#I feel like toph and sokka probably went up to all of them and was like ‘hey guys just so you know we’re dating’
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song 24! message in a bottle (taylor swift) + aang requested by @fylithia (spotify wrapped event)
but now you’re so far away and i’m down, feeling like a face in the crowd, i’m reaching for you, terrified
It’s been years now since the war ended. Years since you and your friends saved the world, defeated Zuko’s father and brought peace to the four nations once more. Ever since, everyone’s been busy trying to piece the world back together. Katara’s been staging a feminist revolution in the water tribes, Toph has been reinventing Earth bending, Suki taking the Kyoshi Warriors all over and recruiting, Sokka inventing, Zuko rebuilding a nation and Aang flitting all over the place.
You, on the other hand… What have you achieved? You went back to your village and spent some time telling stories of your adventures to children, then picking up odd jobs on fishing boats and cargo ships to hitch a ride to wherever your friends are off making history. You tell yourself you like the simplicity, like not having to worry about the fate of the world, but you feel like about as insignificant as a speck of dust at your biannual (twice a year) catch ups.
I’m like an old lady telling stories to relive her glory days, you think bitterly.
But you like reliving them. You miss adventuring and seeing the world with your friends. You miss when you were all just kids and there were no real titles or duties in the way (aside from your common goal of ending the war, of course). You miss when Aang looked at you like you’d hung all the stars in the sky, when he was just a boy who liked you but never said it, and when you liked him but refused to show it. Now you feel like you’re miles apart, like he’s on the top of the mountain and you’re left waiting at the base.
You still all write each other, Aang more than the rest but you can’t shake the feeling that it’s out of pity; it’s an obligation to you as an old friend. They’re busy now and that’s not their fault, and you all really would have no reason to go back to camping out. In fact, with the Avatar and Fire Lord especially, it was probably a security risk.
You’re too busy drowning in your own misery to notice Katara until she’s already nudging you in the arm. “Hey, why aren’t you over there with everyone else?”
Starting a little in surprise, you stare at her for a second before sighing as you kick your foot into the dirt and watch the dust rise.
“No reason,” you lie. Because I don’t want to talk to you guys. Especially Aang.
Your time alone has dulled your social skills, because Katara stares at you for a good seven seconds before you realise she expects you to keep talking.
“I think it’s just a little overwhelming to be around many people when I’m usually by myself.”
Her face softens and she reaches out to put her hand on your knee. “But it’s us. We want to make you comfortable and be around you. You know that, right?”
You nod, and she squeezes then releases you. “Let’s start small. Aang!”
Your chest flickers with panic as his bright eyes locate you instantly and he leaves his conversation with Zuko without a second thought. Katara takes his place, striding back up to the group as Aang stops right in front of you.
You feel your heart lurch at finally seeing him up close after spirits knows how many months. He's taller than you now, so it's not hard to avoid his gaze, but you can't tear your eyes away yet. His eyes sparkle at you and you feel yourself flush at how cute he looks with faint freckles dusting the upper part of his cheeks.
"Hey," he greets you softly, taking a seat beside you. "How are you?"
"I'm good," you find yourself saying, despite your mind being devoid of any thought that's not of him. His smile that's as sweet as ever, his eyes, his pink lips. How he's so, so out of your league.
Much like Katara, Aang seems unsatisfied with your short reply. "What have you been up to?"
Thinking about how much I love you. You can't say that, of course, so you babble on about the courier job you did a few months ago, which was great because you helped find a few new Kyoshi Warriors for Suki. When you look back at him once more, Aang has a soft look on his face, and a smile that seems to be there without his knowledge. Your face flushes, stomach flips and something akin to hope rises within you.
His cheeks turn pink when you've trailed off and he realises you're looking at him.
"Wow," he says. "That sounds really great."
You roll your eyes a little, feeling a sense of familiarity. "It's fine, you don't have to pretend you're interested. I know it's all boring compared to the work of the great Avatar."
"No, really," he insists, and there's an urgency in his voice, as if he needs you to know how genuine he is. "I think everything you do is amazing."
You smile. "Really?"
Aang nods down at you, eyes wide. "Well, yeah. I mean, it's you."
Embarrassed but pleased, you look down at your shoes before looking back up at him. "Thanks, Aang."
He grins at you, before glancing over to the others. "Wanna go catch up with everyone else?"
You take a look over at your friends. They look normal now, like a group of friends laughing, instead of the incredible figures they are. You nod at him and he extends a hand out to help you up. You take it.
You can't tell him how much he means to you, but you feel closer now. All you can do now is hope that one day, he gets the message.
#avatar the last airbender#atla#aang#aang x reader#atla x reader#avatar x reader#atla imagines#atla imagine#avatar imagines#avatar imagine#avatar the last Airbender x reader#avatar the last airbender imagine#avatar the last airbender imagines#aang imagine#aang imagines#written works !#2023 Spotify wrapped event !
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Just Thinking
With everything Lin’s been through I’m surprised she never had an Azula-esque mental breakdown.
This woman had an absent father, a neglectful mother, basically had to raise her sister because Toph wouldn’t then got her face sliced open by said sister. Her sister leaves after that and then her mom leaves about (guessing here) a year or so afterwords and just hangs out in a swamp. She joins the police to impress her mother and goes on to become the chief and her mom still doesn’t care.
Her job is immensely stressful, her friends are across the world ( Izumi is in the fire nation, Kya is traveling, Bumi is in the UF) and she gets left by Tenzin (who she’s probably known and been friends with since infancy) for a younger woman.
Presumably there would also be the pressure of the Beifong name and title and the maintenance of the estate after her grandparents die because I don’t see Toph handling that. Additionally all of her mentors either die or move away from the city (Aang dies, Sokka dies, Zuko is in the fire nation, Katara moves to the south) . Obviously we know from the show she handles her emotions poorly and bottles them up. We also know that she’s kind of socially-awkward at times like Azula.
Then we get into the issues of each season. RC already has organized crime that she has to fight to take down then the avatar lands on her door step and destroys public property and agitates the equalist situation. Then Lin looses her job which she has dedicated her entire life to. Outside of her job she doesn’t have a lot going for her. Then she sacrifices herself to save the family of the guy that cheated on her and looses her bending in the process. That must be soul crushing and no one shows up to save her or support her in her time of need.
Season two she has to deal with the attacks in RC and deal with her detective being falsely accused and then with the spirit vines overtaking her city.
Season Three she has to protect the avatar from a terrorist group and is forced to see her sister after thirty years. This experience is obviously super overwhelming for her and then she’s pressured into meeting all these new people (our girl is an introvert). Additionally the stress of her job is physically taking a toll on her as seen throughout the episode. She goes to get acupuncture which resurfaces all of her old painful memories and then when she has an outburst ( understandable she’s going through a lot) everyone is mad at her. ( I have so much more to say about this but I don’t want this post to be a novel) . The battle with the Red Lotus: she was nearly killed and she watched P’Li die. that had to be gory. Even if Lin has seen a lot of death that’s a VERY gruesome way to go.
Season four is obviously stressful for her but there’s particular instances that stick out here: Toph hiding who her dad was just to go and tell Bolin ( this must’ve been so immensely hurtful for Lin: think about it she didn’t even know her dad was from the fire nation until her mom casually told Bolin, that means Lin went fifty four years not even knowing her ethnicity ) . But also the way that after everything Toph’s done she’s just expected to forgive her ? And Lin is so incredibly self-sacrificing that she just swallows her own feelings and does.
Here are the things that really irk me the most
Circling back to season three: “Bitter loner who only cares about herself. No wonder Tenzin ended things with you years ago”
Wow, just wow this is so genuinely awful. But also untrue. Lin has made so many sacrifices, she’s put her life on the line multiple times for Korra and had her bending ripped away from her while protecting Korra.
Bringing up Tenzin was a low blow and so immature of Su.
Lin is so forgiving and no one appreciates her or acknowledges the tremendous amount of pain they put her in.
Also Lin has massive scars on her face. She has to see those every day. That has to take a toll on her self esteem. Not only that they look painful and deep. For all we know she could have sensitivity or be completely numb in that area.
This pisses me off the most: Toph could feel everything through the vines apparently so that means she knew when Lin lost her bending but she didn’t show up for her. Realizing this broke my heart for Lin.
In conclusion Lin has been through a lot. She is traumatized. Yeah she’s grumpy and she has outbursts and she cries in the Zafou episodes but none of this feels like a proportional response to everything she’s been through . I don’t think she as a character can heal until she really processes things and lets it all out but all we see is her continuing to work and heap more pressure on herself. That isn’t sustainable and eventually will create consequences much worse than what we’ve already seen.
I see parallels between her and Azula ( I won’t get into it) and with the strained relationship Lin has with Toph I could see her having an Azula-moment.
youtube
Thanks for listening to my disorganized thoughts .
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everything happens for a reason part 20 - zuko x fem!reader
Guess it's true, I'm never getting over you
part 19 | masterlist | part 21
a/n: holy shit guys. we're finally here. the title chapter, the part that officially puts us over the 100k mark, the turning point, the end of the constant mf angst that i've put you all through. that's right. it's finally time for yn and zuko's life changing field trip. ive had this idea down for so long and i can't believe we're actually here lol. buckle up because she's a very long and very emotional one. i hope you enjoy.
wc: 14.3k I KNOW IM SORRY
warning(s): a lot of angst, fighting, violence (including minor character death), a whole lot of emotions, but the fluffy reconciliation you've all been waiting for<3
chapter title comes from everything happens for a reason (!!!!!!) by madison beer
Y/N felt betrayed.
It wasn’t a secret how she felt about Zuko. She avoided him at every possible moment, making herself scarce whenever he walked into a room or completely ignoring him in group conversation—it was the closest she could get to the civility required now that he was Aang’s firebending teacher, and even that was difficult.
Not because she didn’t want anything to do with Zuko—no, it was becoming the opposite, and it scared her more than anything.
She found herself thinking of him more often than not. And not of the North, or their meetings along their journey, not the catacombs—she found herself recalling the more pleasant memories.
The time they spent together whenever they could when she was still a servant and he was still a prince. The sunset they shared together the night before her life was turned upside down. Those afternoons when she would visit him in the tea shop, talking like they used to, smiling like they used to.
Remembering him for who he was rather than who he had become was dangerous. It was how she got her heart broken in the first place, how she went through some of the worst months of her life.
He couldn’t hurt her again if she didn’t give him the chance to. So she wouldn’t.
But it was getting harder and harder to avoid him, because one by one, her friends forgave him.
First, she’d heard, was Toph. She didn’t have any kind of grudge against him, and she was able to make up for him burning her feet tenfold now that he was part of the team.
Next was Aang. He was already far too forgiving, the amount of grace inside of him more than Y/N could even hope to muster. They proved themselves in front of the last dragons together, and apparently that was enough for Aang to trust him.
It took Sokka a bit longer, but after what they pulled off at the Boiling Rock together, he didn’t seem to have a hard time getting along with Zuko. The fact that he helped save Y/N and Suki probably didn’t hurt his chances either.
Zuko had burned down Suki’s village, but Y/N still remembered what she told him in the courtyard—”if you can get me out of here, you’re forgiven. Kyoshi’s fans, I’ll be your best friend.” They weren’t exactly that close, but they worked together, and that was enough.
Katara, it seemed, was the only one who still shared Y/N’s scorned feelings. They held onto each other like a lifeline, feeding off of the other in their hatred. It might not have been the healthiest option, but they refused to forgive Zuko. They stewed in their hurt, and it felt good. It felt good to have a target for their bitterness rather than the abstract ideal of betrayal, and Zuko worked just fine.
After they had fought against Azula, the night they settled on a random Fire Nation island, the two of them sat together on the outskirts of camp. They were meant to be keeping watch together, but instead they made quiet conversation.
“So,” Katara said, “today was… something.”
“That’s one way to say it,” Y/N said wryly. “Since joining you guys, I’ve had enough action for a lifetime. I can’t wait for all this to be over.”
Katara smiled, but it was wistful. “Neither can I. This has all gone on for so long—all I want is peace.”
A memory flashed through her mind—frantic screams, desperate pleading, flames devouring centuries of life—and Y/N swallowed thickly as she tried to push it away. The closer the day came, the more the memories would appear. It happened every year, but this time it was worse.
“Me too,” she murmured. “More than anything.”
Katara looked at her for a moment, her gaze softening before she finally spoke. “Are you okay? I… I know today wasn’t easy.”
Y/N managed a thin smile, but it wasn’t convincing. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
“You know I can’t do that,” Katara said dryly. “We look out for each other—we always have, even from the first day we met. But it’s like you’re trying to make it as hard as possible for me to care about you.”
“One of my many skills,” she said sarcastically, but Katara didn’t laugh. Y/N sighed in response, long and deep, and allowed her gaze to drift into the murky distance. At nighttime, the water and the sky became one. It was calming. “I just…” she shook her head, “I don’t know what to do.”
“With Zuko,” she guessed.
“With everything,” Y/N said, but then she sighed again. “...Zuko included.”
“He doesn’t deserve you,” Katara said quietly. “Not after everything he’s put you through.”
“I keep telling myself that,” she murmured. “But there’s something inside of me that I can’t get rid of.” She looked at Katara, the beginnings of tears glimmering in her eyes. “There— there’s this hope that I can’t get rid of, that things could be the way they used to be again. And— and last time I felt that way was in Ba Sing Se, and I know where that got me, so—”
Katara stayed silent, only taking her hand to acknowledge her while allowing her to continue. It was a lifeline to her, one sorely needed, and she let out a shaky breath.
“So why do I still feel that way?” she asked, almost desperately. “How have they all forgiven him so easily? They know what he did— spirits, Aang died because of him— but they’re all able to sit around and joke with him like nothing happened.”
“They didn’t trust him the way we did,” Katara said with a quiet anger. “They didn’t trust him the way we did, so it didn’t hurt them the way it hurt us.”
“I don’t want to forgive him,” Y/N said weakly. “But the thought of losing him hurts so much. Why does it hurt so much?”
“I don’t know,” Katara murmured. “I… I don’t know.”
Y/N flinched as a tear rolled down her cheek and fell to the ground below, and she instinctively wiped it away. She couldn’t show weakness.
She grimaced at the thought. How long would that wretched place stay with her?
“I’ll give you some time.” Katara’s expression was pained as she squeezed her hand. She didn’t want to leave her alone, but Y/N was thankful for it. Right now she just needed to feel miserable by herself, without bringing Katara down with her.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Katara nodded as she stood up. “You can sleep in my tent tonight. Or if you decide you want to talk, come bother me. I promise it’ll be okay.”
Y/N nodded, the action a bit numb, and she could feel Katara’s eyes on her as she lingered. But eventually she mustered the strength to leave, and Y/N was left with her thoughts.
She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat as she stared up at the sky. She tried to find the constellation her father taught her when she was a mere child—the tiger seal.
It was a jumble of stars that didn’t even remotely resemble the animal, but she remembered late nights spent stargazing on the ground outside their house, giggling endlessly as her father would point out various other constellations that he made up on his own. It would last until her mother would come out and tell them it was far past your bedtime, young lady, but she would never hide her smile as they ambled back inside.
The memory made a smile of her own emerge, but she soon realized she was fully in tears. They slid down her cheeks, falling onto the dirt and stones jutting out of the cliffside.
She couldn’t stop thinking of Zuko. She couldn’t stop thinking of her father. She felt so deeply broken in a way that she had no idea how to fix, in a way that was threatening to consume her.
She had her life back. Everything should have been back to normal.
But instead, she felt more lost than ever.
-
Y/N ended up taking Katara’s offer of sleeping in her tent, and she was glad she did. The familiarity of it all made her heart ache, but she was thankful for it. Thankful that she had friends like these who wouldn’t let her push them away, no matter how much her newly wired instincts told her it was the right thing to do.
She was visited by her childhood in her dreams yet again. She saw her father and her mother, walking hand in hand with smiles on their faces as they trailed behind a young Y/N skipping through the village paths.
She saw her child self running, screaming and laughing in equal parts as she was chased by the boy marked as the tagger, only to stagger backwards after running into one of the adults. But she was greeted by the smiling face of her father. The boy tapped her on the shoulder and ran off laughing, but her father knelt down to her level and looked at her completely seriously.
“I guess that means we’re the taggers now, huh?” And with that, the two of them ran around the village tagging everyone they could with the seriously unfair advantage.
She saw the moment after she’d learned how to waterbend, sprinting through the whole village to find her father, drag him to the lake, and show him her new skill. Gan held all the stars in his eyes as he watched her bend, and even though it was the simplest thing she could’ve done he praised her to no end.
The absence of scars, the smoothness of her skin, a bright smile that shone through her—she was unmarked by the world then. Hopeful, content, naive.
When she woke up with still-wet tear tracks on her cheeks, it wasn't a surprise. She woke up like this more often than not.
One week. Seven days. And then she would go to face something she wasn’t sure she was ready for.
But for now, there was something else to focus on. She could hear loud voices outside of the tent—all familiar, thankfully—but she knew that meant she had overslept.
Y/N fixed her hair and her clothes, rubbing furiously at her face to get rid of any signs of her previous emotions, and emerged from the tent to see her friends all standing around Appa.
“—about getting closure and justice,” she heard Zuko say, and her brows instinctively creased.
“What’s going on?” Y/N asked, crossing her arms as she stopped between Sokka and Zuko. “What are you all talking about?”
Zuko’s eyes widened slightly as he looked at her. “Uh— good morning.”
“Good morning,” she said stiffly before repeating herself. “What’s going on?”
“Zuko knows where to find the man who killed our mother,” Sokka said. He was oddly quiet.
“And Katara wants to find him,” Aang said, his expression uneasy.
“Is there a problem with that?” Katara asked defensively.
“Not if Zuko’s right and you just want closure,” he said. “But I don’t think that’s what this is about. I think it’s about getting revenge.”
“Maybe it is!” Katara exclaimed, gesturing with one hand. “Maybe it is about revenge, Aang. But don’t you think I deserve it?”
“You don’t know what it will do to you,” Aang said. “I know how you feel right now, trust me—like violence is the only way to solve your problem. I felt that way after I discovered what happened to my people. But it’s not the only way.”
“I can’t let him go now that I know I can get to him!” she yelled, her voice rising with her anger. “Maybe it’s what I need—maybe it’s what he deserves.”
Aang’s eyes widened slightly. “Katara, you sound like Jet.”
“That’s not the same,” she snapped. “Jet hurt the innocent. This man— he’s not innocent. He’s a monster.”
“Katara, she was my mother too, but I think Aang might be right,” Sokka said.
She set her jaw. “Then you didn’t love her the way I did.”
Sokka took a step back as his eyes widened. “Katara…”
“The monks used to say that revenge is like a two-headed rat viper.” Aang spoke up quickly, trying to fill the air after what she’d said. “While you watch your enemy go down, you’re being poisoned yourself.”
“That’s cute, but this isn’t Air Temple preschool,” Zuko said. “It’s the real world.”
“And you think he hasn’t experienced the real world?” Y/N snapped. “I think he knows a little bit about grief after what’s happened to him.”
Zuko looked at her with a surprisingly level expression, contrasting her narrowed eyes and upturned lip. “Monk pacifism isn’t going to help here.”
Y/N opened her mouth to retort back but Aang stopped her. “It’s okay. I forgive you, Zuko.” He looked at Katara. “That’s what you need to do. Forgiveness.”
Katara laughed in disbelief. “You want me to forgive the man who murdered my mother?”
“Of course not!” Aang said. “You need to face him—I understand that. But when you face him, you can’t kill him. You have to let the anger flow through you, and then out of you. Accept your emotions, then let them go.”
“Why should he get to live when our mother is gone?” Katara shouted. “I don’t want to forgive him, I want revenge!”
“Killing him won’t bring our mother back,” Sokka murmured. “You’ll just have someone else’s blood on your hands.”
“Good,” she said coldly. “An eye for an eye.”
“Makes the whole world go blind,” Aang finished. “One of the monks said that back in the temple—violence might feel right, but it just hurts everyone more. Forgiveness is the right choice.”
“Forgiveness is the same as doing nothing,” Zuko said.
“No, it’s not,” he said. “It’s easy to do nothing—forgiveness is hard.”
“It’s not just hard,” Katara snarled, “it’s impossible.”
Aang looked over at Y/N, who had been silent since her outburst at Zuko. “Y/N, please. You know revenge won’t help her.”
Y/N looked between the two of them, the steely determination brewing in Katara’s eyes at odds with a desperate softness in Aang’s. Something twisted in her chest, and she had to force herself to look away as she spoke.
“...Do what you have to,” she said quietly. “Whatever that ends up being.”
Hurt flickered across Aang’s expression before he looked away, and Katara nodded thankfully at her before she started walking away. Zuko cast a long look at Y/N before he followed her.
“I’ll see you guys later,” Y/N muttered as she hurried off in the opposite direction, swallowing her doubts as her hands bunched into fists and loosened over and over, desperately needing something to do with them.
Katara was going after her mother’s killer, and Zuko was helping her with it. Katara, her last line of defense in her feelings against him, was going on her own trip with him. Y/N knew it was for the best—it was something she needed to do and Zuko had the Fire Nation knowledge that no one else in their group possessed, so he was the obvious choice—but a small part of her still couldn’t help but despise it.
He was getting too close, far too close, and she wasn’t going to let that affect her.
No matter what.
-
Y/N had found a small solace by the cliffside, sitting on the edge as her legs hung off. She could fall just as easily as anything, but maybe it was the danger that calmed her, the fact that she was in control of what would happen. She heard the footsteps before anything though, and her body tensed up instinctively as she whirled around.
“It’s just me,” Toph said, her blank gaze aimed at the ground. “You’re jumpier than usual.”
“How can you tell?”
“I can hear every ant on this cliffside through their movements,” she said. “Your heart rate spiked so much that even a baby could tell you’re off. You’ve been off, ever since you came back.”
She smiled wryly. “I’m still getting used to everything again. It’s not an easy transition.”
“But you’re here,” Toph said, and she sat down next to her. “You’ve been through everything, and you’re still here. That means you’re tougher than everything the Fire Nation has tried to throw at you.”
“How can you say that so easily?” Y/N asked. “I’ve flipped out on everyone at least twice for no reason. I constantly have nightmares about what’s happened. I— I can’t even bend because Zuko still has this stupid hold on me. I don’t feel tough. I feel weaker than ever.”
“You’re still here,” Toph repeated, emphasizing each word. “So many other people would have given up by now if they were in your position. But you didn’t—you fought, and you continued to fight until you won, no matter how long it took you. That’s what makes you tough—not all the stuff you’ve been through, but the fact that you’re still standing at the end of it.”
“When did you become so wise?” she joked weakly, her gaze trailing off into the horizon. The sun was beginning to set, beautiful reds and oranges blending with deep purple. It reminded her of the night everything changed.
“Someone had to keep these dunderheads together while you were busy in prison.” Y/N chuckled a bit, but she could see Toph’s expression sober in her peripherals. “...I’ve just been worried about you.”
“Really?”
Toph punched her on the arm without looking. “Does that make you believe me?”
Y/N managed a small smile as she rubbed the spot. “Yeah.”
“Good. Because I don’t know how much sappy stuff I can take.”
Her smile widened as she wrapped an arm around Toph and pulled her closer. “So you do love me.”
“Let go of me!” she protested. “This is the worst kind of sappy stuff!”
But Toph made no move to get away from her, and Y/N laughed. “Just admit it. You missed me.”
“Of course I missed you,” she huffed. “Without you, I actually had to do all the work with Katara instead of knocking Twinkle Toes around with earthbending or practicing on my own. It was horrible.”
“I missed you too, Toph,” Y/N said with a smile. “I didn’t realize how much I appreciated your tough love until I didn’t have it.”
“I have plenty saved up for you, Snowflake,” Toph grinned, “so don’t worry.” But her expression sobered, and she paused.
“...I’m here for you,” she said after a moment. “If you need anything, or just someone to listen to. I’m good at listening to people complain.”
“Thank you,” she said, her smile softening. “That means more than you know.”
And as the two of them sat there in silence, nothing being said verbally but more in the air between them than ever, she felt content once again. She didn’t realize how much she just needed to talk to somebody. First her conversation with Katara and now with Toph—her friends really were the secret to making her feel better.
…Things would be okay again, Y/N thought to herself. No matter how long it took, her friends would be there for her.
Things would be okay again.
She would be okay again.
-
“They’ve been gone for too long,” Sokka grumbled.
“It’s been two days,” Aang said. “Zuko said the man they were after was retired—it can’t be easy to find a retired Fire Nation soldier, no matter how knowledgeable you are about the navy.”
“That’s too long,” Sokka insisted as he crossed his arms. While Y/N, Aang, Suki, Toph sat together in a loose arc, Sokka was up and pacing. He had been for the past twenty minutes.
“Can you sit down, Sokka?” Y/N asked. “You’re stressing me out.”
“You should be stressed out!” he exclaimed, flinging his arms up. “The boy prince of betrayal went off with my impressionable sister on a murder field trip. There is no reason to not be stressed out!”
“You need to give Sugar Queen more credit,” Toph said. “If Zuko tries anything, he’s the one that should be worried. Not the other way around.”
“Toph’s right,” Aang said, but then he frowned. “And I thought you trusted Zuko.”
“Not when he’s alone with my sister on a murder field trip!” Sokka heaved a long sigh as he stopped, staring out into the distance. Even though their island was one of a big scattered chain, they were still extremely isolated. It was unnerving sometimes, especially at night. “She feels everything so strongly, and… and she’s always felt guilty about what happened to Mom. I know she thinks this is her chance to make it up to her, to do what she wished she could have done on that day. But I also know that if she goes through with it, she’ll regret it for the rest of her life.”
“She’ll make the right choice,” Y/N murmured. “I know she will.”
Aang suddenly perked up, and he turned around. When he did, his eyes widened. “They’re back.”
They all turned around to see Appa touching down at camp, but only one person dismounted.
“Where’s Katara?” Y/N instantly asked, her eyes narrowing as she darted up.
“She’s fine,” Zuko said, but when he glanced at Aang she could see his nerves. “She… she’s back at the dock. At the soldier’s village.”
“Did she…?” Aang didn’t finish the sentence, but he didn’t have to.
“No. He’s terrified out of his mind, but he’s alive.” A weight was visibly lifted off of Sokka’s shoulders with the single word, and Aang nodded.
“That’s… that’s good.”
“She said she needed some time to herself,” Zuko murmured. “I figured it was only right to bring you back with me.”
“I’m coming too,” Sokka said.
“Me too,” Y/N spoke up. She could feel Zuko’s gaze on her, but she didn’t meet it.
“I’ll stay back,” Toph said. “Someone has to hold this place down.”
“I will too,” Suki said, and she gave Sokka a light kiss on the cheek. “I hope she’s okay.”
“She will be,” Sokka said softly. “Eventually.”
Zuko nodded and started walking back towards Appa. “Let’s get back, then. It’s a bit of a ride.”
-
Soon enough, they were all in the village, and Aang jumped off Appa as soon as he’d guided him close enough.
“Katara!” he exclaimed as he ran towards her, sitting on the edge of the dock. “Are you okay?”
“I’m doing fine,” she murmured. Her voice was placid as the water she sat above, but it was strained.
“Zuko told me what you did,” Aang said softly. “Or… what you didn’t do, I guess. I’m proud of you.”
“I wanted to do it,” she said stiffly. “I wanted to take out all my anger on him, and I almost did. But… but I just couldn’t. I don’t know if it’s because I’m too weak to do it or strong enough not to.”
“You did the right thing,” Y/N said. “Facing that man makes you stronger than he could ever hope to be.”
“Forgiveness is the first step you have to take towards healing,” Aang said.
Katara stood up, and her gaze was a mixture of sadness and acceptance. But it was obvious the ordeal was still weighing on her. “I didn’t forgive him. I’ll never forgive him. But…” she looked past them and over at Zuko, the smallest of smiles pulling at her lips. “...I am ready to forgive you.”
She walked up to Zuko and hugged him, and after a moment of hesitation Zuko smiled and wrapped his arms around her. Y/N clenched her jaw and started walking back over to Appa.
She was happy Katara got closure, of course she was. But in the process, she had forgiven Zuko. She was her confidante, the one person who understood how deep her anger towards him went. She had been by Y/N’s side throughout their whole journey, at each and every road block, she was there for Ba Sing Se—for all of Ba Sing Se.
And somehow, Zuko had gotten her to forgive him too.
It was selfish, unbelievably so, for it to hurt her so much when Katara had just faced something impossible. But she couldn’t help the way that her chest twisted, how her heart ached, how her nails dug so deep into her palms they left indentations.
When the rest of them got back onto Appa, Katara sat down next to her. “Thank you for coming.”
“Of course.” She didn’t make eye contact, her gaze focused into the distance as Aang set off for camp. “I’m glad you got to face him. That you made the right decision for you.”
“Y/N,” she murmured, “I know what this is about.”
“It’s not about anything except you,” she evaded. “This was a journey you had to take—we’re all behind you.”
“And you have all my thanks for that,” Katara said. She glanced at Zuko on the other side of the saddle, very obviously trying to pretend like he wasn’t listening in on their conversation. He wasn’t very good at it. “But I know you’re upset about… that.”
“We don’t need to talk about this right now,” she said.
“Y/N…”
She didn’t say anything. Katara sighed and settled back down on the saddle.
“Okay,” she nodded. “When you’re ready.”
Quiet conversation was made on the other side of the saddle between the three boys, but there was nothing between Katara and Y/N.
Nothing except a newly found weight on both their shoulders.
-
The sizzling fuse exploded when they got back to camp, though. A ride spent staring at the sky didn’t do much for her. Y/N got down from Appa the moment Aang guided him to the ground, and Katara let out a hefty sigh as she followed after her. She started to say her name, but she didn’t get far.
“Even you forgave him.” Her words were cold, icy rather than hot anger. “Even you! After everything we’ve talked about— everything you know!”
“I— I know,” Katara said, and she let out a deep sigh as she ran a hand through her loose hair. “But… but he helped me in a way that no one ever had. I found my mother’s killer. I got closure.”
“Well, maybe I should get him to help me find the guard who killed my father,” Y/N said sarcastically. “Maybe that’ll get me my bending back.”
“It could,” Katara said, and she was actually genuine. “It could work. And Zuko would help you.”
She huffed a mirthless laugh and shook her head, biting the inside of her lip to prevent the tears she knew would start welling up. “I’m not letting him back in. Even you said I shouldn’t.”
“I can’t say I know how much you’re hurting,” Katara said, “but… but Zuko is hurting just as much as you. There’s no excuse for what he did, I’m not saying that. But he wants your forgiveness more than anything in the world.”
“Did he tell you to say this during your trip?” she asked stiffly. “I mean, now that he’s turned you over to his side and everything.”
“I’m saying this because I care about you,” Katara said softly. “Y/N, I have seen you hurting for months now, all because of Zuko. Even from the first moment we met in the North, I knew there was something inside of you, and it’s still there. And if you don’t take care of it, it’s going to consume you.”
“I can’t forgive him.” Her voice was barely a whisper, a cracked, haunted resolve behind it. “I won’t let myself get hurt again.”
“And I can’t promise that he won’t hurt you again,” Katara murmured. “But I do know if you decide to let him back in, he’ll spend the rest of his life trying to make it up to you.”
Y/N wasn’t able to muster any words. She wrapped her arms around her midsection and turned away, blinking back tears.
“He talked about you,” she continued. “When he wasn’t talking about the Fire Nation and where we were going, he was talking about you. He loved you back then, and he still loves you now. Even if it took him way too long to realize it.” Katara’s expression softened as well as her voice and she took a step closer. “All he wants is to help you however he can.”
“If he loved me then and he still betrayed me,” she whispered, “then how can I ever trust him again?”
“...You just have to,” Katara said quietly. “Trust in the Zuko you knew before you were forced to be on opposite sides. When the two of you were the missing half of each other’s souls.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat, still unable to look back at Katara. “I can’t.”
“Then at least don’t push us away,” Katara urged. “You’ve been off. I don’t know what it’s about, but you can tell me as little or as much as you want, whenever you’re ready. I’m here for you—we’re all here for you, Y/N. We love you so much. Let us help you.”
She bit down on her lip hard to prevent the tears from welling up, and she was only able to muster a nod. “I will. Soon.”
“...Okay.”
Y/N walked off, and she could feel Katara’s worried gaze on her. It took all her strength not to look back.
-
Three days.
It all went on as usual. Suki asked if she was okay, but she didn’t push.
Sokka wouldn’t stop looking at her strangely. He must have heard her leaving her tent in the middle of the night.
-
Two days.
The nightmares were worse. She nearly woke up screaming. Thankfully, she didn’t wake Katara.
Aang sat with her during breakfast, telling ancient airbender stories. He didn’t ask anything when he had to repeat himself because of her blank stare at the ground.
She spent most of the day sitting by the water.
Maybe it would come back after this.
-
One day.
Everyone knew something was wrong, but she didn’t give any of them the chance to ask.
Especially Zuko. He wouldn’t stop looking at her, wouldn’t stop trying to talk to her. She brushed him off every time.
She packed her bag that night.
She barely slept a wink.
-
“What are you doing?”
Her plan was to leave at the crack of dawn, before her friends could ask any questions or try to go with her. She would be back by nightfall, and she would have closure. The nightmares would stop. The guilt would go away. She would be okay again.
But of course, he had to ruin everything.
She didn’t look over at the sound of Zuko’s voice as she rifled through her bag, making sure she had everything she needed. “Nothing.”
“That doesn’t look like nothing.”
“Very perceptive, aren’t you?” she said dryly. Y/N tied her bag shut and stood up, then climbed onto Appa’s back. “I’m leaving.”
His eyes widened. “You’re leaving? Does everyone else know about this?”
“Not leaving for good,” she scoffed. “I just have something I need to do.”
“And that is?”
Y/N glared fully at Zuko. “None of your business.”
“You’re taking Appa in the middle of the night to go somewhere,” he said, crossing his arms. “Every time someone’s tried to do that, it’s been for something important. Sokka was going to the Boiling Rock, and Katara wanted to find her mother’s killer. I’m guessing whatever you’re going to do is equally important, which means you’re gonna need backup.”
“I said it was none of your business,” she repeated. “I can handle myself just fine without you.”
“Well,” Zuko crossed his arms, “I’m not leaving until you tell me what you’re doing.”
“You’re the most annoying person I’ve ever met,” she jabbed.
“You’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met,” he responded with a shrug.
She went silent for a moment as her gaze traveled away, staring instead at the dark night sky. Today had been the hardest day yet, even looking back on her months in captivity. It was the day everything changed. She didn’t exactly know what possessed her to tell Zuko the reason, but after a moment, she did.
“Seven years ago today, my village was invaded,” she said quietly. “It’s the day my mother and I were captured, and… and the day my father was killed.”
Zuko’s eyes widened, and his voice was the same as hers when he finally mustered something. “I… I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”
“So am I,” she said, “but apologies haven’t helped me with anything. I’m going back. I’m visiting my village for the first time since my mother and I were taken. Now that I have the means to travel there, it’s something I need to do.”
“I understand,” Zuko said, “completely. I’ll come with you.”
Her response was instantaneous. “No.”
“You can’t travel that far alone,” he insisted. “I have no doubt that you can handle yourself, but you’ve trained to fight with your bending, and right now you don’t have it. If you run into any kind of trouble, you’re… well, you’re gonna be in trouble.”
“I can fight,” she said. “I’m good with my fists. I held my own against Azula.”
“You did,” he admitted, “but her skill also isn’t in her hand to hand. And if you’re up against multiple people—say, Fire Nation guards—you’re gonna go down quick.”
“You have just as much faith in me as ever,” she remarked sourly.
“It’s not that I don’t have faith in you!” Zuko defended. “I just don’t want you to die because you have too much pride to accept any kind of help.”
“It’s not that I don’t want any help,” she stated. “I just don’t want your help.”
Zuko let out a long-lasting sigh, shaking his head before he finally met her eyes again. “Look. I know you don’t like me, and you don’t have to. Not after… not after what I did. But whatever’s between us can’t affect our mission, because ultimately we’re all here to defeat my father. That has to happen no matter what, so like it or not, we’re probably gonna have to work together at least once to make that happen.”
“I don’t have to work with you if I don’t want to,” she said.
“Really? So if we’re in the middle of a fight and your choice is to either work with me or die, what would you do?”
“I’m not that stupid,” she snapped.
Annoyingly, though… he had a point. They couldn’t afford any distractions, not so close to the end. And Y/N wouldn’t be the reason for their failure because of Zuko.
“...Fine,” she relented, but the glare she pinned him with was still withering. “But you do whatever I tell you to do, and you don’t come with me when we get to my village. This is private.”
Zuko immediately broke out into a grin and he nodded. “Of course. I’m here for you.”
She averted her gaze as she took her seat on Appa’s head. “Get your things before I leave you here.”
He nodded again and he started off towards his tent. Y/N let out a loose sigh as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms, the early morning chill beginning to get to her.
A trip with Zuko to her childhood village on the anniversary of the worst day of her life.
This couldn’t go terribly at all, she thought wryly.
-
“...So,” Zuko said, “do you know where we’re going?”
“No,” she said, “I just thought I would lead Appa around blindly and hope that we somehow end up in the right place.”
“So you do know—”
“Of course I know where we’re going,” Y/N snapped. Maybe it was unfair of her, but she didn’t exactly care. “Sokka took a map from Wan Shi Tong’s library before it collapsed, and he let me borrow it. It’ll take us a couple of hours, but we should make it before noon.”
Zuko nodded. “Where is your village? You never told me much about it when you talked about your past.”
“Why do you care?”
He huffed a laugh. “You can’t be serious.”
She said nothing, and Zuko sighed. “I care about you, Y/N, more than anything. I’m here because I want to help you. Of course I care about where you’re from.”
“That doesn’t mean we need all the small talk,” she said.
“It’s not small talk, it’s a conversation,” Zuko said dryly. “I’m more than happy to sit here in silence with you for another six hours, but I think that’s pretty boring.”
“...It’s by the southern coast, near the Zeizhou provinces,” she relented after a moment. “It’s so small that you can’t find it on a map unless you know what you’re looking for. We didn’t even have an official name—if we had to, we called it South Zeizhou because that was the only notable thing near us.”
“What was it like?” he asked. “Growing up in a place like that.”
“It was nice,” she said. “We were almost completely isolated from other villages, so we were tightly knit. Everyone knew each other—I’m sure I knew each person by name by the time I was five—and everyone helped each other. We didn’t have much, but everyone was well taken care of. Our community was everything.”
“That sounds beautiful,” Zuko murmured.
“It was,” she agreed. “Until your people invaded it and destroyed it.”
Zuko went silent at that, but instead of the sick sort of satisfaction she normally experienced, she felt… guilty.
It wasn’t his fault. Zuko was only a year older than her—when her village was invaded, he was probably in school lessons or learning how to be a prince. And now he was here, going against everything he knew, everything he’d ever had, to try and make things right.
He was a child just like her. And with a father like Fire Lord Ozai…
“...I’m sorry,” she said, and his eyes darted up, a bit of shock visible in them. “I know it wasn’t your fault. I just…” she sighed. “I’ve never forgiven the Fire Nation for what was done to my people. And I guess you’re just the easiest target.”
“I understand,” he murmured. “And for whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry too.”
“This doesn’t mean anything.” The words were quick to leave her mouth, and she didn’t look at him. “Just because I feel bad doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you.” Nevertheless, she could still hear the smile in his voice.
“I know.”
More silence.
“What was your father like?” Zuko asked as he broke it. “You speak of him so fondly.”
She bit her lip at the question as the memories flooded back, and Zuko was stumbling over his words almost immediately.
“You— you don’t have to answer,” he said, “obviously, if it’s too much, but I—”
“He was the nicest man you’d ever meet,” she said softly. “He was always willing to help anyone who needed it, always willing to do far more than he had to if he thought it would make someone happy. And he did—he made my mother the happiest woman alive. He was beloved by everyone in the village.” Y/N swallowed hard. “He died to protect it. To protect me.”
“You’ve made him proud,” Zuko said. “I know you have.”
“I hope so,” she murmured. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
She meant to leave it at that, but for some reason, the words continued to flow. “But I… I’m worried about what will happen when I get there.” that they won’t recognize me when I come back.”
Zuko frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It’s been years since I was there.” Y/N let go of the reins and wrung her hands together. She glanced down at the bandages, the rough fabric almost a comfort after her time without them. “I haven’t been back since I was captured. What if they resent me for not being there?”
“No one could possibly resent you for that,” he scoffed. “You were taken, Y/N, by soldiers. You were a child—what could you have done?”
“Anything,” she muttered. “If I had done anything, maybe things would have been different.”
“You can’t do that to yourself,” Zuko insisted. “You’ll drive yourself insane going down that path.”
She shrugged. “That doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”
“Look at me.”
Y/N frowned. “What?”
“Turn around and look at me,” he said again. “And don’t do your stubborn I hate Zuko thing. Just humor me for once.”
She scoffed and crossed her arms as she turned around, looking him in the eye. “What?”
“Do you think it’s Katara’s fault that her mother is dead?”
The jump to the topic made her blink, recoiling the slightest bit. “What? No— spirits, of course not.”
“But she died to save her,” Zuko said. “The raiders were there looking for the last waterbender, and that was Katara. Her mother gave herself up in place of her.”
“That’s not her fault,” she said. “Her mother ch—”
It hit her then, and her eyes narrowed. “You’re not clever.”
The slightest smile tugged at Zuko’s lips and he shrugged. “It worked, didn’t it?”
“You’re not clever,” she simply repeated, and she turned back around and grabbed the reins. She couldn’t see Zuko’s pleased expression as he adjusted his position in the saddle.
“Just trying to help,” he said, and his voice softened. “You’ve made your father proud, even if you don’t think so. You’ve made both your parents proud.”
She didn’t respond. She feared that if she tried to, the tears would spring. And she wasn’t going to cry.
But she appreciated his words more than he knew. Maybe even more than she knew.
But she couldn’t say that. And so they rode in silence.
-
“We’re almost here,” she announced, and she lightly tugged at Appa’s reins to get him to slow down. It had been a few hours of silent flying and navigating, but they’d made good time. By the spot of the sun in the sky, she could tell it was just before noon.
“Good,” he said.
They had been in the air for hours, starting even before the sun had risen, so it was no surprise when she glanced behind her and saw Zuko fighting off grogginess in the form of a barely stifled yawn.
“You didn’t have to come, you know,” she said, maybe a little too snippy.
“I wasn’t going to let you go alone,” Zuko said. “And even though you might not think so, I like being around you. I…” he sighed and shook his head. “Nevermind.”
“What?”
“I just want things to be the way they used to be,” he murmured. “But I know that can’t happen. And I know you’re tired of hearing it.”
“...I want that too,” she said quietly after a moment of hesitation.
She heard the rustling of leather and a sharp intake of breath, and it wasn’t hard to tell he was shocked by her words. And maybe she was shocked too, because she knew she meant them completely.
“Y/N,” Zuko started, “you—”
But then he was interrupted by her gasp.
“What?” he asked, only a moment of hesitation before he switched veins. He moved up beside her, and his eyes widened. “Flames of Agni…”
In the distance, she could see where the forest abruptly stopped. It went on for kilometers, the ashy remnants of fauna and chopped stumps. So much of the forest was just— was just gone. And in the center of it all…
Her village was unrecognizable. Houses made of wood and stone had been torn down and replaced with metal buildings, and the few original buildings that still were in disrepair, riddled with scorch marks and on the verge of falling apart. She could see armed Fire Nation soldiers manning certain spots around the village, as well as marching through the streets. They numbered far more than anyone in simple Earth Kingdom garb.
Flags and banners with Fire Nation insignias hung everywhere, but the worst part was the factory. It was as big as ten of their old homes, black, polished metal only good for serving as an eyesore. It pumped out acrid black smoke, and even from so far away it made her eyes sting. Her hands clenched into fists around the reins, and anger swelled up inside of her.
Everything that was held sacred in her village was gone, ruined by the Fire Nation for their own gain. Just like everything else in the world.
And she hadn’t even known about it.
“The Fire Nation is still here,” she said shakily. “I… I don’t know what I expected. I thought they would move on after the raid, but…” She barely managed to choke back a sob by clenching her jaw tightly. “They destroyed it all.”
“I’m so sorry.” There was horror in Zuko’s voice, and like her, he was unable to look away from the devastation. “I… If I had known…”
“Sorry isn’t going to fix anything,” she said bitterly, but it was more pained than anything.
“Then we will fix it,” he countered. Her eyes flicked up to him, the smallest bit of surprise visible. “We’ll take your village back and get the Fire Nation out, once and for all.”
Y/N’s grip tightened even further on the reins, her nails digging deep into her palms as she nodded. Her eyes hardened as they moved back to her village, and she nodded resolutely.
“You’re damn right we will.”
-
“Are you okay?”
“Of course I’m not okay,” she said. She wanted to snap at him, but she didn’t have the energy. Not after what she’d seen.
She and Zuko had set up camp a while away from her village, deep in what remained of the forest to give Appa enough cover. Though she wanted to light a fire, she knew it was too risky. And so they sat together on the ashy, barren ground, the air between them heavier than ever.
They were going to take back her village, that much was a given. The only question was how.
“You’re right,” he murmured. “It was a stupid question.”
“I just don’t understand,” she said weakly as she sat back on the ground. “Why would they stay in our village? We’re so far off the map that it’s probably costing them more to be here than not.”
“That’s what the Fire Nation does,” Zuko said. “They destroy everything they get their hands on.”
When Y/N looked up at him, he was staring at the ground, his jaw clenched.
“It’s about breaking their spirit,” he continued. “If they just left, your people could fight back. Get revenge for the invasion. But if they take over completely—”
“They crush an uprising before it has the chance to grow,” she murmured, “and they gain a workforce and all the natural resources they could want.”
“Yeah.”
Zuko’s voice was oddly quiet, stilted in a way she couldn’t place. She couldn’t stop herself from asking.
“What happened when you went back to the Fire Nation?”
Zuko glanced at her, swallowing hard before he looked away. “I’m not sure you want to know.”
“I do,” she said. “And I think I have the right to know.”
“Mai and I got together.” He sounded almost embarrassed, and she hated the twist of jealousy in her chest. “We talked during the entire boat ride home, and it went from there.”
“Oh,” she said stiffly. “So while I was sentenced to rot in prison for the rest of my life, you were getting busy with the girl who’s loved you her whole life.”
His cheeks flushed bright red in spite of the obvious anger. “That’s not what it was!”
“Really? Because that’s exactly what it sounds like.”
“We were both struggling,” he insisted. “I… I wasn’t handling Ba Sing Se well, and Mai was having doubts about everything. We gravitated towards each other in our misery, and— and it just happened.”
“You can’t honestly believe that’s true,” she snapped.
“You don’t know anything about Mai if you think it isn’t!” he exclaimed. “Neither of us were—”
“What?” she asked, brazen in his silence as he suddenly cut off. “You weren’t what?”
“…We realized that we didn’t like each other in that way,” he finished in a mumble. “Expectations pushed us together. Our own feelings pulled us apart.” Zuko looked back at her this time. “We couldn’t ignore our… our true feelings.”
“And what are those true feelings?” she asked. She couldn’t help the mocking tone in her voice, but the anger was beginning to come back. Mai had never been mean to her back in the palace, but it was hard to forget Omashu and Ba Sing Se. And it wasn’t exactly nice to hear that she and Zuko got together right after she was sentenced to a life in prison.
“I love you,” he said, “and you know that. But Mai, she—” Zuko shook his head and glanced away.
“What?” she repeated.
“...Do you remember Ty Lee?”
She frowned. “Yeah. She’s tried to kill me a couple times.”
“That’s who,” he said, and her eyes widened slightly. “They’ve always been close, but… I don’t know. Maybe the pressure of working under my sister brought them together. Maybe me being as horrible as I was pushed her away. But all I know is that Mai has feelings for her, and none for me. And I’m okay with that.”
“...Ty Lee,” Y/N said, and she managed a chuckle. “I think that’s the last pair I expected.”
Zuko cracked a smile. “It works, though. I hope they can figure something out.”
“Yeah,” she mumbled. “Me too.”
But then Zuko’s expression sobered again as he looked at her, his gaze as piercing as ever. “You know I don’t like her. You know there’s nothing between us. A—and you said you wanted things to be the way they used to be.” His voice was low, but there was no mistaking the edge of desperation in it. “So why can’t they be?”
“Why does it always come back to us?” she asked bitterly.
“Because I want there to be an us again so badly,” he said. Zuko’s voice was so genuine it pained her, and she hated how easily he was cracking her resolve.
The walls used to be easy to keep up, used to be gratifying. But now all it did was hurt. The night was cold, and she longed for his embrace.
But Zuko was fire. Beautiful, inviting, full of warmth, but able to hurt her just as easily.
And spirits, that was all she could think about as the scar on her arm stung. The burns on her hands had faded, and Ba Sing Se’s mark was nearly gone as well, but she couldn’t forget.
“Maybe there can’t be an us again,” she mumbled as she stood up. “And maybe we just both have to accept that.”
The look in Zuko’s eyes hurt, his downcast expression combined with the same longing she felt. So she walked away towards the forest, or rather what remained of it.
“I’m going to scout out our surroundings,” she said, though it was half-hearted. “I’ll be back when the sun starts setting. We’ll figure out a plan at nightfall.”
She’d disappeared into the woods soon enough. If Zuko said something, she didn’t hear it.
-
She held true to her word, and she was back by nightfall. Zuko had drawn a map of her village in the dirt with a stick, and though it was crude it was accurate. It turned out he had a better memory than she thought, and it also seemed that when they were working towards something like this, it was easier to work through the tension.
It took the better part of an hour for them to come up with something and actually agree on it, and it was still shakier than he liked—a lot of it relied on her people remembering Y/N the way that she remembered them. But it was a plan, and it could work, so it was good enough.
Soon enough, they were back on Appa, riding through the inky sky towards her village. Dressed in black from spares Zuko had in his bag—the same outfit he lended Katara during her mission, she was sure—they blended in perfectly.
“We’re here,” she whispered, and Zuko nodded as he sheathed his sword and moved up next to her on Appa’s head. “Do you remember the plan?”
“Of course I do,” he said. “Are you dropping down here?”
“Yeah. I’ll signal when I’m ready for you.”
He nodded again. “Good luck, Y/N.”
“...Thanks.”
She guided Appa closer to the ground, handing the reins off to Zuko when she thought she was close enough. She slid off as quietly as she could, her moccasins doing little to help with the shock of landing but good enough at muffling her movements. There were fewer guards than before, but it still made her nervous.
Y/N didn’t even dare to breathe as she moved through her village, ducking behind cover when she needed to as she made her way towards one of the only remaining houses. Despite the Fire Nation banner hanging across the front, it still felt like it was her village rather than another forced colony.
That was something, she supposed.
She pushed the door open quietly and pulled the fabric down from her face, checking once more to make sure there were no guards before she closed it. And when she turned around, she was met by a wide-eyed woman and a stark-faced man darting up from his spot on the floor.
It probably wasn’t the best look, showing up dressed in all black in the middle of the night while the village is occupied by soldiers. She could only hope they would recognize her.
“What are you doing in our home?” he demanded, but his wife shook her head.
“I must be dreaming,” she whispered, and she stood up as well. “Y/N? Is… is that you?”
“Leya,” Y/N said, and she felt the pinpricks of tears behind her eyes, “you remember.”
Leya laughed and clasped her hands together as she moved closer and pulled her into an embrace. “Of course I remember you, darling! How could I forget the little waterbender who always managed to soak my laundry just as it had finished drying?”
“Gan’s girl,” the man—Lao—marveled, and he laughed as well. “What in Kyoshi’s name are you doing here?”
“It’s hard to explain,” she said, slightly sheepish as she pulled out of Leya’s hug. “But basically… I’m here to save the village.”
Lao shook his head with a smile—that same smile she remembered from her youth, a mix of approval and surprise. “You haven’t been here since the invasion and now you’re here to save our village. You haven’t changed a bit.”
“What can I say?” she said with a slight laugh. “I’ve been busy with the Avatar.”
“The Avatar?” Leya asked, and Y/N held up her hand.
“As much as I’d love to tell you both what I’ve been up to all these years, we’re working on a schedule.”
“‘We’?” Lao caught. “Who else is here with you?”
She didn’t think she could exactly say the crown prince of the Fire Nation, no matter how reformed he claimed to be.
“A friend of the Avatar,” she decided. “He’s waiting for my signal. That’s when the action’s going to start.”
“What exactly is your plan?” Leya asked tentatively. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but our numbers aren’t the highest. Those who haven’t been sent away as laborers had their spirits broken long ago. There are very few with any kind of fight left in them.”
“That’s okay,” she said. “I’ve got more than enough fight in me for this whole village. But I need your help.”
Lao nodded. “Anything.”
She smiled, a miniscule amount of weight dropping off her shoulders in relief. “Good.”
-
Appa was stashed securely in the woods, a rucksack full of moon peaches to keep him happy and quiet, but Zuko was still nervous.
How couldn’t he be, hiding behind a gaudy metal structure pretending to be a house that fit into this village? He was only the traitor boy prince of the Fire Nation, most likely with a wanted poster and a bounty on his head courtesy of his father.
He wasn’t scared, though.
Nervous? Sure. But he couldn’t wait to give these soldiers what they deserved.
Zuko’s eyes snapped towards the sudden movement across the way—the Fire Nation banner had been ripped down from the house Y/N went into, and the woman who did it held her fist in the air for a moment before darting back inside.
The signal.
It was time.
Zuko took a deep breath, pulled his broadswords out of their sheaths, and started moving.
It didn’t take long to find a guard, standing at his assignment near some light post. Zuko dashed behind him and brought his swords up to his neck.
“Stay quiet if you want to keep your head,” he said. “Nod if you understand.”
The guard nodded, but Zuko saw his hand clenching into a fist. He moved one sword down, and he froze in place as the sharp edge settled against his skin.
“No firebending either,” he growled. “You wanna test my patience some more, or are you ready to cooperate?”
“I— I’ll cooperate,” he stammered. “Just don’t hurt me, please. What do you want?”
It was almost pathetic. These people took over an innocent village, and now they were so confident that they stationed guards like this. Zuko wondered if this man even knew what had been done here.
“Good,” Zuko said. “Who’s in charge here?”
“General Lee,” he said, and Zuko had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Of course. “He— he’s the one who took over this place at the beginning. The one who ordered the invasion.”
“And where is he?”
“The biggest house at the end of the lane,” he said. “You— you can’t miss it.”
Zuko thanked the soldier for his information by knocking the flat end of one blade against his head, and he took a step back as the man fell to the ground, unconscious.
Step one complete.
-
“How is your earthbending?” Y/N asked. She and Lao moved swiftly through the village under the cover of darkness, avoiding soldiers where they were stationed as they conversed in low voices.
“Not as sharp as it used to be,” Lao said. “I’ve been hiding it since the invasion—otherwise they would have killed me or sent me away. What do you need it for?”
Once again, that sheepishness came back. The plan she and Zuko created sounded very outlandish when she said it out loud.
“I want to destroy the factory.”
“You certainly don't aim low, huh?” Lao chuckled a bit, but he flexed his hands nonetheless. He moved his fist forward and a short pillar of solid rock shot up from the ground. “I’ve still got some of it, at least.”
“That’s why I asked for your help,” she said. “The Fire Nation builds everything out of metal, but I think they forget that rocks are pretty effective against it.”
Lao smiled as he sent the rock back down into the earth. “I like how you think.”
She smiled as well, but her head shot up at the movement near them. She stepped protectively in front of Lao, her instincts above anything, but the tension dissolved when she saw it was just Zuko.
“Did you find out where he is?” she asked, and he nodded.
“His name is Lee— General Lee,” he said. “The last house,” he pointed, “that way. You can’t miss it.”
“Good.” She cracked her knuckles. “I have some things I’d like to say to him.”
“Y/N,” he said, “he’s…”
“What?”
“He’s the one who did all of this,” Zuko said. “The one who ordered the invasion. He’s been here ever since.”
Her jaw clenched as she felt fire ignite inside of her. “Then maybe I have a little bit more to say to him.”
“Take this.” Zuko took one of his swords off along with its sheath and handed it to her. “Just in case.”
She nodded, taking some satisfaction in her practice swings before she stashed it across her back, then she looked at Lao. “You two are going to take down the factory together. Is anyone in it still?”
He shook his head. “Shifts ended a few hours ago. It should be completely empty.”
“Good.” Y/N looked at Zuko. “How do you feel about causing some explosions?”
He smirked. “Pretty great.”
“And how do you feel about crushing a lot of stuff?” she asked, turning to Lao.
“Even better.”
“Great,” she smiled. “Obviously, this is going to make a lot of noise. Get out when you feel danger—we might have to bring this fight to the streets.”
Lao cracked his knuckles. “Gladly. It’s about time we take our home back.”
“Laya’s alerted the people?” Y/N asked.
He nodded. “She’s gone house to house—she should be near the end by now. She and the rest of our people will be safe, and anyone who’s willing to fight will be ready for my signal.”
“Then I think it’s time we split,” Y/N said.
“Be careful,” Zuko said. “Don’t let your anger blind you.”
“I’ll do what I have to do,” she said simply.
Zuko nodded in understanding. “See you on the other side, then.”
“See you on the other side,” she murmured.
-
Y/N got used to the weight of the broadsword in her hand as she moved through the village yet again. She was surprised at how easy it was, how inattentive the few guards were. Their confidence would be their downfall.
It wasn’t hard to find the house of the general. It was so massive it edged on gaudy, obviously built for nothing but the man’s ego. The door wasn’t locked, and she just shook her head as she slid inside. This was ridiculous.
She closed the door as quietly as she could behind her, and she held her breath as she looked around the first floor. It was eerily empty, eerily silent. Maybe he wasn’t here.
Y/N tightened the grip on the hilt of the sword as she crept up the stairs, wincing at every creak. The whole upstairs was the general’s room, and she shook her head. This was more luxury than anyone in the village lived in. He’d built his comfort off the pain of her people.
“Would you like to tell me what you’re doing in my home?”
She whipped around, her sword instinctively flying up as she stared right at her target. So he was here, and he’d been just as quiet as her. He was younger than she expected, but his eyes told everything she needed to know.
“General Lee,” she said, and she was surprised at how steady her voice was. “This isn’t your home.”
“Isn’t it?” He was dressed in a simple tunic and pants, no armor in sight. Good. “I was here when it was built, and as far as I’m aware, it was built for my use.”
“You took it from my people,” she said. “You took everything from us.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific,” he said nonchalantly. “I’ve taken over a lot of villages.”
“Do you not have any shame?” Y/N demanded, and she pointed her sword at him. He didn’t even flinch. “Destroying the lives of innocent people, tearing apart their homes for resources, occupying them just to show off your strength. You kill people, you destroy families, and you don’t even care?”
The general had the nerve to smile. “It’s the way of the world. The weak fall, the strong prevail. I guess your people were just weak.”
Y/N couldn’t control herself after that. She yelled out as she lunged forward and swung with her sword. The general sidestepped her as she whirled back around, and he just laughed.
“You want to fight, girl?” General Lee mocked. “For what? Your people? Your honor? You won’t get far, I assure you.”
“For my family!” she growled. “Your men killed my father and forced my mother and I into servitude. I’ve wanted revenge for so many years, and now I can finally get it.”
His eyes lit with recognition and he raised his eyebrows. “The waterbenders. So you managed to escape—impressive.”
And then suddenly, there were two massive explosions. They were all the way across town, but it still rocked the foundations of the house. The impact must’ve been felt all over town, surely alerting every guard on duty that something was wrong.
Step two was complete.
It was Y/N’s turn to smile at the general. “There goes your factory.”
The general’s mocking confidence melted into cold anger. “You—”
“Blew it up,” she responded. “Yeah.”
She lashed out with her sword to force him out of the way, then booked it down the stairs and out of the house. She laughed in pure exhilaration as she saw all of the guards in the street, as well as the general running out of his house. The fire blazing in his hand matched the anger in his eyes.
“You want a fight, girl?” he growled. “I’ll give you one!”
General Lee launched the fireball at her and she dodged out of the way, watching as it sizzled against the ground. She held her sword in both hands, beckoning him to come further. It wouldn’t be an easy fight to win against an enraged firebender, but then again—she’d done it before.
He was far too eager to go against a young girl as he shot fire at her in repetitive blasts. She dodged what she could and slashed through the others with her sword, lunging at him with the blade when Lee gave her space.
But then fire shot past, narrowly missing her, and her head whipped around. It took these soldiers long enough to realize the fight was happening right next to them.
“Come on, Zuko,” she muttered as she backed away from the men, the general and the soldiers narrowing in on her. She brandished her sword. “Where are you?”
“You’ve picked a battle that you can’t finish,” General Lee spat as fire lit in his hand, “just like your father!”
Rage hotter than anything before ignited inside of her. And then, everything happened at once.
The general and his soldiers shot their fire at her.
Someone yelled at her to duck, and she dropped to the ground.
As the fire was extinguished above her, General Lee’s eyes widened. He took a step back. “What in Agni’s name—”
“I’m not too late, am I?” Zuko reached a hand down to her, and Y/N let out a relieved breath.
“Right on time,” she remarked as she took it and allowed him to help her up. “I’m in a bit of a situation.”
“I noticed.” Zuko turned to the general and gestured with his head behind them. “I’m sorry, general, but I think someone blew up your factory!”
“Prince Zuko,” he said sourly. “So you’re a traitor as well.”
“I’m not a traitor,” he said, stepping in front of Y/N ever so slightly. “I’m helping free these people from your glorified slavery.”
The general’s eyes narrowed. “So all it takes for the crown prince to give up his values is a pretty face.”
“You’re a sick man,” Zuko spat. “Take your soldiers, leave this village, and we’ll give you the mercy you never extended to her people.”
“I don’t think so,” Lee said, and he smiled. “Don’t worry, though—this’ll all be over soon. Unless you think you can go against every soldier here on your own.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve been outnumbered,” Y/N said, and she drew her sword. “Besides—”
“—They’ve got help,” someone interrupted. She looked behind her and saw Lao, followed by a myriad of villagers—some earthbenders, some that were just ready to end this. More than she thought still lived here, more willing to fight than she thought.
So everyone’s spirit wasn’t broken.
She smiled. Step three.
“So you want to make this harder,” General Lee said. “I admire your tenacity, but it won’t do you much good.”
“We’ll see,” Zuko said.
Lee didn’t even say anything before he started firebending, and Zuko blocked it yet again. The battle immediately escalated from there, earthbenders and soldiers and swordsmen fighting. It was mostly visible in flashes of fire and the occasional lamppost, but it was loud.
Y/N and Zuko fought side by side against the general, their moves seamless—whenever one fell back, the other would step forward. She was surprisingly good with a sword, but it might’ve been her adrenaline.
With the amount of energy and anger pumping through her veins, she was sure she could take on anything at that moment. And having Zuko with her… She would be lying if she said it didn’t help.
It was a deadly dance between the three of them. Y/N’s sword sung as it cut through the air, and it was in sharp contrast to the explosions of fire in the background and the general’s own bending against them.
Maybe it was that adrenaline inside of her, or maybe it was the thought of finally getting to deliver justice for her village. Maybe the spirits were finally on her side. But whatever it was, General Lee ended up stumbling as he dodged the sword’s jab at him, and it gave her enough time for Zuko to kick him in the chest and send him backwards. Y/N took the opening and swept his legs, putting all her strength into the single move, and it worked.
He fell to the ground, a slight grunt being forced out as he landed on his back, and Y/N pointed her sword at his neck. She took immense satisfaction in the flicker of fear in his eyes.
“Zuko,” she said placidly, “go help the others.”
He looked at her for a good, long moment before he conceded with a step back. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”
“I won’t regret this,” she murmured.
Zuko’s gaze remained on her for another moment before he turned and ran back into the fray. Y/N could do nothing but stare down at the general. The man who took everything away from her in one short afternoon, now defenseless below her blade.
“So,” she said, “after all this time, all it took was one fight for you to fall.”
The general gave her a wry smile. “It wasn’t exactly a fair fight.”
“Neither was the invasion of my village. But that didn’t stop you, did it?”
“You savages have never understood,” he growled. “No great leader has ever gotten anywhere by being nice, by yielding to the demands of those lesser than him. There’s a reason the Fire Nation is at the world’s helm while every other nation continues to fall to its feet.”
“Because you go after the defenseless!” she exclaimed. “You go after those who can’t do anything against you, and then you destroy everything you find. All you care about is power.” Y/N huffed a mirthless laugh and gestured around them. “And look where that’s gotten you.”
“Yield,” she demanded before he had the chance to speak, moving her sword closer to his neck. “Yield, and leave this village, and I’ll let you leave with your life.”
The general laughed, followed by a wince as her blade nicked his skin. “Don’t you know anything about the Fire Nation? You served there for so long.”
“Yield!” she shouted, her voice trembling along with her grip. She just wanted this to be over.
“We fight until death,” he continued. “You’re going to have to kill me if you want your way.”
“You think I won’t?” she challenged. ”You’ve taken everything from me! Your life is too small a price to pay for what you’ve done!”
“I think you’re weak,” he spat. “Too weak to do what you need to do.”
Her eyes stung with tears as she pulled the sword away from his neck.
General Lee huffed a laugh. “Like I said: you’re wea—”
He was stopped in the middle of his sentence as she plunged the sword into his heart. His eyes widened as he choked out his last breath, the light beginning to drain out of him. And then he was gone.
“I’m not weak anymore,” she murmured.
Y/N stared at his lifeless body for a moment, glanced at the gleam of blood on metal.
She had just killed a man. The one responsible for her father’s death, for the imprisonment of her and her mother, for the invasion of her village.
Y/N didn’t feel remorse, didn’t feel satisfaction—but she felt whole. Like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
She sheathed her sword and walked away, back towards the chaos of the ongoing fight. Zuko had joined the others, fighting with a combination of his sword and his bending, and it worked wonders. For a moment, all she could do was watch him. The grace he fought with was akin to that of a waterbender.
Lao moved like he was twenty years younger, working in tandem with other earthbenders as they took down the Fire Nation forces soldier by soldier. Toph would have been proud.
But now there was only one thing left to do.
Y/N took a deep breath then cupped her hands around her mouth, yelling as loudly as she could. “Soldiers of the Fire Nation! Your general is dead!”
That was enough of a shock to knock them off their balance, because Zuko and the earthbenders all immobilized their foes. Zuko with a sword to the neck, Lao and his crew with rocks around their legs and other limbs. The fight died down quickly, all of them staring at her. Zuko’s expression was impossible to read.
“You heard me,” she repeated, “General Lee is dead. You have no stake in this village anymore. Leave, or face the same fate as him.”
“Will you stand here and fight for a nation that doesn’t care about you?” Zuko shouted, catching on to her goal. “Or will you do what’s right and leave these people be?”
Silence hung in the air, only broken by the heaved breaths of soldiers and earthbenders alike. She stared at them all expectantly, her heart pounding in her chest.
And then, the clatter of a sword against the ground.
“I surrender.” A soldier being held in place by rocks around her ankles had dropped her weapon, looking Y/N straight in the eye. “I’ve served the Fire Nation blindly for far too long.”
She nodded at the earthbender, and he retracted the stone around her.
“Go,” Y/N said. “Back to wherever you came from.”
“Your mercy…” the soldier murmured, and she shook her head. “Thank you for giving us a second chance. I know it means little, but I apologize. For everything.”
And then she walked off—in the direction of the shore, she noticed—and soon enough, she’d disappeared into the wood. They must’ve come in on ships.
Slowly, the remaining soldiers either dropped their weapons or declared their own surrender, and one by one they were let go. The sound of clattering metal was music to her ears, and with each one the weight lifted a little more.
The soldier in Zuko’s hold was the last to drop his sword, and Zuko kicked it away before removing his blade from his neck. As he walked away, she let out a sigh of relief.
“…We did it,” she said. “We finally did it.”
“You did it,” Zuko said as he sheathed his sword, doing the same to the other when Y/N handed it to him. “None of this would have been possible without you.”
“Wouldn’t have been possible without you either,” she said, and the smallest smile tugged at his lips.
Lao walked up to her, and he enveloped her in the biggest, tightest hug she’d felt since Katara’s at the air temple. She reciprocated immediately, tears springing into her eyes at the warmth he carried.
“You did it,” he said, his voice and eyes full of pride as he pulled away, though his hands remained on her shoulders. “You’ve given us the freedom that none of us could attain in seven years. We owe everything to you, Y/N.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she said, unable to help her grin, and she looked back at the other villagers. “Any of you—thank you so much. Tonight, you fought for our people! You fought for our village! And we’re finally free from the Fire Nation.”
A wild cheer erupted from the group, and Y/N had to wipe away the tears that began to fall. They’d really done it.
“Go, be with your families!” she exclaimed. “Celebrate with your loved ones! You deserve it—enjoy your freedom!”
Several of the villagers clapped her on the shoulder or shook her hand as they began to wander around, returning back to their houses. She heard one discussing architectural plans, about what they would do with everything the Fire Nation left behind, as well as their houses. The smile wouldn’t leave her face.
And then Zuko walked up, alerting her to his presence by clearing his throat. “Y/N,” he said, and she turned around.
“What?”
“First of all, congratulations.” His own small smile was there, and she felt her cheeks warm. “You freed your village from a seven year occupation. It’s amazing.”
“It feels amazing.” She rubbed her arms, the cold of the night beginning to get to her as her adrenaline from the battle started to fade. “I can’t believe we did it.”
“I’m not surprised,” Zuko said. “You can do anything you put your mind to—I’ve learned that twenty times over by now.”
She chuckled a bit, but Zuko’s expression sobered. “But I have to ask. You… you killed the general.”
The air between them immediately changed. “I did.”
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“I don’t feel happy,” Y/N said, “so you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not going to start killing everyone that’s ever wronged me.”
Zuko laughed, though it was slightly nervous. “That’s, uh— that’s good.”
“But I don’t feel sad either,” she said. “I just feel… right. Like it was something I had to do. Not just for my people, but for me. To know that he’ll never be able to hurt someone the way he hurt me.”
“...Good,” Zuko repeated. “That’s all we can ask for, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “But… I’d appreciate it if you kept this between us. At least until I’m ready to tell everyone.”
“Of course,” he agreed.
“Good,” she said.
Y/N looked up at the sky, the sun having fully set. It was dark except for the bits of ashes that littered the battlefield and the lanterns that lit up the path through the village. But there was still something she needed to do.
She looked back at Zuko. “I have something I need to see. And I want you to come with me. Is… is that okay?”
He smiled, his voice soft when he spoke. “I’d love to.”
-
The path she led him down was one well-traveled by the people of her village—the inky darkness they walked through was penetrated only by the flames Zuko held in his hand at Y/N’s request. She knew she would be able to find her way without it, though.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Somewhere special,” Y/N answered. “Sad, but special. Somewhere I’ve thought about a lot since my mother and I were taken.”
It took a few more minutes of walking in silence only disturbed by night ambiance. When they got there, Y/N let out a quiet sigh. There was unimaginable weight behind the sound.
“We’re here.”
“Where is ‘here’?” Zuko asked tentatively. But then he made the fire in his hand bigger and brighter, and his breath caught in his throat.
“...Hi, Dad,” she said softly, her gaze focused on the headstone. “It’s me. Your little girl finally found her way back home.”
“Y/N…” he murmured.
“I’ve been wanting to come here for a long time, but I’ve never been able to,” she continued. “But you don’t have to worry anymore—the village is free. The Fire Nation is gone. And Mom is okay—she’s safe in Ba Sing Se, and after all of this is over, I’m going to find her again, and I’m going to take care of her. You don’t have to worry about us anymore.” Y/N chuckled. “I’m sure I’ve been driving you crazy with everything I’ve been doing lately. But you can rest in peace now.”
“Are you sure you want me here?” he asked. “I— I don’t want to disturb you—”
She shook her head, placing her hand lightly on his arm. “Stay. Please.”
“...Okay,” he said. “Of course.”
“This is Zuko,” she said, and she laughed a bit as he hesitantly waved. “He’s… he’s the most important person in my life.”
His eyes widened a bit and he looked at her, but her only response was to wordlessly slip her hand into his. He didn’t hesitate to lace his fingers through hers.
“We’ve been through a lot together, and I’ve… I’ve been really angry at him lately. And I thought it was good, righteous anger, but all it did was eat me up inside. I’ve been miserable because of it—I even lost my bending. But now… now, I understand.”
She looked at Zuko now. His gaze hadn’t moved.
“I love you,” she said, “and I mean that with everything in me. I’ve been so angry at you because of what you did that I haven’t let myself think about anything that you’ve done—and you’ve helped my friends so much since you joined them. You’ve helped me too, even when I claimed I didn’t need anyone.”
“And all this time, I thought that letting you go was what I needed to do. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.” She tightened her grip on his hand—her lifeline. “I’ve lost so much in my life, Zuko, things that I can’t get back. And I’m not going to let myself lose you again.”
Y/N pressed a gentle kiss to Zuko’s lips, and he extinguished the fire in his hand as he immediately reciprocated it. It was impossibly soft, impossibly right. And Y/N knew then that this was exactly where she was supposed to be.
“I love you too,” he murmured, and his eyes shone even in the darkness. “More than anything. And I’m so sorry that I ever made you think anything else.”
She pulled away from the kiss to embrace him, and when his arms wrapped around her, it was like home. The constant twist in her chest, the constant weight she’d been carrying for months—it dissipated, and she felt lighter than ever. Spirits, it all felt so right.
And when they pulled away, Y/N rested her head on Zuko’s chest. He responded by wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her in close.
“Thank you for taking me here,” he said. “For trusting me enough with it.”
“Thank you for never giving up on me,” she said.
“Speaking of that…” Zuko said, and there was a slight lilt to his voice as he lit the fire in his hand again. “How about trying that bending again?”
Y/N chuckled a bit as she looked at her hand, flexing her fingers the way she used to. She barely had to concentrate as she pulled moisture from the air, forming into an orb of water in the air. She wasn’t even shocked—she’d known, after they got here. It wasn’t anything concrete, just… a feeling. A feeling that order had returned.
“It’s back,” he said, and the boyish surprise in his voice made her smile.
“That it is.”
Y/N formed it into a flower and then froze it, gingerly taking the stem in her fingers. She walked up to her father’s grave, running her fingers over the engravings. She wasn’t here when it was made, but she was so thankful it had been made. That her people had always been thinking of her and her family.
GAN
HUSBAND OF KURA, FATHER OF Y/N
48 AG-93 AG
WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR HIS LOVE AND HEROICS
It was bittersweet, but she was glad he had a spot here. He would always be remembered.
She carefully placed the flower of ice against the headstone, lowering the temperature of her breath as she blew on it to preserve it longer. It would melt eventually, of course, but this wouldn’t be her last time here. Next time, there would be real flowers.
“I love you, Dad,” she murmured, resting her head against the stone as she closed her eyes. “Forever and always.” She stayed there for a moment, and the gentle breeze that blew through the enclave was no coincidence. For the first time in a very, very long time, she felt peace inside.
She stood back up with a sad smile, wiping at the tears before she turned to Zuko. “I’m ready.”
“Are you sure?”
Y/N nodded. “I am.”
Zuko nodded too, and they started to walk together down the path.
And when he offered his hand, she took it without hesitation.
-
hope you enjoyed this mf emotional marathon of a chapter lmao im gonna go hibernate for a few months because jfc
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#zuko x reader#zuko x you#zuko x reader fic#zuko#zuko fic#avatar#avatar the last airbender#atla#avatar fic#atla fic#avatar the last airbender fic#atla x reader#avatar x reader#sadie writes#ehfar
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Hi, hope you're well.
How would you rate the gaang + others by how out of pocket they are?
gonna rank this by the meanest thing they ever said in the show
aang: ”you know zuko, i don’t care what anyone else says about you, you’re pretty smart” – i love this bitchy backhanded compliment so much. 8/10
katara: “the stars sure are beautiful out tonight. too bad you can’t see them, toph” – probably the meanest thing anyone says in the entire show??? 1000/10
sokka: “hey, don’t feel too bad, you’re only late by 100 years” – funny joke, but also a pretty fucked up thing to say to a twelve year old! 9/10
zuko: “that’s nice, but this isn’t air temple preschool; this is the real world” – this is the meanest thing he ever said imo bc he's being culturally insensitive towards aang, but i think we all know zuko is out of pocket most of the time. 12/10
toph: “you have to admit, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys” – this homophobic microagression is frankly not even that hurtful because aang isnt gay and if he was he wouldnt be hurt by this comment regardless. toph surprisingly in pocket????? giving her a 5/10 overall bc it was rude of her to call katara a mom, but also she didn't mean it like that so i can't blame her too much
suki: “i lost someone i cared about too. he didn’t die, he just went away” – this is a pretty fucked up thing to say actually! like, hello??? suki???? maybe not the time to flirt???? 9/10
azula: “make sure they get your good side” + "i think your friend just said that, genius. and since you can't see, i should tell you, i'm rolling my eyes" – mocking burn victims is not cool, but saying out of pocket shit to your sibling is significantly less egregious. still, her ableism towards toph is fucked up (but not as fucked up as katara's!). 7.5/10
mai: “you miscalculated. i love zuko more than i fear you” – she said the exact combination of words to make azula go crazy and she knew it, but considering the circumstances, it's allowed. 4/10
ty lee: “mai finally gets to wear makeup that isn’t totally depressing?” – ok she actually gets a full pass for this one bc she’s flirting. 0/10
#yourlocalamoeba#asks#the gaang and#to no ones surprise ty lee has the most tact and katara and zuko have the least
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Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12
Rating: PG
Series: Voltron Legendary Defender/Avatar the Last Airbender
Summary: After the fight with Zarkon, Shiro accidentally gets tossed into another reality where humans have the ability to bend the elements. His best shot at returning home is with someone called the Avatar, while he waits he might as well take on the job of being the Firelord’s bodyguard.
“Do you think they’re doing alright?”
Zuko glanced up from the paper he had been signing. “They’re speaking to my father, I doubt they’re having a good time.”
Katara sighed. “I know, but they’ve been down there awhile.”
Aang winced from his seat. “It has. Maybe we should go check on them?”
“It’s not even been 30 minutes,” Sokka said as he twirled his boomerang in his hands. “Don’t be so nervous.”
Suki raised an eyebrow. “Says the man who fiddles with his boomerang when he’s trying to calm his nerves.”
Sokka paused in his twirling. “I’m not nervous, I am fidgeting. There’s a difference.”
Zuko groaned over where this argument was about to go when thankfully the door opened and Toph appeared.
Katara instantly rose and went over. “So, how did it go?” She then frowned. “Wait, where’s Shiro?”
“In the garden,” Toph said and crossed her arms, “recovering.”
“Recovering?” Aang said. “Is he hurt? Did Ozai do something-”
“No,” Toph said and then sighed. “Well, yeah, he did but Shiro isn’t physically hurt. It’s complicated.”
Zuko raised an eyebrow as Sokka approached. “What do you mean?”
Toph stroked her chin. “It went as expected. Shiro went to talk to Ozai and as we suspected he didn't know a thing and was just trying to see if he could use Shiro to help him regain the throne.”
“Of course,” Zuko said darkly.
“Shiro was going to walk away but then,” she bit her lower lip. “Ozai said something that seemed to spook Shiro.”
Aang narrowed his eyes. “What was it?”
She raised her head. “He said Shiro was a killer, just like him.” She raised her head up. “I immediately felt his heart rate go up, like he was panicking? I’m pretty sure I heard him grab Ozai. He let him go, but it was a long pause and I got to admit I was debating if I should step in or not.”
“But that’s crazy,” Aang said.
“I agree,” Suki added. “He’s a good fighter, but he’s not a killer. He’s probably one of the nicest guys I’ve met.” She turned to Sokka. “Right?”
Sokka grimaced as he rubbed his neck. “Well...”
Zuko crossed his arms, “You’re remembering the Agni Kai aren’t you?”
“How can I not be?”
Aang and Suki exchanged baffled looks.
“Are we missing something?” Aang asked.
“Yeah,” Sokka said as he rubbed his neck. “You two didn’t see how he was during the Agni Kai. He was intense. There are reasons people are still calling him’ the dragon’.”
“And his universe is going through its own war at the moment,” Katara replied as she rubbed her arms. “We all know what kind of impact that can have on people.”
Aang frowned and nodded as he gripped his staff. “Maybe I should go talk to him-”
“No,” Zuko said as he placed a hand on his shoulder. “I should.” He turned to the group. “I have a feeling I can better relate.”
The group exchanged glances, but all nodded.
“He should be in the garden,” Toph said. “Probably hanging out with Appa and Momo.”
“Cuddle time with furry critters is good for relieving stress,” Sokka commented.
“Right,” Zuko said as he left. “I’ll go find him. Could one of you fill Uncle in on what happened?”
“I’ll do it,” Toph said as he crossed her arms.
“And in the meantime, who’s up for a game of cards?” Sokka said.
“Only if you’re not dealing,” Katara chided.
“Why?”
“Because you cheat!” Everyone shouted.
Zuko repressed a chuckle as he left and headed for the garden.
---------------------
There was nobody in the garden, which was what Shiro needed. Upon arriving, Momo had jumped onto his shoulder. Shiro glanced up and upon seeing the lemur’s concerned face staring back at him, he gave a small smile.
“Worried about me?” Shiro asked.
Momo chirped at him.
“I’m okay,” Shiro said quietly, although it was mostly to convince himself.
He walked over to where Appa was currently napping and sat next to him. The flying bison cracked open an eye.
“Mind if I join you?” Shrio asked.
Appa gave a snort before shutting his eyes and turning his head.
“I’ll take that as an ‘No’,” Shiro said softly and leaned back.
He breathed in and out. He needed to clear his head. He had to just..not think about what he had just heard. But how could he not?
Because it’s all true, he thought darkly.
He sighed deeply listening to only Appa’s snoring and the light purr like sounds from Momo. Before long, Shiro heard footsteps.
He opened his eyes and saw Zuko.
“I take it you spoke with Toph.”
“She gave us the details more or less,” Zuko said as he sat down next to him. “Are you alright?”
Shiro sighed. “I’ll..be fine.” He shut his eyes. “It just brought up some memories I prefer not to recall.”
“Memories or the nightmares you’ve been having?”
Shiro froze. Momo hopped off his shoulder as he straightened his posture. “You know about the nightmares?”
Zuko raised an eyebrow. “I know from personal experience it’s impossible for a person to get scars like these,” he pointed to his face, “and not get nightmares.”
Shiro opened and shut his mouth. Right, I suppose he would know.
“Do you get yours often?” Zuko asked.
Shiro rubbed his neck. “It’s not as bad as it used to be, but I will admit they aren’t nearly as bad as the…”
“Flashbacks?”
Shiro paused, but slowly gave a nod.
Zuko was quiet as he crossed his arms. “I’m assuming the others told you how I got my face burned.”
Shiro rubbed his neck. “Um, no actually.”
Zuko blinked and looked genuinely surprised. “Wait, really?”
“They told me it was something to do with an Agni Kai, but they wouldn’t tell me any more than that.”
“Huh,” Zuko said softly as he watched Momo dip his hand into the water. “You might as well know.”
Shiro held up his hand. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“You’re probably going to learn it from someone at some point, it’s not exactly hidden information, and I rather you hear it from me.”
Shiro narrowed his eyes, but remained quiet.
“During a war meeting I spoke out against a general’s plan to use newly trained soldiers as bait in a battle.” He turned to Shiro. “Believe it or not, that general was Bujing.”
The man I fought, Shiro thought. He recalled the arrogance of the older man. Yeah, he would be the kind of guy to have that plan.
“You weren’t wrong for speaking out,” Shiro said.
“No, but it wasn’t my place to. I was young and was only supposed to observe quietly.” Zuko took a deep breath. “My father was outraged at my behaviour and an Agni Kai was declared to settle the matter. I had assumed it would be with Bujing, but that wasn’t the case. Ozai was my opponent.”
Shiro’s eyes widened. “You… had to fight against your father?”
“No, because I refused. To ‘teach me a lesson’ Ozai gave me this,” he pointed to his burn. “It was a few days after while I was still recovering that he banished me and said I wasn’t allowed to return home unless I captured the avatar.” He gave a shrug. “You can guess how that turned out.”
Shiro was silent as the gears turned in his head. Zuko was no older than Keith. The war ended three years ago. Did that mean?
“How old were you?” Shiro asked.
“13,” Zuko replied darkly.
Shiro sucked in air between his teeth and shut his eyes to cool his temper.
“I should have killed him,” Shiro said with a growl.
Zuko scoffed. “You’ll need to get in line. Katara, Sokka and Toph instantly started to make ‘murder plans’ when I told them. It took Aang and I days to get them to calm down about it.”
Can’t say I blame them, Shiro thought.
He took his own deep breath. “Okay, my turn.”
Zuko touched his shoulder. “You don’t have to.”
Shiro shook his head. “No, it’s only fair.”
If Zuko felt comfortable enough to tell him the details, how could he not return the favour?
“You know the galra I told you about? I was on an exploration mission when I first encountered them.” Momo came over and sat at Shiro’s feet. “We weren’t a large group. Just me, the pilot, and two scientists; Sam Holt and his son Matt. It wasn’t supposed to be anything other than a mission of scientific discovery, but we were captured by the galra.”
“Because they thought you had information?” Zuko asked.
“I don’t know,” Shiro replied.
He never really understood why they had been captured.
“But the end result was Sam got taken away while Matt and I got sent to the gladiator ring.” His body tensed. “Matt was so frightened. I knew he wouldn’t survive so I injured him so they were forced to take him out of there, but I don’t know where.”
“So, you were left there alone?” Zuko muttered.
Shiro nodded, “I was there for a year before I was able to escape,” Shiro said. “I don’t remember much about that time, but I do know three facts.” He held up his cybernetic arm. “It’s where I got this as well as my scars, every fight was to the death,” his fist tightened, “and I was granted the title of Champion.”
Zuko’s face hardened. “You mean, every fight you won-”
“Had to end with someone being killed,” Shiro finished. “I’ve met former prisoners who remember my time there and they said I was their inspiration, but I’ll admit I’ve yet to understand why.” Shiro lowered his arm as glanced over to the pond. “Your father is right about one thing. I am a killer just like him.”
Zuko scoffed, “Shiro, I haven’t known you for long, but you are nothing like him.”
Shiro’s eyes hardened. “Zuko-”
“You’re not.” Zuko repeated firmly. “You had to kill to survive, meanwhile my father tried to burn an entire nation to the ground just because he wanted to feed his ego.”
Shiro was quiet.
“Besides, that fact that you feel guilt over it is proof enough,” Zuko continued as he touched Shiro’s shoulder. “Ozai doesn’t question it for a second.”
Shiro’s shoulders slumped. “It’s easy to say that, logically, but-”
“It’s difficult to believe it?” Zuko asked.
Shiro nodded.
“Have you ever discussed this with your friends?”
“No,” Shiro said softly as he shut his eyes. “We’re in the middle of a war and they have enough on their shoulders. I don’t want to burden them.”
Zuko’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll just make things worse though.”
Shiro glanced at him, but kept quiet.
“Keeping things in doesn’t help anyone,” Zuko continued. “You probably think you’re protecting them, but all that’s doing is letting things build up inside and trust me, it will come out.” He turned to him. “At the worst possible times.”
“Personal experience?” Shiro asked.
Zuko didn’t reply, but he could tell from his face that the answer was a yes.
“I know you’re right,” Shiro said softly. “Just hard to know when I’m ready.”
Zuko took a breath and then rose. “Well, I know what we can do in the meantime.” He turned to him. “Starting tomorrow, I’m teaching you how to meditate. Uncle taught me when I was first recovering and I can’t deny it was a big help to me.”
Shiro raised a hand. “I appreciate the offer but-”
“It’s not a request,” Zuko said firmly, “it’s an order since you are currently acting as my bodyguard. I’m sure Aang would be willing to assist too.”
Shiro debated if he should argue, but Zuko was clearly not going to back down.
He really does remind me of Keith, Shiro thought. I wonder if they would get along?
Shiro rose and tossed up his hands. “Alright, you win.”
“We’ll start in the morning then,” Zuko said. “Let’s go back and check in with the others.”
Shiro nodded silently as he followed feeling just a little bit better than he had before.
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⭐️ - for the directors cut ask <3 hope you’re doing okay!!
I'm doing pretty well, thanks :D Hope you are too! Thanks for the ask :)
So this goes back a bit, but it's related to my smut fic, 'As Long As You Need Me', which was left kind of open-ended (mostly to avoid angst). I had ideas for a non-canon sequel--basically an AU--that would take place 20-25 years later. Rather than letting their issues/jobs get in the way of happiness, Toph and Sokka would end up with some accidental kids over the years and figure things out together.
I never wrote this fic, but I did write a scene. It's formatted as a diary entry from the POV of Suyin, the youngest of five. She has a twin brother named Koda, who is deaf and blind. Her other siblings are Kya (Sokka totally stole the name before Katara could use it lol), Ilia, and Lin. Suyin is meant to be ten in the fic, but she tells a story from when she was a couple years younger.
Anyway, I've dug that scene out of my dusty chest-o-abandoned-WIPs :D
~~~~~
Two years ago, we went to the Lantern Festival and Mom punched a guy in the face!! It was AWESOME.
(Since she started the police force back before Kya was born, she’s good friends with the Chief so she got off with a warning.)
But anyway, here’s what happened:
“We’re going to go find our friends,” Ilia said when we got there. She and Kya always went off on their own.
“Can I go with them??” Lin begged.
“No way! We’re not here to babysit!”
“It’s not babysitting! I’m not a little kid!”
I just kept quiet while they argued, knowing me and Koda would be staying with Mom and Dad whatever happened.
“Mom, c’mon,” Lin said. “At least let me go find my friends.”
Mom probably would’ve let her go, but Dad interrupted.
“C’mon, Lin. It’ll be fun! Remember last year, how we snuck into the parade?”
“Ugh, that was so embarrassing!”
“Oh, give it a rest,” Mom said. “You loved it.”
I couldn’t help but laugh a little. Mom was right— She and Lin had ‘borrowed’ a dragon costume and run up and down the parade with it. Me and Koda stayed with Dad and climbed onto one of the floats. It was a lot of fun because I got to climb up to the top and wave at people like I was a princess or something.
Anyway, by the time Lin gave up arguing and agreed to come with us, Kya and Ilia were gone. I wished they’d come with us and we could’ve all gone together, but I guess they’re just too grown up to hang out with their parents and siblings :(
We walked around for a little while and played some games, then went to where there were a bunch of food carts by the park and got a little bit of everything. We sat in the grass and pigged out while listening to a band.
Koda was really happy that day. I guess he could feel the beat of the music or something because he got up and started dancing, making excited, happy noises.
He’s never said any words—how would he know them?—so the noises he makes sound a little funny, I guess. He makes different sounds if he’s sad or happy or scared or mad, but I think only people in our family can tell the difference.
Another family walked past and they had a boy about my age. I saw him point at Koda and say something to his dad. I couldn’t hear them but Mom has SUPER hearing and she must’ve heard what the dad said because she got up and stomped over to him all angry. Even though I tried SO hard to listen, I don’t know what she said, but at least I got to see her punch him right in the nose!
It was HILARIOUS! The guy fell right on his BUTT and his face was all bloody! Dad got up real quick and went over there. The guy was yelling and his wife was yelling. Koda was still dancing and making noises, not caring about anything else in the world, so I got up and danced with him. When Mom was done yelling, she and Dad came back and we all danced together—even Lin!
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LoK Avatar Cycle & New Avatar
Introduction:
The Legend of Korra always gets push back due to the fact that Korra broke the previous Avatar cycle, and cut ties with all the previous Avatars. I remember watching that scene as a kid and feeling devastated, and questions arose regarding the next Avatar after and whether Korra will be the only one the help guide them.
While it sucks that Korra essentially erased thousands of years of experience, I’m starting to understand the idea behind it.
Technology/Modernization:
In Avatar the Last Airbender, we see the impact of new technology, especially from the Fire Nation. This emphasis on advancements are shown to have started during Fire Lord Sozin’s reign, when the Fire Nation started the Hundred-Year War with the intention of expansion.
However, the machines and technology shown in ATLA was still relatively new to many of the characters, as many nations and villages still operate under antiquated methods. We see many characters in ATLA, especially Sokka and Toph, take the lead as some of the most innovative characters in the face of this change. Sokka, with his contributions to the development of airships and submarines, and Toph, with the discovery of metal bending and the direct byproduct (LoK police force).
And we see these effects of this in LoK, with less remote settings, and more metropolitan environments. We see the beginnings of industrialization happen in the ATLA comics as well, with the gang finding more midwestern-esc towns, and the renovation of the Southern Water tribe. In both of these examples, both Aang and Katara had mixed reactions towards these unfamiliar changes.
Bending/World building:
Now, in LoK. The show seems to embrace this new way of life, and less spirituality. We also see this in bending styles, as there is more of an emphasize on specific sub-bending styles (ex.) lightening, metal, blood), many of them having a direct use for certain industrial and professional careers. While the core 4 elements are still prevalent throughout, the next Avatar—and afterwards—will take place in a world where sub bending will take a forefront, and the core elements will probably take a backseat.
From what I have seen, all the Avatars before Korra have only bended the core 4 elements (excluding energy bending, lighting redirection). Korra is the first Avatar to have metal bended, and I feel that’s a mark of a completely new era of Avatar. The society/culture she grew up in and the city she currently lives in, aren’t like anything the past Avatars have experienced. Previously, those societies operated under monarchies, lords, philosophy. But LoK is a world that sorta resembles the one we live now, with complex governance, political ideologies and spectrums, democracies, policies, etc. Even Korra, THE Avatar, doesn’t really seem essential to restore peace (Spirit v. Physical world debacle aside).
I believe the next Avatar after Korra probably will gain more insight through how she navigates life, as no other Avatar before her had to fight giant robots and revive a new culture and era of air-benders (post genocide) in a world where these airbenders might not all be monks. While the wisdom of the past Avatars are still something to be regarded, I doubt any of them would really know how to advise the new Avatar of these modern issues. Of course, there are many aspects of their life that can correlate with the new Avatar, certain issues with the world will transcend generations (discrimination, immigration, corruption, National disputes) but there was a reason Korra probably only went to Aang the most as no other Avatar besides him has had fought a blood bender, or metal bender, or even a lightening bender.
We might even see a decline in bending, as I’m pretty sure bending is somehow tied with one’s spirituality?? Not too sure about that. But we also might see a decline in how people treat sacred spaces (temples, etc) and the natural environment.
Conclusion:
This new Avatar will probably learn metal bending before earth, but either way, I’m excited to see how the creators take on this new Avatar and what concepts they’ll explore. I personally love LoK, I think comparing it to the power house that is ATLA is impossible, but people have to seriously start to see it as its own unique series because it’s still great. I’d be down to see a morally ambiguous (maybe almost villainous) Avatar (I know we already got plenty of them *cough* Kiyoshi *cough* Yangchen) as we know that the Avatar isn’t an individual without flaws.
I’d love to have some discourse over this, I love both of these series dearly, and I know I probably handled some points carelessly so feel free to correct me or explain things. I’m low key hoping for a cynical (maybe a little bit of an eco-terrorist coded) Avatar. I feel like that would add some spice to this potential trilogy.
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HELLO!! HAIR ANON HERE!!! I’m SO SORRY this was delayed but I have been crazy busy. Mostly with good things (like graduating and getting my MA [🎉], and working out the details of starting my next MA program!!), but most recently with covid LOL. BUT THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS OF WAR GAMES HAVE BEEN KEEPING ME SANE. Or causing me to lose what’s left of my sanity (that last chapter especially). Honestly probably both at the same time 😂
Bc OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH my GOD that last chapter. I feel VINDICATED. I feel FEVERED (and not just because of the covid lmaooo). I feel YRIEIFOWHFOWHDOWUDOWHDUD. I don’t even know how to describe how I’m feeling other than CHAOTIC and OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE. My brain is fuzzy but I needed you to know this was the most hyped up I’ve been about something fandom related in over a decade. I’m glad my gf wasn’t home bc I’m not sure I would want to explain the multiple screams I let out, or the multiple honest-to-god flails that happened.
IN HONOR OF THAT some of my favorite lines:
“Zuko’s eyes were bright, even in the dim light. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to be normal. So I went with it.’” GOD. GOD. GOD. GOD. THE IMAGE THIS PAINTS. LIGHTING SOMETHING ON FIRE RN
“No, that wasn’t true. He had plenty in his head. Things like the fact that perhaps, just between him and himself, he could admit that maybe there was an attraction that he had been trying to convince himself was something else, like envy or admiration. He did maybe stare at Zuko’s muscles a little too much, and find the blushing and the way his hair was starting to flop very charming. Cute, even.” THIS…. INVENTED ROMANCE?? THE NOISE I MADE WHEN I READ THIS WAS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN A SQUEAL AND A WAIL
"’The Avatar is not a baby,’ Zuko said faintly, his eyes a little wide. ‘Not all babies are bald.’ He looked like maybe his brain had stopped working.” THIS MADE ME GIGGLE SO HARD SJDKSJDIWID ALSO THE WHOLE SCENE WHERE THEY WERE FIXING THE TENT!!! Toph, Katara, and Zuko had me in HYSTERICS, also I’m SO PROUD of Zuko’s angry stitching, good job, buddy
ALSO!!! Tu’s section was so sad and so good and so beautifully written??? I’m so worried about what’s going to happen to him and the freedom fighters. But as someone who loves your writing I’m also VERY EXCITED to see what happens with them. 😂 And omg YAY SUKI AND SHEN SURVIVING! And Shen *GETTING SOME*! I think I actually said, “YEAH, GET SOME” out loud when Shen rediscovered his dick. Good for him, man. He fucking deserves it (pun only half intended). Now I’m just desperately curious about what Azula is going to be up to in the next chapter, and which of the four groups we’re following are going to meet first 👀 I’M SO EXCITED TO FIND OUT AHHH
Thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU as always for sharing your amazing writing and story with us!! I am having the time of my life reading this and I am so grateful that I get to. I’m so excited and am waiting very patiently for the next chapter. I hope you’re feeling better, and thank you so much for sharing, again!!! 💖💖💖💖💖💖
Well done for graduation and getting your MA! Sorry about the covid though, that sucks. I hope you are feeling a bit better!
Glad you enjoyed the chapter 😂😬
"also I’m SO PROUD of Zuko’s angry stitching" > I have such a strong image of what those stitches looked like, and all the rage and frustration that went into them. I might have been projecting a bit 😂
Poor Tu is really going through it, his sections are very short at the moment, but I always pack a lot of suffering into them (like Katara's were before she met back up with Sokka, lol)
Shen's been though a lot, he deserves a treat. Good thing Suki is also there to keep ragging on him and making sure he doesn't get ahead of himself 😂
Thank you once again for the amazing comment! I am glad you are still reading and enjoying! And I hope you are on the mend from the plague! ❤️❤️❤️
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sreedieeeeeeeeee
hey
I’m like 2 weeks late but YKW better late than never so hush
okay ara is such a mood for hating bugs, she’s like me fr
ah fuck NOT THE SHEN FEELS AGAIN (I need like a vaccine against the shen feels bc I’m constantly attacked by them). ara is gonna be SO fucked up when she realises shen is dead. like any and all progress she makes on the journey to bss just absolutely obliterated. at the same time, however, I do think it’s probably a good thing in the long run seeing as she won’t be able to “dedicate” herself to shen like she plans and will instead actually have to heal properly
GIRLS TEA SESH OMG
fuck off katara PLEASE CAN SOMEONE TELL OUR BOYS THAT ZHAO IS DEAD
lmao suki dw sokka is very much in a relationship with a person who understands what he went through
sokka and toph hours <3
obsessed with how sokka’s train of thought goes: zukozukozukozuko toph is picking WHAT out of her toes??? zukozukozukozuko
SLAY ZUKO but also why the fuck are you out of bed you idiot BUT ALSO SLAY
yay tears!!! finally some good old healthy emotional catharsis
“You’re soaking wet!”
“It’s raining.”
I FUCKING LOVE ZUKO YOU DONT UNDERSTAND
sorry but the phrase “lone eyebrow” is actually hilarious
you heard it here first lads!! it’s only true love if you let them wipe their snot on you
I think this is the most zuko has ever spoken at once wtf??? what has gotten in to my guy
idk why sokka is surprised that zuko didn’t leave a note. that���s about the only predictable thing about him
DID JET JUST FUCKINF DIE
oh spirit water okay then
aaaand that’s where my comment ends apparently?? it’s so short this is strange
yeah anyways, brain = scrambled. I’ve had this written for like over a week now and just.. never sent it as an ask???
IN CONCLUSION yay zukkuddles :D
Leeekiiieeee broooo….
Ara is already so fucked up, what’s a little Shen death gunna do?? Huh??? send her over the edge?? hmmm?? ;) :D
HAHA, I love that the girl gossip has so much love, just wait until the future and the gossip girls recruit more members haha. XOXO. ;) (please say you get it)
Zuko learned that he could use his voice, but only with Sokka… Just wait until next chapter when Zuko pulls and Iroh and starts spewing life advice… WHO IS DISSS???? :D
Ember island players episode needed a LIAB moment (& I AM SO PROUD OF ALL PEOPLE WHO TOTALLY GOT IT hahaha)
It is so strange but that’s alright I am so late to answer everything and I am just key smashing at this point FUCKING LOVE YA LEEKIEEEE
#*throws a lightbulb at you*#LISTEN HERE#I am doing my DAMN best to be normal#ok!?#but seriously the fact I did a whole ‘did jet just die’ ending to his pov and people quoted that just#*chefs kiss*#thats when you know that your fic has the right audience haha#anyway sorry i dont have very many tags#I am trying to get through any asks I have about last chapter so I can post the next one#sorry if you sent me an ask and I didnt answer#I seriously try to answer all of them#but time got away from me this time so idk I guess I will start fresh after this chapter#& answer any new asks lol#except you playlist I GOT YOU#I just gotta finish listening to the song#LOVE YOU LEEKIE#leekie tag#liab#ITF#ask
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WiP Wednesday: Zuko’s Odyssey
AKA I’m mashing up the Odyssey and ATLA, because I can. So for WiP Wednesday this time, there’s no snip, but I figured I’d share about this idea I have that might be standard Zuko + crew backstory for me from now on, because it amuses me greatly to think that they could go on an Odyssey and then come back and swear to never talk about it ever again, except to collectively shudder about it over their third glass of scotch.
So my headcanon is that around the 2nd anniversary of Zuko’s banishment, they’re pretty much out of leads on the Avatar and everyone is feeling kinda down and irritable – so Zuko has a brilliant idea – let’s cross the Western Ocean!
Now, the Western Ocean (west from the Fire Nation) is basically the entire other side of the globe while the main ATLA map is all one hemisphere (think Pangaea – all the landmasses pretty close together and the rest of the world is, more or less, all ocean.)
So my thought is, the world more or less assumes the other side of the globe is uninhabited – and they’re only partially right. It’s uninhabited by HUMANS. But there are PLENTY of monster-type creatures and Zuko’s crew has to deal with them, of course.
This whole thing started from a throwaway line in one fic (what I call Dragon Mama Zuko from my shippy side account):
“You’ve been everywhere in the world?” Sokka asked.
“Well, maybe not everywhere,” Zuko demurred. “But most places, yeah. The world is only so big and three years is a lot of time. I sailed all across the globe trying to find the Avatar. Even traversed the Western Ocean once. Barely.”
“Well, that sounds like a story,” Toph prompted.
“What’s the Western Ocean?” Sokka asked.
“Oh. Uh, so to the west of the Fire Nation is this biiiiiiig ocean that spans basically the whole other side of the world? And if you cross it, you hit the eastern coast of the Earth Kingdom. That was the closest I came to Ba Sing Se until we went there as refugees.”
Toph frowned. “Wait, aren’t there a ton of stories about like, some horrible thing in the middle of the Western Ocean that eats ships or something?”
“Yeah, it was wild,” Zuko nodded, not elaborating. “We nearly died like seven times in the span of four months. My crew almost mutinied twice. We ran out of booze in the first month and it was not a fun time, although Engineer Nasam did manage to create a decent still. Ugh, that swill was disgusting, though.” He gagged at the mere memory.
So basically, my idea is the adventures of Zuko and his crew as they sail through the sea of monsters, essentially.
Adventures:
Okay, firstly, not a lot of people have ever crossed the Western Ocean, and that’s for a reason - because 1) it’s extremely inefficient for their needs and 2) most ships who venture into the Western Ocean never return. So they have a few stories about what might lie out there, but nothing solid. But tbh at this point, Zuko and the crew are kinda bored and desperate for something to do.
So first, we come upon the island of the Lotus-eaters - and yes, I’m keeping that mostly because of the lotus lol. So they’ve been sailing for like a month by now and they’ve reached the ‘center’ of the Western Ocean and there are islands! Like, big, seemingly inhabited ones! So naturally, they weigh anchor and row out to the island to check it out. Oooh, I could take a leaf out of Star Trek TOS’ version of this idea, too, and have them decide that the island looks safe, so let’s have some shore leave! Except then they eat the lotus flowers and suddenly don’t want to leave (or in TOS’ case, get sprayed by flower pollen).
But Zuko is the most stubborn man to ever stubborn, so 1) he probably doesn’t eat the lotus flower for a dumb reason (why would you eat a flower? he asks despairingly. It makes a lovely tea, Uncle responds) and 2) he HAS to leave this island because his Father and his sister are waiting for him to fulfill his quest and come home! (or so he thinks)
So when the crew gets all lethargic and doesn’t wanna leave, Zuko just gets mad and literally hauls some of them over his shoulder and throws them into the boat so they can go back to the ship lmao. After Zuko hoists Lt Jee up, Iroh decides to leave of his own free will.
(When I say I’m taking from the Odyssey, I should maybe note that I am taking bits and pieces and just fucking with everything else. In the Odyssey, the island is full of monsters who eat the people that consume the lotus blossoms)
So then next is the Cyclops. Tbh, I don’t really know what to do with the Cyclops, because I kinda don’t want any of the crew to die - but also, the angst potential if Zuko originally had like a 14 person crew and his dumb adventure got 4 of them killed. So idk. In the Odyssey, they end up trapped in the Cyclops’ cave and the Cyclops eats 4 of Odysseus’ men, then Odysseus pulls the whole ‘Nobody’ thing. So yeah, not really sure if it fits in with our tale or not. It’s kind of a brutal part of the Odyssey??? Like, they blind the cyclops in his sleep and... yeah. Anyway. Something maybe happens with the cyclops.
Then we’ve got the Sirens’ Island. Now I think maybe Iroh has heard of the sirens before, of how their words will offer men their deepest desires and draw them off the ship until they drown. So he suggests they all put candle wax in their ears so that they won’t hear the Sirens’ calls. The crew agrees - but of course our stubborn Zuko does not. He’s already lost hearing in one ear and the idea of not being able to hear out of his other freaks him out, so he refuses to take the wax. In Iroh’s stories, the deepest desires were things like pretty women and lots of gold and he has no interest in either, so he’s not terribly worried. (He’d be like... 15 here?)
But that’s because HIS deepest desire isn’t women or gold, it’s for his family to love him. And when the sirens offer him his father’s love and happiness with his family, he does try to leave the ship. Iroh has to stop him - and I think maybe try to reason with him? Telling him that the things they promise aren’t real, that he IS loved by his family, his family who is RIGHT HERE, and please Zuko, I cannot lose another son.
I’m not sure if I’ll be this mean, but imagine if Iroh has to take out the wax in order to reason with Zuko? So suddenly he hears the sirens promising him Lu Ten and Zuko both, and it’s the hardest thing he’s ever had to do to ignore them, but he knows if he looks, he’ll be lost. So he focuses on Zuko, on keeping Zuko alive, and in the end, it saves both their lives.
They are both very glad the crew had wax in their ears and couldn’t hear anything they said.
Okay, so then we’re ALMOST to the end of the adventure - but first, we have to pass through the Strait of Messina, where Scylla and Charbydis guard each end. I think the Strait is like an area between really, really rocky shallows and mountains and stuff that mean they have no choice by to navigate past Scylla and Charbydis. The Odyssey loses a couple of crewmen here, too, but we’re gonna be a little more clever than that/use the resources we have available as a coal-powered ship.
So, firstly, for those that don’t know/recall, Scylla was a female sea creature with six heads that sit on top of long, snaky necks. Each head had a triple row of shark-like teeth. Her waist was surrounded by the heads of baying dogs. She lived on one side of the narrow waters, and she swallowed whatever was within her reach. Meanwhile, Charybdis had her lair on the opposite side of the narrow waters. She was a sea monster that created enormous underwater whirlpools that threaten to swallow an entire ship.
To get past Scylla, they make decoy crewman out of coal and put them out on deck while the actual crew hides below decks/on the bridge, where there’s a protective window between them and the sea air. So they’re able to steer past Syclla, because they do not have a sailing ship that requires men to be on deck working the ropes.
Then we’ve got Charbydis. But once again, we have a coal-powered ship! So as long as they can stick to the edges of the whirlpools, they move with the currents of the whirlpool, but have the power to pull themselves out of its wake, if that makes sense.
Oh man, they must be LOW on coal by the end of their journey, though. Everyone has to practice the Burning The Leaf exercise to keep the coal burning for as long as possible, because there’s nowhere to resupply until they hit the EK coast again (and even then, they’d have to travel a ways to find a friendly port, most likely). So maybe they use something instead of coal for the decoys, bc losing any coal at this point would be worrisome.
ANYWAY, that’s the story of how Zuko and his crew ‘successfully’ crossed the Western Ocean and then collectively agreed to never, ever, ever talk about it ever again. Even Iroh’s reports to the White Lotus were uncharacteristically light on details.
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Good morning
!modern au!
pairing: Sokka x Zuko
summary: quiet and calm mornings are the best and no one knows that better than Sokka and Zuko
a/n: ok so here I present to you a cute ass Zukka fanfic that a just kinda wrote… But I’ve been having hella writers block and the big sad but I’m feeling better now! I know my posting schedule is abysmal but hey, we may be flailing but we ain’t failing!
Sunlight filtered through the white curtains of Sokka‘s room. It was a cool October morning, the apartment was sort of chilly but all Zuko could think about was Sokka, how his arms were wrapped around him, his stomach pressed against his back and radiating warmth. As hard as things were going, as bad as his home life was, Sokka was that light at the end of the tunnel and mornings like these made everything so much better. He stirred and Sokka wrapped his arms tighter in an attempt to keep him where he was. Zuko smiled at that and rolled over, his nose touching Sokka’s gently and he smiled as his eyes opened to look at Zuko “Mornin’, sleeping beauty.” Sokka said it softly as he gave him this goofy grin.
“Morning,” Zuko replied as he ran his hands through his hair. They didn’t really get a lot of calm mornings like this anymore. They usually overslept, rushed out the door, and made it to school with only minutes to spare. And on weekends usually one of them was gone before the other woke up, work being a big factor. But it was a Saturday and everyone else had gone to a party while they decided to stay in and have a quiet night. Thankfully that quiet night had become a quiet morning, one that they both enjoyed immensely. For Sokka, there was no greater joy in his life and being with the man he loved. And he did love him, even if he had loved him quietly for a good two years before they actually got together.
Normally on a Saturday morning one of them would have to go pick up Suki and Toph, both of whom were too drunk to drive themselves home at night. They usually ended up crashing it one or the others place, and it wasn’t strange for Toph to be tipsy when she was picked up. But they’d turned off their phones and decided that it would be a Katara and Aang problem for the day. They both deserved to have a morning without disruption, right? After all their crazy lives had been getting in the way of them just being happy with each other. They didn’t have a lot of free time anymore, and if this gave them some free time then so be it.
They just laid there for a while, smiling at each other and exchanging soft kisses. Hands roamed and they couldn’t help but giggle with each other. They traded sweet nothings with each other, thoughts they would never speak of with anyone else. They shared their secrets, their pains, everything that made them happy, whatever came to mind. And when they decided that they probably should get out of bed, which was only an hour and a half later, Sokka got up and went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. Zuko stayed behind in bed, just laying there and smiling at the ceiling fan because damn, he sure was happy right now. But of course, like any caffeine addict, the smell of a fresh brewed pot of coffee had him in the kitchen quicker than the snap of fingers.
“No cream, extra sugar?” Sokka glanced at him from the counter. In front of him were two coffee mugs, both roughly the same size. He nodded, smiling at him and just taking in the fact that he had memorized how he liked his coffee. Not many people did that, he thought. And as Sokka got to work making coffee, he started scrounging around in the fridge for something to eat. In the end he only produced a half eaten pizza and he didn’t even bother to heat it up. He just took a slice and ate it, making Sokka cringe. That was one of his things. He didn’t like cold pizza. Zuko had just laughed at him when he told him that, he didn’t really understand it considering that was pretty much a staple food for him growing up. But Sokka had his quirks, and he thought it was cute. It did sometimes get on his nerves, though. Nothing could be that simple apparently.
“Forty five seconds?” He glanced over at Sokka and he nodded. Sokka just smiled to himself as he thought about how Zuko knew just what to do, even if it wasn’t exactly the easiest route. They each had their own little quirks, their own little way of doing things, and yet they always accommodated each other and the love they had for each other, it was evident in the way they simply interacted. They could be staring at the four walls with each other and still somehow have the most amazing time. They loved to be in each other’s company, even though a lot of people didn’t see how they got along or how they even could stand to be in the same room as each other. But they didn’t really care what other people thought, they didn’t really care if people understood or not. They were happy and that’s all that really mattered to them.
“I have to be at The Jasmine Dragon by four,” Zuko said with a huff as Sokka handed him his coffee. Sokka just nodded and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer and kissing his forehead. “That’s fine, I’m pretty sure I have to go to practice at three thirty anyways. Do you think you can drop me off? I mean, it is on the way.” He gave him a cheeky grin when Zuko rolled his eyes. “Really? Are you fishing for more time?” Sokka just scoffed and gave him a dramatically offended look. “What? Is it wrong for me to want to spend more ime with my boyfriend? Or am I crazy?” Zuko rolled his eyes again but smiled, it reached his eyes and Sokka just thought that it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
“Not crazy, just crazy attached.” Zuko smiled up at him and craned his neck down and kissed him softly before pulling away and Sokka smiled while shrugging. “Well, maybe I am. But I make up for it, don’t I?” Sokka kissed him again, with more force behind it this time. And when he pulled away he gave him the cheeky reply of “in more ways than one.” Zuko rolled his eyes again, shaking his head and smiling. It was unbelievable how Sokka, even in the most intimate of times, could make such a comment. But hey, that was Sokka and he loved him anyway. Despite the coffee and the food that should have given them energy, they ended up spending the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon in bed, cuddling and watching TV. All seemed right with the world in that moment, all quiet and still and perfect. They wouldn’t have traded it for the world.
#atla#atla fanfic#avatar fanfiction#atla sokka#avatar sokka#avatar the last airbender#fluff#short fic#sokka#sokka avatar the last airbender#zukka modern au#avatar zukka#atla zukka#cuteness
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How I’m going to organize this blog & read before you request
Alright so I went through my entire blog and added the tag finn speaks for whenever I’m actually saying something not just rebloging something bc I reblog a lot of stuff lol.
I’m gonna start tagging stuff I write with Finn writes
Send me requests for the love of god. I love writing them and don’t have a lot of motivation to write rn
And fandom stuff with “Finn writes X” with the fandom being the X :) so like Finn writes marvel for marvel stuff
Specific characters will be just like the fandom one so ex “Finn writes moon knight”
Request rules below the cut
(Expect mostly: Hc, drabbles, short blurbs)
Im adding my own creative writing universe to this so be expecting that! Lots of queer romance and connections to each other
What I will and will not write
I will write
Male!reader
GN!reader
I’m hesitant to write Female!reader but I will if I like the request
Trans!reader
Fluff
Angst
Hurt/comfort
Dark!characters
Poly!relationships
Feel free to send me your own hc and concepts as well!!
Side note tho I try to avoid use of Y/N whenever possible
Neurodivergent!Reader/mentally ill!reader
Questions over my own characters/extra lore/side stories abt the characters bc I love them sm
What I will not write
Nsfw/smut
Self harm/Eating disorder (unless it’s recovery)
Reader x my own characters (I’m only good at fandom x readers I’m sorry)
Can’t believe I have to say this— incest. Emotional incest included.
POC reader, as a white person that’s not my story to tell. I will however try and find poc authors authors who do write poc reader and elevate their voices <3 should I ever get that request
Just general boundaries. I’m not trying to make a statement I’m just trying to make people happy
REAL PEOPLE I AM NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THAT SHIT (/srs /nm)
Fandoms & characters I’m down to write for
My hero academia! I will write for most characters! So students, teachers, most pro heroes, and villains! (Characters I won’t write for: all might, all for one, Nomu, any of the parents, and midnight)
Marvel! I will write for most people within the MCU! So bucky, Steve, dr strange, Peter Parker, post redemption arc Zemo specifically I will write for (characters I won’t write for: Ultron and characters like him and thanos [aka straight up Nazi’s], Khonshu/Amit, Harrow, most side characters [happy, pepper, etc])
Avatar the last air bender! I will write for the Gaang (zuko, toph, katara, sokka, aang, suki) + Azula’s crew and that’s all I feel comfortable with
Begrudgingly (/j) vampire knight, I’ll write for both night class and day class students and that’s all I rlly feel comfortable with (I’m counting ichiru as day class lol) fair warning I’ve only watched the anime lol
I’ll probably be willing to write for sucker punch characters in the future as well! :)
And I’ll write for final fantasy 7 characters too!
I’ll write for rise of the guardians characters as well
how to train your dragon (I’ve only seen the movies)
gravity falls! (Maybe not soos since idk how I would write him but other characters I’m down for! I will age up dipper and Mabel for my comfort)
Doctor who! Captain Jack harkness, doctors 9-12, Clara, Rose, and Bill
Across the spiderverse! Miguel, Hobie, Peter B, Prowler! miles (aged up), miles (aged up), pav, and Gwen
Aight that’s all! Respect my boundaries or face the block hammer :) thanks for reading all this! I also like to hide stuff in the tags lol
#finn speaks#request rules#pinned post#im begging you read this#i Will send you straight back here if you break my rules.#I’ll be mean abt it to if you do it intentionally#hammer of dawn your ass with the block button#respect my boundaries#my page my rules
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It's the Tokka Tooth Fairy! 🧚🏻♀️ How do you think The Gaang reacts to finding out about Tokka getting together? How do you think they find out? 👀
Hi Tokka Tooth Fairy, thanks for stopping by! :D And good question, lemme think…
Aang seems like he would be a little oblivious to it all at first. Like, any time he does see Toph and Sokka and they do something that’s very couple-y, he just assumes they’re being weird/close like they normally are. Then maybe there’s this one day he leans over to Zuko and goes “Hey Zuko, do you find it odd that Toph and Sokka are so… close? Like, we’re friends, we don’t do that stuff.”//“Aang… they’re dating.”//“whAT???” LMAO idk if it would be that dramatic, but I think Aang’s view of intimacy and closeness with people is different, so he assumes that Toph and Sokka are just really close until he’s told otherwise haha!
Katara is much more observant, she knows her brother really well, and she knew that he was in love with Toph before Sokka even knew it. Still, with Toph and Sokka, their interactions before and after they started dating was kind of similar, so it was hard to tell, and she didn’t want to jump to conclusions (she did that once before they confessed their feelings for one another, and Katara never heard the end of that, even though she was right). So, one night when Sokka was staying over at her house, she just asked him, “You and Toph are dating now, right?” And he was just like, “…. Yep.” Did Katara gloat and say she knew it? Absolutely. Now, Toph and Sokka never heard the end of that.
Zuko likely learned about Toph and Sokka’s relationship from the others, or Toph let it slip one day. I like the idea that Toph and Zuko are super close and she doesn’t mind telling him about her relationships or things like that. Zuko was also one of the only people that knew Toph and Sokka were quietly pining for each other haha. So, sometimes she’d go to Zuko for advice (Toph went to Katara too, but for feelings talk, I think she sometimes prefers talking to Zuko). When Zuko finds out about Toph and Sokka, he seems like a guy that just nods and goes “Alright then. Now, anyone want some tea?” He doesn’t need much explanation about their relationship or how it came to be, lol.
Suki probably guessed they were together when she met up with the Gaang again, she was always really good at reading Sokka (I mean, the way he looks at her kind of gives it away). And I feel like because they’re adults and have this tendency to date within their friend group (lmao), Suki is really chill about them being together! In fact, I’d argue and say she thinks they’re cute together. There’s something special about best friends being in love with each other, and she knows that both Toph and Sokka will treat each other well.
Okay! Did I miss anyone? I don’t think so… LOL. Fun question! Thank you again for the ask, Tokka Tooth Fairy! Love me some good Tokka asks :) Hope you have a great day!
……
Send me asks about ATLA, or anything, really! :D
#tokka#atla#toph#Toph beifong#sokka#Gaang#zuko#katara#aang#suki#headcanons#my asks#thanks for the ask!#anon#tokka tooth fairy#everyone except aang knows LOL#I feel like toph and sokka probably went up to all of them and was like ‘hey guys just so you know we’re dating’#and the Gaang is like ‘yeah we know’#but aang is all ‘I DIDN’T OMG’
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I rewatched “the boy in the iceberg” the other day, and it’s not an episode I revisit often, but when I do, I’m always kind of amazed by the level of insight it provides into katara and sokka’s upbringing, but only when you watch it through the lens of having already seen the entire show.
for example, kanna as a character does not register for the viewer unless you already know her backstory as it’s revealed to us in “the waterbending master,” at which point the fact that she is shown to be unflinchingly harsh and stern and keeps preventing katara from the fun and adventure she clearly yearns for actively signals to us what kind of toll the war must’ve taken on her and the responsibility she feels towards keeping katara out of trouble. the fact that we see kanna push katara from aang, warning her to not pin her hopes on this boy and telling her she needs to do her chores, is really interesting because it frames the fact that katara does a lot of chores not as something she might have volunteered to do, or even is expected to as a girl, but rather something that kanna forces her to do as a distraction method (both from her grief and from her impulsiveness).
it’s clear that kanna sees far more of herself in katara than she does in sokka, but that comes with the acknowledgment that katara has the capacity to be just as adventurous, reckless and impulsive as kanna was at her age, and that means keeping a close eye on her at all times. I’m convinced that if kanna had ever said “sokka, be a man and wash your dirty socks,” sokka would’ve done that shit without question, but instead kanna made katara do all of the laundry because it meant keeping her in their house for longer, where she can keep an eye on her granddaughter and make sure she isn’t running off to go penguin sledding or exploring the ruins of an old fire nation ship (two things she immediately does the second she makes a friend her age) or god knows what else. kanna has no need to keep an eye on sokka because he is extremely cautious, takes his duties very seriously, and refuses to entertain the notion of having fun of any kind, so there’s no chance of him wandering off and getting into trouble.
when sokka says “I knew I shouldn’t have taken you fishing,” because of what he says next (“leave it to a girl to screw things up”) he makes it sound like it’s because he believes that women can’t fish because their tits get in the way or whatever, but I bet that katara begged him to take her because she was bored and was clawing at the walls desperate to go outside and explore, even if it meant putting up with her annoying ass brother (not like she has any other friends her age). she probably went through all her chores really fast and then caught sokka on his way out and did adorable puppy dog eyes and had a whole numbered list ready with reasons she should go until sokka relented (only to immediately realize that fishing is just as boring as doing laundry).
kanna did not approve of the idea of katara going alone with aang to the north pole, but once it was sokka’s idea to go rescue aang and travel the world, (and it was clear he had packed the necessary provisions, unlike katara, whose decision to leave with aang was a spur of the moment thing,) kanna gave them her blessing. and her respective farewells to both of them are also so telling in that regard, because she is giving katara permission to be hopeful, to finally live up to her heroic potential, whereas she tells sokka to look after katara. on their travels, katara does have some practical skills sokka doesn’t (sewing and midwifery being the primary two things sokka is fucking useless at) that she acquired from spending every waking second since kya’s death doing chores with kanna, but she is also constantly getting herself into trouble, with or without aang (or toph) as her accomplice. and every time sokka is just like “yup, classic katara shenanigans. just so you know i disapprove but also will do everything in my power to help you out of this mess.”
watching out for katara, making sure that she doesn’t get herself into trouble, and then helping her out of said trouble, is the exact kind of thing both hakoda and kanna told sokka his primary responsibility was, and it’s clear he takes that responsibility very seriously. it’s also probably why he was way more chill about the consequences of toph’s scamming. like, he told her to be careful after noticing her wanted poster, but he wasn’t mad about it the way he was when katara attracted the wrath of pirates, because he didn’t spend his whole life being shown and told that toph needs someone responsible to keep her in line. and he does feel a level of responsibility and protectiveness towards toph, that much is clear, but he also trusts her judgment because he’s never actually seen her make an actively bad judgment call (excluding katara from the scams was mean and wrong of her, granted, but it’s clear he doesn’t wanna involve himself in their beef).
“never turning his back on katara” is always sokka’s first priority, above anything else, and that shows even when he’s being a dick to her, saying inflammatory shit like “leave it to a girl to screw things up.” again, once you've seen the show in full, it’s pretty clear that sokka is just saying that because he’s insecure that all the warriors left him behind, so he’s projecting his insecurities onto her, but if you don’t have the context to understand how much the idea of “not being a true warrior” means to sokka, it just seems like he thinks boys rule girls drool. and if you don’t realize that kanna is actively making katara do more chores on purpose, whereas she trusts sokka to be responsible for himself, it does seem like katara is taking on an unfair amount of responsibility, in a gendered way. you take that conversation at face value, because you don’t realize (at first) that they’re both projecting their insecurities and blaming their personal frustrations on each other. you don’t realize that sokka is minimizing katara because he sees her as his annoying little sister who always gets into trouble, and you don’t realize that katara is telling herself stories of grand adventure because she feels cooped up at home, because this is the inciting incident where adventure does await, so sokka’s suspicion and exasperation seems out of pocket, whereas katara’s wonder and eagerness seems totally justified.
it’s similar to how when zuko sees the light from the iceberg opening iroh warns them that they’ve gone down this road before and not to have too much hope. kanna tells katara the same thing. both zuko and katara believe in the avatar as their salvation, and are so eager to put their faith in this narrative that they accept it without question. of course, we as the audience know that they’re right, but it’s also perfectly reasonable for sokka and iroh to warn them not to get their hopes up, to be careful and patient. it makes you wonder how many times not only zuko, but also katara have gone looking for the avatar before, firm in their belief that he’s still out their somewhere, and they will be the Chosen One to finally find him (of course, they’re right, but no one had any way of possibly knowing that). katara and zuko are obvious foils whose journeys mirror and intersect, but iroh and sokka are too, and they’re both there to support and guide their younger, less jaded family member, both in giving them the space and encouragement to be the best versions of themselves they can be, and also cautioning them or saving them once they get themselves into trouble due to their shortsighted impulsiveness.
the same way that zuko’s always yelling at iroh that he’s just a lazy old man who doesn’t understand the importance of honor is how i view katara’s rant to sokka that he “doesn’t do anything around camp” and “from now on, he’s on his own.” like, what does she even mean by him “being on his own”? his primary priority at all times is literally protecting her. he’s not the one making her do his laundry, their grandmother is. blame her, katara! (actually ykw i bet she does but just yells at whichever family member is in vicinity in that moment.) katara has every right to be bored and frustrated, but her anger is mostly misplaced (other than calling sokka sexist, that’s fair). and it’s clear that sokka doesn’t take any of what she says to heart anyway, because the entire time she’s ranting he’s just sitting there thinking about how they’re gonna get home without a boat.
what makes kanna so fascinating is that we only ever see her agreeing with sokka, but it’s clear she’s secretly rooting for katara, for her naive, impossible worldview to be somehow, against all odds, right. and when she is, when the avatar is revealed to be alive, kanna thanks her for bringing back the dormant hope she long thought gone for good. sokka, like kanna, has been utterly jaded, all and any sense of wonder pulverized by the war. but aang and katara bring it back, through their sheer optimism against all odds, their sense of adventure, their commitment to justice, and their dedication to preserving their childhoods amidst all the grief and violence they’ve had to suffer.
#katara#sokka#katara&sokka#best siblings best characters#analysis#kanna&katara#kanna#iroh&zuko#katara&zuko#aang&katara#sokka&toph#sorry this post is so long u cant shut me up abt katara & her family i simply have too many Thoughts#also i talk in other posts abt why sokka belittles kataras bending; why sokka is sexist (i sort of touch on it here but not nearly as much)#how kanna mirrors katara in so many ways#and also more abt how 'the runaway' further frames katara & her relationship to her family in general#i should make a longer post abt the iroh sokka parallels#i've been meaning to for ages#bc oh man.#anyway. it rly bothers me when ppl talk abt katara as if she is some Maternal Goddess#when all evidence points to her being a Loud Little Sister#its like ppl took some extremely shallow visual cues & some sentences out of context and Ran with it#the way kanna talks abt katara tho is so telling bc she knows her better than anyone#kanna is so no-nonsense she sees an airbender and she's immediately like 'why arent you dead.' i love her
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Imagine the Ember Island Players creating a romance between you and Zuko which hits a little too close to home
You sat beside Katara and noticed how Zuko sat on the other side of her. Aang faltered, obviously wanting to sit there and you smirked as Zuko obliviously missed Aang’s look. Zuko had been with the group a few weeks now but his social skills still weren’t very good and you found it made for some very interesting interactions. His attempt at telling jokes alone made you smile every time you saw him for a full week afterwards and you found Zuko did a lot of things that amused you but apparently not so much the others. “I was going to sit there” Aang whined and Zuko shrugged “so? Just sit next to me”. Aang pouted and you laughed to yourself “here” you said standing up “take my seat Aang” and you moved so he could sit beside Katara. Katara was oblivious and you sat on the other side of Zuko chuckling at Aang’s blush. “What was that all about?” Zuko asked and you smiled “ow nothing you just almost ruined Aang’s evening”. Zuko frowned and went to ask what you meant when the lights dimmed so you knocked his arm shaking your head “i’ll tell you later now shhh”. Zuko folded his arm huffily but stopped talking. The play was wonderfully awful. As you hadn’t joined the gang straight away you knew you had time to just enjoy the first few acts and make fun of the way they portrayed all your friends. Plus what could they do to your character? You didn’t have any old flames like Katara or Sokka and you didn’t have an emotional backstory like Zuko or Aang. So you relaxed arms spread over the back of the bench and waited for *yourself* to make an appearance.
The second your actress walked on stage you knew it wouldn’t be good. They had your character all wrong! Your actress flirted with everyone and acted like a lovesick idiot. You didn’t think it could get much worse and then your character met Zuko’s.
“I’ll save you from the pirates” Zuko’s character purred to yours and you spluttered. “That...that wasn’t even me! That was Katara!” you whispered angrily. You looked to Zuko for confirmation who nodded “yeah I didn’t say that to you...and I certainly didn’t tie you up while staring at you like that”. “And I did not flirt with you like that either”. You both glared as your characters bonded and they actually invented Zuko letting you go voluntarily. As Zuko’s character stared off into the distance and said your name you heard Sokka and Suki wheezing from laughter while you simmered with anger and embarrassment. “I didn’t do that!” Zuko cried and you saw he was blushing vividly. That made you blush too and crossed your arms tightly “they better not stick with this theme”.
Of course they did. By the time act 3 had ended you and Zuko were living a star crossed lovers lifestyle in Ba Sing Sei. They again got you mixed up with Katara and said Azula kidnapped you to lure Zuko to the Earth King’s palace. The act ended with Zuko charging in to save you, offering his own life in exchange for yours, but Azula outmanoeuvred him and arrested him too. As the lights went up for intermission you and Zuko paused before exploding.
“That never even happened!”.
“I knew he was in Ba Sing Sei but we never went on a date”.
“Yeah that was a different girl”.
“And you did not fight with Jet over me”.
“I didn’t even know you knew Jet!” Zuko agreed and you both paused for air.
The gang all looked at each other before bursting into laughter. “What is so funny?” you cried and Sokka smiled. “We all know none of that stuff happened, we were there too remember?”. “Yeah so...can’t we rant?” you asked. “Well yeah but why get so mad about it? Are you trying to convince us or yourselves that the idea the two you flirted is so impossible?”. You and Zuko exploded again at the thought and Sokka and the others burst into laughter again. “All i’m saying is this is a lot of emotion to come from nowhere” Sokka smiled “now i’m going backstage so yell at each other or something” and he disappeared with Suki. Katara and Toph left for snacks and Aang went to the toilet leaving the two of you alone. “But i mean it is ridiculous” you muttered and Zuko nodded “utterly ridiculous”. “Sure we ended up together a few times” you shrugged “but that was completely by chance, it wasn’t like you were hyper-aware of me or vice versa”. “Yeah not at all” Zuko agreed but he wasn’t looking you in the eye for some reason. You stared at him confused and noticed his neck looked slightly red as if he was blushing. “Wait did you?” you asked suddenly “notice me more?”. Zuko looked up and he was indeed blushing deeply “what I....of course not! I never...I mean I did learn your name before anyone else’s but that’s because we spent that time together when I helped the pirates kidnap you and you wouldn’t shut up the whole night”. “Then why are you blushing so much?” you asked and Zuko shrugged “I don’t know I...it’s just them insinuating I like you. I’ve had it a lot”. “You have?” you asked amazed and Zuko nodded “when my uncle heard you’d seen me in Ba Sing Sei and that we’d reached a deal not to tell on one another he had this annoying smirk like i’d done it for any other reason besides the fact it was mutually beneficial. Then when I went back home Azula made it seem like me and you had a thing and Mai got jealous and started asking about you and I had to explain all our interactions and it was very awkward...she wanted me to reassure her by putting you down and making the idea seem impossible but I must have failed because she didn’t believe me. So I guess that’s why it makes me feel weird, everyone keeps telling me I act differently with you and I suppose I do but I have no idea if that’s because everyone keeps saying it or if I always have”. You nodded your head but were unsure what to say. “Well which one do you think it is?” you asked eventually and Zuko paused “what?”. “If you had to guess, would you say you act differently around me because of what people say about us or have you just always acted that way”. Zuko thought, staring at the ground and basically anywhere but at you, “i’m not sure but I guess maybe the second? They must have got it from somewhere I suppose”. “The second?” you asked surprised and Zuko’s blush returned vividly “I’m only guessing, I honestly don’t know”. You nodded your head and went to speak when the others returned which stopped you right in your tracks.
The second half of the play began of course with you and Zuko reuniting in the prison under Ba Sing Sei. You and Zuko did end up there together but you definitely did less staring at one another. You rolled your eyes as your characters began to passionately speak to one another stepping closer and closer. They finally reached one another and you laughed when your character began yelling at Zuko’s. “Ha maybe they got some things right!” you whispered to Zuko who nodded “you did yell at me a lot”. You smirked and went to apologise when Zuko’s character kissed yours. You and Zuko abruptly shot away from each other. “That is not even close to what happened!” you cried at the others who were all laughing. Zuko nodded “this is just slander! They didn’t even bother to try to get our characters right and anyone with half a brain would realise that!”. Someone shushed Zuko and he glared “shush yourself” he cried before storming from the room. He didn’t return for the rest of the play and honestly you thought that was probably wise. It got worse and worse. They still kept in Zuko’s betrayal of Iroh but changed it making you at the centre of Zuko’s struggle. He chose the crown and they made you react dramatically (even getting a love ballad moment). They then skipped forwards to Zuko at the palace, who got his own song when he realised he’d made the wrong choice. Your characters reunited not long after and promptly confessed their love for one another. Then you were both murdered by Ozai very much in line with the tragic forbidden lovers style.
“I mean I’m just glad she’s dead” you shrugged on your way out “anything to end that romance”. The others smirked when Aang paused “do you think Zuko went back home to the villa?” looking around for the angry fire prince. “No he knows we don’t know this place well, he’s probably just sat outside somewhere” you replied looking around but you couldn’t see him brooding anywhere either. When you walked out the front door and still didn’t spot him Aang frowned “okay everyone split up and look for him, meet back here in five minutes”.
You returned five minutes later to see Katara, Suki, Sokka and Toph all hadn’t found him either. “I wonder where he is” Katara frowned and you shrugged “he’ll be fine, that boy has nine lives”. “He didn’t in that play” Toph commented and you nodded. “True but that play was a mess and there’s one thing I still can’t get over. Zuko said his family and friends thought he liked me that’s where his side of this rumour started but in the play they acted like I encouraged him! Where on earth did they get that idea?”. The group all went quiet and you paused “what?”. “Well...I mean you kinda do encourage him” Sokka frowned and your jaw dropped “I DO NOT! When have I ever...”. “When we got kidnapped by the pirates you teased Zuko constantly and refused to be quiet until he spoke to you” Katara pointed out. “Yes but that was to annoy him not flirt with him!”. “Okay how about when June asked if you were his girlfriend and you replied he wishes instead of no?”. “I was joking” you shrugged and Toph smirked “or how about when I was sneaking out to see Zuko at the Western Air Temple and found you already on your way to see him? What were you popping in to see Zuko for huh y/n? Nice date by the campfire?”. “I was doing the same thing as you! I was going to see if he would tell the truth and given that I knew him best I thought I....”. The gang all erupted and you paused “what?”. “You know him best?” Sokka asked smirking and you nodded “that doesn’t mean anything it’s a fact”. “Ow is it?” Sokka asked and you nodded “It is! Fine if I don’t know him best what was his fake name in Ba Sing Sei?”. Everyone went quiet and you nodded “or how about how long ago he was banished from the fire nation? Better yet just tell me his parent’s names!” you cried. When nobody replied you smirked folding your arms victoriously “told you I know him best”. “Yeah you’ve definitely proved how much you know about Zuko” Suki smirked looking past you. You frowned before you heard someone behind you. You turned to see Aang had found Zuko and by the look on his face he’d heard everything. You blushed and looked down “Zuko we were...”. “Having a competition to see who knows me best?” Zuko asked mildly amused and you paused “well sort of...Sokka started it”. “No I didn’t” Sokka retorted “you declared you knew Zuko the best and when I asked if you were sure you started spouting your favourite facts about him”. “They’re not my favourite facts about him” you snapped and Sokka’s smirk just grew “whatever y/n” and he turned leading the way home. The others all followed and purposefully made it so you and Zuko were at the back. “Why were you talking about me anyway?” Zuko asked and you paused “ow nothing I was just er...trying to work out why the Ember Island Players thought I had a thing for you but the gang was not helpful”. “They couldn’t think of a reason?” Zuko asked innocently and you frowned “no they could actually think of lots of reasons, it appears similar to your family they were also under the impression I held a flame for you as it were”. “Ow really?” Zuko asked. He kept his voice flat but you could swear he was smirking slightly. “Stop enjoying this” you whined pushing him “it’s not funny, it’s embarrassing”. “Liking me is embarrassing?” Zuko asked and you paused “no I didn’t mean that, I just meant having all your friends claim you like someone when you can’t see it”. “You really can’t see where they’re coming from?” Zuko asked and you shook your head “nope not at all”. Zuko looked away and you frowned “I saw that, what did that look mean?”. “Nothing...” Zuko trailed off but you sighed grabbing him by the arm to make him look at you “I’m sick of everyone saying things about me for once just say it to my face!”. Zuko sighed “fine, I just think i’ve been honest with you but you’re not being honest with yourself”. “Not being honest?”. Zuko nodded “Yes, I admitted I could see where my family were coming from and how the rumours started but you’re acting as if they plucked them out of thin air!”. “Well maybe they did! I don’t see how any of our interactions could be interpreted as romantic”. Zuko didn’t look convinced. “You don’t think there’s some truth to what the Ember Island Players said? That maybe there is something here?” Zuko asked gesturing to the small gap between you. “No of course not! Do you?”. “No” Zuko yelled back and you nodded “fine! You are the most infuriating...” you started when Zuko grabbed you kissing you. You initially tensed at the sensation but soon melted into it. Zuko seemed to be trying to prove a point by kissing you passionately and not wanting him to win you kissed him back matching his intensity. Finally Zuko pulled away for air and stared at you “still not want to admit there’s something here?”. You stared at Zuko torn between admitting he was right and your pride. You were annoyed, frustrated, excited and exhilarated all at once. You were breathing rapidly, your cheeks bright red as were Zuko’s and neither of you made to move away. “I...” you started eventually “that was a good kiss”. Zuko nodded, his frustration melting away “it was, I enjoyed it...I’ve been wondering what it would feel like to kiss you for a while now”. “You have?” you asked and Zuko nodded “as annoying as it is to admit my family and friends were right, I like you and I have for a while”. You smiled despite yourself at how adorable Zuko looked all bashful and embarrassed. “I tried ignoring it for a while but then when I joined the group your friends all saw it straight away. Then tonight...the play was bad but I was frustrated that everyone seemed to see it apart from you the person I actually wanted to see it...you”. You looked down wondering how to reply “I’m sorry I bet that was really frustrating”. Zuko nodded “It was and I figured this was just one-sided but that...did you feel it too?”. Zuko looked so unsure and unlike himself it was endearing and gave you confidence. “Yes” you said shakily “after that kiss I can tell you it is definitely not one-sided. I like you too Zuko and probably have since the start”. “Probably?” Zuko asked and you sighed “I’m not good with my emotions, I can be oblivious to them so I can’t with certainty tell you it’s been going on as long as the play made it out to be but I know I like you. Right now in this moment...I hope that’s enough, I know it’s a shit confession and you probably wanted something more solid but I...”. Zuko began laughing and you paused “what’s so funny?”. “Something more solid? Y/n I’m on the run from the Firelord who is my father, my sister is hunting me to kill me and I could very likely be imprisoned for the rest of my life if Aang fails and that’s if i’m lucky...I’m not even sure if I have a future so trust me all I need is the present. To know in this moment right here you like me back” Zuko blushed but he stepped closer and took your hands “that’s more than enough for me”. “It is?” you asked and Zuko nodded “yes and if by some chance it becomes more long-term I’ll be very happy but for now I just want to enjoy this time with you”. You smiled and leant in to kiss Zuko again when someone coughed. “Hey what are you two doing?” Sokka called. Apparently the others had finally realised the two of you were no longer with the group and walked back to find the two of you as you currently were. Luckily it was dark so you moved away from Zuko but still held his hand. “Yeah we thought you’d gotten lost are you okay?” Katara called. Zuko sighed and you smirked at his expression. “We’re fine” you smiled “we were just talking and Zuko’s going to show me this beach he went to a lot as a kid”. Zuko’s eyes shot up to yours and he smiled. “You are?” Aang asked and Zuko nodded “yep, it’s not far from here so we won’t be long. You guys head back to the villa and we’ll meet you there” and with that Zuko tugged you away from the others. You smiled at Zuko and he smiled back at you “quick thinking, I didn’t think we’d get out of there so easily”. “You can thank me later” you replied when you heard Sokka gasp “wait are they holding hands? Y/n are you holding hands?”. “Run!” Zuko cried and you laughed but did as he said. You kept running even after Sokka’s voice trailed off and only stopped when you reached a sandy beach. You both collapsed on the ground and you turned to look at Zuko “did you know this was here or did you get lucky?”. “Totally the former” he smiled and you shook your head “you’re lucky I like you”. “I really am” Zuko agreed and he stared at your face tenderly. His fingers brushed your cheek and you smiled “what are you waiting for?”. “I have no idea” Zuko admitted and he leant in to reclaim the lost kiss from earlier. This time you weren’t interrupted.
#zuko#zuko imagine#zuko x reader#avatar#avatar imagine#avatar the last airbender#avatar the last airbender imagine#atla#atla imagine#atla zuko#prine zuko#prince zuko x reader#ember islands#fire nation#aang#sokka#katara#suki#toph#prince zuko#azula#ozai#iroh#mai#avatar zuko#avatar ember island players
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Sifu Hotman
zuko x water tribe sibling!reader
request - I want to request a Zuko x fem reader being Sokka and Katara's sister. She can be the older sister or sokka's twin sister. Also when they start dating Sokka and Katara can like threaten him by saying don't hurt my sister or else.
A/N - This is taking place after the war, I'm vaguely uncomfy writing for underage people (or like younger than 17) so I just went ahead and aged them up. I'm sorry if that's not what you were wanting! I'm also sort of ignoring the plot of the comics and stuff and we are ignoring Mai's existence. I don't feel like this was my best writing by any means but i tried and i thought it was a cute idea. There will probably be more zuko x reader coming soon
word count - 2000
MASTERLIST
You took a deep breath in, the warm air refreshing after having just spent the last month in the southern water tribe with your family besides Katara who was off saving lives with Aang. Your twin brother stood beside you, his hair grown out and tied into a ponytail. Your sister would be here in the fire nation in a week with Aang. It had been three years since the war, you had just been kids at the time. You and Sokka were 15 during the last battle and you had felt so old then. Now, looking back, you had been immature and childish but you had grown up. After the war ended you remained in the fire nation for a few months. You had wanted to get a little bit of quiet before you started going on more adventures with your brother.
You had been very close with Zuko while he was traveling with you and the gang. You didn't know why but you trusted him, maybe it was because you trusted Toph's judgement but either way you had accepted him quicker than the others. You remembered how cold the rest of the group had been to him and it almost was funny to you now considering that Katara had just told you a story in a recent letter about Toph, Aang, and Zuko getting into a bickering match about fire flakes that ended in Toph trapping both of the boys into a earth tent. It was also hard to comprehend that Zuko was the new Firelord and he ruled over a whole nation.
It had been 2 years since you saw Zuko in person. It wasn't on purpose but you kept getting pulled in different directions, none of them leading you into the fire nation. You were excited but also scared to see him, butterflies filling your stomach at the thought of seeing him. You'd had a bit of a crush on the new Firelord when you last saw him but you refused to tell either of your siblings, knowing that they would threaten him to high heaven before he even knew about it.
Your brother walking beside you calmed you a bit, his presence being comforting to you. He was much taller than you now and he was more confident than the kid he had been during the war. You knew that the same was true for Aang, though he never grew up in personality. As you approached the gates of the palace you wondered if Zuko had changed.
You realized that he had as the gates opened and he was stood on the steps up to the palace waiting for both of you. His hair was long and it was pulled into a messy bun. His scar was no longer shrouded in his bangs and he seemed more confident in his stance. His robes were long and elegant and you wondered if he wore them by choice of if they were required because of his position. Your brother jogged slightly to get to Zuko faster, having grown to hold a strong bond with the man. You walked calmly but there was a smile on your face as your brother and Zuko embraced. Once the released each other Zuko turned to you. You noticed him gulp a bit and a blush threatened to cover your cheeks. Your grin became wider the closer you got to him and soon you were wrapped in his embrace.
You noticed that his frame was larger. You leaned your head back from the hug to look at his face and he looked well. Like he was happy and maybe even getting enough sleep.
"Hey there, Sifu Hotman." You smiled and Zuko rolled his eyes as he released you from the hug.
"I see we haven't matured in 2 years?" He grunts but you can see the smile trying to creep onto his face. "Toph still calls me that too." He grumbled lowly and you started laughing.
"Where is the little demon?"
"She's away dealing with some prisoners for me. She should be back in a week or so." Zuko smiled. "She's taken up a pretty important role here. She's like my personal lie detector. She likes to sit in on council meetings and scare everyone."
"I think that's actually her dream job." You smiled and Zuko hummed in agreement. There was a bit of a silence as you and Zuko just gazed at each other. He seemed so sure now. You had missed him dearly.
"Okay! Let's get this show on the road, people!" Sokka yelled and you internally groaned that he had to ruin the moment. Before you all turned toward the palace, Zuko sent you a wink and you felt a blush cover your face. As you headed up the steps of the palace you felt a comforting hand on your lower back as the Fire Lord gently followed behind you, Sokka running ahead of you, likely to find the food in the kitchens that he was accostomed to spending all of his time in.
"Can I speak to you in private when we get a moment?" Zuko asks and again your heart rate picks up. You turn your head to look at him.
"Of course" You smiled and he smiles back at you, making your head spin a bit. You spent the next few hours meeting new advisors, getting a tour through new parts of the palace, and catching up with Zuko who seemed to be acting more clingy than you had ever remembered him to be.
"Y/N, would you mind coming with me?" Zuko asked and you turned to face him with a smile.
"Of course!" You chirped as he led you to a secluded hallway away from your brother who was discussing war strategy with an advisor of Zuko's.
When you reached a place where you were out of earshot of others Zuko gently took your hands.
"I have something to confess." He stated and you felt fire on your cheeks, you nodded for him to continue, "I'm in love with you. I have been for years and I've never acted on it because there was always something going on and I was so unsure but now-" he gazed into your eyes with sincerity, "I couldn't be more sure. I want to be with you. If you'd have me, that is." Instead of answering you jumped forward, pressing your lips onto Zuko's in a searing kiss. He groaned and pushed back, trapping you against a wall. He pulled away to press his forehead into yours and you closed your eyes for a moment before opening them again and gazing at the man in front of you.
"Katara is gonna kill you." You mumbled and Zuko smiled.
"You aren't worried about Sokka?"
"I just know that Sokka can't win in a fight against you. Katara on the other hand..." you trailed off and Zuko looked offended.
"That's pretty rude to say to the man who just confessed his love for you."
"I'm just being honest. Toph might have some words too."
Zuko shuddered at the thought of what they could do to him. Sokka would be upset but he could probably handle it. Aang would be happy for both of them he was sure, always the peacemaker and moderator. Aang would probably be the only reason that Katara wouldn't attack Zuko immediately.
Over the next week you snuck around with Zuko, taking alone time any chance that you got. Sokka rarely let you get any peace as he stayed with you nearly constantly. He was always a little on the defence with you and he would likely settle in and ease up over the coming weeks as he got used to the new environment. You were never a huge fighter, though you could hold your own. You also couldn't bend. You were the one of the group who took care of everyone, you were the smartest in strategy by far, and you were the only one who could reason with Toph. Because of this, Sokka had gotten used to just being near you in case anything happened, though it was rare that anything did. You appreciated it normally but now you wanted time alone so that you could spend it with Zuko as you got used to being in a relationship that was more than platonic. But today was the day that the rest of the gang was arriving, even Suki would be joining you so you hoped that would take some of the clingy-ness of Sokka away. You all stood at the front of the palace, much like Zuko had stood for you a week earlier, and watched as Appa approached in the distance. He flew gently in front of you and as soon as he landed in front of you he licked you with his giant tongue and you were covered in slobber. Despite this you couldn't be happier to see the giant animal and you embraced him. You were suddenly pulled away and brought into the arms of your little sister.
"I missed you, Y/N." She mumbled into your neck and you smiled into hers, it had been so long since you had seen her and you felt tears come to your eyes at the relief of having her near.
You spent the next hours catching up with Katara and Aang, who had grown to be taller than you since you last saw him. Toph and Suki arrived that night and you were all glad to be together again at last, old memories coming back and filling you all with joy. You and Zuko looked at each other and you took a deep breath. You had discussed that you would be revealing your relationship to the rest of the group when you were all together but you were nervous for their reactions.
"So... I have something I would like to tell you guys." You stated and all of the conversation died down, all eyes suddenly on you. "Me and Zuko are together." You rushed out and you only got blank stares for a moment before there was groaning from Toph and Sokka.
"You couldn't have waited another year? I didn't think you would have figured it out by now." Toph grumbled and pulled some coins out of her pocket, Sokka doing the same. Suki and Katara held out their hands and money got dropped into them, both with smug looks on their faces. Zuko looked over at you and had the same look of shock that you likely did.
"What?" You mumbled.
"We all knew you were going to get together of course, you've been pining after each other for years, but me and Suki said you would be getting together this month and Toph said in a year. Sokka actually said in 3 months so he was closer than Toph was." Katara stated simply and you still just stared at her, mouth agape. "We also talked about the fact that if he hurts you," Her gaze shifted to a nervous looking Zuko, "we would all be committing some crimes."
"I feel like I should clarify that those crimes include maiming and murder." Sokka glared at Zuko and he gulped.
"But I'm so happy for you two!" Katara exclaimed, her attitude shifting completely. You and Zuko stared at each other in shock and then you smiled at him. You were so happy to finally be together and to have your friends around you.
#zuko imagine#zuko#zuko x reader#zuko x reader imagine#x reader#imagine#fluff#fluffy#zuko fluff#katara#sokka#aang#avatar the last airbender#atla#atla x reader#atla imagine#avatar tlok#toph#sukki#zuko x Y/N
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