, loudly, because if Sokka loved her then why isn’t he raging? Why isn’t he getting his sword and coming to help her? Why doesn’t Sokka want to burn this firebender to the ground and make him see and hear and look at what he’s done to the world? To their family? He must not understand. He must not care as much or he’d be screaming with her.

“Katara,” Sokka says, much quieter, and adds nothing else. Not because there isn’t anything else to say, but because Sokka can’t talk about this kind of thing. Not doesn’t want to, but can’t, because it’s his job to protect people, protect Katara, and if he lets all those old hurts come boiling up he can’t do that, because that ends with losing focus and losing control and people getting hurt or going away. Why can’t she understand that?

And then they do what they always do. They don’t bring it up again.

#LITERAL ESSAY BY TUMBLR USER BONESBUCKLEUP #Sokka #Katara #atla #this is what isolation has done to me #this is the nerdiest bullshit that I've spewed in a while #felt good though #writing's been hard recently #I'm working myself back into it through atla shitposts and meta #long post #If I could harness this energy into something other than fandom I might rule a small country by now? #oh well

[sokkas1mp]

I gonna break in this acocunt with me being angry about something that doesn't really matter (very fitting for tumblr if you ask me), this article.

First: "And I’m sorry to open with this, but part of that is due to the age difference between them. Two years is hardly worlds apart (I’m personally working with four), but a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl are. Especially the way these two are drawn. Not to be too voyeuristic about Y7 cartoons, but Katara has clearly gone through puberty, while Aang hasn’t. There is something just…off, about a sixth grade boy having a full on make-out sesh with a high school girl."

This argument is one of the most stupid ones if you ask me, because it blatantly ignores the culture we have been presented by the show. I can understand why people find this weird, but we have to try not to look at it as if its our society, because its not. In A:tla, specifically the water tribes, 16 is marrying age. Right there, our "age norms" (idk what else to call it) are very different. And there are no divisions between ages in their world like we have with middle and high school. To me, two people are fit to be together based on their maturity, not their age. That's why 45 & 40 is not the same as 15 & 10, or 20 & 15. This is the same for Kataang. They have very similar life experiences and matured together, literally side by side, so a two year ago gap is irrelevant.

Second: "...Katara took on a very maternal role with Aang. Sure, she’s a caretaker and sort of a “mom friend,” but it’s a bit more than that. She served as his literal guardian during the show’s run—there’s just no other way to look at it. By the third episode, she called herself his “family,” and later even went on to role play as his mother to get him out of trouble at school. Aang, meanwhile, was… Well, I wouldn’t say “immature” for his age, […] However, Katara is 14 going on 25, while Aang is just, Aang."

There's a compilation of Katara doing thing with Aang that if someone saw a mother doing with her son they would call it incest:

Katara definitely acts motherly towards Aang, but that is just her nature. She is more than just motherly with him. And some people like to call the check kisses familial (which is kinda weird imo), but we know Katara herself doesnt think that:

"Easy there, big brother" She pushes Sokka away. Not to mention, this was about a scene or two before she kisses Aang on the check.

Calling someone close to you your family does not mean you see them in the same way you see your parents/siblings. And Sokka played Aang's father in that scene, but we aren't sitting here using that as evidence to call him Aang's paternal figure.

Something Aang haters forget (or chose to ignore) is that being lighthearted and goofy does not equal immature. Yes, Aang does some juvenile things, but that shouldn't take away from his growth and maturity.

Third: "In fact, in the last season, Katara was shown to be uncomfortable each time Aang kisses her, and even went as far as to tell him to back off with the romantic stuff in the episode before the finale, because she was confused about how she felt. [*new paragraph*] Yet, in the end, she just trots up and blushes at Aang, than happily makes out with him when he goes for it,"

Katara initiated 2/4 of the kataang kisses (not including the check kisses). The kiss in The Cave of Two Lovers and the kiss in the finale. Yes, she's the one that "goes for it" in the finale (she also initiates the hug). She only pulls away once out of the 3 times we see a kiss end (this would be excluding the kiss in The Cave of Two Lovers). She wasn't confused about her feelings, she didn't want to have to worry about a relationship when they were nearing the end of the war.

Fourth: "The post-canon comics only furthered the lack of exploration of her feelings in this relationship"

Fifth: "[referencing a scene in The Promise in which Katara is jealous of a fanclub being around Aang] "I'm sorry, this amazing, adult communication is blowing me away"

The are both still teenagers, who have zero previous relationship experience. Also, Aang had no ill intentions and Katara recognized it.

Sixth: [refencing Katara's role in The Legend of Korra] "Did Katara want to do anything other than sit in a healing hut and be known for having Aang's kids?"

This is another argument that just pisses me off. You can not use Katara's lifestyle in her 80s (she is 85 in s1) as judgement for her adulthood. It's purely assumption based. Constantly this author assumes that because she is in a relationship with Aang, Katara would drop her whole personality. What? Katara would not and could not be forced to do something or conform to some label and Aang wouldn't let it get to that point either. He would squash any idea that she is just "The Avatar's wife" or "The mother of the Avatar's children" the minute he heard it.

Seven: [comparing Katara's reaction to Aang The Desert to Aang's reaction to Katara in The Southern Raiders] "You'll spend a long time looking for her condescending tones. "Anger won't help, Aang," Katara never said, because she got that he was processing something painful and needed to sort it out himself. This difference in behavior is something that would be really fitting for a twelve year old boy to learn and understand. There's just no indication that he ever did."

Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I don't remember Aang being condescending towards Katara. He was offering his advice because he knew her and knew that she would regret doing what she thought was right when her judgement was clouded by anger. And guess what. He was right. He never forced anything on her, either. Sure, he was a bit more pushy than he could've been, but in the end he let her go on the trip with no complaints. He even agreed that this was something she had to do.

Eighth: [referencing The Ember Island Players] "When the actor says 'Wait! I thought you were the Avatar's girl', Aang agrees. Katara is his."

You know damn well Aang doesn't see Katara as just his. And she's give him PLENTY of reason to believe that his feelings are reciprocated (which they are).

Ninth: "It's the story of a woman who swallows everything lest the man she's interested in has to learn anything about his behavior that violates her boundaries."

Ha! You said she was interested in him.

But in all seriousness, you mentioned how Katara stood her ground and told Aang that she was confused, but apparently now she's swallowing her feeings.

Tenth: [talks about the cloud babies daddy issues]

I don't disagree with what is said here, for the most part, but I don't think it is a reflection on Aang and Katara's relationship.

Eleventh: "... given what what we got with Kataang, it's completely unsurprising that Aang and Katara's parenthood/adult life was defined by a lack of communication and availability, at least from what we can tell. This also puts Katara's choice to immediately moved to the South Pole once Aang died in perspective; perhaps the city he poured all his energy into, at the cost of his family, held some bitter memories."

Once again with the lack communication. We can't use the early years of their relationship to determine their whole relationship. Also, there wasn't consistently a lack of communication, you just pointed out one time and ran with it.

We don't know at what point Katara moved back to the South Pole, but there are plenty of reasons for Katara to leave Air Temple Island:

a) Her son moving in/or planning to move in with his family.

b) She was no longer needed in the city and thus had no need to stay.

c) She wanted to go back to her native home for comfort after the love of her life died at a relatively early age.

d) The next Avatar was discovered and she came home to train them.

That's all. Thank you for reading my unnecessary rant if you made it this far, and I just want to close out with a few things:

- There were some things in the article that I did not include for the fear of this becoming a novel of me repeating myself.

- I agree with most thing said in the final segment of the the article. Most, not all.

- I appreciate the author for not trying to shove Zutara in just because Kataang wasn't there. That is becoming increasingly uncommon, so it was nice to see.

#kataang #pro kataang #katara #aang #pro katara #pro aang #atla

[babypandawrites]

Allies, Pt. 7

Bato of the Water Tribe

Pairing: Sokka x F Reader Warnings: None Word Count: 3,614 Summary: Meeting Bato and getting to see Southern Water Tribe things was nice, but, the visit probably could have gone better if you were being honest. 

-Navigation- | -Allies Masterlist- | -Atla Masterlist- 

“Where did those two go off too?”  Y/n took a look around the forest area, as she walked with Katara.  “They’re over there… what are they doing?” Katara pointed off in the direction Aang and Sokka were at, before walking over to them. Y/n followed her. It seemed like they were looking for something.  “Did someone lose something?”  “No, we found something.” Aang looked in a bush as he spoke.  Y/n approached a tree that had burn marks on it. She ran her hand along them, eyebrows furrowing together. “Firebenders we’re here.”  Sokka came and stood next to her, looking at the tree. “There was a battle. Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders.” He looked down, and began walking down the hill. “The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill…”  She lingered for a moment, letting her eyes fall shut as her nails dug into the burnt wood. Part of her wondered if her brother had been here. Sighing, she shook the thoughts away, and was quick to catch up with the others just as they reached a beach.  “Wait! Look!” Katara pointed at the beach shore. There was a water tribe boat. “It’s one of our boats!” Sokka ran over to it, the other three following.  Once they’d gotten to it, the four looked up at it.  “Is this… Dad’s boat?”  Sokka rubbed his hand along the ship’s prow, smiling. “No, but it’s from his fleet. Dad was here.” 

They’d stayed at the beach, near the Water Tribe boat, and set up camp there. Appa and the four of them were around a campfire. Aang and Katara were asleep, Sokka sat awake tending to the fire. Y/n had yet to fall asleep, but still laid on her back like she had, and arm draped over her eyes. Sighing, she sat up. Hearing her, Sokka was pushed from his thoughts, jumping in place slightly.  He looked over to her with a confused look. “I thought you were asleep.”  She shook her head softly. Moving to sit next to him, she pulled her knees up to her chest. “I wasn’t able to. You can’t either?”  “No.” He went quiet for a moment, gaze looking back to the fire. “How come you can’t sleep?”  Resting her chin on her knees, she wasn’t able to answer before he spoke up again. “Is it because of your brother? Katara mentioned he was fighting in the war like our dad a while back.”  “Yeah. I’m guessing you're being kept up because of your dad..?”   He offered a nod. “He was here.” Pausing, he looked at her again. Her expression was melancholy. “Maybe your brother was here too, do you know what fleet he’s in?”  Right, Sokka thinks that…  “I don’t know. I wasn’t ever told anything more than he was going to fight in the war...”  Y/n breathed out a sigh, tracing patterns into the sand with her finger. Sokka placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.  Their heads snapped to the side, upon hearing a sound. When they stood up, Sokka gently nudged her behind him.  “Who’s there?”  A bandaged man who came from the Water Tribe started to slowly approach the camp. He looked between the two for a short moment. “Sokka?” His guard dropped. “Bato?”  Aang woke up. “Who the what now?” Katara, also awake now, got up off the ground. “Bato!”  The man, Bato, hugged the two. “Sokka! Katara! It is so good to see you two! Oh, you’ve grown so much.”  Aang bowed slightly. “Hi, I’m Aang.” Y/n offered a small wave. “Y/n.”  Bato gave a nod of greeting to the two.  “Where’s Dad?” “Is he here?”  “No, he and the other warriors should be in the eastern Earth Kingdom by now.”  They all shivered as the wind picked up.  “Brr! This is no place for a reunion. Let’s get inside.” Bato put his arms over Katara and Sokka’s shoulders, and motioned for Aang and Y/n to follow them. Appa got up and walked away from the campfire after them. 

Bato led them to a monastery complex, speaking as they walked through the main gate. “After I was wounded, your father carried me to this abbey. The sisters have cared for me ever since.” He turned his head to one of the nearby women. “Superior, these are Hakoda’s children. They’ve been traveling with a friend of theirs and the Avatar. I found them by my boat.”  The woman bowed. “Young Avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey.”  Aang bowed as well. “Thank you! It’s truly an honor to be here. If there’s anything-” Sokka cut him off. “What smells so good, Bato?” He sniffed the air. “The sisters craft ointments and perfumes.” “Perfume? Maybe we can dump some on Appa? Because he stinks so much! Am I right?” None of them looked amused.  “You have your father’s wit.”  Bato led them around once again, this time to where it was assumed he was staying.  Katara looked around excitedly. “Bato! It looks like home!” Sokka joined her. “Everything’s here, even the pelts!”  The pair examined the room, Y/n quickly joining them. She looked about in amazement, carefully dragging her hand along one of the pelts. “Woah…” Sokka glanced at her with raised eyebrows.  “You act like you’ve never seen this kind of stuff before.” “I haven’t.”  His head turned to the side in confusion. “Didn’t you say your grandma was from the tribe?” “She is. My mom didn’t live in the South Pole when I was born though. I’ve never been.”  “Oh, sorry I just assumed that-” “It’s a reasonable assumption.”  Aang stood by the doorway, holding a disconcerted Momo. “Yeah, nothing’s more comforting than dead animal skins.”  Katara’s attention was drawn to a pot in the center of the room. She opened it up. “No way! Stewed sea prunes?” Bato chuckled. “Help yourself.” “Dad could eat a whole barrel of these things.” Sokka moved to sit down next to her sister, by the pot. He patted the ground next to him. “Y/n, come here you gotta try these.”  Y/n sat down next to him, while Aang sat back from the group. She was a little hesitant to try it when she was handed a bowl. Honestly they weren’t terrible, but she couldn’t see herself eating more than the bit she’d been given.  “Bato, is it true you and Dad lassoed an arctic hippo?” Katara asked.  “It was your father’s idea. He just dragged me along. Well, the hippo did the dragging.” “Hey, I ride animals too! One time there was this giant eel-” Sokka cut Aang off. “So who was it that came up with the great blubber fiasco?”  Bato laughed. “You knew about that?”  “Everyone does.” “What’s that story?”  Y/n glanced over at Aang, before looking back at the others. “Yeah, I’m curious too.”  “It’s a long one, some other time.”  She furrowed her eyebrows together as Sokka waved off their curiosity. Setting the bowl she held down, she walked over to Aang- who was dejectedly sitting by the door with Momo -and sat next to him. He muttered something under his breath, the most she caught was about them being ignored. She placed a hand on his shoulder.  “They’re just excited about seeing Bato, I don’t think they mean to brush us off like that.”  “I know…” He sighed. “You should go back over there Y/n… You’re a part of their Tribe too.”  She shrugged. “Barely.”  He put his hand on her back, and nudged her forward a bit. “I’m also pretty sure Sokka wants you over there… Momo and I will just hang out back here, alright?”  “You're sure?” “Yes, go.” “Okay, okay..”  Getting up, Y/n went over and took her spot next to Sokka again, listening in on the story Bato was telling. She didn’t catch it all though, something about a water spirit. 

“There’s something I should tell you kids. I’m expecting a message from your father.”  Katara’s eyes lit up at the news. “Really?” “When?”  “Any day now. Your father said he’d send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you can wait here until the message arrives you can come with me and see your father again.” Bato paused, looking at Y/n. “You can come too, your brother might be there.”  She laughed nervously. “I don’t know about that.” The siblings were a lot more thrilled at this news than her, or Aang.  “It’s been over two years since we’ve seen Dad! That would be so incredible. Katara?” “I do really miss him. It would be great to see Dad.”  “It’s been far too long, hasn’t it? I’m not sure when word will arrive, but when it does..” Sokka’s expression dropped slightly. “It would be great, but we can’t. We have to take Aang to the North Pole first.”  Katara nodded in agreement. “Even if we had time to wait for the message, who knows how far we’d have to travel. We don’t have time for a long detour.”  Y/n breathed out a small sigh of relief. “Yeah, they’re right.”  “I’m sure your father and your brother would understand and both be proud that you're all helping the Avatar. Y/n, if you let me know your brother's name I’ll tell him you're doing alright if he’s there.” “Uh.. his name is Mozi.”  “I’ll keep an eye out for him.”  Y/n glanced over to the door as it opened. Had Aang left…? “Hey everyone! Sorry I was gone so long.” Katara looked over as well. “Hey Aang, I didn’t notice you left.” “Yup, but now I’m back. Sure… could go for some delicious sea prunes!” He spoke with an exaggerated happiness, grabbing a bowl as he sat down. He began to munch down on the sea prunes, but spit them back out a few moments later.  They all looked at him strangely. 

The next day, Bato took them back out to his boat. “This ship is sentimental to me. It was built by my father.”  “Is this the boat he took you ice-dodging in?” “Yeah, it’s got the scar to prove it. Huh. How about you, Sokka? You must have some good stories from your first time ice-dodging?” Katara stepped into the conversation. “He never got to go. Dad left before he was old enough.” “Oh, I forgot you were too young.” Y/n raised an eyebrow, looking between the three. “What’s ice-dodging?”  Aang moved to stand next to her, also curious.  “It’s a rite of passage for young water tribe members. When you turn fourteen your Dad takes you.. You know what.” Bato placed a hand on Sokka’s shoulder. “You’re about to find out.”  Sokka, who’d been a little down before, smiled.  They’d all boarded up onto Bato’s boat, it sailed through the waves near shore.  “Ice-dodging is a ceremonial test of wisdom, bravery and trust. In our village it was done by weaving a boat through a field of icebergs.” Sokka looked at him confused. “How are we supposed to ice-dodge without ice?”  “You will be dodging… those.” He pointed ahead, to a thicket of stalagmite like rocks.  Y/n gulped.  “Sokka, you steer and call the shots. Lead wisely. Katara, Y/n, you two secure the mainsail. The winds can be brutal, so be brave. Aang, you control the jib, without your steady hand we all go down. Your position is all about trust.”  Aang looked around nervously. “I know that! Why wouldn’t I know that? I’m the Avatar! I know about trust.”  Y/n gave him an odd look, but didn’t say anything as she took her position at the mainsail with Katara.  Bato sat down at the bow. “For this to be done right I cannot help. You pass or fail on your own.”  The four got ready at their respective position, looking at the rocks ahead with fright.  “Alright! Aang, ease up on the jib. Katara, Y/n, steady! Aang, less sail!” Sokka directed them, pulling the tiller to his right. “Katara, Y/n, give him room!”  They all did their part, weaving the boat in and out of the rocks.  “Aang! Helm to lee! Helm ot lee!” “What does that even mean?!”  All four of them struggled, but were narrowly able to miss a huge pile of rock. Sokka wiped the sweat from his brow.  “Great job guys!”  The ship entered a cul de sac ringed by jagged rocks, at a high speed. Katara’s eyes widened, as she looked back at her brother.  “There’s no way through!” “We can make it!”  Bato stood up. “Sokka, you’ve already proven yourself, maybe we should-” Sokka cut him off, and was quick to tell everyone what to do. “Aang, I’m gonna need air in that sail! Katara, I want you to bend as much water as you can between us and those rocks! Y/n, I need you to keep the sail under control! Now!”  Aang started to push wave after wave of air into the sail, while Y/n did her best to keep it steady. Katara raised the ship up on an accelerating wave of water. The wave carried the ship safely over the ring of jagged rocks. Sokka fell back against the tiller with a sigh of relief, as the others smiled for their accomplishment.  Back at the beach, Bato scooped some black face paint from a bowl. “The spirits of water bear witness to these marks. For Sokka, the mark of the wise, the same mark your father earned.” He marked Sokka’s head with a dot and a half circle above it.  “For Katara, the mark of the brave. Your courage inspires us.” He marked Katara’s head with a crescent shape.  “For Y/n, the mark of the brave as well. You may not have grown with us, but today you’ve proved your place in the Water Tribe.” He also marked Y/n’s head with a crescent shape.  “And for Aang, the mark of the trusted. You are now an honorary member of the Water Tribe.” He marked Aang’s head with a half circle.  “I can’t.”  Katara looked at him with surprise. “Of course you can!” Aang wiped the mark from his head. “No, you can’t trust me.” He backed away, head hung low. “Aang, what are you talking about.”  He held out a crumpled scroll. “A messenger gave this to me for Bato. You have to understand, I was afraid you’d-” “This is the map to our father!” Sokka looked at Aang, surprise and pain written on his face. “You had it the whole time!? How could you?” Aang shriveled back. “Well, you can go to the North Pole on your own! I’m going to find Dad.” Sokka started to stalk away angrily.  Bato looked between the two boys. “Now Sokka, I think you should-” Sokka interrupted him. “Katara, are you with me?” Katara looked at Aang, before lowering her gaze to the ground. “I’m with you, Sokka.” She turned away. “Y/n?”  Glancing between Sokka and Aang, Y/n mouthed a ‘sorry’ to Aang. She turned and followed after the others. 

Back at the abbey Y/n, Sokka, Katara and Bato were all getting ready to leave, putting on their backpacks. After Katara had a short exchange with Aang, the four of them walked out of the gate of the abbey.  As they walked down the road, a wolf could be heard in the distance. They stopped to listen.  Katara frowned. “That wolf sounds so sad.”  “It’s probably wounded.” Sokka commented.  “No, it’s been separated from the pack. I understand that pain. It’s how I felt when the Water Tribe warriors had to leave me behind. They were my family and being apart from them was more painful than my wounds.”  Y/n’s gaze dropped to the ground, as she gripped the straps of her backpack. “I understand that pain too…” She didn’t elaborate past that. Bato gave her a sympathetic look.  Katara looked at her brother with concern, noticing his sadness. “Sokka?”  He was silent for a moment. “We need to go back. I want to see Dad, but helping Aang is where we’re needed the most.”  “You’re right.” Katara smiled.  Though still downtrough, Y/n nodded in agreement. Bato placed a hand on each of the siblings shoulders. “Your father will understand. And I know he’s proud of you.” “Thanks, Bato.” “I know where to go from here.” He handed Sokka the map. “Take this in case you want to find us. I’ll leave a message at the rendezvous point.”  The three had started to walk back to the abbey. Sokka motioned for the two girls to stop, when a galloping sound could be heard from the distance. Suddenly a shirshu jumped behind the three, they ran. The three turned around to face their pursuiters after coming face to face with a ledge.  Y/n had to do a double take of who was riding the shirshu. “So this is your girlfriend.” Zuko jumped off the animal, and approached the three as the woman with him spoke. “No wonder she left, she’s way too pretty for you.”  “Where is he? Where’s the Avatar?”  Sokka’s gaze hardened. “We split up! He’s long gone.”  “How stupid do you think I am?” “Pretty stupid.” He grabbed Katara and Y/n by the arm, and started pulling them along with him. “Run!”  The trio didn’t get very far, however, because the shirshu paralyzed them with its tongue. They hit the ground with a grunt.  “What are we supposed to do now?”  “It’s seeking a different scent- Perhaps something the Avatar held.”  The shirshu moved forward and started sniffing at them. A map scroll fell out of Sokka’s backpack, it must be picking up Aang’s scent from there. The three were thrown up over the shirshu, before it started running in the direction of the abbey.  It crashed through the doors at the entrance of the abbey, some of the sisters who’d been near it were sent running. The shirshu sniffed at the ground, and started to walk in circles.  “What’s it doing? It’s just going around in a circle!”  It continued to follow the scent in a circle for a short moment. Before Y/n knew it, the shirshu was jumping at something, but got knocked off balance. All of them fell to the ground, along with the creature.  “Aang!”  She smiled at Katara’s exclamation. Thank goodness he was here, though it kind of sucked that the way she landed prevented her to see what was going on. How long was this paralysis going to last? What she could see from how she landed, however, was that Iroh had landed not too far from her. The man had gotten up from the ground, and dragged her off to the side. Now she could see that a fight was occurring between Aang and Zuko. She was propped up against a wall.  “It is good to see you are doing alright, Y/n.”  Iroh spared her a few words, before running off, seemingly to help the woman he and Zuko were with. Two of the sisters dragged Sokka and Katara over as well to get them out of the way of the fight. She couldn’t see the fight very well from the way her head hung low, but she is fairly certain she heard an explosion.  “Hey, I’m starting to get some feeling back!” Above them the roof rumbled, and tiles fell onto them- but mostly Sokka -from above. “Ow!” Y/n laughed a little.  The three had gotten enough of their movement back to stand up, with the support of the wall however. One of the sisters put some sort of perfume under their noses and it seemed to help.  “That thing sees with its nose. Let’s give him something to look at.” Sokka said.  “The perfume?” He offered a nod.  Sokka and Y/n helped the sisters push large pots of perfume out into the courtyard, and pushed them over. Katara used her bending to pull the perfume into a large sheet that she dropped over the shirshu. All the perfume scents must have confused it, because it started to rampage. It paralyzed Zuko and the woman he’d been with, before crawling over the abbey houses and running off. 

The four of them we’re quick to get up onto Appa, and fly away.  “So, where do we go?”  The three of them turned to look at Aang.  “We’re getting you to the North Pole.”  “Yeah, we’ve lost too much time as it is.”  Y/n nodded in agreement with the siblings. Aang turned back to look at them, expression twisted to confusion.  “Don’t you guys want to see your family?”  Adjusting how she sat, Y/n hugged her knees to her chest. “Of course, but, your our family too Aang.”  Sokka nodded. “Yeah, and right now, you need us more.”  “And we need you.”  Aang rested his chin in his hand. “I wish I could give you a little piece of home, Katara. Something to remind you-” Katara smiled softly. “I’ll be okay.” “Still, just a little trinket. Maybe something like…” He jumped up, and proudly offered Katara a necklace. “This!”  She gasped quietly, before taking the necklace from him and happily putting it on. Sokka did a double take.  “Aang, how did you get that?”  “Zuko asked to be sure I got it to you.”  Y/n leaned closer to Sokka. “I feel like I’m missing something here.”  “It’s something she lost before you joined our group.” “Oooh.”  “Oh, that’s so sweet of Zuko. Would you give him a kiss for me when you see him?” Katara spoke with mocked appreciation.  “Sure!” Katara leaned forward and pressed a kiss on Aang’s cheek, causing the boy the blush.

#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

[firelxdykatara]

Touching Zuko’s Scar

It’s entirely possible that someone has written meta on this before, and possibly done it better/more eloquently than I’m about to. However, I have Things To Say and I’m going to say them, and hopefully my point comes across! This post is largely spurred on by a few posts I’ve seen in the tags lately which have... rather baffling takes on the whole ‘who touches Zuko’s scar and why’ situation, particularly in regards to feeling the need, for some reason, to diminish the scene in which Katara touches his scar and the importance of that moment for both of them.

From what I can tell, this was done in an attempt to prop up Maiko, which I suppose makes some amount of sense since that is a ship which can barely stand on its own without tremendous amounts of headcanoning to fill in the gaping holes left by the fact that the entirety of their relationship development happened off-screen (and the glimpse we do get into it in the ‘going home’ midquel comic leaves a lot to be desired in terms of why Zuko would even want to be with her, but that’s another discussion entirely). But it still doesn’t quite fit, because the scenes with Katara and with Song are so much more meaningful, both in terms of Zuko’s arc and the way the girls relate to him (and it also ties into Katara feeling so hurt by Zuko’s betrayal, and needing more than any of the others before she can forgive and accept him into the gaang).

Now, that out of the way, I do want to say up front that the intention here is not to be particularly anti Maiko, but to examine the situations in which Zuko’s scar is touched (or almost touched), and the similarities two of these scenes have which are not shared by the third (at which point, you’re obviously free to draw your own conclusions).

Also, please bear with me--I can’t take screenshots or anything, so I’ll reference scenes and the episodes they come from but there won’t be images.

Under a cut bc this got long

To start off, there are three moments in the entire series where a character touches, or tries to touch, Zuko’s scar with her hand. (I say ‘her’ because all three instances occur with girls near Zuko’s own age.) The first moment is in The Cave of Two Lovers, the second episode of book two--this is the moment where Song sees Zuko’s scar, recognizes it for the intentional burn from a firebender that it is, and reaches for it.

Song: Can I join you? I know what you’ve been through. We’ve all been through it. [looks at Zuko’s scar] The Fire Nation has hurt you. [she slowly reaches for his scar, but before she can touch it, Zuko grabs her wrist and stops her; she puts her hand back in her lap] It’s ok. They’ve hurt me too. [pulls up the leg of her pants to reveal the burn scars there]

The second moment comes at the end of book 2, in The Crossroads of Destiny, in a moment that is a deliberate parallel of Zuko’s connection with Song--but this time, he lets Katara touch him.

Katara: [she holds up a vial] This is water from the spirit oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I’ve been saving it for something important. [moves closer to Zuko, standing in front of him] I don’t know if it would work, but... [Zuko closes his eyes, and Katara’s fingers touch his scar; the scene holds there as the music swells, before they’re interrupted]

Like Song did, Katara felt a connection to Zuko via a similar trauma he suffered. However, unlike Song, Katara knew who Zuko was--the banished prince of the Fire Nation, and someone who had been her enemy for most of the past several months. However, she still feels compassion and empathy for him, and it is for this reason that she takes his subsequent choice harder than anyone else in the gaang does (and why it takes more for him to earn her forgiveness).

Now, the third moment is... rather incongruous. There is neither compassion nor understanding involved in touching his scar, there is no real emotional connection, and it comes right on the heels of his girlfriend--someone we’re supposed to believe cares about him and his emotional wellbeing, since they’re in a relationship (which happened off-screen, but I digress)--shutting down his attempt to talk about his feelings, something that will present a conflict in their relationship later on.

Mai: [yawns] I just asked if you were cold, I didn’t ask for your whole life story. [she moves forward, smirking, and then chuckles, putting one arm around his neck and pulling his face towards her with her other hand] Stop worrying. [they kiss, and then Mai walks away, leaving Zuko to stare out at the horizon again; the wiki transcript says he looks relieved, but to me he looks resigned more than anything]

What’s interesting about this moment is, for one thing, it’s unclear if Mai is even supposed to be touching his scar at all. Giancarlo Volpe, the director for this episode, put the original storyboards for the scene up on his DeviantArt, and in them, it seems he was fairly careful to make sure Mai was not touching Zuko’s scar. This would make sense, considering that touching Zuko’s scar was presented as a very big deal--he specifically prevented a girl from touching his scar in the beginning of book 2, and at the end, he allowed another girl to touch him, showcasing vulnerability and trust in that moment. It is the culmination of one small part of his character arc, and that makes the moment that Katara touches his scar even more meaningful.

Of course, I can’t say definitively that it was an animation mistake or something that was deliberately changed during production (which, considering there is a moment later in the book where Bryke mandated a change, isn’t outside the realm of possibility), but it does present interesting implications.

However, even if you take the scene at face value and assume that Mai was intended to be touching his scar....it’s still presented in an entirely different framework than the previous two scenes, despite occurring almost immediately after Zuko’s moment with Katara in the caves (at least as far as episode count).

The different framework being, of course, the fact that it.... doesn’t mean anything at all.

In the first two scenes, Zuko’s scar and his pain--as well as the pain of the girls who are forging an empathic connection with him based on understanding each other’s trauma--is the focus. Touching, or attempting to touch, Zuko’s scar is the point--it is very deliberate, and there’s no way to argue against it because the writing is very explicit, and nothing else would make sense for those scenes. On the other hand, you could take out the moment where Mai touches Zuko’s scar and lose absolutely nothing--because the focus is not on Zuko, but rather on the fact that he was attempting to open up emotionally to his girlfriend (and note that this is the first indication we get in the show that they are together--take out the kiss completely and no one would even know they’re dating, let alone supposedly like one another even as friends), and was shut down with a sarcastic quip, ostensibly because Mai simply didn’t want to hear it. (This is in keeping with her later characterization, where she would much rather distract him and keep him from actually talking about any of his problems, but @araeph goes into the nature of Mai and Zuko’s emotional intimacy [or lack thereof] in much greater detail in this essay, so I won’t get too deep into it here.)

Mai touching Zuko’s scar doesn’t mean anything to the audience because it doesn’t mean anything to Zuko. He doesn’t react to or acknowledge it in any way, it’s as if he doesn’t even notice it happening (perhaps because it wasn’t supposed to? but again that’s speculation), and nothing in the scene would change if it didn’t. It simply doesn’t matter. On the other hand, Song nearly touching Zuko’s scar and then Katara actually touching his scar? They matter to him--and to the show, and therefore the audience--very much. Both moments are incredibly important to Zuko’s overall arc, because together, they show how far he had come in his own emotional journey over the course of the book.

Of course, it isn’t enough to keep him from choosing to side with Azula, because his journey was far from complete--but the fact that he was able to show such trust and vulnerability to a girl who had been his enemy not very long ago? That was huge. Because Zuko didn’t just let Katara touch his scar--he closed his eyes. She could have hurt him in that moment, but he trusted that she wouldn’t. He trusted that she was willing to use special water she’d been saving for something important--and he trusted that, in that moment, he was important to her.

It wasn’t just Zuko showing trust either, though--Katara showed trust in him. She trusted, after a few minutes of conversation and learning about the loss of his mother (and, specifically, the fact that the Fire Nation was responsible for the loss of his mother, just as it was responsible for the loss of hers), that he had changed--that he was different, and she could trust him. She was willing to use the spirit water she’d been carrying around for months on someone who had recently been so much an enemy that she fled from the tea shop, convinced that he’d somehow infiltrated the city and was planning something.

The fact that she trusted him in that moment is exactly why she took his next choice so hard, but it is also why their relationship cemented itself so solidly after The Southern Raiders, giving them quite possibly the strongest relationship in the gaang outside of Katara and Sokka.

Anyway, that was a lot of words for what essentially amounts to this: Song attempting to touch Zuko’s scar in the beginning of book 2 is explicitly paralleled by Katara being allowed to touch his scar at the end of it, and both moments occur during scenes where Zuko’s pain and trauma are acknowledged and validated, and where the person he’s speaking with feels a connection to him because of that shared trauma--because they understand what he has been through. It’s likewise important to note that while Song didn’t actually entirely understand, because she didn’t know who Zuko was or what being traumatized by the Fire Nation actually meant to him, Katara did--and she still was able to feel for him, connect to him, and want to help him.

By contrast, the moment with Mai occurs in a scene where Zuko’s pain and trauma are invalidated and dismissed, where his girlfriend attempts to distract him rather than help him through what is clearly a moment of great emotional turmoil. No, she shouldn’t have to be his therapist, but emotional support is vital in any relationship--especially when one party is traumatized and desperately needs support and love--and it is notably lacking from Maiko, starting from their very first romantic scene together.

Make of that what you will.

#atla #zutara #zuko #katara #mai #song #maiko salt #just covering my bases #atla meta #zutara meta

[sokkascroptop]

traitor. (sokka x f!reader) pt 4

A/N: ensue cute lil fight scene; this is short but the next part is... v long >:)

part 1 | part 3 | part 5

And then there were three. 

Zuko met Y/N on the steps away from the house. He had a single bag slung over his shoulder. Birds chirped off in the distance and if Y/N really listened she could hear the ocean slapping against the sand. 

“I’m glad I don’t have to convince you that coming back is the right thing to do.” The corner of her mouth turned up. This was the first time she had directly addressed him in three years. “Where’s Iroh?” Y/N asked. 

Zuko picked at his tunic. He had yet to meet her eyes.“He’s not coming.”

Y/N’s eyebrows shot up. Azula said that Zuko and Iroh had been inseparable since Zuko’s banishment. She couldn’t go back to the ship with only one of the captives.  “What do you mean?” 

Zuko sent a look back to the house and started down the stairs that led down the mountain. “Let’s get going.”

Y/N huffed out through her nose and jogged to catch up with Zuko who’s pace was frighteningly fast down the steep stone stairs. “Why doesn’t Iroh want to come back?” 

He kept his eyes trained on the ground as he answered. “He says he’s never known my father to regret anything.”

“I was there when he told Azula. He does.” The lie slipped off her tongue easily. 

Zuko’s eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks. He didn’t say anything but his eyes asked the question his mouth couldn’t form: Really?

He’d always wanted to make his father proud, ever since they were children. Even after all that the Fire Lord had done to him, he was still so desperate for his approval. 

Y/N spoke the words she’d practiced in the mirror before heading up the mountain. “It’s very important to him that you come home, Zuko.” Y/N couldn’t stomach another lie. And technically, this one wasn’t a lie. It was a half-truth. It was important to the Fire Lord that Zuko go back to the Fire Nation, even if it was under the guise that he’d be welcomed back with fanfare. 

Zuko turned to look out at the sea of cherry-blossom trees and rocks to the ship on the water. The ship that he thought was god-sent. 

“Wait! Don’t leave without me!” Iroh shouted as he came down the stairs. 

“Uncle,” Zuko beamed up at him. “you’ve changed your mind.”

“Family sticks together, right?” Iroh asked as he placed a hand on Zuko’s shoulder. 

“We’re finally going home,” Zuko murmured under his breath in amazement. 

The sight of them both staring out onto the water made Y/N bite her lip. She wanted to tell them that they needed to turn back and run but she kept her mouth shut. It was her duty.

“Finally going home,” Iroh repeated as Zuko stepped away and resumed heading down the mountain. He looked to Y/N who worked to keep her face neutral. He didn’t look as fooled by her as Zuko was. 

In front of them the guards lined up on either side of the dock. They stood at attention with their traditional helmets and masks on. Y/N walked ahead, they were almost home free; just a few more steps before she hit the ramp. She walked to stand next to the ship’s captain as Azula addressed them. She was smiling at her victory already.

“Brother, Uncle, welcome” Azula bowed deeply which Iroh and Zuko returned. “I’m so glad you decided to come.”

The captain faced Y/N and nodded at her to go up the ramp first. Excitement burned in her chest as she squinted through the sun at Azula and made her way back to the ship. 

“Are we ready to depart, your highness?” The captain asked. 

“Set our course for home, Captain.”

“You heard the Princess! Raise the anchors,” the captain shouted from behind her. “We’re taking the prisoners home.”

Y/N had just reached Azula. Their faces mirrored one another from shock to outrage. Y/N whirled around on the captain who looked like he wanted to die on the spot. “You idiot,” she growled. She landed a swift kick to his stomach, effectively pushing him off the ramp and into the water. Her cheeks heated up in anger. Had he just shut up, Zuko and Iroh would be on the ship and in cuffs down below deck. It would have been easy for Y/N to get over her guilt about capturing them if she didn’t have to look in their eyes and face them. Now there was going to be a fight. 

Iroh had already turned on the guards around him, dodging fireballs and knocking them into the water with the grace of a much younger man. 

There was no one between Zuko and Y/N on the ramp. Y/N still hadn’t pulled her sword. It wouldn’t have been much good against his firebending anyways. “You lied to me!” he bellowed. His eyes burned into hers like he was shooting flames out of them. Y/N felt like she couldn’t use her voice, it had suddenly disappeared between the mountain and the dock. 

It didn’t matter, Azula assumed he was talking to her and answered for Y/N. “Like I’ve never done that before.” She grabbed Y/N’s arm and wrenched her back onto the ship, leaving Zuko to fight the guards that had just been flanking her. Azula gave her a little push to the upper deck and when she removed her hand Y/N realized her arm was burning where Azula touched her. She was geared up for a fight all along. 

Zuko’s anger fueled his fight. He stood on one foot and kicked one guard in the chest and punched the other, flames cracking as they left his hands and feet. Y/N stood on the upper deck watching it all unfold below her. Zuko ignited two knife-like flames from his hands. Azula’s back was still to him and Y/N knew immediately that whatever Zuko had planned was no match for Azula’s fight.  

“Zuko! Let’s go!” Iroh shouted from the dock. 

He ignored his uncle and began attacking Azula with fervor. He punched and kicked and sliced with his fire but each strike just missed Azula by a hair. She weaved around him like cat-snake in the reeds. She blocked a downstroke and pushed him away. 

“You know Father blames Uncle for the loss of the North Pole,” she taunted. “And he considers you a miserable failure for not finding the Avatar. Why would he want you back home except to lock you up where you can no longer embarrass him.” For a moment, Y/N thought that Zuko might surrender, or at least run from Azula and her guards. 

Instead he attacked again. 

Just as before, Azula evaded every strike and she had yet to throw any fire against Zuko. But Y/N was sure that wasn’t because she didn’t want to hurt him, she was just waiting for the right moment. They slowly made their way up the ramp to the upper deck. Y/N held her ground, she wasn’t afraid of a little heat. 

Suddenly Azula grabbed Zuko’s wrist, Zuko tried to jerk away at the last second, knowing what she was going to do, but she held fast. She shot a line of blue fire just over his head as he rolled backwards down the ramp. Y/N caught his expression when he landed in a crouch. Shock. He’d never seen her make blue fire before.

Zuko was still as Azula swirled her arms around her body creating a circle of energy. Lightning crackled around her, ready to be released. 

“Azula, don’t!” Y/N yelled. She didn’t know what made her do it but Y/N couldn’t watch as Azula killed her brother with that stupid fucking lightning. 

Her voice was enough to make Azula falter. The lightning faded for a moment before coming back stronger than before. Y/N drew her sword and started towards Azula unsure of what she was going to do to stop Azula, but Iroh got there first. As she pointed her lighting at Zuko, Iroh grasped her hand and Y/N watched in horror. Surely he would die from that. 

But he didn’t. Azula’s lightning traveled through his body and out his other hand straight into the side of the cliff, exploding rocks everywhere. He had redirected it. He twisted Azula’s arm around and kicked her in the chest, over the edge of the ship.

And then there were three. 

Y/N was caught in a stare down between the two men. She, the only non-bender on the Agni-damned ship, was the only one left standing to fight. But...Y/N realized she didn’t want to fight them. Any adrenaline she’d mustered up to go to battle evaporated. Slowly, without taking her eyes off of them, she let the tip of her sword fall. She watched as Iroh helped a still stunned Zuko to his feet and together they ran off the ship and into the cherry blossom forest. She swore Iroh had thrown a wink back in her direction...

Later, Y/N would tell herself that it was all a defense tactic; that the only reason she let them go was because she didn’t stand a chance against two fire-benders, one of them being the Dragon of the West, a man who could redirect lightning. She would absolutely deny any claim that she let them go because she didn’t want to see either of them imprisoned. That was absolutely untrue. 

A/N: how do we feel about Y/N lying to Zuko’s face? Letting Iroh and Zuko go? 

#sokka x reader #sokka x y/n #sokka x you #atla #atla sokka #a:tla #a:tla fanfiction #atla fics #avatar the last airbender #avatar: the last airbender #avatar #avatar resurgence #avatar fic #aang #uncle iroh #zuko #sokka #katara #toph beifong #azula #momo #appa

[ships4you]

the innkeeper

Pairing: Sokka x reader & some motherly Katara

Warnings: Cursing, mentions of blood

Authors Note: Someone requested a shy reader afraid of confronting Sokka but I accidentally deleted the request :( So this is for my lovely anon who requested this <3 Also I’ve been trying to make my fics as gender neutral and all that jazz, but please call me out if I slip up so I can fix it!! I may split this into 2 parts, so stay tuned :):)

Prompt: The reader and their family are in charge of the only running inn of the Northern Watertribe. When the Avatar and his friends come to the city the reader finds themselves befriending our favorite Southern Watertribe prince.

“The avatar is in the city!” your younger sister, Kana yelled running into your room. She grabbed your arm before you could resist and before you knew it she was dragging you to the courtyard. “The avatar? Here?!” you responded, “What is the avatar doing in the Northern Water Tribe?” She shrugged, “I’ve heard some people say he’s here to learn waterbending. I don’t see why though he should be like 1000 years old by now.”

The courtyard was crowded with familiar faces from the Tribe, everyone had seemed to rush just to get a glimpse of the all powerful avatar. Your sister had dragged you to an empty bridge overlooking the mass of people. Suddenly a large fluffy beast entered the courtyard walking next to three kids. “Avatar Aang,” the chief boomed, his voice bringing the crowd to a hush. The youngest of the three, dressed in colorful clothing you’ve never seen before bowed before the Chief. Kana latched to your side overflowing with excitement, “Do you think that’s him?! There’s no way, he’s my age...” You lightly pushed her off chuckling, “Shush up, I can’t hear what’s going on.”

As the Chief’s welcoming speech dragged on you focused on the two dressed in large blue sweaters similar to your current outfit. They both were clearly Water Tribe, but you had never seen them around the city before. The boy was looking around, amazed by his surroundings. You smiled at his giddiness, the smile stretched across his face was so pure and cute. He had deep blue eyes that were shifting every which way. You were so distracted, it took you a second to realize he had glanced up at you. Your eyes met and he smiled offering his hand up for a friendly wave.

“Eeep!” you squeaked squatting down behind the icy railing. Did he notice you staring? Was he weirded out? Obviously he was, who stares at people- creeps! That’s who. That was so embarrass-

“(y/n).” your sister said distracting you from your thoughts, “Why are you on the floor.” she pointed out unamused. You tucked your head between your legs and groaned, wincing at your awkwardness.

***

The inn your father ran scarcely had any customers. Most of the time your customers were either locals or Earth Kingdom generals visiting to discuss the war. All of a sudden your dad’s humble business became the talk of the town. Classmates constantly bugging you with questions, “What’s the avatar like?”, “Have you seen him airbend at all?”, “What are the two from the Southern Water Tribe like?” You didn’t have the heart to say you haven’t met them yet. Your father handled their rooms when they arrived, along with your nosy sister (who threatened to scream bloody murder if she didn’t get to meet the avatar). You on the other hand had been actively avoiding the group, especially the blue-eyed boy.

When people were staying at the inn; which was basically three extra rooms in your home, you were in charge of feeding the guests. It had been a few days since the avatar and his friends started staying at the inn. You were up early in the kitchen chopping the fresh caught fish for lunch, humming an old song your mom used to sing to you. Guests mostly ignored the kitchen, usually preferring to make small talk with the adults and patiently wait for food in the dining room. It was relaxing being safe from meeting new people.

“That song doesn’t sound watertribe.” A voice rose from behind.

Startled you turned around a little too fast and cut the side of your arm with the knife. “Shit.” you exclaimed grabbing your forearm. The boys eyes widened “Ah crap, Katara!” he yelled before running over to your side, grabbing a nearby drying cloth. You stared at him speechless. Would he recognize you? Spirits you hoped not.

“I’m so sorry,” he began blabbering focusing on your arm, his fingers grazing your skin as he pressed the cloth against the wound, “I really didn’t mean to startle you, I offered to bring the dirty dishes back here. The annoying little girl told me to bring them here, I didn’t think anyone would be back here...” His words slowing as he turned to face you. His eyebrows clinched together.

Shit.

“You look really familiar.”

Shitttt.

Before he could question any further a girl with long, brown, braided hair rushed into the room. “What is it Sokka?!” Was that his name? You had never met a Sokka before, maybe it was a common name in the South Pole. “Katara, thank the spirits! We need you to do your glowy-water-magic!” Sokka said waving his hands around. The girl, Katara, ran over bending the water out of her pouch. “What happened?” she asked unwrapping the bloody cloth off your arm.

“Umm, I cut myself. It fine, really.” you said quietly while Katara pressed her hand to your injured arm. The water started sparkling a bright blue hue. You winced at feeling. Katara smiled sweetly at you, “Does it hurt?” You shook your head, “No just feels weird.” As the glowing stopped she pulled away from your arm, bending the water along with her. “Shoot, it’s still bleeding a little.” She said examining your arm, “Sokka, I need more cloth.” He quickly glanced around the room and held out the bloody cloth he used before hand. “One that doesn’t have blood on it.”

“Oh! I got it,” Sokka began unwrapping the cloth tied at the waist of his tunic and handing it to Katara, “Here, use this.” Katara rolled her eyes and began dressing your wound. “I’m sorry I couldn’t heal it completely. I’ve only been taking classes on healing for a week, the wound should be clean now and the bleeding should stop in a couple days.” Her eyes were kind and warm when she smiled at you. “Thank you, I’m sorry I can be clumsy at times.” you murmured looking down at your arm. “I’m Katara by the way, and that’s my idiot older brother Sokka.” she said gesturing behind her. You pressed your lips together in a small smile, “I’m (y/n)”

***

Since then you had grown to enjoy being around Katara. She was sweet and easy to be around. She would often come to help clean after meals, despite you opposing her help several times.

Sokka however, you avoided him like the plague. Not because you didn’t want to talk to him. You wanted to. But you couldn’t stand to face him after embarrassing yourself twice. You knew it would have to happen sooner or later, you still had his belt Katara had used to wrap your cut. It took hours to wash all the blood out but the cloth was finally clean, dry, and folded neatly on top of your bed. Mocking you.

The simple solution would to have Katara take it to him, but then you’d be mad at yourself for running away. Which you had already done. a couple times... There were times you tried to give it back to him, but in the end you would wimp out.

“Oh my spirits, just give it to him.” Kana groaned. “You don’t get it Kana, I was so weird around him he probably thinks I’m a freak...” you said shifting the folded blue cloth between your fingers. “You. are. ridiculous.” she said tightly grabbing your arm, “Come on. We are doing this right now.” She yanked your wrist, dragging you through the hallway. “Wait! Like right now, right now?!” She nodded, harshly knocking on his door. “Yup. SOKKA! (Y/N) HAS SOMETHING FOR YOU!!” she screamed before running off, “Good luck!”

Before you had the chance to run after her, his door swung open. “Uh hi,” he said “was that your sister screaming?” You stammered back “Umm yea, she was just- she uh... I have your belt.” you interrupted yourself holding out the cloth. “Oh, right, thank you. How’s your arm?” You glanced down at the newly wrapped cloth wrapped around your forearm. “It’s doing well, it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.”

“Good. Good, that’s good.” he spoke as he were tripping over each word, “You know, I had been hoping you’d come by.” your eyes widened at the comment, “No, no-no-no, that sounded weird.” He explained, “I meant the belt. It’s my lucky belt so thank you.” You hugged your sides and pressed your lips into a tight smile, “You’re welcome, sorry I took a while to bring it back.”

“It’s all good, I’m just glad you’re here now.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “Hey, so... I haven’t seen much of the city yet and it gets kind of lonely while Aang and Katara are at training. I was thinking maybe you would like to go for a stroll sometime... With me.”

You couldn’t believe he was just as nervous as you. He always seemed so confident around the Inn, you just assumed he would be more outgoing. “A stroll?” you questioned slightly giddy.

“Yea, or a walk, whichever you prefer. Or not. Either is good if you wanted to, but if you don’t that’s okay too. You just seemed like a really cool person and I feel so bad about scaring you and-“

“Sokka. I would love to go for a stroll.” you stopped his rant before he could finish. His smiled widened, “Ok, yea cool. Totally chill... So, I’ll come meet you in the kitchen after breakfast tomorrow?” You fiddled with the sleeve of your shirt, “Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow then.” You said backing away. He leaned against the door frame, waving the same way he did the first time you saw him. “Yea! Tomorrow.”

Sokka spent the next five minutes mentally screaming at his awkwardness.

***

tag list: @myexgirlfriendisthemoon

#sokka imagine #sokka x reader #sokka #avatar the last airbender #atla #atla imagine #atla x reader

[attackfish]

Ooh Toph joins the gang! More of her and time traveller Aang please. She joined the Gaang before they reach the North Pole, how does she feel once they told her they're going somewhere that's completely made of ice?

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

1. Toph is only too happy to run away from home in the dead of night to hang out with the Avatar. Too bad the reality of such a venture quickly catches up with her. She can't use her earthbending sense to see on Appa, and it sucks. She spends large stretches of time with no idea what's happening in the space around her. It's unnerving and leaves her feeling off balance. And it doesn't help that the tension in the Avatar's little band is palpable. Katara is angry at Aang, and takes this out on Toph by trying to mother her. Toph is strongly considering the merits of striking out on her own.

2. This gets worse when Aang insists they have to head back to the western Earth Kingdom coast. Katara is furious. Why would they do that? On the coast, they can be chased by the Fire Navy and Zuko! ("Uh, who's Zuko?" Toph asks, and is roundly ignored.) Yes Aang says sheepishly. That's the point actually. In the interests of full disclosure, since it's his former secrecy that Katara (and Sokka, but not as much) are so angry at him for, he tells them that he wants to be able to keep in touch with Iroh, Zuko's uncle, and that he feels more comfortable with Zuko tailing him, since while he's on his ship following them, they at least know where he is and what he's doing. Zuko is astonishingly persistent and really good at showing up in the most unlikely places to cause problems. And besides, he wants to keep an eye on him, because Zuko is in a dangerous situation, and last time around he grew to be one of Aang's very best friends, and he wants to keep him safe.

3. Yeah yeah yeah says Toph. She doesn't want to head to the coast either. Something tells her she's going to end up on a boat. No thanks. If they end up on a boat, Aang tells her, it will probably be a metal Fire Navy boat, which won't be so bad. Toph is like what does it being metal have to do with anything? And Aang's like, oh yeah I forgot you haven't invented metalbending yet. Well. Now Toph is thoroughly distracted trying to figure out how to pull off this metalbending thing.

4. At least that is until she notices Katara making a pair of heavy duty furry boots in her size. Yeah, she tells her, I don't need those, I don't wear shoes. And Katara tells her she will definitely need them at the North Pole. If she doesn't, it's cold enough there that she will lose her feet. Nope nope nope. Toph is out of here. She is done. That is not happening. She is not going anywhere that she could lose her feet, so long guys, it was nice meeting you, she is out. Aang's all, okay Toph, and then tails her at a safe distance, knowing she'll come back in a few days after she realizes she can't cook. A few days later, she shows up in their camp, relentlessly pretending nothing happened.

5. Toph's parents wake up and find their daughter gone, and immediately assume she has been kidnapped by someone seeking ransom or out of dissatisfaction with them as nobility. They don't have nearly as much to go on as they did during Aang's first go round, and this sounds a lot more reasonable than her running off with the time traveling Avatar. They hire Master Yu to find her and bring her home.

#avatar the last airbender #aang #toph #katara #sokka #posts i created #do you want to ask a question it doesn't have to be a question #five headcanons #aang d'awww #katara is the answer #sokka the meat and sarchasm guy #a little toph love

[zuzuxtara]

Promises - II. Night

Chapter 2/ ? Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender word count: +2.6k Pairing: Zutara Characters: Katara, Zuko, steambabies :D

read on ao3 (with notes)/ ff.net or keep reading ♡

if you haven’t read Chapter I yet, read here: ao3 (with notes)/ ff.net or stay on tumblr 

Night

Katara listened to the soft snoring of her husband and daughter, who’d both come down with a light cold the moment their ship had left Fire Nation waters.  

The gentle waves that rocked their vessel usually lulled her to sleep easily, but tonight the moon stood full and high, inviting the Waterbender to come and play with the wide ocean around her. Katara tried to ignore the seductive pull of her element, though– it was late, and they would reach port early in the morning. 

Frustrated by her own restlessness, she turned– only to be greeted by huge blue eyes that were staring right back at her. It seemed she wasn’t the only one the moon called upon tonight. Smiling at her youngest, Katara raised her arm and the boy snuggled closer to his mother. She buried her nose in his dark curls. 

While Kya tended to smell of singed hair and mischievous adventure, little Iroh's sweet baby scent had just begun to fade.

After placing a kiss on his temple Katara whispered, “Can’t you sleep, little penguin?” 

“No, Mami,” he tried to whisper in return, but his high voice echoed through their cabin nonetheless. 

She glanced over her son’s head. Zuko shifted a little, but he and Kya were still sleeping as soundly as their stuffy noses permitted. 

Katara felt the boy looking up at her and brought a finger to her lips. 

If neither of them could sleep, they could as well enjoy the full moon night. Slowly, she pushed their blankets aside and, like thieves, they stole out of bed.

In half-darkness, they put on their matching parkas and went up on deck hand in hand. Illuminated by the moon, Katara took in the icy night air of her childhood home. In only a few hours they would be reunited with their friends and family, her very first home.

Iroh hadn’t yet been able to walk when they’d last visited the South together, and by now he was already old enough to play in the endless snow; just like she’d done with her brother so many years ago. 

Katara’s excitement grew. 

Where Kya’s face was a well-rounded mix of her parents, Iroh looked Southern Water Tribe through and through. 

She loved both her children unconditionally– to the moon and the sun; but being able to bring her little Water Tribe boy home to the people who’d raised her, filled Katara with pride.

Iroh tugged at her gloved hand. 

“Mami, look, the moon is sooo shiny!” 

“My, you’re right,” chuckling, she kneeled to fix his hood. “Is that why you couldn’t sleep, Iroh?” 

Katara had been observing him lately. With Kya, they’d known from the moment of her birth that she would be a bender. She’d been born with fire in her eyes; and over the years, she’d in fact proven to be as bright and unstoppable as the flames she could command. 

Little Iroh took his time, though. He’d already passed the age in which the first signs of bending– any bending at that– usually occurred. She and Zuko weren’t particularly worried about it; if he couldn’t bend at all, they would be more than fine with it. 

It was just that Katara had an impatient trust in the dream – or vision?– she’d had the night of Iroh’s birth. 

Zuko would never call her foolish– she knew that; but he definitely didn’t believe in superstition. She also didn’t want him to think that she was envious of him and Kya sharing an element– because it wasn’t true. Some things were just best kept between her and the spirits. 

So Katara had never told him. 

The day before Iroh’s birth had been sweltering hot and her first contractions had gotten her by surprise; at that time, she’d had yet another couple of weeks to go. Assuming a false alarm, Katara had heeded Zuko’s suggestion and had gone to rest in their bed. Sleep had claimed her instantly, as had the dream. 

She dreams of the moon. 

It is not the same one she has come to know in the short Fire Nation nights, but the seemingly never setting moon of her childhood. Since it is a dream, she recognises this serene moon to be Yue; although she doesn’t appear to her like on the day Katara has seen her body become spirit.

In her dream, Yue does not have any shape. Instead, she is the moonshine and the stars that mirror the endless ocean on which Katara finds herself floating. Yue is the water herself, and the sky; maybe Katara isn’t even floating on water but moonshine? A profound peace settles in her bones, and her tears mix with this magical place. There’s a heartbeat echoing her own inside of her; the waves she’s so magnificently drowning in pull her down in tune to the sweet melody. But breath comes easiest to Katara in the depths of the ocean. Her lungs and her heart expand and double, burst on the dark ocean floor. And then she– the last Waterbender born to the original Southern Water Tribe – knows she is no longer alone.

After Katara had been woken by Zuko, they had discovered that her water had broken. Only a few hours later, their little prince had been born– a little early, but completely healthy. 

To this day, he wore the shapes and colours of his mother’s childhood home and carried the name of the man his father cherished most. 

Instead of answering, Iroh looked up at the sky. 

Searching his face, Katara asked again, “Can’t you sleep because of the moon? Do you–”

“It’s it true that there is a woman on the moon, Mami?”

The question made her heart skip a beat. Could it be…?

Following his intense gaze, she could only whisper, “Why do you ask, Iroh?”

The silence felt endless, before he finally said, “Yaya said so.”

Suddenly feeling awfully silly, Katara gathered the boy into her arms.

Maybe she did pressure herself too much into having a waterbending child. 

Maybe she did have too much pride as a Master Waterbender herself.

Maybe she did give one pregnancy-induced fever dream way too much weight.

But it would have to stop– immediately. If Iroh came to any harm because of her own arrogant desires, she would never be able to forgive herself. Katara wouldn’t let it happen.   

She withdrew from the embrace and nodded solemnly, “Well, Kya is right. There is a girl on the moon.”

Iroh beamed at his mother, “I knew it!” 

Laughing at his excitement, Katara rose some water from the ocean and coated a fraction of the deck in ice. 

Iroh, knowing what would come next, tugged eagerly at her sleeve. Together, they stepped on the ice and began to turn in slow pirouettes under the bright moonlight. 

“Her name is Yue. She is very brave and beautiful,” she held Iroh by one hand, lest he would fall. “Did you know that your Uncle Sokka and Uncle Aang and I know her?”

The child’s eyes grew even bigger. “And Baba, too?” 

Katara nodded again. He didn’t yet need to know the circumstances…

“Of course! Grandpa Iroh does, too.” 

Giggling, he dared a small jump. “And Auntie Toph, Mami?”

Carefully stepping off the ice herself, Katara guided him along the deck.

 “You know that Auntie Toph knows everybody and everything...”

 There would be no proper sunrise, but time passed either way. The ship had increasingly come to life and it had been the captain herself, who’d brought them blankets to keep warm. 

As not to bother anyone’s work, they had snuggled up in some wind-sheltered corner on deck. Sitting on Katara’s lap, Iroh rested his head against her shoulder. He followed the movements of her hands with his own, awestruck by how easily the water listened to his mother. 

“Can I do that, too, Mami?”

“Maybe one day, penguin,” she kissed the top of his hooded head. 

After a moment, she let the water fall away and pulled her son closer to her chest. 

“You know Mami and Baba and Kya love you, even if you can’t bend, do you, Iroh?”

Katara knew he was too young to comprehend her worries, so it didn’t surprise her when he answered, “But I want to make ice, Mami. Just like you.” 

“We’ll see, penguin.”

He sighed like someone ten times his tender age, continuing his apparent monologue, “Maybe I could ask the girl on the moon to help me do that.”

Despite everything, this made her laugh. 

“What a clever idea, Iroh! But you have to ask nicely, promised?”

“Promised”, he nodded so hard, his hood came off. “Can I go now?” 

There was no use in telling him no, as he was already untangling himself from the blankets and his mother’s arms. Feeling oddly calm, Katara watched him take off. 

“Stay away from the railing and let the guards be, Iroh!”

He turned back smiling and waved at her. 

It wasn’t long before the rest of her little family joined her on deck. 

“Well, well. Look who’s rising with the sun now,” she teased when Zuko and Kya looked sleepily at her. 

After hugging them, she wrapped her blankets around her daughter. The girl was always freezing cold, since she couldn’t quite control her inner heat yet. Katara tucked Kya's braid into her parka and let her run off in search of her little brother. 

“There is no sun to rise with, Katara,” Zuko muttered, pulling her gently into his arms. He rested his chin on her head and tried to keep an eye on their children. 

The moon stood as high in the sky as it had for days; Zuko knew it was normal for his wife to be that strongly affected by its presence, but he worried either way. 

His voice was low against her ear, “Didn’t get much sleep, again?” 

Katara shook her head, telling him that Iroh had been awake all night, too. 

For a moment, she looked up at her husband and pressed a kiss against his jaw. Then, she rested her cheek against his warmed parka. “And the bed was too cramped, I’m afraid.” 

Although she couldn’t see it, she knew that a corner of his mouth rose in amusement. 

Zuko’s warm hand came to rest over her stomach. 

“To think that it will be even more crowded on our trip back...”

They chuckled softly. It was too early to see with all the layers she wore in the cold, but the reason for their trip to the South Pole was warmly hidden away inside her. 

“Oh, on the trip back, I’ll be tired for years, Zuko. I’ll be able to sleep anywhere.” 

It was probably true. Besides a growing family, they’d brought a lot of work with them. 

There were still post-war agreements to be upheld, healers to be trained and allies to be made. The world did not improve itself.

Knowing they had the same thought, they grimaced at each other.

“Let’s take it easy, yeah?” 

She was just about to agree when Kya’s shriek pierced through the air. 

“Ma, Ba! Look!” 

A small gathering awaited them at the harbour. Whenever Katara came home, it had grown by yet another dock or lighthouse. Wasn’t the one to the West the improved outcome of the rudimentary plans she and Sokka had made years ago?

New and old faces looked up at the family exiting the ship. Over time, Katara’s little village had become a small town– a welcoming home to whoever dared bracing the cold. 

Her eyes found her father next to Sokka in the crowd, but she looked away when she saw Hakoda’s face fall. Despite the biting cold, Katara hadn’t noticed new tears running down her cheeks.

“Grandpa,” Kya exclaimed the moment she saw him. “Look what Iroh can do!” 

Before she could drag her brother away, Zuko laid an arm around Kya and gently pressed her against his side. He knew how important this would be for his wife.

“Let your Ma and Iroh go first...”

They fell a few steps behind and watched as Katara and Iroh made their way to Hakoda. Katara bowed her head respectfully to her father. Zuko had seen her do it only once before– on their wedding day; without looking up, she presented Hakoda their son. 

Katara sunk to her knees to be at eye level with Iroh and asked him to show his grandfather what he could do. 

The boy nodded happily and moved his hands more or less the same way he’d seen his mother do only a couple of hours ago. 

Slowly, little drops of water rose from the ground and gathered around Iroh's gloved hands.

The shape was sloppy and burst after a few seconds– but he’d done it.

“He’s a Waterbender, Father.” 

It was not like there were no Waterbenders in the Southern Water Tribe, but most of them and their parents had immigrated from far up North. They were good people, but they had not suffered as the South had, knew not what prices had been paid in order to survive. 

To the South, a Waterbender was a blessing and Hakoda’s beloved daughter had brought them yet another one.

Hakoda stared down at Katara and his grandson.

It was Sokka who broke the heavy silence when he saw tears rise in his father's and sister's eyes. 

“Amazing, buddy! You look just like your mama when she did her magic water tricks for the first time.” 

Blinking rapidly himself, he picked his nephew up.

Even the people who’d gathered to welcome the Fire Nation ship turned and silently went away, paying their chief and his daughter some respect. They would have plenty of opportunities to greet Katara and her family later at the feast.

Iroh giggled when Sokka sat him on his shoulders since he was now as tall as his father, who’d come to stand next to them. 

“Long day, I guess?”

Zuko nodded. “You bet, Sokka.” 

He watched his brother-in-law look back at Katara and Hakoda, who stood a few feet away. Their heads were bowed as if they were in prayer. 

“She fine?”

“Yes. Just overwhelmed,” Zuko pulled Iroh’s hood back over his small head, “We could already see the port when our little penguin here bend for the first time.” 

It was Sokka’s turn to nod in serious acknowledgement; but when Kya told him that she’d seen Iroh do it first, his demeanour changed once again. 

“My, that can’t be my niece Kya, can it? Last time I saw her she was this small!”

He held his hand ridiculously close to the ground, which made Kya cry out in protest.

“Liar! You were on my birthday, Uncle Sokka!”

“And it has been what, princess? Three months?”

“I can make ice, Uncle Sokka!”

“Are you sure? You’ll have to show me that again, bud.”

Zuko laughed but only half-listened to Sokka and the children.. He stole a glance at his wife, who was now in a tight embrace with her father.

From where he stood, Zuko could see that Hakoda whispered something against Katara’s forehead before kissing it. 

The polar wind hadn’t carried all the words to Zuko– but it had sounded like they had been giving thanks to the spirits.  

“Last one to get to Auntie Suki and Gran Gran is a wet blanket!” 

He saw Katara smile up at her father then. Hakoda wiped away her tears and pointed at the ocean. Not wanting to intrude further, Zuko turned away. 

It was just before he followed the excited screams of his children, that Zuko bowed his head in his own gratitude towards the moon.

#zutara #zutarafic #zutara fandom #steambabies #atla #katara #zuko #southern water tribe #e writes

[jaxsteamblog]

Summer Camp and (mostly) Lost

Click here to read the full fic on AO3

On the first day of classes, Katara was already looking forward to the first break. Someone had recognized her from the debut and people were hounding her between lectures. Even in the halls with more than a hundred students, she could hear her name whispered among the ducked heads. Inevitably, someone near her would check their phone and their head would whip around, settling on her for a second before typing a furious reply.

Armistice Day was two weeks into the first semester, which would at least give her a long weekend.

However, when she tried to find something to do, nothing seemed to come together. After taking off so much time, Sokka was adamant about keeping the shop open. Especially, as he reminded her, now that he had to save for a wedding.

Rohan was traveling with Thuy to Gaoling. The Beifongs - who had worked with Avatar Kuruk’s companions - had a daughter that was a professional fighter. On the one hand, it was assumed that such a wealthy and well-connected family like the Beifongs would be the ones to teach the new Avatar if they had the ability. On the other, Rohan knew it was because Thuy’s unusual upbringing was the perfect match for the fact that Toph Beifong was blind and undefeated.

“So does that mean you’re going to be Thuy’s airbending instructor?” Katara asked as she screen chatted with them while in bed. “I mean, you’re plenty unusual.”

“Unfortunately, Pop is pretty insistent that she have some sort of reasonable and level-headed teacher. So Jinora is doing it.” Rohan said.

“Has her firebending-”

“AZULA.” They interrupted her and Katara dropped her phone as she fumbled. Diving for it, she fell off her bed.

“Azula will teach her?” She asked, popping up onto her knees. Rohan nodded vigorously.

“Now, none of this is being confirmed in the press at the moment. But someone leaked our travel plans to the Fire Nation.” They answered.

“You’re going to the Fire Nation with her?”

“Yeah, I’m like her guide for a minute until she finds her group.”

“Hmmm.” Katara rested her head on her bead, staring up at the ceiling. It might be interesting to go travel the world with the Avatar. Maybe in another life.

“Hey, I gotta go, but chat soon? Unless you’ll be elbow deep in some guy’s guts.” Rohan said and Katara looked down at her scream, grimacing.

“I told you-”

“I know, I know. Class work first, cutting up people later.” Rohan flashed a quick grin and Katara sighed. “Say hi to your brother for me.”

They ended the call and Katara pushed herself up, stretching her arms over her head. She could study, go over her anatomy notes one more time, but her head just wasn’t in the right place. Laying back down on her bed, she pulled up the info page on Toph Beifong. She was only a little younger than Katara, but was a bit on the small side. Watching the recommended video, Katara guffawed loudly as she watched the woman launch a man twice her size into the stands.

This was exactly the thing Sokka was into. Hopefully as Queen of the Water Tribes, she could get the Avatar to introduce them.

Sighing, Katara dropped her phone onto her chest and put her hands over her eyes. She had to think about something happy.

Her thoughts for years had circled around being a physician. She wanted to go home to be a village doctor, spending her days assisting births and treating ailments. Katara fantasized about being a hero not for the destruction she wrought, but for ending the regular tuberculosis that plagued the tribes. Murdering viruses was much easier to swallow than the human body count that haunted her.

But now that was being taken away from her. Arnook had, for all of her attempts to avoid it, gotten her alone. He expounded on her the importance of her position, the necessary responsibility she needed to take for her people. She would be an icon of strength, of prosperity, and would be able to keep all three tribes safe.

Because Thuy was still vulnerable, and didn’t Katara want to save her from the same fate of losing her home and her mother?

Thuy was capable for her age. She had told Katara that Avatar Aang came to her first when she was at the heart of the swamp. A massive tree, that was simultaneously all of the trees in the swamp, was where she went to hide from her noisy family. It was there she meditated and found how the tree was connected to all things, and how she was connected to all things through it.

It was then that Aang found her, and taught six-year-old Thuy hilarious things to do with mud. It didn’t even strike her that she was earthbending.

Thuy explained that all of the elements were connected to each other, and that the Avatar was the heart of that forest. All she wanted, she said while they looked over the group of Avatar descendants, was that everyone would find their commonality and be able to celebrate their differences.

“Like how fire and water both flow so beautifully.” Thuy had added.

Katara rolled her eyes just as she had then.

There was a certain romantic aspect to fire and water. And steam could be pretty, but more often than not it just scalded people who got too close.

Her phone started to ring and Katara picked it up.

“Well speak of the hogmonkey.” She said as Zuko’s face showed up.

“You were talking about me?” He asked.

“Tangentially thinking about.” Katara said and then sat up. “Hey, I never got to ask, what did you think of Thuy?”

“She was nice. She said I looked like I belonged at the North Pole.” Zuko answered and Katara snorted.

“I think that brat is trying to set us up.” She said.

“Girls at that age are wild.”

“I wouldn’t know. I was getting ready to fight my way through Fire Nation territory.”

“And Azula was leading a hit squad against me so I think you’re going to need to take your trauma card elsewhere ma’am.”

Katara laughed, shaking her head.

“A little birdie told me that Azula is going to be teaching the Avatar firebending.” She said.

“Oh yeah? Did that little birdie also mention that they were the one to spill the beans to the press? I swear, Rohan can’t keep a secret to save their life.” Zuko said. Katara chuckled again and looked at Zuko’s face.

“If you had been a normal teenager, what do you think you would have done at her age?”

Zuko let out a breath and looked off into the distance as he thought.

“If I were normal, my mother would still be around. And.” He suddenly smiled and rubbed his eye with his hand before pushing his hair back. “Okay, so in my mother’s village, there’s this theater camp that runs in the summer.”

“No way.” Katara said, her voice breathy in astonishment. “Zuko, you are such a nerd!”

“I can’t help it! You saw my father, I inherited the drama!” He retorted and they both laughed.

When they settled, Katara lifted the phone high above her face.

“Have you ever gone to your mother’s village?” She asked. Zuko looked thoughtful, which made her feel better for asking.

“Once. After the war but before I was recalled.” He said. “It’s nice but homely and made me realize that I could never not be rich now.”

“You’re soft.”

“I’m so weak Katara you don’t even understand.”

As they laughed, Katara saw him smile at her.

“You have off on Armistice Day right?” He asked.

Katara nodded.

“Why don’t we go to Hira’a? The tourist season ends there really early and the people there don’t mind me so much since I’m Ursa’s son.”

“Are we going to go to summer camp?” She asked.

“Maybe we can tangentially think about it.” Zuko replied.

~

Katara focused on her schoolwork during the week prior to leaving. She didn’t want to have to think about tests or her first research paper the entire weekend. What did bother her was a lack of supplies for the trip. Zuko said there was a legend about the woods surrounding Hira’a and suggested they go hiking. At first she had agreed, but then Sokka informed her that she would need gear for such a trip.

Luckily, a person in her lab had his from a cross kingdom trip. As Katara collected some of the basic things, she shook off others. Her hike wasn’t going to be as intensive and she could just rely on her phone for directions.

Flying out, Katara was too excited to be nervous going through the airport. Her anxiety resurfaced only briefly when she made a layover in a larger Fire Nation city to board a very small charter plane.

There were a few other passengers on the plane and one little boy chattered endlessly for the entire trip. Katara, tired, smiled but looked out the window, trying to focus on something else.

The woods around Hira’a were thick and the canopy resembled broccoli florets. What was unexpected was the massive mountain and the few shining discs of the lakes.

Zuko met her as the plane landed, standing under a shaded area while the plane taxied to a stop. Suddenly shy, Katara held onto the straps of her borrowed backpack while she walked down the stairs.

“How was your trip?” Zuko asked as he met her on the strip.

“It was good only,” Katara looked up with a small frown. “Do you think it’ll rain?”

Zuko looked up at the sky as well. “The weather says no. And it tends to get overcast like this every day in the afternoon.”

They looked at each other and Zuko held out his hand.

“Come on,” He said. “Let’s get to the house.”

At the small luggage carousel, Zuko grabbed her suitcase and rolled it as they left the airport. Katara glanced up at the sky once more as they walked through the cool air curtain at the exit. It definitely felt like a storm to her.

To her surprise, they walked past the taxi stand.

“The house is close.” Zuko assured her, having seen her face. “And the villagers prefer that there not be a lot of cars. It disrupts the environment.”

The village was beautiful, even in the subdued light. The trees were a deep green, and bright flashes of fruit or clothing stood out against the leafy backdrop. There were roads, but people on bikes or motorbikes swarmed over them. Every once in a while, a delivery truck would rumble past, coughing out black smoke and Katara understood the facemasks.

“Ah, Prince Zuko!” Someone called out and they turned. A middle-aged man on a motorbike walked up to them, his flip-flops slapping his heels.

“Noren?” Zuko asked in disbelief.

“It’s good to see you, la!” Noren replied and Zuko, leaving Katara’s suitcase on the sidewalk, went to shake the man’s hand.

“I didn’t think I’d run into you.” Zuko replied and Noren waved a hand in front of his face.

“I heard the crown prince was in town, so I knew I had to come and see.” He said. Zuko laughed and rubbed the back of his head. He then stopped and looked back, waving Katara over.

“Katara, I’d like you to meet Noren. He runs the theater in town and was a friend of my mother.” Zuko said as Katara got closer. “Noren, this is my friend Katara from the South Pole.”

“Ursa was part of the theater troupe.” Noren said as he shook hands with Katara. He then slapped his thighs and looked at Zuko. “Now, dinner?”

Katara and Zuko made it to the house and Katara insisted on changing before they went to Noren’s house for dinner. His wife Noriko was a sweet lady who doted on Zuko, but more hilarious was their teenage daughter Kiyi. While she tried to hide it, Kiyi was clearly excited to see Zuko and showed him photos of her latest pictures on her phone.

Noren told Katara about Zuko’s visit to the village years ago. Trying to find some piece of his mother, Noren had offered his assistance in any way that he could. During that short time Zuko spent in the village, he got very close to Noren and his family, becoming like an older brother to Kiyi.

While they were at dinner, all three of them turned on Zuko when he spoke about his plans to take Katara into the woods. Noren didn’t like the woods at all and Noriko insisted that it was going to rain. Still, Noriko packed them both up with extra food and Noren gave them a ride in the dark on his bike.

Tired, full, and covered in sweat, Katara laid face down on her bed and fell asleep.

In the morning, Zuko packed their lunch while Katara reheated leftovers from Noriko to eat for breakfast. Zuko handed her a mug of coffee just as she served up the plates and they both looked over a map. The route Zuko plotted out was simple and they went over their supplies. Water, sunscreen, bug spray, and even a portable battery to recharge their phones should the worst happen. It was just a day hike, and the sun was even poking out behind some of the clouds, so it wouldn’t be too bad.

“Can you bend humidity?” Zuko asked as they shoulder their backpacks.

Katara rolled her eyes and started toward the door.

The trailhead was further from their rental than the airport, so Zuko called a taxi. Unsurprisingly, a young woman on a motorbike showed up and they piled on like they had when Noren had driven them home last night. What was nice was the moment when the driver handed them a face mask each, shaking her head at their clumsy application.

The humidity was disgusting and Katara was panting by the time they stopped at the park. Zuko peeled money out of his wallet and handed it to their driver, who saluted them before puttering off.

“Are your babysitters here?” Katara asked.

“No. Hira’a is small and they know when there’s a visitor. And again, I’m Ursa’s son.” Zuko said.

“Oh good, so if I drown in this air, it’s only you who can save me.”

“We’ll be fine.”

The rain started fifteen minutes into their walk.

There was no warning. It was clear one moment and the next a gray sheet had dropped all around them. The rain fell like bullets and they ran to the nearest tree with leaves sturdy enough to hold up against the onslaught. It took awhile and Katara felt the sting of the rain on her scalp.

“It’s just a burst.” Zuko said, rubbing his hair vigorously. “It’ll pass quickly.”

Right as he finished speaking, a crack of thunder went off like a shot.

“We need to get to shelter.” Katara said, her body tense as she prepared to run. Zuko sighed and nodded.

They moved blindly through the rain, stumbling over tree roots and exposed stone. Small rivers of muddy water rushed down the path and Katara worried about slipping. Finally irritated, she used her bending to repel the water from her. It was unnatural and made her feel weird, but she couldn’t even see three feet in front of her.

“That’s a lot of water you’re holding.” Zuko remarked as he stood in the dry spot with her.

“I can do better.” She said and moved sinuously around. The ball of negative space undulated, but burst as Katara thrust out her arms with a sharp breath. The rain around them stopped.

Turning her head, Katara saw Zuko staring at her, open mouthed.

“Like what you see?” Katara quipped.

Zuko nodded and Katara blushed, losing her smirk and feeling her ears burn. Suddenly aware of her attention, Zuko coughed and swung his backpack off a shoulder, pulling it to his front.

“Where did you learn to bend like that?” He asked as he unzipped the main pocket and rummaged through it.

“War.” Katara said simply. This was oddly easier to hold than the negative space, since she wasn’t trying to keep the water away from her. The fat droplets simply hung in their air like strands of glass beads.

“It didn’t do anything like that for me.” Zuko said. “All I got out of it was this face.”

“Zuko, your face is fine.” Katara remarked.

“You only say that because you like me.”

“I didn’t find you ugly before I liked you. It was just surprising.” Katara paused, listening to the heavy rain that fell around them. It was much more enjoyable now that she wasn’t getting drenched.

“The burn surprised me too.” Zuko said and held up his phone. “Here we go.”

Katara walked over to him, pushing the rain out of her way. The fat drops burst against her hand the same way boba pearls would against her tongue.

“How did it happen?”

“The burn? After my grandfather died, my father insisted that my uncle step down since my cousin had died. My uncle is older and had no heir, whereas my father had two children and was young. My uncle refused and the war started. I defended my uncle and my father punished me.” Zuko explained as he pulled up a map of the woods. He didn’t look at her as he spoke and Katara stared at his burned eye.

“Zuko…” She murmured and lightly touched his face. Wherever Zuko went while telling the story, he certainly wasn’t with her and her touch shocked him. Jolting back, he surprised Katara, who fell with a yelp. She lost her hold on the rain and it, plus everything held up on top, dumped on them, soaking them instantly.

Zuko went to her and picked her up, running with her in his arms.

“I saw a cave.” He yelled over the sound of the rain. Katara just held onto him, feeling the wet soak into her skin.

When Zuko dipped into the cave - which was only moderately drier than the open - Katara used her bending to dry their clothes. Zuko found windblown debris and made a scant fire, again shaking out his hair.

“Sorry.” Katara said softly.

“It’s fine. It was an accident.” Zuko replied with a weak smile. “The only downside is, I dropped my phone and it’s fried.”

“Okay, so that is bad.” Katara said and then brightened. “Wait mine is in my-” She stopped as she reached into her back pocket. Slowly pulling out her phone, she stared dumbly at the shattered screen.

“But we do have the map!” Zuko said and went to his pack. He pulled out the map and sat down to open it over his lap.

“That sure is a map.” Katara said as she sat down next to him.

“I know these are elevation lines, but…” Zuko tapped the map.

“You don’t know where we are.”

“Not a clue.”

“And we can’t call for help.”

“No.”

“So what do we do?” Katara asked. The thunder and lightning was short lived so at least now she could breathe.

“Wanna makeout?” Zuko replied. Katara scoffed and then, seeing his grin, started to laugh.

“When the rain stops, we can try to find our way back to the path.” Zuko said and put his arm around Katara’s shoulders. “For now, let’s just hang here and rest.”

The rain lasted for nearly an hour and Katara forced Zuko to wait until the air felt right to her before leaving. As they walked out into the forest, nothing looked familiar. Having peered through heavy rain, the shimmering brilliance of wet leaves was disorienting. Zuko kept the map out, turning it in his hands before picking a direction.

“Zuko?” Katara asked cautiously and Zuko looked up from the map.

“Yes?”

“Why did you even go back if your father burned you?”

Zuko’s thoughtful face was nuanced, as Katara now saw. He looked pained, but in a way that made Katara think he was going to tell her bad news.

“My uncle and I believe that my father wanted me to refuse to return. That was always an option you see. I could renounce my claim to the throne and stay with my uncle in Ba Sing Se. But if I did that, Azula would inherit.” Zuko shook his head. “And I don’t want to live in a world where Azula is a political force.”

“But does that make you happy?” Katara asked.

“The future makes me happy. Knowing that I’ll be able to do the things I want when I’m the Fire Lord.” Zuko answered.

“But that might be decades away!”

“But it will happen. And my father can’t really do much harm since he knows I’ll oppose him.”

“You made a really brave choice Zuko.”

Stepping over a fallen log, Zuko took Katara’s hand and helped her over. As she hopped onto the ground, he held onto her.

“Oh, I don’t think I’m all that brave.” He said softly. This pained look was more internal; something that hurt him alone.

He then patted her hand before releasing it and they started off again.

“Do you think I’m making the right choice?” Katara continued. “To be the Queen of the Water Tribes?”

“Well what does being queen mean to you?” Zuko asked.

“No more war.”

“Then I think you’re at least giving it an honest go.”

“But I could do so much more for my people if I was a doctor.” Katara replied.

“Really? Because what do you think will happen when Arnook dies?” Zuko questioned.

“What do you mean?”

“Yue was his heir, right? And not even a proper heir; she was going to have to be married so some guy could be the King of the North Pole.”

“And?”

“My kingdom went to war over the prospect of there not being an heir to inherit. If Arnook were to die without someone clearly next in line, I can tell you war is exactly what will happen.”

“No, my father wouldn’t let that happen.”

“It might not have anything to do with your father. Or it’ll happen with or without him. The South Pole might want to keep their independence, same as the Swamp Tribe, but Arnook has made it clear that the North Pole wants unification. War would happen regardless.”

“And you just know this to be true?”

Zuko gave her a look and Katara threw up her arms.

“Why does this have to depend on me?” She asked. Zuko shrugged.

“Circumstances of birth.” He said nonchalantly. Katara lowered her arms, having them fall loose and slapping the sides of her legs.

“Spirits, is it really just that?”

Zuko walked up to her and rubbed her arms.

“Even something so mundane as when you were born can change everything. I mean,” Zuko paused and huffed out a laugh. “If Thuy had been born a moment earlier then she wouldn’t even be the Avatar.”

“I don’t want my whole life plotted out just because of when and where I was born.” Katara said.

“Okay, so what’s one thing, within reason, that you want that you can get while stuck with these choices?” Zuko asked.

“I want to be with you.” She blurted.

When Zuko blushed, his skin turned yet another shade of red that didn’t match any part of his scar. He gripped her arms for a moment before suddenly releasing her and walking away.

“Zuko?” Katara called.

Zuko whirled around and pointed at her.

“You wanted to go on a date.” He said fiercely.

“Yes?”

“Let’s go on a date.”

“We’re sorta lost right now.”

“Not now.” Zuko rubbed his hands on his pants and looked down for a second. “After midterms. A proper date.”

Katara laughed, nodding.

“Okay. But how are we gonna get out of here?” She replied.

“I don’t-” Zuko started but stopped as a call went through the woods.

“Zuuuuuukoooooo?” A woman yelled.

“Is that Noriko?” Katara asked. Zuko chuckled and took her hand. Jogging, but watching out for roots, they moved in the direction of the calls. Noren, Noriko, and Kiyi all were shouting from in front of them.

When they finally broke the treeline, the family was standing, each one holding an umbrella.

“Ay! There they are!” Kiyi shouted.

“Ah, thank goodness!” Noriko said and fanned herself.

As they all gathered, she swatted Zuko’s arm.

“Why didn’t you listen to me, boy?” She asked and Zuko laughed, rubbing where she had hit him.

“Mom! You can’t just hit the prince!” Kiyi said.

“When the rain came, Noriko was really worried about you and insisted that I drive out. When you weren’t at the trailhead, she knew you were lost.” Noren explained.

“Tourists always get lost.” Kiyi added.

“The prince isn’t a tourist.” Noriko said sharply. “He’s just not as familiar with these woods.”

“Well, we were lost and I’m really thankful you came out here.” Zuko said. “I’ll make sure to listen to you better, Auntie.” He leaned in and hugged Noriko, making her blush.

“Dad borrowed our neighbors van so we can take you back.” Kiyi said. As she looked at Zuko and Katara, she shook her head.

“It must be nice to be a waterbender.” She remarked.

“They are very handy to keep around.” Zuko agreed. Katara glared at him as he chuckled.

“I will put you in ice.” She hissed. Zuko didn’t reply, but took her hand as they all started to walk to the trailhead. His hand was warm and dry, which made Katara aware of the cool dampness that lingered on her skin. But she wasn’t cold. At least, not with him.

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#zutara #fanfiction #jax writes #modern au #zutara month 2020 #the fic that prompts built

[carnistcervine]

The Storm AU

Last AU I’mma post for now. I think this is enough AU spam for now. :’D

(I still have dozens more lol)

*The Gaang gets caught up in a sudden freak storm while escaping Azula.

*While flying away from her royal evilness, they start coming upon a strange patch of ocean with what looks like bony-white hands sticking up from the water.

*Remembering hearing about the Sea of Lost Souls from his ship days and about how it was filled with the cursed spirits of drowning victims, Zuko warms the group to fly around.

*But Azula is closing in, so they have no choice but to fly over, and a freak storm starts.

*The storm blows Azula's ships back, but the gaang end up crashing into the ocean and wake up in an alternate universe where the war never happened.

*The group wakes up on a Fire Nation vessel, and at first they think they've been captured.

*Naturally they don't trust Captain Zura or her crew and assume that it's a Fire Nation trap or something.

*Nevertheless, Zura is horrified by the accusations the Gaang throws out, and the Gaang are utterly bewildered by the FIRE NATION of all people offering kindness and hospitality.

*In this world, there was no century old war. And by extension, no Air Nomad genocide.

*In fact, the Air Nomads are just fine and still very much around.

*The Fire Nation are not enemies of the Avatar, instead they are the Avatar's staunchest allies.

*Instead of trying to spread their influence by conquering the world, the Fire Nation uses their good fortune to give aid to nations in need.

*Not that other nations always accept the aid. Some leaders(particularly those in the Earth Kingdom) see themselves as being "too good" for handouts.

*Also, the Gaang have all been missing for quite awhile in this world. Aang has been missing for over a century, Zuko has been missing for three years, Sokka and Katara have been missing for over a year, Suki and Toph have been missing for months.

*Iroh is Fire Lord, Lu Ten is alive, and Azulon is still hanging in there(He old as fuck tho).

*Also, Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai aren't evil. Ozai's kind of a dick, but he actually loves his children and isn't vile enough to burn Zuko.

*The Gaang aren't sure what's going on, but they do eventually go to confront their parents.

*Sokka and Katara are beyond elated to see their mom alive. Hakoda and Kya are equally happy to have their kids come home safe and sound. Kya is horrified to find that her children thought SHE had died. She's also horrified by her children's stories of their prosperous tribe being raided and stripped away by the Fire Nation.

*The Kyoshi Warriors are quite happy to have their leader return in one piece. The Kyoshi Warriors are equally stunned and horrified by Suki's stories of refugees, and a line of genocidal, megalomaniac Fire Lords that wiped out the Air Nomads, stripped the South Pole, and raped the Earth Kingdom.

*Zuko is nervous about going home. When he ultimately makes the trip home, he's given a very warm welcome by his family, save for Azula. While Ursa and Ozai are happy to see their son alive, they're horrified by the disfiguring scar he's received. They press Zuko for answers, but he doesn't know what to say/isn't ready to talk about it. Fire Lord Iroh is outraged, someone hurt his beloved nephew. Azula takes the opportunity to completely mock and taunt her older brother over his new scar. Zuko ends up holing himself up in his room, self-conscious and unwilling to talk to anyone.

*Toph doesn't want to go home and avoids doing so for as long as possible. She has the distinct feeling that nothing will change. When she eventually does return to her family, she finds that she was correct. Toph doesn't say anything of her travels with the Gaang.

*Because Aang vanished when he was twelve, the Avatar was never revealed to the world, and all anyone knows is that he's been missing for about a century.

*When Aang returns to the Southern Air Temple, the only people who knew he was the Avatar have died long ago. Without that heaviness weighing on his shoulders, Aang quickly makes new friends. Being as Aang is already a mostly-realized avatar, and one that cannot access the avatar state, he "neglects" to mention that he's the Avatar and just lets everyone believe that he's a normal airbender. While the monks are quick to accept Aang back to the temple, they do have some serious questions about that nasty scar on his back, and why his chakra is blocked. Aang avoids the topic for a long a possible. However, one day he forgets that he's trying to be just an airbender and waterbends. He's pulled in front of the monks and comes clean about being the Avatar who vanished a century ago. When they start talking about training him, Aang is quick to say that he's already learned all four elements and even mastered the avatar state. ...Until his chakra was blocked after being killed by a lightning strike in the avatar state. The monks are horrified when Aang mentions being killed in the avatar state. Aang then goes on to explain, or over-explain his whole journey with the Gaang, the Air Nomad genocide, the Fire Nation's conquest, all that fun stuff to these poor horrified monks. They end up interrupting Aang, having heard enough of his nightmare-scenario and send him to his room to have some (drugged) tea as they try and figure out what to do with the poor boy.

*While Suki's life just goes back to normal, the rest of the Gaang find themselves trapped by newly overbearing parents/guardians. Although for Toph, they just double down on being overbearing.

*The monks keep making Aang drink "calming" tea, and insist on constant healers and meditation to try and unblock his chakra. Aang hates it every time they try, because it causes him to have flashbacks or suffer a panic attack. They mostly make him stay in his room, and only let him go outside with supervision. Aang hates this, as he really just wants to go see his friends, but the monks keep him trapped in his room and making him drink tea that makes him drowsy.

*Hakoda and Kya insist that they aren't punishing Sokka and Katara, but the two are no longer allowed outside of the South Pole, and they have body guards constantly watching over them. The water sibs are happy to be treated like celebs at first, but quickly grow tired of being treated like they're going to vanish if someone takes their eyes off of them for a moment.

*Toph's parents become so much worse. Now she's under constant surveillance and barely allowed outside of her room. She's not allowed outside the house, period. She's only allowed an earthbending tutor to go over with basics with her, because benders who don't use their bending go mad. Her parents often mumble amongst themselves about how they wish they could take that 'earthbending curse' away from her. The thought of losing her earthbending is the most terrifying thing Toph has ever considered and genuinely leaves her paralyzed with fear.

*Even though Zuko voluntarily hid inside of his room, it seems to have been decided that he's not allowed outside of the palace and must have guards accompany him at all times. His family constantly pressure him to explain what happened to his face, and Zuko just shuts down even further. When he finally comes out of his room, he's rather annoyed and upset to find that not only are guards following him everywhere, but also he's not allowed outside of the palace. His family now treats him like he's made of porcelain, and Zuko explodes in frustration, claiming that he's more than capable of defending himself. Because Zuko refuses to explain how he got his scar, his family starts to wonder if it was self-inflicted.

*Sick and tired of being treated like porcelain and smothered, the Gaang all run away from home and start a new life on the run from their parents.

#ATLA AU #Avatar AU #The Storm AU

[aeromuses]

Second Chances (An Avatar One-Shot - Part 2)

   Because I still just can’t seem to get Kataang out of my head, here’s some more sweet Kataang goodness that you hopefully might enjoy too!

   Part 1.

   “Hey, Aang?” It had to have been past 1 o’clock, that is in the middle of the night, when the familiar voice of the water bender, failing to be discreet in the midst of her whispering, called out to the slumbering young Avatar, the two of them just happening to be lying nearly parallel to one another, nothing but the faint glow of a candle settled in between them, somewhere above their heads and out of harms way, but still illuminating that ember glow that could be useful as the night rolls on, while they lie with the rest of the group all spread across the floorboards of the top floor of Iroh’s tea shop, catching up with some good nights rest in one of his brand new, yet unfurnished guest rooms, everyone simply taking up the floor the way they often did Appa’s back during their travels. 

   “I’m sorry Aang, I know you must be tired. I mean you did defeat a fire lord just earlier today, but I can’t help it. I can’t sleep. I haven’t felt this excited since, since the day I discovered you, actually—you know, back in the iceberg.” 

   Saying this out loud however, Katara assumed she must have sounded silly, like a naive little girl, as she fought with the realization that this recollection had suddenly created a blush to take form upon her face. Just how many times could Aang unknowingly cause her to blush in one night? 

   She didn’t think she exactly wanted to find out, just finished staring dumbly up at the ceiling as she waited for the coloration to extinguish, her hands laced together, flattened over her in something of a reserved position, almost feeling as though somewhere in her imagination she were back at the South Pole, nearly able to feel her hands covered in Gran Gran’s mittens, on her back in a bank of snow, taking a moment to rest after all the playing and running around she must have experienced with Aang earlier that day, within that imaginary realm, her Aang lying there inevitably beside her. 

   Maybe, maybe if she really were back at the South Pole, wearing said mittens, in her puffy fur tribal coat, fuzzy hood and all, it would have stopped her from succumbing to the urge of fiddling her fingers together so nervously, waiting for it to go away. 

   The restlessness—the excitement. That feeling like she had reverted back to a much younger version of herself. A happier self, maybe, though it made her feel a bit self conscious, somehow. 

   But why? When Aang was lying there so peacefully, undisturbed. She had always recalled Aang to be a much lighter sleeper than he was tonight. In fact, everything about Aang was just that—light. He himself, was not only light on his toes, therefor having received Toph’s little nickname, “twinkle-toes,” the memory of it causing Katara to inwardly roll her eyes, but he was also just light in every single way, in every waking sense of the word. It described him perfectly, like a bright early morning. That was Aang. 

   Light...hmm...

   There was a sign of a small smile, the secret type of smile that you shared with only yourself, Katara forgetting all about the blush that had previously invaded her cheeks. Watching Aang, sleeping soundly, after having nearly lost him to so much, so many times out there in the big world...

   This, this was true happiness, Katara felt. This was the type of happiness that felt...light. Yes, light. Like everything had been lifted off his and her shoulders, replaced by that single word...

   Light.

   Would the world have even seemed so big, if Aang had never even shown up to show it to her?

   This single thought, seeming to comfort Katara after many long adventures with the Avatar, thinking of all the things she would have missed out on staying at home with Sokka and Gran Gran, eventually prompts her to turn onto her side, curling both her hands delicately to rest beneath her gently turned head, as she observes her sleeping Aang thoughtfully, suddenly coming to another conclusion.

    If she just lied here, talking to some subconscious part of him, and he never once woke up throughout the night, if she just spoke to him until she fell asleep, even hours away from now, she thinks...she thinks she would be okay with that. That would be okay, as long as...

    There was a yawn, and then another, and then...

    Her own thoughts making her sleepy.

    Eyes closing...

    Falling shut...

    Aang...Aang...

    He was right there, just right across from her.

   Getting heavier and heavier, until...

   “Did it really happen?” 

   “Aang?”

   The sound of his voice, startling her a bit.

   “Ozai...did I really defeat Ozai...”

   The soft mumbling sounds of him stirring in his sleep almost made Katara giggle out loud, but she held it back in fear of waking the others, her expression instead glowing, starting with her eyes. A little heavier than they were just ten minutes ago, they blinked in all their blue glory, Aang catching her just right before she were due to acknowledge and process him speaking in the dark, the two big orbs suddenly very inspired. His question lingered, more of a trail of a sentence really, but Katara, understanding, would respond nevertheless.

     “Yes. Yes, you did.”

     She said this very proudly, and she was, more proud than ever. 

     “And we kissed....right?”

     Then, alongside it, a real giggle that left Katara’s lips this time.

     “I...I think so. If I recall correctly...”

     “Can I have another one?”

     “Excuse me?”

     “Another kiss, Katara.” 

      “Right now?”

   There was a long silence. Nothing but the sound of the flickering candle between them, and the outweighed consequences of being caught so late at night, if anyone were to wake up at this time, seeing them partake in something so intimate. 

   “It’s o-”

   There was an interruption then, in that very moment, Katara catching Aang off guard, the way he had so many times to her. As if trying to catch up with him, she had taken it upon herself to gently lean over, spreading the warmth of her palm up to cradle his cheek, just wordlessly lowering her lips down to his, if only to silence him sweetly, the kiss a mere brush of the lips, though the way it lulled forward, almost seductively, or like the tenderest of lullabies, descending upon him, caused the great Avatar’s heart to rush profoundly, Katara finding, when she opened her eyes, that unintentional look of allure on them, that the soft ember of the light, she decided, reminded her very much of the sunset earlier today that had brought them closer together. 

   Eyes closing, Aang melted into the kiss, taking it a step further, almost as if wanting to prove that he could, lips molding close together with hers, sealing the foundation of the kiss to completion. Katara made a sound, followed by Aang shortly after, though it was more of a sigh in contrast to Katara, and as they shifted a bit, just about to huddle closer, there was a creaking of the door, causing them both to nestle their heads quickly back into their blankets and squeeze their eyes shut, as they pulled apart from each other cautiously, wanting to to remain close in some way, but not without being found out. 

   Toph. 

   Katara didn’t have to think twice to know it was her. That distinct sound of her bare feet, unapologetic in the way that they met the wooden flooring, as she had stopped at the doorway, coming back from a bathroom break, scratching the side of her leg in a sleepy stupor. There was a moment the young earth bender didn’t move at all, when suddenly a smirk spread onto her lips. Throughout the vibrations of the floor, she could sense exactly who the culprits were, and she couldn’t wait to tease them tomorrow. 

   Sleep.

   That would come first of course, but tomorrow...

    Oh, tomorrow...

   Cursing under her breath, Katara was more frustrated than embarrassed, that Toph of all people had to be the one to  be shuffling around at this time of night.

   Yep, it was over with...

   But then—

   A smile, just a simple smile, and it was all she needed to relax back into the bedding, as she acknowledged Aang. Did he even notice? Or did he just not even care? 

   Both of her guesses were so undeniably Aang. 

   “Nothing bothers you, does it?”

   “I’m just happy, is all.”

   “Me...me too.”

   A cough then erupted, interrupting them both.

   “Would you two SHADDUP!?

   “SOKKA!?”

#avatar #avatar fic #avatar fan fiction #aang and katara fic #aang and katara fan fiction #avatar fan fic #aang and katara fan fic #aang x katara #kataang #fanfic #fanfiction #fluff #humor #aang and katara fluff #aang and katara humor #drabble #aang and katara drabble #kataang drabble

[swishandflickwit]

my weary heart has come to rest in yours (i found my way home) — 1/1

Summary: "I don't get it," Katara purses her lips, befuddlement clear in the furrow of her brows as she turns to him. "You'd think the Fire Nation would know such an important detail about their own prince."

The Gaang wonders why the Fire Nation doesn't seem to know much about Zuko, like maybe where his scar should be? It opens up a lot of questions that they want answered. Zuko, on the other hand, just wants to sleep.

Rating: General Audiences

Words: 5.7k

Warnings:  unbeta’d, zuko-centric, post-ember island players, pre-sozin's comet, zuko gets a hug (as he deserves), non-canon compliant (more like canon adjacent lol), ember island

AN: working title: obligatory the gaang finds out about zuko's scar fic // alt title: a pocket of happiness for my children

title from: Ride Home by Ben&Ben

Also on: ff.net | AO3

Other writing

The atmosphere amongst the occupants of the beach house is sullen and cross following their night out in the theater. 

It isn’t lost on them that the edifice they have come to know as their solace belongs to the very monster man who brought upon their 'deaths'. The certainty that it had all been a fictionalized retelling was not enough to temper even the echo of the crowd’s rabid enthusiasm as they cheered the demise of the Avatar and his friends, nor erase the visceral image of the thespian Fire Lord standing before his adoring subjects—triumphant in his accomplishment of world domination. 

They step through the threshold of the tyrant’s once home. The air grows thicker in acerbity.

Zuko wants to snark at them, I told you they’d butcher it. If he had been the person he was even a month ago perhaps he would have, but the words wither in his throat. The scene of him engulfed in Azula’s flames, however fake or fantasized, sears across his mind on relentless repeat so that it is more selfish entreaty than consideration that has him abstaining from permeating the burdensome silence with his signature brand of pessimism—realism.

Dinner is an equally stilted affair, the only sound to be heard is the clob of chopsticks against wooden bowls and the crackling of the campfire solemnly harmonizing with the occasional sigh of dejection.

This, however, does not last too long.

He supposes he should have seen it coming. This is the boy who offered his friendship at the slightest show of goodness from him. The Avatar is as buoyant in his movements as his element. Though Zuko has come to learn when it comes to his disposition, it is more alacrity than air that has him flitting from one emotion to another, ensuring he never dallies in his worries for too long.

So when Aang bellows, "That's it!" as he discards his bowl with a careless flick, the remains of his uneaten congee spilling carelessly across the cobblestones of the courtyard, Zuko doesn't so much as blink at his latest antics.

He is more surprised at Sokka's indignant huff seeing as it is the first sound he's made in the past two hours (which is subsequently also the quietest he's ever witnessed the other boy to be in all the time he's known him) since they've arrived. 

"I would have eaten that," Sokka mutters irately.

(It is fitting however, that this should be the commentary to break his speechless strike.)

"I mean, what's the big deal? It was just a stupid play!” Aang exclaims emphatically, his voice cracking in his vehemence. “If anything, we should be laughing our butts off—that writer obviously didn't know what he was talking about!"

"Speak for yourself, Twinkletoes," Toph chuckles. "I happened to enjoy my portrayal. It was wrong, sure, but what did you expect from a patchwork of second-hand accounts combined with your regular sprinkling of Fire Nation propaganda? It was dumb, but that was the point. You all know the truth, don't you? Quit being such wet blankets about it already."

After having heard a similar iteration from Toph earlier, Zuko finds no offense from the jibe. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the rest of his companions, save Aang—though even his propensity for optimism appears ready to float away on the next gust of wind.

"At least you were in the play," Suki offers, good-naturedly, if not a bit feebly.

"I think I'd rather just not be in it altogether, if it means I'd have to be depicted like—" Katara shudders before grumbling, as if there truly are no words for that disaster of a parody, "...that."

Zuko wholeheartedly seconds her sentiments.

"Toph's right though!" Aang blusters on, and it all seems rather void but he admires the kid's pluck. "In fact, I think we should all take this opportunity to look back on our adventures—"

Zuko groans. Frankly, he doesn't want to think too much about what it said about him that the Avatar's evasion tactics had relied mostly on improvisation and sheer, dumb luck than calculated military strategy and cunning.

"Or maybe we should just not."

"But Zuko," Aang turns big, round, pleading eyes at him. "Aren't you at least a little curious about what really happened? Not even Toph's heard about half of what we were up to before she joined up with us!"

"You were idiots then, and you're only just a little bit now," Toph snarks. "What else is there to know?"

"Toph," warns Katara just as Sokka sputters, "Hey!"

"It might be good for morale," Suki suggests gently. "I know I could use a pick-me-up."

Zuko gets along with Suki—at least, as well as he is able to get along with anyone. Still, he can't help but shoot her a betrayed glance following her pronouncement. Zuko just wants to sleep, but he should have known better. The minute he starts wanting things is usually the moment they float out of reach.

Suki smiles back unrepentantly, so he sighs in resignation and straps himself down for a long night of reliving his failures (again) and listening to their tales.

"I am a pretty gifted storyteller," Sokka puffs his chest then starts stroking oddly at his face, particularly the area at the sides of his mouth.

Okay? he ponders with a large heaping of confusion.

"That's the spirit, Sokka!" Aang exclaims, but before Sokka can thank him much less get a word in, Aang launches into the story of how the Water Tribe siblings actually found him. Unsurprisingly, it involves less tears—"By which Sokka means no tears!"—and an infuriated Katara and that, he can believe.

Zuko doesn't anticipate being spoken to for the rest of the night. At best, he is a mere purveyor of their communal fire. At worst, an engaged and enthusiastic reaction to the boys' avid narration will be expected of him. And as socially inept as he may be, he has enough tact to refrain from volunteering his side of the events. Even with the amends he's made, he hardly thinks it would encourage rapport to rhapsodize about a time they had been on separate sides at all, no matter how early it had been in their acquaintance. Zuko would (very much) like to retire at some point in the evening without having to worry about suffocating in his sleep.

(He hasn't had that concern for two weeks now, it was practically a new record.)

So imagine his surprise when the focus shifts to him. Toph, much to his mortification, recounts his outburst at being told by a child decked out in derisory Avatar robes (that had to be illegal, right?) that the scar on his 'Prince Zuko costume' was on the wrong side.

"I don't get it," Katara purses her lips, befuddlement clear in the furrow of her brows as she turns to him. "You'd think the Fire Nation would know such an important detail about their own prince."

"Yeah, Sparky." Toph stomps over from the opposite side of their circle to plop down beside him with all the grace of a landslide. "I didn't even know you had a scar until tonight!" She pokes aimlessly at his right cheek. "What gives?"

He stares at her agog before realizing she has no way of deciphering his countenance. So, he responds by addressing Katara's comment instead.

"I don't see why they would," he shrugs. "I'm sure by the time they heard, if they heard about it at all, I had long been banished."

"I'm confused," Aang rubs his head contemplatively. "If you're banished, what's with all the wanted posters? I thought being banished meant you had to stay away, but then they also want to imprison you? You're their prince, it doesn't make sense!"

"Come to think of it," Suki muses, "Why were you banished in the first place?"

"Hold up," Sokka did that thing where he stroked the sides of his face again—seriously, what was up with that?—"I've always wondered, how come you were branded a traitor way before you even joined us? Reading your poster wasn't exactly at the top of our to-do list."

Katara interjects with, "And what were you doing so far out in the South Pole that day we found Aang, anyway?" while Toph reminds him, "Plus, that still doesn't explain why your people don't seem to know anything about you or your scar." 

A headache begins forming at his temples from the barrage of questions. He sighs in vexation before regarding Katara.

"Isn't it obvious? What did you think I was doing? I wasn't exactly sailing around for a vacation destination." Then lowly, somberly, at Toph, "And they haven't been my people," he rubs subconsciously at his marred flesh—mind flitting to that war room—always, always there—and to a whole division of loyal soldiers that in the end, he arrogantly assumed he could defend yet ultimately failed to protect. "Not for a long time."

There is silence in the wake of his disclosure, punctuated by the crackle of the tinder as it is disturbed by the gale gusting in from the beach, and an unnameable terseness that fills the air.

"Why—" he's not sure why he whispers, but it feels appropriate given their stricken expressions. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Suki ultimately is the one to brave breaking the taut stillness, staring at him with purpose.

"Zuko, when—who—" she stutters with what he speculates is an uncharacteristic timidity. That is until she gathers herself with a deep breath, the query crystallizing on her exhalation.

"How did you get your scar?"

It occurs to him, belatedly, that he may have said too much.

"I don't see how it matters," he retorts, hoping the curtness in his delivery puts an end to this inquisition.

But Zuko never did have much luck getting what he wanted.

(No, he broods with a bitterness he wishes he didn't harbor so much, Azula made sure of that.)

"We don't want to upset you—"

"So don't."

Undeterred, Katara finishes in tonalities as soothing as the morning tide, "But it helps to talk about things that might have hurt you."

Around him, the pressure builds. A deadly gas awaiting a fuse.

"Oh, 'it helps,' does it?" he snarls, rage thrumming like wildfire in his veins—igniting his body, and detonating through his next words. "And who exactly does it help, huh? You sure it's my best interests you have at heart? Or—I know! You wanna know my weaknesses, keep the big, bad fire bender on a leash!" He throws his head back, some facsimile of a laugh escaping his lips. "Unless, of course, you're just saying that to satisfy your insatiable need to mother everyone."

Boom.

"Please, I haven't had a mother in years," and he hates it, he hates how it is his voice now that breaks and his body wilts as the violent cloud of his fury dissipates—all the rancorous contention leaking out of him. "I don't need your ridicule or your pity. I've been fine on my own."

And this is the moment he loses everything, he is convinced. Because this is what Zuko does, and what he is best at. His fingers are but sieves from which good things slip. All of him is a razor blade destined to pierce any that would dare come close. He is downfall personified, he is a plague.

This is how it should be, he reasons, cut him now as they would a festering infection.

(As his father, his sister, his mother, would.)

For broken things beget broken things, and they deserve better than to have him bring ruin upon them all.

But then a hand—hands—ground him, keep him rooted, keep him still.

"Well then," Sokka avers, with his special brand of genial but no less poignant solemnity. "It's a good thing we aren't in the business of dishing out pity. Isn't that right, gang?" He clasps his right shoulder, the gesture teeming with meaning though Zuko is the last person to decode it.

"Ridicule, on the other hand…" Toph snickers. Katara sends her an affronted glare before realizing the futility of such an action. She sighs her discontent instead, before returning her attention to him.

"And you're not anymore," Katara says with an earnestness that confounds Zuko to discover is directed at him. "On your own, that is."

"I don't understand," and truly he doesn't. He knows it is not their way to spill blood (barring Katara's commimation during his early days in the Western Air Temple, which was more than fair), but this is the first he's lost his temper in front of them for no valid reason. His choleric speech had their bonfire flaring with every harsh and erratic breath he expelled, sure signs of his waning control. "Aren't you going to kick me out? At least put me in chains!"

Katara's hand joins Sokka's on his opposite side as she approaches him from behind. He has to crane his neck to ascertain her aghast mien. "For what? For being angry? For talking out of turn?"

(It always boils down to this, doesn't it? Agni, why couldn't he ever just keep his mouth shut for once in his miserable life?)

"I'm sorry," he mumbles, because he is and he doesn't know what the right thing to do or say is.

"I know," Katara smiles, but there is something desolate in the curl of her lips. "You always are," she sighs. "I'm sorry, too."

Her thumb brushes back and forth across the nape of his neck and he would have started at the unfamiliar touch if her apology hadn't already caught him off guard. In truth, this entire night has been an anomaly with how quickly they all have made his head spin in the last few minutes alone.

"You're sorry?" he gapes, genuine bafflement coloring his articulation. "Why?"

"For pushing you to talk about what I should have known was a sensitive topic." It's her turn to squeeze his shoulder. "I really am sorry."

"There's nothing to forgive," he stammers, for there honestly isn't. He's still trying to get over the fact he received an apology, let alone that anyone sought a dispension of forgiveness. From him.

"Katara's maternal instincts and overbearing need to talk about one's feelings can be annoying. Believe me, I know."

"Gee. Thanks, Toph," Katara deadpans.

"But she's right," Toph's roughened hands encircle his left forearm. Compared to the siblings, her grip is near painful, as if to dig in her point. "Bottling it up, burying your emotions… it'll only hurt you more."

"But it doesn't hurt," he insists, stubbornly ignoring the waver in his importunity as his palm spans the breadth of his ragged scar. "It doesn't."

"We're not talking about the hurt there," Katara grazes cool fingers from his back to his front, before placing it prostrate and precise. "We're talking about the one here."

Right atop his heart.

"The monks have a saying," Aang has since nestled on his knees in front of Zuko. Without him noticing, their entire circle has gotten closer so that he is at the center—warm bodies surrounding him from all sides, little planets orbiting the sun.

"Holding onto anger is a lot like holding onto hot coals that you mean to throw at someone else. In the end, you're the one who gets burned."

"What do you want from me?" he questions wearily though he knows the answer.

"Nothing," Katara assuages. "Nothing you aren't willing to give."

"And we know you're a fire bender, buddy, but don't you think a fire shared is a village warmed?" Sokka grins encouragingly before sobering. "Maybe you don't want to, but I think you may need this. You've got all this—this—pent-up frustration inside you. I can't believe we never noticed it before, it's practically oozing out of you! Like pus from a boil!"

Zuko grimaces. "Thanks, Sokka."

Unfazed, he goes on. "Don't tell me you've had someone to talk about this with. I can't imagine you and Azula sitting round a campfire having a heart-to-heart."

You'd be surprised, Zuko thinks, if that night of confessions at the beachside counted at all.

"There's still so much we don't know about you," Aang adds. "We just want to understand."

"But, why?" he blurts, frustration mounting again like a forest fire. He is desperate to fathom their persistence, to decipher the motives behind their inexplicably lambent eyes, their magnanimous looks and their delicate tones. 

"Because we're your friends, Zuko," Suki murmurs while everyone makes their approval known one way or another. "Sharing burdens is kinda what we do."

Oh, he thinks dumbly, Oh.

"It doesn't make for a pleasant bedtime story," he states with an almost believable clinical detachment, steadfastly ignoring the pounding of his heart at her proclamation of friendship. "And it's heavy. This is a load I wouldn't wish on anyone."

"All the better," Katara chirps, settling with her knees aside behind him, "that there's five of us then, right?"

Perhaps it is the security found amongst the shadows of the eventide that loosens his tongue. Perhaps it is that Zuko is just too exhausted, figuring that the fastest way to reach his bed is to simply not argue. It might even be the contentment that Aang and Sokka's adage brings him, the closest taste of home he's had since his separation from the person whom he now knows, without question, he loves most in this world. Or maybe it is simply time , here, on this island, the ghost of dual timbres wisened with age—and it can help you understand yourselves—ringing in his ears. And so beneath a collective scrutiny of ingrained amity and determined tolerance and encouragement and just… goodness.

He begins his tale.

He speaks until his already hoarse voice grows even hoarser, the words clumsy and stilted on his tongue, unused as he is to telling his story—along with the extensive range of sensations that come with it, and the illimitable memories it incites within him, some sentimental while others he would rather forget altogether. 

He speaks of a mother's love lending him both strength and weakness, of how it should have been enough yet still could never outweigh his longing for the love of a father who scorns him, of a sister he adored until she, too, eventually saw him as nothing more than a hindrance, then an enemy. He speaks of an uncle whose favor brought him places he knew he ought to be but secretly did not think he deserved, of advice dispensed wisely and discarded carelessly, of a compassion that flamed so bright within him a King saw it as too untamable to remain, and so he snuffed it out with a fiery hand to his face. He spoke of lonely years with nothing but sky and sea and the musings of an old man over tea as his only company, of a path he knew deep down had been aimless yet it was all he could hold on to because it was a reminder that he was still real.

"Three years," Suki mouths, devastation written so plainly upon her profile Zuko couldn't bear to look at her. "He had you chasing a ghost for three years."

"So… so what you said… about losing your honor?" Katara mutters wetly, and if that isn't evidence enough of her sorrow then surely, the unceasingly dampening spots between his shoulder blades are.

He winces at the flashback her inquest incites, shaking his head in internal, forlorn reproach. His shame galvanizes him enough to want to explicate his reasonings out loud, for if there is absolution to be found in his ramblings then all the more reason to try.

"For so long, I fooled myself into believing that finding the Avatar meant regaining my honor. It never occurred to me until recently that honor wasn't something that could be taken away from you. It's something you earn for yourself," he sighs despondently. "Some days though, it wasn't even about honor—I just wanted to go home. But more than anything, my father led me to believe that if I captured you then I would finally, finally have his approval—his love," he shakes his head before releasing a hollow chuckle. "What a stupid thought."

"No, no it wasn't stupid!" Toph exclaims. "It's a parent's job to love their kid. And even then it's not supposed to be conditional!"

"I can't believe he would—that he'd bur—" Aang cuts himself off with a jerk, as if the word, burn, is a most foul curse that would be invoked at the slightest whisp. Zuko doesn't dissuade him. There was a time when he felt the same way, too.

"His own son," Aang finishes dazedly, his face a river of tears, a torrent with no signs of abating.

"I'm sorry," Zuko tries again, a little alarmed now at the frequency of watery displays before him. "I didn't mean to make you sad. Oh," in his panic, he thumbs impetuously at the stray droplets coursing down the arch of Toph's cheeks. In this light, she looks exactly her age, so young and slight, yet so contrary to what he knows of the mighty and unflappable earth bender. A pang goes through his chest that he could ever be cause for her melancholy, for any of theirs. "Please don't cry."

"You first," Toph replies, inconceivably subdued and gentle as she reaches up to frame his face. Zuko holds his breath when he assumes she will palm at his scar, which she does. But there is no judgement there, only indubitable acceptance, and comfort, as she brushes roughly at the tears he didn't even know he's shed.

"Oh," he repeats, not for the first, and certainly not for the last, time tonight.

Suki sniffs. "He doesn’t deserve you."

Sokka abruptly declares in hard intonations, "I'm gonna kill him—" 

Before he can completely swear his intent, the water in the fountain behind them solidifies into menacingly pointy shards while the earth underneath them trembles dangerously.

"Get in line," Katara hisses darkly at the same time Toph grunts, "Not if I get to him first!"

Sokka's eyes are red-rimmed and gleaming. Still, he announces with a fair amount of acid in his inflection, "I know how you feel about this Aang, but you better hold me back when the time comes cause if I get my hands on that crazy, stupid, son-of-a—"

Zuko lurches forward to cover Aang's ears.

"Sokka!"

It seems the contact is all the incentive Aang needs to throw his arms around Zuko. The fire bender isn't expecting the extra ninety pounds and for all four, gangly limbs to wrap around him like a pentapus so he has no choice but to fall back to accommodate the extra weight, his head landing on Katara's lap as Aang does his utmost to actually meld himself onto his body. 

"Slothdog pile?" Toph asks unnecessarily and with a gargantuan amount of glee that the shift in mood gives him whiplash. "No way I'm not getting in on this!"

Toph burrows her head onto his hip, knocking Aang's leg aside as she commandeers Zuko's own left leg like a body pillow. It appears to be all the permission everyone else has been seeking as well, for like dominoes they begin falling into place around him. Katara tucks his head a little more securely on her thigh before leaning her upper body against the lip of the fountain at her back while Suki lists against Sokka who leans his head onto Zuko's right shoulder. 

"What—what's happening right now?" he doesn't want to appear too scandalized but he is at a loss for what to do with his limbs, outstretched as they are on either side of him. The Royal family didn't do touch, much less hug. The gesture became even more scarce when his mother… when she was gone, and though his uncle was a lot more free with his affections, it still hadn't warranted familiarity. His muscles contract at the overwhelming amount of contact.

"I wouldn't think too hard." Above him, there are traces of moisture on her visage but Katara chuckles, fond and ebullient now, much to his relief. "Just go with the flow."

"Says the water bender to the fire bender," he bites back weakly, which only fuels Katara's amusement.

Aang fastens his hold around the prince's torso, and he tenses even more.

"You know your dad's wrong, right, Zuko?"

"About what?" he quips sarcastically, but is surprised by the ardency in their antiphon.

"About everything," Aang counters fiercely. "Like, yeah, you chased us all over the world but you never aimed to kill!"

With his lineage it feels like a low bar but he nods his acknowledgement and his gratitude.

"You didn't save me from the pirates, but you kept them from… touching me," her tone is as algid as the glaciers of her homeland, but the rattle of Katara's bones is so prominent that he shakes along with her. "It could have gone a lot worse."

"I wouldn't do you that dishonor," he whispers brokenly, sick at the scenarios he can so acutely guess is conquering her imagination, it's own horrific play dancing along her features.

"I know," she reciprocates, just as gravely, "I know that now."

"You kept your promise. You could have come back, razed our village—"

"And mine," Suki joins Sokka.

"But you didn't."

He frowns. "Those days, my word was the only currency I had that was worth trading." 

He doesn't like how they make it—him—sound. Every decent deed he had fulfilled in pursuit of the Avatar was done so as a courtesy mostly to himself. If he was to regain his honor, he had to act with as much honor as his, admittedly dastardly-to-begin-with, mission could provide. Now, Zuko isn't exactly an authority—even on his good days—on altruism but he could at least recognize that in those moments, any clemency administered had been the right thing to do.

"Anyone would have done the same," he defends faintly, then immediately wishes he could take it back when Katara growls.

"No, Zuko," she clenches quivering fingers around the ubiquitous pendant adorning her neck. "No, they wouldn't."

"It's more than that, though," Aang asserts imploringly. "It's just you. It's so obvious, how did we ever not see it before now? It's who you are," he takes a deep breath, the wisdom of a thousand others before him laying siege in his every movement, every syllable. "And who you are is the most honorable guy we know."

He does a double-take.

"You… you really think that?" He shakes his head in frantic incredulity, blood roaring like a storm through his veins. "All of you?"

He looks at each of them in bewilderment—lingers especially on Aang, at the roundness of his cheeks that should be testament to his naiveté yet so contrary to the maturity shadowing his bearing—as if he can divine their rationale through sight alone. He doubts them, and it makes him feel older than sixteen, his cynicism a pallium shackled to his shoulders. But there is a chorus of devout agreeance, Aang's hope a living, tangible thing that he gives to Zuko freely. He fumbles. He doesn't trust the fervor with which it sets him aglow (metaphorically and physically, it would seem, as Sokka comments mildly, "Wow, you're like a heated blanket with how warm you are. Hey, why didn't we think of doing this before?"), but Zuko—even with his infinite skepticism—cannot find it in his fractured heart to reject it.

"Zuko?" Aang prompts, raising his head so he can catch his eye, gray and gold colliding in an affable display of security. "You believe us, don't you?"

"Yeah," Zuko reassures, albeit timorously. He takes a bracing, meditative breath before releasing it, sinking into the downy cosset of their affections as he turns his head to Katara's stomach, lowers his arms to clutch Suki and Sokka closer, bundles Aang on his chest with his heated breath, and secures Toph to his side with a hand to her back. Then, stronger, "Yeah, I guess I do."

When he decided to share his tumultuous past, he thought that he might shatter and they would rejoice at the gravity of his turmoil. But he should have known better than to assume his friends—and how marvelous a notion, to think that he of all people would have a group he is honored to name as such his own—will let him. He knows Suki had called themselves so earlier, but he doesn't quite believe it. Not until now.

"We won't let him touch you again."

It is said through a yawn as one by one, they nod off, until only Zuko and Katara are left to drift close to the edge of lethargy. She strokes tenderly at his hair, so reminiscent of his mother that he feels a familiar burning in his eyes and a lump at the back of his throat once more, all from the simple motion—or so he tells himself.

"Sleep, Zuko," she sweeps away the strands at his forehead before impressing upon it a tender kiss. "No one will hurt you. Not anymore, not ever."

Zuko can take care of himself. The way he's brought up, he's had to. Beyond that, they are at the very front lines of a war—any day, any second, could mean the last for them and they would have no way of knowing until it is upon them, so Katara's asseveration should not have brought him the relief it did. If anything, he should have denied it with the same dose of pessimism realism he approaches most everything in his life. 

But perhaps, just this once, he will allow himself the privilege of their refuge. He will allow himself to believe in the vehemency of their promise.

I just wanted to go home, he had said. And this is not a place he pictured himself ever being in, trivialized to a mere furnace, yet strangely he finds he does not mind it (not that he would ever divulge this forthright), not even a little bit. The struggle and strife of his history, of his present, are unchanged, but an effervescence envelops him in spite of the five bodies weighing him down.

Maybe even because of them.

He closes his eyes when Katara has another go at running her fingers through his hair. He can almost conjure the ghost of his mother's smile when she used to employ the same tactics to lull him to slumber. He thinks of his uncle, mistifying and genteel and terrifying and loving all at once, sitting vigil at his bedside when fever and delirium took him during those early days of recovery, and long after then, whether or not he admitted to his desire for him to stay. He compares this house and everything it represents—a relic to his family's happiness—to this strangely colorful and caring mismatch of a rugged group that someway, somehow, just manages to fit perfectly into his arms. He tightens his embrace, and it suddenly hits him.

He supposes home was something he could carry with him all along.

"Sleep," Katara hums.

And so he does.

-//////-

Later, much later, when the power from the comet has receded to the faintest of throbs, and his sister is sedated and heavily guarded while his father is in chains at the bottom of the most isolated prison in the Fire Nation, their fates to be decided in the coming weeks by a tribunal composed of the remaining leaders from all nations—when he retires to his room in lieu of that of the Fire Lord's (despite the mantle and all it entails, both the sordid and the noble, falling solely onto his shoulders), and he sports yet another scar, a burn, that he will bear just as proudly as the first and more fiercely than even his eminent title, for there was no higher honor than protecting a friend—when his uncle has resumed his seat, snoring soundly and deservedly on an armchair at the side of his vast four-poster, always at his side as if they had never parted for even one second, and he is sandwiched between his two most favorite twelve-year olds in the world, Toph as unmindful of his injury as one would expect her to be when she plants her sleep-dead body right atop his chest, and Aang entirely all too much, curled into a ball that hardly breaches his space, apart from his head as he dozes lightly on his shoulder—when Sokka and Suki are passed out at the foot of his bed, his leg a pillow for their weary heads and their bodies as tangled onto each other despite Sokka's own bandaged leg (like the kindred souls he knows them to be, like magnets helpless against each other's pull), and Katara has expelled the last of her curative waters on him, much to his insistence that he doesn't need it any longer, before she sinks into the only unoccupied space above him on his bed—when they lie there in the first quiet they've achieved since they all adjourned here, their heads touching and their breathing in sync—he opens his eyes.

"You did it, Zuko," Katara's voice is a susurrant trill tinged with exaltation and pride. "You're home."

As he does then, he does again now, and tightens his hold—a hand to steady Aang's lolling head, another at Toph's back to still her fitful body, his leg pushing to burrow the blanket further into Suki's side, and the fireplace flaring with his breath to heat the figures he cannot reach. The difference in this embrace, however, is in the absence of doubt and the lack of fear, replaced with all the affluence of his adoration—unhindered and abounding.

"Yeah."

It is his turn to press a kiss onto her forehead, lips moving tired but no less grateful and indulgent. 

Cradled in the warmth of everyone he loves and cares about, he is quite inclined to agree.

"I am home."

-//////-

AN: "Holding on to anger is like grasping on hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets hurt." —Buddha

i feel like you aren't part of the atla fandom and the zuko nation until you crank out one of these lmao. listen, listen, the beach gets cold at night so i just always picture these kids a pile of tired, sleeping limbs at the end of every day and all huddling into the only free source of heat, no fire required. let me live in this world.

come say hi to me!

#atla #atla fanfiction #the gaang #zuko #zuko fanfiction #honestly this is v self-indulgent fluff #the gaang deserves all the love & downtime #cuz they are just chiLDREN #zuko gets a much deserved hug #zuko + the gaang #altho honestly i think my water tribe sibling bias is showing lol #also zuko has a lot of repressed big brother instincts #so let him be a big brother!! #let him hug it out!! #i will die on this hill #yes i will #swishandflickwit ff

[sokkathebluewolf]

Has Azula really never killed anyone? That doesn't seem like her but it does seem like it could be an interesting plot point that she's been hiding the fact that she has from sokka out of shame or something

*sigh* 

Well, this isn’t the kind of ask I usually get on this blog, but I’ll answer as earnestly as possible. Preemptively sorry if I come off strong, but I’m going to assume you really haven’t read the whole story and thus some of its underlying themes and established backstories (or absence thereof) have gone unnoticed for you because of that.

Canon Azula, at fourteen years of age, goes out to track down her brother and uncle in war times. Canon Azula is not morally appalled by murder, not by any means, but unless you count Aang, who (because of LOK and because he literally came back to life) hardly really counts despite her very obvious intent to kill him, Azula’s canon kill count would be ONE (1), and it’s still someone who didn’t stay dead. Aang has canonically and consciously killed more people than Azula (and I don’t mean Koizilla, I mean Sozin’s Comet, the falling airship that crashed pretty hard against solid ground when he knocked it down. Were there survivors? Likely. But genuinely thinking no one would have died after that sounds extremely naïve). So, please, keep that in mind before thinking “that doesn’t seem much like *insert character name here*”. 

Gladiator Azula, at fourteen years of age, goes NOWHERE. Gladiator Azula didn’t have to track down Zuko and Iroh because they were a failure and a traitor, respectively. Why? Because Aang didn’t come back. There was no Avatar on the loose that Zuko and Iroh would fail to capture heaps of times. Therefore, if Azula doesn’t have to go find Zuko and Iroh by Ozai’s orders, Azula doesn’t fight the Avatar and friends, Azula doesn’t end up anywhere near Ba Sing Se. Someone else (General Tiang) takes Ba Sing Se in Gladiator with the power of the comet, because in this setting the Fire Nation wouldn’t have the opportunity to take it any sooner. I am pretty sure the comet-enhanced take of Ba Sing Se is literally stated in the first chapter: there are no aircrafts yet because Sokka hasn’t helped the Mechanist complete them, ergo, Ozai can’t rain fire from the sky even if he dreams of that. There are also no dragons, so the firebenders couldn’t use this grand opportunity for something gradiose like burning the entire world to the ground and had to settle for an old-school military strategic victory.

Gladiator Azula is established, then, to not have taken action in her younger years because Ozai had no need to send her anywhere. Gladiator Azula has seen no military glory when the story begins, she has taken no missions before the first one she has in the South Pole, a mission where her role was meant to be diplomatic, first and foremost. The first enemy she meets whom she just might have a pretty good reason to kill? It’s Sokka. And we all know how that turned out. Had she been a trigger-happy murderer like you might think she is (considering zero murders “doesn’t seem like Azula” to you), that’s where our story would have ended. Funny.

Therefore, had Gladiator Azula killed someone before Sokka was part of her life, it’d have to be a Fire Nation someone. I repeat, she had never dealt with anyone who could be considered an enemy of her nation before the South Pole. If she didn’t kill Huang Li for disrespecting her, if she didn’t kill Admiral Chan for trying to screw her over and instead bided her time until she could one-up him for good… do you SERIOUSLY think the way I’m characterizing Azula leaves room for her to have committed, what, recreational murder of her own people because she was frustrated she didn’t get any chances to join the war?

Throughout the story, Gladiator Azula has showed very little compunction about threatening people with death, or even talking about killing others when she’s in a really bad mood. This is done as a very deliberate and intentional contrast with Sokka, who has killed countless people and wishes he’d never have to do it again. Why’s that?

Because often in fantasy fiction, in many stories I’ve found (including ATLA), killing isn’t treated with the gravity and seriousness it deserves. Sokka has canonically killed plenty of people too, and yet it never seems to bother him in the least there. I’ve read at least two other fics that give him PTSD for the deaths he dealt through the war, and to me, that’s a thousand times more sensible than him being utterly unconcerned with what he’s doing or who he’s killing. I like my characters more complex than Liam Neeson in Taken. Want senseless killing with zero consequences? That’d be a good movie to go to for that.

Gladiator Sokka killed his first man in the settlement, chapter 2, remember? He hasn’t forgotten it even now, despite at the time he tried to ignore it and move on to his actual mission. What was the purpose of that? If it needs spelling out, the purpose of it was to outright contrast the Canon Sokka mentality of “it’s what needs to be done”, a mentality he shares in this story at first, with the eventual Gladiator Sokka mentality of “taking people’s lives destroyed me on the inside because I don’t think I deserved to live when they died”. All this to make death a lot less leisurely, recreational, inconsequential than it is in countless works of fiction. Do you shrug off real life deaths as though they were inconsequential too? Has any relative of yours died and you’ve thought it’s irrelevant? Or, like me, are you living in a tyrannical country where fighting back against said tyranny has resulted in meaningless deaths of young people who were fighting for a future that was stolen from them? People whose deaths have just become a mere number on a list of atrocities a tyrannical regime refuses to answer for? Yeah, that sounds hella dramatic, I know. But I like to take my storytelling and the themes I deal with in it seriously, and death is one theme I categorically refuse to take lightly. ATLA did try to take death seriously too, but they certainly failed more often than not for me, especially when their heroes cared about death only if the plot required it.

That Azula hasn’t killed anyone so far doesn’t mean she won’t ever do it in the story’s future. But it does mean that, by the time she does, it will affect her, as it rightfully should affect any human being who isn’t completely amoral and, if you’ve read any further than the first three arcs, I’d like to think you already know Azula has a conscience she tends to ignore but that is still there. Spoiler alert, said conscience becomes louder and harder for her to ignore until eventually she starts abiding by it.

In conclusion, no, Azula hasn’t killed anyone. No, I don’t find that implausible for a character who hadn’t gone to war the way her canon counterpart did, especially considering said canon counterpart has only ever killed ONE (1) person if you do count him, despite being involved directly in the war to the point of even conquering a city herself. No, there isn’t some secret death Azula is responsible for that she hasn’t told Sokka about, because if there were, she would already have shown signs of keeping that kind of secret (yes, Sokka kept secrets that weren’t strongly hinted at, but they WERE hinted at: Rhone for instance was teased all the way in chapter 41 despite he only showed up in chapter 113, and the reasons for his reluctance to go home were implied since chapter 3, even if he didn’t outright tell Azula about them until chapter 106).

I’m sure there are countless other stories that don’t deal with death the way I do. But this is how Gladiator does it, and this is how Gladiator will continue to do it, because it’s being written by someone who doesn’t think carnage should be dealt with as lightly as it often is. Yes, there’s death in this story, a fair share of it, and that share will only increase in later chapters (I literally just finished an entire arc about serial murders through the Capital?), but I won’t ever take it lightly and I sure won’t turn my characters into secretive murderers for drama’s sake, especially if said suggestion contradicts virtually every bit of characterization I’ve worked on and developed for Azula throughout six years of studying her character and writing it in this story.

(Also… hiding it out of shame? If you think it’s unlike Azula to not have killed anyone, do you really think it’s “like her” to be ashamed if she really had done it? Do you really think she wouldn’t have been proud to own up to her kill count before her conscience kicks in for good later on in the story? What reason would Azula possibly have to be ashamed of killing someone in the earlier stages of Gladiator?)

#anon #ask #azula #gladiator

[zutarawasrobbed]

Accidental Exchange (Zutara Week 2018 Day 2: Letters) Full Mature Version

Rating: M/E  ff.net AO3

Summary: writing letters seems to be the only thing that Katara can do to pass the time while her husband is away. Feeling stuck and more lonely than ever, Katara finds herself writing more and more letters to a certain fire lord. There is just one problem. She never sends them…save for one day when Aang sees a letter Addressed to Zuko and sends it. when Katara receives a letter back, it is nothing like she expects… For either of them.

There are days when life seems hopeless and meaningless. For Katara those days have become more and more frequent with little room for happiness. After she got married she assumed her life would be filled with more meaning and a new mission in life. How wrong she was. Three years into her marriage to Aang, she feels lost and as if a piece of herself is missing. 

It’s not as if she doesn't try to convey her feelings to her husband. It’s just that when he is around, time is mostly spent on discussing his troubles and what struggles he’s facing, rather than hers. so many times has she tried to tell him that she craves the life of when they were teenagers, the days when they would fly anywhere they wanted at any time. How she longs to feel a sense of importance once again. However, she never tells him of these feelings, especially the ones of her slowly shattering heart, for deep down she knows that if she were to lose him, she would lose the last bit of importance she has left.

  So, instead of keeping it all inside, she decides that it would be therapeutic to write it down. At first the writings are short and barely take up a page. But, as time goes on, she finds that one page, turns to pages, and pages turn to scrolls. By the end of the first scroll her writings become almost automatic like a routine. By the time she finishes the second scroll, she finds herself mindlessly writing whatever she can think of at the moment and doesn't take a second look. However, it’s when she reaches the 3rd scroll of complaints that she knows something’s wrong. 

It should’ve been obvious, the last time they were intimate was 4 months ago, and he was around for 2 of those 4 months. Once she reviews the content of her writings, she realizes that over time, the complains have become those of sexual frustration rather than just the communication aspect of her relationship. But, once, she reads her second scroll she realizes she started to address each complaint to a different person from their old Gang.

The first letter she finds she wrote to her brother Sokka sating

Dear Sokka,

I know it has been some time since we last spoke and I would be lying if I said I have been simply too busy to respond or dictate a message to you, but that would be a lie. In fact that could never be further from the truth. If I were to tell you just how many responsibilities I have been gifted with. It would only be that of looking after the home when Aang is away to attend his meetings. 

In all honesty, I have grown tired and sad. I long for the days you and I would spend penguin sledding back in the south pole. I long for a sense of pride, a sense of freedom. Truth be told I no longer see myself as who I used to be and I wish to feel that way again. I pray that one day I will come back to myself.

Until then, 

Katara

Upon reading the final paragraph of the letters, she finds her eyes blurring, and realizes that she is crying. The person who wrote this certainly, couldn't have been her. There is no way she is that unhappy. Right? Then again… No 23 year old should feeling unhappy at all, let alone have marriage problems.

Days past until she finds enough courage to look to her second scroll again. She looks at the second letter, it’s addressed to Toph.

Dear Toph, 

I know you must be wondering why I bother to write to you, knowing fully well that you are unable to read. However, I feel that you are the only person I can ever tell this to. I feel weak. I find myself slowly losing my will to continue pretending. I no longer look in the mirror and see the brave water bender I used to be. She feels so far gone, it is as if she is a distant memory. 

Reading, or hearing in your case, this I know you must be rolling your eyes. But it’s true I no longer bother even trying to attempt training. And Aang says it’s probably for the best. For once we start having children I won’t have enough time to focus on bending anyhow. However when he brings up the idea of children he only ever talks about the prospect of air bending children. What if I cant give him what he wants? what if I become a failure in that regard as well?

Much love,

Katara

Katara reading over the words cause her face to fall along with her tears. How could she not have realized these feelings within her? How has she been able to live like this for so long? Ho-

Her thoughts are interrupted upon seeing a letter addressed to Zuko…

Dearest, Zuko,

I hear a congratulations are in order. You are a married man now and I hope that your marriage brings you much happiness as opposed to the one I currently reside in. In all honesty I’m not sure why I am even writing this letter, but I feel that there are few who can understand what I am going through, and while you may not be experiencing what I am, I know you will do your best to understand. 

Zuko, I’m lonely. Day in and day out, I find myself realizing that the prospect of children is something becoming more and more prevalent in my relationship and, I can't help but realize that, I don't want children… Not with him. there are many things that lead me to come to a decision on the matter. So I will tell you in hopes that you can give me some advice on the matter. 

For starters, I feel as though bringing a child into this world, his child would only lead me further down this road of sadness. Secondly, I have come to realize that I have already been a mother, just not to children, but to my husband. And if I am to raise a child, I wish it to be with a partner, not a responsibility. And lastly, for one to create a child, sex must be involved, and given that he hasn't touched me in weeks, it is safe to say that creating a child would not be possible.

My final reason brings me to my final point of sadness. Am I not good enough? Do I no longer appeal to him as a woman? What have I done wrong to make him so repulsed that he won't dare touch me? Am I a failure of a woman?

Your dear friend,

Katara

Shocked beyond belief of the contents of this particular letter, Katara drops the scroll with a gasp. How could she? Could she really be so desperate for contact that she asked her dear friend whether or not she was fuckable? She knows she’s no longer the cute petite woman she used to be. But was she so insecure she had to ask a man who hasn't seen her since his coronation as Fire Lord if she looked good? Not to mention this letter was written almost three months ago, what other things has she written to her dear friends? What else has she written to Zuko. 

Upon asking herself about the fire lord in particular, She feels the familiar tingling feeling within her stomach and lets out an involuntary moan. Did she really just moan to the thought of her close friend? 

She, wont lie, it’s not like she hasn’t thought about Zuko in more than friendly terms before. But never before has her body reacted this way. Is she really that needy? It isn’t until she feels a strange wetness coming from her lower bindings that she realizes that question was being answered for her. Instinctively, she heads to her room.

The room is  all but empty save for two compartments for their clothing on the left a bed in the center lit by the window to the right of the bed. feeling the familiar sensation arise once again she brings herself to the edge of the bed she shares with her husband, she She knows this is wrong, but she has been waiting for four months, four months, for some kind of release. If this is the only way she can find any, so be it. 

Another two months go by, and she finds that pleasuring herself to thoughts of her fire bending friend has become a normal part of her life. Like her letters (she knows scrolls wouldn't be the appropriate term to call them anymore), losing herself to fantasies of being taken by the fire bender becomes a common occurrence. However, the fantasies are not the only thing that becomes new in her life. 

After her first experience of self pleasure featuring the fire lord, she find herself continuing to write letters to him, but there is one time in which she writes a letter to him that is not as innocent as the ones before… Definitely not as innocent as before. This particular letter never makes it to a scroll, but in an envelope addressed to him. She knows that she will never send it. But the thrill of knowing that it is possible to do so, makes her feel empowered.

Its been four months since he has been home, longer than any other time before. But Aang knows he’s lucky to have someone loyal like Katara to wait for him. Yet he also knows he’s guilty. He enters their home and notices that his wife is preparing dinner for homecoming tonight, and decides to settle down in their bedroom. 

Upon entering his room, he notices an envelope on her dresser and sees that is it addressed to Zuko. Realizing that she must have forgotten to send it, he walks outside of their home to their carrier bird and sends it off the the fire nation. Aang is certain his wife will thank him later once she gets a response from their dear friend.

Days are boring in the fire nation. Not only does Zuko have to attend meetings after meetings, day in and day out. But once he is ready to retire to his chambers, Mai is waiting to complain about any little thing that she thinks to bring up. Agni forgive he ever have a hard day.  For Agni’s sake the most she has been asked to do it sit on the throne. It’s not like he hasn't asked former help, but after the first three times he asks to help him make a decision, she says it’s his job not hers to make important decisions. It’s gotten to the point that she no longer even tries to sleep in the same room as him anymore, and at this point, he doesn't even care enough to say anything about it. 

He enters his next meeting with his counsel but before sitting he sees a letter is waiting on his seat at the edge of the table. That’s strange, I haven't been given a letter in over a year from anyone in particular. He thinks to himself. 

But upon inspecting the handwriting, he recognizes it immediately and tears it open with haste. Taking a sip of tea he beings to read. But after reading the first sentence he almost chokes on his tea.

My lovely, Zuko,

Night after night I find myself thinking of you in a not so innocent light. I miss being touched. And when I do find time to please myself, I find my thoughts wandering to you. This very moment I can imagine you grabbing me by my shoulders and nipping the skin underneath my ear. All the while whispering how you are going to make me feel pleasure that no one has ever known. All the while you are pressing your arousal deliciously against me.

I can imagine you ripping off my lower wrappings and then taking me from behind on my dresser all the while you pull my hair and kiss along my spine. I can feel you driving into me with such a blinding force. Relentlessly, thrusting yourself into me. All the while I beg for you to give me my release. And while I do, I can hear myself screaming your name like all those times I have been brought to brink pleasuring myself.

Your lovely,

Katara

Zuko sits shocked- no shocked would be the understatement of the decade, to explain how he was feeling. For one, he is hard, (painfully so). In fact, if not for the fact that he was in a room full of old men, he probably would have cum right then and there. But that was besides the point. How could innocent Katara (who he had to admit drove his little teenage mind wild from time to time) write this? It has to be a mistake right? Then again, how could it be? She literally said his name- screamed it in her writing… Fuck!

Zuko decided to cut his meeting short, much to the confusion of the counsel members,  and run to his chambers. His room was a vibrant red walls covered in gold decorations and paintings from his coronation to one of his recent wedding. The room was large to say the least. the bed itself was made to fit 7 people, at least. His bed was draped with red sheer curtains and decorated with red and gold pillows along with a burgundy comforter and a red pillow with gold swirls in in the middle for the finishing touch. his drawers sat beside each other on each side of his bed. all the while a path of red drapes would lead him to his closet. which was another room in itself, if he was honest. The closet would then have a secret trap door where his armor and former blue spirit costume lay hidden from public view. The bathroom would lie in the left corner of his bed which held a luxury bath big enough for two and two sinks ready for what was supposed to be for him and his “wife” to share. 

Entering the room Zuko quickly locked his front door and proceeded to strip himself of his clothing, as it was much too hot for clothes at this point, and began stroking his length furiously with all the images from Katara’s letter in his mind. He could see her blue eyes looking up at him while she suck her mouth onto him. He could feel the slickness of her wet folds enveloping his cock as she sank on top of his. He could hear her scream his name over and over as he grabbed her hip and started thrusting into her at a violent pace. But once he remembered the way she wrote beg, that’s what did it. He let out a loud growl and felt his seed spill onto his awaiting hand. 

Huffing, panting, trying to catch his breath from what was arguably the best orgasm he has ever felt in his life, the reality of the situation dawned on him. He, Fire Lord Zuko, just got off of the words Katara sent to him. Katara, the waterbender who would always have something to say. Katara, the same girl who he chased for months before realizing he was on the wrong side. Katara, the woman who saw good in him when no one else did. Katara, The same woman who he let touch his scar for the first time since his banishment. Katara, the first person he ever thought getting struck by lightening was worth it, if it meant she got to live another day. Katara, the first person he ever truly loved. How could he have just tarnished her honor like that? But… then again…

Before thinking about it too quickly, he grabs a quill and begins writing…

It’s been two weeks since Aang has come home, and if Katara thought things were going to finally settle down, boy was she wrong. Her husband found out that he had to go on another meeting that would last at least another month. Deciding not to hold her breath, she prepared his things quicker than she had the time before and saw him off. She didn't even feel sorrowful over the fact that he still hadn't touched her in the time he was here. Not that she was a lack for trying. Every time he kissed her good morning, she would try to deepen the kiss only to be asked when she was going to get started on breakfast. After the fourth time she gave up and came to the conclusion that she was no longer what he desired bed partner. A wife? yes. A mother? of course!  But a lover? Not anymore. 

Her sad thoughts were interrupted when the familiar call of their messenger bird arrived with a letter attached to his talon. guessing that it was meant for her husband, she quickly exited the house and unhooked the letter. Taking a glance at what she thought to be the familiar name etched into the envelope, she realized it was her name on the paper not her husbands. That’s odd. she thinks to herself as she re-enters her home and sits on her bed. 

Anxious in anticipation, Katara tears open the letter and her heart stops when realizes who the letter is from. “Zuko…”

My lovely Katara, 

I cannot begin to express my deepest thanks for your letter you sent to me. Although I must admit, I was surprised to say the least of the contents of your letter-

letter? What letter? I never sent a- 

Quickly skimming the next sentence, her heart dropped to the floor. No way! He couldn't have seen it! There’s no way… Then again… that’s when it hits her. the letter she addressed to him! She left it on her dresser! Aang must have seen it and thought he would be doing her favor by taking sending the mail out! “Fuck!” Taking a deep breath, Katara bravely peeks at the letter and dares to complete it 

My lovely Katara, 

I cannot begin to express my deepest thanks for your letter you sent to me. Although I must admit, I was surprised to say the least of the contents of your letter. No matter, I just wanted to say that I too have found myself thinking of you night after night. And i’d be lying if I said that I don't think of you more often, now that you have expressed you feel some form of attraction towards me as well. 

You have no idea how much I want to crash my lips onto yours and pin you to the floor as I tear off your clothes. You have not the slightest clue to how much I want to lick and bite your neck all the while I bring you to the edge with my fingers alone. I want to kiss down your chest to your center and feast on you till morning. I want to lick, taste and savor your flavor on my tongue until you can no longer hold back your cries of pleasure. I want to see your face as I grind my cock against you slick folds. I want to hear you scream my name as you adjust to my size and beg me to move. I want to bring you so much pleasure that you will forget your name but continue to scream mine. But most of all, I want to kiss you deeply and look into your eyes, as I bring us both to our sweet release and finish inside you. 

Yours truly, 

Zuko

Katara had to stifle a gasp as she finished reading the last line of the letter. He couldn't really mean all those things. Could he? She thought to herself. Then again, this was Zuko. Zuko, the boy who chased her and her group around the world for months until he realized he was being an asshole. Zuko, the guy who screamed about honor, yet struggled with it himself. Zuko, the man who betrayed her after she offered to heal his scar… 

But he was also,  Zuko, the man who abandoned his life at the palace to a life of rebellion for the sake of human kind. Zuko, the man who crawled on his hands and knees begging for forgiveness. Zuko, the man who not only helped but accompanied her on her journey to find her mothers killer and let her decide what the fate of that man would be. Zuko, the man who, without a second thought, ran in front of a lightening bolt meant to end her life, without ever asking for anything else in return. 

Shaking her head from these thoughts, she noticed another piece of paper slip from the envelope that read

P.S. I’m not sure if you will ever return these feelings of mine but I thought I would let you know that I don't expect anything in return. Just know, that no matter where we stand, there is always a room in the fire nation available to you. And no matter what you want to talk about, I will always be ready to listen.

-Zuko

Upon reading that note, Katara opened her dresser and looked through the scrolls. and began tearing letter by letter out of the scroll. Maybe it was time she did something for herself…

Two months passed since the first letter Katara received from Zuko arrived in her home, and it was by no means the last. After she tore apart letter by letter, she decided to send him each and every one of the letters she kept to herself, about Aang and his lack of communication, the struggles she had with finding out who she was in this marriage anymore. And in return, he responded to every single one and in order! He talked about his problems with his wife and how he truly felt as though perhaps he was asking for too much to be happy in a relationship rather than tolerated in one. Not only would they talk about their relationships, but fire nation politics as well. But with all the letters they sent. There was one Katara could never bring herself to deliver. But she made sure to keep that with her at all times in case Aang decided to send in this one as well…

Zuko never feels more alive than when he reads a letter from Katara. Her troubles are shockingly similar to his own. They both have unsatisfying marriages, and whatever Mai fails to give him, Katara gives wholeheartedly and most, if not always, more. He often finds himself seeking the advice of Katara as well as what she would do if he were in his position. And every time she blows his mind with how intelligent and thoughtful she is when it comes to any given situation. Be it trade, social issues, or international relations, it baffles him how she is seemingly perfect in every way. But that only makes his admiration for her grow stronger.

After the first month of their correspondence, his workload has been cut in half. And it all because he finally has a partner to help him deal with issues regarding the Fire Nation. Whether Katara knows it or not, she’s really the one running this nation, and she isn’t even here!  He often finds himself asking why she isn't the Fire Lord instead of him. She’s clearly smarter than he is. Not to mention the fantasies he has of her speaking to his people about policy. He knows she would be able to explain things so that all people would understand, without making the people fee that they were being talked down to. 

His fantasies are proven correct when he struggles to write a speech concerning a mining incident that occurred within one of the poorer towns. When expressing the situation to her and asking what he should do, she wastes no time in writing back a speech that he definitely used. The speech is received so well that the council start to wonder what’s causing him to become so eloquent yet personable. He can’t never reveal that it was a waterbender whom he has been secretly falling deeper and deeper in love with, with every letter she sends. However, the day after he receives her speech, he also receives a detailed tax plan that would maximize their input of funds, while also meeting the deals of the reparations the outside nations needed to rebuild after the war. If she’s done her math right, (which she always did.) By the end of next year, they would no longer be in debt, but have a surplus of funds to use at home. He only told her about the money issues last week and she solved it in only a day! The council members have been working on plans for years. And it took this woman a day.

When presenting her proposition to the council, they all look smug, expecting him to make a fool go himself. However, as soon as he finishes the proposition, all jaws are dropped and many of the financiers are scratching their heads, wondering how they didn't come up with it sooner. After the meeting, Zuko dismisses his finance department of their jobs and quickly goes to his chambers to continue writing his letters. Out of curiosity and bewilderment, he asks her how she came up with the solution, and she simply wrote,

My dearest, Zuko,

I find it quite insulting that a problem this small would need that much thought to solve it. Next time give me something more of a challenge to solve. Although I do love these puzzles you send me from time to time. 

Your dearest,

Katara

This response shocks him as he comes to the realization that she thinks these troubles he is sending her is all a game. In order to prove just how real it they are, the next letter he sends include newspaper clippings about all the crisis’s she solved. He completes the letter with a job proposition to become his chief adviser. 

A week later she accepts, and with that he sent her a gift of a fire hawk that would be able to receive and return letters three times as fast. 

The second month passes and he finds himself with more free time than he has had in his entire reign. Initially he is happy. But one meeting makes his mood grow sour.

The meeting goes as usual. That is, until Mai walks into the room and is asked to sit down and be present for the next part of their meeting. It is after a brief moment of silence, when the oldest councilmen Lu Ming, states,

“It is evident that you two have yet to produce an heir. Is there any reason for the delay? we understood that times were difficult and proceeded to put the country’s immediate needs ahead of the gradual matters. But seeing as things have calmed down, and suspiciously so, might I add. I believe I speak for all the council when I say, without and heir to the throne, we are put at risk of having to look down the line of royalty, and that leaves… Azula. Needless to say, it would be best if the two of you began the process. Sooner rather than later, and a son would be much preferable than that of a daughter. Your uncle has a special blend of tea to increase the chances of a son. I will ask him to bring it to you when you do plan on reproducing.”

Zuko’s furious, how dare this man ask him to produce a child and son? No less. The Fire Lord is very aware of Lu Ming’s stances on women in power. but he wonders how the council member would react to the fact that all decisions that have been made recently, were in fact made by a woman… A waterbending woman no less. The very thought makes him smirk. But Mai failed to see the humor and and quickly states, 

“Thank you for your concern Councilman Ming, I assure you my husband and I are taking this matter very seriously. However, you can’t force nature. It will happen when it happens.” She states with her signature stoicism.

For once Zuko is relieved to hear her speak. But he knows that it’s only a matter of time before he will need and heir. But when he does imagine a child, he sees a little girl with gold eyes like himself, but dark skin and brown hair like her mother. The very thought of this child, makes him grow defensive and angry with the councilmen for insinuating that his daughter wouldn’t be good enough to lead. If she is anything like her mother, she would be ten times the leader he is today. A hand on his shoulder brings him out of his thoughts. Pale, not dark, he thinks. But the look of his council members makes him realize that his nose is fuming with steam. But one look at the councilman is all it take to see the vision of his daughter and after that, it doesn’t take long for him to a respond. But what he says comes out differently than one might have hoped…

“Councilman Ming!” He slams his fist on the table. “How dare you insult my future daughter? If she is anything like her Mom she will be the strongest and fiercest leader this world has ever known. She will be intelligent, kind, compassionate, and determined in anything she does. She will be just like her mother. She will be just like Kat-” He stops himself. he realizes what he just said, and so do the people around him. He clears his throat. “Meeting adjourned.”

“But, my Lo-” Lu Ming interrupts.

“I said meeting adjourned!” He responds without hesitancy.

Mai looks at him with an expression he doesn’t recognize, it almost looks like sadness. But she has never shown any form of emotion before. What does this mean?

“Zuko-”

“Mai, I said meeting adjourned didn't I? That goes for you too. So go back to doing whatever pisses you off all the time and leave me out of it!”  Those words make her expression stiffen, but she quickly lets out a sigh, and lower her head.

“I know you were about to say Katara.” She whispers. “All I want to know is how long you’ve loved her.”

This shocks him. He was expecting a snarky comment, anger, hurt, anything, but this. But he owes her an answer. He owes her that much.  

“Almost nine years…” He lets out a sigh of relief. He has been holding that in for years, and he finally gets to say it out loud. 

“Where does this leave us?” She asks.

He sights, “I’m not sure…” He quickly recovers, if I don't say it now, I never will.  “Recently, i’ve been getting letters from her and I… I can't continue being in this marriage knowing that my heart will always belong to her…” He whispers, “Even if she doesn’t want me back.” Mai lets out an annoyed sigh, but smiles.

“I feel the same way.” She too lets out a sigh of relief. And Zuko looks up in shock.

“You do?” He asks with wide eyes. 

“Of course I do Zuko! we haven't been intimate since our wedding night. And I suppose that is my fault. But it has nothing to do with whether or not I want you. It’s just… I’ve always known you loved someone else. But it wasn't until after our consummation, that I realized who, you are in love with.”

“What do you mean?- How did you find out?” He asks frantically.

“Zuko.” She shakes her head and grimaces, “while you were asleep. You said and I quote ‘I love you.’”

“And that’s bad? How is tha-”

“You said, ‘I love you Katara’…”

“Oh…” he lowers his head. “So… What do you want to do?”

Mai getting straight to the point says, “I think it would be best if I left. And I think the best way to end things is by saying that I am in fact barren.”

“Mai… If you do that y-” Mai put her hand up to silence him.

“I’m aware of the risks i’m taking Zuko. But I also know that I don’t even want children to begin with. I was willing to produce an heir. That was, until I realized how much children meant to you, and just how many you desired.” she sighs. “Zuko, it’s clear I can’t be who you want me to be, and it’s probably my fault for not telling you how I feel but… it’s obvious we’re too different for one another to have a healthy relationship, and to have a child neither of us wants, would be unfair to that child…” She takes another breath. “Zuko, you deserve to have a child you want to have, with the person you want to have them with. I’ll pack up my things tonight, and I’ll leave the palace officially at the end of the month.

During the Councilors ball, I will make the announcement myself that I am regrettably unable to produce an heir. The scandal will be huge. That is until I say that I have decided that it is in the best interest of the Fire Nation that I no longer serve as Fire Lady and end my marriage to you.”

Zuko is appalled. Never, has he ever seen Mai to passionate about anything. Not to mention, this plan of her was perfect. It would allow them both to leave a marriage they don’t want, while also leaving his reputation unscathed. And it’s clear that Mai has no desire to have children, so her reputation would not be damaged either… At least in any way that mattered to her. How are women not running the world? they clearly come up with the best solutions. I didn’t even consider how to end things with Mai, let alone how to address the public. Perhaps I’ll write to Katara and ask her prepare something for me…With these thoughts circulating in his head. He makes up his mind and agrees to her plan.

Katara prepares a speech that fits well with Mai’s announcement. Zuko is sure to get Mai’s statement and send it over to Katara. He knows it is necessary to orchestrate the perfect response on his part. Along with how to ease the public’s mind about the stability of the throne.

The day is at hand and Zuko is nervous. Mai for once also looks unhinged, which does little to ease his mind. But something in the corner catches his eye and that’s when he sees Aang in the dancing hall holding something he cant quite make out at this distance. What the hell is he doing here? Katara said he was supposed to be in meetings indefinitely… But he has little time to react before Mai pushes him out in front of the crowd to greet them. Remembering what Katara wrote for the opening ceremony he calmly recites her speech.

“My dearest citizens. I am humbled to have you join us and the rest of our kingdom in our annual Councilor’s ball. It is at this time of the year, that we get to hear what we can do better as a society to make all of your lives easier and the best they can possibly be. I am joined tonight by all existing council members who have assured me that they will listen to anyone they can and that they will report to me everything that they were told. But, alas, tonight is not a night to simply talk about politics. It is also a night to rejoice and celebrate all of the achievements we have made throughout the year. All of which, would not have been possible without our beloved council.”

After an hour of dancing and performances, it’s time for the Fire Lady to make her speech. Most of the time Fire Lady’s would makes a speech about family and the importance of children in society. Knowing what Mai was about to say, made him have to stifle a chuckle at the irony. I mean technically she is going to talk about family and children so… she’s not technically breaking tradition. He thinks to himself.

“Good evening people of the Fire Nation.” Mai starts. After a deep breath and fake frown she continues. “It is with a heavy heart that I speak with you today. For what I will say may shock many. In truth, I am going to speak about children and family. Just not in the ways that it is traditionally done for a Fire lady to do so.” Zuko watches as she forces a tear to fall from her cheek and continues. “I have found out around a month ago that I am unable to have children.” She pauses for dramatic affect and everyone in the audience is a mix of gasps and shocked faces. But the council is most shocked upon hearing this. Another tear falls, and she continues once again. “What I say is true. I am Barren, and I cannot in good conscience continue being your Fire Lady knowing that children mean everything to my husband.” She takes another breath. “When we found out, I insisted I leave. But he begged me to stay and said, that it didn’t matter if we could not have children for all we needed was one another. But… Alas, I came to a decision a week ago, that I must leave, if not for our nation but for our Lord’s happiness in the future. Therefore… I am effectively removing myself from the throne and ending my marriage to our Fire Lord.” 

A collection of gasps and solemn faces filled the crowd. One of them being Aang, who was crying. Zuko couldn’t help but growl. How can he be sad over the ending of my marriage, when he treats his wife like a bedwarmer? How can he be here while his wife wonders whether or not he is good enough to be touched? Its after that thought he realizes what is in the Avatars arms, a child.

Katara sits at home awaiting the next letter from her Lord as she patiently waits to hear about how the announcement of his split with Mai went. She wont lie to herself, her heart soared when she received the letter asking for a detailed speech to follow that of the announcement of he and his wife splitting. But she couldn’t let that distract her from her job. So she looked at the assignment like all the others and did her best to keep her personal feelings out of it.

It is an hour later that she receives a letter. But what’s inside is not what she expects… 

My dearest, Katara,

I usually keep my distance and hold everything inside. But, these past three month have made me feel more alive that I have in years. I can bear it no longer, these months have been torture without you by my side. While the letters help make it feel as if you are here, I awaken to the reality that you are not. If there is anyway I can persuade you to come to me or I come to you, allow me to be gifted this knowledge as my heart aches without your words. The letters no longer come fast enough to fill the void in my soul. If you come only for a night it will be enough to satisfy me for the rest of my days. And know that if you do decide to visit, I expect nothing but your words to soothe the pain within my chest. But, if you wish to keep things as they are, I understand completely. This will be the only time I ask you to be with me. 

Love,

Zuko

Katara’s heart stopped. This couldn’t be what she thought it was. It had to be a mistake… Yet, seeing a letter with such emotion made Katara think twice. For one, he used the word “love” certainly he hadn't meant it in the way she initially thought. If so, that would complicate things. But knowing that he expected “nothing but her words” made her heart clench a little. She knows that she should be grateful, after all she is still married by all counts. But for some reason she feels a sense dread. Not only that, she felt stupid for assuming that he would ever see her in such an improper way. Sure the first letter he sent was written with every implication that she was who he wanted to share a bed with. But the more she thought about it, she remembered that Zuko was polite and probably only wrote her that letter to ease her of embarrassment. That had to be it, after all he hasn't sent a letter like that one since. Not to mention, she was sure once he saw her any improper feelings for her would vanish because once again, she doesn't look like she used to. But, with all these questions in her mind, she made up her mind and left for the Fire Nation the next morning. 

It had been a week since he poured his hear out in that letter to her and still no response. He decides its probably best to be patient. and hope her response would arrive at the latest tomorrow.  

Then again. He starts thinking to himself, was I too forward, maybe she got scared. After all she is married to the Avatar maybe she doesn't feel the same way about me like I thought. I mean, she didn't send another letter like the first one since I responded to that letter in particular. Ugh! How could I be so stu-

All thoughts stopped as he left the counsel room and saw across the hall possibly the most beautiful creature he ever laid his eyes on. The woman was tall almost to his shoulders and that was saying something as Mai never even reached that height and Mai was tall by any standards. But this woman was more than tall, her hips were the perfect width, and as she walked towards him he caught a look at her breasts, large and definitely more a handful, her slender waist only adding the the contrast of her hips to chest ratio. If he had to describe what shape her body be modeled after, he would have to say hourglass. but it was not her body that caught his attention. It was the striking blue eyes that he could pick out from anywhere. It took all of his control not to sprint down the hall and rip her blue dress off. But, with a deep breath he reminds himself, patience.

Arriving to the Fire Nation is the easy part. She reminds herself. The hard part is making herself look presentable as well as making sure she doesn't burn to death from the heat. She decides that she will wear a light blue dress that fits tightly against her frame. Because, while Aang considered it to be improper, she realizes that Aang isn't here to dictate her choices and decides to wear what she never thought she’d have a chance to. The dress is form fitting to say the least, it accents all of her “problem areas”, her breasts bulge out like cantaloupes. The halter top of the dress makes her arms looks far too muscular to be feminine. Her ass looks like a watermelon. And her hips look far to wide to be natural. Not to mention the dress has two slits on the sides that go up mid thigh, so her over muscular legs will definitely be noticeable. Being left alone with little responsibility leaves a lot of time to do other things to release excess energy, such as work out. She’ll stick out like a sore thumb. But, she sighs, at least her sandal strap heels help her to look more feminine. This dress is going to have to do. Any other dress will only leave her burning up. With one final look in the mirror, she ties her hair up in a braided bun and starts her journey towards the palace. 

Upon entering the palace, people all around her begin to stare. It’s no doubt because she looks unnatural and hideous. Every woman around her is perfectly proportionate to their weight and height. She, on the other hand, looks like a lopsided seal. 

She heard the Fire Lord would be in a meeting with his counsel until right about now, so she’s heads towards the meeting room. She knows where it is because of the time she and sokka looked around frantically for Momo high on cactus juice. 

With one final right turn she sees him. He looks as if he was sculpted by the spirits themselves. She’s pleased to see that he’s still a great deal taller than her. She has to guess around 196 cm in height. His hair had grown out and is now about halfway down his shoulders. His  sleeveless tunic hangs tightly to his chest leaving little to the imagination as to what lies beneath it. From this angle she can tell that he must spend a good amount of time training to be that fit. She also feels encouraged to see his arms are not larger than hers by any means. Aang always made her feel self conscious about her arms. stating that too much definition was unappealing for a woman who is supposed to be protected by the Avatar. It was not even like she has bulky arms to begin with! They just look scary because of their definition. But her thoughts stop as she realizes that he is staring straight at her. He has a look in his eyes she’s never seen in anyone before. And she doesn't know what to make of it. 

Zuko promises himself to be patient. But as soon as her eyes leave the ground to look at him. That’s the end of his self control. He sprints down the hall faster than he ever though possible and before she can say a words he scoops her up in his arms and sprints to his chambers. Patience be damned, I have waited too long for this and I don’t plan to wait any longer. 

He opens the door to his chambers and pins her against his door. She yelps in surprise, but he leans into her ear and says,

“How can you walk in wearing something like that, and expect me not to react this way?” He doesn't give her time to respond because the next moment his lips are on hers. he kisses her frantically and pulls her closer to his body, one hand in her hair, the other on the small of her back. She responds in kind moaning into his mouth as she grinds her hips against him while tugging at his hair. Zuko knows right then, that if he were to die right then, he would surely be happy knowing he died with this goddess in his arms. But it’s over too soon as she breaks the kiss panting.

“Wait!” Katara says trying to catch her breath

“Why?” He almost growls at her. She looks at him surprised but then relaxes her hands on his shoulders and responds meekly.

“Because… I don’t want you to do this just because you think you have to… I don't want to be someone who you feel obligated to bed because of my first letter.” 

  Zuko stares at her mouth hung open. How could she even begin, to think he was doing this out of pity. Did she not know how gorgeous she is? If anyone is getting a pity fuck it would be him. 

That’s when he remembers the letters. How she said that Aang hasn't touched her in over seven months, and how she wanted to know what she was doing wrong. He remembers how she called herself unfuckable because of how she wasn't getting any younger. He breathes out a sigh. How could anyone convince her she was unwanted? With his mind made up, he knows what he has to do.

“Katara, listen to me…” He says in a gentle tone. “You are by far the most gorgeous creature I have ever laid eyes on. Your eyes are like sapphires, plucked by the moon goddess herself.” He leans in towards her neck and whispers, “your neck is long and straight, made fit for a queen” he traces feather light kisses from her jaw to her neck and sucks on her pulse point. That action makes her mewl. In response, he bites hard but quickly licks the spot to erase any pain that may come of it, and her breath catches in her throat. He brushes feather light kisses down to her collarbone right above the beginnings of her breasts. “your breasts are a gift from the spirits themselves. They make me want to bury my face inside them and make a home within them” He gently removes her top of her dress to land gracefully around her waist. she gasps as he swiftly burns off her bindings. He takes a moment to take them in. Her mounds are round and look so soft. Her dusky nipples perking up at the sudden air they are exposed to. He instinctively licks his lips. 

“Zuko?” He looks up and sees her eyes filled with lust. And In one swift motion, he buries his face in between the valley of her breasts. and plants butterfly kisses between them. He pauses to look up at her. Her eyes look at him in confusion. He chuckles before he dives into her left breast and flicks his tongue around her left nipple first. She cries and he feels her arms wrap around his head, holding him firmly in place. 

Taking that as a sign to continue. He then surrounds her dusky nipple with his lips and sucks hard, using his teeth to test out shat she likes. Her response is a loud moan and her arms clamping tighter around his head. Apparently she likes things rough. He think to himself before picking up the pace of his sucking, biting, and movements of his tongue. This elicits a moan that makes him harder than he ever thought possible. She then removes her arms as he mimics the ministrations of his tongue with his fingers on the other breast. He continues his careful attention until he hears,

“Zuko!” She squeals.

That’s it. he picks her up by her buttocks and swing her on the edge of the bed. He is quick to remove all of his clothing, including his loincloth. He them proceeds to tower over her, as he sees her hazed eyes take in the sight of him fully nude. The expression on her face widens as her eyes reach down to his length. Her mouth gapes open at the size of his erection. He gives her a knowing smirk before he leans down and kisses her hard. 

He doesn't give her time to respond as he pries her mouth open with his tongue and tastes the inside of her mouth. He groans. He wants to know how she tastes everywhere. That final thought gives him an idea. An Idea that makes him smirk. He is quick to remove himself from her body, and slides himself to the edge of the bed. In one final swoop, rips her out of the rest of her clothing and burns her under wrappings off. And before she can say anything. He kneels in front of her center. He notices she’s completely shaven. But as he looks down toward her entrance, he holds back a groan. Oh shit! she’s so wet. He places his fingers experimentally near her hole, he hears her gasp, and he groans at how tight she is. He knows she’s self conscious, and probably hasn't ever had anyone do this for her before, so he takes one large lick and almost cums from the taste alone.  He feels her body stiffen and he knows he needs more. He roughly grabs her legs and tosses them over his shoulders and pulls her center as close as he can. Before she can protest, he dives in. He hears her screech and feels her move her hands to the length of his hair. He Growls in response. She has to be the best thing he has ever tasted in his life. She’s so sweet. He knows he being greedy, that he should slow down. But he just can’t. He can feel her legs shaking above him and her screams are like heaven.

“Oh. Fuck!” She screams, “Zuko, don’t you dare fucking stop! If you do i’ll kill you!”

He chuckles and murmurs “I don't think I could stop even if you wanted me too.” And with that she sighs and grabs his hair tighter pulling him closer to her sopping center. 

He starts to frantically lick and suck on whatever he can manage to get his lips on, he finds her clit with his teeth and when he gently sucks on it, her whole body spasms. He looks up at her and sees she is panting uncontrollably and is frantically trying to find some release. He growls against her clit. It’s the most erotic thing he has ever seen in his entire life and almost cums at the sight. Then she looks him in the eyes with a clouded look and it is at that moment he decides to continue to suck on the hard nub she oh so enjoys. 

Her response is immediate, she screams “Zuko! Zuko! Zuko!” 

With one final suck, she cums and he drinks up every lest drop of her essence all the while he pistons his tongue inside her unbelievably tight hole. She releases his hair and continues to spasm as he continues to lick her, more gently this time, knowing she just came and needs time to recover. 

As soon as she comes down from her high. Zuko lifts himself up and offers her a weak smile, before she grabs him and pulls him up and crashes her lips to his for a searing kiss. He’s shocked to find her tongue probing his mouth, and with that slight distraction, Katara flips him over so that she is on top. She doesn’t stop her assault quite yet, as she moves her lips from his to trace featherlight kisses over his scar. “Katara!” he whines, as she continues her path from his scar down to his neck, while her hands find purchase in his hair. Gently, he feels her tug his hair, and causes him to look blankly up to the ceiling. His throat exposed to her completely, her light kisses turn into hard sucks and nips, he’s sure she’s going to leave a mark come tomorrow. He groans, “Ugh. Katara. I need-”

“I know, me too. Just… let me have some fun first.” He growls as she releases his neck and starts a new path from his chest to his pelvis. He thinks he knows where she’s going with this, and his body reacts instantly. 

His cock twitches as soon as her lips kiss his tip, and he can’t help but let a moan slip from his mouth. She doesn't stop there though. Zuko watches closely as Katara continues her teasing with one experimental lick of his slit, he growls and pulls her up by her hair. 

Noting the shock and confused look on her face, he quickly flips them over and positions himself at her dripping entrance. He growls, “shit babe, you’re so fucking wet.” Staring down at her, he can see the start of a blush in her cheeks. He can't wait anymore. But he has to know that this is what she wants. With one look into her beautiful blue eyes. He sees her smile widely at him and nods. That’s all he needs, and pushes himself  inside. 

“Oh! Zuko!” She screams as he feels her arms fling themselves around his neck, one hand gripping his hair. He roars. He can feel her slick folds sucking him in tightly, and he pants, knowing that she’s going to need time to adjust. He reaches the hilt and they let out a collective sigh of relief at the feel of finally becoming one with each other. He leans in and places hungry kisses from her jaw to her pulse and starts pumping himself inside her.

Meeting every thrust, they Keep a steady pace. He sees her head thrashing from side to side. This woman has to have been made for him. Every reaction, every moan, is perfect. But, it takes all his self control not to start pounding into her like he wants to. 

“Zuko!” She moans, “faster!” he doesn't need to be told twice. He starts to pick up the pace, but that only makes his self control falter.

He pauses, knowing if he keeps going he’ll reveal to her what an animal he truly is and he can’t do that to her. Not to his soulmate. She stares at him in confusion and he trails a hind down her face and explains, “Kat… I can’t… If we keep. Ahh.” He feels her star to move against him frantically trying to continue. He growls, “if we keep up this pace. I might lose…” He pants. “Control.” 

“Then do.” She says determinedly. He pauses giving her look of warning. She huffs, “Damn it Zuko if you don't star moving in the next five seconds, I’m gon-”

He doesn't hear the rest because before she can finish the last of his self control snaps and he quickly pulls all the way out of her and she whimpers. But he is quick to reposition her legs over his left shoulder and holds them there like a vice grip. With one quick thrust, he buries himself inside her. He can hear her screams as he starts rutting into her relentlessly. There’s no way he can stop now. She asked for it. And by god is he going to deliver.  

“I told you” *pant* “that. I. Would.” *pant* “Lose. Control!” He says in time with his thrusts. He can see her trying to keep up but her body is shaking and he knows she’s close.

“Zuko! Keep going. Yes! Yes! YES!” She mewls as she finally meets his rhythm.

This woman is going to be the death of him. But he doesn't have enough time to ponder that thought. Because all the sudden, her walls start to contract around him. 

“Zuko! I’m! Im-”

“I know baby, I know.” he continues his relentless pace until he can stand it no longer

“AHH!” She screams. And that proves to be his undoing as the entire world around him turns white.

“Fuck! Katara!” he growls as he thrusts into her, prolonging her orgasm while emptying his seed inside her womb. Overly sensitive from her climax, she shakes violently beneath him. 

As they both come down from their highs, he releases her legs and uses the last bit of strength he possesses to pull out of her and roll them over so she's on top of him and cradles her to his body. After a few minutes of lying together in their afterglow, he lays them both under the covers and drifts off to sleep with his waterbender in his arms.

Katara wakes up and feels something impossibly warm against her back. As she shifts to look at the source of this heat. But cant move as she feels an impossibly strong pair of arms holding her waist to keep her in place. She almost yelps in surprise. Last night wasn’t a dream, she thinks to herself. She sighs at the knowledge that she finally found someone who wanted to touch her. but that feeling of fulfillment is short lived as the reality of the situation hits her. 

She just slept with someone. Someone who wasn't her husband, and she doesn't regret it. At all. feeling the body behind her shifts. she turns over and watches as her partners face opens his eyes. She can see the last traces of sleep leave his face, and in place a smile so big and genuine takes place. She can’t help but smile back.

“Good morning beautiful.” She hears him whisper.  

“Good morning handsome.” She sighs as he pulls her closer to his body. She feels him nuzzle her face under his chin like a purring cat. And she cant help but stifle the giggle that threatens to leave her throat.

“What’s so funny waterbender?” He feigns a pout. 

“Nothing! It’s just… Well…”

“Yes?”

“Last night was wonderful. But…” She takes a deep breath. He has to know that he doesn’t owe me anything, she continues, “I understand if this is all you wanted from me. I don’t want to be a bur-”

Before she can finish her sentence. She feels a set of lips crash onto hers and a set of hands pull her closer to the owners body. 

“Don’t ever say you’re a burden again. You hear me?” She nods wistfully still recovering from that impromptu kiss. Her mind reawakens when she hears him let out a long sigh. She watches as he rolls over on his back and she swears she hears him whisper something along the lines of “duck fit?” but doesn't dwell to hard on it. 

“Katara…” He starts, turning over to face her on his side. “I didn't want you to come here because I only wanted your body. I want your mind, heart, and soul as well…” She gasps but holds her tongue because she can tell he isn't finished yet. Watching as he takes another deep breath, he continues. “Katara, I’ve been fighting with myself for years now. Contemplating whether or not to tell you how I feel. And that was because I wasn't sure what those feelings were. But now… I’m certain.” 

Katara, lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding inside and says, “what are you trying to say?”

Looking him dead in the eyes she sees his eyes look away for a second before returning to hers with a new determination. “I’m saying, Katara, that I’m in love with you.” He says in a low voice, and continues. “And that I have been since Ba Sing Se.”

  Her mouth drops to the floor at his statement. There’s no way he could feel this way about her. He’s just saying this to make her feel less path-

“And what I guess I’m asking of you is… That you don't return to your home in the air temples. I want you to stay… Katara I want you to be mine. And I want to be yours, if you’ll have me…”

She stares in shock at his confession and decides that now is the time… Slowly she gets up and heads for the door. Taking one last look as she gets dressed, she leaves a heartbroken Fire Lord in his bed staring longingly at her.

Zuko sighs in defeat. How could he have been so stupid! Of course she wouldn't want him. She wanted to feel wanted, and now that she got what she needed, she can go back to her life with Aang.

He leans back against his pillows and realizes that they still smell like her. He hold her pillow close to him and embraces her scent. He’s about to cry when a knock on his door breaks him out of his trance. Slowly he gets up, wraps a robe around himself and angrily walks to the door. Whoever the hell is on the other side better be coming to me with a life or death situation or so help me Agni. I’m going to kill them. He opens the door violently, but what’s on the other side makes him stop dead in his tracks.

“Katara… Why-”

“I didn’t leave!” She says quickly. “I mean, I guess I did. But only so I could get this…” 

She holds out a letter to give him. He cautiously takes it. “What is this?” he asks. Only to have blush be his response. Carefully he opens it looking her in the eyes as he does. as soon as he has the paper in his hand he reads it and chokes on his words.

My Dearest, Zuko,

For the past two months of our exchange I have grown fonder and fonder of you and I fear that the longer we write to one another, the closer I am to falling completely. I can’t deny that these feelings are most likely a result of previous feelings that I never dared allow to break the surface from when we were young. I know I may be foolish or sound desperate to feel any form of love, but I want you to know that my feeling are true as I say. If love is what I have with Aang, then what I feel for you must go beyond that. For when I think of you, my heart races and my stomach clenches at the very thought of you holding me in your arms. I know you must not feel this way about me, for how could you when you have a beautiful wife whom I am sure you love and adore. Whatever the meaning behind your letters, especially the first one. I wish for you to know, I expect nothing from you, except the promise that you will not judge me for my feelings and continue to be my friend. But if for whatever reason you do feel the same, I will end my marriage with Aang and leave to be with you.

Yours forever, 

Katara

Zuko looked up from the letter to her face, his eyes filling with tears, he pulls her to him and hugs her so close to his chest, he fears that if he lets go even just a little bit, she will leave. he hears her quiet cries and pulls back to stroke her cheek.

“I just didn’t think you would ever love me as I loved you.” She sniffs, but continues, “I lied when I said I gave you all of my letters from before, but I…” She sniffs. “I just couldn't find the courage to send this one. Zuko… I love you too. I love you so much I-”

He doesn't give her time to finish her sentence and instead crashes his lips on hers and cups her face. Resting his forehead against hers he says, “I love you Katara. Please, promise me you'll never leave me again.”

She chuckles, “I promise.”

Katara looks out on the balcony as she watches two of her four children practice fire bending with their father. From this angle she can see her first born twins execute their bending forms perfectly as their brown hair flows in the wind. When they come to a stop. Katara watches as their gold eyes meet their fathers expectantly. Zuko feigns a frown and then instantly scoops up his son and daughter in his arms and twirls them around. Katara laughs shaking her head as her twins cry out to their “daddy” to “let us down.”

Katara knows her other two children are practicing their waterbending with their step great-grandfather Pakku. How she wishes it was her training her children. But, she knows, at this stage in her pregnancy it could harm her unborn child. So she acquiesces and invites her step-grandfather to train her third born Kya and youngest born Hakoda. 

Looking out at her husband as he finally lets their children go, she knows she’s been caught staring when she catches his smirk and winks right at her. She blushes but doesn't back down. She finds it amazing that after 7 years of marriage he can still make her blush. 

Looking back on their time together, she remembers after the first few days of their relationship being chaotic. The moments after she promised to stay with him, Katara swiftly wrote a letter to Aang stating that she was sorry but could no longer continue a relationship where she feels so useless and alone. Surprisingly, Aang wasn't mad. In fact, he wrote back coming clean about a drunken one night stand that lead to an unplanned pregnancy. Aang explained that most of his time away was spent with his newborn daughter and that over time it was getting harder and harder to leave her knowing that he was lying to the other woman in his life that he loved. It wasn't until after the next peace summit two weeks later when Aang arrived with Toph who was holding a baby with Airbender marks, that Katara put the pieces together as to who the mother of Aang’s child was. But she was not the only surprised face in the room, as Aang saw Katara being in the Fire Nation was unexpected. That was, until Zuko quickly stepped in and stated that he asked Katara to become his chief advisor (which wasn't technically a lie) to explain her presence at the palace. The summit meeting was awkward to say the least. Most if it consisted of Zuko giving Aang glares that Katara was sure if they had the ability to do so, would kill. The rest consisted of the Fire Lord making off hand comments about how interesting it was the Aang was in the Fire Nation so close after his last visit when he ended things publicly with Mai. Katara was confused about the statements until after the meeting when Zuko explained that he saw Aang in the capital during the councilor’s ball holding a child but though nothing of it and simply forgot to mention it to her. But on the first night after dinner, Aang felt the need to explain that the drunken one night stand was a result of an earth rumble tournament and a heavy amount of gambling and drinking. Katara quickly told him that he was forgiven but would need time to accept the reality of him being a father, and for lying to her all this time. Toph followed suit and sheepishly asked to talk to Katara alone and said how sorry she was that things turned out like this. That she never meant to hurt her, and that, that night was so crazy that she was certain it never even happened until she heard a second heartbeat the following month of that night. It is with those words Katara finally asks the name of the child and Toph responds “Amaya.”   

It is at the end of the peace summit when Aang officially announces his Split from Katara claiming the fault was his and it happened over a year ago in order to keep up appearances with the public. Since air nation wedding customs are less than official. The marriage between Aang and herself is as if it never even happened in public record. Leaving her with a clean slate and fresh start to begin her new life with Zuko.

It’s a month after the peace summit, when Zuko’s royal counsel is told of the position Katara’s held over the past few months and will continue to hold for the foreseeable future. The council is skeptical of her at first… That is until her lover revealed all the letters of their correspondence as well as the speeches and tax plan that saved their country from bankruptcy. Even with the evidence in front of them they feel skeptical about a woman joining their ranks, and an even higher one at that. For a chief advisor is only second to the Fire Lord, and upon realizing the power she has had all this time, and that Zuko trusted her with it, makes her heart swell. 

It is a month after her position is announced, that Katara makes a name for herself among the council and those who initially hated her, end up loving her. Even Lu Ming! Zuko stares at her in awe when she sees him watching her as Lu Ming sheepishly takes her hand and gracefully places a kiss a top her hand. It is six months into her position that the younger of the royal council and royal guard starts asking to court her. And it is a week after the first proposal when Zuko lays his claim on her in the form of a kiss in the middle of a meeting. It is a year into their relationship when Zuko asks Katara to meet with him in courtyard of fire lilies and Turtle-ducks. It is there where he bends down on one knee holding a stone known to the world as “dragon heart” from which the stone is forged from the breath of two dragons with the stone coloring has each side matching the colors of the two dragons scales with the center being a mix of the two. The stone itself is blue on the left and red on the right with a purple center. The stone is carved in gold with the symbols of their two nations dead center with one dragon symmetrically carved on each side of the symbols in their opposite colors of blue and red. And above it all is a moon standing above center over the entire design with the symbols of yin and yang in the center of the moon. The stone is made to be able to hang below the stone of her mothers necklace. and it is when he offers her the stone that he asks her to be his wife and partner for the rest of his life. It is when she gently lifts the stone from his hand and fastens it beneath her mothers stone that she accepts.  

It’s a week later that the counsel and public hear about the engagement and prepares to arrange the wedding within the next three months. It is one month into planning when her family comes to offer their congratulations when Zuko looks terrified for the first time in his life. It is an hour into the party when Katara finds out why and has a stern talk with her brother and father. It is minutes after her talk when Suki drags Sokka by the ear and gives him and earful before Sokka sheepishly approaches Zuko and apologizes with his tail between his legs. It is one week later when her family returns to their homes until the day of their union. It is two months into the planning when Katara falls to the ground unconscious when Zuko rushes to her side and the court grows worried. 

It is one week before the day they are supposed to be married, and Zuko has not left his fiancé’s bedside when the healers from the North pole along with her Father, Grandmother, new grandfather Pakku, brother, and his wife Suki come over when Zuko begins to panic. It is three days before the scheduled wedding when Pakku rushes to the room by Katara’s side with a smile so wide it threatened to change his facial shape, when he says everything is fine and she’s most likely just feeling ill because her body is adjusting to the change in temperature. It is two days before the wedding when she starts feeling better. It is one day before her wedding when she discovers something that will change both their lives, but decides to keep it hidden until after the ceremony.

It is on the day of their wedding when she promises herself to the man of her dreams, the love of her life, the yin to her yang, her soulmate that she will always be true and love him even after their spirits pass onto the next world when she sees her groom cry for the second time, and it is that night when she see’s him cry the third. For it was on that day when she gave him a gift. And that gift was the news of a child. 

It is two months into their marriage and three months into her pregnancy when Katara starts waking up her husband in the middle of the night with a scowl and demands he bring her the spiciest foods and he does so with a smile on his face. It is the third night of her cravings when the firebender is informed that their kitchen has used up their supply of spices for the next month when Katara storms in and demands that they get her more. It is that night when Zuko walks into their room when he sees Katara crying about how badly she feels about her outburst when Zuko consoles her and promises it will all be okay. It is two weeks after that when Katara starts waling about getting fat when Zuko explains it all for the baby and that he thinks she's especially beautiful, knowing that she is growing their child inside her. It is four months into her pregnancy when she feels her child kick for the first time. It is but seconds later that she screams for her husband to “get down here”, that Zuko rushes through the door and Katara pushes his hand on her stomach when Zuko feels his child kick for the first time and the reality of becoming father dawns on him. It is two weeks after that when Katara’s hormones start to take over when the Fire Lord and Fire Lady barely leave their chambers for the remainder of the second trimester. It is seven months into the pregnancy when an especially happy Fire Lord makes a rare appearance out of his room to barge into a meeting where he announces he loves his wife and leaves with a dopey grin on his face. It is moments after that when Lu Ming laughs and gives the rest of the council a knowing look. It is eight months into her pregnancy when Katara starts angrily waddling around the palace seeing all the dangers that her unborn child could be exposed to. It is seconds after seeing the first hazard that she calls for her husband and demands that the safety of the palace be updated to fit the needs of their child. It is two weeks after Zuko makes the request that his wife’s demands are met. It is on the fortieth week of her pregnancy when Katara feels her first contraction and Zuko passes out.   

The day of their child’s birth is the happiest and scariest of their lives. Luckily Iroh is there and gives her a special tea meant to reduce the pain. It is when she hears her daughter cry for the first time, that she feels her heart grow with a love she never knew could be so strong. It is but two minutes later when she is told to push again, that she realizes her heart is going to grow once again as she welcomes her son into the world. It is when Zuko looks into his children golden eyes and brown hair as he vows to love and cherish his children and never be like his father when he cries for the fifth time. And it is when he holds his wife’s hand as they each hold their little miracles that they name their first borns. Zutara and Iroh II. 

It is when their children turn six months old that Katara finds out that she is pregnant yet again, and it is with absolute certainty that she feels it is going to be a waterbender. It is after their children turn 7 months old when they say their first words. Zutara being “Mama”, and Iroh being “tea”. It is when the twins turn eight months old when they take their first steps and Zutara tries to push iroh out of her space when they decide it is time to give them their own cribs. It is a week after their first steps that Zutara starts crying without her brother by her side, when they decide to keep them in the same crib together. It is one hour after they reunite them when Katara sees Zutara hugging her brother close as they sleep that she feel her heart swell with hope that their next child is a girl. It is on their twins birthday when Sokka and Suki introduce the twins to the magic of sugar, and it is an hour after the discovery when Katara freezes her brother to the castle’s front gate with a sign around his neck stating “he knows what he did.” It is an hour after the “Sugar incident” when Aang and Toph announce they are expecting their second child. 

It is one month after their twins first birthday when she welcomes their third child and second daughter to the world that she feels her heart grow once again. It is when her husband introduces the twins to their new sister that Zutara tries to hug the baby. It is when Zuko and Katara watch as their new child closes her blue eyes and nuzzles her black head of hair into Katara’s arms as she nurses her when they name her Kya.

It is when Kya turns six months old when she says her first word “Daddy” when Zuko smiles for an entire week with pride while Katara slumps in their bed in defeat. It is on the twins second birthday when Aang and Toph introduce their new daughter Terra to the kids when Kya hugs her and kisses her forehead. It is an hour later when the Airbender and his wife drunkenly give the twins their first taste of spicy food when Katara and Zuko glare at the earthbender and her husband for making their children cry. It is on that same day Suki and Sokka announce they are expecting their first child. And it is after that announcement when Uncle Iroh (or grandpa, to the kids) gives them their first taste of spice reliever tea. It is a month after the twins second birthday and The day of Kya’s first when Zuko asks if they can have another child. It is four months after when she accepts. It is three months after the twins third birthday and two months after Kya’s when the next prince is born. It is when when Kya meets her brother that she smiles at the fact he has the same eyes and hair as her when she swears to be his protector. It is when the rest of the kids meet their new sibling when Kya tries to protect him from the twins, because she is worried that Zutara will try to hurt him like she does Iroh. It is two minutes after that when Iroh starts crying and Zutara hits him while telling him to be quiet, when both Kya And Katara reflexively hold the new prince away from the twins and realize Kya’s concerns were right. It is the fifth day when neither of the parents can come up with a name, when her father comes to visit. And it is three hours after he father put their new son to sleep, when they name him Hakoda II.

It is three months after Hakoda’s birth when Azula proves herself to be rehabilitated after being healed with spirit water brought from Pakku from the time Katara was thought to be ill. It is two months after her release when it is revealed that Azula has joined the Kyoshi warriors. It is three weeks after the discovery when the royal family is asked to attend former Princess Azula’s wedding. It is the following week when Azula marries Ty Lee and Kya announces she wants to marry a girl too! It is after that declaration that Zuko and Katara smile at their daughter and say that they love her no matter who she decides to love.  

It is six months after Hakoda’s birth when Zutara screams at Iroh for taking her toy and breathes fire, when they realize she is a firebender. It is one hour after that when Iroh breathes fire back when Katara glares at Zuko and makes him swear the kingdom wont burn to the ground. It is one month after the revelation when Zutara gets angry and water floods her play room when Katara stares at her child and sighs “of course” in defeat. It is an hour after that revelation when she and Zuko have a serious talk and decide to start training their children. It is when Hakoda turns eight months old and Kya turns three when his first word is spoken and that word is “Kya.” It is when Hakoda is ten months old and kya’s third birthday when he takes his first steps and uses those steps to run into Kya’s arms. It is on on Katara and Zuko’s sixth wedding anniversary and the kids are taken on vacation by their uncle Sokka and Aunt Suki along with their cousins, when her husband pounds into her like an animal and they make loud unfiltered love all night long. It is the next day, when the guards outside their doors stare off in the distance with troubled looks on their faces, when both she and her husband flush a furious red. It is that night when they repeat the previous nights activities when they realize they don't care what anyone else thinks. 

It is six months after Kya’s third birthday when she copies a bending move of her sister when it is revealed she is a water bender. It is that same day when Zuko decides it’s time for Zutara and Iroh to start weapons training. It is one hour after they start training, when Katara glares at Zuko with a shredded one of Iroh’s toys in her had when Zuko realizes it was a mistake. It is after the twins turn five when they master their elements and when their parents warn Zutara to stop beating up her bother or else they wont let her visit uncle Sokka anymore. It is shortly after Kya turns four when she masters her element and begins her weapons training. It is on Iroh’s second birthday when he first lets out a flame from a sneeze. It is when Zutara is practicing her bending of both elements in the courtyard when the sages catch her. It is one hour after the discovery when Zuko almost kills the sages for suggesting his daughter be given away for the better of the crown. It is five minutes after Katara hears about the confrontation when she nearly pierces the sages with ice daggers when the sages submit and never make a comment about her first born daughter again. It is on Hakoda’s third birthday, two months after Kya’s fifth and four months after the twins sixth when their mother announces they are going to have another sibling. It is four months after Kya’s fifth birthday when Aang’s Daughter Terra comes to visit along with her siblings when Kya and Terra hold hands for the first time. It is four months in her pregnancy, when she feels her child kick for the first time that she knows it will be a girl. It is a few moment later that she feels four feet kick her that she knows they are twins and they are both girls. 

It is the present where Katara watches as her husband walks up the steps to their room when he kneels down to her swollen stomach and whispers he loves them no matter what they are or what they become. It is but seconds after those words when Katara feels complete and thanks the spirits that she was gifted this man for a husband and partner to always stay by her side.

THE END. 

#zutara #zutara smut #zutara week 2018 #zutara week #pro zutara #prince zuko #fire lord zuko #zuko #katara

[zutaraverse]

Chapter 1 Part 1: A Pair Of Shoes and Mango Skins

“Me and Katara are going to travel the world and rebuild the air nation!!” cried an excited Aang.

The group of friends were sitting in the gardens of the fire palace discussing the future. A year had passed since defeating Fire Lord Ozai and they had travelled together to start the new alliances; they opened negotiations with the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes, educating the new ambassadors to carry on their work. They had started talk of reparations, of long term relinquishment of the more recent colonies (the first ones had been Fire Nation for so long that they chose to remain that way), and had helped rebuild parts of various cities.

They had convinced Uncle Iroh to take up the role of Fire Lord, and he had promised that when things settled he would leave the position for Zuko. The last thing the nation needed was somebody as inexperienced as the Prince in all fire nation matters. Zuko would stay, observe, help, and slowly the responsibility and power would shift to him - when he was ready. Iroh still wanted his tea shop and was determined to break the family tradition and not ‘die as Fire Lord’.

“I… I don’t think we are Aang…” started a hesitant Katara. She chewed on her bottom lip and her bright blue eyes looked away from the young avatar. “I know you want to rebuild the air nation but I … thats not what I want to do.”

There was a moment of silence as Aang processed this.

“But Katara!! You know how important it is for balance in the world! You know we have to do this!” Aang looked put out and he was whining like a child. Then again, he was only thirteen.

“No, Aang, you need to do this. I don’t. I have my own life to live.” There was another complete silence where the young avatar blinked several times in confusion. “Alone Aang. Not you and me. You on your own, and me on mine…” she added quietly, her whole face turning red and desperately trying to stop herself shaking. Somehow letting down her friend was one of the hardest things she had had to do. Because thats exactly how she saw him; a friend. More of a son than anything else. Sure, they had kissed a few times but that did not mean that they were together. And if anything, those kisses were motivated by a happy confusion on her part. Besides, he was still so young! And she was now fifteen knowing far more about the world than most people, including Aang - she couldn’t spend her life waiting for him to grow up holding on to the hope that she might eventually fall madly in love with him. Because that is what she wanted; when she eventually finds somebody she wanted it to be like fire, she wanted to fall madly in love - they type old folks sing about. She knew she was not ready for that right now, and neither was he.

“But… I love you.” He said, a deadness in his tone. The others had realised something significant was going on and they stood slightly to the side, ready to intervene.

“I know Aang. I’m sorry.” Katara hung her head, hoping to Yue that it was enough for him to understand.

“NO! YOU DON’T KNOW! I saved the world Katara! I saved it for you! And this is how you repay me?! That’s not fair!!” he shouted, making the whole group jump. Katara started to cry.

“Right Twinkletoes! That’s enough!” said Toph in her stern voice. Stepping between them.

“Move Toph, this has nothing to do with you!” growled Aang, trying to look past her to Katara

“Actually yes it fucking does. You can’t go around spreading bullshit like that - and whats worse, you can’t actually be serious about thinking that shit!” she growled back. She was still as small as she had been a year ago, but had grown more fierce than ever.

“Toph! Don’t swear!” Aang said, shocked by the language she was using and actually focusing on her and not Katara. Toph smirked; step one accomplished.

“Why not Twinkletoes? Does that offend you? I’ll let you in on a secret; I’m not a little girl anymore - I can use whatever language I like.” She stood, arms folded across her chest waiting for his next move.

“Toph you don’t understand, this is between me and her! And I’m sorry but you are going to have to get out of the way…” He went to swipe at her with his glider but she preempted it; with a flick of her toe a rock jumped up from the ground and knocked the glider out of his hands. With a stamp of her foot he was covered to the head in stone, unable to move his arms or legs. He had no choice but to listen.

“Right you are going to listen now, and you are going to listen hard. Tell me, Aang, you saved the world - you seem to think that thats a reason for Katara to fall in love with you. But we also live in the world - surely we should all be head over fucking heels for you by that logic. Let me tell you sweet cheeks, that is not the case. Secondly, Don’t you ever fucking say you saved the world. You couldn’t have done it without us - especially without Katara who babied you when you had nobody. She is the greatest water bender there ever was and she taught you and cooked and cleaned and organised and picked you up when you were down - She mothered you Aang! Where is the romance in that! Why would she commit to being with a kid who she sees as her own son? Thirdly, you can’t earn people’s love like that - they either are in love with you or they aren’t. Fucking deal with it, that shit hurts. And lastly Katara has spent the best part of the last two years doing what you needed to do. She isn’t Air Nation - she is her own person and quite frankly its insulting to her that you just assume she will drop everything that makes her Katara so she can follow you around on your missions being nothing more than ‘The Avatar’s Girlfriend’.” Toph finished, glaring at Aang who was now in tears. She whipped around to face Katara.

“And you! You fucking pressured Master Pakku to teach you, you travelled the world, you beat Zuko at the North Pole, you brought both Aang and Zuko back from death and you are incapable of standing your ground? What is the world coming to!!” Toph threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. Katara sobbed louder but threw herself onto Toph in a tight hug as a thank you.

In the meantime, Aang was pleading with Sokka, Suki and Zuko to make her see sense.

“Sorry man,” muttered Sokka, coming closer to the avatar, “I’d prefer she be with you rather than on her own but she deserves her own life… she’s spent it so far looking after me and then us… thats not really fair.”

“Aang, try to understand,” added Suki gently, “We are not the kind of people who are easily pushed over - we need to find our own path, we are all strong… and from what I understand, thats part of the reason you love her in the first place - how can you deny her freedom?”

“Zuko! You think this too?” pleaded Aang, as if Zuko held the answer he needed.

“You can’t earn love. Believe me, I tried to earn my father’s my whole life. Besides, Katara deserves her freedom, she’s fought her whole life for it. Remember that Mai turned out to prefer Ty Lee to me - it hurts but it also passes.” Zuko didn’t move from where he was standing, arms crossed over his chest and leaning back against a pillar that surrounded the garden. He was trying to lighten the atmosphere and to calm himself down - he had suddenly realised how much more he respected Katara for standing up for herself. Staying with Aang was the easy option, the one they all thought she would take. But she was stronger than merely doing what people wanted her to do. She was, after all, one of them. It was the one trait that brought them together. Toph didn’t want to be cooped up in her home treated like a dirty secret, Sokka didn’t want to stay in a village without helping out in the war, Suki didn’t want to be helpless and powerless in her island’s struggle, and he… he didn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps and destroy the world.  They had all fought for their freedom, they all knew how important it was.

Aang dropped his head so his forehead rested on the rim of the stone prison. Toph released him. He slowly bent to pick up his glider and looked at his friends, avoiding Katara completely.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye then.” He nodded to himself and leaped up into the air, opening his glider and losing himself in the clouds.

The group stood, stunned at his immediate disappearance into the skies.

—————

Night fell and Aang still had not returned. It dawned on them that maybe he meant it, that he really had gone off to start his missions immediately. Appa was gone when they checked in the stables that had been especially built for him.

Toph declared that Aang was a ’twat who didn’t even say thank you’. Sokka and Suki were unnaturally sombre and Katara would silently brush away quiet tears. Zuko was the only one who was holding it together. He tried to explain to the others that it would take Aang some time to grow up, that he was still only thirteen - he was, after all, thirteen when he was banished. Plus, Aang was the avatar! He could take care of himself.

They all knew he was making sense but still they felt slightly betrayed at his extreme reaction. They all went to bed with heavy hearts.

Continued in Chapter 1 Part 2, posted soon!

#zutara #atla #fanfic #fanfiction #blood chi and full moons #worldcrawler #chapter 1 part 1 #aang #katara #zuko #toph #suki #sokka