#if mai is Zuko's wife then it was not a good relationship.
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I know you most likely already realized this, but I was just thinking about Aang as a father in LOK, and realized something. If Katara ended up with Zuko and eventually had children together, Zuko would likely end up being a better father than Aang. Aang never even met his parents, and only had instructors as parental figures. They're like parents but mostly just in the way that a school teacher would be. But Zuko understands what good parents and what bad parents look like because he knows what his own parents are like. His memories of Ursa and Iroh would be his guide to what you SHOULD do for a child, and Ozai is an example of what you should NOT do. Zuko doesn't have the pressure of repopulating firebenders because firebenders aren't virtually extinct, so there wouldn't be as much (if any) pressure to pay unfairly extra attention to one child over the other. Zuko knows what it's like to be neglected by a parent that's supposed to love because of something you can't control. Aang clearly doesn't, hence why he neglected Bumi and Kya II in the first place. Zuko also has experience with Azula, and would know to recognize any bad signs of sibling jealousy and/or hatred, and put an end to it because he knows what bad sibling dynamics look like.
I feel like he would also be a better husband to Katara. He's not as naive as Aang when it comes to marriage; Zuko has the experience of growing up with two married parents, and would know what not to do. Katara would relax better because the distribution over who watches the kids would be more fair, as Zuko would give them ALL attention. While Aang made Katara jealous from always being around the Air Acolytes (in the comics), I feel like Zuko would not give polite attention to women who are rude to Katara/flirting with him because in the show, Zuko knows exactly how hurtful it feels for a romantic partner to flirt with/give polite attention to people who are obviously pursuers. Imagine being in an alternate dimension where Zutara was the main endgame couple, and we get to see their parental dynamics in LoK. There would probably be a flashback of Katara getting worked up about one of their children, and Zuko would ease her into calming down because he sees a solution that she didn't.
Aang's issues are more than he doesn't know. He is selfish by nature. Selfish parents aren't good parents. I know this for a fact. It's an endless cycle of 'It's your fault' or 'what about how I feel' every time you try to say something. It's not fun, and it's damaging. I can totally see Aang using this behavior as a way to get what he wants. As far as him being naive... yes. He is very naive and doesn't take anything seriously.
Like the war, for instance. He was only there for the last year of it. He wasn't born into the war like Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Suki. They aren't naive. They know what war is like. Toph is the same age as Aang, and she is much more mature than he is. He's got this idea that killing anyone is bad, but he is responsible for a lot of deaths. Honestly, he has a kill count from the Fire Nation attack on the NWT, and a lot of people overlook that for some reason. Actually, the show overlooks it because Aang is the Hero, and it's okay if he killed people. So, when all is said and done, all of the things that he does afterward is overlooked too. It's a huge writing flaw with the show. So how does this translate to him as a parent?
It makes him a hypocrite.
Plain and simple.
He's so focused on reviving the Air Nomads that he has little knowledge on what they actually believed. What we are given is a few Taoist, Hindu, and Buddhist proverbs to go off of. Then, it's completely disregarded (disrespected as well) for 'Love'. This 'Love' is actually deep infatuation fueled by jealousy and possessive behavior. Which is actually frowned upon by the three religions mentioned above. It is a 'poison' to the spirit. And disconnects you from being enlightened (I think that is what the proverbs/scriptures are eluding too, if I'm wrong, please do not hesitate to explain, I'm super interested in cultures and eastern religions) or granted a place in Heaven (or their version of it). Letting go of all earthly possessions is common place in most religions. Aang does not do this. But I digress.
So, while there is the Nature vs Nurture aspect of parenting... where Katara does most of the Nurturing because that is how her character is written post-war and LoK. Notice how is said Written. Written by two misogynistic men who stripped her of a lot of her characteristics from the original run of the show. This is the problem. And it's the same with Aang. I can't take him seriously because he doesn't take any of it seriously. Especially with his children. He's not a serious character. He acts like he's serious, but he never really left the 12 year old boy behind to mature. Probably because in his fictional relationship with Katara, she enables him to keep doing what he always does. Which is to not grow. Relationships grow sour when the two people in them do not grow. It's not really about who grew up with parents at that point because it's the current parents that are the ones that should be to blame.
Now on to Headcanon space...
Zutara is a Headcanon ship. Did it almost happen? Oh yes I believe it did because the writing supports it heavily and Bryke's actions post show also scream 'lairs'. Sorry, but I have a pretty good Bullshit metor and Bryke set it off big time by their immature behavior.
But I digress.
Zuko grew up with a Narcissistic Sociopath as a Father and a Mother who was caught in the middle of a choice she was essentially forced to make. Ursa was also forced to forget her own parents never existed after she married Ozai. This is all canon, by the way. Her life before her marriage was great, but then it was taken away so she had nothing left but her morals and beliefs. However, while she loved both of her children, her influence on Zuko is essentially what made him who he is. Ursa didn't get to influence Azula like she did Zuko. Why? Because of Ozai.
Ozai pit his children against each other. This was apparently a Fire Nation Royal Family tradition because it sounds like Azulon did this with Iroh and Ozai as well. This kind of parenting style is abusive to its core. What Ozai did to Zuko isn't neglect... it's straightforward abuse and control. How do you make a child do what you want? You hurt them, or you take something away from them. Ozai both hurt Zuko and took away his home by banishing him. If Zuko wants to go back home, he has to find and capture the Avatar. It's that simple, but at the same time, it's also near impossible.
Flash forward to Canon Zuko and we see he has one child and he is a very loving father. Actually, he's the best father in the show. His experiences with growing up as the not so favorite child has made his choice to have one child easy. Probably because he and his spouse had a less than perfect relationship. This also may have influenced him to be protective of Izumi (as we can see he's still protective over her even at 90 years old) because of the loveless relationship his parents had. It was enough to damage him deeply when it came to relationships. This is likely also why he had trouble with Mai as well.
Headcanon space now...
Zuko loving Katara is what makes the difference here. Love is giving your partner the freedom to make their own choices and support them. As long as there is good communication, trust, and honesty. Something Maiko does not have, by the way. So it stands to reason that even with Nature Vs Nurture in the way of parenting, both win here. I'll tell you why Zuko's relationship with his parents here have no effect on why he would choose to have more children with Katara.
Because if written well, it's a very good relationship between them. We already know they work well as a team. The show gives us this. We know that Zuko absolutely cares about Katara. The show also gives us that. We also know they become lifelong friends. So why do they make great parents?
Because they rely on each other.
It has nothing to do with how they were raised individually, but everything to do with how they support each other narritively. They trust each other to make good decisions together. They rely on being honest with each other. They also communicate with each other. This by itself is the building blocks for a healthy and stable relationship. With that in mind, parenting is easier. There is no need to be afraid of becoming a bad parent because they hold each other accountable. It's a deep relationship. Having multiple children is easier because it is a loving relationship. There's no conflict besides the silly little arguments over simple things that happen all the time. It's just an overall healthy dynamic.
And that is what appeals to Zutarians.
While it was almost canon, I'm glad it isn't because Bryke would definitely not get it right. They tried to make Korra and Mako happen out of spite because they believe Zutara is toxic. It's not. Their children would turn out absolutely fine because Zuko would not change a thing about Katara. It's in the show. He doesn't try to change her because that's not his job. His job in TSR is to let her find closure. He offers it to her because he cares about her. Bottom line.
Anyway, I probably forgot what you said at this point because I just tend to go on and on, but I tried my best to stay on topic... ADHD is both a blessing and a curse.
#parenting is not about the past as long as you have a good partner#a bad relationship will force a parent to make decisions to protect their child.#if Zuko was like his father his partner would be the one making the hard decisions to protect their child.#if mai is Zuko's wife then it was not a good relationship.#zutara#relationships#parenting#anti bryke#anti aang
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PURPLE HYACINTH (m.) | zuko
↬ word count: 12k
↬ fem!reader, arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, “where is my wife?” line, zuko falls first and falls harder, reader & zuko are adults, some parts are from zuko’s pov
↬ summary: being the daughter of a powerful governor in the fire nation, you are married off to the new fire lord zuko. to the public, the two of you are madly in love. behind closed doors, you and zuko can’t stand each other. but you can fuck each other
↬ genre: fluff / smut smut smutty smut smut
↬ warnings: reader & zuko hate each other in the beginning, reader gets poisoned, assassination attempt, zuko likes being choked, oral sex (m.receiving & f.receiving), zuko is a slut in the bedroom, unprotected sex, vaginal sex, swearing, typos
↬ a/n: waiting on season 3 live action zuko glow up 🤞
m.list
•••
“Tell me again,” Zuko breathes into the kiss.
“What?”
“Tell me you hate me.” he pulls away for a moment and waits for you.
“I hate you.”
“I love you.” he responds breathlessly, smashing his lips against yours. This time he’s impatient, kissing you like he’s running out of time or like you’re going to be taken away and this is his last moment with you.
•••
You take a deep breath in an attempt to calm yourself. Was Zuko always this loud of a chewer? Seriously, in this entire large dining room, where he is sitting several feet away from you across the table, you can still hear him chewing on his stupid steak. Zuko was a loud chewer, a lousy cook, and an even lousier husband.
It has been nearly a year since the two of you wed in an arranged marriage and you’ve hated every second of it since those stupid wedding bells went off. Your father was a governor in the Fire Nation, and often helped out Zuko with his royal duties. Him and Zuko’s uncle Iroh were good friends, and when it came time for Zuko to find a wife, you just so happen to be at the right age of marrying and available. Although you had fought and protested the marriage, once your father made a decision, he would never go back on it. Even if the decision was to marry off his daughter to the new Fire Lord.
You hated everything about being royalty. From the fancy parties and charities to all the socializing you were required to engage in with old conservative firebending weirdos, to the stupid sham wedding and fake kisses with Zuko. Sure, it was nice living in the palace and having people cook for you and dress you up in pretty clothes, but you hated everything else. You hated socializing and partying, you hated being the Fire Lord’s wife, and you hated all the dumb royal duties you were required to do. It would be a lot easier to do all these things if you actually liked Zuko, but everything about him irked you.
He may have found himself during his teenage years, but he was still easily angered and hard headed. Not to mention he was still moping around and crying about his ex, Mai. She had already moved on and found someone new, but you knew Zuko was still upset he had messed up their relationship. Even though every time you confronted him about it he denied it, you were so sure he was still hurting from it and thinking about it. The blank stares and passing looks he gave to her with a softness in his eyes he had never given you made it so obvious he was lying. And even though you didn’t harbor any sort of romantic feelings for him, it still hurt that he was looking at Mai like that and thinking of her.
From the start of his reign, Zuko wanted Mai to be his wife, and not you, for very obvious reasons. It helped that he liked her and had already had history with her, so when you showed up and people were telling him that he was marrying you and not Mai, he had blamed it on you. He knew it would be better for his duty to put his feelings aside and marry you out of convenience, but he hated the idea of marrying someone he didn’t love. Being with someone he didn’t love.
“Zuko,” you started, trying hard to keep yourself from slamming your silverware on the dining table. “Will you please stop chewing so loudly?” you ask politely.
“I’m not chewing loudly.”
“Yes, you are.”
“You can’t even hear me! You’re sitting so far away from me!” his voice echoed through the large room.
“Exactly. I’m sitting so far away from you, but I can still fucking hear you.” you emphasized, rolling your eyes.
“Well, if it bothers you that much, feel free to eat somewhere else.”
You could practically feel your blood pressure rising. “Oh please, you think I haven’t tried doing that before? Your stupid advisors won’t let me eat anywhere else because we’re married, so we should be eating together.”
“Then stop complaining.”
“Maybe stop chewing so damn loudly and I won't complain.” you sigh, angrily blowing a stray strand of hair out of your face. You were beginning to feel heated and upset. All you wanted to do was eat your dinner in peace and go back to your bedroom, but his stupid loud chewing and stupid stubbornness just had to get in the way.
A familiar silence entered the room and you took in another breath, deciding to try and quickly finish your food so that you could just leave. There was no point in trying to fight with Zuko; you wouldn’t get what you want anyway.
“Do you ever stop sighing?” Zuko asked, and you felt something snap inside of you. You stood up abruptly, the steak knife you were using to cut your food flying towards his face. You had thrown the knife at him in anger, and hoped that it would hit him. Unfortunately, his fast reaction helped him and he moved to the side, swiftly avoiding your fast knife.
“What a shame,” you pushed out your chair and it squeaked against the polished floors. “I could’ve given you another scar on your stupid face.” you began making your way towards the door.
“Maybe if you had better aim you could’ve,” he replied, calmly going back to munching on his food as your eye twitched in annoyance.
•••
You couldn’t sleep. You had spent the last half hour tossing and turning and you still couldn’t fall asleep. Irritated, you decided that you were going to take a walk around the palace gardens to help calm you. In the time you’ve spent at the palace gardens so far, you began to make an effort to learn more about the plants and flowers and their meanings. You began to find it interesting the many messages you could send to someone through flowers, and hoped that someday you’d get a meaningful message through flowers from someone.
You had thrown a robe over your light and sheer nightgown, and headed to the gardens. Since coming to the place, the gardens have been the only place of peace for you. This was the only space that didn’t have guards wandering around its perimeter 24/7 so that you could have a little privacy. You breathed in the crisp midnight air as you opened the gate at the entrance. You had been walking around and smelling the flowers when you heard a faint voice.
Zuko.
“Please,” you heard him plead to someone, and you hid behind a small bush nearby in hopes to hear more of the conversation. If there was one thing you were going to do, it was snoop. The palace had so much drama going on between the staff and royal members of the family, it was impossible to keep your nose out of it.
“Don’t leave,” he continued and you knew exactly who he was talking to. Mai.
You had never heard Zuko speak so softly and gently to someone it was almost as if it was out of character for him. Or maybe he just always spoke to you with such hatred and annoyance.
“No,” you heard her reply. “Is this seriously what you called me out here for? Get a life, Zuko. I’m leaving.”
Wait, that was it? That was everything she was going to say to him? You quietly chuckled to yourself; Mai sounded so over it and annoyed you were almost embarrassed for Zuko. When you saw her leave the gardens, you noticed Zuko sit on a nearby bench. Smiling to yourself, you took the opportunity to poke fun at him and make him feel bad. Who cares if it’s mean? It made you happy, and that’s all that matters really.
“What a pathetic loser,” you stepped out from your hiding bush and he turned to face you, his face furrowed in anger and annoyance.
“What are you doing here?! Did you overhear all that?!” his voice was back to his normal angry tone.
“Not all of it, just the end.” you sat down next to him. “What, were you begging for her to come back to you? Begging for her to love you again? Oh you poor thing, maybe if you weren’t such a horrible boyfriend, she wouldn’t have left you.” you teased arrogantly, looking up to watch the moon.
“You don’t know anything about love.” he grumbled. “You threw a knife at me during dinner. And that’s not what I was doing. I wasn’t asking her to come back to me.”
“Uh huh. I wouldn’t have thrown a knife at you if I loved you. I did it because you deserve it. And anyway, what would people think if they saw you and her together?”
“Nobody saw.”
“Oh, but I did.”
“You’re a nobody.”
“I’m a nobody?” you laughed sarcastically. “As far as everyone knows, I’m the Fire Lord’s wife. What would people think of you if word got out that you were meeting your ex-lover in the middle of the night even though your first year marriage anniversary is coming up? Imagine what people would think and say about you…” you trailed off, you were sure he got the message.
You weren’t warning him of his careless actions because you cared about him, but because you cared about yourself and yourself only. If this did come out and people would start gossiping, the people would start pitying you and feeling bad. You already didn’t like that you were only known as the Fire Lord’s wife, so you’d feel even more annoyed if you were known as the Fire Lord’s poor wife who got cheated on.
He was quiet, which meant he knew you were right. Although you and Zuko never got along, he knew when to admit defeat. And he did so with silence. After taking a moment to think to himself, he finally broke the silence.
“Why are you even here anyways? Stalker much?” he eyed your pajamas. “And you’re out here in your nightgown? Go back inside!”
“What? I’m wearing a robe, you can’t even see anything!”
“You idiot, if someone sees us, they might think we’re fucking in the gardens.”
“HA! Please, I’d rather jump off a cliff than fuck you. And if you’re so aware that anybody can see us, you should’ve taken that into consideration before you brought your ex here. Dumbass.” you stood up, quickly turning away from him and walking away before he could say anything.
Zuko’s eyes followed you as he watched you step away, his eyes dropping down to the slight sway of your hips as you walked. “Pfft,” he said to himself as he rolled his eyes. “She walks so arrogantly.” he whispered before forcing his eyes to look somewhere else.
•••
It was that time of the year again. A stupid Fire Nation festival called Sparring Day, or whatever. Essentially, it was just a festival where the best firebenders of the nation put on a show and play with fire and pretend to fight each other for charity. The proceeds for the tickets went to charity and although that was the only part you liked about it, you dreaded going. Sure, this was the first time you were attending as a member of the royal family, but you still hated when your parents dragged you to the festival every previous year. Aside from the charity part (the only good part), it was mostly just a bunch of old lame shirtless dudes throwing fire at each other.
This year though, was different. It was Zuko’s first year where he participated in the festival himself. You thought the festival was supposed to be for the best of the best, so why the hell was Zuko going to be in it? Sure, the original benders of Fire, the dragons, passed down the way of firebending to him and Aang, but that didn’t mean he was good, or whatever. He still sucked ass, in your opinion. Maybe you’re not one to be saying this since you’re not a bender, but you were Zuko’s number one hater.
You were sitting on the stands in the audience with the Avatar and his friends, frantically fanning yourself. The sun was practically cooking everyone alive, but they still went on with the stupid festival.
“LOOK!” Sokka exclaimed excitedly, frantically pointing at the stage below. “They’re setting up dummies for Zuko to burn!”
“I hope he misses.” you roll your eyes, fanning yourself as you wipe the sweat from your forehead.
“Aww, don’t say that! That would hurt his honor.” Toph jokes, earning a laugh from everybody. You quietly smirk to yourself in response; people’s eyes were on you, so you had to act elegant and proper, like the palace ladies always tell you to do.
The blow of a horn signifies that the show is starting, and you see a lineup of several fire benders enter the stage.
Shirtless.
Including Zuko.
Your seat is high up above the stage, so you can’t see many details, but your eyes unconsciously check his body out. You knew Zuko was fit and lean, but you had never seen him shirtless. Aside from dinner or public events, you and Zuko almost were never in each other’s presence. You don’t even sleep in the same room, so you had never seen him shirtless.
You force yourself to look away from him; he wasn’t the only shirtless fire bender on stage after all. As the event begins, you watch the men perform a form of fire bending—what you assume to be the Dancing Dragon, and people begin to holler and cheer. You look away and doze off; you’ve seen this a million times in previous years. When they finish, an announcer starts speaking, and almost immediately brings everyone’s attention to you up in the stands.
“Where is she?! There she is!” he points upwards at you, and your heart stops for a second.
“Doesn’t everyone want to see Fire Lord Zuko perform up close and personal for his beautiful wife?!” he asks the crowd, and everyone cheers.
“HELL YEAHHHH!!!” Sokka screams, and you smack his arm.
“OW! Come on, don’t you want to see him up close in all his fire glory?!” he asks you, his eyes lit up with excitement.
“Not really.”
“BRING HER DOWN!” Sokka yells back at the announcer and the crowd hollers again in amusement.
You purse your lips together in irritation. You know Sokka wants to see you in misery, so you make sure to step on his foot on your way down from the stands, smiling to yourself as he yells in pain.
It’s a lot hotter once you get down to the stage. There’s no cool shade you can sit under and the flames from the torches and other benders make it even hotter. The announcer drags a chair for you to sit on center stage, and Zuko comes up to stand beside you.
You try not to look too much or make it obvious, but out of the corner of your eye you watch him struggle to catch his breath as he stands there—shirtless and sweaty. His abs are so beautifully defined and it’s obvious the work he’s put in to achieve that. His pecs are glistening in sweat and the sun rays are shining so brightly on him like he’s some God. He runs his hands through his long locks of hair, messing it up so easily but he still looks so effortlessly handsome.
You’re staring—stop staring. Zuko is going to notice. The announcer is going to notice when he stops talking about whatever it is he’s talking about. Look away. You can’t look away. If you stare more, Zuko will notice and it will be weird.
Stop staring.
It’s too late; he's taken notice of your gaze. He looks down, his sharp eyes bore into yours as he stares back down at you. You don’t know what he is thinking, or maybe you just don’t see it because the sun is in your eye. But he’s looking back at you almost seductively, but maybe you’re just imagining that and it’s probably just the sun. But he’s never looked at you before like this; usually he can’t hide his feelings of hatred and dislike in his eyes, but this time none of that is there. Your best guess is because the two of you are in public and he’s actively trying not to look at you that way.
“—will perform a fire bending performance he prepared in advance for his beautiful wife!” you snap back to reality, breaking eye contact with Zuko and looking back at the announcer.
A performance he prepared in advance for you? Please, what a load of bullshit that was. You knew that was just something the palace told him to say to continue to sell your cheap fake love story with Zuko.
The performance begins, and other fire benders join the stage again to show off their moves with fire alongside Zuko. Fire is dancing in the air and all around you and it feels a million times hotter and a million times more miserable because of the stupid heat. You’re not enjoying it at all, but you keep a smile on your face to fool the people. Your eyes found a way to follow Zuko’s movements: he is smooth, athletic and agile, and elegant. You had to admit he looked good fire bending, but you’d never say that. It had to be because he’s probably been practicing. It feels like a million more years until the stupid dance finally ends and Zuko holds his hand out to you to escort you back to the stands, but not before the announcer disrupts you two.
“Woah woah woah, where are you going so early?!” he stops the two of you from stepping off the stage.
“Tell me dear,” he looks at you then gestures to the audience. “What did you think of Fire Lord Zuko and his amazing performance?”
You barely paid any attention to it. “It was amazing! I always love watching him firebend.” your response is automatic, and so is the exciting smile you put up for everyone to holler and cheer at.
“She loved it, folks! Zuko, how are you feeling right now?”
“I’m happy she liked it, I worked hard to impress her.” His response and smile is just as automatic and fake as yours was.
“Wonderful, wonderful! Well, folks, what’re we thinking! A little kiss of appreciation between our lovely couple?”
Your heart practically drops to your stomach, and you feel Zuko’s hand tighten around yours. It’s not like you’ve never kissed him in public before, you have multiple times. But all those times were calculated and carefully planned out. This is a spontaneous kiss in front of thousands of people. Your hand feels a little sweaty, so you let go, but you quickly turn to Zuko and face him. You react quicker than him, standing on your tippy toes and tilting your chin up to give him easier access.
“Well?” you feel like throwing up. “Aren’t you going to kiss me, Zuko?” you feel yourself cringe.
The crowd is loud, but Zuko quickly adjusts. “So eager to kiss me now, are we?” he automatically leans down and presses his lips against yours.
Soft. Supple. Zuko didn’t think he would really feel the kiss out, and usually he didn’t, but this was the first time he noticed how good it felt to kiss you. Or maybe it was the rush of adrenaline he got from moving around. Yeah, probably that.
It’s almost as if his lips have a mind of his own and refuse to listen to him, because he’s tilting his head to kiss you more deeply and one of his hands are entangling themselves in your hair and the other is moving down to the small of your back as he holds you closer to himself. He can feel the erratic thumping of his heartbeat, fast and panicked.
People in the crowd are yelling louder now, hyping up the two of you as you kiss and you pull away. You look at him, cheeks colored with pink and droopy eyes. He’s never had any sort of reaction to kissing you before, so why now? You figured he was blushing because of the heat; after all it was really hot.
•••
“You looked like you hated the performance,” Zuko observes out loud as he leads you back to the stands. The two of you mutually decided to go back to the stands through the palace halls instead of outside to get some cool air as a break.
“What do you think? You were front and center of the whole thing, of course I hated it.” you reply.
“Why were ogling at me then?” he looks down at you and smirks.
Did he notice you staring at him earlier? Jesus, of course he did, you were so obvious! You do a mental facepalm, embarrassed he noticed.
“I wasn’t ogling; you just smelled gross, you were all sweaty. That’s all.”
“That’s not what I saw.”
“You saw wrong. Humble yourself for once.”
It’s quiet for a beat, then you decide to poke fun at his reaction to kissing you.
“You liked the kiss that much, huh?”
He stops in his tracks. “What? That was just for show.”
“Really? Then why were you all blushy and red?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he sounds serious. “It’s hot as hell outside, so don’t get your hopes up just because I can give the people a good kiss. It was all an act.”
You don’t know why, but you felt a little disappointed at what he said. Sure, it was true, but it still tugged at your heart a bit.
“Really?”
“Really.”
He’s walking again, but you have the absurd idea to test if what he said is true. Grabbing him by his arm, you tug him towards you with force, and when he leans down to you the slightest, you lean up to kiss him.
Zuko freezes in place. He panics, unsure of what to do or how to feel in the moment. It all happened too fast—the grabbing, the kissing, the—why is his heart beating fast? He’s unable to think, mind and heart cloudy with confusion. Why were you kissing him? And why was he kissing you back? He normally doesn’t find himself lost in kissing you, but that’s exactly how he was feeling right now. It’s like his head was empty and the only thing he could focus on was the sweet taste of your lips.
Oh, God.
Oh no.
No.
No.
No.
Zuko was leaning into you again, but this time with more passion. It felt rushed, like he was in some sort of hurry to get as close to you as he physically could. His hands couldn’t help but hold your face, gently grabbing your chin to tilt your head into the kiss. God, your skin was so soft and felt so nice to rub. He softly moves his lips against yours, his nose brushing against yours as he continues to kiss you. It’s like his body has a mind of its own, acting on its own desires and refusing to listen to his head. He feels your hands grab at his neck, wrapping around his throat as you forcefully push him away from you.
Zuko coughs for a second, stepping back in surprise, his hand coming up to rub his neck.
“Did you just choke me?” he accuses you.
“You did like the kiss!” you point a finger at him, a victorious smile planted on your lips. You wanted to test out and see if it was because of your kiss that he was all red and blushy, and you were right.
“What?” He feels his cheeks heat up. “No, no I did not. Why did you kiss me? Then choke me?”
And why did he kind of like it?
“To prove my point.”
“What point?” he was still thinking about your hands on his throat.
“You liked the kiss! That’s why you were all red in the face like you are right now,” you told him arrogantly. “And I didn’t choke you, I just grabbed you by the neck to push you away. Why, you got a thing for being choked?”
“No!” Maybe. “That’s absurd.” I wouldn’t mind trying it out. “Let’s just go.”
You watch him walk ahead of you, your eyes shifting from his back to the tip of his red ears.
•••
There was going to be a ball. Another stupid ball where you would have to dress up (the only fun part) and socialize with nobles and other random rich people. Sometimes, you’d fake being sick in order to skip out on these balls, but tonight was a celebratory ball for your first year of marriage with Zuko. A miserable first year. You roll your eyes, cringing at the thought that it would be like this for the rest of your life. Although you had accepted it long before the wedding, every time you thought about it, it still managed to upset you.
“Are you comfortable?” one of your maids asked you as she adjusted your dress.
“Not really,” you had a sudden thought. “Actually, I’m feeling a bit ill…”
“You cannot skip your anniversary ball, your majesty.” she spoke. She knew exactly what kind of excuse you were trying to pull.
You roll your eyes in annoyance. “Fine.”
As your maids finished dressing you up, you were instructed to meet Zuko before the ball so that the two of you could arrive together. Your maids walked you to the entrance before the ball, where you saw Zuko standing there alone waiting for you.
“Took you long enough,” he complained.
You looked towards the door, the loud music making its way through the closed doors. “Well at least I look good. You, however, look like you just rolled out of bed. As usual.”
He ignored your sarcastic comment. “Look, tonight we need to act in love, so none of that attitude you always give me.”
“We’ve been doing this for a year now; I think I know how it works. And anyway, it shouldn’t be too hard for you to act in love with me.” you lectured him.
“A part of my soul dies every time I have to kiss you or even look at you lovingly.”
“Please, what soul?”
As Zuko looked down at you to respond, one of his advisors stopped him. The two of you looked behind you to see Jia, a frail elderly woman Zuko often sought out for advice.
“Ahem, um, maybe it would be better to separate the two of you for now. Fire Lord Zuko can enter first,” she then turned to you with a sweet smile. “We’ll just have you enter from the top of the staircase into the ballroom when it begins. Everyone’s eyes will be on your beautiful gown then.”
•••
Zuko was chatting with a couple nobles about the cabbage market, pretending to be engrossed in their conversation to kill time, but he was really just dozing off and staring into space. If there was one thing he had in common with you, it was that the two of you disliked ballroom parties. When a musical horn went off to call the attention of all guests, he looked towards the top of the staircase where he knew you’d be entering.
“Everyone, please welcome Fire Lord Zuko’s wife!” someone chanted, and people began to clap and cheer.
He watched you emerge from a door, only to notice that you had changed your appearance. Your dress was more casual, you were wearing shoes that looked more comfortable, and you had left your hair down.
Perhaps it was the alcohol he had been sipping on, or the loud music, or everyone cheering and clapping at the same time, but for once since meeting you, he felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of you. Your skin was glowing and your hair was so perfectly bouncy and lucious it was difficult for him to look anywhere else. It was as if there was nothing and no one else to look at but you. He felt the thump in his chest and was unable to focus on anything else until he had been staring for too long and you were already in front of him.
She looks beautiful… for once. That’s new.
He was admiring your beauty again, sharp eyes focused on your face, noticing all the details on your face, details he had never noticed before. He was sure you probably thought he was glaring at you, but really—he was in awe. He had never seen you look so comfortable in something the palace ladies dressed you in.
His eyes were practically glued to your figure and he was having trouble snapping himself out of the sort of trance you put him under. He was feeling weak in the knees and could feel himself unsteady, you looked beautiful. Too beautiful.
Beautiful wasn’t even a good enough word to describe how stunning you looked. Ethereal, ravishing, alluring, bewitching—none of these words were enough to describe your beauty. None of them did you justice. To him, your beauty was thousands of times more beguiling than the flowers in the palace gardens you spent all your free time looking at. If he were to choose to either look at you or the flowers for an eternity, he would choose you.
And God, did he hate that. He hated the way he was looking at you right now. He hated the way that he knew he couldn’t even hide how attracted he was to you. He hated the way he couldn’t even find the right words to describe how beautiful you looked, he hated how he couldn’t pull his eyes from you no matter how hard he tried, and he hated the way that you didn’t even know how beautiful you are.
“Zuko,” you bowed politely, and his eyes couldn’t help but follow you as you moved.
He snapped back out of your trance and shook his head. It had to be the alcohol. He probably had too much and that’s why he was feeling shaky and nervous, not because his jaw almost dropped seeing how breathtakingly beautiful you looked. He blamed the alcohol. There was no way he would feel this way if he were sober. He was tipsy. He had to be.
“You look nice,” he began, knowing everyone’s eyes and ears were on the two of you. I can’t take my eyes off of her.
“That’s it?” he watched you fake a chuckle. “I’m not beautiful?” If he didn’t know your real personality, he would’ve believed your fake laugh and fake smile you had plastered on your face right now.
“You look beautiful as always,” he replied. Has she always been so pretty? Normally he would’ve felt himself cringe and had the urge to vomit calling you attractive, but this time he said it as if he actually meant it. He did mean it.
Had to be the alcohol.
He felt you grab hold of his arm as he led you to the center of the ballroom and prepared to dance. As the guests formed a circle to watch the two of you dance, suddenly he felt a rise of panic in his chest. Normally he was used to people’s eyes on him and normally he was used to dancing with you and not making a big deal of it, but something about tonight was different.
It was the fact that you looked more like yourself when you had chosen to wear something that you felt more comfortable in and the fact that you wore your hair down which you almost never did in a ball for reasons he didn’t know and the fact that because you were so comfortable, your confidence was through the roof and he found himself drawn to that.
You feel Zuko’s hand snake around your waist as he pulls you in closer to him, your face dangerously close to his as you look into his amber eyes. It was like his eyes were drilling holes into yours: he was looking at you so intensely and with so much conflict swimming in his pupils if confused you. Was he mad at you or something? If he wasn’t, why was he looking at you as if he was and why was he gripping your waist so firmly like you were going to run away or something?
Your hand came up to rest on his shoulders, and on cue, the two of you began a waltz to the instrumental music. The two of you flowed so easily to the music, swaying with passion and chemistry. You lean in closer to him, knowing the guests would think you both are close and in love. You watched everyone’s eyes on you, admiring and watching as you know people thought you and Zuko were head over heels in love with each other.
Unlike how the two of you usually dance, Zuko began to feel stiff and tense, and you wondered why that was. This dance was no different than any other dance, so why was he acting like this?
You tilted your chin upwards to get closer to his ear so that only he would hear what you’re saying. “What’s wrong with you?” you whisper. “Why do you feel so stiff?”
“I’m not stiff,” he muttered passive-aggressively. He shuddered at the feeling of your hoarse whisper against his ear.
“Relax a little, Zuko, everyone’s watching.” you warned him and assumed he forced himself to relax because he loosened his grip on you and was able to finish the dance with no more issues.
After your dance with him, you speed off to the refreshments in need of a drink and left him in the dust. As you pop some chocolates in your mouth, your eyes watch the crowd. You’re scanning faces when your eyes meet a familiar pair of golden eyes.
Zuko.
His eyes bore into yours from across the ballroom. Though people walk across your line of vision and break your staring contest with Zuko, his eyes stay on yours, watching you.
No. Admiring you. Almost longing for you. Zuko’s gaze softens, eyes filled with tender love, and for a mere second you think he might actually be in love with you.
You can’t help but stare back. Why was he looking at you like that? Did he hate dancing with you so much that he had to throw you a death stare?
Although you question why he’s looking at you with so much passion, your heart can’t help but skip a beat. It feels like it’s about to leap out of your chest. It’s making you nervous. He’s making you nervous.
Zuko is making you nervous.
His eyes are still on you, watching your every move and even though people are trying to talk to him, he’s ignoring them. It was as if you were the only person in the room and he was begging for your attention with his eyes.
You are the first to break eye contact.
Displeased with the bland tastes of everything, you looked around and noticed a waiter walking around with a tray of drinks. Waving him over, you grabbed a glass from him and downed it. It was sweet and carbonated, something you’ve never tasted before. As you turned to him to grab one more, you noticed the waiter was already gone. Shrugging it off, you turned to the desserts to eat. You were in the middle of tasting a chocolate when Mai came up to you.
“What’s up with Zuko?” she asked, popping a cookie into her mouth and leaning against the table of food.
“Did you see how stiff he was?” you asked her, sneaking a look back at him, but he’s nowhere to be found. You and Mai had become friends sometime after they had broken up and she was one of the few people who gave you comfort after you were put into this arranged marriage with Zuko. It was something small, but something you thought about often and were extremely grateful for.
“Yeah, it was painful to watch. These people are stupid to not realize that.” she watched you, eyes darting around your face to read your expression. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
Her eyes started to grow in worry as she looked closer at your face. “You look, I don’t know. Hot and red. Not the good hot. The ‘you’re heating up’ hot. Are you sick?” she held the back of her hand to your forehead. “Oh my God, you’re heating up! It feels like you have a fever!”
“What?” you questioned, patting your cheeks and neck. You were burning up. “Oh shit,” as you were heating up, your eyesight began to blur and your head was getting dizzy.
“Hey!” you heard her start to yell, but her voice sounded faint. You struggled to stay on your feet, wobbling as Mai grabbed your shoulders to stabilize you. You looked around the room and Zuko was nowhere to be found. Everyone began to stare at you and ask if you’re okay, but everyone’s voices including Mai’s were becoming more and more faint and harder to hear. You tried to stay on your feet and she tried to keep you upright, but you couldn’t help yourself and it was like your body was beginning to shut down. Your vision was almost completely blurred and so was your hearing, and very soon your body shut down and you felt yourself fainting as you fell to the ground.
•••
Zuko was out of breath as he rushed through the ballroom, grabbing random people’s shoulders and asking where you were. Some people had explained in a panic that you fainted suddenly while he was in the bathroom, and that you were taken by some maids somewhere else. After he had found out you were in the private clinic in the palace, he exited the party in a rush, practically sprinting down the hallways of the palace. He felt himself functioning off his adrenaline as he ran to you in a panicked worry. He was only gone for a couple of minutes, and in those couple of minutes you had fainted? What the hell did you even do to get yourself in a situation like that? Reaching the clinic quickly, he slammed the doors open and saw his friends sitting in the lobby.
“Where is my wife?!” Zuko asked hurriedly in a state of panic and anger. How could this happen to you? Who could have caused something like this? Were you even okay?
“Zuko, you need to calm down first.” Aang said in an attempt to pacify him. Aang swore he saw fire burning in Zuko’s eyes and steam blowing out of his nose.
“Where is she?” he brushed the Avatar off, pushing him to the side as he opened one of the doors. He burst through and saw Katara healing you as you laid unconscious on the bed. Beside you was Mai, and as soon as he saw her, he couldn’t help but shift the blame to her and glare.
“What did you do?!” he turned his anger on Mai, stepping closer to her in annoyance.
Zuko wasn’t thinking straight (obviously) and was letting his emotions dictate his words and actions. Not knowing who the cause of your condition was pissing him off and hurting him more than he wanted it to.
“What? Are you stupid? I didn’t do anything! You should be thankful! She was poisoned and fainted, and I brought her here for some privacy!”
“Zuko, Mai only helped,” Katara calmly chimed in. “If you would please stop yelling, I could heal her faster.”
“Well, hurry it up!” he snapped as his eyes looked over your unconscious body. On any other normal day, Zuko wouldn’t have cared too much about you being poisoned, but tonight was different and he couldn’t figure out why.
The fact that someone—another human being—went out of their way to poison you didn’t sit right with him. Why would someone want to poison you and not him? He was unable to come up with a reason as to why someone would want to kill you, so he had to find out. He had to find who wanted you gone and had to figure out why. Because even though you both didn’t get along, it’s not like he wanted you dead. Even if he were the one poisoned and you’d be happy, he would never wish for something like this to happen to you; he was well aware you already hated the royal life.
Zuko felt his jaw clench in anger as he left the room, heading straight to a close advisor of his: Jia.
•••
“Jia,” he knew she was always in the kitchens around this time at night, drinking tea. Oftentimes his uncle joined her, but not tonight.
“Hm?” she barely looked up from her tea as she stirred it calmly.
He stood there in front of her, hands in fists as he waited for some sort of reaction. You had just been poisoned in front of everyone, and this was how she was reacting?
“Hello?! My wife’s just been poisoned, and this is how you react?! Jia, my wife—”
“I already sent out a couple soldiers to search for the culprit, and they already have a lead on him. Apparently he was disguised as a waiter when she was poisoned.” she explained, and finally decided to look up at the distressed Fire Lord.
“I got on it as soon as it happened. Don’t worry, at this rate, we’ll have him in cuffs by the morning.” Jia’s quick action calmed Zuko’s nerves a bit, and he found himself wanting to sit with her to get himself together.
“She changed her clothes for the ball tonight,” he told Jia after pouring himself a cup of tea. “She looked different.”
“How so? All she did was ask to change her dress and leave her hair down.”
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Just less annoying, I guess.”
The elderly woman chuckled, warming her hands with her tea.
“She threw a knife at me the other night,” Zuko said to fill the silence when Jia didn’t reply. “A steak knife.”
“You two are a match made in heaven.”
He nearly choked on his tea and almost spat it out. As he coughed into his elbow, he could barely get a response out. “Match made in heaven? Jia, are you blind or something? I just said she threw a knife at me the other night! Were you not listening?!”
“You should go see her.” she spoke, ignoring his complaints.
“I already did.”
“Really?” she raised an eyebrow in response, surprised he even went to visit you in the first place. “I didn’t think you would.”
“I’m not heartless.”
“I never said you were.”
“She doesn’t want to see me.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do. I know for a fact she will not want my presence there when she wakes up.”
“Well, maybe she doesn’t want you there physically. But, you could send a message to her another way.”
•••
Your massive headache was the only thing you could focus on as your eyes struggled to open. The pounding had you feeling cranky and groggy. You just wanted to go back to bed, but Katara insisted you sit up in bed and drink some water. Your lips feel dry and you feel shaky and weak as you force yourself to drink something.
“How long was I out?” you wipe your mouth with the back of your hand.
“Couple days. Mai brought you here. And she brought you flowers.” Katara gestured to the vase of flowers on your bedside table. Purple hyacinths.
You raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why was Mai apologizing with flowers? She didn’t even like flowers, and even if she did get them for you, her choice of purple hyacinths were bizarre. Purple hyacinths symbolize sadness, and asking for forgiveness.
“That’s nice,” you brushed it off; Mai probably didn’t even know the meaning of purple hyacinths. There was no need to overthink it. “Thanks for taking care of me.” you told Katara, looking up at her and seeing her eye bags. How long has she been there with you?
“No problem, get some rest.”
“You should too. You look like you haven’t been sleeping well. I’ll be fine on my own. If I need anything, I’ll call a nurse.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind staying with you.”
“I’ll be fine,” you assured her.
When she nodded and stood up, she made sure to tell you she’ll visit once a day until you get better. You smiled at her; Katara was such a kind soul and friend.
•••
A couple more days passed and you were no longer bedridden after those days. You could finally muster up enough strength to get out of bed and walk around. In those couple of days, you were informed that the man who poisoned you was the waiter that served you a drink at the ballroom party. Thankfully, he was easily caught by soldiers who were sent out to search for him, and he was sitting in jail now as you recovered. You were told it was some scheme to try and hurt Zuko, but jokes on them because you and Zuko didn’t love each other. He didn’t even bother to come visit you or send someone to check on you. Not that it bothered you… it didn’t. You knew that you and Zuko didn’t get along, but you still felt your heart drop a little when Katara told you that he never stopped by, and that Mai was swinging by your room more to check on you.
You already knew Mai had been stopping by, because every day since you’ve woken up you noticed that there was a new vase of purple hyacinths sitting by you. You never saw Mai drop them off herself, so you assumed she did it in the early morning while you were still sleeping.
Even your husband’s ex-girlfriend cared more about your well-being than he did. Even though it was an arranged marriage and you and Zuko never wanted to be near each other, you probably still would have gone to see him if he was poisoned, so knowing he wasn’t doing the same for you tugged at your heartstrings a bit, but you didn’t want to admit it.
You shook your head in a physical attempt to shake Zuko from your thoughts. Standing up, you decided that you’d take a walk around the gardens for some fresh air. As you threw on a jacket, you stepped into your shoes and opened the door to leave. Stepping out from your room, you turn and see a disheveled Zuko sitting on a chair against the wall next to your door. When he notices you, he opens his mouth to say something, but he’s quiet. You look down at him, partly shocked but mostly annoyed. His hair looked messy and all over the place, he was dressed down, and he was holding a small blanket in his lap.
“What are you doing here? You look like you haven’t slept.” you tell him.
“Not much,” he weakly said, a clear tiredness laced in his voice. “I’ve been sleeping out here and waiting for you to come out.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do?” you retorted, walking away and not letting him respond.
Did he really expect you to believe that he had been sleeping out in the hallway these past couple days waiting for you? Did he think you were stupid? Sure, it looked like he was telling the truth, but you doubt he actually did it. Why would he anyway? The two of you didn’t like each other and never wanted to be around each other.
“Wait for me,” he pleaded, and started following your footsteps like a dog. “And no, I don’t have anything better to do.”
“How about running your country? Did you forget you’re the Fire Lord?” you rolled your eyes and made your way to the gardens as he followed after you.
Why was he still following you? Why was he acting like he actually loved and cared for you? It confused you and made your heart ache and you didn’t want to be around him. It was just too confusing and too much for you right now.
The gardens were empty like usual, so the only noise was your footsteps against the gravel and the chirping of the birds in the early morning. But of course, Zuko’s stupid loud footsteps just have to follow in your direction and ruin the entire mood.
“I couldn’t focus on anything else.”
You didn’t reply, instead choosing to walk faster in an attempt to shake him off. It was so obvious you didn’t want to be near him, so why wouldn’t he just take the hint and leave? You weren’t fully healed, so you were growing tired as you began walking in the garden’s maze in hopes to lose him.
“Fuck off.”
You felt your heart beating faster because you were feeling weak and tired again, but you ignored it and kept going. You didn’t want Zuko to bother you anymore. He calls your name once more, and his voice sounds faint so you know you’ve already begun to lose him in the maze.
Turning a corner to catch your breath, you grab your chest. Your vision was becoming hazy and it was hard staying on two feet. It was like you were poisoned again once more and you felt yourself wobbling and struggling to even stand. When Zuko calls your name again, it’s because he’s catching you as you fall to the ground.
He’s yelling your name again, but this time you can barely hear him and his face is becoming more blurry as the time passes. He’s shaking you and yelling your name, but your hearing is clouded and you feel yourself fainting in his arms, your eyes closing shut against your own will.
•••
When you awaken, the only sound in the room is the cackling fire by the bed you’re lying in. Except it’s not your bed. Sitting in a chair and half lying on the side of the bed is Zuko, sleeping soundly. You sit up and look around, the curtains are drawn so it’s almost completely dark in the room except for the fire going on the other side of the room.
It’s Zuko’s room.
You had never been in his room, but you could tell it was his from the portraits of his uncle and mother and a nearby wall and his dual swords sitting above the bed on the wall. Looking at his bedside table, you eye a book sitting on it.
Flowers & Their Meanings
Zuko reads?
You grab the book, noting a corner of a page folded in, and you flip to it. The page is titled ‘Purple Hyacinth’ and below was some written information on it. Your thoughts run back to when you had first awakened after being poisoned, back to your conversation with Katara.
“How long was I out?” you wipe your mouth with the back of your hand.
“Couple days. Mai brought you here. And she brought you flowers.” Katara gestured to the vase of flowers on your bedside table. Purple hyacinths.
You raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why was Mai apologizing with flowers? She didn’t even like flowers, and even if she did get them for you, her choice of purple hyacinths were bizarre. Purple hyacinths symbolize sadness, and asking for forgiveness.
No.
There was absolutely no way it was Zuko that brought those flowers to you. Katara said it herself that Mai brought those flowers. You did think that it was weird for Mai to bring you flowers since she hated them, but Zuko? He hates you, and you hate him. So why on Earth would he bring you apology flowers? It didn’t make any sense.
“You saw the flowers?”
You flinch in surprise, shutting the book and setting it down on the nightstand. Zuko is awake now, and sits back up in his chair. Crossing his arms against his chest, he silently and awkwardly avoids your eyes.
“That was you?” you stare at him in disbelief.
“You think Mai would give you flowers?” he stares deeply into your eyes, and you have the urge to look away.
“That’s what Katara said.”
He sighs. “I told her not to tell you about them.”
“Why?”
“I thought you’d hate it if I visited, so I sent flowers instead. I told Katara to say it was someone else.”
Actually, you thought the flowers were sweet, but that was because you thought they were from Mai and not Zuko. You and Zuko never got along well, so why would he give you flowers? It didn’t make sense at all and was confusing you. Why was he so worried when you got poisoned and why has he been following you around like a lost puppy since you woke up?
“What is wrong with you?” you said without thinking.
“Huh?”
“You wait for me to awaken after being poisoned, you read a book about flowers to pick the right ones to send to me, then you won’t stop following me after I wake up? What the hell’s going on with you, Zuko? What happened to trying to get Mai to love you again, huh? What, now that you know you can’t have her, you’re paying attention to me now, is that it?” you were starting to feel furious, mostly out of confusion, but sadness as well.
The sudden shift in Zuko’s attitude had you feeling lost and had you questioning how you felt about him. Since you had gotten married, you didn’t enjoy being his wife, so now that things were changing, you were questioning why that was.
“No, stop. That’s not the truth at all. That’s far from the truth.”
“You’re a liar.” you stand up, stepping from his
warm bed sheets as you walk towards the door. He quickly catches up to you, closing the door with his hand from behind you. He’s standing close to you, too close you can feel his breath tickle the back of your neck.
“Let me explain.”
You take a deep breath, debating if you wanted to hear him out.
“Please,” he begs you, his voice small and careful. It was as if he was walking on eggshells around you. When you react with nothing but silence, he takes it as a cue to continue.
“Things have changed, okay?” he tells you, and you turn around to look up at him and face him.
You’ve never been so up close and personal with Zuko, not like this anyways. He smells clean, and you eye his loosely tightened robe—it’s not covering his body entirely. His chest is slightly exposed, heaving up and down as he nervously tries to control his breathing around you.
“Oh yeah? How so?” you keep your eyes trained on his chest, because if you look into his eyes, you might just give in to him.
“I know we’ve had our differences—” he begins.
“I never wanted to marry you.”
“I know, I felt the same way. Well, I did. I feel… differently now.”
“Different?” you look up at him with a glare, a hidden anger suddenly starting to rise to the surface the more you stare into his dumb pretty eyes.
“Listen, I never wanted to marry you either. And when we did get married, I hated it. I know you did, too. But I don’t know, recently—recently things have changed. In a good way. I don’t know if I’ve always felt this way, maybe I have, but I can’t help but be drawn to you. And it’s driving me absolutely insane. I thought I was insane. Because it’s like, every time I see you, I can’t help but fall for you. I can’t help but stare at you and I can’t help but want you.”
Zuko speaks with such honesty and passion there is no doubting his words, and that’s what pisses you off. It takes getting poisoned for him to realize he’s in love with you? Where the hell did that even come from?
“I hate you.” is all you can say, because you don’t know how to feel. You’re lost and confused and you don’t know how to handle it.
“I know you don’t,” he speaks softly, his hand coming up to tilt your chin upwards.
His eyes look like a brighter shade of his stupid golden eyes, and he’s staring into your soul so intensely it makes you shudder.
“I do. I do hate you.” you whisper, your voice shaking and unsure. God, you probably sounded like an idiot.
“Oh yeah?” his tone is mischievous as he leans in closer, his eyes lowering to your lips.
“Yes. I hate everything about you.”
“Say it again. Tell me you hate me.”
“I hate you.”
“I love you.”
Zuko leans in quickly, his lips meeting yours in an instant. You hesitate for a moment, relishing in his soft kiss. It’s like time froze all around you and all you could think of was Zuko’s lips on yours and his large and soft hands coming up to gently stroke your cheeks.
His kiss is so innocent and sweet it pisses you off knowing how good he is at kissing. He leans into you, just barely pressing his chest to yours, and you can feel his heartbeat quicken. One hand is in your hair, combing through the soft strands as his other hand holds your waist, directing your body to press back into his. His thumb is rubbing at your hip, trying to feel you through the fabric of your clothes and suddenly you have the thought and urge to rip it all off so he can feel you up as much as he wants.
“Tell me again,” Zuko breathes into the kiss.
“What?”
“Tell me you hate me.” he pulls away for a moment and waits for you.
“I hate you.”
“I love you.” he responds breathlessly, smashing his lips against yours. This time he’s impatient, kissing you like he’s running out of time or like you’re going to be taken away and this is his last moment with you.
His head tilts to the side, the hand that was in your hair moving to grab you by your chin, easily directing you to open your mouth into the kiss. He licks into you, desperate for more as he kisses you harder, like some starved man that hasn’t had a meal in forever. His chest is heaving and you feel the hand on your waist wandering the curves of your body, desperate to feel your bare skin.
You push him away from you slightly, but only because you’re out of breath and need a moment to process what just happened.
Zuko kissed you. And you kissed him back.
But he did more than just kiss you. He made you feel something. He made you want him back. Something you never thought he was capable of.
“What about…” you start, unsure if you should say what you’re about to say.
You either have no talent for hiding your thoughts, or Zuko knows you well, because it’s as if he’s reading your mind because he finishes your sentence for you.
“Mai?”
You nod silently. You always thought she was the one for him, after all up until a while ago he was trying to get back with her.
“Things have changed,” he starts. “Actually, they’ve been changing for awhile. And it’s not what you think.”
Please, did he really think you would believe that? “Okay, then explain calling Mai to confess your love to her again in the gardens.”
“That day in the gardens,” he explains as he leads you to sit on his bed with him. “I didn’t call her out to confess to her. I wanted to see her to ask about you.”
Your eyes narrowed at him; you didn’t believe anything that was coming out of his mouth.
“I know you two are close, so I wanted to ask her for advice because I was already falling for you. But she was calling me a dick for bothering her so she left.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He looks stunned. “You wouldn’t have believed me even if I explained it to you, so it didn’t matter.”
He’s right, you would’ve thought he was a liar and you probably would’ve called him a liar like you did five minutes ago.
“So… you’re not still in love with her?”
“No.”
“You’re telling me you’re not hopelessly, desperately, absolutely blind in love with her that you can’t do anything else or think about anyone else?” you tease in one breath, your heart feeling lighter.
“No, but do you want to know who I’m actually hopelessly, desperately, absolutely blind in love with that I can’t do anything else or think about anyone else?”
“I wonder who it could be.”
“Why don’t you take a guess.” he teases, leaning over you, sharp eyes watching your every move.
“I don’t know.” you do know.
“You don’t?” he chuckles, leaning into your neck, his breath lightly tickling your skin.
“Nope.”
“Would you like a hint?” His voice is so deep and sultry you’re practically trembling at how sexy he sounds.
“That’d be nice.”
“Well, the woman I’m in love with is fucking crazy,” Zuko begins, his hand coming up to stroke your thigh. Your eyes move down to watch his muscular hands massage your inner thighs, moving closer and closer to your pussy with each firm stroke. It’s faint, but you feel yourself clench around nothing.
The veins on his hand are distracting.
“She tried to kill me with a steak knife recently,” he laughs as he recalls the memory, pulling away slightly to look at you.
He is watching your face, trying to read and memorize your features as his eyes gaze into yours. There is a new softness in his eyes when he looks at you, unlike the usual sharp glare he shoots you when you both make eye contact.
“You’re in love with a woman who tried to kill you?” you laugh quietly, going along with whatever joke he’s making.
“Surprisingly, yes. I’m even looking at her right now. Do you know who I’m in love with now?” he smiles, his eyes curving into a smile as well.
“I might need another hint.” you answer, your eyes flickering down to his lips. You hope he will kiss you again.
He picks up on your hint, leaning in to press a quick kiss to your lips. “I’ve kissed her a couple times now. But the last couple times,” he kisses you again. “It’s like she’s laced her lips with drugs or something. I’ve become addicted to her lips in just a couple kisses.” he glances down for a second, grabbing your hand and leading it to where he wants it.
He’s hard.
He directs you to stroke him through the thin material of his loosely tied robe, his lips coming down to suck on the soft skin of your neck.
“And in just a couple kisses,” he says again. “She’s managed to make me so hard.” he breathes against your neck.
“You make me so hard.” Zuko whispers faintly.
His voice sounds so sweet and sexy it almost pisses you off how much his tone is turning you on. You stroke him through his robe, feeling his hard cock underneath. You have the urge to suddenly rip off his robe, wanting to feel him. His abs, his smooth skin, his strong thighs, and his hardened dick. He lets out a soft moan against your neck, his hips unexpectedly bucking upwards for more friction.
“You have no idea what you do to me.” he whispers in your ear, his voice a slight whine.
“I think I have an idea.” you laugh, slightly tugging at the strings that tie his robe together. It’s so loosely wrapped around him that if you just tugged on it slightly, you would finally get to see him naked. He watches your fingers play with his robe, sensing your impatience.
“Take it off.” he tells you, and you act automatically, undoing the knot. He stands briefly, letting the piece of clothing fall to the ground. You stay seated on the bed, your eyes practically groping his entire body. He’s so sculpted and muscular and perfect in every way it almost pisses you off.
His hardened cock springs to life, red and angry at the tip, he looks like he could cum from just a couple strokes. Your eyes make their way back to his, and he’s watching you with such an intensity in his eyes it makes you shudder in pleasure. You stare at him in awe, almost lost in his eyes you don’t notice him stroking your cheek, his voice a small whisper.
“I love seeing you look up at me like that,” he grins, grabbing his dick as he continues to caress your cheek. “It makes me want to ruin you.” You watch him stroke himself, his pre-cum leaking at the tip.
“Then ruin me.”
He smiles a sweet smile in response, before he sticks his fingers in your mouth, forcing your lips apart before he shoves his dick into your mouth.
He’s big, way too big and the biggest you’ve ever had, but you love it. You love how it fills your mouth and you feel like you’re going to choke and it makes you think about just how good it will feel when he finally fucks you. You’re taking him all in your mouth, desperate to hear something from him, to see some sort of reaction that you’re making him feel good. Your hands grab onto both of his thighs, feeling him tense beneath your fingertips.
Strands of your hair fall in front of your face, blocking your view of him, so he grabs it, combing it behind your ears to clear your face. His hands grab at your head, shoving it further down his cock, and when you gag that’s when you hear it.
A low, desperate, sweet sounding moan that makes you clench around nothing again. He bites down hard on his bottom lip in an attempt to quiet himself, but your mouth keeps sucking him in he can’t help but let out a moan of pleasure.
“Fuck,” he groans, thrusting deeper into your mouth. Your eyes water and you rub your thighs together, anxious and impatient and wanting him to hurry and fuck you. “I love your mouth.”
He pulls out, a string of saliva connecting from your lips to his tip as he pulls his cock out. He’s visibly more turned on now; pupils dilated and cheeks red and heated.
“Your mouth feels good,” he easily grabs you by the hips to move you further up the bed. “But I bet this feels even better.” he forcefully spreads your legs with his knees and presses a hand to your clothed pussy. “For both of us.”
“It’d feel even better if you undressed me first.” you command him.
“Yes, ma’am.” he obeys, practically ripping your clothes off and throwing them behind him.
Your underwear is completely soaked, you look away and blush in embarrassment. God, did you look that desperate for some dick? Zuko seems to be infatuated with how wet you’ve become, because he leans down in front of you, his mouth hovering over your heat.
“You don’t have to.” you tell him, grabbing his hair to stop him.
“You’re right. I don’t have to,” he agrees, spreading your legs further so that you’re completely spread out for him, your entire body exposed for him and only him. “But all I can think about right now is tasting you.” he says before he places a kiss on the inside of your thigh.
“You’re so wet,” he observes aloud. “I love it.”
He leans in, his tongue sticking out to lick a strip up your wetness. He’s lapping at your pussy, licking and sucking and kissing everything it makes you dizzy. He sucks on your clit, his fingers teasing your entrance. You’re so turned on by the sound of him eating you out, you grab his hair by instinct to pull him closer to you. When he groans, you mistake it for a groan of annoyance or pain, so you let go. His lips leave your wetness for a moment, his eyes looking up to meet yours.
“Grab my hair again,” he takes your hand and entangles it into his hair again. “I love when you pull on it. I fucking love it.”
You can’t help but whimper, pulling on his roots as he moans in pleasure and you don’t know if it’s because you’re tugging on his hair or because he loves eating you out or both. Your hips are moving on their own, bucking upwards into his face as his fingers easily make their way inside you, fucking you slowly to loosen you up.
“Ahh,” you cringe at yourself, almost ashamed and embarrassed you can’t hold yourself back. Your hands leave his hair to cover your face, heat rushing to your cheeks. Zuko pulls away from you, wiping his mouth before tugging at your hands.
“Why are you covering your face?” he asks, his hands gently wrapping at your wrists and rubbing your skin soothingly.
“No reason,” you shake your head, mortified.
“Come on now, let me see your face.” he grabs your wrists with one hand, pinning them above your head as he holds you down, his face inches away from yours.
You’re even more embarrassed and red now. You’re both completely naked and he’s situated between your legs, his cock rubbing against your entrance teasingly. Your hands are pinned above you, and the weight of his hand is holding you down, you’re unable to move. He’s watching you, basking in your embarrassment.
“I love your voice,” he assures you.
“When you’re yelling at me,” he kisses your cheek.
“Insulting me,” he kisses your other cheek.
“And especially when you’re moaning for me.” he leaves small kisses on your jawline as his hips move against yours, his hard cock rubbing against your wetness. You’re so desperate to have him fuck you it’s almost impossible not to whine in annoyance.
“I love when you moan. I want to hear more of it.” he says before he pushes himself into you.
“Oh,” you gasp, struggling to take him in.
“Fuck,” he lets go of your pinned hands and grabs your hips.
“You son of a bitch,” you curse, your walls clenching down and welcoming him. You feel yourself throb around him, sucking him in as your hands wrap around his back. “You’re too big.”
“You like it though,” he mumbles, pleasure taking over his body it’s becoming harder for him to speak clearly. He thrusts slowly, swearing to himself under his breath again. You moan as he fucks you more, your hands holding the back of his neck as he buries himself into you.
“I love it, it feels so good.” you moan, stroking his hair as his hips roll against you.
“I love you.” he tells you.
“I love you.” he repeats, practically chanting it like it’s some sort of prayer.
He keeps whispering it into your ear, and you lift your hips, wrapping your legs around him as he continues to thrust into you. He glides in and out of you so easily it turns you on even more that he gets you so wet and ready so easily.
Your hands are busy exploring his smooth skin, feeling his neck and collarbone when he moans in your ear, his voice almost silent and pleading.
“Choke me,” he begs. “L-Like you did the other day. Do it again.”
“What?”
“Please,” he breathes out, his eyes looking into yours, desperate and aroused. “I want your hands wrapped around my throat.”
You steadily place your hands on the side of his neck, careful not to block his airway. You squeeze the sides of his neck slightly, and as soon as you do, his eyes roll back in pleasure and his thrusts are harder.
“Mmm,” he moans, biting down on his lips as he fucks into you. “Harder,” he demands.
The harder you choke him, the harder he fucks you. His moans grow louder and he’s practically chanting your name, begging you to destroy him as his thrusts grow haphazard the closer he gets to orgasming.
He explodes, filling you up with so much cum it starts leaking out. But Zuko keeps going, desperate to make you finish as well. You’re no longer choking him, but your hands are instead messing up his hair and his lips are on your breasts, biting and sucking and kissing, you feel dizzy.
His lips feel so good on your body. He leaves kisses and marks and words of his love and devotion for you it’s all so overwhelming. When he starts whispering to you how good your pussy feels and how much he loves you, it pushes you over the edge and you feel yourself clenching down on him hard as you reach your high.
When there’s nothing but the sound of your heavy breaths, all of a sudden you feel awkward. You hadn’t realized it until now, but you had been slowly falling for his stupid face and you were in denial about it this whole time.
“What’re you thinking so hard about?” Zuko hovers over your face, looking deeply into your eyes as if he’s trying to read you.
“Your stupid face.”
He chuckles, leaning down to brush his nose against yours before he leaves a small kiss on your cheek.
“I’m in love with you.” he tells you.
“Oh.”
“Oh?”
“Thank you.” you say awkwardly, because you’re not good with words and you’re too embarrassed to tell him that you’re also in love with him because you would probably cringe and feel even more awkward than you do right now.
“So… you do have a thing for being choked!” you tease when you suddenly remember him asking you to choke him.
He tenses, his eyes widening as he suddenly pulls out of you and sits up. “No I don’t!”
“If I remember correctly, you asked me to choke you! Remember? You were practically begging—”
He leans down, quickly kissing you to shut up. “I don’t remember that. And tell me you love me back.” he demands.
“Admit you like being choked first.”
“No.”
“Fine, then I don’t love you. I still hate you.”
“Tell me you love me.” he demands again, unwilling to give up.
“Tell me you like being choked.” you fire back.
He’s quiet for a moment, and that’s when you know you’ve won.
“Fine. I do like it, but don’t tell anyone!” he glares at you. “Now you say you love me.”
“I hate you.” you tease.
“Whatever, I still love you.” Zuko rolls his eyes, leaning in to kiss you once more.
•••
a/n: i literally added in the part of zuko getting choked after seeing a tiktok on how to properly choke someone during sex 😂
m.list
#zuko#zuko x you#zuko x reader#atla zuko#atla#avatar the last airbender#zuko smut#zuko fic#atla fic#atla fanfic#zuko fanfic#prince zuko#fire lord zuko#prince zuko x reader#prince zuko x you#fem reader#zuko x y/n#zuko fluff
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Heyyyy how is it going? I had a question about the political marriage au.
You talked about how jealous katara is of tylee, is it because tylee is azula’s ex (or even someone azula had intimate relationship with)? Or cause tylee is a tease and clingy to azula but azula is oblivious cause it’s tylee she had always been like this.
How is the relationship between tylee and azula in your au?
Thanksss for this amazing au I can’t wait to read the fic.
SO. i have many thoughts on this. my personal fun time hc characterisation for ty lee is that she's kind of (insanely incredibly) toxic when it comes to attention seeking and personal relationships. my idea of ty lee is that she endlessly chases attention - any attention, good or bad - and drops anything and everything once she thinks she's not getting enough/losing/getting bored of said attention. however she IS locked in for life to her childhood friendships with azula, mai and zuko because they afford her the only stability she's ever really had. essentially, shes co-dependant on the group and a toxic, flaky attention-seeker. i LOVE her and her insane brain.
NOW. the way that relates to the azutara au is that ty lee is highkey annoyed azula now has a wife that's taking up her time and emotional investment. very rude. she's grown up with azula and has this possessive attachment to her and to the INTENSE devotion and attention azula gives ty lee (yipeee emotional issues!!). azula is pretty much used to ty lee being like this, it's just one of her normal quirks like auras and whatnot, so she doesnt bat an eye at it. oh ty lee is hanging off her arm directly in front of her wife? that ty lee, she's so silly!
i think im leaning more on the idea they had this really super intense friendship as children (in love with each other and never realised it/said anything) and that kind of carried on/morphed into this strange, a-little-too-close-for-best-friends situation as adults.
katara has to watch in excrutiation as ty lee teases and goads (poking to get attention) while azula defends the damn woman because "this is just how ty lee is" as in she's EMOTIONALLY DUMB and can't see the very obvious weird ass dynamic they have. katara gains a fun new sixth sense called *detect when ty lee is being weirdly intimate with azula* as a result. its very effective
#they're so fun i lovee making everyone toxic#political marriage au#azutara#tyzula#sort of? ish. its a flavour of them at least#anon ask
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Zutara Probably Would Have Been Canon in Season 4 – The Masterpost
| [Intro.] |
If you’ve been around or within the Avatar fandom for any period of time you have probably, one way or another, become aware of one of the most intense shipping wars not just of any children’s show, but possibly just in general, one that is well over a decade old by now, approaching two.
Katara and Aang (Kataang), though canon, are often criticized for being one-sided, bad for each of the characters, and rushed. The creators of Avatar though – Mike & Bryan (collectively known as the entity ‘Bryke’) – have stated in the past that Kataang “was in the DNA of the [show] from the start.” (x)
Statements like the above are one of the reasons Zuko and Katara (Zutara) fans have been labelled ‘conspiracy theorists’ when they claim things that contradict Bryke: namely, that Zutara as a pairing was not only a serious consideration during the show’s run, but the likely outcome if the show had continued on for another season, which it seems it almost did.
(This hypothetical ‘Book 4’ was, for a long time, considered a Zutarian conspiracy theory in itself.)
But let’s back up.
How did these so-called conspiracy theories start?
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| [Intro. To The Rumours + Who Is Aaron Ehasz?] |
For a long time, the only thing that Zutara fans could latch onto were rumours. People who claimed to have worked at Nickelodeon, worked in the artistic community and knew things, met a writer in person, etc. This may not sound promising on its face, but the thing is, most of these rumours were consistent. Most of their content concerned the one-time possibility of season 4, and one man in particular: Avatar’s head writer Aaron Ehasz.
We’ll go into those rumours in depth in a second. For right now, here's a little teaser: (x)
But first, who is Aaron Ehasz (& ex-wife Elizabeth Welch) and what were his contributions to the development of Avatar?
[Who Are the Ehaszs, and Why Does Everyone Bring Them Up?] -- (x)(x)
Bonus: (x) (Note that the poster is Giancarlo Volpe btw, another writer on Avatar.)
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| [The Main Rumour Sources – Tumblr Blogs ‘Kataraandzuko’ & ‘Zephyrita’] |
Now we can get to the rumours themselves. The two main sources are both now-deactivated tumblr blogs. ‘Kataraandzuko’ is the first one we’re going to talk about. This person claimed to be an assistant writer/intern on Avatar Books 2/3 with inside knowledge of what went on behind the scenes in the writer’s room.
Meet ‘Kataraandzuko’: (x)
Zephyrita, similarly, claimed to be someone who interned and studied at Nickelodeon Studios in 2007 as an animation color stylist (according to (x)). It seems significant to mention that Zephyrita also claimed to not actually be a Zutara shipper.
(Besides reblogs, a good amount of her original posts can be found on the Wayback Machine. I took screenshots of a few of them and posted them to my blog individually with the links to the rest underneath.)
Meet ‘Zephyrita’: (x)
By the way, while I don’t know when the blogs were first started or when the first rumours concerning season 4 were posted, they seem to have been around since at least late 2015-2016. It’s hard to tell with the blogs and original posts being deactivated, but that’s the earliest I’ve seen. (If anyone sees anything earlier, let me know.) This will become important later.
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| [Controversy: (A conversation I had with…)] |
Now, I said we were going to talk about Kataraandzuko first and the post that we’re going to talk about specifically is this one: (x)
In it, Kataraandzuko claims to have had a conversation with Aaron Ehasz in Philadelphia. Why they were both in Philadelphia is not stated in the post. According to what Kataraandzuko wrote, Aaron seems to strongly imply that he had wanted to explore a romantic relationship between Zuko and Katara. This supposed conversation was turned into a tumblr post and written down in a style reminiscent of an interviewer and interviewee.
Being the only well-known rumour post to be written this way meant it, kataraandzuko themselves, and all the rumours generally would come under a lot of fire when Everything changed when Aaron Ehasz attacked Aaron Ehasz himself came out and said this: (x) in September, 2018.
With Aaron himself basically shooting down the idea that a season 4 (and, by proxy, Zutara) was ever seriously considered or planned, people who had viewed Zutara fans’ theories as nothing more than wild, imaginative conspiracies by desperate shippers felt like they had been proved right: (x)
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| [Other Rumours] |
And yet, rumours persisted.
[This (x) for the record, is kataraandzuko’s follow-up post to their ‘Conversation I had with Aaron Ehasz in Philadelphia’ post. I’ve reblogged a number of their other posts too. But fine, Aaron said the interview was fake, so let’s disregard everything ‘kataraandzuko’ said for now.]
Here’s someone who claims to have been present at a class that Aaron gave a lecture at at UC Berkeley: (x)(x)
(this class seems to have been real – here’s a link to people talking about it 12 years ago; the link on the page appears to have changed though: (x) )
Here’s another post concerning that class, though I’m not sure if the person they’re talking about who attended is actually the same person as above. (x)
Other posts from Reddit, 4chan, & Deviantart: (x)(x)(x)
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| [Evidence Against Kataang] |
[Series Bible] Of course, rumours aren’t really ‘evidence.’ And, while it’s hard to find evidence for something that never happened, it’s not hard to take a look at Avatar’s original series bible, or series outline by Bryke, and see that, though indeed, the series bibles only outlines three seasons, it also doesn’t outline endgame Kataang or suggest it being anywhere near ‘the DNA of the show.’ In fact, Aang and Katara & Sokka separate at the end of this version, with the latter two returning home and Aang going off to search for airbenders. (x)
[“A 50/50 Chance”] Off the record, Bryke even seemed to admit themselves that there might have been a back and forth regarding who exactly was going to end up with who. See here (x) an account of a Kataang fan who thanked Bryke at a comic con, only to be told: “Well, it was a 50/50 chance.“
[M. Night Interview] This was confirmed by a third party as well. ~Certain~ movies he’s made may not have lived up to their expectations but I see no reason why M. Night Shyamalan would lie when he says that at the time he talked to Mike and Bryan regarding a potential live action movie, there were a lot of things that hadn’t been figured out yet, including “who Katara was going to end up with.” (x)
And so, with or without a direct confirmation of season 4 by Aaron (when the world needed him most, he vanished), it seemed there had still been wiggle-room at some point in time for the potential of ~certain things~ to have, indeed, been under consideration, fourth season or not.
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| [Aaron Confirms on Twitter] |
BUT THEN.
100 Years passed and my brot—
On April 1, 2019, Aaron emerged, as if from an iceberg, to share some thoughts on an Azula redemption arc (x), confirm this was not an April Fool’s joke, and to state the following: “Yes, I always believed there would be a 4th season.” (x)
Zutara fans, realizing they had been right about this, and wondering what other strongly associated theory they might have been right about, rejoiced: (x)
One half of the infamous Bryke, Bryan Konietzko, did not. And, in fact, indirectly called Aaron a liar: (x)
And, It is worth mentioning, in the interest of giving everyone the full picture, that Bryan is not the only one to question Aaron recently. In late 2019, allegations came out of Aaron creating a sexist and toxic work environment. (x)
(Personally, I think your mileage may very on how serious or substantial you may find these claims.)
But with regards to the topic at hand, the Season 4 claims, someone on a Reddit thread here (x) recounts: “Also I wasn't really sure where to put this but Jean Paul Bondy, an artist who worked on ATLA, jumped in AE's twitter thread to say ‘I don’t remember this at all. Obviously I wasn’t party to discussion you three had. But I was always under the impression we were only doing the three.’”
Just recently, in 2023, Jack De Sena (Sokka’s VA) also answered a question about season 4 at a con: ((x) -- 27:30)
“I’ve heard subsequently that there was like, conversations about season 4 and stuff, but, at the time, it definitely felt like we were only doing three. Like, I was being told at the time like, they had conceived of this like, closed arc, three season… thing. So, while they were planting some seeds for like, here’s other story elements that we could explore in other areas when we have the time, it definitely felt like, ‘okay, this is, this is the journey we’re going on together, it has reached a logical conclusion.’ So, it did feel, to us while recording it, quite final and complete.”
“I was always told it was a set three,” confirms Zachary Tyler Eisen (Aang’s VA)
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| [Discussion] |
So, in a sense, we’re back where we started. Though, I would question how much, exactly, artists and voice actors, who I would assume typically only start working on scripts that have already been decided on long beforehand, would really know about any behind the scenes discussions among the writers about potential trajectories and arcs for the show as a whole (and how long those would take to play out).
And Jack did mention that he’s heard now that there were “conversations about season 4” – I’m assuming he’s heard that from more trustworthy sources than internet rumours. And, if he did, then that directly contradicts Bryan seemingly saying he never had the slightest interest in making a fourth season and was always firm on that.
After looking at everything, it seems clear to me that, to the direct contradiction of a few rumours on my blog, Avatar was probably NOT pitched as a 4 (or more) season show. I do think it was probably pitched as three. But I also think, after the show was greenlit or as it was going on, Aaron saw the potential for more seasons and pushed for them. Maybe those discussions didn’t make it very far out of the writer’s room. Maybe there was a point in time where Aaron felt he had been successful in convincing Bryke to go for a fourth season. Or maybe he always felt like he’d be able to get them there eventually. Maybe the movie finally put an end to any of Aaron’s hopes. I don’t know.
But, it’s kind of irrelevant. If the ‘conspiracy’ is that Aaron was setting up the show for a Zutara ending in season 4, then it doesn’t matter how close, in reality, we were to a fourth season. What really matters is whether or not Aaron thought there’d be one.
“Yes, I always believed there would be a 4th season”
And it seems he did.
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| [‘Zephyrita’, ’Tizuyan’ & the Smoking Gun] |
Now, you may have noticed that there was someone mentioned before that we never talked about: Zephyrita. I waited because I’ve noticed something that I’ve never seen anybody else talk about, and decided it needed its own section.
Zephyrita was, of course, one of the two main bloggers that claimed to have worked/interned on Avatar back in the day and posted things they supposedly remembered from behind the scenes, things that all supported the Season 4/Zutara theory.
Given that Aaron indirectly called out the other main blog as a fraud, causing us to have to disregard them for now, you may wonder why anyone should view Zephyrita’s credibility as any different. Here’s actually a post of someone arguing with her about this and Zephyrita’s response: (x)
“’You can’t prove you worked at Nick!!’
What type of proof do you need? Why do I have to prove something as insignificant as this anyway? Like, working there isn’t some exclusive club and I didn’t write an entire episode, I just interned and studied there but I did get to talk a lot with the staff. I wanted to intern at CN but I ended up with Nick in the end. This was all back in 2007 and I’ve been working in advertising since then. You want me to just ring up Tim Hendricks and ask him how he is after almost 10 years? […] I would post my studio pass as ‘proof’ but that contains confidential info.”
So let’s get into why I believe Zephyrita.
(x) – This is a post where Zephyrita is asked what some of Aaron’s ideas were that didn’t make it into the show. Most of her response has to deal with Zuko and Katara, but it also includes this little tidbit about Aang at the end:
“Aang would leave on a self-searching journey after feeling the consequences of energybending and getting jealous over how close Zuko and Katara had become.”
In another post (x), she shares “my friend yan no longer has tumblr because people on this site are RIDICULOUS but she told she wanted to put in some extra info about the ideas that ehasz had:”
‘Yan’ I’m thinking is another deactivated user – ‘Tizuyan’ – who also used to post about the unexplored ideas Aaron had. (Admittedly, I’m not sure how they claimed to know any of it.)
But Zephyrita shares the ideas that ‘Yan’ supposedly gave her, including this one: “zuko and katara develop an understanding and bond that the other characters can not comprehend. they grow very close and sokka starts to suspect there is something going on between them. aang starts feeling jealous but tries to hide these feelings (ehasz said he would start feeling “weird” lmao). this would play a part of his growing darkness.”
In yet another post (x), Tizuyan herself writes “They would have fit very well within the possible Book 4 where Aang became “dark” and traveled back to the Air Temples for solace (where he examines himself, and finds a bunch of flying bison + winged lemur)”
So, to summarize, there would have been consequences to energy bending that would have caused a growing darkness in Aang. And as said before, all these posts are from around 2015-2016, if you go back and look at their earliest, still-existing notes.
Why is this significant?
-----------
It is significant because in 2019, after confirming he always thought there’d be a fourth season on twitter, Aaron Ehasz did an interview (x) where he talked a little bit more about what his ideas were for Season 4, beyond an Azula redemption arc. Obviously, there’s nothing in this interview about Zutara. But. But. There is this:
“Ehasz reaffirmed his earlier stated plans for a longer arc for Azula but also divulged additional details. One plotline would have followed up on Aang taking away Fire Lord Ozai’s bending at the end of the third season.
‘My feeling about that was like there’s always a cost, right? There’s always some balance. You can’t just be like I’m the Avatar, taking your powers away. It’s a great power, but part of it is you just took all this evil into you. To take it away from someone else you’re holding onto it to protect the world.’
For Aang that would have been an incredible burden and something Ehasz would have wanted to see him deal with.
‘The story I wanted to tell with Aang was about him struggling with taking some of that inside and probably a considerable amount of anger and guilt and big feelings. By the way, guess who would be the best person to have a mini vacation with? It’s Zuko! Someone who’s processed a lot of anger on his own, right?’”
So… basically… there would have been consequences to energy bending that would have caused a growing darkness in Aang.
It matches up perfectly.
And not only that, but you’ll notice in the interview he also mentions wanting to focus on Iroh and his spiritual transformation, and mentions something relating to the potential for existing airbenders. This also matches up well with other things that were written in the latter two tumblr posts linked above.
So, what are the possible explanations? Liars/delusional shippers on tumblr who were falsely claiming to have insider knowledge on Avatar just so happening to have hit on some of the exact same season 4 plot points as the head writer, 3-4 years before season 4 was even a thing that had been acknowledged publicly? Aaron Ehasz trolling the internet and coming across these theories and then repeating them as if they had been his own ideas for… some purpose?
Or that maybe some of these blogs had been telling the truth?
This is why I called this section ‘the smoking gun’ – I believe that Aang can save t- that DenofGeek interview, along with those old rumour posts give credence to everything else Zephyrita/Tizuyan had to say. (And we’ll get back to ‘kataraandzuko’ later.)
Link to Zephyrita’s posts and comments: (x). The only other post of mine that I know Tizuyan appears on is this one: (x)
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| [Zutara Evidence – External and Textual] |
And there’s more concrete evidence than just rumours. We’ve already gone over the ‘hard’ evidence against the idea that Kataang was planned from the start, but up until now we haven’t gone over the evidence that exists to support Zutara specifically.
First, here’s just a post (x) showing, besides what we’ve already gone over, how Zutara was teased in some of the promotional materials, as well as some comments (including the ‘Avatar Extras’) made by some other writers on the show, further confirming what Bryke once privately acknowledged to a fan – I’m not sure if the chance was exactly 50%, but it seems it was definitively higher than 0.
And, it seems, high enough that little bits of foreshadowing (or…potentially, a major amount of foreshadowing, depending on your view) did make it into the show itself.
Much has been made of the parallels that exist between the ‘Cave of Two Lovers’/’Crossroads of Destiny’ episodes, namely the two lovers with a red and blue color scheme from opposite sides of a war that come together in a cave of glowing crystals… and the two characters with a red and blue color scheme from opposite sides of a war… that come together in a cave of glowing crystals.
Here’s a few posts that break this down in depth: (x) (x) (x)
And here’s just another little piece of external evidence, another comment by a writer – and actually the writer of ‘The Cave of Two Lovers’: (x)
(I noticed he also mentions the series bible saying Zuko and Katara were supposed to end up together??? Yeah, I don’t know what that’s about. Make of it what you will.)
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| [Bryke Being Nasty to Zutarians] |
^^Is it necessary for me to write this section? No.
But, in a way, it’s what led to my interest in this. I’ve said before that if Mike and Bryan had just been normal adults about all this, said that Zutara was a thing that was considered, that could have happened but didn’t, respected their friendship/bond in canon, and just said to all the Zutara fans, “sorry it didn’t go your way this time; hope you can still enjoy the ending anyway!” we wouldn’t have a problem. I would have just thought it was a shame and missed opportunity, and then moved on with my life and not really thought about it ever again.
It's the apparent lying and immaturity and seeming… mean-spirited-ness (?) that gets me. I don’t understand it.
In a rumour from Tizuyan ((x) - this is the second tizuyan post that I linked at the end of the second to last section) she writes: “Bryke despise Zutara.”
This would certainly explain why Zuko and Katara hardly ever seem to have positive interactions in any of the material beyond Avatar’s original series, that is if they even interact at all.
(See Bryan’s out-of-nowhere response to the neutral question, “Can we expect a reunion for the returning characters from The Last Airbender [in Legend of Korra]?” which was:
“As far as a date night between Katara and Zuko, I think you are going to have to stick to the fan art for that." (x) (Not sure if there was any more to this answer or not; I can’t find the original interview, though I know I remember seeing it way back when.)
It would also explain the contents of this rumour (courtesy of Zephyrita) (x) regarding the writing, or re-writing, of ‘The Southern Raiders’ episode.
And it would explain Bryan’s infamous, “Come on kids! ‘Zutara’ never would have lasted! It was just dark and intriguing” comment. (x)
What it wouldn’t explain is the even more infamous video that Bryke debuted at 2008 San Diego Comic Con, and which Bryan (who really seems to be the main instigator in all of this, apparently) has since reposted to his own tumblr account: (x)
You know, the one where Bryke mock Zutara fans with their own fanart and say that “Women who think that Zuko and Katara should be together will forever have doomed relationships.” Yeah.
I have no further comments on it other than what’s already been written in the reblogs linked above.
(And all this is all the more frustrating when Bryan himself seems to have had a slight change of heart when it comes to the ‘DNA of the show’ and writes in late 2014 in a post on The Legend of Korra: “Personally, at that point I didn’t want Korra to have to end up with someone at the end of series. We obviously did it in Avatar, but even that felt a bit forced to me.” (x) (Like, HUH?! Since when?!)
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| [Aaron Ehasz Again + Final Thoughts On The Kataraandzuko “Interview”] |
Meanwhile, Aaron himself painstakingly tends to avoid discussing Zutara, unless it’s brought up to him directly, in which case he usually just gives a wishy-washy answer about how he tries not to actively ship any characters. Though, we will go into an interview that’s slightly more interesting than this in a little bit.
First, I must bring to everyone’s attention a video that it seems no one else has noticed, as the post only had 4 notes on it at the time of writing this. (x)
Here is Aaron Ehasz at a comic con in 2006, which I believe would be sometime before season 2 had finished airing, showing the audience various ships from the show (most of them ridiculous) before at the end getting to Maiko (called Maizu), Kataang, and lastly (which I feel is significant)… Zutara.
This really appears to me to be Aaron showing the audience the ‘serious ships’ under the guise of this being just some funny game, and using the strength of the cheers from the crowd as a way to gauge interest for a potential endgame ship. Either for his own purposes… or for the purpose of possibly convincing someone else. I interpreted this video this way even before I just re-watched it while writing this post and realized that Aaron actually says this directly:
“We really want to hear what you have to say. I want you to know you have a lot of influence and power right now… ‘cause your, your cheers or boos will really… affect it.”
And I think it might make sense to combine this with the rumours here (x) about the supposed lecture at Berkeley where Aaron once flippantly remarked that Zutara couldn’t happen because it “would have made the six year olds cry” and the rumours by jhenne-bean herself, the one who claimed to have been at that lecture, who gives more context here (x):
“GURL IT WAS TOTALLY 50/50 even during the last season.
Actually, Nick execs pushed Kataang.
Because without it (according to one of the head writers that came and spoke to my class last semester) the “six year olds would cry.” Obviously that’s not the sole reasoning behind their decisions, but the intended demographic did sway the final outcome.”
(So, based on all this, I’m thinking that Aaron was probably a little disappointed in that video above when the Zutara cheers didn’t overpower the Kataang ones. [So am I, Aaron. So am I.])
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Now, the only actual filmed interview with Aaron Ehasz about Avatar that I know of is this one: (x) in 2019, where he’s asked questions by fans. Yes, Zutara is brought up, though the surprising part is it’s seemingly at Aaron’s own prompting. For that reason and others I find this interview to be very interesting; I actually did a breakdown of it here (x), which I encourage everyone to consider.
If you’ve read through that breakdown, or just watched the video in question, you will have seen that the “fake” interview from before (x) was once again brought up. I put the word ‘fake’ in quotes because that’s how Aaron appeared to refer to it in the interview – with air quotes. And so now it’s time for my speculation on this “fake” interview:
I think it’s fairly clear that Aaron does not want (or, for some reason feels unable to (?)) speak freely regarding his opinions on how the relationships of Avatar did (or did not) play out. I think it’s safe to say he has avoided saying anything ‘on the books’ that would place him at odds with Bryke (though that post about M Night wanting to focus on season 4 and Bryke wanting to focus on the movie cut it pretty close) or put him on a definitive side of the shipping war, one way or another.
That’s why it makes sense to me that a rumour on the internet that wasn’t just any rumour, but was written in such a way so that it looked like an official *interview*, with Aaron’s name appearing before statements supposedly attributable to him and everything, would be something he’d want to make sure everyone knew was not actually official. If that conversation between kataraandzuko and Aaron actually happened, he would have believed it to be, at the time, a private conversation. He never would have intended for the person he was talking to to post their conversation and make it look like he said these things on the official record.
So, yeah, despite Aaron calling that post out specifically, I think it’s still plausible that that conversation could have actually happened and that kataraandzuko wasn’t lying. Her (?) original tags even say to take it with a grain of salt since it was written from memory.
And notice the line, “I wanted Aang to defeat Ozai and go through some emotional turmoil after taking the Fire Lord's bending.” Sound familiar?
Here’s another variation of one of kataraandzuko’s posts from before (x) where they talk more in depth about being an intern at Nick and what they saw behind the scenes of Avatar, even admitting, “Haha, it’s not hard getting an internship at Nickelodeon. They’re not strict and they accepted me on my first attempt. You just have to be a university student with a lot of motivation.”
(And witness at the end of the post another defensive-Bryke-Bryan example.)
Could all their posts be lies? Sure. But they always seemed credible enough to me. And given everything else we’ve gone over, can you really say anything they posted sounds all that crazy?
So, for your consideration, here’s my tag of all ‘kataraandzuko’s posts: (x)
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| [Summary of All Rumours] |
Also, for your consideration, now that we’ve got all the context behind us, is this post which lists every major piece of gossip about what season 4 would have included had Bryke the universe allowed it to exist: (x)
And a post which I think perfectly encapsulates everything here and my final stance on it: (x)
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...And so. We should be all caught up now.
I hope this post will be useful to anyone who’s confused about the little bits and pieces of things you might have come across or heard regarding season 4 or zutara or Aaron Ehasz or supposed conspiracies. (Or to anyone who just got tired of seeing everyone else, confused, talking about it this way, without the full context.)
If there’s anything major that you feel I missed here, feel free to let me know and I’ll consider adding it in. Otherwise, enjoy the show, enjoy your ship, and I hope you enjoyed reading. Goodbye, everybody! 😊
#Zutara#zukoxkatara#Zuko x Katara#Avatar#Avatar: The Last Airbender#the masterpost#I can't believe I missed posting this in time for Zutara month by two days#I say 'goodbye' at the end of this because now that I've posted it I'm kind of done with this blog#so don't bother following this account I probably won't post anything else beyond today#I've said all I really wanted to say on the topic; though we'll see what happens in a year or so when that adult Gaang movie comes out
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A Secret Darkness
Idea by Stardust948
Part 2 Part 3
Princess Emi of the Fire Nation had always been a happy ball of sunshine. The first born child of Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Katara, she radiated a different type of light than the world had been seen before her birth. A happy baby, Emi began smiling and giggling at two-months-old and rarely stopped since.
For her parents, their eldest child lived up perfectly to her name, meaning “blessing”. After losing so much to the One-Hundred-Year War, both mentally and physically, Emi was the light of their whole worlds right from the moment Katara found out she was pregnant.
Zuko in particular vowed to himself the moment his daughter was born that he would protect her from all of the darkness of the world. Whether it meant spoiling her beyond belief, indulging in Emi’s every whim and dropping whatever he was doing if she as much as called for him, or instinctively picking her up and taking her away from any place or situation that could be considered even the least bit dangerous. Zuko was a protective girl dad through and through.
This protective instinct was often extended to the people Zuko was cautious of letting into his child’s life, including his own family.
Azula hadn’t been a large part of Zuko’s life following the end of the war, having been put in a psychiatric facility almost immediately following her loss during Sozin’s Comet. During the entirety of Katara’s pregnancy with Emi, the Fire Lord assumed his kids would never meet their aunt. Thankfully, his sister had recovered enough to be discharged when Katara was five-months-pregnant.
It was a long process, but Azula’s weekly therapies and regular medication really helped stabilize her mind, they eventually got to a place where Zuko was more comfortable gradually letting her back into his life. Soon enough, when Emi was three-months-old, Zuko finally introduced his new bundle of sunshine to her aunt. Since then, Azula has accepted the title of “cool aunt” and was quite good at it. She loved her niece and prayed to Agni above that she never lost that light of innocence in her eyes.
Despite having been reunited with his own mother, finding her alive with a new husband and 10-year-old daughter, Zuko hesitated on introducing her to Emi until she was around a year old. Even so, Ursa barely had a relationship with Emi, too focused on her new life and her youngest daughter Kiyi. It was that, along with other things, that led Zuko to decide to go low contact with his mom. He refused to let his daughter go through what he did and would not trust anyone with her if they were not going to be a reliable presence.
Then, there was Ozai. Zuko had been adamant from the moment he and Katara started discussing the possibility of having children that his father would not have anything to do with his kids. This was one thing that the Fire Lady had no problem with, knowing just how evil Ozai was and would always be. So, Emi grew up for the most part believing Iroh was her paternal grandfather, calling him “Papa Iroh”.
As Emi grew older and started getting more curious about the world around her, Zuko’s protective levels started going into hyperdrive. This wasn’t helped by the fact that, since having her, he and Katara had expanded their family by two, with his wife giving birth to their second daughter Kya (named after Katara’s late mother) when Emi was two, followed by their third child and first-born son Kallik just a few years later. How was he supposed to keep his eye on a rambunctious little girl, a toddler, and a newborn while simultaneously keeping up with all his duties as Fire Lord?
Unlike the Fire Lords of the past, Zuko made it clear that he and Katara would not rely on an arsenal of nannies and servants to raise their children. This meant the royal couple did the majority of the childrearing themselves. While they did have Iroh, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee living at the palace to help on occasions where both he and Katara were super busy, it wasn’t like any of them could be at multiple places at once.
Plus, Emi was starting to get really good at sneaking away undetected for long periods of time. While she thankfully never went beyond the palace grounds, it was still a frightening experience as Zuko would be frantically searching every corner of the palace and beyond for his missing daughter, only to find her hiding in some small corner of the palace library with a smile on her face, eating a freshly-stolen box of cookies from the kitchen.
While it usually wasn’t any more than that, this habit of exploring places throughout the palace that she wasn’t allowed to be in often led to some close calls. Catching her before she got too close for comfort.
Unfortunately, on one fateful day, it happened.
Emi, now six-years-old, wanted to play with mommy and daddy, but unfortunately, they were too busy. At the moment, Katara was feeding the five-month-old Kallik and Zuko was stuck in a meeting with his council, leaving Aunt Azula to at least try to keep an eye on both her and four-year-old Kya.
After several hours, Azula thought she finally got the two young princesses down for their nap. But, the minute she left the room to fetch the girls some snacks and juice, Emi woke up and escaped her Aunt’s suite to once again start exploring the unchartered places of the large Fire Nation palace.
After a while, she found herself downstairs, below the grounds of her home, down in a place she had never seen before. It was mostly dark, except for the flickering of fire light from the torch flames that lines the walls. Emi knew she should go back upstairs before someone realized she was missing, but her naivety and strong sense of curiosity got the better of her. She kept slowly walking through the narrow hall, her big golden eyes looking all around her with such wonder.
Suddenly, the little princess stumbled upon a dark cave marked off by chains and a sign that read “High Risk Prisoner, Under Strict Lockdown, No One is Permitted to go Beyond this point without the presence of authorized staff”. While most people would read that and immediately turn back, Emi didn’t really know how to read anything beyond the level of her picture books and fairy tales.
She was completely oblivious to the darkness a person could possess. She grew up believing everyone and everything was all happy and bright. That even those that were bad at first would eventually become good with just the right help and encouragement. That just a bit of kindness and forgiveness would enough for people to change. She had no idea just what she would find when she got her little body past the chains to see what was on the other side of the cave.
Emi walked slowly down the path. As she approached the end, she saw an old man behind a wall of clear metal. Who is this man?, she thought. His hair was light grey, long and disheveled. His eyes were locked to the floor, devoid of any emotion. Sitting with his back against the wall, his body crouched over like an old hermit just passing the little time he had before death finally took him. Emi kept her distance from him, but her curiosity kept her from running in the other direction.
Suddenly, the man slowly turns his head, looking right at the young princess. Emi cautiously takes a few steps forward as the man’s eyes widen. “Azula?,” the man finally speaks. The child doesn’t answer. Instead, she cocks her brow, confused as to why the man just called her by her Aunt’s name.
Emi did resemble her father a lot. She had his ember-colored eyes and midnight black hair. But, her skin tone was only one shade lighter than her mother’s natural mocha shade. Her father, in comparison, had a light ivory skin tone, just like Aunt Azula. So, Emi didn’t know how this man she had never met before could confuse her with Azula or how he knew of her aunt in the first place.
The man speaks again, louder this time, “Azula! I’m so glad you came to visit. Have you heard what your brother has been doing?”. The man knew her father. Curiosity getting the best of her, Emi decides to play along and not reveal herself to the man. “No. What?,” she asks the man. He scowls as he begins ranting, “Your good-for-nothing brother has decided to completely destroy our bloodline. Not only did he marry that retched waterbender from the south pole, but now he has gotten her pregnant. Can you believe it? The heir to the throne, without the pure ivory skin of Fire Nation royalty. It is simply an abomination!”.
Emi didn’t know what to say to all that. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Clearly he was talking about her parents, and the “abomination” he was referring to could only be her. She had never in her life heard anything like this. “Wh-why is it an abomination? I mean, how would it reflect on him as a leader?,” she inquires, hoping to find out more.
The man cackles madly, “My child, Agni above has blessed our nation to be superior to all others. The Fire Nation is the greatest nation in the world and our bloodline is the purest in the land. Your brother tainting it with some tribal whore just proves that he doesn’t care about his country.”
Emi’s heart drops hearing those words. Did he just say Aunt Azula was his child? Is this man Dad and Aunt Azula’s dad?, her mind races. But, that’s impossible. Papa Iroh is dad’s dad. He’s my grandfather. Surely, daddy would never lie to me about something like that.
“I swear, the spirits are going to burn this nation to the ground and damn us all to the pits of hell for this disrespect to Agni… Either way, thar bastard child of his will always be half-water tribe. By that alone, our family tree will be tainted with impure blood. Agni help us all that child becomes fire lord. But, I suppose you already know that, Azula.”
Emi takes one step back, growing scared of this man. He continues to rant as the child slowly walks backwards, every word he says seeping into her brain and being internalized by the young, innocent soul.
“Don’t worry, soon enough you, my golden child, will take back the throne from your traitor of a brother and his snow-eating whore of a bride. I know you, Princess Azula. My little prodigy. You were born lucky, truly gifted in your abilities as a firebender. And once you finish the job from that Agni Kai, all other nations will fall and you and I will rule as supreme leaders of the world!”
The prisoner starts laughing like a mad man and that’s when Emi couldn’t bear to hear another word. She turns around and runs out of there as fast as she could. Thankfully, the man was so wrapped up in his own laughter and delusions that he didn’t notice. His deep, evil laughter echoing off the walls as she ran back through the narrow dirt pathway.
The princess felt an ache in her stomach as she began to run up the stairs. She felt the tears picking at the corner of her eyes, threatening to fall. She held it all in as she made it up to the top of the stairs and rushed over to the family wing of the palace. Even as servants called her name as she quickly passed, she didn’t answer. Finally, she made it back to her room, going in and slamming the door shut.
She takes a few deep breathes before her lips begins to quiver and her eyes water. Emi runs over to her bed and leaps forward, landing face-down onto the mattress. The now-terrified princess buries her face in her pillow as she begins to cry.
The Fire Nation’s innocent ray of sunshine had just seen the secret darkness of the world. And things would inevitably never be the same again.
Hope you guys liked this. If you want me to continue this and write a part 2, please let me know.
#avatar the last airbender#atla fanfic#avatar fanfiction#fanfiction#katara#zuko#zutaranation#zutara fanfic#zutara fic#zutara fanfiction#zutara#zuko x katara#katara x zuko#steambaby#steambabies#fanfiction writer#fanfic#zuko and katara#kid fic#ozai#princess azula#momtara and dadko
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F1 Driver Pairings As Popular Tropes/Pairings
Part 1
(Daily reminder that these are real people and I don’t actually believe any of this is real- but aren’t tropes fun!)
Feel free to add your own! Or request a pairing!
Lestappen as the Red & Blue characters.
Obvious? Yes. Does it work? Also yes. People who should be opposites or are in opposite situations but are actually pretty similar. They’re red and blue! Opposites attract people! It’s flashy new energy drink vroom vs haunted biblical ferrari vroom and it works!
Yes this is enemies to best friends/lovers but in particular it’s awful first impression to begrudging respect to realising I like you as well as respect you- with a large amount of teasing still in play but less violent in nature. Less good memories become very good with time ;) Pride & Prejudice first impression vibes?
Honorable mention: the red string of fate (the inevitable & the predestined, they will be fighting eachother forever etc.)
Think Merlin & Arthur, Gnomeo & Juliet, Zuko & Sokka or Katara, Keith & Lance, Fireboy & Watergirl even
Brocedes as friends turned enemies
The opposite to Lestappen- this is no friendly rivalry. Best friends to not respectful rivals to enemies with a sprinkle of one of you may be turning evil. This relationship haunts the narrative.
Gives “hello old friend” energy. It’s all about the “historical context” and going into a panic attack anytime the other is brought up.
Honourable mentions: “there was only one bed” (because this had to have happened when they were sharing a room while traveling the globe) and dead wife energy.
Examples include Professor X & Magneto, Anakin & Obi Wan, Peter Parker & Harry Osborn. If you’re going biblical it’s the Cain complex.
Maxiel as grumpy x sunshine
That one sunshine character who the grumpy character has a soft spot for- eventually becoming goofy and sunshiney just around them.
A side of coming of age and hero worship which then flips around as time goes on. It’s all about the character growth!
A little bit of resentment- nothing new by Taylor swift comes to mind. “I’ll say I’m happy for them then I’ll cry myself to sleep” definitely gives “if it’s not me then I’m glad it’s him”. Also right where you left me after Daniel leaves to Renault!
The longest game of gay chicken perhaps ever played.
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Why Ozai is not a bad character
This seems like an outrageous take but hear me out.
My first topic of discussion is how horrible ozai's childhood must have been. His father was Azulon and the way he treated Zuko and Azura was probably has a direct correlation to how his own childhood must have been. Like that scene where his dad slapped for spilling a cup of water. He also has burns all over his body from his father, you just don't see them in the show. Or the comics. Trust me. Because there's evidence that clearly points to this.
Second, about Zuko's whole scar. 13 year old Zuko is a known deceptive, manipulative, evil worm. Think about how quickly he switched sides from the "evil" side to team avatar (suspicious). Also, it's so obvious that his scar is fake and that he reapplies it every morning and night. You can even see cosmetics in the background, and there's one scene where it's not even on his face. like could they have made it any more obvious, yet all you LOVE manipulative and lying Zuko.
Next let's talk about URSA. OH MY GOD URSA. When firebird ozai threatened to mistreat Zuko to Ursa, he was just trying to defend himself from his evil manipulative child to his equally manipulative wife. She mistreated her children and him and escaped the second she saw the chance, without a second thought towards her family. Also, the thing that's most ignored by this ignorant fandom, is how she threatened his parents that she would release fire nation noble secrets unless she could marry their son, Ozai, who was terrified of her. Also, the way he proved his love by sacrificing his own parents for her in the comic "North and South".
For Azula, I think it goes without saying how insane Azula is, not to mention how ungrateful she is towards her father in the last episode after she's made firelord even though she's not even that talented, Ozai's words not mine. Ozai also had a good reason to mistreat Azula, seeing how much she mistreated the one he loved, Mai. Even in Azula's childhood she would lie to her parents, even her father even though he clearly cared about her and was a very good parent.
Not much can be said about Iron, considering we don't see much of their relationship. Consider how negligent and uncaring Iron was towards his brother after he lost his nephew, Lu Ten. Iron instead used this to bring attention to himself. He also betrayed Ozai, putting his manipulative nephew Zuko over his own brother.
Next is Mai, she lied to the firelord to get on his good side, and in the end just betrayed him to go with Zuko and avatar. Mai might be the worst character in the show, seeing as she betrayed not only one of her closest friends, but also Ozai, the man who truly loved her. Not to mention, the only reason she liked Zuko was because he joined the avatar and she believed his side would win in the end. Because all she ever cared about was making herself look good.
AANG!! Despite the fact that he had unresolved feelings for the firelord, he still took down his love and deep down should feel ultimately guilty.
Finally, Ozai is extremely attractive. Let's start with his lovely, clear skin and his high sculpted cheekbones and beautiful glossy olive skin. Not to mention his beautiful golden shining eyes, sculpted into the perfect almond shape. He was especially attractive in the New live action. Considering his beautiful ribbed abs, his long Lucious, black locks, and even in the final battle how he still looks put together and attractive and HOT.
We need to talk about one final point, how he just wanted his kingdom and his people to be the best it could possibly. All of his actions were just him looking out for his people. He mistreated some people but he could have been a lot worse. And he was a good king. He's just very patriotic in his love for Agni kai, his people, and the color red. and bonfires. and birds. He especially loved the beautiful sight of grey smoke falling over the beautiful, white, melting snow whenever he attacked the southern water tribe.
Also he is a good king.
Thank you for coming to my ted talk
#atla#ozai#atla ozai#avatar ozai#lu ten#avatar: tla#sokka#katara#anti azula#toph beifong#aang#avatar the last airbender#azaang#chanzula#hakursa#hakya#halina#haroph#harutara#heirik#hei-waang#jai#jesark#jetara#jetzula#jinko#junko#junroh#kakku#kataang
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The Remarried Empress cast where male reader is Zuko from ATLA? He's a Prince born from a prominent Fire Mage who runs away to escape the tyrannical reign and ends up becoming a guard for the Empress. One day, during a party where many from different countries come, someone from his 'country/nation' recognizes him and begs him to come back and help the powerful elemental mage 'the Avatar' learn fire magic to save their kingdom from his father.
He's made good friends here and is happy by Navier's side (maybe he even loves her) so he doesn't want to leave; I assume Sovieshu would try to kick him out of the Eastern Empire to get him away from the Empress while Navier would want him to help stop his country from tearing itself.
Preface: You were the Prince and heir to the throne of the Southern Kingdom, but you had escaped so you wouldn’t be subject to your father’s tyrannical behavior. There was a merchant ship, and you made your escape to the Eastern Empire. Because of your fire-bending capabilities, you rose through the ranks of the Empire’s military. and therefore won your way into nobility.
Sovieshu
Bro’s mad that you’re closer to his wife than he is. You were handsome, mysterious, and foreign. Plus, the scar on your face showed that you were strong enough to endure such a burn. But, that gave you no excuse to go escort the Empress and get a closer relationship with her.
When the New Year’s Party happened, there was already a crap-ton of drama stirring up. Then, someone from your kingdom recognized you. Sovieshu realized that he could use this to his advantage. Since you crossed borders illegally, he could exile you.
And that’s what he did. Sure, you had to go back anyway, but if you were exiled then you couldn’t come back. It may be a hassle for the Emperor to find someone to take over your position, but anything is better than a foreigner trying to get with Navier (just wait for Heinrey, bro).
Rashta
You were a handsome, mysterious young man who was a strong soldier and an even stronger general. If she hadn’t scored Sovieshu, she might have tried to go for you. She did try to befriend you since you both were in similar positions (starting at nothing and building yourselves up to be something), but you were dedicated to Her Imperial Majesty.
But, you did not start at nothing. One of your former subjects had recognized you at the New Year’s Party, and you had been revealed to be the Prince of the Southern Kingdom. Rashta was definitely shocked, considering she tried to befriend a literal Prince.
Even though the young mistress was angry that you chose Navier over her, she really wished that His Imperial Majesty would reconsider your exilement. To be fair, you had to leave anyway to train the ‘Avatar’ to overthrow your father and install you as the King, but still.
Navier
You would think that she would be attracted to you because you were a foreign man (as per Sovieshu’s thoughts), but she only saw you as a dear friend. Even though you loved her so much, you let it go. If I’m being real, the heartbreak added to your charm because now you were a saddened bachelor of high ranking.
Then, the New Year’s Ball happened and an ambassador of the Southern Kingdom attended and recognized you. This is how Navier found out you were from another kingdom, and that you were a warrior as well as a Prince. This night was turning out to be a real headache.
When she heard your sentence from her husband, she agreed that it would be for the best if you had left before then. She was the one to see you off, bidding you farewell and good luck in overthrowing your father for the title of King. Maybe she would see you again as a reigning monarch. She hopes to see that day.
Heinrey
He could tell that you were in love with Navier, and every single time he heard that you and her were either going for a walk or just discussing plans to increase security, he got insanely jealous. However, when the Empress made it clear that she’s friend-zoning you, you tell the Crowned Prince of the Western Kingdom that you were backing off and were keeping it professional.
During the ball, you both actually got to know each other more personally. But, your former subject had to go and ruin shit by recognizing you. Heinrey would have never guessed that you were the Prince of the Southern Kingdom. He also never would have guessed that the Emperor’s next course of action was to exile you.
Heinrey would have offered his kingdom as a refuge, but you patted him on the shoulder as you explained that your subject was right: you needed to overthrow the tyrant on the throne back home. You wished him good luck in his journey with Her Imperial Majesty, and made your way to pack your things.
#remarried empress#the remarried empress x reader#the remarried empress#remarried empress x reader#sovieshu vict x reader#sovieshu vict#emperor sovieshu#sovieshu x reader#sovieshu#rashta x reader#rashta#navier trovi x reader#empress navier#navier trovi#navier x reader#navier#heinrey x reader#heinrey
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Avatar: the Final Confict - Chapter 5
Katara was awake surprisingly early. Well, awake was a bit of an overstatement. Zuko paused in the doorway of the library and shook his head. Katara was sitting at the table with her head down on an open scroll and staring at a pot of tea at the other end of the table. She glanced up when Zuko arrived and reached an arm towards the tea pot.
“Help,” she whined pathetically. “I can’t reach it.” Zuko shook his head, but went to the table and pushed the pot within Katara’s reach.
“Why are you up if you’re so tired?” he asked, sitting across from her. Katara shrugged half-heartedly and sat up so she could pour the tea into a cup.
“I couldn’t sleep, believe it or not,” she said taking a sip of tea. Glancing out of the window at the grey dawn she asked him, “What are you doing up so early?”all the world, not just a akku dazedly. of a target than most of the ambassadors and Zuko’s mouth twisted ruefully into something that wasn’t quite a smile.
“Couldn’t sleep either,” he said. He had spent the better part of the early morning hours fuming in his room. When that had gotten boring, he decided to fume in the library, thinking that no one would be up yet.
“I was having raging panic attacks and questioning if I’m doing the right thing by taking the job as ambassador,” Katara told him, sitting up so she could look him in the eye. “Why couldn’t you sleep?” Zuko met her pointed gaze stubbornly.
“Too much cake,” he answered. “Sugar rush.”
“Now that would be something to see!” Katara laughed. She clearly didn’t believe him, but she didn’t press- most likely, Zuko thought, because she was too tired. She put her head back down on the table, still chuckling a bit. Zuko felt relief flood him. Katara was the last person he wanted to talk to about his romance troubles with. He frowned and studied his friend. Katara was very pretty, Zuko admitted to himself. Aang wasn’t the only man Zuko had seen take notice of the seventeen year old water master. Even when he was travelling with the Gaang before the final battle with Ozai, he was occasionally wary of the trouble a pretty young girl like her could get into in some of the rougher areas they went through- though, Katara was nothing if not formidable. As were all the women in the Gaang. She was also smart and a good leader- after all, Iroh would never have appointed her as ambassador if he didn’t have confidence in her abilities. Zuko was sure she would make some lucky man an amazing wife someday. Even so, he had never seriously considered her romantically. Not even after their never mentioned kiss.
That’s not to say that it didn’t cause him endless months of confusion after the fact. Even after he reunited with Mai, he replayed the kiss in his mind a thousand times trying to figure out what- if anything- it meant. For the few days after Katara studiously avoided him, and Zuko in a bout of cowardice didn’t bring it up either. Their friendship went on as it had and they still talked about almost everything- except the kiss...and Mai. Zuko’s frown deepened. Why was Mai so convinced that his relationship with Katara was more than friendship? The kiss couldn’t have been all. Could it? Zuko sighed in frustration and ran his hand over his face.
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Gender swapped Ozai and Ursa? I was thinking just the two of them swapped just to see how this would impact Zuko and Azula differently (with Zuko having Ursulo (?) as an already positive/loving father and so may be more or less inclined to accept Iroh, while Azula and Ozia could be seen as more reflective to him). There's also how this corresponds to gender politics in the FN.
I asked by pm if I could put this in my existing Fire Nation Royal Family gender swap AU, and the answer was yes, so continued from: [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], and [Link].
1. The last post was about Oza and Ursulon's marriage and what an utter nightmare it was, so for this post, I want to go a little further back, and talk about Oza's childhood, and about her and her sister's relationship with their mother. Because there never really was a time that Oza had a good relationship with her mother, or ever a time when Ilah was around to notice.
2. Firelord Azula married General Iroh when he was only a captain, and already famed for his brilliant and daring military maneuvers. The young Firelord was gaining a similar reputation of her own, and she liked his style, so she had him assigned to her own personal regiment. Strategic compatibility soon led to genuine regard and friendship, and then to passionate love, and they traveled home at the end of a campaign, to a wedding in the Fire Nation with all the pomp and ceremony a royal wedding can offer. Soon after the wedding, Azula found herself pregnant, and they had a baby girl they named Ilah, after her father. They had expected to have more children, but either Azula didn't concieve again, or she miscarried so early she never knew she was pregnant, and Ilah, perfect little Ilah, remained their only child, and her parents' pride and joy.
3. Now Iroh was a famed military commander, and married to the Firelord or no, he continued to lead his troops in the conquest of the Earth Kingdom, just as his wife did. He was off on campaign when Azula noticed her body changing. Her doctors had assured her this was coming, and she knew she was well past childbearing. And many women gained weight at this time in their lives. But then she felt movement, and she knew. Her doctors felt the movement and nodded amongst themselves, and concurred. She was indeed pregnant.
4. It wasn't long before she was due to give birth that word came that Iroh, Firelord's consort and famed war hero, had fallen in battle, dead in the northern Earth Kingdom. It might have been the baby's time anyway, or it might have been the shock, but either way, Azula went into labor. Calling it a long, difficult labor undersells it. Azula labored for nearly two days. Her doctors whispered amongst themselves how fortunate they were that Ilah was a grown woman, capable of ruling, because surely her mother would die. They whispered about how before the war, they might have brought in a waterbending healer, but of course they couldn't do that now. At long last, they had to cut into her to widen the birth canal, and Oza was born gasping and crying into the world, as if she had been the one to suffer.
5. Azula's body was never the same after. She took months to heal as much as she did, months spent mourning her husband, unable to even look at her new daughter, months when the child lingered without a name. She slept only to dream of Iroh. A better person would have understood that this wasn't her daughter's fault, and learned to love her child, or at least learned to let go and let someone else love her child, to stop hurting her child, but Azula daughter of Soza has never been a better person. And neither was Oza. The bitterest irony of them all is that Oza will never understand that she treated Zura exactly as her mother treated her.
#avatar the last airbender#azulon#ozai#uncle iroh#posts i created#do you want to ask a question it doesn't have to be a question#five headcanons#noodle lord ozai#i ship iroh/tea
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The Last Firebender [33/35] - Under the Light of the Comet
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Relationship(s): Mai/Zuko, Zuko & the Gaang, Zuko & his family, Sokka/Yue
Summary: Agni has stood by as his children have used their gifts to burn the world, consumed with despair but reluctant to interfere. When the one who is meant to act as his intermediary in the mortal realm burns his own son in a shocking act of cruelty in front of a crowd who fail to step in, that is the final straw.
The Fire Nation descends into chaos at the sudden loss of firebending, & the war becomes bloodier still, as the troops fight on out of sheer desperation, terrified that a reckoning is now due.
And then Iroh, tending his injured nephew while trying to keep him safe from a vengeful father who blames him for this calamity, realises that Zuko's inner flame still burns...
Chapter 1: Prologue
Chapter 2: Any Port in a Storm
Chapter 3: Unexpected Guests
Chapter 4: Making Friends
Chapter 5: Adventures
Chapter 6: Learning Lessons
Chapter 7: Fire & Ice
Chapter 8: Azula is Not Okay
Chapter 9: Father & Son
Chapter 10: E v e r y t h i n g i s F i n e
Chapter 11: Azula is Still Not Okay
Chapter 12: Friends & Family
Chapter 13: Unravelling
Chapter 14: Zuko & Azula Actually Have A Conversation (part 1)
Chapter 15: Zuko & Azula Actually Have A Conversation (part 2)
Chapter 16: The Council Has Spoken
Chapter 17: Island Getaway
Chapter 18: Going on a Mama Bear Hunt
Chapter 19: Fire Nation Democracy in Action
Chapter 20: A Night in the Woods
Chapter 21: Bad Moon Rising
Chapter 22: Blue Moon
Chapter 23: By the Power of the Moon
Chapter 24: Azula Gets A Hug
Chapter 25: Long Live the Firelord
Chapter 26: Ancient History
Chapter 27: Sunshine
Chapter 28: Aang Finds An Earthbending Teacher
Chapter 29: Toph Picks A Fight With An Owl
Chapter 30: City of Walls
Chapter 31: City of Secrets
Chapter 32: The Gang’s All Here
Chapter 33: Under the Light of the Comet
Extract:
Ozai looked into the mirror, examining his appearance. His keen eyes picked out small details that bothered him. The shine of the products fixing his too-short hair in place. The shape of his topknot, half formed from cut hair from other people, unworthy to be on his head. The way the afternoon sunlight gleamed on the metal of the replica crown seemed wrong. The stub of his beard looked ridiculous.
But it would have to do. And he at least looked extremely impressive from a distance, so the common rabble would be none the wiser.
And after tonight, it wouldn’t matter. Tonight, under the light of Sozin’s Comet (soon to be renamed Ozai’s Comet), his bending would be returned to him. The Fire Sages had assured him so. They’d brought a prophecy. “The Firelord shall rise under the comet’s light, and the Fire Nation shall rediscover its purpose.”
It was all so clear to him.
He smoothed down a few annoying strands of hair that had resisted the efforts of the hairdresser (he would have the man banished first thing in the morning, as soon as this was over).
He strode through the halls of the palace, encountering few people on his way. But he could hear their whispers, their doubts. Treasonous words that were snuffed out whenever he whirled around and tried to identify any of the speakers.
His fault that firebending has been lost, the whispers say. His fault that the war has become a disaster, with the troops slowly being driven back from territory they’d claimed decades ago. And look how his own family has betrayed him! His wife, his brother, his children, all gone. Unlovable, unworthy…
Snarling, he whirled around, but saw only an empty corridor. Enraged, he struck at the only available target – a vase on a plinth right next to him. The sound of it shattering on the floor was loud in the silence. He was alone.
It was like being a child again; everything was his fault, and his best was never quite good enough.
Well, he would show them. Tonight, anyone who had ever doubted him would burn.
[ tip jar ]
#zuko#azula#ozai#ursa#mai#princess yue#ty lee#aang#katara#sokka#suki#maiko#yuekka#atla#fanfic#stuff what i have wrote
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Alright, I suppose I'll get this over with since I spent some time thinking about it.
Zuko and Mai
Just look at them.
Honestly, their relationship isn't bad, it's just lacking something.
Oh right...
Communication!
They don't talk to each other. I don't mean striking up a conversation... I mean talking about their feelings to each other. Well, at least on Mai's end. We know Zuko shows his emotions very well because of his frustration. Mai is quiet, aloof, and isn't very good at showing how she feels.
She doesn't even vocalize her feelings. Now, that's fine since 74% of our communication is body language, while the rest is verbal and sensory (I bet you didn't even know that), however I think she struggles with that as well.
Zuko is very good at showing he cares by being attentive (guys, learn from Zuko) he is boyfriend/husband material (I don't want to hear about the colonizer bullshit, it's irrelevant, get an education). He may have made some horrible choices in the past, but he is a good person. So, why do he and Mai keep breaking up and getting back together?
Choices!
I've said it before and I'll say it again...
A bad relationship is set by the choices made individually.
So, you know the whole "I don't keep secrets from my partner" thing? This is it. This is why relationships fail. It's hand in hand with communication, and it's the path to breakups/divorce.
In the graphic novel (I have to go back and look, but I think it's right at the end of The Promise? Correct me if I'm wrong) the reason they broke up is because Zuko made some choices that kinda... well it wasn't great and almost led to a war with the Earth Kingdom. But it really put him in a negative light even though he turned out to be in the end. Mai saw this as Zuko becoming his father, and well, she waited to confront him about it.
Zuko made some decisions on his own and didn't really tell her about it, leading to some misunderstandings. Actually, he did this before in Book Three when he left to join the Gaang. He doesn't sit and talk to Mai about it. He just does it. This is where things go wrong. He may have thought he was doing right by her, but in the end, it was the execution that was bad.
Do I think they will get back together?
Eh... it's debatable. The creators have full control of what the characters do at this point. If they were to get back together, they would definitely have to fix the problems I mentioned above. Maybe that will happen from experience.
What do I like about this relationship?
They obviously care about each other, and I do think they look good together. I'm not a huge fan of it because I see the problems in the relationship. It's not a bad relationship, it's problematic at the worst. At best, they make a cute couple. I'm not sure if Mai is Izumi's mother, but again, we are at the mercy of the creators.
Oh that's it. That's the problems.
So how do you fix these problems?
Well, there is therapy, but there is also just talking to your partner. Talking about the things that make you uncomfortable and what makes you upset about your relationship is going to clear the air. Now, if your partner is not a great communicator, that is where a therapist can help, and I highly recommend that.
What makes a relationship toxic comes down to narcissism and other violent traits. There is bad relationships, and then there is downright toxic and hellish.
NONE of the relationships in the show are toxic except for Ozai's relationship with his wife, children, and everyone else he has a relationship with. He is an egotistical sociopathic narcissist... that is a walking nuclear waste pit right there. Run away. Run away immediately.
Anyway, this is what I think...
Oh, and Zuko is the very opposite of his father, so don't even go there.
Hope you enjoy my little relationship analysis.
#not all relationships stay static my dudes#they are dynamic#avatar the last airbender#atla zuko#atla mai#maiko#pro zuko
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In the political marriage au, I’m wondering about the possible problematic of having an heir for zuko and toph. As you said they’re more bestfriend than husband and wife and zuko is in a “relationship” (or whatever it is ahahahah) with mai.
So what if mai gets pregnant, are they gonna keep and fake that it’s toph and zuko’s child?
And also are katara and azula going to have kids?
so! in the context of the au it does get quite comical. zuko and toph are in full agreement that the marriage is a civil partnership. they're besties that care a lot about each other and the work they're trying to achieve through each other.
toph is actually fully aware zuko is having an affair with mai, and actively encourages it. she thinks mai is tough as hell and she makes zuko happy. (their sappy lovey dovey-ness also irritates azula to no end, and toph LIVES for annoying sparky) toph and mai are good friends by the start of the fic.
SO when mai does eventually get pregnant, they three just agree that they 'pretend' she's tophs and naturalise her as zuko's true heir. just as bastard children can be made legitimate through law, the three just agree to do the same and not really mention it. izumi gets three parents! as you can expect, the entire goddamn nation knows its mai's and not toph's, but its simply the worst kept secret ever, (just like maiko's affair is). also, and this is more gross elitist, the nobles are actually more pleased the next heir to the throne isn't half earth kingdom. it IS an insult to house bei fong and the EKs, but toph resolutely fights against that. mai's family also take it as an insult, but between azula making them chew their teeth and the simple fact mai is in a VERY powerful position, they keep quiet.
i think very hard about azutara having kids. i think it's a big thing for katara, part of her slightly miserable dreams about if the war ended and she was able to have a life outside of fighting again. and azula is. well. she'll have a journey about it. there's still many MANY issues she harbours (ala she literally killed her own father and the Ursa Complex). utlimately i think it may be a healing thing for azula, and probably the final thing that cements azutara's marriage. they'd have two :)
#azutara#political marriage au#anon ask#sry for the delay on answering this i needed my brain to work proper before answering
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hello!! i loved your maiko Palm Springs au for mai week btw, it was sooo good and very much reminded me of my love for that pair.
I was wondering if you read/have read the sandman comics? alsooo, do you have any personal headcanons about morpheus/calliope, or just thoughts about them? (or any morpheus ships LOL). i love hearing your thoughts about the show because your blogging about it made me want to watch it lol - and I enjoyed them & morpheus/lucienne the most! hope you’re well, take care!! <3
oooooohhhhhhhh my god thank you!!! I'm thrilled you liked the maiko/Palm Springs fic, it was definitely a labor of love lol. It reminded me of how deep and honest mai and zuko's connection is with each other in the show, and how well that translates to Sarah/Nyles's relationship!!
I have not read the sandman comics! I don't really see myself doing so, just because I'm not really a comics person. I've heard good things about them and the snippets of them I've seen are super interesting though!
omg omg omg BLEASE not you saying I got you into the sandman show!!! I'm glad my nonsense inspired you to watch it lmao, it really is so well thought out and so rich!
I have many thoughts on Morpheus/Calliope! I feel like they would have originally bonded over being creative and artistic. I love the idea of them working together to create Dreams and Nightmares. And that they have been able to reconnect after both of their imprisonments as the new people that they are. Dream, especially, has clearly changed so much. Before he was caught, he was very cold, arrogant, and vengeful. He wants to be better now, and Calliope would love to see that side to him. Even if they just end up being friends, I like the idea of them having a strong relationship where they really feel supported by each other.
(Also that Dream is kind of awkward now and Calliope thinks it's VERY CUTE)
and omg I LOVE MORPHEUS/LUCIENNE!!! The endless devotion!!! The unconditional love!!! Lucienne waited for him for a century and was the first person to greet him when he came back!!!! Dream's greatest fear in Hell was that he would disappear and Lucienne would have no idea what happened to him again!!! They really are eternal husband/wife material and I would die on that hill.
#asks#atla#sandman#omg omg omg this was so sweet you have NO IDEA#I'm so glad you liked the show!!!#I'm rewatching it and it really is SO WELL MADE#calliope#morpheus#dream#dream of the endless#also pls feel free to send more messages asking for THOTS on sandman#I have MANY! OF THEM!!!!
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the gaang + how theyd act during a breakup? (whether its them getting broken up with or them breaking up with the other person doesnt rlly matter, your choice!)
whether being dumped or doing the dumping, aang is very amicable and understanding during breakups, and remains genuine friends with all of his exes. people would assume he had insidious intentions if they didn’t know him, but they do know him, and well... he’s aang!
when katara says to a guy that they should “take a break” that either means she’s blocking his number and avoiding him forever, or she’s gonna call him up in two weeks at 2 am and they’ll be back together next morning. it’s a real toss up with her.
(and if katara is the one GETTING dumped, then she and zuko are lighting all of his belongings on fire and watching the blaze, baby!!!!)
sokka “doesn’t do labels” so he’s never been through a real breakup? the only time he did was when she died in his arms, and he doesn’t wanna talk about that!!!!!! hahahahahha :)
toph just ghosts people after she gets bored of them, and she doesn’t begrudge anyone who does the same to her. everlasting monogamous love may be cute in theory, but it’s just not her thing. if she wanted a wife she’d just ask sokka
zuko doesn’t really go through breakups because he can barely get past a first date (usually set up against his will by either iroh or katara) without ghosting and/or being ghosted. the worst breakup he ever went through was his on and off relationship with mai in their teens, and it’s not even like he particularly wanted to be with her in the first place, so...
suki also “doesn’t do labels” but still manages to find herself in the middle of very intense dyke drama regardless (it’s just a product of the circles she runs in) which can be a real hassle sometimes, like if she wants to buy good fresh produce, but was just excommunicated from her vegan co-op because she hooked up with a girl who erased kyoshi’s bisexuality by calling her a lesbian, and then when someone gently let suki know that she had relations with a biphobe, suki said “lol i don’t really care to be honest?” and now she’s on their blacklist :/ stuff like that
azula’s first crush as a kid ended pretty horribly (you remember), and as an adult, it takes her a really long time to realize that she’s just performing the milestones of dating rather than actually letting herself get emotionally invested, and if she does find herself catching feelings, she’ll break things off before she can rejected by them. plus, she has very high standards............ she’s bad at dating, is what im saying.
ty lee is constantly dumping people, but sometimes she doesn’t even realize she’s dating someone until she’s forced to break up with them. a lot of guys think they’re dating her, meanwhile she didn’t even know she swung that way! sometimes she has no choice but to resort to violence, which she absolutely HATES :) SOOO MUCH ;)
when mai finally broke things off with zuko for good, suki and toph insisted on throwing her a party, and they invited ty lee, the kyoshi warriors, sokka, aang, teo, and june (she didn’t attend, but she was invited as their guest of honor). by the end of the night mai was wasted and she and aang were doing karaoke that involved choreographed dance routines. (fwiw, zuko and katara had their own party, and it was almost as good.)
#imadisasterwalking#asks#the gaang and#this isn’t modern au btw kyoshi island is just full of vegan co-ops#mai would be very bad at casual dating but luckily her entire history is just zuko —> ty lee#so she dodged a bullet there#zuko meanwhile is being tortured on horrible first dates with perfectly nice people#poor thing#he loves living vicariously thru kataras dating life tho#he has LOTS of opinions on her exes#the only thing they truly agree on is that aang is an angel we love aang <3#also I don’t actually think ty lee ENJOYS violence but like. she doesn’t NOT enjoy it either . so
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𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 fire lord! zuko x fire lady! reader
authors note: Firstly I just want to apologize for the hiatus, I want to be more active from now on! I’m starting finals next week so I’ll thankfully be done with this semester soon and will also have more time to write. Anyways I hope you enjoy!! I also want to apologize if Zuko is ooc here.
requests:
First of all, your tumblr looks sooooo cool! I’m looking forward to reading all of your future work! Imagine this: Zuko is annoyed by people constantly asking him about a future heir, but when one day his friends also start to ask, and even his uncle and his own mother join the baby fever train, it’s too much for him so he complains about it to his wife who only reassures him with her lovely self and her understanding smiles, not telling him yet that she is in fact pregnant. What do you think ?
Can you write an imagine with zuko who is clearly, utterly and soooo obviously in love with the reader (outgoing, courageous, loving) and maybe with the prompt “So you...well...I mean...I could give you a massage?” Thank you a lot! ^^
As the current Fire Lord and Lady, it wasn’t uncommon for the citizens of the Fire Nation to be deeply invested in your relationship - it was to be expected especially due to the uncommon nature of your union. What you weren’t expecting were Zuko’s close friends and relatives being wrapped up in your business as well. Being outside of team avatar, you were naturally more welcoming to his friend's constant questioning, but Zuko on the other hand was not. He couldn’t understand why they cared so much all of the sudden. They hadn’t been as interested when he was in a relationship with Mai - so why did they care so much now?
It wasn’t as if you weren’t getting along with his friends or family - you got along with them quite well and were very loved by them in fact. Outside of them though, you weren’t always as welcomed, unfortunately, the Fire Nation was still coming to terms with having the daughter of an Earth Kingdom General as their Fire Lady. The arranged marriage was put in place to solve several different ‘problems’. After Zuko broke up with Mai several years ago, he hadn’t begun dating anyone else due to being so busy but he’d eventually be expected to have an heir in the next coming years.
Although they had gotten better, tensions among the Earth Kingdom Colonies were still high and both sides were having difficulty keeping them under control. Eventually, an agreement was made for the daughter of a high-ranking Earth Kingdom General to marry Zuko - that daughter being yourself. Arranged marriages certainly weren’t unheard of in either nation - but a union of this sort was definitely unique.
Though he certainly wasn’t thrilled about it, Zuko understood that it was for the good of the people - and it wasn’t like there was anything he could do about it anyway. Even with his position as the recently crowned Fire Lord there still wasn’t much he could do.
On the other hand, you understandably had some issues coming to terms with your new situation at first. Despite being known by those around you as friendly and just a joy, in general, to be around - the woman Zuko had first met was quite the opposite. He could recall it like it was yesterday. Though it was awkward and stressful at the time, he now considered it to be the best day of his life.
“She’s in there.” A female servant whispered to the young man quietly, as if she didn’t want to speak loud enough for you to hear from your place at the balcony.
“Thanks,” he replied with a soft smile, bidding the elderly woman goodbye as she shuffled down the hallway. Turning towards you he was faced with a warm tropical breeze. His advisors had arranged for the two of you to meet a couple of weeks before that dreaded day, and for some reason, they thought Ember Island was the appropriate place. A combination of anxiety and general distaste for being on the island was causing him to be quite stressed - which led him to be more awkward than usual.
“Um, hello?” he spoke up faintly, as if not to startle you. He was sure you heard him come in, but you hadn’t turned around since he entered the small room. You stood several feet away with your hands placed on the railing, your [hair-texture] locks sifting gently with each gust of wind along with your predominantly red clothing. It was against what you had wanted to wear that day but it didn’t seem as if you had much a say in anything going on in your life recently.
You understood that doing this would be for the greater good of the Earth Kingdom and that your situation could technically be worse. You could have been married off to some old creep - but if you were being honest with yourself being married to the Fire Lord sounded just as bad. As you turned around though, you were surprised at the face you were met with.
He had a much younger face than you had expected, but the slight hollowness of his cheeks and the worry lines on his forehead told you that he had experienced things beyond his years. He also happened to be quite handsome - not that you wanted to admit it though. You had been bent on hating him ever since your father told you who you’d be wedding.
He was the leader of the Fire Nation, of course, you would hate him! The country that has had a century-long reign of terror on the world - and now you found yourself engaged to their leader. What had you done so wrong in your life to deserve this?
As much as you wanted to plan on running away the first chance you got, you knew deep inside that it would only cause tensions to increase and more issues to arise. You wanted the best for the residents of the Earth Kingdom, so you agreed to go through with it, but did so resentfully - which you had every right to feel that way.
But as you glared up at the young male next to you and tried to keep your attention off of the scar over his left eye - you couldn’t help but wonder what if this was the man who joined the avatar in defeating the Fire Lord? He wasn’t what you expected at all. Standing in full armor with his hair holding the fire nation insignia in a top knot - he looked awkward and out of place. You almost felt bad for him - keyword is almost.
“What do you need Fire Lord?” you questioned him, turning your gaze back to the rushing waters of the ocean.
“Um,” he faltered slightly, probably not anticipating your response. “I just wanted to introduce myself-“
“I know who you are.” you brushed him off, turning around and walking towards him - grabbing his collar and pulling him to your height. “We might be getting married but if you think for a second I will ever be nice to you, you are sadly mistaken.” you hissed at him before letting him go and walking out of the door.
Zuko couldn’t recall how long he stood there watching your form leave, all he remembered was standing there like an idiot with a red face. He hadn’t expected you to like him of course but he surely wasn’t expecting that.
As he reminisced on memories long ago while sipping his Uncle’s tea, he couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his features. As stated earlier, It may have been an unpleasant memory back then but now he considered the day he met you to be the best day of his life. Though your relationship had surely faired through many complications for a while in the beginning - surprisingly, you became fond of Zuko over the years.
It was certainly a long time coming but that strange friendship you two shared eventually evolved into love against all odds. That didn’t mean you weren’t constantly giving him an ear full (as you should tbh) your first months together. But as time progressed and you learned that he may not have been the evil prince that you had heard so much about, at least not anymore.
He wasn’t that same angsty teenager he had been years ago looking for the avatar, he was now a young adult growing quite well into the position of the Fire Lord - which was no easy feat. Taking another sip of tea, he watched his Uncle and Mother come to take a seat with him.
“How is it, Nephew?” His Uncle asked with a mischievous grin and a raise of two bushy eyebrows - albeit already knowing the answer.
“It’s great as always Uncle,” Zuko responded with a small smile, his Uncle's expression making him just a bit concerned, causing his Mother to chuckle. Though she had gained a few wrinkles over the past couple of years, she was still as radiant as she had been in her youth. She was also much happier being able to live with the family she had been apart from for many years without fearing Ozai’s intervention. It came with a price though - it seemed as if her relationship with her estranged daughter who was now on the run would never be resolved. She never lost hope though.
“Zuko,” his mother began speaking, catching the young Fire Lord’s attention with a raise of his eyebrows. “When are you going to give me a grandchild?” She asked teasingly, eager to see his reaction. In turn, her son had barely kept himself from spitting out the mouthful of tea.
“Why do you ask that?” He choked out in between a series of coughs with Iroh patting his back gently.
“You haven’t?” She asked in between chuckles, noticing how her son got bewildered at the mention of having children of his own. “You know you’ll eventually have to have an heir at some point right?”
“It’s not that I haven’t thought about it... but Y/N and I are just really busy.” He thought aloud, wishing he could run a hand through his hair - but was unable to since it was pinned in a top knot.
“Zuko, you never know when you’ll get this time of peace again. What better time to raise a child?” Iroh reassured, wiggling his eyebrows. Letting out a groan, the young Fire Lord attempted to mentally prepare himself to go through this same conversation every time he visited his family.
Over the next couple of weeks, the constant badgering he received from his friends and close relatives started to frustrate him further, so who could he turn to? You of course.
Being married for several years now, you were more than used to Zuko’s rants, so you simply just reclined on the bed with an eyebrow raised as he paced back and forth.
“I don’t get it! Why is everyone so concerned about when we’re going to have a child or not?” He questioned seemingly no one as you attempted to keep your face from contorting into a smile. It wasn’t as if you didn’t understand his frustrations, it was just funny to watch, especially since you were already pregnant.
You were surprised that he hadn’t noticed honestly, with you staying in for the past few days due to feeling sick. Who could blame him though? It wasn’t as if he wasn’t attentive and loving as a husband, he was extremely busy as of recent-and also just dense at times. After noticing his silence for a few moments as he looked over the balcony, you decided that maybe this could be the perfect time to tell him.
Getting up and sneaking behind him, you snaked your arms around his waist and turned so you could see his face. He let out an audible sigh of what sounded like relief before returning your smile and your hug.
“You want a head massage?” You questioned pulling away, wiggling your fingers playfully.
“Please.”
For the past couple of years, Zuko had been letting his hair grow out so now it rested around his shoulders.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” You started tentatively, but as usual, he was too caught up in the sensation of your fingers raking across his scalp to entirely understand what you were saying, so he just nodded in response. “I’m pregnant.” You stated plainly, ceasing your scratching. Not getting a response for a few moments, you turned to face him with a worried expression.
Much to your surprise he was grinning up at you and placed a warm hand on your cheek. “Really?”
“Yes. I’m sorry it took me so long to tell y-“ you were abruptly cut off by him pulling you into another hug and placing a kiss on the crown of your head. “So you’re happy about it?”
“Couldn’t be happier.” He responded sincerely, leaning into your shoulder so you couldn’t see the redness on his cheeks.
Maybe your family and friends would finally leave the two of you alone now?
taglist: @practicallylivesonline @chewymoustachio
#Zuko imagine#Zuko x reader#Zuko x you#zuko x y/n#avatar x reader#avatar imagine#avatar x you#avatar x y/n#atla#atla x you#atla x reader#atla imagine#atla x y/n#avatar the last airbender#avatar#Zuko
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