#not shaming on hakoda here
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hakoda: you need to stay here and protect your sister
13 year old sokka, whose only point of reference for "protecting his sister" is literally his mother sacrificing herself in katara's place: ok 😃
#not shaming on hakoda here#well...#little shaming on hakoda here#but poor poor sokka#katara and sokka#please grant them therapy so they might move on from their codependency#yo kyas sacrifice#aside from fucking sokka up cause you know thats his mum#also fucked sokka up when he believed that everyone decided that katara was far more important than him#and thus him sacrificing his world for her was not only the right thing to do#it was also expected of him#anyhoo#dont we love how depression fucks over this child#hakoda and kya and sokka and katara#my fav disfunctional fam
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The Volunteer: Part 3
The next time Zuko went to volunteer, he took his own car. When his sister demanded to know why, Zuko made up some excuse about going to the library afterwards to work on his midterm paper. It was enough to keep Azula from asking him for a ride, thankfully. Zuko arrived a few minutes early, hoping to be able to check in with Hakoda before his sister and her friends showed up.
"Don't tell me your friends dropped out," Hakoda said when Zuko walked in alone.
"No, we just came in separate cars," Zuko explained. "They should be here soon." Hakoda nodded and gave him his assignment for the day, then Zuko went to find Due and the rest of the maintenance crew to paint stairs again.
"Hey! Splotchy!" the men greeted him. Zuko smiled slightly and said his hellos. They handed him a paintbrush and set to work.
The men were far more talkative than Zuko, but none of them seemed to hold it against him. He answered questions politely when asked, steering away from anything too personal. The men were content to tell him all about themselves. Two of them had attended the school before it shut down.
"It was a shame, too," said Due. "Spent some of the best years of my life causing a ruckus in this school. Me and Tho here." Due jabbed his thumb in the direction of the short, stocky man holding the base of the ladder Zuko was standing on.
"Oh we wasn't so bad," Tho insisted. "Only caused a little mischief. And mostly to impress the ladies." He looked up at Zuko and wriggled his brows. "Bet you don't have to work nearly as hard and Due and I did."
"Sure," Zuko scoffed. He turned back to his work and scrambled to find a change of topic. He looked at the third man on the team, a younger guy named Kuyan. "You went to this school, too?"
"How old do you think I am?" Kuyan laughed. "I'm only 23. I was a toddler when this school shut down."
"Sorry," Zuko said. "I didn't mean to offend." Kuyan just waved him off.
"Forget about it." Then he sighed and looked around the stairwell with a distant look. "I do have history with this place, though. I lived here for a year with my mom and sisters when I was in high school. She had left my dad and the people here...they were great. They helped my mom find a job so she could afford to move us. They had counselors for me and my sisters. They helped me find scholarships for college. We would've been just another statistic if it wasn't for this place."
"Wow...that's, great," Zuko said awkwardly, uncertain of what else to say to that. "It-it's great your mom was able to find help getting out of..." He gestured stiffly at nothing in particular.
"It is," Kuyan agreed with a chuckle. "Everyone is thriving, too. My sisters and I have volunteered here for years, but this is going to be my last year."
"Why?" Zuko looked down at Kuyan curiously.
"Kuyan just got accepted to law school," Tho laughed, ruffling Kuyan's hair. "We're all real proud of ya, boy!"
"The school I'm going to is ten hours away," Kuyan told Zuko. "My sisters are at schools that are pretty far, too."
"But you'll stop in to see us from time to time," Due said. "We'll make sure we'll have some work for ya, too. Just for old time's sake."
"You'd better," Kuyan laughed. Zuko found himself smiling with the rest of them.
The door opened a few doors down, and Katara leaned into the stairwell. She was grinning, the first time Zuko had seen looking happy since he'd walked into Hama's Haven.
"Hey, guys!" She called up to them. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good!" Due called back. "We might actually get this done by the end of Splotchy's shift."
"Splotchy?" Katara repeated raising her eyebrow.
"He means Zuko," Kuyan told her.
"Oh. Well, just letting you know, Dad ordered pizza for the staff. It's in the community room. Better hurry up. Sokka's here today."
"I don't need telling twice," Tho said, tossing his paint brush into bucket of water. Everyone dunked their brushes and rollers in and trampled down the stairs to the ground floor. Katara held the door open for them, and she watched Zuko in particular with an impossible to read expression.
Ty Lee was in the community room getting pizza with some of the other workers, and was having what seemed to be a lively talk with boy with long hair and an unfortunate mustache. She spotted Zuko and waved him over.
"Hey, Zuko!" she said cheerily. "This is Haru. He's in the kitchen today, too! Haru, this is Zuko, one of my oldest friends." Zuko smirked to himself. Calling him and Ty Lee friends was a bit of a stretch, but he would never dare tell her that.
"Nice to meet you," Zuko said, shaking Haru's hand.
"Same! So, you and Ty are friends? That's great! She's been amazing in the kitchen."
Zuko kept a polite smile on his face and he blinked. Ty?
"Yep," Zuko "Ty here is a master chef. And she's great with desserts. You should try her cheesecake sometime." Ty Lee preened under Zuko's praise.
"I'll have to," Haru agreed enthusiastically. "Very soon." Ty Lee blushed and giggled, turning her focus on Haru in a way that Zuko interpreted as a polite request that he make himself scarce.
"I'm going to go grab some pizza," he said. "Good talk."
Katara was standing by the table where the food was set out, talking with Due. They stopped when Zuko approached, and Due waved him over warmly.
"Come on over, Splotch!" he said. "I was just telling Kata what a great addition to the team you've been. Ah, he's such a good sport this one. Not much of a talker, but every group needs a good listener, too."
"Thanks," Zuko mumbled. He looked at Katara and was surprised to find her smiling at him.
"Have you eaten yet?" she asked.
"No, I was talking with Ty Lee." Zuko gestured over to where Ty Lee and Haru were deep in conversation.
"Oh!" Due chortled. "I think Haru likes her." He waved his hand trying to get Haru's attention, but Katara jabbed him with her elbow.
"Mind your business, Due," she chided him, jokingly. "He's got it."
"I'm just having some fun," Due said. "Oh! Hey, there's Bato! I need to catch him real quick. I'll see you back on the stairs, Splotch." When he was gone, Katara turned back to Zuko and smirked.
"You should grab some lunch before it's gone...Splotch."
"Please don't spread that around school," Zuko groaned.
"No worries," Katara promised. "Your Haven nickname stays at Haven." She paused a moment while Zuko got his pizza. She grabbed a can of soda and offered one to Zuko.
"Thanks."
"So," Katara cleared her throat. "You...made a pretty good impression on the guys."
"I like them," Zuko said, shrugging. "They've been really nice." Katara was watching him again, with that same inscrutable look on her face, as if she were studying him.
"They're usually pretty good judges of character." There was something about the way she said usually that set Zuko on edge. She looked away to open her soda, releasing Zuko from the hold of her unnerving gaze.
"The painting is almost done," Katara observed after a long stretch of silence. "We'll have to find you another job next week, I think. Do you know what else you want to do here?"
"I'll go wherever you need me to," Zuko shrugged. "I'm not picky." He took a bite of pizza. It was good, and Zuko made a note to get the name of the restaurant from one of the boxes. "What do you do around here?"
"Me?" Katara glanced up at Zuko, as if surprised he would ask. "I do a lot of stuff, but I mostly work with the kids. On the weekends we try to keep them entertained with movies and crafts and classes. Once a month we take them on a field trip." She swirled her soda around the can. "The next trip is coming up in a couple of weeks. We could use a few more volunteers, if you're interested. We're going to the planetarium, and then for food afterwards. It'll knock a solid four or five hours off of your sentence." She smirked again, but it felt more like she was sharing an inside joke than laughing at Zuko.
"Um...sure," Zuko agreed nodding. "That sounds alright."
"Great," Katara said. "You can see if Ty Lee would be interested, too." Zuko pretended not to notice how pointedly Katara mentioned Ty Lee and no one else.
"I think she'd like it," Zuko nodded. "She's really into astrology, and she loves kids, so this should be right up her alley."
"That's good news for Haru, then."
Azula and Mai skulked in some time later. Zuko noted, cringing inwardly, how the atmosphere changed when they entered. Ty Lee had stopped laughing with Haru, and was trying to avoid Azula's thunderous scowl. She said something to Haru and scampered across the room to Azula. Mai didn't seem to notice. Her eyes were narrowed in Zuko's direction. It took a moment for him to realize that she was actually glowering at Katara. Zuko glanced back at his companion just in time to see her roll her eyes at the latecomers.
"I have to head out," she told Zuko. "I'll send you the details for the field trip." Katara drained the rest of her soda and tossed the can in the recycling bin on the way out, watching Azula and Mai smugly as she did. After she left, the rest of the staff began filtering out, too. The low cheerful hum of the room quieted as they went.
Haru paused at the door waving good-bye to Ty Lee, who returned it nervously. Haru frowned, clearly confused and hurt, but Ty Lee was looking down at her shoes as she stood next to Azula.
"They just left the pizza out for anyone to put their grubby fingers on?" Mai looked at the table distastefully. Zuko pointed to the stack of napkins next to the plates.
"Most people were using the napkins to grab their slices," he told her. Mai rolled her eyes and took a slice without a napkin or a plate. She bit into the slice and made a face.
"It's cold," she complained. It had been nearly an hour since word had gone around about the pizza, but Zuko knew better than to point that out. He just shrugged instead.
"What were you talking to Katara about?" Mai asked.
"Nothing," Zuko replied a bit too quickly. "She was letting me know that the painting project is almost over, and she wanted to know if I had any preferences for what I'd be assigned to next."
"Sure," Azula snorted. "I bet she cares so much what you want. People like her- like her dad- just love feeling more powerful than people who better than they are." A lot of responses ran through Zuko's head at that, but he settled on tossing his plate and empty soda can.
"I've got to get back," he said. "My break's over."
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
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Can you go a bit more in depth about your post about Sokka in the Burning Rock episode? You said that it was basically his suicide mission, which I agree with. I'd really like to hear more of your thoughts on it.
okay yeah i mean i'm sure i've covered all these points before extensively because i love weaving a tapestry of sokka's fucked up psychological landscape more than anything in the world, but every so often someone will comment on one of my posts and be like "i think you're reaching i think sokka is the paragon of mental health actually" and i'm just like um. did we not all watch the boiling rock. did we just ignore the apotheosis of sokka's entire character arc. like katara's apotheosis in "the southern raiders" is both very overt and impactful and also, arguably, subtler than sokka's, because they don't explicitly spell out the themes every five seconds, but like. if you didn't watch the boiling rock then you cannot understand sokka. and weirdly enough i also believe that zuka shippers are the biggest culprit of this despite this episode being thee zucchini episode because they somehow still have the audacity to characterize sokka as "goofy sunshine who exists to comfort zuko" when like. the entire point is that sokka is legitimately suicidal here and zuko is doing everything in his power to support him thru what is quite literally a mental breakdown. like their relationship is legitimately interesting i don't understand how people have taken that and made it deeply boring.....but i digress.
the boiling rock is quite obviously sokka at his lowest. the worst thing that could ever happen to him – fumbling a mission that was squarely his responsibility, from its conception to its execution, due to not being able to sufficiently compartmentalize his emotions, leading to the mass imprisonment of most of his comrades, including the men of his tribe whom he idolized his entire life and felt immense pressure to live up to, including his father who he is deathly afraid of disappointing (for reasons that have nothing to hakoda being malicious or neglectful in any way, fwiw), and thus being directly implicated in the failure and the harm caused by said failure – happened. sokka is someone who is especially bad at dealing with failure, because a) he is exceptionally talented, and thus has less experience dealing with failure in both minor and major ways, and thus lacks the emotional resilience developed through the process of struggle and growth that normal people (such as, incidentally, zuko) go through and b) to sokka, whose primary desire at all times is to protect and provide for others in any way he possibly can, for someone else to sacrifice themselves for him constitutes a fundamental disruption to the order. there is a perverse wrongness to kya or yue or hakoda or suki making sacrifices on their own volition, because it means that sokka has existentially failed to protect them by martyring himself. like, he somehow feels so guilty about suki being imprisoned that when azula reveals this piece of information to him, it literally distracts him from his own mission. and mind you, there's absolutely no way sokka could have known or been responsible for suki's imprisonment. but he still feels guilty nonetheless. and azula knows that, knows exactly how to twist the knife to make him break, because, well, it's honestly pretty obvious.
sokka obviously cannot retroactively save his mother or his first girlfriend, but he can save his father and his current girlfriend. in "the awakening" aang says he has to restore his honor after the guilt and shame of his failure in ba sing se (aang is also an incurable gifted kid perfectionist, btw, as is azula. posts for another time...) and sokka repeats zuko's line again in this episode, after experiencing the guilt and shame of his failure during the eclipse. the driving motivation of zuko's entire character, feeling like he has failed in some ontological way and must therefore redeem himself or die trying, is reinforced through aang and sokka's respective experiences mirroring that drive. aang goes out in a storm and nearly drowns to redeem himself in some vague, nebulous way, because he isn't thinking rationally. and likewise sokka, who usually always has a plan and always thinks things through, feels that caution and foresight is pointless, because he came up with a genuinely brilliant invasion plan and it didn't work, so clearly there's something wrong with him (just as he always suspected) and no amount of planning even matters, because he's a capital F Failure and always will be. and so he vows to save his father, as he promised him he would when they parted on the day of black sun, or die trying, because if he can't even do that then what is he good for; at least he'll die a martyr, which to him, is basically his ideal situation. because to sokka, dying as a martyr is basically the highest form of fulfilling his purpose (being needed, protecting people) and so if he dies a martyr, then maybe his catastrophic failure (that is entirely his fault and rests squarely on his shoulders btw) can be forgiven. so his plan is basically just to sacrifice himself for his father so that he can die "redeemed." very normal, rational, healthy behavior, i would say.
sidenote, i also see people claim that "the boiling rock" makes sokka look stupid because why wouldn't he take any of the insanely talented benders to a prison in a giant volcano surrounded by a boiling lake, and it's like. sokka literally admits that he's not being rational, that he doesn't think he's going to survive this, that this is not a good idea. it would go against sokka's entire modus operandi if he brought the children who he feels a deep, presiding responsibility to protect on a suicide mission that he's lowkey hoping will fail (because he not so secretly loves courting death. it's like she's the moon or something). he only lets zuko come with him because he doesn't actually care whether zuko lives or dies at this point. sokka has absolutely no faith in zuko whatsoever (and frankly, why would he, zuko has yet to actually prove himself to him. he didn't even kill combustion man; sokka did) so he has no idea that zuko is actually going to be helpful and supportive in a meaningful way. and frankly, if he had known that at the beginning, or even remotely liked zuko as a person, he probably wouldn't have caved so easily when zuko invited himself to join. if he didn't think that zuko was objectively worse than him and basically worthless as a human being, i doubt he would have let himself be so vulnerable with zuko in the first place. meanwhile zuko is eating it up bc he's like "omg he's confiding in me he's letting me help him we're basically besties" because he doesn't actually know sokka well enough to realize that sokka doesn't actually do that shit with people he remotely respects. shit like "my first girlfriend turned into the moon" and "i had a feeling this was going to be a one way trip" are simply not things that sokka would say out loud 98% of the time. the fact that he is admitting something real is not a testament to the trust he places in zuko, but rather the opposite. sokka spilling his guts (you know, for him) to his resident collateral damage, sokka bringing his lovingly crafted space sword on this mission, sokka not even confirming whether or not his father is actually there beforehand – he's simply stopped giving a fuck, he doesn't care whether or not he lives to see another day, because to him, he has nothing left to lose.
but of course, that also isn't true at all. i mean, for one thing, zuko still needs to teach aang firebending, so he does serve a pretty important function to the group, and zuko simply telling him to do hot squats in his absence does not qualify as significant tutelage. but also, even more importantly, sokka is integral to the fabric of the group. when he's gone for a day in "sokka's master" they literally all just shut down and start complaining about how much they miss him (we don't actually see any b-roll of the gaang hanging around the western air temple because the episode is simply too busy for that, so who can say whether the same thing occurs twice). sokka cannot afford to simply die just because his first plan failed, he still has a major responsibility to his friends. fucking idiot. i've said before that sokka has the emotional resilience of like. a pathetic wet newborn kitten caught in the rain. but like, come on man. i mean, as someone who has also suffered from debilitating perfectionist issues and never had to be responsible for a failed military invasion that cost my people their freedom, i do get it, but still. not his best moment. although there is something genuinely admirable about the fact that after he finds suki, he decides that saving suki is enough, and genuinely does want to succeed in his mission going forward. like his love for suki is one of the only things that consistently makes him happy and makes him forget that his greatest dream in life is to be murdered, and that's so beautiful to me.
the entire point of this episode, by the way, is that sokka is wrong. if that isn't obvious. sokka's entire worldview, that he only has value insofar as he exists to provide for others, and if he fails to protect people in any capacity, he has fundamentally failed to uphold the one reason he even exists on this earth, and thus he does not deserve to exist unless he is bearing the weight of everyone's suffering or otherwise proving his worth through sacrificing himself for others, is um. fucking stupid???? and incorrect. and stupid. the thing is, unlike zuko, sokka can't really point to any one person who taught him to see himself this way. he can't just face his father and tell him that his abuse was cruel and wrong, because hakoda is a good father who has never not supported and believed in and encouraged him, done everything in his power to protect him, loved him unconditionally. hakoda has inadvertently damaged sokka's psyche in various ways, of course, but never with any intention to hurt him. like, ozai tried to kill zuko, on multiple occasions. it's a pretty obvious indicator of the primary source of harm in his life. but sokka is equally if not more Unwell, and there's no one single figure he can blame, because his complex lies within a tangled web of what my best friend fanon calls the "massive psychoexistential complex" of the colonized subject. he is being dehumanized not through interpersonal abuse, but through the violent logic of imperialism. sokka's formative traumas inform his psychology as he understands that he only has value insofar as he is protecting the people he loves (namely his sister) from being murdered by imperialists, much like his mother did. and that logic is continually reified through the violence he is being subjected to, until he truly absorbs the belief that his life has no value on its own, that he is genuinely Less than [human] in some fundamental way. which is obviously deeply tragic, but also lowkey kind of comical because he also happens to be the specialest boy in the world, who literally did come up with multiple working escape plans at the world's most secure supermax on the fly, mind you! but whenever anyone tries to point that out, including piandao literally saying "you're the most exceptional and worthy person i've ever met in my life" sokka is just like "um. that is incorrect actually." like NO ONE should depersonalize themselves and feel that their only value lies in their ability to serve and sacrifice themselves for others, but it's especially ironic that sokka literally does not think he has any value as a human being, and yet he is also objectively exceptional. like, do you understand why i adore this character so much. do you.
anyway. the point of this episode isn't that sokka has worth because he's exceptional, either. that's lowkey the point of "sokka's master," but also a) sokka doesn't really internalize it and b) the more important part of the episode lies in how much the gaang just misses his company because they miss their neurotic control freak big brother who makes bad jokes. but even if he couldn't come up with multiple working escape plans on the fly, suki and zuko still stay by his side anyway because they care about him. they are demonstrating that they would risk their safety and possibly even their lives, in the exact way that sokka is always trying to for everyone else, for him. that sokka doesn't need to be the one who always protects everyone else, and that he isn't a failure for letting people who care about him help him and protect him. and sokka has to accept their help, because suki and zuko are simply too stubborn not to force him into letting them support him. they are standing in a literal maximum security prison in the middle of a volcano and they are still choosing to prioritize sokka's mental health and wellbeing, which is honestly crazy, but also exactly what he needs in this moment. suki has known sokka for what, 3 days maximum? yes they're soulmates but like, girl get up. and in zuko's case, "girl get up" is magnified tenfold, because he literally risked his life to go with him to the boiling rock (also largely motivated by the guilt of not being able to stage his own prison break with iroh, but still!) and let himself get imprisoned despite being the fire nation's most wanted criminal, stayed by sokka's side no matter what including getting thrown into a literal torture chamber for him, jumped across a gaping boiling chasm with no guarantee that he'd survive except for the implicit expectation that sokka would catch him on the other side. like zuko is so fucking pussywhipped and sokka didn't even value him as a human being until like halfway through their entire mission. insane.
in conclusion: "the boiling rock" is a beautiful story of the most mentally ill boy on the planet (he took first place ever since jet died rip jet forever in our hearts), and his two ride or die bitches who he met like yesterday, and also his dad, and a casual homophobe named chit sang, all working together to demonstrate to him why killing yourself is a bad idea in most cases, probably. it's also the story of the most insane dyke drama of all time, but that's for another post (of which i have of course made multiple, most recently, here). i said it's the apotheosis of sokka's arc, and by that i mean it's the most overt acknowledgement of what his fundamental issue is, and the first steps one must take in actually resolving it (namely, accepting help and support from your peers and loved ones). do i think that sokka is magically cured after returning from the boiling rock? no, probably not (in fact, because i'm somewhat sick & twisted myself, i like to imagine that once the war ends, he actually gets worse). but he does seem genuinely happier after they return. and maybe that's just bc kyoshi warrior pussy hits different, but like. he was able to rely on others for help (including mai my best friend mai) who supported him unconditionally and prevented him from simply giving up, and that's so incredibly important. that kind of support is always important, to everyone, of course, but as we've established, it's especially important to sokka specifically, at his lowest (quite possibly ever), in this situation. no one has an obligation to risk their life for someone else, but sokka is something who thinks that his purpose is to risk his life for other people (namely katara), and so for people who really have nothing to gain and everything to lose in standing by and promising not to leave without him, to actually show that they support him unconditionally is huge. if sokka has no fans then i am dead and so is suki zuko hakoda toph aang piandao iroh the mechanist etc etc etc. perfect episode <3
#suicide /#writergracethepanda#asks#analysis#sokka#sokkaxsuki#cinematic masterpiece the boiling rock part 2#(technically i use that tag to talk about maizulee but swagever)#this post is basically just stream of consciousness unstructured rambling so i hope you find it valuable in some way...#at this point i've given up on trying to do Readings of and make Arguments about sokka#and i'm just rambling. i posted a whole fucking. ACTUAL essay about him yesterday and no one read it#but this is not that. this is. who even knows. it's certainly not an ''essay''#my thesis statement: i love sokka so much#my body paragraphs: hes a weak willed mentally ill fucking IDIOT#just trust me ok. trust the process
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NATLA Ep. 5 "Spirited Away" initial thoughts
Alright, the shuffling around continues even in an episode that generally follows its ATLA equivalent quite closely. The Gaang's A plot only diverts when both Katara and Sokka also get stuck in the Spirit World and I do like how we kept our team together as they can use the shared screen time. It seems we're leaving the Water Sibs mostly behind in the next episode, which is looking to be a mix of eps 8, 11 and 13 but I enjoyed this Swamp-like take on their Spirit World journey. The big shame about placing that here is that Yue can't be Sokka's ghost and there's some rewriting of Hakoda and Sokka's backstory here but it's a change I can get behind potentially. As for Katara, oh boy they really packed a punch for her. Her parts are obviously something I have a lot of feelings on and will get into later but I do find the framing clever overall. If very, very brutal for our Water Siblings.
Gyatso being there for Aang in the Spirit World, oh my, now this is a change I can really get behind. Wan Shi Tong's inclusion felt a little gratuitous but I like how they introduced something that is actually a LoK and not ATLA concept, the Fog of Lost Souls. And June's inclusion also makes sense, and will presumably lead to Roku's Island and the merging of The Blue Spirit plot. Overall, I dig how they merge chs and plots to make room for as much as possible and like how they reference eps they can't possibly cover. The tavern scene where eps like The Great Divide and The Fortuneteller are referenced feels like a good mix of humorous and a harmless homage, not too fanservicey and out of place so as to not work.
Another commendable effort from a mid season episode and I have to say, at the very very least I'm having fun and am infinitely glad that the show isn't the most offensive thing it could have been, which is bland. Even though the CG doesn't quite cut it sometimes there's still life in this show and there's a respectable attempt at a retelling, despite me still being sceptical as what it will ultimately add up to.
Two more random notes, one is Azula and how they're setting up Ozai manipulating her, which I like, even if that means this isn't quite ATLA Azula. And two, I think what I'm missing from Katara is that feral passion she's known for, and quite frankly the heart, which is her whole thing, so I'm really hoping she'll be allowed her female rage at least when they get to the North. So far, this version of Katara is unfortunately just a little too lukewarm, not the loud and proudly emotional forever girl I dedicated my life to.
#natla#natla initial thoughts#netflix avatar#strong effort overall#OH and koh#i like the inclusion of koh
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I HONEST TO GOD BELIEVED CHENAS KNIFE BEING MISSING BECAUSE OF TOM NOOK WAS GOING TO BE CHENAS DOWNFALL AND KILL HIM AT THE LAST LINE 😭😭😭😭😭 besides that fucking horror I am overwhelmed by the sweetness and the emotional pain this chapter was <3 <3 <3 zukka was cute (SOKKA BEING PROTECTED AND A LOSER BISEXUAL TEEN BOY), tom nook keeps winning (BI4BI KINGS LEGENDS LOSERS CANT CHANGE MY MIND) and also the AMAZING transition of words in zukos mindset that I think is going to change a LOT for him. "good or bad" can't exist, and even when zuko was being silly and avoiding sokkas answers (cuz he's emotionally constipated lmao) was to me a smaller example that people don't fit into categories like that? It was super surface level there, but when you go deeper into it it's really not that simple and zukos perception of that is completely warped because he HAS done bad things, and the self-hatred and shame of that has convinced himself there is only one category. It's BEAUTIFUL I love it and I'm excited <3
Anyways, lastly I request you stop making me sob every time hakoda touches zukos scar. Stop it entirely. It's literally devastating knowing that zuko had just a small essence of hope his father was going to touch him before he burned him and now he thinks of violence every time and another father appears in his life and his touch is always warm and kind and not burning and I'm losing my mind over here JUST STOP IT AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! good fic top tier goodbye
WHY IS EVERYONE SO SURE IM JUST GONNA KILL EVERYONE SOMETIMES A GUY LOSES A KNIFE AND IT MEANS NOTHING DID YOU THINK OF THAT
also LOVE ur understanding of the sword metaphor bc even what you said about sokka is true; like as much as sokka ultimately falls into zuko's very rigid cataegory of 'good', he's still not easily forgiving and he can be mean and snappish and has a lot of characteristics zuko sees in himself, and of course if they're a Zuko Characteristic in his mind, then they HAVE to be bad, so what gives? it's interesting to me bc in book 1 zuko had effectively come to the conclusion that both swords = balance and that was a GOOD thing, like we see it in his talk with hakoda in ch13, but it's something he's having to relearn with a much broader worldview and some really horrible experiences and this chapter was HUGE for his progress in that regard.
"literally devastating knowing that zuko had just a small essence of hope his father was going to touch him before he burned him and now he thinks of violence every time and another father appears in his life and his touch is always warm and kind and not burning" I JUST WOKE UPPPPPP i dont want to think about them *thinks about them thinks about them thinks about them thinks about-*
#zukka and tomnook carried this chapter tho ur right <3#it's funny seeing people's reactions to tom nook bc some people looked at that scene#and went 'omg platonic tom nook you will always be famous' and other people went 'OHMY FUCKING GOD IT'S HAPPENING'#and im just here like hehehehe#ask#taob asks
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The Guru Re-watch
I enjoyed this episode a lot more than the last one for 2 key reasons
DANGEROUS LADIES
I've calmed down a tiny little bit from how mad I am about Jet, I just have to move on (but I never truly will)
Let's talk about Zuzu first. I don't have much to say about him in this episode (for once) other than that I agree with @theowritesfiction that Positive! Zuko is unsettling. Reminds me of the brainwashed Joo Dees. I don't like this Zuko.
Oh wait, let me make everything about Azula like I always do real quick - this version of Zuko isn't the real Zuko just like Canadian! Azula wouldn't be the "real" (or at least not the healthiest fullest version) of Azula (& nice teashop Zuko & Canadian over apologetic Azula are very comparable in my opinion.)
Anyway.
I loved Sokka & Hakoda's soft interactions in this episode.
[id: Hakoda & Sokka hugging. Sokka is smiling]
I really love the moment when Hakoda says "Sokka, you don't have to prove anything to me. I'm already proud of you and I've always known you're a great warrior."
Also, we've got Aang & his Guru journey learning about chakras. I've always found all the chakra talk a bit confusing but fascinating, so here's a piece of the transcript partially for my own context.
Aang: So chakras are pools of spiraling energy in our bodies?
Pathik: Exactly. If nothing else were around, this creek would flow pure and clear. However, life is messy, and things tend to fall in the creek. And then what happens?
Aang The creek can't flow?
Pathik Yes. But, if we open the ponds between the pools ... [He removes moss blocking the exit for the water.]
Aang: The energy flows! [The water that was blocked by the moss becomes clear. Aang and Pathik smile at each other.]
Next, we learn about the four chakras & watch Aang open them through visions & meditation (& onion & banana juice.) Aang struggles to overcome his shame for burning Katara, his guilt over leaving the world behind, & his fear of facing Ozai. The visions are an interesting exploration of Aang's internal struggles & we do see a lot of growth from how he was at the start of the series - largely in denial about anything he might need to overcome & reluctant to acknowledge or embrace his responsibility. Aang has grown immensely as a character & this is a good episode for him....Until we get to the part where I have some Controversial Tm opinions.
Pathik: The Thought Chakra is located at the crown of the head. It deals with pure cosmic energy and is blocked by earthly attachment.
Aang: What? Why would I let go of Katara? I love her!
Pathik: Learn to let her go, or you cannot let the pure cosmic energy flow in from the universe.
Much like "The Fortuneteller" this is a strong setup for Aang to overcome his unreciprocated feelings for Katara and the show takes it in another direction. I would have really liked to see this show subvert expectations & show Aang overcoming his feelings for Katara. That's just how I feel. It's a disappointment to me that he just leaves when he's so close to unlocking all the chakras.
Anyway, Katara!!! She is so cute in this episode. I mean, always, but like - she takes Momo to tea! She asks for a table for 2! She jokes during a war meeting that they could send Momo to do some damage because he's knocking over the models! I just adore her.
Katara also recognizes Azula from looking into her eyes & I'm not kidding - we get a Zoom in of Azula's eyes sparkling, then a close-up of Katara's shocked expression of recognition. Before anyone forgets that this is an Azutara blog, I'm collecting those breadcrumbs where I can!
Also, this episode is great because we get to see Azula's genius & devious plans unfolding & we get to see the Dangerous Ladies being an iconic trio. +1000 iconic behavior points each for the Dangerous Ladies. (also I am not even remotely keeping track of these points anymore I'll have to count them up at the end so it'll be interesting to see who wins lol!) We even get some domestic Dangerous Ladies content with them talking & cleaning their Kyoshi Warrior makeup.
[id: Mai with makeup smeared around her eyes halfway through cleaning her Kyoshi Warrior makeup]
I just love Azula, Mai & Ty Lee so much.
That is all I have for this episode!
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I've Loved Everything About You That Hurt
https://archiveofourown.org/works/50062441
by Deerlie_03
When a series of murders start in his hometown Sokka immediately suspects the weird new kid and this is strangely the basis of a fast friendship and maybe something a little more.
It's just a shame about all that murder.
Words: 3602, Chapters: 1/12, Language: English
Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Categories: M/M
Characters: Sokka (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar), Katara (Avatar), Aang (Avatar), Toph Beifong, Hakoda (Avatar), Bato (Avatar), Iroh (Avatar), Hama (Avatar)
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Additional Tags: Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Gay Zuko (Avatar), Big Brother Sokka (Avatar), not slow burn at all, First Impressions, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Bending (Avatar TV), Alternate Universe - British, that one wasn't intended, It just kinda happened, Friends to Lovers, they're never really enemies, Developing Friendships, Creepy Fluff, Fluff, Attempt at Humor, Coming of Age, Underage Drinking, Fall Out Boy References, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Murder, that's kind of a theme here, My Chemical Romance References
September 13, 2023 at 01:27PM
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#beardless hakoda tw#that's a lot of heads man#sure would be a shame if i sat here and counted them all#that's what#39?#I mean yes this is cursed and no I didn't count this right but it was good math practice#atla#hakoda#submission
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These pictures are all based off a sort of convoluted au of @muffinlance‘s fic Salvage. Basically me and @thelastspeecher were having a discussion about their fic where Zuko is deaged, and how one could make it work where Zuko was always four and not just magically made that way. Going to be under the cut cause this is going to get really really long.
So first, everybody is their age in Canon Except for Zuko, who is between 4-5 years old. Something happened that led to Ozai punishing Zuko to shame either his sister or his mother. Either it was a threat to make Azula comply, or it was a “scarlet letter” because Ozai became suspicious of the boy’s legitimacy.
Azula recognizes that Zuko will continue to be used in this matter until he ends up dead, and sneaks him into a crate on a ship being scent to a southern base to drop off supplies and be decommissioned. It is like, a week after he’s burned and he’s not even close to healed, but she thinks he’ll have a better chance at survival than remaining in the Fire Nation.
The crew of the Ahklut steal this ship in hopes of using it as a disguise, but quickly realize it’s in too rough a shape and decide to salvage it’s supplies instead. At which point Panuk and Toklo find the feverish little prince amongst a pile of blankets and uniforms.
The other’s hear them screaming and come down to check it out. It becomes very clear the boy is a prince because of 1. him wearing some sort of symbol, but 2. them hearing the news of the prince disappearing after an “Assassination attempt.” They take care of the kid and focus on healing him, but while they are kind to the toddler are also trying to ransom him. They find out how he’s not wanted similar to in the main fic and Hakoda decides to keep him. They don’t leave him at a civilian encampment because it’s basically putting a giant target on the place saying “please slaughter us.”
Zuko basically becomes the Akhlut’s mascot. And ends up being helpful to make them look like shopping civilians also. He discovers his fire bending while with them, so they have to find him a teacher too. (either Iroh or someone else.) and they teach him swords as well because they are mostly capable of getting him taught how not to burn things down. Each of the four named adults end up being dads to him. Hakoda is leader papa, Bato is funny papa, Kustaa is tea dad, and Aake is Big dad.
And now an attempt at describing the pictures.
1. Panuk and Toklo find the feverish little prince in the cargo hull and are screaming cause they are panicking. The background is grey with brown crates surrounding three figures in the front, with another box that is open and filled with red cloth. Panuk is on the left, in a blue outfit with patterned hems, short reddish dreadlocks, and little teal beads in the dread locks. Toklo is on the right in classic water nation uniform outfit, With long hair in a wolf tail with a couple beads and wearing and ivory choker. Baby Zuko is being held by Toklo, he’s unconscious with a bloody bandage over the right side of his face and he’s in fire nation clothing and clearly feverish. His hair is still there and long enough to be in a tail, though it’s probably shaved under the bandage.
2. Pick number two is Zuko hanging out with Bato and Hakoda (dadkoda) They are all sitting on the floor, probably if this was a full picture they’d be getting something to eat. Bato is on the left leaning down to Zuko’s eye level with a finger gesturing up, and clearly making a joke. Hakoda is looking down at Zuko and smiling while holding the toddler in his lap. And Zuko is in a teal parka and warm clothes and laughing at whatever story Bato is telling. He’s healthy now and you can see his scar, and his hair is in a little ponytail.
3. baby Zuko is sitting in Kustaa’s lap drinking tea. The healer was probably the one he was around the most at first because of how ill he was, but here he is healthy and Kustaa is making sure he drinks his tea to stay that way. Zukko has a ponytail again and is looking cross eyed down at the clay cup he’s holding as he drinks it, and he’s wearing a little green and white striped kimono deal with a black belt. Kusstaa is wearing the standard water tribe outfit, but the collar and sleeves are decorated with a darker blue scale pattern. He’s got long greying hair with two braids on the side leading up to his wolf tail, and a little greying goatee. oh and there is a little floaty heart above Zuko’s head because he loves his tea dad.
4. Zuko likes to hang out with Aake when he’s doing his job on the deck. He’ll come out from below deck and climb up the big dudes leg before settling himself over the guys shoulder. Aake does not outwardly react but he loves it. Here a big bearded man in water tribe clothing is standing with his arms crossed and looking off camera, he’s got an ivory necklace and scrimshaw patterned arm braces. baby Zuko is hung over his shoulder so you can only see the kids upper half, and he seems to be dressed in a mini water tribe uniform with leather braces. He’s gripping Aake’s shirt to stay up and his face looks mostly serious except for his little tongue blep.
Anyway, that’s the au! I really like it if anyone wants to discuss XD even though it has taken me like, months to actually sit and finish the drawings. My favorite is Aake with little zuko doing a blep.
#atla#avatar#my art#muffinlance#salvage au#toddler zuko#zuko#hakoda#dadkoda#kustaa#panuk and toklo#aake#bato
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Hey there!! 🦝 💙 I’m back, as promised.
Buckle up! I got a lot of thoughts and feelings and I’m here to express ‘em:
There are some things that need to be processed in safe connection with another person. So it makes sense that now Zuko has both a safe connection, as well as having someone else helping with the day-to-day with Izumi, that there’s finally space to process all the grief. But, of course, the guy is gonna repress that shit as long as he can. That’s on brand.
Oh no, the grey hair existential crisis!! Just dye your hair purple and pretend you’re still young. Not that I’m speaking from experience. Not me. Nope. 👀
I mean, I totally get Azula being anxious about how fast they’re moving. I love how you show how difficult it is for them to break unhealthy patterns of communication, and that they’re really trying, and that they really do love each other!! Also, Azula healing through connecting with Jin and with her therapist is The Good Shit. 🤌
Sokka being like, “you can wake me up to talk, or maybe we could ‘do an activity together’?” Call this pick-up line “the old reliable.” 🙄🤣
When I first read the teapot situation I gasped SO hard, then immediately went into problem-solving mode and was thinking they could do some real cute kintsugi family craft together. But I also totally get the important lesson Izumi needs to learn that being sorry doesn’t fix everything. Especially now, knowing your niece’s plant story.
Sokka better be Flynn Rider for Halloween!! Zuko would never live it down.
Katara: “I didn’t say it was smart, but it’s a possibility.”
Me: *sucks teeth* Yikes! Reading this man for filth when he’s not even here!! 🤣🤣
Social worker Aang makes so much sense and it’s a thing I never knew I needed in my life.
The “Haven’t you done enough for me? Aren’t you sick of this yet?” line got me SO BAD. Shattered into 1 million pieces. 💔❤️🩹
I LOVE that you had Hakoda be super real with him here about his grief because that normalizes the hell out of what Zuko’s going through.
This argument after Mai’s phone call!! 👀 HOLY SHIT!! This is some very productive conflict, they definitely needed to have this conversation about Sokka feeling shut out. I love the dialogue!!
The flashback to 17-year-old Zuko and the cannon dialogue. I’m fucking WRECKED over here!!
Big Oof. We’re really in it now aren’t we? Because the avoiding and distracting was good for him, honestly, until he was ready to really feel all this. But when he was ready to feel it all he freaked out and postponed it for a few weeks which led to all the shutting out, feeling confused, lots of shame and guilt, etc. Like DAMN how do you write like this???? I’m so impressed and emotional and blown-the-fuck-away by the way this story unfolded because it’s SO REAL!! People really do this!!
Broken heart-itis is a phrase I will be using as part of my daily lexicon, I want you to know this.
I LOVE that Uncle did his own therapeutic letter writing to Lu Ten. 😭😭 You got Uncle helping Zuko with his grief even still. ❤️
“but when that happens, when the grief comes hungry, he’ll feed it and keep going.” I want to have this quote in my social worker office, would you be cool with that? I definitely won’t if you don’t want me to. I’ve got a bunch of quotes in there and I point them out whenever I have a client who I think would need to hear it because sometimes words… *gestures vaguely* they do be hard. And this one… damn. It perfectly illustrates how to feel your painful emotions without shame and without spiraling into thinking you’ve lost all the progress you’ve made. Again, I’m just… blown-the-fuck-away by this.
Ok. I think that about covers everything I was thinking. I’m high-key sad that this story is wrapping up because it’s been so fucking good. Having these updates to look forward to have been Real Enough to Get Me Through this pandemic nonsense, for sure. As always, much love to you and I hope you’re well and healthy and that you did well on the COVID test. 💙
- your most voracious and vocal fan, 🦝
HELLO FRIEND <3 my long and rambling answer is under the read more because I also have a lot to say 😍😍
this made my night lol thank you for sharing these reactions!! at the end of the day I'm writing for myself but theres no way I would've made it to this point without kind people such as yourself sharing your excitement and encouraging me along!! so THANK YOU!!
the grey hair existential crisis was inspired by the grey thats recently started peppering through my own hair lol. this story only takes place within the span of a year, so I needed a way to keep showing the big picture of time passing and that seemed like a good way to introduce it. plus it ties in nicely later when Z is thinking about what S would look like when they get older :')
on Azula- even though shes in the background I still wanted to show that shes been on her own path too, and Z is definitely a big part of that. I think she looks up to him so much even though she hates to admit that. also i was DYING to finally throw in some jinzula and not just hint at it, so that was fun.
I'm so glad you liked the katara/aang/toph scene! it's always tough writing roundtable conversations like that because there are so many distinct voices/viewpoints to keep track of and I'm always afraid that it gets clunky or confusing. But it was important to me to show S opening up to them and taking their advice. I think he was probably getting in his head too much worrying about Z and he really needed that reset with help from his family and friends.
I almost cut that hakoda scene because for a while I couldn't quite figure out where to place it and how to force the two of them together and have Z in a mindset where he would even think to ask about it. Originally the frog scene was the same, but when Z started to spiral, he got up and left on his own to take a break, and ran into Hakoda in the house. but no matter how many times I tried to make that work I hated every outcome. I dont know why but that whole scene out of this entire chapter was the most challenging to push through and figure out. But I didnt want to cut the Hakoda conversation bc I really wanted Z to try to get someone else's perspective, and I wanted to show that he's still developing relationships with characters other than S. But speaking of S, I realized that scene was a good opportunity to show that he WAS paying attention and realized that Z needed help and wasnt about to ask for it himself, so he stepped in.
also OOF the argument scene. I actually loved writing that, despite the angst. I knew going into this chapter that it really needed some conflict, and that Z's internal wrestling wouldnt be enough. it needed to reach a point where he couldn't deny it anymore and they needed to communicate with words. it was cathartic to write and hopefully cathartic for you read
broken heart-itis was also inspired by my niece lol- shes a big fan of doc mcstuffins and once gave me a check-up for my "headache-itis" and told me to "drink iced coffee, take naps, and sleep good" 😂 I was like...okay yes ma'am
I almost cut out Irohs letter too😳 can you tell I get in my own head too much??? I really liked trying to write in his voice though so I’m glad I kept it!
ALSO- you are totally welcome to use the quote, I would be honored!!! that's so sweet and amazing! I used to have a bunch of quotes in my office at my old social work job too, they were so helpful on those days when my brain was just like, No. Not Today.
anyway, I hope you've enjoyed reading my rambling response, I really could talk about this story all day lol. Hopefully you're cool with all this behind-the-scenes talk!!
OH AND I saw your second ask too, that means a lot :) That scene with sokka+izumi is so special to me and I'm so happy that people liked it and still think of it!!! 💙💙💙
ANYWAY THANK YOU raccoon <3 you made me smile today!!!!
#also yes!! my covid test was negative so im in the clear (for now) but thank you!!!#wild raccoon anon#💙💙💙#retgmt#answered#long post
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Hallmarks of the Season: Part 2
Jetlag was a monster. Katara was certain there was nothing on earth worse than jetlag. She watched blearily as the sun reached its spindly rays over the horizon. She had slept maybe three hours, but her internal clock was eight hours behind, and she'd woken up hours earlier. Katara was considering going back to bed to see if she could get a few more hours of rest when there was a knock on the door.
"Auntie Tara?" Sesi poked her head into the room and was delighted to see Katara already awake and out of bed.
"Sesi, what did I tell you about going into people's rooms while they're asleep?" Sokka chided. Sesi looked back at her father with a pout.
"But she's awake!" She threw the door the rest of the way open so Sokka could see that Katara was in fact awake. Still, he shook his head at his daughter.
"She didn't say you could come in, though," he told her. "You always wait for permission after you knock."
"Oh." Sesi looked down at her feet, thoroughly chastened.
"What do you say?" Sokka prompted. Sesi looked up at Katara with her wide brown eyes peering through her messy slivery hair.
"Sorry, Auntie Tara," she said.
"It's alright," Katara assured her. She stretched out her arms for a hug and Sesi threw herself into the embrace with far too much energy for so early in the morning.
"Are you taking me to school?" Sesi's shame from moments before had melted away in her excitement. Sokka swept his eyes over his sister and shot her a concerned look.
"I don't know, Ses," he told his daughter. "I don't think Auntie got enough sleep last night. Maybe we should let her rest." Sesi's face fell in absolute devastation.
"I'm fine," Katara told them. "I'd be happy to take Sesi to school."
"Yay!" Sesi cheered and ran off to get dressed. Sokka lingered in the door, still unconvinced.
"You don't have to," Sokka said. "You look like you haven't slept since Ba Sing Se." Katara glanced at herself in the mirror and found she had to agree with her brother. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. Her hair stood up at odd angles- the result of tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable enough position to fall asleep in- and her skin looked dull and dry from spending the better part of the last day in an airplane.
"I wouldn't miss it," Katara told Sokka. "Besides, it's a bad idea for me to go back to sleep now. That'll just make my jetlag last longer."
"Alright," Sokka relented with a shrug. "I'll go fix you some coffee."
"Lots, please," Katara called after him.
Katara took a few minutes to dress and make herself somewhat presentable. When she went into the kitchen, she found Hakoda nursing his morning coffee and reading the paper, while Sokka wrangled his daughter's hair.
"I want Auntie to do it!" Sesi insisted.
"Let's not exhaust Auntie on her first full day," Sokka said. "She's going to be here for ten more days. Besides, I'm almost finished. She can do your hair another time." Katara shot her brother a grateful look and went to pour herself a large mug of coffee. Sokka put Sesi's hair into a neat braid with impressive speed and fixed them both a bowl of congee. Sesi doused hers in honey and nuts, a taste she inherited from her father. When Sesi was done, she grabbed Katara's arm, nearly making her spill the last of her coffee. Hakoda grabbed the mug in the nick of time and warned his granddaughter to be careful.
"Slow down, pup," he said, scooping Sesi into his arms. "We don't want any accidents on Auntie's first day."
"I'm going to be late!" Sesi exclaimed, squirming and giggling in her grandfather's grasp.
"You're not going to be late," Sokka said. He glanced down at his watch and gasped. "Oh, crap! You are!" He hurried to get Sesi's jacket on and pass her her lunchbox.
"You remember how to get to the school, right?" Sokka asked Katara.
"In my sleep," she said. "I forgot to pack a toothbrush. I'm going to stop at the corner store on my way back. Do you need anything?"
"All good!" Hakoda called from the kitchen. Sokka reached into his pocket and pulled out a few crumpled bills.
"Sesi's got tessenjutsu after school," he said. "Can you pick her up a snack?" Katara pushed Sokka's money back at him.
"I got it," she said.
Even after a decade, Katara remembered her way to the town's only school building. It was a ten minute walk from her father's house, and Sesi spent every minute trying to cram as much information in as possible. Katara listened to her chatter with indulgent affection, even supplying new topics when Sesi couldn't think of any. Katara listened attentively to stories of Sesi's best friend (this week), her favorite snacks (which Katara filed away for her trip to the store), how amazing her martial arts teacher was.
"I want to be like her when I grow up!" Sesi declared. Then she looked up at Katara and hurriedly added, "I want to be like you, too! I want to be strong, like Sifu Suki, and I want to be super smart, like you, Auntie." Katara had to hide a laugh at Sesi's enthusiasm.
"I think you're going to grow up to be very strong and smart," she told her niece. "But I'd rather you be like you than try to be like me, or Sifu Suki or anyone."
"But you're so, cool!" Sesi said. "I want to travel and go to fancy parties like you. And I want to be a really great fighter, like Sifu."
"You can do all that," Katara said. "It's fine to look up to people and be inspired to work hard like them, but you can't really be just like them. I wanted to be just like my mom when I was your age. She was a nurse, you know."
"I know," Sesi nodded sagely. "Daddy told me. He tell me a lot of stories about Gran-Gran Kya." Katara smiled at that.
"Well, when I was growing up, I wanted to be a nurse, too," she said. "But then one day I realized I only wanted to be a nurse because she was a nurse, and that wasn't a good enough reason."
"It wasn't?" Sesi looked up at Katara with wide-eyed awe, as if she were hearing some new bit of wisdom for the first time.
"No," Katara said. "So I ended up studying something else, and I got a job in Ba Sing Se."
"And then you met Zu-er- Uncle Zuko?" Sesi had only ever met Zuko over video chat, but Sokka insisted she call him either Mr. or Uncle out of respect. Katara had to admit to herself that she liked that Sesi had chosen Uncle. Deep down, she thought that Zuko did, too.
"Then I met Uncle Zuko."
The pair lapsed into silence once again. Katara was about to ask about TV shows that Sesi asked, when she broke the quiet herself.
"Auntie Tara?" she asked uncertainly.
"Yeah, kiddo?"
"Do you miss your mom?" That question caught Katara off guard. She froze midstep and inhaled sharply as if she'd just been winded. Concern and confusion furrowed Sesi's brow and she shook Katara's hand. Katara forced a smile to assure her she was okay.
"I do miss my mom," she told Sesi. "I was only a few years older than you when she passed away." She waited a beat, then asked. "Do you miss your mom?"
"I don't know," Sesi shrugged. "I don't really remember her. I was just a baby when she died." Katara wanted to point out that she was a baby still, but thought better of it. "Do you think your mom and my mom are watching us?"
The school was coming up ahead, and in spite of herself, Katara felt relieved. She put her hand on Sesi's head and nodded.
"Yeah, Ses, I think they are watching us," she sighed.
"Do you think Gran-Gran Kya likes me?"
"Kiddo," Katara said, lifting Sesi up into her arms, "I think she loves you more than all the stars in the sky, just like your mom. Now, get on inside. I'll see you after school, alright?" Sesi pressed a quick, sloppy kiss on Katara's cheek then squirmed out of her arms to race off and join her friends in the school yard. Katara watched her for a few moments and then left with another sigh. She did not envy Sokka having to field those questions regularly.
The best thing about life in such a small town was that it was walkable. After Katara dropped Sesi off at school, she walked the half mile to the convenience store that had been around longer than most of the town's citizens. Hama, the ancient owner of the store greeted Katara with a bored half wave, as if it had only been days since she'd last seen her instead of over a year.
Sokka had insisted on a healthy snack for Sesi, but Sesi had insisted on something sweet. Katara split the difference with a kid-friendly energy bar, a fruit flavored water, and a bag of gummy candies for when Sesi was done with class. With her toothbrush, snacks and a few other small items in hand, Katara made her way to Hama at the register. She was nearly at the front when someone greeted her excitedly from the aisle. Katara turned to see another blast from her past.
"Aang!" she greeted her ex-boyfriend with a warm smile. "I didn't know you were back in town!"
"I didn't know you were back," he said. "Wow...how long has it been now, six? Seven years?"
"Just about," Katara confirmed. "Are you done with vet school?" Aang shrugged and waved his hand carelessly.
"I didn't finish it," he said. "It got...too sad. I quit when they started teaching us what poisons to use to put pets down." Katara blinked in surprise. Then she remembered that Aang had been a staunch ethical vegan, even in high school. "Anyway, now I own a pet grooming shop."
"That's great!" Katara said. "I could totally see that being a good fit for you. How's Gyatso?"
"Oh, he's great!" Aang said. "Well, I mean, he was sick for a while, but he's doing better. He's actually part of the reason I came back home. And now, you're back! We should totally hang out!"
"Absolutely," Katara agreed. "Have you seen Sokka recently?"
"Well...no," Aang admitted, his cheeks flushed slightly. "I've only been back in town a few months, and with trying to get the groomer's shop off the ground, I've been...busy."
"Then it sounds like we need to have a night out," Katara said kindly. "I'm sure he'd love to see you. And I heard Toph owns a bar now. We should meet up there and catch up."
"Y-you mean all of us?" Aang asked. Katara nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah! It'll be like old times. Remember the lunch table?" Aang chuckled a bit hesitantly and rubbed the back of his neck.
"That-that sounds great," he said with a wide smile.
"Do you still have the same number? I'll talk to Sokka and Toph and see when everyone's free." Katara shifted her basket so she could push her hair out of her face.
"That sounds like-" Aang's face fell as he followed Katara's hand away from her face and to her side. "I-is that an engagement ring?" Katara giggled and held her hand up.
"Yeah, actually," she said. "I just got engaged a few weeks ago. Actually this trip is partly to introduce him to everyone."
"Oh... Is he...um... are you going to bring him to hang out?"
"I hope so," Katara said. "It depends on when everyone is free. He's not getting to town for another few days. But if he doesn't make it in time for our hang out, I'll be dragging him around town for the entire time he's here. You'll get a chance to meet him."
"That's...great." Aang's wide smile got wider, and he repeated himself with more enthusiasm. "That's great! How long have you been dating?"
"About three years," Katara said. "Our anniversary is in a couple of months. I kind of wish we had time to plan a wedding before then. It'd be cute. But there are too many people's schedules to consider, and we haven't even decided if we're doing the wedding in Ba Sing Se, or here, or in Caldera-"
"Caldera?" Aang asked.
"That's where his family's from," Katara said. "And it's a beautiful city. Anyway, I'm babbling."
"It's alright," Aang waved her off. "So...you guys have been together for three years? And he's never met your family?'
"He's met them," Katara corrected Aang. "He's just never been here. It's never worked out that he's had time when I've come. But he met Dad and Sokka when they visited me in Ba Sing Se last year, and he's chatted with everyone else on video. I can't wait for you to meet Zuko. He's wonderful. Just try not to tell too many embarrassing stories of me from school, alright?"
"I don't think I have any," Aang said. "You were perfect."
"Ha!" Katara laughed. "Pass the memo to Sokka. Hey, I've got to get going, but I'll reach out about hanging out, okay?"
"Sounds good." Katara took her basket to pay for her purchases, and then with one finally wave to Aang, she hurried back to her father's house.
One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six
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tell us the rest of the 12/17 reasons why the boiling rock is great, we need more of y'all's great discussions in the hellhole that is tumblr
okay yes!! not sure if i can make it 17 exactly but here’s a list of reasons why the boiling rock is great:
that moment where mai and ty lee both betray azula. the tension. the shock. the romance!!! one of my fav scenes in the entire show tbh
zuzu risking it all for a guy who doesn’t even care whether he lives or dies. honestly sokka just has that effect on people
the riot scene being the height of comedy, and the scene that immediately follows of suki capturing the warden just being.... iconic beyond belief
chit sang hates gay people and that’s so fucking valid of him
he also hates bad grammar (seriously. this is such an underrated joke)
zuko is honestly at his best in this episode. just very adorably awkward and earnest and supportive!!! even once he joins the gaang, he’s still quite grumpy and quick to anger and insensitive to other’s feelings, but not in this episode. he respects sokka and supports him and even gives him really good advice! a good zuko episode
also a very good suki episode, in which her mental + emotional fortitude is really showcased. we see some of the conditions in which she was placed for the past 4+ months, and the fact that she refuses to leave without sokka is incredible. he wouldn’t blame her for it in the slightest, but she tells him that she’s not leaving without him as if it’s obvious. she’s so selfless and loving and strong
the scene where katara reunites with hakoda is so moving!! i love that scene!!!
that entire fight scene on the gondola is amazing, but my favorite part is when sokka has the chance to kill azula, and that moment of recognition when they all realize he could end it right there, but then he deliberately pulls back. i bet that moment haunts azula forever
the fact that the moment between sokka and zuko in the cooler is so charged and FOR WHAT . TO WHAT ENDS
oh and have i mentioned sokka
the way that this episode allows for sokka to be vulnerable and fail and rely on others to support him is so important. sokka and azula are very similar in the fact that theyve both internalized these mindsets that vulnerability is weakness is failure, and relying on anyone else is failure, anything other than perfection is, you guessed it, failure.....and failure is DEATH. sokka, stewing in his regret and shame over losing the invasion actively goes on a suicide mission with the full knowledge that he might die or never return, because he thinks that’s the price he ought to pay for losing, especially losing a battle he planned for so long, invented entirely new technology to accommodate, and truly believed was foolproof. it was his plan, and it failed. and he believes that the only way to redeem himself is to save his dad or die trying. but zuko comes with him. and he’s not exactly the most useful person sokka could’ve taken. he can’t metalbend. he’s not the avatar. he’s not even a waterbender. but crucially, he’s sokka’s peer. he’s not someone sokka feels the need to look after or take care of (mostly because up until this point, sokka hated him), so instead, zuko takes care of him. supports sokka and trusts him unconditionally and does whatever sokka thinks is best and tells sokka exactly what he needs to hear. and suki does too. and so does his dad. people who have shown sokka that they can handle themselves, that sokka doesn’t need to protect them. they show sokka that he can be vulnerable. and that’s why this episode is so crucial to sokka’s character development.
in this episode, sokka and azula are both struggling with their failures on the day of black sun. yes, azula technically won the battle, but zuko left her to deal with the consequences of having lied to ozai to protect him, and as we see, that loses her any credibility she had with him or any esteem he may have held her in. she is desperately trying to fix her error, and who gets in her way here but sokka her nemesis. but while sokka is shown throughout this episode that he is loved and supported, azula is betrayed by her only friends, further proving to her that failure is unacceptable, a self-fulfilling prophecy bringing about her own ruination.
sokka’s lil heart eyes when he sees suki. adorable
the entire conversation on the war balloon. i’m partial to “pretty clouds” “yeah.......... fluffy”
also sokka bragging that he knows the mechanist but not mentioning that he’s the reason they work in the first place???? my fucking KING
anyway i just really love sokka
#asks#sokka#azula#azula&sokka#sokkaxsuki#sokkaxzuko#analysis#cinematic masterpiece the boiling rock part 2#and yes this was 17 bullet points lmao#crustypeppermintcookie
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I have this base for I fic I plan on writing soon and for some reason I just find it so funny so y'all get a sneak peak for it.
Basically instead of killing Kya, she gets taken, locked in prison until they figure out she's not a water bender, so they send her as a servant to the palace and for some reason she gets assigned to Ozai's children. This is all like 6 months to a year before Ursa's banished, so Kya being the queen she is has been planning an escape until she gets that all happens the she's like "apparently I have two more children, cool."
Kya's the only one that's actually able to get Azula to behave and teach the girl just a bit of empathy, so Ozai being a terrible parent tries to banish her as well but since she's Kya, she knew he assisted in Azulon's death, so she's just constantly blackmailing him into letting her keep raising his children. Zuko, sadly still ends up banished only because Kya (and Azula who somewhat cares about her brother) weren't told about the whole thing so they didn't know till after.
Flashforward to after Zuko joins the Gaang (IDK how all the plot points fit in there, but they do somehow). Maybe like just after the Boiling Rock, Hakoda says something about Kya and Zuko has a full body reaction because "hey isn't that the nice lady that made me and azula actually get along?" So him and Katara dip for the night, sneak into the Fire Nation and find Kya only for her to refuse to leave. (She's honestly fine here, she's doing so much behind the scenes to work on ending the war that it'd be a shame to leave so suddenly.)
War ends and all that good stuff. Kya's reunited with Hakoda and Bato (they have some peak dumbass moments there, like "wait, what do you mean you married both of us.'") Really this was just an excuse for a 'Kya adopts Azula' fic since there are already so many of Hakoda adopting Zuko, so Azula needs some love too.
#Kya#Azula#Zuko#Hakoda#Bato#Aang#Katara#Sokka#Toph#Atla#Avatar#Avatar the last airbender#Kya adopts Azula#Ozai's afraid of Kya as he should be#Also Kya was Chief of the SWT before this so she just that much more awesome#We stan a queen who get stuff done#Also a sprinkle of dumbass Bakayda for a treat#Kya went of for years talking about her husband and they didn't even know
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You know what I like about your writing? Well I’m glad you asked. I really liked that Zuko is gay, I could stop here tbh, and that you show him feeling attraction to kinda any guy around his age? But that it doesn’t necessarily mean he has a crush on them or that hes gonna do anything about it which is probably more his shame but that’s not the point. Like in your reread you mentioned him being gay about meeting tomnook, he never does anything about it and it probably fades once he like sees how annoying they are but anyway. Sometimes you look at your friends and you’re like “sheesh” and that’s literally it. Also do we know tomnook’s sexualities yet? We’re just getting around to the Hakoda, Kanut, Bato crew maybe we’ll slide around to the next trio
WAIT BC THIS WAS VERY MUCH ON PURPOSE!!! like he hasn't really had a crush on anyone in taob yet aside lee and i KNOW everyone likes to go on about tomko but zuko really doesnt say anything in his povs that indicates that? it's very much just him finding boys attractive in general and seeing something he finds attractive and having a gay panic about it but not falling head over heels, you know?
#it's v subtle so i like that you noticed this <3#just let the allo gays find people fit like anyone else would bsfs it doesn't always have to be a thing LMAO#as for tom nook their sexualities haven't been stated in taob#ask#taob asks
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Moonlight
Click here to read the full fic on AO3
Shouting made Katara sit up in bed with a jolt. Her muscles seized with the electricity and she was frozen, listening to the commotion coming from down the hall.
Throwing off her quilts and furs, Katara grabbed her robe as she ran to the door. She yanked the door open at the same moment guards reached it.
“Master Katara, it’s unsafe.” One man said.
“There’s an intruder.” The other added.
“And I’m better at this than you are.” Katara snapped.
She waved her hands and coils of water came from the walls and wrapped around their middles, pulling them to opposite sides of the hall. As the guards struggled, Katara ran onward toward the din.
Sliding around the corner, Katara used her bending to melt the top of the ice floor to send her drifting. Ice shot out from the wall and she grabbed it, using it to push herself forward.
“I’m allowed to be here!” Zuko shouted just as Katara slammed into the backs of more guards.
The paltry inches of icemelt on the floor refroze and the guards staggered when their feet couldn’t move.
“What are you doing?” Katara yelled, pulling Zuko up from the floor with both hands wrapped in the front of his jacket.
Still disoriented, Zuko was slumped enough that she was holding up all his weight. His smile told her he enjoyed that and she dropped him with a heaved sigh.
“I missed you.” He said.
“Why did you break in? You could have called!” Katara said.
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“Getting killed by my guards would certainly be a surprise.”
“Katara!” Hakoda shouted and Katara closed her eyes.
“It’s fine, dad.” She said loudly. “It’s just Zuko being an idiot.”
Hakoda pushed through the wobbling pillars of stuck guards and looked wildly around.
“Why is the Fire Nation prince here?” He questioned.
“He missed me.” Katara said.
“A lot. I missed you a lot.” Zuko added.
“You invaded a foreign power.” Hakoda growled.
Katara rubbed her eyes with both hands.
“Your daughter’s boyfriend tried to sneak into her house and got caught.” She said. Zuko snorted as he finally stood up.
“This is serious, Katara.” Hakoda retorted.
Katara glared up at him. “Only if he’s the bad guy.”
“It was a bad idea. I’m sorry.” Zuko said, stepping in between them. “I honestly thought I could explain myself if I got caught.”
“If?” Hakoda asked. “Do you think you’re better than a palace full of trained armed guards?”
“What do you think happened to Yue?” Katara shot back.
Zuko winced and Katara recalled the water that froze her guard.
“You are dismissed.” She said.
“I’m sorry, Master Katara, but Chief Arnook is still our commander.” One guard said hesitantly.
“Is he?” Katara asked in vicious irritation. “Or do I outrank you as Master and he is my commander?”
The guard cleared his throat and bowed, gesturing for the others to leave.
“You are overstepping.” Hakoda said.
Katara kept her back to her father. “I have told you multiple times. I am going to do whatever I want when it comes to Zuko.”
Taking Zuko’s hand, Katara walked back around the corner to head to her room.
“Well, that did not go the way I thought it would.” Zuko said after they got some distance away.
“What did you really think was going to happen?” Katara asked, amused.
“Madam, I’ll have you know the Blue Spirit has never been caught and broke into countless impregnable cities and forts.” Zuko replied.
“Oh? So what happened tonight?”
“I respectfully remind her highness that I am not wearing a mask.”
Katara laughed and walked closer to Zuko.
“You’re trying to lighten the mood.” She said.
“Absolutely. That was terrifying.” Zuko agreed.
“Almost getting murdered?”
“You.”
Katara stopped and turned to him, frowning.
“Are you afraid of me?” She asked.
“I didn’t say that.” Zuko said, caressing her cheek with his free hand. “I said you were terrifying.”
“And the difference is?”
“I’m more afraid of the fact that I now understand how Sozin felt about the comet.” He kissed her and Katara leaned into him.
When she did pull away, Katara pulled him into her room wordlessly. She closed the door and pushed him toward the bed while she moved to the large sliding doors that led to the balcony. Tugging the curtains back, moonlight trickled in and collected in a small pool on the glassy floor. The moon was waxing, becoming an eye that would open on her coronation day to judge her. Now it was split in half, and this was a special time for Katara. The full moon was for Tui, the new moon was for La, and half moons were when the human world finally synched up with the spiritual energy and Katara regained her own mind.
Basking in this light, Katara closed her eyes.
“I’ve never been so close to a spirit before.” Zuko murmured.
Her eyes still closed, she smiled.
“I recall someone questioning my spirit status due to some face paint.” She replied. Katara heard him get off the bed and move slowly toward her.
As Zuko held her, Katara relaxed into his arms.
“You were calling me, weren’t you?” He asked, lowering his mouth to her ear.
“How did you know?”
He kissed her just at her jaw and rested his chin on her shoulder.
“All of the planets revolve around the sun, but the ocean only listens to the moon. I watch the waves and I get jealous.” He finally said.
“You know Arnook is going to have your head.” Katara said.
“Let me rest it in your lap and I’d happily go.” Zuko replied.
“Where does your family think you are?”
“Northern Air Temple. Visiting Rohan.”
“Rohan is in Republic City.”
“Mmm, what a shame.” Zuko kissed her neck and Katara sighed.
“Wait.” Katara said, opening her eyes and furrowing her brow. “How in Yangchen’s name did you even get into the palace?”
She could feel his smile against her skin.
“You’re not the only one who is good at what they do.” He replied.
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I wish you would write a fic where.... Aang and katara take their kid penguin sledding ❤️ or just visit the South Pole
My immediate thought with “visit the South Pole” was ice-skating, but the otterpenguins get a honorable mention lol.
(This somehow became Kya-centric, and I absolutely adore it.)
feat. bestdad!Aang, bëbë!Kya, bestmom!Katara, bestuncle!Sokka, bestPap-Pop!Hakoda, littleshit!Bumi, and bëbë!Tenzin
Words: 2,004
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Sokka was going to die if he didn’t stop laughing long enough to breathe. That, or Katara was going to creatively kill him.
Aang was beauty. Aang was grace.
Aang could not ice-skate.
He could surf on the wind and walk on one hand through fire, but put him on bladed shoes on ice? He was worse than a newborn catdeer.
“Daddy, you gotta do this, r‘member?” Little Kya had her mother’s grace and twice her father’s flair even when she was so thickly layered that her arms perpetually stood at the horizontal. Only a thin strip of her face was visible between her parka and her hood.
“I-I got it, moonpeach.”
Aang, in fact, did not have it.
He’s lucky he’s so flexible, otherwise the split he windmilled and then belly-flopped into might have hurt him.
Sokka laughed so hard that the otterpenguins two glaciers down made disgruntled sounds at him.
Aang tried to hide himself in the ice. Kya bent over and patted his arrow with one of her horizontal arms.
The snow melted around Sokka from the force of Katara’s glare, but he really, really couldn’t care less.
Oh, how he wished to have one of those new photo-whatchamacallits that they had in the city.
“Daddyyyy...,” Kya whined in a chastising tone that nearly swapped their roles as parent and child. “Daddy, you gotta do it like this.” Kya was insistent, stern, and extremely amiable with her wobbling student. “Here, hold my hand. I won’t let you fall again, m’kay?”
Aang managed a weak laugh and tried to nervously decline for fear of accidentally smushing her when he inevitably fell again, but little Kya was already taking his hand. Her face flushed a little red as she struggled to gain initial momentum, but it wasn’t long before she was skating with her father, crouched and holding her hand with both of his, like he was cargo tied to a sled.
The ice sang as Katara slid up next to them. Her hands laced behind her back as she swayed with complete control of and on her element. “Very good, Kya. You’re a great teacher.” Katara patted Aang’s back. “Isn’t she, sweetie?”
Kya puffed her chest and smiled so wide that they could see it in the small space between the neck of her parka and her hood. Aang’s legs were starting to shake from crouching for so long.
“Katara,” Aang hissed. “Katara, help me.”
Katara laughed something bordering on pride and mischief. She kissed his cheek, maneuvered to kiss Kya, too, and skated away to push Sokka, sitting on the border of the ice, into the powder again.
“Kataraaaaa…” Aang shook a little more, threatened to windmill again, but caught himself by sinking into a crouch so low that his rear nearly touched the ice. He was level with his daughter, now, and their speed was inches at a time. “Katara, please.”
“You’re doing really good, Daddy.” Kya patted his head with her free horizontal arm. “‘S okay to be scared. Don’t worry. I'll catch you if you fall again.”
“Hehehe, well, you see, Kya, Daddy is really heavy, and he doesn’t want to—”
Kya rounded on him with a familiar glare that compelled Aang to sit straight and speak clearly when he talked. “I’m strong!”
“Oh, I know, sweetie, I know. You’re very strong, but that’s not—”
Kya tried to press her finger to his lips but ended up pressing the whole of her mitt to his mouth. “Shhh!” She straightened like a woman going to war. “I said Imma catch you, so don’t be scared, ‘kay? I promise.”
Aang melted and would have become a human puddle if he wouldn’t have smushed Kya in the process. She had his heart in the palm of her hand.
“I promise, okay?” Kya waddled close to Aang—who was still crouching low enough to be at her level—and strained her horizontal arms to circle his neck in a hug. “I promise.”
Aang’s insides liquified. On the border of their little ice ring, Katara oozed pride so thick that it escaped her in a giggle. Even Sokka picked himself out of the snow and smiled at the loving little oogies.
...The moment was broken the second Bumi appeared.
He and Hakoda were sprinting for their lives.
“What—Dad?” Katara stood at attention with Sokka right beside her.
“No time!”
“Gotta hide!”
Hakoda and Bumi dove into the powder that was once Sokka’s little purgatory of Katara’s design.
They missed. Terribly. Partially because they dove through the powder and onto the ice.
Aang really wasn’t being given much luck that day.
The duo took him out at the knees just as he stood with Kya in hand. A Mother’s instinct was a force stronger than nature, and Katara was in his wake and catching their daughter before Kya was ever in danger of hitting the ice.
“Daddy!” Kya, thoroughly distressed, squirmed to be let down. She was so frantic to get to the bundle of limbs and groans now stuck in the powder that she treaded on nothing for the first few seconds after Katara put her back on the ice. She windmilled her horizontal arms and skated to the scene of the accident.
Aang was on his back and trying to remember how to breathe, mutely groaning a ‘why me’. His daughter’s teary eyes took up all he saw when next his vision found focus, and his heart broke with a crack so loud that he swore everyone could hear it.
“D-Daddy…” Kya maneuvered onto her knees and patted Aang’s face with her mitts. “I’m sorry, Daddy…”
Aang, half-buried in the snow, reached up to wipe away her little tears. His world was collapsing, but he tried to keep the bulk of his worry and desperation out of his voice. “Hey, hey, hey, shhh...It’s okay, Kya. See? Daddy’s okay.”
Kya hugged his head, nearly wrapping the whole of her around him and his neck. “I promised to catch you…I promised...” She sniffled. “I’m sorry…’M sorry…”
Unadulterated fury like a tempest made flesh skated over to them, but Katara channeled her bloodlust into a somewhat rough wave of her hand to free her son and father. They raced to tell her something about ‘Gran-Gran’s retribution’ and ‘leopardseal boots and octopus’ and ‘they didn’t know the sea prunes were hers’ and ‘pretty please tell Gran-Gran to grant us mercy’.
Katara crossed her arms. They sat straight and shut their mouths.
(Sokka, shaking his head, was already working out how he could possibly use his diplomatic skills to save his father’s and nephew’s lives.)
“Sorry…’M sorry, Daddy…”
“Oh, Kya…” Aang was sitting cross-legged and hugging his daughter in the next second. He was flexible enough to move like water even with his skates on. “It’s okay. You didn’t break your promise.”
“But...B-But…” Kya was struggling so hard to not cry that Aang was half-prepared to bargain with even Koh himself for the secret to keeping her from tears.
“You said you would catch me, and I didn’t fall. I was run over by your brother and Pap-Pop.” He kissed her cheek and blew a raspberry until she smiled, and her little giggle stitched the world back together.
The hand on Aang’s shoulder was relieved and no longer thirsty for blood; Katara was a tide receding back to calm waters. “You’re a fantastic teacher, moonpeach,” she softly said as she kissed Kya’s other cheek.
Kya smiled even wider, patted both of their faces, and laughed a sound that even the otterpenguins two glaciers away were calmed and drawn towards.
Aang held her to his chest so she was sitting on his arms. “I guess I need to start calling you, Sifu Kya, won’t I?”
Katara sagely nodded. “Oh, absolutely. Though I must warn you, Kya, Daddy is a pretty difficult student.”
“I am not—”
“Hush, Pupil Daddy.” Katara’s eyes howled with the laughter that she struggled to keep at bay (but that Sokka, Hakoda, and even little Bumi, freely let out).
Aang grumbled but couldn’t care less about their audience when Kya smiled like that. She bounced more than she squirmed to be put down, and she bounced even more as she took Aang’s hand and ‘helped’ him to his feet. She was so excited that she either didn’t notice or didn’t care about Katara picking her husband up and tapping his legs apart so he (resembled) a stance that would keep him from immediately falling.
Aang stayed crouched so low that his rear nearly touched the ice. He was a puddle in airbender robes holding onto his daughter’s horizontal hand with both of his. Katara was a gleeful shadow right behind him and oozing pride as readily as the sun gave heat.
“Can you show me how to stop again, Sifu Kya?” Aang gently asked. “I’m not a really good student—”
Katara laughed.
“—and I could really use another demonstration from a Master.”
Kya spoke in excited huffs and bubbles of giggles, just too excited for words. She nodded so fast that her head threatened to come clean off her shoulders, and she tugged him across the ice even faster.
Hakoda and Bumi sat with Sokka in the powder and cooed at the little oogies.
...But they didn’t have very long to enjoy it.
Gran-Gran crested the hill like a deadly omen armed with a broom that she wielded like a master spearman.
The look in her eyes was a force of nature that put even Katara’s to shame.
Even the otterpenguins two glaciers down cried for mercy and sprinted for their lives.
Katara and Aang were content, for the moment, to let natural selection determine Bumi’s and Hakoda’s fates.
(A Mother’s instinct was a force of nature, though, so Katara’s calm became Aang’s waypoint to gauge when or if he had to save the eldest-born part of their world.)
For now, they were content. Class was in session, after all.
Kya puffed up, waddled with her arms horizontal, and spoke in a tone that compelled Aang to speak clearly when he talked and fight the overwhelming urge to hug her.
The spark in her little eyes was a force of nature all on its own.
A Father’s instinct was a tide that was pushed and pulled with her every smile.
Aang was an ocean reduced to a puddle.
His full moon stood at his back.
His Morning Star waved her arms in excitement, and his Evening Star faintly laughed among Hakoda’s pleas for mercy.
“—this move all on my own! It’s really easy, but I’ll be right ‘ere in case you fall, Daddy!”
...It took Aang months to learn that move.
But it would have taken him lifetimes to learn it all on his own.
He loved every second of it—even the bruises that came with it.
...The first time Aang fell during a ‘lesson’, Katara was too slow to catch him.
A Daughter’s instinct was a force of nature, though, and little Kya was braced with her arms vertical to catch him. Aang should have known better. His daughter was his and Katara’s. If Gran-Gran could chase down three warriors and bring them to their knees even in her old age, it should be no surprise that Kya could hold up one man in her young years.
...The first time Aang skated ‘freely’, Kya and Bumi were on each of his sides.
...The first time Tenzin wore his ice-skates, Kya helped lace them up for him. Her voice was stern but calming like something protective as she herded him onto the ice.
“It’s okay, Ten-Ten. I got you. I won’t let you fall. I promise I’ll catch you.”
Aang and Katara were going to melt the whole South Pole if they smiled any bigger.
...Sokka was going to kill himself if he didn’t take a break from laughing to breathe, but Aang was no better. Katara, either, for that matter.
Kya puffed her chest like the world and everything in it was hers.
“Sifu?” Tenzin didn’t know what most words meant yet, but he was convinced he knew the word for ‘sister’. “Sifu, ‘m hungry...Bumi didn’t share the ‘prunes.”
No one dared to correct him.
(Kya held it over Tenzin’s head for years.)
(“Korra, I gotta hand it to you. Tenzin is a terrible student, but you helped him learn how to be a great teacher.”)
(“Kya, please…”)
(“Ah-ah! That’s ‘Sifu’ to you, Ten-Ten.”)
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I don’t know how this became a Kya-love fic, but I’m not complaining in the least. The splash-bëbë deserves all the love in the world😤, and she has Aang wrapped around her finger💖
#aang#kya ii#katara#kataang#avatar the last airbender#sokka#bumi ii#the legend of korra#kya love#cloudbabies#cloud family#bestdad!Aang#bestmom!Katara#bestuncle!Sokka#bestPap-Pop!Hakoda#myfanfictiontag#fic request#answered#post
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