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#shes been in a bad mood w me recently

buddysblogs123 · 5 days

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ALEXIA X READER (Platonic)

You knew alexia blamed herself for the loss of the game, only just missing the goal which could've equalized the score. You could tell she was in a bad mood but you didn't think she would take all her anger out on you.

You've been living with alexia ever since you joined barca at 15, being 18 now. Alexia took you under her wing as soon as she met you, filling the mother role better than your biological mother ever could. Your parents kicked you out when you told them you were pursing soccer as your career, they didn't agree that it was a sport for girls which led to you couch surfing for a few months. Until you joined the barca senior team.

Alexia walked into your shared home in a fit of rage, slamming the front door behind her carelessly. You trailed behind slowly carrying both of your bags, you hesitated entering the house. You slowly opened the door and took your shoes off, placing both of your bags neatly by the door as you took a deep breath. Walking towards the living room where alexia was sitting on the couch, a scowl on her face as she stared at the tv.

"Ale are you okay?" you ask hesitantly from the door way, she shoots you a glare before answering.

"Do i look okay to you y/n?" she asks angrily

"erm no, w-what's wrong" you say quietly. You knew she was angry because of the game, why she was angry at you is what your confused about.

"what's wrong? We fucking lost the game y/n. I lost us the game. If i didn't have a distraction with me 24/7 i might've actually had a chance at scoring. Your affecting my career y/n" she ranted angrily without looking at you.

You stood there heartbroken, taking every word of hers. All though you didn't let any tears fall, not wanting her to know that her words affected you as much as they really did.

"o-oh okay, i'll um give you some space if that's what you want" you say quietly as you grab your bag and shoes from the door and walk to your room.

Alexia sighs and rests her face in her hands, already feeling guilty about what she's said to you. She was about to get up and follow you to apologize but decided she needed more time to cool down so she doesn't snap again.

Meanwhile you were already packing your bags, chucking them out the window quietly as you wait for your uber to arrive.

Truth is you had bought your first house around a month ago, alexia didn't know though. You had planned to move most of your stuff into your new house without her noticing, before telling her, so that's what you did. With your room at alexia's pretty much now empty except for the furniture, you jumped out the window quietly and made your way to your new home.

Your house wasn't much but it was enough for you. It wasn't far from both the training grounds and alexia's house so you knew it was perfect. It had a garage and everything so that's where your car had been living since you got it. You bought a car at the same time you bought the house, without alexia's knowledge as you got your own license recently.

Finally arriving you thanked the uber and unlocked your house, already feeling at peace. You took your shoes off and left them by the door, making your way to your already decorated room and getting ready to have a shower and go to bed.

By the time you had fallen asleep Alexia had built up the courage to finally apologize to you.

But when she opened your bedroom door you weren't there and neither was your stuff.

"y-y/n?" Alexia's heart dropped as she pulled out her phone and dialed your number only for it to decline.

"no no no" alexia mumbled as she tried to call you again on the verge of tears, only for the call to decline once again.

Her next call was to mapi, she knew that if you were to be anywhere it was most likely with her and ingrid.

"Hey Alexia, what's up?" mapi asked casually.

"I-is Y/n with you?" she replied, trying to hold back a sob.

"what no why? Is she okay?" Mapi asked quickly, getting up from where she was sitting and making her way over to ingrid and putting the phone on speaker.

"I-I got mad and said something's i shouldn't, a-and now she's gone and i don't know what to do" Alexia said crying now.

"Alexia we're coming over now okay, we'll ask the rest of the team if they know where she is" ingrid said calmly, comforting mapi as she was close to tears aswell.

Your phone stayed untouched the last few days. Little did you know everyone of your teammates had tried to contact you several times. They had no idea where you were and if you were safe or not. You stayed settling in to your home, redecorating and moving things around to your liking. You had a few friends over the past few days but that's about all the social interactions you had. You thought about what alexia had said to you that night, you honestly didn't think she would care about you living by yourself now. But boy were you wrong.

Alexia got only a few hours of sleep since you went missing, the guilt weighing down on her. The rest of the team had heard what had happened and were worried aswell. They knew alexia didn't mean what she had said, she loves you to much to think like that. No one knew where you were, you didn't come to training like you usually would and that worried everyone even more. You had called your coach to explain the situation and tell him you wouldn't be able to make training as you needed time to settle into your new house. He understood and didn't ask any questions when you told him not to tell the team about what you were doing, which he agreed to.

Sitting on your new couch you picked up your phone for the first time in days, instantly being met with a heap of missed call and text notifications. Alexia's texts caught your eyes, an array of apologies and asking where you are and to let her know if you were okay. You couldn't find it in you to respond so you clicked out of her messages and into the team chats, also being met with a heap of messages from them asking each other if they knew where you were. Deciding to put a stop to there

stress you started typing a short message just so they know you haven't been kidnapped or killed.

Y/n

No i have not been kidnapped and am still alive, i haven't touched my phone for the past few days because i've been hella busy. I am perfectly fine and i'll see you all at training tomorrow.

That sums it up well enough i guess. You put your phone on silent as you sigh, picking up your guitar. You never told any one of your teammates that you played any instruments, you always thought it was embarrassing. You took up song writing as a way to release all the emotions you were feeling when you were younger, you only sang these songs for a few people. You set up your phone so it was recording and facing you before you started strumming.

"I find comfort in the loudness, so i seek shelter at the bar

look for companionship to undress, am i a martyr if i'm dancing in the dark

i find hell in the silence, four walls slowly stripped of art

cereal dinner for convenience, that's how i know, i know, i know i'm falling apart

like i'm a scientist on my death bed, searching for some sort of cure

can't find a chemical that rids me, of not being yours

and i'll admit to that, i'll admit to that

i'll admit to that, i'll ruminate things, i over react

i'll admit to that, anger in me that i can't get passed, i'll admit to that

screaming in the streets i don't blame you for that

no i admit to that, i admit to that"

(https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSF7SPPpQ/)

(song written by cassie henderson via tiktok)

You continued to play your guitar before ending the video, decided to be bold and post it on tiktok. Praying you don't get to much hate.

Whilst associating with social media you decided to post on instagram aswell, just so your teammates could see that you were actually okay. Choosing pictures that include your new home just so you could hint that you decided to move out. whether they put 2 and 2 together is up to them to figure it out.

@y/n_y/l/n

(your room) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

liked by alexiaputellas, mapileon, lucybronze and 12,945 others

Getting my life together, also new house wby? 🤷‍♀️

comments

@Alexiaputellas- Please come home pequeña

@mapileon- You have your own house?

@lucybronze- Answer your phone please kid

@onabattle- reply to us y/n

@y/nsfriend- Not your grocery list 💀

> @y/n_y/l/n- staying healthy 🤞

> @y/nsfriend- 🤦

@user6263737- We need more music content 🙏

> @user74874- her latest tiktok AHhhjeoehdyf

> @user83939- it's so hot

You ignored your teammates comments and instead had a shower and got ready for bed. Mentally preparing for training tomorrow and getting bombarded by your worried teammates. You fell asleep very quickly, although alexia on the other hand did not.

Most of your teammates were sitting with alexia in her living room, trying their best to comfort their captain.

"She didn't reply to our comments on her post" ona said quietly.

"what's this comment about her recent tiktok?" mapi said as she was relooking at your post.

"she doesn't post on tiktok though" alexia said quietly, she knew you didn't like putting yourself on social media that much so it was weird to hear that you posted a video.

"i'll set my phone up on the tv and we'll watch it" lucy said quickly screen mirroring onto the tv so everyone can see it.

Your profile appeared on the screen, all of your tiktoks showing up. Most of your tiktoks were with friends so it was shocking to see you appear on the screen with a guitar. Everyone went quiet as the video started to play.

" hola, i don't post things like this normally, but this is the start of an original song i wrote. Um don't hate on me to much"

Your quiet voice played through the tv, alexia started to tear up at the thought of not hearing your voice at all the past few days.

The sound of your singing shocked everyone in the room, along with the way you were playing the guitar aswell. When the video ended you had tears down your cheeks before you quickly wiped them away and looked at the camera. With an awkward laugh you reached over and ended the recording.

"I-I didn't know she could sing like that" ingrid said quietly

"i don't think any of us did" Mapi whispered as she leaned more into ingrid's side, keeping her eyes on alexia as she sat there zoned out.

Mapi got up slowly as she stood infront of alexia, causing her to look up.

"come on, you need to get some sleep, y/n might be at training tomorrow" mapi said as she pulled her best friend up and into a hug.

"okay" she whispered as she hugged mapi tightly before bidding goodnight and trying her best to fall asleep. The others sat quietly in the living room, before deciding to go to their own homes once they knew alexia was asleep.

You woke up early the next morning, quickly showering and putting on your training gear before jumping into your car. You arrived earlier than the rest of your teammates, deciding to do a bit more extra training to catch up on what you had missed. Putting your bag in your cubby and making your way onto the pitch, having a quick conversation with your coach jonatan before running a few warmup laps. You mentally prepared yourself for this training and the awkward conversations that were going to happen.

You weren't at all mad at alexia, you knew she was going through a lot and didn't mean what she said. You didn't know how she was going to react to you permanently moving out and that scared you a bit, but what she said must've been at least true if she was thinking it. You didn't want to distract her anymore, she had been looking after you for 3 years already, you could manage on your own now.

With your mind distracted you didn't notice the rest of the team walking onto the pitch. But they noticed you. Alexia stood still as she watched you run, not knowing how to react.

Training went by quickly, not having time to talk to anybody as you were concentrated on the drills you were doing. Jonatan held you back as training ended to quickly catch you up on what you had missed, the rest of the team in the changerooms getting ready to go home. Alexia, Mapi, Ingrid, Lucy and Ona all waited by your cubby as people left.

"oh hey" you say casually, sending them a smile.

"don't oh hey us, where have you been" lucy asks sternly as she sits with her arms crossed and a glare on her face.

"at home?" you say with fake confusion, you notice the tears in alexia's eyes as she quickly looks to the floor.

"don't play dumb with us pequeña" ingrid says softly, you nervously fiddle with your rings as you reply.

"I really have been at home though, i moved out of alexia's, i don't want to be a burden anymore" you say quietly looking at the floor.

"S-So you really did move out? Permanently?" Alexia spoke up, her voice breaking as she looked up at you with a heart broken expression. You looked up at her and nodded your head hesitantly.

"why didn't you tell us?" mapi asks hurt.

"I was going to, but then things happened, i got to overwhelmed and needed some space. So i moved in earlier than expected." you say quietly, walking over to your cubby and pulling your top off, leaving you in shorts and a sports bra. You quickly put on a clean shirt, which happened to be one you had stolen from alexia before you left.

"Did you move out because of what i said, i-i'm so sorry y/n i didn't mean it, i was just angry and didn't mean to take it out on you" alexia started ranting as she was mid breaking down, you watched as tears fell down her face and her voice was constantly breaking.

"what, no ale" you say quickly as you pull her up and into your arms, she hugged you back tightly as if you were to disappear again.

"i missed you so much, i'm so sorry" you whispered from the crook of her neck, hugging her tighter.

"i didn't mean to worry you, i was planning to move out in a few months anyway" you said as you rubbed her back, feeling her lean into you more.

"why though?" she asked unsteadily.

"you've had to put up with me since i was 15, i'm an adult now, you need your own space back" you said with a small smile as you released her from the hug. she quickly wiped her tears away after noticing her teammates still stood there watching the interaction.

"so now that's taken care of, can we please have a house tour" mapi begs as you grips onto your arm.

"oh yeah sure" you say excitedly before turning back to alexia, as if asking for permission. Seeking her permission was something you had always done, ever since she pretty much illegally adopted you. She gave you a nod and a small smile causing mapi to cheer.

You all made your way back out to the parking lot as you quickly sent them your address so they knew where to go.

"Do you want to drive with me pequeña?" alexia asked hesitantly as she headed towards her car.

"no Ale, i'm driving us, come on" you say quickly grabbing her arm and dragging her towards your own car, missing her shocked expression.

"Since when do you have a car?! and a lisence?!" she yelled in shock, causing your teammates to look at you both from their cars.

"questions later ale! we need to beat the others there!" you say quickly unlocking your car and jumping in the front seat, alexia getting in the car hesitantly and making sure her seatbelts on securely.

"Wait what about my car?" Alexia asked as you started driving towards your home.

"Just stay at mine tonight and i'll drive us to training tomorrow, then you can get your car after" you say with a shrug.

"But what am i going to wear, all my clothes are at home" she says unsurely.

"it's not like my wardrobe consists of half of your clothes anyway" you say sarcastically while pulling into your driveway.

Quickly locking your car once you got both yours and alexia's bags, you waited outside for the others to pull up which didn't take long.

Walking up to your door you unlocked it slowly.

"Welcome to mi casa" you say sarcastically as you enter, taking your shoes off and hanging your keys up. The girls looked around in awe at how you've decorated your house, instantly going off to explore, leaving you alone in the living room. You sat on the couch comfortably as you pulled a blanket over yourself, scrolling through the comments on your latest tiktok.

You felt the couch dip next to you as alexia sat there looking at you awkwardly. You looked up at her silently before shuffling closer to her and snuggling into her side like you always have. Not paying any mind as you kept scrolling through your tiktok comments. Alexia started playing with your hair gently, something she noticed over the years that helped you calm down.

"hey y/n, why didn't you tell us you could play guitar" ona asks as all the girls sit around you in your living room, you freeze, not realizing they had actually seen the video.

"it's embarrassing" you mumbled, not making eye contact with them.

"i think it's cool, can you play us something" lucy says as she picks up the nearest guitar and shoves it into your arms causing you to groan.

The rest of the night consisted of you playing the songs they requested, lots of laughter and a silent agreement between you and alexia that you both needed to talk about this whole situation, together. All the girls except for alexia went home, you stayed cuddled into alexia's side before you slowly fell asleep. Alexia noticed and picked you up, carrying you carefully to your room and laying you in bed, she lied down next to you gently, wrapping her arms around you as if you would leave again. And for the first time in the past few days alexia had actually gotten a decent sleep, with her daughter figure finally back in her arms.

(so like the ending is rushed but i'm extremely tired so sue me. not sure what exactly i was going for with this story but it turned out okay i guess. AND ALSO i love the songs cassie henderson sings in her tiktoks and that's how i imagine y/n singing so go stalk her if you want that vision. anyways, hope you at least enjoyed it. little bit 🤷‍♀️)

#woso community #woso x reader #alexia putellas #alexia x reader #barcelona femeni

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oopwoop · 10 months

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Playing Minecraft W/ The SpiderVerse Kids

pairing(s): Miles Morales (e!1610!), Hobie Brown, Pavitr Prabhakar, Gwen Stacy

warning(s): swearing! unedited.

i used this site to figure out/decide what type of player they’d be

i’ve been playing a lot of Minecraft recently and thought of what it’d be like to play with them so.. here you go!

Miles Morales (e!1610!)

He prefers Creative over Survival for sure, reasoning: he’s scared of the mobs and refuses to fight them

Plus in Creative it’s a lot easier for him to build stuff because he is definitely The Big Builder or The Decorator. He makes the most outrageous buildings but they look good

Has a whole world full of buildings and stuff. Like, complete towns filled with mansions

Playing with him is a lot of fun though! He’ll come up with build designs with you and you’d work together. If not, the two of you would totally mess around, building things just to blow them up with TNT or set it on fire

Miles is the one to put your beds next to each other. He thinks it’s cute, though he’ll do it without saying anything and if you mention it he becomes a stuttering mess and says he knows nothing and didn’t do it.

If you do end up playing Survival with him he will make you kill all the mobs, no doubt about it. He’ll make the base, probably trade with villagers, farm and kill the animals for food but not much else. He’s too afraid of dying

“Miles, did you put the beds next to each other? Because I know I didn’t.” You snicker teasingly, your character staring at the beds then at his character. You turn yourself to glance at him and notice his eyes are wide and he’s blushing.

“What..? What, me? Nooo.. That’s stupid why would I do that? Maybe you forgot that you did it because I didn’t.” He stumbled over his words, refusing eye contact. It was cute.

“Mhm, okay. Y’know, maybe I did forget. I think it’s a cute idea, though.” You smirked, kissing his cheek before turning back to the screen and continued playing.

Gwen Stacy

I think she’d play Survival and only Survival, claims Creative is for the weak

She goes all out in Minecraft, fighting mobs, getting achievements, going to the Nether, all of that. She’s not afraid

Definitely The Pro or The Achiever. Like I said, Gwen goes all out

She’d forcefully make you go with her, but she’d give you the right equipment needed and pointers on how to fight. If you genuinely don’t want to fight with her she’d have you farm and trade, pretty much do the smaller necessities for survival.

Has finished Minecraft several times, got all the achievements and everything on different worlds, never gets old for her

If you got her to play Creative she’d go on a rampage, killing everything for fun. Or she’d fly around trying to find different biomes

“C’monnn.. it’s not that bad!” Gwen would groan, trying to convince you to go to the Nether with her. “I’ve given all the armor and tools you need! Just try not to die.”

“Try not to die?? It’s the Nether, I’ll die no matter what! I’m not a pro like you. I’m not the one who’s finished this game multiple times.” You gave her an incredulous look, gaping at her words. It’s one thing to not die on the main world, that was usually easy, but the Nether? Yeah right, she’s insane.

“You’re overreacting.. Plus, if I’m a pro, wouldn’t that make you feel better that you’d be with me? Not by yourself.” She chuckled, arguing her point. You just scoffed and told her to go, following in after her.

Pavitr Prabhakar

I see him playing both Creative and Survival. Just really depends on his mood. Either way he’s having fun

He’d be The Zookeeper, collecting animals like Pokémon cards for real. Within the first 30 minutes of playing he already has a house full of cats and dogs, probably three parrots flying around him and is starting an animal farm. How? No idea, he just does

In Creative mode he’d spawn them all, naming all the animals with name tags one by one, even coloring the dog collars too

In Survival he’s taming every animal he sees, using a lead to bring the animal to a fenced in area. There’s one full of cows, pigs, horses, all the usual ones. But he even has them for pandas, camels, and turtles.

He’s also one to place his bed next to you, though unlike Miles, he’s not embarrassed by it, actually stating out loud he’s doing it. No shame at all.

When he’s not collecting animals, he’s following you around. He has no idea where you’re going or what you’re doing but he doesn’t care. He’s following and collecting every flower he sees, claiming he’s gonna make a bouquet for you.

“Hey, Pav? Where’s the- woah what the hell? How do you already have a whole army of pandas? Where’d you even get those from? We’re no where near a jungle..” You questioned, beyond surprise by the sight of around a dozen pandas in a fenced up area. It was even decorated to what a panda would need, looking like a small jungle.

“Hm? You say that likes it’s hard to find them! What’s so bad about it? I think they’re cute!” He smiled brightly, his character jumping around in the area full of pandas. “I have more than just pandas!”

“How?? We haven’t even played for more than an hour! When did you do all this?” While it was probably better not to question him, you needed to know how he did it, and seeing him more than happy to explain made it all the more better.

Hobie Brown (sorry it’s shorter than the rest)

He genuinely does not care if y’all play Creative or Survival, doesn’t matter to him, he’s gonna be a complete menace either way

He’s not any of the type of players listed in the site I used, he doesn’t believe in consistency. He can go from killing mobs to farming. His main goal is to fuck with you though

He never gets you killed in Survival but he will mess around. He’ll hit your character (without a sword or anything) when you’re fighting a mob and run away. It’s like playing with a child

I can see him setting a village on fire and saying something along the lines of “they’re capitalist pigs and deserve to die” or something

All in all, he’s not much of a fan of Minecraft but he’ll play it with you if you ask.

“Hobie, why is there a village on fire? What did you do?” You raised a brow at him, staring at the slight smirk on his face. It was a telltale sign he did it, but you knew it was him either way. There’s no way a village randomly caught on fire.

“What ya mean, luv? Oh, tha’. Yeah I did tha’. Bunch a capitalist pigs, I tell ya. Jus’ doin’ my job gettin rid of ‘em.” He chuckled while setting another village on fire. You didn’t wanna know how many he’d set on fire at this point.

“It’s a game, B. And I need to trade with them, they have good stuff sometimes.” You whined, huffing at him. You know he doesn’t care and will do it anyways.

“Find another one then, luv.”

All of them!

My god is it a nightmare.. first it starts out as an argument, trying to decide whether or not y’all are playing Survival or Creative. Mainly Gwen and Miles though, Pavitr and Hobie don’t care.

After about ten minutes of arguing they decided to ask you, so whatever one you prefer is what y’all played on. Either way one of them is whining.

If you picked Survival it leads to a pouty Miles, complaining how he’s gonna die a lot, and a smiley Gwen.

Within the first day Miles has already made a small base for you guys, Pav has gathered a few animals (he pouted when it was stated the cows and such would be used for food eventually, Gwen was mining for ores, and Hobie was.. being Hobie.

It was surprising to see how smooth everyone seemed to work together for a while, considering before y’all even started playing an argument broke out. Though if y’all could work well together while on mission, why couldn’t you in a game, yeah?

Give it an hour or so.. bickering over stupid stuff is bound to happen.

If you picked Creative, Gwen is whining how it’s for losers, which causes Miles to flip her off and thank you for picking it.

With Creative there’s a lot less arguing and bickering. Though there is much more chaos. Y’all are blowing up everything or settlor on fire for fun.

It started with you all just doing your own thing until randomly Hobie brings up the idea.

“I ‘ave an idea..” Hobie says out of the blue, causing everyone to pause. You all look at him with a face of confusion or hesitation. Whenever he had an idea, it was wild or something went wrong in some way.

“Great.. you have an idea.. does it have to do with the game or real life? Because I don’t feel like blowing up a building in your universe again..” Gwen scoffed, the others nodding in agreement.

“Yeah.. I agree with Gwen.. last time you had an idea we almost got killed..” You chuckled dryly, still traumatized from that.

“Damn, no faith in me at all, huh?” He rolled his eyes. “Yea, in the game.. Don’t worry, don’t plan on killin’ y’all. Woulda done so already if I wanted to.”

That caused another pause in the room, silence too loud. Thank god for Miles for breaking it. “Okayyy… what’s your plan?”

“Well, Gwendy got blowin’ up a buildin’ correc’. Though, I meant in the game. Why not have some fun an’ blow up some shit, or set it on fire, yea?” It was a smart idea, surprisingly. Everyone agreed, just with some terms, mainly Pav and Miles.

“Sounds fun! As long as my animals are safe and out of it, I’m in!” Pavitr stated, Miles nodding in agreement, but for his builds.

“Woah, a surprisingly good idea.. Let’s do it! Let’s blow some shit up!” You poked fun at Hobie, before smiling widely. It concerned the others at how widely you smiled but brushed it off. They agreed with the idea so they must be just as crazy then. With that, buildings were blown up, forests were burnt down. It was so chaotic to the point that the game started to lag and eventually crashed, causing you all to burst out in laughter. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

I apologize for not posting yesterday, but hopefully this makes up for it! It’s longer than my normal posts. I hope you enjoy!

Send requests! Love you!

#across the spiderverse #miles morales #miles morales x reader #gwen stacy #hobie brown #pavitr prabhakar #gwen stacy x reader #hobie brown x reader #pavitr prabhakar x reader #fanfic #Spotify

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flowerandblood · 6 months

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The Prince and The Fox

[ modern! • Aemond x friend! • female ]

[ warnings: sexual abuse, violence, trauma, panic attack ]

[ description: After the events of her childhood, despite her best efforts, her neighbor and the younger brother of her friend Helaena, Aemond, does not want to know her. This state lasts until a house party organized by his older brother, Aegon, during which an incident occurs that will change their relationship forever. Slow burn, angst, toxic ex-Alys, rough Aemond. This is several anon requests combined into one fic. ]

WARNING: The main plot between the characters takes place in high school. Yes, in high school. The belief that teenagers wait with an intimacy when they are in love in high school is ridiculous to me. Aemond and the character here are the same age. Don't ask me how old they are, in my country you are of the age of consent in your first year of high school and an adult in the last year of high school, so if it is more convenient for you, think about it that way and decide for yourself. In this story, I am not following the trail that they are magically friends right away, but how they become friends and what that even means. I'm writing this fic to give the perspective of young, lost people, not adult women who want to see exactly themselves in everything they read. If that's all you expect, this isn't the fic for you.

I don't want whining about this in my comments or asks. I will delete these and block you. You have been warned.

Aemond + Evans Series Moodboard

This is my first story that has its own playlist, but yes! Get in the mood! Story Music Playlist. Song used in this chapter: Feuer Frei! (Rammstein)

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Next chapters: Masterlist

_____

She wasn't sure how they became friends. Before she met him she played often with Helaena, they lived in the neighbourhood, and there wasn't much of an age difference between them. They often visited each other to play with their dolls, while her brothers existed for her somewhere in the back, busy with their serious, boyish affairs unavailable to girls.

One day when their mother called Helaena home she was sitting on a blanket on the grass in their garden, pretending that her teddy rabbit had just been drinking tea from her pink plastic cup, when their whole elaborately choreographed scene was destroyed by a dog bumping into her and licking her.

"Vhagar! No! Bad dog!" She heard the growl of a young boy, running up to them and grabbing his happy, shiny labrador with big eyes, who just licked her face, panting loudly, pulling her by the collar, trying to drag her away.

She giggled, wiping her face, and it was only when she looked at him that she noticed a large white bandage on the left side of his face, covering his entire eye and part of his cheek, taped up with plasters. She blinked, curious, and cocked her head.

"What happened to you?" She asked lightly, and he threw her an angry, murderous look, tightening his lips and furrowing his brow.

"Fuck off." He hissed, and she turned all red, close to tears, devastated that he had used such ugly, vulgar words towards her that her parents had forbidden her to use, shouting at him that he wasn't allowed to talk like that, that she didn't like him and for him to go away.

This is exactly what he did, dragging his dog behind him with difficulty, and she took her rabbit and ran to her house across the street, no longer waiting for Helaena to return, distraught.

Her father tried hard to get anything out of her, but he understood little of her loud sobbing and babbling, she could see nothing through her tears, she stood and stammered out mere fragments of sentences from which her parent had by some miracle put together a whole. Her father sighed heavily, running his hand over his face.

"Listen. Helaena's brother, I think his name is Aemond, had a very serious accident. I was told about it by his mother when I met her in the supermarket recently, the whole family is going through a lot. He will have to wear an artificial eye and will be left with a big scar. He feels very bad about it and that is why he is behaving like this. Your question was very tactless." He said finally.

She felt a squeeze in her heart and burst out sobbing even louder, this time because she had offended him, that surely this boy now hated her when she wanted everyone to like her.

"− I didn't − after all − uh − I didn't mean to − I just −" She mumbled in despair, not knowing herself what she wanted to say, breathing hard, almost choking from her sobs, her face all red, she was hot with emotion.

"Come here." Her father said to her, so she walked towards him. He embraced her and stroked her head, saying that she should ask her mother to help her bake cakes for him and bring them to him, wishing him a speedy recovery and apologising so they would both feel better.

She decided that this was indeed a good idea and did exactly that.

The next day she knocked on their front door standing with a box of cakes and was opened by their mother, a beautiful, long-haired woman with a warm smile, she was wearing a thick green jumper.

"Good morning, dear, Helaena is just in ballet class." She said to her in a soft, calm voice, and she shook her head.

"No, ma'am, I've come to see Aemond, I've baked cakes for him and I want to wish him quick recovery." She recited with difficulty what her mother had told her to say, hoping she hadn't forgotten anything, waiting with a pounding heart for a response.

The woman smiled broadly with some kind of gratitude and called out loudly to her son asking him to come downstairs, saying he had a visitor.

Her son came down reluctantly, furrowing his brow, having no idea who might want to see him and when he spotted her he immediately pressed his lips together, furious.

He approached his mother, looking at her distrustfully, and she swallowed loudly feeling a tightening in her throat and tears of shame gathering in her eyes again.

"I'm so sorry for asking you about it at the time, in the sense of what happened to you and that I upset you and that you were sad and that I yelled at you afterwards because I was sad too and − and −" She mused, forgetting for a moment what she was getting at in that sentence, swallowing her saliva loudly and suddenly remembering. "− and − and I brought you cakes that I baked with the help of my mother to wish you a speedy recovery."

She said quickly and held out a cardboard box tied with a ribbon in front of her. Aemond looked uncertainly at his mother, who nodded at him to accept the gift. He did not look at her as he reached out for the package and murmured under his breath, nodding. His mother sighed quietly.

"What should you say now?" She asked him expectantly, and he pressed his lower lip together, looking somewhere sideways, discouraged.

"Thank you." He muttered, turned and headed up the stairs.

"Goodbye." She said quickly, turning and running towards her house, feeling relieved that now she had put things right and now he would surely like her a lot.

She was wrong.

When she came to their house to see Helaena, he immediately locked himself in his room. When they passed each other at primary school he did not respond to her greeting by pretending not to see her even though they were neighbours.

When their parents met each other in the supermarket and started talking to each other, he would approach the shelves and pretend to look at some products, doing everything he could not to talk to her.

He never spoke to her in a bad way again, never shouted at her again, but simply pretended that she didn't exist.

Everything changed when they went to high school and it turned out they would be in the same class. They would then get on and off at the same bus stop, but instead of talking to her he preferred to put his earphones in his ears and browse through the apps on his phone, pretending not to see her.

She tried to talk to him, but he shunned her, treating her like air. She had the painful feeling that from that moment, from the day she asked him the wrong question, she was already crossed out as a person in his eyes.

And then their literary history teacher gave them a homework exercise to do in pairs. Assigning a person to each, when he looked at her he waved his hand as if realising something.

"Ah, Evans, you and Targaryen live nearby, it will be easier for you to work. Next couple −" He said, and she froze, looking at him over her shoulder, his eye wide open, pointed in her direction, he was playing with his pen between his fingers, his lips clenched into a thin line.

He was furious.

She swallowed loudly feeling a tightness in her throat and turned back towards the board, feeling only the loud pounding of her heart.

She ran after him off the bus, seeing him walking towards his house with his backpack thrown over one shoulder, the hood of his dark sweatshirt pulled over his head, earphones in his ears. She grabbed his sleeve to make him stop, and he flinched and looked back, surprised.

"Wait, can we talk?" She asked, breathing fast, and he furrowed his brow, taking the earpiece out of his ear, she could hear some loud heavy metal music coming from it and recognized the song Feuer Frei! by Rammstein.

"What?"

She blinked, understanding that he hadn't heard completely what she'd said. She grunted quietly, letting him go, looking at him expectantly.

"I asked if we could talk."

He looked ahead, letting the air out loudly through his nose with impatience, pulling the other earpiece from his ear, looking everywhere but at her. She guessed he wouldn't say anything, so she started quickly, not wanting to irritate him unnecessarily.

"I know you don't like me and I promise not to annoy you with anything. Let's just go to your place or mine, do this homework and get it over with. Okay?" She asked in a trembling voice and he licked his lips, indecision and frustration in his eyes, something was going on in his mind that she didn't understand completely.

He snorted, shrugging his shoulders and nodded at her.

"Come."

They entered his house greeted by the smell of dinner just being cooked. Their mother welcomed her presence in the company of her son with joy and surprise.

"Will you eat something? The meatballs in sauce are warm and ready." She said warmly, hoping they would stay down, guessing that they were both hungry after many hours of lessons.

She wished he would agree, feeling a burbling in her stomach.

"No. We're going to go do our homework." He said in a low, slightly hoarse voice. He pulled off his shoes, slipped the hood off his head and walked up the stairs without looking at her.

He walked into his room, throwing the clothes and books lying on the floor into the wardrobe, clearly wanting to do a quick tidy up, his whole walls covered with posters of various bands, Rammstein, Electric Light Orchestra, Deep Purple, Guns N' Roses, Led Zeppelin, his bookshelves heaving with books.

"Sit." He said lowly, pointing to the chair he'd set up by his desk, himself sitting down in a comfortable high-backed leather player's chair, spreading out on it comfortably.

She walked over to him, pulling her pastel soft backpack off her back, pulling out her notebook and the book they had just reviewed.

The Little Prince.

She felt that he was looking at her expectantly, so she opened her notebook in which she had written down the exact assignment the teacher had given them. She decided to read it aloud so they could reflect on it together.

"The Little Prince is a metaphorical story. Talk together about a few scenes from the book that moved you most and compare your thoughts, writing down similarities and differences. Analyse at least two scenes in this way."

She glanced at him, tightening her lips, feeling her heart pounding hard. For some reason she was terrified, he was sitting next to her, resting his elbows on his desk, leaning forward, seeming even bigger and taller to her than usual.

She felt strange thinking that he smelled nice, that he used some ordinary, cheap men's perfume.

He sniffed with his nose, not even looking at her, taking a pen in his hand.

"Have you read this book?" She asked, wanting to make sure he knew what they were going to talk about. He threw her a look like he thought she was an idiot.

"Do you have any more stupid questions, or can we get started?" He asked lowly, and she pressed her lips together, humiliated, feeling for some reason that she wanted to cry.

She felt like asking why he couldn't forgive her at last, but decided it was pointless, that he obviously didn't like her because he had such a whim.

She shook her head and he hummed, taking her copy of The Little Prince in his hand and began looking through it.

"Which scene do you want to talk about?" He asked coldly, dispassionately, and she swallowed loudly.

"About the Little Prince and the Fox." She said quietly, feeling him give her a brief glance.

He grunted under his breath, apparently agreeing with her choice, waiting for her elaboration on the matter. She swallowed with difficulty, licking her lips.

"What moved me most was how true this scene is. That the greatest enemy of friendship, or any close relationship, is haste. That only by respecting someone's barriers, only by approaching someone slowly and with understanding, can you really look at them from a distance.

By taming someone, by making that person grow attached to you, you take partial responsibility for that person's feelings, for making them trust you enough to believe that you won't intentionally hurt them with your behaviour. Until we really get to know someone we are just a crowd of people passing each other on the street."

She said in a trembling voice, feeling for some reason tears under her eyelids and a tightness in her throat, her eyebrows arched in pain, her lower lip began to tremble, she played with the material of her white daisy dress in a nervous gesture.

She felt him watching her, an awkward silence fell between them.

She couldn't look at him.

She thought he was going to say something cruel, that he was going to tell her to stop wailing, but he said nothing. After a while he spoke up.

"I see this scene differently. They're both moving towards each other because they're determined to do so. They are both going their separate ways. There is a balance. The Little Prince doesn't force the Fox to approach him, just as the Fox doesn't force the Little Prince to approach him. They do it of their own free will. They tame themselves because that's the decision they made. You can't tame someone who doesn't want it." He said lowly, and she looked up at him feeling tears begin to run down her face.

Was he talking about himself?

Was she the Fox who wanted to tame him even though he didn't want it?

"I'm sorry." It burst out of her chest before she had time to think about what she was doing.

He pressed his lips together and swallowed loudly, clenching his hands lying on the desk into fists, his nostrils moving restlessly in accelerated breathing.

She covered her face with her hand, embarrassed that she just couldn't stop crying, feeling pain in her heart and feeling sorry for herself that she just wasn't able to give him a break, that she kept seeking his attention and interest when he just clearly wanted her to leave him alone.

She couldn't bear the thought that she wasn't liked by every man she knew.

She felt ashamed at the thought that she had been so selfish.

"I can't stand that you don't want to talk to me. That you don't like me, that you pretend not to see me. I think it's driving me crazy and you're right to think that I'm an attention-seeking girl. I'm ashamed and I apologise to you for that because it's not your problem. I promise I'll stop." She said between laboured breaths, shrugging her shoulders, lowering her gaze.

He just looked at her.

"You exaggerate everything too much. You care too much." He said finally, his voice calmer as was his gaze.

She saw him fidgeting involuntarily with his fingers in a nervous gesture, the cuticles around his fingernails peeled and red, they must have caused him pain, but he plucked them nonetheless.

"Stop." She whispered and placed her hand over his, his fingers froze in mid-motion. She heard him swallow loudly, completely taken aback, his healthy eye open wide, his whole body concentrated. She stroked his palms with her thumb, and he didn't push her away.

"I'll leave you alone." She said softly and took her hand away, not believing she had dared to do so, and he just nodded and grunted, looking in her book for the quote he wanted to talk about.

They wrote down silently next to each other what they had talked about, and when they had finished she took her books, packed up and left without saying goodbye to him.

She no longer sought his gaze when he stood next to her at the bus stop, when he sat behind her in class, when she passed him in the school corridor. She realised that she had been conceited and vain in thinking that she would make him like her. She thought there was nothing wrong with someone not fancying her, not wanting to talk to her.

She had to get over it.

She attended extra volleyball classes, loved this sport and had good results at inter-school competitions. The captain of the men's team was Cregan Stark, a tall, well-built, funny black-haired boy who caught her eye from the start.

He would occasionally wink at her from afar seeing her gaze, and she would blush, lowering her eyes.

They were good mates, chatting sometimes during breaks and laughing. Cregan often approached her between classes, throwing in any topic, sometimes accompanied by his colleagues who were also fond of her. She felt butterflies in her stomach when he invited her to a house party that Aegon was organising.

She knew that Aemond would certainly be home at that time, but she figured that he would lock himself in his room and not go downstairs to them anyway, so she readily agreed, glad to see Helaena there as well.

She dressed in her favourite suede black dress reaching mid-thigh with a boat neckline, not revealing her breasts but showing her shoulders, and she wore her favourite shiny black boots. She let her hair down, deciding that she looked the prettiest this way, and literally ran out of the house when she heard a knock on the door.

She and Cregan hugged each other as if they were friends and moved arm-in-arm across the street hearing the loud music in the distance. When they entered she saw a crowd of people, most were her friends from the estate, so she greeted everyone around her, one of the guests handed her a cup with probably the cheapest wine possible.

She took a sip, glancing at Cregan and he winked at her as he always did, this time embracing her, pulling her close.

She felt the heat in her lower abdomen and the flush in her cheeks.

For most of the time they sat together on the couch, talking about everything and nothing, she saw no one around him but him, looking into his big dark eyes as if enchanted. She swallowed loudly when she felt his hand on her thigh, trailing up and down, and pressed her lips together, unsure if she liked it or not.

However, she didn't reject his hand, not wanting to offend him, some part of her happy that he reciprocated her interest, that he liked her too, that he found her attractive too.

"Shall we go to the garden?" He asked loud enough for her to hear him, and she nodded with a smile, feeling her own heart beating fast, happy that he wanted to be alone with her.

They walked out into the garden through the kitchen, through a back entrance she knew very well, on the way she felt him grasp her hand in his, she had a feeling her heart would leap out of her chest. They sat down on the terrace bench, he embraced her and hugged her close, and she snuggled into his chest.

She wondered with a blush on her cheeks if he would want to kiss her.

She swallowed loudly and a shudder went through her as, from her shoulder, his hand slowly began to move up to her neck, slipped under the material of her dress and touched her bare breast. She squeezed his wrist, terrified.

"N-no." She mumbled, but instead of stopping, he tightened his fingers on her flesh.

"No, stop." She said terrified, aggressively pulling at his hand, feeling tears in her eyes, cold sweat on the back of her neck, her whole body screaming for him to let her go, wanting to run away, but he wouldn't release her.

"Didn't you hear?" She heard a firm, low voice beside her, and Cregan jumped away from her suddenly, rising from the bench.

Aemond stared at him with his lips tightened, an expression of disgust on his face, his healthy eye wide open, his hands clenched into fists.

"Don't you fucking understand what 'no' means?" He asked him again, louder this time, furious.

She was just sitting and shaking, breathing hard, looking down at her shoes, tear after tear running down her cheeks, she was unable to move or get anything out.

Cregan grunted back.

"Fuck off." He growled, wanting to get past him, but Aemond grabbed him by his shirt and pressed him against the door frame with all his strength.

She stood up quickly, terrified, and covered her mouth when Cregan hit him on the forehead with his head and he took a few steps backwards, Aemond's fist hit his face in return, Cregan half-curled and coughed. They moved away from each other, panting heavily.

"Fucking bastard." He hissed, holding his red cheek with his hand and walked back out into his house, loud music, screams, laughter and conversations of people inside around them.

She sat down on the ground, feeling her whole body shaking, clenching her eyes shut, a strange, high-pitched sound and a sob came from her throat as it finally dawned on her mind what had actually happened.

That he touched her in a way that made her uncomfortable and made her unable to breathe, that she had asked him to stop and he hadn't, how bad it made her feel, how frightening and humiliating it was.

She felt so dirty.

She wasn't sure if what came out of her mouth could be called crying, she felt like she was whimpering and howling, holding her hand to her mouth as if trying to shield herself from what was happening, to no avail.

She heard the rustling of the grass beneath his feet, she felt the gentle touch of his large, warm hand on her back, casual, tender, friendly, comforting.

She snuggled into his black sweatshirt and cried out loud, disappointed, distraught and devastated that she had trusted him, that she had believed him and he did something like this to her.

Why?

Was it because she didn't push him away when he touched her thigh, that she went out with him alone?

Did he think that was what she wanted?

"Shall I go and find Helaena?" He asked in a trembling voice clearly not knowing what to do, how to help her, horrified by what he had seen and her condition. She shook her head quickly, feeling ashamed, she didn't want anyone to know.

She heard him swallow loudly.

"If you want I'll go with you to his parents tomorrow. I'll tell them what I saw. He's been groping you all evening." He said low with some kind of tension, and she froze, drawing in the air loudly at the thought that he must have come downstairs, that he must have seen them as they sat on the sofa, watched them.

Follow them out.

She wondered if he had done it to make sure he wouldn't do anything to her against her will.

It was her fault.

She did not push him away when he touched her thigh.

She went off with him herself.

"No. They won't believe me. He'll say I wanted it myself." She mumbled in a trembling, weak voice between one shattered breath and another.

She could feel his heart pounding hard, that he was nervous too, that he didn't know what he should do. He put his arm around her in a friendly manner, feeling subconsciously that she needed it, that she was terrified.

They both stood up quickly when they heard some girls come out for a cigarette. They raised their eyebrows, looking at them with amusement, one of them waved at them.

"Hey, Cyclops, do you have a girlfriend now?" She asked, the second girl laughed out loud, the third looked at the others disapprovingly, lowering her gaze, pretending she hadn't heard this.

"Fuck off, you stupid bitch!" She growled at her so loudly and with such fury that the girl froze, it seemed to her that she had never called anyone that out loud before in her life.

In a frenzy of desperation, anger and humiliation, she pulled her boots off her feet and, one by one, started throwing them at them until all three of them fled inside the house screaming that she was insane.

"Fuck, calm down! Jesus." He called out to her in shock, grabbing her by her arm. She raised her eyes at him, breathing loudly, his gaze softening a bit.

"Do you want to go home?" He asked lowly, almost indifferently, and she nodded, feeling that she wanted to cry again at the thought of Cregan's touch on her chest.

His hand tightened on her bare breast, refusing to let her go.

An unpleasant shiver ran through her, she felt like she was going to vomit.

First, though, she had to find her shoes, one of which had ended up in the bushes, the other behind their barbecue, all dirty from the coals. She put them on anyway, she was already indifferent to everything.

He didn't even ask if she wanted him to walk her away.

He just followed her.

On the way out they came across Cregan and his mates smoking a cigarette on the road, some of his friends whistling at them, laughing out loud.

"Are you guys going to fuck?" He called from a distance in amusement, she felt that her whole body was shaking, that she was afraid of them and she thanked God that he had gone with her, that he had not left her alone.

She wondered if this was what he experienced all the time at school.

Humiliation.

He stood with her in front of her door with his hands tucked into his black trousers, his face turned in profile.

She knew she shouldn't do this, but she needed it.

She walked up to him and hugged her face to his sweatshirt, standing in front of him like that. She could feel his warm breath on the top of her head, she knew he was looking at her.

She swallowed loudly as she felt his forehead pressed against her hair, he let out a loud breath, something in his voice that she could call sympathy.

"Try not to think about it. If you change your mind and want to go to his parents, I'll go with you. Hm?" He asked lowly, and she nodded.

"Are you going to keep seeing him?" He asked coolly after a moment, and she shook her head, feeling that it made her sick at the thought.

"Good." He muttered, raising his head. She pulled away from him and looked at him, swallowing loudly.

"Gonna give you my phone number. In case you decide to do it." He added quickly, wanting to make sure she didn't understand his proposal ambiguously. She nodded her head.

He dictated a string of numbers to her, which she typed into her phone and added him to her contacts under the name 'Prince'. He saw this and lifted his gaze to her, but made no comment.

They looked at each other for a moment in silence.

"I'm sorry." He said finally. She nodded her head in understanding.

"Thank you for everything. That you… you know. Have a good night." She said softly, without looking at him anymore, and disappeared behind the front door of her house.

_____

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn't tag you)

@its-actually-minicika @notnormalthings-blog @nikstrange @zenka69 @bellaisasleep @k-y-r-a-1 @g-cf2020 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @chainsawsangel @iiamthehybrid @tinykryptonitewerewolf @namoreno @malfoytargaryen @qyburnsghost @aemondsdelight @persephonerinyes @fan-goddess @sweethoneyblossom1 @watercolorskyy

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pablitogavii · 1 year

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Can you do a gavi trying to prank reader when there with the wags n team. Like pedri and the others telling gavi “you should tell her you wanna break up w her” while reader went to the bathroom,and gavi dose it but little dose gavi know pedi n the others tell reader what he’s going to do so she can play along because they wanna get him back because he pulls a lot of pranks on them and when they get home gavi gives reader a punishment?

Since you guys enjoy "Prank Wars" so much, here is another one ;)

"She always does it to me, hermano. I fucking hate getting pranked!" Pablo said to the boys while they were in the gym getting some training done and they all laughed about the last prank you pulled on him.

"Now you know how we feel with your constant pranking" Pedri reminded him and Pablo rolled his eyes saying that is completely different.

"Why don't you prank her then? Show her how it feels?" Ansu suggested and Gavi quite liked that idea thinking of the prank he should do on you.

"Maybe I should do a breakup prank? They are blowing up on TikTok right now?" Pablo said now determined to give you a taste of your own medicine.

"Hermano, that's a mean one.." Pedri said but Pablo shrugged it off reminding him that you pretended to cheat on him for a prank last time.

"I'm with Pedri, you know how girls react on those kinds of pranks man...mine made me sleep on a couch for a week..my back is still messed up" Ferran said making everyone laugh but Pablo has already made up his mind smirking mischievously.

pablitoo: amor, I forgot my running shoes at home. Could you bring them to the camp??

You shook your head at you forgetful boyfriend, grabbing his shoes and getting into a car to drive to the camp when another text message caught your eye.

pedri: amiga!!! on behalf of the team, pablo is planning on pranking you. he's gonna pretend he wants to break up. please get his ass back cause we're tired of his pranks at the camp :)

You smirked knowing that sooner or later Pablo will try to get you back after all the pranks you've been pulling on him recently. But he didn't know what he was getting himself into and you were excited to prank him right back.

You arrived at the camp showing your pass before walking towards the training center saying a quick hello to Xavi who arrived for the playing session.

You walked towards the door opening it slowly noticing that Pablo saw you but pretended like he didn't. He was rolling his muscles while chatting with the boys.

"I don't know hermano..it's just been so hard recently" he said doing his best to act frustrated and as if he was in a bad mood.

"You should tell her you want to break up with her" Araujo said seeing you from the corner of his eye smiling mischievously. You closed the door loudly on purpose to make your presence known and Pablo was quick to jump from the floor and walk towards you.

"Thank you, amor" he said leaning down to kiss your cheek instead of your lips and you acted like you were surprised.

"Is everything alright, cariño?" you ask curiously and he avoids your eyes shaking his head saying that there is something he needs to tell you privately so you left the room.

"I think we should break up.." he said directly and you acted surprised before smiling wide and hugging him tightly now much to his own shock.

"Thank God! I wanted that for weeks already! I'm glad we are on the same page Pablito" you say and now he was the one who looked shocked and frozen in place when you pulled away from the hug.

"You did? Why?" he asked with a lump in his throat hating himself for pulling this prank and causing this entire situation...did he really just loose the love of his life?

"Probably for the same reason as you. Being together became way too complicated..and hard. I mean all the gossips, and barely seeing each other when you travel..it's just so hard" you say choosing his own words on purpose feeling your heart tighten at his defeated puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah...um..I mean we haven't exactly fought about any of that ever..we were better than fine recently" he said and you acted confused although you knew he was regretting ever pulling this prank on you right about now.

"Yeah but you want to break up too right?" you ask seeing that his eyes were glossy with tears but when he nodded still playing along with a prank you decided to let him.

"Okay, I need to go. I'll pack tonight" you say turning around to leave but Pablo quickly grabbed your wrist pulling you back panicked by the fact that you were going to actually leave him.

"Pack? You are leaving the apartment?" he said panicked and you nodded like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"We are no longer together..we can't live together Pablo" you say smiling and he let's go seeing you leave the camp as he return ed back to the training room completely pale.

"Hermano, you okay?" Ansu asked while other boys did their best to hold back their laughs knowing that his prank had just backfired at him badly.

"She broke up with me...she's leaving tonight" he said gulping loudly and returning to the training machine while everyone pretended to be shocked with the information.

"Wait, so she wanted to break up too?" Pedri asked and Pablo nodded clenching the machine so tight that his knuckles were turning white.

"What are you going to do now, hermano?" Ferran said and Pablo just shrugged getting off the machine kicking some cones angrily.

"Mierda!!! I don't fucking know! I can't lose her! I love her!" he said while everyone pretended not to know that all of this is one big joke meanwhile Pedri took a secret video and sent it to you.

When you arrived back home and saw the video you smiled wide that Pablo literally screamed on top of his lugs how much he loves you in front of all his friends.

pedri: he is such a simp for you!!

you: my angry bird *heart eyes emoji*

"Then just tell her it was a prank" Pedri suggested and Pablo agreed knowing that he will do anything in his power to keep you, even if it means beg you to stay..he needs you in his life and won't let a stupid prank take that away.

When he arrived home, quite sad and exhausted, he walked to your shared bedroom where your suitcase was on the bed while you were in the closet packing your clothes.

He wanted to cry as he called you name. This was real..you were leaving him. :(

"I'm almost done. Just some makeup and hair products" you say with a smile hating to see him so sad...he was never this sad before.

"My bathroom is going to look empty now.." he said nostalgic already and you smiled walking towards him with a big smile on your face.

"Come on Pablo, you have a line of girls who would want to bring their makeup into your bathroom..you'll be fine" you say putting a pile of clothes into the suitcase.

"Pfft..girls are annoying!" he said as you looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Jesus, thank you for that!" you said about to walk away but he grabbed you wrist pulling you back.

"But you're not..because you're my girl..and I love you Y/N....it was a prank amor..I never wanted to break up with you..I could never do that..because I need you in my life..I want you here with me every day mi vida..so please...please don't..don't leave me" he was actually crying and you couldn't take it anymore hugging him tightly.

"I know it was a prank...they told me...so I decided to prank you too cariño" you say and when he heard those words he hugged you tightly to his chest never wanting to let you go again.

"So..so..you are not really leaving?" he said as he pulled away his face brightening with a smile finally as you shook your head.

"And you don't want to break up because it's too hard or complicated?" he asked and you smiled kissing his lips passionately as a response and he raised you up tossing you next to your suitcase before leaving kisses all over you face and neck as you giggled.

"Wait...did you just prank me again?" Pablo's smile turned into a smirk and you knew exactly what he was thinking about...punishment.

"Yeah, but after you pranked me?" you say innocently and he shook his head leaning down and starting to suck on your weak spot reminding you once again that you could never truly leave him.

"That' not an excuse princesa...you've been a bad girl again" he smirked still hovering up above you while slowly pulling your shorts down seeing your blushed cheeks and a big smile.

"Pablo, our room is a mess. We should clean this first.." you were struggling to talk while he was sucking marks into your skin but he just dismissed your comment taking off the rest of your clothes.

"Or we can just make it more messy instead?" he smirked tossing your shorts to the floor before you both laughed kissing one another passionately.

"I love you, you know?" you said sweetly wanting him to know that and never doubt it again and his eyes softened as he looked down at you with a genuine smile.

"I love you too princesa...now stop being adorable and let me punish you!" he said and you giggled nodding your head and seeing his mischievous smirk return.

Hope you like it <3

#pablo gavi icons #pablo gavi x you #pablo gavi x reader #pablo gavi x y/n #pablo gavi #gavi #gavigif #fc barcelona #fc barca #fc barça #pablo gavi imagine #pablo gavi smut #pablo gavi x reader smut #pablo gavi fluff

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judesmoonbeauty · 9 days

Text

I wrote an angst about Jude today, then when I played an escort, he gifted me with 2,000 gold coins over 50 diamonds. Well, played, Jude. Well. Played. Thought about it for while, and said, "Nah, let's mess with him." So, here's a little tit-for-tat fic in which I screw with Jude for his giving me gold over diamonds. Also, this is an introduction to my OC - Isla Corbin - that I will feature in my writing from time to time. This fic was written in like 30 minutes, so keep that in mind..... WC: 1,309 Pairing: Jude Jazza x OC Isla Corbin Pronouns: She/Her CW: Cursing Tags: SWF ┃Teasing ┃Self-Aware Characters ┃Bullying Jude ┃OC Introduction

Sitting on a bunch crates near the harbor, Jude, Ellis and Isla sat together enjoying their gelato in the summer heat. The sky was bluer than it had ever been after weeks of rain, the people were working hard, but in a cheerful mood and Jude had a good morning of debt collections. There was no reason for any of them to be questioning the ordinary day, but Ellis finally spoke up after a while.

“Hey, Jude. Have you ever wondered if we’ve ever lived different lives?”

“Hah, I knew ya were off you rocker, but this an another level of creepy. ‘Course not…..why?”

Ellis pulled up from the crates he leaned against, and confessed this odd feeling he hadn’t been able to shake for a while now.

“I feel like, I’ve seen other versions of our lives…..as if they were stories written about us.”

Jude raised a quizzical brow at his assistant’s ramblings and then looked at Isla as she was munching on her cone. She didn’t seem to be bothered by Ellis’ prattling nonsense at all.

“I mean, what if we were works of fiction and controlled by some kind creator?”

“What?”

“Jude, what would you say if you lived in another world and rode around in some kind super fast black carriage that was powered like the steam engine and went on what was called a “road trip”, or if Isla were almost taken advantage of by a bad guy while she was alone in the Scala?

“Say that last part again?!”

Isla kept to herself as Jude became more and more worked up over Ellis’ hypothetical ramblings, but far from being over Ellis continued….

“Yea, what if I you went through months of suffering and pining over her because you were written to be stuffy about your feelings instead of honest about them? Hmm, I feel like I’ve seen some good things to…like you and Isla having a gelato date near the bridge, and reuniting after you saved her……playing with her hair, licking her fingers. But the most recent thing I feel like we’ve lived through was her leaving you soaking wet at the dock over there. Oh! And the creator of that story had a seagull crap on you. Hmmm, I guess you could say they’re like an author. If that’s true, then how’d you feel about it, Jude?”

Furrowing his brows at Ellis and feeling immense anger pipe up like steam, “How would I feel ‘bout it? Ha! What poppycock! Even IF that were true, I don’t remember any of it, and that’s some shitty ass author for writin’ about people like that. I’d roast their ass ‘n sink their ashes in the river Thames.”

“Hmmm, maybe you’re right. But, what if this very conversation were being written as we speak?”

Ellis points up to the vast sky to make his point, “What if they are watching us right now and every word I say, and every reaction you make is being simultaneously written.”

Jude scoffs at Ellis, lights a cigarette and decides to test his little theory.

“Fine, then let’s test it out. Go ahead, call out to this author,” he laughed menacingly.

Standing up Ellis walks a few feet away from Jude and Isla who was finally finishing up her cone, not concerned in the slightest as to what was about to happen. Clearing his throat Ellis calls out to the sky, “Excuse, sir or madam author, um…..if what I say is true……can you make another seagull crap on Jude’s shoulder?”

“Oi!!! What the hell?”

Jude stood up to walk towards Ellis, but within seconds there was a large splatter of white all over his coat.

“Ugh, what the-”

“Wow! See Jude it’s true. Thank you, author!”

A gentle wind ruffled past Ellis like it was patting his fluffy hair in approval. “That’s just a coincidence!” Jude fought back as he took off his jacket and threw it to the ground.

“Then, why don’t you try Jude? Just politely ask them do something as a sign.”

“Outta my way, ya loon.” Jude looked up to the sky too and challenged the unknown being on the other side.

“If this crazy bastard is telling the truth, then make it rain while it’s still sunny outside.”

It was a simple command to control the weather, it should be easy for an author or creator to make happen if it were true. After a few moments, nothing happened and Jude laughed triumphantly, although many onlookers did wonder if they should contact the asylum for a madman screaming commands at the sky.

“HA! See, you’re wrong. Now shuddup.”

Just as Jude was walking back to the crates to take a seat, a sudden downpour erupted and drenched him with bullets of rain and more than that, with small bits of hail pelting him. He covered his head unable to move because of the severity of the storm, and when it finally ended, he was shocked to find that neither neither Ellis nor Isla were wet. In fact, they there wasn’t even a drop of water on them.

Ellis was stunned at what just happened, but Isla just sat there on the crate resting her chin in a thinking position as she crossed her leg, and watched her lover lose his temper. Jude was shocked that what he asked to happen actually happened, no it was not what he asked, it was far more severe than what he asked. Then, if this were true and all of what Ellis said were true…..

“OY! THE FUCK WAS THAT? HAH?! I’LL CREAM YOUR ASS!!!”

When Isla erupted into a giggle over Jude’s tantrum, he turned around to find her sitting there like she was the Queen of Sheba. Her reaction was odd, she’d normally ask if Jude were alright and suggest they go for a drink or something to calm him down.

“Isla…..”

“Are you cold you, Mr. Jazza? Want me to dry you off?”

With a snap of her fingers, a strong East wind blew past Jude knocking him over, but after the wind subsided he was indeed dry again.

“H-how did you…?” He stood up from the ground and walked to his lover.

“I am she and she is I.”

The confused look on his face was quite adorable, so Isla stood up and walked over to him and pinched his cheek, “She has a message for you, Mr. Jazza.”

“What does that mean? Who is “she” and why is “she” doing this?”

Leaning into his ear - Isla Corbin - the young woman whom Jude had known since her days as a clerk at the solicitor’s office that he frequented, the daughter of the well-to-do merchant of a business called D’Lune, and his fiancee who now worked with him and Crown, now seemed to be some one completely different as she whispered in his ear….

“Because you’re fun to bully Short King.”

“Short King? I’m not s-”

Isla grabbed his head before he said another word.

“This is what you get for giving me 2,000 coins during an escort over 50 diamonds you petty, lovable bastard. Do it again, and I’ll melt your brain by stuffing it with all the fan-fiction I’ve written about you.”

“Isla, you’d better-”

The author typed for Isla to quickly give the love of her life a kiss on the cheek, and instantly the entire scene rewound to the start of the fic, leaving the author smiling happily on the other side of the sky - through her screen - as she watched the three precious darlings she loved with all her heart go about their day enjoying gelato and collecting debts - completely ignorant of the fun she just had with them.

@ichigostellaglynn @atelierquinn @mrslelouch Please let me know if you want to be added to my tags list.

#Jude Jazza #Ikevil Jude #Jude Jazza Fanfiction #Jude Jazza Fanfic #Fanfiction #ikevil fanfiction #ikevil fanfic #ikemen villains #Bullying Jude #Writing #f/o x oc #Jude Jazza x OC

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pancakes4two · 2 years

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OK I LIED i can’t say goodbye to the harry eras series just yet 😭 here is an epilogue blurb for now!!! felt like this would be a fitting ending, at least for the time being

MASTERLIST | REQUESTS | READ MY NEWEST SERIES HERE

archdigest

1,847,937 likes

archdigest “I think what I came to understand throughout the course of writing this album is that the concept of home, to me, is less about a physical space and more about a feeling. The pure joy I feel when I’m with her, and the quiet comfort in getting to see her face beside me every morning, her features softened by sleep.”

Join us on a tour of Harry Styles’ gorgeous London home as he talks writing his latest album, finding ways to slow down while on tour, and his engagement to his childhood girlfriend.

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annetwist ❤️🐇💍

niallhoran Congratulations brother!!!

dualipa So fucking iconic @.harrystyles @.yourinstagram

gemmastyles Power couple.

harryflorals NOT SURE WHAT WE WERE EXPECTING BUT IT DEFINITELY WASN’T THIS

harryflorals CONGRATULATIONS H & Y/N

harrystan1 ABOUT TIMEEEEEE

harryfan they’re the only reason why i still believe love is real tbh

iloveharry honestly i’m not surprised he’s been calling out engaged couples on tour a bunch recently

harry4ever they both must be so happy right now aw i hope they’re finding time to celebrate

harrygirl HOW DID HE PROPOSE I NEED TO KNOW

cocainesideboob OF COURSE HE ANNOUNCES HIS ENGAGEMENT IN ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST

yourinstagram

Liked by harrystyles, yourbff and 400 others

yourinstagram dip you in honey so i could be sticking to you.

📷: @.anthonypham

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yourbff ASSJFJDJSJSJDFJCVB FINALLY!!!!!! OVER THE MOON FOR YOU

yourmom Y/N, why did Architectural Digest find out about your engagement before me?!?!

jefezoff Lovebirds 🐦

gucci ❤️

alessandro_michele Already drawing up the wedding mood boards

harris_reed Here’s to forever 🤍🤍🤍

spaceykacey congrats congrats congrats

anthonypham Thanks for trusting me w/ such a special moment

harrystyles

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harrystyles Lost the game but won the girl.

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harryfan Omgggggggggg that’s so cute 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 such a Harry proposal

harryflorals Gonna need 6 business days at least to recover from this

niallhoran So happy for you . Knew since the first day I met her that the two of you were perfect for each other

zayn Congrats man

mitchrowland Ha too bad you’re only the second-best married man in the band

taylorswift Congrats!!!

adele Congratulations!

oliviarodrigo everyone’s couple goals. congrats ❤️

harryflorals

58,384 likes

harryflorals “There’s a sign down here that says: ‘You’re going to be a husband…’ I AM going to be a husband, thank you so much for that sign! I’m very, very excited. We’ve already started planning the wedding, and NONE OF YOU ARE INVITED! I’m only joking. Behave yourselves during the next few songs and we’ll check with Y/N to see if you can come to the wedding.” Harry reacting to a fan’s sign about his engagement!!!

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harrystan1 HE’S SO EXCITED TO BE A HUSBAND 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

iluvharry HUSBANDRRY IS NOW

harrygirl literally cannot stop smiling for them y/n has been there for him through EVERYTHING she is the OG harrie and i could not be happier for her

harryfan GIRL i’m happier for harry like that man has been gone for y/n since he was a teenager

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fake ig #harry styles fake instagram #harry styles x you #harry styles fic #harry styles x reader #harry styles social media #harry styles headcanon #harry styles fic rec #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction

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seahydra · 3 months

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Okay I think. I'm posting it. 800+ something words under the cut, I wanted to write something kind of like the audio dramas featured on the album CDs or the silly skits in the podcast episodes, so it's all written as if it were a script. Enjoy?!

Levi: Ah, y-you're here! ...You're early.

Lazarus: Well, I got bored waiting for the time to come around, and I wanted to see you right away, so... ahem.

Lazarus: Anyway, we’re watching the Ultrawitch finale tonight, right? I've been looking forward to it.

Levi: Actually, I… had something else in mind for us to watch tonight, if that’s okay with you? We can totally finish the series some other time, it’s just- I saw something I really wanted to watch with you ASAP, and…

Lazarus: Really? I do wish you’d told me that earlier...

Lazarus: But it’s fine. I suppose I don’t really care, as long as we get to hang out. What did you have in mind?

Levi: It’s this 12 episode anime I discovered recently. Each episode covers a different tragic story, with different characters. It's supposed to be SUPER heartbreaking lol. I mean, i-if you care.

Lazarus: Huh… much different from our original plan... but alright. It sounds interesting enough.

Levi: Really?! Thank goodness, I was so worried you’d turn down the idea!! Okay. Come sit down, I’ll get it all set up.

Lazarus: Got it.

Lazarus: …Hey, you’re moving in a bit close, Levi…

Levi: Yeah, so I can see your face bette- um, I mean-! A-A-Am I?! I’m so sorry! I’ll get out of your personal space right away, ahahaha!

Levi: A-Anyway, I’m about to hit play, so quiet down and watch closely, alright?!

…

Levi: (sniff) Making the immortal say goodbye to his human lover is so cruel... gaaahh, it hurts my very soul! (sob) Why couldn't they both just be together forever? It's not fair...

Lazarus: It is rather painful, indeed... but at least they got to be together at all, even if it was just for a little while?

Levi: But now he's going to be alone! Uuuugh, I can't think about this anymore... (sniff)

… ...

Lazarus: Ah, this poor girl... watching her repress herself like this makes me feel bad.

Levi: (sniffle) Everyone in that town is so shallow. They have no right to talk about her behind her back just because she's a little "weird"! Don't they see how much that hurts her? I bet they don't even care! How heartless... (sob)

Lazarus: (Yeah, I know what that's like...)

... ... ...

Levi: W-Well, that was the final episode. Um... your thoughts, please?

Lazarus: Eeeh, bit of a 6/10 to me, I think. No, maybe 6.5... 6.7?

Levi: 6.7?!?! That's it?! N-No way... did you somehow feel nothing while we were watching it?

Lazarus: Well, the stories themselves were written fine enough. But, it didn't really do anything for me overall..

Levi: ...You're unbelievable.

Lazarus: Eh?! Hey, what's with the sudden mood change? Are you mad at me?

Levi: Tch... I should have known... even if we ARE best friends, you'd never... not in front of someone like me...

Lazarus: Levi?

Levi: Like, why would you?! Who would want to be so open... in the presence of some loser...

Lazarus: Leviathan.

Levi: What?!

Lazarus: Talk to me. What's wrong?

Levi: ...No. I can't. It’s too embarrassing.

Lazarus: Come on, tell me! You know I'm not going to judge you!

Levi: Fine. Fine!

Levi: I was just thinking... in the entire time we’ve known each other, I’ve seen all sorts of different emotions on you.

Levi: I’ve seen how happy you get when you pull a UR card of your fave. I’ve seen you be totally pissed off, like when we first met. I’ve even seen you be terrified out of your mind, but…

Levi: …somehow, I’ve never seen you cry before. I thought for sure today would be the day, but everything backfired on me. So humiliating...

Lazarus: Hm? So all of this was merely you trying to make me cry?! Okay, I miiiiight judge you a little for that. You’re weirder than I thought, aren't you! Ahaha!

Levi: Wait. Wait, wait, wait! No! I just realized that sounds really bad! I-I-I promise I’m not a sadist or anything! It's because, um, I…

Levi: …I brought it up once, to everyone else. And they all said they’d never seen you cry, either. Like, not even tearing up a LITTLE bit!

Lazarus: ...Yes, because I don’t like to do that in front of other people.

Levi: But that’s the thing! When they all said that, I thought... I really wanted to be the first and only person to ever see you cry.

Levi: Because, like… that would mean you trust me, right? I… want.. to be the only person you’re vulnerable with, in that way… or something.. whatever.

Levi: Never mind, it’s nothing. Just forget I said anyth-

Levi: …Wait. A-Are you--?!

Lazarus: T-That’s… (sniff) somehow, that’s the sweetest thing... (sniff) you’ve ever said to me!!! Waaaaaaaahhh! Levi, you’re so cute!!!

Levi: Why was that what did it for you?! Hey, don’t just throw your arms around me-! Aaaaghhh, I can't process all of this!!! Let go, you idiot!!!

END 💥💥💥

#atari.pdf #<- IDONT HAVE A WRITING TAG. I SHOULDNT HAVE USED TXT!!!!!!!#Anyway this is entitled 'a new side of you' in my documents #I think this would be much better if it were actually voiced but obviously that's not happening so www #No taglist either coz I'm shy if this gets seen it gets seen. Hi guys #Plot inspired by the fact that I truly honestly do not cry much (I wish I could though. It's just physically difficult)#❥ the prince and the little mermaid

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abigails-gf · 1 year

Note

omg??!! i loved what you did w my request!! tysm <33 i have another one hehe :)) so reader hits 1 year or so clean n her and abby celebrate?? i recently hit a month clean so i’m kinda proud of myself :D ofc no rush!! 🩷🩷

— 💐

abby anderson x fem reader.

abby has a surprise for her girlfriend's 1st year of being clean.

hii! thank you for being so sweet!! and, i'm so proud of you for being one month clean!!! you're doing grea! i know it's hard, but you can do it, i'm sure. if you need to talk 'm here!! but seriously, congrats !! <33 honestly, i kind of cried a bit while writing this cause this one is so cute, aa. i hope you like it as well! in this the reader is a year clean, but you can change it to anything !! i'm so happy for you 💐

“good morning, baby.” you heard abby whispering next to you, leaving small kisses all over your face. you groaned and smiled as you opened your eyes to find abby smiling on top of you. her hair was down and tickling your shoulders, making you shiver. “hi.” you whispered, putting your hands on abby’s hips. “i made something for you. i’ll let you get ready and then join me in the kitchen, sounds good?”

“sounds good.” she kissed your forehead before getting up and leaving the bedroom.

you stayed in bed for a few minutes, wondering why abby was in such a good mood this morning. was it your anniversary? couldn’t be. you could never forget the date you two started dating.

you got up and went to the bathroom. after washing your face, you joined abby in the kitchen. she had her back to you, wearing an apron. did she cook something? you asked yourself. is there a special date i actually forgot about?

“done.” abby said to herself before turning around. “oh, hi, babe.” she was holding a cake in her hands. you couldn’t tell what it said from where you were standing. abby put it on the table, next to two plates.

once you were next to abby, you read what was written in blue icing.

happy 1 yr clean ♡

“abby –” your voice cracked, almost tearing up. she put her hand around your waist and brought you closer to her. “happy one year of being clean, sweet girl.”

and that’s when tears fell down. abby held you tightly, rubbing your back. these were happy tears. you had forgotten to check how long it has been since you were clean – but abby made sure to remember the date. of course, these 365 days weren’t easy. but she was there to help when you needed help. she was there to take care of you on bad days, she was there to convince you not to hurt yourself at times. she was there. and you weren’t alone.

“i’m so proud of you, y/n.” abby said, kissing your wet cheeks. “i’m so so proud of you, baby.” she repeated. she cupped your face in her hands, kissing you on the lips as you slowly stopped crying.

when you pulled away, you looked at the cake. although the writing was a bit messy, abby made this cake for you. “i can’t believe you remembered... abby – i love you so much. thank you.” you hugged her as tight as you could. “of course, m’love. i love you so much. and i’m so proud of you. i know some days were hard, but hey,” she said pulling away, “you made it.” she kissed your forehead. “i love you s’much, my sweet girl.” you smiled and hugged her once more.

“now, how about we eat this cake before it melts?” abby suggested. you giggled and sat on a chair next to her. she started cutting the cake, giving you the first slice. you took a bite of it and realized that it was your favorite flavor. you looked up at abby who was already smiling, waiting for your reaction. “it’s so good!” you said as you finished your first bite. she laughed, “i was so scared i was gonna mess it up! i’m glad you like it, m’love.” you leaned to kiss her, leaving some frosting on her cheek.

in this moment, you were truly happy. you weren’t alone anymore. you didn’t have to face the bad days on your own. abby was here to help you, to take care of you. she was there to love you. you were happy to be there right now, with her, eating a cake she baked, looking at the messy letters on the frosting. you were happy she was there, next to you, with you. you were truly happy to be alive to live this moment.

#abby anderson #abby tlou #abby x fem!reader #abby anderson x female reader #abby anderson x reader #abby anderson x y/n #abby x reader #abby anderson x you #the last of us #abby anderson tlou2 #tlou2 #tlou x reader #abby anderson blurb #abby the last of us #abby anderson fluff

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2myl0ver · 6 months

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☾ 1 step forward, 3 steps back // byun euijoo

genre : angst / wc : 715 / tw : asshole reader, not a happy ending lol, cursing / masterlist / song : olivia rodrigo

♫ never doubted myself so much, like am I pretty or am I fun, girl? cuz it's always 1 step forward, and 3 steps back. do you love me? want me? hate me? girl, I don't understand. ♫

euijoo keeps his head low, leaving the practice room while on their break, he hears kei following him before he even speaks up. "hey, what's on your mind? is this about taki eating your ice cream in the fridge because if it is I already scolded him for that." euijoo lets out a breathy laugh before responding "no. it's not that, it's just y/n's been so distant recently. I feel like I'm not satisfying them and, it's making me dance sloppy and forget the dance. it's stressing me out, I don't know what I did wrong." he says, still keeping his head down. "hey," kei places his palm on euijoos shoulder, "it's okay. I'm sure they just had a bad day or something, maybe they're stressed too. I think you should be there for each other. you should talk to her so you can understand her better a she can understand you better." euijoo finally raises his head, "yeah. you're right, hyung. I'll go talk things out with her." he smiles.

♫ I kinda find it all exciting like, which lover will I get today? will you walk me to the door or send me home crying? ♫

"hi baby <3 can we talk? there's a cafe nearby, we can talk there!" he typed out.

ding !

"hi, yea sure. but make it quick, I have to go meet up with jay soon" read the words on his screen, his smile quickly fades upon seeing the name "jay".

"who's jay?" he asked, while walking to the cafe. "wow, so I can't have male friends anymore? get off my fucking back euijoo. stop being so fucking possessive, maybe if you stopped caring so much about who I'm with you'd actually improve your dances and be a better leader." tears form in his eyes in the middle of reading your message, he decides to stop before his tears spill out.

he arrives at the cafe and approaches your table. "hi. you were quick." he tries to lighten the mood, "can we get this over with? what did you wanna talk about?" you say, afraid of keeping jay waiting.

"w-well, I've been noticing that you haven't been the brightest recently and I just wanted to ask if there was anything I can do to make you feel better o-or if you wanna talk about it." euijoo says, concerned. "you really made me go here for this? you could've asked me this over text. I'm fine, euijoo."

"b-but-" you cut him off, "stop doing that, you keep stuttering. just get it out before I get out of here."

"I just thought we could talk about it.. you've been so distant recently and it's really effecting me. j-just please tell me what I-" he's cut off by his sobs, by this point other tables are whispering about the both of you, heads turned towards your direction. "please tell me what I did wrong, I'll change. I promise, I will. just tell me what it is.." euijoo sobs, while other people in the cafe start to feel bad for him, finally understanding what happened between you and him.

he reaches out his arms to hold your hand on the table, and you pull your hands away. "no, please.." he says, barely over a whisper while shaking his head. before he knew it, you stood up and left.

♫ it's one step forward and three steps back, I'm the love of your life until I make you mad ♫

euijoo walks back to the dorms with tears in his eyes, just hoping nobody sees him. once he enters the dorm, kei and nicholas see's him and immediately asks him what happened.

"I don't know, t-they were upset and- I just.. I don't know. they went to see someone named jay or something, whoever that is." he sniffs.

"oh euijoo.." nicholas says. "it's okay, euijoo." kei hugs him and is soon followed by nicholas

♫ no, it's back and forth, did I say something wrong? it's back and forth, going over everything I said. ♫

a/n : I took inspiration from someone do this with enhypen members where they give every enha member a song from the sour album but it was months ago and I don't remember who it is anymoree 😭 if yk what im talking about pls lmk 🫶

#&team #&audition #&team imagines #andaudition #&team EJ #&team scenarios #andteam #andteam reactions #byun euijoo #EJ &team #EJ &team imagines #euijoo &team #euijoo &team imagines

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leviiackrman · 11 months

Text

OC TAG GAME;

I was tagged by @marivenah @jackiesarch @minaharkers @noonfaerie + @corvosattano to do this fun little tag game with my kids, thank you sm beloveds!

Tagging: @sstewyhosseini @chuckhansen @risingsh0t @florbelles @simonxriley @confidentandgood @shadowglens @solasan @denerims @liurnia @queennymeria @roofgeese @nokstella @blissfulalchemist @detectivelokis @fenharel @jinfromyarikawa @river-ward @indorilnerevarine @shellibisshe @arklay @jacobseed @necroticpetals @heroofpenamstan @hunterhorn @unholymilf @kingsroad @baldurians @duffmckagans + @malefiicarum

FAVOURITE OC;

I think we all saw that one coming lmao. Whatever mood I’m in, either of these gals can cheer my up instantly! I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to talk about them quite a bit recently so that’s just fuelled me even more tehe

NEWEST OC;

Baby gal Kaida! The newest kid in the club with a heart of GOLD! I love her sm… I’ve wanted a purely goth oc for a v long time but haven’t found the right ‘environment’ for them you could say, so I’m glad I’ve finally been able to expand on this idea!

OLDEST OC;

Now this one I’m unsure of. Back in the day, my uc self insert was at the forefront of my entire brain BUT I also played da:o for the first time v shortly after getting my ps4 and so lyna was born, but my witcher twins were in development at the same time so I quite honestly couldn’t tell you who came first lmao

MEANEST OC;

Rin is by far the meanest of all my ocs… but she’s so good with her words that I doubt most people realise she’s even being mean yknow? Theo tho is a typical stuck up rich bitch with an awful attitude and if someone gets offended she just pays them off

SOFTEST OC;

Asami baby is the PHYSICAL EMBODIMENT of softness… like she’s so squishy and cuddly and kind and just doesn’t have a single bad bone in her body. Other ocs I was like ‘hmm they’re soft’ but then they’d have a dark moment of just pure rage… but w Asami she never has that! Just a big ol cuddle puddle🤍

MOST ALOOF/STANDOFFISH OC;

Jordan has plenty of reasons to be standoffish. She avoids people implicitly but they’re just drawn to her.. so people get confused when she tries to actively avoid them. I would’ve put her in the ‘mean’ category but she has some soft moments, but not often. Rin also falls into this category and I couldn’t decide who was more fitting so they’re both here aha

DUMBEST (AFFECTIONATE) OC;

If someone could share a brain cell with this gal that would be great. She knows she’s not smart in the slightest and that’s just what makes her so lovable! Even in her stupidity she’s pure and fun so what more could you want?

SMARTEST OC;

Obvious answer really. Her IQ is so high she could sky dive off of it… like there’s nothing scarier than a criminal who’s smarter than EVERYONE. No shmuck can outthink her and that’s what makes her so formidable, even if she’s not the burliest physically

OC I’D BE FRIENDS WITH IRL;

Omg mama Gigi is my kinda fun! I would happily be friends with a lot of them, but some of their excessive positivity would get annoying real fast to me lmao, where as Gigi knows there’s a time and place! She’s just sm fun and is down for literally anything, if you needed help she’d be there or if you just wanted to cry/vent - she’d listen! Get you a gal who can do IT ALL!

#tagged*#peep the fact Rin appears 4 times lmao #oc: margot durand #oc: rin kyutoku #oc: kaida ishimoto #oc: jess drake #oc: una wattleseed #oc: isaac wattleseed #oc: lyna mahariel #oc: theo bainbridge #oc: asami enatsu #oc: jordan parker #oc: hideko sugawara #oc: gigi olalia #marivenah #jackiesarch #minaharkers #noonfaerie #corvosattano

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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youtube

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

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kooktrash · 2 years

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"i did something terrible"

tae telling the truth that he is cheating on oc😭😭😭

oh god I hate cheating aus 😭😭like I fr get mad writing them cuz whew let someone cheat on me. I dare them. anyway thanks for submittinggg this isn’t perfect but hopefully you liked it a little 🥹

don’t say ‘i love u’ | kth

You know those days that just get worse and worse? The kind where you wake up in the morning already in a bad mood? You’re tired, you’re irritated, and you just want the day to be over. That was today.

From the moment you woke up feeling more drained than you should be to now. You’re home now and it’s been eerily quiet tonight. Your boyfriend got home an hour what looking worse for wear and you already knew it was gonna be a no talking night.

You were in the middle of drying your hair in the bathroom when you heard Taehyung’s voice speak over the sound of the blow dryer. You turned it off stepping into doorframe and looking at your boyfriend, “What?”

His head was hanging low sitting on the edge of the bed with his elbows against his knees. His gaze pulled from the floor to you, “I did something terrible.”

And just like that your heart stopped. There’s only so much that sentence could mean. You tried to play it cool not wanting to jump to conclusions. You set the blow dryer down on the sink before walking out leaning against the wall with yours crossed over your chest, “Like what?”

He didn’t say anything for a second. You couldn’t even read his expression at the moment. Usually, he’s an open book to you. He’s so easy to read and right now it’s the opposite. Like you could tell something was off but you couldn’t see what, or maybe you didn’t want to see.

“I slept with Jisoo.”

For a moment you swear there was a ringing in your ear like your brain to tune it out. Maybe it refused to pay attention to what your boyfriend of three years just said. But you did hear it and every word made your stomach sink. Your breath was held in your throat as you processed.

He slept with Jisoo. Your best friend Jisoo?

Taehyung waited for you to snap, his eyes never once left you. You didn’t even blink, you were forcing your body to stay calm. If you didn’t, then you would snap and you refused to cry in front of him right now.

“Did you hear me?” His voice cracked at the end as he tried to clear his throat, “I said I slept with Jisoo.”

Your jaw clenched. You were heartbroken right now. You trusted him and Jisoo. You’d known her for years, long before you and Taehyung got together and she did this to you. And you were mad.

How could you be such a fucking idiot? How could you let him do this to you? How could you let yourself be vulnerable and trust someone only for them to stab you in the back? They made you look stupid every time you all got together.

You trusted both of them. You never took their light banter or closeness as anything to fear for. They would never do anything to hurt you, that’s what you thought. But clearly you were stupid. So fucking unbelievably stupid.

“When?” It was the only thing you could get out. It’s like your mind still couldn’t process what he’d just said. You knew if you tried to say more the hurt would get the best of you. You’d surely break down crying and you refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing you’d loved him enough to hurt like this.

“Last weekend,” he said, his eyes were red almost teary but he wasn’t going to stop. He needed you to know it all. He was ready to change. “… and once about a month ago.”

You couldn’t hold in the scoff that escaped from your lips in disbelief. You couldn’t even look at him right now. You tried to think of when that could’ve possibly been. You hadn’t hung out with Jisoo recently so that meant they sought each other out. They planned it. They talked about it. It wasn’t a spur of the moment.

You wanted to disappear. If you could dissolve into the floorboards you would. If you found out another way you would erase yourself from their lives. You’d want Taehyung to wonder forever and ever why you left him like that. You’d let him act blind to it even if he knew the reason all along. You can’t believe you didn’t know.

You still refused to give way too how you actually felt. The moment you do it will all break loose. Your anger, your heartache, your betrayal. You weren’t going to let him know he got to you. At least you still have Jisoo. You could erase yourself from her life though you’re not sure if she’d actually die without you now. You used to say you’d die without each other, but you wouldn’t hurt someone you care about right?

“Say something,” Taehyung bit into his bottom lip nervously, “Please. Yell at me, tell me you hate me, I don’t care just say something.”

You pushed off the wall walking over to your vanity where your bag and keys sat. He stood up from the bed ready to stop you when you walked past him. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like that you weren’t talking to him. He fucked up. He knows he fucked up and he swears he’ll never do it again.

He caught on to what you were doing just before you got to the bedroom door. He slammed it shut pressing his back to it.

“Move,” you barely got it out. His arm went to grab you when you jumped back, “Don’t touch me.”

He shook his head, “No, Y/n, please. Just listen, let me explain, fuck it was a mistake.”

“Taehyung, please move so I can leave,” you tried saying calmly. His hand was over the doorknob and you tried with all your might to pull his hand away but he didn’t budge.

“It was a mistake, I swear,” a year slipped from his eyes, “I promise I will never do it again. Please don’t leave, just think about us for a moment. We’ve been together for three years.”

You didn’t say anything, face stone cold as you kept your hand on his arm still trying to move it off the doorknob. He went to pull you into him when you finally snapped.

You shoved his hands away, “Don’t touch me.” Your voice cracked as your eyes began to pool with tears, “Let me leave.”

“No,” he shook his head still leaning against the door, “I love you Y/n. Please just think about us.”

You ran your hand over your face in annoyance, “You love me? Really?”

“Yes, and it was a mistake. A big fucking mistake it didn’t mean anything I ju—“

“Give me a fucking break Taehyung,” you scoffed finally letting a few tears slip, “You don’t love me.”

“I do,” he dropped to his knees wrapping his arms around your legs, “Please don’t leave. I love you, okay? I love you and it didn’t mean anything. I only want you.”

“You don’t love me!” You yelled trying to get him off, “If you did you wouldn’t have slept with my best friend, twice!” He flinched a little at the reminder shaking his head, “Please. It didn’t mean anything.”

“You’re a liar and a cheater and I want nothing to do with you or Jisoo, so please, while I’m still asking nicely can you let me go?” You tried to calm down again.

He stood up wanting to reach you when you opened the door making your escape. Immediately his arms flung around you pulling you into his chest, “Just let me explain. It didn’t mean anything Y/n please don’t do this to me. I need you.”

“It didn’t mean anything?” You asked, his hold relaxing a little, “So why’d you do it twice?”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. He let you pull away, “I—I. It just happened. But I swear I love you, I don’t care about h—“

“Stop saying you love me. If you did you would’ve never risked our relationship,” you said, “And stop acting like it didn’t mean anything. She’s my best friend Taehyung, not some fucking stranger from the bar. You knew what you were doing.”

You took his silence as a sign to keep going. He wanted you to talk so you were going to let him know how you felt. You could see the trails of tears from his eyes and it made you scoff in disbelief.

“Why are you crying?” You asked slightly annoyed, “Huh? Why are you crying Taehyung?”

“Because I love you—“

“No you don’t!” You yelled, “You don’t love me so stop crying. You don’t have the right to cry like you’re the one who’s hurt. I’m the one who was lied to. I’m the one who is looking so fucking stupid right now. I’m the one who wasted three years of my life on you.”

“Please don’t say that,” he said softly, “I made a mistake. I know I did but I’m willing to change. I want to change for you. Think about us.”

“You sound so stupid right now, you don’t have the right to say that to me,” you said bitterly, “You weren’t thinking about us when you fucked Jisoo, twice right? Yeah did you think about us then? You want to change for me? It’s been three years Taehyung. Three years that you threw away for what? Do you love her?”

He shook his head, “I love you.”

“Do you love her?” You asked again wanting to hear him say it.

“No. No! I don’t.” He huffed, “I don’t love Jisoo. I love you. I care about you—“

“You’re a fucking liar,” you scoffed moving to walk toward the front door. He picked you up, “Y/n please, baby don’t do this. I was going to propose. I want to get married. I want to be with you and only you. Please just don’t leave me. You know I can’t do this without you.”

“Stop!” You screamed pushing him off.

“Stop with all of this bullshit!” You said moving away from him, “You don’t care about me. You don’t love me. You wouldn’t have done that if you did. You think I want to be with you? You think I’ll be able to forget all this and still stay with you? You must think I’m really fucking stupid.”

He didn’t look at you. His gaze was locked on the floor feeling disgusted with himself. He hurt you. How could he do that? He let Jisoo get in his head, he let her play him along until he gave her what she wanted. What had happened should’ve been a one time thing but they just had to do it again. And it’s not that he didn’t feel guilty about it. He wanted to tell you the first time it happened but Jisoo told him not to. She said you’d never forgive him if he did.

So he kept it to himself. He swears he didn’t mean to do it a second time it just happened. They ran into each other at the store and Jisoo convinced him to go over to her place.

“Tae, look at me,” you were calmer now and that made him hopeful. Maybe you’d think it over and realize he really did love you. You’d go to couple’s therapy and cut Jisoo out of both your lives. Ten years from now you’ll be married probably with kids and you wouldn’t even think about it.

He looked up at you. Whatever tears you had were dry now and your voice was hoarse, “I’m going to walk out this door.”

He opened his mouth to speak before you continued, “And I don’t want you to stop me. I don’t want you to follow me, nothing. I don’t want to hear from you. I don’t want to see you. I don’t even want to think about you. Do you get that?”

His mouth clamped shut fighting back tears but it was no use, he was crying as your words cut into him.

“Stop crying,” you told him again, “Once I’m out this door I’m done. I’m done with you and I’m done with Jisoo. You have no reason to cry. You did this. You ruined us so don’t act like it’s me. I’m serious Taehyung. I don’t ever want to see you again. I hate you.”

You looked him in the eyes feeling broken inside as you struggled to get the words out, “I. Hate. You.”

I hate you. His body went rigid. No. No you don’t. You don’t hate him. You love him, you love him even when he makes mistakes and you can’t just leave him like he’s nothing.

You got to the door swinging it open and slamming it shut. It took him a second to react, your words cutting through him like a knife. He ran to the door twisting the knob feeling it jam. You locked it before you left, probably to delay him. You knew he’d go after you.

He fumbled with the lock as he opened the door peering down the hall. You were quick but he ran not caring if the door was open. You’d have to come back. You lived together. Where would you even go?

“Y/n!” He called out running down the stairs. He reached the front doors too late. He watched through the glass as you stepped into a taxi. You turned to look at him one last time as he ran out. The car door slammed in his face and you were urging the driver to go.

He took his phone out ready to call you, it rang once before going straight to voicemail. He tried again but the same thing.

You can not do this to him. He can’t do this without you, don’t you get that? He fucked up, he knows he did. But you weren’t supposed to leave. You were supposed to understand that he’s not perfect. That he fucks up even if he doesn’t mean to and you’re supposed to be there to fix him. You’re supposed to love him no matter what the way he loves you.

“Pick up the phone Y/n,” he mumbled to himself as he called for the eighth time in the time it took him to go back to his apartment. His fingers worked rapidly to type.

taehyung | answer the phone

taehyung | it didn’t mean anything

taehyung | I love you

taehyung | I’m sorry

taehyung | pls y/n don’t do this

taehyung | where are you going

taehyung | we live together

taehyung | pls can’t you just answer the phone

It took three hours to get a response and it wasn’t from you. It was from Jisoo.

jisoo | you told y/n didn’t u?

He blocked her and tried to call again. He grabbed his keys. He was going to go to every single one of your friend’s houses until he found you.

You say you hate him but you don’t. You can’t.

You can’t do this to him.

::.

a/n I’m ngl I had this all planned out when I got it and then when I actually did it I couldn’t think of anything

hoped you liked it

and y/n ghosted him. y/n had someone else go pick up all the belongings from the apartment. changed phone numbers. blocked him off socials. all dat just cuz she knew it’d hurt him :p

idc if it’s baby daddy Jungkook himself but if I ever get cheated on just know I’m gonna dip and I’m gonna keep quiet about it lol

doing one or two prompts a day [hopefully]. only doing it this week tho

#kpop #kim taehyung #jeon jungkook #bts #jung hoseok #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #min yoongi #kooktrash requests

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seyaryminamoto · 6 months

Text

The Shadows in her Reflection: Sokkla Saturdays 2023

Day 5: Fire

Rated: M

On FF.net//On AO3

A/N:

Recent developments in ATLA's canon have basically decreed that this canon/comics-compliant fic is, of course, no longer canon/comics-compliant. This is no surprise to anyone, I'm sure. It's not even that the changes were huge, they weren't, but there's certainly one important difference between this story and the comic that I'd like to... talk about, I guess?

Azula's Kemurikage group, the Fire Warriors, what have you, have always been an awkward team due to the absolute lack of personality, development and fleshing out of how, exactly, they ever ended up working together. Azula broke them out of the asylum: why did they follow her afterwards? No one knows. Did she get along with any of them? No one knows. Everything is a huge question mark and, unfortunately, the new comic basically did nothing to answer these questions. Instead, it twists them even more by featuring the team being perfectly normal, adjusted, decent individuals while Azula is the only one who is a terrible, no-good person. This invites new questions: why were they in the asylum at all if there's no sign of mental illness or any unusual behavior in these people? Were they locked up under false pretenses of mental illness? If so, that should be fleshed out a bit more, right? Maybe being sent to an asylum when they were 100% okay, mentally speaking, is what makes people like them crave vengeance against the system!

... But that's not really how it reads, and it ends up proposing an interpretation of these characters that I frankly can't describe as anything but shrugworthy. Somehow they're not competent enough to avoid capture but they're competent enough to break free their imprisoned member, without Azula's help...? It's all too convenient, I'd say.

Point of all this is... the Zirin I wrote in this chapter was very much written over a month ago, probably two months ago instead. The character I decided to portray was not going to be a perfectly normal cute girl who loves her friends, because someone with that kind of personality doesn't make a lot of sense joining rogue Azula's terrorist group, if you ask me. I've constantly used Zirin's only line at Yang's hands to decide how to portray her, in which she comes off as brash, harsh, impatient, goal-oriented and willing to defy Azula. In this story, I've granted her a certain unique danger as a firebender that clearly is of my invention and has nothing to do with her canon portrayal. I'm saying all this to make it very clear that I understand how different this character turned out to be in the newest comic, and I acknowledge those differences... but I'm not rewriting this chapter, or this whole story, just to make a terrorist gang look like innocent little lambs who were just guided by a bad shepherd. If they could walk away as easily as they did, I don't understand what was keeping them with Azula in the first place.

Anyway. That would be that, as far as author's notes are concerned here. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

A tense silence hung in the air as Azula's placid mood shifted rapidly: she glared at her brother, whose golden gaze carried a mercilessness in it that starkly reminded her of someone else… someone he would do best not to try to imitate in any way.

That cruelty diminished when he turned his attention towards Ursa: his brow drew together slightly, puzzled by her presence around Azula, but he stepped towards her, reaching a protective hand to his mother's shoulder, as though to reel her to safety, away from his sister.

"I didn't know you were here…" Zuko said, his voice softer now. "Are you okay? Did she do anything to you?"

"She… no! Of course not!" Ursa exclaimed, startling Azula by her vehement, firm response. Zuko froze, eyes wide – the last thing he'd known about their bond, of course, was that Azula wanted to kill her own mother…

"W-well… good, then," Zuko said, still urging Ursa to pull away from the table she had been sitting at with Azula…

She didn't move.

"Mom?" Zuko frowned, glancing at Azula with eyes that turned from confused to accusatory in a heartbeat – he thought she'd done something to twist his beloved mother's mind, did he? As usual…

"What is the meaning of this?" Ursa huffed, shaking Zuko's hand off and folding her arms across her chest. "What do you think you're doing, Zuko?"

"What…?" Zuko scowled. "Mom, it's Azula! She's a hazard to your safety, to everyone's safety! You knew that, you've known that for years, she's been causing unnecessary trouble and chaos all across the Fire Nation and…!"

He faltered, frowning more heavily as the utterly confusing situation started to sink in: Azula… sitting placidly at a table with their mother. No screaming, no crying, no accusations, no murder attempts…

He froze on the spot, staring at Azula as though she'd suddenly twist herself into some manner of wicked spirit that could shapeshift as it pleased. Naturally, no such thing happened.

"And she's your sister. My daughter," Ursa said, firmly. Azula's heart jolted upon hearing her speak those words with such confidence. "And you? As far as I've understood, you issued out actual wanted posters asking for her death, Zuko? Did you, truly?"

For once, Zuko paled and backed down. It was almost amusing to see the Fire Lord balking over his mother's fury… but Azula couldn't help but dread whatever Zuko's ultimate reaction to this apparent betrayal might be.

"I… look, I've learned since then that I was wrong in some of my assumptions, but I only did that because it looked like she had kidnapped Sokka!" Zuko exclaimed. "Which… damn it. Guards! Search for Sokka in the rest of the house. Is he here, or did you ditch him somewhere when you had no use for him anymore?"

His snarl towards Azula displeased Ursa, but Azula wouldn't simply hide behind her mother throughout this conversation. Instead, she smirked at his words.

"What makes you think I'd find no more use for him?" she said. "He's a rather helpful ally…"

"What the hell did you do to him? How did you get into his head?" Zuko huffed, glaring at her. "Sokka wouldn't have teamed up with you willingly, leaving his sister to think you'd have kidnapped or killed him…!"

"I was led to believe that he'd written a letter to explain he was leaving. If she overreacted to it? That's no fault of his…" Azula shrugged. Zuko scoffed.

"Everything about Sokka's disappearance was fishy as hell! And then I find out that the two of you have been traveling all over the place, trying to shake off pursuit…!"

"That's not what we were doing," Azula said, hands on her hips. "At least, not at first. We certainly had to put more effort into shaking it off once you and your unhelpful guards turned up, but we weren't always shaking off annoyances, that's for sure…"

"None of this makes a smidge of sense," Zuko said, glaring at her. "But whatever you've deceived him with, whatever nonsense you've done to manipulate him, it's over now: we either do this the good way or the bad way, Azula."

Azula scowled: the guards near Zuko were ready to chain her down, were they? Never again. Whatever she had to do to stop them from…

"Absolutely not!"

Azula froze: again, Ursa's demeanor and determination to protect her caught her off guard, much as it did Zuko.

Then, that surprise increased all the more when her mother clasped her hand, urging her to stand behind her… offering herself as a shield to the disbelieving Azula, as a wall to overcome for the utterly aghast Zuko.

"Mom! W-what are you doing?!" Zuko exclaimed: the guards behind him, whether brandishing weapons or shackles, hesitated to move now.

"I'm doing what I have to do! What you're making me do, I'd dare say!" Ursa declared. "What do you think you're doing, treating your sister this way? I don't care what terrible things you think she has done, she's your sister! Stand down and tell those guards to put aside those horrible shackles!"

"Mom… come to your senses. Whatever she's told you…!" Zuko said, pleadingly. Ursa snarled.

"She has told me the truth! She has been honest, human, real, in ways most people refuse to be around me, these days!" Ursa exclaimed, startling Zuko. "I… I have a chance, for once, to do right by Azula and you will never persuade me not to take it! Whatever you intend to do to her, you'll do it to me first! Be it imprisonment, or moreover, execution!"

"Mom!" Zuko's eyes were struck with utter horror… whereas Azula's widened with amazement: could her mother truly be that courageous when she wanted to be? That was a rather pleasant surprise. If Zuko had been Ozai, he would have laughed in her face and subjected her to the exact treatment she had demanded…

"You are a better man than this," Ursa declared, firmly. "I know you are. So either you listen to me now and stand down… or you're losing me, just as much as you're willing to lose Azula."

That threat, evidently, didn't sit well with the Fire Lord: he glared at Azula in confusion, in horror… did he think Azula had taken Ursa from him? If he hadn't grown up at all, he might just believe that. Azula truly wondered if he might conclude something like that…

"You don't have to…" Zuko said, staring at Ursa in chagrin. "Why are you doing this? Mom…"

"Because it was about time I did," Ursa said, fists tight. "I've never been the mother she deserves. I never have been the one you deserve, either… but even if she doesn't truly need me, it won't change that I finally know what I want to do, and who I want to be, now that I can be part of her life anew. I never imagined the first person I'd have to defend her from would be you, Zuko… but I'm not afraid to do it."

Zuko stepped back, confused betrayal plain across his features: to this day, he prized the approval of those he admired and loved far more than would ever be healthy, Azula suspected. He didn't know what to do, or how to react to the possibility that his sister would have anyone on her side anymore… let alone that the person standing with her would be none other than his mother.

But the gravity of the situation didn't sink in properly for him. No, it couldn't possibly do that… not after a rather unflattering scream pierced their ears, drifting from the direction of Sokka's room.

"Sokka…!" Azula gasped: had he still been resting? Oh, she hoped he had at least been about to come out for breakfast by the time the soldiers stormed the room…

Naturally, Sokka's luck wouldn't favor him: he pulled the covers up to his chest, bashful and confused when several guards barged into the room, hands raised in defensive katas until they flinched out of form over what they found.

"W-what the hell is this?!" Sokka squealed. "Get out! Go away! W-where did all of you even come from, what…?!"

Heavier footsteps down the corridor marched straight to the room: Sokka had no time to prepare himself, or hide better under the bed, when Zuko marched in, unceremoniously.

He froze on the spot, face paling, upon finding Sokka's upper body appeared to be bare.

"W-what…? Sokka?!" Zuko squealed.

"Zuko! You… you can't just invade someone's privacy this way!" Sokka squealed, cheeks flushed as he struggled to find any way out of this predicament.

"Y-you're just… asleep? You didn't even notice we were raiding the place…?!" Zuko exclaimed… eyes drifting around the room warily to find clothing items scattered all around. His eyebrow twitched at the sight of a very evident male undergarment… "Sokka?"

"Yes?" Sokka said, with a small voice.

"Are you naked under that sheet?" Zuko asked, a dangerous glint in the harshness of his glare. Sokka winced. "You… you were naked, in a house with my mother and my sister?! That's what's going on, you idiot?!"

"I…! I…!" Sokka struggled to come up with anything to say, anything at all: he couldn't possibly fight Zuko off like this, he had no weapons at hand, for they were in his actual room… for this was Azula's, actually. Half the clothes scattered around were hers…

Zuko might notice that sooner than later. If he did, he'd realize he had slept with Azula, and then Sokka would be dragged out of here and paraded as a heathen all across town for inappropriate behavior… well, perhaps the townsfolk wouldn't really judge him for that, considering the previous day's festival, but Zuko would certainly judge him non-stop for it. He might even declare him a criminal in the Fire Nation for desecrating the Princess's virtue, as estranged as she might be from her family…

Said Princess, however, suddenly burst into the room, pushing past her brother and startling Sokka with her arrival, welcome as it might be, even if it terrified him too. It suddenly crossed his mind that she would have been better off running away, out of Zuko's reach, out of sight… he would capture her otherwise. She wouldn't be safe…

And yet she seemed to be here to protect him, instead.

"No need… to kick up a ruckus," Azula said, spreading her arms in a defensive gesture as she stood between Sokka and Zuko, without sparing even a glance over her shoulder at her lover. "Sokka is just… unrefined that way!"

"He… you're not telling me that you two have been traveling together for months and he's been constantly sleeping naked near you, are you?!" Zuko squealed, his face a mask of disgust. Azula gritted her teeth as she sought to spin her lie far better than she had…

"I only do it in the Fire Nation!" Sokka suddenly exclaimed, picking up her slack when she faltered briefly. "It's… way too hot around here! So, I just wanted to sleep comfortably and I did it this way! Nothing more to it!"

"Oh, really? And my sister and my mother being here didn't deter you from acting like a creep?!" Zuko asked. Azula scoffed as Sokka processed now that Ursa was back already…

"How do you know that neither me nor Mother do the same thing in the privacy of our rooms?" Azula asked. Zuko yelped. "The three of us might just have a perfect understanding when it comes to preferences in attire, or lack thereof, during nighttime, and we can very well keep… proper, respectful boundaries, in those instances. Such as not barging into other people's rooms without at least knocking first."

"Y-you…" Zuko grimaced, glaring at Sokka with disgust again. Sokka smiled, waving at him, still holding the sheet to his chest. "You have a lot to answer for, Sokka. I mean it."

"Yeah, yeah, well, unless you want me to answer it with my business hanging out in plain sight, I suggest we discuss that later," Sokka smiled awkwardly. Zuko winced, shaking his head in disgust as he turned around.

"Everyone, out! Sokka, get dressed, and come out here to answer for this mess!" Zuko bellowed. "And if you try to run away, I'll… I'll hunt you down all over again! Understood?"

"Geez, fine, damn it, so loud and authoritarian…" Sokka sighed, shaking his head: Zuko shot him one last glare over his shoulder before stepping out of the room. The guards followed… and Azula lingered behind, even though they kept watching her from the corridor, in case either one did anything dangerous. Sokka smiled sadly at her, and Azula responded in kind.

"He just barged in a while ago. Don't even know how he found us yet, but…" Azula said. Sokka sighed. "Go on, get dressed. I have no idea what's going to happen next, but… at least Mom seems to be keeping Zuko at bay, mostly."

"Heh. Come to think of it, he's one hell of a momma's boy, isn't he?" Sokka smirked. Azula smiled at his statement. "You have a reliable ally in Ursa, if she meant what she said yesterday… though I'm surprised she's already here."

"She came by early. Tried to cook. Didn't really go so well," Azula explained. "Anyway, so far she's on our side, and we might just be safe, to a fault, for as long as she is. So… dress up and get ready for anything. I don't know what Zuko's going to react like, going forward."

"Okay… okay," Sokka nodded. Azula nodded back, wistfully gazing at him before walking through the doorway and marching away – she would have gladly kissed him, helped him dress up, but not under those guards' watchful glares.

They hadn't really talked about keeping their relationship secret, but it seemed an obvious decision to do so, particularly when they hadn't truly settled the terms of their dynamic yet. It was difficult to label it as anything specific, after all. By the time they decided on those things, they'd also decide on whether to keep matters quiet still, or be entirely open about what they meant to each other…

After around ten minutes – Sokka had to dress in his same clothes from the previous night, to then return to his actual room and change into a proper, clean outfit there –, the Water Tribesman returned to the kitchen area, where the Fire Nation Royals remained at a standstill. The guards had backed off out of the room, providing them with more privacy than before. Zuko glared pointedly at Sokka, who held his hands up defensively.

"No need to be so cranky, Zuko. Curses, you'd think I took a dump on your favorite portrait or something," Sokka huffed.

"Heh. Might as well do it if he keeps treating you that way, at least you'd earn the scowls fair and square," Azula smirked at him. Sokka snorted, shaking his head as he laughed at her remark.

"You two…" Zuko snarled, as Sokka fastened his hair into its proper wolf's tail.

Azula bit her lip as she watched him, probably more shamelessly than she should have. The way his muscles flexed… and curses, as used as she had become to seeing him with his hair down as they traveled, as shocked as she had been by how well it complemented his features, now she realized the attraction she had experienced towards him hadn't diminished in the least now that his hair was tied up again.

"What?" Sokka pouted, hands on his hips once he was done fixing his hair. "Got a problem with my, uh, partnership with Azula?"

"What the hell are you even partners for?!" Zuko squealed. "Sokka, come back to your senses, can you? Mom, well, she's Mom! She's protecting her kid, but you? What do you get out of all of this?"

"Me?" Sokka started: the immediate, obvious answer could not be spoken. He felt Azula's keen stare on him, and his cheeks flushed as he struggled how to convey something that wouldn't set off Zuko any more than he already was…

"And you!" Zuko scoffed, glaring at Azula next. "Of all people, you… joined up with Sokka. Sokka! You two are… well, not the biggest mismatched pair of all time because you clearly are thrilled to be terrible influences on each other, as your last exchange proved…!"

"Come on, now, I'm far worse for him than he ever could hope to be for me…" Azula said, bringing Sokka to smile fondly at her.

"Point is, you two used to not want anything to do with each other and I'm not exactly aware of when the hell that changed," Zuko growled. "Or why, for that matter."

"Uh… you wouldn't believe it, I think, if we explained," Sokka swallowed hard, glancing at Azula with uncertainty. She sighed.

"Promise you won't drag me by the hair to the asylum or anywhere of the sort if we do explain…?" Azula said. Ursa, beside her, winced.

"He won't do any such thing to you. He can't. And if he ever tries to take you elsewhere, I'll see to stopping him," Ursa said. Zuko flinched: Ursa being on his sister's side was devastating, infuriating, even…

"Mom…" he said, pleadingly.

"The thing is, I… have been seeing visions of someone," Azula said, with a dry grin. "Someone Sokka was close to. And it's not just random visions, but a strange, mysterious, deeper connection than that…"

"The hell are you talking about?" Zuko grimaced. Sokka sighed.

"Azula is connected to Yue," he said. Zuko's eyes widened, and he turned his attention to Sokka again.

"What? Yue? The girlfriend who turned into the moon?" Zuko asked, confused. "Wait. Azula? What the hell did you do?! Is that weird thing with the moon darkening or fading from the sky your fault?!"

"Right! Because I'm so damn powerful that I can annihilate the moon altogether, isn't that right?" Azula said, with a sardonic smile. Sokka stepped forward, placing a placating hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"Azula didn't do anything intentionally. We don't actually understand what happened to the moon. As far as Yue explained to her, a comet crashed into it somehow and maybe that's what started all this," Sokka said. Zuko scoffed.

"And how do you know it's really Yue?" Zuko nearly squealed. "She could be tricking you!"

"Right! Let's see: did you ever tell your sister about Yue?" Sokka asked. Zuko frowned. "My relationship with Yue wasn't exactly public knowledge, you know? Only a handful of people were aware of it, mostly people close to me, and the only one among those people who has frequently crossed paths with Azula is you. How did she know Yue and I had anything going on if none of you told her, huh?"

"I… don't know! Azula has ways of figuring things out! She's smart in… messed up ways!" Zuko huffed, shaking a hand in Azula's direction. The Princess rolled her eyes and drew the mirror from her pocket.

"No doubt I'm smart enough to know exact details about how Sokka flirted by asking to do 'an activity' with Yue, huh?" Azula said. Sokka blushed a little, though he smiled fondly at the embarrassing memory.

"An activity?" Zuko repeated. "Is that some kind of… innuendo?"

"What? No! Get your head out of the gutter!" Sokka winced, lightly shoving Zuko for his remark. "Seriously, dude, we were just kids! I had no idea what I was doing, so I said something dumb and silly and… it's endearing, damn you! That's all it was!"

"Yue certainly agrees," Azula smiled. Sokka grinned back at her, and Zuko brought a hand to his forehead.

"All I'm getting out of this is… she figured out your weakness. And she's manipulating you through it," Zuko said, with a dry grin: both Sokka and Azula glared at him, unamused by his assumption.

"You really underestimate Sokka's mind that much?" Azula said. "Tell me again, why are you friends with my brother, exactly, Sokka?"

"If he keeps that up, maybe I won't be one for much longer," Sokka grumbled. "You know what? Azula! Did I ever tell you about what Zuko did in the North Pole?"

"Uh… no. I kind of forgot he was there for the siege, come to think of it," Azula said, raising an eyebrow. "Mustn't have been very impactful if I can't remember any reports of anything noteworthy he did…"

"More like he did something incredibly stupid that he most likely doesn't want us to bring up…" Sokka said, staring at Zuko sternly. Zuko grimaced.

"Look, I was another person back then…!"

"Ask Yue to tell you, Azula. Go on," Sokka said.

Azula blinked blankly, glancing at the mirror. Yue grimaced.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. My brother's on the verge of a nervous breakdown, maybe, but I'm alright," Azula said. Yue smiled warmly. "Did you hear the question?"

"I did, and I… I do remember what happened. It's not very flattering for your brother, though…"

"Any unflattering stories about Zuzu are worth his weight in gold," Azula declared. Zuko snarled at her, but her attention remained on the mirror. "Go on, tell me."

With that, Yue began her retelling. Zuko glared at her as Azula raised her eyebrows slowly.

"She says… she was with Katara when the Avatar started meditating in the oasis," Azula began. Zuko's eyes widened. "Says she panicked about Aang crossing over suddenly, he was glowing and all… and that's when Zuko showed up. Huh. Apparently, you mocked Katara and said she was a 'big girl now' because she was confident that she could protect the Avatar by herself?"

"Woah, woah, woah… you said WHAT to my sister?!" Sokka squeaked. "I didn't know that part!"

"I…!" Zuko's cheeks reddened: Sokka hadn't been there to hear that, it was true…

"That is incredibly inappropriate. Shame on you, Zuzu," Azula said, before focusing on the mirror again. Sokka's eyebrow twitched as he stared down his friend ruthlessly. "Alright, then… Yue says she left, but Katara explained later that you defeated her once the sun rose and then took Aang forcibly even though they weren't supposed to move his body at all, so he'd know where to return once he came back. Why was he going to the Spirit World to begin with…? Uh… oh. Huh. He wanted to get help from spirits to defeat the Fire Nation forces, then. Anyway, after that… Katara, Yue and Sokka flew on Appa to find you, because you ran off through the tundra. They found you by some cave and… heh. Yue says Katara beat you in a single move. Nicely done."

"That was very gratifying to see," Sokka said, with a dry grin. Zuko groaned, covering his face with a hand.

"And after that… you and Katara wanted to leave Zuko to freeze to death?" Azula asked, glancing at Sokka in disbelief. "Yue… apparently had no opinion on the matter. Aang's the only reason why Zuko didn't actually just… wow."

"Let's just say, months of being chased by someone makes you very unfriendly towards them," Sokka said. "But you know what's funny, Zuko? I actually regret having said that nowadays. Even if I know why I did it, and I don't think there was any way I wouldn't have, under those circumstances… ultimately, I'm glad you survived. I'm glad you're here, and that we became friends when we did."

Zuko eyed him with uncertainty, aware already that Sokka was going down a rather unpleasant road with that particular reasoning…

"So, as hard as it can be for you to fathom that maybe someday you'll look back on your relationship with your sister and feel the same way about it? I can guarantee that I already reached that stage," Sokka said, arms folded over his chest. "She's the real deal. She's not lying to me, I know she's not. That's Yue in her mirror, in her reflections, in her dreams… it is her. And we're traveling together so we can help Yue see all the sights and places she never could while she was alive, so she can experience the cycle of the seasons, all those things!"

"Right," Zuko grunted, his eyebrow twitching. "And what happens after Yue's had her fill? Do we go back to terrorism, Azula?"

"I…" Azula gritted her teeth, and Sokka scoffed. "I know it's hard to believe I don't intend to do that, but I… won't do that. Not anymore."

"You really don't need to talk to her that way, damn you," Sokka huffed.

"It's going to take a while to convince you of anything, I know it will, but…" Azula said, breathing deeply. "I don't feel the need to do that sort of stuff nowadays. And yes, that doesn't fix all the chaos I caused…"

"You messed with Uncle Iroh not that long ago!" Zuko exclaimed. Azula winced, and Sokka snorted.

"Come on, now. What she did there wasn't terrorism, it was… a prank," he said, with a shrug.

"A surprisingly tame and yet amusing one, at that," Ursa agreed. Azula grimaced, eyeing her mother with uncertainty.

"Here I thought you'd found it terrible too…" she said. Ursa huffed, shaking her head with certainty.

"Zuko is concerned, or should be, about things that endanger the Fire Nation," she said. "I hardly see how a playful, if ill-spirited prank, could achieve that."

"Don't make excuses for her!" Zuko groaned. "Mom…!"

"Making excuses?" Ursa asked, raising her eyebrows. "Do tell… what did you do, exactly, when I told you about how my terrible, no-good choices had resulted in your father treating you as poorly as he did?"

Zuko froze. Ursa smiled sardonically.

"I told you I was unforgivable. You said you disagreed. You made excuses. You said I had no choice," she said.

"But that's different…!"

"Yes: what I did to you and your sister was far worse than what Azula did to Iroh," Ursa finished. Zuko groaned. "So, for that matter…"

"Why the hell are you both so determined to protect her from me?" Zuko exclaimed, looking at them helplessly. "When did I become the bad guy in this situation?"

"Why, I would gladly say you're not… but you certainly pushed your tiles to that corner when you issued out wanted posters calling for her to be caught dead or alive," Ursa said. Zuko winced.

"Well, I don't really want her dead! I just don't want her endangering anyone, simple as that!"

"You just saw she's not doing that right now, so for that matter, you can just as well leave the way you came," Sokka said. Zuko scoffed.

"Your sister's worried sick about you," Zuko said. Sokka winced. "And you have a lot of answers to give her too. Me? I'd rather focus on my own sister, but if you would be so kind and go back to Republic City, talk to Katara and Aang, and tell them what's going on…"

"Yeah, no. I'm not leaving Azula," Sokka said, firmly. Her cheeks flushed upon hearing his certainty. Zuko snarled.

"If you don't trust me to be reasonable with her, at least trust that my mother will keep me in check!" Zuko exclaimed. "Besides…! Why the hell are you standing up for her like this? Why are you so sure that you're making the right choice here? Sokka…"

"Do you really think you know the first thing about Azula?" Sokka asked. Azula scowled.

"If he doesn't, you're not about to start giving things away, now, are you?" Azula scoffed. Sokka shrugged.

"Nah, but… I'm just saying, he doesn't understand how I spent months with you, does he?" Sokka said. "And not only do we not hate each other after all that, we're getting along great! At least, on the most part."

"What's that supposed to mean? In what regards do you not get along…?" Zuko scowled. Sokka ignored him.

"My point is, if your own brother has no idea why I'm protective of you, maybe that's the very reason why I should be," Sokka said. Azula raised an eyebrow. "I'm not letting anything bad happen to you."

"Nor will I," Ursa said. Zuko snarled, rubbing his brow in frustration.

"What makes anyone think I'm going to…? Ugh!" he growled, shaking his head in disbelief. "I still don't understand how exactly I'm the bad guy here, but have it your way!"

"Zuko…" Azula called him, earning herself a resentful glare. "If I agree to go with you for questioning, or whatever you want from me… what would my status be, exactly? Would you deem me your prisoner, or…?"

"I…" Zuko gritted his teeth: evidently, affirming that last question would be utterly stupid. But what would she be, if not a prisoner? He sighed, shaking his head. "You'd be… an honored guest. That's what."

He spoke the words with poorly contained bitterness. Azula sighed, hands on her hips as Ursa scrutinized her son intently.

"Whatever you intend to inflict upon her, you'll subject me to it first," Ursa said. Zuko pouted. "I figured I'd remind you of that. But if Azula is an honored guest, I'll probably be pleased with my own treatment too."

Zuko snarled, rubbing his brow with his fingertips and shaking his head. Even the sight of her son in apparent distress didn't change Ursa's tune.

"Whatever. I… I'll wait for you outside. Get your things, if you have any. You're coming back to the Palace with me. Guests," Zuko reiterated, with a dry grin, before turning on his heels and leaving the room – clearly, he needed some time to himself to stew over the shocking betrayal of seeing his mother taking Azula's side to that extent.

"Well, that wasn't a total disaster. Almost, but not in the end," Sokka said, smiling awkwardly before turning towards Azula. "You okay?"

"I'm… I'm fine. Which is not what I expected to say after being face-to-face with Zuko again," Azula admitted, raising her eyebrows. She turned towards her mother, who still seemed slightly displeased… "You didn't have to go that far…"

"What, you mean by telling him he'd have to do to me anything he did to you?" Ursa asked. "Considering that was what it took for him to restrain that hostility… I suspect I did have to."

"Heh," Azula said, with a weak grin. "You might just have lost your mind slightly, then."

"Maybe it's Zuko who did," Sokka said. "We're, uh, going with him? You sure? I mean, even if I know it wouldn't be the nicest thing to do, we could run away now…"

"No. I think running now would seal my fate, who knows if yours too, as an enemy of the Fire Nation," Azula said. "If this is the first and only time that I'll have a chance to settle things with Zuko, I'd do best to take it."

"Well, if you say so. But I'm standing by you through and through," Sokka said, stubbornly. Azula smiled at those words, perhaps more fondly than she should have.

"You'd better hold some of that back. He's going to start, well… suspecting that you weren't sleeping like that just because the weather is too warm," Azula said, cheeks flushing. Sokka winced, eyes flickering towards Ursa warily. She eyed them with a knowing grin.

"Well, that's for the two of you to discuss. I'm sure you'll figure out a plan on what to do, going forward," Ursa said. "I'll keep an eye on Zuko and make certain that he's not combusting over this. Go gather your things. Mine are at the inn, after all… oh, but finish the mochi at least before we go, Azula. They're edible, if nothing else is…"

"And Zuko cut me off just as I was having them… that's a bigger crime than any I ever committed," Azula groaned, eyeing her guilty pleasure sweets with longing.

"What about you?" Sokka asked Ursa. "You'll eat something, or…?"

"I'll make Zuko's staff feed me, why not?" Ursa smirked. "It's still early anyway. I'll have them set up proper breakfasts for the two of you later. Maybe I'll even stay and watch how they make the meals, that way, once we're on the road again after Zuko lets us go, I'll be able to cook some food…"

"You… w-wait, what?" Sokka blinked blankly. Ursa raised an eyebrow.

"Oh. Uh. Well, you'll have to discuss that first," she said, with an awkward grin. "I'm sure you'll want to have a say upon that. I'll just… go now."

"Right…?" Sokka watched Ursa walk away with confusion… but he turned his eyes on the blushing Azula before the woman was out of sight. "I guessed I'd missed a lot of things, but that's a bit more than I expected. What was that?"

"Well… we talked. It's probably the best conversation I've ever had with her," Azula said. "I never really thought she might be plagued by her own set of troubles, truth be told. It seems she's a little lost in life, too. Might be expected for someone to feel that way, after having two lives to conciliate into one…"

"Might be," Sokka agreed, nodding. "And after getting to understand her better, does she understand you a little better too?"

"I think my outburst from last night saw to that," Azula sighed, leading Sokka back to the corridors where the rooms were. "I, uh… I'm sorry I blew up as I did. I may have inflicted a lot more strife upon you both than I should have."

"I wouldn't call it that," Sokka said, eyeing her with heartfelt compassion. "I'm sorry too, I kind of antagonized you and pushed too hard when we were alone later too…"

"I'm glad you did," Azula said. Sokka raised his eyebrows. "Though you're starting to grow a little too good at understanding whatever I need, whenever I need it. It's, uh… disconcerting."

"Heh. It's always nice to know I'm surprising you in a good way," Sokka grinned. Azula smiled back at him. "But… you really seem calmer now. Was it Ursa, or…?"

"Actually… it was Yue."

Sokka froze, uncertain of what those words meant. Azula, however, smiled as she shook her head in his direction.

"Does it ever bother you, being right about things as often as you are?" she asked. Sokka blushed slightly.

"About… which things?" he asked.

"She doesn't hate me for… well, us. She actually… asked me what sleeping with you had been like, the utter weirdo," Azula laughed. Sokka smiled, cheeks flushing further upon hearing that. "I apologized, but she… she didn't need apologies. She didn't feel betrayed. She said she loved you… and that she loved me, too."

Sokka's eyes widened, though his heart soared upon hearing that: of course Yue would love Azula. Of course she would have grown to see what he had, surely far earlier too…

"Seems like she really just wants us to be happy together, so… guess we'll have to figure out how to achieve that, huh?" Azula smiled teasingly at him. Sokka chuckled, shrugging.

"I'm sure we have an idea or two on how to start," he said, stepping closer and taking her face into his hands.

This time, Azula was aware of the weight of Yue's mirror in her pocket. She didn't draw back from Sokka's kiss regardless, hand upon his chest as they pecked each other multiple times, relishing in a moment of privacy that they weren't likely to find anew once their journey to the Capital began.

And they might not have much of that even after they left, either.

"But the thing is, I… may have extended an offer to my mom to come with us," Azula whispered against his lips. Sokka raised an eyebrow, puzzled, and Azula kissed him softly once more, as though to coerce him into accepting that. "I know it'd mean more restraint for us, and we wouldn't be able to be crazy as much as we were yesterday, but…"

"Heh. That side of it is a shame, no lie, but… I'm fine with it," Sokka smiled warmly, brushing her hair with his fingers. Azula sighed in relief.

"If you're sure… go get your things. We're damn lucky that my brother isn't smart enough to realize half the clothes scattered in the room you were naked in were mine…"

"I think he was too appalled to stop and confirm who they belonged to," Sokka smiled awkwardly. "I'm not sure he'll ever be ready to know that we, uh… canoodled a little too much."

"That's the word you're going to use?" Azula asked, amused. Sokka chuckled and shrugged. "You're a goofball. Go, pick up your things, I'll get mine… and I'll pick up the mochi on my way out too. Let's get ready to face Zuko and his nonsense, shall we?"

Sokka nodded enthusiastically: they shared another thorough kiss, one in which Sokka dared sneak a few bold caresses, and Azula wound up entering her room in a perfectly blissful mood afterwards, as though she weren't about to march into a likely tricky situation in a matter of moments…

Zuko was upset, but he couldn't be too upset, could he? She hadn't done anything wrong right now. Ursa's support had been a shocker, but it might just be the best possible defense from her brother's wrath. Resolving her conflicts with Ursa certainly was one thing… figuring anything out with Zuko would be much more difficult, if just because of his disposition. Merely a few weeks ago, Azula would have told herself that she'd rather deal with her brother's hostility than her mother's emotional manipulation, her sad doe eyes, and her meaningless apologies… but Ursa's reaction to her rant, as well as the conversation they had shared just that morning, had caught her by surprise. She never imagined she might be able to start over with Ursa, and there truly would be no erasing their past… but it was about time to ensure that whatever troubled history they shared would not preclude the possibility of a better future.

The liveliness of Ember Island appeared slightly stunted, as most its population watched in confusion when their Fire Lord led a march towards the largest, grandest ship docked in their harbor: his Royal Barge would rush through the internal waters of the Fire Nation fast enough to bring them to the Capital in a couple of hours, at most. Thus, neither Sokka nor Azula bothered choosing cabins or even asking where they would stay for now: after enjoying their breakfast aboard the ship, sharing the mochi Ursa had found for Azula, they chose to wait on the deck instead of finding any private cabins, sitting together by the ship's railing… meanwhile, Ursa had dragged Zuko inside the ship's tower in order to have a thorough conversation about many things that Zuko appeared to need to hear.

"Well, despite it all, looks like we're going to end up in the Fire Nation Capital," Sokka reasoned, with a slight grimace. "Did he ever explain how he found us?"

"Not really," Azula said, relaxing against the ship's railing. "I suppose we were seen at some point. I'll try to ask later, or maybe you can… but Mom appears to be quite busy scolding him right now. Never thought I'd see the day…"

"A nice surprise, huh?" Sokka smirked. "Guess your mother wasn't as far gone as we thought she was…"

"We? You thought so too?" Azula asked. Sokka shrugged.

"No offense intended to her, but… she sounded like the exact opposite of my mother," Sokka said. Azula hummed, eyeing him with interest. "My mom sacrificed herself, lying to some piece of shit from the Southern Raiders to tell him that she was the last waterbender, rather than Katara. He… he killed her because of that."

Azula's stomach clenched. A swirling fear gripped her chest, with misplaced guilt that might not be as far out of place as she wished it were… for the ideology, the regime, responsible for the death of Sokka's mother was the one she had fought for, across all those years. She knew there were plenty of deaths and sacrifices throughout the war… but she hadn't known Sokka had faced one quite as close as that of his own mother.

"Katara's still working through it to this day. I didn't realize that was why it had happened until she told me, and she didn't even explain until a few years after she confronted the killer directly," Sokka explained. "Anyway… I could be wrong, but it sounds to me like, if my mother had been married to a bastard like your father, she would have never forsaken her kids, just as she didn't forsake Katara. Meanwhile, your mother…"

"She left us and forgot about us, yes," Azula said. Sokka shrugged.

"Even back when we found her, in Hira'a, I didn't really know how to feel about that," he said. "I kind of convinced myself to stay in my lane because it wasn't my business, you know? Who cared how I felt about something like this? But… as time goes by, I've realized I can't really help myself. It's just not fair, Azula. It never has been fair on you."

"No, I suppose not," Azula whispered, glancing at Sokka with uncertainty. "But a mother who would forsake her kids is… is probably less painful to lose than one who loved them with everything she had."

Sokka grimaced, glancing at her with uncertainty: Azula reached out to take his hand, careless about the sailors and soldiers who might see her.

"I'm sorry. Doesn't count for a damn thing, I had no real say upon what happened to your mother, but…" Azula said, gritting her teeth. "It was a lot easier to support the Fire Nation's war by closing our eyes to the rest of the world. That's what everyone seemed to learn how to do. Your mother should have never died that way."

"No, she definitely shouldn't have," Sokka said, with a fragile smile. "But… well, nothing can be done to bring her back, I guess. Though… huh. Wait a second! Ask Yue about the Spirit World! Ask her if the spirits of our people actually go there…!"

Azula blinked blankly, pulling out the mirror. Yue seemed as perplexed by the question as she was, and she offered her a sad smile along with a shake of her head.

"Looks like she doesn't know much about that," Azula said.

"Most souls don't really make it into the Spirit World that way, I think. They tend to be, well… sent back to the real world? Until the soul achieves enlightenment, I guess…"

"Says only the souls that achieve enlightenment would enter the Spirit World," Azula concluded. Sokka sighed and shrugged.

"Worth a shot," he said. "Anyway, your nation's soldiers are nasty, yeah, but… it was a long time ago. We were as good as babies back then. Don't feel responsible for it."

"So, it doesn't really matter that I wouldn't have cared about this one bit if I'd learned about it a year ago?" Azula probed him. Sokka snorted.

"Matters to you now. That's enough for me," he said, smiling at her. Azula shook her head.

"You're too nice for your own good. Still… I'm sorry you that didn't have a mother while growing up either," Azula said.

"If this subject had come up any sooner across our journey, I would've told you not to worry if yours never tried to do better for you," Sokka pointed out. Azula raised an eyebrow. "I mean… if she hadn't done anything but piss you off, the way it sounded like when you confronted her when she first turned up? Well, I would've understood if you hadn't wanted to give her another chance. Though… I suppose you do now, huh?"

"I don't know what's gotten into all of you," Azula said, startling Sokka. "Starting with you and Yue, having it in you to see more to me than anyone else did… and suddenly my mother is taking stands against Zuko for my sake?"

"Don't forget that Toph let you out of prison and handled Kuei and Zuko for us, though I have no idea how that turned out. One more thing to ask Zuko about," Sokka reasoned, tapping his chin with a finger. Azula sighed.

"None of you make any sense. How is it possible that the person who sees things and hears voices has a clearer understanding of reality compared to all of you?" Azula asked. Sokka laughed and shrugged.

"Guess you're special that way," he said. Azula's heart somersaulted in her chest at the sight of his affectionate smile. "Anyway… it's good that your mom wants to help you. Definitely improves my opinion of her so far. Honestly, it was about time someone in your family came through for you. Though I'm still a little surprised that we'll go as far as traveling with her…"

"I know that means we'll have a lot more pressure, and less privacy, and, well… it's going to be awkward. But to be fair, she already walked in on us once so, not much left to the imagination there anymore…" Azula sighed, cheeks flushing at the memory. "How the hell did I manage to talk to her or look her in the eye after that nonsense, exactly?"

"I can't say I know, but I'm glad you did," Sokka said, squeezing her hand gently.

"Of course you are," Azula sighed, glancing at him uneasily. "You sure you're fine with this? With… traveling with her?"

"Might be a bit awkward, sure… but she'd be more likely to keep us in check than Yue was," Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"The sneaky little troublemaker said she caught a few glimpses of us in the bathroom, through the mirror there…" Azula said, with a grimace. Sokka's cheeks flushed slightly. "She said she looked away after a while, but I'm starting to worry that she might not have. Naughty brat. Teenagers do have an inappropriate interest in these matters…"

"Well, I'd like to think she… has better sense than that. Restraint? I don't know," Sokka laughed. Azula scoffed as she pulled the mirror out, startling Sokka. "What, are you going to ask her if she'll behave herself right now?"

"Might as well," Azula said, glaring into the reflection. Yue smiled at her, cheeks slightly flushed, clearly having overheard their conversation. "You wouldn't look intentionally, or hear intentionally, whenever he and I are up to no good together, would you?"

"… Nooooo?"

"That's the most convincing negative answer I've heard in my life! Your lies are getting a lot worse now, mind you," Azula smirked.

"I wasn't lying as much as you think I was before! Maybe I am now, though… but Azula, I'm curious!"

"Well, that's unsettling. Tone down that curiosity," Azula huffed, shaking her head and staring at Sokka. "You're not wrong, my mother's definitely going to be a good asset. Otherwise, this one would get corrupted by how filthy we are, too."

"The Filthy Royals," Sokka said, proudly. Azula snorted and laughed. "It's not that bad, is it?"

"Sounds terrible," Azula as good as cackled. Sokka scoffed, shaking his head.

"Always so judgmental. We still don't have a team name and that's not very nice, mind you. Now that your mother's joining in too, it's going to be even harder to find a unifying factor."

"How about 'Sokka and the women he can't keep up with'? Sounds like a good name to me…"

"Very accurate, but too extensive. You'll have to be more concise," Sokka smirked. Azula laughed again, glancing at him sideways.

"Say…" she breathed in, holding his gaze briefly before tearing her eyes away. It wasn't easy opening up to people, but it was easier when it was Sokka. "I… thanks for not running out on me over my outburst from last night. I mean, you're probably the one person who has every chance to leave me and yet you've chosen to stay without fail. I might not deserve it, but I… I'm glad you chose to do that. I'm glad you didn't run away."

"I'm afraid I'm not the type to run from beautiful women. Instead, I chase them all over the world and fall head over heels for them without even trying," Sokka said. Azula snorted, staring at him skeptically. "I know we have a lot to figure out still, there might be more bumps along the way… but we'll do it, in time. Don't fret about it right now, okay?"

"Well… we should figure out what to do about Zuko, though," Azula pointed out, raising her eyebrows. Sokka blinked blankly. "By which I mean… that absurd nonsense we fed him about why you were sleeping naked apparently worked. He has no idea you and I, well…"

"Yeah, you know, he's very gullible sometimes," Sokka smiled awkwardly. Azula laughed and nodded. "But I guess what you mean is… do we keep it quiet still? Or do we talk things over, so we decide whether to come clean about it or not?"

"Thing is… do any of them even know that you and Suki are done?" Azula asked. Sokka shrugged.

"Toph knows. Don't know if she told Zuko, though," he said. "Though, frankly… is that a big cause for concern?"

"I'd rather they don't give you shit for cheating on her with me. You have to know what this looks like," Azula said, staring at him skeptically. "A hopeless man clinging to his past love has too many clashes and conflicts with his would-be wife, and as a consequence runs off to start an affair with the dangerous, deadly but apparently beautiful woman who's so very bad, absolutely no-good for him…"

"So, what, I'm having a midlife crisis at twenty-seven?" Sokka snorted. Azula laughed, dropping her head against the railing. "Well, guess when your life is as weird as mine has been, it's kind of justified for it to start earlier. Didn't you say that's what's going on with Yue too, as a spirit? Then… the Midlife Crisis Royals! Ha! That actually bonds all of us together, why not?"

"That's awful… most of all because you're not wrong," Azula snorted, bending over forward as she laughed harder. Sokka smirked proudly, arms folded across his chest.

"Gotcha with that one! We have a team name now, like it or not!"

"No, we don't! There's no way we're keeping that one, Sokka, anything but that!"

"C'mon, bet Yue agrees with me," Sokka said, taking the mirror from her and pointing it at Azula. "Hey, Yue, tell her! My idea is the best idea!"

"… I actually don't like it at all. Don't let him use that one, Azula."

Her negative broke Azula with further laughter – so used as she was to hearing Yue agreeing with Sokka on most accounts, she certainly didn't anticipate the opposite happening now.

"Well, well? Bet she thinks it's great! I'm sure she does!" Sokka snickered, waving the mirror proudly in front of Azula.

Standing by a window, in the ship tower's second level, Zuko scowled at the sight of his sister laughing quite so vividly at whatever Sokka was saying. Even in their younger years, he couldn't remember anyone, not even Aang, laughing that way at Sokka's nonsense. An uneasy feeling spread in his gut, one he wasn't sure how to interpret, or what to make of… for it had been quite a long time since he had experienced it over Azula.

Was she a better fit, a more fun companion, than he ever had been? If given a chance, would she mesh perfectly with his friends, better than he ever had? Would he lose everything he had gained to her, if she was granted the chance to heal that their mother was asking him to offer her?

"You didn't send her to the asylum when you did because you thought she was a lost cause, or did you?" Ursa huffed. Zuko gritted his teeth, tearing his gaze away from the pair by the deck. "Otherwise, you would have chosen prison. Even if you didn't understand the full extent of what they did to her in the institute, you had to have believed it was a better choice for her health than a fate as bleak as your father's."

"Had better conversations with my father in prison than I did with her, though," Zuko said.

"Maybe that's more of a reflection of what that asylum could do to a person, rather than anything that determines whether your father or your sister are better people," Ursa said. "Truly, Zuko… as difficult as this may be for you to wrap your head around, it shouldn't be. I'm not going to change my mind about her. She's not manipulating me."

"Right, because this initiative to go travel the world with those two isn't their doing?" Zuko asked. "Say what you will, Mom, but she could have guilted you into wanting something you actually don't…"

"And what if I do want it?" Ursa asked. Zuko gritted his teeth. "What if I need time away from home?"

"But…" Zuko said. Ursa raised an eyebrow.

"But what?" she said. "You forgave me when I abandoned you and your sister all those years ago. This time, I'd be choosing to travel with her and hopefully help her find peace…"

"It's not the same," Zuko said: his heart churned upon realizing the real reason why it wasn't, but he bottled it in for now. "She's dangerous, Mom. Right now, she's saying she sees Yue, but what if she goes off the rails in some worse way later too? You can't know what you're going to get with her."

"You think she's going to kill me and Sokka eventually?" Ursa asked. Zuko winced. "I'm not sure I believe that would happen. Fact is, I… I would even argue that it wouldn't. She has been with Sokka for a long time, and if anything, it seems they're getting along marvelously right now."

"That doesn't mean much. Sokka, Aang and Toph didn't give me a hard time when I joined their group. Only Katara did," Zuko said.

"So, you'd only learn to trust her if Katara did?" Ursa asked. Zuko winced.

"No, I'm just saying…"

"You wouldn't trust her at all, not even if your friends do."

Zuko shivered, lowering his gaze. Ursa folded her arms over her chest.

"Zuko, dear… I love you. You know I do. I've done terrible things, I've made awful mistakes… and I haven't made up for many, if any of them, so far. You forgave me regardless because you loved me. Because you prized me. Because your need for my wellbeing, my safety, my happiness, was paramount to finding justice. Am I wrong?"

"Well… no? But you're you, and she's her!" Zuko scoffed.

"And what if you could heal your bond?" Ursa asked. "What if you could sit with those two and laugh alongside them, too?"

Zuko froze. Ursa shook her head slowly.

"You've been poisoned terribly by your father, Zuko. In ways you never truly understood," Ursa said. Zuko winced.

"That's not… I'm not my father. I'm not!"

"I never said you were. But treating your sister as a wanted criminal, to be hunted all across the world? Isn't that the same thing your father did to his brother? To you?"

Zuko yelped. Ursa sighed, taking his hands in hers.

"No, Azula didn't do things so terrible that she cannot be forgiven for them. By all means, Iroh's death toll will always be far greater than either yours or Azula's could have been," Ursa said. "And yet you can accept him, while turning your back on her. I don't blame you, dear, for your uncertainties and your fear, for not wanting your sister to be around you constantly… but there comes a point in life where we need to stop running away from the harder truths we don't want to face. Azula brought me to realize that. She told me many things I didn't want to hear, but that I had to. And maybe that's what you need to prepare yourself for: listen. Don't just talk back, don't just defend yourself… listen. You have good intentions, dear… but you cannot do anything with them if you refuse to open your heart to other people's needs. More so when you're actually trying to help them."

"Well… I wasn't really trying to help Azula," Zuko confessed, frowning. "And I'm not even sure I want to. I keep thinking she'll just spit it all right back at me if I try."

"Is that any reason not to try at all?" Ursa asked. Zuko flinched. "Your uncle didn't give up on you even when you didn't make matters easy for him, he's told me so, as did you. It wasn't until you opened your heart to him, until his needs mattered as much as your own, that you learned to appreciate him properly. Azula? I think she's at that stage with Sokka, and maybe with Yue, too. Your sister isn't some nightmare to fend off, or merely a terrorist to fight against: she's your family. And you're one of the most powerful people in the world right now, dear. This nation is full of people who believed in the same things she did, and if they'd had the power she held, they wouldn't have acted any differently than she did. You're their Fire Lord: you're her Fire Lord. Wouldn't it be suitable for you to do right by your every subject, no matter how difficult it might be?"

"It's different when you're talking about Azula," Zuko scowled. "She's… not my subject. I haven't thought of her as that ever before."

"Then maybe it's time for you to start," Ursa said. Zuko winced, uncertain. "You're her older brother. And you cannot hope to heal this world, this nation, if you'll give up on members of your own family just because it's hard. In her case, half the work, more of it, even, was already done by others. If she could reach an understanding with me, she surely can with you too. All you have to do is… try."

Zuko gritted his teeth, a fist tightened: that sounded like a taller order than he was ready to commit to… even though, objectively, it shouldn't have been. Trying something didn't necessarily translate to sticking with a set course for good. If Azula went off the rails again, as she often did, Zuko very well could prove to everyone how wrong they had been about his sister.

But if she didn't… then maybe he could be a better brother, starting here and now. It was difficult to fathom, it made him deeply uncomfortable… but if Sokka and Ursa were right to stand by Azula, if she truly was seeing Yue and changing in more ways than he knew? Perhaps… they'd have a chance to be a real family one day. Perhaps.

"I'll talk to her once we get to the Palace," Zuko said. Ursa raised her eyebrows. "I… will try to mend fences. But she does have things to answer for… and I hope she's ready to do it."

"I'm sure she will be," Ursa said, with a genuine smile. "Thank you, Zuko. Your sister needs this, so much more than she realizes. Her heart is finally on the mend, thanks to Sokka and Yue… we could be part of that too. Wouldn't you like to have a positive impact on her life, lead her on a better path…?"

"I… guess I might not mind that. But we'll see," Zuko said. Ursa sighed, smiling still as she approached Zuko.

"Thank you for trying, dear. Thank you."

He hugged her back, uneasy, unsteady. A part of him wondered if Ursa would regret her earlier harshness… but he didn't dare ask. If she didn't, she might just be upset at him for so much as suggesting that she should…

Would she stand up to Azula similarly, if their roles were reversed? The realization that she would, that she might just have gone further for his sake, chilled Zuko's heart as he held his mother closely. He was a fool, wasn't he? Envying his sister for having their mother's attention, if just briefly… she was Azula's mother too. Just as she was Kiyi's. As special as his bond with Ursa might be… he would be an utter bastard if he tried to keep Ursa to himself when she had other children to watch over, too.

He sighed as he glanced through the window anew: their destination approached. His conversation with Azula wouldn't wait for much longer.

The Princess was visibly unsettled upon being in the Fire Nation Capital as herself this time. Her attire, far too casual, suited Ember Island so much better than the grand seat of power of her people. She'd change into something else as soon as she had the chance, maybe ask Sokka to fix her hair too…

But Zuko wouldn't give her that chance: as soon as they crossed the threshold into the Palace, the Fire Lord turned towards her with a stern frown.

"We'll talk privately," he said. Sokka huffed. "And I don't know why that bothers you so much, Sokka, but this doesn't concern you."

"It… doesn't," Sokka said, begrudgingly – he couldn't claim to be concerned over Azula's safety to that extent, not unless they were ready to set off Zuko's alarms regarding their relationship.

Still, he sighed as Azula shrugged – clearly, she wasn't all that pleased for this outcome, but she wasn't about to run away from her brother either.

"See you when I get out, I guess," she said, simply. Sokka sighed.

"Hey… wait."

Azula had merely taken one step forward when Sokka took her hand, placing the mirror carefully in her palm.

"I'd taken it earlier, before we arrived, remember?" Sokka smiled a little. "You won't be alone if Yue's with you."

"Heh. Sabotaging Zuzu's attempt to speak privately with me, I see," Azula said, though she couldn't hide her genuine, fond smile. "Thank you."

Sokka grinned brightly: Zuko scowled upon realizing he hadn't seen Sokka in such a good mood in… years, at least. Perhaps since around the years of the end of the war…

How, exactly, had Azula brought him to be that happy? Was it Azula at all, or was it Yue? It was much easier to believe it'd be the latter… but the fond smiles between them left an awkward feeling nestling in his gut.

He tried to ignore that sensation as he led his sister into a private sitting room. There'd be no pleasantries, no shared tea… they'd just talk. Hopefully, Sokka and Ursa would know better than to try to eavesdrop as they spoke.

"Well… looks like things are looking up for you," Zuko said, turning towards her with a prominent scowl on his face. Azula raised an eyebrow as she stood across him, arms folded over her chest. "Mom's… defending you without hesitation. I'd never seen her do that."

"It's hard to believe for me too, so you're not alone if you're confused," Azula said.

"I feel like I don't understand any of it," Zuko said, shaking his head and staring at her in confusion. "You're having new hallucinations, visions, whatever they are… and yet you sound more like yourself than you have in ages. You have people standing up for you and defending you to this extent, it's… weird."

"It's quite alright, I don't know how it happened even though I was there the whole time," Azula admitted, with a shrug. "Though… you're not the only one confused about certain things regarding each other. How, exactly, did you find us in Ember Island?"

"Oh. It took us a while to pick up on your trail," Zuko said, bitterly. "My guards eventually sought the Mechanist, he told them he'd given Sokka a hot-air balloon. After that, it was just a matter of waiting for sightings of unregistered, non-military hot-air balloons anywhere. Someone caught sight of you by the western Earth Kingdom, so we traveled there… once the next military sightings report claimed the balloon was sighted landing in Ember Island, I didn't hesitate to go there as soon as possible."

"So, you had all your soldiers looking for me, huh?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows. "I almost feel important and everything now…"

"Yeah, well… sure," Zuko huffed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry that I misunderstood that you'd kidnapped Sokka, but I hope you realize you… you don't make it exactly easy to think any better of you."

"Well, I didn't for all these years, that's certainly true. Do you expect me to throw a tantrum over how you don't trust me, or like me, or treat me with respect?" Azula asked, with a slight smirk. "Though I suppose that last one might be a fair one to protest against, come to think of it…"

"I don't want you to throw anything, I just… I want to understand what exactly is going on," Zuko scowled. "You abandoned your group, you traveled to the north, you're ride-or-die with Sokka suddenly… you have to realize it makes no sense. And after showing up in Ba Sing Se and causing unnecessary trouble…"

"Did you only hear about Ba Sing Se?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "That wasn't our first stop, actually. Didn't Suki reach out to you?"

"Was she supposed to?" Zuko asked, frowning.

"That's… odd," Azula blinked blankly. "Here I thought she was that mad at Sokka once they broke up, threatening that she'd only give us one day to leave before alerting everyone that we were there. Maybe she actually had a soft spot for him still. The truth is we went to Kyoshi Island first, they had the break-up of the century, then we left again. That's where I found out that you were hunting for me, dead or alive…"

"I… I'll rescind that order," Zuko said, self-aware and uncomfortable. "I thought… you'd crossed a line. Turned out Sokka joined you willingly, though…"

"There really was no sign that he hadn't done that," Azula pointed out, raising an eyebrow. Zuko winced. "Whichever one of you lot decided I could only have kidnapped him, well… you'd have to give me a smidge of credit after this and admit that at least one weirdo in the world would travel with me willingly rather than dragged into it kicking and screaming."

"We jumped to conclusions and we shouldn't have. But… you do have to admit it looked weird. And like I said, you really…"

"I don't make it easy? No, I don't. Did I say otherwise?" Azula said, with a slight smirk. "I don't pity you at all, Zuzu, you have it pretty damn hard, being my brother. I don't know what you brought me here for, if what you want is an apology you might as well wait forever…"

"You're not sorry for any of what you've done over the last decade?" Zuko asked. Azula winced.

"I… didn't exactly say that," Azula said. "Just said I wouldn't apologize for it."

"So, you're not."

"I'm sorry enough for a lot of things," Azula said, glaring at him. "But… I was vindictive. I was angry, bitter and frustrated and I wanted to hurt you so you'd suffer as much as I was suffering. That's the truth. If you don't like it, that's not my business. I wanted vindication, revenge, what-have-you… and nothing I did actually got me any closer to attaining any of it. So, I failed at my quest to piss you off, and I joined Sokka in a weird journey to please a spirit that only I can see. It's… strange how different it is, living life that way. It wasn't all that comfortable at the start, but it is now. I can't fathom going back to what I was doing before."

"Because Sokka is… more fun?" Zuko asked. Azula shrugged.

"Would it be a problem for you, if that were the sole reason for it?" she asked. Zuko scowled. "Still would mean you're free from being tormented by me…"

"Until you get bored of him," Zuko finished. Azula laughed.

"I'm afraid that's not very likely. He's… a surprisingly resourceful man," Azula said. "Always has something to say that catches me off guard. Like Yue put it once… we're two master strategists in a battlefield of words, somehow. He's far more interesting than you or any of his other friends likely realize…"

"Or maybe you're both just weird in similar ways. Which I'd never have expected, but frankly, his sense of humor is about as strange as yours," Zuko pointed out. Azula laughed.

"I've noticed. I hate laughing at his jokes, but he makes it too easy sometimes," Azula admitted.

"Then… all this stuff about Yue?" Zuko said, eyeing her warily. "Sokka and her were a thing once. You said your entire purpose is to get her to see the world and experience the seasons and so on? I'm not going to say it's a bad purpose, I mean, it's by far the most harmless thing I've ever heard you want to do. But it sounds like a temporary diversion or so. Once she's satisfied, what will you do?"

"I suppose… that's something I'll figure out once we get there," Azula said, with a shrug. "Though if it makes you feel any better, I…"

The words got stuck in her throat at first, and Azula actually smiled a little as something deep inside her seemed to snap. Something she didn't really know nestled inside her broke off, leaving her untethered… forsaken, somehow. Her hand trembled, and she glanced at Yue in the mirror briefly as she processed what a treacherous thought had crossed her mind… a thought she couldn't help but feel keenly, acutely, in her heart. She breathed deeply, and Zuko frowned at the strange sincerity in her voice.

"I actually never imagined I'd come back to the Fire Nation peacefully… and I certainly have no plans of staying here forever."

Zuko's eyes widened. Azula gritted her teeth: those might just have been the most painful words she had ever spoken. She offered Zuko a dry grin then, covering up her vulnerability as best she could.

"So… that," she said. "I think I'd just wait and see what Sokka has in mind. He's weird, sure, but he's the most reliable ally I've ever traveled with. Seems like he wants to stick with me for the foreseeable future too, so…"

"You think he'd stay even after Yue is gone?" Zuko asked. Azula's heart clenched.

"I… hope so," Azula said. "He's said he would, at least."

"Really?" Zuko blinked blankly. "W-wait. Why?"

"Why?" Azula repeated, slightly affronted.

"I'm… not sure I follow," Zuko said, blinking blankly. "You two are, uh… best friends now?"

"Huh. I'm not sure that we are. Which one of them might be my best friend, come to think of it?" Azula said, glancing at Yue in the mirror. She giggled and waved in her direction, and Azula smiled at her.

"Sokka. Say it's Sokka," Zuko said, with a wild grin. Azula crooked an eyebrow.

"What's it to you, exactly…?"

"Toph said weird shit and I would like to confirm that she's wrong about it, is all," Zuko said, bitterly. Azula raised her eyebrows. "She said you'd… seduced Sokka and that's why he was completely wrapped around your finger, basically."

Azula snorted, then cackled by throwing her head back – a slight relief to Zuko, who smiled awkwardly at her reaction.

"Seduced Sokka? She sure gives me too much credit if she thinks I'd have the first clue of how to do such a thing," Azula laughed, shaking her head. "If Sokka fell in love with me, it'd be his fault entirely. I sure as hell did nothing to make it happen, I can guarantee that much."

"Huh. You know, that's not very tranquilizing either," Zuko grimaced. "Sokka's… weird. Suki was too normal for him, I guess…"

"Oh? So you're saying he needed an abnormal kind of partner instead?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Zuko winced, raising a hand as though to stop her.

"I didn't mean… I just mean I'm not really sure how Sokka was having a good time by dating her! If anything, I'd think he wasn't. Which is possibly why they broke up."

"Sounds like it," Azula said, stubbornly. "Believe me, if he dated me, I'd give him far more interesting and entertaining reasons to break up with me."

"I'm not sure he'd choose to date you just so you can break up with him by… ugh! Could you not entangle my head with nonsense?" Zuko groaned. Azula smirked. "Look… I get that I can't change you or make you become the perfect sister for me…"

"Do you?" Azula asked, eyeing him skeptically. Zuko frowned. "Worth noting I can't do that to you, either. You're far too set in your ways for you to be my dream brother too."

"You… you'd change me?" Zuko asked, frowning. Azula smirked.

"I just said I wouldn't. But I'm not the one who replaced the two unpalatable members of my family with new, pleasant ones instead," she said. Zuko's eyes widened.

"I… Kiyi isn't a replacement for you! And I'm not even close to Noren…"

"Your little sister who loves and gushes over you isn't a replacement for the one who made your life a nightmare, apparently?" Azula smiled sadly. "As for Noren and father… if you're not close to him, then he's gotten the fundamentals of the job right, wouldn't you say?"

Zuko gritted his teeth: Azula's words hurt… but he couldn't help but notice that Azula, too, was hurt. He didn't usually notice as much… but this time, he raised his gaze to find that she appeared mournful of the fate they were facing as siblings.

"Point is… you haven't been optimal yourself. I've tried, yes, to mess with you and cause you grief… but I never really imagined you'd ever conform to being the brother I'd want you to be. Doesn't seem logical for you to start trying now."

"Why not?" Zuko asked. Azula laughed.

"I'm not challenging you, Dum-Dum. You're so ridiculous when you get like this," she said. "I'm fine, Zuko. I have no… no right to ask anything of you. That's not what this ever was, I… I admit it's pathetic to say it, but I just wanted to matter and I knew I never would if I went about it in any other way. Or, at least, I've never learned how. Point is… I fucked up, purposefully and intentionally. I'm not here to apologize because I don't think you have any real reason to forgive me, no matter if I'll never do it again. If that's what you were waiting for…"

"I… I don't know what I was expecting," Zuko said, frowning. "But probably more along the lines of you admitting that you're only traveling with Sokka out of convenience, and that you don't actually want him around much but he's useful so far…?"

"You really think I can only manipulate my way through life, don't you?" Azula said. "Granted, I know why you think so, but that's not the case. Sokka joined me, Yue roped me into this journey in the first place… the few times I've tried to do anything mischievous in this trip, it hasn't gone all that well. And somehow… they keep me busy enough that I can't really focus on doing anything to trouble you. Which, then, translates to me losing my taste for messing with you."

Zuko sighed, lowering his gaze.

"Would you get that taste back if I'm not paying attention?" he asked. Azula rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. You say that you weren't really trying to do anything that terrible with your actions… but the thing is, you did cause trouble and when it wasn't you, it was them. Your allies."

"Right, but…" Azula said, frowning. "While we certainly destabilized your rule, caused chaos whenever we cared to, we never did anything quite as bad as to truly hamper your efforts to fix the Fire Nation, did we? If anything, I've been a perfect villain for you to show the whole populace just why things need to change, or am I wrong? It was either you or me on that throne, and the more irresponsible behavior I display, the happier they'll be that it's you. Isn't it at least slightly beneficial to you?"

"You're acting like none of what you did had lasting consequences that could harm the nation…" Zuko said, gritting his teeth. "And you know what? Maybe you didn't. Even if you might have tried, maybe you actually showed some restraint I never truly registered as such before, and you never did something that devastating. But them? You have no idea what they did while you were gone, do you?"

Azula frowned. Zuko gritted his teeth, fists tight by his hips.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, her voice unsteady: she had a feeling she knew what Zuko would say, but even so…

"They burned down the asylum."

Silence.

Azula's heart thumped with triumph… and fear.

"Did… did they get them out?" Azula asked. "The other patients, even the staff…"

Zuko's frown spoke for itself. Azula's sinking dread hit square in her gut, and she snarled as she tore her eyes away from him.

"I thought it was your final move," Zuko said. "Your full-blown act of war. By the time we got there, it was too late. Whole place… burned. Fifty-seven casualties. Some, family visitors. Most of them, patients. The rest, staff. Everyone dead… and not by any mistake. No, everyone in the building died because the people responsible for that crime ensured to shut the doors, the windows, every single exit…!"

"You can't be…" Azula snarled: even if she wanted to deny it, she knew she couldn't do it. Zirin… she would have done it. Azula knew as much.

"Everyone in the premises died… and we tracked down the culprits shortly afterwards. That's when I caught Zirin, and when she told me where you were," Zuko said. "They're in the Prison Tower right now. Awaiting their sentences."

"What are you going to…?" Azula asked, glancing at Zuko with uncertainty.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But I'm struggling to figure out how to show them any mercy."

"Zuko, you… you don't understand what the asylum was like," Azula said, staring at him warily. Zuko scowled. "You never were there as a patient…"

"That doesn't justify what they did!"

"I agree!" Azula exclaimed, startling Zuko. "But… they unleashed the pent-up rage and wrath that place stirred inside them. That place, their families, everyone who played a role in putting them there… do you understand what it feels like, being forsaken in a place that constantly demeans you, dehumanizes you, subjects you to every kind of humiliation whenever you try to fight back, and affords you no dignity anyway, even when you don't fight at all? To be treated like a beast more than a person, to be spoken to as though you were some inferior kind of being…!"

"I don't think I get it, no, but it's not like I haven't been through dehumanizing, cruel things myself," Zuko said.

"The difference is the man who subjected you to the worst of yours is rotting in jail. The one who did it to me is standing right in front of me."

Zuko froze. Azula's accusatory glare caught him in an uncomfortable spot, and she shook her head.

"I… I understand why you did it. I'm not stupid. I know you had no time for me, I know you had no idea how to help me, you had a nation to run… but you don't know what it's like to be truly forsaken. Say what you will… you had Iroh. If you didn't have him, you had Mai. You had our mother. I… I had our father? Do you think he would have ever visited me, if he had been free to do so? He would have denounced me as unworthy of being his heir, if anything… imperfect, broken, damaged as I am. And even if I'm wrong… he was in prison. How could he check on me? But it wasn't just him… it was you. Iroh. Mai, Ty Lee… not a single one of you ever thought that reaching out to me while I was locked in that blasted place was a good idea. And you know what that looks like? It looks like you just want me out of the way. Like I was someone else's problem now, not yours. Like you just needed me to stop being a hazard to your goals and maybe then you'll try to be my brother… and that's a big 'maybe' anyhow. And you're none other than the Fire Lord, with all the resources and power at your disposal… and you couldn't even hire personal physicians to look after me in your home. You threw me out to a distant institution… so I wouldn't be a bother. Even if that wasn't your intention, that's what it looked like.

"And that's what they went through, too, with their own families. Every woman who didn't conform, every girl who dared have ideas different to what their relatives wanted them to follow, anyone who didn't behave exactly as they were expected to. Their own families and loved ones did it to them just as you did it to me. They were angry. They hated that place, more than I did even, and that's saying something. It was a glorified prison, where you could be subjected to the worst of alleged treatments only to be told that you hadn't been through enough of it yet and you needed some more still. I probably didn't even get it as bad as the others… I was only there for a year. Point is… it's not that I don't understand your position. I do. But I don't think the answer to what they did is… killing them. All you'd do is add to the catastrophe's death toll."

"They're more than just casualties of an accident: they instigated it. They're dangerous, Azula," Zuko said. Azula shrugged.

"I'm dangerous too," she said. "And in case you forgot? So are you."

Zuko winced. Azula wasn't accusatory, even if she could have been.

"You're not as healthy as you'd like to think you are," Azula said. "You're not okay, Zuzu. Maybe you never have been, to begin with. But as messed up as your choices were… you got out of being locked up in a place like that and then managed to join the winning team before the war ended. You could have very well ended up in a place like the asylum, by Father's orders, if I had brought you back as he wanted me to, at first. As a prisoner."

Zuko shuddered: he didn't want to think of that possibility. But Azula appeared determined to make him do exactly that.

"Would you have shown restraint?" Azula asked, frowning. "If you had been told you were not human, incapable of love, a rare case of madness, an intriguing subject to study… if you had heard them laugh off your misfortunes, talk about how loaded they'd be because you were of the Royal Family and they'd finally fill the institution's coffers that way, thinking you were too badly out of it with the medicine to overhear what they were saying? If they'd forced you to swallow food, herbs, unknown remedies that would make you feel numb and close to death? If they had… had messed up their dosage to the point where they killed someone in the stretcher near yours?"

Zuko flinched: the picture Azula painted for him clearly was taking a toll on him. Azula shook her head.

"I'm not saying Zirin and the others deserve to be forgiven. As much as every bastard working in that place was unforgivable, I had no intentions of killing them if we ever decided on taking revenge. Zirin made me design a revenge strategy, you see… I did it, and she kept asking for more violence. For a stronger revenge than just sabotaging the place or burning it once everyone was out safely. I refused to do it, I constantly told her we wouldn't make any moves on the asylum until we could get all the remaining patients out safely…"

"And she never listened," Zuko finished. Azula gritted her teeth.

"I was the leader. She listened solely because of that. It's no surprise that the first thing she did, once I wasn't there to keep an eye on her, was destroying that place recklessly."

"You would have saved the other patients?" Zuko asked. "Granted, the most dangerous ones would have been the ones you brought with you, but…"

"That's not necessarily true," Azula said. Zuko frowned. "You don't understand, do you? We were the family pests that nobody wanted to deal with. I had hallucinations? No doubt. But half of them had no conditions of any kind. I don't know how many people were admitted in the asylum without being mentally ill or disturbed in any way to begin with. It felt like… like they force-fed them alleged medicine that caused unwanted, unacceptable behaviors in people, just to justify keeping them there. That's what that place was like. That's why I'm not sorry to learn it was destroyed… and that's why I can't help but be furious that Zirin would decide not to save anyone who still could be helped."

"Would you have saved them?" Zuko asked. Azula shrugged.

"I tried when I broke out my allies in the first place," she said. Zuko's eyes widened. "I offered them the chance to leave. Over half the patients were too scared to try. They wanted to stay because they hoped… maybe by putting up with all of it, they'd get to go home one day. I won't pretend any of them trusted me, no doubt several must have thought I was more dangerous than the asylum staff and that must be why they didn't join me… but I never thought they should have died the way you say they did. They were no different from the rest of us."

Azula scowled: that this would afflict her quite so strongly came as a surprise to her, too. Initially, she had told Zirin they wouldn't destroy the asylum altogether because it would be deemed an act of war. Their team didn't need that kind of publicity, most of all when they were about to begin their act as the Kemurikage. But then she asked again, and again, and again… Azula didn't overlook the extent of the damage Zirin had suffered, but their group couldn't afford, couldn't field, a mission quite so dangerous. Zuko was never going to let that one go… just as he didn't. Massively murdering everyone in that building was not a laughing matter: Azula had asked Zirin if she was ready to pay the price for that destruction, and Zirin never failed to scoff at her sentimentality. Only practicality had kept her at bay for some time: they'd get too much attention otherwise, they couldn't afford that. But now… now, after putting so much distance between herself and that place, after seeing the world through different eyes, Azula's heart grieved for the people who weren't saved. She snarled, fists tight.

"Are you going to execute them?" she asked. Zuko sighed.

"I don't know. Maybe not," he said. Azula glanced at him in confusion. "But you have to understand this kind of chaos cannot go unpunished."

"I don't disagree. I just… don't know if I want you to kill them for it," Azula admitted. Zuko sighed, shaking his head.

"I don't even know what I'd do anymore. When I captured them, I was ready to do something final. Right now… I don't know," Zuko admitted. "Truthfully, I don't want them in prison. The Boiling Rock might sound like the best choice, going forward, but… it's not, is it? They could escape just as well, set it on fire, kill everyone there…"

"They'll always be a hazard, is what you're thinking," Azula said. Zuko shrugged.

"You don't expect that to be different now just because I caught them, do you?" he asked. "The only way they won't cause chaos is if I keep them contained, chi-blocked, fully restrained…"

"And then you'll just give them further reason to cause chaos as soon as there's any weakness, any leniency for them," Azula said. Zuko frowned. "That's the thing about hurting people, holding them against their will… it tends to breed resentment and grudges strong enough to last a lifetime. You wouldn't ask anyone who was a prisoner of war to forgive our father for what he did to them, would you?"

"It's different," Zuko said.

"Not where the imprisoned person is standing, it's not," Azula said. "The way they see it, you're complicit in the hell we faced in the asylum. You even left your own inconvenient relative there, too. They'd see it as no reason to change their ways."

"And yet you want me to believe you did change yorus?" Zuko asked. Azula shrugged, raising the mirror in his direction.

"Not that I was looking to change in any way, I certainly didn't care to at first. Took well over a year for Yue's influence to start gaining ground on me," Azula said, glancing at the mirror. Yue smiled wistfully. "But… I think the main thing that helped was having something in common, a goal that all three of us were striving for. We had to work together, and that meant each other's struggles and problems were everyone's concern. I don't know how anything like that could be achieved with Zirin."

"You could talk to her," Zuko said, simply. Azula sighed.

"You'd let me?" she asked. "I wouldn't even know what to say."

"Tell her you're not doing any of your destabilizing efforts anymore," Zuko said. "Tell her you're done with that, and that she'd better be done too unless she wants to deal with…"

"Then… heh. You want me to control her with fear?"

Zuko froze. Azula eyed him with a compassionate smile that turned mirthful shortly.

"As far as my personal experiences go, controlling others with fear can be terribly effective until it's not. People have ways of finding more courage than they ever held inside their hearts and turn on you when you don't expect it," Azula said. "Sounds easy enough at first… but it means you'll most likely end up living in fear your whole life, too. Can't advise it if you don't want to face more hardships than you'd be comfortable with."

Zuko snarled. He knew Azula was making sense, perhaps too much of it. He sighed, covering his face with his hand before shaking his head.

"What's your idea, then?" he asked. "What would you do to fix this?"

"Why are you asking me?" Azula said.

"Because you're making too much sense, so maybe you know how to make this better," Zuko asked. Azula grimaced. "What made you change was… Sokka and Yue? How do we give your allies anything of the sort?"

"You can't force something like that," Azula warned him. Zuko scoffed. "I mean it. They'd be more likely to set an olive branch on fire than to ever accept it smoothly if you hand it to them with the obvious intent of making them change and adapt to a life they don't care to live. If you'd personally showed up in front of me and entrusted me with Yue, somehow, I would have never listened to a single word she said, let alone would I have treated Sokka as anything but a would-be jailor following me everywhere. You had nothing to do with that, hence why I had a much easier time learning to… trust them."

"Then what do we do?" Zuko huffed. "I don't think keeping them in jail forever is going to be fine, or that they'd even stay there forever, they're likely to find a way to escape. Right now? I think… I think they're waiting for you."

"They expect me to break them out," Azula concluded.

"They wouldn't take it well if you show up as newly pardoned and allowed to be part of the family again, though, would they?" Zuko asked. Azula scoffed.

"But I'm not those things… am I?" Azula stared at him skeptically. Zuko winced.

"I… I guess it remains to be seen," he admitted. "But the point is, if I'm the one sending you… they're not going to take it well."

"They'd take it far worse if I pretend not to be your ally and it's inevitably discovered that I was talking to them by your command," Azula pointed out. Zuko sighed.

"Is there no solution to this damn madness?" he asked. "I don't even know what I was expecting from you, but it definitely wasn't… that you couldn't help me deal with them."

"I don't know that I can. But what, exactly, did you hope for me to accomplish?" Azula inquired, crooking an eyebrow. Zuko sighed.

"I don't even know. Talk things over with them. You understand what they did. Say… that I won't execute them for the asylum, even though a lot of people are demanding that I do. Say that I won't take it that far, and I mean it. What you've explained is… alarming. I don't know why I never thought…"

"You had no time for it. It's not really a defense… just a fact," Azula said. "Besides, you had very little cause for concern, right? I'm the problem and if someone's causing chaos, it's most likely me rather than my captor – or, rather, the physician attempting to control my every move…"

"Did they… make it worse?" Zuko asked. Azula frowned. "I mean, whether for you or the others. Your breakdown… was it a sign of something bigger, deeper, or did they just take advantage of my belief that it was, when it wasn't?"

"That's hard to say," Azula admitted. "I don't have the most accurate memories, frankly, when it comes to what happened. But it's possible, yes, that they weren't trying to help anyone heal. I'm not sure if it takes a year to recover from what I went through, but their grand treatments typically only made my mind more chaotic, and their therapy attempts didn't help matters either. They convinced me of… of the worst things I believed of myself, I suppose. I'm only realizing that they might have been wrong now."

"Then… could you talk to them from that angle?" Zuko asked. Azula raised an eyebrow. "Tell them the truth about what they did, and whatever they convinced them of. Make them understand that… well, the point should have never been to treat anyone interned in the asylum as a criminal. You're not undesirables in society… you were people who needed help, not to be tossed aside. And I… I did exactly that to you."

Azula frowned: it wasn't every day that Zuko seemed so torn up about whatever mistakes he had made… more so, when those mistakes concerned her. Azula waited patiently as he composed himself, and he raised his gaze towards her.

"I don't know where we'll go after this. I don't know what to offer you. I can't make up for my mistakes," he said. "But… I can try to break the cycle. To stop treating you as I have. To… to be a better brother, even if I barely know where to start with that."

"You'll have to figure that one out yourself. I have no expectations and no demands," Azula said. "But I do believe I should clarify one thing, Zuzu… I already said it earlier, but I'll say it again: I'm not back to stay."

Zuko eyed her with uncertainty upon hearing those words anew. Azula swallowed hard.

"Maybe I will do that one day, I don't know, but… I haven't finished my duties to Yue. And once I do, I might still not end up here again later anyhow," Azula said.

"You say that, but going to the Earth Kingdom would be very dangerous for you," Zuko said. "The manhunt for you in the Fire Nation will end, but…"

"And that's good to know, but I might not need to stay here forever even so," Azula shrugged. Zuko's eyes widened. "Did you hope I would?"

"Well… after what you've said, I figured you might go on the road for a while longer. But this is your home, isn't it?" he asked. Azula smiled.

"Did it still feel that way, once you returned from your banishment? I was under the impression it didn't," she pointed out. Zuko gritted his teeth, fists tight.

"If that's how you feel right now, well… it's bound to be my fault. But that was never my intent," Zuko said. "If I can…"

"I don't know that you can, and I don't know that you should have to," Azula said, shaking her head. "We're having a productive conversation right now, and you're finally listening to me, which I appreciate a lot, Zuzu… but I don't think this should be for the sake of ensuring that I stay at your beck and call constantly. If you've been running this nation without my help, you can carry on doing it too. If you want my aid, it's still up to me to decide that I'll give it. But for now… life has enough things left to offer me, even though I figured it didn't. If all signs point to the Fire Nation, I'll come back, but… I'm enjoying everything else far more than I thought I would."

"Dad would be cross if he knew that. Which is always a good thing," Zuko said. Azula smiled a little.

"You never really did get to see the world just for the sake of it," Azula said. Zuko shrugged. "You were on a mission, and just surviving eventually… but you didn't see the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribes for what they were, with no pressures. I suppose… I recommend it. Maybe you'll want to abdicate by then, though I'm not sure who you'd hand the throne to if you did. I… I really don't want it."

She said the words casually… but a stronger smile spread over her face after she did. A soft laugh left her lips and she smiled brightly. Zuko's heart clenched at the sight of it… of such clarity and certainty in his usually troubled sister's visage.

"I don't want to be Fire Lord," Azula said, closing her eyes. "And that's probably the most liberating thing I've ever come to realize."

Zuko nodded, accepting her decision: it was different than him claiming she'd never take the title for herself. Azula had reached that point without him pushing her to it, even if not necessarily by herself… it wasn't a struggle anymore. It wasn't some chaotic, unnerving conflict. Azula didn't want the throne… she finally had accepted that. Zuko would be free from the chaos she could unleash with her antics until something else inevitably rose to take her place.

He just hoped it wouldn't be Zirin.

"Alright. That's… good to know. But… can I ask you to talk to them, then? To your old allies? At least, to Zirin?" he said. Azula's smile waned… but she shrugged.

"Might as well try. Though I don't think the outcome is going to be any more positive than it would have been if you'd tried this approach with me a year ago," Azula said. Zuko nodded.

"I'll try to brace myself for it. Azula… thank you," he said. The Princess smiled as she rose to her full height.

"For finally giving you a break? I'll find some other way to make you lose your temper, Zuko, don't you worry about that," Azula smirked.

"Heh. I won't lower my guard a lot, then," Zuko said. "Look… maybe I should've said something else first. I just… I wasn't ready to accept I've failed you in more ways than I thought. As far as I could tell, you were a problem indeed, you were someone I had to keep at a distance because you'd only ever hurt me…"

"And I was," Azula acknowledged, with a shrug.

"You weren't," Zuko countered. Azula scoffed. "You were my sister. And I never really thought about what that actually meant until… until I realized you had a whole group of people who had found your value and were helping you shine, and I wasn't one of them. It's not that I feel like I have to be there too… but it feels like I failed you anyway. Like maybe you could have reached this stage if I had tried a little harder… if I had been there for you in ways I wasn't. I kept seeing you as an enemy to defeat, no matter if I already had this crown on my head and… and I was wrong to do that. I can't help but think your life might have been a lot different if I had been less impulsive and stupid over some things. I'm… I'm sorry, Azula. I'm really sorry."

Azula's heart clenched, her throat thickening with tears that seemed to bloom out of nowhere. That wasn't what she had expected from Zuko… wasn't what she would have demanded from him, either. He didn't have to apologize to her… but he had. It was difficult to know what to say to that… though perhaps, it wasn't all that different from how she had responded to Yue, upon hearing her say she loved her.

She hadn't intended to say the words at all, regardless of how she felt. She hadn't thought they'd change anything… but regardless of her reasoning, her instincts pushed her to speak unlikely words to her brother all the same:

"I'm sorry too," Azula whispered, at last. Zuko gazed at her in astounded silence. "I did a lot of things just to make you suffer, I won't sugarcoat that. I wasn't ready to reason with what was going on in my own head, and I took it out on you. Before all this, well, yes, I certainly teased you a lot and I did hunt you down under Father's orders…"

"You don't have to apologize for that," Zuko admitted, with a small grin. Azula raised an eyebrow. "Well, we were kids. It looks a lot simpler now than it did before. I just couldn't seem to make sense of it back then… I was more troubled than I thought, too. Maybe I still am… but I'll try to reason with myself a little more than I always do. Without just… thinking everything's someone else's fault, every time."

"That'd be a good life choice," Azula said, with a slight grin.

Zuko sighed, stepping towards the doorway as Azula glanced down at the mirror: Yue smiled giddily, no doubt thrilled over having witnessed what appeared to be an unexpected reconciliation between Azula and her brother. The Fire Nation Princess smirked a little, shaking her head at her friend's excitement.

"Well, then… ready to go see Zirin?" Zuko asked.

Azula's heart clenched again… but she nodded, steeling herself for a reunion that promised to be a lot more chaotic and unpleasant than this one had turned out to be.

__________________________________

Prison Tower wasn't meant to be a friendly place. Azula's heart clenched as she approached it about an hour later, a foreboding feeling lingering in her heart: her father was there, but she wasn't here to see him today. Maybe one day she would be ready to face him… but the way her mother had explained her own visits to Ozai, it sounded like Azula wasn't remotely prepared to meet her father yet. He had expectations of her that she hadn't fulfilled… and that she never would.

She didn't really know what her future would look like, but she clenched her mirror tightly and let herself bask in the peace, the freedom, of knowing she would no longer serve the purposes that had damn near destroyed her. At the very least, Yue had died but succeeded at saving her people by doing so: Azula's sacrifices had amounted to nothing. Her vindictiveness had achieved nothing, too. She was tired… and ready to move on, now that she finally had a chance to imagine a future, vague and confusing as it might be, by Sokka's side…

Who, of course, stood right beside her at the moment, arms folded over his chest as he frowned at the prison ahead.

"You really had to come?" Zuko asked him, an eyebrow twitching. "You could have stayed with my mom…"

"You could have stayed with her too," Sokka scoffed. Zuko gritted his teeth and glared at him.

"I'm the Fire Lord! Azula can't talk to Zirin if I'm not here to authorize it!" he said. Sokka pouted.

"Then you'll have to put up with me being here too, nothing more to it," he said.

Azula smiled as they marched into the tower: Sokka's devotion to her hardly seemed real most times, and yet she knew it was. She had a baseline as to what his lies looked like, and it certainly wasn't the confident, strong front he was showing Zuko right now.

"You okay? Ready for this?" Sokka asked her, once Zuko took to speaking with the warden, who appeared alarmed to see Azula as a visitor rather than another prisoner.

"I doubt it," Azula admitted. "You didn't have to come, Zuko isn't wrong about that… but I'm glad you did."

"Oh. Uh, heh," Sokka smiled, cheeks flushing slightly as he ran a hand over his hair. "I'm glad you're glad! Though, you know, if you need anything…"

"I'd reach out, but… I don't know if I will be able to do it," Azula said, frowning sternly again. "You'll be right outside?"

"Yeah. And you can handle this Zirin, right?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"I'd better. She's usually not enough of a bender to be a cause for concern for me, I'd dare say," Azula mused, frowning slightly. Sokka smiled and nodded.

"You're the strongest firebender there is, after all. Nothing she can do should faze you… but in case it does, I'll stay nearby and even cheer you on."

"Well, I've never really fought with a supportive audience like that, but fair enough," Azula said. "Besides… we shouldn't need to fight at all. It's… a conversation."

She said the words while knowing they weren't entirely true: Zirin would make this a battlefield if she had reason to. And if Azula told her what Zuko would expect her to? It might just be a guarantee that they'd wind up in conflict indeed.

The warden led them to the room where Zirin had been brought moments before they arrived. Zuko and Sokka remained tense by the door, and Azula breathed deeply as she readied herself to enter…

"Good luck," Sokka whispered.

"If you need any help, let us know," Zuko said, frowning. "You don't have to face her alone."

"I'm not sure about that last thing… and I'll try not to make it come to the first thing, too," Azula said.

She stepped between them: she gripped Sokka's hand gently as she passed beside him before pushing the door open. Sokka gritted his teeth, gazing after her hopelessly, his anguish increasing once the door closed, leaving Azula alone with her previous second-in-command.

Zirin sat in a slovenly position on a chair, in the center of the room. She appeared to have been bound to it. Azula frowned as she stopped before her… and Zirin scowled as she raised her gaze, gradually astounded upon realizing this wasn't just another visit by Fire Lord Zuko.

"You… you're back," Zirin said, a spark of hope in her gaze… one that went away quickly, replaced by distrust. "How? Who the hell allowed you to visit me officially? Or did you kill your brother and took his appointment instead?"

"I didn't do that," Azula said. Zirin scoffed.

"Of course not. You don't have the spine for it. Had the spine to get rid of your inconvenient friend yet, or was that too much to ask too?" Zirin asked, spitefully. "You were gone long enough. I thought… did it work? Are you yourself again, or…?"

"It didn't," Azula said. Zirin snarled. "She's still with me. Nothing has worked so far… and I don't think anything has to, either."

"Oh, right, so you're just going to keep botching up operations and messing up our objectives by being completely swept up by stupid arguments with the damn girl in your reflection?" Zirin asked. "You're unbelievable."

"I have no intentions of letting that happen because… there will be no more operations or objectives for us," Azula said. Zirin froze. "Which is your fault in no small part. If you hadn't gotten caught, the whole lot of you could have gone on to cause chaos without me. Begs the question of why you were so eager to be the leader when you botched it up so badly as soon as I was out of the way. Isn't that what you were always looking forward to? Isn't it exactly what you wanted?"

"I…!" Zirin snarled, shaking her head. "What's it to you, what I wanted? You…! You kept us chained down, locked to your whims! You saved us and broke us out of that hellhole, and we owed you because of that…!"

"The hellhole you finally burned to the ground, or so I hear," Azula said: Zirin had the gall to smirk. "With all the remaining patients still inside."

"They were as bad as the physicians," Zirin said, shrugging. "Content to live in their chains, emboldening them to do it to others, like us. Don't like it? Not my problem. They got what they deserved."

Azula scowled. Zirin's demeanor didn't change for it.

"I've prided myself in being a terrible person, you know?" Azula said. "In not particularly caring who I hurt and who I didn't… but I guess I overestimated myself. Compared to you, apparently I still have boundaries and sense…"

"You mean you're a coward. Spineless and weak when you should take action… always been in your damn brother's pocket even when you acted like you weren't," Zirin hissed. "Did he offer to pardon you because you weren't part of the destruction, maybe? Might have offered you the chance to execute us by your own hand too. Was that why you were allowed to come here?"

"I'm here… as your final salvation," Azula said. Zirin snorted in disbelief. "If you won't listen to me, if you won't forsake what you're doing, the way I did…"

"Ha! You're done, then? All done destabilizing the Fire Lord's pathetic rule?" Zirin cackled. "You're quitting now? And why's that, exactly?! Who's caught your leash now, Azula? Who's pulling at it?!"

"I don't have one anymore. You, on the other hand…" Azula said. Zirin laughed, shaking her head.

"Don't give me that. I'm no one's beast," Zirin said, her eyes growing colder as all mirth fled from her face as quickly as it arrived. "What was it? The Fire Lord…? Nah, you'd need a stronger incentive than that. Maybe… heh. The pest in your reflection? Is that who?"

"Shut up," Azula hissed impulsively: Zirin laughed again.

"Controlled by that thing, just as you were by your mother. Funny," Zirin said, coldly again. "You're so weak. So spineless…"

"I have more than enough strength and spine to stand here and see you for what you are," Azula snapped. Zirin raised her eyebrows.

"And what's that?" she asked.

Azula breathed deeply, glaring into Zirin's dark eyes… before giving her an answer:

"A lost, helpless, desperate fool looking for purpose and drive and finding none," Azula said. Zirin scoffed. "You've convinced yourself that destroying the asylum was the right choice but it wasn't: all you achieved was proving them right in fearing you… in wanting you out of their way. You've never imagined a way out, a chance to become something different, to start anew elsewhere. You don't even know the value of that kind of opportunity… because no one has ever granted it to you."

"And someone granted it to you?" Zirin asked, derisively. Azula gritted her teeth. "What? Pfft. Your brother?"

"It's not him," Azula said, gripping the mirror in her pocket. "It's someone I never thought would have any manner of compassion for me and yet he did. So…"

"Ah, don't tell me… you found a boyfriend," Zirin said. "No doubt you're thrilled, what you always wanted…"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Azula scoffed.

"You're so sad and anguished by loneliness, aren't you? I guess you're clinging to the first moron who overlooked… well, all the crazy shit and just latched onto how pretty you were?" Zirin asked, with a sarcastic smile. Azula smirked.

"If that would make you feel any better, go on ahead and believe that. But he's… he wasn't part of this because of me. Not at first. We haven't been journeying together just because he's craving me. He's the one who's helping me fix what's wrong with Yue…"

"And you love him, do you?" Zirin smirked. "Well, wait a few months after the novelty wears off and see how he likes you once you become the harpy that screams at him over anything and everything, just as it goes in all fucked-up marriages. You can't exactly expect to do better than that, can you? Either way… this is stupid. Someone who caved in to something as pathetic as falling for some stupid guy, lecturing me on what to do with my life…"

"I've said I'm your last chance at something better than staying locked inside this building for however long you have left to live," Azula said. Zirin rolled her eyes. "Zuko will kill you if no one stops him. Is that what you want?"

"I want the old Azula back. The one who would break us out of here in a heartbeat," Zirin snapped.

"Oh, you mean the one who laughed when she heard you'd gotten yourselves locked up in jail?" Azula smirked. Zirin tensed up. "I did exactly that, you know? I thought it was a beautiful irony: so much badgering me and pestering me about how you were such a better leader, all your plotting, all your talk behind my back… and you were an even bigger failure than I ever was, in the end. Funny how that works, isn't it?"

"Shut up," Zirin snarled. Azula glared at her coldly.

"That's the Azula you were asking for, though. The one who would walk away and let you get crushed under my brother's boot out of vindictiveness alone," she continued. "I'm here to tell you to turn over a new leaf and set aside your intent, or you're only going to continue paying the price for it. And I won't be paying it with you."

"So that's it, then? You're forsaking me and running off with… with that fool in your head, with the idiot who somehow wants to date you or whatever?" Zirin scoffed.

"I wouldn't be forsaking anything… provided you and the others agree to stop, for good," Azula said. "Zuko is an idiot in many ways, and he didn't truly understand the gravity of what happened in that place. What you did to the other patients is unforgivable, Zirin… were the circumstances any different, I would be advocating for your death myself. But I know why you did it… I just cannot accept that you found no way to spare them. Even so, you can rot in this cell forever or you can make something of yourself…"

"Something to aid this wretched nation?" Zirin asked. "I'd pick the pyre."

"Really?" Azula asked. Zirin scoffed.

"The Fire Nation should go down in flames… and I don't care for it to be reborn from its ashes," she hissed. "You, your accursed family… you all just prove there's no saving this nation. And maybe I'm the one who can do it… by laying waste upon it all. That… that's my fate. There was no Phoenix King, in the end… but I could be the Queen."

"The fuck are you…?" Azula frowned, but she froze: she had seen that look on Zirin's face before.

It was a sudden burst of vacancy that preceded a storm.

The reason why she had been sent to the asylum in the first place.

"Zirin. Zirin!" Azula called her, stepping closer to the woman. "Snap back here! Zirin!"

She was tempted to slap her, but she held back out of knowing that violence might just unleash the very worst of reactions from the firebender even faster than Zirin intended: heat began rising within the room, and Zirin continued not to react… but something seemed to be instants away from boiling over inside her. It was as though she had grown comatose… focusing her power so much that every shred of her energy would become firebending.

"Zirin!" Azula snapped. "I will do it! I will chi-block you!"

It was the only way in which she had been stopped once, when she had withdrawn into that state at night, setting their campsite on fire as a consequence. The others had hidden away from Zirin, and only Azula had reduced her. She had spent hours writhing furiously afterwards, sputtering flames out of her throat all the same…

But this time, Zirin was faster.

This time, Azula raised her hand to stop her just as Zirin screamed.

A violent burst of flames caught Azula just as she had been about to prevent it from rushing out: she was flung back, falling hard against the closed door, as the flames pouring over Zirin's body, charring at her skin, burned and melted the chains and restraints, destroying the chair where she had been perched…

She stood up, fire still alight over her body. Azula snarled, rubbing her back as she felt the door shifting behind her.

"Azula?! Azula! What's going on?! Azula?!" Sokka's voice reached her, and Azula snarled as she pushed herself away from the door.

"YOU'LL NEVER BREAK ME! THERE WON'T EVEN BE ASHES LEFT WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU!" Zirin shrieked: her hand rose towards Azula, and she leveled a new firebending blast in her direction.

Azula snarled: the door swung open violently once her weight no longer kept it shut, for Sokka shoved it. He had a perfect view of how his princess caught an onslaught of pouring flames in one hand, brandishing it in her control, stealing it from the woman before her…

How? How was Zirin unleashing that kind of power? The room was as good as an inferno, one that Azula was restraining with every ounce of her strength…

Her left leg was unsteady.

There was something dark trickling down her trousers.

"Azula!" Sokka roared.

"GET BACK!" Azula rebuffed, building her power over the flames and wrestling them out of Zirin's control.

This wasn't new, even if it was far more potent than whenever it had happened during their previous mishaps on the road: Zirin's firebending was a threat to anyone around her, even herself. Long ago, Zirin had learned to channel her body's energy in ways completely unknown to Azula until then, as good as shutting down as she gathered her energy in a single point. Even her heart would stop beating for that small moment… and then everything would bloom again, unleashing from her body as an explosion, a storm of flames for which her body was the conduit.

It was more akin to a phoenix than anything Ozai had been. Zirin died for a blink of a moment only to return shrouded by flames. She had hurt herself with her own fire with these stunts in the past, destroyed her childhood home, she had always been restrained with chi-blocking when she had dared do it in the asylum… and chi-blocking was how Azula would keep her in check whenever Zirin's temper got the better of her while they were part of the same group.

She had surely used that technique to lay waste upon the asylum. She had gathered her power and unleashed all of it in one violent, suspended burst that would last for as long as she could sustain it.

And now, Azula struggled against the onslaught of fire that Zirin unleashed through her throat, her body seemingly burning alive as she unleashed her flames into the small room.

She couldn't scream forever, Sokka counted on that: he stood beside Azula, behind her, worried about the wound she had most likely sustained in her left leg… then, Zirin finally slowed her outburst, even as sparks poured from her closed mouth.

"Had enough yet?!" Azula roared: the room turned blue, as Azula brandished Zirin's remaining flames…

She could very well return them at her former ally.

But she didn't do it.

The fire diminished in size and strength, stifled gradually by Azula's expert bending: Zirin laughed, though, raising a hand menacingly.

"You will pay for all your broken promises!" Zirin shouted. "Your cursed family… I will destroy it at all costs! You… the Fire Lord!"

Azula had never understood Zirin's particular hatred towards Zuko: her brother hadn't even entered the room, but Zirin knew he was out there, somewhere. That, alone, would suffice to motivate her into destroying him at once.

She geared up to roar again, and Azula tensed up…

Her left leg buckled.

She gasped: why had she lost her grip? Why had she…?

She reached down to touch it, and only then did she realize her thigh hurt: blood. Her hand was stained with blood.

She shuddered at the sight of it, failing to understand the implications, only realizing now that there was something painfully imbedded in her skin. She couldn't rise back up. She couldn't stand. She couldn't…

Zirin unleashed a new burst of flames.

Azula wouldn't be fast enough to stop them.

A projectile flew violently through the flames, spinning fast in the direction where Zirin stood... but Azula didn't see it strike her.

She couldn't, for she was wrapped in protective arms as the remaining flames of that inferno fell upon the back of the person holding her.

Sokka cried out in pain as the flames charred his body: Azula yelped…

And just as suddenly as it had arisen, the fire extinguished.

"Sokka! Sokka, why would you…?!" Azula gasped, struggling to push herself back upright: Sokka weighed heavily on her, and he snarled with pain under the damage he had sustained. "Sokka!"

"Azula!" Zuko's voice reached them: the Princess turned towards him in anguish, seeing he had retrieved help, but not fast enough to stop Zirin from hurting Sokka.

Zuko's eyes widened at the sight of Sokka's burnt back: his shirt's back had been charred, leaving solely blackened fabric at the edges of the hole across the extension of his spine. Redness underneath betrayed that he had sustained a strong burn… even if the person bending the flames that had hurt him now lay unconscious, bleeding from the forehead.

Sokka's boomerang had spun awkwardly back to him, landing a few steps away, after he struck Zirin down before she could destroy the room, the Prison Tower, everything around them.

"Help…" Azula gasped, gripping Sokka firmly. She looked to Zuko with vulnerability most unlike her… uttering a word she most likely had never spoken to him. "Zuko…!"

The Fire Lord frowned with determination: he gave orders to his soldiers, and he stepped up to take charge of the situation. The guilt inside his chest would be resolved later: for now, Zirin would be contained anew, and Sokka and Azula would be taken to safety.

____________________________________

Sokka sighed, smiling sadly at Azula as she sat by his bedside, her brow furrowed:

The shards of the mirror nestled in a pouch, in her hand.

The mirror had broken against the door in the impact when she had been flung back with Zirin's initial outburst. She hadn't realized it, at first. She hadn't wanted to believe it was true, either, when she understood that her first gift by Sokka had been destroyed by Zirin's attack.

"I know she can show up elsewhere, I do, but… this sucks," Azula huffed, shaking her head and setting the mirror aside, trying to ignore her bandaged thigh. The damage hadn't been that deep, certainly not enough to endanger her, but she wasn't supposed to move around much for the next few days while her body amended the damage.

"We'll get you a new mirror. A prettier one," Sokka said. "One more suitable for you."

"That one was fine," Azula said, sighing as she set the pouch down on Sokka's nightstand. "But I shouldn't complain. You… you matter more than a broken mirror."

"Do I?" Sokka smirked. Azula scoffed. "What?"

"Are you really going to twist my concern for you into some weird flirting or something…?" Azula asked. Sokka laughed, nodding awkwardly as he lay on his back, head turned towards her. Azula scoffed, amused nonetheless. "You're so ridiculous."

"You like that I am, though," he said. Azula lowered her gaze.

"You know… Zuko once did what you just did, too. For your sister," Azula said. Sokka's smile waned slightly. "I was the one on the offensive that time. It's rare enough that I was the one trying to defend others this time… that I was the target of someone out of control, rather than being the one who was out of control or out of line. But it's weirder still that someone would jump into the fire for me."

She raised her gaze towards him, and Sokka smiled a little. Azula shook her head.

"No laughing matter. No smiling matter, either. You could have been burned far worse than you were. It's fortunate that they think you'll recover safely," Azula said. Sokka scoffed.

"Your fire's definitely stronger than hers," he said. Azula rolled her eyes, though she smiled a little. "You overestimated her strength."

"I'm quite sure I did no such thing," Azula said, shaking her head and reaching out a hand to stroke his hair gently. Sokka grinned giddily. "You didn't have to do that, is my point."

"Azula… I love you," Sokka said, earnestly. Her heart jolted to hear the words from his lips again. "I'm sorry to say that's what love means to me. Maybe you don't like it… but I'm going to jump into the fire for you. I'm going to stand between you and any knife that comes your way. If I get hurt… well, it's fine if you won't be."

"That's… you're an idiot," Azula said, frowning. Sokka shrugged.

"Most people think so too…"

"Well, most of them are wrong because they're saying it for the wrong reasons," Azula said. Sokka snorted. "You… you can't go around pretending your life and your safety matter less than that of everyone you care about."

"So… am I supposed to protect myself instead?" Sokka asked, puzzled. Azula gritted her teeth…

A most confusing, surprising epiphany hit her as consequence of his question. Sokka appeared to await an answer… and she was surprised to find she actually had one:

"You're supposed to fight by my side," Azula decided. Sokka's eyes widened. "We're… we're a team. Successful strategies don't require the sacrifice of your own allies. If you need to discard them as you progress towards your goal, you're probably not that good a strategist. More capable and able-bodied allies mean you have more resources at your disposal. It's simple and obvious."

"Heh. So… a practical, reasonable point of view encourages you to believe that I shouldn't jump into danger," Sokka smirked. "You know what? That's exactly why I like you. Love to hear it."

Azula smirked back at him, shaking her head: she couldn't help but grow fonder of him for that reaction. She suspected anyone lesser would have been cross with her for responding with practicality rather than sentimentality after a sacrifice that great… but not Sokka. They certainly saw eye to eye when it came to strategic matters, if nothing else.

"The next time we're in danger, if we are… and we most likely will be, considering who I am, and what your luck in life has been like," Azula pointed out, to Sokka's amusement. "Please… work with me. Don't jump into danger that way. It… it means a lot, that you would. But I'm not exactly eager to lose you. It was good thinking to knock Zirin out with your boomerang, you sure threw it hard for it to cut across her fire that way…"

"Well, these muscles aren't just for show," Sokka said, tightening his biceps to her amusement. Azula laughed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "See? See?"

"Dork," Azula smiled. He snickered proudly. "I'm grateful anyway. Just… don't do that again, will you?"

"I'll try not to," Sokka smiled warmly, reaching up to clasp her hand, pressing a soft kiss to her palm.

The tingling feeling of being treasured by someone to the point where he might sacrifice himself for her sake hadn't receded. It almost brought her to tears. Her throat tightened as she pondered it, as she realized that perhaps love did look a little bit like what Sokka had described for her before, even if it shouldn't be as self-sacrificial as that…

She leaned closer to him on his bed, pressing her lips to his cheek. Sokka grinned mischievously at the feeling.

"That's nice…" he said.

"You do realize… that we're not going to sleep together until your back recovers?"

"What?!"

Sokka yelped, and Azula laughed at his extreme reaction: he even seemed to rise from the bed, and she had to reel him in so he'd stop being so careless.

"Come on, you won't be able to lie on your back…"

"Well, I won't lie on it. I don't need to. You'll have to put up with being under me more often!" Sokka pouted.

"You really are that eager to get back to it, are you?" Azula smiled, stroking his hair and kissing his cheek again. Sokka groaned needily.

"When you're being this nice, it's hard to help it," he said. "C'mon, I could just lie on top and even as we sleep, I'll just rest on, uh, the best pillow in the world…"

"You like my breasts far too much for your own good," Azula said: Sokka smiled wildly, glancing at her chest even if her clothes covered her bosom fully.

"What's not to like?" he said. "You're delightful. And delicious, too."

"I'm… ugh, you don't have to be so crude, Sokka," Azula blushed, shaking her head as she pushed him slightly on his mattress. Sokka snorted at her remark.

"If it disgusts you so much, why are you climbing up here right after I said something stupid?" he asked: Azula was halfway on the mattress by then, and she shot him a fierce glare.

"Because I… had already meant to do this before you started being embarrassing," she huffed, lying down fully beside him. Sokka giggled, and Azula rolled her eyes before reaching towards him. "Come here, you annoying jerk, you…"

"Woah, wait…!"

His request was not heeded: thus, before he knew it, Sokka was left to lie his head down happily, comfortably, atop Azula's chest.

"I hope this will help you recover. At least, might brighten your spirits," Azula said, unsure of why she felt bashful after what she'd done. Sokka, of course, beamed with delight.

"Sure brightens them," he said. "Though I hope it won't help much because that means I'd recover too quickly. If I don't, then I'll get to do this even more often, and…"

"If you recover faster I'll sit on your face sooner than you know," Azula declared, boldly: Sokka smiled wildly, raising his head from her chest eagerly.

"You will?!" he exclaimed. Azula snorted and laughed.

"Guess you're happy when I'm the one who's crude. You know, you're delightful too. And ridiculous," she said, cupping his face with her hands before kissing his eager lips softly.

It was a tender, meaningful kiss for the two of them, and they extended it for as long as they dared with sweet, gentle pecks, as well as deeper, thorough explorations of each other, interspersed between the chaste kisses. His hands dared touch her with desire, even if he wasn't about to act on it… and Azula let him. She felt his fingers trailing her weak spots and she thrived in it, quietly, letting her lover trigger her pleasure at his leisure.

"You didn't need to do this either, you know?" Sokka smiled a little, raising his head to gaze at her. "Could've just left me to rest quietly while withholding yourself from me…"

"Why would I want to do that?" Azula asked, stroking his hair gently. Sokka chuckled.

"Don't know. Because I'm the annoying guy who put himself in danger for your sake when he should have been fighting alongside you?" he said.

"Well, lesson learned now, I hope. You're… a little forgiven," Azula said, with a smirk. Sokka laughed, his brow pressed against hers.

"Good to know," he said. Azula bit her lip.

"Maybe we're not so different, you and I. You jumped in front of an inferno to protect me because you love me… and I let you rest on my chest because I…"

"Azula?" Sokka raised an eyebrow, looking at her with surprise.

Azula breathed deeply before meeting his eyes: it felt like the biggest risk she had ever taken. She didn't know what was so frightening about uttering those words, she had already spoken them to someone else…

But doing it with Sokka felt like a greater commitment. Like deciding she was throwing her lot with him for the rest of their lives, if he could stand her for that long.

The way he gazed at her suggested he was capable of that, and so much more.

So she had to do it. She just had to jump… and wait for gravity to claim her, or for her wings to burst from her back and help her take to the skies.

"I love you."

Sokka's eyes gleamed with emotion, reflected by the tears that were born in the corners of his eyes. He laughed softly, and Azula smiled warmly too, if tearfully: he kissed her sweetly, and her arms locked around his neck as she kept him close.

"Azula…" he managed to say, with a broken voice. Azula shook her head.

"It's okay. We'll… talk things over later," she said, caressing his cheek. "We'll decide whatever we need to decide, alright? For now, just… just live in the here and now. Just… just let me love you even if I barely know how, okay?"

"You know more than you realize you do," Sokka smiled warmly: the affection in his eyes caught her so off guard she nearly melted into his next kiss, into his warm, loving embrace…

Yes, there were many things for them to work through still. Yes, perhaps she'd regret having said those words once it sunk in that she had done it, whenever she lost her mind to anguish over not being good enough for him… but right now, everything felt just right. His kisses were as warm as sunlight, setting her inner flame afire with potent emotions she never knew she could experience.

Fire could be so deadly, so devastating. It could lay waste upon everything, just as Zirin had tried to… but it could be warm and gentle, too. It could embody passion… it could embody life. The dark shadows fire cast around itself were intricately connected with its light. The hand of the bender wielding it would determine the true purpose of flames: destruction or creation, hatred or love, life or death…

And right now, the fire in her heart burned with unequivocal devotion for the man whose brow pressed to hers, as they basked in their newfound peace. A part of Azula wickedly wished to ask if this was exactly what he had been missing with Suki… but she didn't dare mar a perfect moment of shared tenderness with any matters besides the two of them. All teasing could wait for later.

Though they would be forced to interrupt that crystallized moment of happiness rather quickly, too, once they heard footsteps approaching Sokka's room, as well as the quelled voices of Zuko and his physicians, who no doubt were informing him of Sokka's state.

"Uuuh…" Sokka grimaced: Azula flushed as she squirmed clumsily, awkwardly, out of Sokka's embrace.

"Lie down quietly there. Nothing happened here," she said, bashful, carefully moving so her leg wouldn't hurt.

"Right. Right. I'll… pretend I was asleep, yep. That's it," Sokka smiled, closing his eyes and relaxing.

Azula's heart raced as she took her seat: Zuko barged in moments later, without knocking.

"Still can't bother announcing yourself before entering any rooms?" Azula asked. Zuko grimaced, slowing down at first before stepping closer to Azula, sitting beside her.

"I guess I ought to work on that," he said. "How is he?"

"He's… asleep. As you can see," Azula said, trying not to show her bashfulness too overtly – while there was much they would need to work on and decide, one of such things was settling on whether to keep matters quiet a little longer or blatantly sharing the truth of what their relationship was with everyone around them… such as Zuko.

"Well… yeah. I can," Zuko sighed. "The physicians say he might… might have light marks left. Fortunately, the fire receded fast enough so it isn't as severe as, well… my face."

"It wasn't a third-degree burn," Azula concluded. Zuko nodded.

"Still… I don't feel like this is the right choice," Zuko said. Azula raised an eyebrow. "I mean… my physicians are the best the Fire Nation can offer. But is Fire Nation medicine going to be enough?"

"I have no idea. I hope so?" Azula said. Zuko sighed.

"I think we should get him to someone who could alleviate his pain much faster. Maybe even heal him enough so his skin isn't damaged forever," Zuko said. "Not even with light marks."

"Is that even possible?" Azula asked.

"Waterbending healing is impressive. You'll see," Zuko said, reassuringly.

"You're bringing a waterbender here?" Azula asked. "Or… do you want us to go to the Northern Water Tribe again?"

"I, uh… didn't mean for us to travel that far. A little less far, frankly," Zuko said, twiddling his thumbs awkwardly. Azula frowned.

"What?"

"There's… a really great waterbending healer who would gladly look after Sokka and make sure he's okay. And I think we should trust her to take good care of him. I know I do… though I'm not sure you do. Sokka would, though, I mean, she's… uh, well… his sister."

Azula had started to suspect what Zuko was getting at right before he arrived at his destination: her jaw dropped, and she inched away from him before blurting out the one answer she could give her brother's suggestion:

"Absolutely not."

"Azula, he's her brother. She'll kill us if we don't tell her he was in danger, if we don't take him to her…!"

"She'll kill you for harboring me at all, and then kill me for being, well, me! So as far as I can tell, the casualties will be minimal provided we just… avoid her. Forever."

Zuko snorted, slightly amused by the panic Katara elicited in Azula's heart. The Princess glared at her brother in displeasure, and he shook his head.

"I'll go too and make sure she understands that none of this is your fault. If anything… it's mine," Zuko said. Azula winced…

"As touching as it is to hear you admit that? I still don't want to go. Nope. Not a chance," Azula said, eyes wide.

"You might just like Air Temple Island…"

"What does that even matter?! I'm not going to jump right into their hands when they thought I'd kidnapped Sokka to begin with!"

"Well, I'll clear that up too! It'll be fine! Maybe we can call Toph too, I bet she'd help clear your name! Maybe she even told Aang and Katara that you're not a hazard to Sokka already…!"

"Right, and you think they believed her, if she did? You're as gullible as…"

"If you guys argued any louder, maybe you'd finally make sure that no one gets any rest around these parts, you know?"

Both Azula and Zuko froze up at Sokka's accusatory tone and deadpan glare – evidently, his attempt to pretend that he was sleeping had ended very quickly. Their apologetic grimaces brought a smirk to his face, and he shook his head at them.

"We can go to Air Temple Island. I'll handle Katara… and I'll make sure to have a loud argument with her just as you two are trying to fall asleep, too."

"Haha. You're hilarious," Zuko scoffed. Azula chuckled, shaking her head at Sokka's promise. "But then… once you're okay to travel? We'll… we'll get going. We'll get you some more healing, Sokka. You'll make a full recovery."

"As noisy as you may be… that's nice of you, buddy. Thanks," Sokka grinned.

Zuko didn't stay for much longer, busy as he was: Azula's nervousness over the next leg of their journey didn't diminish at all… but once Zuko was gone, she reached out to take Sokka's hand in hers: he smiled as he fell asleep holding it, and just by the sight of that gentle smile upon his face, Azula allowed herself to believe wistfully that everything would work out for the best…

They were gone. No light. No reflections. Nowhere for her to peer through and understand what had happened. The mirror was shattered, stained with her host's blood.

"You see? You hurt her! And you keep hurting her! Your meddling ruined her bonds with her allies, and you couldn't save her from another betrayal!"

Yue gritted her teeth, closing her eyes as she tried not to listen to the cackling cruelty of her captor. She didn't want to hear it. She didn't need to…

"Yue… Yue… Yue…"

A second voice. The one she heard at times, a familiar voice… it was kind, it was reaching out for her…

The dark restraints around her body tightened. She closed her eyes and hoped they'd hold. She needed them to hold. Otherwise…

"It won't be long now. It won't be long," her captor giggled with cruelty: she refused to look at him. She wouldn't meet his gaze. She had always refused… and he would never stop pushing her. "It won't be long before you're mine forever… once no one needs you anymore. Once you're well and truly gone from that world. Once every memory of your existence vanishes…

"Once they forget you. The Princess, the warrior… they will give their hearts to each other, and you will be forgotten for good."

A tear escaped Yue's cheeks: she might never be free again… but so long as they were, she would endure this nightmare and face the dark fate that swirled closer and closer around her, threatening to fulfill the dark promise of Oblivion.

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alphabetsoupforamidnightsnack · 26 days

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I kinda have no other place to share this, so allow me to rant, and feel free to respond; either to this or w stories of your own maybe.

I just started going to therapy again after years of taking a break. I used to struggle with many things in the past, which I learned a great deal on how to cope with.

Now I am doing way better in life, I am responsible when it comes to my happiness and health. Which I think is a grand accomplishment.

But there are parts of me that no matter how much I apply these coping mechanisms to, they don’t get better. I lost my ability to trust people, I cannot form relationships like I used to be able to; romantic or platonic. I always feel like I am decieving people when they like me, and that once they discover who I truly am that I will lose it all.

So I started theraphy again, for those reasons, and I felt as though my therapist tried to instigate and reopen the old wounds again in order to be convinced that I had them. The ones I already put a lot of effort in learning how to mend.

It is so frustrating for your effort and pain to be questioned because you are in a better place now.

She didn’t even try to understand that I was struggling with relationships because I have been very risk avoidant: didnt go on dates, didn’t develop expectations of people so that I would never took it personally when they forgot about me.

When she said: “what are the examples of why you feel that way?” I didn’t have a lot of recent examples, because I removed myself from those kind of close relationships. And when she asked “why is it important for you?” I could calmly respond because I have been meditating on it for a long time, and had convinced myself to be momentarily careless about them so I could enjoy my life more.

She was skeptical of my long term circumstances and uninterested in helping me unpack them. I think because I was doing well. And without any of the evidence I could provide that could convince her, she told me to seek other avenues to solve this.

I also, couldn’t convince her that I already did, and that they told me to seek psychological help.

I wish I could believe that something wasn’t intrinsically wrong with me, but putting in so much effort in to find help, and being turned away from every door I knock on is really making it hard to hold onto my hard earned optimism.

We haven’t been seeing each other for that long with my therapist. But every time we meet again, for a week I struggle to find my footing again. I have been spiraling pretty bad. And none of this has been helpful for any breakthrough or anything.

I think I am going to stop seeing her.

I don’t know what to next. I think I will try to pick the pieces of my previous better-mood and coping mechanisms. But first, I need to figure out, or give myself time to get out of spiraling.

I felt like there’s no other place I can share this on, since a lot of real life friends follow me on everywhere else. I apologize for writing so much. I wanted to talk about it.

#personal rant #therapy #sorry for the rant #mental health

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r3dblccd · 5 months

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GETTING TO KNOW YOU !

respond to the following prompts. include as much or as little as you want; you don't have to answer them all !

tagged by: @rainyearning

tagging: @luneblush, @moonpierces, @formorethananame, @weedzkiller, @dozenrozez, @wcvensouls, @honeycoded, @cherridream, @caelcstis, @blondiexbiites

name / alias. Rose

birthday. 12 February

zodiac sign. Aquarius

height. 150 cm (as mentioned sometimes before, I bite ankles)

hobbies. Listening to music, reading, writing, drawing, journaling, dancing, biting ankles, having existential crisis

favorite color. Red

favorite book. It's so hard to pick though! I'd say maybe the Rat trilogy by Haruki Murakami

last show. I honestly don't remember. I think it was the short series Choco Milk Shake. Idk what I'm gonna watch next, there are so many I still have to catch up on like WWDITS, My Beautiful Man, Our Flag Mean Death, Good Omens, Yellowjackets, Alice in Borderland, and now Sweet Home season 2.

sources of inspiration. I draw inspiration and ideas from various sources, be it movies, tv series, books, webtoons, video games, music, what have you.

story behind url. It's taken from the bridge of Enhypen's Given-Taken. Most of you all probably probably already know, but I just love vampires and everything magical and supernatural and wonderful and terrifying. And it just made sense with the majority of the muses that I have for the url to be this.

recent read. I moved this here for last so you can skip reading me ramble if you want. (I tell you, it's long, don't say I didn't warn you)

There have been so many things I've read in the past few months for my classic literature discipline in uni, mainly classic Greek literature and theatre, we've only recently dived in early roman literature and works from the Western European Middle Ages, our professor is kicking our asses off, but honestly these are one of my favourite classes out of the whole semester. But anyway, I actually just now finished reading The Romance of Tristan and Iseult by Joseph Bedier. Not bad, I must say. It has never been really my cup of tea to read romance stories, but at least it was much more interesting to read that than to read The Golden Ass (that one wasn't bad either, if we overlook some parts of it, yeah, I admit, but it was so unnecessary long in my opinion, I was literally falling asleep while reading it). If I had to pick which of the works I've read so far is my favourite, I'd have to say I really liked the tragedy Medea by Euripides (our professor once told us a story how she watched it being played out for the only time at the theatre in the city that we call our cultural center and how suddenly it started to rain and there was a thunder during the monologue of Medea and how it felt like nature was out there for the heroine and as if it was listening to her and answering her word, and the actress just kept playing her role in the water and when she was done, the rain suddenly stopped as if on cue and the sky was suddenly as clear as day again, and damn, I wish I was there to see it myself, I don't even care if I got drenched, I got chills just listening to that story. That was basically a once in a lifetime experience. But ANYWAY! The story itself is great, I really loved it.) and I also liked the comedy Frogs by Aristophanes, despite the message that the author was trying to convey at that time period.

As for my free time, I'm still reading The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and I'm pretty close to finishing the second book from the whole series (The Restaurant at The End of The Universe), probably in a week or two I'll start the third book Life, the Universe and Everything. And I really love it so far. There so many funny and straight up absurd moment in the story and I love the group of main characters in it. My heart goes out to the robot Marvin, idk if I will see you again in the following books, Marvin, but you're a big mood, I feel you.

As for my annual update on Webtoons I am reading! Right now I'm reading Everything Is Fine, Homesick, Never-Ending Darling, Omniscient Reader, My S-Class Hunter, ZOMGAN, There Are No Demons (the art style for this series is very uncanny valley but in a cool way, I love it), Nocturne, The Guy Upstairs, Lore Olympus and Zombie X Slasher (and interesting way to take the zombie genre and create a story, I must say, I don't think I've seen anyone do this before, I look forward to what the author can offer). And I recently finished Surivival Diary, Dark Moon: The Blood Altar, The Star Seekers, Crimson Heart and soon I'll be finishing Dark Moon: The Grey City Too.

And a webtoon I recently finished too was Survival Romance and I just gotta give a shoutout to it. That webtoon took me completely by surprise. It wasn't the cute art style that made it unique, there are many stories that look cute on the outside that hide something dark and sinister underneath (like Everything Is Fine, for example). I knew this webtoon is horror, so at first I expected maybe one of the characters would be a yandere or something like that and the MC would be trying to escape that. And yes, there is one side character that could be considered obsessive in a way in parts of the webtoon, but the story wasn't about that at all. The author just took the romance and horror genres and turned them on their heads. The whole story isn't all that much about romance at all, actually, it's about forming friendships and bonds with people and having the will to keep pushing forward despite all the struggles you might be going through. The plot twists were SO GOOD, even though some could have been quite easy to predict. I also loved that the author put some meta and breaking the forth wall moments (Doki Doki Literature Club style is the closest association I could think of for this webtoon, kind of) and by the end all the characters [REDACTED, NO SPOILERS, GO READ IT YOURSELF IF YOU'RE CURIOUS]. The message is also very nice, the closing words in the epilogue honestly hit quite close to home and made me bawl my eyes out. The story also has zombies in a quite a unique way in my opinion. So if like dark stories with twists and turns and a meaningful message, and if in any way I piqued you're interest, go and check it out. I'm sure you won't be left disappointed. I could honestly write way more about this webtoon, but I already wrote a lot, so I'm gonna stop here.

#misc; dash games #misc; ooc #//i always end up rambling when I get to the 'recent read' part of those dash games lmao

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