#sky brother sokka

[lokigodofmyheart]

The stars look beautiful tonight

Zuko x Reader (SMUT)

Summary: Gazing at the stars at night leads them to some fun events. (Basically, porn without a plot.) 

A/N: Zuko and reader are 18.

The day was exhausting, they had trained with Aang all day long, and Y/N hoped to sleep as soon as she lay down. But sleep never came to her. After almost an hour of tossing and turning, she decided to take some air. She noticed she wasn’t the only one that couldn't sleep, seeing Zuko sitting on the ground with his back against a tree closer to the camp. Y/N walked to him, sitting by his side. 

“The stars are beautiful tonight.” He says without looking at her. 

“They are.” She smiles looking up at the sky too. 

Zuko took a deep breath of the cool night air “I have always loved the quietness of the night. It’s so calm.” 

Y/N chuckled “You’re being quite philosophical tonight.”  

“Maybe I am.” He chuckles too “But it’s true, isn’t it? When you’re outside at night, everything seems different.” 

“Yeah.” She looks at him with a small smile. 

Zuko glances over at her “You’re different too.” 

“How so?” She asked him 

He leans in slightly, his voice lowering “You’re not afraid of me anymore. You used to tense up whenever I came near, but now you can just sit here and talk with me like this.” 

Y/N laughed softly. He was right. She used to be tense around him when he joined them because of his past actions, but soon she warmed up to him...maybe too much “Well, you’re not trying to kill us anymore, so...” 

“I guess not. Things change, huh?” He smiles slightly at her. 

“Sometimes for the better.” Y/N returns his smile. 

“Speaking of changes...I have been meaning to ask you something. How long have you been in love with him?” Zuko asked leaning back against the tree. 

Y/N looked at him with confusion...did he noticed? “With whom?” 

“You know who. Sokka.” He says watching her carefully. 

“Sokka?” She asks laughing. “I’m not in love or anything like that with him, he’s like a brother to me.”  

Zuko leans in again “Really? Because you always look at him with such longing in your eyes.” Of course he would think that. He probably noticed that when he was with Sokka, so he mistakes the person she was actually looking at. 

“He loves Suki, Zuko. Believe me, I feel nothing like that for him” Y/N laughs softly again. 

“If you say so.” He says, looking back at the sky. They kept in a comfortable silence, until her hands reached to brush his hair out of his face that was already falling in his eyes. 

Zuko closed his eyes slightly, enjoying the feeling of her gently touch on him “So... you’re really not in love with him?” 

“No.” She replied softly, with a small smile in the conner of her mouth. 

He leans in closer to her, their faces just inches apart “I’m glad to hear that.” Zuko leans in even further, his lips brushing against her in a soft, slow kiss. She immediately kissed him back. Zuko deepened the kiss, his hand moving gently to her face. He can feel his heart racing against his chest as he pulls her closer while their tongues dance together.  

As the kiss breaks, Zuko looks into her eyes. He can see the desire and need in them. Slowly, he begins to trail kisses down her neck, his hands moving to untie her top. Y/N gives more access to him and soon she’s without her top. She moves to straddles his lap, taking his top off too, making Zuko groans as their skin touches. His hands travel up her side towards her bra, pulling it off slowly and revealing her breast to his gaze. Y/N could feel him growing harder and his erection brushing against her thigh. 

Zuko’s lips move to her neck again, leaving soft kisses as he makes his way to her breasts. He looks at her with his eyes dark with lust, before he takes one of her nipples into his mouth, sucking gently. That made Y/N bit her lip to hold back a moan since they’re so close to where the other are sleeping, rolling her hips against him. 

Feeling her movement, Zuko groans, his hands moving to grip her hips. He continues his work in her breath, teasing her nipple with his tongue as he begins to grind against her. Y/N’s hands work quickly to open his pants, making Zuko groans again. He reaches to help her pull his pants and underwear off and she does the same with her own pants. His cock springs free, throbbing with need. Feeling her wetness against his erections, Zuko let out a moan. 

Y/N positioned herself on him as she lowers herself slowly. Zuko growls softly as she rides him, his hips also moving meeting her movements, making her moan softly too as she rocks back and forth. Each second was getting harder for her to hold back her moans. Zuko bites his lips too, trying to hold back his own moans. They increase the speed, his cock thrusting deeper and harder into her as his fingers slide between them, finding her clit and rubbing softly. 

This time she couldn’t hold back, she let out a loud moan escape her lips. Zuko flips them so she was laying on the ground. He continues to thrust into her, his hips slamming against hers as he takes her harder and faster. His fingers also move faster on her clit. 

“Gods...” She moans again. 

Zuko’s teeth graze her shoulder as he feels himself getting closer to the edge, his cock throbbing inside her as he picks up even more his pace, slamming hard into her over and over again.  

“Zuko.” Y/N moans his name “I’m close...” 

He was also feeling himself getting closer as well. His hips slamming against her in a brutal rhythm “Cum for me, Y/N. Let go and let me feel you come around my cock.” 

With a few more thrusts, she came. Feeling her walls tighten around him, Zuko’s entire body shudders. He thrust into her one last time before his cock pulsing as he cum deep inside her. His hand gripped her hips tightly as he releases his seed into her warmth. He pulled her back as he sits against the tree against, still inside her. Y/N was panting heavily, trying to catch her breath. Zuko’s breath was ragged as well. Slowly, he pulls out of her, his softening cock sliding out of her wet fold, and she smiles as she could feel his cum dripping for her. 

Zuko smiles softly at her, running his hand gently down her sides. His erection had subsided, but he still wants her. Looking into her eyes, he leans and kisses her softly again, making her respond. He runs his hand through her hair, brushing away from her face “I’m not done with you yet.” 

Y/N smirks “Oh, really?” 

Zuko just grins back at her, his hands sliding down her back, cupping her ass cheeks. With a groan, he stands up, lifting her with him and walking over his tent, closing it behind them. He gently lowers her onto his bedroll and crawls on tip of her, their naked bodies pressing against each other. His lips find her in a deep and passionate kiss. His hands travel down her body, exploring her curves before he slips his finger into her wetness, rubbing circles around her entrance.  

Y/N moans again, still sensitive from orgasm. Zuko smirks against her lips, his fingers slipping inside her, finding her entrance still slick with their combined fluids. He begins to slowly thrust in and out her. 

“Zuko...” She moans his name, her back arching. He groans, loving the way she was responding to his touch. His thumb finds her clit and begins to rub circles around it while his fingers continue to thrust in and out of her. 

“Zuko...” she says again “I’m close.” 

Feeling her orgasm close, Zuko picks up the pace of his fingers thrusting deeper and faster inside of her. He continues to rub her clit, knowing it will send her over the edge. She was hit by her orgasm, leaving her legs trembling. He slowly pulled his fingers out of her, watching the last of his seed slide out with a pleased smirk.  

Zuko leans down and capture her lips once again. His tongue danced with hers before he begins to trail kisses down her neck and chest. He gently nips at her nipple. 

“Zuko...” Y/N was still trying to recover herself. 

He just chuckles softly against her skin, his hands slipping down her hips, holding her close to him as he continues to kiss his way down her body. When he reaches her stomach, he stops and looks up at her, his eyes still full of desire. 

“You just gave me an orgasm.”  

That made him smirk “And I plan on giving you many more”. Zuko captures one of her nipples between his lips again, gently sucking, making Y/N closes her eyes with the feeling. As he continues, his free hand slip down to rub her clit once more.  

“Zuko...” 

Hearing her moan his name, Zuko push his finger inside her once again, pumping in and out of her, hitting her G-spot with every thrust. His lips move back to her neck and before she knew, she was tightening around his finger again, making Zuko increase his speed and pushing another finger as she cries out his name. He didn’t stop, as he keep thrusting her. 

“Zuko, please, too much.” She cried out with her legs trembling, feeling her forth orgasm hit her that night. 

Zuko hears her plea, yet he doesn’t stop. He increases the pace of his fingers, his thumb once again finding her clit and his lips on her neck marking her. In seconds she was hit with her last orgasm of the night. He slowly withdraws his fingers, licking them cleans while he looks at her. 

“Damn!” Y/N says, trying to catch her breath, her whole body still trembling. “You ruined me.” 

He chuckles “I’m glad you enjoyed.” 

Zuko lay down by her side, pulling a blanket on top of them and cuddling closer to her, his arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her body against his chest. They both fell asleep after the exhaustive activities. The next morning, they were wake by voices outside. 

“Why are these clothes here?” They could hear Aang asking. Zuko wakes up, rubbing his eyes. 

“Zuko?” She whispered. 

“Yes?” Zuko looks at her. 

“That’s our clothes...” She says looking worried at him. He sits up, blushing slightly as he realizes they had forgotten their clothes outside. “Please, tell me you have something here for us to wear.” 

He looks around the tent, noticing some spare clothes lying around “Yes, I think there’s something here you can wear.” 

“Good. Just give me something and I’ll get our clothes.” Zuko hands her a robe that reached her mid-thigh. “Okay, that will do.” He also slips on a loose shirt and some pants. 

They didn’t hear anyone outside talking anymore, so they assumed it was safe. Y/N opened the tent, but as soon as she left, she was meet with the whole gaang there. 

“Why were you in Zuko’s tent?” Sokka asked looking at her “...and why are you wearing his clothes?” 

Y/N blushes. She didn’t had time to answer when Zuko follows her out and blushes too seeing everyone gathered around. Sokka slowly realized what had happening. 

“Oh, no worries, Aang. We already found the owner of the clothes.” Sokka says teasing them. Katara and Toph soon realized too what had happened, making Toph laughs. 

Zuko clear his throat awkwardly, trying to his embarrassment “Uh, well, we were just.... resting. There’s nothing more to it.” 

Aang had a confused face to everyone until he realized what had happened and looks shocked at Zuko and Y/N. 

“Who would’ve guessed, you and hot head here...” Sokka smirks. 

Zuko groans, rolling his eyes at Sokka’s teasing “It’s not like that, Sokka. We were just relaxing, okay? Jeez.” 

“I bet it was quite relaxing.” Katara says pointing at the marks of Y/N’s neck, making her blush. 

Zuko glares at Katara, his cheeks also flushing even more “I swear, if you keep making comments like that...” 

Y/N had quicky got their clothes back and pulled Zuko with her to his tend “Not a word.” She says to them. He quickly follows her. Everyone outside laughed at their reaction. Needless to say, they would be teased by this for weeks. 

#prince zuko #zuko #zuko smut #atla zuko #fire lord zuko #zuko x reader #zuko x y/n #zuko x you #atla #avatar the last airbender

[lizardlicks]

Momo surprise

“I’m a little worried about Momo,” Aang said to his friends as they gathered around the morning campfire and started preparing for their day. “He’s been acting kind of off lately.”

The lemur in question was fussily nosing around Aang's abandoned bedroll in tight circles. As the group of teens watched, he laid down in a curl, chirped unhappily then got up and resumed tugging and scratching at the bedding. “How can you tell?” Sokka asked. He was by no means a lemur behavior expert. To him all of Momo’s actions were strange. It was possible that Aang's Avatar-ness gave him some kind of spirit connection to flying lemurs. Unlikely, but still possible.

“He doesn’t have as much energy, even though he’s sleeping more.” Aang explained, frowning. “You don’t think he’s sick, do you?”

“Maybe it’s the climate?” Katara offered helpfully. She wasn’t a lemur expert either, but she and Sokka had struggled the first few weeks with adjusting to the Earth Kingdom’s warmer weather. As far as she or anybody else knew, Momo has lived his entire life in the towering, windswept peaks around the Southern Air Temple, so maybe the sudden change had affected him too, she reasoned. 

“It’s because you’ve been giving him too many treats,” Sokka told Aang matter-of-factly. Lemurs were outside of his wheelhouse, but he'd helped the older boys with conditioning the polar dogs for sled pulling every fall. Spoiled pups turned lazy and fat, a hard lesson to learn for the littler children who only wanted to express their love.

“You think so?” Aang looked contrite.

“Yup,” Sokka said as he reached to snag a piece of star berry off the board Katara was using to prepare their breakfast. He snatched his hand back with a squawk when she smacked him.

“He is looking a little pudgy, Aang,” Katara said without taking her eyes off the food. Poaching brothers were too wily to be given that kind of an opening.

“Monkey feathers. I just can’t resist him when he gives me The Eyes.”

“I know,” Katara agreed. “He’s weaponized his cuteness.” “You’re going to have to.” Sokka nimbly dodged a sister elbow, but he still didn’t quite manage to snag any tidbits from Katara’s pile of fruit. “It’s for his own good.”

Momo, apparently noticing he was being talked about, finally abandoned the bedding to perch on Katara’s knee. “No, bad lemur!” She snatched her cutting board up and held it over her head. “No more extras for you!”

Sokka whooped in victory as he snagged a slice of moon peach and popped it into his mouth before Katara could adjust her defenses. “You’re on a diet, mister,” he informed the lemur as he sucked the juice from his fingers.

Momo chittered and pinned his ears back.

“Sorry, buddy,” Aang said regretfully as he scooped Momo up and tucked him into the crook of his elbow. “I already gave you a big handful of lychee nuts when you woke me up, you’re gonna have to wait until lunch time for more food.”

Aang could never quite tell just how much human speech Momo understood, but the lemur appeared to grasp something about the situation. He curled his tail around and grasped it anxiously, cooing at Aang with all the force of The Eyes that one tiny flying mammal could muster.

Aang held strong. For all of three seconds. “Okay... well. Maybe a couple berries wouldn’t hurt?”

--------

“AAAAAANG!”

The young monk bolted upright in his bedroll at the sound of his name, startled out of a sound sleep. Sokka was loud. Loud and very upset.

“What!? What is it?” He blinked several times, then rubbed at his face, trying to get his eyes to focus on anything distinct before he realized the reason he couldn't see anything was because dawn was still hours away. The moon hung in the sky, a crescent barely thicker than a thumbnail, with no light to offer. Hedgegoosebumps broke out across his arms. Aang hugged himself as the night pressed in, suddenly no longer a sheltering veil, but full of hidden threat from enemies he couldn’t see. 

The sleeping lump to his right rustled and shifted as Katara sat up in her bed roll. “Sokka-haaah,” her voice stuttered, breaking off with a yawn. “What's wrong?”

“What's wrong? What’s wrong!?” Sokka was rapidly climbing in pitch with each repetition. “Why don’t you look at this situation and tell me, huh?”

“Uhh.” Aang squinted into the dark and tried to make sense of their camp. Appa was still peacefully snoring several yards away, completely oblivious to the sudden chaos. Katara was wiggling and shuffling her way out of her sleeping bag, growling unflattering things at Sokka under her breath, and Sokka. Sokka was standing in the middle of their sleeping circle. He looked like he was holding something, but Aang could not for the life of him see what it was.

“We can't see anything without light, Sokka,” Katara groused. She finally won her struggle with her sleeping roll and started patting around for her bag. “You couldn't have lit a fire before you started yelling loud enough to alert the Fire Lord himself?”

“Oh, gee, why didn't I think of that! Could it possibly be because I'm dealing with Aang's mess over here!?”

Aang didn't remember leaving a mess. In fact he'd been careful to pack up everything before turning in for the night just in case they had to make a quick getaway. A few too many lost supplies had trained him quickly.

“What are you talking about?” He asked while stretching, less alarmed now that he knew Sokka was just. Well, being Sokka. They weren't being attacked, there was no life or death situation he had to fight through in the pitch dark.

Katara, having retrieved some kindling from her pack, scooted over to their banked campfire and began to poke the coals awake. She had apparently given up any hope of going back to sleep until her brother was sorted out. Even Appa was starting to rumble awake with the commotion.

“You said Momo was a boy!” Sokka hissed. 

Aang. Blinked. “Yeah?” he said, uncertainty clouding his mind. He must still be dreaming, why would Sokka wake up the whole camp to debate their pet’s gender?

“Then explain this!” Sokka shoved his cupped hands out, away from the protective shield of his body, just as the fire flared with a pop and Katara's satisfied grunt.

Cradled in between his palms, fur still sodden and sticking, was the teeniest, tiniest lemur Aang had ever seen.

#sokka #aang #katara #momo #the gaang #minific #atla fanfic #atla #avatar the last airbender #lizard writes stupid things

[oneatlatime]

The Guru

Happy 2024 everyone and welcome to the first time I managed to type 2024 without first typing 2023! Oh and also a write up of The Guru. That too.

Me too Iroh. Me too.

So Zuko is riding high on that post-crisis 'time to get my life together' buzz that, similar to 3 am life plans, should absolutely not be listened to. Wonder how long before he crashes and burns? There's literally 2 episodes left, so I'm guessing one and a half?

Poor Sokka. My boy's got anxiety.

I don't know if it's a monk thing, an airbender thing, an Avatar thing, or an Aang thing, but I envy his complete lack of nerves.

How is Appa ok with them splitting up for a week after JUST getting them back?

I paused in a funny place. Have bonk-eyed Appa.

I love them comparing heights. What do you want to bet that that guy on the right was one of the youngest allowed to go fight, and Sokka made a big deal about how they're almost the same age and surely that means he can go too, right?

A lot of these Southern Water Tribe people have dreads or braids. That's neat.

Bato's arm is still messed up. That's some good continuity.

I've found the source of Katara's cheek bones. I guess Sokka takes after his mum.

Ok I know this is a really emotional moment (and it is! Sokka's spent two seasons earning this!) but my brain fixated on the furs and briefly thought they were sky bison pelts.

"It's been a difficult week for me." This guy thinks the Kyoshi Warriors are there to provide him therapy. Someone please just crown the bear instead.

He just gave away literally every relevant plot point AND outlined how to make sure all these plot points don't succeed. Crown. The. Bear.

Maybe if these generals spent less time playing with their giant model Earth Kingdom and more time general-ing, the war wouldn't suck so much?

Pretty.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the designs, the colour palette, the music, the sound design of this air temple. I love everything about it. If I had the chance to live anywhere in the Avatar universe, it would be here. Even in its ruined state it's such a refreshing contrast to the claustrophobia of Ba Sing Se. I can feel the freshness of the breeze through the screen.

"A spiritual brother of your people" an adult perspective on a near extinct culture! What a resource!

"and a personal friend of Monk Gyatso" an old as balls perspective. He's got to be at least 130.

Anthropology cul de sac time: this guy is so valuable as a resource on the Air Nomads. There's probably parts of Air Nomad culture that Aang can't ever accurately talk about, because he was a kid when he left, and there was almost certainly stuff that the adults kept to themselves, or only shared with the older Air Nomads. This Guru doesn't seem to be an Air Nomad himself, but there's a good chance that there is knowledge that he has, that Aang doesn't. Aang should be nerding out more about this. I'll do the nerding out for him.

Aang just breezes right by that Gyatso name drop like it's nothing. Huh.

Oh hey Toph. I'd forgotten she was in a box. Tweedle dum and Tweedle dumber really are quite the pair. What's their plan for keeping her fed and watered? Actually, these guys apparently don't know that maps exist, so it's probably never occurred to them that humans need sustenance. They'll rock up to the Bei Fong estate with corpse Toph and wonder why they aren't getting the reward money.

Mai gets called out in-universe for shopping at Hot Topic.

Ty Lee's buttering up of Azula is getting less and less subtle as the season progresses. It's a testament to Azula's lack of awareness that she's hasn't noticed that, and that Ty Lee can get away with it.

Azula's right that it's an extraordinary opportunity. The King gave them quite literally every piece of info required to overthrow his kingdom in a 25 second conversation. I can't blame her for taking advantage of such an easy win.

That's a very effective unimpressed face. And a very impressive beard.

It's funny to see a spiritual concept from the real world pop up in a show that includes things like bending and giant fish possession. The mention of Chakras kind of sticks out. They couldn't invent a Avatar universe version?

"Once you begin this process, you cannot stop until all seven are open." Well that doesn't feel like foreshadowing at all.

This episode should be called "Aang's self-care Journey." It's about time the kid had a me day that wasn't avoidance-based.

Fear: Losing Katara - makes sense. Losing control of his powers via fish possession - makes sense. The Fire Lord - makes sense. But the Blue Spirit? He helped. Doesn't make sense.

Guilt: Running away - makes sense, although I thought he'd worked through that with Katara in the storm. Nuking that idiot General's base - makes sense, but boy did he quite literally ask for it.

This guru is saying some wonderfully accurate, and realistic, things. I love that he's not taking the Katara route of denying anything is wrong. He's going for the acknowledge, then heal route. And yes, it's unfair of me to compare the emotional maturity of Katara to a century+ old spiritual expert.

I'm going to ruin the immersion here and point out that Sokka's dad's voice actor voiced a bunch of characters in season 1. He's doing an excellent job, but couldn't they get a unique voice for a character that's so important (albeit offscreen) to Sokka?

That's an incredibly roundabout way of avoiding pointing out that the Southern Water Tribe are active participants in a bloody war. Sure, we can show multiple characters with visible scarring from horrific burns, but heaven forbid we imply that the Southern Water Tribe sinks ships. The parameters for what is and isn't appropriate on this show sometimes make no sense.

"Aren't you listening? I said the rest of you men get ready for battle." He hasn't seen his boy in two years, but fifteen minutes in his company and he knows exactly what needs to be said and how. That's some top tier parenting. Dad of the year. Dad of the century. Only decent Dad in this show that isn't technically an uncle.

"Follow your passion Zuko, and life will reward you." Great advice for your eight year old audience. Also a great way to end up unemployed.

Positive Sokka creeped me out a few episodes ago. Now positive Zuko is freaking me out too.

Pretty.

Back to Chakras! Shame: Burning Katara - makes sense. But that's it? To have the inner peace of mind of a twelve year old who's somehow only ever done one thing that he's ashamed of.

Is there anyone in the earth kingdom who isn't stupid? Once again wondering at the network's standards. Visible burn injuries are fine, but Mai can't say 'Shut up." It's got to be Shush up. Although I do seem to recall of brief time in the early 2000s when Shut Up was treated as a curse on par with Shit or Fuck. Maybe that was just at my school.

Chakras again! Even for a show that often has an A, B, and C plot, this narrative is ping ponging around a bit much.

Grief: nothing major, just a whole nation. Makes a horrific amount of sense. but I don't buy that he can get over grieving the whole world as he knew it by thinking about his crush. That's way too high a pedestal for Katara to be placed on.

Lies: Not accepting he's the Avatar. Interesting that not accepting that he's the Avatar and not accepting that he's a firebender are two different problems.

I see you reusing the opening credits footage. Your blue filters can't fool me.

PRETTY

Illusion: So we're relearning what we learned in The Swamp. Aang's probably the person currently alive least likely to believe in the rigid separation of the nations anyway. This doesn't feel like an illusion he's subject to?

The way this episode dances between its narrative threads is so great. It's all woven in so beautifully. And this makes perfect sense! Toph's spent her life secretly doing things excellently that everyone says are completely beyond her capabilities. Life has taught her that the statement "you are not able to" doesn't apply. Of course immutable laws of bending physics are treated with the same respect as an adult telling the champion of the Earth Rumble that she's can't earthbend beyond breathing exercises. If you told her that humans can't fly, she'd figure out how within the week.

Plot collision incoming.

Interesting that Katara initially recognises Zuko by his voice rather than his scar.

I'm pretty sure that Zuko and Iroh don't know about the whole brainwashing thing, but wouldn't it be hilarious if Zuko introduced himself to Katara as Joo Dee, and his uncle Joo Dee, welcome to the Jasmine Dragon, can I take your order? That would throw Katara into one hell of a moral quandary.

Katara being framed as the solution for Chakra number four comes back to bite Aang, as she's the problem in Chakra number seven. I knew that pedestal was too high.

I've changed my mind. This episode should actually be called "Half a dozen reasons why everyone should just learn to keep their goddamn mouths shut already."

So is anyone going to let Zuko and Iroh know that they're now in immediate danger and need to leave, like, yesterday?

I think the Guru is going for the whole 'if you love them, let them go, and they'll come back to you' thing. Don't cling, in other words. But for the sake of the plot he's suddenly lost his ability to explain Chakras in a way that makes them seem like the logical thing to do. The only clunky bit of this episode so far.

May I introduce you to our Lord and Saviour Toph?

"I am the greatest earthbender in the world." Yes. Yep. Yeah. That's now a quantifiable fact, and it's correct. Look on ye mighty and despair. She's even got Bumi beat.

Earth Tongue Running is a bit wonky looking but it covers a crazy amount of distance.

What's the range on Toph's earth sense? Can she sense what direction Ba Sing Se is?

I hope those two idiots' horse bird is ok.

"You don't know how much this means to me dad." He does. Very much so.

Every word out of this guy's mouth is precision engineered to make Sokka feel like a million bucks and I for one think it's about time someone built him up. Also, seeing this makes me realise how few good parents there are in this show. It's a trope of kids' adventure shows that the parents fundamentally can't be there, but I also think it's a commentary on yet another thing that this war has messed up.

Hey look! Being a man is knowing where you're needed the most, and right now that's in Ba Sing Se, protecting your sister! I love narratives that tie their themes up with a pretty bow on top.

This is Azula laying a trap, right? Which means that Katara squealed to someone about the exact location of Iroh and Zuko's tea shop. Don't like the implications of that.

Photos taken seconds before disaster.

Final Thoughts

This episode was a lot! I mean that in a good way! But I felt a bit like the Maxell Blown Away Guy, the way I kept getting assaulted by yet another plot thread. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a criticism. I think the switching between plot threads and the amount of info in this episode worked 99% of the time. But I'm kind of in awe at the balancing act the writers pulled off and I'm sort of sitting here blinking a bit trying to fit all this stuff in my head. I'm probably going to forget half the stuff I wanted to talk about in this write up, so here goes nothing.

Given the Azula reveal in at the end of last episode, I thought that this would be the episode where the shit hits the fan. I was wrong. I'm glad I was wrong. An episode of set up is required and is nice breathing room, even an episode as busy as this. And I got to leave Ba Sing Se! But this does mean that next episode is going to be calamity after calamity.

Aang and his Chakras: I'm fascinated by this guru. I hope he comes back. That brings the total number of people who were alive before the war started up to three: Aang, Bumi, Guru Patik.

I'm impressed that the run through of the Chakras rarely felt like an info dump. The onion and banana juice thing didn't work for me, but I'm sure it worked for people in the target age bracket. Kids love burp jokes.

So many shows sprinkle in tragic backstories for flavour and then never have them influence the character in the present. It was a nice contrast to see a show take a whole episode to tell Aang "yeah all that sucked. It's ok to feel down about it. Here's how you move forward."

Sokka and his dad: Love it. Love it so much. I love seeing Sokka built up, and he definitely deserves it, but I wonder if this is the reward for a character arc well done, or the set up for a character arc that's about to start? Is his dad's praise his prize for crossing the finish line, or is it so he's built up with farther to fall?

I loved seeing more of the Southern Water Tribe. I loved the fashion. There's a lot of variety in accessories and variations on a few basic elements like those knee guard things. I loved their hairstyles. I loved how cozy and communal that command tent felt. I loved their ships. I wonder how often these guys work out, that they can make loading ramps that are presumably deployed and stashed out of the way frequently, out of whole logs rather than planks. I have a bone to pick with the child-friendly sea mine. But it provides a good set up for a dad joke, so I'll let it slide.

Zuko and Iroh: Of course the one time Zuko is allowed to be in a good place, it's so that he and Iroh both have farther to fall when the inevitable happens. Poor guy just can't catch a break. I'd be mad at Azula for the party crashing that I'm assuming she'll do next episode, but it's been established that Zuko has all nice things taken away from him as soon as he gets them, and I can't blame Azula for being a tool of the universe.

Azula & Long Feng: Azula's acting in Long Feng's prison cell was miles ahead of what Long Feng was doing in front of the Earth King, so I'm wondering if Long Feng has bitten off more than he can chew. Also: conspiring with the enemy to bring down your own city just so you can reinstall yourself as the power behind the throne that will presumably cease to exist as soon as the Fire Nation takes control? That is both treasonous beyond description and an incredible case of shooting yourself in the foot. What's Long Feng's plan here?

Toph and the Dunderheads: it says something about the consistency of Toph's characterisation from her introduction onwards that she breaks the universe this episode and my reaction was "that's neat." It's obviously a huge moment, but of course Toph can do that. Toph can do anything. More importantly, Toph knows that Toph can do anything, so Toph routinely does do anything, especially things she shouldn't be able to do. If you had asked me a few episodes back which character would be most likely to fundamentally redefine bending, I would have said Toph, since she's already fundamentally redefined bending with her earth sense sonar vision.

Also Toph just breaks stuff. Things that come into contact with her cease to function as intended and instead function as Toph requires. Look at the two idiots: both successful business owners, one also a successful hoodwinker of the richest family around. But they come into contact with Toph and their brains take an extended vacation.

Katara & the Generals: this plot was more like an extension of Azula's plot than its own standalone thing. You can't blame her for spilling the news about Zuko and Iroh to someone she honestly thought was Suki. Not much else to say about it, although it's cute that she asks for a table for two at the tea shop. Momo gets a chair!

I like that there's a theme this episode of things going wrong despite the best intentions. No one's acting maliciously here apart from the Antagonists. The Earth King is having an honest chat with people he thought were friends. Sokka vouched for people he honestly thought were the Kyoshi Warriors. Katara shares information about a presumed threat with people she honestly thought were her allies. You can quibble with the wisdom of some of these decisions, but there were all done with good intentions. The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry and all that. It brings to mind that Star Trek quote about how you can do everything right and still lose. And this set up is going to hit harder when whatever goes wrong next episode happens. And something will go wrong. A few months ago I figured that the Season 2 finale would be a triumph, but all signs are pointing towards a tragedy instead.

This episode was visually stunning, the soundtrack in the Air Temple sections especially was very evocative, and I applaud the minds that could juggle that many plot threads at once without dropping any. This one is definitely going on my rewatch list.

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #the guru

[imaginmatrix]

zutara au where katara is an up and coming model/actress and zuko is the closed off guy who serves her tea at the shop next to her apartment.

Okay. Look. Listen. Against all odds, despite them filling all my favorite tropes, I do not actually… ship Zutara. I don’t read fics of them, I’ve never written them— which is wild, right? Wacky? Crazy? Doesn’t make sense. I know. I agree. Idk.

So I wrote this anyway and I have no clue what the fandom is like or how they characterize these characters but HERE WE GO DIVING IN HEADFIRST ANYWAY LETS GO

Katara already knew her and her brother had wildly different priorities— but moving into her new apartment proved that Sokka existed on an entirely different plane of reality.

“My sister has the cash to live anywhere she wants, but she picks a place next to the weirdest building in the city.” He had grumbled the day of the move, which kind of pissed Katara off.

Not because he called the building weird, but because that was his issue with it.

He should have been far more upset with the fact that the skyscraper belong to Ember Corp.

Katara pointed this out to him, to which Sokka only shrugged in reply, “I figured you didn’t care about that seeing as you moved in next door anyway.”

And then she had to stomp away in a huff to stop herself from snapping at him, because that would be hypocritical and ridiculous; but it wasn’t like she moved in next to the corporation that demolished their family’s home and community for parking lots because she didn’t care!

She did care! A lot! Maybe too much!

But then that was why she chose this apartment; the skyscraper next door wasn’t just a skyscraper.

Like Sokka said, it was…

Weird.

Good weird.

To be fair, Ba Sing Se as a whole was a little weird— a hodgepodge of shiny, towering buildings and ancient temples and Spiritbucks and cobblestones and sky trolleys.

No structure could compare to this one.

From a distance, it looked like a regular skyscraper; the architecture was more creative than most, but it didn’t stand out.

Then one’s gaze would travel down, and there, at the base…

A tea shop.

An old tea shop.

It wasn’t even all that fancy, though there were pieces that hinted at a rich history— the small, painted wood pillars on either side of the door, the round windows with various designs etched into them, and the roof— oh the roof! A beautiful hip-and-gable one with the edges flared up and rust red shingles that complimented the muted green of the shop itself.

Katara loved it.

And the fact that a skyscraper had been built atop was so ludicrous it made her dizzy.

She’d once asked Toph why it was like that, and in turn Toph explained that the rumor was that the old guy who owned the shop had been offered a ton of money from Ember Corp for the location. He refused to sell, but reportedly told them he’d be willing to sell the air above his shop for the same price, and a promise that his shop would stay— he wasn’t selling the land, after all.

So they reinforced the shop and foundation to be able to bear the weight, and just like that, a new skyscraper had risen above the city.

Katara only went to the tea shop.

She wasn’t sure what about it was so enticing. Maybe it was how peaceful it was; even when the giant sliding doors were left open in the summer, the noise of the city never seemed to penetrate the shop fully. The smell of tea soothed her. It was soft, and sweet, and earthy, and strangely reminded her of home.

Which was wildly different in culture, but… she felt safe here. Like she had at home. Before it was taken.

That could be the reason she came— she liked seeing something old and ancient stand up to an entity like Ember Corp. It filled her with satisfaction to see something refuse to give in to intimidation, to be immovable in the face of “innovation.”

It was almost sacred in a way.

So she found herself stopping by every morning on the way to work— be it a photoshoot or commercial or audition— for some matcha to perk her up. And every evening, if the shop was still open, she’d grab a Jasmine brew on the way home.

The owner was so kind, a round, elderly man with a gravely voice filled with mirth. He insisted on being referred to as “Uncle Iroh,” which Katara didn’t mind. Sokka was her only family in the city, as their Gran and Father and what remained of their community migrated to the southern towns after their neighborhood was sold out from under them.

She could use an Uncle these days.

On one particular morning she was running late. She whirled into the shop, juggling various items while she searched her purse— sunglasses, phone, the audition packet, chapstick, planner, book for the trolley— ah! Wallet!

But when Katara turned to the counter, it wasn’t Uncle Iroh who she saw; a grumpy looking guy stood there, shaggy hair falling in gold eyes. Those eyes were what she noticed first, bright and intense and filled with an emotion she couldn’t quite place— anger? Contempt? For… her?

The scar, she noticed second. Which upon reflection was a little ridiculous, considering that the angry deep red color and mottled flesh took up nearly half of his face. Not that it should have been what people saw first when they looked at him, she was certain he probably hated it being pointed out, but it was hard to miss.

They stared at each other a moment.

“…Hi?” Katara ventured, less confused by the new employee than the fact that he apparently had no customer service skills. No “Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon!” or “Can I take your order?” or even a rude “What do you want?”

The boy’s brow just furrowed deeper, which seemed almost impossible, yet there he was— basically one big furrow at this point.

“…Um…” When it became clear the grumpy employee had no intention of being friendly, Katara ventured, “Can I have a hot matcha to go?”

She waited anxiously as he punched the order in, finally speaking, “That’ll be six yuans.”

It was Katara’s turn to be the furrower. “Six? It’s usually three, isn’t it?”

This was met with an eye roll and a breathy huff, “My Uncle is… let’s just say he gives discounts more often than he should.”

Katara lamented that the new price would likely mean she’d only have one tea stop a day rather than two, but didn’t argue as she zipped open her wallet, uninterested in prolonging this weird interaction that made her more and more late by the second. She passed the rectangular coins over, and the boy dropped them into the register before turning on his heel to prepare the tea.

That was weird.

But so was a tea shop with a skyscraper balanced atop.

She crossed her arms, checking her phone for the time over and over again. Why was this taking so long?

Katara leaned over the counter to see what the boy was doing, and blinked. The kettle was—

“Are you… are you boiling water?!”

He frowned back at her— though it was likely just a regular look, if frowning was his default state as it appeared to be. “…I don’t know how you make hot tea, but here we boil it.”

“Yes but—“ Katara cut herself off, biting her tongue so that she could calm the ever growing frustration bubbling within. Sokka said she was hot headed, ironic considering where their ancestors came from. Finally, she managed to speak with an even, calm tone; “You have a boiling water tap.”

“…A what?”

Dear Spirits, this guy...

“The owner, he only uses the kettle at night when it’s less busy, for a more authentic experience. In the mornings, he uses the tap— or an electric kettle.”

The guy glanced around. “Because the mornings are so busy?”

To be fair, the shop was empty at the moment. Katara wondered if it was due to the upcoming holiday.

“Yes.” Katara ground out through gritted teeth.

He shrugged in response. “There’s no rush now, so it’s not a big deal.”

“It is!” She finally burst out, “It is a big deal! I’m late for work!”

The boy seemed taken aback for a moment, blinking at her. Then his face hardened. “It’s not my problem if you didn’t leave early enough.”

“But it is your problem that you don’t know how to do your job correctly!” Katara snapped back.

This seemed to rile up the guy even more, his nostrils flaring, “I didn’t even want—“

He was interrupted by the scream of the kettle, and he turned his back on her to remove it from the heat. Katara rubbed the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache encroach on the edges of her consciousness.

It only grew when she looked up to see him dropping a teabag into the cup of water.

“What are you doing?!” She demanded, aghast.

He glanced up, confusion mingling with his frustration this time. “Making tea?”

“I asked for matcha!” Her voice was shrill now, but she couldn’t help it— who hired this guy?!

“…Is this not matcha…?”

“That’s green tea!” And in a bag rather than an infuser, no less!

“Matcha is green tea though.”

“It’s prepared differently!” Katara leaned further over the counter, her braid hanging over the opposite edge as she craned her neck, “Look, Uncle Iroh keeps the materials right there under—“

“Hey, don’t lean over here like that!”

“Or what?” She retorted as the guy stalked towards her, “Mad that I know this place better than you do?”

With the way his eyes narrowed, he was indeed mad about that. “No, I’m not— the money is over here!” He waved his hands at her in a shooing motion. At least he had the intelligence to know not to put his hands on her.

Katara snorted. “Do I look like a robber?”

“You look like a pain in the—“

“Nephew? I heard the kettle…” A sleepy voice interrupted them, and Katara quickly straightened from being sprawled over the counter as a bleary-eyed Uncle Iroh parted the curtains to stare at them.

“Uncle, this girl—“ he pointed, “should be banned from the shop.”

Uncle Iroh yawned, turning his gaze to Katara. Then he brightened. “Ah, Miss Katara, a pleasure to see you— picking up your usual, I take it?”

“Well, yes, but…” she hesitated. A moment ago she had been ready to go ballistic, but Iroh had called the guy ‘Nephew’… so he was his literal uncle? Tattling to family felt a bit childish. “It’s fine.”

“Is it now? Well, I see you’ve met my nephew, Katara, this is—“

“Lee.” The boy interrupted immediately, his hand flying up to cover the name tag pinned to his apron, “My name is Lee.” He looked meaningfully at his Uncle, who merely shrugged.

“He will be working here from now on, so I hope that…” Iroh’s voice trailed off as his gaze wandered to the cup of tea. He blanched. “Z— Lee, did Katara ask for green tea?”

It was Lee’s turn to go pale. “Well, she asked for matcha, and that’s basically—“

Uncle Iroh groaned as he hurried to the tea, nose wrinkling in disgust, “And a bag, too! Where did you even find— no, no bags! We use these!” He waved around an infuser wildly, and Lee grew more indignant.

“Well how was I supposed to know that?! Why do you have teabags if we don’t—“

“Never mind that!” Uncle Iroh bustled around, scooping the matcha into the chawan to whisk, “Clearly you are far worse off than I thought— what has your father been teaching you?”

“Business! And finances, and—“ a furtive glance was shot towards Katara, “and things way more important than making tea!”

“Bah!” Iroh finished whisking and began to prepare the drink, “Very few things in life are more worth knowing than this.” He snapped the lid onto the cup and passed it over the counter with a cheery smile, “There you are my dear, I hope it’s to your liking.”

Katara was already speeding for the door with a wave, “I’m sure it’ll be perfect as always— see you tonight?”

“We’ll be open— and I’ll make sure my Nephew knows how to at least brew jasmine by then.”

“Uncle.”

Katara jogged to the sky trolley stop, her mind racing a bit. Uncle Iroh said Lee would be working there from then on… and if today was anything to go by, her once peaceful escape was about to become a whole lot more stressful.

Unfortunately, slinking into the agency thirty minutes after she was supposed to did not go unnoticed. But the lecture about professionalism and punctuality in the industry was brief, and the day passed in a blur. Lee was nowhere to be found during her evening stop, though Uncle Iroh was appalled to discover that he had charged Katara full price for the matcha. He insisted on giving her the evening mug of piping hot jasmine at no cost, and she took up her usual place on the patio to sit and read and relax before tromping up to her apartment.

The weeks passed fast, and to Katara’s dismay, Lee was now there every time she stopped in.

Figures. Her luck had always gone overboard to balance out— placed first in the third grade spelling bee? Broke her arm on the way home. High school valedictorian? Congratulations, your childhood home is being bulldozed! Career picking up? An annoying man now works at your favorite place in the world.

…Maybe one of those things wasn’t like the others, but it still irked her.

But Lee didn’t speak to her again beyond the curt welcome he gave everyone, the exchanging of funds (he gave her the Uncle Iroh discount now,) and the call of her name when the tea was at the counter.

Katara didn’t like hearing her name on his lips. It was wrong. It made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle, made her body tighten and squirm in an uncomfortable way.

A fight or flight response, she reasoned.

And then one evening, he didn’t call it.

She was curled in the plush chair that Iroh always let her drag to the patio in the evenings. Days were getting longer again, so the sun hadn’t quite set yet, casting a golden glow between buildings.

The day had been exhausting; three auditions and two photoshoots. Katara had been up since 3am for the first shoot, but despite her yawns and heavy lids, she couldn’t resist the allure of Iroh’s tea.

Katara was reading. Well, she thought she was reading; but when the sound of a clearing throat made her eyes flutter open, the sky was much darker and the streets bathed in blue rather than gold.

Her head felt cotton-y in the way it did when one took an impromptu nap, and she yawned, looking up from her curled up position on the chair to see Lee standing next to her.

“Ah— sorry, is it closing time…?” She began to straighten out, reaching for her bag, but Lee shook his head.

“No, uh… no. I just… here.” He held out the teacup. “Free refill.”

Katara blinked, “Oh.”

Lee shifted uncomfortably, and it took a moment for Katara to realize what she was seeing; he was nervous. “If you don’t want it, I can—“

“No, no I do!” She nodded to the side table, placing the book that had become wedged between her and the cushions on it as well. “Tell your Uncle thank you.”

“Uncle’s not here.” Lee said. Then he hesitated. “I… I can tell him when he gets back.”

Katara reached for the cup. It smelled amazing, and she sipped at the rich, floral drink. It was different than usual, but good different.

So she took a deeper sip, licking her lips as droplets clung to them.

Her face lifted to Lee, who was shifting his weight back and forth anxiously. Anticipating.

And then it hit her.

“You made this?” She asked— since that first meeting, Lee had only made one of her orders when his Uncle had stepped out. It had been rather disappointing.

“Uh… yeah.”

“It’s really good.” To her surprise, Lee almost smiled, the corners of his lips tugging up as his body relaxed.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She confirmed. “Did you add something different…?”

“A few things— Uncle thinks that jasmine is best on its own but…” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I… got bored.”

“Well maybe you should be bored more often if this is the result.”

The furrow that lived between Lee’s brow and where another brow once grew smoothed in surprise— no, that wasn’t a strong enough word for it— shock? The emotion was fleeting, gone in an instant, though his face managed to retain its new relaxed state. “That’s the second compliment you’ve given me. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.”

Katara surprised herself by laughing. “You gave me a free drink, so maybe I should buy one too.”

Lee ran a hand through his hair, revealing how his scar stretched up to his forehead; “Well, uh, I should—“

“Do you want to sit for a second?”

Lee immediately, wordlessly dragged one of the patio chairs up next to her in response, flopping into it.

They sat in silence for a minute, watching the occasional car pass by.

Then Katara couldn’t help herself; “Why did you start working here? You didn’t seem like you liked tea all that much.”

Lee sighed, his hand mussing up his hair again; he did that a lot, as if he wasn’t used to having so little of it. “I… messed up big time back home.” His head tilted back to gaze up at the skyscraper that towered above the shop behind them. “So my father sent me here to… I don’t know. Punish me, I guess. Cut me off, told me I couldn’t come back until…” he trailed off. “…you know, I was lucky my Uncle even agreed to let me stay here. If he hadn’t… I don’t know what I would have done.”

Katara couldn’t imagine it— what sort of father would abandon his kid like that?

Sure, she felt abandoned by her own dad half the time, but… at least when he left, he did it knowing her and Sokka were safe and cared for. And at least she didn’t doubt that he loved her, as angry as she was at him for his choices.

She cleared her throat, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pried—“

“No, it’s okay.” Lee’s voice had a rasp to it, the sound of someone trying to hold emotion at bay. “It… it was probably time I told someone about it. I haven’t exactly made a ton of friends here.”

Katara spoke before she even realized she’d decided to; “You can come out with me and my friends sometime.”

Lee tilted his head to her, a puzzled expression on his features, “…Me?”

“Do you see anyone else here?”

And then a real smile played across his lips, “Are all your friends hot shot movie stars too?”

It was once more Katara’s turn to be surprised. “You— that— I’m not even close to a ‘hot shot movie star!’” She laughed and tugged on her braid nervously, suddenly feeling shy. “You know who I am?”

“Yeah.”

“Since the beginning?”

“…Yeah.” His voice was softer, more reserved, as if the question had stirred something in him. Guilt?

Katara pressed on, not wanting to ruin the new atmosphere they’d built for themselves. “So you’ve seen me in… what, shampoo commercials?”

Lee shook his head, “Nah, my fa— someone my mom used to be friends with, uh… helped fund that one movie; Glacier Soul?”

“You… you remember me from that?” She laughed again, both delighted and aghast, “It wasn’t even a big role, I wasn’t a lead or anything— and I wasn’t great in it—“

“No.” Lee‘s voice was firm, no room for disagreement. If he didn’t sound so earnest, Katara may have assumed he was just being nice. “You were perfect.”

Katara shifted, warmth spreading on her cheeks. The prickle on her neck, the tightness in her body, those both were present now too; but it wasn’t fight or flight this time, was it? Had it ever been? “Well I… I’m glad you liked me. I mean, me in it. It was my first dramatic film and… and I’m just… glad.”

They both fell silent, Katara downing the rest of her tea to keep from saying more dumb things.

“So…” Lee was hesitating again. “When… when are you and your friends next…?”

“Oh!” Katara reached for her bag, rummaging for a pen, “Here, one sec—“ she grabbed her napkin and jotted down her number. “Text me when I leave, I’ll let you know next time we have plans.”

Lee seemed completely out of his element as he stared at the napkin she’d shoved at him; as if he couldn’t believe it was actually there. Finally, he nodded, “Right, yeah, that sounds— yeah. Good. Great.”

“Yeah?” Katara asked teasingly.

There was another hint of a smile when he replied with, “Yeah.”

Her body was heavy again, so Katara started to gather her things. “Well, good to know you’re not so bad when you’re not extorting people or serving them poisoned tea.”

Lee sputtered, “I… I haven’t done either of those things!”

“Mm, that green tea you tried to give me looked pretty deadly.” He seemed troubled despite the tease, and Katara nudged him as she stood. “Tonight though? That jasmine tea was ridiculously good.”

Lee relaxed again, understanding the jests now and looking quite pleased with himself, “I practiced.”

“I can tell.” Katara yawned and stretched, her body complaining after being curled up for so long, “Well, Lee, I’m glad I got to know you a little better.”

He was running a hand through his dark locks again, looking as if he were going through some sort of inner turmoil despite the small smile on his lips, “Y-yeah, me too, listen, uh…” he took a breath. Then another. “I’m… I…” and then he deflated, “I’m glad too.”

Katara said goodnight, made him promise to text her as soon as she walked out the door, and as she strolled to the next building over, she realized she felt light. Bubbly. Happy.

So their first meeting had been rocky; she couldn’t blame the guy for having a bad day, especially since it sounded like he’d been through the wringer shortly before that.

Why should a bad first impression affect this one?

Katara’s phone buzzed with a text, and when she pulled it out she saw a little fire emoji.

And then she texted back something that normally she’d never in a million years say.

‘Is this your way of saying I’m hot?’

Sokka would laugh in the face of anyone who implied his uptight little sister had flirted.

Lee’s reply was immediate.

‘What?! No! What???? It’s just my favorite!’

‘…wait, don’t take that the wrong way, I mean, I’m not saying you aren’t’

‘Uh’

‘I mean’

‘Can you just ignore all of that? Please?’

‘…Please?’

Katara laughed. Normally she might over analyze his panicked denial, worry she overstepped, but… something felt different about Lee. He was so serious, serious in a way that made her loosen up.

Her brother often told her she was a stick in the mud. And maybe she was, maybe she was austere and boring and too much a stickler for rules… But Lee made her feel like she was fun, too.

‘Ignore what?’

‘I didn’t see anything :)’

‘….thank you.’

She hummed to herself as she savored the taste of jasmine still on her tongue.

Maybe Lee wasn’t so bad.

And maybe… maybe now she had more than one reason to look forward to her morning matcha.

#anon #ask #writing prompt #morgan murmurs #zutara #zutara fanfic #fanfic #one shot

[bookdragonideas]

Toph should have been homeless.

A lone wanderer traveling across the Earth Kingdom. She would have taught metalbending to anyone who wished to learn. Beating up bullies and helping small towns recover and rebuild. Occasionally blackmailing one of the MANY world leaders who owe her into letting her crash at their place and eat all their food.

As she gets older she gets wiser. Becoming the Uncle Iroh to the younger generations. She's never as gentle as he was, but she remembers him fondly and never hesitates to dispense some cryptic wisdom on some hot-headed kid.

As years pass she stops wandering quite so far. Instead she stays for long months in the Fire nation or on Kyoshi Island. Occasionally she drops in on that new town/nation that Zuko and Aang are building. But she never stays for long.

She never marries. Never has kids. The rest of the Gaangs kids refer to her as Auntie Toph, and she loves them. But she decided long ago that she didn't want to be a mother.

She's there when Aang dies, holds Katara like Katara has always held her. Whispers to her that twinkle toes isn't gone. Not forever. He'll be back. He's the avatar after all.

She's there when Suki dies. Unable to save her in the heat of battle, unable to heal her afterwards. Sokka takes a few months to join her on her travels. She protects him, even as he fights with a recklessness that scares her. Suki would want him to survive.

Sokka calms down, goes home to his sister and his people and the white lotus. Toph keeps traveling.

She hears of her parents death. She spends the next week helping a lost child find his parents. And she visits the Boulder on her next trip through town. He much to old to be fighting her, but they rematch on the ring anyways. He mocks her the same way he always does and never says a word about her parents.

She gives him her parents wealth, he runs an animal shelter now and could use the funds.

She isn't there when Mai dies. Far on the eastern edge of the Earth Kingdom when the news of the Fireladies death reaches her. She takes Zuko on fieldtrip when she gets back to the Fire Nation. He owed her anyways.

They find Dragons.

The new Avatar emerges. A hot-headed young girl from the Southern Water Tribe.

She nothing like Twinkle Toes.

She's so much like Aang it hurts.

Katara is getting old. She hides it well but she's slower now. Not quite as fierce. Calming down as the years slip by.

Sokka dies and it rips Toph apart. He was her big brother. He died to save the world. She spends a few months with the sand benders. Spends a few more months deep in a swamp where occasionally she can still hear his voice. Once she hears Aang, sounding as young as the day they met.

Katare is so quiet now. She teaches the young avatar to heal. But not to fight. Saying that honor belongs to a younger teacher.

Honor make Toph think of Zuko.

She's there when he steps down and gives the throne to his daughter. It's a lovely ceremony. Afterwards they go on another fieldtrip. They find sky bison. Living wild and free in small island chains far from the mainland. Toph tells Katara who tells her children. And Airbenders fly with Sky Bison once more.

Katara passes peacefully in her sleep. Toph cries.

She goes on fieldtrips with Zuko every year now. Sometimes they find things. Sometimes they fight people. Sometimes they visit places that echo with memories.

The war was a horrible thing. Toph knows this. But a small dark shard of her heart is eternally grateful for Sozins greed. Without it she would never have known her friends.

The house on Ember Island lays in ruins now. The house Zukos family uses nowadays is smaller, more inconspicuous, a friendly little cottage.

They stay at the old house. Laughing when they find the rooms burned from when Zuko chased Aang. There's a small spot outside where the earthbent remains of Melon Lord stands. Toph can still remember Sokka's voice planning, Suki's light footsteps. Katara's fierce fighting and Aang hesitating before the final blow.

Zuko can't.

Zuko forgets more and more. Until the only thing they do on fieldtrips is go places. To remember. He asks where Uncle Iroh is. Thinks Mai is with them. Doesn't remember that his daughter is the Firelord now, not him.

A new threat arises. Zuko dies defending his nation and family. The world's mourns Firelord Zuko the great peace bringer. Toph mourns Zuko the awkward friend.

The new avatar dies. And Toph realizes that she doesn't know her own age.

The world is different now. There's so many new inventions. Toph thinks that Sokka would have loved to see this modern age.

A celebration for a hundred years of peace helps her remember her age for a few years.

Theres a new New avatar. A young boy from the sandbenders. His voice reminds her of Aang when she teaches him metalbending.

The next she hears of him is his marriage to some fire bending girl.

She spends time in the swamp, helps the swamp benders fight against those who would destroy the land. She gives council to the Sandbenders, as they seek independence from the rest of the Earth Kingdom.

She visits the house on Ember Island. It's part of a protected forest now.

She nearly kills a man on Kyoshi Island. He was telling a story of the end of the hundred year war. But he got it all wrong.

The four nations are no more. There are more than ten nations now. The Water Tribes split long ago. Three distinct Air Temples operate separately and with different principles and beliefs. The Republic continues to grow. The Sandbenders and Swampbenders are still sorting thing out, but they'll both be independent soon.

The two hundredth year of peace bring war. As tensions break and new weapons are being used. Bending is no longer the most powerful weapon out there.

The two hundredth year of peace bring war. But Toph is not there to see it.

Three years earlier she sits in a cave. She had spent the summer teaching some kids metalbending, and even just basic Earthbending.

It had been... nice.

But she's so tired now. She sits in the cave. There are no other people for miles around. But she's not alone. The memories of her friends, her family, weigh on her shoulders and echo in her her ears.

As she sits in the darkness she hears a sound. A quiet shuffling and then a loud crash! As walls are reshaped and her oldest friends find her.

Badgermoles live for centuries. And these Badgermoles remember her. They remember a small, scared little girl who was just like them.

In the darkness the Badgermoles snuggle close. Keeping her warm. Keeping her company.

Toph sits in a cave surrounded by Badgermoles cuddling her. Slowly she falls asleep.

She does not wake up.

Above the world goes on. War leads to peace leads to war leads to peace once again. The avatar lives and dies and is reborn, over and over again. History stretches larger and larger. Until the truth becomes legends.

Firelord Zuko, Avatar Aang, Chief Sokka and Warrior Suki, Master Katara the Mother of the Southern Benders. These names are preserved, remembered. Their stories become legends. Passed down from generation to generation. Written of in both fables and historical records alike.

The first ship to leave orbit is called Aang. To be a sokka is to be inventive. Hundred of girls fighting groups are named after Katara and Suki.

Zuko the Tenth oversees the signing of a new peace treaty as the neutral party.

Only a few footnotes remember the Forgotten member of the ancient Team Avatar. The earthbender. A girl named Toph who disappeared from records shortly after the Hundred Year War, though rumors of her were recorded for nearly two centuries afterwards. Her story is a rather farfetched one. More likely she either died in the war or soon after. Perhaps, some optimists say, she settled down and lived a normal life afterwards.

Many centuries later a mining company makes a wonderful discovery. The ancient burial caves of the now extinct Badgermoles. But a mystery awaits within this archeological marvel. For nestled within the hundreds of Badgermole skeletons there lies a single Human skeleton.

She lies there alone, surrounded by Badgermoles. Almost as if she was one of them. Almost as if they respected her, honored her.

Loved her.

And in a small town, a blind boy hears a legend. A legend that inspires him. A legend of a girl named Toph.

#atla #toph beifong #atla toph #Toph #avatar the last airbender #writing #bookdragonideas #It is midnight and I'm crying over my own writing #I went to write a short bit on how Toph should have never been a cop and ended up with this.

[quillthrillswriting]

i love writing sokka, so i've thrown some of my favourite lines of his from my fanfic "the teenager in the iceberg" together, so that they can be properly appreciated <3 >:)

---

Sokka continued, his voice both indignant and commanding.“We don’t even know your name, Mr. Walking Ice Cube! What were you doing in there? Were you trying to mimic a snow-man and you got too carried away?” 

---

“So, you’ve brought a monster to invade the village, then? You’re some incognito Fire Nation soldier sent in as an undercover scout? Well, I’ll have you know that I’m the village’s strongest warrior, a-”

“The only warrior,” Katara chimed in, lightly elbowing Sokka’s side, earning herself a responding glare. 

“The strongest warrior.” Sokka reiterated. “And I don’t much like firebenders.” He added the words pointedly.

“Ah.” Aang titled his head. “That’s a shame. Some of my closest friends are Fire Nation.”

“Of course they are,” Sokka glared, hunching over into a defensive position and adjusting his fishing spear until it pointed directly at Aang.

---

“Appa can give us a lift?” Sokka said incredulously. He gestured at the sky bison, sprawled across the ice and looking as though he could sleep for weeks longer. “If anything, he looks like he needs us to lift him up off the ground.”

---

Naturally, Sokka was still a skeptic. “A pulley system! Hot air from a hidden firebender! Secret underwater sea-vents! Or maybe we all ate something funny and all of this is all in our heads… ” He finished off his sentence by wiggling his fingers as if he was ready to cast a spell.

---

Sokka nodded sharply. “He’s our responsibility, no matter how much I berated him when we met earlier. We need to find that sky monster of his, it’s the only way we’ll be able to catch up with the ship.”

“Aang called it a sky bison.”

“He also didn’t tell us that he was the Avatar, so I’m not sure if we can take everything he says at face value,” Sokka pointed out as Katara rolled her eyes. He cocked a grin. “C’mon, let's go get the little guy.”

“Aang’s taller than you!” Katara called after him, rushing to keep up with Sokka’s longer strides.

“Sure, in his dreams !” The decidedly-shorter-than-Aang boy called back. 

---

“Here’s the deal, bucko.” Sokka said matter of factly, accompanying his words with sharp gestures and exaggerated syllables, as if Appa was deaf. “Your friend needs your help, and WE need YOUR help to get to him. You get the picture?” Without waiting for any kind of affirmation, Sokka nodded briskly then scrambled up to Appa’s back, settling into what appeared to be the driver's seat. 

Appa did not move, didn’t even blink.

Sokka blinked, utterly bewildered. “How do we get him to, y’know, go ?”

---

“He’s not gonna-” Sokka started, but as Katara slid onto Appa’s back, they felt him begin to levitate. Sokka huffed, crossing his arms dramatically. “Spirits, I hate when you’re right and I’m wrong.” Too concerned to snap a retort back at Sokka, Katara just settled down into her seat, anxiously picking at the leather of her coat. 

---

Katara awoke to the loud shout of her brother. 

“Wakey wakey, lovebirds!” he yelped, chucking a rock-hard stick of seal jerky at both of them. 

“Ouch, Sokka!” Katara snapped at him, rubbing her head at the spot where she had been hit, before realising that she was leaning against Aang and immediately jumping away, blushing furiously. 

---

he's so sassy and funny i love sokka so much

♥ find the rest of the fic here!! ->

#sokka #sokka avatar the last airbender #funny sokka moments #atla kataang #kataang #atla fanfic #no hate to zutara #just not my cup of tea #aang is a GOOD PARTNER #and i STAND by that they have such a sweet relationship #makes me so sad that people have to go against his character entirely in order to make him and katara a bad match #atla fandom #ao3 #avatar the last airbender #writing #ao3 recs #ao3 works #ao3 link #ao3 writer #confessions #fluff #eventual romance #atla sokka #katara #aang #kataang fanfic #trope flipping #quillthrillsatlafic

[natlacentral]

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Trio Bonded by Taking Naps on Appa Between Shoots: ‘We Couldn’t Stop Kicking One Another’

In the world of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” a sky bison makes for the best nap spot, the young cast soon learned.

Gordon Cormier, who plays the show’s main character Aang, shared that he and fellow co-stars Kiawentiio and Ian Ousley, who play siblings Katara and Sokka, bonded on set by napping on Appa, Aang’s giant flying bison, for hours at a time between shoots.

The trio would end up “kicking one another” to try and secure more space on the furry fake creature, leading to skirmishes and laughs shared afterward.

“They told us that we have to wait up there [on Appa] for 15 minutes and that we could come down, but it’d be kind of useless. So we stay up there; 30 minutes go by, and nothing is happening. We eventually started napping and forming this crazy puzzle shape to stay in the saddle, and we started kicking and shoving one another,” Cormier said. “We were all getting really mad at each other. It was a great memory because now I can look back at it and think about how pissed off we were because we were all trying to sleep. It took like an hour but was a good bonding experience.”

Cormier shared the story at the premiere of Netflix’s new series, an adaptation of the original animated Nickelodeon show of the same name, at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood in Hollywood.

In addition to Kiawentiio and Ousley, stars Dallas Liu, Ken Leung, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and Daniel Dae Kim, who play Zuko, Commander Zhao, Iroh and Fire Lord Ozai, respectively, joined showrunner Albert Kim and others at the red carpet.

Ousley’s Sokka is a warrior of the Southern Water Tribe, a nation where some people can manipulate, or “bend,” water telekinetically, and the older brother to Kiawentiio’s Katara, a water bender herself.

When asked to reveal what “older brother pranks” he’d play on his television younger sister, Ousley confessed he’d often distract Kiawentiio during her most “serious” scenes by making faces at her in an attempt to break character.

“I would try to make her laugh when the camera wasn’t on me. So sometimes she’d be in serious scenes, and I’d try and do something goofy to make her laugh because we’d been filming for like 12 hours,” Ousley said. “She’d get so mad and tell me, ‘Dude, I’m literally supposed to be crying here.'”

For her part, Kiawentiio described Ousley as her “adopted older brother” and recalled that a favorite tradition of the trio would be to grab Bubble “Boba” tea after a long day of shooting: “In the two or three years since we’ve met each other, we’ve gotten super close, and they really are like my family.” 

The series follows Aang (Cormier), the young Avatar, as he learns to master the four elements (water, earth, fire and air) to restore balance to a world threatened by the Fire Nation. Alongside his newfound friends Sokka (Ousley) and Katara (Kiawentiio), Aang embarks on a quest to save the world and fight back against the onslaught of Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim).

Fans of the original “Avatar” series have expressed concerns about the new show’s faithfulness to the Nickelodeon series. Original creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, who had spent two years developing the live-action adaptation for Netflix, previously exited over creative differences, leaving Kim as the sole showrunner.

At the premiere, Kim tried to ease fans’ fears by assuring them that he, too, was a fan of the original show.

“My message to fans is that, like them, I am first and foremost a fan,” Kim said. “So I understand all their concerns, I understand all the expectations they have, and it’s not something we take lightly. So, I hope that they’ll give us a chance and that they can appreciate everything that we’ve done.”

The original “Avatar” show ran for three seasons, but Kim didn’t specify how many seasons he plans for the Netflix adaptation to span. He said he’d love to work on the show for as long as “fans want them to.” The showrunner also noted the original show’s sequel series, “The Legend of Korra,” and multiple comic books as inspiration points for the series.

“We’re all obviously aware of ‘Korra’ and all the other follow-up works like comic books and novelizations, and we drew upon a lot of that in the building this season,” Kim said. “I think fans will recognize some of that when they watch what we’ve done.”

Netflix’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender” will premiere on Feb. 22.

#natla #atla #netflix avatar #avatar the last airbender #netflix atla #gordon cormier #ian ousley #kiawentiio #avatar netflix #atla netflix #article #variety

[discordiansamba]

benefits of the bum spirit deal AU (for us, not for Zuko):

undead zuko

jokes about undead zuko

zuko's constant state of existential horror re: being undead

the entire Fire Nation thinks the Avatar had a spirit monster possess the corpse of the fire prince (who the avatar definitely killed)

(it definitely wasn't Azula)

zuko's hair stays in it's book 2 style. scruffy zuko. scruffy zuko in his season 3 clothing.

zuko begrudgingly working with the Gaang because he literally has no choice, but he absolutely will not like it and is definitely not going to make friends with any of them

(yes he does)

zuko befriending the Gaang only to realize he is going to die again once Sozin's Comet fades from the sky

Iroh being powerless to do anything about this situation. he had to watch his nephew die in front of him and then come back to life, except he's not really alive anymore.

zuko with the Gaang in Ba Sing Se

azula's pretty sure she killed her brother. so why is he still walking around?

(it's not zuko. it can't be zuko. it must be some kind of spirit creature, wearing his skin)

the early stages of Zuko's relationship with the Gaang, where he wonders just how much murder he can get away with. He knows he can't kill the Avatar, but would it *really* be so bad if he killed Sokka?

(yes, yes it would be)

#bum spirit deal au #sokka: hey zuko. how's being dead? #zuko: good question. why don't you find out? #(sokka runs. zuko chases.) #katara: i could probably stop him but he walked into that one

[animation-cartoon-fan-writings]

Please Don’t Go

Originally written for Zutara Month 2023

The final Agni Kai between Zuko and Azula comes to a head. Zuko is winning. This is the most powerful he has ever felt in his entire life. His entire body was calling on him to egg his sister on, not even realizing the consequences that may come with it. "What? No lightning? What's the matter? Afraid I'll redirect it?," he mocks his visibly unstable sister. In the back of his head, he knows he is playing with fire, and not the type of fire he is used to. Maybe it was the influence of Sozin's Comet going to his head or perhaps it's the adrenaline from the fight. But he was confident he would succeed, not even thinking about the possibility of what was about to happen.

Azula prepares to shoot as Zuko gets into position, ready to redirect whatever she threw at him. A sadistic smile creeps across the princess's face, like she was ready to kill her brother without a slither of remorse. Suddenly, her eyes dart to another direction and shoots a large bolt directly in that direction. Azula never misses. Even on her worst days, every shot was intentional. Realizing what was happening, Zuko turns and sees a familiar shade of blue. Katara. Frozen in fear as the lighting flies across the arena right towards her. Zuko runs to try and intercept the lightening in time, but he is too late. He trips as the lightening reaches the water bender. "NO!," he cries as the bolt hits her in the heart. Time feels like it is going by at a snail-rat's pace as he can only watch the young tribeswoman's body fall to the ground.

"Katara!," Zuko cries as he immediately gets up and runs over to her, hoping against all hope that she was going to be ok. He feels like he is back in that ghost town in the desert, right after Azula shot a bolt into Iroh's shoulder, sending the old man into a coma-like state that lasted for days. As he gets on his knees, kneeling over Katara's body, lying in a pool of blood, he could feel the life slowly slipping from her. "Katara, please wake up," he holds her limp, delicate frame in his arms. "Zuko... I-I'm sorry," her eyes crack open slightly, her voice quiet and strained. "It's ok. I'm here now. It's going to be ok. You're going to be ok. You just gotta stay with me," he assures her through the hot tears falling down his face. "Z-zuko, I-I-I'm so ss-sorry. I c-c-can't-t-t...". Katara's eyes slowly start to flutter to a close.

The fire bender feels her body getting cold, so he heats his body temperature and holds her to his chest, hoping the heat will keep her alive just a bit longer. "Katara, don't worry. I'm heating you up. Everything's going to be ok," he keeps telling her. "I-I c-c-caa-nn't feel y-yyour waa-rmthh," her voice barely going above a whisper. "Katara, no, please stay. Sokka will be here with everyone soon. We'll take you to the healers and you'll be ok. You have to be. Please, stay with me," he pleads with her, even though he knows in his heart it's no use. "D-d-don't-t-t-t w-w-wor-r-ry-y-y ab-b-b-bout-t-t me-e-e-e. I-I-I-II'll b-b-b-be o-o-k-k," she whispers, smiling one last time before her eyes finally close. "No! Katara, please! Don't go! I love you," he sobs as he finally admits how he feels out loud for the first time. "I love you, Katara. Please... don't go".

Zuko holds her limp body close to his chest as he cries out for her to stay with him. “Please, Katara. We need you, I need you. Please wake up,” he begs her through his tears. But it was too late. Katara takes her final breath in the arms of the fire prince.

As the comet finally exits the earth and the dark, nighttime sky blanket over the Fire Nation, Zuko stays on the ground in the arena. Everyone has already left. Azula had been taken away by guards hours ago. The Sages went back to the palace. All that was left was Zuko, sobbing with Katara’s lifeless corpse in his arms. Suddenly, a familiar orange glider flies over the arena, swiftly landing just feet from the prince. Aang had returned. But Zuko was too upset to care anymore. "Zuko, what happened?," the Airbender asks as he runs over to his two friends. "Katara... she's dead. I thought Azula was going to aim at me. I thought I could redirect it. But she aimed at Katara. I ran to intercept the hit. But, I tripped and fell before I could get to it in time. Azula bent lightning to her heart and killed her," the prince replies sadly, still holding her close to his chest, refusing to let her go. "You were going to intercept Azula's lightning?," the Avatar asks. "Yeah," Zuko responds. "Wouldn't that have killed you?," Aang questions.

"Yeah. I wouldn't have cared if it did. As long as she got to live"

Silence falls between the two boys. Zuko doesn't even look away from the girl in his arms. He didn't want to. He would've happily stayed there for the rest of his life if he had to. He couldn't bare to let her go.

Suddenly, Aang gets up and goes to fetch Katara’s bag on the ground nearby. After a few minutes of searching through it, he finds what he's looking for. He takes the vial in his hand and goes back over to sit on the ground beside Zuko. "Here," he presents Zuko with the vial. "What's this?," he asks, confused. "It's the spirit water from the North Pole. I had a feeling there was some left. There's only a little bit, but it just might be enough to save Katara," the Airbender explains, much to Zuko's surprise. "How do you know if it'll work?"

"Azula killed me with her lightning back at Ba Sing Se. It was the spirit water that brought me back."

Aang can feel Zuko was still doubtful of this idea.

"You love her, don't you?," he asks all of a sudden, taking Zuko a back. "Yes, I do," he answers, simply. "Then, let me try and bring her back," Aang offers. The fire bender nods, laying Katara's body down on her back, allowing Aang to bend the tiny amount of spirit water into her heart. With that bright blue light entering her bloodstream, Zuko takes her back into his arms, hoping that it worked.

As if the god Agni himself was truly shining over them all, Katara's eyes begin to slowly flutter open and Zuko feels her breathing starting to beat again. "Z-Zuko...," she speaks again. Tears of joy pour down as he sees his love come back to life, taking her into his arms for a hug. "Katara, you're ok. You came back," he rasps as he feels her hug him back. She pulls back slightly from the hug, smiling up at him with a glimmer in her eyes.

"Zuko... I love you, too," Katara confesses. He couldn't believe his ears. She had heard those last words spoken to her and she felt the same way. Zuko couldn't help himself. In the only way he could respond in that moment, Zuko captures her lips with his own in a passionate kiss. She returns the kiss with equal passion.

It was in that very moment, with Katara by his side, Zuko truly felt invincible

#avatar the last airbender #avatar fanfiction #atla fanfic #canon divergent au #katara #zuko #zutara #zutaranation #zutara fanfic #zutara fic #zutara fanfiction #zutara month #zuko x katara #katara x zuko #fanfiction #oneshot #zutara forever #atla #fanfiction writer #prince zuko #atla zuko #atla zutara

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Happy Pride Month Shana!!! Please write more Luten and Zuko!!

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Zuko and Lu Ten leave most of their stuff on the ship and Hu even promises not to throw it overboard once they’re gone. Hopefully they'll be back, although Zuko has no idea when. How long does it take an avatar to become a master? It can't be that long, right? He's done it before.

Riding the sky bison, is admittedly, extremely cool.

Katara insists on going to talk to her brother and explain their plan. Zuko waves at him from Appa's back, not stepping onto a boat full of waterbenders because he's not an idiot.

It doesn't matter how long he's been in the Earth Kingdom, wearing Earth Kingdom colors while serving with Earth Kingdom people and on an Earth Kingdom ship. No one looks at him and thinks he's anything other than Fire Nation.

Luckily a hundred years of expansion means lots of people look like the don't fit, but he's not willing to risk his neck on that when he doesn't have to.

The siblings have some sort of argument that he doesn't bother listening to, but the end result is he and Katara climbing back onto the bison and the rest of the waterbenders sailing away.

Sokka holds himself like a prince, in a way Zuko has spent years unlearning how to move. That boomerang has a sharpened edge. When they get to land, he wonders if he can convince him to spar.

"We need to go get Toph first," he says. "She's on the way to the Lagoons anyway and it's stupid to leave and go get her later when we get to earthbending."

Plus, he doesn't like that he and Lu Ten are outnumbered. Having Toph here will even the playing field.

Also if she found out that he went off to train the avatar without her, she'd kick his ass.

"We'll have to kidnap her," Lu Ten points out, eyes crinkled at the corner like he knows what he's thinking.

Katarra and Sokka look pissed, so he cuts them off before they can yell at them, "Help her sneak away, more like. She'll want to come, but her parents probably won't let her."

Zuko remembers the first time he met Toph, when she'd pointed at him in the crowd of the rumble and demanded he fight her. He wasn't even competing, but something about the way he'd moved or breathed had told her that he was a bender worth her time.

He'd won that time and hadn't gotten that lucky since.

"Her parents?" Sokka asks. "Isn't she a master benders?"

"Master benders still have parents," Zuko says and decides not to tell them that Toph is twelve years old.

#prompt answers #prompts are closed #asks #anon #atla

[northerngoshawk]

The Last Wind-Breather

Rating: T

Word Count: 7.1k

Chapter: 1 of 2

Story Summary:

During a mission in the Patola Mountains, Demon Slayer siblings Katara and Sokka discover a boy trapped in the ice. Upon freeing him, Katara learns that he is Aang from the Air Nomads—and that he is the last of the Wind-Breathers. But there is more to him than meets the eye, and Katara is determined to figure out what it is. Little does she know that her and her brother's destinies has been changed forever. And there's no going back.

The Boy in the Ice Cave

Preview:

“Remind me why we were sent on this mission again?”

Katara flung her hands in the air and scowled at her brother. Spirits above she loved him, she really did, but this was the millionth time he’d complained in the last two hours. “For the last time, Sokka, the crows gave us the order to!”

“Yeah, but like…” Sokka dug a pinky into his ear, tilting his head to the side. “We don’t have to follow what they say, right?”

Katara only gave him a deadpan look. “Need I remind you what happened the last time you decided to ignore your crow?”

Sokka shuddered with comical exaggeration. His hand automatically reached up to rub at his right ear as he looked to the sky for the bird in question. “Good point.”

Katara huffed a sigh and rolled her eyes at him. The Kasugai Crows, while very effective at delivering messages and relaying orders from the upper ranks, were also notorious for trying to keep the Demon Slayers in line. Far more times than she could count, her own crow would flap in her face or pull at her braid to get her moving if she was running a bit slow—which, while annoying at the moment, always managed to spur her on towards her next mission.

Apparently, the same couldn’t be said for her brother.

read more on ao3

#northern's fanfiction #atla #atla fic #au #demon slayer au #aang #sokka #katara #action/adventure #light angst #adventure #more world-building than anything else lol

[raayllum]

Anyway this isn't like an Official Literary Thing but I've talked with my old English profs about it / have been using it for fanon ATLA meta since like 2018 and thus thought it might be useful for others for meta / conceptualization purposes

Going to be using both ATLA and TDP as examples to help out, but let's dig into the concept of

primary, secondary, & tertiary foils

For example, the primary foils in both ATLA and TDP are Zuko-Aang and Viren-Callum, respectively. This is backed up by framing, plot arcs, what episodes and sometimes entire seasons are built around, etc. Zuko and Aang are both visually marked (scar, arrow) boys living in exile and unable to return home / to what they once knew, they are the main way the series explores concepts of destiny ("is it your own destiny or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?" applies to Zuko as Aang's enemy and to Aang as a violent Avatar) and a plethora of other things, interacting in approximately 13/61 episodes in the series but having their bond/dynamic reinforced in many other episodes than that ("Bitter Work" and "The Storm" in particular).

Viren and Callum are very similar, being another antagonist-turned atonement arc and protagonist pair. S2 follows them operating in parallel (2x01 shutting a door in their face with magic/politics, engaging in dangerous behaviour in pursuit of magic but backing off in 2x04, reneging that choice and following through in 2x07, being faced with mirrors in 2x08, and getting magical upgrades in 2x09, even if Viren does so by embracing dark magic/Aaravos and being subsequently chained down, further while Callum has rejected it and unlocks the Sky arcanum, being subsequently freed). Season four and season five have merely cranked it up further by framing/paralleling S4 and S5 Callum further to Arc 1 Viren in framing, fears, and choices, as well as framing him in opposition to S4 and S5 Viren, allowing them to switch places, as Viren swears off all dark magic just as Callum opens that door back open within an episode of each other in S5.

However, these are hardly each other's only foil relationships, even if they are the most prevalent. This is where secondary and tertiary foils can come in handy.

For example, Soren has parallels to both Callum and Rayla. In arc 1, he and Rayla switch roles from a sworn protector turned killer turned back again, and a sworn killer sworn fervent protector, respectively. Soren and Callum are both greatly depleted in 2x07 thanks to following Viren's path (for Soren, it's escalating violence in a situation he can't win, and for Callum, it's dark magic) causing them to have big moments of reflection in 2x08. They are also both the older brothers who escape their fathers' mantles of dark mage and king, leaving those burdens uniquely on their younger siblings' shoulders of Claudia and Ezran. And Ezran is a parallel to Rayla of someone who is good hearted enough it gets them into trouble as well as their duties/devotion to world ("I have to go back home" + "I have to go after him" / "I feel like I'm letting everyone down" "I failed them, I let them all down" / "It's not fair you have to go through this alone" "I knew I had to be strong alone"). And of course, Callum and Rayla are big foils for each other as well, switching largely in the same manner that Viren and Callum do.

This is similar to how Aang also parallels Katara (cultural endurance, anger, and mercy) and Azula (elevated prodigy who creates resentment, freed and defeated by Katara from an icy confine) in ATLA, Toph parallels both Mai and Yue (who likewise parallel each other, all rich girls forced into a manner of repression due to their status and families, with various stages of breaking free & self sacrifice), and how Zuko parallels Katara (compassionate, sometimes hot headed, had to struggle more for their bending abilities) and Sokka (older brother to more 'talented' younger sister, missing mother and wanting to prove themselves to their fathers).

Typically when looking at plot and character arcs, primary foils are better indicators of how a character may swap with another or where they may end up, for ex: Azula and Katara are primary foils and this sets up both the Book 2 and Book 3 finales. In Book 2, Zuko chooses/helps Azula defeat Katara (and Aang), and Azula kills Aang; Katara, as her foil, is the one who saves him. Then, in Book 3, Zuko chooses/helps Katara defeat Azula, and then is also saved by her. Tertiary and secondary foils tend to be more complementary / help buff up theme for shorter episode arcs than series spanning stuff.

We see this again in S3 and S5 Callum and Viren, where S3 ends with Viren at his literal lowest and Callum at his literal highest, whereas in S5, they have the aforementioned dark magic trade off. You can also see this in smaller ways with characters like Rayla and Claudia (who I'd probably say are secondary for each other, but you really could make an argument for primary) switch in 4x09 and 5x09, with Claudia restoring Rayla's family to her whereas Rayla's defeat of Claudia is, in the mage's mind, why she ultimately loses her father / Claudia prioritizing her family over everything, whereas Rayla puts in the world first in S5.

Anyway it's fun and useful - who do you think certain characters primary, secondary, or tertiary foils are? Why would you categorize each one in each way, are there multiple of each? Etc, etc. It can also be very good for book planning with a large cast ;)

#tdp #the dragon prince #atla #the english major strikes again #writing advice #mini meta #nothing formal but. hopefully helpful word vomit lmao

[empressofthesunwriter]

Yin and Yang

Balance is a key aspect in the world, so why shouldn’t the Avatar have an opposite?

In a world where Raava and Vaatu merge with humans, the Avatar and the Daimon try to keep the peace between the four nations.

Aang and Hua are the current incarnations, but wake up 100 years in the future.

How will these two learn all four elements in one year and defeat the Fire Lord?

Book 1.02: The Avatar and Daimon return

Water. 

Earth. 

Fire. 

Air. 

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. 

Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar and Daimon, masters of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed them most, they vanished. 

A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar and Daimon, an airbender named Aang and an earthbender named Hua. 

And although his airbending and her earthbending skills are great they have a lot to learn before they’re ready to save anyone. 

But I believe Aang and Hua can save the world.

***

Jaiyi made a yipping sound as she entered the village of the Southern Water Tribe with her passengers.

Already the members of it were waiting for the return of Hua, Aang and Katara.

“Yay! Aang's back!”

The children ran up overjoyed to them as they all climbed down from the nine-tailed fox back, however, the adults wore more stern and offended expressions.

What Katara had told Hua on their way back to the village seemed to ring true. 

How the waterbender and Aang had entered the forbidden Fire Nation ship and set off some flare.

It was still lighting up the sky behind them.

Angry Sokka made his way over to them.

“I knew it!”, he shouts pointing an accusing finger at Aang. “You signalled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?”

“Aang didn't do anything! It was an accident.”, protested Katara just as angry on behalf of her new friend.

“Yeah. We were on the ship and there was this booby trap, and, well we booby-ed right into it.”, admitted the airbender sheepish.

Now Sokka turns his anger to Hua and Jaiyi.

“What have you to say to your defence?! Weren’t you with them?! As someone from the Earth Kingdom, you should have stopped them!”

“Jaiyi and I just picked them up after the mess was done.”, explained Hua, raising her hands in defence, while her Kyuubi growled in warning. “We couldn’t do anything anymore.”

The watertribe boy just huffs, seemingly not caring how she wasn’t even on the ship to stop the mess.

Kanna aka. Gran-Gran joins them with a disappointed look in her granddaughter's direction: “Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship! Now we could all be in danger!”

“Don't blame Katara.”, begs Aang sorrowfully. “I brought her there. It's my fault.”

“Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy.”, commands Sokka and the children walk away sad.

“The foreigners are banished from our village.”

Hua blinks, then makes an offended face. “What did I do?!”

Jaiyi growls in agreement.

“You came with him and didn’t keep an eye on him, you are at fault here too.”, explains Sokka simply.

“I’m NOT his babysitter! We aren’t even friends just…traveling companions!”

Irritably, Katara clenched her fists. “Sokka, you're making a mistake.”

“No, I'm keeping my promise to Dad.”, rebucks Sokka, pointing at Aang and Hua. “I’m protecting you, from threats like them!”

“Aang and Hua are not our enemies! Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time: fun. And Hua didn’t even do anything. She was on a stroll with Jaiyi when Aang and me were on the ship.”

“Fun?!”, gasp Sokka offended. “We can't fight firebenders with fun!”

“You should try it sometime.” chimes in Aang optimistically.

For that Hua hits with her elbow the side of his stomach and Jaiyi hits him over the head with one of her tails.

“Not making the situation better!”, hisses the earthbender quietly, as Aang looks offended from her to Jaiyi.

“Get out of our village! Now!”, orders them Sokka.

“Grandmother, please.”, pleads Katara. “Don't let Sokka do this!”

“Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it best if the airbender and earthbender leave.”

“Fine! Then I'm banished, too!”, proclaims Katara, she takes Hua and Aang's arms and drags them with her towards Appa. Jaiyi follows behind them. “Come on Aang, Hua let's go.”

Naturally, Sokka wants to know where Katara thinks she is going with them. The waterbender tells him how Aang will take her to a waterbender master, to the North Pole. 

Aang seems happy about it, while Hua mumbles: “Okay, no one asked my opinion, but whatever. Having another girl with us sounds good.”

Rightfully the water tribe boy asks his sister if she really would choose two strangers over them, over their tribe.

This makes Katara stop in her steps, unsure.

“Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family.”, tells her Aang.

“Stay with them, if you came with us, you only would get headaches from stopping Aang and me from strangling each other.”, adds Hua in an attempt to make the choice lighter for Katara. “If I could…I would still choose my family over anything. Don’t waste your time with them for us.”

The brunette girl looks with tears in her eyes in the equal tear-filled eyes of Hua.

How can she be so dismissive of her family, when Hua just realized how she never again would see her own? 

Katara bet Hua would give anything to be together with her family one last time.

“So, you're leaving the South Pole?”, sniffs Katara. “This is goodbye?”

Hua embraces Katara tightly and Jaiyi noses the waterbender cheek.

“Thanks for comforting me about my family. It meant a lot to me. You will always be my friend, Katara.”

Katara hugs her back just as tightly, and then the girls step away from each other, as Jaiyi joins her human side.

“Thanks for penguin sledding with me.”, thanks also Aang.

“Where will you go?”, ask Katara her two friends.

At the same time, Aang and Hua look at each other, seeming to talk wordlessly through their eyes. As much as they butt heads, no one can dismiss the fact of how attuned they are to the other.

It’s kinda funny in a sad way.

“I would join Aang and go back to the Southern Airtemple, I had people that I loved there too, then I will go to Ba Sing Se…looking if something remained from my family. Even just finding their graves.”

“You don’t have to do this alone.”, tells her Aang in compassion. “I will go with you to Ba Sing Se after we are at the Southern Airtemple.”

“Careful, people will think we are friends.”, jokes Hua halfheartedly.

Aang shakes his head and adminds. “I liked your parents, they were nice and Bai was a sweet little boy. It was fun to play with him.”

That’s when Hua realizes how Aang grieves for her parents, how she grieves for Monk Gyatsu. 

They may not like each other but have liked the family/guardian of the other just fine.

It was their right to grieve them too.

So she just nods in agreement.

Katara looks sadly on, how Jaiyi shrinks down to her fox cube size and gets picked up by Hua. She earthbends them up to Appa's saddle, while Aang jumps on his bison's head.

“Wait, I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that.”, remembers Aang suddenly which makes Hua snort.

“I think we have bigger problems.”, she reminds him and then turns to the people of the Southern Water Tribe. “Thanks for your hospitality, I’m sorry we caused such problems for you.”

“It was nice meeting everyone.”, adds Aang defeated.

With a smug look, Sokka crosses his arms mocking: “Let's see your bison fly now, air boy.”

“Come on Appa, you can do it. Yip-yip!”

Aang flicks the reins, but Appa merely rises and growls.

“Yeah, I thought so!”

A little girl runs up to them telling Aang how she will miss him, Aang admins he will miss them too and as if they agreed on Aang and Hua look sadly back at Katara, who looks just as devastated at them, her hair loopies swaying in the wind.

Appa turns and plods away, disappearing over the hill.

Hua waits a few minutes before she begins: “Aang, we need to talk.”

“About what?”, asks the airbender solemnly.

“After we go to the Southern Air Temple and Ba Sing Se, we need to go to the North Pole. It’s time we start learning waterbending.”

Surprised Aang turned around, seeing how determined Hua looked.

“What? Why should we do that, we agreed to not be them.”

The girl snorts and tears start to fall from her eyes, which makes Aang's chest squeeze uncomfortable.

Hua wasn’t a crier, but today she cried more than he had ever seen her do.

It felt wrong.

“Aang, we were selfish brats, who ran away from their responsibility .”, states Hua, while Jaiyi licks her tears away in comfort. “And look what happened. The airbenders are gone!-”

“-Just because they haven’t seen an airbender in 100, doesn’t mean that my people are gone-!”

“-Aang that’s a possibility we have to face. If there are still airbenders left, then none will be people, we know. Gyatsu is for sure death!”

This made Aang twitch like he was hit and rubbed his wet eyes.

“I know, you don’t need to tell me!”, he cried out. “I ran away because the elders wanted to take me away from Gyatsu and now I will never see him again.”

“And I will never see my parents and Bai again, because we didn’t want to accept our destinies!”, shouts Hua. “Look what mess we caused, the world is at war, and innocent people die! Maybe a whole Nation died because we didn’t want to be the Avatar and Daimon and be dumb kids! The least we can do is to fix this mess, meaning we need to learn all elements and then deal with the Fire Nation!”

Aang sniffles loudly, rubbing his eyes harder.

“I know, I know you are right, this is our fault, isn’t it…but do you think it will be that easy? We learn the elements and then ask the Fire Lord to stop the war?”

“We have to accept the possibility that we may have to end the war more drastically.”, started Hua slowly.

She knows how Aang, who grew up with the airbender philosophy about how all life is sacred will react to this possibility.

“What do you mean, Hua?”

“I mean…it’s possible we need to kill the Fire Lord, if he doesn’t see reason.”

As she expected, Aang gasped in outrage and angrily waved his hand around.

“This goes against all the teaching of the air nomads, all life is sacred! I won’t kill someone only because he disagrees with me!”

“Some people can’t be reason with and we have to think about this possibility.”, she argues back. “If you can’t do it, I will kill him. That’s why there are two of us in the world…so someone can make the hard decisions.”

It’s still between them for a few seconds, grey frustrated eyes look into green determined eyes.

Then Aang said quietly: “You really would do it, wouldn’t you? You would take a human life to end this war.”

“I would take 1000 lives if this is the price for peace.”

“What kind of peace is that, what about your soul?!”

Now a bitter little smirk formed on Hua rose lips.

“You forget, Avatar, light and order, I’m the Daimon, I’m darkness and chaos, it’s in my nature. Also…I can’t kill the Fire Lord responsible for this war, so I will take it up with the current one if he doesn’t see reason.”

“So that’s it!”, points Aang an accusing finger at her. “You want revenge! You want to feel better about that we left the world alone when it needed us!”

“So what if I want revenge too?! Monk Gyatso was dear to me and I’m technically a quarter Airbender, I was airbenders in my past lives, and I want some kind of retribution for the killing of the Air Nomads.”, shouts Hua back.

Couldn’t Aang not understand her point? Didn’t he feel the same?!

“Hua we can’t just kill people because we are the Avatar and Daimon! We can’t abuse this positions.”, reminds her Aang frustrated.

He doesn’t get why Hua was now on such a warpath. She must feel so guilty to have run away and then be frozen in the iceberg.

“Spirits, you are so ensnared in your air nomad philosophy, that you can’t even see that there might be not a peaceful ending to this war. It’s going on for 100 years. A 100 YEARS! There is a lot of hate on all sides, people want retribution for the pain the Fire Nation caused. I don’t see a way how we can fix this mess without some bloodshed.”

“There is ALWAYS another way, we just have to find it!”, rebukes Aang back. “We should calm down and look at what we can do right now. As you said we have to learn the elements, but Hua your next element is fire, where do we find a fire bender for you?”

The Daimon takes a deep breath to calm down. For now, she would let it be, but she knows Aang and her have to revisit this discussion again.

“We will skip fire for now.”, tells Hua. “After fire, air is my next element, so while we travel to the North Pole you teach my air bending and then there we learn together waterbending. Then I teach you what I know of earthbending and find a master who will teach us both. And then we pray to the spirits that there is somewhere a nice firebender, who will help us.”

Aang is quiet for a second before he says: “Is this really wise to just skip an element? The monks told us that we need to follow the Avatar and Diamon cycles.”

“You forget that I’m natural chaos, the monks themselves said the Daimon should follow their cycle, but they aren’t as bonded to it as the Avatar. I think the universe will forgive me if we skip fire and learn the elements where we surely find teachers. When it’s your turn to learn fire, we can go crazy.”

“It’s not like we have a choice.”, agrees Aang. They just have to hope for the best, that Hua's plan works. “So Southern Air Temple, then Ba Sing Se and then the North Pole?”

“You got it.”

“Can’t wait, how the whole world will react when we announce we are back.”, mubles Aang looking at the horizon, like it has the answer he seeks.

“I hope there will be cake.”, jokes Hua half-heartily.

This makes Aang's smile bittersweet. “Remember how Bumi always said the cake is a lie?”

“Of course. I wonder what happened to him and to Kuzon. Do you think Kuzon participated in the Fire Nation War?”

“Kuzon wouldn’t betray us…hey maybe he rebelled, hid somewhere, had kids and this are good firebenders who could teach us!”

“One can only hope.”

After that, they both fall silent. Each lost in their thoughts.

Appa grumbles gently like he wants to comfort both humans, as Jaiyi starts to growl.

“Huh, girl, what is it?”, ask Hua confused.

It’s Aang who answers her. “Look, Hua! A Fire Nation Ship! It goin' to the village!”

“We need to help them!”

The Avatar and Daimon tell their animal companions to wait for them and make fast their way back to the village.

***

Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation ignores the pathetic state of the Southern Water Tribe, as he ignores and defeats the Buffon water peasant who tried to attack him and looks at the blue-clothed people.

“Where are you hiding them?”, he growls angrily.

He surveys the crowd of villagers, who fall completely silent. 

Without warning, he extends his arm out into the crowd and grabs Kanna, holding her by the hood of her parka.

“They'll be about this age, masters of all elements?”

Forcefully he shoves Kanna back into the crowd. 

The elderly woman shudders in fear and embraces Katara, while Katara shoots an angry glare at Zuko. 

Receiving no response, the banished prince swings his arm out and releases an arc of fire that passes just over the heads of the people, causing them to cover their heads and cry out in fear.

“I know you're hiding them!”

Seeing that the firebender is not paying attention Sokka grabs his club again and lets out a battle cry as he charges towards him. 

However, Zuko swiftly turns around just as Sokka approaches. 

He ducks under Sokka's wide swing and hurls the warrior forward. 

Sokka lands on his rear in the snow and is quickly forced to dart from his spot when Zuko fires a blast at him. 

He spins to the side and tosses his boomerang at the enemy who barely manages to miss getting hit by the weapon. 

The banished prince growls and glares at Sokka in anger at the near hit; he follows the course of the weapon until it vanishes before looking back at Sokka in anger. 

One of the village boys tosses Sokka a spear.

“Show no fear!”

Sokka handily catches the weapon and charges at Zuko once more. Sadly Zuko breaks of pieces of the spear with his forearms, pulls the remains of the weapon out of Sokka's hands and pokes him thrice in the head with the blunt end. The water tribe boy falls to the ground as Zuko snaps the spear in two and tosses the pieces to the ground on both of his sides. 

Unnoticed by Zuko, Sokka's boomerang is spinning towards him. 

The weapon strikes Zuko on the back of his helmet with a loud cling; he is momentarily pushed forward by the unexpected blow. 

Pissed off Zuko rearranges his helmet and growls at Sokka. The boomerang has plummeted into the ground in front of Sokka's feet. 

Two fire daggers form from Zuko's hands, ready to teach the water peasant a lesson.

That’s when Aang and Hua, on the backs of penguins, slide back into the village.

They aim for the Fire Nation prince's legs and Aang takes his feet out from underneath him, tossing Zuko off his feet; speeding past, Aang and Hua soar into the air as the prince lands on his face, his legs in the air. 

Zuko spins around a few times before coming to a halt in front of his men, his helmet landing on his rear as they watch.

The villagers cheer, as Aang and Hua ride speedily toward them, still mounted on the penguins. 

They are showered in snow as Aang and Hua ride past, however, after giving each other silent, unamused looks for a few seconds, they begin cheering once again, shaking the snow off. 

Aang and Hua come to a halt before Katara, Kanna and Sokka. 

The penguin crawls out from under him, tossing him off. 

He falls on his rear, blinking stupidly, then smiles at the penguin when the animal quacks at him before waddling away.

Hua gently gets up from her penguin, who follows his friend, while the girl waves them goodbye.

“Thanks for the ride guys.”

“Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka.”, greets Aang.

“Hi, Aang. Hi Hua. Thanks for coming.”, greets Sokka back moodily.

The Avatar and Daimon look back at the Fire Nation soldiers, where Zuko just got back on his feet again. 

Upon his signal, his men spread out, surrounding Aang and Hua while Zuko assumes a fighting stance. 

They follow suit, Aang holding his staff firmly in front of him as Hua get into her preferred bending stance.

Aang sweeps the ground side-to-side with his staff, showering the men with snow, and then Hua makes a punching forward move. Little earth columns appear under the feet of the firebender and make them all fall on the ground. 

Prince Zuko is the first who regains his footing and looks angrily at these two kids.

“Looking for us?”, asks Aang rhetorically.

“Sorry for being late, if we had known you needed a beating, we would have been here sooner.”, sasses Hua with a smirk.

“You're the airbender? You're the Avatar? And you are the Daimon?”, exclaims Zuko shocked.

Not only he is shocked, but the whole village is and the Avatar-Daimon duo can hear how in disbelief Katara and Sokka are.

Slowly Aang, Hua and Zuko move in a circle motion around, ready for their enemy's attack.

“I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating. You're just children!”, growls Zuko offended. 

Now it’s Aang who sasses back: “Well, you're just a teenager.”

Hua nods in agreement.

Zuko launches a series of fire blasts at Aang in anger at the remark, who defends himself by twirling his staff, dissipating the flames. 

The Daimon raises her hands and makes the ground shake. Anyone has trouble staying on their feet, but Zuko is determined and just sends a huge fire blast in her direction, Aang can twirl it back with his staff again, however, both Avatar and Daimon see how the attack nearly reached the villager.

No, they can’t fight like that with civilians near them.

They could get hurt.

So Hua raises her hands in peace, while Aang holds his staff in front of him as an offer, making sure Zuko understands that they do not wish to continue fighting. 

“If we go with you will you promise to leave everyone alone?”, offers Aang the Fire Nation prince this deal.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Zuko nods in agreement. 

Hua and Aang are apprehended by Zuko's men, who take his staff. 

Katara runs forward as they lead the two kids away.

“No! Aang, Hua, don't do this!”

“Don't worry, Katara. It'll be okay.”, reassures Hua calmly, as she and Aang get shoved into the ship. “Please take care of Jaiyi and Appa, till we return.”

“Head a course for the Fire Nation. I'm going home.”, proclaims Zuko as the bow rises and closes.

A while later Hua and Aang have their hands bonded behind their backs, as they stand with Zuko and his man on deck.

“This staff will make an excellent gift for my father.”, musses Zuko, inspecting Aang staff. “I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks. Maybe the Daimon knows. Some said you had a family, before living with the monks.”

The blackhaired girl just gives him an icy glare.

Zuko commands his man to bring the Avatar and Daimon to their prison cell, then turns to his uncle giving him the staff, and asking him to bring it into his quarters.

Slyl Iroh hands the staff to another firebender, who accepts the request.

The Avatar and Daimon get roughly shoved down into the ship, while Aang tries to see in which direction they take his staff.

As they reach the prison cells Aang casually says to their guards: “So, I guess you've never fought an airbender before. I bet I can take you both with my hands tied behind my back.”

Hua makes herself ready to give Aang space to get them a chance to escape.

As the guard in front of them begins to unlock the cell,  Hua turns fast her back to Aang and they grip each other hands tightly.

Then Aang inhales deeply and unleashes a powerful breath, stunning all of them. 

The firebender before Aang slams into the door subsequently knocked out from the impact. Hua and Aang are sent several feet back, the girl slamming with her feet to the guard behind them.

They all fly back even further, where they crash into the stairs. 

This soldier is also knocked out by the impact, while Hua lifts her legs up as Aang propels them onto the deck and then kicks open a door using airbending. 

They let go of each other and quickly ran down the hallway, panting heavily. He tosses a frightened look over his shoulder, afraid that they are being followed. 

“Aang stop for a second we need to get this bonds of us.”, reminds him, Hua.

“Do you have a knife with you or what?”

“...”

“You really have a knife? Why?!”

“No time for explanation, it’s in my left boot, can you reach it?”

Of course, this is not a problem for a nimble Airbender and soon they are free from their bonds.

“Okay, now let’s get my staff!”

They start running again and encounter several firebenders, however, Aang easily airbends them away now that his hands are free.

Soon they reach a hallway with doors and each of them opens one.

“No glider here Aang.”

Surprisingly she hears him whispering a sorry.

Confused Hua titles her head, but Aang already opens the next door.

“My glider!”, he exclaims happily and enters.

Before Hua can follow him, the door closes and she hears Zuko.

Uh-Oh.

Aang is now trapped with Zuko in the room!

She needs to help, but how without earth around her?!

“Hua!”, yells Aang from inside the room. “Get on deck, I will find a way!”

Realizing that she probably would be a hindrance for Aang she yells back. “You better! See you on the other side!”

Fast Hua runs hallways and stair up till she reaches the deck.

Dumbfounded a few firebenders stare at her in confusion and she back.

“He, he, aren’t the Souther Lights lovely?”, she blabs nervous.

You can practically her crickets chirp, before the firebenders attack her.

Since there is still no earth around her, Hua can only run away and dodge and pray Aang will turn up soon to help her.

Her prayers are answered as Aang crashes with Zuko as a passenger on her deck.

This makes all halt.

Aang and Zuko slowly get up, ready to fight each other, however, they don’t have to as a loud growl catches their attention.

“What is that?”, ask Zuko shocked seeing the flying bison.

Even more when suddenly a Kyuubi jumps from the saddle to the deck and swishes with his nine-tails his man over the deck.

“Awesome Jaiyi!”, cheers Hua for her beloved nine-tails and runs up to her.

Jaiyi grips Hua by her collar and with strength and precise hurls her to Appa's saddle.

The girl lands with a thud beside Sokka.

“Welcome back, I hope you enjoyed your flight.”, jokes Sokka.

“It was something.”, she laughs nervously and leans over the saddle. “Jaiyi, get Aang!”

The Kyuubi doesn’t need to be told twice and wants to reach the boy as more firebenders burst from the lower deck, attacking the mythical being.

Now she has to defeat herself, while Aang faces off with Zuko.

Aang turns around to  Zuko and manages to deflect a firebending attack by spinning his glider around like a baton. However, he propels himself by accident into the air and lands on the ledge of the deck. He leans precariously over the side, unsteadily balancing himself, but manages to regain his balance only for Zuko to fire another blast at him. 

The Avatar twirls his glider again to deflect the attack. Two more blasts are fired his way before he loses his grip on his glider and the object spins away. 

The staff falls several feet away. 

Aang ducks, spins and leaps out of the way of blasts and lands on the very ledge, struggling to keep his balance. 

Zuko hurls more fire blasts his way. 

Aang holds up his hands in defence, but the last blast seemingly knocks him out cold and he falls backwards off the ship into the water, where he slowly sinks. 

Katara screams for him and Hua is right with her, while poor Jaiyi whines as she avoids more fire blasts her way.

Suddenly the ship is being overshadowed by a waterspout. Riding it is Aang, his eyes in a white glow as his tattoos.

Aang lands on the deck beside Jaiyi, summoning the water behind him as he brings his hands around behind his head. 

The water swirls around them, forming a protective circle, before spreading outward, knocking Zuko and several soldiers off their feet.

“Did you see what he just did?!”, shouts Katara shocked.

“Now that was some waterbending!”, confirms Sokka.

“That’s the Avatar State for you, guys.”, adds Hua impressed.

The Airbender collapses onto the ground from exhaustion, his eyes and tattoos ceasing to glow. 

Jaiyi whines and licks his cheek to wake him up as Appa growls and lands on the deck. 

Katara, Hua and Sokka slide down and quickly run toward the unconscious Avatar and Kyuubi.

“Aang! Are you okay?”, asked him Katara worried.

Hua embraces her Kyuubi, which shifts back into her fox cub form, letting out a cute yawn.

“You did good, girl.”, praises Hua, giving her head a kiss. “Now relax.”

“Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka. Thanks for coming.”, mumbles Aang outpowerd to them.

“Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory.”, musses Sokka.

“I dropped my staff.”

“Got it!”

Sokka runs over, grabs a hold of the glider and lifts it only to see Zuko's hand firmly gripping the other end. 

The water tribe boy appears horrified as Zuko attempts to pull himself upward onto the deck. 

The two struggle for a bit before Sokka pokes Zuko repeatedly in the head with the end of the staff the way Zuko did earlier with him. 

Zuko grunts and falls backwards as he lets go of the staff. He falls off the side of the ship, but manages to grasp the anchor chain.

“Ha! That's from the Water Tribe!”, shouts Sokka in triumph.

Katara and Hua got Aang on Appa's head and Jaiyi on the saddle.

Right, as Hua climbs the Bison they get approached by fire benders.

She may freeze Sokka's legs on her first try, but Katara manages to stop the incoming firebenders.

Hua helps her up into the saddle, as the girls yell for Sokka to hurry up.

He is chipping away the ice with his boomerang and retorts that he is just a guy with a boomerang and didn’t ask for flying and magic.  He manages to break free and races up Appa's tail.

“Yip-yip! Yip-yip!”

Sokka mounts Appa, who grunts and takes flight, flying past the cabin of the ship. 

Iroh emerges on deck, having just woken up from a nap. He looks very confused after them.

As they try to flee Zuko, who was brought back by his uncle on deck, commands his men to shoot them down.

Together, they synchronize a firebending move and fire a powerful blast at the bison. 

Hua, Sokka and Katara stare at the incoming attack in horror, Jaiyi yips in fright, while Aang leaps onto the saddle. 

He opens the small tail wing of his staff and swings his glider around, using a powerful swipe of air to redirect the fireball into a nearby cliffside. 

The impact causes an avalanche of snow and ice to begin falling. The front of the ship becomes buried in a mass of snow and ice, while Appa climbs higher and higher. 

The quartet and the Kyuubi all laugh as they escape successfully. 

Aang even waves goodbye as Appa disappears around the cliff.

For now, they are safe from the firebender.

***

The sun is beginning to set as Appa soars lazily in the sky. Aang is perched on the rim of the saddle, while Sokka, Katara and Hua sit at the back of it. Jaiyi is in her favourite spot, Hua lap.

“How did you do that?! With the water? It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!”, ask Katara Aang bewildered.

“I don't know. I just sort of ... did it.”

“Why didn't any one of you tell us you were the Avatar and the Daimon?”, wants Katara to know.

She gives Hua and Aang a serious look.

The blackhaired girl signs, answering for them. “Neither Aang nor I wanted this destiny, this duty. We just wanted to be stupid kids. We didn’t realise, that it would have such an impact on the world. We were selfish brats.”

Hua frowns, while Aang nods in agreement.

“But Hua, Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar and the Daimon to return and finally put an end to this war.”, explains Katara.

“We talked about this earlier.”, tells Aang. “We were planning on going to the North Pole to find a master to teach us.”

“Isn’t the next element fire in the Daimon Cyle?”

“Yeah I don’t think we will find that fast a nice firebender who will teach me.”, reminds Hua. “The monks told me the Daimon is chaotic in nature, so we just hope I can skip this element for now and learn airbending from Aang, till we reach the North Pole for water. We will follow the Avatar Cycle.”

“So first master water, then earth, then fire, right?”

“Right on Katara.”

“Since we are going to the North Pole, you can learn with us Katara!”, uttered Aang happily.

That would be sure fun!

Katara smiles brightly, which makes both Aang and Hua blush, as she turns to her brother cheekily: “And Sokka, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way.”

“I'd like that.”, mussed the older boy contends. “I'd really like that.”

“Then we're in this together!”

“All for one, and one for all!”, cheers Hua jokigly, while Jaiyi yips happy.

Smiling Aang sits down on the saddle and gets a map out.

“All right, but before we learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to. Here, here and here. ”

Curious Katara points at one location on the map: “What's there?”

“Here, we'll ride the hopping llamas.”, informs Aang, while the other three humans get surprised looks on their faces as he continues. “Then waaay over here, we'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish. Then back over here, we'll ride the hog monkeys. They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!”

For that Hua drills her pointer finger in his side and sneers: “Hey, don’t forget you have to start to teach me airbending with all these activities you have planned. I was so useless on the ship if I could airbend I would be a better help. Air is everywhere.”

“I will, I will, don’t worry.”, moans Aang, shoving her hand away. “Way to ruin someone's fun, Hua.”

“With fun, we won’t win this war Mr. Avatar.”

“Geez, you sound like Sokka, Miss Diamon.”

“Because I don’t forget that we have a big world problem to solve?! You need to take things more seriously.”

“And you need to light up more!”

The Avatar and Daimon start to bicker with each other, which just earns them unamused looks from the water tribe siblings and Jaiyi.

“Now I get what Hua meant, that if I go with them I would get headaches.”, mumbles Katara with a deadpan to her brother.

“Man, they are worse than a married couple.”, mumbles Sokka back to her.

“Don’t you know? The Avatar and the Daimon are Yin and Yang personified. Two halves of the same coin. They are soul mates and were in many of their lives a couple.”

“This two, a couple?”, says Sokka, pointing at the two kids who are arguing now about what food they should eat (how did they get there?). “Yeah, right, and the moon is in reality a beautiful and gentle lady.”

The boy laughs at his own joke, while his sister rolls her eyes.

This is going to be a loooonnnnnggggg journey with these three.

#own character #ocs #ao3 writer #fanfic writing #avatar the last airbender #aang #sokka #katara #toph beifong #zuko #suki #zutara #sukki #aang x oc

[oneatlatime]

The Desert

Alternate title: Gimme Appa back.

"But I believe, Aang can save the world." no pressure kid.

I had completely forgotten about these two chuckleheads. For once the 'Previously On' segment is useful rather than spoilery.

Ok Aang is going to get the world's biggest pass this episode, because he's in the suckiest of all situations. But even so, how exactly was Toph supposed to come and get them, when she was both actually blind for once and the only reason the library hadn't drowned them yet?

Aang has something of a history of running away. Does going after Appa count as running away from his friends?

Zuko's theatre kid tendencies are genetic.

The way Iroh said "What Now?" you know he was actually saying "fuck's sake."

Zuko's hair seems to grow very quickly. I thought that I could use his hair growth to measure time passing but this is not tracking. He barely had a buzz cut in The Chase and now he's fluffy.

Two things: a) this guy has eyes greyer than Aang this episode. b) He's cocking his hands like that ridiculous Henry Cavill scene from Mission Impossible where he cocks his biceps.

This guy's spear has piercings. And is coming out of a Dragon's mouth.

I don't know that I'd call these guys legendary. They're zero for two against an Avatar in Drag and two starving refugees with three functioning arms.

Doesn't Katara ever change out her water? Or even use it up and have to refill it?

I said it last episode, and I'll say it again: why did five people, a lemur, and a ten tonne sky bison travel into a desert famous for its desertiness with only a single water pouch between them? Admittedly, if they'd brought extra water and left it on Appa, they'd be having the same problem, but still...

Is a kids' show actually going to go there?

They actually went there!

Honestly if you're dying of dehydration in the desert, eating strange plants is absolutely the way to go. I'd rather trip my way into the afterlife than just shrivel up and die.

I love the way Aang's glider shadow moves over the dunes. Another one of those tiny details that the animators could have left out, but they didn't!

Sand benders must get crazy high speeds if Aang can't spot even a trace of Appa from up high. He wasn't Appa-napped very long ago.

Everyone go watch the scene where Aang blows up the mushroom cloud. Go right now I'll wait. And pay attention to Sokka's mouth. It does the wave.

His mouth does the wave and his arms do the worm. Someone really had fun this episode.

Zuko breaking the world record for highest number of Fire Nation wanted posters. Despite being the only person on that board who's unquestionably loyal to the Fire Nation. What a nice reward he got for his loyalty.

How is that one wrestler dude's hair so shiny?

Why, other than plot convenience, would Zuko and Iroh be at the Ice Spring?

I see now that the left hand shadow is Sokka with a Momo on his head. But for just a second I thought it was Ramona from Scott Pilgrim.

There are some really beautiful colour gradients in this desert.

"We won't survive without Appa." Well yes, but you have to try.

If this is a normal desert they're going to freeze their butts off overnight.

No comment. Just vibes.

Hey this is a Katara episode! Toph is blind, Sokka's zoinked, Aang's given up, so it's Katara time baby!

This episode has no business being this pretty.

"Sokka. I was there." I'd be very surprised if Katara's voice actress doesn't have an idiot older brother. That line was delivered a little too perfectly.

I'm not going to comment on every Sokka is high joke, but rest assured I'm finding them all hilarious.

Those drinks cost a gold piece each. Where did they get five gold pieces from?

Colour me shocked. The chuckleheads actually had a good idea for once.

Colour me shocked again! I vaguely predicted this!

Zuko. Honey. How are you this dim? He's so very good at missing exactly what's in front of him.

"Gold?"

Big muscles. No brains.

Very pretty. The sand texture is good too.

Well that was mean.

Passive aggressive glider deployment. Also how low is that cloud if Aang can reach it to bend it?

Aang is not shining this episode (understandably) but Katara is going from strength to strength. I NEVER would have thought that she was someone who could keep her cool under pressure like this. Happy to be wrong!

I have no idea if Sokka is going to remember or be aware of this epic trip he's on, but this is probably the best time he's had in months. Certainly since Yue died. He deserves this. Bad timing, but he needed a break.

"You must forgive my nephew. He is not an initiate, and is dumb as shit and incapable of reading the room."

Why is there a flower shop in the middle of the desert? What clients do they have? Obviously it's a front for this pai sho secret society thing, but why did they pick such a nonsensical front?

Toph has so much personality that it's easy to forget how tiny she is. Like a little gargoyle.

Sokka talking like a Greaser was the thing I didn't know I needed.

Poor Katara. Now you know how your brother feels every time he has to save your bacon from your weekly prison break.

I am losing my mind over these colours. Especially after The Library.

"I have a natural curiosity." I'm going to start using that.

Oops they found the circle bird nest.

Hey showrunners, you're going to take Momo from me too? You sure you want to do that? After last episode? Don't give me a pretty sunset with a latte swirl. Give me back Appa, put down Momo, or I'll sic Toph on you.

I do like Toph as a piece of artillery.

Turns out a combined Appa and Momo -napping is what it takes to get Aang to break his no killing rule. I now know how to defeat the Fire Lord.

The Audacity. Going to Ba-Sing- however the hell that's spelled. The sheer audacity. But then what? What's the plan after they get there? Just live the rest of their lives?

Rejected Mortal Combat guy.

You ever have one of those days where you do only your top lip?

Whoever made that door, and that lock - good job!

Nothing to see here, just making a delivery of two giant planters in the middle of the desert. The Owl decided to spruce up his entryway.

Y'all are fucked. Y'all deserve it. Aang has completely lost control. He's spent the whole episode losing it more and more and now he's gone completely off the rails. Has he ever zipped into the Avatar state that fast before?

Never underestimate the power of a woman who's fed up with everyone's nonsense. Just so fed up.

Well that was sad.

Badass name of the day: Malachi Throne, voice of a character whose name I don't recognise.

Final Thoughts

This was Katara's episode. I'm not going to forgive not getting Appa back, but Katara actually keeping a level head for once was an unexpected delight.

This episode was pretty unrelentingly heavy in the A-plot, which is why I don't understand why Sokka and Momo tripping worked so well. It did work, and I very much enjoyed it, but it should have stuck out like a sore thumb and it didn't. The beat up Sokka quota fulfillled from within by chemicals was a nice creative touch.

I am very happy to see Iroh take the wheel, although I'm not convinced there's a long term plan here beyond get food and shelter. Which, fair enough, goals tend to be short term and immediate when you're in dire straits.

This episode really stomped all over Aang. And then stomped some more. I was surprised how negative and shouty he was at the beginning, but by the end I was surprised how long it took him to lose it. Apart from his staff and his clothes, Appa really is all he has left from before he got frozen. That sandbender punk was rotten to the core.

So I guess we're going to the earth kingdom capital regardless of the eclipse information. Is the rest of the season going to be getting there? I also can't help but notice that it's where Iroh and Zuko are headed as well. Zuko could actively run in the direction opposite to the Avatar and he'd still end up tripping over him. The earth Kingdom is ginormous. And yet, like every two episodes Zuko runs into the Avatar. Is it fate? Is it plot convenience?

I should dislike this episode. It's 24 minutes of our faves getting beat down and not finding Appa, with a b-plot of Zuko being more oblivious than usual. I should dislike it, but I don't. This is definitely going on the rewatch list. It was a very pretty episode, which helped. Beyond that I can't put into words why I liked it, but I did!

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #The Desert #Dessert? #Desert is one of the words where the longer you stare at it the less it's a word #Like Sausage #Sew-sahhj

[crackedpumpkin]

in honour of the atla live action, i decided it was time to post @theblindhag and i's reaction when it first released on netflix. This is episode 1 under the cut. enjoy.

Thats sozin’s comet, the comet named after sozin

“STAWP”

THE BENDING IS GOOD

Dude got baja blasted

“My sights are set higher” he says as he stares up at his prisoner

HE COOKED HIM

Im a 5 star michelin

He got intimate with HIS burn marks

Its giving genshin impact

OOGWAY CAMEO

Glowing ninja girl

Loving the brush strokes

Ye old uggs

Theres the bald bitch

Eggs in a carton

Why are the airbenders american

Brother gyatso the GOAT

He a real one

No bald cap

Aangs tatted

Its giving buddha statue

HE JUST IRON MANED HIS WAY UP

Aangs in his soliloquy era

STEADYYYYY URGGGGGG

HMMMMMMMMMMM

Mighty morphin iceberg time

He turned into a bakugan

THEY GOT DADDY ISSUES

Sulk later paddle now

Guys its zuko

Oh shit oh fuck

He’s a conspiracy theorist

NERD

oh, nice we’re not gonna die!

“🧍🏻👁️👁️”

A mysterious little bald person

SHE SAID THE LINES

HORANGHAE

Hes finding his inner peace

“Something about armour”

“Something about ARMS”

REESE BLUSHIN AT SOKKA ARM

ARMOUR FETISH

CONFIRMED

Its giving victorian era scandalous ankles

Victoria def had a secret fs

Lord of… snow and ice.

Avatar, gay discount?

“Why did the fire nation start the war?” “Gay discount.”

HE USED HIS SHARIGAN

Appa took a fat piss in the sky 🙁

Boneless temple

Ep ended with horanghae

#atla #avatar the last airbender #atla live action #atla live action reactions

[91062854-ka]

Ceres (Voiced by: Laura Bailey)

Biographical information

Aliases:

June Pippinpaddleopsicopolis

Hiromi

Nickname: Fairy Feet (by Toph)

Nationality: Southern Air Temple

Ethnicity: Air Nomad

Age:

116 (biologically 16)

117-118 (biologically 17-18) in The Promise trilogy

119-120 (biologically 19-20) in The Search and The Rift trilogies

170 (biologically 70) at death

Born: 12 BG before Aang

Physical description

Eye color: Gray

Hair color: Dark brown

Skin color: Light

Personal information

Gender: Woman

Love interest: Zuko

Family:

Gyatso (Father figure)

Aang (Younger brother)

Allies:

Aang, Appa, Kaida, Katara, Momo, Sokka, Tenzin, Toph, Zuko, King Bumi, Bumi, Gyatso, Hakoda, Iroh, Kya, Suki, Kuzon, lion turtle, all Guardians, more ...

Enemies:

Azula, Ozai, Zuko (formerly in the future), Combustion Man, Long Feng, Sozin, Yakone, Zhao, Joo Dee, the Dai Li, more ...

Weapon of choice:

The elements, metal, glider staff

Fighting styles:

Airbending, waterbending (Northern and Southern style), earthbending (Chu Gar Praying Mantis Kung Fu), metalbending, firebending (Dancing Dragon), bloodbending (resigned from use), lightning redirection, energybending

Political information

Profession:

Air Nomad culture teacher

Airbending instructor

Guardian

Monk

Position:

Co-founder of the United Republic of Nations

Fully Realized Guardian

Fire Lady

Predecessor:

Sora (as the Guardian)

Successor:

Katrina (as the Guardian)

Affiliation:

Air Acolytes

Air Nomads

Air Scouts (formerly)

Team Avatar

Ceres was an Air Nomad born in 12 BG and the Guardian of her younger brother, Avatar Aang during the Hundred Year War, succeeding Guardian Sora and preceding Guardian Katrina. As the Guardian of her time, she was the second person capable of using all four bending arts: airbending, waterbending, earthbending, and firebending. She was also one of a select few Guardians and one of the first in many cycles to learn the ancient art of energybending as well as the first Guardian known to have actively used the technique.

Shortly before the beginning of the Hundred Year War, Ceres was frozen in an iceberg with Aang for a hundred years; she later emerged, still biologically sixteen years old, into a world engulfed by war. During her absence, the Fire Nation had waged war upon the other nations and managed to completely wipe out the pacifistic Air Nomads. It fell to Ceres and her brother, the Avatar and the Guardian, and the last two airbenders, to end the War by mastering the other three elements and defeating Fire Lord Ozai.

She remained a kind and good-hearted girl at heart throughout her year-long struggle, despite the overwhelming loss of her people, the heavy burdens she was forced to bear, and looking after her younger brother. After her victory over the Phoenix King, Ceres began a romantic relationship with Fire Lord Zuko. The couple eventually married and raised a family of three children: Izumi, the oldest, a nonbender who became Fire Lord later in life; Kuzon, a firebender; and the youngest, Gyatso, an airbender.

History:

Ceres was born to two Air Nomads in 12 BG. After selecting the Guardian relics from among thousands of toys, thereby inadvertently confirming her identity as the Guardian, she was taken away by the monks of the Western Air Temple, who kept her position a secret from her to the Southern Air Temple. As an Air Nomad, Ceres traveled extensively around the world. During her childhood, Ceres was housed, raised, and educated at the Southern Air Temple, under the guardianship of Monk Gyatso, who served as her father figure, counselor, and tutor.

As a child, Ceres was a member of the Air Scouts, where she learned essential skills such as how to tie reins to a bison's horns with the bison horn knot. After some time, she and several other young Air Nomad girls were taken to the Eastern Air Temple where they each chose a sky bison as their lifelong companion. On that day, Ceres named her bison Kaida, thus marking the start of their deep and lifelong friendship.

Ceres was always able to excel at any new bending moves she learned; at the age of six, she was a better airbender than children twice her age, and by the age of ten, Ceres had proven herself to be better than her own teachers. She earned airbending tattoos and the status of an airbending master by the age of ten for exhibiting prodigious talent with her native element, making her the youngest airbending master in Air Nomad history, next to Aang. Later on, she meets her newborn brother, Aang and with Gyatso, Ceres helps raised Aang, forming a strong bond.

As she raises Aang, she discovers that he selected the Avatar relics from among thousands of toys, thereby inadvertently confirming that Aang is the Avatar. Over the years, their bond became deeper as Ceres sees Aang as her son while Aang sees Ceres as his mother, since Ceres sings him songs, dancing with him, play with him and looking out for him to keep Aang safe so he doesn't hurt himself.

In her teen years, Ceres and Aang also visited the other air temples, as evidenced by his obvious familiarity with the Western Air Temple, as well as cities in the Earth Kingdom, such as Omashu, where Ceres and Aang developed a lasting friendship with the good-natured but eccentric Bumi. She and Aang even bonded closely with children in the Fire Nation, like Kuzon, with whom they went searching for a dragon in the mountains and saved a dragon egg from poachers.

Due to the signs of a possible war approaching, Aang was told about his status as the Avatar at age twelve, four years earlier than the traditional age of sixteen, which is similar for the Protector. Aang felt burdened by his status as the other children refused to play with him anymore and he came to spend more time practicing airbending with the monks. Monk Gyatso and Ceres were the only ones who showed understanding of Aang's burden, with Gyatso having been good friends with Avatar Roku and Guardian Sora, Ceres's and Aang's past lives, and tried to help ease Aang through the transition from childhood to adulthood by providing Aang with balance through fun during the upheaval in his life with Ceres, who stayed by Aang's side throughout his entire life, having Aang to never want to leave her and never want to see her getting hurt.

However, Aang and Ceres later discovered that they would be sent to the Eastern Air Temple in order to complete their airbending training far away from Monk Gyatso, whom the other monks thought was too soft on him. Afraid and confused, the two airbenders ran away with their flying bisons, Appa and Kaida, though they became caught in a storm shortly after, which caused them to crash into the water.

Aang and Ceres saved themselves, Appa and Kaida from drowning by semi-consciously entering the Avatar and Guardian States and freezing them both in a sphere of ice through a combination of airbending and waterbending. The Avatar and Guardian States kept them alive, albeit not fully conscious, in the iceberg for about a hundred years while the war raged on.

Trivia:

• Ceres means "Nourishment" in Latin.

• Unlike the color of their Avatar siblings' firebending, the color of the Guardian's yellow instead of orange. But that's only after they're revealed as the next Avatar and Guardian, that's how everyone can tell which sibling is the Avatar and the other is the Guardian, by the color of their firebending.

• Ceres is the first Guardian who can use bloodbending, but vows to never use it again.

• Ceres is the first Guardian who can use metalbending after convincing Toph to teach her.

#avatar the last airbender #oc #oc sister #zuko x oc #avatar