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animation-cartoon-fan-writings · 4 months

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A Secret Darkness

Idea by Stardust948

Part 2 Part 3

Princess Emi of the Fire Nation had always been a happy ball of sunshine. The first born child of Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Katara, she radiated a different type of light than the world had been seen before her birth. A happy baby, Emi began smiling and giggling at two-months-old and rarely stopped since.

For her parents, their eldest child lived up perfectly to her name, meaning “blessing”. After losing so much to the One-Hundred-Year War, both mentally and physically, Emi was the light of their whole worlds right from the moment Katara found out she was pregnant.

Zuko in particular vowed to himself the moment his daughter was born that he would protect her from all of the darkness of the world. Whether it meant spoiling her beyond belief, indulging in Emi’s every whim and dropping whatever he was doing if she as much as called for him, or instinctively picking her up and taking her away from any place or situation that could be considered even the least bit dangerous. Zuko was a protective girl dad through and through.

This protective instinct was often extended to the people Zuko was cautious of letting into his child’s life, including his own family.

Azula hadn’t been a large part of Zuko’s life following the end of the war, having been put in a psychiatric facility almost immediately following her loss during Sozin’s Comet. During the entirety of Katara’s pregnancy with Emi, the Fire Lord assumed his kids would never meet their aunt. Thankfully, his sister had recovered enough to be discharged when Katara was five-months-pregnant.

It was a long process, but Azula’s weekly therapies and regular medication really helped stabilize her mind, they eventually got to a place where Zuko was more comfortable gradually letting her back into his life. Soon enough, when Emi was three-months-old, Zuko finally introduced his new bundle of sunshine to her aunt. Since then, Azula has accepted the title of “cool aunt” and was quite good at it. She loved her niece and prayed to Agni above that she never lost that light of innocence in her eyes.

Despite having been reunited with his own mother, finding her alive with a new husband and 10-year-old daughter, Zuko hesitated on introducing her to Emi until she was around a year old. Even so, Ursa barely had a relationship with Emi, too focused on her new life and her youngest daughter Kiyi. It was that, along with other things, that led Zuko to decide to go low contact with his mom. He refused to let his daughter go through what he did and would not trust anyone with her if they were not going to be a reliable presence.

Then, there was Ozai. Zuko had been adamant from the moment he and Katara started discussing the possibility of having children that his father would not have anything to do with his kids. This was one thing that the Fire Lady had no problem with, knowing just how evil Ozai was and would always be. So, Emi grew up for the most part believing Iroh was her paternal grandfather, calling him “Papa Iroh”.

As Emi grew older and started getting more curious about the world around her, Zuko’s protective levels started going into hyperdrive. This wasn’t helped by the fact that, since having her, he and Katara had expanded their family by two, with his wife giving birth to their second daughter Kya (named after Katara’s late mother) when Emi was two, followed by their third child and first-born son Kallik just a few years later. How was he supposed to keep his eye on a rambunctious little girl, a toddler, and a newborn while simultaneously keeping up with all his duties as Fire Lord?

Unlike the Fire Lords of the past, Zuko made it clear that he and Katara would not rely on an arsenal of nannies and servants to raise their children. This meant the royal couple did the majority of the childrearing themselves. While they did have Iroh, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee living at the palace to help on occasions where both he and Katara were super busy, it wasn’t like any of them could be at multiple places at once.

Plus, Emi was starting to get really good at sneaking away undetected for long periods of time. While she thankfully never went beyond the palace grounds, it was still a frightening experience as Zuko would be frantically searching every corner of the palace and beyond for his missing daughter, only to find her hiding in some small corner of the palace library with a smile on her face, eating a freshly-stolen box of cookies from the kitchen.

While it usually wasn’t any more than that, this habit of exploring places throughout the palace that she wasn’t allowed to be in often led to some close calls. Catching her before she got too close for comfort.

Unfortunately, on one fateful day, it happened.

Emi, now six-years-old, wanted to play with mommy and daddy, but unfortunately, they were too busy. At the moment, Katara was feeding the five-month-old Kallik and Zuko was stuck in a meeting with his council, leaving Aunt Azula to at least try to keep an eye on both her and four-year-old Kya.

After several hours, Azula thought she finally got the two young princesses down for their nap. But, the minute she left the room to fetch the girls some snacks and juice, Emi woke up and escaped her Aunt’s suite to once again start exploring the unchartered places of the large Fire Nation palace.

After a while, she found herself downstairs, below the grounds of her home, down in a place she had never seen before. It was mostly dark, except for the flickering of fire light from the torch flames that lines the walls. Emi knew she should go back upstairs before someone realized she was missing, but her naivety and strong sense of curiosity got the better of her. She kept slowly walking through the narrow hall, her big golden eyes looking all around her with such wonder.

Suddenly, the little princess stumbled upon a dark cave marked off by chains and a sign that read “High Risk Prisoner, Under Strict Lockdown, No One is Permitted to go Beyond this point without the presence of authorized staff”. While most people would read that and immediately turn back, Emi didn’t really know how to read anything beyond the level of her picture books and fairy tales.

She was completely oblivious to the darkness a person could possess. She grew up believing everyone and everything was all happy and bright. That even those that were bad at first would eventually become good with just the right help and encouragement. That just a bit of kindness and forgiveness would enough for people to change. She had no idea just what she would find when she got her little body past the chains to see what was on the other side of the cave.

Emi walked slowly down the path. As she approached the end, she saw an old man behind a wall of clear metal. Who is this man?, she thought. His hair was light grey, long and disheveled. His eyes were locked to the floor, devoid of any emotion. Sitting with his back against the wall, his body crouched over like an old hermit just passing the little time he had before death finally took him. Emi kept her distance from him, but her curiosity kept her from running in the other direction.

Suddenly, the man slowly turns his head, looking right at the young princess. Emi cautiously takes a few steps forward as the man’s eyes widen. “Azula?,” the man finally speaks. The child doesn’t answer. Instead, she cocks her brow, confused as to why the man just called her by her Aunt’s name.

Emi did resemble her father a lot. She had his ember-colored eyes and midnight black hair. But, her skin tone was only one shade lighter than her mother’s natural mocha shade. Her father, in comparison, had a light ivory skin tone, just like Aunt Azula. So, Emi didn’t know how this man she had never met before could confuse her with Azula or how he knew of her aunt in the first place.

The man speaks again, louder this time, “Azula! I’m so glad you came to visit. Have you heard what your brother has been doing?”. The man knew her father. Curiosity getting the best of her, Emi decides to play along and not reveal herself to the man. “No. What?,” she asks the man. He scowls as he begins ranting, “Your good-for-nothing brother has decided to completely destroy our bloodline. Not only did he marry that retched waterbender from the south pole, but now he has gotten her pregnant. Can you believe it? The heir to the throne, without the pure ivory skin of Fire Nation royalty. It is simply an abomination!”.

Emi didn’t know what to say to all that. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Clearly he was talking about her parents, and the “abomination” he was referring to could only be her. She had never in her life heard anything like this. “Wh-why is it an abomination? I mean, how would it reflect on him as a leader?,” she inquires, hoping to find out more.

The man cackles madly, “My child, Agni above has blessed our nation to be superior to all others. The Fire Nation is the greatest nation in the world and our bloodline is the purest in the land. Your brother tainting it with some tribal whore just proves that he doesn’t care about his country.”

Emi’s heart drops hearing those words. Did he just say Aunt Azula was his child? Is this man Dad and Aunt Azula’s dad?, her mind races. But, that’s impossible. Papa Iroh is dad’s dad. He’s my grandfather. Surely, daddy would never lie to me about something like that.

“I swear, the spirits are going to burn this nation to the ground and damn us all to the pits of hell for this disrespect to Agni… Either way, thar bastard child of his will always be half-water tribe. By that alone, our family tree will be tainted with impure blood. Agni help us all that child becomes fire lord. But, I suppose you already know that, Azula.”

Emi takes one step back, growing scared of this man. He continues to rant as the child slowly walks backwards, every word he says seeping into her brain and being internalized by the young, innocent soul.

“Don’t worry, soon enough you, my golden child, will take back the throne from your traitor of a brother and his snow-eating whore of a bride. I know you, Princess Azula. My little prodigy. You were born lucky, truly gifted in your abilities as a firebender. And once you finish the job from that Agni Kai, all other nations will fall and you and I will rule as supreme leaders of the world!”

The prisoner starts laughing like a mad man and that’s when Emi couldn’t bear to hear another word. She turns around and runs out of there as fast as she could. Thankfully, the man was so wrapped up in his own laughter and delusions that he didn’t notice. His deep, evil laughter echoing off the walls as she ran back through the narrow dirt pathway.

The princess felt an ache in her stomach as she began to run up the stairs. She felt the tears picking at the corner of her eyes, threatening to fall. She held it all in as she made it up to the top of the stairs and rushed over to the family wing of the palace. Even as servants called her name as she quickly passed, she didn’t answer. Finally, she made it back to her room, going in and slamming the door shut.

She takes a few deep breathes before her lips begins to quiver and her eyes water. Emi runs over to her bed and leaps forward, landing face-down onto the mattress. The now-terrified princess buries her face in her pillow as she begins to cry.

The Fire Nation’s innocent ray of sunshine had just seen the secret darkness of the world. And things would inevitably never be the same again.

Hope you guys liked this. If you want me to continue this and write a part 2, please let me know.

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juana-the-iguana · 2 years

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I was watching your original post about TSR as it got chewed up and spit out by AFP. They're one of the biggest Bryke brown-nosers in the fandom and will literally attack you for calling the sky blue if Bryke says it's green. Don't take them seriously, they're the most toxic Avatar "fan" I've encountered so far, and they'll probably come at you again in the future. Stand strong, you've got a lot of people in your corner.

Thank you, I really appreciate it! I've been feeling like a real idiot since yesterday, so this really means a lot.

#zutarans are the best

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sleepy-sham · 2 months

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I think my biggest problem with the vast majority of zutara shippers is that they don't just ship zutara, they actively hate on Aang. As a kataang shipper, I LOVE Zuko!!! He is a phenomenal amazing character, best redemption arc of all time, I adore him!!! (also I love Maiko!!!! & Zukka!!! & Zukki!!!!) But I don't think I've ever come across a single zutara shipper that doesn't actively hate on Aang as a character as much as possible. If all they did was ship katara & Zuko, whatever, no problem, not my ship but you're free to do what you want. But they can't just leave it at that. They never can. & that is my problem with (most) zutarans.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #avatar #kataang

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rifari2037 · 8 days

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Sorry, but I feel like you ship Zukka just because Zutara is much better than canon and it threatens your ship.

Beside, even if Zutaran ship Zutara just for fun, canon shipper would still call us delulu, because it's Zuko and Katara. 'How about Aang if they're together', right?

We are ruining shipping experience for everyone? Really? There are a lot of artists mind their own business, upload Zutara fanarts for fun on their own social media, then the comment full of hate from canon shipper. Why?

Forget about headcanons. I think, every ships have headcanons, even Zukka. But what's wrong with metas and analysis?

Well, okay, Zutara shipper very much delulu! They do a lot of metas and analysis. Even worse, they use materials from the show, not just making up from their heads. Bad! Very bad!

I mean, what's wrong with Zutara shipper? Zuko and Katara have no chemistry at all in the show.

I don't need to show all the proofs, there's too many.

But still, Zutara shipper so pathetic! Because, you see, Dante Basco as Zuko VA and Mae Whitman as Katara VA ship Zutara as well.

(Reminding again about Zutara shipper ruined shipping experience for everyone, Dante Basco didn't do anything wrong with any fandom but he got a lot of hate because he vocally ship Zutara. Why?)

And Greg Baldwin as Uncle Iroh VA personally ship Zutara!!!

Jack de Sena as Sokka VA does support Zutara too in a lot of ways, you know? 😭😭

Zutara shipper are so delusional, because even John O'Brian as ATLA writer ship Zutara. He also said that the writers talked a lot about Zutara in writer room, but they were lost the fight.

Yeah, Zutara shipper shouldn't think Zuko and Katara were almost canon! That would ruin the canon shipper mood.

Unfortunately, I as Zutara shipper being delusional that even Netflix ship Zutara!! 😭😭

Why gave us crumbs if Zutara just delusion??!!! 😭😭

#pro zutara #zutara #zuko and katara #zuko x katara #anti anti zutara #anti kataang #anti zukka #anti bryke #antikataang #atla zutara #natla zutara

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animentality · 2 months

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I just wanna say that while I don't ship either of them myself, I respect that the ships that don't become canon, like Drarry and Zutara, will always have much more powerful and diverse communities than the ships that become canon.

You can't tell me that more people ship Harry and Ginny RIGHT NOW than Drarry, or that Zutara's fanbase is less active than Kataang's. I was in the tag an hour ago while on a megalomaniacal rant in discord, and literally most of it is Zutara things, and it's been like what. A decade? Still going strong off of scraps, huh? I admire it.

When a ship becomes canon, people celebrate in the moment and then move on. You get smatterings of people who re watch the series, and do some doodles here and there. But the ship dies with the fandom itself, because a canon ship is not even a ship, it's just part of the story. And it's not the most interesting part of the story most of the time, especially in a series as richly packed as atla. the romance isn't done that well, it's barely focused on. and that's fine, but it's not the thing atla fans really talk about to this day...

you don't see atla fans talking about how epic the kataang romance is. not really. that whole genocide is bad plot is far more interesting.

But when a ship is entirely nonsensical or only lightly hinted at, or maybe just entirely theoretical but intriguing narratively...

that ship can go on for years.

The lack of content is paradoxically what makes the fandom content even better.

Fans can do anything they want with an empty sandbox, and thus fans become creatives in their own right, constructing a canon that fits their own interests.

And that's far more intriguing to consider because of it.

A Kataanger can write about katara and aang getting married, but canon already did that. How interesting could that really be? the creators did that and it was whatever.

a Zutaran, meanwhile, is writing a whole new story and mythos based on the meager scraps they were fed a decade ago. They're totally re writing canon and reconstructing a narrative about opposing sides coming together in the form of their narrative representatives.

they're red blue shipping, fire and ice/water, sun and moon, enemies to lovers, the sunshine and the grump, bad boy x good girl, learning to forgive, redemption arc, theyre basically dispensing with canon and writing a psychopathic descent into their own psyche.

they're making entirely different stories because they were dissatisfied with an aspect of the one they got.

and frustration/need breeds creativity. it stirs the imagination.

if you were satisfied with your ship becoming canon, you celebrate and then you move on.

if your ship never got its chance...

well. you could spend a life time wondering what if.

and you're thinking well of course a durgetash crack shipper would feel this way... and you're right.

but I'll be here. I'll be here still thinking about durgetash long after the last Astarion x Tav shipper has gone.

it's the small things. it's the blank slate, the holes with potential. it's the little gaps in the concrete of canon, where the most twisted but entertaining weeds grow and can never be destroyed, not fully, not permanently.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zutara #drarry

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ellakomskaikru · 1 year

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Don't you think Zutara is a shallow ship based on physical attraction. It's no surprise most Zutarans are fan girls and women who think Zuko is hot.I bet if Aang looked like Zuko Kataang would be way more popular.

No, it is not a shallow ship. There are many metas explaining why we with Zuko and Katara would go well together because of their personalities. But yes, we also think they look good together, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Also taking into account the physical appearance of a character for shipping preferences isn’t shallow, it’s completely normal.

I hate to break it to you, but physical attraction is a real thing in real life and does matter, and no one is shallow for rejecting someone if they don’t find them physically attractive.

And your comment: “It’s no surprise most Zutarians are fan girls and women who think Zuko is hot”

Is highly misogynistic. Why are the preferences of women seen as “immature” or “shallow”? Why is it okay for men to have their nice guy fantasies but women can’t simply also value physical appearances for shipping?

And no, if Aang looked like Zuko, I still wouldn’t ship Kat.aang, because my issues with the ship stem from the fact that Aang feels entitled to Katara and the narrative rewards him for feeling that way. The ship is basically “Katara is too stupid and shallow to see that Aang is the right guy for her but then she’ll come around because he’s the avatar and the hero.” I hate that trope because it’s misogynistic. It’s a fantasy for men who have been rejected by women and want to imagine the woman eventually changing her mind. That’s it.

I don’t hate Aang himself, I think he’s a good person overall and a unique character, but the Kat.aang ship is what I have a problem with.

So no, there is nothing wrong with the Zutara ship and there’s nothing shallow about it. It’s a ship where people think Zuko and Katara would go well together according to their personalities and life goals, as well as their physical appearances. Usually those are the things that are required for a relationship to be successful in real life too.

#atla #zutara #anti kataang #atla ask #ella’s original post

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zvtara-was-never-canon · 6 months

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https://www.tumblr.com/cleverheroine/623936048254320640/what-zutarans-say-its-just-that-katara-never

thoughts?

"Katara never showed real romantic feelings for Aang and only blushed when she was FLATTERED" cope harder, honey. And in what world do you "fix" that by making her date the guy she hated for 90% of the show and very clearly only saw as a friend in the end? Ridiculous.

"She treated him like a brother" Nope, that's Zuko. You know, the guy she teased in the exact same way she teased Sokka, her actual brother? She never did that with Aang.

"Or even like a son" Once again, Zutarians completely ignore how Katara was visibly upset at the thought of her friends thinking of her as a mom BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T SEE ANY OF THEM AS HER KIDS, BECAUSE SHE'S JUST 14, YOU DUMBASSES!

"There's zutara 'imagery'" The show about the four elements is not hiting at Zutara just because there's red and blue everywhere. It's about balance, not your OTP. "Cave of Two Lovers" and "Ying and Yang" (aka, TUI AND LA, PUSH AND PULL) were KATAANG imagery. Not to mention, if you have to rely on "secret hints in the colors or backgrounds" instead of the actual writting of the characters and their dynamics, you end up with shit like the ending of How I Met Your Mother - and trust me, you don't want that.

(Yes, I will bitch about that awful finale forever and nobody can stop me).

"We totally don't want Aang to die for our ship" Really? Then I guess I hallucinated all those fics and headcanons that either full on kill him or just commit character assassination that you guys keep shoving in everyone's face. Fuck off!

#anti zutara #pro kataang #pro aang

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mokkamicci · 1 year

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Kataang vs Zutara: a small chat

So most of you who follow my blog on here will know that much of the content that I reblog and post are Miraculous-related. But I also post ATLA and Zutara content occasionally. I am a massive Zutara fan and I’m here to talk about something that I’ve noticed within the ship wars between Zutara and Kataang.

So starting off, while Zutara fans criticise the Kataang ship wiith facts and logic, sometimes I feel like some of these people go a little too far with their criticism, claiming that Kataang is misogynistc, makes Katara out to be some kind of trophy for Aang and is just all around nothing more than an unbalanced relationship. Obviously they’re not wrong, but sometimes they forget that Aang is just a kid, just like Katara is. Relationships at that age aren’t gonna be the healthiest because they’re going through a developmental phase at that time (aka puberty). You could argue the same thing could happen if Zutara became canon instead, because they’re both teenagers. Not to mention Zuko and Katara can both be hot headed at times. Combine that with hormones and growing into young adulthood... yeah it’s not exactly a fun time.

I also think that Zutarans often end up mischaracterising Aang completely in order to justify their arguments to the point where it’s barely recognisable from the canon Aang. Like the way some people talk about him, it’s almost as if they make him out to be like some kind of incel. Y’all are really jumping through a lot of hoops to make that kind of conclusion. This is almost like the time Adrien/Chat Noir salters in the Miraculous fandom called Chat Noir a sexual harasser. It’s really funny the way they think.

Another toxic trait they apply to Aang is him being an evil abuser who stifles Katara’s freedom and who also has his feelings coddled by her. The fact that he is selfish and puts his own comfort and feelings over her own has somehow become fuel to harshly criticise Aang. Like he is 12! Of course he’s gonna be a little selfish and immature! I don’t think his not-so-likable character traits justify belittling his relationship with Katara.

I don’t think it necessarily helps when Zutara fans stoop to the level of Kataang fans. I understand Zutara fans’ frustrations, because many Zutara blogs have expressed that they’ve been mocked and belittled the most, by both Kataang fans and even the show’s creators themselves. It only seems fair that Zutara fans get a little payback to treat Kataang fans the way the former have been treated. But I also think by doing this, it’s created an even bigger divide between the two. What happened to “ship and let ship”?

DISCLAIMER: I’m not trying to discredit Zutara, I LOVE Zutara with my whole being. I just think that when it comes to ship wars, people should be a bit nicer to each other rather than making them feel bad about the couple they choose to ship in the show. I’m also not very fond of Kataang either, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to absolutely crucify someone just because they happen to prefer that ship over Zutara. I honestly don’t think Kataang deserves the amount of hate it’s gotten recently. In fact, before I fully got into the ATLA fandom, I used to prefer Kataang over Zutara myself. I thought it was a nice wholesome ship. While my opinion on this ship has changed, I still think there are some parts of it that are cute based on canon moments in the show.

I’m probably gonna get some hate for this, and you know what, I’ll accept it. I’ll listen to what everyone has to say.

#atla #zutara

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fireladyfae · 1 year

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My newest Zutara pin is complete, and I couldn't be happier with the results! 😍😍😍😍

With Beautiful art work by the lovely: @perfectlypanda !

*So Glad* she agreed to Collab with me on this! 🥰🥰🥰

For more information on the pin and how to get one of your very own, please visit my pin page at: https://instagram.com/collection.by.fantasy.pins ! 😍

Zutara Forever! 🔥❤️💧

#Zutara #Zutaraforever #ZutaraNation #ZutaraSerotonin #ZutaraArt #ZutaraFanArt #ZutaraPin #ZutaraCollection #DanteBascoIsOurCaptain #MaeWhitmanIsOurFirstLieutenant

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animation-cartoon-fan-writings · 3 months

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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

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attackfish · 1 year

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The azula and zutara fandom are so amazingly similar zuko x azula did nothing wrong. Mai aang iroh abd ursa are abusers. Katara has no agency with aang azula has no agency at all both fandoms are sexist to girls thru claim to love

Azula fans act like they're better than the zutara fandom but I find them just as obnoxious and condescending to anyone refusing to agree them with their shitty fanon takes they will assume yoy hate children

. Last i checked a character needing redemption meant they did bad shit not they never did anything wrong and are nothing but a victim .

I want to be very clear here, there are plenty of lovely fans who love Azula, and plenty of lovely Zutarans. This is why I always try to talk about a certain class of Azula fans, or Azula fans who do X, and I don't talk about Zutarins, I talk about Mai-hating Zutarans, or Aang-hating Zutarans, or even just Mai-and/or-Aang haters.

These are subgroups, and for the most part, only involve a tiny handful of really loud assholes. Sometimes their opinions filter through into the wider fandom discourse, and in softened form become popular throughout the larger group, but for the most part it's a handful of loud assholes.

But yeah, I have definitely had very similar experiences with both subgroups, and they are the two subgroups that have both been very willing to fling accusations that I am an abuse apologist, and that my fannish opinions make me a terrible person, and who talk about me behind my back and treat me like some kind of boogyman.

But to be fair, the absolute creepiest and most batshit behavior I ever had to deal with in fandom was the person who on multiple occasions, several months apart, impersonated me to send anon hate to people, and who ended up impersonating several friends of mine to do the same, even going so far as to make an actual tumblr that was one letter off from the main account of a popular blogger. That person turned out to be an anti-Zutara hard core Maiko shipper. Assholes are assholes no matter what they ship.

And actually I think that this idea that we are in some kind of competition with each other, instead of all trying to enjoy the same piece of media in our own way, is not at all healthy. Some of the worst excesses on the part of fans comes from this idea that this is a competition we are trying to win, instead of a place where we come together to enjoy something in different ways.

#avatar the last airbender #posts i created #why do you feel the need #this isn't really about the characters so i'm not tagging it #do you want to ask a question it doesn't have to be a question #also I periodically make the mistake of searching for my blog name while using my other blog #which is a great way to give myself a heads up if I'm about to get a whole bunch of anon hate #and what I have learned from this is that say what you will about me I have the most absolutely unhinged haters #I live rent free in their minds baby

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