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alfredolover119 · 3 years

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zukka fic rec list (post-canon)

howdy! i’ve been collecting zukka fics i like since uhhh june and now i am sharing my lists with the world. i’m splitting it into three posts so it hopefully wont be too long. this is the second one: post-canon fics! the other two will be canon era and modern au. [side note!! if youd like a specific type of rec list,, i.e. soulmate au, fake dating, ambassador sokka,, hmu and i’ll post a list !!]

within this post, the fics are in word count order! also, if you’d like a soundtrack for your reading, i might recommend my zukka playlist :^) happy reading!

speak ill by @moonsongdotmp3

-4111 words, teen

-developing/established relationship, ozai hate <3

"I hate your dad so much,” Sokka considers for a second. He tries to mix it up as often as he can when they play this game. “That I have considered starting an official petition begging Aang to reconsider his commitment to nonviolence.” // It’s quiet for a beat. He’s afraid he’s miscalculated, but Zuko laughs, broken and sincere. // (Or: 5, 8, 15 years after the war, Sokka talks shit about Ozai.)

Friends Don’t Let Friends Fake Date Each Other by @d-naggeluide

-5349 words, general

-fake dating, coming out, kinda crackfic

Toph demands that Zuko fake date her. This goes just about as well as can be expected. Sokka steps in to show them how it's done, and this goes a bit better than expected.

Oh, How We Find Our Way by @donvex

-6043 words, teen

-bed sharing, hurt/comfort, domestic fluff

In which Zuko doesn’t sleep nearly enough once he takes up the throne, and Sokka isn’t having it. And maybe they get to fall in love on the way, as a treat.

(let me be) there for you by @bisexuallsokka

-8471 words, teen

-friends/idiots to lovers, mutual pining, getting together

Sokka pulls out a clean piece of parchment and starts to write: Reasons Why Sokka Would Be A Great Bodyguard for Lord Zuko // He smiles in satisfaction at the title. Seeing it in writing only makes him feel more confident in this brilliant, two-minute-old idea of his. Zuko is one of his closest friends, and Sokka is a great fighter, he would be the perfect bodyguard! He has the entirety of his trip in the Fire Nation to prove it to Zuko. This is going to be a piece of cake.

This Isn’t My Idea of Fun by @khaleeseas

-8921 words, explicit

-royalty/moon spirit!sokka, childhood friends to lovers, no war au, mutual pining, fluff and angst

If you asked Zuko, he and Azula saw far too much of Chief Hakoda of the Northern Water Tribe’s children growing up. It wasn’t until they were older, and Azula pointed out that - duh - their families were trying to set them all up, that he realized why. // He was told by his mother to be polite. These people were their friends and allies, and though their nations were as different as they came, harmony between nations was the most important thing. // It wasn’t his fault the Chief’s children were so annoying.

the thing about dancing by anodymalion

-9713 words, teen

-trans sokka, family angst

The first time a attendant spills Zuko’s tea and doesn’t immediately fall to her knees, begging the Fire Lord’s forgiveness, it is not anger but a resounding warmth that fills his chest.

Will You Fake Date Me (But This Time For Real)? by AlyssiaInWonderland

-10520 words, not rated (teen, i think)

-fake dating, mutual pining, idiots to lovers

Zuko is determined to convince his Uncle that he is not, in fact, pining after Sokka. // Sokka is desperate to convince Katara and Aang that he is not, in fact, pining after Suki. // When Sokka's scheme to avoid pity means Zuko and him must fake date for an entire diplomatic event, shenanigans, realisations and confessions ensue.

i could (never) give you peace by @zukkababey

-10540 words, mature

-ambassador!sokka, friends to fwb to lovers, angst with a happy ending, miscommunication

Zuko almost said it. He almost said the words I think I’m in love with you, but he choked them back down at the last second. // Zuko would never be able to be what Sokka wanted. They might have needed each other during the summer, when two boys with too much weight on their shoulders found comfort in each other in the only way they knew how. // But now Zuko was Fire Lord, and Sokka was leaving.

Operation: Get the Fire Lord a Boyfriend by @rejectscanon

-10679 words, teen

-established relationship, attempted matchmaking, fluff, hurt/comfort, 5+1

5 times the people of the Fire Nation tried to get Zuko and Sokka together, and 1 time they realized they already were.

a study in matchmaking by @verdanthoney

-12218 words, general

-friends to lovers, mutual pining, idiots in love, bg bakoda and kataang

Zuko and Sokka try to play matchmaker, but things don’t go exactly as planned.

Always read Your Peace Treaties Carefully by preciousbunnynoiz

-14039 words, teen

-arranged marriage, miscommunication, found family, fluff, non-linear narrative, angst with a happy ending

Zuko and Sokka have been engaged to be married since the peace talks. Only they were the only ones who didn't know. // Everyone else thought they not only knew but that they had already been dating the entire time. // This is also news to Zuko and Sokka who have definitely NOT been dating but maybe they aren't as uninterested as they are protesting.

this love burns so yellow (becoming orange and in its time, exploding) by @meliebee

-18767 words, teen, major character death (NOT ZUKO OR SOKKA OR ANY OF THE GAANG)

-found family, slowburn, fluff and angst, hurt/comfort, mutual pining

Ten months after Zuko is crowned at seventeen, he faces his first coup.

All the Little Things by @voidcenturyscholar and @romancedawning

-23575 words, general

-fake dating, friends to lovers, mutual pining, bed sharing, fluff, miscommunication

Sokka receives an offer of an arranged marriage from the Northern Water Tribe. On the one hand, accepting would strengthen ties between their tribes. On the other hand, Chief Arnook has suggested Hahn as a potential match, and Hahn sucks. But with the future of the Southern Water Tribe Reconstruction project relying heavily on the good will of the North, Sokka doesn’t know how to say no. // (Katara doesn’t have to deal with this. Katara is dating the Avatar.) // Zuko has a solution. Sokka just wishes he’d realized he was in love with the Fire Lord before he agreed to pretend to date him.

isn’t this the vision that you wanted by @goldrushzukka

-34633 words, teen

-pining, matchmaking, coming out, friends to lovers, bed sharing, internalized homophobia

Firelord Zuko - ender of the Hundred Year War, ruler of the Fire Nation, payer of respects and reparations - takes advice and counsel from representatives of every nation, division, and specialty. // But teenage boy Zuko - friend of turtleducks, wielder of fun looking swords, stumbler over words and feet in the presence of cute boys - only listens to two people, and they are conspiring together to ruin him.

(do you take this jerk to be) your one and only by @jatersade

-55855 words, teen

-enemies to friends to lovers, (not actually) unrequited love, slowburn, sharing a bed, alternate universe, arranged marriage, huddling for warmth, fluff

Under the leadership of Fire Lord Iroh, the Fire Nation has made every attempt to restore peace and make amends for the harm they inflicted during the Seventy-Year War. Their newest proposal is a literal proposal: a marriage to unite the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes. // The Fire Nation offers Prince Zuko’s hand. // The Water Tribes offer Princess Yue’s. // Sokka is apparently the only person in the world who has a problem with any of this.

Wooing the Water Tribe by @dameferre

-56839 words, teen

-didn’t know they were dating, i mean IDIOT idiots to lovers, ambassador!sokka, mutual pining, himbos istg

Zuko is courting Katara, and with every passing day finds new and insane ways of showing that he would quite literally move the spirit world and earth to make her happy. // In hindsight, it probably would've been better if Sokka had realised he was in love with Zuko at literally any time before this. Or preferably, never fallen for his best friend in the first place.

In the Soft Light by @voidcenturyscholar and @romancedawning

-83901 words, teen, graphic depictions of violence

-moon spirit!sokka, ambassador zuko kinda, hurt/comfort, slowburn, pining, canon divergence, miscommunication, sickfic, huddling for warmth, angst with a happy ending, enemies to lovers, underage drinking

As the newly appointed cultural liaison to Northern Water Tribe, Zuko is the first Fire Nation Citizen to step foot inside the city's walls in nearly a century. He's determined to prove himself—to the Fire Lord and to his father—even if the Water Tribe's spirit-touched prince seems to want nothing to do with him.

#zukka #zuko #sokka #atla #avatar: the last airbender #fic recs #zukka fic recs #fanfiction #rec list

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stitch1830 · 3 years

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CHARACTER DESCRIPTION: KANTO

So this is a character description for the character Kanto that @precious-metal-girl and I created for AUs where he is in a loving and committed relationship with Toph Beifong. Part of this is to help me keep track of all of his features and personality traits, and if others are looking to write about Kanto but aren't sure about how to describe him, feel free to pick and choose characteristics that meet your AU needs! This will (hopefully) be a living document where characteristics are added and changed over time. If you are curious about our AUs or want to know about a particular trait/personality, feel free to ask us questions!

......

Born: ~88/89 AG (summer)

Residence: Republic City

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Green

Element: Earthbending/Metalbending

Occupation: Deputy for the Republic City Police Department, Metalbender Division

Nicknames: Hotshot, Dep (short for Deputy), Slick, Botany Boy, Pretty Boy, Metalbrain, Metalhead, Rockhead, K, My Rock

Relationship: Toph Beifong

Background:

Kanto grew up near one of the Fire Nation colonies close to what is Republic City today (part of the reason why his name has FN influence). His father took many different jobs and tried to avoid fighting in the war as long as possible so he could stay with his family, while his mother was a seamstress for the town. Often, he would help his mother sew clothes, and because of that he was pretty crafty and good with his hands. He lost his parents at age 7; old enough to remember them and his childhood, but all the memories are pretty blurry.

What he does remember is that his family was pretty poor, but they always had something to laugh about.

He loved learning new skills with his dad, and had his mom read the same two books they had every single night. And one thing he always remembers is eating together as a family.

His parents died either in an accident for rebelling against a FN rule (maybe the FN wanted to take Kanto away for being an earthbender), or from protecting Kanto in general.

Kanto was always pretty feisty as a boy, pushing people’s buttons and egging people on. It only got worse when his parents died because he pushed buttons out of anger now.

He also had a lot of friends, but after, he didn’t talk to anyone for a while because he ran away. Most of his fighting skills were learned while on the run, he never got any formal training until he went to the metalbending academy (maybe 17 or 18? Toph managed a different part of the academy so she didn’t know him. That or he went to a different academy branch entirely).

One thing he remembers is that he was happiest with his family, so he cherishes the idea of a happy family unit, and he constantly searched for something that made him feel close to that happiness.

Personality:

The first impression people get of Kanto is that he is a no-good, arrogant, bad boy. He acts as if he’s the coolest person in town and always has something sassy to say in response. More than half of the words that come out of Kanto’s mouth are flirtatious and sarcastic, a combination that initially drives Toph Beifong crazy.

But in reality, Kanto is an extremely loyal man who’s rather selfless, putting himself in harm’s way so no one else has to. His initial personality is a front to protect himself so that he doesn’t befriend anyone too much, because he knows what it’s like to love people and lose them. He hated how he felt when he was orphaned and never wanted to feel that way again.

When his facade finally cracks with Toph and she sees the real him, he’s actually… a dork.

He’s got a very goofy personality, he gets excited about little things, and his passions do not necessarily align with his looks and his first impression. When he loves people, he does so with his full heart, but again, he’s hesitant to do so with many… His family are essentially the only ones that see him this way.

Looks:

Kanto is most certainly a hunk. He’s got a similar skin complexion to Toph, thick and wavy (borderline curly) black hair (Toph loves playing with it), broad chest and shoulders (a fit and toned body overall), a mischievous, slightly crooked grin (left corner turns up higher than the right) that makes all the women of RC swoon, a crooked nose from being punched in the face one too many times, and classic earthbender green eyes. He’s also pretty tall, that’s where Lin gets her height from, well over a head taller than Toph And despite being an earthbender, his hands and fingers are actually rather long and nimble. Some popular fanart interpretations of Kanto can be found here and here and here and here and here.

Interests:

Kanto likes flowers, he often brings new ones home (especially when he’s with Toph) so he can teach her about its qualities and so they have a nice and natural floral scent in their home. He’s obsessed with pro bending like Toph, and often will attend matches with her. Astronomy and biology are also interests of his. Toph and Kanto also have a cool rock collection, both are trying to best each other to find the coolest one. Kanto reads science fiction novels to Toph in their downtime and he’ll play the guitar or pipa.

Fears:

Kanto is afraid of bugs, he doesn’t care for large fires that can get out of control, and big animals make him nervous at first contact. When Lin’s in the picture, he freaks out when there are too many sharp corners in one place. He’s always afraid she’s gonna fall and hit her head. Kanto also doesn’t like those rip tides or currents in oceans/large bodies of water.

Some of his deeper level fears include losing his family. He cannot stand the idea of losing Lin or Toph, especially if the reason they are missing or gone is because of him. He’s lost his family before, and he’ll be damned if he loses them again.

Flaws:

A lot of his flaws stem from his stubbornness and confidence. He’s arrogant, overconfident, prideful, and impatient. He knows he’s good at his job and he’s not afraid to talk about his skills and talents, and unless he’s working specifically with Toph, he assumes he’s the best for the job.

He’s flirty, sarcastic, reckless, and a bit of a slob (just his home, he keeps a clean appearance). Kanto’s constantly ragging on coworkers, has comments for days, and it’s rare for him to speak in a serious tone while on the job. Just doesn’t happen.

He’s protective, reckless, a troublemaker, skeptical, and vengeful. When he actually finds love and has a family, he is extremely protective, to the point where if criminals threaten his family, he’s not afraid to take the law into his own hands to eradicate the problem. One of these would be his fatal flaw, maybe vengeful? His vengeful tendency could be from a need to retaliate to protect his family from a threat, and that ultimately may take him down.

His flaws mainly seem to come from his overconfident front that he gives to the world. He doesn’t let too many in, or, he lets people in, but they don’t see the real him. Kanto doesn’t trust people right away, but it’s easy to get along with everyone if you just have this confident and charismatic face on. But his ‘face’ seeped into his actual personality, so there are times when he shouldn’t blurt out the first stupid comment in his head, but he does.

Gaang First Impressions:

Aang: He’s always extremely happy and excited to meet new partners, so he was thrilled to meet Kanto. They definitely don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but Aang is great at being friends with everyone despite the differences, so there’s no animosity.

Katara: She’s skeptical at first, because Kanto acts like a douche and has a bad boy persona. Katara just doesn’t want to see Toph get hurt, so she interrogates the man a bit (a lot), but even though the things he says concern her, he’s a gentleman to Toph, very attentive to her needs. So, maybe he’s not so bad… Later on, she knows the bad boy look was all a facade and that Kanto is a sweetheart, and she grows to really like Kanto.

Zuko: He gives Kanto a very cold shoulder at first. He’s very protective of Toph because he thinks of her as a little sister. So, he crosses his arms, glares a bit, and Kanto glares back because that’s what he does at first. But then, they start going on double dates, and Zuko and Kanto turn out to have a lot more in common than they realize. They’re buddies now!

Sokka: Sokka’s attitude really depends on ship preference with him, but in most HC’s, he’s Toph’s best friend, so he would also be distant with Kanto. He wouldn’t like how cocky he is, or that he’s super tall and talented at many things… he’s not a fan. However, Toph is always super happy around Kanto, he makes her laugh, and no one is allowed to insult Toph without an ass whooping from both Kanto and Toph, so, he warms up to the guy. He’s been seen buying Kanto a beer after a long day of work as a truce, and he often goes to Kanto if he needs police paper signed and expedited (Kanto does the same with Sokka, it evens out).

Suki: Suki is pretty chill about it all. She’s pretty perceptive about personalities and whatnot, and she can detect a bit of a bad boy mask. So, she treats the introduction casually and is super cordial with Kanto. They never become best friends or anything, but she was one of his first “allies” in the Gaang, and for that he is forever grateful.

Other Facts:

His mannerisms are that he walks with a slow swagger. Often the slowest of the group, he takes his time whenever he walks places. But don’t let that fool you—he can sprint really fast. He leans back in almost all of his chairs, sometimes he leans too far back. Kanto was a notorious manspreader when he would sit down, but since being with Toph, she put a stop to that instantly. When he’s restless, he bounces his leg a lot, and usually only stops if Toph reminds him (usually a hand to his leg to calm him down). Kanto also runs his hand through his hair a ton to either push it off his face, or just on instinct. He fidgets with his hands, too, Toph does as well. Usually, the two will hold hands or play with each other’s fingers to ‘remedy’ their nervous tick. In extremely stressful situations (like an AU where Lin is kidnapped), Kanto usually throws up and doesn’t sleep at all.

Kanto’s voice is a mix of a rural and city accent, once Republic City becomes prominent. He uses slang in his speech often and mainly uses city words (he picked up a lot of city lingo when interacting with criminals and undercover work back in the day). There are a few words and phrases from his childhood that he uses that scream ‘rural kid’ and that is mainly when the distinction in his accent and speech is picked up. His voice is smooth and deep when he casually talks. When he yells, it becomes a bit gravelly and husky sounding. Oddly enough, when he whispers, the same thing happens.

Kanto smells like the earth or something with a forestry scent (cedar comes to mind). He wears cologne, and the scents he usually goes for are ones that smell like earth, wood, or resin. Kanto likes wearing cologne, but he can’t put too much on, otherwise it bothers Toph’s nose, and he typically checks to see which ones Toph likes, and he’ll purchase that cologne again because he knows she likes the smell. He naturally smells a bit like metal and dirt and a bit of smoke (he was a casual smoker before he had Lin). All these scents are not prominent, but by the end of the day, these are the scents that can usually be detected.

Some of his pet peeves include fake apologies, when people kick or shake the chair he is sitting in, any slightly insulting remark toward Toph, close talkers, people that interrupt frequently, and those that correct his grammar.

Kanto canonically only has one daughter, Lin. In this AU, he’s a loving and committed father who emphasizes putting his family first and protecting them. He doted and hovered over Toph while she was pregnant, cried tears of joy when Lin was born, and is very attentive and caring toward Lin. He’s the one that soothes her when she cries out at night, he’ll get up in the morning with her so Toph can sleep in, and when he comes home from work, he smothers her in kisses and gives her raspberries on the belly (affectionate). Even as a baby, Lin was a Daddy’s girl and Kanto spoiled her as much as possible.

In the relatively canon compliant AU, Kanto dies when Lin is about 6 months old. He left for work, had a run-in with a bloodbender (or an accident on the job), and never returned home. On the day of his death, Kanto planned on proposing to Toph, but never got the chance.

Lin knew about her father growing up, but he wasn’t talked about often because it is a touchy subject for Toph (and for most that knew him well). On her 13th birthday, Lin receives the engagement ring on a necklace, along with a handwritten letter from Kanto.

There are many AUs and headcanons related to where he lives, but those are very fluid and change all the time!

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autisticzukka · 3 years

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what is this hakoda zuko arranged marriage you speak of? i am intrigued

okay so the long story short is that it’s a slight rebuttal of a popular post that is very fun but i find like... unrealistic in a really intriguing way like, how would this ACTUALLY play out. I’ve talked about it at length in my server a few times, and it’s one of those AU’s -- like the genderbend zukka ATLA rewrite or the zukki fic that starts with sokka failing to assassinate zuko -- that lives rent free in my head and I’ve written a couple thousand words for.

tw for like VERY unrequited zuko in love with hakoda and the inherent comedy of sokka being in love with his fire nation stepmom.

so here’s hakoda, chief of the southern water tribe, happily not-married to Bato. and here is a more balanced war, where the north and the south are actually allies, rather than whatever the fuck they were in ATLA. Yue already has a fiance and the Northern chief refuses to remarry. that leaves hakoda responsible for biting the bullet and doing a political marriage even though, as he points out at length, he is an elected official and if he stops being elected it’s no longer a marriage with the chief of the south pole. intelligently but mostly selfishly motivated (yue’s fiance is his nephew, after all) pakku points out that its not like the fire nation knows... that. the fire nation is dumb. ozai’s stupid.

faced with such inarguable points hakoda stiffens his upper lip, pre-emptively ends things with bato on the understanding that if this is another kya situation they’ll get back together and that he’s still the most important person to him but the tribe comes first yada yada, and deals with katara throwing the mother of all tantrums. it is slightly softened by the fact that in return for him marrying the fire nation noble, a thing everyone can agree isn’t traditional, the north has finally agreed to train katara. she heads out before the wedding, in protest but also so as to not cause an international incident.

(on her way, she’ll find aang. with the war less dire, katara will be sympathetic towards his desire to live without committing violence, even if she deeply can’t relate. they’ll have a hot girl romcom summer of self discovery and coming to terms with the dichotomy between duty and love as they become master benders. at some point they pick up toph. they ARE a throuple.)

sokka meanwhile is like.. not cool with it.. but ? kind of relieved? like. he’s the eldest kid. he’s 18, and he’s been a man of the tribe as far as legalities for several years. it would have been entirely understandable if his dad had asked HIM to do it. he had his emotionally crushing romance with yue, and as much as he was like ‘im kind of a prince’, he finds he doesn’t actually want some of the responsibilities and demands that would bring. yue’s life sucks.

back in the fire nation, zuko never demanded a quest and never went on it. he’s spent years hardening into something that, while brittle, can survive the pressures of the court around him. he still has his scar. he still wants his father to love him, but he knows by now that it’s not something he’s capable of earning. he watches his sister, never the most stable person, start to have complete breakdowns of sanity once she hits puberty, and helps her cover for it and receive medical treatment on the down low. he’s the heir, but he lives knowing that if he was ever in a position to inherit his choices are to abdicate or have the baby sister who he raised kill him and destroy herself and the country in the process.

when he realizes the plan is to marry azula off rather than someone more reasonable-- mai is RIGHT there, for fucks sake-- he doesn’t realize ozai’s true intent is to fuck this up through malicious compliance and false shows of good faith. he panics, and does the zuko thing: he blurts out that this is unacceptable and immoral and she’s only 16 and Ozai sees the true opportunity for two birds with one stone. send zuko, let him piss someone off so badly he gets killed or divorced, and he gets rid of zuko from the line of succession permanently. there are those who are incredibly attached to teh idea of a firstborn for firelord, and it’s been a constant thorn in unpopular ozai’s side to nto be able to name azula his heir apparent without costly rebellion. but if he can taint him in the mind of the fire nation so much that birthright is easy to supercede-- yeah. this’ll work PERFECTLY.

so zuko is sent to marry hakoda, chief of the water tribe.

literally NO ONE was expecting it to be a member of Ozai’s immediate family. besides the fact that his oldest child is half hakoda’s age and his brother has 20 years on hakoda, it would have been sus as fuck - the treaty is not favorable enough to grant that kind of secession of interests. it becomes quickly apparent that this young man -- hakoda reminds himself of that repeatedly. not kid. not kid. young man. don’t think of him like a kid, it’s hard enough on both of us already. -- is not a horrible threat. he’s scared shitless and shakes with what he thinks is bravado. he’s desperate to make the marriage work. he’s desperate to not go home. he’s got a giant fucking scar on his face from where the fire lord punished him for some grievous but unstated offense.

zuko “daddy issues” fire nation sees his husband to be and, despite being scared shitless, immediately begins to soften a little. like... he’s not nearly as scary as he thought he’d be. his face can be stern, but it just as easily breaks into huge smiles, and his eyes are crinkled with laughter. he’s incredibly handsome. and his biceps are. his biceps. are. his hands are...

like. zuko thinks. okay. maybe. maybe his marriage duties. won’t be so horrible as he thought. maybe he’s ready for this. and he knows what to expect, Uncle had discreetly provided him the means and the contacts to acquire an intimate education in the whirlwind of activity that was the two months before leaving. and like, once he’d gotten past the nerves, it was often even... good? or at least... not bad? he thinks that even if hakoda isn’t a professional expert, he has a certain.... je ne sais quoi, if you will.

((DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF))

sokka sees his new stepfather and immediately falls in love because he’s that kind of dumb bitch. (the core of this au is that i cant breathe thinking about sokka falling in love with his hot young stepmom his age who his dad doesnt even want to fuck. like. i CANT. sokka masturbates to ‘hand caught in the washing tub’ fantasies which are even more absurd for requiring zuko to be DOING LAUNDRY. i find it so funny.)

bato watches them at the wedding feast while hakoda is very clearly trying to treat zuko as an Equal Adult Partner and mostly managing to seem like someone having a serious conversation with a seven year old about the game they’ve made up. zuko is clearly enamored with it, soaking up the attention, blushing and doing his best to Bravely Flirt, which at one point includes awkwardly attempting to feed Hakoda by hand. bato has to excuse himself to have a teary eyed giggle, hoping that Kya is in the spirit world looking down and laughing with him. he can’t resent the kid even a little bit, when hakoda is sitting there looking so incredibly fucking befuddled as to what he’s supposed to do with this star struck infant he’s legally wed to

anyways all of this... is very funny. their wedding night... is less so. zuko does not take the rejection from hakoda very well, especially because he’d been caught wanting. HE’S the one who should be rejecting hakoda. and he catastrophizes almost immediately about his potential value to the water tribe, his future treatment, that endless inescapable freezing cold loneliness is the good ending for him here... hakoda, meanwhile, drops zuko off at his home, reassuringly informs him that there’s NOTHING else expected of him and he will be well taken care of, and books it to bato’s. bato refuses to let him in on grounds of ‘you can’t sleep under the same shelter as me on your wedding night to that kid, have a fucking brain’, and he ends up crashing at sokka’s.

sokka, who had KNOWN that his dad wouldnt, but also upon seeing zuko and zuko’s awkward flirting was like... but how COULDNT he???? sokka is relieved.

the core of this fic is that i find it endlessly hilarious for zuko to try and seduce his husband while sokka simps around zuko and bato tries to be heartbroken or betrayed but mostly ends up with a giant case of hysterical schadenfreude. but the thing that CLINCHED it for me, like THE scene. several years after being married, settled into their life. they’re partners and they see each other as people. and zuko just fucking snaps one night

he just kisses him, desperate and clawing and climbing and maybe a little drunk. he knows hakoda is going to push him away, maybe even hit him, but he doesn’t care anymore, he doesn’t care. he can do anything he wants to him as long as he just-- finally does something. zuko is 21 and married to the surface of the sun and the surface of the sun jr is his best friend and clearly in love with him-- so clearly not even zuko can miss it-- and like. listen. listen. zuko is not a patient person. but he’s been patient for this. he waited and he matured and he is a fucking amazing husband and he wants this, he wants him. he wants to be wanted.

but hakoda doesn’t push him away. hakoda doesnt yell at him, or hit him. hakoda gentles the kiss into something soft and closed lipped. he pulls away slowly, and his eyes are so sad for zuko, so pitying. he strokes his cheek with the back of his hand so gently. he says, I’m sorry. I don’t want you.

and zuko daddy issues fire nation swallows

and he nods

and he leaves, even though its his own fucking house

and he knows he’s never going to be good enough

like FUUUCK i am OBSESSED WITH THAT

#long post #lmao i am NOT fucking main tagging this #op #asked and answered #i just want zuko to fall in love with hakoda and for hakoda to gently reject him #noncommittalhum

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willowdove · 3 years

Text

Eyes Like Fire: A Soulmate AU

A couple months passed by. The green in Katara’s eyes started to morph into a rich yellow-gold. Kya found herself lost in them as she bounced Katara in her lap. Perhaps it was temporary. Maybe they would shift again, into a brown, maybe. Brown eyes, at least, were potential allies. Golden eyes, though- golden eyes were dangerous.

Since there’s been some interest in this I’ve decided to post an update. My work pace is slower than a snail- BUT I haven’t abandoned this WIP by any means. This is not all of the work I have so far (please note that there are chapters in between that are missing) but it is what I’m happy with. I’ve included the first couple chapters again because they’ve been slightly reworked. Hopefully it’s not too much to put it all in one place here.

PROLOGUE

“Her eyes are darkening,” said Kya, watching her two children play nearby. The eldest, Sokka, rolled a ball towards his sister Katara. She scooted excitedly to grab it in her chubby little fist, then spastically hurled it at the ground between them. She giggled with delight when this made Sokka toddle after it.

Kya’s husband Hakoda squeezed her shoulders and kissed her on the forehead. “Sokka’s eyes changed about this time too,” he remarked. When Sokka was born, he had possessed the crystal blue eyes of any Water Tribesmen. But before he was a year old, they had lightened to a pale green. Hakoda claimed this meant Sokka was destined to be an adventurer. He would have to leave home if he wanted to find the person those eyes belonged to.

Katara’s eyes were changing too, but they weren’t getting paler. Green was blazing up from underneath the blue, vibrant and consuming. Green definitely would point to an Earth Kingdom origin. “Maybe they’ll go on their adventure together,” Kya suggested.

Hakoda chuckled. “They certainly do seem to get along,” he said.

***

She must have been staring a little too intently, because Sokka seemed to pick up on her concern. “Katara eyes pretty,” he declared. He clambered up Kya’s knee to sit with his sister and hugged her tightly. Katara popped her thumb out of her mouth to hug him back, babbling happily.

Kya forced herself to smile, kissing them both on the head. “Yes,” she agreed. He was right, they were pretty. But that didn’t stop a dark ache from tugging deep at the center of her being.

***

Kya was preparing sea prune stew for the family when her daughter asked the question. “Mommy, why does everybody look at me funny?” she said. The spoon in Kya’s hand clattered into the pot as she quickly turned.

“Who said people were looking at you funny?” she demanded, bristling.

Katara seemed to shrink in the fur lining of her dress collar. She looked down at her feet, mumbling, “Nobody said. I just see them do it. You look at me funny too, sometimes.”

The air went out of Kya and guilt pricked at her like a barb. She knelt slowly, taking her daughter’s face in her hands. Katara resisted the gentle tug at first, but quickly gave in and met her mother’s gaze with wide, golden eyes. A stranger’s eyes. “I’m sorry, baby. We’re just… worried about you.”

“Is something wrong with me?” Katara asked, tears welling up on her thick lashes.

“Oh, sweetie, no,” she shushed, giving Katara a tight hug before holding her out by the shoulders. She struggled to put together the words she needed. “…Has anyone told you what a soulmate is?”

Katara sniffled loudly, but managed to contain her tears. “Gran-Gran said it was someone special who will love me forever and ever.”

A thankful smile quirked at the corners of Kya’s mouth as she nodded. “Do you know that until you kiss your soulmate, you’ll have each other’s eyes?”

Katara’s brows furrowed in confusion for a second before she gave a little shriek, pressing her fingers into the top of her cheeks just under her lower eyelids. “These aren’t my eyes?” she asked, horrified.

Kya had to laugh a little at the unexpected outburst. “No, those are your soulmate’s eyes,” she reiterated.

“Why?!” Katara demanded.

“Well, it’s to help us to find each other, I expect,” she explained.

Katara considered that for a long moment. She walked over to her mother’s bed furs and pulled out the mirror. Her fingertips brushed lightly over the metal as she peered studiously at her reflection. “My soulmate… isn’t from here, is he?”

“No,” Kya answered softly.

“Are people worried I will have to go really far away?” she asked.

Kya followed and kissed her daughter’s forehead fiercely, trying to blink away the tears that were welling in her own eyes before Katara could see them. “They’re worried… you’ll have to go to the Fire Nation,” she replied.

“Oh,” Katara said, “Well, I won’t then. I’ll just tell everybody I’m not gonna go.”

The ache in Kya’s chest was so great that she could barely breathe. “Ok, baby,” she agreed, “I’ll try not to worry so much anymore.”

***

CHAPTER 1: THE SOUTH POLE

When the black snow began to fall, Katara felt her heart seize. The last time she had seen such snow fall was the first day Katara ever saw eyes like hers. It was also the last day she ever saw her mother.

She ran to the middle of the village, to stand with her brother. He was the only man left in the tribe, and she was the only waterbender. They were only two, and untrained, but it didn’t matter. They were all that stood between their people and the enemy.

The Fire Nation steamer that had carved through the icy harbor to their port was small compared to others that had come before, and alone. Still, it was formidable looming over the tattered remains of their village. Its stern detached with a metallic hiss, then slowly lowered to form a ramp. Sokka tensed beside her, his club raised. A figure in red metal plate began to descend the ramp.

Sokka gave a yell and charged forward as Katara started to gather water into her palms, but inexplicably he stopped midway up the ramp, casting a look of fear and confusion over his shoulder towards her. The armored stranger stopped in front of Sokka. Both boys were about matched in height, but the stranger’s position on the ramp allowed him tower over her brother. Sokka pressed his club into the center of the boy’s chest, muttering a low warning. The stranger growled something in return and pushed past him roughly, nearly knocking Sokka off the side of the ramp in the process.

Once he got closer, Katara had to stifle a gasp.

His eyes were as blue as the heart of a glacier. Water Tribe blue.

She stumbled backward, reeling, reflexively bringing her hand up to shield her own eyes. He hadn’t looked at her directly yet. He hadn’t seen.

“Where is the Avatar?” the stranger demanded. The villagers in the square shifted uneasily. Many of them were casting worried glances between him and Katara. She pulled the hood of her parka close to the side of her face.

The stranger reached into the small gathered crowd to grasp her Gran-Gran’s wrist. “They’d be about this age-“ he started to say. Panic and fury spiked hot in the pit of Katara’s stomach, and she forgot herself. The ice beneath the stranger’s feet lurched upward like a living thing; twin maws swallowed his feet whole.

He looked at her then. Her hood had fallen away and a few strands of hair had come loose from her hair loops. She was panting with exertion, the air in front of her fogging like smoke from a dragon’s mouth. Their gazes locked, and her eyes were like fire.

The stranger’s brow furrowed. He had since dropped Gran-Gran’s wrist, and he brought the now free hand to his good cheek, as if he could feel the color of his eyes through the pads of his fingers. His other cheek was marred, a thick red scar beginning there, traveling over his left eye and ending just above where an eyebrow should have been. As she studied him, steam started to issue from the ice encasing his feet and rivulets ran down the sides as it melted.

“Who are you?” Katara asked.

The stranger frowned harder, his gaze dropping to the snow between them. His jaw ticked, but as it did, something in his demeanor seemed to fall away. When he looked back up at her, it was with such unguarded, raw hope that it took her aback.

“I’m Prince Zuko,” he answered, finally. “Will you help me find the Avatar?”

She was so startled by his vulnerability that she almost let it sway her. A part of her was drawn into the depths of his too familiar blue eyes. But he was Fire Nation, and she was Water Tribe.

So she said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nobody’s seen the Avatar in over 100 years.”

It was as the surface of his open soul froze over, suddenly, so that it hissed and popped and cracked. His face twisted into hard, angry lines, and fire burst from his clenched fists.

“I know you’re hiding him. I saw the light!” he insisted.

Katara took a wary step back, reaching for the snow on the ground and trying to pull it into her grasp. It shifted, turning to slush, but it did not flow up to meet her. She tried desperately not to let her panic show. More Fire Nation soldiers were descending the ramp, hands ablaze and ready. There were too many. She had shared a grim look with Sokka, who reached behind his back for his boomerang.

And from out of nowhere, a powerful gust of wind guttered out all the flames. The Airbender had returned, and he landed himself protectively in front of her.

The stranger- Zuko’s fighting stance faltered. “You’re the airbender? You’re the Avatar?” he asked with disbelief. “But you’re just a child!”

Aang tilted his head to the side. “Well, you’re just a teenager,” he pointed out.

Zuko shook his head once, and then with a surging roar punched a fireball at Aang. Aang spun his staff to disperse it. The prince let loose a couple more fireballs, one high and one low, before launching into a torrent of blows. Aang was able to dodge and deflect all of them, but Zuko’s soldiers started to draw in from his sides, and the villagers behind him started to press together in fear.

“Wait!” Aang said. Zuko paused midform, his arms still flexed and ready. Aang held his glider out to his side, his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?” Aang asked.

Zuko looked over the villagers again as if he had forgotten they were there. Straightening, he nodded.

“Aang, no! Don’t do this!” Katara cried, rushing forward. Zuko gestured wordlessly to his men with a jerk of his chin. The soldiers encircled the Avatar, taking away his staff and roughly grabbing him to restrain him. Zuko stepped around them in order to block Katara’s path to the boy.

“You can come with him,” he offered, almost quietly. With me, he implied, unspoken. His too blue eyes pierced into her, confusing her, beckoning her. She had a kinship with those eyes. They looked like… they looked like her mother’s.

“You should leave him here,” she countered. A blaze of indignation was starting in her chest and clawing its way up her throat.

“I’ll be okay, Katara,” Aang assured her. The soldiers started dragging him up the ramp to the ship. “Take care of Appa for me while I’m gone!”

Zuko held Katara’s eyes for another moment before he ripped himself away. Her heart guttered with an inexplicable feeling of loss. “Head a course for the Fire Nation,” Zuko called to his helmsman, “I’m going home.”

***

After Zuko finished doing the rounds to make sure his ship was in order, he retreated into his private cabin. After three years of hard, fruitless searching, they were finally underway towards his true destination. He was supposed to be feeling triumphant. He was supposed to be feeling relief. He had accomplished an impossible task after all.

But he didn’t feel that way. Nervousness eddied around him like the tide washing over a rocky shore. He felt unbalanced. How would his father react when he brought the Avatar home? What if something went wrong along the way? What would be the young boy’s fate once he was taken from Zuko’s hands?

That last thought disturbed him most of all. He leapt from his seat on the bed and began pacing, trying to force his mind to quiet. Instinctively he reached out to the torches along his wall, connecting their energy to his breath. In, and out. Ebb, and flow. Rise, and fall.

Panic crashed over him when he heard one of his soldiers call out, “The Avatar has escaped!”

Zuko began to rush for the door when he spotted the boy’s staff sitting in the corner of his room; he’d had that delivered to his quarters for safe-keeping. The boy had used to fly into their first encounter. There was a good chance he would come back for it, if not out of nostalgia, then out of necessity. Zuko could use it as bait. He hid himself behind the door and waited.

The Avatar child flew into the room without even looking. It should have been easy to trap him; Zuko immediately shut the door after him. But somehow the young boy had deflected all his attacks and wrapped him in a tapestry. Zuko had to chase him up through the control room to the main deck, and only just barely managed to catch him by the ankle before he flew off. He moved to pin his opponent, with a fiery hand raised in warning, but he was interrupted by a loud, guttural lowing.

Zuko and the Avatar both looked up. “What is that?” Zuko asked in shock.

“Appa!” the Avatar cheered. Two of the Water Tribesman were mounted on a giant, floating, furry… thing. One was the boy who tried to rush him. The other was his water-bender girl.

But Zuko wasn’t one to lose focus for very long. The Avatar had shimmied his ankle out of Zuko’s hold and was moving to get up. Zuko kept the newcomers in his peripheral as he blasted incapacitating shots at the Avatar. The boy was able to deflect most of them, but the force of the last one sent the Avatar tumbling over the edge of the ship. He hit his head on the way down.

The Water Tribe girl screamed. Adrenaline surged in Zuko, who immediately began shucking off his armor in preparation to dive in after the boy. He had tossed his shoulder guard aside and was reaching for the clasp on his breast-plate when a strange white glow came from the water.

A raging waterspout surged forth to tower over the ship, the Avatar at its top. His narrowed eyes and tattoos were glowing with white light, and his face was crossed with a severe frown. He was different than he had been before. More powerful. Angry. The icy cold spray from the waterspout bit into Zuko’s skin. He took a step back.

With a wide circle of his arms the Avatar flowed down to the deck, bringing the water with him in a great protective sphere. Gathering his determination, Zuko made to advance, but a torrent of water was sent blasting into his chest and he was thrust backwards. His back hit the rail and suddenly he himself was spinning towards the Arctic water below.

His outstretched hand banged against a protruding metal bar. The service ladder. He forced himself not to flinch away so he could catch the next one down. Pain exploded in his shoulder as his fall was yanked to a stop, but he managed to haul himself into the curve of the ship, planting his feet on the ladder.

On the deck he heard the water slosh to the ground and a soft thud. The Water Tribesman jumped aboard, calling out to the Avatar in concern. Zuko gritted his teeth and climbed.

His waterbender appeared at the rail above him just before he was able to pull himself over. He thought he saw relief flash in her eyes, but that emotion was quickly followed with concern and fear.

If it was anyone else he would have yelled at her to move. Instead he simply requested, quietly, “Get out of my way.”

Her eyebrows creased. “No,” she said. They looked at each other. Zuko reached across the rail and shoved her to the side.

She stumbled and he hauled himself onto the deck of the ship, now slick with ice from the Avatar’s water attacks. Zuko turned to face the direction where he’d heard the Avatar fall. The Water Tribesman was helping him fend off attacks from Zuko’s soldiers.

“No!” his water bender repeated, planting her feet. She siphoned ice from the deck to form globules of water that she suspended from her hands.

Zuko growled at her in frustration. “This isn’t your fight, peasant!” he snapped, gesticulating. Why did she keep trying to stop him? “Get out of my way!”

She scoffed with clear distaste, saying, “My name is Katara!”

He found himself committing that to memory. Katara. Katara.

The Avatar and the Water Tribesman were able to retreat onto the giant fluffy monster. They flew around the nose of the ship to Zuko’s side of the deck. The Water Tribesman reached out his arm to scoop the water bender into the saddle.

There was an odd look of regret on her face as she swung out of his reach.

The fluffy thing was getting away fast. “Shoot them down!” Zuko ordered frantically. His soldiers coordinated together to launch a huge fireball after the fluffy beast. As it arced through the air Zuko’s heart went into his mouth. It needed to hit them. But it couldn’t hit them. He didn’t want to hurt them, not really, he-

At the last second the Avatar gusted it off trajectory, right into a cliff above the port-side bow. Zuko barely has time to jump back out of the way before snow and ice came crashing down in an avalanche onto the deck.

***

CHAPTER 2: KYOSHI ISLAND

Something compelled Zuko to look over the rock.

Katara hoped faintly that it hadn’t been the force of her eyes on him. She and Aang had been smashed against the shore by the Unagi’s wake, beneath a large outcropping of rock. Unfortunately the prince’s ship had landed just to the other side. And he was headed this way, flanked by more komodo-rhino riders.

“Katara!” Zuko called. Lightning shocked through her stomach at hearing him say her name. She tamped it down, frantically shaking Aang’s shoulder to rouse him from unconsciousness. The boy gave no sign of waking. His head lolled to the side. Katara‘s gaze flicked around with growing panic, finding only sand and rock and surf, before lighting back on Aang. She started digging through his pockets.

“Surrender the Avatar!” Zuko demanded, his rhino just stepping around the rock. The sun glinted off the tips of his metal helmet as his soldiers filled in around him. Cloth, cold metal discs, slippery round marbles, fluffy lint... Katara‘s fingers closed over something smooth and wooden. “Step away from him!” Zuko demanded again.

Katara gathered Aang’s unconscious body up in her arms, awkwardly heaving his arm over her left shoulder so that she could balance his head against her cheek. With her right hand, she brought the bison whistle to her lips, and she started backing up into the sea.

Zuko let out a sharp breath. He tapped his heel into the side of his Komodo-rhino and it trotted dutifully into the rocky surf, its great feet kicking up big arcs of water. “Get back!” Zuko insisted, “You have nowhere to run!”

The rocks were uneven underfoot, but Katara refused to turn around. She strained her senses to map the terrain behind her, where the water flowed and caught and eddied. She took another careful step backwards, and another, wincing as her ankle turned just the slightest bit. The water was up to her knees now.

The other rhino riders hovered uncertainly at the edge of the beach. One called, “Permission to engage, Prince Zuko?”

The prince’s eyes were locked with Katara’s. “No! Stay back!” he said quickly. Then, his right hand opening to produce a small font of flame, he added, “Hold your position. I’ll capture the Avatar myself.”

Katara stumbled backwards further over the slippery rocks. The water was lapping at her waist. ”Not today you won’t!” she denied hotly.

“You can’t swim with him like that. Surrender,” Zuko pressed, advancing.

The adrenaline burning her veins was drying out her mouth. She was out of options. She was cornered. She was going to do something incredibly, phenomanally stupid. “I don’t need to swim,” she said, half as affirmation, half as prayer. She tucked her knees, sinking her and Aang both in up to their necks, and pushed.

To her hysterical relief and dread the water flung itself away from her outstretched hand in a forceful jet, just as it had earlier, propelling them backwards towards the center of the lake. Zuko swore, calling for his men to fetch the boats. He dismounted and started shucking his armor.

She stretched and stretched her senses, deep into the water until the reaching wisps of her concentration felt taught enough to snap. Fish wriggled thinly through the net she had cast, and seaweed brushed against it in a whisper. The Unagi was so deep it was almost out of her reach, undulating far below them in the water column, a vast yet smooth obstruction to its flow. Katara sensed it’s head turn to track their movement. It’s great muscled coils tightened beneath it in preparation to launch upwards. The edges of a scream started licking up the inside of her throat. She was going to have to dodge, somehow. At the shore, Zuko was running into the surf. He stumbled. And suddenly, inexplicably, the Unagi’s great head turned towards him instead.

A bellowing roar signaled the arrival of Appa. He landed in the water with a huge splash, and Katara heaved Aang onto the bison’s leg so she could clamber up into the saddle. Sensing urgency, Appa flicked his tail to launch himself from the water as soon as both passengers were aboard, still balancing Aang on his leg. As they climbed, Katata reached down to pull Aang up the rest of the way.

“Back to the village Appa!” she urged the bison, “We have to go get Sokka!”

***

Zuko roared in frustration, slapping the water as the Avatar was carried away on his bison. He had been so close! If his soulmate hadn’t insisted on getting in the way...

It was just his luck. A Water Tribe girl, of course. A stubborn, meddlesome, distracting girl for a weak, honorless, useless prince. Was it too much to ask that she was at least a supporter of the Fire Nation? Zuko had always assumed it would be someone from the colonies- with Water Tribe heritage surely, but a Fire Nation citizen nonetheless. Someone loyal, and helpful, and kind...

Well, it didn’t do to dwell on that now.

“Riders!” he called. They snapped to attention. “You’re letting him get away! Follow that bison!”

Zuko hobbled to shore, blood trailing from a cut in his heel that he had sustained on the uneven rocks below the water. Ignoring how each step ground more sand into his wound, he and threw his armor into a carry sack on his own mount before climbing on, figuring he wouldn’t bother with putting it on again. It would take too long, and besides, it kept getting in the way.

When the riders reached the village, they were met with a wall of female warriors, dressed proudly in green armored dress.

“Halt!” called the one in the center. Her pale amber eyes glinted with mistrust. “Foreign combatants are not permitted on Kyoshi soil. This is neutral ground!”

“I demand to be let through!” Zuko responded with fury. Taking a breath, he ground out, “You are in defiance of the Fire Nation.”

The warriors took a ready stance, their golden fans sharp and gleaming in the sunlight. Their leader continued, “We do not want to violate our peace with the Fire Nation. Dismount and remove your helms, and I will take you to our governor for negotiations.”

Zuko’s scowl deepened. “We don’t have time to talk. You’re in my way. Bring me the Avatar before his bison leaves, or I’ll go through you.”

“The Avatar is our guest,” the warrior hissed.

“Then you’re on his side!” Zuko replied, ordering, “Riders, engage! Break the line!”

Fire surged forth, and the warriors burst into motion. More seemed to pour in from above and the sides, dashing up the long torsos of the rhinos and vaulting over them to strike at their riders. The leader zeroed in on Zuko, slashing at his legs in the saddle. Zuko yanked the reigns to the side, his rhino dodging beneath him as he punched retaliatory fire at his attacker. She followed, making a dash at the komodo-rhino’s side. Zuko angled his foot so he could flick flames from the toe of his boot, unbalancing her approach, and in the same motion dug in his heel to urge the komodo rhino forward. It surged beneath him. But even as he streaked past the Kyoshi guards, a sky bison rose into the air.

He had lost.

***

CHAPTER: THE NORTH POLE

“Are we there yet?” Sokka complained loudly, shaking Katara out of her reverie. They had not seen the Fire Nation Prince for several weeks now. The memory of his face was haunting her. The dark, severe eyebrow, the gaunt, angular cheekbones, the red, leathery scar, and the too blue eyes. She wondered if he was searching the sky for them right now. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought, though whether it was a pleasant or unnerved shiver it was hard to say.

“We’re getting close!” Aang replied cheerily to her brother. “We should be able to see the walls soon.”

Suddenly, they were jolted off balance as Appa careened to the right. Then Katara saw a battering ram of ice launch towards them from the sea on her side.

“Incoming!” she screamed, scrambling back to her spot so she could grab tightly onto the saddle.

Bombarded with icy projectiles, Appa was gradually forced lower and lower until he was snagged by the foot and slammed into the water. The wave that formed from his hapless impact was frozen around his body, encasing him in place. He roared in frustration, the sound reverberating through Katara’s body, and thrashed against his imprisonment. Ships appeared around the icebergs on all sides, carrying waterbenders that hurriedly refreshed the cracks in the ice that Appa was making.

“I thought they’d be friendlier,” Aang said before hailing them. “Hey! We’re here to find a waterbending teacher!”

One of the boats approached closer, headed by a severe old man with a thin mustache and pointed goatee. “Show yourselves, intruders!” he demanded.

Katara and Sokka stood up in the saddle by Aang, raising their arms.

“It’s just me and my sister, Katara,” Sokka said slowly. “We’re with Aang.”

He looked searchingly past them for a moment before accepting that they were the only ones on the flying bison. “I see. I assume not all of you require a teacher?” the old man asked. He looked dubiously at Aang, taking in his pale skin, grey eyes, and bright autumnal attire.

“Well…” Aang began, trailing off as Sokka cleared his throat.

“Aang is the Avatar. My sister is the last remaining waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe. I am not a bender- I came to protect them on their journey.”

The other benders on the boat behind him exchanged an incredulous glance, but the old man appeared unruffled. “And you are?”

“Sokka, son of Hakoda.”

At this he did seem surprised, his eyebrows raising just a fraction of an inch. “The Avatar AND the Chief’s children. Of course. You can verify this?”

The question silenced Sokka, who looked at once alarmed and perplexed. Katara reached tentatively for her necklace. Aang shrugged, then jumped off of Appa’s back towards the man-made ice sheet that extended a couple feet all around his bison. In the span of an instant the old man dropped low, and as he came up, an ice spear flew forward from the water in the direction of his thrusting arm. Wide-eyed, Aang produced a gust of air to propel himself backward. The ice spear stopped just short of where he would have landed.

“I was only getting down to show you my airbending,” Aang protested, clearly a little shaken.

The old man retracted the ice spear, straightening. “We don’t have many… pleasant visits here. I have to assume that you’re attacking when you move that suddenly. Next time, give some warning. In any case…” he signaled to his crew members and to the boats around him. “Chief Arnook will want to deal with this matter personally. I will escort you." He brought his arms together in front of his face, hands clenched into fists above his head and, exhaling, released them so his palms were open towards the ground in front of his hips. With that release, the ice around Appa melted and crashed back into the sea.

Katara tried to file away how he moved, and watched enraptured by the easy way the waterbenders propelled their craft through the sea. The bending that had been displayed to apprehend them was more powerful than she had ever dreamed it could be. Once they reached the city she would finally be able to find a teacher. She eagerly searched the horizon for a sign of the gate. When it finally appeared out of the maze of ice, it took her breath away.

The structure was absolutely immense, carved into a towering glacier at least 500 feet high. Even with the aid of master waterbenders, the construction of this glittering behemoth must have been a massive undertaking. And everything in the city beyond those gates had to be cut from the heart of the glacier itself. Beholding it filled Katara at once filled with profound awe and profound loss. THIS was what it meant to be Water Tribe.

They were waterbended into the city through a series of several draining lock chambers which emptied into a series of canals. Inside was a glittering expanse of buildings that stretched so far it took Katara’s breath away all over again. She watched with wonder as Appa floated them down current.

***

Sokka had studied scrolls on the history and architecture of both the Southern and Northern Water Tribes, so he had had a fairly good idea what to expect when they passed through the gates. Still, seeing the grandiose, glistening city in person was moving. He had to admire the sheer craftsmanship of it all, particularly in the detail work. It was while he was considering ways to replicate the building of a small tower they had passed that he saw her.

The most beautiful girl that he had ever seen was riding in the back of a small rowboat, being guided along the canals by the smooth motions of a waterbender. She had a rounded face and full lips which were quirked into a serene smile. Her shockingly white hair was coiled in sections, one high atop her head and two in plaits that hung almost to her waist. There was a regal bearing about her- her back was straight, her shoulders squared, her chin held high. The most entrancing thing about her, though, was her wide, black eyes.

Sokka had to shake himself out of a daze as they were finally brought before Chief Arnook.

The throne room was just as vast and dazzling as everything else in the city. At its center sat the Chief upon a stark white, tall, crystalline throne draped in blue furs. The Chief had a wide, open face and a strong square jaw. His posture was entirely neutral as they were herded before him, his gaze appraising. “I hear we have distinguished visitors,” he said by way of greeting, “The Avatar. Sokka and Katara, children of Chief Hakoda.”

“Uh, yes, that would be us-” Sokka confirmed as Aang zipped forward, holding out his hand enthusiastically for Chief Arnook to shake.

“My name’s Aang. Super nice to meet you. Do you think you could help us find a water bending teacher?”

The Chief seemed a little taken aback by Aang’s brashness, but he took his hand nonetheless, a smile stretching across his face. “Indeed. I will be happy to arrange adequate accommodations and tutelage for your group. In fact, Pakku,” he addressed their escort, “As you are our best instructor, I will charge you with the Avatar’s instruction.”

“Yes, Chief,” he replied.

“Katara, you will report to Yugoda in the morning. She will be notified that she has an honored guest joining her female class.”

#eyes like fire au #zutara #atla #katara #zuko #Avatar The Last Airbender #update #soulmate au

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theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin · 4 years

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This is a bit random but if characters from your fics lived in the Atla universe what element would they bend? Personally I think Lily would still have all her powers which would result in people thinking she's the avatar even though she's not, Obito would be a firebender, Minato an airbender and Lenin dearest would be a waterbender/bloodbender/maybe the avatar?. This is just the vibe I get tho-

Who needs bullet points when we can do a far too thought out AU that spans multiple fandoms/recursive works that will never happen?

More to the point, elements in AtLA is a mix of personality (we see earth benders as often brash and stubborn, water benders as adaptive, etc.) but also simply genetics. So, while I get that’s kind of the point of this post, it’s a bit weird to me to assign an element solely on personality.

So with that, let’s get started.

The Setting

Just to make things fun let’s make our AU take place sometime between Sozin’s first comet and Roku’s death and Aang awakening from that iceberg. The air benders have been wiped out, seemingly with no survivors, the South Pole has been invaded and the water benders from there captured and brought back to the Fire Nation, many of the colonies in the Earth Kingdom have been established, but the North Pole and great cities in the Earth Kingdom still stand.

The Avatar hasn’t been missing for one-hundred years yet, but he’s been missing for decades and people are coming around to the idea that maybe he’s really not going to show up.

Wizard Lenin/Tom Riddle

In this AU we’ll give Tom Riddle a slightly more traditional shitty background. Since we can’t really have a Tom in the AtLA universe he’s going to have the AtLA generic equivalent name that canon even jokes about: Lee. Lee is the mixed heritage son of a Fire Nation lord and a water bender from the south pole who grows up in a Fire Nation orphanage. And yes, this does happen in the absolute worst way you can possibly imagine, one of the imprisoned water benders from the south pole is raped.

As for Tom (Lee, you get the idea) arriving at an orphanage instead of being imprisoned/taken in as a son, well I’ll leave that to imagination but we can imagine a relatively compassionate guard, a dash of luck, or perhaps someone being an idiot and thinking “oh just dump it in an orphanage, there’s no way it will turn into a water bender too”

So, Tom grows up in an orphanage and looks just a bit... different from everyone else and is clearly not purely from the fire nation. I’m imagining much darker skin (and POC Tom Riddle is the weirdest thing in the world to contemplate, but here we are) and the pale blue eyes.

Tom grows up, dreaming probably of entering the military and winning himself glory, prestige, honor, and clawing out of this impoverished life he was born into. He undoubtedly desperately hopes he’s a fire bender, as not only is it cool but they have the best chance of making it in the world, and probably stays up late for many nights fruitlessly attempting to shoot fire out of his hands.

Unfortunately for Tom, sometime when he’s probably around eight or so, turns out he’s actually a water bender. Naturally, Tom has a huge meltdown and existential crisis as this means something’s terribly terribly wrong. More, all his hopes are ruined, as while a non-bender can make it a bender who is not a fire bender is a foreigner and traitor to the state.

Tom runs away and being a precocious child is able to make it on his own and about the country probably pulling off Toph-like scams. Eventually he runs into a much younger Hama who has just escaped prison and not yet started on her scary old lady adventures of imprisoning random villagers in caves. Hama goes, “of course, yes my child, I knew your mother” and gives Tom the whole horrible rape tale along with “I will teach you everything I know including my scary blood bending”. So Tom learns scary blood bending, probably stays with Hama a few years, and then realizes Hama isn’t going anywhere.

Hama’s content kidnapping random people into caves. At this point, angry and suddenly very pro-water bender Tom wants to murder the Fire Lord and his entire goddamn family and put himself in charge. Go big or go home, am I right?

So Tom leaves, Hama probably saying, “Come back any time, my beautiful murder child” and probably goes exploring the world in search of how the hell he’s going to bring down the Fire Lord. He also probably murders his entire father’s family and steals all his money, but that’s a different story. I imagine he goes to the North Pole where he learns that, as much of a water bender as he is, that he’s the son of someone from the Fire Nation closes pretty much every door to him. He’ll always be an outsider and the North Pole is very frosty towards him.

According to Hama, the South Pole is in shambles, so Tom probably doesn’t even bother going.

So Tom probably goes and bums around the Earth Kingdom, loitering in Ba Sing Se and Omashu, looking for that damned Spirit Library in the desert, etc. for a good number of years as he works to perfect his water bending and make himself an instrument of death.

And then he meets an alien and everything changes.

Lily

Tom probably manages to wander around the spirit world at one point in his late teens and probably almost gets eaten by something terrifying. While he learns much it’s not really anything useful and is more in the “too cosmic horror for Tom” variety. More than that though, something follows him back out.

When he comes to back in the real world there’s this thing sitting next to him that looks enough like a person but also like someone told a gifted artist what humans look like and they got it mostly right but also went a little nuts. It’s a girl, a few years younger than him, who has flaming red hair, absurdly green eyes, pale skin, and facial features he can’t recognize for the life of him (Lily still looking western in this to up the ante of ‘she’s an alien folks’).

Tom sacrifices his dinner to it and hopes it doesn’t eat him.

It explains that it’s a tourist from another dimension, beyond even the Spirit World, and that it’s come to see what the mortal world is all about. Tom is naturally very weirded out but at this point decides to roll with it.

Except it doesn’t leave and clearly expects Tom to play tour guide.

He does, reluctantly, because he doesn’t want to be eaten but he also sort of gets used to the thing. Then, one day, it starts bending multiple elements with utter ease and Tom is at first flabbergasted and horrified (only to remember that spirits can do what they want and aren’t like lowly mortals who can only bend one element) and then he gets the idea.

The Avatar, lazy bastard that he is (and Tom might be a little more than slightly bitter that he himself is not the Avatar), appears to be MIA and not coming back any time soon. The entire world it seems is waiting for the Avatar to come and save them. But, Tom says to himself, who needs the Avatar when you can just have an Avatar. An Avatar and, of course, her water bending master.

Thus, the scheme is set, Tom will teach this weird alien thing how to a) act like a goddamn human in public and b) water bending and together they will pretend she’s the Avatar and got lost in the spirit world a few decades ago (which accounts for the youthful age and the weird appearance) and use this to gain allies, topple the Fire Nation, and eventually give the throne to Tom.

Lily, who doesn’t know the difference between being a tourist and taking over a nation, goes along but is basically this story’s answer to Uncle Iroh always getting distracted by Pai Sho.

Haru/Dead Last

Given that they’re in the Earth Kingdom, and that Lee picks up water bending insultingly quickly which makes Tom fume in rage, they go to pick up an earth bending master/spread the word that the Avatar has returned from her multiple decades long vacation.

Along the way they probably run into Haru, who is the world’s most useless excuse for an Earth Bender. As always, he’s so average looking you can barely remember what he looks like beyond “generic earth bender”.

They probably watch him for two seconds, Lily asks if this is it, and Tom Riddle says, “what a joke”.

Minato Namikaze

Given that all the air benders are dead we’re going to make Minato a very talented earth bender (it is also very weird to imagine a dark haired/dark eyed Minato, but I suppose we’re going to roll with it). This also, to me, does fit his personality a little better as while he is a leaf on the wind kind of guy he also does dig his heels in and get very stubborn now and then.

Minato’s young, younger than Tom (Lee), but he’s incredibly talented and clever. To keep his shinobi background mostly in tact I imagine that Minato is a swiftly rising member of the Dai Li, stationed in Ba Sing Se, but who occasionally goes on intelligence missions to the other feudal powers in the Earth Kingdom.

So I imagine Lily and Tom run into him unnervingly frequently, probably first meeting him off duty in Omashu where he does his “extremely polite and friendly local guide” routine to show the pair the city (never mind that Tom insists he’s been to Omashu plenty of times goddammit). Despite this, Lily and Minato become friends, Lily easily confessing she’s the Avatar (which Minato at first thinks is a joke, even if she looks strange, then goes ‘oh my god, it’s not a joke).

Eventually Minato is stationed to spy on them under the guise of teaching Lily earth bending. So he joins the gang. Tom, who knows exactly what’s going on, is not amused while Lily is just happy to collect another friend who will actually play Pai Sho with her.

Kushina Uzumaki

Kushina is a earth bender, hands down. I debated making her a water bender (because whirlpool) but that personality is just pure earth bender material. Besides, I can just picture her so easily coming from Kyoshi.

So Kushina’s an earth bending Kyoshi warrior, who while ten times as powerful as Minato, also lacks any of his control or cleverness. Kushina has undoubtedly left Kyoshi, abandoning their neutrality, to join the war and kick some fire bender ass.

She does this but along the way frequently runs into the gang where she annoys the ever loving shit out of Minato (her new rival) and claims that Avatar Lily is her new idol.

Rabbit

Rabbit is a mysterious spirit from Lily’s past that she refuses to talk about except in the darkest of terms promising doom and destruction the likes of which the world has never seen.

No one knows how to react to this. Or what a plain old ‘rabbit’ even is.

Tobirama Senju

Because no story’s not complete without Tobirama, I imagine he’s a stuffy waterbender and scholar from the North Pole who Tom is miffed at as the man refused to teach him even more water bending. Tobirama naturally feels that the day he teaches a blatant spy is the day he goes and drowns himself.

Later, when Tom has picked up the Avatar and Tom rubs it in his face, Tobirama probably reluctantly spends a day or so teaching them something/fighting off the hordes of Fire Nation soldiers on their tale (it’s not Avatar if the gang isn’t constantly chased by fire benders).

Obito Uchiha

Obito is the answer to a fire bending instructor. Obito’s a firebender and the youngest son of a wealthy Fire Nation lord. However, Obito’s the black sheep of the family that everyone hates, a late bloomer when it comes to his bending, and is seen as bringing dishonor on the family.

Itching to prove himself, Obito becomes a soldier and goes to the Earth Kingdom, and eventually decides the best way to earn recognition and restore his honor is to capture the newly resurrected Avatar. Congratulations, Obito, you’re this story’s Zuko.

Obito, while not the most talented fire bender at first (though as he gets older he gets dangerously good at it) is extremely clever and becomes the largest threat to the gang.

That said, Obito actually does grow to like Lily quite a bit and begins to realize honor doesn’t actually mean that much to him and he doesn’t even really like his family. He doesn’t even dislike the concept of the Avatar and thinks the world probably does need one right about now.

So after a whole bunch of chasing them around the globe, thinking about his family, and being forced to almost kill the Avatar now and then he eventually defects and volunteers himself as fire bending instructor.

This is met with suspicion on all sides but he and Lily are bros so he wins.

Avatar Roku

Needing to pick up air bending, Lily probably fakes it until she makes it for a while, but eventually runs into Avatar Roku’s wandering spirit taking vacation from an ice cube.

He’s alarmed, but Aang’s trapped in ice, so if someone’s going to substitute then great.

To everyone else it just looks like Lily’s constantly talking to herself, playing Pai Sho with herself, and miraculously picks up air bending out of absolutely nowhere.

Also anyone close to Lee probably figures out she’s not really human/the avatar at this point, but they’ll take what they can get.

And This All Results In

Lily learns all the elements, there’s probably some big battle, then Lily gives some ridiculous speech about world peace that has nothing to do with anything and while the Fire Nation is defeated, Tom is not in fact made Fire Lord and remains merely the Avatar’s humble water bending instructor.

Instead, if he’s alive at this point, the crown goes to Iroh and he’s given a council of angry Earth Kingdom people who tell him to behave or else. We can give Iroh niceish things sometimes. That, or, hilariously, Obito becomes hokage/Fire Lord being distantly in line for the throne and doesn’t even know how that happened or what his life even is right now.

The colonies are the same mess in canon so something like Republic City probably eventually comes about.

Still, there’s peace, and probably statues to the gang all over the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes (while the Fire Nation grumbles and remembers the good old days when they controlled the world).

And then Aang eventually wakes up extremely confused and confronts Avatar Lily noting, “Hey, I’m the actual Avatar” and Lily after a suspiciously blank pause explains, “I said an Avatar, never said I was the Avatar”

So, that’s that. If anyone wants other specific characters added into this mess feel free to comment.

#ask #anon #avatar the last airbender #lily and the art of being sisyphus #minato namikaze and the destroyer of worlds #crossover #fusion

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attackfish · 4 years

Note

I'm in the mood for time travels so first, more of the time travelling Aang AU please

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

1. Aang hadn't realized before just how desperate both Sokka and Katara were for someone older to take charge. When he had been twelve, Sokka had felt almost like an adult to him, young enough to be a peer, but old enough to know what to do. But now he's here, and they know he's really an old man, and as angry as they are with him, they keep looking to him like he will know what to do, like he will tell them what to do. Of course when he tries, Katara yells that she doesn't have to do a thing he says, and does the opposite, but even in this, Katara is looking to him as the grown up to have something to oppose.

2. Two days after Aang tells Sokka and Katara, Sokka comes to him to ask if he's all grown up and a fully realized Avatar, why doesn't he just go to the Fire Nation and kill the Firelord and end the war? Aang rubs his forehead and sighes heavily, before telling Sokka to go get his sister. They need to have a talk.

3. He sits them down and tells them that he could go to the Fire Nation right now and kill Ozai. Ozai might be one of the best firebenders in the world, but he is no match for a fully realized Avatar. He might even be able to sneak out of the palace again without being noticed. But what, he asks them, do they think would happen if Ozai were to die? If the Avatar were to publicly claim to have done it? The war wouldn't end. Ozai has a daughter, Princess Azula, who is more than capable of carrying on. What about if he killed her? She's a fourteen year old girl, Katara's age, a child and he wouldn't, but what if he did? Who would take over the Fire Nation? There would be civil war, chaos. Perhaps Iroh, or Prince Zuko would be able to take the throne in the end, but then what happens? Will they be able to end the war, or will their control be too weak? Getting rid of a bad ruler is a lot harder than building something in his place.

4. He tells them that the first time around, Prince Zuko, yes that Prince Zuko, had become a friend and ally, and had taken the throne at the end of the war, that Aang had taken away Ozai's bending, and he had been put in prison after he had attempted to destroy much of the Earth Kingdom. There was no denying that Ozai had deserved it, or that he had done what he had done to protect the world. Some people had still muttered about how terrifying it was that the Avatar could just do that, or just take a ruler out of power. But think about if he had just done it. without the immediate context of needing to stop Ozai in that moment to protect people right then. Those mutterings would be much louder.

5. So he's trying to figure out what to do, to make the best world after the war, and he knows what he did last time, but that doesn't mean he knows what to do this time. He's working on it, but these things are really really complicated. And the thing is, when he's done, Sokka and Katara just look overwhelmed, shocked, and afraid.

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

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popsunner · 4 years

Text

'Cause I Was Just Thirteen (when I got my first taste of danger)

@cubedleo this isn’t what you’ve been waiting for but it’s somethin’ sjdjb

A/N: I was trying to write the Spirit Sokka AU but my brain wouldn’t let me until I finished this,,, so. AO3 link!!

Summary:

“We’re just kids.”

“Are we?” Sokka asks, and the silence stretches between them.

(The answer is yes, but it’s easier to pretend they grew up a long time ago than admit they’re just broken children trying to fix a broken world)

When Sokka was twelve years old he carved a promise to be a warrior into a block of ice.

It took him an hour to chop out the crude symbols with the tip of his boomerang, and when he was done he was sweating, and his arm ached. War was in his blood, it was his main drive, his life.

He never understood the people who didn’t want to fight.

(Later in his life, he would meet a boy with a scarred face and a girl with dangerous eyes, and he’d know that in a different life, that could’ve been him and his sister)

(The desire to fight would all but fizzle out at that realization)

There are few people left in the world who weren’t raised for war.

Bumi is one of them, and so is Aang. Sokka can see it in the way they speak, the way they move. The way they don’t shy away from fire or loud adventures that draw attention. He can see it in their smiles, wide and fearless and kind.

Bumi and Aang weren’t born into a world of destruction and stifling fear.

(Maybe that’s why Aang looks so much more hurt by the charred forests and waves of injured troops finally coming home)

(Sokka hurts too, but he’s tired)

(He’s so tired)

When the war ends, Sokka breathes for the first time in his life.

It’s like a wave of exhaustion hits him all at once, and if Suki hadn’t been supporting him and his broken leg, he would have crashed to the ground.

“We won,” Katara whispers.

No one cheers. No one smiles.

Slowly, Zuko stands, Katara’s hand hovers next to his hip and the second scar his family gave him. He holds a hand out to Aang, his face stone.

Aang doesn’t shake his hand or nod back grimly. He launches himself at Zuko and laughs with so much relief in his voice it reminds Sokka just how young he is.

(Aang wasn’t raised for war, but he was shoved into the middle with no warning, and expected to fix it)

Zuko shudders and stumbles, and Katara catches him and Aang before they all fall.

Sokka watches her, his baby sister, and realizes she’s been catching people her entire life. His eyes go blurry, and he staggers out of Suki’s grip to grab her shoulders and crush her against his chest.

“You made it,” he says into her hair.

Katara starts to cry.

Sokka isn’t sure how long they stand there after Toph burrows her way between them all and Suki wraps her arms as far as they can reach over the group, but it’s long enough for his leg to scream painfully in protest, and the weight on his chest to return.

Because it isn’t over yet.

Sokka looks down at his friends- his family , and realizes with a shaking breath that the war might be over, but the fight is far from done.

***

Getting used to a post-war world is more difficult than Sokka could have imagined.

For Toph, it’s not very hard. She was raised sheltered, and even despite her attempts to shun that lifestyle, she was never exposed to the loss of war or the scar it left.

Sokka is proud of Aang and Katara, who despite everything, held onto their wonder and inner light.

(the nights he spent pouring over strategies and plotting routes, burying evidence of scorch marks from around their campsite, the days he spent cracking jokes and letting them take out their frustrations on him through light hearted teasing paid off, and he’s so, so proud)

Suki was always an optimist, and Sokka is grateful for her every day, especially at night when he feels the guilt and fear grip his heart and threaten to undo him.

(She holds him and they whisper uncertainties and reassurances to each other until the sun rises)

Sometimes, though, Sokka just wants someone who understands what it’s like to live with what feels like the weight of his people on his shoulders, who knows what it means to grow up training every day for a fight he never asked for.

He finds himself sitting with Zuko more and more often after the war is over.

“Do you think they can ever really forget?” Zuko asks, watching a group of kids fly kites in the courtyard a ways away from where they sit.

“Them?” Sokka shrugs. “Yeah, they’ll forget. They’re just kids.”

Zuko’s eyebrows lower into something sad. “We’re just kids.”

“Are we?” Sokka asks, and the silence stretches between them

(The answer is yes, but it’s easier to pretend they grew up a long time ago than admit they’re just broken children trying to fix a broken world)

***

Hakoda is by no means old, even though his eyes crinkles at the corners and his hair is lined with wisps of white from years of stress, but war takes its toll on everyone, and the warrior has seen too many battles.

He walks with a permanent limp now, and when he asks Sokka to succeed him as chief of the Southern Water Tribe, he favors his right leg.

Sokka is eighteen, the same age his father was when he took charge, technically a full fledged adult now. But the sag in Sokka’s shoulders and the numbness in his eyes didn’t appear on his father until Kya died. His father grew up in a war just like he did, but he didn’t fight in it until Sokka was twelve.

There’s guilt in Hakoda’s eyes, so Sokka doesn’t stop himself from grinning and accepting happily, erasing any sign of the aching exhaustion off his face.

“Is this really what you want?” Katara asks him later, staring into the fire that crackles quietly between them.

Sokka wants to ask her if she’s ever asked Aang that, or Zuko. He wants to tell her he doesn’t have a choice, none of them ever had a choice.

Instead, he smiles. “Well, yeah! I was getting tired of Zuko being the only royal one.”

He can see it in Katara’s face, that she doesn’t believe him.

(But the war is over, the war is over so she lets him lie, the war is over and the worry lines on her forehead are slowly going away)

(Sokka knows now, more than ever, that the war isn’t really over)

(He lets her believe it is)

***

Sokka is at another meeting, another day long discussion of how to achieve peace when the sight of fire and red emblems still scares children, when all that conceals Ozai’s fallen statue in Omashu is a large, green canopy, when Sokka’s people are still scavenging for any food they can find, when Aang is still the only Air Nomad left.

Sokka forces himself to sit straight instead of prop his head on his hand and roll his eyes at Aang as the Earth Nation ambassador goes on and on.

Usually, Toph would be here to cut in with some crude one liner to break up the tension, and Katara would take notes for him when his mind wandered. Usually Suki would squeeze his hand under the table to keep him present.

But this is a closed meeting, as stupid as that is, and only recognised officials are allowed inside.

Zuko sits next to him, hands folded on the table, the epitome of royalty. Even Aang, who’d gotten such a sugar rush from his fourteenth birthday the day before that he tried to teach Momo to swordfight, sits stoically and nods along to the speech that’s been going on for an hour.

“-focusing our rebuilding efforts at this time on Ba Sing Se would be our smartest move,” the ambassador finally finishes.

Sokka raises an eyebrow. “Rebuilding what part?”

“Excuse me?”

“In your entire drawl you didn’t mention the outer rings of Ba Sing Se once. Do you really think we should spend more time and money on a rich inner ring that thrives off the other citizens' poverty?”

Aang looks surprised, like he’s trying to walk back through the meeting to figure out why he missed that. Zuko nods. “I spent time in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se personally, ambassador. I agree that you should be putting your main focus on the people there.”

If the ambassador were a firebender, he’d be blowing smoke out of his ears. “All due respect Fire Lord, but you’d really take the side of a chief of the most desolate land in the world over mine? A non-bender no less?”

Sokka’s wolf tail flips over his head as a rush of hot hair whips past him, from the Fire Lord and Avatar respectively. Aang is standing, his staff in his hand, and Zuko’s hands are clenched, his eyes flashing a warning.

Sokka holds up a hand, and Aang sits down, Zuko relaxes slightly.

(Because he might not be able to do the things they can, he might not have their power, but he does have their respect)

“You forget, ambassador,” Sokka says coolly, “that your king himself is a non-bender, and a personal friend.”

The underlying threat is understood loud and clear, and the ambassador sits down.

The discussion goes on, and Sokka has the taste of bile in his throat for the rest of the meeting.

It isn’t the first time he’s been disliked, like not being able to bend somehow makes him unfit. He sees the looks people give him when he walks alongside Aang on the street instead of behind him, when he tousles the great Toph Beifong’s hair or spars with the Fire Lord, when he teases his sister in public.

It isn’t the first time he’s been disliked for being a non-bender, but it’s the first time someone has said it to his face, in front of his allies. It’s the first time he’s heard the disdain voiced, and the ambassadors words cut sharp like a wip.

(The bile returns later, when he realizes his mind changed the title ‘family’ to ‘ally’)

***

The first thing Sokka does as the official Chief of the South is make plans for a memorial to commemorate the men lost in the fight, and the waterbenders lost in Ozai’s attempts to make sure that his grandfather's plan worked, that the Avatar wouldn’t survive.

(Sokka and Zuko find the place where the waterbenders were held a few weeks later, an entire underground fortress of cages)

(Every cage is full except one, there are no survivors)

(Sokka stares at Hama’s empty cage and forgives her)

It’s Katara’s idea to make the old Fire Nation warship part of the memorial, and with Toph’s help, the two of them build a statue that intertwines with the tarnished red flags and snow beaten metal. It means remembrance and hope.

Sokka’s tears freeze on his flushed cheeks when it’s finished.

“You know,” he tells Zuko the first time the Fire Lord sees it, “that ship isn’t all bad memories. It’s the reason we met.”

Zuko scoffs. “I thought that was a bad memory?”

“Funny how things can grow, isn’t it?”

Zuko has never looked more thankful than in that moment, and that night, sleepily sipping wine while Toph snores in his lap with her feet propped against Suki, watching Aang and Katara dance around the fire, he tells him so.

Sokka smiles, and looks around at his family. It seems like a lifetime ago when all he had was gran gran and Katara.

(Funny, how things can grow)

***

Rebuilding the South is… not easy.

Even with the men home from war, the South’s trade systems and outreach to the other nations had been completely demolished in the war.

The North, despite all its talk about rebuilding its sister tribe, does very little in the way of help.

The Northerners who moved with Sokka’s grandfather are angry, and a group of them plan to sail back to the North to convince them to bring aid.

Sokka lets them, and the day after they leave a blizzard hits the South.

Only four of the seven return.

(After the funerals, Sokka stands on the wall of ice surrounding their village and begs the moon for an explanation until his throat is sore and his voice is hoarse and raspy)

(She never answers)

***

Aang shows up one day, bouncing on his toes and grinning so brightly it hurts Sokka’s eyes, and tells him they’re taking a vacation.

Sokka has things to do, responsibilities and work that he can’t just blow (ha) off, and he just about says so when Appa roars, and Sokka remembers a time when he didn’t have to be chief or have the weight of his entire tribe on his shoulders.

(Somehow, the weight of the world felt lighter than this)

(Maybe because he grew up carrying it, or maybe because he never did, he only ever carried his friends)

Hakoda agrees easily to take over the Chief’s duties for the time being, and Sokka sees relief in his eyes when Sokka picks Aang up in a hug, and the two run off to the flying bison waiting for them.

Sokka sits in the saddle and stares at the back of Aang’s head, and tries to remember what it felt like when this was his life.

“Aang? Do you ever… miss when it was just us?”

The way Aang’s shoulders slump tells Sokka everything, and the younger boy nods. “Sometimes.”

(Sokka climbs up next to Aang and wraps his arms around his shoulders, and takes the reins when Aang turns to bury himself in Sokka’s shirt, because being Chief is hard, but being the Avatar is infinitely harder)

They meet at the Western Air Temple, because that was the first time they were all together.

Usually, there would be workers milling about, restoring all they can, but Aang got them to take the day off.

Katara hugs them both when they arrive. She cups Sokka’s face with her hands and squints at him like she knows he’s hiding something, and it takes all Sokka has not to crumble.

“Move aside!” Toph shouts, not giving Katara a chance to listen before she slides the stone under her out of the way. Toph punches Sokka’s arm hard, enough to make him wince, and then she drags both him and Aang into a bone crushing hug that they barely get out of alive.

Zuko laughs at them both, which is a welcome sound. Sokka only ever heard him laugh a few times during the war, and even fewer when they were all still navigating the new world. He steps forward and bows to Sokka, “Chief.”

Sokka doubles his dramatics when he bows back, “Fire Lord.”

Zuko snorts and stands. He pulls Aang into a side hug, and grips Sokka’s forearm. “It’s been too long.”

“The South Pole isn’t exactly a short walk away from the Fire Nation.”

“No,” Zuko smiles. “I guess I’ll have to plan more diplomatic meetings.”

Sokka groans.

Suki is a lot gentler in her hello, kissing Aang’s cheek and squeezing his shoulder, then wrapping herself around Sokka where she’ll stay for the better part of their meetup.

“Look at us,” she says, and she’s beautiful. “We’ve all changed so much.”

(Sokka hates how as the others smile, his stomach churns)

***

The anniversary of the end of the Hundred Year War is filled with celebrations, the steps of Zuko’s palace are transformed into a festival, a symbol of the Fire Nation opening its gates with kindness for the first time in a century.

Important people from every nation attend, and Zuko works with the Earth Kingdom to pay travel costs for as many citizens as possible, especially children.

Sokka has never seen so much food.

His stomach growls and his mouth waters, and Katara laughs at him when he’s led off to be formally introduced instead of being allowed to eat until he bursts.

Katara falls into step next to him, and Sokka takes a few seconds to take in how amazing she looks.

Her travels with Aang aren’t rushed or secret anymore, her eyes are brighter than he ever remembers seeing them, and she wears the Air Nomad cuffs Aang gave to her on her last birthday, a green headband holds her hair in place, and Sokka recognizes it as Toph’s. She kept the light-weight red shoes from their time hiding in the Fire Nation, and her blue dress has been altered to handle the hot climate most of the world shares right now.

Sokka thinks she’s the only one who could pull off wearing an outfit that includes all four nations, and he thinks she looks happy.

“I love you, you know,” He tells her, because he hasn’t seen her in months, because he missed her.

(He won’t admit it, but Sokka is still getting used to not having his sister at his side. His whole life, she’s been there. There’s something missing in him when she’s not)

Katara looks surprised for a moment, and then she smiles, and slips under Sokka’s arm, leaning against his side. “I love you too.”

Eventually, Sokka gets to eat, and relax, even if it’s only for a moment.

He watches Aang and Toph laugh at something Momo is doing as he devours a leg of meat he can’t name, and the sound of people enjoying themselves fills his ears.

Sokka had spent so much time staring at plans and treaties, organizing trades, building houses in the South, teaching people to fish and wash fur, that he hadn’t stopped once to look around him.

He’d spent so much time trying to heal the world, he never realized it was working.

(He loses his appetite then, but he still dances with Toph until his feet hurt, and he still tries to play Airball with Aang again, and he still smiles, and he still laughs)

(Because maybe he spent so much time trying to heal the world, that he hadn’t realized he was healing himself too)

***

People have tried to assassinate Zuko before. Sokka gets a letter from Toph (from Iroh, really, but they all pretend he’s not the one she dictates to) explaining a failed attempt in great detail at least once a month.

Toph finds it hilarious, but that’s because she’s there to take down the guy before they even make it into the palace.

Sokka finds it terrifying, because he’s halfway across the world with no way of helping.

It’s one of those sunny days that makes Sokka glad to be in the Fire Nation, and he’s sparring with Zuko, and for once, he might be winning.

Zuko’s dual swords clash against his singular one, and the two grunt as they both try to gain the upper hand. Sokka smirks and sweeps his foot out, tripping Zuko and knocking him onto his back. “Ha! I win!”

He reaches out to help Zuko up, fully intent on bragging for the rest of the day.

“Zuko move!” Toph shouts suddenly, and it scares Sokka so bad his instincts kick in, and he drags Zuko back to the ground, rolling away as a spike of ice longer than his wingspan flies through the air right where his head used to be.

Zuko breathes heavily under him, and Sokka slowly lifts himself off the ground, staying crouched as he scans the area.

Toph is on her feet, Katara at her side with a hand on her shoulder, and Aang is rushing forward, pulling Zuko to stand.

“Just so we’re clear, that wasn’t you, Katara, right?” Sokka asks, pulling his boomerang off his hip stealthily.

“What? No!”

“Didn’t think so,” Sokka says under his breath, and whips around to throw his boomerang towards Zuko and Aang.

Aang yelps and ducks behind Zuko, and there’s the sound of metal hitting something soft, and a loud ‘oof’.

Sokka barely has time to move before a wave of water forms a tiny tsunami in his direction. “Zuko, you need to get inside!”

People had tried to assassinate Zuko before, and it wasn’t out of the ordinary for the assassin to be from a different nation, though most of them were firebenders, loyal to Ozai.

Sokka realizes too late that this one being a waterbender is no coincidence.

His legs are swept out from under him and he hits the ground with a grunt. He’d slipped on ice like an amatuer. Sokka pushes himself up, reaching for his sword, and is met face to face with the assassin.

His eyes widen. “Nia?”

She snarls at him and yanks him into a choke hold, Sokka watches as his friends circle her.

“Let him go,” Zuko says, and it's only because Sokka knows him that he hears the tremor in his voice. “This is about me and you.”

“You think I’m here for the Fire Lord?” Nia spits, tightening her grip on Sokka’s neck. “I couldn’t care less about you or your people.”

And oh. Sokka should have known. He should have known because he knows Nia, he knows what she’s been through, what she’s lost. “This is about your sister.”

Nia’s breath quickens in his ear and she snarls. “You sent her back to the North, she died on that ship!”

Sokka should tell her it’s not his fault, but he doesn’t, because it is.

(He learned a long time ago that when you’re a leader, everything is your fault)

“You’re weak,” Nia continues, and Sokka can see Toph stiffen in the corner of his eye.

Katara’s glare is sharp. “Leave him alone. What happened to your sister was an accident!”

“It never should have happened!” Nia shouts, and her voice softens when he talks to Sokka’s sister. “If you were Chief, it wouldn’t have happened.”

For a moment, no one does anything. Everyone is still, frozen in a stunned and confused silence. Finally, Aang says, “What does that mean?”

“Our leader should be a bender! You and your father have made us weak! I saw it when I moved to the South!” Nia yanks on Sokka’s head, cutting off his airway with her grip. “With you gone, a bender will be in charge, as it should be.”

Sokka gasps on air, and closes his eyes.

That’s it. That’s always been it. Sokka can’t bend, which makes him less, which makes him weak.

History will remember the Avatar, and his three masters. History won’t remember Sokka.

(History has never remembered non-benders before)

(The world may have changed, but it hasn’t changed that much)

Maybe it would be better, with Katara as chief. She’s cool headed and smart, she pays attention in meetings, she’s respectful and kind and responsible.

Ever since they were kids, Katara has been everything Sokka is not.

Sokka coughs as a rush of air fills his lungs, and he grabs at the closest thing to him, which happens to be Aang’s hand, and holds tight. Zuko is holding his shoulders, searching his eyes for something Sokka isn’t sure is there. Katara has an arm around his back, and Toph is squating next to Zuko.

“Nia?”

No one answers, and Sokka understands. They caught her. She’ll be shipped back to the South for a trial. A trial Sokka will have to rule over.

(He’ll have to banish her, he knows. He knows and he hates it because she’s a child)

(She’s a child who was raised for war, and when it was won, she found another one to fight)

(Sokka knows, he knows and he understands)

His shoulders start to shake, the mask he’d been wearing for so long starts to shatter, and the hands holding him tighten, Toph says, “You’re not weak.”

“I would hate to be a chief,” Katara assures him.

But none of them say anything about Nia, and none of them try to stop his tears.

(Because in a world where children fight the battles, who really wins?)

***

Sokka is accompanied by his friends when he returns home, which sounds a lot better than saying he’s bringing back the Fire Lord, the Avatar, and the two most powerful water and earthbenders in the world.

He’s welcomed back with open arms.

The South has grown, refugees of the Water Tribe are returning home, the warriors are all home, the children are growing up on their own terms.

Hakoda tells him they found a place for Nia in the North, a school for kids who’d been traumatized by the war or the resulting events after it ended, and Sokka is so relieved that he spends the rest of the day letting Aang drag him penguin sledding and teaching Toph and Suki to spear fish.

They have a feast, and it’s the first time Sokka laughs in a long time. Aang doesn’t let go of his arm the entire time, and Zuko promises another spar.

Sokka isn’t perfect, and he isn’t all powerful. But when he looks at the shining, beautiful, alive faces of his family and his people, he knows he’s not weak, and he knows eventually, they’ll be okay.

When Sokka was twelve years old he carved a promise to be a warrior into a block of ice.

Now Sokka is nineteen, and he carves his name into a tiny corner of the icy memorial, right above Katara’s, to the left of Zuko’s, to the right of Toph’s crude fist print, and just above Aang’s.

Sokka was raised for war.

He held his sobbing sister as his father explained that the Fire Nation killed his mother. He watched the warriors ships sail away without him. He spent years teaching himself to fight so he could protect his family.

He was the newly redeemed Fire Prince’s first friend and the first (honorary) male Kyoshi Warrior. He fell in love with the Moon Spirit and crafted a sword from meteorite. He taught the first metalbender it’s okay to cry. He taught the Avatar how to deal with nightmares.

Sokka was raised for war. He was raised in fear and hate. He was raised to fight.

As the years go by, there are more people in the world who aren’t raised for war.

Sokka can see it in the way they speak, the way they move. The way they don’t shy away from fire or loud adventures that draw attention. He can see it in their smiles, wide and fearless and kind, and with those new faces and new hope, Sokka learns to forget.

(Of course he does, he was just a kid, and he learns to stop pretending he grew up a long time ago and admit he was just a broken child trying to fix a broken world)

(They all were)

#atla #avatar the last airbender #sokka #sokka x suki #yall i apalogise #my writing #ace writes

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read-write-thrive · 4 years

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A:TLA Marching Band AU

Honestly this is just a way too long and complicated list of characterizations for a Marching Band AU, but I have too many WIPs to write it out fully right now, so hopefully y’all like this format!

Elements/Nations:

Air= Brass

Water= Woodwind

Earth= Percussion

Fire= Guard

Avatar= Director

Characters:

Students:

Aang= Trumpet, Freshman, has to learn all 4 elements/sections before he becomes the new assistant director, that one kid who’s always screwing around during breaks to try and impress others (cough Katara cough)/ “just have fun!!!!!”, is openly panromantic/demisexual, often brings giant dog Appa to practice because “he likes the exercise !! and the music calms him down !!!!” but also because Appa has befriended the local stray cat, whom Aang has named Momo, and Aang is too much of a softie to keep them apart

Katara= Alto Sax, Sophomore, at first timid third chair but easily gets to first once she’s properly trained, still sister of Sokka and bickers with him over how he leads the saxophones, teaches Aang woodwind whenever Pakku (woodwind staff) isn’t at practice - which is honestly most of the time after the first week or so, hates when Zuko “invades” the saxophones but eventually warms to him (especially whenever he rejoins and takes over the color guard), definitely straight but is very supportive

Sokka= Tenor Sax, Junior, was really close with Yue before she quit, section leader but is still his single-braincelled self, eventually admits to Suki that the Pit counts as marching band and only then does she agree to date him, is openly bisexual, tries to match Jet’s level of playboy-ness but honestly just needs to calm down

Toph- Quads/Tenors, Freshman, fantastic at pretty much all percussion, is legally blind but can see well enough in full light to march with the group, (legitimately) teaches Aang percussion, at first seems like a helpless little rich girl but is actually brawdy, tough, can swear like a sailor, and is definitely queer in some capacity but she sees labels as bs

Suki- Vibraphone, Junior, leader of the pit, agrees to date Sokka once he gets over Yue and calms down on the whole tough-guy act, is super fit and takes her role seriously but isn’t as anti-fun as other characters can be (cough Katara again cough), is straight and a very outspoken ally

Zuko- Guard/Baritone Saxophone, Junior, best at sabres, that one guard guy who is actually pretty good but gets judged enough for it that he’s constantly angry about it, switches to (aka is forced by Azula/father to switch to) bari sax and is taught by Piandao, fights with Katara at first but it gets better, he and Sokka suprisingly hit it off (Zukka, anyone?), he gets pretty close with the gaang, eventually takes the guard section back his senior year after complete falling out with father/sister, teaches Aang color guard techniques, is probably bi but comes from a homophobic family so just doesn’t talk about it

Azula- Guard, Sophomore, best at flags, reigning b*tch, lot of coercing and controlling, director threatens to cancel the guard bc of the drama but then she, Mai, and Ty Lee all switch to pit for a few weeks and that’s somehow even worse so director caves, is year below Zuko but forced to quit band altogether her junior year due to father’s outrage at Zuko (he is also technically forbidden, but does it anyway and has his best year there), Azula tries to rejoin her senior year but director has had enough and won’t let her get any of the glory so she quits for good, homophobic but is not against doing performative bisexuality (aka bicurious/heteroflexible) to get attention from guys

Mai- Guard, Sophomore, best at rifles, somehow rehearses in all black when everyone else is dying of heatstroke, dates Zuko on/off, Azula tries to convince her and Ty Lee that band isn’t worth it once she quits/is forced to quit but both of them agree they’d rather be in band and abandon her, her and Zuko don’t exactly work out once he graduates (Mailee anyone?), doesn’t seem to enjoy anything so everyone wonders why she’s even in band, is probably at least a little queer but she honestly doesn’t believe in soulmates/mushy stuff like that so doesn’t think much about it

Ty Lee- Guard, Sophomore, best at batons/gymnastics, often used for features (if Azula isn’t interested/needs a second, etc), becomes head guard her senior year after Azula quits and Zuko graduates, actually gets along with the pit once Azula isn’t around to keep that eternal rivalry going, is openly pan once she cuts ties with Azula

Yue- Clarinet, used to be 1st clarinet but after continued harassment from guards transfers to another school after freshman year, her and Sokka flirted and got close but couldn’t do distance, is very good at the clarinet but is too soft spoken for section leader, definitely straight, constantly has guys after her bc she’s seen as innocent (and is insanely pretty of course) but manages to hold her own

Jet- Trombone, Senior, token hot guy but definitely a little screwed up in the head, at the very least a smoker, v big straight but still an ally (especially to childhood friend Smellerbee, who is 100% a trans girl and no one can change my mind)

Lu Ten- Drum Major, graduates right before story begins, joins military fresh out of hs

June- Electric guitarist (in the pit), Senior, known for being hot af but ruthless, mostly friends with ppl outside of band, definitely deals

Staff:

Director = Roku

Drill Writer/old Director who still helps on occasion= Kyoshi

Pakku- woodwind trainer, specifically alto sax focused, a little against Katara being section leader/giving her lessons, but she wins him over

Jeong Jeong- Guard trainer, absolutely refuses to take part in the drama as long as everyone learns their sets, constantly harassed by Ozai

Gyatso- Brass trainer, definitely takes a shine to Aang but becomes ill during the middle of the first season and doesn’t come back (Aang is obviously very sad about this, though he’s in denial about him being truly gone at first), very good at brass but doesn’t take anything seriously -including himself and life in general

Bumi- Percussion trainer, kinda crazy, isn’t always the best at actually training but is freakishly good himself, also takes a shining to Aang

Piandao- guest of the director but not an active staff member, can do a bit of everything, helps Zuko learn Bari Sax, takes a liking to Sokka

Other Adults:

Iroh- father of Lu Ten but sticks around for Zuko (no one really minds, he’s beloved by the band), usually helps with refreshments, secretly swole but loves his comfy clothes so no one expects the strength, though its very useful when hauling equipment

Ozai- father of Zuko/Azula, likes to pitch a fit whenever Roku cracks down on Azula/ treats Zuko well, tries to become board president for what would be Zuko’s senior year but is snubbed, demands Zuko/Azula quit, Zuko refuses and takes over guard while Azula obeys and eventually quits for good

Mr./Mrs. Beifong- parents to Toph, biggest financial backers of the band but aren’t actively involved, tried to get Toph all special accommodations in the pit but Toph insisted she could march so director convinced them otherwise

Hakoda- father of Sokka/Katara, usually away for work but tries to come by for the big finales, cheers the loudest in the stands and tries to embarass them both as much as possible

Gran-Gran- maternal grandmother of Sokka/Katara, primary guardian for the two but is constantly busy trying to support them so doesn’t make it to practices often, flirts with Pakku more than Katara/Sokka even know, always shows up to every performance even with packed schedule

(ask for specific characters and I can do more, but these are the ones I definitely had to do! hope you enjoy!)

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theotherace · 4 years

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CharlieBone!AU

Alright. As a child, one of my absolutely favourite book series was Charlie Bone. My sister and I would pretend that we had special gifts while playing all the time, I read all of the books thrice (which I know isn’t a lot, but I’m not usually somebody who re-reads books at all, so that’s a Big Thing for me), one time in the span of about five or six days. (Could think neither straight nor in German after that.)

So, ATLA!CharlieBone!AU. Yes.

The Bloor Academy is probably run by Ozai. (It’s also not called “Bloor Academy”, but that doesn’t really matter right now.) Azulon is still alive and kicking, willing to murder children at the drop of a hat, just like Ezekiel. Iroh fucked off with Lu Ten after his wife’s death. Nobody’s entirely sure what the hell happened to Ursa, but she’s still (kind of) around, just not talked about.

Zuko and Azula grew up inside the school, but with very little contact to the outside world; probably homeschooled, too, until they’re old enough for the Academy.

They are both gifted, but just “control of fire” would be boring, so Azula has a gift similar to Uncle Paton’s, but with a better grip on it than him – she can control electricity. Zuko can technically control heat, but he’s not particularly good at it; he’s basically a walking mood ring. Rooms get cold when he’s sad or lonely, hot when he’s embarrassed, and that’s probably why he doesn’t have too many (any) friends. Constant swings in temperature aren’t pleasant. Nobody wants to sleep next to him in the dorm (if he sleeps in the dorm at all, as his family lives in the school).

If we’re keeping with the three houses, then both of them are definitely in the Theatre house.

Aang’s special gift is basically the Avatar State; he can call onto either his ancestors (a bit like Lysander) or his past lives (as in canon). He’s not a bender, so if and when he calls onto somebody, he has their powers at his disposal instead of the elements. (Unless one of them can control the elements. Kuruk could control sealife? Cool, Aang can do that now. Something like that.) His control over that power is shaky at best. Once he’s mastered it, he can manage all of his forebearer’s powers (super OP, basically), until then, it’s more like channeling one person at a time. (Or he’s just a medium. Or he can transform into birds/birdlike creatures like Emma.)

He’s raised by his grandfather Gyatso after the tragic death of his parents (at the hands of Zuko’s family, but shh, they don’t know that yet), and Appa is just the most ginormous dog you can find. Momo is a cat who likes to sleep on people’s faces. Aang, Zuko and Azula are (not so) distantly related via Gyatso and Roku, who are brothers instead of friends in this AU. Gyatso’s quite a bit younger than Roku, though. (And Roku’s already dead.)

Aang would probably have a hard time deciding between Art, Theatre and Music, because everything sounds great, but settle on art in the end, because his dad was an artist.

Neither Katara nor Sokka have a gift. At least that’s they think for the longest time. Katara is the student assigned to show Aang around when he transfers after his gift manifests (Gyatso didn’t initially want to send him to the Academy), and she bullies Sokka into looking after him in the “boys only” areas (the dorms), so they’re his first friends there.

They live with their Gran-Gran and their dad. Their mother was probably murdered by Zuko’s family or some allies of them, too, for Reasons. Maybe she saw something. Maybe she knew what they did to Aang’s parents. Doesn’t matter, I won’t write this, they killed her.

Katara’s gift manifests late, under a stressful situation; she can either heal or control blood (i.e. bloodbending). If it’s bloodbending, Hama (old friend of Gran-Gran’s, now either an ally of Azulon and Ozai or just wreaking havoc on her own) would probably try to get her hands on her, because she has the same gift, and it’s very rare. (Katara is much more powerful than Hama, though.)

Sokka gets a sword at some point in the story, and it’s some old-ass sword, prophesized to be wielded by a great warrior.

He picks Art, Katara picks Music.

Toph’s parents are a little less strict in this AU (they send her to school, after all), but still pretty overbearing. She mostly keeps to herself in the beginning; her and Zuko become friends before she befriends any of the other guys.

She’s still blind. (Stating this because she sometimes isn’t, in these (semi-)Modern AUs.)

Her gift is either her Seismic Sense or she can bring to life (so to speak) statues (like Erik). Leaning more towards the Seismic Sense, though. Otherwise, she has no control over earth or stone or anything, and the Seismic Sense works basically everywhere (wood vibrates, too), but she does still have to be barefoot. She isn’t even fully aware that she has a special gift until she talks to Zuko about how she gets around so well and he’s like: Dude, that’s not normal.

She’s in the Music house. (I don’t think they’re even called houses. Branch might fit better. But anyway.)

Suki does Theatre with Zuko and technically, she is his first friend, but they aren’t as close anymore when Aang starts school, since she befriended Katara and Sokka, who aren’t Zuko’s biggest fans initially.

She doesn’t have a gift, but she still kicks ass. Maybe she even still does tessenjutsu. Either way, you don’t wanna cross her. (that’s what fighting with fans is called, right? correct me if i’m wrong.)

I don’t know if Mai and Ty Lee would’ve gifts, but if they did, it would be hitting every target with every thrown object and seeing auras. (Could be just hard training and synethesia, though, which number one definitely is in canon; number two is a HC of mine.) Ty Lee does Theatre, too. Mai joins Sokka and Aang.

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kawaiichibiart · 4 years

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Big Sister!Azula, Little Brother!Zuko AU. Gaang Edition.

Aang:

Unlike when Zuko becomes his firebending master, Azula has a lot more trouble convincing him to let her teach him. She doesn't have a bison to vouch for her, he and his friends know she's the one that attacked them. Not even Toph will come to her defence, knowing how well she lies.

Aang is also hesitant in taking Zuko in. He doesn't know the young firebender, but he had to better off in their care than Azula's, right?

He ends up sending them both away after the kid refuses to leave Azula's side. He refuses to admit he thought the little boy waving bye to him was cute....Okay, he admitted it.

When Azula does join them, their "field trip" doesn't go as smoothly as his and Zuko's did in the show. They bickered and almost didn't succeed.

When he isn't training, Aang spends time with Zuko, whether it's helping him with his bending or taking him around the temple, they're together.

When Azula and Sokka leave for their "fishing trip" Aang decides to kill two birds with one stone by having Zuko be his student. He ignores Azula's lessons so he can make his own for Zuko.

Aang doesn't call Azula his friend when the war ends. He does tell her that maybe one day, they could be. But for now, he was sure he could somewhat trust her to be his ally.

Katara

She has it out for Azula more than she did Zuko.

For one, unlike Zuko, Azula never gained her trust and broke it. For another, Katara was there when she struck Aang with lightning.

When she learns, thanks to Sokka, that Azula brought a child with her, she can't help but suspect it was part of grander scheme.

While he was obviously from the Fire Nation, Katara couldn't just let him stay with Azula. So she tried to convince Aang to let the kid stay. But the boy wanted to stay with Azula, so Aang didn't force him to stay.

Katara is very clear to Azula about she will do to her if she steps out of line. Azula tells her she doesn't care, so long as she doesn't touch a hair on her little brother's head. A statement that shocks Katara a bit, but when she thinks about, makes sense.

Katara tries to teach Azula to cook, but ultimately bans her from it. She let's Zuko taste test though.

She's a lot nicer to Zuko in this AU. They don't have any history, and as far as she knows, he's just a little boy born into an unfortunate life, what with Ozai as his dad and Azula as his sister.

Katara does bitterly accept that Azula can be a good sister, when she watches how she takes care of her little brother.

The night she and Azula go after her mother's murderer, the two come to a mutual understanding. Their both sisters and care for their brothers.

You bet Azula highly encouraged murder and got disappointed when it didn't happen.

Azula has caught Katara braiding Zuko's hair and telling him stories as she does. She has to convince herself that she isn't jealous. It doesn't always work.

Sokka

First things first, he's the one to notice Zuko.

He doesn't trust Azula with a child; he's onboard the "adopt the child and keep him from Azula" train

He's surprised to find out the child she brought was actually her younger brother. He looked so....innocent. Was she sure he was her brother?

After Azula joined, he made sure to watch her train Aang. She already hurt him once, he wasn't going to stand idle somewhere else, when he could standby close enough so that if she hurt him, he would know.

This is how he and Zuko bond. Watching Azula teach Aang.

Sokka will forever question how Zuko and Azula are related. The kid is genuinely nice, a bit violent at times, but overall, nice. Azula was blunt and sarcastic and spat out lies left and right unless her brother was around.

When he leaves to go to the Boiling Rock, Azula joins him.

"My first girlfriend turned into the moon." "Get over it, Water Tribe." "*grumbles*"

Azula does get arrested while they're there. It's only then that she learns Ozai has a bounty on her head.

Sokka has to work harder to assure everyone Azula wouldn't do anything.

Azula says nothing because he's right. She wouldn't do anything. Not when she's risking losing Zuko.

Seeing everyone else bond with Zuko makes Sokka want to bond with him. So, he decides to teach him how to use a boomerang.

Everyone was weary about this. Rightfully so, they all got hit at least one time by a boomerang.

Toph

Toph doesn't know how to feel about Azula being there.

On the one hand, she knew how well she lied, on the other, because she knew how well she lied, she couldn't tell if she was lying or not.

Well, she couldn't, until she bonded with Zuko.

Azula almost never lies to Zuko unless she's talking about Ursa. So, if Toph wants information from Azula, Zuko has to be there. It doesn't always work, but it does work.

Zuko was still the one to burn Toph's feet. When she told Aang, Katara and Sokka, it was Katara who said that was why they should have just taken Zuko in the first place. Obviously being with Azula was making him violent.

Toph uses Azula to get better at detecting lies.

Sometimes Zuko sleeps next to her.

Toph is used to being an only child, and with the Gaang, Aang included if you count his 100+ years of life, she was used to being the youngest and being treated as the little sister. When Azula showed up with her little brother, Zuko, Toph was able to find out how it felt to be an older sister.

She loves it. It's nice being the youngest and having others take care of you, even if she has shown she's capable of taking care of herself (it just meant she didn't have to do it herself all the time). But having someone younger she can take care of is also nice. She never had siblings prior to the joining the Gaang, and again, once she did, she was always the little sister. Azula and Zuko let her be a big sister.

Suki

Like Katara, Suki has a personal grudge against Azula.

Suki is very surprised when, upon arriving after escaping the Boiling Rock, she and the others are greeted by a child who ran up to Azula.

Said child was demanding Azula pick him up. That's when Sokka let's the ball drop by telling her the child is Azula's little brother.

Zuko actually takes quite the liking to Suki, he follows her around a bit more than he did the others.

When the Ember Island Players perform the Boy in the Iceberg, she has to keep herself from punching some other people because they kept glaring at them for bringing a child, ("Mother would have spoiled Zuzu and brought him." Azula has said) she would take note that she wasn't the only one.

Her "special time" with Sokka is interrupted because Zuko had a nightmare and she was the first person he went to (he didn't want to bother Azula)

Bonus:

Appa

Appa doesn't trust Azula when she shows up.

He is curious about the little boy, though.

He let's the little boy, her brother apparently, ride and play and sleep on him. He doesn't mind.

He growls at Azula if she comes near. She'll growl back and yell at Aang that "the stupid bison won't let me pick up Zuzu!'

Momo

Honestly, look at Appa's stuff. It's pretty much the same things.

Differences are as follows:

He's able to physically torment Azula more, pulling her hair and throwing stuff at her face.

Zuko tries to play with him but just ends up carrying him around.

If Zuko is napping on Appa, so is Momo.

Hakoda

Hakoda is very surprised when Sokka tells him Azula had helped him get to the Boiling Rock to free him.

He thought that Sokka was also arrested and being forced to play guard, so that he would have to hurt people.

So, when they all escape, he's surprised to see, yeah, she did help Sokka free him.

When they arrive at the temple, and a little boy runs over to Azula, Hakoda feels as if he can't get anymore surprised. A child, going up to Azula?

He was wrong. The child was her little brother. How?

Hakoda often hears Azula tell Zuko about their mother, but never about their father.

He asks her about it and she tells him, only after ensuring he wouldn't tell anyone else.

He stays quiet as the Princess tells him about her mother leaving. About how she felt as if she never loved her, but how, despite how short it was, it was obvious she adored Zuko. Ursa was always with Zuko up until she left. But the night their mother left, was the night she made a promise to her. And that was to keep her brother safe, and their father wasn't safe for him. So the less he knew, the better.

Hakoda could somewhat agree, but he also told her she couldn't avoid talking about Ozai with Zuko. He had to know. If she felt he wasn't old enough, that was fine. But one day, he would find out.

The next day, both siblings are oddly quiet.

Azula tells him later on that she told Zuko about their father. He cried because he had seen Ozai, but never once, did he hear a good thing about him. Especially in regards to himself. Ozai genuinely didn't want him and it hurt that he didn't have either parent around to love him. His mother was gone and his father had wished several times for his death. He only had Azula but it wasn't the same. That was one of the few times Azula heard him cry for Ursa. It was almost always her.

Hakoda decides to take whatever amount of time they have together to be a real father to them. Azula doesn't care for his attention, but doesn't stop him from giving his fatherly affection to Zuko.

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lucy-dont-give-a-fuck · 4 years

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More toughts on Fem!Zuko/Usha AU Part 2

Check the part 1 here

Now on the other point on interest, how Uncle Iroh’s masculinity affects Usha here.

First we have to talk about how Usha see man, marriage and submission. She is raised not as a possible heir but mostly to be betrothed an ally as she is considered non qualified as her sister that could have a chance to be the next firelord. She is trained on modals and households to be a good wife and, as I said before, diplomacy and politics to make this union the most profitable. She accepts her role and believes her marriage would be as her parents. We tend to emulate our parents for better or worse, most our relationships mirror our parents, so Usha probably accepted that marriages aren’t happy or loving, even more in royalty, you’ll be lucky if you marry someone who is apathic towards you. She accepts that men are violent, physically and psychologically, being Uncle Iroh, and probably Lu Ten, the exception to the rule. As long as she complies to Ozai’s standards and becomes useful she can may be loved. Again as she doesn’t want Azula to suffer from Ozai’s abuse she might think that is her duty as the firstborn and as princess to carry on with it as her mother did.

On a side note, Ozai’s burning her might be a new level of physical abuse, which could be one of the reasons why Usha feels the way she does, she has become accustomed to Ozai’s abuse and trying to not anger or disappoint him, she has learn more or less how to tip toe around so this is a physical proof that she has wronged her father that she has stepped out of line in a terrible way, it is in the end her fault.

So with all this information we can start theorize about her time before finding aang on the warship. I’m gonna use @kyuuley drabbles as a base because they are amazing and I think they illustrate very well what could have been Usha’s time on the ship. We can take three things out of them: 1) the first six months, give it or take, she behaved like a perfect little princess 2) She doesn’t seem afraid of the crew and 3) there are women on the ship.

We can theorize that this three connect and influence Usha’s behavior. First, we can say that the first six months she was on one hand still recovering emotionally and physically of her injuries and on the other she might have been testing the waters, she was out of her element, she had to adapt to her new normality and being instructed in diplomacy and politics, she probably was observing and waiting to learn what to do or how to act. During this observations she could have notice that the crew was easy going and even respectful of the women on board, that combined with her status could have make her feel, if not safe, in charge.

Combined with her emotional state…poor crew.

Mentioning the last point again, the women, this is, in my opinion, VERY IMPORTANT, first because feminine contention and connection, don’t try to tell me these women wouldn’t go big sis/mother hen with her, don’t try. Feminine contention and connection is very important for women development, trust in another women and seeking knowledge in another women can be very positive. On their drabble Proper Education because of a situation, Satomi, one of the women on the ship, decides the princes has the right to learn about sex, having an EXCELLENT moment when Kyo, other of the women on it, ask if they have known or not about what they were doing. Not only this is an amazing resource and interesting point to make but can illustrate how the knowledge and support of an older woman can help on our development. Now Usha would understad what certain acts are and that she has to chose if engage in them or not, being easier for her to understand and defend herself against unwanted advances.

In fewer words, Usha feels safe and in charge on the ship and is contained and supported by the crew.

This could eventually lead to her realizing that earlier that her father was abusive and that her Uncle isn’t the exception but the rule or at least that there are more many men that treat their spouses and daughters with respect and kindness, that without counting that in certain places harming your spouse and children could get you in jail or beaten.

If we wanted to apply it to relationships, yes, I’m talking about Jetko because I like this ship, It could help her to establish boundaries and recognize abusive or manipulative behaviors. Basically she wouldn’t take shit and will establish what is okay or isn’t in her eyes. Wich could put Jet in line, so no stalker behavior, or very light. He will have to work hard to get the girl. And yes, hilarity ensues.

She would get into a crisis a bit earlier than in cannon, going through the process of mourning during the first season to finish it on season two, where she can establish herself on her new life without guilt or anger, freeing Appa by her own choice and conviction without breaking down or having this breaking point earlier on her journey.

The mourning process establish the following: 1) A crisis arise, 2) Negation, 3) Anger, 4) Negotiation, 5) Depression, 6) Acceptation and finally 7) Learning

1) The crisis: Usha begins to realize her father’s abuse wasn’t right or normal and that she didn’t deserve it

2) Negation: She can’t accept this fact so she focus on her training and searching for the Avatar.

3) Anger: She doesn’t make any progress wich makes her angry and later directs her anger towards the gaang when aang wakes up.

4) Negotiation: She starts to try negotiate between what she feels, what she knows, what she has been teach and what is right. Maybe this period starts after the blue spirit, reaching its peak when she ruins Zhao’s plans and saves the spirit and Yue.

5) Depression: It could be trigger by the fight with Azula, here it could cut even more deeply. Now she not only becomes a traitor but has to bare with the harsh truth that her father can be wrong and that her sister will gleefully chase her. She still failed. Zuko/Usha Alone will be the pinnacle of this and the possible transition to the next point.

6) Aceptance: Usha finally starts accepting and understanding that she was abused and that it wasn’t normal nor her fault. This could intertwine with her time in Ba Sing Se, living a new life.

7) Learning: Once she accepts the reality of her father abuse and how his actions, and by consequently the war, are wrong, she starts to learn from her experiences and decide what to do, does she wants to get involved with the war or she prefers to hide and resign to her past? Maybe one of the actions that could determine her decision could be the liberation of Appa.

On another point, something that was mentioned on the Azula’s video was “the rescue parent”, a parental figure that comes to “save” the child of the situation they are in. To Zuko his rescue parent was obviously Iroh, which repeats on this AU. Azula doesn’t have a rescue parent on the series which could be an important point here, with Usha trying to reach Azula’s and rescue her, showing her another way of being driven by what she realized and by this more maternal feeling she could develop over her. Azula would most probably reject her intents, relating them to her mother and weakness, fear is power, love is weakness, the only one who loves her is her father, her mother thought she was a monster so Usha must do the same.

So yeah, this are a “few” thoughts I had over this AU. Please check Hello Future Me videos about ATLA because they are awesome, specially this two.

#zuko #prince zuko #princess usha #princess usha au #usha #fem zuko #fem zuko au #atla #avatar the last airbender

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carnistcervine · 4 years

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Avatar Lu Ten AU

I’ve got some kind of mojo going, so lets keep posting my dumb au ideas. :’D

Okay, so most non-Zuko fire nation Avatar AUs tend to follow the Fire Nation getting more of an unfair advantage because they have the Avatar on their side. And that's fair, the Avatar is all but explicitly stated to be the most powerful being in the Avatar universe. Basically a physical god. But, I've always wondered, what if the Avatar Spirit and past Avatars don't agree with the current Avatar's allegiance? I mean, we never see an "evil" Avatar in canon, well except maybe Unavaatu, but he's a clear exception and not the Avatar that the series is named for.

And also, Unalaq and Vaatu are completely aligned. What I want to explore is an Avatar who is in opposition with the Avatar Spirit. A battle of wills between Lu Ten, and not only his predecessors, but also the very essence of the Avatar that lives within him.

Yeah, I'm gonna have fun with this. :3

-Lu Ten is surrounded on the battle field. All of his allies have fallen, and he feels the strain of his injuries begin to weigh on him. The earthbenders close in, but Lu Ten refuses to back down. As he prepares to take his final stand, a familiar whispering fills his head and white overtakes his vision.

-This isn't the first encounter Lu Ten has had with his inner Avatar. Every since he was small, he would hear faint whispering in the back of his mind. The voices were always to faint to make out. As a child he would spend time sitting quietly trying to make out their words, but to no avail.

-As he grew older, the voices grew clearer, but he pushed them to the back of his consciousness. Deciding to focus his energy on his training in both firebending and military.

-Once he turned sixteen he began to suffer from sleep paralysis episodes where Raava would loom over him. Not that he recognized the strange, faceless spirit that occasionally haunted him.

-He considered going to his dad about the strange dreams/sleep paralysis episodes, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth worrying him about. Besides, the spirit never harmed him or said anything. It just appeared and loomed over him. He figured that it meant no harm.

-As for the Fire Nation's knowledge of the current Avatar, they have no idea that Aang had drowned at sea. Never knew that Korra died in the frozen wastes after being banished for firebending. Were never aware of Xin Hu, who died of plague and rests in the sands of the Si Wong.

-They're still looking for the Air Nomad who got away, not realizing that his remains rest at the bottom of the sea. They have no clue that the Avatar now walks among them.

-No one knows. :^)

-The fateful battle takes place during the summer solstice. Not only because firebenders are strongest in summer, and the longest day mean more time at full power, but also because the summer solstice marks the ascension of the sun spirit, Agni.

-Of course, the solstice is also a day when the material and spirit planes intersect, boosting spiritual power, and allowing them to cross over.

-The earthbenders surround and launch their attacks at Lu Ten. There's a bright flash of light as the elements collide. And much to the earthen soldier's great surprise, when the dust clears(or rather is cleared away by a sudden strong wind), it is not a Fire Nation soldier standing there, but rather the late Kyoshi herself. She stares down at them, her searing white eyes commanding respect. Not sure what else to do, the simply stare on, shocked as she wordlessly turns towards the Fire Nation army.

-The soldiers part as Kyoshi marches on, they follow a safe distance behind her. Out of respect rather than cowardice.

-Kyoshi decimates the Fire army. Using Lu Ten's body as a conduit, she unleashes her bending upon the world once again. It gets back to Iroh that not only has Kyoshi risen from the dead to stop him, but she also came from Lu Ten's direction.

-Feeling the sting of not only loosing his only son, but also fearing that he had angered the spirits, Iroh abandons his conquest and returns to the Fire Nation a failure.

-Seeing the Iroh depart and the Fire army fall apart, Kyoshi returns to the walls of Ba Sing Se as the sun sets on the solstice and she returns to the spirit world. Leaving a confused and fading Lu Ten to collapse to the ground. He looses consciousness as the Earthen soldiers close in on him.

-When Lu Ten awakens, he's lying on a simple cot.

-He hears footsteps approaching, but also feels the same feeling from before he blacked out. He does his best to resist, not wanting to loose time again, but whatever is pulling him is stronger.

-The next thing Lu Ten knows, he's standing in the clouds. A figure stands across from him, Avatar Roku. He recognizes him from his history lessons(or at least that's what he tells himself). Behind Roku is a long line of people, all staring stoically ahead. He faintly recognizes them, despite never seeing their faces before. He keeps his focus on Roku.

-Roku tells Lu Ten that he's the Avatar, but Lu Ten doesn't believe it, the last Avatar was an airbender. And just like that an airbending child appears in front of Roku, shrinking the gap. Okay, well even if the airbender had died that still leaves water. And a waterbender appears. Shrinking the gap more, Lu Ten grows concerned. Only one space between him and the Avatars left. He defends that earth is before fire and an earthbender appears, closing the gap between Lu Ten and the Avatar's lineage. Lu Ten's heart races as the Avatar's all turn to him, glowing eyes staring him down.

-Panicked, Lu Ten backs away from the Avatars and falls into the abyss. As he falls, the spirit that haunted him back in the Fire Nation appears and swoops down, catching him with it's tendrils. It holds him close and his mind swims. He gives into the darkness and as the world closes all around him he hears a single phrase.

-"We will be together for all of your lifetimes..."

-While he's sure it was meant to be assuring, he only feels further unsettled.

-When Lu Ten finally awakens, he's in Ba Sing Se. And they know he's the Avatar. They have no intention of letting him return to the Fire Nation. He knows that they plan on using him to take down his country. He overhears plans to control and train him, and more disturbingly, he overhears that Kyoshi had apparently possessed him during the solstice. So even if he chooses not to fight against his family, if he really is the Avatar, he may not have a choice.

-But of course, he can't possibly be the Avatar! No, there must be some mistake. He can't be the Avatar. He just can't.

-He'll prove it by finding the real Avatar! Xin Hu was from the Si Wong Desert. (And no he doesn't want to go down the rabbit hole of how he knows this) But in order to find Xin Hu, he first has to get out of Ba Sing Se.

-If he thought getting into Ba Sing Se was hard, getting out is a NIGHTMARE.

-Especially when his escape attempts make Long Feng decide that it's brainwashing time.

-Thankfully Lu Ten is able to escape before the mindbenders can get to him.

-Lu Ten manages to find Xin Hu, or at least Xin Hu's ghostly specter who is standing as a silent sentinel over his final resting place.

-Meeting Xin Hu's spirit and standing with only a few feet of sand between him and his previous life is what finally cements to Lu Ten that he really is the Avatar.

-He has a heart to heart with Xin Hu, who gets him to open up to a new perspective on the war. Xin Hu tells him to find the remains of the other Avatars and to speak with their spirits.

-So Lu Ten goes, he travels south, meeting with Korra, then Aang, then sneaks to the Fire Nation where he meets with Roku. Each Avatar gives him another perspective on the war, and his eyes are opened to the truth.

-He agrees to meet his destiny and stop the Fire Nation. But he's going to do it his way.

-The previous Avatars reluctantly decide to allow him this. But they make it clear, if he doesn't live up to his promise, they will take over and ensure the world's safety.

-But of course, this'll be hard with the whole Earth Kingdom looking for him. And word even spreads to the Water Tribes, who also want to see the Fire Avatar trained and healed from whatever corruption the Fire Nation had instilled into him.

-Only a few years later and a new force joins the hunt. A freshly burned and banished prince looking to restore his honor. And the Avatar's unknowing father.

-I can't wait to have Iroh meet this legendary Avatar face to face, only to realize it was the son he thought died years ago.

#ATLA #Avatar #ATLA AU #Avatar AU #Avatar Lu Ten AU #Lu Ten #The angst #the delicious angst #god I love this concept #someone stop me i'm having fun #My Take

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razieltwelve · 5 years

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Necessity (Legend of Korra AU Snippet)

Korra glared at Azula with all the power she could muster. It had absolutely no effect.

“How pathetic,” Azula drawled. “Even your predecessor could glare better than you and he was a vegetarian who tried his hardest to be a pacifist until reality convinced him that sometimes you have to break a few eggs if you want to make a decent omelette.”

“You’re a terrible person, you know that right?” Korra grumbled. The teenager was half-buried under a pile of books and pieces of paper. “I’m the Avatar. I can understand the torture you call training, but do I really need to know how modern banking, taxation, and economics work?”

Azula poked Korra in the side with the cane she used whenever she had to fake being a helpless, old woman for a mission. “Money, Korra, makes the world go round. You might the Avatar, but you are only one person. Do you know why the Fire Nation did so well against the combined might of the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, and the Air Nomads?”

“Because you guys were really good at setting stuff on fire?”

“Apart from that, Korra.”

“Uh…” Korra had learned the hard way that the look on Azula’s face right now meant that she had better give a decent answer or her afternoon training session was likely going to involve the wonders of lightning and what it did when it struck Avatars who were too slow to dodge or bend it away. “Industrial capacity?”

“Hmm…” Azula gave Korra a thoughtful look. “That’s actually not a terrible answer. Yes. In simple terms, the advanced technology and greater industrial capacity of the Fire Nation gave us a sizeable advantage. However, it was our economic strength that truly allowed us to crush our enemies.”

“I see…” Korra did her best to imitate the expression Tenzin had whenever he said anything particularly wise. Alas, her lack of a beard to stroke really ruined the effect.

“It’s obvious that you don’t.” Azula sat down opposite Korra. “Logistics is the key to war, Korra. Armies need food, equipment, shelter, and other supplies. Whoever can provide those things the most efficiently across the largest possible area will be victorious. The Fire Nation was the first modern economy, and it was built on the industrialisation of production. Machines, primitive automation, mass production - all of these allowed us to outproduce and out supply our opponents. Moreover, our stronger economy allowed us to either buy out or pressure independent factions, forcing them to join us or removing them from the field of battle.”

“You make it sound like the Fire Nation should have won.”

“In all honesty, we would have if my father hadn’t been an idiot and if I hadn’t been insane.” Azula chuckled grimly. “The Earth Kingdom was on its last legs, ruled by a well-meaning but utterly incompetent man. The Water Tribes were essentially non-entities in terms of military strength outside of the polar regions. The Air Nomads, well, you know what happened there. Your predecessor and his allies rightfully identified that removing the Fire Nation’s leadership was the best chance they had for victory, and my father obliged by picking a fight with Avatar Aang while I…” Azula’s lips twitched. “I was in such a poor state of mind that I actually lost a fight to my brother. Honestly, if I’d been in my right mind, I would have beaten him easily. Oh, well, I can’t really blame him. Had the roles been reversed, then I’d have done the same. Attacking an opponent who is too mentally unstable to fight properly is the intelligent thing to do.”

Korra winced. Azula could occasionally be quite candid about her past, and it was not a nice past. “And this relates to my current assignment…?”

“You are the Avatar,” Azula said. “When you reach the height of your power, I doubt there will be a single person who will be able to best you in battle. I will make sure of that. But the world is a big place. Can you be everywhere at once? Can you fight everyone’s battles for them? You may not see it now, but the world stands on the precipice of change. Machinery continues to improve, the divisions between benders and non-benders grow, and discontent is rising.”

“People keep telling me that,” Korra murmured. “But I hardly ever get to leave this place.”

“I will see what I can do about that,” Azula replied. “A naive Avatar will likely end up a dead Avatar.” She grinned. “Believe, I know. But back to the matter at hand. The truth, Korra, is that most people are not interested in high minded ideals, honour, or anything like that. What they want is simple: a roof over their head, money in their pockets, and nice things for their family. Can you, as the Avatar, give that to them?”

“Not to all of them,” Korra replied. “Maybe some, but not all.”

“Yes. You’re powerful… not omnipotent.” Azula nodded at the books. “But as the Avatar you will be incredibly influential on the rulers of the various nations. Economic policy will be key to establishing long-lasting piece. If people are content, well fed, and wealthy, they will not go to war, nor will they look upon their neighbours with envy and discontent. As the Avatar, you will be called upon to settle conflicts. You need to understand which side you should be on and what recommendations you should make.”

Korra nodded slowly. Years ago, she’d believed being the Avatar would be simple. The more she learned, the more she realised there was always more to learn. “That can’t be your only motive, can it?”

“The White Lotus are not your friends,” Azula said. “They are using you. In a way, everyone wants to use you. After all, you are the most powerful piece on the board. Keeping you isolated here removes your ability to form political alliances and amass monetary wealth. Once you take up your duties, though, you will be travelling a great deal. If you are wise, you will make political alliances, and you will spot investment opportunities.”

“You’re teaching me how to make those investments…” Korra paused as a thought occurred to her. She reached for a book and began to flip through it. “And you’re teaching me how to hide any money I make!”

Azula smiled. “Very good. If people know where your money is, they can take it or cut you off from it. The White Lotus has eyes and ears everywhere. But if you have money they don’t know about, they won’t be able to plan against it, and they’ll be caught off guard once you use it. Feign weakness until you have built up your strength.”

“To buy an army?”

“If you need to.” Azula shrugged. “But there are many other reasons why you might want to have money at your disposal. Bribes are essential throughout much of the world. Some coin here and there can preserve the peace temporarily while you look for a permanent solution. And promising individuals can be helped to reach their potentials if you have sufficient funds. Money, Korra, matters, and it is simply another form of power. You need to learn how to use it.”

“How much money do you have?” Korra asked.

Azula told her.

“…” Korra’s eye twitched. “Are you serious?”

“I have made many fine investments in my life, some legal and some… less so. Over time, those investments have paid off handsomely, and I have diversified my portfolio to ensure my fortunes are protected from downturns in any single area. How do you think I fund my spy network and my other endeavours? People don’t work for free, and threats will only get you so far.”

“You could buy better instant noodles then,” Korra countered. “You always get the cheap stuff!”

“If I started spoiling you with premium instant noodles, you’d get soft.” Azula smirked. “And what makes you think I’m not keeping the premium instant noodles for myself?”

“You wouldn’t…” Korra trailed off as she realised that, yes, Azula totally would keep premium instant noodles. “You have!”

“Of course.” Azula smiled sunnily. It was terrifying. “And now that you know about them, I can use them as a reward.”

“You might be the most evil person I know,” Korra said seriously.

“Oh, Korra, you have no idea.”

X X X

Author’s Notes

Korra’s naivety when it came to matters of economics in the show was mind-boggling. She might be the most powerful person in the world, but her naivety in certain critical areas left her woefully underprepared. Indeed, it’s difficult to believe it wasn’t intentional since keeping her naive would make it very easy for the White Lotus to ‘advise’ her in a manner that allowed them to use her power for their own ends.

You can find me on fanfiction.net, AO3, and Amazon.

#legend of korra #fanfiction #korra #azula

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