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frost-queen · 3 months

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Elements in Harmony (Reader x Sokka)

Requested by: Anon Forever tag:@missmelodramatic, @merlin-dahlia, @alex--awesome--22, @elllie-does-the-posts, @floatlosers, @merlieve, @queen-of-books, @glimmering-darling-dolly @denkisclown, @wildieflower, @meyocoko, @bubblybrianna, @justanothercoco, @subjecta13-thefangirl, @m-rae23, @harleyquinnswifeyfrfr, @swampthing07, @melsunshine, @panhoeofmanyfandoms, @venomsvl, @the-uncoordinated-house-cat, @rosecentury, @imagines-by-her, @evilcr0ne, @vviolynn, @iixchloee

Summary: Reader is Zuko's sister. You and Sokka always argue and fight. You keep infuriating Sokka as you won't leave his head, something he can't stand. Certainly not from a fire nation girl. When one encounter leads to an almost kiss. It draws a line when some guy starts flirting with you, leading to Sokka to show you just how infuriating you are to him.

Appa roared deep, flapping his tail up. Aang petted his furred friend as Momo sat on his shoulder. Katara was poking in the fire to keep it going. Sokka arrived with new wood. His gaze fell upon you from afar. Near the cliff were you practising. Performing graceful moves without actually bending. Your performances calm and at peace. Anything but what Sokka was used to seeing a fire bender do.

Mostly their sequences were brutal and hard. Their fire filled with anger. You seemed odd among them. Anger wasn’t what filled your bending. It was a combination of being soft and tough at the same time. Something your uncle Iroh taught you when you were younger.

Sokka threw the wood on the ground, startling Katara. – “Hey.” – she called out annoyed. – “Sure let us prepare the fire while princess fire nation over there is just dancing.” – Sokka outed gesturing at you. Katara sighed loud. – “Can you only ever complain?”

Sokka grumpily sat down on a log. Glaring your way. Aang approached them holding a bag open. – “We’ll need to stock more food.” – he held the bag upside down. A fruit fell out as Momo immediately jumped for it. Sokka shooed Momo away, picking up the last fruit. – “And that isn’t for you!” – he called out to Momo who flew above his head. Katara got up holding her hand out to Aang. – “I’ll go see if a town is nearby.” – she suggested.

“No, no.” – Sokka answered getting up as well. – “Let fire girl over there do something.” – he pointed at you from afar. – “Her name is Y/n.” – Katara answered crossing her arms. Sokka came closer to her. – “and I don’t care.” – he outed with a sarcastic smile. Sokka whistled loud catching your attention.

You stopped your practise, making your way over. Sokka snatched the bag from Aang’s hand, tossing it at you. You caught it as he was aiming for your face. – “We need supplies.” – he said bothered. – “Please.” – you responded wanting him to ask nicely.

Sokka puffed loud. – “I didn’t know you had manners.” – Sokka answered. – “Unlike you I wasn’t raised in an igloo.” – you responded loud. – “Yet I’m not the one banished.” – Sokka fired back. – “Sokka!” – Katara called out, shocked at his rudeness. As a response you threw the empty bag at Sokka. It bumped against his chest as he moved his head back to not get hit in the face.

“Apologize right now!” – Katara insisted with a sisterly scowl. Sokka looked back to you, seeing how his words made you feel. Somehow he felt a bit guilty for being so cruel. Yet he didn’t act upon it. He took the bag in his hand. – “I’ll just go by myself.” - he spoke turning away. Momo flew on top of Sokka’s head making him stop with a deep sigh. – “We’ll all go.” – Aang spoke to maintain the peace.

The four of you entered the woods in search for food, hoping you’d come by a village soon. You were walking behind Aang and Katara when you noticed Sokka falling in step with you. – “No bending.” – he simply said to you. You mimicked his words like a child, teasing him. – “Oh real mature princess.” – he responded.

“I’m just lowering myself to your standards.” – you answered with a smile. Sokka stepped in front of you, making you stop all of the sudden. He was brazing, glaring down at you. Your words annoying him. Sokka was glaring at your eyes, his face inches away from yours. His gaze fell down to your lips. He caught himself stare at them, making him turn away.

You gasped breathlessly, slouching back as if you were about to pass out. Sokka caught up with his sister, wanting to be as far away from you as he could. Looking briefly over his shoulder to you, falling in line. Grunting soft, he hated how much you messed with his head. Your presence consuming his mind as if you never wanted to leave. No matter how many times he casted you out. It infuriated him.

You were from the fire nation. Zuko’s sister, the one chasing Aang. The one who caused his village pain. – “You know you can just be nice to her.” – Katara spoke looking briefly at her brother. Sokka sighed loud. – “She’s from the…” – he outed as Katara finished his words in a voice that mimicked his. – “fire nation.” – she then giggled at her own imitation of her brother.

“Not funny.” – Sokka said annoyed as it made Katara just giggle more. Sokka looked over his shoulder again, seeing you chat with Aang.

Katara nudged him hard in the side. Sokka tore his gaze away from you. Some twigs snapped underneath his shoes. – “Aang needs her.” – she told him. – “I know, I know.” – Sokka sighed out. – “Then…” – Katara began as Sokka shushed her. She glared at him a bit for cutting her off. – “Don’t shush me.” – she said annoyed, moving her hands to her hips. – “Stop talking.” – Sokka told her, his focus elsewhere.

Katara groaned loud as he covered up her mouth. It was the only thing he thought would shut her up. – “Why have we stopped?” – Aang asked confused. Sokka was looking at every direction, listening in to nature. His eyes widened when he saw a fireblast fly their way. It hit a tree trunk close to them. – “Fire nation!” – he yelled out. The four of you started to run as more fire benders came from out of the bushes. – “It’s an ambush.” – Katara outed, puffing loud. – “You think?” – Sokka responded to her sarcastically.

Aang swayed his stick across, sending an air blast at some fire benders. Katara stopped a moment to bend some water out of a puddle nearby. Letting it whip against a fire bender. Sokka grunted as they couldn’t outrun them. They needed to stand and fight. He pulled out his weapon, standing ready.

A fire bender was coming your way as you deflected his fire blast by ducking down. You then kicked at him. He stumbled back making you punch his stomach a few times. Sokka ducked down a punching arm, punching the man in his stomach. He then pressed the back of his weapon on his back. The man dropped to his stomach with a loud oof. He saw fire blasts coming your way as you kept avoiding them with just manoeuvring.

“What are you doing?” – Sokka called out to you. You looked back at him confused. – “Bend!” – he outed, stating the obvious. You kicked a guy away from you. – “You told me not to bend!” – you shouted back at him. Sokka jumped back from a blast. – “Just do it!” – he insisted upon annoyed. Suddenly you smiled with a new set off attitude.

Performing a sequence you conjured fire, attacking your fellow fire nation soldiers. Aang jumped above your head, landing in front of you as he flashed a blast of air at them. You moved back assisting Katara. – “I got it.” – she breathed out. You nodded at her. Looking over your shoulder, you saw Sokka getting cornered.

You ran over to him just as a blast of fire was coming his way. Sokka’s eyes widened seeing the blast come his way from his side. You jumped in front of him, arms forwards, palms pressed together as you split the blast in two. The fire flared beside Sokka and you. Sokka blinked stunned at you. You then attacked with fire of your own. Sokka was staring at you, admiring you despite his infuriation with you.

He was so caught up with you, that he hardly saw the punching fist come his way. He jumped back, avoiding the hit just in time. He was about to knock the soldier on his head with his weapon as a blast of fire pushed him away. Sokka looked confused, till he turned his head. Seeing you in a position, one fist out, panting. You had once again protected him. Sokka smiled admiring at you till his expression turned to shock. You were hit by a blast, sending you rolling on the ground. – “Y/n!” – Sokka called out.

You came to a stop, panting loud. Forcing yourself to get back up. Just as you almost stood up straight, were you hit with another surprise blast. It was if the soldiers were turning their anger towards you. One of their own fighting against them. You got hit as the blast pushed you back.

You screamed when you felt a loss of ground under your feet. An in-sinking in the ground made you slide down the hill. Tumbling and rolling down, you met with the ground hard and fast. – “Y/n?” – Sokka called out concerned. He threw his boomerang at the soldier, hitting him in the head. His boomerang returned as he caught it. Running up to the way where he lost sight of you. – “Y/n?” – he panted out nearing where you last where.

Sokka felt the ground underneath his feet crumble away. A scream caught in his throat as he slid down, arms swaying around. On the ground, you groaned in pain. Slowly pulling yourself up by your elbows. Your eyes widened seeing Sokka slide down. At the bottom, he came to a sudden stop, his chest falling forwards. He fell forwards falling hard against your chest as your back smacked the ground again.

Sokka groaned soft when he set his hands beside you, trying to pull himself up. He lifted his head up, his gaze catching yours as he paused. Paused as his face was inches away from yours. Heart pounding loudly as you were captivated in his gaze. Sokka’s gaze went down to your lips as it made you feel shy. He neared his head a bit as you sensed he had an urge to kiss you. Your gaze flashed up and down from his eyes to his lips and back. If Sokka was about to kiss you, you wouldn’t protest. Sokka felt himself fall deeper, drawing closer to you. What if he wanted to kiss you in this moment. Would it be that bad?

You were bringing your chin closer to him to decrease the distance. Sokka slowly closed his eyes, feeling his lips tingle with the urge. A gush of wind caught him off guard. His eyes flashed back open, suddenly aware of what he was doing. He rolled over, away from you just before Aang landed down. – “So here you are.” – Aang said. You were staring at the sky, panting loud. Feeling extremely hot that Sokka was this close to kissing you.

Katara had climbed down joining Aang. Sokka had gotten up, dusting some dirt off him. Aang decided to head back to Appa and search a town from above. All of you agreed, walking back to Appa. You climbed on Appa, sitting at the back. Avoiding eye contact with Sokka. Sokka was staring down at his own hands.

Katara looked from you to Sokka. – “Is something going on between the two of you?” – she asked. – “No.” – Sokka answered loud. You lowered your head on Appa’s saddle, watching the scenery you were leaving behind. Momo came landing on your head, laying himself down.

Appa roared loud as he descended. Aang had spotted a town. A small village at the edge of the earth kingdom. Appa landed as all of you climbed down. You held the empty bag following Aang into the village. There were many curious heads turning at your friends. They certainly stand out with their watertribe attire and air nomad clothing. You didn’t receive that much attention as you were earth kingdom clothing.

You had left your fire nation clothing long behind. The moment your father banished you after Zuko’s banishment, you gave them up. There was no hope in finding a new home when you wore enemy clothing. Zuko had been given an ultimatum to return. You never did. Not acceding his expectations and questioning the flaming fist of his way of ruling led to your banishment.

The youngest of your siblings, apart by just one year with your sister Azula. You saw more to fire bending then power and anger. Fire could be beautiful if one found a balance between them. Harmony. Your father found that a weakness. Soft. Not something he could have in his daughter.

You went over to a stall where they sold fruits. Sokka’s eyes fell upon a different stall, making his way over to it, without his friends knowing. You bargained with the owner for some of his best fruit. Katara wondered where her brother was, spotting him at a stall that sold herbs. She furrowed her brows, watching her brother buy a patch of leaves. He turned around holding a little patch as he suddenly noticed his sister watching.

Sokka cleared his throat from afar, moving the patch behind his back. It made Katara quirk her eyebrow up. He joined the others once more letting his sister know to stop staring to weirdly at him. – “Look Y/n a herb stall!” – Aang pointed out. You turned your head to look as well. – “You can make that delicious tea of yours again.” – Aang said pushing you towards it.

“Actually…” – Sokka started feeling the patch in his hand. No one heard him as Aang was too enthusiastic to show you the herbs. Aang pulled you to a stop after having pushed you all the way over. – “Anything you like?” – the owner asked as you looked at his products.

“Do you have any jasmine leaves?” – Aang asked for you. – “I certainly do boy.” – the owner answered. – “Actually I…” – Sokka began wanting to let you know he already bought the jasmine leaves. The owner presented Aang with a patch of jasmine leaves. Aang nudged you to accept them. – “Aang we really don’t need them.” - you told him. – “Of course we do, you love jasmine tea.” – he encouraged you to take them.

“Your uncle taught you to make it.” – Aang added with a smile. – “Y/n I…” – Sokka spoke wanting to place a hand on your shoulder and reveal his patch to you. A new pair of hands grabbed the patch from the owner. – “I’ll pay for her.” – all of you turned your head to a boy. He smirked flashing a wink at you.

His wink baffled you as you weren’t used to that kind of attention. The boy tossed some coins in the owner’s hand. Sokka got shoved aside as the boy wanted to be closer to you. He held the patch up for you to accept. – “You really don’t have to…” – you said feeling a bit embarrassed someone paid for you.

“Nonsense.” – he grabbed your hand, facing your palm up, placing the patch in your hand. – “Anything should be paid for a pretty girl like you.” – he finished. Sokka puffed with a roll of his eyes. The boy slid his arm over your shoulder, moving you away from your friends. – “You look like a girl who likes tea.” – he spoke as Aang followed behind him. – “How does he know.” – he asked happily astonished that he had guessed. – “We literally stood by a herb cart.” – Sokka answered bothered.

The guy was leading you to a tea shop. His arm was still around you as Sokka found himself glaring at it. Katara and Aang clearly unbothered with Sokka’s concerns. – “Has anyone told you, your smile is like a blossom on a spring day?” – he said. It made you touch your lips shy. – “No.” – you answered. Sokka tensed his jaw. You were about to enter the tea shop when a pull on your wrist pulled you to a stop.

You slowly turned as Sokka had taken a hold of your wrist. Aang, Katara and the guy walked further in. – “Something wrong Sokka?” – you asked confused. – “Are you seriously following a guy like him? Just because he flashes a smile at you and gives you a compliment, you girls fall hard.”

You smiled teasingly. – “What’s so funny?” – Sokka expressed loud. – “Nothing.” – you answered with a shake of your head. – “You are cute when you are so worked up.” – you patted his cheek teasingly. The guy came standing behind you. – “Are you coming sugar?” – he asked placing a hand on your hip. Sokka saw it almost making him lose his mind. – “She’s not!” – Sokka stated clear, grabbing you by your wrist. – “Hey!” – the guy called out when Sokka dragged you away. – “Sokka… Sokka.” – you breathed out as he kept pulling you away.

He went into an alleyway, pushing you against the wall. Sokka groaned loud as you could only stare confused at him. He turned around, grabbing you by the waist as he pressed his lips on yours. Eyes wide with shock, you blinked startled at the touch of his lips on yours. He pulled away half angered at himself for kissing you. – “Why are you so infuriating.” – he outed. Sokka noticed you were still holding his patch with herbs so he slapped them out of your hands.

“Hey!” – you called out as Sokka gave you his with some roughness. – “I bought these because I knew you liked them.” – he told you. – “I don’t know why I bought you them, because I shouldn’t. Certainly not for a fire nation girl!” – he went on. – “So why do I care for you. Why can’t I get you out of my head, and why did it bother me that, that guy was hitting on you!”

You smiled coming up to Sokka. – “Oh hush.” – you told him, grabbing him to kiss him. Sokka gladly accepted your kiss, holding you by your waist. – “You are cute when you get worked up over things.” – you told him, making him smile sheepishly. Sokka held you again, kissing you once more just because he could. Certainly now when he made peace with himself and simply let himself fall for you.

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comradekatara · 18 days

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I meant Hama and Katara... But thank you for the Kanna & Katara Link. I'll go theough it.

ohhh yes i obviously have so many thoughts on hama and katara as well..... hama is the embodiment of who katara could have become had a) her circumstances been slightly different (and worse) and b) had she had less emotional strength & resilience & desire to cling to her own humanity at all costs. like, the fact that katara gets multiple figures who embody the terror of her submitting to her most vengeful instincts and perpetuating the cycle of violence instead of working to end it is honestly quite beautiful, as that tension culminates in "the southern raiders" and katara lets herself prioritize her own humanity over her pain and rage and (totally justified) desire for revenge.

i know a lot of people think that hama and jet are the most politically confused aspects of the show, since they do play into the thing lok does where it's like "all oppressed peoples who employ radical means of resistance are simply cackling mustache-twirling terrorists," and while i do think that the way hama is framed at the end of "the puppetmaster" is in poor taste and lacks nuance, it's also pretty clear to me that a) their trauma is portrayed as sympathetic b) their stories are depicted as tragedies and c) atla doesn't actually demonize violent methods of resistance. like if katara wasn't literally the main character i'd feel much more comfortable making that critique (because lok does do this and it's liberal bullshit and it sucks), but we see katara use violent means of resistance as early as episode 6 of the whole show. she's literally framed as a hero for doing ecoterrorism; even when she's actually in the wrong in that situation, her desire to do whatever it takes to help people and encourage them to fight back against their oppressors is celebrated unconditionally.

the lesson katara has to learn from them is that she must never let her anger and desire for revenge consume her over her love for humanity and her drive to help people. jet and hama are both deeply traumatized in a way that made them prioritize wanting to wield power over others in the same way that they were once made vulnerable and helpless, and katara recognizes that instinct in herself too, that instinct in every person who has been subjected to that degree of violence. hama targets fire nation civilians out of spite, because she was once a regular girl from the southern water tribe who was targeted for reasons beyond her control, made to fight and treated like a villain. the reason she goes after "regular people" instead of targeting actual combatants is specifically because she knows that if the roles were reversed, the fire nation wouldn't care about differentiating her people in those roles; she's giving them a taste of their own medicine.

she used to be a resistance fighter who fought back against the imperialists on her land with everything she had, and it didn't work. she suffered unimaginable horrors, and in the process discovered an ability that would allow her to make others suffered the way she did. no, she's not a good leftist or whatever, but her motivation is understandable. she's driven by pain, not reason, just as katara and zuko are in "the southern raiders," just as aang is in "the desert" when he loses appa, just as sokka is in "the boiling rock." when one is hurting that badly, the desire to ease one's pain supersedes logic, supersedes one's core values in general, the values of grief taking its place. hama has been grieving her entire life; whoever she was before the raids is gone, and now she is someone shaped wholly by pain. and had katara not met hama, been traumatized by her, and thus vowed never to be like her, who knows whether she would have had the ability to take a step back and recognize within herself that she is standing over that precipice, and instead walk away from the threshold of violence, and back towards herself.

#ariadnesweb #asks #katara #hama #hama&katara #analysis #hama is kind of katara's sokka.... in the sense that sokka is aang's hama.....#they both have such similar struggles and are able to understand each other on a very profound level #but also must never submit to the logic that propels them become who sokka/hama already are #obviously hama's circumstance is more extreme #but both aang and katara must recognize their own humanity and never let themselves sink into the pain and be driven by it fully #whereas hama and sokka have already abandoned their humanity #in different ways. but still #that's for another post i guess #remind me to talk about sokka azula aang trio sometime #bc its crazy.#anyway i think i find hama more effective than jet to communicate this aspect of kataras arc #because hama is an elder of her tribe and she can bond with her in this incredibly special and culturally meaningful way #whereas jet is kind of just like. what if haru was an asshole #so uhhhh..... sure i guess #but we already know and like haru. so he's just kind of boring to me #whereas hama is awesome and i love her so much <3333 #(t shit that says in giant letters no one can tell im a dyke...)

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aangarchy · 3 months

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Netflix atla live action review ep 1-3

So i was able to watch the first three episodes and i wrote down some thoughts. Strap yourselves in, it's gonna be a big post. There's a lot i don't like, but it's not all negative. So let's get the negative out of the way first, then we'll get to the positive.

The cgi is abhorrent. Especially the green screen stuff where a lot of movement is happening. I'm specifically referring to the scenes of Katara and Sokka in the canoe as well as the Omashu railing system, and anytime Aang is flying on his glider. The bending may be better than the original live action, but it's not good either. Bending for me was always gonna be impossible in live action. I never feel like there's any connection between the moves the actor is making and the cgi element. In animation it's much easier to make the two connect, but an actor is basically staring at nothing and moving their hands around a bunch, hoping post will make it look good. This show also fell prey to the "ball of water is consistently losing water and yet remains the same shape and size" trap. I think out of all the elements the airbending looks the best and the earthbending so far the worst. The Avatar state looked very janky as well, some shots looked like there wasn't even an actor there anymore and it was all animated. And not animated in a good way either, some of the movements were way to wobbly, reminding me of that weird broom flying cgi in the first harry potter movie where the character is flopping about awkwardly bc it's badly animated. The animals also look pretty weird to me, i can barely tell where Appa's face is most of the time. Also for some reason they have momo making monkey noises instead of lemur noises? Like he legit sounds like a chimpanzee? I wonder what that's about.

The costumes are very hit or miss. They're very bright and i've often seen them fit awkwardly on the actors. Suki's headband was practically sliding off of her head while doing a fight scene, and in Omashu an extra's headscarf literally slid off of her head as she walked out of frame. Don't even mention Bumi to me either, that guy looks absolutely insane to me and i mean that negative. I can't suspend my disbelief enough to pretend that's a real guy. I liked Suki's makeup however, and i really like how they did Katara's hair and outfit. We got our first glance at Ty Lee and Mai too, and i like that Ty Lee is basically a carbon copy of her cartoon outfit.

Some story choices are.... interesting. Some of them, i'm not sure whether i like them or not yet. I'm confused as to why they combined three different stories into the Omashu storyline. We have Bumi, Teo and the Mechanist, as well as Jet all piled up in the same city, and somehow Zuko is there as well. The Jet story happened way too quickly, and i'm confused as to why Sokka was so upset at Jet's betrayal when he hadn't even spoken to the guy at all, he didn't even know his name. I don't like the choice of having everyone split up in Omashu. There was a lot of focus on Katara and Sokka and Aang barely appeared. I will say i really loved the no bending fight Aang and Zuko had in Omashu. Such a shame that their choreography barely got any time to shine due to the fight scenes being edited like marvel movies to hide mistakes. This has me excited for the blue spirit episode though!

I don't like the way they revealed that Aang is the Avatar in the watertribe. Why is Gran Gran the one that immediately knows? Just bc she's old? I liked that Aang revealed it himself in the original, but in this one it's just Gran Gran telling everyone who he is and Sokka not even believing her.

Then there's the opening for the first episode. I have very mixed feelings. I like that they showed the bond between Gyatso and Aang, and i liked the way they switched between Gyatso's last stand and Aang falling into the water. I'm sticking to my guns however with saying that we didn't need to see the attack on the airtemples play out. I liked it being this mysterious event that happened so long ago it's become legend to anyone alive today. But now, as a viewer, we have more information than our main characters. It also took away from the emotional turmoil of Aang finding Gyatso's skeleton. In the original, there's still this slimmer of hope, are they really dead? Could some still be alive? Only for it to be ripped away then and there. Now the audience already knows Gyatso is dead, we know what Aang is about to find. They also didn't really linger on Aang's emotions after this, like at all? He buried Gyatso and basically went "alright where to next?"

There also seems to be a lot less bonding time, making the relationship between the characters in episode 1 and 2 very weird. Katara and Aang barely had one conversation in the first episode, and Katara was already talking about Aang changing her life and helping improve her bending after only one day. It feels very weird and forced. It gets better by episode 3, but it was definitely bad in the first two.

I'm gonna say it again but i'm mad about Sokka's sexism arc disappearing. Suki was angry at Sokka for just comparing her skills as a warrior to him, when she hadn't even seen him fight yet. She also starts out as being weirdly enchanted by Sokka just bc he's an outsider. He's not even attractive at all, and they're trying to sell him as some sort of heartthrob. I like their bonding time while they trained, but i don't like how immediately Sokka is hung up on her. He still needs to meet Yue, and idk about you but to me it would be weird for him to already like one girl, and suddenly jump to the next.

I'm not sure why Kyoshi is being Aang's main Avatar guide here? I always figured it should be the Avatar right before you that would do the job, so why did Kyoshi get to Aang before Roku? And why did she already give Aang the speech about saving the world? What else is Roku gonna do? I know we get the Hei Bai story in this show, so what's the point of the Hei Bai story when it doesn't lead to Roku's dragon coming to Aang to warn him about the comet? I'm not mad at this btw, genuinely just confused. I don't understand the point yet.

Onto the acting, once again very hit or miss. So far Gordon (Aang) has been one of the best. He's a very good representation of Aang's character, and i like that he brought out Aang's sassier side right away. Kiawentiio (Katara) so far has been really good too, and i like her chemistry with Gordon. I was prepared for Ian (Sokka) to be much worse than he ended up being, and a lot of jokes in the first episode did end up landing for me. Unfortunately the opposite is true for Dallas (Zuko), i was expecting his performance to be better than what it ended up being. It's not bad per se, but definitely less refined than i was hoping. Same for Paul (Iroh). I don't like the way he delivers some lines at all (especially the Jasmine Tea lines, it's way too forced, i don't actually believe he likes jasmine tea rn. In the original uncle barely mentions which tea he's drinking, and only once asks for jasmine tea bc it's his favorite. Otherwise he always just says "cup of tea" and never mentions the flavor. Idk why but the emphasis on jasmine tea really bothered me lol). I really liked Azula so far. Elizabeth brought a very cutthroat energy, which is precisely what i'd expect from a character like Azula. Daniel Dae Kim was also just everything i was hoping for and more. I'm hoping to see more of him (for his acting... no other reason.......)

Idk why but i was elated at seeing the cabbage merchant and hearing him say the line. Best moment of the whole show so far (and that's saying a lot i think lmao).

The music is very good. Some of the placement of the more dramatic music is a bit awkward? Like moments that i feel should have a low quiet melody seem to have a more dramatic flow which makes the scene lose emotional value to me. Maybe that's just my preference though. I like the nods to the original music throughout the show, especially for Kyoshi, the fire nation theme as well as the avatar theme, and then the exact same credits music as the original. I love the more epic/dramatic version of the avatar theme.

Overall, i am enjoying myself. I wasn't expecting greatness from this adaptation, and so far i'm remaining kind of neutral i think. It's not absolutely horrible, and i'm not cringing every five seconds. Of course it's never gonna compare to the beauty of the original animation. That's always going to remain untouchable to me. And this adaptation obviously does not come close at all. But it's fun, i guess, so i'm gonna keep watching.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar #netflix atla #atla netflix #netflix #atla live action #review #aang #avatar aang #zuko #sokka #katara #azula #prince zuko #princess azula #netflix avatar

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lilbagdermole · 1 year

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Hello! It's always great to meet another Taang shipper!

What do you love most about Taang?

I hope you have a great day!!!

Hey!!

Oh, it's so nice to see that Taang is still loved by so many people (and it's always really nice to see active blogs about them ^^)

What do I love most about Taang?

I love their dynamics. They bounce off each other almost harmoniously, because they are opposites in so many aspects of their lives: beliefs and morals, elements, backgrounds and childhoods. They clash and struggle and are far from perfect, yet, no matter how big the storm, how complex the disagreement - they always reconcile, they always listen to one another, they always learn and grow and strive to become better people. They respect one another so much to work around their oppositions and thus balance and understand one another in ways that no other member of the ATLA cast can replicate (with Aang and Toph).

And though they are natural opposites, they still have so much in common if you delve deeper. Aang and Toph are the youngest in the Gaang - and share the same love for teasing and joking; they share a very deep connection with the the original benders of their respective elements (Toph with the Badgermoles and Aang with Appa); they both runaway from their homes at a young age because of paramount expectations; both are masters of their bending - even inventing a new form/bending style at 12 years-old (air scooter and metalbending).

Aang represented all Toph needed in her life - freedom, loyalty, companionship and a friend. He saw her beyond her perceived weakness and never underestimated her capabilities as an earthbender and his potential master. He taught her to trust and confide, understood her when no other person did and soften the hard edges that she'd constructed to protect herself from her suffocating reality. In a sense, Aang was a breath of fresh air in her life.

Toph, on the other hand, represented all Aang needed - stability, confidence, strength. Aang, being the Avatar, had been coddled and protected by almost everyone - Katara, Sokka, admirers, etc. He wasn't Aang, he was a symbol - a symbol of hope and peace. But Toph didn't care about his divine-like power, didn't care that everyone around him praised the very ground he stepped on - in Toph's perspective, Aang was Aang. A kid just like her and she treated him as equals; never afraid of pushing him to further his growth; she taught him to stand his ground, face his enemies head on, become a stronger, confident bender. She was the ground that anchored him to the mortal world and made him feel normal.

It's also poetic, in the finale - Toph is in the air whilst Aang is mostly on Earth. And, may I add, that at the end, whilst Zuko and Katara ultimately did teach him plenty so he could face the Firelord, Aang's preferred bending style, that was not his own, was Earthbending. The element that had once stumped him, frustrated him; the hardest element to master, his opposite... and now, he used it to protect himself, to shield and fight. He used every technique Toph taught him - rock armor, crushing earth, even seismic sense... Toph ultimately saved Aang during the Finale.

I can go on and on about them, but I'm in the midst of writing a dissertation on Toph and Aang's development and potential in ATLA - so I'll save most of my thoughts for that whenever I get to completing it.

And... let's be honest. Aang and Toph together just look so beautiful. They would be the IT COUPLE in ATLA - their canonical height difference should be reason enough to stan Taang. Avatar and The World's Greatest Earthbender... come on now! And it would just fit right - Aang as an adult would have to travel the world and Toph would gladly travel alongside him since she doesn't have a "home" (Aang is her home); and, as adults they could built Republic City from the ground up whilst also balancing raising a family... UGH! IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO GOOD!!!

#lilbadgermoleask #taang

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starstruckphantommoon · 12 days

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Polar Opposites - Book 1: Water - Chapter 20: The Siege of The North - Part 2 of 2

“I can’t believe I lost him…” Katara says from her spot, kneeling at the edge of the oasis. You kneel down beside her. “You did everything you could and now we need to do everything we can to get him back.” Katara nods, tears brimming her eyes as she looks at Sokka who’s behind you. “She’s right Katara, Zuko can’t have gotten far.” Sokka replies. “We’ll find him. Aang’s gonna be fine.” “Okay.” Katara replies back as she gets up, walking over to Appa with me beside her.

Once the four of you get on Appa, you sit next to Sokka who’s holding the reins. “It’s all right.” you hear Katara say behind you. You turn around to see Momo, looking out over the pond sadly. “You stay here, Momo, in case Aang comes back.'' she continues as she makes her way into the saddle, sitting down next to Yue. “Yip yip!” Sokka says, flicking the reins, making Appa launch himself into the air and out of the oasis into the frozen, snowy wasteland above.

After a while of flying and seeing nothing but a giant canyon, Sokka makes Appa land and slides down from his head, while you, Katara and Yue stay in our spots on Appa in silence, hoping that he’ll see something that’ll lead you to Zuko and Aang. He looks around for a moment before turning to the three of you shaking his head - nothing. You sigh softly as he starts to make his way back to Appa again. ‘Zuko, you idiot!’ you think angrily as Appa takes off into the air again. ‘When we find you, you’re going to be very lucky that I won’t kill you for being so stupid.’

You all continue flying, continuing your search for Aang and Zuko, but all you see around you is white. “Don’t worry!” you hear Yue yell out over the wind. “prince Zuko can’t be getting too far in this weather.” “I'm not worried they'll get away in the blizzard. I'm worried that they won't.” Katara replies back. “They're not gonna die in this blizzard. If we know anything it's that Zuko never gives up.” Sokka says, which you agree with one-hundred percent. Zuko’s probably the most stubborn guy you’ve ever met in your life, other than Sokka of course, since he’s very stubborn too. “They'll survive – and we'll find them!”

You don’t know how long you’ve been searching, but you still haven’t seen any sign of Zuko and Aang… The thought of the two of them freezing to death in this blizzard makes your heart clench painfully as you continue to look down below Appa, trying to see if you see any sign of footprints that would lead you to Aang and Zuko. “Look!” Katara shouts as a bright blue light flies over us. “That’s gotta be Aang! Yip-yip!” she continues as Sokka flicks the reins to follow the light as it flies into a cave, illuminating the inside of it briefly.

A few moments pass and you see Aang trying to crawl in the snow, but since he’s bound in rope, he doesn’t get too far and Zuko catches him. “Appa!” Aang yells as we fly over the two of them. Appa lands and you and Katara jump off, you running over to Aang while Katara stands in front of Zuko in a fighting stance. “Here for a rematch?” Zuko asks Katara as he assumes a firebending stance. “Trust me, Zuko,” Katara responds as she begins to waterbend the snow in front of her. “It’s not going to be much of a match.” she continues as you try with all of your strength to untie the ropes that are around Aang, but they're too thick and strong. “Here, let me!” Sokka says, kneeling down next to you and cutting the ropes with his boomerang. “Hey, This is some quality rope!” he says as he holds up the rope in front of him. “We need to get to the oasis!” Aang says while untying the rest of the rope and running over to Appa. “The spirits are in trouble!”

As you get to your feet again, you look over to where Zuko is to see him lying unconscious in the snow. Your heart aches at the sight of him, your thoughts wandering to the kiss that we had shared just mere hours ago… “(Y/N), come on! We have to go!” Katara calls out to you. You shake your head as you turn to face them. “We can’t just leave him here!” “Sure we can! Let’s go!” Sokka says back to me. “No, she’s right.” Aang says. “If we leave him, he’ll die.” he continues as he jumps down from Appa and running over to Zuko, picking him, bringing him back to Appa. ‘Thank you Aang.’ you think with a smile as you walk over to Appa. “Yeh, this makes a lot of sense.” Sokka says sarcastically as he helps me up into the saddle. “Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us!” he continues as Appa takes off.

You sit in the saddle next to the unconscious Zuko, holding back the urge to brush his hair out of his face. You’re so grateful that Aang agreed when you had said that you should bring Zuko with us because, if you would’ve left him, he would have frozen to death… You would’ve never forgiven yourself if you had just left him there by saying nothing… Not to mention, Iroh would be heartbroken if Zuko never returned, with or without Aang in his possession…

On the way back to the oasis, the dark blue sky and the blue tint it carried around you turned to a dark red. You glance down at Zuko again, seeing that his scar blends in with the color around you. “Ugh…” you hear Yue groan, holding her head in pain. “Are you okay?” Sokka asks her, worry in his voice. “I feel faint.” Yue replies softly. “I feel it too.” Aang says, his hand on his head as well. “The Moon Spirit is in trouble.” he continues as he looks up at the sky. “I owe the Moon Spirit my life.” Yue says. “What do you mean?” Sokka asks her. “When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they're born… but I was born as if I were asleep. My eyes closed. Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me... that night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white, I opened my eyes and began to cry – and they knew I would live.” Yue explains. “That’s why my mother named me Yue, for the moon.”

When you and the others get back to the oasis you hear Zhao talking about how people of the Fire Nation will remember him as ‘Zhao the Conqueror! Zhao the Moon Slayer! ZHAO THE INVINCIBLE!’ His rant is interrupted however, by Momo as he jumps onto his head, pulling on his face. “Huh! Get it off!” Zhao shouts. The guards around Zhao start surrounding him to help him but Momo flies off, landing on Aang’s arm. You stand close to Appa, behind Aang and you siblings, knowing that Zuko will probably regain consciousness soon and you want to be there when he does. “Don’t bother.” Zhao smirks as he holds up a small sack, holding his fist out to the sack, ready to strike. “Zhao! Don’t!” Aang says as he drops his staff, holding his arms up in surrender. “It's my destiny... to destroy the Moon... and the Water Tribe.” Zhao says. “Destroying the moon won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone – including you.” Aang explains. “Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world.” “He is right, Zhao!” a voice says, from your left.

You turn my head and see Iroh standing there. ‘Iroh!’ you think, a giant smile appearing on your face at the sight of him. “General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?” Zhao asks in a bored, lecturing tone. “I’m no traitor, Zhao,” Iroh replies as he lowers his hood. “the Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance.” he states. “Whatever you do to that spirit I’ll unleash on you ten-fold!” he shouts as he points a finger at Zhao. “LET IT GO, NOW!” He shouts as he assumes a firebending stance.

To be completely honest, you’re completely taken aback by Iroh’s loud voice as you’ve never seen him like this. Zhao hesitantly obeys Iroh, freeing the spirit back into the pond. The color around you and the others returns to normal and you sigh out in relief, glad that everything is back to normal. Your relief however, is taken away all too soon as Zhao’s face is quickly overtaken by a look of madness and desperation and with a shout of rage, he stands and smites the water with a blast of fire. “No…” you whisper as you look up to the moon to see it wink out of existence.

As soon as the moon disappears, Iroh attacks Zhao, firing blast after blast at him and the soldiers that surround him. As Iroh attacks the soldiers, trying to get to Zhao, you see Zhao flee the scene like the coward that he is. You grit my teeth in anger before turning around to climb up Appa’s side to look in Appa’s saddle. Looking over the rim of the saddle, you see no sign of Zuko, just the rope that Sokka had used to bind him. You turn your gaze towards where Zhao had disappeared and know that if Zuko was going to attack anyone, it would be Zhao. You then look back towards the others and see them huddled around the small pond with Yue and Iroh. You take that as my queue to go after Zhao and Zuko.

You run around the darkened city trying to find Zhao and Zuko, your only source being the lanterns lining the abandoned streets. You take a moment to catch your breath before you hear voices coming from around the corner in front of you, one of them being the all so familiar voice of the banished prince. “You tried to have Kida and I killed!” ‘It was Zhao?!’ you think as you run toward their voices. ‘I had my suspicions about the way he was acting on the day Iroh had agreed to be his general, I just didn’t realize it fully right away because I was so devastated about Zuko!’

You get to the balcony that the two of them are on as Zuko fires a blast of fire at Zhao who ducks and rolls evading the blast. “Yes, I did. You’re the Blue Spirit - and enemy of the Fire Nation!” Zhao says to Zuko, venom in his voice. “You freed the Avatar and that waterbender girl!” “I had no choice!” Zuko shouts back at him as he continues his attack, firing volley after volley of fire at Zhao, who breaks them with his hands held together in a wedge in front of him.

As the blasts subside, Zhao drops his smoking cloak to the ground. “You should have chosen to accept your failure – your disgrace!” Zhao says to Zuko. “Then, at least you could have lived!” he continues as he returns fire. They trade volleys as the fight rages back and forth in the darkness. You wish that you could help, considering Zhao almost killed you too but, without the moon… You can’t use my bending… And if you joined the fight without your bending… Let’s just say that it wouldn’t be very smart…

At one point Zuko is able to exploit a moment when Zhao leaves his chest unguarded, blasting him with a ball of fire that causes Zhao to fall off the parapet wall onto the tier below, Zuko jumping down as well. After Zuko disappears from your view, you run over the railing getting ready to follow him when you see something glowing in the corner of your eye. You turn my head to see what seems to be glowing water going through the main canal towards the outer wall of the city. The glowing water then starts to form a giant Koi fish. Your eyes widen in surprise when you see the small human figure in the middle of the Koi fish’s chest, realizing that it’s Aang who’s controlling its every move as it bends the water over the many Fire Navy ships that are trying to get away.

After a few more minutes of watching Aang take out most of the ships in the fleet, the bright glow of the moon above you makes your eyes go wide as you look up into the sky to see the full moon shining above you again. ‘Yue.’ you think as you remember how she had said that the moon spirit had given her life when she was a baby. As you continue to look up at the moon you feel my strength beginning to come back to you and you know that you can use your bending again. You grin at the thought of taking down Zhao once and for all, and with that thought in mind, you jump down from the railing to go join the fight against Zhao with Zuko.

You find Zhao and Zuko fighting on one of the many foot bridges that go over a canal. They trade blows, but a series of direct hits from Zuko lays Zhao flat on his back. Zhao tries to get back up, but his eyes widen in horror as he sees the moon over Zuko’s shoulder. “It can’t be!” As he looks up at the moon, you use your bending to encase his arms and legs in ice. “Looks like your plan failed Zhao.” you state from my spot near the edge of the building behind Zuko, looking down at the two of them. The two of them turn to you, Zuko, smiling at the sight of you, while Zhao glares at you intensely.

You jump down onto the bridge, landing on your hands and knees behind Zuko. You stand up straight a moment later, your eyes meeting Zuko’s for a second. “(Y/N).” he says softly, his eyes shining at the sight of you. You give him a small smile before your eyes move back to Zhao, seeing that he’s glaring at the sight of you while he struggles against the ice encasing his arms and legs which makes you smirk back at him smugly as you bend the snow below you as you walk up to the two of them.

You almost get to the two of them, ready to join the fight if you need to, when Zhao breaks free from the ice, when the glowing water you had seen before, that must be the ocean spirit, coalesces around the bridge. Zuko quickly rolls out of the way as the water grabs Zhao and begins to pull him off the bridge. Zuko quickly gets up to his feet, jumping onto the railing of the bridge, reaching out for Zhao. “Take my hand!” To you, it’s amazing how Zuko is willing to save Zhao when Zhao was the one to almost have him killed. I admire him for that. Zhao tries to reach for Zuko’s hand for a moment, but then draws his hand back, an expression of hate on his face. The ocean spirit drags Zhao under the water and disappears.

After a few moments of watching the spot where Zhao had disappeared under the water, knowing that he’s not going to survive, you slowly walk over to Zuko who’s still looking down at the water where Zhao disappeared just moments ago. You take his hand in mine, giving it a small squeeze, making him turn to you. We look into each other’s eyes for a few moments before you engulf him in a hug. His body stiffens for a moment, his body probably still sore from the fight he had with Katara earlier, before he slowly wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you into his body. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” you say to him softly. “Well, if it weren’t for you, I’d still be in that blizzard.” Zuko replies as he pulls away from you slightly. You feel your cheeks heat up at his comment, which makes him smile at you as he presses his forehead against yours. “It wasn’t just me.” you reply softly. “Whatever you say.” He smirks before leaning forward and pressing his lips against yours in a soft and sweet kiss in which you respond back to immediately.

You then hear distant voices coming down from the alleyway to your right, which causes you to let go of his lips, realizing that if anyone from the Water Tribe sees him and he gets captured, he’ll probably be executed if they ever find out that he’s the Fire Lord’s son. You look up into his bright gold eyes. “You need to go before someone sees you.” “I’m not leaving without you Kida.” Zuko says quietly with a shake of his head, taking both of your hands in his. “Come with me.” he continues, his eyes and voice pleading for me to come with him.

As much as you want to go with him, you just can’t abandon your siblings and Aang again when you had just reunited with each other again. You shake my head. “Zuko, if anyone from the Water Tribe sees you here, you’ll be taken as a prisoner. Not to mention if they find out that you’re the Fire Lord’s son…” You stop at the thought of what might happen to him… Not wanting to think about it… “I don’t even want to think of what might happen to you if that happens…” you finish looking away from him for a moment, staring at the ground. “(Y/N)-” he says but you cut him off. “Besides,” you state, turning your head to look at him again. “I have a feeling that we’ll see each other again. We always seem to run into each other sooner or later.” you continue with a small smile. He chuckles at that before pressing his forehead against yours again. “I’ll see you soon.” he whispers softly, his gold eyes staring into yours again before he turns away, disappearing around the corner just as a few Water Tribe members arrive.

After Zuko left, you had made your way back to the palace to see your siblings, and Aang along with master Pakku and Chief Arnook, who you had met very briefly in your search for the spirit oasis last night. You walk over to where Katara stands near master Pakku just as he says: “I've decided to go to the South Pole. Some other benders and healers want to join me.” He turns to face you and Katara. “It's time we helped rebuild our sister tribe.” he says, which makes you smile at the thought of the northerners helping to rebuild our tribe. “What about Aang?” Katara asks as the three of you turn to look at Aang. “He still needs to learn waterbending.” Master Pakku turns to her with satisfaction on his face. “Well, then he and your sister better get used to calling you ‘Master Katara.’” Katara smiles at him before turning to you with a giant grin on her face. You grin back at her, silently telling her that you’re so proud of her for becoming a waterbending master.

After talking with master Pakku for a few more minutes, Katara walks towards Aang as he looks out over the city. You follow her just as Sokka finishes talking to the chief. He looks sad and you hate seeing him sad whenever he’s always so happy all the time. “Sokka.” you call to him softly. He turns around, his eyes filled with unshed tears. You immediately open your arms for him, knowing that he definitely needs a hug right now. He doesn’t hesitate to enter your arms, hugging you back tightly. “I know it’s hard, but without Yue, there wouldn’t be any balance in the world.” you say to him as you rub his back soothingly. “I know,” he chokes softly, and you can tell just from his voice that he’s on the brink of tears. “I’m just going to miss her so much…” he continues as you feel his hot, wet tears against my neck. “I know Sokka, I know…” you say back to him softly, as you hug him even tighter, giving him all the comfort that you can.

After Sokka calms down, the two of you walk over to Aang, Katara and Momo. Sokka puts a hand on Aang’s shoulder while you keep your arm around his shoulders, smiling, glad that you’re back with Aang and your siblings. The four of you look out over the city, thinking about what kind of adventures our destinies will take us next.

#x reader #fanfiction #fanfic #prince zuko #prince zuko x reader #zuko #zuko x reader #atla #atla x reader #a:tla #a:tla x reader #avatar: the last airbender x reader #avatar: the last airbender

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newtonsheffield · 1 year

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As you make a so sweet headcanon for katie and her Poppy Sharma, can we see a little cute moment between baby kaitie and him???

MmmK, lets see Kate with her Poppy

"Popppyyyyyyy."

He smiled to himself as his granddaughter's tiny voice called into the hallway the second the front door flew open, her tiny feet stamping down the hall.

"Katieeeee." He called back, nudging his wife out of the way to duck down behind the counter.

His wife shook her head, "Honestly, Nalan."

He heard Kate's boots clattering down the hallway, the same ones she'd run up to show him a month ago, a wide smile on her face.

"Poppy! Mary bought me boots!"

He'd smiled at his son's new girlfriend, who was loitering nervously by the door, "I like them, little one. They're nice."

Kate had grinned, running back to stand next to Mary so their shoes touched, "They're the same as hers, Poppy!

"I can see that." His heart had swelled as he'd watched Kate slide her hand into Mary's and the young woman had crouched in front of her, straightening Kate's jumper.

"We go together now, right?"

"We go together."

Kate hadn't taken them off since.

The boots squeaked into the tiled floor in the kitchen, and he heard her pull up short. "Granny, where's Poppy?"

He bit back a smile, as his wife sighed, "I'm not sure, darling."

He listened as Kate sighed, "Poppy! Where are you?!"

He waited for her to draw closer, not even bothering to fight the happiness bubbling in his chest and just as she was about to round the counter he leapt up with a roar, catching her under the armpits and lifting her into the air.

"There's my peanut!"

"Poppy!" She giggled, her tight curls bouncing as he grinned up at him.

She reminded him so much of Tharman as a little boy, who'd been all giggles, kindness and tears over a squirrel with a hurt leg. He'd thought that the minute he'd found his son in tears in a hospital room all alone, clutching the little girl to his chest.

"I don't know what to do Appa."

He'd nodded, his chest aching as he imagined living without his own wife. "You love your little girl as best you can. That's all you can do now."

They all loved Kate, truly, his heart thumped in his chest every time he saw his tiny granddaughter.

"Sorry, we're a little early." Mary cleared her throat standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Tharman's meeting us here. I wanted to knock but she just-"

"You don't need to knock." He nodded along with his wife. "Come over here and help me."

"Popppyyyyy." Kate hummed as she settled on his hip.

"Yes, katieeeeee." He teased, kissing her cheek.

"Can we play snap?" She grinned at him, cute as a button in a tiny version of a shirt from Mary's last tour, clearly specially made in Kate's size.

He pretended to think about it for a long moment before he whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Maybe, but I think we should sneak out for ice cream first!"

Kate gasped loudly, then looked around, whispering even louder than he had been "Okay, but we'll have to be sneaky."

He grinned at her, "Okay, you hide behind me and we'll sneak out."

He put her down, chuckling as she ducked behind him, clinging to his legs as he cleared his throat, "I've just remembered we don't have any milk."

He walked backwards towards he door as his wife sighed, and Mary bit back a smile pretending not to notice as Kate slipped out behind him.

Kate giggled and he couldn't help but giggle with her as he scooped her up and put her on his shoulders, snatching his wallet off the dresser as he passed. They spilled out onto the street just as Tharman's car pulled to the curb.

"Uh, oh." Kate sighed as her father got out of the car, his brow furrowed as he tried to figure out exactly what he was seeing.

"Where are you two going?"

"Run Poppy!" Kate squeaked and without another thought he took off running towards the ice cream shop, with his son's voice calling out behind him.

"At least only let her have one scoop, Dad! She'll not want dinner!"

"Don't listen, Katie. Poppy'll get you two scoops."

#lavender haze au #kate sharma #kate sheffield #poppy sharma #sharma family feels #molly’s asks and answers

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the-power-of-stuff · 3 months

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bestie whats your opinion on this vid? it got me Angry. ANGRY! https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=64wpVnM6dlE4b9kc&v=cglBnKGWlP4&feature=youtu.be

Ahhhh yes, this video! I've seen it floating around in the tags but hadn't watched it until now.

I guess my opinion on this overall is that it's a little...unimaginative? I mean, it makes valid points about how the writers hadn't originally planned for Suki to be in the show beyond "The Warriors of Kyoshi," and how she doesn't interact much with the other members of the Gaang. But to me, that's where the fun of playing in the fandom sandbox comes in! Reading between the lines, over-analyzing little details, and finding space for our own interpretation of the events to thrive.

For instance, how many days did the group spend together on Ember Island? Do we really think Suki wasn't hanging out and bonding with anyone else that entire time? What about all the time they spent running around looking for Aang and Iroh right before the comet? Like, they went all the way from Ember Island to Ba Sing Se! That's basically a trans-continental road trip! Road trips are prime bonding opportunities! There's no way Suki wasn't making new BFFs while they were stuck in Appa's saddle all night.

What's the point of trying to prove that Suki didn't actually earn a place in the Gaang when instead you could imagine Suki and Katara connecting over the similarities in their fighting styles? Or Suki and Toph playing pranks on Sokka together? Or Suki and Aang getting emotional with one another while discussing Appa's rescue?

Same with the assertion that Sokka and Suki break up for good... First of all, I don't put much stock in "proof" that relies on material that's auxiliary to the show, the consumption of which isn't necessary to understand and fully enjoy the original source material. This stuff is basically professionally-published fanfiction. But even if it did hold the same "canon" weight as the original show, again, there are still a multitude of ways to interpret what's in the book. And what's not in the book.

Let's say that when they're both ~40, Sokka is back in the Southern Water Tribe and Suki is on Kyoshi Island. So what? From this one scenario, I can still spawn a million different universes in my head wherein Sokka and Suki end up together. I guess I just don't really see the point in claiming that there is an ultimate truth to Sokka and Suki's relationship in this fictional universe, when instead you could write thousands upon thousands of words finding different ways for them to fall in love with each other over and over again. *whistles innocently*

So, yeah... Is Suki part of the Gaang? She is if we let her in! (yes) Where is Suki? Wherever we want her to be! (in Sokka's arms)

I'll leave off with one counterpoint to something said in the video. There was a claim that Sokka only thinks about Suki when she's right in front of him. Otherwise, she's not on his mind at all. To argue this, I would like to present exhibit A: "The Swamp." Sokka has his vision of Yue, and afterwards he tells Aang and Katara, "I think about her all the time." Do we have any evidence of this? No. He hasn't mentioned Yue since his brief conversation with Arnook at the end of the season 1 finale. Does that mean he was lying when he said, "I think about her all the time"? Of course not. Something we know about Sokka is that he tends to keep his emotional cards pretty close to the vest. He's demonstrated that he is capable of thinking about Yue constantly without Aang, Katara, or we the viewers being aware of it. Therefore, it stands to reason that the same could be said of Suki. And I would go so far as to say the fact that Sokka immediately starts crying when Azula mentions Suki while taunting them on the day of the eclipse? Means she's been weighing on his mind an awful lot. Cuz that boy doesn't cry so easy. Not even when Yue died.

#answered asks #sukka #sokka #suki #does this count as analysis?#probably not #also i have beef with translating suki's name as beloved #as is stated in the video #but that's an entirely different rant #thank you for the ask!!

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walrus150915 · 8 months

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I AM DEEPLY SORRY BUT

I thought about Goldenheart fankids for a while so I've decided to make my own!

Now, it's important to acknowledge that I honestly believe that they wouldn't have kids post-movie. That makes sense thematically and it's kind of poetic if you think about it (a gay man being the end of his bloodline which started all this copaganda n stuff) but I😭😭 I couldn't stop thinking about this!!

I present to you:

THEIR KIDDO YUPIEEEEE

Some fun facts abt them:

- Aquila is a gender neutral name which means "eagle". I thought it'd be funny to keep the tradition of their weird medieval names. Eagle Braveman, a child of Godsfood Goodatsex and Staircase Braveman, gotta love that💅

- also yea. I gave them Bal's surname bc there's no way in the world Ambrosius would want to give them his surname. His bloodline ends with him in an good old gay tradition😎😎

- I think they'd be a happy accident tbh (if we're talking about seahorse dad situation shfjj)

- Nimona didn't expect to love them as much as she did but now they're literally her favorite person😭 siblings are REAL (although I think Nimona is like- sibling-uncle-aunt-family friend figure sorta kinda)

- About their personality? Well, they're reserved, not much of a talker, kinda socially awkward and overthinks a lot (just like their papas)

- They hate sports of all kinds like they CAN'T stand it. Also they don't know those knight traditions n stuff and have never held a sword in their life- I think that's a good "f u" to the system which expected children to become weapons bc Ballister, Ambrosius and especially Nimona would never let this child repeat all the stuff they all came through

- I don't think they even talked about their knightly upbringing to Aquila, and when Aquila asked about it they tried to avoid answering so bad

- About parenting btw- Ambrosius and Ballister both beat the "emotionally detached Asian father" allegations. These two are WAY too attached I'd say😭 they can be overprotective (cough cough Ballister) or overbearing (I see ya Ambrosius) sometimes (although Ambrosius is overprotective as well, if not more than Bal)

- Ambrosius tries his best to not repeat his parents' mistakes and let Aquila live a happy, relaxed childhood, but he slips from time to time. "Why did I have to work so hard to achieve even a little bit of acknowledgement from my parents and now this kid expects me to praise them even for the smallest of things" kind of deal. He slowly learns to relearn this way of thinking but- yeah, bro still has those good ol' Asian dad quirks

- I think Ballister had loving parents yet they couldn't provide for him or care for him properly because of poverty and social injustice. So now he makes sure Aquila has everything they need and are loved enough. It's really hard not to be overprotective of your child when you and your husband had an upbringing like theirs😭😭

- Aquila is kind of embarrassed by them because I think they both would be the type of dad who drives them to high school and makes them say "I love you too, dad" in front of their peers (like that into the spiderverse scene)

- With that said, they three all love each other despite all the hardships and stuff bc they're a FAMILYYYYY

- Nimona would be THE best person in the world for Aquila, she's their role model of sorts, I even think she'd be what helped them to realize they're enby in the first place

- Nimona would always be there for Aquila and would always be on their side even when they're in a fight with their dads

- They're the best buddies ever - Ballister expected Nimona to be jealous ("older kids of the fam" deal) but she wasn't in the slightest!

- Imagine Ballister and Ambrosius trying to make Aquila say "abba" or "appa", but the first thing they mumble is "Nim!" oh Nimona would DIE FROM LAUGHTERRR😭😭

Some general hcs:

- Ambrosius would read bedtime stories to Aquila when they were a kid and would miss this horribly as they grew up

- Ballister would make them clockwork toys

- Aquila loves sewing and customizing things

- Idk their sexuality honestly but I know that they love girls💅

- Ambrosius would distance himself from his family so much that Aquila barely knows them

- I think Aquila is aware of the whole Gloreth situation but doesn't care that much for her - after all, they know that it was some random kid 1000+ years ago whom everyone took as a hero when she wasn't

Some sketches of them shshwjne!!

Please don't ask me why Ballister looks like my grandpa😭

(Speaking of Ballister- I think at some point of Aquila's toddlerhood him and Ambrosius laid in their bed and Ambrosius was like: "Babe, what do you think of getting a second kid?"

Then Aquila immediately started crying in another room and Ambrosius signed heavily, standing up from the bed: "Yknow what? Forget what I said")

#nimona #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin #nimona fanart #fankid #also i know for the fact that with a 1000yo shapeshifter child and a toddler these two would have ZERO privacy #ambrosius would be so pissed off😭😭#let him kiss his husband #maybe more than kiss JQJDJAJAJAJSN #but yea #making this post is what healed my inner child #they arent perfect but they try... thats what matters #god bless #thank you for reading this i hope you enjoy whatever i'm talking about #aquila boldheart

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highfantasy-soul · 2 months

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NATLA Episode 8 - Legends (1/4)

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

Of course, full spoilers ahead.

Opening this final episode with the Gaang all working together to take out the fire nation ship felt so natural, I completely forgot that's not what happened in the animated version! In the animated show, it's just Aang who takes out the whole ship with Katara and Sokka hanging back behind the walls. (Which is odd because of all the ppl screaming that animated Aang would NEVER have Katara sit out on a fight when…that's exactly what he did. Katara and Sokka weren't doing their own thing while Aang was attacking the ship, they were literally just standing on the wall with Pakku and Chief Arnook - so….yeah, about all that live-action Aang hate for not wanting to lose Katara in the battle…..hmmm maybe…uh…watch the OG show with your brain turned on….)

Why was there no outcry about Aang 'not letting his friends fight' in the animated version when that's exactly what he did when he went out alone on Appa and Katara and Sokka did nothing? Almost like there's a massive double standard here.

Aang takes point in the battle, wooshing soldiers overboard and doing some nice AOE damage then Katara comes in with the pointed attacks to take out individual enemies. Aang and Katara working in tandem, their move sets complementing each other, was really beautiful. Then Sokka coming in with the 'Appa-eyed' view of the situation and calling out battle plans and heading to the command center to take out the leadership (of the ship) really showed how each person had their own strengths and balanced each other out. I think it was a really cool choice to not have Sokka fighting the actual soldiers, but rather taking out the mechanics of the ship: person on person combat isn't the only way to win a battle - making the smart move and taking out resources IS!

Zuko's tenacity and flat refusal to stop trying is on full display here - I love the desperation and Iroh not wanting him to go, but supporting him anyways. Iroh giving the advice about the fissures is so sweet and I really like the change to it being Zuko who mentions the father-son dynamic between them. Not directly, of course, but by telling Iroh Lu Ten would have been proud to have him as a father, to me, makes the bond clearer and stronger than Iroh telling Zuko he views him like a son.

While I'm not sure it was the animated show's intention, not showing how Zuko has helped Iroh, too, did make his declaration that 'Ever since I lost my son, I've come to think of you as my own' feel a little like he just attached himself to Zuko because he was a young boy who he could replace his son with and shape the way he thinks he should be - I know that's a pretty uncharitable interpretation of that scene in the OG, but because it's not very well fleshed out what their relationship was like before Zuko's banishment, it could easily come off that way. I think the way the live-action really delved into specifically the funeral scene showed how it was a two-way relationship from the start.

I've seen the argument that the live-action was actually enforcing sexism by having Katara and the women of the tribe push Pakku to change his mind about allowing women in combat, claiming that it was the '2000s feminism movement' of the women still 'asking' the man for permission to fight. To me, this isn't a legit criticism of the scene. Barring the fact that in the OG, Pakku still gave Katara permission to fight before the battle started (and in the live-action she went out on Appa to attack the ships without his permission anyways), they're at war. This isn't a 'I'm taking charge of my own destiny alone' thing - if they want to be effective, they need to all be a united front, not split between men and women. In this instance, they NEED to be working in tandem with the male warriors or else they'll fail - you know, the whole house divided will fall thing. So no, it's not 'women still not getting power until the man approves' like some say, it's logistical military strategy to make sure all leadership and combatants are on the same page.

I see this scene, Katara getting all the women to come out and demand to be a part of the battle too, as a precursor for her arc in the Imprisoned storyline (which I'll go into why I think that will be a character moment Katara will get in season 2 in my 'cut storylines post'). Katara doesn't just stand up for herself and takes the role of combatant alone, she inspires others to stand up, too.

It's also another example of the idea that so many people are desperate for a change in the way things are going, but they need a catalyst to give their movement momentum. Team Avatar is that catalyst and we saw it with the Fire Nation rebellion group, Tayo getting his father to start fighting back, and now the women of the Northern Water Tribe. Katara (and the Gaang at large) aren't coming into a culture and demanding they change their backward ways and the natives are all hearing and thinking about this 'gender equality' for the first time ever. It's clear the women standing up to Pakku have been talking about this for awhile (not to mention Yagoda's talk with Katara last episode where she doesn’t seem fully on board with the gender divide either, but she doesn’t see the opportunity to change the system quite yet) and big catalysts have a way of springing social change forward dramatically. Katara was the just first crack in the dam and Yagoda steps forward to back her.

I have a whole-ass thing about how narratives that try to talk about the white savior trope being bad usually end up in the same racist camp as the ones trying to make the white savior trope good and it comes down to the depiction of the indigenous population. In most, even if they're saying white savior bad, they give the indigenous population no agency - they just roll over to whatever the outsider is coming in to change about them or lead them toward. If the culture has a practice we would consider bad (like sexism), the outsider (animated Katara) is the only one standing up against it and no one else in the culture backs their bid for change, they just sit silently, let the outsider fight their battle for them, then 'reap the rewards' of (or 'blindly follow to their doom' in anti-white savior stories) the new societal change that they took no part in.

In the live action, they show that it's not JUST Katara wanting this change - the women of the tribe want it too and will stand up with and for Katara as they join forces to make societal change. They are ALL claiming their agency rather that letting Katara do all the work.

I know some people think it's 'virtue signaling' or whatever and complain about the shot of all the women heroes in Endgame or Captain Marvel's 'standing up after being knocked down' montage, but call me a stupid woman, those scenes actually mean a lot to me. Why is animated Katara railing against Sokka because she has to do the laundry seen as the height of feminism and yet a group of indigenous women standing up and backing one of their sisters in her bid to make systemic change actually the opposite of feminism? It makes no sense to me.

I like that the live-action shows the women and learners joining the battle too, but recognizing their lack of experience in battle. It's a realistic take on letting those with no combat experience join up. They aren't taking point in battle, they're going to certain parts of the field and doing what they can - shoring up the walls and aiding the fighters. That 'aid' is broad and quickly turns into intercepting fireballs and creating ice barriers to stop the soldiers from advancing. Like with Sokka's story: you don’t need to be a master at combat in order to help in a battle - you just need the chance to join others defending your home using every skill you have.

The whole 'Katara can't be a master! It's bad fem power rep to have her become a master all on her own without a teacher!' outcries are really feeling like a repeat of people pissed that at the end of Daredevil s3 they added Karen to the business sign 'Nelson, Murdock, & Page' crying "But she's not a lawyer!! You can't do that!!!! That's so stupid!!! She doesn't deserve it!!!" Shut up. Seriously, shut the fuck up. This obsession with 'traditional' schooling being the only legitimate way to learn and if you haven't had a learning process that's highly prejudiced/not available to everyone, then you're actually shit and none of your accomplishments are 'real' is just straight poison. When they add Karen's name to the sign in DD, they aren't saying 'you're a practicing lawyer now', they're saying 'your contributions are why we're here, why we succeed in so many ways - we want to honor that even if you don't have BAR certification'. Same with Katara being called 'master'. It's not saying that she's reached Pakku's level (after all, he's THE BEST, not every master is going to be at his level) but they are acknowledging that she has skills and experience none of them have - she's been in the world, she's learned on her own, and she's held her own and has things she can teach to others.

There's actually a whole thing about how the term 'master bender' is thrown around willy nilly in the animated series - like, every character is considered a master (including the earth bending teacher in season 2 that's super annoying and is beaten easily every time he's in a fight) and there's not any actual explanation as to what that means. So people coming in now pretending that they actually know the threshold one must meet to become a waterbending master is really just them wanting to complain that a female character advanced her skills without traditional training. (She DID have a scroll, remember? She DID observe other benders and try to incorporate that into her moves, remember?). Airbenders are the ONLY group that have a clear definition for what makes a 'master' and Aang got it at 12, Jinora got it at 11. The term 'master' seems to be used more for ceremony/respect or a quality that they have something they can teach others rather than an actual course and test one must go through to attain the title. If we're going by that standard, then Katara is definitely a master all on her own.

It's not a 'girl boss getting a title you didn't earn just because you’re a girl and writers think that makes you cooler', it's a 'Katara has worked her ass off all season to teach herself, come up with clever ways of finding instruction, and even when denied formal training, took it upon herself to keep going and inspire others'. When she tells Jet "this wasn't you, it was me" and to Zuko, "Yeah, I found a master - me", it IS empowering and EARNED. It isn't cheesy 'I don’t need anyone's help' pop feminism, it's honest and a declaration that even if you are barred from traditional methods of learning, when you seek to educate yourself, it's still worth something. Just because you don't have a diploma, doesn't mean what you know isn't 'real'.

#natla #avatar the last airbender #netflix avatar #atla #natla positivity

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impossiblycolorfulpanda · 8 months

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Azulaang - happy ending

Azulaang week @ly0nstea

Aang: Azula’s plan worked. Raava is now the spirit of darkness/chaos/yin as well as light/peace/yang, the spirit of balance itself. She can now embody and control the sources of any/all bending. All benders will be empowered by the avatar spirit from now on. The eternal conflict between Raava and Vaatu has finally come to a permanent end.

Zuko: I don’t even know what to say.

Katara: You were incredible!

Ty Lee: And the way you turned all gigantic like that, wow! Yes, you did it, just when we were losing, a miracle happened!

Sokka: Are the elemental spirits ok? Appa? Yue? My dad?

Aang: Yes. All souls that were absorbed, including Yue, Appa, and your dad, are now free and are going in peace.

Sokka: Good. Thanks.

Suki holds onto Sokka’s arm and rests her head on his shoulder. Cut to Aang and Azula at the northern portal.

Azula: Now that you’ve reconnected with Raava, have you also regained your past lives?

Aang: No. I guess that link is gone forever. I am now the first Avatar in a new line of Avatars.

Azula: Ya don’t say. Let’s just close the portals and call it a day.

Aang: (Reaches for the portal but stops and hesitates) Maybe I shouldn’t.

Azula: What makes you say that?

Aang: I think with the spirit portals opened, it’ll restore the ancient balance between our world and that of the spirits and it’ll help eliminate the illusion of separation. Appa’s physical body may be dead but I can still sense his spirit. Iroh’s spirit is here too. What do you think?

Azula: You’re the avatar, this is your type of gig, whatever your decision is, I’ll support you.

Aang looks at the portal and smiles. Cut to the rest of the gang gathering together in front of the third middle portal. They all collapse in exhaustion. Zuko and Katara held on to each other, Sokka and Suki did the same thing as well as Aang and Azula.

Zuko: I can’t believe a year ago me and my sister’s purposes in life were competing against each other and hunting you down. And now…

Aang: And now we’re all getting along.

Zuko: Yeah…we are.

Aang: I can’t believe a year ago I was still frozen in a block of ice. The world’s so different now.

Zuko: Yeah…

Katara: The fight is finally over. But how long will this peace last? So much chaos and death have happened. I can’t help but feel like we’re the only ones left.

Azula: (To Aang) Hippie, what do you think? Are we the last ones alive?

Aang entered the avatar state and put his hand on the ground. After a few moments, he went back out of the avatar state.

Aang: No. Less than 50% of all living creatures in the physical world are still alive but all humans are headless. All of their homes and establishments have been destroyed. No nations to govern them. No rulers to lead them.

Azula: That’s where we come in. We’re the only ones left alive who know the goals of the white lotus, so it’s up to us to complete them. Even though we should learn from those who came before us, we must also forge our own path. So that is why we should tell everyone that we are bringing back the era of energybending and give everyone a choice to bend more than one element like Aang. The portals will remain open, which means Aang will no longer be the bridge and he'll continue to be the avatar only because of his avatar spirit. This may blur up the avatar cycle a bit but the avatar being able to reincarnate at all is good enough of a cycle for me. Humans, spirits, benders, non-benders, nations, and elements will all learn to live together as one, with us leading them. In other words, things will never be the same again, we are entering a new age and we definitely have our work cut out for us but with Aang’s new-found powers, our jobs should be much easier.

Everyone nods and stands back up. They all look at the third portal. Pan to the sky, which is filled with spirits. All are literally dancing in the sky.

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yourhighness6 · 6 months

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I Just Listened to the First Episode of Braving the Elements and I Know I'm Late to the Party but I Have Very Incoherent, Babbling Thoughts About It

(now that I heard Janet and Dante talking I needed to draw young Zuko and Korra. I think they'd be friends. Like, they'd get into fights [with Sokka, too] about who's muscles are more impressive and dumb jock stuff like that. Their respective girlfriends would be so tired.)

Anyway, I think the UGGs ad was a great way to start this out. Really set the tone. I'm also vibing to the theme music cuz I literally haven't listened to it since I rewatched the finale a couple of weeks ago.

[I had no idea Dante Basco was in a dance group as a child I'm laughing for no reason now. I shouldn't judge though I was a drama kid too lol]

I feel like they're doing the whole "the LIGHTS, the CAMERA, the CINEMATOGRAPHY" thing while they're talking about the opening scene. you know what, i'm fine with it.

Basically them:

"Kataang."

"...And I digress,"

The animal crossing segment is cute Appa finally getting the appreciation he deserves

"thINgS HapPEn SoMEtiMeS" has the same energy as Zuko telling Suki "oh, sorry about that" when she reminded him he burned down her village

"I love GranGran" do you Zuko? DO you??

(jk they get along after the war when he apologizes properly)

Aww they brought up Greta Thomburg. I forgot how old this podcast is, but that was a really great message about how the young are the ones saving us and stuff. As a Zoomer [do people still say that?] I can say confidently most of us have no idea what we're doing but we're opinionated and we're here and we're ready to fight for the environment and social justice and shit

HE SWORE

HE SWORE TWICE

HE SWORE THREE TIMES IN LESS THAN TWO MINUTES

Idk about ya'll but I don't think Nick should be letting Mr. Basco represent them I mean that was like three whole "damn"s that is some inappropriate behavior right there

"they're people of privilege" This hit me so hard for no reason. Like it's really obvious, especially in Book 2, that despite all of the abuse Zuko went through he was still in that whole royalty mindset where he basically expects things to be handed to him for most of his arc.

I mean, yeah, that speaks for itself, and there are other instances too. I think Zuko's arc largely corrects a lot of his entitlement, which is a great thing to see throughout the series, but IROH. For some insane reason, maybe because he's very wise and seems content with the little things in life and is basically trying to oppose books 1 and 2 Zuko in every way possible, I never really thought of him as privileged but now it's so obvious that he is. IDK I think that was an interesting thing to point out. It almost makes me value Iroh more because he obviously had to go through a similar journey to Zuko's unlearning all of the arrogance that came with his position and came out of it on the other side as a kind, wise individual who cares deeply for other people and puts the fate of the world before his own. Still interesting to think about on my next rewatch of B1 though, I'll have to start looking out for those behaviors in Iroh.

ANYWAY

Dante Basco, trying so hard to be impartial: "Kataang!"

Janet Varney, one with Zutara nation, apparently: "Meh"

OMG THEY TALKED ABOUT THE SPYGLASS!! I know that scene with Zuko standing on the boat was supposed to be all suspenseful and scary and everything

But I just laugh

I can imagine Aang being like "Aww Zuzu thanks for noticing"

OMG I love Katara finally getting some recognition!! Like there's this meme about the world being saved by "nagging" or whatever and it kind of annoys me. Like, she's calling Sokka out on all of his sexist behavior and that's "nagging"??

Let's be honest it's because she gets kind of "emotional".

Whatever. She deserves to be emotional. Let's be honest the Avatar world was saved by Katara deciding she was done putting up with her brother being a misogynistic ass. [END RANT]

Okay, honestly, I liked it. It was funny, it was cute, I can see it being good, I'll keep listening to it... But, I felt like we were only getting surface level thoughts? There were a few moments where I was like "GODDAMMIT JUST SAY WHAT YOU THINK" which is kind of annoying on a podcast that's supposed to be reviewing the episodes. Like, really? That heavy pause after Dante mentioned Kataang? Janet hesitating to say what she thought when it came up again? C'mon guys, I know you don't want to start anything but the ship wars are not stopping no matter what any of us do at this point because there will always be people on both sides of the war that are toxic and like to start drama. They're not saying everything they want to about the ships and that's a fact. We know it. They know it. Bryke knows it. Also, Dante having not read the series bible was funny but it's only going to be a good joke for so long. Know your shit if you're doing a podcast on it.

I might just be complaining because I need to complain, it's only the first episode, after all, so I want to be clear that I really did like it. 10/10 would recommend, I just hope they maybe get more into the fandom stuff as we go along instead of just looking at the episode. Dig a little deeper, discuss controversial stuff, have a little fun with it, READ THE SERIES BIBLE.

(btw I might make more Korra and young Zuko fanart. It was fun, and now I have ideas for them meeting in some weird spirit world thing)

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comradekatara · 11 months

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Loved the take on Sokka and Toph's relationship but whats the signifcance of Suki coming back to rescue Sokka and Toph in the finale, in relation to Sokka's character arc? I've never really thought about it before :/

i've talked before about the importance of suki's character as she relates to sokka, and i alluded to that in the post you are referencing. sokka fundamentally sees himself as someone whose job it is to protect others, and before the boiling rock, he does not understand on any level that he deserves to be protected in return. by agreeing to stay with sokka despite the chance for freedom in her reach after months of imprisonment, suki proves her loyalty to sokka, the trust and faith she has in him as well as her desire to protect him. in "the serpent's pass," sokka only kisses suki once he realizes that she joined him on their journey to protect him. his (perceived) failure to protect yue makes him hesitant to form a new relationship with suki, but realizing that suki is herself a protector and a warrior makes them equals, which is why their relationship works so well.

one of the only scenes in which sokka actually cries is when azula taunts him about suki's imprisonment and that he could not save her. but we as the audience know that suki made that choice to sacrifice herself to save appa, just like yue made the choice to save the world, just like kya made the choice to save katara. sokka thinks that sacrificing himself for others is his job and his burden alone; he was left all alone as a child to be "the man" of his tribe, and when the fire nation does return to their shores, sokka stands alone at the wall with the knowledge that he will face certain death as the first and last line of defense against what is left of his people, to protect his sister. but just because he has internalized this role doesn't mean that it is his fault when those around him make sacrifices on their own terms.

suki makes a sacrifice in "the boiling rock" so that she can be with sokka, proving herself as his peer and not just another person he must protect. in "sozin's comet," suki plummets from the airship and sokka cannot save her. he knows that she's alive, but he doesn't know where she is or how she's doing. all he can focus on at the moment is protecting toph. he shields her from falling debris, he jumps in a way that makes sure that she is safe even though she can't see where she's going and breaks his leg in the process. he parts with all his weapons* while fighting super-powered firebenders (*@muppet-on-a-spit also has some great posts about this here & here). sokka is hanging on to toph with all he has, because while he has accepted his own death, he would not accept letting her die. toph puts her full faith in sokka, and when he says that he cannot see a way out of this, she accepts it. when they are saved, seconds away from their deaths, toph asks whether boomerang came back. suki is the boomerang.

sokka is used to people leaving. he is not used to people returning, people who will save him as much as he saves them. suki returns to him. in the final battle at the end of the war, sokka is closer to death than he has ever been, and he accepts his end just as he did in the very beginning, with courage and the certainty that this was always to be his fate. but suki saves them. if sokka teaches toph the value of having someone to lean on, of having a friend who respects her and sees her for who she is, and who she can trust to protect her, then suki is that for sokka. and that is her importance to sokka. he loses his boomerang in the final battle, but he doesn't need an object that will return to him; he has a person.

#itsalinski #asks #analysis #sokka #sokkaxsuki #sokka&toph #sorry for taking so long to respond to this

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unknownjpegs · 4 months

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burr

She knocks and waits at the front door for five entire minutes.

…And patience might not be one of Saha’s virtues, sure. But she’s not usually this bad about it. She could stand to wait a bit longer. Anybody else, and she might be inclined to do just that.

Except this is Benji’s place and he’s invited her in the first place, so it’s pretty fucking strange that he’s not at the door faster.

Or, really, that Xavier’s not.

When she visits, it’s usually him there first. Throwing it open with such rabid excitement that the knob knocks against the wall — there’s a spot there that Benji’s had to patch over at least three times now. Saha would manage guilt about that, it’s just that Xavier has got the sort of I am entirely focused on you! energy that makes her forget how to feel anything but appreciated.

So, when those five minutes pass and she’s not greeted with a crushing, spinning hug or Benji’s quirked grin, she knows something is wrong.

Fuck. No, she knows something is up, all right? Can’t go there just yet.

She tries very hard not to let the panic rise too high. Could be all manner of things. Stepped out for a moment (he would have texted her though) or back at the pond (they would have heard the car pull up).

Saha fishes for the key she keeps on a beaded keychain. It’s an old, scraggly bracelet Benji’d made her when they were kids; ancient strand of fraying thread that she’ll cry hysterically over the day it breaks, blue and orange spheres framing two sun-faded letter beads: B & S.

She lets herself in. Rubs the smooth, bumpy strands between her fingers to soothe her anxiety as she steps into the foyer and finds it empty.

“Morning,” She hesitates, coat shrugged off as she sets her bag down. “Benj? Xavier?”

Saha rounds the corner, one hand pressed to her chest where her heart’s gone off, already beating rather hard. Kitchen empty, kettle on the counter steaming as if it’s just finished, but unplugged. Xavier has got his jacket hanging on the rack by the door; Benji’s boots are, of course, kicked messily in the hall. There’s some music going on the television, Benji’s car in the drive, so… so she knows at least someone’s here.

What if they’re not, her brain hisses. What if they’re dead! They could be dead. Someone could have killed them. What if they’ve gone without saying anything. What if you never see him again. What if what if what if —

Saha shakes her nervous hands out as she moves through the living room, slips down the hall towards the back porch.

Which is, thankfully where she finds him. Of course.

Sharp words with appa? Goin’ out. Little row with mum? I’ll be outside. Let off on her because she’d said something that caught him in the wrong way, at the wrong time? Don’t fucking follow me out, Saha.

Even though it’s already near ten in the morning and the breeze is just shy of spring-warm, Benji’s not even dressed properly. Old sleeveless band shirt she remembers buying him from some shifty online shop and a pair of too-big sweats. Cuffed several times, because he’d slip on them otherwise — Xavier’s, then.

He’s sat at the bottom stair, back to her. Knees up, head tilted and propped in his hand. Other one’s got a cigarette near-done, which is very him. And there’s a fresh looking pack open with more than a few gone, which is very him.

Don’t even do it often, he’d said the first time she’d caught him with one, nineteen and mopey just like this in their mum’s garden, home on his first proper leave. Only when I’m stressed.

You’re always fuckin’ stressed, dickhead. Saha had shot back. Angry at him, but it had been tinged with a cold, unfamiliar dredge of fear. Concern like she’d not yet known, when it came to him, something frigid and real in a way that monsters under the bed and bruised knuckles from a nasty fight had never been. That icy fear is what had made her grab the lit cigarette from his hand, made her toss it aside. And then they’d gone at each other, of course, spitting and childish and certainly loud enough the neighbors’d heard, until appa had come out to break it up.

Now, she just watches him pull on it. Still thinking, uh oh, but the panic ebbs into relief. It’s not happy body language — not for anybody. Benji’s well fucking reserved, unreadable at the worst of times. So the the fact that he’s got such a morose little slouch going says nothing good; what it communicates is enough. Because Saha knows how he gets when he’s really in his head, and that’s more frightening than this.

Well, here we go then. She takes a deep breath, steels her shoulders.

“A’right, Benj,” Saha greets, taking a spot a few steps up from him. Keeps a bit of space, but knocks her knee against his shoulder. He doesn’t move, doesn’t swat at her. Face forward, looking out over the pond.

She glances around. No big redhead sprawled out in the grass, not crouched down by the shore laughing himself silly at the ducks, not rounding the side of the house to be gross on her brother.

Uh oh, she thinks again. What’s it this time?

Because they get into proper fucking fights. Not even just regular little rows, but nasty ones. She knows because she’s been on the receiving end of both sides a venting, frustrated rant.

From Benji: swear to god there’s concrete up there, so fucking hard-headed. From Xavier: sahaaaaaaa he’s being stubborn again.

She smothers the smile down just in case he turns to see it. Would send him right over the fucking edge again.

“No.”

“Well, obvi.” She snorts. “And?”

“Got into it.” Benji says. He’s got that even, cold tone that tells her he’s not yet shaken free of the anger. Still pissed, might snip at her if she goes about it wrong.

“Come on, Benji. I figured. Bad, I reckon?” She asks, watching as he lifts the cigarette and blows smoke.

He laughs humorlessly. Dull. Waves the smoldering now-filter, as if the empty space beside him is explanation enough.

She could roll her fucking eyes at that. Dramatic little pisser.

“What’s it been then?” His hair is soft under her palm when she rests it atop his head. That he lets her is a good sign. “He trip over your mess again and laid into you about it?”

Benji looks up at her, at that. Sometimes he gets this haze to his eyes she doesn’t recognize, and it frightens her. Not that she doesn’t recognize him, but that there’s something they don’t share. That he won’t ever share with her, she knows.

Because she’s seen Benji at his everything: sky-high and dirt fucking low. Witnessed all his swinging moods. Seen him riled angry at some shite out somebody’s mouth, seen him euphoric behind a kit and slamming away like he was meant to be there, seen him child-scared at eight, teary at a snake on the path.

But this? Whatever deep, bone-ache hurt that’s there is wholly unfamiliar to her. Sure, he keeps it that way. But also that, even if he shared she might not get it, because she hadn’t been present. It’s something taken up in the muddy years, the in-between moments where he stuffs them all in a closet and turns to face whatever he does when he’s out there. When she’s not there with him.

Every single second, she wishes she had been.

She’s not stupid. She knows the source and that kills her. Makes her want to go back in time and get more in his stupid teenage face about it than she had. Shake him by the shoulders until the vapid, world-blind idealism sprinkled out. But then…could anyone have convinced him that loyalty could be shown in other ways?

Dunno. But I should’ve been more angry. I should have let you see it. Should have stopped you.

Thinking of Benji and what he’s been through, what he’s been through alone, causes this helicopter whirr feeling in her chest. Like someone’s taken a whisk to her insides and mixed her up. It’s the thing she always gets when he so much as pouts — fix fix fix fix fix — wanting to hover and buffet away the shadows that creep up on him. Keep him safe, because that’s Benji.

Little fucking arsehole of a brother, really gave her more trouble than she deserved, but that’s Benji.

“Yeah,” Benji says. His chin jerks (about to cry, Saha notes) when he tears his focus from her face. “Yeah, tripped over my fuckin’ mess.”

Saha sighs, eyes to the sky at his tone. “C’mon, Benj. Don’t twist. Get off the stage.”

“You’ve said it.” He shrugs, puts the smoke out next to him. They both watch the little gray bits flutter off in the slight breeze.

“Sure but,” Saha moves forward until she’s standing directly behind him. Benji tips back reflexively to lean back on her shins while she pats his head. “Are you hearing what I’m saying or are you hearing what you wanna?”

Benji groans, looking at her upside-down a moment before dropping his gaze forward. “Need another if you’re gonna start going therapy on me.”

Saha swats him on the side of the head lightly. He grumbles and reaches out for the pack, but the audible stomp of her boot over it makes him pause.

“N’vermind. Guess I’m done.”

“Yep,” Saha chirps, and then drops down next to him. Rather, above and to the side, few steps up. “Sure are.” Her knee knocks into his shoulder.

They’re both quiet a long moment, nothing but birdsong and the taptaptap of Benji’s knuckles on the porch. Wind picks up like it’s about to rain, so Saha shields her eyes and looks up.

“He’s gone where, exactly?”

Benji shrugs, but he glances side-long out past the pond towards the thick treelined edge of the property. “Dunno.”

“Wanna let me know what it was about?” He hesitates, then shakes his head. “M’kay. Wanna talk about how you handled it, then?”

He starts to do it again, so Saha firms her hand and pushes his head up-down in a forced nod. “Boss, Benj. Real proud of you for communicating.”

She slips down another step, scowling as a loose nail catches the hem of her skirt. She yanks, scoffs at the soft riiiip of fabric. “Awh, shit. Anyway. Were you listening or —“

“Fuck off.”

Ignoring him, raising her voice over his grumble: “Were you being an active participant and a partner, or were you in a debate.”

Benji scoots over and twists to glare at her.

She stares back, eyebrows up. Waits him out, then:

“Fuck off.”

“Yeah,” Saha laughs. “That’s what I thought.”

He stares off into the woods, brow furrowed. He’s tapping his foot now, too.

“I thought it’d be easy, y’know. There was just so much fuckin’ —” he huffs, disbelief evident. “It was hard all the time. Not — not with him. But the rest… Saha, I ever tell you the first time we kissed, it was in an active combat zone?”

She must make a horrified face, because he nods, laughs.

“Yeah, right? Real normal shit. And Xavier’s…he’s got this through-and-through, bleeding everywhere. And I’m patchin’ him up.” Benji cups his hands together, splays them out in a helpless gesture, and then threads his fingers. Looks a bit darker on his cheeks, which makes her smile. “So he kisses me. And I’m thinking shit, you know? Shit, if this is the only one I get, I’m gonna be right fuckin’ pissed. Pissed forever.”

Saha snorts. Means for it to just be that, the single noise, but they both end up descending into big, guffawing laughter. Off-set the seriousness of his story with their humor, in the way they’ve always done.

“Big fuckin’ bomb just drops out of the sky. Little whistle noise, how it goes in cartoons? Wooooooo-splat.”

He tosses his head back. “Exactly. Splat. Just my luck, y’know?”

Hearing him say it, for some reason, sobers her. The reality of the situation slithers into the corners of her mind, and all Saha can think about is how she’d be sobbing and too ill to properly treat somebody with a bleeding wound. A bullet wound; so then she’s thinking of Xavier even paler than he already is, gray, and then she thinks of him in black and white, all the color drained out like an old photo. And she feels sick.

She’s got no idea how Benji manages it, medic shit. Can’t imagine blood. Can’t possibly imagine how it must have felt, blood and medic shit and Xavier.

“That is proper fucking scary.” Saha says, because it’s true and she lacks the words to describe the feeling in her gut otherwise. “That’s awful, Benji. I mean, that’s…that is just awful.”

“I know. I know, fuck. S’not even the worst of it,” he says, and then groans and shoves a hand through his hair. Makes it stick up all funny, so Saha reaches out and smooths it down.

“Wish you hadn’t stepped on those. Could use one.”

“Tough.”

He shakes his head. When he tips his chin back, he looks like appa out in the garden, early-hours, taking sips of tea in between poses. Head always tilted up, serene and present. Except Benji’s real distant now, and he’s not got the bushy, silver-streaked mustache their father has worn for as long as Saha can remember.

“We weren’t together all the time,” Benji says after a moment. “Apart more of it, really. And I was always thinkin’, what if it’s just this one kiss? Then,” he breathes out a shuddering, shaky breath, so she puts a hand on his back. “Y’know. Then I was thinking, what if I don’t see him again? What if —” He glances over at her with wide, wet eyes. Saha’s own vision blurs. Always does, when she sees him cry. More than empathy tears — like the strand that connects them shares emotions, as well.

“Fuck.” She looks towards the trees. “Are you worried that he’s not coming back, or something?”

“No,” Benji says immediately, wiping the back of his wrist over his face. “No, fuck. It was bad but he always — he’s always back soon. It’s not that.”

She waits, palm moving in circles on that thin, familiar, threadbare black shirt.

“I mean, what if it’s…s’posed to be easy, isn’t it?”

“Benji.”

His head jerks again, the motion angrier. “Nah, but listen. What if it’s supposed to be easier? Saha, he’s… like, why’s this just another thing? Shouldn’t it be a good thing coming ‘round? He’s fuckin’ gone through it and I don’t know anybody — it should be easy.”

“It is easy,” Saha forces a laugh, trying to break up the waver and crack in his voice, in the air. “Have you heard yourselves? Fuck, you are annoying. Literally talk circles and never breathe about it, swear.”

Benji’s deep frown softens slightly.

“I wish I knew where everything was going.” He waves his hand. It’s shaking. “Thought I knew where I was going, ended up there. Was fuckin’ hard, so hard that I thought I would —” crack, a barely audible whimper, and she squeezes him. “And I ended up here. And it’s just…it’s easy, and then it’s so fucking hard, and I’m just waitin’. I wanna know if it’s temporary, if the good is just a bit and then the rest comes in a lot, ‘cuz I’ve…fuck. Wouldn’t even be shocked, because it should be easy always for him. He’s just been through —“

It takes a lot to get him to talk that much, and it’s not the easiest thread to follow. But Benji tosses it out like a hook on the end of a line, and Saha will always pierce herself on the end and be pulled to shore, for him.

“Benj. You have too.”

She sees the violent, sudden spasm of his throat on the noise strangled in it. Shuffles closer until their sides press together and she can sling an arm around his shoulders.

“You have too, Benj. And that’s — that’s shit, yeah? Wish it weren’t that way. But listen to me. Xavier is…he’s quick.” She points fingers behind her head, wiggles them. “Fuckin’ sixth sense, you know? You’d be out here alone if that radar dinged wrong.” She squeezes at him, never failing to be shocked that this man is the hundred-pound soaking wet kid who blubbered at her if he didn’t get his way.

“I mean, you have gotta realize that sometimes people are here for you.” She scruffs the hair above his ear, uses that to press their temples together. “Get it from appa, I know, but you’re not meant to be perfect. You’ll get good and easy and you’ll get proper fuckin’ bad and hard, but that don’t mean you, like, didn’t deserve the good in the first place.”

Saha purses her lips, swallowing whatever else of the rant. She’s gotten out the important bits, anyway.

“Benj?” She asks, when he’s quiet. He sniffles. “Aw, fuck. Sorry.”

“M’fine,” he tilts his head and rubs his face on her fluffy sweater. Dutifully, she howls with disgust, but does not pull away. “You fucking suck, do you know that?”

“Sure fucking do.” Saha chirps. “Part of my job. That and worrying. Speaking of.” She inclines her head.

On cue, the woods at the far end of the property line part. The bushes spit Xavier out like he’s trudged from the bowels of the earth and it didn’t appreciate his taste.

Both siblings watch as he stumbles away from the thicket, scowl clear even from the distance. He plucks a twig from the crown of his head, tosses it aside with a stronger than necessary throw. Saha wouldn’t be surprised if he’s cursing into the wind.

“Fuck’s sake,” Benji sighs, yet there’s a smile woven delicately through. “If he’s got burrs in his hair again m’not lettin’ him hear the end of it.”

Saha pictures Xavier whining as Benji brushes him out and laughs. When he joins in, she takes this as clear permission: she leaps a bit into the air as she stands, unable to hold back the big grin and bubble of excitement as she lifts a hand.

Xavier’s scowl disappears so quick that another raucous noise bursts out of her. Partially a chuckle, partially a hey! and partially his name. Sometimes he reminds her of a house lit up from the inside without the curtains drawn, his face the big transparent window hiding none of the furnishings. He throws both long arms in the air and waves in big sweeps.

Then a glance over at Benji, and he drops them to cross over his chest.

“Ooh,” Saha snickers. “Looks miffed still.”

“Dickhead.” Benji scoffs, but the smile in his voice grows louder. He’s stood as well, shuffled a step closer to her. He’s got goosebumps up his bare arms, and Saha’s eyes trail across the fading, blown-out lines of a pair of tattoos near his inner elbow.

An old instant camera, the kind they used to walk to buy from Poundland — nick from Poundland, in his case. Her name in careful, loopy blocked letters in place of the camera brand is barely recognizable after ten-plus years. But it’s there. It’s there on his arm, in his skin, right next to a shitty and inaccurate bird sporting high-heels and a wonky beak. Maran, she knows, is the other time-blurred name Benji’d meticulously dotted down one of its spread wings.

That’s not even the worst of it.

“C’mon,” Saha says, clearing her throat. She balances an elbow a bit meanly atop his head. He scowls up at her, still grinning, and pulls away. He used to shove her if she did that, when they were kids. He hasn’t roughhoused her in years — not since they were kids. Not since he enlisted. Benji would always be that gangly, gap-toothed boy. Clear sense of justice, utterly lacking the self-preservation that would prevent him from fighting dickheads twice his size.

And the loss of that, the annoying little brother shove, fills her with the same inexplicable sense of mourning as the camera on his arm, the wonky-beaked bird. It’s the yearning homesickness of nostalgia, somehow weighed twice heavier. The them of before, sitting wherever old selves sit. Blurred nearly unrecognizable, but there.

Saha swallows down the sudden lump in her throat. “Go throw on an episode of that show he likes, yeah? When he comes in, you’ve got something to say so it’s not so fuckin’ awkward.“

Benji stares up at her, his dark eyes glossed with unshed tears. Then he yanks her into a quick hug. “You’re a genius.”

“Fuck’s sake,” she sighs, patting him on the back. “Finally some recognition.” Benji darts back into the house.

Just in time: Xavier’d been moving slow and hesitant, but now he rounds the edge of the pond in a jog. Bounds up the stairs, all five steps, with a big leap that nearly brings him crashing into her.

All of him is anxiety-tight, as he stands there. Not even the big toothy grin he’s plastered on can hide it.

“Xavier.”

He glances over her shoulder towards the house. Relaxes. Shoulders hunched a bit in that reprimanded, lonely animal sort of energy. Makes her just as sad to see that as it does Benji’s tattoos, his near empty pack of cigarettes.

She holds her arms out.

That posture corrects immediately. He lopes over all funny, that way that makes Benji roll his eyes and look away with a grin threatening. Xavier wraps her up in a hug. He’s cold on the outside from the wind, from traipsing around the woods, but still warm underneath.

Saha envelops him in a nice tight one because they’ve not seen each other in a bit. And then, whisper-quiet,meant just for him: “I’ve well ragged ‘em out, ‘kay? Go give him one of these, too. Pout enough and we can get a proper breakfast out of it.”

“Stop plotting.” Benji grumbles, suddenly standing in the doorway. Nosy.

“Fuck off,” Saha fires back, flipping him a finger between Xavier’s shoulders. “We are having a moment.”

In the end, they watch four episodes of a shit visa-catfish-dating scheme show. Xavier suffers dutifully through the expense of many, many jokes. By the end of the last one, Benji has adjusted himself to drape himself over Xavier. It’s tense, when he moves, and then it all dissipates into that thoughtless normalcy when Xavier drops his forehead against Benji’s shoulder hard.

Fuck you. Forgiven. Love you. She’s gotten good at picking up their patterns, because a disgustingly sweet amount of it happens non-verbally.

And in the end, Benji makes more than enough food for the three of them. So much of it that Saha’s send off includes a stack of full glass food containers.

Better for the environment, Xavier says earnestly, and sometimes it really is hard to think about him hurting people at all. She thinks about how months ago, he’d been just about a burglar in this house. She thinks about what a successful break-in that had been — got a pleased, softened glimmer to his eyes, hands tucked into the pockets of one of Benji’s hoodies, and a warm bed out of the deal.

I’m so fucking happy for him, Saha’s thinking as she drives off, eyes trained on the two of them stood in the door through her rearview. Xavier’s doing his two-armed wave, Benji’s got his middle finger outstretched nice and high so she can see it. I am so fucking happy for them.

And then she remembers suddenly that she’d forgotten to mention getting the business licensing sorted for a studio. That she’s been broaching the subject of stepping back with her agent.

A hand drops from the wheel to her pocket, thumb tracing the corners of two business cards: Which one, ‘cuz I like the gold letters, personally, but the border is nice on this, she hadn’t asked.

And there’s no bitterness in the next thought, because when she glances back in the mirror at them, she better understands her mum. Better understands the kids at the door returning empty plastic ware, borrow sweaters, CDs, and toys with their big, wet eyes.

She loves them so fucking much, so desperately, and they deserve to have a proper fight. Deserve to work through one and come out better for it. There’s no bitterness, because it’s absolutely impossible not to light up chest-warm with abject joy when she spends time around those two fucking idiots.

But there is a tiny, distant, prickling stab of envy slid between her ribs like a knife:

Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone gentle their fingers into your hair and pluck out burrs?

#writing #ua #bp #sp #xw #bp x xw #core au

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starstruckphantommoon · 15 days

Text

Polar Opposites - Book 1: Water - Chapter 2: Avatar Aang

It’s nearly sunset now, and Katara still hasn’t returned from going to find Aang about 3 hours ago.

You’re really worried that two of them got into some sort of trouble, because not even ten minutes ago, a flare was shot into the air. You had wanted to go out to look for them but once you and Sokka saw the flare, he was very stern about you staying in the village. You completely understand that Sokka wants to protect you and keep you safe in this situation because that’s what he had promised your dad before he left to fight in the war. The thing is though, he should know better than anyone that you can take care of yourself just fine, but then again, that doesn’t stop him from being an overprotective brother, even though you’re 5 minutes older than he is.

It’s been about an hour since the flare was shot into the sky, and you and Sokka stand at the edge of the village with your grandmother and some of the other villagers, waiting for Aang and Katara to come back. You let out a sigh of relief when I see both Aang and Katara in the distance making their way back to the village. “Yay! Aang's back!” one of the little girls cheers as she and the rest of the children start running toward them. The children gather around Aang, just as Sokka steps toward him and Katara angrily. “I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare!” he exclaims angrily, while pointing at Aang. “You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?” “Aang didn't do anything. It was an accident.” Katara defends as she stops right in front of Sokka with Aang and the children. “Yeh, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well…” Aang hesitates by putting his hand on the back of his head in embarrassment. “...we ‘boobied’ right into it.”

At his explanation of what had happened, your grandmother shakes her head in disappointment. “Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger!” “Don't blame Katara!” Aang exclaims. “I brought her there.” he states before looking downcast. “It's my fault.” “Aha! The traitor confesses!” Sokka exclaims pointing at Aang. “Warriors, away from the enemy!” He commands the children, making the children walk away from Aang and back to their mothers. “The foreigner is banned from our village!”

“Sokka, you're making a mistake.” Katara says angrily. “No! I'm keeping my promise to Dad. I'm protecting you and (Y/N) from threats like him!” Sokka replies. “Aang is not our enemy!” Katara says angrily as she motions to Aang. “Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time. Fun.” she states. “Fun?” Sokka repeats irritably. “We can't fight firebenders with fun!” “You should try it sometime.” Aang says with an earnest smile on his face. “Get out of our village. Now!” Sokka says sternly. “Grandmother, please, don't let Sokka do this.” Katara says to Gran Gran who stands next to you. “Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it best if the airbender leaves.” Gran Gran says to her. Katara then turns to me, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. “(Y/N)… please…” she begs desperately.

As much as I’d like to have Aang stay, it’s not safe to keep him in the village anymore now that he took Katara to the Fire Navy ship. I look into her sad eyes for a second longer before looking away, ignoring her plea. “Fine! Then I'm banished too!” Katara exclaims, making me turn my head back to her, my eyes wide in shock as she turns around, taking Aang by the wrist as she leads him back toward Appa. “C'mon, Aang, let's go!” “Where do you think you're going?” Sokka asks her. “To find a waterbender! Aang is taking me to the North Pole!” Katara replies as she continues to drag Aang toward Appa. “I am?” Aang asks, confused before his face brightens. “Great!” “Katara!” Sokka calls after her, making her stop in her tracks. “Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?”

As Sokka asks her this, you see Katara’s shoulders slump and you know that she’s in doubt on which to choose. Aang comes up next to her a second later, obviously seeing the struggle that must be on her face. “Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family.” “So, you're leaving the South Pole? This is goodbye?” Katara asks him softly, the sadness in her voice very evident. Aang turns back to her. “Thanks for penguin sledding with me.” “Where will you go?” Katara asks him. “Guess I'll go back home and look for the airbenders.” Aang says as he puts a hand on Appa’s head. “Wow, I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that.” he continues before he uses his airbending to get onto Appa’s head where he takes the reins. Aang then turns his head to address the rest of the villagers and Sokka and I. “It was nice meeting everyone.” “Let's see your bison fly now, air boy.” Sokka says sarcastically, causing you to elbow him in the side, which causes him to rub his side while glaring at you which causes you to roll your eyes at him before turning to look at Aang again. “Come on, Appa, you can do it! Yip! Yip!” he says, flicking the reins. Appa rumbles as he gets to his feet. “Yeh, I thought so.” Sokka says, as if he knew that Appa wasn’t going to fly, like Aang said he could and/or would.

Before Aang can make Appa turn to walk away, one of the little girls rushes forward with a cry to stand next to Katara. “Aang… Don't go… I'll miss you…” “I'll miss you too.” Aang replies back, just as sadly. Aang then shifts his gaze towards Katara, who you assume is looking at him with sadness in her eyes. Aang then turns away from her and flicks the reins again. “Come on, boy.” he says to Appa softly making Appa to begin walking away from the village.

As you watch Aang and Appa walk away, you feel bad for agreeing with Sokka in having him leave the village, but since Aant was the one who led Katara onto that war ship where the flare came from, putting everyone in the tribe in danger… even if it was an accident like he had said it was… There’s really no other choice than to have him leave so that everyone in the village can be safe. Just as you think that, you see Gran Gran stop behind Katara. “Katara, you'll feel better after you–” Katara cuts her off. “You happy now?” “There goes my one chance of becoming a waterbender!” she continues before stalking off angrily, leaving Gran Gran alone.

You’re about to walk up to her and comfort her, but- “Alright! Ready our defenses! The Fire Nation could be on our shores any moment now!” Sokka yells at the young boys as they run past him and back into the village. One of the boys stops, raising his hand and dancing about suggestively. “But, I gotta-” “And no potty breaks!” Sokka interrupts him as he points towards the fortifications, which makes the boy run away.

The silence is deafening… It’s the calm before the storm… You watch Sokka silently as he stands atop of the ice wall that surrounds the village, scanning the mist for any sign of the enemy. Suddenly, you hear a deep rumbling noise before the icy ground beneath your feet begins to shake violently. Parts of the wall that Sokka’s currently standing on begins to crumble beneath him as the shaking gets more and more violent. The villagers around you look in front of them in alarm as the rumbling and shaking of the ground continues to the point that the guard tower that Sokka had built himself collapses in a heap of snow and ice. “Oh man!” you hear Sokka exclaim, the disappointment in his voice very evident as he’ll have to rebuild the whole thing.

Many of the villagers around you are stuck where they stand in fear, you included, as memories of the day your mother was killed flash through your mind as the enormous shadow of a Fire Navy ship appears through the mist. Villagers run past you in their haste to get to safety, while you continue to stand there in horror. Your terror is hastily dismissed when you hear a frightened scream of a child to your left.

You turn your head towards the sound, gasping as you realize that the sound came from a small boy who’s kneeling on the ground as the crack in the ice from the ship goes right underneath him. You quickly run over to him, scooping him into your arms before he falls through the crack. I hand him over to Katara who puts him in a tent where his mother embraces him tightly. Once the boy is safely in his mother’s arms, you turn back to face the ship to see Sokka still standing on the wall. “Sokka, get out of the way!” Katara screams at him from her spot beside you. Sokka however doesn’t move out of fear… The only thing he can do is raise his club in defense, ready to strike the ship as if that would do anything.

Before he can make another move, however, the bow of the ship breaks through the wall, turning it into a giant pile of snow. The snow slides downward, pulling Sokka several feet back before he finally comes to a stop. You sigh out in relief once you know that Sokka’s safe before realizing that this is just the beginning. With thought of the possible fight coming, you get into your waterbending stance, prepared to protect your siblings, your village and your people from these Fire Nation savages, even if there’s a possibility that you’ll end up dying doing so.

You stay in your stance, watching as the bowsprit of the ship begins to open with a burst of steam.

Sokka backs up, trying to get away as the metal comes down towards him. He jumps out of the way, just in time, tumbling to the snowy earth just as the bowsprit hits the ground with a loud thud. The rest of the villagers gather behind you, partly for support and partly out of curiosity. Now, if you weren't so ready to defend them right now, you’d be telling them to get back inside their tents and stay there, but, knowing them, they won’t go anywhere unless they absolutely have to.

You watch the ship closely as 3 figures emerge from the mist, coming down the newly made walkway. Your eyes follow them as 7 men in total come down the ramp, 6 of them being soldiers with full suits of armor on, face masks included, whereas the figure in the front does not have a face mask on. From what you can tell, he’s probably your age, but the deep scowl on his face ages him quite a bit, causing him to look a lot older than he actually is. What shocks you most of all though is the large scar covering his left eye, deforming it slightly. Your intense curiosity about how he had gotten the scar causes you to weaken my stance slightly as you stare at him intently.

Your staring is interrupted by Sokka letting out a battle cry as he charges at the boy and the 6 soldiers that are following him with his club at the ready. The moment Sokka reaches the scarred boy, the boy merely kicks the club to his left and, without ever resting his leg on the ground, he kicks Sokka over to his right, sending him into the snow where he lands headfirst, becoming trapped. As Sokka tries desperately to free himself from the pile of snow that he got stuck in, the boy with the scar continues his way down the ramp, the 6 soldiers following close behind him.

If he wasn’t from the Fire Nation, you’d probably be very impressed at how quickly he took Sokka down, but then again, it’s Sokka. The scarred boy approaches us while his men stay back. His uneven gaze scans each of our faces, intensely. He seems to be looking for something but couldn’t find it while looking through the crowd of women and children behind you. “Where are you hiding him?” he asks angrily. ‘Him?’ you think in confusion. ‘Who’s he talking about?’ No one answers his question because, obviously none of you know what or who he’s even talking about.

The Fire Nation boy surveys the crowd of villagers again before, without warning, extending his arm out, yanking your grandmother toward him by the hood of her parka, causing you and Katara to try to grab her. “He’d be about this age, master of all elements.” the Fire Nation announces sternly to us.

You and the rest of the villagers stay silent, not saying anything in reply to his words. In response to the silence, the scarred boy forcefully shoves your grandmother away from him and into Katara’s arms.

You glare at the boy intensely, gritting your teeth, wanting to attack him for doing that to her, but you restrain yourself from doing so, not wanting anyone to get hurt. By now, in any other situation, you’d have used your waterbending against him for disrespecting a member of your family, but something else is bothering you at the moment. ‘Master of all 4 elements?’ you repeat in your head. ‘Is he looking for the Avatar? Why would he think that the Avatar is here? This is the Southern Water Tribe and the Avatar was supposed to be an Airbender. We-’ That’s when everything finally clicks. ‘Aang.’

My thoughts about Aang possibly being the Avatar that disappeared 100 years ago are interrupted by the scarred boy swinging out his arm, releasing an arc of fire that just barely passes over you and everyone else behind your heads, causing you and everyone else behind you to duck down in fear to avoid the flames. “I know you're hiding him!” The boy exclaims angrily. “And how would you know that?” You growl, stepping forward, your eyes meeting his golden ones as he turns to you, glaring at you intensely. “We have nothing to do with whoever it is that you're searching for, so I suggest that you take your men, and get out of our village. Now.” you hiss.

The scarred boy in front of you opens his mouth about to reply when Sokka comes running up behind him, letting out a loud battle cry, charging at the scarred boy again. Sokka swings his club at the boy, but the boy simply turns and ducks under Sokka’s swing making Sokka forcefully land in the snow in front of you and the rest of the villagers. The boy then fires a blast of flames at Sokka, and luckily he jumps out of the way before spinning to his side, tossing his boomerang at the scarred boy who just manages to dodge it.

At nearly getting hit with Sokka’s boomerang, the scarred boy glares at Sokka with a mixture of annoyance and frustration in his eyes. You’re about to intervene but a little boy runs out in front of you with a spear in hand. “Show no fear!” the little boy repeats Sokka’s earlier words as he tosses the spear to Sokka. Sokka catches the spear with ease and charges at the boy with the scar again. With sharp swings of his arms, the Fire Nation boy breaks the spear into separate pieces using the arm guards on his forearms, before he pulls the remains of the spear out of Sokka’s hands and jabs him in the head with the blunt end, making Sokka fall to the ground at your and Katara’s feet.

You quickly kneel down beside him, giving him a look that asks ‘Are you alright?’ in which he nods in reply too. Knowing that Sokka is alright, you glare at the Fire Nation boy again, wanting to attack him again for doing that to your brother. Before you can get to your feet and attack him though, something strikes the boy in the back of his helmet with a loud cling; momentarily pushing him forward by the unexpected blow. The boomerang plummets onto the ground in front of you and Sokka and you smirk in triumph, knowing that he wasn’t expecting that to happen at all. Enraged, the boy readies 2 fire daggers, one in each hand as he glares down at you and Sokka (mostly Sokka).

You grit my teeth in frustration. ‘He just doesn’t know when to give up, does he?’ You think irritably as you get to your feet, getting ready to attack the Fire Nation boy in front of you, but before you can make a move to use your bending in any way, shape or form, another force collides with the boy, knocking him off of his feet. You smile at the sight of Aang on a penguin, sliding towards you and the rest of the villagers. At the sight of Aang the children cheer happily, but they stop when snow covers them. Aang grins at you, Sokka and Katara when the penguin stops in front of the three of you before he’s thrown off by the penguin. “Hey Katara. Hey (Y/N). Hey Sokka.” he greets as the penguin waddles away from him. “Hi… Aang. Thanks for comin'.” Sokka says to the young Airbender dryly.

Behind Aang, I see the Fire Nation boy get to his feet before giving his men a signal to surround Aang while he assumes a firebending stance. Aang gets into his own fighting stance, his staff held firmly in front of him as he’s getting encircled by the six soldiers. Aang then sweeps the ground side-to-side with his staff, showering the six with snow, before slamming the ground, sending a rush of snow at the Fire Nation boy who braces for the impact. Aang straightens, staring at the boy. “Looking for me?” “You’re the Airbender?” the boy questions incredulously, as he uses his firebending to melt the snow on his body, the steam billowing around him. “You’re the Avatar?” “Aang?” Katara asks in surprise. “No way.” Sokka spoke bewildered. ‘I knew it.’ You think as you watch your siblings stare at Aang in surprise.

“I’ve spent years preparing for this encounter.” The teenager rants as he and Aang circle each other.

“Training. Meditating.” he lists off. “You’re just a child!” Aang tilts his head at the boy in confusion. “Well, you’re just a teenager.” Aang’s reply makes the boy launch a series of fire blasts at him in anger. Aang is able to defend himself by twirling his staff, dissipating most of the flames, but some of the flames come toward you and the rest of the villagers making all of you turn away not wanting to get hit by the flames. “If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?” Aang asks, making me turn my head to him in surprise.

The Fire Nation boy hesitates for a second, obviously not certain if he should trust Aang or not, but he does nod in agreement, affirming that he will leave us alone if Aang comes with him willingly. Aang is then apprehended by the Fire Nation soldiers, one of which takes his staff. Katara jumps out from behind you, running towards them as the soldiers lead Aang to the ship. You quickly run after her, grabbing her wrist, stopping her. “Katara, don’t.” you say pleadingly, not wanting her to get hurt by going after Aang. Aang turns his head to her. “Don’t worry, Katara. It’ll be okay.” he says calmly before the soldiers push him forward roughly. “Take care of Appa for me until I get back.” he continues as the soldiers lead him up the ramp, leading him onto the ship. “Head a course for the Fire Nation.” the scarred boy orders as they walk up the bowstrip. “I’m going home.” you hear him say before he disappears into the ship.

After they board the ship, bowsprit slowly rises back up. As it slowly rises up you see Aang smile weakly at us until the bowsprit closes fully with a metallic thud.

#x reader #fanfiction #fanfic #prince zuko #prince zuko x reader #zuko #zuko x reader #atla #atla x reader #a:tla #a:tla x reader #avatar: the last airbender x reader #avatar: the last airbender

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beifongsss · 4 years

Text

the boiling rock [zuko]

Pairing: Zuko x reader

Disclaimer!: The reader is Sokka and Katara’s older sister!

Requested?: Yes! By @thegirlwholikestomanythings: “ Hi! I have a Zuko x reader request if you don't mind. Maybe something like the reader being Katara and Sokka's older sister and Zuko having a big crush on her after he joins in S3?”

Summary: Sokka goes to break Hakoda out of The Boiling Rock and is shocked to find you there as well. He’s even more shocked when he figures out that Zuko’s a simp for you.

this is based off of the boiling rock episodes but there are a few changed made! there’s also like a pov change halfway i’m sorry. TIS A LONG ONE!!

.masterlist.

When Zuko defeated Combustion Man, Aang didn’t let him join the group until he gained approval from all of his friends.

“Toph, you're the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?”

The blind earthbender smirked, a sinister look on her face as she pounded her fist into her palm. “Go ahead and let him join. It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet.”

Satisfied with her answer, Aang turned to the Water Tribe boy. “Sokka?”

“Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then, I'm all for it,” he said, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall near him.

“Katara?” Aang asked uncertainly, noticing the stony look on the Water Tribe girl’s face.

“I'll go along with whatever you think is right,” she replied, glaring at Zuko.

“Great!” Aang said, ignoring Katara’s reaction. “Then that’s settled. Welcome to the group Zuko!”

Zuko paused slightly, looking around as he noticed the absence of the other Water Tribe girl he had always seen with the Gaang.

“Not that I’m complaining,” the prince said, a questioning look in his eyes. “But isn’t there someone else you should be asking? Where’s the other Water Tribe girl?”

The group went silent at Zuko’s words as Katara’s face hardened and Sokka looked away, a sad expression making it’s way onto his face.

“She’s gone,” Sokka said roughly as he began to storm off.

Katara reached out for his arm, grabbing onto him as he passed her. “Sokka, it wasn’t your fault.”

“Not my fault?” Sokka roared, stray tears escaping his eyes as he faced Katara. “It was my invasion plan Katara! I should’ve taken the fall. Not her!”

He shrugged her hand off before walking off deeper into the Air Temple. Katara sent Zuko another glare before hurrying after her brother, leaving him alone with Aang and Toph. Zuko glanced at Aang uneasily, not wanting to ask about what had happened. With a sigh, Aang sat down looking at Zuko expectantly.

The prince sat down across from Aang as Toph sat to his left, the usually loud-mouthed girl abnormally quiet.

“The other Water Tribe girl that would travel with us is (Y/N),” Aang explained quietly. “She’s Sokka and Katara’s older sister.”

Zuko nodded in response before speaking. “W-What happened to her?”

“She got captured by the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun,” Aang replied, looking down at his lap. “You know about the invasion right?”

Zuko nodded once more.

“Well it was Sokka’s invasion plan,” Aang continued. Zuko’s eyebrows rose up in surprise, going unnoticed by Aang. “He came up with it and (Y/N) and Hakoda, that’s their dad, fine tuned it. They thought of everything that could possibly go wrong and when the day came, Sokka was the one leading it.”

Aang’s face suddenly turned into one full of guilt. “I-It was actually my fault that she got captured. If I hadn’t gotten distracted by Azula, we could’ve gotten away before the eclipse was over. Instead, they caught up to us before we could get back to the beach. Hakoda told us all to leave on Appa and to take the youngest members of the group but (Y/N) didn’t fit because we had Teo, Haru, and The Duke with us. So she decided to stay behind and take the blame for the invasion so that they wouldn’t go out and look for us. She said that they’d believe her because she was traveling with the Avatar and because she was the daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe and she had a reason to want to attack the Fire Nation.”

Aang couldn’t stop the tear that slipped out. “I guess she was right because we weren’t followed after we escaped.”

“C’mon Twinkletoes,” Toph said, leaning back on her hands. “(Y/N) knew what she was getting into. She’s not dumb. She’s strong, smart, and patient. In fact, I’m willing to bet she’s making those Fire Nation guard’s lives hell.”

Zuko observed Toph as she spoke about the missing Water Tribe girl. “How are you so sure?”

“Please,” Toph scoffed, cracking her knuckles. “She’s the only idiot here that can beat me in a fight. She’ll be fine.”

“Oh,” Zuko said, slightly surprised. “Is she a waterbender too?”

“Nope,” Toph said. “That’s how I know she’s okay. She can beat me in a fight, and I’m the greatest earthbender in the world! I invented metalbending.”

Zuko’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at Toph’s words. “She beat you without any bending?”

“She did,” Sokka’s voice rang out. The group (except Toph) turned around to find Sokka walking towards them. “Which is why we needed her here, not in prison. She shouldn’t be paying for my mistakes.”

Without another word Sokka climbed onto Appa, shooting Aang a look when the Air Nomad shot him a worried glance. “Don’t worry Aang. I’m just gonna clear my head. Yip yip.”

The conversation ended with Sokka’s departure and silently, Aang showed Zuko to his room.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” Sokka asked, catching Zuko’s attention as he handed him a cup of tea. Zuko set down the tea and followed Sokka to where he was standing, softly petting Appa when he opened his eyes to look at them.

“So, what’s up?” Zuko asked, looking back over at the group before focusing on Sokka.

“If someone was captured by the Fire Nation, where would they be taken?” the Water Tribe boy asked, trying to look nonchalant. At Zuko’s suspicious look, he spoke again. “When the invasion plan failed, some of our troops were taken. I just want to know where they might be.”

“We both know this is about your sister, Sokka,” Zuko replied. “I can’t tell you.”

“What? Why not?” Sokka asked, mildly irritated.

“Trust me,” Zuko said, turning to leave. “Knowing will just make you feel worse.”

“It’s not just about (Y/N)!” Sokka hissed, causing Zuko to stop in his tracks. “It’s my dad. He was captured too. I need to know what I put them through.”

“It’s not good Sokka,” the prince replied, not meeting his eyes.

“Please.”

Sighing deeply, Zuko gave in. “My guess is, they were taken to The Boiling Rock.”

“What’s that?”

“The highest security prison in the Fire Nation,” Zuko ignored Sokka’s horrified look. “It's on an island in the middle of a boiling lake. It's inescapable.”

“So,” Sokka said, trying to appear indifferent. “Where is this place?”

“Why do you need to know?” Zuko asked, eyes narrowing. “What are you planning?”

“Nothing!” Sokka tried reassuring the prince. “Boy, you’re so paranoid.”

Zuko rolled his eyes before replying. “It's in the middle of a volcano between here and the Fire Nation. You guys actually flew right past it on your way here.”

“Thanks Zuko,” Sokka said before letting out a very fake yawn as he stretched. “Just knowing makes me feel better.”

“Sure it does,” Zuko scoffed, watching the Water Tribe boy walk away. Noticing that everyone was getting ready to go to bed, he stealthily climbed up onto Appa’s saddle, gently shushing the sky bison when he once again opened his eyes.

At this moment, Zuko sort of regretted joining Sokka on his journey. After having successfully convinced him to take his war balloon instead of Appa, the two boys found themselves existing in awkward silence.

“Pretty clouds,” Sokka spoke first, slightly startling Zuko.

“Yeah...fluffy,” the Fire Nation prince replied before focusing on the fire again. Sokka began whistling casually, drawing Zuko’s attention. “What?”

“What?” Sokka asked, the awkwardness between the two boys palpable. “Oh, I didn't say anything. You know, a friend of mine actually designed these war balloons.”

“No kidding,” Zuko said with slight surprise.

“Yep. A balloon...but for war,” came the other boy’s reply.

“If there's one thing my dad's good at, it's war.”

“Yeah, it seems to run in the family.”

“Hey, hold on,” Zuko said, slightly offended. “Not everyone in my family is like that.”

“I know, I know,” Sokka replied, hands raised in defense. “You’ve changed.”

“I meant my uncle. He was more of a father to me. And I really let him down.”

“I think your uncle would be proud of you,” Sokka said, looking at Zuko intently. “Leaving your home to come help us? That's hard.”

“It wasn’t that hard.”

“Really?” Sokka asked in disbelief. “You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about?”

“Well I did have a girlfriend,” Zuko replied, smiling slightly. “Mai.”

“That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?” Sokka asked, trying to hold back his smile.

“Yeah. Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it,” Zuko explained before hesitating slightly. “Besides, I didn’t truly like her. Trust me, I know that sounds bad. When we were kids we liked each other, but we’re not kids anymore and we’ve both changed and things just weren’t working out.”

Sokka nodded in understanding before crossing his arms. “My first girlfriend turned into the moon.”

Zuko paused for a few seconds, looking up at the moon and wondering if Sokka was being serious before turning to him. “That’s rough buddy.”

Silence ensued again, the scene almost relaxing if it weren’t for the fact that the two of them were heading for the most high-security prison in the Fire Nation.

“So,” Zuko broke the silence, looking at Sokka uncertainly. “What happens if we get there and (Y/N) isn’t there?

The question caught Sokka off guard, causing him to scowl. “She will be.”

“But,” Zuko pressed, trying to make the boy understand. “What if she isn’t?

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Sokka replied, crossing his arms and looking away as he tried not to think about Zuko’s words.

“Why don’t you just wait until after Aang defeats my father to set everyone free?” Zuko asked softly. “You’d have a much better chance then.”

“You just don’t get it!” Sokka yelled, looking back at Zuko. “See you and your sister might not get along very well but (Y/N) is the most important person in my life. She was the one who took care of me and Katara after our mom died. She was the one who basically led our tribe after the men went off to fight. She always knew what to say and what to do. We need her Zuko. I need her, Katara needs her, Aang definitely needs her, heck even Toph needs her!”

Zuko stayed silent as he focused on the fire, giving Sokka a few minutes to calm down.

“You’re right Sokka,” he finally said. “I don’t get along with Azula. We’ll find her.”

Sokka didn’t reply, instead choosing to look up at the moon, hoping that he had made the right choice.

Soon enough, they had reached The Boiling Rock. Zuko followed after Sokka, a bit disgruntled at the fact that his war balloon had been destroyed. They had somehow managed to get guard uniforms and sneak into the prison, a feat Zuko found impressive considering that Sokka didn’t have a fully thought-out plan.

“I hope these disguises work,” Zuko hissed, shoving Sokka softly with his shoulder.

“We just need to lay low and find (Y/N) and my dad as soon as possible,” Sokka quietly replied, rubbing his shoulder. “Ow!”

“Guards!” another guard ran past Sokka and Zuko, causing them to flinch. “There’s a scuffle in the yard. Come on!”

The two boys exchanged looks before running after the guard, eventually coming to an open space where a guard was harassing a prisoner. The rest of the guards were trying to keep the other prisoners away from the confrontation. Sokka subtly tilted his head, motioning for Zuko to join the other guards. They split up slightly, trying to keep the crowd in control.

“I didn’t do anything,” the prisoner in the middle of the platform stated, walking away from the guard. “I’m going back to my cell.”

“Stop right there Chit Sang,” the guard said, sending a fire whip towards him. “I’ve had it with your unruly behavior.”

One of the prisoners Zuko was trying to hold back began to slip past him and he reached out to grab them. His eyes widened when he made eye contact with the girl, who then promptly proceeded to shove him off of her and onto the ground. Zuko stared at the girl, his heart speeding up slightly and his stomach lurching as she shot him a glare and marched right up to the guard who had created the fire whip.

“Leave him alone!” she growled, stepping in front of Chit Sang. The guard simply laughed before stepping forwards.

“What are you gonna do Water Tribe scum?”

Zuko flinched as Sokka swatted him, tilting his head towards the girl. “That’s her! That’s (Y/N)!”

Sokka grasped Zuko’s arm tightly, knowing that he couldn’t jump to his sister’s defense. The two of them watched in anticipation as the guard shot out a blast of fire, aiming it at you. Zuko’s eyes widened at the sight. You weren’t a bender, you were going to get burned.

His jaw dropped as you gracefully slid underneath the blast before coming up and swatting the guard’s hand away. When the guard tried to aim at you again, you swept your leg in a graceful arc, knocking him down. You were amazing.

“Cuff her!” the guard barked, embarrassment clear on his face as all the other prisoners cheered. Two of the other guards grabbed you roughly, cuffing your hands behind your back and shoving you roughly in front of the guard you had knocked down.

“You think you’re tough, don’t you?” the guard asked. You didn’t look at him.

“Look at me when I speak to you!” the guard screamed. The yard went silent as everyone waited to see what you would do. Slowly, you lifted your head and met the guard’s eyes. His face held a smug expression, which was soon wiped off when you leaned forward and spit in his face.

The yard went wild again, the guards struggling to keep the prisoners under control. The bully guard lunged forwards, gripping your face tightly in his hand. He stared you down for a few seconds before tossing you to the ground. Scowling, he turned to Sokka and Zuko, who seemed to be the only guards not busy at the moment. “You two! Take her to her cell.”

Sokka picked you up and Zuko led them inside, stealing glances at you as you walked. At one point Sokka caught his gaze, giving him a confused look before his eyes widened in realization. He looked between you and Zuko before glaring at the prince and shaking his head furiously. Zuko avoided his gaze after that. They found your cell quickly enough and Sokka softly pushed you in before stepping inside and pulling Zuko with him.

He took off your cuffs easily enough and you stepped away from him, rubbing your wrists gently.

“What do you want?” you snarled, eyes shifting from one guard to another.

“(Y/N)!” one of them cried out, moving towards you. You sidestepped quickly, grabbing his arm and shoving him up against the wall. He groaned in pain as you pulled his arm back.

“What do you want?” you hissed, not taking your eyes off of the other guard.

“(Y/N/N),” the one you were holding squeaked. “It’s me!”

Your eyes widened at the voice and you stepped back, still keeping your hand on the guard’s arm. “Sokka?”

Sokka used his free hand to take off his helmet, a large grin on his face as he turned to look at you. “Yes! It’s m-”

His words were cut off when you yanked on his arm, pulling him close to you as you wrapped your arms around him in a tight hug. Sokka melted into the hug, wrapping his arms around you tightly as he held tears back.

“Spirits,” you whispered, pulling back and looking at your baby brother. “Sokka what are you doing here? How did you get here?”

“Uh, we took my war balloon,” the other guard replied. You froze slightly at the familiar voice, turning to find Prince Zuko standing there, waving awkwardly.

“You,” you snarled, stomping up to the prince and pushing him up against the wall. You held your forearm against his throat, staring him down. Zuko didn’t do anything in return, a dazed smile on his face as he stared back at you.

“(Y/N) what are you doing?” Sokka yelped, placing a hand on your shoulder. You looked away from Zuko, glancing at your brother in disbelief.

“What do you mean? Have you forgotten that he’s tracked us all over the world? Or that he’s tried to kill us? Multiple times!” you glanced at Zuko again, noticing that he was still smiling. “Why are you smiling at me? Sokka, why is he smiling at me?”

Sokka snorted softly, the scene in front of him reminding him of the first time Aang had met him and Katara. Shooting a tired look at Zuko, he gently pulled you away from the scarred prince. “I don’t know why he’s smiling at you but I do know that he’s part of the team now, so lay off okay?”

You looked at him in disbelief before whirling around and facing Sokka. “Alright but that still doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

“We’re here to break you out?” Sokka said, rubbing the back of his neck as he turned his gaze to the floor.

“Seriously?” you hissed, stepping closer to him and causing him to stumble back. “This couldn’t have waited until after Aang defeated Ozai?”

“I told you so,” Zuko mumbled, shooting a pointed look at Sokka.

“Stay out of this,” you whisper-yelled, pushing him back up against the wall with one hand. “You have to leave. Both of you.“

“Well you see,” Sokka said, chuckling slightly as he met your gaze. “We can’t exactly do that.”

“Yes you can,” you replied, grabbing Sokka and proceeding to push the two boys towards the door. “Just get back on your little war balloon and leave.”

Zuko and Sokka exchanged nervous glances at the mention of the war balloon, causing you to narrow your eyes at them.

“Don’t say it.”

“It popped!” Sokka squealed, bouncing away from you as he noticed your expression. “But we’ll get out of here, and you’re coming with us.”

You couldn’t help but facepalm at your brother’s words.

The guards had only released you from your cell when it was your turn to do the cleaning. You hadn’t heard from Sokka since he had left you, and you were worried that he had gotten caught. You were so distracted by your thoughts that you didn’t notice the other prisoner who was mopping, resulting in you bumping into them and falling down.

“I’m sorry,” the other prisoner said, extending a hand to help you up. You glanced up, making eye contact with Zuko. Your eyes widened almost comically and you grabbed his hand, simultaneously pulling yourself up and pulling him closer to you.

“Where is my brother?” you asked as you leaned in close, panic in your voice as you whispered in his ear. Zuko tried to ignore the blush on his cheeks as your close proximity, focusing on your question.

“He’s fine,” he whispered back. “It was just me who got caught.”

You let his hand go, stepping back and nodding subtly before going back to mopping. Zuko stayed close to you, pretending to be focused on his mopping as he stole glances at you. Feeling his gaze, you looked up and arched an eyebrow as you made eye contact. The prince flushed when he realized he had been caught, looking back down before speaking.

“I-I never introduced myself,” he spoke softly. “I’m Zuko.”

“I know,” you replied flatly, walking further away from him. Zuko stood awkwardly for a moment before inching closer to you again.

“So you’re (Y/N),” he spoke again. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

You snorted at his words, your eyes not leaving the ground. “Yeah I’m sure it is.”

“You’re a really good fighter,” Zuko continued, still trying to make conversation. “Even back when I was still hunting the Avatar you were the one that I was most worried about holding off.”

“Good to know,” you said drily, finally looking up at Zuko. “Look, Sokka may trust you but I don’t, okay? First of all, you haven’t really done anything but cause trouble for us. Second of all, you actually brought my brother here. I appreciate the sentiment but I’m not exactly thrilled at the idea of my baby brother breaking into a Fire Nation prison.”

Zuko swallowed harshly, looking away. “I’m sorry. But he was really adamant about rescuing you and your dad and-”

“Wait,” you interrupted Zuko. “I’m the only Water Tribe member here. My dad is still being held somewhere in the Fire Nation capital.”

Zuko’s eyes widened briefly before he composed himself. “Oh. Alright then I guess that means we can leave as soon as Sokka comes back to meet us.”

The two of you continued to mop in silence before someone suddenly grabbed your upper arm, causing you to stiffen and causing Zuko to get into a defensive stance.

“Calm down, it’s just me.”

“You really have to stop doing that Sokka,” you hissed, yanking your arm away from him. “Zuko told me about why you’re here. I hope you know we can leave now. Dad isn’t here.”

Sokka’s face fell briefly before he forced a smile onto his face. “He may not be but guess who is? Suki! Why didn’t you tell me she was here (Y/N)?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” you whispered. “Maybe because I was too busy freaking out about the fact that my kid brother and the Fire Nation prince broke into prison and don’t have a way to get out!”

“Shh!” Sokka hissed, putting his hand over your mouth. “Be quiet! And I’m not your ‘kid brother’, you’re only a year older than I am.”

Zuko stayed quiet as the two of you stared each other down before Sokka let out a yelp and took his hand off your mouth. “Did you just lick me?”

You didn’t reply, a smirk on your face as you crossed your arms. Zuko stifled a laugh at the scene in front of him, coughing quietly when you shot a look at him. The three of you stood still as a new voice interrupted.

“So, what’s the plan?” Suki stood near you, hiding in the shadows that the staircase provided. You exchanged a glance with Sokka, nodding in encouragement.

“So, listen, I think I have an escape plan,” Sokka began, a little nervous at being in charge of the escape plan. “I checked out the coolers again, and the point of them is to keep firebenders contained, right?”

“Yeah,” Zuko replied, unsure as to where this was going.

“So, they're completely insulated and sealed to keep the cold in. Well, to keep the cold in, it also has to keep the heat out, right?”

Zuko and Suki exchanged confused looks before looking over at you, only to see you smiling widely as you caught on.

“Just get to the point Sokka,” Suki said, glancing around nervously.

“It's a perfect boat for getting through the boiling water!” you said, eyes sparkling as you looked at Sokka proudly. Despite the situation, Zuko found himself smiling at the sight of your smile.

“Sokka,” you said, leaning in close to your brother while keeping your eyes on Zuko. “He’s doing it again.”

Sokka scowled and smacked Zuko’s head, causing the boy to straighten up and ignore Suki’s smirk. “The cooler as a boat? Are you sure?”

“I’m telling you, it’ll work,” Sokka said, giving them each a serious glance. “I walked around the perimeter. There's a blind spot between two guard towers. It's the perfect launching point. I already tested it out. We'll roll the cooler into the water and just float with the current. It'll take us straight across. As long as we don't make a sound, no one will notice. And bing-bang-boom, we're home free.”

“But how are you going to get the cooler out?” Suki asked, a worried frown on her face.

“Yeah. How are you gonna get the cooler out?”

The four of you turned as Chit Sang landed next to you, causing Sokka and Zuko to stutter as they tried to tell Chit Sang that they weren’t planning anything. You rolled your eyes, stepping closer to Chit Sang before speaking. “That’s easy, isn’t it? We just need to get a firebender into the cooler.”

Sokka and Zuko gaped at you, shocked that you had given them away.

“Calm down,” you scoffed, patting Chit Sang’s back. “Chit Sang and I go way back. He’s the one who made all the other firebenders leave me alone.”

Chit Sang nodded before turning back to the group. “Look I won’t tell the warden about your plan if you let me come along.”

Sokka stared at you intently, the two of you having a silent conversation before turning back to the group. “Fine! But we need to get someone into the cooler.”

Sokka handed Zuko a wrench. “Here. You’re going to unbolt the cooler, from the inside.”

Zuko looked back at Sokka, confused. “How am I going to get in there?”

You grinned widely, patting Zuko’s chest as you walked past him. “I got this. Follow my lead.”

You picked up your mop, motioning for Zuko to do the same. You began mopping, casually walking around as you kept Zuko in your periphery. The prince didn’t dare look at you so he was caught by surprise when you bumped into him from behind.

“Hey!” you snapped, turning around and glaring at him. “Watch where you’re going.”

Zuko froze for a split second before realizing this was your plan. “You’re the one who bumped into me. How about you watch where you’re going?”

A smile played at the corner of your lips as you stared each other down. Zuko noticed and felt his cheeks grow warm as he tried to hold back a smile of his own. The two of you stood there for a few seconds, staring at each other until Sokka coughed loudly.

Tearing your eyes away from the prince, you lunged at him. He easily dodged your swing before throwing a halfhearted punch back at you. You rolled your eyes as you kicked at him, losing your balance slightly as he swatted your leg away. You recovered quickly and threw another punch, a soft gasp leaving your mouth when he grasped your wrist and twirled you around, your back pressed against his chest as his arm held you tightly in place.

You struggled for a moment, sighing in defeat when you realized just how strong he was. You tilted your head back slightly, your lips brushing against his ear as you whispered into it. “You have to firebend at me Zuko.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he mumbled back, causing you to roll your eyes again.

“I’m a big girl. I can handle myself,” you replied. With a grunt, you elbowed him in the stomach. He let out a soft ‘oof’ and you took that chance to break out of his hold. You dropped down and spun, your leg outstretched as you tried to knock him down. He jumped over your leg easily before shooting out a blast of fire at you. He held his breath for a second, sighing in relief as he noticed you roll out of the way.

“No firebending!” a guard shouted, roughly grabbing Zuko from behind. You sent him a soft smile, receiving a smirk in return. As he was led away, Suki came up to you, a big smile on her face.

“So,” she said, her tone teasing. “What was that?”

“Yeah (Y/N),” Sokka said, crossing his arms as he came up to you. “What was that?”

You rolled your eyes before walking past the two of them. “It was a fight.”

“That’s not what it looked like from my point of view,” Suki called out after you, causing Sokka to send a glare at her. You simply chuckled at her words.

“(Y/N)?”

You stood up from the floor of your cell, looking at Sokka as he stood outside your cell. “Yeah?”

“It’s time.”

Sokka opened your cell and threw you a guard’s uniform before quickly closing the door and allowing you to change. When you were done, you knocked on the door three times, fixing your helmet as you waited for him to open the door.

Together, the two of you made your way towards the cooler, trying to avoid any guards on your way.

You opened the door to the cooler, a small frown making its way onto your face when you noticed that Zuko was shivering.

“I can take you back to your cell if you’ve learned your lesson,” Sokka said, looking way too smug. You rolled our eyes and focused on Zuko as he looked up at the two of you. His eyes met yours as he let out a breath of fire, his shivering stopping completely. He sent you a cocky smirk and you ignored the flopping you felt in your stomach at the sight of it. (A/N: y’all know what smirk i’m talkin bout)

“Yes I have,” he breathed, showing you both all the bolts and screws he had removed. “Completely.”

“I got Suki and Chit Sang out of their cells a few minutes ago,” Sokka whispered. “They'll be waiting for us at the shore.”

“Someone’s coming!” you whisper yelled, letting out a small yelp when you were pulled into the cooler. The three of you barely fit into the cooler but that didn’t make it any less cold. Even though you had grown up in the South Pole, you found yourself shivering at the temperature, your breath coming out in icy clouds.

Zuko glanced down at you, a frown appearing on his face as he noticed you shivering. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around you, bringing you in close as your expression changed into a bewildered one. You opened your mouth to say something, but quickly shut it when you realized just how warm he was. Sokka, unfortunately, didn’t stay quiet at the scene playing out in front of him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he screeched quietly, trying to pry the two of you apart. You quickly pushed him away.

“Sokka, shut up,” you mumbled as you wrapped your arms around Zuko, your teeth still chattering. “He’s warm and I’m freezing.”

Sokka’s jaw dropped as you casually buried your face into Zuko’s chest, a content sigh escaping you as you got warmer by the second. Sokka stayed quiet as the voices outside got closer, instead miming a throat slitting motion as he stared Zuko down, causing the prince to swallow harshly.

“...Yeah. new arrivals coming in at dawn,” a male voice sounded, catching your attention.

“Anybody interesting?” a female voice asked in reply.

“Nah, just the usual. Some robbers, a couple traitors, some war prisoners,” you and Sokka exchanged a disbelieving look. “Though I did hear there might be a pirate.”

“No fooling!”

The voices faded as they walked away and you all took that chance to leave the cooler.

“War prisoners,” Zuko stated, his eyes not leaving Sokka’s. “Could be your father.”

“I know.”

“Well, what should we do?” Zuko asked. “Are we going ahead with the plan or are we waiting another night?”

“I don't know!” Sokka cried out, looking distraught. “Is it right for me to risk Suki and (Y/N)’s freedom, all of our freedom, on the slim chance that my dad is gonna show up?”

You stayed quiet, not knowing what to say.

“It’s your call Sokka,” Zuko finally said, trying to let the other boy know he was there for him.

Sokka thought about it for a moment, eyes focused on the ground. After a few seconds he looked up and scowled, crossing his arms as he glared at you. “You can let go of him now (Y/N).”

A bright blush erupted on your cheeks as you looked at Zuko, an embarrassed expression spreading across your face as you realized you were still holding onto each other. You stepped away from him quickly, clearing your throat as you did so.

The three of you had somehow managed to get the cooler down to the shore, not that it mattered considering the fact that Chit Sang had just taken your only means of escape. It wasn’t his fault really; it was you and Sokka who had been extremely hesitant to leave, not wanting to risk the chance of your dad being on the gondola the next morning.

Suki and Zuko had stayed behind with you, the four of you waiting in the blind spot for the gondola to arrive. It had almost been light out when alarms were set off, causing all of you to whip your heads to where the cooler had been floating off.

“The plan failed!” Sokka said sadly. “They got caught.”

“I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t go along with them huh?” you said, earning a dull look from your brother.

“The gondola's moving,” Sokka said suddenly, grasping your hand. “This is it. If my dad's not there, we've risked everything for nothing.”

“We had to,” you whispered back, squeezing his hand. The four of you now stood in the yard as you waited in anticipation, looking up as the gondola doors opened.

“Is that him?” Zuko asked as the first prisoner got out.

“My dad doesn’t have a nose ring!” both you and Sokka exclaimed, looking at the prince weirdly. More men came off the gondola, both you and Sokka shaking with anxiety as you kept an eye out for Hakoda.

“Where is he?” Sokka asked as the last man stepped off. “Is that it? That can’t be it.”

“I’m sorry,” Suki whispered, rubbing both of your backs.

“Hey you!” the guard called out, drawing your attention. “Get off the gondola.”

You waited with bated breath for the last person to emerge, your hand tightening around Sokka’s and causing him to wince. Your eyes widened as you watched the final prisoner get off, dark jaw-length hair surrounding a face that held tired blue eyes. You immediately turned to Sokka, tears threatening to spill.

“Sokka,” you whispered. “It’s dad.”

You had been pacing back and forth worriedly ever since Sokka had gone to join the other guards and quite frankly, both Suki and Zuko were tired of it.

“Please just stand still (Y/N),” Suki said, gently reaching out and grabbing you. “If something was wrong, we would’ve heard it already. Your brother isn’t exactly the quietest.”

You nodded in agreement and sat down, nervously biting your lip as you waited for Sokka to return. You barely flinched as Zuko sat next to you, Suki giving him a knowing glance as she wandered off slowly.

“Look,” he began, staring straight ahead. “I know you don’t like me, but I need to tell you this okay? As much as you can’t help but worry, you shouldn’t. Sokka’s smart and he knows what he’s doing...sort of.”

He chuckled at the halfhearted glare you directed at him. “I’m kidding. But really, Sokka’s smart and brave and he was so set on coming up here and breaking you out and I know he’s going to do it because he has heart. Plus he has you helping him out. So stop worrying so much okay? Also, never repeat any of what I just said to him”

You snorted at Zuko’s words before bumping his shoulder with your. “Thanks Zuko. You know what? Maybe you’re not as bad as I thought.”

The prince’s eyes widened in shock and he smiled down at you, blushing slightly when you smiled back. Your moment was ruined when Sokka came sprinting back, causing Suki to join you as well.

“(Y/N), c’mon! I found him,” Sokka exclaimed. Without another word, he grabbed your arm and dragged you away from the group. A wide smile was on his face and you felt yourself smile as well when you came to a stop in front of a cell.

Sokka slid the door open, looking around before ducking inside and draging you with him. “Thank goodness you’re okay!”

“Oh you’ll see just how ‘okay’ I am,” Hakoda replied, swinging at what he believed to be a guard. You stepped in front of Sokka before pushing Hakoda’s arm out of the way, ducking under it and pushing him softly before pulling Sokka out of the way.

Hakoda’s eyes widened at the familiar movements,searching the faces of the two guards standing before him. “Sokka? (Y/N)?”

"Dad!” you cried out in unison with Sokka, the two of you removing your masks as you smiled at Hakoda. His eyes filled with tears as he brought you into a hug and you couldn’t help but let a few tears slip as well.

“Where’s Katara? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine dad,” you said, tightening your hold on Hakoda. “She’s not here.”

“Where’s Bato?” Sokka asked, pulling away. “Where’s everyone else from the invasion?”

“The others are being held at a prison near the Fire Nation palace,” Hakoda replied. “They sent me here because I kept being difficult after they singled (Y/N) out as the leader and sent her here. But before I left, I met some young women who said they knew you. The...Oshinama Fighters? ”

“You mean the Kyoshi Warriors?” you asked.

“That’s right.”

“Their leader Suki is here,” Sokka said, a blush visible on his face. “She’s gonna escape with us too!”

“Good. We'll need all the help we can get.”

“And you know Prince Zuko?” Sokka asked, getting excited at the thought of finally leaving.

“The son of the Fire Lord?” Hakoda asked hesitantly. “I don't know him, but I know of him.”

"Well he’s here too!” Sokka exclaimed.

“That sounds like a major problem,” Hakoda replied, crossing his arms as his face hardened.

“Actually,” Sokka said, smiling nervously. “He’s on our side now.”

Hakoda shot him a disbelieving look, causing you to step in.

“I had the same reaction dad,” you said, putting a hand on Hakoda’s shoulder. “But he really has changed. He came here with Soka to break me out. He’s been a big help.”

Hakoda’s face softened at your words. You had always been a good judge of character, so if you approved of the prince, then he did too. “So, do you have a plan?”

“We had one,” Sokka said, looking down sadly. “But some of the other prisoners got involved and ruined it. I dunno if there's another way off this island.”

“Sokka, there's no prison in the world that can hold three Water Tribe geniuses.”

“Then I guess we’d better find two more to help me plan something,” you teased, making Hakoda laugh and earning a dull look from Sokka.

You sprinted towards the yard, having been distracted by another guard for a few minutes before all the prisoners had been let out. When you reached your dad, Suki, and Sokka, you were surprised to see Chit Sang speaking with them.

“Hey you! You're lucky I didn't rat you out,” Chit Sang said, staring Sokka down. “But my generosity comes with a price. I know you're planning another escape attempt, and I want in.”

You nodded at Sokka, telling him to go along with it. He sighed softly before facing Chit Sang. “Actually, we're trying to escape right now, but we need a riot. You wouldn't happen to know how to start one, would you?”

“You seriously couldn’t start a prison riot?” you asked in disbelief, looking at the three of them in disappointment. “C’mon Chit Sang, let’s show them how it’s done.”

The two of you stepped forwards, Chit Sang picking up another prisoner as you strutted up to one of them.

“Hey everybody!” you yelled, the yard going quiet as you spoke. Without hesitation, you punched the prisoner closest to you. “Riot!”

The yard exploded into chaos as people began fighting and throwing stuff around. You quickly fought off the prisoner that you had punched before returning to your friends.

“Impressive,” Hakoda said, looking around at all the chaos.

You turned and swung as you felt someone bump into you, the person letting out a loud grunt as your fist met their face. Your jaw dropped as your eyes met piercing gold ones, your hands coming up to your face in slight horror as you realized that you had just punched Zuko.

“Yep,” he said, clutching his face. “I probably deserved that after everything I’ve done to you.”

“I’m so sorry,” you choked out in between giggles, earning a smile from the prince.

“Zuko! Good, we’re all here,” Sokka said, drawing you all into a huddle. “Now all we need to do is grab the warden, and get to the gondolas!”

“And how do we do that?” Zuko asked.

Sokka hesitated for a few seconds. “I’m not sure.”

Zuko groaned, throwing his hands up in frustration. “I thought you thought this through!”

“I thought you told me it's okay not to think everything through”

“Maybe not everything, but this is kind of important!” Zuko cried out.

“Hey fella,” Chit Sang interrupted, tapping Zuko’s shoulder before pointing at you. “I think your girlfriend’s taking care of it.”

“You’re dating my daughter?” Hakoda asked, glaring at Zuko.

“W-What? No!” Zuko cried out, slightly fearful of the Water Tribe Chief.

“Damn right you’re not,“ Sokka said, crossing his arms before Chit Sang spun him around.

“Your girlfriend too buddy.”

All four males went silent as they observed both you and Suki. You swiftly made your way up the tower, effortlessly taking guards down as you inched towards the warden. Suki took a stance at the base of the tower, fighting off any other guards who attempted to rush to the warden’s rescue. She was a truly impressive sight, her training as a Kyoshi Warrior shining through as she took down every guard that came at her effortlessly. Sokka stood a few yards away, awestruck at the sight in front of him.

Meanwhile, you had successfully made your way up to the top of the tower. You made quick work of the remaining guards before finally facing the warden.

“You wouldn’t dare,” he snarled, getting into a defensive position.

“Watch me,” you quipped, lunging at him. You avoided his punch, grabbing his wrist and spinning him around before shoving him up against the railing. You grabbed his sash, tying his hands before knocking him down and making sure he was tied securely before smiling over at your dad. “You’re my prisoner now warden.”

Down in the yard, Hakoda, Zuko, and Chit Sang all stared at you in awe, Sokka still focused on Suki.

“That’s my girl,” Hakoda stated, a proud look on his face as he looked up at you.

“Do you think she’d want to be my girl?” Zuko muttered dazedly, unintentionally speaking louder than he meant to. When he realized what he had said, he looked up in embarrassment, being met with an amused glance from Chit Sang, a harsh scowl from Hakoda, and a sharp slap from Sokka.

“Shut up!” Sokka hissed before grabbing Zuko’s arm and rushing to join you and Suki.

You all ran to the gondola, making sure that the warden was still tied up as you dragged him with you.

“We’re almost there!” Suki cried out.

“Spoke too soon,” you groaned as a group of guards came across your path, immediately sending two blasts of fire at you. You yelped as Zuko pulled you out of the way before stepping in front of you and dissipating the blasts. He sent a series of blasts back at them before grabbing the warden from you.

“Back off! We've got the warden!“ he shouted, successfully stopping the guards. When they didn’t make any movements he grabbed your hand and tugged you along. “Let's go”

Suki was the first to make it to the gondola, holding the door open for everyone else. “Everyone in!”

You all clambered on and you glanced around, realizing that someone was missing.

“Zuko!” you yelled, looking back at the prince. He started the gondola and you felt yourself panic as the guards closed in on him. “What are you doing? Hurry up!”

“I’m making it so that they can’t stop us!” With a few kicks, Zuko managed to break the lever that controlled the gondola before sprinting towards you. You leaned out of the door slightly, watching him in anticipation.

“C’mon Zuko,” you whispered to yourself, biting your lip as the gondola left the platform, now hanging freely. Zuko sped up and jumped, his feet landing on the edge of the gondola. He wobbled for a bit before you grasped his arm, fully pulling him into the gondola and into your arms. Zuko looked at you in confusion before wrapping his arms around you as well.

“Are you sure they’re not dating?” Hakoda asked, his voice quiet as he addressed Sokka. Sokka sent Zuko a menacing glare, the scarred prince gulping and loosening his hold on you when he noticed.

“What were you thinking?” you cried out, finally pulling away from Zuko and slapping his head.

“Ow!” Zuko hissed, rubbing the spot you had hit. “I was thinking ‘let me get rid of this lever real quick so that they don’t catch us’.”

“You could’ve gotten captured!” you yelled at him, taking a step towards him.

“Way to think ahead,” Sokka commented, saving Zuko from another slap.

“We’re finally on our way.” Suki sighed, sharing a soft smile with Sokka.

“Wait,” Hakoda said, leaning out of the window. “Who’s that?”

You leaned out of the window on the other side of the gondola, resisting the urge to blush as you felt Zuko’s chest press up against your back as he tried to get a good look at the platform.

“That’s a problem,” Zuko groaned. “It’s my sister and her friend.”

“This is a rematch I’ve been waiting for,” Suki growled, cracking her knuckles.

“Get in line,” you scoffed, your eyes narrowing as you watched the princess approach. You climbed out of the gondola and onto the roof, being followed by Sokka, Suki, and Zuko.

Suki and Sokka turned to face Ty Lee as she landed onto the roof gracefully, quickly becoming preoccupied with the chi-blocker. You carefully observed Azula as she landed a few feet away from you, staring you down as she stalked closer.

“Well, well, well,” she spoke, her voice taunting. “If it isn’t the Water Tribe scum.”

“Don’t speak to her like that,” Zuko barked, stepping slightly in front of you.

“Aww, does Zuzu have a little crush?” Azula teased, pouting as she shifted her gaze to Zuko. “Snap out of it Zuko. We raided her village multiple times. She’ll never see you as anything other than a monster.”

“Still not over what your mother used to say about you huh?” you shot back, missing the hurt look in Azula’s eyes as she shot lightning at you. You swiftly dodged the blast and ran at her, sliding onto the ground when she let out another blast.

Zuko watched as you stood up, landing a solid hit on his sister before bouncing back and dodging the hit she sent your way. He tried to find an opening to attack Azula but eventually gave up for fear of hurting you. Instead he chose to jump into the fight and wipe out the blasts Azula kept sending at you, even if you were expertly dodging them.

Azula soon grew tired of the fight, and knowing that she couldn’t beat you in the moment decided to send a blast of fire at Zuko. She caught him off guard and although he managed to wipe out the blast, he ended up tumbling back and landing dangerously close to the gondola’s edge.

“Zuko!” you yelled, momentarily distracted from the fight. Azula took this chance to kick you down, punching you before kicking you once more when you tried to scramble to your feet. You were sent stumbling against the metal handle that attached the gondola to the cable, gasping in pain as you crashed against it. She grinned widely when your head hit the metal.

You blew your hair out of your face, wincing as you reached up to touch the sore spot on your head and sighing when you noticed the blood on your fingertips.

“You have nowhere to go,” Azula stated, stalking towards you. Blue fire danced at her fingertips, her eyes hungry with anticipation as you struggled to stand. “Such a shame, you could’ve been a great asset to me.”

“I would rather die than join you,” you shot back, finally managing to stand up.

“Fine,” Azula spat, the fire growing as she narrowed her eyes. “Have it your way.”

You closed your eyes and braced yourself, knowing that you were in no shape to block her attack. You felt the heat approaching before it disappeared. Opening your eyes, you gasped softly as you saw Zuko standing in front of you. He sent blasts of fire back at Azula before the gondola swung dangerously, sending them both stumbling.

“They’re about to cut the line!” Ty Lee shouted at Azula.

“Then it’s time to leave,” the princess smirked. “Goodbye Zuko.”

Azula blasted away as Ty Lee backflipped gracefully onto the other gondola. Zuko glared at Azula briefly before rushing to your side, reaching down and gently picking you up.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his face twisting with concern as you stumbled.

“Yeah,” you breathed. “Just peachy.”

You tried to walk on your own only to stumble once more and fall right into Zuko’s arms. You shook your head slightly, trying to walk off once more.

“(Y/N), stop,” Zuko said, scooping your legs up and fully carrying you.

“P-Put me down!” you yelled, drawing Sokka and Suki’s attention.

“Hey! Put her down,” Sokka cried, rushing over to your side. He was stopped when the gondola swayed again.

“Stop struggling,” Zuko hissed, tightening his grip on you. “You can’t walk without stumbling. You probably have a concussion.”

You pouted but stayed silent, knowing that the prince was right. Carefully, he made his way over to the edge of the gondola, noticing that Hakoda was leaning out of the window. Carefully, he handed you down to him, making sure that you were safely inside before swinging himself in as well. Sokka and Suki quickly followed.

“They’re cutting the line,” Zuko stated, exchanging glances with everyone else. “The gondola’s about to go!”

“I hope this thing floats,” Hakoda said, fussing over your head wound as you tried to push him away.

“Hey!” you suddenly cried as the gondola began to move. You glanced out the window. “Who’s that?”

“That’s Mai!” Zuko exclaimed, his eyebrows furrowing as he observed her fighting with the guards.

The gondola made it to the other side without any other mishaps. When you got there, Zuko carefully picked you up once again, making his way out of the gondola. Sokka kept his gaze on him, only looking away when he felt Suki grab his hand. She shook her head at him before looking at you and Zuko. “Calm down. There are worse people she could be with.”

Sokka rolled his eyes at her words before trailing after Zuko, a barely visible smile appearing on his face as he noticed how Zuko was fussing over you as well. Hakoda and Chit Sang tossed the warden back into the gondola before joining the group. They all walked for a while before Zuko paused, standing on the cliff that was overlooking the rest of the volcano.

“What’s wrong Zuko?” you asked quietly, your eyes not leaving his face as he scanned the landscape in front of him. At this point, everyone else had backtracked to where you were standing.

“My sister was on that island,” was his only response.

“Yeah, and she's probably right behind us, so let's not stop!” Sokka said, trying to convince Zuko to keep moving.

“What I mean is she must have come here somehow,” he replied, his eyes still looking around.

“There!” you exclaimed, pointing at a large airship. “That's our way out of here!“

The six of you all managed to make it to the airship quickly enough and Zuko quickly lit the fire and guided it away from The Boiling Rock. The atmosphere was lively as everyone tried to catch up with each other, the excitement from the day eventually leaving everyone as the sun began setting. One by one, everyone fell asleep until it was just you and Zuko awake.

You had been looking around the ship, smirking in victory when you found a first aid kit. Silently you wandered out to where Zuko was, trying not to startle him.

“Long night?” you asked, leaning on the wall next to him.

“Someone has to keep the fire going,” he retorted, a faint smile present on his handsome face.

“Can you help me?” you asked quietly, meeting his eyes as he turned to face you. He nodded and you handed him the first aid kit before sitting down in front of him. You flinched slightly as his hand grabbed your jaw, closing your eyes as you reveled in his touch, remaining oblivious to the way his heart was racing at the close proximity. His touch was feather light in comparison to the guard who had grasped your jaw in a similar way back at the Boiling Rock. You snorted softly as you recalled the incident that had taken place a mere day ago; it seemed like it had happened ages ago.

“I’m sorry,” Zuko whispered, tilting your head to get better access to the cut on your head.

“It’s fine, it doesn’t hurt,” you murmured back, eyes still closed.

“Not about that,” Zuko replied, cleaning the wound as best as he could with the supplies you had given him. You hissed softly as he tried to place the bandage on, breathing deeply to try and ignore the pain. “I’m sorry about everything. I’m sorry for hunting the Avatar down and chasing you all around the world. I’m sorry about your mother. I’m sorry for the raids that tore your village apart. I’m sorry that I kept causing you harm even when I had the chance to do good.”

You opened your eyes at his words, reaching up and gently grabbing his hand to bring his attention to you. He could’ve sworn his heart skipped a beat. You stared at him in silence, his golden eyes never leaving yours even as he fidgeted uncomfortably under your gaze. Your face softened as you realized just how full of guilt Zuko really was, your heart aching as you realized that you couldn’t spend any more time hating him. Not when he had already done so much to try and make up for his mistakes.

“No Zuko,” you finally spoke, guiding him to take a seat in front of you. “I’m sorry for being so harsh towards you. You did more than enough to prove that you aren’t the same bratty prince you were when we first met but I wasn’t willing to look past the fact that you were once our enemy. You left the Fire Nation to help Aang and I can’t imagine how hard that was-”

“Trust me,” Zuko interjected, laughing humorlessly. “It wasn’t that hard. My father and sister are horrible people.”

“Still,” you said, leaning in a bit. “They’re your family. Betraying your family isn’t easy, even if you don’t get along with them.”

Silence ensued as Zuko stood up and carefully finished bandaging your cut. He took his seat in front of you once more, watching the fire as you watched him.

“What?” Zuko asked, his cheeks heating up he realized that you were still staring at him.

“Thank you Zuko,” you stated, finally looking away from the golden-eyed boy.

“Don’t thank me,” Zuko replied. “It was Sokka’s idea to break you out.”

“I mean for saving me from Azula,” you whispered, looking back up at him. “She really had me backed into a corner.”

“I wasn’t going to let her hurt you,” Zuko stated, staring into your eyes. “Sokka would’ve killed me if we came all this way just to lose you to her.”

You giggled at his words, causing him to smirk in satisfaction as he realized that he had made you laugh. “He would’ve, wouldn’t he?”

There was another silence before you spoke up again. “In all seriousness, thank you. I never thought that I’d be calling Prince Zuko my hero.”

Zuko gulped as he realized just how close the two of you were. Neither of you made a move to back away and you flushed when you caught yourself glancing at the prince’s lips.

You blushed harder when you realized he had caught you in the act.

“Zuko,” you whispered, squeaking softly when said boy leaned forwards and connected his lips with yours. The kiss was soft and hesitant, with both of you holding your breath as you realized you were kissing each other.

Pulling away, Zuko’s eyes widened. “Oh spirits. I-I’m sorry. I can’t believe I just did th-”

You cut Zuko’s apology off with another kiss, this one a little less awkward. His hand came up and grabbed your waist, pulling you a little closer as his other hand cupped your cheek. Your hand came up to grab his forearm, your brain trying to comprehend the fact that you were kissing Zuko and wondering how in the world he was such a good kisser.

“I thought you said you weren’t dating my daughter.”

The two of you flew apart as you heard Hakoda’s voice.

“D-Dad!” you exclaimed. “We weren’t- I wasn’t-”

Hakoda held up a hand to stop your stuttering. “It doesn’t matter. He risked his life to help your brother break you out of prison which means he’s good in my books. Just please don’t kiss in front of me. And maybe don’t let Sokka find out about this just yet. Good night.”

You turned to Zuko in embarrassment as Hakoda walked away, making eye contact with him before the two of you dissolved into laughter.

“Well that’s one way to get the parent’s approval,” you muttered, smiling at Zuko as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder and pulled you into him.

The two of you spent the rest of the night awake, talking about everything and nothing, stargazing as Zuko kept the flame alive.

“You know, I used to know the moon spirit when she was alive,” you said smugly, glancing up at Zuko as he smiled widely at you.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah! In fact, she was Sokka’s first girlfriend.”

Zuko smiled and pressed another kiss to your lips, smiling softly when he felt your hand come up to his chest.

And in that moment, Zuko knew he had made the right decision by deciding to join the Avatar. After all, if he hadn’t then why would the universe have chosen to reward him with something as amazing as you.

taglist!

@musicalkeys, @mywigglybaby, @bubblebars, @iguessthefloorislava

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