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zuko-always-lies · 3 years

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Unpopular Opinion: Zuko’s treatment of Mai is deeply toxic.

Mai is a character who is often maligned in the fandom, with it even occasionally being claimed that she was “abusive” toward Zuko. Any objective analysis of Mai’s behavior in her relationship with Zuko will instead find that she was, in fact, a shockingly good romantic partner, generally treating Zuko very well and being loyal to him far beyond reasonable expectation. Claims that Mai behaved toxically toward Zuko seem to be instead founded in misogynistic expectations that women be perfect caretakers for the men in their lives.

That is not to say that the Zuko-Mai relationship isn’t still deeply toxic. However, its toxicity stems from the manner which Zuko badly mistreats Mai, often in ways which devalue her. Much more under the cut.

Our story begins in the first half of Book 3. The vast majority of episodes there don’t show anything particularly toxic going on in the relationship. The most you can say is that they suggest that Zuko tends to dump his problems on others and doesn’t have best understanding of his girlfriend.

However, inevitably we must turn to “The Beach,” the episode which, by far, gets the most into the Zuko-Mai relationship. To say that Zuko doesn’t behave well toward Mai in this episode would be an understatement. I don’t speak here of Zuko’s unsuccessful attempts to please Mai early in the episode, but instead how badly he starts treating her beginning at the party:

Ruon Jian: Hey, first ones here, huh? Zuko: (cut to shot of Zuko and Mai walking side by side) Pft. He thinks he's so great. (to Mai) Well, what do you think of him? (they stop walking) Mai: I don't have any opinion about him. I hardly know him. Zuko: You like him, don't you? (Mai sighs and walks away, as Zuko looks angrily in the direction of Ruon Jian. The camera zooms in on Ruon Jian)

And

(Cut to shot of Ruon Jian leaning over Mai. Zuko rushes toward them angrily and pushes Ruon Jian away from her. Cut to shot of Ruon Jian straightening his hair.) Ruon Jian: Whoa. What are you doing? Zuko: (close-up shot of Zuko, angry) Stop talking to my girlfriend! Ruon Jian: (Ruon Jian approaches Zuko) Relax, it's just a party. (Zuko pushes Ruon Jian hard, sending him flying across the room, breaking a giant vase.) Mai: (Mai stands up and grabs Zuko's shoulder. He turns towards her.) Zuko, what is wrong with you?! Zuko: What's wrong with me?! Mai: (angrily) Your temper's out of control. You blow up over every little thing. You're so impatient and hot-headed and angry. Zuko: Well, at least I feel something...as opposed to you. You have no passion for anything. (raising his arms is the air) You're just a big "blah". Mai: (turning away from him) It's over, Zuko. We're done.

And:

(Zuko follows her and the camera pans down to the handprint, left alone on the porch. Cut to wide view of the camera panning down Ember Island Beach. Zuko and Azula are walking side by side toward Mai and Ty Lee. Close shot of Zuko looking toward Mai and then looking away. Close shot of Mai looking angry and a bit sad.) Mai: Hey... (Interrupted) Zuko: (close shot of Zuko) Where's your new boyfriend? (Mai turns away angrily. Zuko comes and sits next to her) Are you cold? (he puts his arm around her, but she slaps it away)

Zuko is acting in a massively controlling fashion toward Mai, motivated by his violent and rage-filled jealously. She literally can’t talk to a boy without Zuko flying into a jealous rage, trying to separate her from the person she’s talking to, and accusing her of emotional infidelity. In real life, this is considered a warning sign for an abusive relationship(although I don’t think Zuko has crossed the line into abusive yet).

“The Beach” also gives us this:

Mai: Oh, well, I'm sorry I can't be as high-strung and crazy as the rest of you. (Cut to over-head shot of the four teens. Zuko walks closer to the fire and Mai.) Zuko: I'm sorry, too. I wish you would be high-strung and crazy for once, (Close shot of Mai looking away and Zuko standing over her) instead of keeping all your feelings bottled up inside. She just called your aura dingy. Are you gonna take that?

Zuko tries to provoke Mai into having a fight with her best friend Ty Lee just so he can watch her express strong emotions. Zuko very much wants to Mai to be and act like someone she’s not, which has its own issues.

Overall, Zuko treats Mai quite poorly in “The Beach.” The episode ends with this:

Mai: I know one thing I care about... (Cut to shot of Mai smiling at Zuko) I care about you. (Mai and Zuko kiss. Azula claps, causing them to separate and turn toward Azula. The camera pans left to include her.)

Mai forgives Zuko and accepts him back without him acknowledging his behavior was wrong, apologizing for it, or giving her any guarantee that he will treat her better in the future. That’s unfortunate, as Zuko soon ends up treating her far, far worse than he ever did in this episode.

Zuko’s disregard for Mai cumulates with the manner he commits treason on the Day of Black Sun. Let us start our understanding of what he did wrong from the beginning. Breaking up with Mai via a letter which didn’t give her a real explanation was a real asshole move, but it’s not at the core of what he did wrong. For that, we need to turn to this conversation from “The Headband”:

Zuko: Can't you see we're busy? (He and Mai resume their "business".) Azula: (not to be put off) Oh, Mai... Ty Lee needs your help untangling her braid. Mai: (complaisantly) Sounds pretty serious. (She gets up and leaves. Walking past Azula, towards the camera, she shoots the princess a quick, poisonous glance behind her back.) Azula: So...I hear you've been to visit your Uncle Fatso in the prison tower. Zuko: (standing, incensed) That guard told you. Azula: (smugly) No, you did. Just now. Zuko: (sitting back down) Okay, you caught me. What is it that you want, Azula? Azula: (solicitiously) Actually, nothing. Believe it or not, I'm looking out for you. If people find out you've been to see Uncle, they'll think you're plotting with him. Just be careful, dum-dum.

Zuko has proven his loyalty to the Fire Nation beyond doubt, yet Azula is still very worried that him spending time with Iroh will get him accused of treason, because having a close association with traitors puts oneself under almost automatic suspicion of treason.

“Day of Black Sun, Part II”:

Zuko: First of all, in Ba Sing Se, it was Azula who took down the Avatar, not me. Fire Lord Ozai: Why would she lie to me about that? Zuko: Because the Avatar is not dead. He survived. Fire Lord Ozai: (alarmed) What?!

Zuko deliberately throws Azula under the bus, hurting her and reducing her status with Ozai as much possible while effectively accusing her of deliberately committing treason. He also deliberately pisses off Ozai as much as possible.

So where does this leave us? Mai is Zuko’s known girlfriend and extremely close associate. Automatically, the suspicion of knowing of Zuko’s treason ahead of time or being involved falls upon her. She’s in grave risk of being imprisoned, tortured, or executed, especially since Ozai seems not the type to be strictly concerned with ensuring those he punishes are guilty beyond reasonable doubt. The Fire Nation seems like a society which might have collective punishment(as historical East Asian societies, Nazi Germany, and the Stalinist Soviet Union did), and Mai might be under risk from that direction. Finally, Ozai might hurt her simply as way of retaliating against Zuko.

Normally Azula would almost certainly be able to protect her friend, even under these trying circumstances, given Azula’s prestige and accomplishments. However, Zuko has deliberately undermined Azula as much as possible and effectively accused her of committing treason herself, dramatically reducing the probability that she will be able to protect Mai. In fact, Mai stands risk of being accused of being involved in Azula’s effort to “conceal the fact that the Avatar survived,” given Mai’s close association with Azula and her close involvement in the events where the Avatar “died.” She’s thus under danger from two different directions.

“But Zuko had to betray his father and become good through aiding Team Avatar.” Yes, it’s a good thing he did so. But Zuko had other options than the course he adopted. He could have avoided confronting Ozai at all and instead focused on rescuing Iroh(interesting AU idea right here). He could have confronted Ozai but not thrown Azula under the bus, and that alone would have vastly reduced the risk to Mai(and also made Zuko out to be a better person, because deliberately throwing your younger sister under the bus and then abandoning her to the mercy of your abusive father is not a good look). Zuko could have killed Ozai right then and there during the eclipse. He even could have tried to lead Team Avatar to the bunker and tried to end the war right then and there.

“Zuko didn’t understand that he was placing Mai in danger.” Quite possible, but Zuko being so self-centered that he is unable of understanding that his actions can have negative effects on other people is a mark against him, not for him.

Now we turn to the Zuko’s behavior toward Mai in the rest of the third season. Let us start with “The Boiling Rock, Part 1”:

Sokka: (emphatically) I think your Uncle would be proud of you. Leaving your home to come help us, that's hard. Zuko: It wasn't that hard. Sokka: (Cut to a side view of the basket) Really? You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about? Zuko: Well I did have a girlfriend. Mai. Sokka: (He goes closer to Zuko with a surprised look on his face) That gloomy girl who sighs a lot? Zuko: (Cut back to show Zuko grinning goofily) Yeah. (his face turns serious) Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it. Sokka: (Cut back to Sokka who leans back on the basket) My first girlfriend turned into the Moon. Zuko: (looks up) That's rough buddy

There are two things to unpack here. First, Zuko claims he “couldn’t drag her into it,” yet he already did, as I’ve illustrated above. Second, Zuko seems to expect that Mai would have followed him into treason if he asked her, that she would be willing to betray her nation, ideology, family, and friends just for the sake of her love for him. That’s an insane and pretty toxic expectation for Zuko to have for her relationship with him, especially since he wouldn’t do the same for her.

We also get more confirmation that Zuko doesn’t care at all about Ty Lee or Azula.

I don’t have a lot to say about the Zuko-Mai conversation during Boiling Rock, Part 2. The only things I would like to note are that Zuko is not very sorry for what he did, not very empathetic toward Mai’s pain, and doesn’t give Mai a real apology for his actions.

Of course, Mai proceeds to save Zuko’s life through committing treason in front of dozens of witnesses at Boiling Rock, something which places her own life in serous jeopardy. How does Zuko react to this?

Zuko: (Cut to a shocked Zuko) It's Mai. Azula: (Cut to a furious Azula) What is she doing?! (Cut to the backs of Azula and Ty Lee as Ty Lee shrugs and makes a "I don't know" noise. Cut to the gondola as it reaches the outer part of the crater. Cut to the inside of the entrance tower as the door opens and Suki rushes out followed by Sokka, Zuko, Hakoda and Chit Sang. Hakoda turns towards Chit Sang and points to the inside of the gondola. Chit Sang proceeds to throw the warden back in.) Hakoda: (Cut to the back of Hakoda's head looking at the warden lying on the floor) Sorry Warden, your record is officially broken. (Hakoda walks off screen while the warden continues to struggle on the floor. Cut to a front shot of the group as they run up a rocky incline.) Suki: Well, we made it out. Now what? Sokka: (Sokka stops and looks back at Zuko who pauses in his tracks, thinking) Zuko, what are you doing? Zuko: My sister was on that island. Sokka: Yeah and she's probably right behind us. So let's not stop. Zuko: What I mean is she must have come here somehow. (He runs to the edge of the rocks and looks down) There. (Cut to an area looking up at the edge of the cliff) That's our way out of here. (Camera pans down to reveal a Fire Nation zeppelin docked at the shore.

Zuko says Mai’s name once and then abandons her (to die?) with zero hesitation. This is probably objectively the correct decision. It would probably be extremely difficult and dangerous if not outright impossible to save Mai. The prison-break crew do have access to an airship, but it’s difficult to fly an airship over the lake’s thermals.

Yet that’s not my point. Zuko abandons Mai with zero hesitation, with zero anguish, with zero angst. He doesn’t even to seem consider the possibility that he should save her. Something tells me if Iroh had just saved Zuko’s life under identical circumstances and then was in imminent risk of harm, Zuko would act very differently, that Sokka, Suki, and Hakoda would have to drag him off that island.

Zuko’s complete disregard for Mai continues for the rest the series. Remember this exchange from “The Cave of Two Lovers”?

Zuko: (losing his patience) We're not taking any more chances with these plants! We need to get help. Iroh: But where are we going to go? We're enemies of the Earth Kingdom, and fugitives from the Fire Nation. Zuko: (musingly) If the Earth Kingdom, discovers us, they'll have us killed. Iroh: But if the Fire Nation discovers us, we'll be turned over to Azula.

Zuko considers being captured by Azula a worse fate than death!

But do we see Zuko worry once about Mai’s fate? Do we see angst about what might have happened to her? Do we see him make any effort to even discover her fate, much less rescue her?

No. In fact, Zuko launches a sophisticated operation to infiltrate a Fire Nation information center so that he can gain intelligence in order to help Katara murder someone so that she’ll like him, but he doesn’t even consider doing the same to find out about Mai’s fate so that he could potentially rescue her. Zuko doesn’t even mention Mai once after Boiling Rock until the very end of the series finale, even though she sacrificed herself to save him. Remember this exchange(“Sozin’s Comet, Part 3”):

Zuko: Sorry, but you're not going to become Fire Lord today. (jumps off Appa) I am. Azula: (laughs) You're hilarious. Katara: (standing beside Zuko) And you're going down. (The fire sage motions to crown Azula, but she raises her hand, signalling him to stop.) Azula: Wait. You want to be Fire Lord Fine. Let's settle this. Just you and me, brother. The showdown that was always meant to be. Agni Kai! Zuko: You're on. (Katara turns to Zuko, surprised. Cut to a close up of Azula's lips as the curls into a smile. Cut back to Katara and Zuko.) Katara: What are you doing? She's playing you. She knows she can't take us both so she is trying to separate us. Zuko: I know. But I can take her this time. Katara: But even you admitted to your Uncle that you would need help facing Azula. Zuko: There's something off about her, I can't explain it but she's slipping. And this way, no one else has to get hurt. (Fade to a shot of the courtyard from the side. The camera pans from Zuko kneeling on the right end to Azula kneeling on the left end. Cut to a shot of Zuko rising and turning around, then cut to a shot of Azula rising. Each can be seen behind the other. Cut to a shot of Azula from the front turning and removing the Fire Lord robes.) Azula: I'm sorry it has to end this way, brother. Zuko: (in his stance) No, you're not.

Notice something? Zuko doesn’t demand to know what happened to Mai! It’s almost like he forgot she existed!

Now we turn to the final infamous exchange(“Sozin’s Comet, Part 4”):

Mai:(off screen) You need some help with that? (He looks up surprised and moves aside to reveal Mai leaning against the doorway. Cut to a close up of Mai as she walks towards Zuko.) Zuko: (Cut to a delighted Zuko) Mai! (Walks off screen) You're ok. (Cut to an area behind Mai's back as Zuko opens his arms out in a hug) They let you out of prison? (Mai walks behind Zuko and lifts up his empty robe sleeve.) Mai: My uncle (Zuko puts his arms through the sleeve) pulled some strings, (she proceeds to fasten his robe) and it doesn't hurt when the new Fire Lord is your boyfriend. (She walks in front of Zuko and places a hand on his chest) Zuko: So does this mean you don't hate me anymore? Mai: (she blushes) I think it means... (Cut to a close up of the couple) I actually (places a hand on Zuko's cheek) kind of like you. (They lean in for a kiss and part a fewseconds later, looking into each other's eyes happily) But don't ever (She jabs a finger into Zuko's shoulder and Zuko's eye traces the movement of her finger) break up (She lifts her finger into the air and Zuko's eyes still follows it) with me again. (She jabs her finger into Zuko's shoulder one last time and Zuko smiles goofily. They embrace and the camera zooms out slowly.

Zuko seems surprised to learn that Mai is OK, almost like he made no effort to find out her fate once he took charge of the Fire Nation. And indeed, his first acts as leader of the Fire Nation were not to find out what happened to her or, if he actually knew, to get her released from prison. Mai only got released from prison when her uncle and his connections got sufficiently confident that Zuko had been completely accepted as the new leader to release a massive traitor completely on their own initiative. This was quite possibly weeks after Azula-Zuko Agni Kai, yet he made no apparent effort to get her released. It’s almost like Zuko completely forgot about Mai, even though she sacrificed herself to save him.

And, of course, Zuko doesn’t accept responsibility for any of the awful ways he treated Mai, much less apologize to her or offer any guarantee he will behave better in the future. Mai still forgives him anyways, just like she did in “The Beach,” only for Zuko to continue to screw her over. There is something deeply depressing here, as there’s every reason to believe that Zuko will screw over Mai over, devalue her, and disregard her well-being, desires, and interests again the moment it’s convenient for him to do so. He certainly has not recognized that his toxic behavior here is something he needs to stop doing. Ironically, the comics get this right by having Zuko try to use his power as Firelord to order Mai to stay his girlfriend.

Ultimately, Zuko loves Mai and cares about her deeply, yet he still treats her as a tool and acts like she exists to serve him. It reminds me how show! canon Ozai genuinely loved show! canon Ursa, but still used her as a tool and threw her away. Honestly, I doubt 16-year-old Zuko is really ready for any romantic relationship at all, given his often toxic behavior, his trauma, and the incredibly stressful position he’s placed in at the end of the series.

#Azula #Zuko #Mai #Ty Lee #Dangerous Ladies #Ozai #Zuko meta #ATLA meta #meta #Unpopular opinion

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omnivorousshipper · 3 years

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I'm going to send yesterday's ask here, like you said. I'm going to do an Avatar The last Airbender request this time. If it's in your style, could you do a Sokka angst fic after the war where he's really depressed and blamimg himself for a lot of things because of some events that happen gradually, like Zuko and Katara getting hurt and he gets taken with one of the other Gaang members (it could be Toph, Zuko, Aang or Katara) and they both get tortured, but Sokka's turn comes when the other is out cold so they don't know. And because they don't know, he tries to hide it, and when they find out, they yell at him and stuff for worrying them. And could you make it so that his low spirit makes him need some mental healing as well. Wait, do you do angst? If this is too much, you can say then I can change the request. I may have gone overboard. Oh my god, I tend to go far with angst. Please, please tell me if this is much too long and too angsty. If this is too much, please tell me, so I can change it. Umm...have a nice day 😅

I absolutely love writing angst! You’ve definitely come to the right place, friend! I don’t usually write from Sokka’s POV but I love him dearly, just as much as I love the rest of the Gaang! Thanks for this request! And I hope you have a nice day too!

Warning: Brief descriptions of burns and torture

~~~

The courtyard was quiet as Sokka sat on one of the stone benches in the corner and stared at the pond with unfocused eyes. The afternoon sun was warm on his face and arms, and shown on the pond’s surface beautifully. Turtleducks were swimming in circles and playing to their hearts’ content as their mother sat from the pond’s edge. Following the slow circles of the animals, Sokka hunched over and felt the scrolls in his arms start to slip. Not caring, he kept his eyes on the pond.

It had been several months since the war had ended, but somehow the world had gotten even crazier and simply loved to drag Sokka along for the ride.

He had been staying in the Fire Nation for the last two months to help Zuko find people to add to his council. Everyone who had been on his father’s was either power hungry or plain sadistic. As Sokka and Zuko had found out the hard way.

Shivering, the courtyard disappeared for a second as Sokka saw the small dungeon he had been stuck in. His arms chained above his head for hours on end, sweltering heat surrounding him as he heard lava bubble not too far away from him. But the worst part had been watching how much pain Zuko had been in.

Zuko’s arms had been twisted behind his back and forced straight upwards to hang in the middle of the cavern they had been trapped in. Leather bags had been forced over his hands and feet to stop him from shooting out any fire while a leather muzzle had fixed over his face. Sokka had never seen Zuko breath fire, but he knew Iroh and Azula had the ability so it wasn’t surprising their captors were taking every precaution.

Sokka had no idea he had been forced to be a hostage inside a literal volcano, but he would never forget the time he had been in there. Especially when their captor had arrived.

The man was an old general that had been on the Fire Lord’s council ever since Azulon had been in charge. He had sneered when Zuko had come into the council room, telling everyone that they are dismissed and their advice never needed again. Sokka had assumed everyone would listen to the Fire Lord, but apparently he had been wrong.

Instead, the old general had simply blackmailed one of the staff to put something in the tea they had been drinking while talking over potential people for the council. All Sokka had thought was Fire Nation tea tasted weird and ignored the slightly salty taste- they were on an island after all. Sokka wished he had known just how easy it would be to drug the Fire Lord. Maybe then he wouldn’t have let Zuko get captured and hurt.

That was all he could think as he hung suspended in the air across from Zuko. It had been heart wrenching to watch the firebender struggle to get out of his bonds, but only to be left exhausted. He could even see the chains holding Zuko up turn red hot and burn him. He had immediately shouted for his friend to stop.

They had simply hung there after that.

Until the general showed up.

Sokko hadn’t even remember his name back then. He had vaguely recognized the old guy, but didn’t know who he was. He just wasn’t important to Sokka at the moment. Now though, Sokka would never forget his name. General Shakao.

The man had stepped into the cavern, a fierce sneer on his face as he ignored Sokka and stepped right up to Zuko.

“Well, well. How the might have fallen.” The man sneered. “And here I thought Sozan’s line would never let themselves be captured. How pathetic.”

Sokka growled and struggled in his bonds as Zuko tried to kick out at the man. Instead of moving away from the kick, Shakao grabbed Zuko’s ankle. Freezing, Sokka stared at the two.

“I wonder just how much fire your father had to use to give you that scar.” Shakao wondered aloud. “Let’s test it, shall we?”

“No!” Sokka screamed. “Leave him alone!”

His words were completely ignored as Shakao’s face burst into flame and Zuko’s scream could be heard through the leather muzzle. Sokka struggled more and more as he watched, but to no success. He was stuck. He couldn’t do anything. He was so useless!

Sokka could still smell burning flesh.

The torture seemed to go on forever until Shakao had dropped Zuko’s leg. Tears were streaming down Zuko’s face and Sokka wished he could do anything to help him. Why couldn’t he get out of these chains? If only he had more training! He should have asked Suki or even Ty Lee about how to get out of chains. Why didn’t he think? He was supposed to be the guy with the plan!

“So weak.” Shakao chuckled. “And you thought you’d be able to lead our nation? You’re just a weak child!” Once again, Shakao’s hand burst into flame as he punched Zuko straight in the stomach. It only took a few moments for his robes to burn away around Shakao’s fist. Sokka couldn’t take his eyes off the bare skin that was quickly being burned.

“Stop! Tui and La, let him go!” Sokka shouted. But no matter how much he screamed and begged the man, he didn’t stop burning Zuko. This went on until Sokka saw Zuko’s eyes roll into the back of his head, at least half of his body burned horribly from Shakao’s fire. Sokka had no idea how his friend had lasted that long, but he was glad to see he was no longer feeling pain while unconscious.

“How disappointing. No Fire Lord should let themselves be harmed by fire. Disgraceful.”

“Because Fire Lords aren’t fireproof!” Sokka snarled. He wasn’t sure he was happy Shakao finally turned away from Zuko and towards him. Lifting his head, Sokka met Shakao’s eyes and glared harshly. Anything to keep the man’s attention off Zuko.

“And a Fire Lord bringing some water tribe peasant into the palace-!” Shakao snarled.

Before Sokka knew what was happening, a firey punch impacted with his left hip.

Flinching, Sokka could still feel the burned skin. It was constantly rubbing against his clothes along with all the other burns Shakao had left on him: down his thighs, back, and shoulders. Sokka had yet to look at them in the mirror, but he knew they were bad. Almost as if he didn’t have any skin left.

Taking a deep breath, Sokka blinked and saw the young turtleducks had stopped swimming around and were cuddled up under their mother’s wing. When had he stopped paying attention?

Sitting up, Sokka hissed in pain as his back stretched painfully and burned skin pulled tightly. He could feel tears running down his cheeks as he heard the scrolls he had been holding finally fell from his lax grasp.

When he and Zuko had finally been found by the rest of the Gaang, Sokka had told them to help Zuko first. He hadn’t woken up even after Shakao had left them hanging there with their wounds. They had rushed back to the palace and Katara hadn’t left Zuko’s chambers, trying to heal him. Sokka hadn’t bothered her with his own burns; they would heal by themselves, Zuko’s looked far worse.

That had been two days ago and Sokka had tried to distract himself from the pain by looking through any scroll he could get his hands on. This was his fault. He should have noticed the danger Shakao had shown to be. He should have told Zuko to have a royal taste tester as his main advisor.

It was his fault Zuko had gotten hurt.

Gasping for breath, Sokka scrubbed at his face viciously to get rid of the tears. He was a warrior! He should be embracing the pain and not allow it to control him!

“Sokka?”

Flinching hard, he looked up and saw Katara standing in front of him, concern deep in her eyes. He hated seeing his little sister so worried.

“What’s up?” He tried to go for casual but knew he just sounded tired.

“Are you alright? Toph said you were hurt too. Did you visit one of the other healers?” Katara asked gently and sat next to him on the bench.

“Yeah. I wasn’t hurt that bad. Just my shoulders from hanging there for so long, you know.” Sokka shrugged slightly and cringed when even that small motion made his whole back flare up in agony. “But, how’s Zuko? Is he ok?”

“Zuko’s doing better.” Katara sighed. “But he’s really worried about you, Sokka. He says Shakao hurt you.”

“No, I’m fine.” Sokka sent her a smile.

“Sokka…”

Why did she look so blurry all of a sudden?

Taking a shaky breath, Sokka felt his chest tighten and a sob broke through his lips. He realized that tears were running down his face again. He couldn’t stop them. Why? Why couldn’t he stop crying?

Arms wrapped around him and one brushed against his back. Sokka wanted to scream, but instead, a small whimper came out.

“What’s wrong?” Katara whispered as she withdrew her arm. Without waiting for an answer, she lifted his shirt and he could feel the air on his skin. A sharp gasp left her. “Oh, Sokka, I’m so sorry-!”

“It’s nothing!” Sokka rushed to say, but it sounded more like begging. He was fine! They would be worried about Zuko, not him!

“I’m so sorry.”

When had Katara started crying? His baby sister should never cry, especially not over him. He shouldn’t have made her cry.

He could feel her arms wrapping around him again, this time around his neck than back and he couldn’t help but wrap his arms around her as well. Shoving his face in her shoulder, another sob left him and Sokka could feel himself unraveling.

~~~

I hope you enjoyed friend!

#avatar the last airbender #atla #sokka #zuko #angst #injury #tw burns #katara #asks #fanfic #omni writes #omni answers

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