#i just want zuko to fall in love with hakoda and for hakoda to gently reject him | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

autisticzukka · 3 years

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what is this hakoda zuko arranged marriage you speak of? i am intrigued

okay so the long story short is that it’s a slight rebuttal of a popular post that is very fun but i find like... unrealistic in a really intriguing way like, how would this ACTUALLY play out. I’ve talked about it at length in my server a few times, and it’s one of those AU’s -- like the genderbend zukka ATLA rewrite or the zukki fic that starts with sokka failing to assassinate zuko -- that lives rent free in my head and I’ve written a couple thousand words for.

tw for like VERY unrequited zuko in love with hakoda and the inherent comedy of sokka being in love with his fire nation stepmom.

so here’s hakoda, chief of the southern water tribe, happily not-married to Bato. and here is a more balanced war, where the north and the south are actually allies, rather than whatever the fuck they were in ATLA. Yue already has a fiance and the Northern chief refuses to remarry. that leaves hakoda responsible for biting the bullet and doing a political marriage even though, as he points out at length, he is an elected official and if he stops being elected it’s no longer a marriage with the chief of the south pole. intelligently but mostly selfishly motivated (yue’s fiance is his nephew, after all) pakku points out that its not like the fire nation knows... that. the fire nation is dumb. ozai’s stupid.

faced with such inarguable points hakoda stiffens his upper lip, pre-emptively ends things with bato on the understanding that if this is another kya situation they’ll get back together and that he’s still the most important person to him but the tribe comes first yada yada, and deals with katara throwing the mother of all tantrums. it is slightly softened by the fact that in return for him marrying the fire nation noble, a thing everyone can agree isn’t traditional, the north has finally agreed to train katara. she heads out before the wedding, in protest but also so as to not cause an international incident.

(on her way, she’ll find aang. with the war less dire, katara will be sympathetic towards his desire to live without committing violence, even if she deeply can’t relate. they’ll have a hot girl romcom summer of self discovery and coming to terms with the dichotomy between duty and love as they become master benders. at some point they pick up toph. they ARE a throuple.)

sokka meanwhile is like.. not cool with it.. but ? kind of relieved? like. he’s the eldest kid. he’s 18, and he’s been a man of the tribe as far as legalities for several years. it would have been entirely understandable if his dad had asked HIM to do it. he had his emotionally crushing romance with yue, and as much as he was like ‘im kind of a prince’, he finds he doesn’t actually want some of the responsibilities and demands that would bring. yue’s life sucks.

back in the fire nation, zuko never demanded a quest and never went on it. he’s spent years hardening into something that, while brittle, can survive the pressures of the court around him. he still has his scar. he still wants his father to love him, but he knows by now that it’s not something he’s capable of earning. he watches his sister, never the most stable person, start to have complete breakdowns of sanity once she hits puberty, and helps her cover for it and receive medical treatment on the down low. he’s the heir, but he lives knowing that if he was ever in a position to inherit his choices are to abdicate or have the baby sister who he raised kill him and destroy herself and the country in the process.

when he realizes the plan is to marry azula off rather than someone more reasonable-- mai is RIGHT there, for fucks sake-- he doesn’t realize ozai’s true intent is to fuck this up through malicious compliance and false shows of good faith. he panics, and does the zuko thing: he blurts out that this is unacceptable and immoral and she’s only 16 and Ozai sees the true opportunity for two birds with one stone. send zuko, let him piss someone off so badly he gets killed or divorced, and he gets rid of zuko from the line of succession permanently. there are those who are incredibly attached to teh idea of a firstborn for firelord, and it’s been a constant thorn in unpopular ozai’s side to nto be able to name azula his heir apparent without costly rebellion. but if he can taint him in the mind of the fire nation so much that birthright is easy to supercede-- yeah. this’ll work PERFECTLY.

so zuko is sent to marry hakoda, chief of the water tribe.

literally NO ONE was expecting it to be a member of Ozai’s immediate family. besides the fact that his oldest child is half hakoda’s age and his brother has 20 years on hakoda, it would have been sus as fuck - the treaty is not favorable enough to grant that kind of secession of interests. it becomes quickly apparent that this young man -- hakoda reminds himself of that repeatedly. not kid. not kid. young man. don’t think of him like a kid, it’s hard enough on both of us already. -- is not a horrible threat. he’s scared shitless and shakes with what he thinks is bravado. he’s desperate to make the marriage work. he’s desperate to not go home. he’s got a giant fucking scar on his face from where the fire lord punished him for some grievous but unstated offense.

zuko “daddy issues” fire nation sees his husband to be and, despite being scared shitless, immediately begins to soften a little. like... he’s not nearly as scary as he thought he’d be. his face can be stern, but it just as easily breaks into huge smiles, and his eyes are crinkled with laughter. he’s incredibly handsome. and his biceps are. his biceps. are. his hands are...

like. zuko thinks. okay. maybe. maybe his marriage duties. won’t be so horrible as he thought. maybe he’s ready for this. and he knows what to expect, Uncle had discreetly provided him the means and the contacts to acquire an intimate education in the whirlwind of activity that was the two months before leaving. and like, once he’d gotten past the nerves, it was often even... good? or at least... not bad? he thinks that even if hakoda isn’t a professional expert, he has a certain.... je ne sais quoi, if you will.

((DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF))

sokka sees his new stepfather and immediately falls in love because he’s that kind of dumb bitch. (the core of this au is that i cant breathe thinking about sokka falling in love with his hot young stepmom his age who his dad doesnt even want to fuck. like. i CANT. sokka masturbates to ‘hand caught in the washing tub’ fantasies which are even more absurd for requiring zuko to be DOING LAUNDRY. i find it so funny.)

bato watches them at the wedding feast while hakoda is very clearly trying to treat zuko as an Equal Adult Partner and mostly managing to seem like someone having a serious conversation with a seven year old about the game they’ve made up. zuko is clearly enamored with it, soaking up the attention, blushing and doing his best to Bravely Flirt, which at one point includes awkwardly attempting to feed Hakoda by hand. bato has to excuse himself to have a teary eyed giggle, hoping that Kya is in the spirit world looking down and laughing with him. he can’t resent the kid even a little bit, when hakoda is sitting there looking so incredibly fucking befuddled as to what he’s supposed to do with this star struck infant he’s legally wed to

anyways all of this... is very funny. their wedding night... is less so. zuko does not take the rejection from hakoda very well, especially because he’d been caught wanting. HE’S the one who should be rejecting hakoda. and he catastrophizes almost immediately about his potential value to the water tribe, his future treatment, that endless inescapable freezing cold loneliness is the good ending for him here... hakoda, meanwhile, drops zuko off at his home, reassuringly informs him that there’s NOTHING else expected of him and he will be well taken care of, and books it to bato’s. bato refuses to let him in on grounds of ‘you can’t sleep under the same shelter as me on your wedding night to that kid, have a fucking brain’, and he ends up crashing at sokka’s.

sokka, who had KNOWN that his dad wouldnt, but also upon seeing zuko and zuko’s awkward flirting was like... but how COULDNT he???? sokka is relieved.

the core of this fic is that i find it endlessly hilarious for zuko to try and seduce his husband while sokka simps around zuko and bato tries to be heartbroken or betrayed but mostly ends up with a giant case of hysterical schadenfreude. but the thing that CLINCHED it for me, like THE scene. several years after being married, settled into their life. they’re partners and they see each other as people. and zuko just fucking snaps one night

he just kisses him, desperate and clawing and climbing and maybe a little drunk. he knows hakoda is going to push him away, maybe even hit him, but he doesn’t care anymore, he doesn’t care. he can do anything he wants to him as long as he just-- finally does something. zuko is 21 and married to the surface of the sun and the surface of the sun jr is his best friend and clearly in love with him-- so clearly not even zuko can miss it-- and like. listen. listen. zuko is not a patient person. but he’s been patient for this. he waited and he matured and he is a fucking amazing husband and he wants this, he wants him. he wants to be wanted.

but hakoda doesn’t push him away. hakoda doesnt yell at him, or hit him. hakoda gentles the kiss into something soft and closed lipped. he pulls away slowly, and his eyes are so sad for zuko, so pitying. he strokes his cheek with the back of his hand so gently. he says, I’m sorry. I don’t want you.

and zuko daddy issues fire nation swallows

and he nods

and he leaves, even though its his own fucking house

and he knows he’s never going to be good enough

like FUUUCK i am OBSESSED WITH THAT

#long post #lmao i am NOT fucking main tagging this #op #asked and answered #i just want zuko to fall in love with hakoda and for hakoda to gently reject him #noncommittalhum

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chitsangenthusiast · 3 years

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ive always seen a zuko oh moment, but can you give me some examples of sokkas oh moment? 💞

i love so much that you asked this bc imo sokka would have several oh moments throughout their relationship 🧡

it happens when sokka finally realizes why he's so worried about gran-gran liking zuko.

he's right in the middle of confiding to his dad, trying to both-sides the situation because "i understand if she wouldn't. i don't think i would either if it hadn't been for going with aang and actually getting to know what he's like—but, dad, i just feel like he's similar to katara enough that she could come to like him, right? i mean, gran would appreciate how straightforward he is—he's so determined too, she'd love that, and i have gran's humor so he'd definitely find her funny and would totally put up with her picking on him, and—"

i want to see him spend time with my family. i want to see his first time trying gran's signature dish with freshly-caught sea prunes. i want to see what his smile looks like when it's snowing.

and i just want to see him.

and i really want him to visit more often.

"and—" sokka feels a little faint as the weight of this revelation makes its home into his heart. "and—oh."

"i do like him, you know," hakoda says, carefully casual when sokka stays quiet for a beat too long. they had been looking at each other when it happened, and so he got to watch the way his son's eyes widened with a new sparkling wonder before sliding to the ground in a daze—and how his face suddenly flushed, probably in embarrassment and possibly even wary excitement.

hakoda doesn't try to catch his eye, but he does make sure his voice is strong enough to break through the obviously raging whirlwind of sokka's mind. "and i have a feeling your gran will too, son."

(she does. because sokka's right, it is incredibly fun to pick on zuko.)

—

the thing is, it never really occurred to sokka that these kind of revelations don't always have to be big occasions reserved for special things—like realizing you like someone, or realizing you want to marry them. sometimes, those little oh moments can just be sweet reminders of how much you love someone, which means he's somehow always caught by surprise every time the next one happens.

(some of those little moments do feel pretty monumental to him though.)

—

he's not expecting the second time to happen so quickly—or at all—but zuko apparently thought he was impervious to the cold or something and his clothes aren't as heavy as they should be. katara ends up giving him one of sokka's old coats ("stop pouting you didn't even make this one!") and—

zuko has a tendency to put his hood down and forget to put it back up, despite how cold it is outside, and eventually sokka just starts fixing the hood himself before tucking any loose strands back behind his ears, so that zuko doesn't have to keep batting any flyaways out of his face.

they make eye contact once, after the fifth time, and for some reason it startles sokka enough that he feels he needs to explain.

"uhm—" oh. zuko looks nice in sokka's old furs. his smile is also nice. "sorry—ears. don't wanna lose them, you know."

zuko just rolls his eyes, and lets him keep going it for the rest of the trip.

—

when they get together, sokka didn't think zuko would be big on pda—but apparently it turns out he's the pda king. he has no problem with draping his arm over the back of the couch to give sokka the opportunity to lay his head on his shoulder, or to give sokka a quick kiss before heading off to his next meeting, regardless of who's around. sokka's pretty sure zuko doesn't even think before he does it, and that it's somehow just a natural thing for him to do, except sokka isn't really used to being treated like this, and it takes him awhile to get accustomed to it.

until one visit, when his afternoon is free but zuko's isn't, so he chooses to go laze by the turtleduck pond to work on an upcoming lecture (read: nap).

zuko's stomps are more like little thumps as he stalks over the grass, but all sokka needs is one whiff of that crackling frustration to know it's time to open his eyes.

"was it minister chen?" he asks. things have improved over the years, but that doesn't mean that politics have stopped being politics.

"it's always minister chen," and sokka figures it's good this courtyard is private because zuko never has any issues with being loud when he's annoyed.

"figures. so are you here to hold a turtled—"

sokka doesn't get to finish his question before he's being semi-gently pushed forward and away from the tree trunk he was leaning against, before zuko swiftly shoves himself into the scant space to sit behind him.

there's barely any room for him, and sokka doesn't have to go far to lean back against his chest as zuko wraps his arms around his waist—it happens instinctively, sokka realizes. he had moved to be held without a second thought, and the thought makes him drop his head back onto zuko's shoulder in quiet surprise.

"no, wanted to hold you," zuko grumbles heatedly, but the kiss he drops onto sokka's cheek is incredibly soft. he then peers down at the papers still in sokka's loosened grip, and snorts. "are you working on the ba sing se university presentation? i didn't realize you had already gotten the data or whatever from that project. what'd you find?"

and oh. oh, sokka realizes that he's never going to be able to let zuko go.

—

zuko doesn't get a betrothal necklace right away, partly bc he's the one who proposed first, and partly because it's not really a prominent swt custom again just yet.

(sokka instead gifts him a handmade hunting knife to replace the one he lost on their last camping trip, bc thoughtful practicality is what he grew up with, and seeing zuko's obvious excitement over it is all sokka needed to send him into full-on wedding planning mode.)

instead, zuko gets a necklace for their first anniversary after the idea of it grew on sokka, and—oh, the first sight of his husband wearing the necklace sends him falling in love all over again <3

#lol i do my lil zukka brainrot dancey dance~#this got long and needed a cut bc ofc it did. it's me uwu #also for what it's worth i also 100% imagine ambre's art where zuko laughs and sokka's starstruck by it as a perfect sokka /oh/ moment!!#thank you for the ask anon <33 #only lightly edited so i hope that's ok and that it's enough to have answered your thought!!#(sorry for answering this so late my brain went kaput yesterday+i couldn't properly write my thots until i got more sleep lol)#ask #anon #zukka #zuko #sokka #own post #my writing

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passable-talent · 4 years

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Hello! I am so sorry to request zuko, I know you've had a lot of him but could you do a fic where zuko and the reader meet in the tea shop when they get a job there and they grow really close and start to fall for eachother but the reader ends up joining team avatar just as zuko teams up with azula and the reader is angry and confused with him and doesn't know how to feel when zuko shows up to join the gaang after all they heard about him and Mai and him betraying them and iroh in ba sing se

ADGDVABAG DONT BE SORRY TO REQUEST HIM I LOVE HIM

also I really love the days of Lee just after Zuko’s illness, I wish we could’ve seen more of that side of him. When he was just happy and had so much of his heart to give, before Azula came back and ruined it :/

roe, about five hundred words down and not even halfway through the request: I guess I’m staying up late tonight

After hearing your friends raving of a new tea shop in the upper ring, you agreed to a trip there. You were so damn busy with your schooling, you were training to be in the Dai Li after all, but you could afford to take an afternoon off to sit with some old friends.

You were never much of one to take part in conversation, merely sitting back to listen. You had sat in the chair closest to the wall, leaning back with your feet propped up on someone else’s chair as you sipped tea and listened, eyes drifting all around the shop. The owner and waiter seemed very nice, and the tea was delicious, though the scar of the young waiter interested you. You knew very little about the fire nation, but you did know that an attack by a firebender on an earth kingdom citizen would not be tolerated. Even a fire nation citizen was not above the law of the Earth King!

After that evening, you decided to learn a bit more about the staff of the Jasmine Dragon. You became a regular customer, bringing your texts up to the shop, and sipping tea while you studied. You learned the name of the waiter, Lee, and that the owner was his uncle, called Mushi. They were kind, and soon enough Lee could recite your order before you could even ask it. Your friendship began slowly- from his small smile when you walked in the door, to inviting him to sit with you when he had a moment to rest.

One night, Mushi dropped a tea pot and made a noise of distress when it shattered. You left your textbooks on your table and went to help clean it up, feeling as though it was the right thing to do, especially since the shop was packed and Lee had other things he could be doing.

“I’ll fix it for you, if you like,” you told Mushi, “I’m an earth bender. But it won’t look the same, though.” Mushi gave you a bright smile, insisting that you didn’t need put the effort in, but you gathered your schoolbag and dumped the pieces into it anyway.

That night, you stayed up a bit too late with the candlelight and reassembled the pot. It was a slow process, and just as you expected, the cracks were still visible. The earthbending, you suspected, reshuffled the porcelain back into the clay it was original formed from, and so the pot didn’t look nearly as nice. But it did hold water, and stood up to heat, and Wushi thanked you profusely when you gave it back to him the next day.

A week or so passed, and Mushi invited you to stay past the hours of the shop to have tea with him and his nephew personally. You accepted, eager to talk with them, and learn more about them. Mushi spoke of Lee, and how proud he was of ‘the man Lee was becoming’, and was happy to listen to your discussion of your schoolwork. It seemed, though, that he had an ulterior motive, as before the night was up he offered you a job.

“I’ve got the money to pay you a small salary,” he said, “and Lee could use the help, since we’re getting so popular.” You accepted, gratefully, and started work after your morning lecture, helping with the lunch rush.

It happened so fast, that you could barely process it all.

You friendship with Lee grew until the two of you would flick water at each other while wiping down tables. You would take your breaks together, throw up your feet in a back room, and complain about one unruly customer or another. You’d tell him stories about your training, and he’d tell you stories about his travels with his uncle before coming to Ba Sing Se. Your favorite moments were when Mushi would shove Lee and you out the door, insisting that he could close up shop alone, and that the two of you should get some fresh air.

You shouldn’t say that you fell in love with him, but the spring months of 100 AG were lovely.

Everything changed one afternoon when you came into work and found it empty. You were worried, and dared to wander up and into Mushi’s apartment, finding it empty as well. Just as you were about to leave you ran into Mushi, who asked your help, explaining that he needed to hurry, and he’d give you information along the way. You agreed, and somehow, ended up at the house of the avatar.

The day went so fast, so ridiculously fast, as you bonded with Toph and Sokka, and grew more and more worried for the fate of Lee- or was it Zuko? This whole time, you’d been flicking water at the banished Fire Prince? You’d been taking dating advice from General Iroh, the Dragon of the West?

It was a lot to take in. Even more to take in was the treachery of the organization you were readying to join, and suddenly you couldn’t do it, you couldn’t stay in Ba Sing Se knowing everything that had been hidden from you. So you vowed, at first, to join Iroh and Zuko on their journies away from Ba Sing Se and the fire nation.

Then Zuko betrayed Iroh.

It was something you never could have predicted. This boy, who gently tended to a wound on your arm when you’d brushed against a scalding teapot, who’d held your hand on walks around the upper ring, who’d laughed with his uncle and smiled and had seemed so undeniably good-

This boy had betrayed Iroh and condemned him to prison.

You were angry and hurt, because not only had be betrayed Iroh, but he’d betrayed you. His masquerade, you could forgive, as he was a banished prince, after all. But he sided with the Dai Li, who’d lied to you, and attacked the avatar who’d come to rescue him, and nearly turned his bending on you upon the instruction of his sister.

You were so angry.

So you left with Katara. You helped her escape and reunite with the others, allowing you and Toph to navigate the five of you to safety.

You assisted them as best you could through the spring and summer. You learned stronger forms of earthbending from Toph alongside Aang, and offered your input on his training as well. You helped fight Combustion Man. You fought beside Hakoda on the Day of Black Sun- even facing down firebenders with heartfelt ferocity, remembering how it had felt the first time firebending was turned to you, back in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se. As months passed, more and more anger settled in the pit of your stomach, even as Aang told you to let it go, but he didn’t much help as he told you all the things that Zuko had done before you met him.

None of it made sense. Not to you. It felt like two different people- the boy who laughed with you, and the boy who turned against you.

It made even less sense when Zuko reappeared.

You’d like to say that when you saw him, all you felt was rage, but that wasn’t true. You were happy to see him again, because the lightness of his tone, forced as it may have been, reminded you of the Lee you’d known. But anger corrupted even those feelings as you stalked forward, interrupting his words, watching his expression as he recognized you.

“Y/N?” He asked, surprised.

“Yeah,” you said, and then you raised your hand. You wanted to smack him, but you realized you’d raised your right hand, and if you dealt the blow, you’d hit his scar.

And that felt cruel.

So you exhaled your anger and turned from him, letting your eyes slide to Katara, and then Aang.

“You guys decide this. I’ll have no part in it.”

And you left his sight.

have this meme because that was a really angsty ending

-🦌 Roe

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crashingmeteorz · 4 years

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For the ship thing? Kataang with 9?

things you said when i was crying

“You don’t talk about him much.”

Aang looks up from the letter he’s been reading. Katara is watching him across the fire, tired smile reaching all the way to her crinkled eyes. Aang looks down to his letter and back at her.

“Who, Zuko?” Aang asks her in confusion. “I talk about Zuko all the time, he’s my best friend! I mean, besides you, and Sokka, and Toph, oh, can’t forget Appa-“

“I meant Gyatso,” she says gently, moving around the fire so that they’re shoulder to shoulder. They’re 19 and 21, and Aang’s been thinking about asking her to marry him, but this United Republic project is beginning to look like it might take a few years at least. He wants to be able to devote the time a marriage deserves.

“Don’t I?” and even as he says it it feels like a lie. Sometimes letting go of his hurt feels less like appropriate closure and more like a weight on his chest he can’t remove.

Katara rests her head on his shoulder, places the Firelord’s letter in the pile with the others, and entwines their fingers. He’s only visiting the south for a few weeks, a brief reprieve from city planning. But even with their limited time together, Hakoda and Katara’s work towards rebuilding the Southern Water Tribe blows Aang away. Their small village has tripled in size, and trade has expanded considerably. That’s all they’ve been talking about really - the south, and the republic, and their friends, and the world. He’s not sure why Gyatso’s on her mind.

Katara reaches out to trace Aang’s necklace with her other hand, fingers finding the dips and crevices of the wood. Aang covers the hand there with his own.

“You’ve been wearing your necklace more and more lately,” Katara says as though having read his mind, holding the pendant in her hand, and it feels like she’s holding his heart. “You reach for it a lot. I don’t even know if you notice, but...I do.”

He sits up a little, dipping so that he can rest his chin on her head. He hadn’t really noticed when he started wearing the beads, only that it felt wrong to take them off somehow.

“You just let all your grief and your anger go,” Katara whispers, “you forfeited your right to feel those things in order to save the world.”

“No,” he whispers back, “I didn’t.”

Every day he’s haunted by the memories of what he almost did, what he did do. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night and sees the corpses of a dozen sandbenders littering his room, and he has to rub his eyes until it hurts to force the image away.

Katara anchors him, does not attempt to force conversation as Aang blinks away tears. His chest heaves with wracking sobs but no sound comes out. Katara takes deep, soothing breaths, and soon Aang is matching her rhythm, tears still falling in a steady stream but no longer uncontrollable.

“I don’t know what to say,” Aang admits wetly. “It doesn’t feel like anything would ever be enough.”

“My mother did my hair this way,” Katara says after a few minutes of silence, pointing to her hair loopies. “It’s why I don’t change the style. It’s a part of her, like my necklace.”

Aang is quiet for a moment longer, and Katara prepares to accept that maybe this is all he’ll give, for tonight. Then-

“Sometimes I go to the Southern Air Temple alone. Just to feel closer to him,” Aang murmurs. “It’s silly, the monks always taught us that we are more than our statues and temples, that we are air itself. But seeing him...it’s easier, somehow. Or maybe it’s harder.”

Katara nestles in closer to him, the wind whipping around their home seemingly far away as the fire warms their cold feet. Aang starts slowly, his memories first a draft between them, and then as he speaks, more and more impassioned, gesturing wildly about, they become a turbulent storm of joyful recollections.

Safe in the eye of it, Katara closes her eyes and listens.

@leowomaster thank you so much for the ask! i hope this is okay, i’m still figuring out characterization, but i’m pretty happy with how this turned out. i love kataang so this was really fun.

#ask me stuff!#aang #katara #kya #gyatso #kataang #air nomads #atla #avatar the last airbender #fanfiction #my stuff #my fanfic

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zenithpng · 3 years

Text

TRUST FALL “Do you trust me?” | taken hostage | pushed

[It’s not that Sokka’s shy about his tics. Unless someone needs silence or there’s an inappropriate word thrown in, he sees no reason to stifle himself. He can’t control them after all, and it’s not like he’s doing anything wrong.

But this was supposed to be a good day, undisturbed by anything that came out of his mouth or happened with his body.

Luckily, Zuko is there to help bear the load, and, strangely enough, so is Azula.]

Read more under the cut, AO3 link ->HERE<-

Sokka loves shopping. No doubt about it. There’s just something about the bustle, the running back and forth, the decisions and the excitement of getting something new that never fails to put a smile on his face. So when Zuko grumbles that he needs to go shopping for some spring and summer clothes, Sokka immediately offers to go with him, having been needing to do the same thing anyway.

They set a date and a time, plan which stores they’re going to so Zuko knows what to anticipate, even coordinate their outfits, for Tui and La’s sake. (Okay, the last one is all Sokka’s idea, but there’s nothing wrong with being well-dressed with your friend and Zuko humours him gladly.)

But there’s something. There’s always something.

This something comes under the name of midterms.

The end of March is always horrendous, and really, Sokka should have known better than to plan something smack in between all the stress. But it’s fine , it’s really fine. He can take a day off from the calculus study guides (spirits, why did he have to take that in the tenth grade) and the engineering workshops because this is Zuko he’s meeting up with!

He likes Zuko, loves Zuko. If anything, this is the absolute best way to relieve his stress.

And so he’s outside the mall at one in the afternoon, foot tapping as he waits for Zuko. Soon he sees the familiar figure strolling up, giving a little wave and a shy smile.

And it’s normal to just not want to tear your eyes away from your friend that just happens to be very pretty, right?

Because Zuko is, in fact, very pretty. Straight black jeans, a red button up with - hang on, are those dragons? - left half-open over a white binder that looks like a regular tank top to anyone who doesn’t know, hair up in a ponytail with loose strands falling out and framing his face.

And Sokka could keep going. Could talk about the belt chain with sun and moon charms, could talk about the matte black on Zuko’s fingernails, could talk about the theatre mask necklace he’s wearing. Because there’s just so much and Zuko- Zuko looks so nice.

God, Sokka must be grinning like a fool by the time Zuko’s finally within arms reach, and he immediately pulls the taller boy into a hug. Zuko lets out a breathy laugh, returning the embrace.

“Someone’s excited to see me.” Sokka shakes his head, the smile never leaving his face.

“Nope, just for the shopping,” he jokes. “Race you the rest of the way, onetwothreego!” And he takes off, dashing towards the front of the mall, laughing when he hears a yell of “Sokka-a!” from behind him.

By the time he stops, Zuko is right behind him, both boys breathing hard and shoving at each other.

“You’re terrible,” Zuko grumbles. “You know I can’t keep up with you.”

“Sounds like a you problem,” Sokka says, spinning on his heel and marching into the entrance, looking over his shoulder to make sure Zuko’s following, not that he really doubted it anyway.

*****

They’re only two stores into their browsing when Sokka snaps his fingers, slapping the nearest clothes rack. He hisses, having hit a sharp corner, and shakes his hand out. Zuko peers over from the other side, expression tinged with the slightest bit of worry.

“Everything okay?” he asks. Sokka nods, wincing.

“Gotta be careful where I hit, I guess.” And Zuko just nods, going back to his searching.

That’s the nice thing about being with Zuko. He never presses like Katara does, or answers to tics like Aang. Unless Sokka somehow manages to hurt himself or is visibly upset, he leaves things alone. It’s refreshing, being around someone that doesn’t pay any more attention to his tics than the laces on his shoes.

Sokka slides over yet another shirt when he sees one Zuko might like. It’s black with red seams and fire embroidered at the bottom and on the sleeves. He calls Zuko around to take a look.

And that’s when everything starts going wrong.

As Zuko’s stepping around the rack, Sokka’s knees buckle, hitting against the carpeted floor painfully as he fails to catch himself on anything. Zuko’s eyes go a bit wider, and he’s on the floor in a split second right beside him.

“Was that a tic?” he asks, taking Sokka’s hands to help him back up. The younger grimaces as his legs straighten painfully and he nods.

“I think so,” Sokka says. “Never happened before.”

“And you’re sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Probably just a one time thing.”

And Zuko nods, looking over the shirt he’s handed, dropping the subject.

*****

It’s not a one time thing.

Sokka’s knees keep hitting the floor or coming close, Zuko lunging to try and catch him or at least slow his fall each time. And it seems like each time there are more tics in between the drops, and they’re coming more frequently and his eyes are burning and-

Great, he’s crying. He’s sitting on the floor of an JCPenny, crying and unable to stem the flow of sounds and words and, oh, gods, he just hit Zuko, Spirits-

Zuko’s trying to get him to breathe, looking like he’s on the verge of tears himself.

"Hey, hey," he tries, ignoring any weird stares they're getting. Sokka's hand flies up to hit at his own head, and Zuko brings it right back down, not restraining but simply letting his own hands be an obstacle. "I'm gonna- I'm gonna call my uncle, or your dad? If that's better?"

And Sokka tries to answer, he really does, but between his gasping breaths and the words and trills it's just impossible and he feels so useless-

But Zuko- Zuko is a godsend because he just pulls him in close, hushing him gently, one hand carding through his loose hair.

"I'm gonna call my uncle," he says, "And then if it's okay with you, I'll use your phone to call your dad." Sokka nods, biting his lips to stifle a bubbling-up tic. Vaguely, he feels Zuko shuffling around, hears him talking to Iroh and then his dad, but it's all far away.

Quiet noises still fall from his lips, but he's too exhausted for all his physical tics, and it's the worst feeling ever. His brain is screaming for him to jerk his head, to hit the floor, something, but his body feels like it weighs ten thousand pounds and he just can't. Zuko's hand trailing up and down his back provides some comfort, but it's still just so terrible and he hates it so much.

"Think you can stand?" Zuko asks softly. And Sokka knows good and well that the answer is no, but he nods anyway, only to come crashing back down, stopped only by Zuko's quick reflexes. Sokka nearly sobs again, but Zuko just pulls him up, lifting him like it's no problem. A protest bubbles up, but Zuko quickly brushes him off, saying he's had plenty of practice with Azula.

Sokka has no idea what that means, but saves his questions for when he doesn't feel like he's actively falling apart.

Before he knows it, he's in the back of Iroh's car, Zuko explaining in hushed tones. And when they pull up to the Jasmine Dragon, his dad is already there, pulling him upright and holding him as if he's a little kid. But maybe that's what he needs in the moment, and he lets himself be maneuvered into the passenger's seat and buckled in.

He's asleep before his dad even turns onto the main road, tired beyond belief.

Sure, it’s a sucky experience. No one wants to pass out because you’re so tired you can’t hold yourself up anymore.

But by the end of the day, Sokka’s all right. It’s a Friday, and he’s got on a hoodie two sizes too big and is laying in his bed, spamming Zuko with memes while the other boy replies in all caps to try and end the flow of images. But it’s all in good nature, and before long they’re video calling, stifling laughter in their pillows.

And by the next morning, it’s forgotten. That is, until he drops suddenly in the kitchen, the plate he was reaching for clattering to the floor with him. Bato glances over briefly, concerned, but goes back to getting ready for work, hovering a little closer than before.

Sokka makes it a point to stay seated for as much of the day as possible, going from the couch to the table to his desk in a never ending cycle. He knows he can’t keep this up for ever, but for now, it’s going to have to work. Instead of wallowing about it, he just tries to push through. No point in crying about something that will solve itself.

And for the most part, his dads and Katara are just fine, not really paying attention unless there’s a need for help. That is, until he tics on the stairs and hardly stops himself from falling the rest of the way down.

Hakoda looks up from where he’s typing at the kitchen counter, his face serious.

“You know you can’t keep going like this, right?” Sokka groans, shutting his eyes and laying his head back against a stair.

“Dad, it’s fine. It’ll go away eventually. I just have to tough it out.”

“And how are you going to go to school? How are you going to get to classes?” Hakoda shuts his computer, standing up and walking over to help Sokka up. They make it to the living room without incident, sitting down across from each other.

Hakoda looks like he’s trying to force words out of his mouth but can’t quite get them right. Finally, he speaks.

“You know it’s okay to ask for and accept help, right?” Sokka nods slowly, not sure where his dad is going with this. Hakoda takes a measured breath.

“Okay, okay. Good.” He swallows hard and continues, “How would you feel if Bato picked up something to help you out on his way home?” And Sokka’s got no idea what his dad might be talking about, but he shrugs anyway. It’s his dad after all. Hakoda only wants the best for him.

“Sure,” he says easily, and smiles. “I’d like that.”

*****

When Bato returns from work that day, he’s holding a long box. He mutters something about leaving it in Sokka’s room and disappears upstairs. Sokka doesn’t really pay it any mind. Bato isn’t someone who’s huge on talking like Dad is. He likes to sit back, give the problem at hand a nudge in the right direction, and watch it resolve itself.

And so when Sokka goes upstairs, he’s not really sure what to expect. He just pulls the keys from his bookbag and slices through the tape on the package, not really paying attention.

But when he finally gets the box open, he freezes. Then, he unfreezes, curses himself for not seeing this coming, and runs an agitated hand through his hair. It’s a cane.

A very cool cane, with metallic blue waves racing up the length of it, but still. That’s… not something he expected.

Sokka takes a deep breath, trying not to get weird about this. Plenty of people use canes. Hell, Toph uses a cane to get around, and they’re one of the toughest people Sokka knows. He’s not doing it for attention or to look cool or something. This is something that will make his life easier for however long it takes this tic to go away.

That doesn’t make this any less difficult though.

(Toph uses a cane because they’re blind. Sokka’s gonna use one because his brain won’t stop screwing him over.)

But Sokka’s nothing if not resilient, and he figures if he’s gonna do this, he’s not going to feel embarrassed about it. So he gets up, supporting some of his weight on the cane. He tics almost immediately, but hey, he doesn’t fall to the floor again. Pacing back and forth across his room for a bit gets him used to the pattern, gets him used to catching himself when his body tries to drop.

It’s fine, he’s gonna be fine. Sure he’s gonna get weird stares at school, but that already happens.

But still, it couldn’t hurt to drop by the Jasmine Dragon, right? Not that he’s nervous, no, of course not. It’s just that Iroh gives such nice advice and Zuko’s smile always makes his day so much better. Really there’s no reason he shouldn’t go to the Jasmine Dragon.

Sokka picks up his phone.

socks - 18:17

Hey do you mind if i stop by tomorrow

Zuko - 18:21

It’s a tea shop, Sokka. We can’t exactly control who comes and goes.

socks

no i mean like to talk

Zuko

We do that every time anyway.

Sokka sighs. Right. He needs to actually explain himself. Zuko’s not the greatest at picking up on stuff like that.

socks

I have some stuff I want to sit down and talk to your uncle about if that’s okay

And maybe talk to you too ;))

Zuko

Oh, yeah. That’s fine. Sundays usually are slow anyway.

socks

Sounds good, cya tomorrow

Sokka places his phone onto his nightstand, switching it to Do Not Disturb. He is going to get some rest, talk to Uncle Iroh, and everything will be okay.

*****

Walking to the Jasmine Dragon with his new cane is awkward. He’s still not quite used to it, and he logically knows that there’s no one giving him dirty looks from across the street. But that doesn’t stop him from turning his head over his shoulder and checking every so often, just to make sure.

To Zuko’s credit, he hardly reacts to the new, ah, accessory when Sokka pushes open the door. His face lights up in a smile when he sees him come through the doorway, and though his eyes flicker exactly once to the cane, his smile doesn’t falter and he punches in Sokka’s order the same as always.

“Uncle’s in the back, we were running low on the rose tea so he’s brewing some right now,” Zuko explains when Sokka’s peach boba tea is ready. He tugs a straw from the box on the counter, handing it to him. “He should be out in just a minute, I told him you were out here.”

True to his word, Iroh shuffles out a few minutes later, and Sokka pauses his scrolling through his phone to smile up at the man.

“Good morning, Sokka,” Iroh greets cordially, setting down his own cup of tea. He blows at it lightly before stirring in a bit of honey. Light brown eyes, dimmed with age but no somehow no less sharp than Azula’s, smile at him.

“My nephew mentioned you wanted to speak to me.” He takes a sip of his tea, nodding in silent satisfaction before looking back up at Sokka. “What troubles you, child?”

Sokka sighs, popping a piece of boba in his mouth before reaching down, lifting the top of his cane over the top of the table. Iroh furrows his brow, nodding slowly.

There’s a slam from inside the kitchen of what sounds like an oven door. Sokka startles slightly, though Iroh hardly reacts at all. It must be Azula baking again. Both turn back to their conversation with not a word about the noise.

“Zuko has told me of your… tics, are they called?” Sokka nods, and Iroh continues. “If this assists you in your day-to-day life, there is nothing to be ashamed of! There is never shame in accepting help, whatever form it may come in. A bird will build its nest of leaves or wool, provided it is soft.”

Sokka bites the inside of his cheek, nodding. It’s nothing he hasn’t heard before, from his father before bed last night, from Bato earlier this morning, from himself on his walk over. It’s good advice, accompanied by the warmth of the tea shop and Iroh’s signature proverbs. But it’s nothing special, really.

Iroh seems to notice, and Sokka feels a bit bad. But the older man doesn’t seem to mind, simply patting Sokka’s hand with a smile.

“I think perhaps I am not the best to assist you right now,” he says, standing and taking his tea cup. “Just a moment.”

He stands making his way back into the kitchen. There’s grumbling from inside before the door swings open again, Azula marching out.

She yanks the chair from under the table and sits unceremoniously, her face flat. She’s sharp where Iroh is soft, but there’s no real boredom or anger in her expression. She sticks out a hand.

“Let me see.”

Sokka passes the cane across the table awkwardly, making sure not to hit anything. She examines it with that sharp gold gaze, nodding in approval.

“Study,” she finally says, which is probably the closest thing to a compliment Sokka’s ever heard her give. “Doesn’t look too bad either, I suppose. Not that looks are the purpose here.” She hands it back, narrowly missing the straw of Sokka’s cup of boba. He’s still not quite sure why Iroh sent her out to sit with him, but he doesn’t really mind. Like Zuko, she’s someone that doesn’t change character because of a situation.

“It looks nicer than my old crutches at least,” Azula says, almost casually. “Those were such an ugly shade of green, I don’t know why Uncle bought them.” And she’s so offhand about it all that Sokka almost misses the meaning of her words.

“Wait, what?” he blurts before he can stop himself. Azula? Who’s always an almost royal air about her? That could probably have him on the ground in two seconds flat? That Azula?

She must have been expecting his reaction (of course she did, it’s Azula), and she simply crosses her legs, resting one arm on the table.

“I used to have so many issues when we first moved in with Uncle,” she begins, her tone still as if she’s speaking about the weather. “I screwed up my body for a while, didn’t eat and threw up what I did.” Sokka tries to imagine Azula as anyone other than the confident person he knows and comes up short.

“It was a series of unfortunate events, really. A weak body meant weak bones, apparently, and a jump I tried to make ended up shattering both my legs. Had to be in a wheelchair for a while, then use those forearm crutches for longer than I would have liked to. But it was fine, I suppose.”

Sokka bites his lip. They both know the question on his mind, and they both know Azula won’t give him the answer until he asks. Finally, he takes a deep breath and goes for it.

“How’d you- you know. Stop worrying that you looked… stupid?” Azula rolls her eyes, though there’s the slightest bit of an upward turn to her mouth.

“Well, anyone who’s opinion mattered to me didn’t care. Do you know how annoying Zuzu was for those months? It was always, ‘Zula, let me carry that, Zula, let me pick that up.’” Sokka nods. He knows the feeling all too well. Azula sighs, casting a glance at Zuko, who’s taking some customer’s order.

“But, as grating as it was, it was because he cares. And anyone who said anything bad, I could hit them with my crutch. I mean really, who’s going to admit they got beat up by a five-foot-one girl with crutches?”

And yeah, okay, that gets a laugh out of him. The image of Azula whacking a rude customer or classmate with what is essentially a large stick is one that he can conjure up easily.

Azula turns fully towards him, her expression shifting minutely.

“Do you trust me?”

Sokka freezes for a moment. Azula and he aren’t close, not like he is with Zuko. But if he thinks, there’s really no reason not to trust Azula. She’s straight forward and doesn’t beat around the bush. And so, Sokka nods.

Azula seems pleased.

“Then trust me when I say there’s going to be hardly anyone paying attention.”

And somehow, despite all the people telling him similar things, it’s Azula that finally drives it home.

*****

The next day at school, Sokka jabs Aang under the table with his cane as the younger boy laughs. Katara’s next to them, trying and failing to hide her mirth, while Suki and Toph smother laughter into their hands. His phone chimes, and he flips it over to see the notification.

Zuko

Hope your day’s going okay. Azula’s trying out a new recipe by the way. She says she wants you to try it.

Sokka smiles, typing his response.

socks

Day’s going great, zukes :)) and i’ll be there, cya later!

#whumptober 2021 #no4 #trust falls #do you trust me?#avatar the last airbender #fanfic #ao3 #sokka #ts sokka #azula #zuko #iroh #bato #hakoda #katara #modern au #atla fic #luca's corner

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rolandtowen · 3 years

Photo

Dumbass Romantics, the first part of a series exploring the ways in which Sokka and Zuko falling in love after the War.

Sokka and Zuko seem to keep “accidentally” flirting with each other with romantic gestures from their respective cultures. It takes a while for everyone else (and them!!) to catch on. Set a few months after the end of the war, featuring chronic pain and cultural flirting.

Read it under the cut!

The Fire Lord hated the cold. He supposed he should have commissioned a fur cloak before visiting Katara and Sokka, but where could his tailors find fur on such short notice? He couldn’t bring himself to slaughter dozens of squirrel-toads just for one coat. He had settled on a cloak woven with extra koala-sheep wool, but stepping out of his ship’s warmth now and into the crisp air of the Southern Water Tribe, Zuko knew he should have heeded Sokka’s advice to him to dress warm.

The cold was a bitch. But thankfully, he didn’t have to dwell on it long.

“Zuko!” Came Katara’s voice from somewhere below him. Zuko hurried down the rampart and came to meet his old friend. He went to bow formally, but she laughed and pulled him in for a hug. “Maybe save the bowing for when we have dinner with the old folks tonight.”

Zuko raised his eyebrow.

“Oh! It’s nothing big – just my Dad, Bato, Kanna, and Pakku. I do hope you’ve worked up an appetite for stewed sea prunes, that’s all my Dad can make without blowing the kitchen up – unless you’re allergic to sea prunes, of course, but I guess you wouldn’t know yet seeing as you’ve never tried them—”

“Katara,” Sokka’s voice startled Zuko a little bit, coming from his left side. Zuko shifted his head so he could hear him better. “You’re rambling again. Let the man breathe!” Zuko let out a low chuckle and turned to fully face Sokka.

“It’s good to see you too, Sokka.”

“And you, jerkbender! Spirits, aren’t you cold? I told you bring layers!”

The trio started to walk towards Katara and Sokka’s village. Zuko pondered what he should say: admit weakness and say he was, in fact, cold; or be miserable for the rest of his visit in silence?

“I’m okay, it’s just that the Fire Nation hasn’t ever had a need to make warm clothing. My tailors wouldn’t even know where to start on finding fur for a cloak.”

“Well then,” Sokka said, “it’s lucky for you that we have polar leopards!” And with that, Sokka unclipped the fur-lined cloak he was wearing and draped it over Zuko’s shoulders, fastening the metal clips with practiced ease. Zuko was shocked.

“Sokka, I can’t take your cloak!” He protested, stopping in his tracks.

“Relax, jerkbender, there’s more where that came from. When are you going to learn to dress up for your visits, dork?”

Katara chimed in. “The last time Zuko was here, his body temperature was elevated by his righteous search for the Avatar. I’m sure peace and love have probably cooled your hot head off quite a bit, huh?”

Zuko only hummed, looking down at the cloak that had been thrust upon him. It really was, quite warm. And quite intricate as well! He ran his fingers over the moon phases embroidered at the seams, a striking white against the deep blue of the cloak.

“Enjoying my handiwork?” Katara asked.

“Yeah, I am.” Zuko answered in a daze.

He wasn’t sure if he should tell them what it meant in Fire Nation culture, to place your own cloak on another’s shoulders, to literally and figuratively place another under your protection. Really, Zuko couldn’t remember the last time he had been given anything as a gift. Charity was not a concept Ozai was familiar with. Sokka couldn’t have possible known that what he just did was like the Fire Nation equivalent of a betrothal necklace. Still, it did leave Zuko touched that Sokka would so willingly give over such a valuable garment. He decided to leave the matter alone and revel in the warmth of the cloak.

“Sooooooooo, do you wanna go fishing together?”

Zuko sighed. He was a little bored. When they got back to the village, Katara had immediately ditched them to go help Kanna and Hakoda prep for the night’s family dinner. Leaving him and Sokka to do…. whatever until dinner time rolled around.

“Uh, I don’t really know how to fish—”

“That’s alright! I can teach you. Just grab your cloak!” Sokka leapt up and swept out the door. “You are coming, right?” Sokka called from afar.

“Yeah, I’m coming!” Zuko hollered back. He fiddled with the clasp on Sokka’s – er, his cloak—and stepped back into the cold.

Sokka was at the edge of the village, spears in hand. “You ever been on a kayak before?”

Zuko chuckled. “No, the ships I’ve been tend to carry more than one person, I don’t suppose you’ve got one of those?”

Sokka punched him in the shoulder. “We can’t use one of the warrior’s boats, we’ll scare the fish!” Oh. That made sense. “Now I get it, you really don’t know anything about fishing, do you? What have you got to say for yourself?”

“Two things: one, prince; two, fire nation. We much prefer Komodo sausage to seal jerky.”

“Well, your hotness, let me show you how it’s done.” Sokka hopped into one kayak, patting the one next him. “I assume you at least know how to use a paddle?”

Zuko laughed. “I may have been an adrift refugee once or twice. I think I can handle a paddle.”

“Good,” Sokka smiled at him as he climbed into the one-seater kayak. Zuko took a few moments to adjust to the shift in his center of gravity, then nodded at Sokka.

“Let’s catch some fish.”

It turns out, Zuko is not a natural at spear-fishing. He watched closely the first few times Sokka threw his spear, bringing up fish each time. “Go on, try it,” Sokka encouraged him. Zuko looked into the depths and tried to aim for the blurry shadows he took to be fish. His spear came up empty. “That’s okay! It took me a few fishing trips before I really go the hang of it.” Sokka analyzed his form. “Make sure you extend your arm a bit before your release the spear, then you can change your angle more easily.”

Zuko nodded, mirroring the way Sokka was holding his spear. They waited in silence, kayaks knocking gently into each other on the waves. A fresh school of fish appeared underneath them, and they released their spears at the same time. This time, even Zuko had caught a fish! Only one, compared to Sokka’s two, but it was his first fish! Sokka smiled widely at him. “I knew you could do it.”

“I guess I should call you Sifu Sokka now, my fishbending master.” Zuko quipped.

Sokka blushed and he hoped the gathering snow hid it from Zuko. “I think we should probably get back; you don’t want to miss Dad’s stewed sea prunes.

“Definitely not.” Zuko replied. “What, what does one do with a fish once they’ve caught it?”

“It depends – I think it being your first fish, we should celebrate it! What do you say to making some boiled fish dumplings?”

“I think that if you’re teaching me, it’ll be wonderful.”

If it was even humanly possible, Sokka blushed harder.

When they docked their kayaks, Zuko noticed that Sokka was favoring one of his arms over the other. Normally, it wouldn’t be strange to see a person favoring a side, but Zuko knew Sokka was ambidextrous. He didn’t say anything, so Zuko kept his observations to himself. Kanna met them outside her home, and positively beamed when Sokka told her that Zuko had caught his first fish.

“Well, better a late bloomer than never, eh?” Zuko laughed but still bowed his head in deference.

“It is very nice to finally meet you, Lady Kanna. Sokka has told me much about you in your letters.”

“Oh, he has, has he?” Kanna gave a mean side-eye to Sokka, who was suddenly very interested in the icy ground. “He’s told me about you as well. You have my gratitude – I can’t imagine what would’ve happened if you hadn’t gone to the Boiling Rock.”

“It was my pleasure, Lady Kanna.”

“Just Kanna, just Kanna, my dear. Well, come in! I see Sokka has leant you a cloak, but you still must be freezing! In, in!” Kanna shooed them inside. “I will take special care of your first fish, Zuko. Anything you had in mind?”

“Uh, dumplings?”

“Excellent choice, dear. Fish dumplings coming right up!” She disappeared into the kitchen of the home.

Sokka sat down on floor, covered by blue fabrics and pelts. Zuko noticed how gingerly he set himself down, now obviously favoring his right side. Sokka’s lips were drawn tightly as he rubbed circles into his left shin. Zuko could have almost swore he heard Sokka whimper. Almost.

“Sokka,” Zuko knelt down next to his friend. “Talk to me.”

“Mmph,” Sokka scowled.

“Words, Sokka.”

“It’s mostly my leg—you know how I broke it on the day of the Comet?”

Zuko grimaced. He did remember. Even in his lightening-induced fever, Zuko remembered. He heard his physicians set Sokka’s leg and pop his shoulder back in place. He wanted to forget those sounds of Sokka in pain, but he couldn’t.

“Well,” Sokka continued. “Ever since then, it still… it still hurts. Katara’s tried everything, but I’m probably stuck with it forever. My leg hurts the worst, but my shoulder’s the most inconvenient. I’m old enough to start putting braids in my wolf tail, but I just—can’t. I can’t lift my arm above shoulder-level. And I know I’m wallowing to the guy who literally got half his face burned off but—”

“But nothing, Sokka. You’re allowed to be in pain. Here, you know what, pull up your pant leg—”

“Geez, buy a guy dinner first will you?”

Zuko blushed but Sokka did as he was told, exposing his left shin and ankle. Zuko focused a little bit of heat into the palms of his hands. He placed one on Sokka’s ankle, scanning his face for any pain. When Sokka relaxed into the touch, Zuko placed his other hand on Sokka’s shin, applying the slightest bit of pressure.

“You know, with those hands you could almost be a healer like Katara.”

Zuko snorted. “And you need to learn to let people help you.” After a few minutes, he pulled his hands away, fearing that if he kept them there too long he’d burn his friend. “If you want, I can help you braid your hair. I won’t even tell Katara.”

Sokka smiled shyly at him. He guessed Zuko didn’t know the importance of braiding another’s hair in water tribe culture—reserved for family members and, well, lovers. But Zuko was kneeling in front of him, in a water tribe cloak, offering to help him with a warrior tradition. After everything they’d been through, Zuko was family—and maybe, he could be open to being something more?

“Okay,” Sokka nodded. He pulled two beads from his pocket, both striking shades of blue, one carved by Kanna and one by Katara. “You know how my Dad wears his beads? It’s the same idea.”

“I caught my first fish today, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing I can’t do now.” Zuko settled himself closer to Sokka’s face. “I’m going to let your hair down now, is that okay?” Sokka nodded again.

Zuko took out the hair tie and separated two sections of hair thick enough to support the beads. For lack of another set of hands, he resorted to holding the sections in his mouth while he carded the rest of Sokka’s back into place and tied it into the wolf’s tail again. Sokka was suddenly very aware of how close Zuko was to him—more specifically how he never wanted him to leave. He loved the warmth that radiated from him, but furthermore, he couldn’t remember the last time someone helped him with his hair. He hadn’t asked anyone since he got back from the war, and while they were on the run… he was focused on more important things than his hair. Sokka risked a look at Zuko’s face: he was rewarded with Zuko’s adorable concentration face. Wait, adorable? Where had that come from?

“How do you know how to braid, anyway? I didn’t see a whole lot of braids in the Fire Nation.”

“My mother used to let me braid her hair when I was feeling anxious or overwhelmed. You know, it’s calming, repetitive, doesn’t involve fire—perfect for mess of emotional issues like me.”

“Hey, you’re not a mess.”

Zuko laughed darkly.

“Well, not anymore than the rest of us. We all already had our own issues and then a war happened on top of that. You were just lecturing me on letting people help me. You don’t have to be alone in this.”

Zuko’s fingers trembled as he finished the second braid. “I know. I’m still getting used to having people I can actually trust.”

Kanna suddenly called from the kitchen. “Are you two done lounging around or are you going to help an old woman with this fish?”

They looked at each other and laughed. They did kind of forget about everyone except each other.

“Hey, Zuko,” Sokka started as Zuko stood up and held out a hand for him.

“Yeah?”

“You can braid my hair anytime you want.”

Zuko resisted simultaneous urges to bow and to hug Sokka. He smiled instead.

“I’d like that.”

Bonus:

Kanna had heard everything of course. But she couldn’t bear to interrupt them sooner. Tui and La, if those two didn’t end up together she’d have a riot. In the few months since Sokka had been home with her, he hadn’t opened up to anyone about his pain. And he certainly hadn’t asked anyone for help with his braids.

Spirits, those two were good for each other. Dumbasses in love.

#my fic #mine #rolandtowen #zukka #fic #zuko #sokka #chronic pain #the dragon and the wolf #cloak sharing #avatar #atla #avatar: the last airbender #firelord zuko #ambassador sokka

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jaxsteamblog · 3 years

Text

Dawn and Dusk

Click here to read the full fic on AO3

For the first day of classes, Katara woke up before her alarm. Way before her alarm.

Her body was too warm as she pushed the blanket off and slid her feet onto the thick rug in her bedroom. Standing, she shivered slightly, laughing to herself over the absurdity. She had just returned from the North Pole but her Middle Ring apartment was just a bit too cool.

Shuffling into the kitchen, Katara clattered through the cabinets as she collected things for coffee. While she loved the taste, a coffee grinder was too much for her to handle so Katara popped the plastic lid off the pre ground coffee container. The smell hit her nose hard enough to make her sneeze, and coffee grounds spiraled in the empty space of the container.

Filter, coffee, water, and Katara pressed the button to start it brewing. Looking up, over to the side as she leaned against the counter, she gazed out the small window.

The sun was just beginning to rise.

Zuko was the early bird, and she was the night owl, so seeing the sunrise made her think of him.

And think about how the sun was setting on the other side of the world, where he was probably sleeping off the jetlag in the Fire Nation palace.

When the coffee pot stopped spitting out coffee, Katara poured a mug and wandered back to the living room. Sitting at her desk, she brought her legs up onto the chair and, wrapping her hands around the mug, watched the sun rise.

It had helped, talking to Sokka. For all of the differences between her and Zuko, there was a brush of sameness. Tui and La were marked by each other, so it wasn’t far from her understanding. But now, away from Zuko and Thuy’s rampant romanticism, it bothered her.

It was easy to talk about balance and harmony, to muse about destiny and soulmates, as if there was a universal force that would allow them to be together simply because of symbolism.

Steam curled from her mug and Katara sipped slowly. It was a birthday gift from Malina; a subscription to a small business that made flavored coffee. As much as she hated to admit it, Katara appreciated the move away from the acrid brew the normally filled the big red container.

Malina is what threw a wrench into the universal plan theory. If Kya wasn’t Hakoda’s soulmate, what was the point?

And without that universal push, what was to keep her and Zuko together in the face of the mounting opposition?

Opening her laptop, Katara waited for the screen to illuminate. She used one hand to open up her messages and look through them.

[Are you awake?] She typed out.

Sitting back, Katara drank more of her coffee.

[Unfortunately. Why are you up?] Zuko replied.

She smiled.

[Nervous.]

[Want to talk?]

Katara set down her mug before standing up. She jogged lightly to her bedroom and unplugged her phone, calling Zuko as she walked back to her desk.

“Hey.” Zuko sounded exhausted and Katara sighed.

“You need sleep.” She stated.

“So do you.” He shot back.

“What time do you go to bed?”

“Typically? Depends on the day. If I have a lot of work, I have trouble falling asleep until it’s done.”

“But you get up so early!”

“It’s the sun. I can’t help it.”

“You rise with the sun, I rise with the moon.” Katara quipped, taking up her mug again and sitting down.

“So science dictates.” Zuko agreed.

Katara was quiet for a moment and took another drink.

“Something on your mind?” He asked.

“Why do you like me? Is it, like, rebellion or something?” Katara asked.

“What?”

“We have nothing in common except dead moms and royalty.” Katara repeated her conversation with Sokka but it felt different. Worse.

“We haven’t exactly gotten to know each other in the usual way, huh?” Zuko asked softly.

“No.” She murmured and thought about the Blue Spirit, and about the flower shop. The prince in disguise, a war, and her brother.

“I think one of the reasons why I like you, and why it doesn’t matter so much if we’re interested in the same things, is because you are willing to try things. You stayed up to watch that musical with me.” Zuko explained.

“I didn’t like it.” Katara pointed out.

“I know, but you tried it. And you tried to like it. You didn’t just hate on it or ask me to turn it off halfway. And then we talked about it. We had a conversation Katara, and that is infinitely better than turning it off, agreeing we both enjoyed it, and had nothing else to say.” He replied.

“But I’m not nice like you.”

“I’m hardly nice. I’m polite. But how are you not nice?”

“You haven’t seen it yet.”

“Ominous.”

Katara made a noise in irritation and Zuko chuckled.

“I know you have a short temper, I’ve witnessed it.” He said.

“It’s more than that.” She snapped and Zuko stayed quiet, waiting for her.

“You mean Zhao?” He prompted gently, when she didn’t say anything.

“Not just Zhao.” She said quickly, irritated. “It was him, soldiers, Hama-”

“You’ve mentioned her before. I thought she was a Waterbender.” Zuko said.

“She is. She taught me things.” Katara said haltingly.

“The blood?”

Katara stayed quiet.

“Katara,” Zuko started with a sigh. “I know there’s a lot on the surface that makes it seem like we’re incompatible. Fire and water, our allegiances, our families, but I think we’re more alike than all that. You’re not a monster.”

“I’m certainly not normal.”

“Of course not. But that doesn’t make you an abomination.” Zuko said. “You have dreams about peace and making life better for your people. It’s a dream I share.”

“I know.” Katara said and drifted.

“But?”

“It’s just.” She sighed heavily. “What if I’m doing it for the wrong reasons? What if I’m dating you for the wrong reasons?”

“What reasons?”

“I don’t know!” Katara snapped. “I keep thinking about how impossible this is. We’ll be days apart, and I’m ruling a kingdom and you’ve got your nation to worry about, and we can’t even enjoy the same things when we’re together.”

“The sun has set.” Zuko said.

Katara looked out of her window and saw the bright blue of the dawn sky.

“It’s bright here.” She said.

“It’s the same sun and the same sky. You and I will see different things, experience a different time, but we’re always together. Our life is going to look different depending on where and when we are, but it’s the same life. One we will spend together.” Zuko said.

“Dawn and dusk happen with the same sun at the same time.” Katara murmured.

“You sound really tired.” Zuko said.

“You’re one to talk.” Katara retorted.

“Go lay down. Call me after class.”

“Okay.”

“Good morning, Katara.”

“Good night, Zuko.”

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#zutara #fanfiction #jax writes #zutara month #modern au #the fic that prompts built

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dottie-wan-kenobi · 3 years

Text

what's beyond compare, a zutara fic, chapter I.

read the prologue on AO3

---

Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation was born in the fall, as afternoon turned to night, screaming until he was red. A bad sign, his father said with disgust.

His mother brushed his short, dark hair away from his teary face. She could sense there was something about this child that was different. Scared for her baby, she didn’t tell the Sages about it when they came. But there was no hiding it from her brother-in-law, who held him in his arms and said, grave and regretful, “The spirits have not blessed this boy.”

“Is he cursed?” Ursa whispered, eyes wet as she reached for her son. Ozai had wanted to kill him, and revulsion had raised inside of her like never before. But if Zuko was cursed, then… she would protect him however she could. Even if that meant doing the worst.

“I cannot say for sure,” Iroh replied, laying Zuko gently back into her arms. “But I don’t think so. We will have to wait and see.”

Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, daughter of Kya and Hakoda, was born in the spring, so late at night it was early. The elders blessed her and Kya both as they laid in a mess of furs, her brother Sokka watching the proceedings anxiously. He stayed close to his dad as the rest of the tribe came to praise Kya and offer congratulations to the whole family. Bato chuffed Sokka’s chin and Sokka laughed, too young to realize it but all the same, relieved that that hadn’t changed like so much else had that day.

It was Kanna who first saw that Katara was different, feeling a resistance when she asked the spirits to protect and spare the little girl. When the other elders tried, there was the same sensation—a silence where there should have been a wolf’s howl, a stillness where there should have been wind.

“What does it mean for her?” Kya asked, clutching Katara to her chest. Hakoda sat beside her, his arms around her shoulder and Sokka’s stomach, holding him close on his lap. Sokka’s birth, unlike Katara’s, had been difficult, but there’d been no spiritual issues. He’d been blessed and Hakoda’s father, the now-passed Chief Betadi, had proclaimed him to have the support of many behind him. What did it mean that one child was overly protected by the spirits, and one child was completely ignored?

“I’m not sure. We can only hope that someday they will notice her.” Kanna didn’t look down while she delivered the bad news; they deserved more than that. Nevertheless, they all knew that this would be unlikely. To not be blessed was a death sentence in the Water Tribes.

Kya didn’t cry, though Hakoda did have to wipe his eyes. Sokka didn’t understand what was going on, but hugged his father anyway. Baby Katara snored slightly in her mother’s arms, unconcerned with the matters of the spirits.

The three adults came together later that night. Their only hope was that if she stayed close to her brother, his luck would protect her as well. It wasn’t much to hang their faith on, but it would have to be enough.

Zuko had an imaginary friend, growing up. He never shared much about them with his family, not even Ursa, but that was in part because he didn’t know how to explain. He knew his friend was real, and yet not at the same time. He saw them in all different ways, most often a man in blue, but other times as a woman in yellow or red, or a young man in green. No matter how they looked, he could always tell it was them, a spark in his very soul that said this person was the one.

The friend had many names, and they existed on the edge of his tongue, never to be said, never to be remembered. But that was okay, he thought. As long as they were there with him, it was all okay.

Secretly, just to himself, he thought of them as his love. It only felt right.

His dreams were haunted by dangers unseen. He woke to midnight storms during the rainy seasons, screaming and shivering. When Uncle brought him to pray to the spirits, he felt stalked, a confusing tangle of emotions roiling in his belly.

Uncle and Mother always wanted to know how he felt when he prayed. Azula said, “Bored.” Zuko didn’t want to say that he was angry and longing for something he didn’t even know, didn’t even understand, so he said, “Yeah. Bored,” instead.

Mother looked troubled by this answer, but quickly hid the expression in order to ask Lu Ten the same. As his cousin talked, Zuko allowed himself to wonder what Azula really felt. If it was as complicated as his own experiences. He resolved to ask Mother about it, next time they went. Maybe she would know why the spirits never talked back to him.

He never got the chance— Uncle and Lu Ten went to battle soon after. Mother stopped taking them to pray after their cousin died, and it wasn’t very long after that that she was gone too.

Katara was ten when she realized that the spirits were cruel.

She was in the communal igloo, Sokka wrapped around her, both of their cheeks wet with tears that never ended. Some of the tribe—what was left of it—was inside as well, but they were given space to grieve their brave, brave mother.

Katara had grown up with nightmares. Nightmares of darkness and pain, or distant unease that made everything suspect, or the freeze-burn feeling that she was missing something, someone, important to her. One dream had seen Katara counting her family members; Gran-Gran, Dad, Mom, and yes there was Sokka, and there was—there was—

A shadow. A gut feeling. An empty space where there shouldn’t have been one.

Mom had held her as she cried, rocking her back and forth. They all said she’d been crying that her love was gone.

It was the only comparable feeling that she had, the only other loss that Katara knew. This was so much more immediate, her whole being flushed and freezing, a terrible wail building in her throat. But if she cried, Mom wouldn’t be there to hold her and comfort her. She’d never be there again, not for anything.

“What?” Sokka whispered when Katara broke down into loud, gulping sobs. She told him between gasps for breath, and his eyes welled, but he tried to keep his tears in. She didn’t bother with that, knowing that there was no stopping this flood. She would have to be strong now, but not tonight. Not tonight.

One day early in his exile, Zuko’s ship was at a port in the south of the Earth Kingdom. He looked out across the lands, feeling an odd tugging in his chest. He almost wanted to—go inland. There was something out there that he needed to run towards, to get back to. A strong urge gripped him—he took a step and then another towards the prow. He needed to find someone, or a place maybe. An image of a cave conjured in his mind unbidden.

Wait. What am I thinking? There was no reason for him to go any further into the Earth Kingdom. There was no one there, and there was no place calling out to him. He was just being ridiculous.

He scowled as he tried to forget about it, turning his back on the lush lands.

Uncle watched him closely. He didn’t have to do more than take a sip of his tea to convey a question: What’s on your mind, Prince Zuko?

He spoke without thinking, unaware of what he was saying or what it meant. “Uncle, have you ever heard of a spirit splitting in half?” They both blinked in surprise at the question, and Zuko scowled again, furious with himself. “Nevermind. Now, when the men get back—��

“Once,” Uncle said, instantly halting Zuko’s words. He looked off over Zuko’s shoulder as if in thought, and dropped into his storytelling voice, low and impactful. “There was an earth spirit, at the beginning of everything. We remember the names of Agni, Tui, and La, but hers has become lost over the many generations. Some just call her ‘Mother’. She loved the lands, the mountains and volcanoes and everything in between, but most of all, she loved the sky. Every day and every night, she would gaze at the clouds and the stars with adoration. There was a part of her which was wild and wished to be free in the way the sky was. But she was the earth spirit, and she could not leave her beloved ground even if she wanted to.”

“When did she split her soul?” He asked impatiently, not wanting anyone to think he was enjoying the story. He wasn’t. It was boring and unnecessary. He didn’t even really want to know about spirits—he never had. Especially after all that had happened, he had no desire to do learn more… except that the urge to go inland had quieted, turning itself to the story, begging him to listen.

“Ah, ah, Prince Zuko. We aren’t there yet. Now, as I was saying. She didn’t want to leave the lands behind. The rolling hills, the forests, even the ice at the poles were her pride and joy. The other spirits were very impressed by the beauty they saw. But there were humans in these early times, and one day, there was an accident. A man had stoked a fire so he might feed his partner a delicious meal. Some say the partner was clumsy, while others say he was simply expressive. In any case, the partner fell into the fire and burned.”

“Is there a point to this?!” Zuko demanded, his skin crawling at the thought. He ignored the tiny voice in the back of his mind which said, expressive, not clumsy. Never clumsy.

As if he hadn’t been interrupted, Iroh went on. “The man was devastated. His grief was legendary, but that is a story for another time. What you must know for this tale is that the man buried his partner. It was his way of protecting him even in death, and it gave him a space to mourn him and feel close, because he was. There was only the ground between them. The earth spirit was used to humans dying, of course. But no dead had ever been buried before. Often, they were sent to float on the waves of La or were taken care of in some other way. She was shocked to sense him encased in her element, shocked and quite upset, and went to the grave to see for herself.

“The man was there. No one ever encroached on his moments with his departed beloved, and so he ordered her away. She came and sat beside him anyway, and said nothing as the man pleaded for her to leave. He broke down eventually, his tears falling into the dirt beneath them.”

Zuko was horrified to find his throat was tight. Other sailors around them had stopped to listen—what if they saw emotion on his face? What would they think? He could not be weak! Clenching his teeth as tightly as he could, he told himself very firmly to stop it. It was just some folk’s tale.

(There was another name on the tip of his tongue, begging to be said. He could imagine a field with a tree, a perfect resting spot for a perfect man. My fault, my fault. I’m sorry, my love. I’m so sorry.)

“’Who was he to you?’ she asked the man. The story of their love spilled from him haltingly. ‘We were soulmates,’ he told the earth spirit. ‘He was half of me, and all of me.’ They spoke for a long time, sitting over the grave. Eventually, however, the earth spirit was called away to where the land was soft and fertile and in need of shaping. She willed the ground to sprout trees, a jungle of them, and wondered if she had a half of herself. Of course, she thought of the sky. Part of her was always thinking of the freedom she saw there. And after many days of deliberating, after many days of sitting with the grieving man, she decided she had to try to reach the vast openness above her.”

“Did she jump?” Corporal Okada asked, honestly enthralled with the story the general was telling. Several other sailors laughed, but Zuko rolled his eyes.

“Of course she didn’t,” he snapped. “She split her soul.”

“Yes,” Uncle agreed, much more agreeably. “She believed that as long as part of her was on the ground, and the other part was touching it, she could have the best of both worlds.”

“And?” Several people asked at once. “Could she?”

“Some of her days were wonderful indeed. She could ride the winds and create deserts and all was well. But there were other days, where the winds exhausted her and she longed to be on solid ground once again. The closest she could get was to ruffle the grass, but she could not sit, and the half of her that existed in the sky could no longer sense the earth, just as the part of her on the earth could not sense the sky. In the end, I do not believe she regretted her choice, but we can never know for sure. She disappeared some centuries ago now.” He shook his head sadly.

The crew and the two princes were quiet for a few moments, thinking this over. Then, one of the men asked, “What was the story about the man’s grief?”

Before Uncle could reply, Zuko turned sharply. “GET BACK TO WORK!”

(He didn’t want to hear about grief. Even more than shame and dishonor, it haunted him at night. Storms still scared him like a child. Uncle would come to keep him company on the worst nights, and never asked why Zuko got so twitchy, murmuring “It’s not time yet, it’s not time yet…” without even realizing he was doing so.)

One of the first things Aang said to Katara as they made their way back to the village was, “Whoa… do you feel that?”

“What?” She asked, caught between annoyance at Sokka (could he stop complaining for five seconds?) and all the excitement of the day. “Feel what?”

“…that,” Aang said, making a fist over his heart. Seeing her face—surely making some confused but encouraging expression—he shrugged. “It’s like a tug pulling me that-a-way.” He pointed in the opposite direction of the village, but Katara didn’t know anything past the ice fields. “But it’s weird… I feel it to you too.”

Katara couldn’t answer at that moment, Sokka interrupting them to complain that Appa wasn’t flying. Again.

There was a moment, between when they got back and when Aang woke up, that she allowed herself to think of it again. Rubbing her chest over her heart, she closed her eyes and focused on it. Did she feel anything? There was some faint sensation there, she realized, and dug for it, grasping onto it with both hands. Bringing it to the light made her realize—though it was invisble, it spun her around and pointed toward the tent which held the young air bender. When he woke up, she could tell him she felt it too!

She was just about to open her eyes when something else caught her attention. A shadow. A gut feeling. An empty space where there shouldn’t have been one. Frowning, she followed that line in a mind full of snow, and imagined herself at the edge of the ice, looking out onto the water.

Not too far, she thought, totally nonsensically. Almost here. They’re almost here.

What? She tried to imagine herself walking away from the edge, and she could see a path on the ground that lead to the tent. She took a few steps before turning back again. The sun dipped low on the horizon in this vision. She thought she could make out a shape in front of the bright ball of flame, far away but definitely there.

Find me.

Opening her eyes, she scowled and tried to shake the weird daydream away. But her heart was singing under her fist.

Find me.

(Katara hated the color red. What was it good for, anyway? Red cheeks when you were embarrassed. Red fingers when you were too cold, before it got bad. Red blood spilled on the ice. Red armor killing innocent people. Red armor killing her mother. Red armor hurting her brother and her Gran-Gran.

Red scar slanting an eye that she couldn’t look away from.

She forgot about the paths in her mind, forgot to wonder who or what those weird thoughts had been about until they were in the air. Feeling the wind ruffle through her hair, she closed her eyes and tried to imagine them again. There was the invisble pull towards Aang, but the other one had slipped too far away. Furrowing her brow, she tried to find it again, only for that stupid fire bender’s stupid red scar to flash in her mind.

Disgusted with herself, she shook her head like it would make her forget, but of course, it didn’t work.)

(Blue. It was a color Zuko wasn’t supposed to like, and so he didn’t. He didn’t like green or brown or yellow either. Peasant colors, Azula said. But there was something about blue that called to him, that warmed his chest at the same time it twisted in his gut.

The Water Tribe peasants all wore blue, and purple and white too. But there was something about the girl who stood there with the old woman, who stood up to him, that caught his attention.

He still didn’t like blue. But even after she and her dunce brother attacked his ship, he found himself thinking about it, the specific shades and how they’d looked on the ice and on his ship.

Gods, but did he make himself sick.)

#zutara #zutara fic #zuko x katara #katara x zuko #atla fic #atla #zuko #katara #my writing

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muertawrites · 4 years

Text

Two Halves - Chapter Seven (Zuko x Reader)

Part Six

Word Count: 3,000 (really? it seemed longer...)

Author’s Note: I decided to make this one cute because it’s been a hella weird week (year) and I needed some sweet Zuko lovin’ in my life. The only downside is that now I’m piney as fuck, but it’s fine because I’ve got spaghetti from my favorite Italian place in the fridge and comfort food fixes everything. I’d also like to use this time to admit that I’ve always thought King Kuei was cute, because clearly I have a thing for adorable dumbasses who live their lives in denial (shout out to Mark, my ex, fuck you and I hope you miss me every fucking day because we both know you loved me as much as I loved you but were too weak to just own up to your feelings because you’re a punkass little bitch boy ♥). King Kuei and reader are BFFs and that’s canon.

I hope you’re all holding out okay and staying safe - PSA to wear a mask whenever you go out, make sure it covers both your mouth and nose at all times, wash your hands after being out in public, and stay the hell away from people outside your household. Do something nice for yourself today, you deserve it. I wish you all find a love someday who makes you feel as fluttery inside as these fics make me feel, and that they love you endlessly and fearlessly. I need to stop writing now, I’ve put myself in my feels.

~ Muerta

Much to the dismay of the international affairs advisors, their opportunities for stalking you about your daily life are drastically cut short when Iroh announces he wants to return to Ba Sing Se.

“I've been away from the Jasmine Dragon for too long,” he explains, breaking the news over dinner. “I miss her dearly and would like to be with her again.”

“I should go back to the Earth Kingdom, too,” Toph speaks up. “The metal bending program will probably have to be rebuilt - the idiots I left in charge of it can barely bend rocks.”

You and Zuko exchange amused looks, though the idea of being left totally alone with him - without the comfort of your mutual friends - makes you lightheaded. Having to go toe to toe with Advisor Qiang and his sketchy, passive aggressive behavior while also navigating a potentially deadly political climate? No sweat. Having to face your husband every day without the distraction of your friends and family to break the awkward tension? Horrifying, but in an exciting, slightly panicky way.

“It would be a good idea to visit,” Zuko muses, “see how the city is rebuilding. Aang’s coming back in a week or two on his way to the Northern Air Temple, and I bet he’d give us a lift.”

“Do the international affairs advisors have to come, too?” you ask. “I'm tired of their assistants taking notes on how I prefer to pour my own tea in the morning.”

Zuko smirks, shaking his head.

“I'm sending them to the Southern Tribe,” he tells you. “Hakoda’s hosting a summit for them to celebrate our union.”

“You're finally getting your life changing field trip with Hothead!” Toph cheers, playfully jabbing her elbow into your arm. “Now we can start a club - Sokka really wants to get jackets.”

As Appa glides through the air, you lean over the edge of his saddle, gazing out at the clouds as they pass. It’s your first time flying, and everything about it amazes and terrifies you - the miniscule landscape below, the shift of Appa’s massive body under his movement and breathing, the cold breeze kissing your cheeks and running its fingers through your hair, the way the sky is so much more vast than you ever could have imagined - it’s like you’ve fallen into a different world entirely.

You reach down and stroke at Appa’s fur, earning an appreciative grunt from the bison. Aang turns back from his place at the reins to grin at you, much more excited about your first time in the air than you are.

“What do you think?” he wonders cheerfully.

“It's like sailing, but in a dream,” you reply. “The clouds remind me of glaciers back home.”

“Makes you wish you were an air bender, doesn't it?” Aang chuckles.

You laugh nervously, shaking your head.

“No! I can't stop thinking about how long the fall is from up here!”

Aang tosses his head back with laughter, the sound of his voice carried on the wind filling you with the feeling of walking through the threshold of the cottage you shared with Sokka and Katara as a child; neither of them are present, but having Aang nearby feels just as much like home.

Across the saddle, Zuko smiles at you. You’re a few feet away from him, yet you still feel the warmth from his body as his eyes meet yours; his gaze is different somehow, as if he's seeing you for the first time. You blush, bashfully returning his grin.

“Are you okay?” Toph asks beside you. She's clutching your hand, neither of you very fond of your height off the ground. “Your heart rate jumped.”

“I'm fine,” you tell her. “I just looked down.”

Ba Sing Se is larger than you ever thought a city could be. As you approach, you stare in awe at the epic sprawl of the place, each district looking like its own little country within a quilt of a continent. You've been to the North Pole before, having spent a year there after the war, but even the shock of seeing their massive skyline pales in comparison to just how huge the Earth Kingdom is. Zuko smirks at you, his arm wrapping around your shoulders.

“Wait until you see it from the ground,” he teases.

You’re even more amazed by the city as you view it from the palace. It sprawls in every direction, some of its buildings reaching as high as Appa can float; Iroh explains that it's a new concept designed by the most renowned Earth Kingdom architects, some of them planning towers that stretch one hundred stories. Everything about the place seems impossible.

Inside the palace, King Kuei meets you in the entry hall, greeting Aang with a warm hug and Zuko with a firm handshake.

“It's so good to see you all!” he exclaims. “It's been far too long. Tonight we’re having a party to celebrate your arrival, and to congratulate the newlyweds!”

You smile, bowing low at the waist as you thank him.

“My husband has told me of your hospitality,” you say. “It’s an honor to be celebrated by you.”

When you straighten up, Kuei takes your hand and politely places his lips to the back of your palm, closing his other hand atop it.

“And I've been told about your exquisite nerve,” he replies, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret. “Your bravery deserves to be celebrated.”

After a tour of the palace, you and Zuko are led to your suite. The windows in both the sitting room and bedroom look out over an incredible view of the city, in which you can almost see as far as the eastern wall; you can hardly pull yourself away, leaving Zuko the task of inspecting the rooms to ensure everything is in order.

“We have a problem,” he says, stepping out to where you perch by the sitting room window. “There's only one bed.”

You snap your head to attention, fixing him with a quizzical expression.

“... I mean, I guess that's normal,” you reply, piecing the situation together in your head. “We are married.”

“Do you want me to request another room for myself?” Zuko asks. “I could get one of the bedrolls from Appa’s pack and sleep on the floor.”

You shake your head, pacing over to where he stands.

“I trust you,” you tell him. “We have to get comfortable with each other at some point.”

Zuko nods, blushing and unable to hold your gaze.

“You're right,” he agrees. “I trust you, too.”

You gently take his hand, causing him to shift his eyes back to yours; you smile, giving his palm a light squeeze.

“Zuko, it’s okay,” you assure him. “Really. I’m okay with it.”

Zuko nods again, reaching absently to brush a stray lock of hair behind your ear.

“I just want you to feel safe,” he admits. “You’ve already got enough to worry about without… all of this.”

You scoff, rolling your eyes as you smile at him.

“All you’ve done since the day we met is protect me,” you remind him. “Sleeping with you is the last thing that could possibly worry me.”

Zuko chuckles, leaning to press a chaste kiss to your forehead.

“Don’t laugh at me,” he playfully scolds. “Or I’ll make you sleep on the bed roll.”

You gasp, giggling as you push his shoulder.

“I can’t believe my own husband would make me sleep on the floor,” you tease. “And in a strange city, no less! You’re so awful to me.”

Zuko rolls his eyes, smirking as he bends and hooks his arms under your bum, lifting you up over his shoulder. You squeal, laughing as he carries you into the bedroom and flops you down on the mattress, jestfully smacking a pillow into your face.

“Get changed, Queenie” he tells you, retreating into the sitting room before you can launch a counterattack. “The party’s in an hour.”

In the ballroom of the Earth King’s palace, it seems everyone in the city has turned out to celebrate your arrival.

You sit in a throne beside Kuei’s, Zuko to your left and Aang to the Earth King’s right. Dignitaries from Kuei’s cabinet as well as various parts of the kingdom come to give their regards, all greeting you much more fondly than many of the guests at your wedding; Kuei is excited to introduce you to everyone, giving fervent, detailed descriptions of what each person does and launching you into long conversations with them. You don’t mind his enthusiasm, finding it endearing that he cares so much and so openly about the people who serve him.

“Ah, here’s a very special guest!” Kuei announces, cheerfully clapping his hands.

A woman approaches the throne, leading a large, furry animal up the steps towards you; its long claws and massive stature send a chill through you, but once you look into its beady little eyes and notice its round ears and bumbling demeanor, you’re enamored.

“Is that a bear?” you ask, excitedly gripping Kuei’s sleeve.

“Yes!” he cheers. “His name is Bosco; he’s a close friend of mine.”

Bosco lets out a soft growl as Kuei scratches him under the chin, pulling the fuzzy giant into a tight hug.

“He loves cuddles and blackberries,” Kuei tells you. “Don’t let his claws scare you - he’s a big softy.”

One of the servers appears with a bowl of fresh fruit, setting it into your lap for you to share with your newest party guest. You carefully take a blackberry into your palm, holding it out for Bosco to sniff; his nose hovers above your fingers, letting out a few warm huffs of breath onto your skin before licking the berry up into his mouth. You turn to Kuei and give him a wide smile, gathering more berries into your hand for Bosco to eat.

“I love him,” you tell your host. “He might be coming back to the Fire Nation with me.”

Kuei laughs, giving Bosco a loving pat on the head as you continue to fatten him up, switching between feeding him and running your fingers through his thick coat, giggling when his tongue flops out to lick your cheek; you never expected an animal fabled to be so fearsome to turn out so sweet.

Once the bowl of fruit is empty, Bosco settles onto the floor at the foot of Kuei’s throne, letting out a heavy yawn. Kuei reaches to scratch behind his ears, then stands, offering you his hand.

“Would you like to dance?” he asks. “I heard you and the Avatar made quite the display at your wedding.”

“We did!” Aang chimes in, also getting to his feet and sweeping Toph (who stands just to the side of the thrones, having declined the royal treatment for the evening) into his arms. “We were taught a few Earth Kingdom dances by your advisors, too!”

Toph laughs as you’re both led onto the dancefloor, taking her position beside Aang.

“And that’s why I call him Twinkle Toes,” she jokes.

Kuei chuckles, taking you by the waist and starting the dance, twirling with you in an interlaced circle between Toph and Aang. You each pass from partner to partner, raising your hands to meet them together and spinning gracefully around each other before returning to the escort you started with. Kuei’s arm skillfully finds your waist when he takes you back in, each of you facing the opposite direction with your sides pressed together, turning in a clockwise motion. He grins at you, and you can’t help but smile back.

“You’re a natural!” he praises you. “I’m sorry I have two left feet.”

You laugh, shaking your head.

“Back home, they consider me clumsy,” you confess. “I used to step on my brother and sister’s toes when they tried to teach me to dance - I still do sometimes!”

Kuei chortles, taking your hand in his and repeating the sequence of steps you just completed. You recite the ritual five times before the dance is over, ending with each of you bowing to each other with cheerful, elated smiles. Someone behind Kuei clears his throat, and he turns to find Zuko, his hand outstretched toward you.

“You promised to teach me to dance,” he reminds you.

You nod, a burning heat pinkening your cheeks as you take his hand.

“I did,” you echo. “Thank you for the wonderful dance, your majesty.”

Kuei smirks knowingly between the two of you, bowing before taking his leave.

“The pleasure was all mine, my lady,” he says in parting. “It’s rare that I have such an excellent partner.”

Zuko’s arm locks around your waist, skirting you to the edge of the dance floor where he stands stiffly, holding you in place in front of him. You let out a soft giggle, resting your hands on his chest.

“I thought you didn’t want to learn how to dance with an audience?” you prod, starting to sway in time with the music. Zuko does the same, his body drifting along in sync with yours.

“I wouldn’t enjoy the party if I sat through it,” he explains, trying and failing to sound nonchalant. You quirk a brow, grinning teasingly at him.

“Sure,” you say. “It definitely didn’t have anything to do with me dancing so close with another man.”

“Not at all,” Zuko replies. His hand at the small of your back clutches you a little tighter, giving himself away. “It looked like fun and I wanted to join in.”

You roll your eyes, smirking as you take a step back from him, lacing your fingers with his.

“Let’s find Aang,” you suggest. “He can help me teach you the dance we did at our wedding.”

For the rest of the evening, you, Aang, Toph, and Zuko occupy a small corner of the dance floor, guiding the Firelord with the steps of your favorite traditional Water Tribe dance. He’s nervous, moving with rigid gestures and clearly unsure of what his body is supposed to do when set to music, but he tries, watching every move you make with rapt attention. By the end of the night he has the dance memorized, and you twirl in time with him as Aang cheers him on, Toph laughing beside him at the ridiculousness of the scene; Kuei even joins in, rousing Bosco from his nap and dancing with the bear on his two hind legs, sending the entire ballroom into gleeful fits.

“You’re better at this than you think, you know,” you tell Zuko when you’re left alone, dancing with him much the same way you danced with the king earlier in the night. “I noticed at our wedding that you have great rhythm.”

Zuko blushes, his lips curling into a timid smile.

“I’m a fighter, not a dancer,” he says.

“They’re not that different,” you shrug. “From what I’ve seen of fire bending, it’s a lot like dancing.”

Zuko hums, gently turning you so that your chest is pressed against his, his hand resting firmly at your waist.

“Maybe it’s the music lessons my mother forced me to take when I was a kid,” he muses. “Uncle still keeps asking me to play the tsungi horn for him when we’re together.”

“You play the tsungi horn?” you exclaim, eyebrows raising in excitement. “You should play for both of us sometime!”

Zuko groans, immediately switching the dance so he can pass you off to Aang.

You lean against the sitting room in your guest suite, watching the lights of Ba Sing Se as they flicker with the movement of its people. The world looks dreamlike from where you sit, as if it's been turned upside down; a black expanse of sky hangs above a sea of stars, and you float between the two, dizzy with the surrealism.

Zuko emerges from the bedroom, having changed into his pajamas after giving you the chance to do the same. He crosses the room to where you sit, resting a hand on your shoulder.

“You coming to bed?” he asks. You nod, standing and following him back into the bedroom.

Zuko allows you to slip between she sheets before him, giving you a few moments to get comfortable before crawling in beside you, keeping to his side of the bed. Even though the mattress is large enough to fit another couple between you, you can still feel the warmth of his skin spreading across the fabric below, feel the weight of his body sharing the same space as yours. Your heart flutters against your ribs, making your breathing shallow.

“I had fun tonight,” Zuko whispers into the darkness around you. “Thank you for teaching me how to dance.”

“I had fun, too,” you reply. “I can teach you the dance people do for Water Tribe weddings; I wish we could’ve done it at ours.”

“I’d like that. I’m sorry we didn’t have much Water Tribe tradition when we got married… We should go back and have a ceremony there. I’d like to see you in a Water Tribe wedding gown.”

A shiver runs through your veins, heating your skin as if a fire has been lit beneath it. You roll over to face him, making out his silhouette against the rest of the shadows in the room.

“I’m glad you asked me to marry you,” you admit to him, the manic jitters in your chest rising to your throat. “I don’t think anyone else could treat me better.”

Zuko reaches his hand towards you, finding yours beneath the blankets and curling his fingers with yours. For a moment you forget that your relationship was arranged, feeling as if you’re lovers instead of leaders, tasked with repairing a world that’s been shattered since long before you were born.

“I’m glad you agreed,” Zuko answers. “I was afraid you’d hate my guts because I stalked your brother and sister for six months when we were teenagers.”

You release a breath of laughter, the pressure in your body unraveling with it. Zuko’s thumb runs tenderly across your knuckles, and you forget that anyone else in the world exists except for the two of you.

“Goodnight, Zuko,” you murmur.

“Goodnight,” he hums back to you. “Sleep well.”

You wake early in the morning with his arm draped over your waist, your head tucked under his chin with your cheek pressed to his chest. You drift back to sleep to his quiet, blissful snores, his heartbeat pulsing in time with your own.

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amberskywrites · 4 years

Text

Desperate for Cuddles

This was pretty frickin fun to write- Anywho! Enjoy the fluff!!

Masterpost

Pairing: Zuko x Sokka, Suki x Sokka, Suki & Zuko

Fandom / Genre: Avatar the Last Airbender / Fluff

Summary: Sokka's letters to Zuko and Suki reveal a dire need for cuddles, and who are they to deny their boyfriend such a simple request? Besides, they'd sail an entire ocean if it meant making Sokka happy.

-------------------

Suki bites her nail as they sail closer and closer to the south pole, and she glances at the Firelord leaning against the ship's handrail.

"You think this is really a good idea?" Zuko looks away from the horizon and towards the warrior, tilting his head in confusion. "Visiting Sokka without warning," Suki clarifies.

Zuko shrugs, turning away again. "Doubtful, you've read some of his letters, right? The man is practically oozing desperation for cuddles."

Suki laughs gently at that, settling against the rail herself. They're making good time and should get to the south pole before sundown. "You're right. I hope we don't interrupt any meetings, though."

Zuko silently acknowledged Suki's concern, but he doubted Sokka would mind if they interrupted one meeting… Sokka liked them a lot more than he did when they were all still teens, but Zuko does recall getting a letter or two with some complaints about how boring some of it could be.

The two friends eventually head inside the ship when it starts getting a bit colder, the sun sinking closer and closer towards the horizon. They play a game of paisho to pass the time, and after Suki tells Zuko about Kyoshi Island- a place Zuko has been dying to visit again for a vacation.

A guard steps into the room with a single knock on the door, catching their attention as he clears his throat. "We'll be docking soon, the captain claimed you would want to know."

Zuko nods at the guard. "Thank you," he says, watching as the guard leaves. He grins at Suki and reaches for their coats, tossing hers over. "C'mon, with our luck he will be in a meeting, which means he won't see the ship, and we can actually surprise him."

"No scaring him though, we don't need to give him a heart attack before telling him we just wanted to cuddle." Zuko rolls his eyes, huffing softly as he fastens the coat around himself.

"Fine, next time then, I still need to get him back for making me think he had been eaten by the unagi."

Suki hums as she follows Zuko up some stairs and onto the deck. "Fair." She had been terrified then, too. Neither of them had known Aang was there to save Sokka at the last minute, and they had both been left quite terrified at the time.

There were a few warriors from the water tribe at the bottom of the ramp, and they greeted Zuko and Suki with smiles. Hakoda stepped forward with open arms, embracing both of his son's partners.

"Sokka's just about to finish up with a meeting, assuming that's why you're both here unannounced," he says stepping back and glancing between the two, a hand on each of their shoulders still. Suki laughs and Zuko rubs the back of his neck, grinning slightly. "Come, I'll show you where and you can wait outside."

"Thank you, sir," Zuko says and Hakoda nods briefly, escorting Suki and Zuko towards one of the ice buildings. The south pole has definitely improved since their last visit. And also lacking a certain flying bison, avatar, and master waterbender.

"Aang and Katara on another adventure?" Suki asks as they walk, stuffing her gloved hands into her pockets.

"Visiting Toph in the Earth Kingdom," Hakoda corrects. "Aang wished to know a bit more metal bending and Katara wanted to try and visit your uncle." He nods to Zuko, who smiles a bit more and warmth erupts in his chest. He knew Iroh enjoyed visits from Zuko and his friends from time to time.

Hakoda stopped in front of a rather impressive building, nodding inside. "Should be done very soon, if either of you need anything just call. I'll be sure someone helps your guards feel welcome, Zuko."

With that, Hakoda leaves the pair, and Zuko and Suki settle on the icy wall. They debate what the meeting could've been about as they watch the sunset, light dancing across the snow and the calm waves. Just as the sun finally dips out of view and people start lighting lamps does the meeting seem to end and the doors open.

Zuko recognizes a northern water tribe ambassador, as well as a few Ba Sing Se representatives. They don't appear entirely dead inside at the moment, so Zuko assumes the meeting was a success.

And finally, the last meeting attendant steps out, stretching and yawning. Suki grins as she jumps to her feet, and she grabs Zuko to pull him up with her. "Sokka!"

Suki's voice snaps the exhaustion right out of Sokka, the ambassador staring at them for a moment before he registers who is standing just a little ways away and he laughs lightly, running into their open, awaiting arms.

Zuko's warm, pressing his face into Sokka's neck as Sokka melts against the pleasant heat, and Suki peppers kisses to Sokka's face, enjoying the way Sokka's cheeks dust crimson.

"What're you two doing here?" He asks, one arm wrapped around Suki's waist and the other Zuko's shoulders.

"Wanna spend some time with you," Zuko brushes some of the strands of Sokka's hair that escaped his ponytail back before his fingers trail down to cup Sokka's jaw. His thumb gently grazes just under Sokka's eyes. "You haven't been sleeping, have you?"

Sokka smiles sheepishly, and Suki huffs, grabbing one of Sokka's hands and she begins guiding him to where she knows Sokka lives. Zuko takes Sokka's other hand and follows Suki's lead, and Sokka lets them take him where they want.

Once they're inside and huddled in a bunch of blankets and furs, Suki and Zuko rid themselves of their coats so they could cuddle Sokka better.

Sokka rests against Suki's side and sighs as her fingers start brushing through his hair, nails scraping gently against his scalp in a soothing way. Meanwhile, Zuko rests his head on Sokka's shoulder, rubbing smooth circles into Sokka's stomach, raising his own body heat just enough to keep the three of them warm.

Sokka hums as Suki presses a kiss to the top of his head, and he glances at Zuko, who ends up pressing a light kiss to Sokka's collarbone. "How long do you guys intend to stay?" He finds himself asking already. Sokka just wants to know in advance, and he hopes they're staying a while.

"A few weeks, " Zuko answers, and he shifts so Sokka is instead leaning against him, an arm looping around Sokka's waist and spreading warmth throughout him. Suki, satisfied with getting the knots out of Sokka's hair, settles herself against Sokka's chest, wrapping her arm around him as well. She nuzzles his neck lightly.

"Right now you should sleep, though. And tomorrow we can have those sea prunes." Suki stops herself from laughing at the mildly disgusted face Zuko makes, and Sokka rolls his eyes but Zuko holds him closer, burying his face in the back of Sokka's neck.

"She's right, besides, I guess I could stomach one helping." Sokka looks over his shoulder to see Zuko's gentle smile, and he leans into him more, pressing a soft kiss to Zuko's incredibly warm lips.

The kiss doesn't last long, and right after Sokka tilts Suki's head up to kiss her as well, hearing the satisfied hum in the back of her throat.

"Love you both," Sokka mumbles when they pull away. Zuko and Suki echo the sentiment, and Sokka closes his eyes. He falls into a deep sleep rather quickly, much to their amusement.

It wasn't until Suki could hear his heart fall into a steady, slow rhythm does she speak up, voice no louder than a whisper.

"You think tomorrow, he'll like what we got him?" She bites her lip gently as she glances towards the firebender.

She feels one of Zuko's hands find hers, and she sighs softly at the warmth that floods her body at the touch. He rubs small circles into the back of her hand. "Wasn't he the one that brought up the betrothal necklaces?"

"Yeah… but that was mostly about him proposing. Do you think he'll like that we're doing it?"

Zuko shrugs ever so slightly. "Only one way to find out, really."

Suki's quiet for a moment. "I guess you're right."

Zuko presses a kiss to the back of his friend's hand, grinning at her and she returns the smile, a bit smaller though. "Let's both get some rest too," he says, and Suki nods, settling back against Sokka's chest.

"Night, Zuko."

"G'night."

They both fall asleep, and none of them wake up until the following afternoon, cuddled close under a mountain of furs.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zukka #sukka #sokka/zuko #sokka/suki #zuko #sokka #suki #atla zuko #atla sokka #atla suki #fluff #post canon #amberskywrites #ambersky #fanfic

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cobraonthecob · 4 years

Text

A Character With Chronic Running Away Issues Paired with a Character With Abandonment Issues????

For those who have seen my reblogs with RWBY and A:TLA, you all know that I adore Bumbleby but despise Kataa/ng, even though both pairings have one character with chronic running away issues and the other has abandonment issues.

GET READY FOR THE META NO ONE ASKED FOR

So why do I support one and not the other? (warning: I am not friendly to Kat@ang here)

Well...it’s because they’re in way different ballparks. Kataan/g happens when both are still 12/13 and 14/15, while Blake and Yang are about 19 by Volume 7. So for starters, there’s a massive maturity gap that almost shoots this comparison in the face right here and now. But wait! There’s more to this!

which is why i don’t like Ka/tara and A@ng getting together at such a young age, but then again, I don’t like the pairing at all, but we can talk about that another time

Now that we’ve addressed the maturity gap, let’s get into it!

For starters, Blake and Yang’s relationship started as good friends and then progressed into love interests and possibly girlfriends by the time of S7 (they haven’t quite jumped out with “we’re dating” but I personally think they’re taking it slow lol, ask me for my thoughts about it), so they kind of have the advantage of time on their side while Kata/ra and A@ng have only three seasons of development.

That being said, Kata@ng had 3 seasons, which is more than enough time to get both sides of their relationship but nooooo. We only see Aa/ng’s side of the romance, and Kat@ra for the most part acts like a mom, is uninterested, or straight up tries to let him down gently, and after the disastrous Ember Island Players kiss, which happens to be their last one-on-one interaction before the epilogue I want to pretend doesn’t exist, Katara and Aang’s friendship plumments badly. Heck, their last interaction ever ends badly, with the entire Gaang arguing with A@ng about how to end the war!

what I’m saying is that Kat@ra and Aa/ng had a strained friendship before they did that cursed kiss while Blake and Yang’s friendship continued to build and then blossom into romance

“But Nightfalcon, what about the abandonment issues?!”

I’m getting there, be patient!

Now for the actual getting together - how do we make these two characters fit together?

By making both characters recognize their faults.

Blake herself knows she’s in the wrong, she addresses her chronic running away issues, starting in Volume 2, in Mountain Glenn, where she says it herself: “But I am! I do it all the time! When you learned I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran! When I realized my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran! Even my Semblance! I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself; an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away!” (taken directly from the RWBY Wiki). She feels guilt for running away in Volume 3 after the Fall of Beacon, but she internalizes this anger, which pops out at bad times, and she takes her guilt, buries it in anger, and isolates herself. After Sun is injured, Blake believes she’s the one at fault, and when she explodes at him and tells him why she isolates herself, Sun tells her that she’s in the wrong for isolating herself, but then tells her that he would always be there to protect her and be there for her, and that Yang would too (OK I’ve got a whole meta about Sun and Yang and Blake and why they’re amazing relationships but that’s a whole ‘nother meta).

By having Chronic Running Away (CRA bc that’s getting to be a mouthful) character openly address their faults (and others calling them out on it), you’re one step closer to making a ship sail much more smoothly.

Then there’s Yang.

In Alone Together, Yang talks to Weiss that she’s not upset solely at Blake, she’s upset that Blake didn’t feel safe enough to trust them to stay by them, and that they (whether if Yang was referring to just herself and Blake or herself, Ruby, and Blake [as Weiss was taken to Atlas]) could’ve been there for each other. She gets to address her anger and explain why she feels that way, and Weiss lends a listening ear and some advice for her.

Eventually, the two are brought back into the same space, and spend the next few volumes patching up their relationship, or at least, the best they can, up until the fight with Adam, which puts everything on the table, and in the aftermath, Blake promises Yang she wouldn’t leave her and Yang understands and assures her that she already trusts/knows that Blake wouldn’t leave her.

TL;DR: Blake recognizes that her CRA issues are bad, and tries to make amends, Yang gets to vent her issues with Blake’s CRA issues and gets emotional support from Weiss and Ruby. Blake promises not to run, and Yang tells her that she’s not worried about Blake running away because she knows that Blake knows that team RWBY will always be there for her and that there’s a support system in place for Blake that she probably won’t feel the need to run. (seriously if you haven’t watched this show already, please do. It’s really great)

A:TLA, as wonderful as this show is, doesn’t do that for Kat@ra and A/ang.

From memory, The Storm is the episode that really touched on Aan/g’s flightiness, but Katara coddles him in that one, trying to tell him “it’s not your fault, if you hadn’t run, you might’ve died as well” which can be taken either way (IMO she’s right and wrong at the same time. Yes, Aa/ng might’ve died, but also, he needs a solid kick in the pants sometimes, I’ll talk about it later)

The next time his flightiness rears its ugly head, it’s in The Desert. After Appa is stolen, Aan/g runs off to go look for Appa, and Katara is left with Toph, Sokka, and Momo to try and get out of the desert on foot. The entire day turns into a trainwreck, as Toph has extreme guilt for failing to keep the sandbenders from taking Appa (it isn’t her fault but that’s another meta) and Sokka (and Momo) drink cactus juice and is as a result, mentally incapacitated. With the dire mission of getting the news of the eclipse to Ba Sing Se, Katara’s the only one clear-headed enough to lead the way through the desert. Once A/ang does come back, he’s still upset from his inability to find Appa, and lashes out at the others for not caring to look for Appa (even though he’s far away and that no one has a means of transportation to find Appa). Tensions are already high in the group - with dwindling water supply, they have to make it out of the desert fast, but the rest of the team is losing hope - Toph because she feels like a failure and Sokka shaking off the effects of the cactus juice, and Katara looks so tired. When Aa/ng snaps at her, she doesn’t snap back, only quietly telling A/ang that she’s trying to keep this group together enough for them to survive. A/ang running away this episode is not addressed in favor of the team getting out of the desert alive.

Finally, in the finale four-parter, Aan/g runs away again. This time she can only hope that he’ll come back and do his job, but she’s got other stuff to worry about, like the upcoming fight with Azula.

Afterwards...

they don’t talk about it.

YEAH YOU READ THAT RIGHT. They don’t talk about it. They don’t address the running away issues, they don’t address when A@ng kissed her without her consent twice, they just hug on a balcony and then kiss symbolizing a marriage, because I definitely signed up for East Asian Jesus making out with his mom! Definitely! They don’t talk, Katara becomes a silent character and it gets even worse in LoK ~

*Nightfalcon proceeds to take a few minutes to scream*

And of course, no one else really calls out Aa/ng, except for Toph in Bitter Work, but that was more on his fighting/bending style and not on him in general.

The only other really memorable time where Katara’s abandonment issues are brought up is when she’s ranting at her dad in The Awakening, where she takes issue with both him and A/ang leaving her, and for the most part, Hakoda does give her the support she needs.

Heck, in the finale arc, Zuko tells her that it’s probably for the best that Aang is given some time alone to run to his room and meditate. probably because the last time Katara and A/ang were alone, A@ng kissed her without her consent and I’m going into full speculation territory but what if Zuko knows and doesn’t want that to happen again?

So Katara is repeatedly told by the narrative that Aa/ng is the type to run away when things get tough, and that she should let him.

I see both sides of the issue, and I get it, but when it comes to pairing people off in a relationship, well, they shouldn’t have gotten together.

Anyways, Aan/g is also twelve and has proven numerous times to be unable to support Katara emotionally, and has kissed her without her consent twice, while Katara is 14 going on 28 because of the war, losing her mom and stepping up as the mother figure for her entire family, and later because Aang isn’t allowed to grow up at all, along with other symbolism that shoots Kataa/ng in the foot.

TL;DR: Katara and A/ang never really talk about A@ng’s running away issues, and no one comes up to support Katara (they do validate her but it’s not a whole support system she can fall back on fully), and Aa/ng is way too immature for a full on relationship at the time of the show’s end.

So what was the point of this rambly mess? It’s to show how to write a relationship where one character has a tendency to run away while the other one has abandonment issues. I like Bumbleby because Blake acknowledges that it’s a flaw of hers and she actively works to toning it down and Yang has a whole support system and both get to talk about it and aaaahhhhh the communication between them, while you have Katara and A@ng never addressing the issue because Katara’s so gosh darn afraid of stepping on his feelings (see: The Waterbending Scroll) and no one fully provides support for her (Hakoda keeps getting separated from the Gaang and she and Zuko became friends at the end of TSR, and only had an episode between that one and the finale arc so it left a lot unexplored of their friendship) and Aan/g is therefore taught that it’s a-OK to invalidate the feelings of the person you like because you’ll get them in the end!

#nightfalcon posts #nightfalcon rants #atla #a:tla #anti kataang #anti aang #aang salt #sort of #just covering my bases #atla salt #a:tla salt #rwby #bumbleby #bumblebee #blake #yang #katara #long post

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storytime-with-moth · 4 years

Text

Writing part of my ATLA Soulflower Prompt - take what you like and make it into your own!

Feel free to take what you like from this and change whatever you like to make it work. There are lots of different ways to interpret flowers and how the characters were feeling. Send me any fan art or fanfic from this if you use it, no credit needed I just want to admire it! Feel free to just use placements of the flowers too! No meanings needed, I just like the idea of Sokka really only nicking his hands and covering up the flowers on his arms with wraps until he can’t hide it anymore when his face is marked.

MOSTLY JUST ZUKKA

Notes: There could also be lot’s of fun angst and miscommunication because Sokka knows when he first sees Zuko, but Zuko shouldn’t notice until he shows up at the Western Air Temple saying “Zuko here” and that way his decision to leave the Fire Nation is entirely based on his own character growth, for which he is rewarded with finally being worthy of his soulmate. (there will be growing pains between the boys)

But of course the whole time Sokka just thinks Zuko is a jerk who would ignore his own soulmate so callously which is why he tried to move on with Yue and Suki.

For this cannon divergence Sokka has always known that being Bi is fine and discovered his own bisexuality on the road when he is presented with boys his age for the first time as well as girls that aren’t his sister. And our dear Zuko is gay and him and Mai use each other as beards when he goes back to the Fire Nation. (Mai/Ty Lee but they have to keep it on the down low)

Here it goes….

When Sokka was 8 he got a fish hook stuck in his thumb, and of course it had to be a stupid barbed hook that stuck steadfast in his hand. Being the bright you man he was he thought he could leverage the hook out with another small blade. And that was how he ended his evening hugging his Mum and lamenting over the two sore holes in his thumb. Kya brushed through his hair with her hands and whispered stories of his Dad doing the same thing when he was young.

Sokka turned around and held his Mother’s hand in his turning it over gently, there in between her fingers rested a small pink blossom of Balsamine.

“What does this one mean Mum?”

Kya smiled softly at her son “Impatience my little arctic dove…. You are so much like your father I bet your soulmate is looking at two of the same flower on their thumb right now.”

Sokka looked back at his thumb with reverence. “You think they’ll like me?”

“I know they will, the spirits don’t make mistakes.”

In that moment miles away a young prince sat next to a small candle holding his hand up mesmerized by the two pink flowers on his thumb.

“Hello.”

_______________________

When Kya passed, Sokka silently stacked the rocks making her burial site with the rest of his family, his hand slipped on his own tears and ice slicing his palm open in the process. He couldn’t be bothered to care. He just wrapped more cloth around it and continued with his silent vigil of burying his mother.

That night Prince Zuko would be found pouring over a soul flower book looking for the deep crimson flower on his palm.

“The Dark Crimson Rose: Can have two interpretations. One is about sadness and mourning and death. The second, has a more joyous meaning - rebirth and love. When someone your soulmate care about passes away, the dark crimson rose can express their feelings of mourning and sadness.”

Zuko held his hand close to himself and whisper softly “I’m sorry.”

—————————————

Years later Sokka woke up screaming and clutching his face, his face felt like it was on fire. Worse than any soul pain before, worse than any pervious flower burning into his hand or arm, this was agony.

He didn’t speak for days, too much pain and anguish plagued his 12 year old body. His eye was fuzzy for days and it took weeks for him to regain his balance enough to be trusted in a canoe with his dad.

What never left however were the purple hyacinth’s scattered around his left eye and cheek. He asked his Dad what they mean’t, but he just shook his head looking sad.

“I’m not sure son. I have never seen flowers like that before and so much of our history has been lost I’m not sure anyone left knows much about every flower.”

Sokka hung his head and left the room. Not before Hakoda whispered to himself “Your mother would have known.”

___________________________

After a childhood spent running away from Azula’s flames and then his Father’s, he was grateful that his soulmate seemed to live a safe life only ever nicking their hands and forearms, more often than not they were so small and shallow the flowers would fade in a few months just like his soulmates scars.

There were a few flowers that stayed into his teens, the two pink flowers on his thumb, the red rose on his palm and a small cockscomb across the back of his hand, which he read symbolized affection, singularity, and silliness. He was fond of that one, Zuko liked to think his soulmate got that one playing with a friend and laughing like Ty Lee does when Mai tries to do a handstand.

He hoped that when he met his soulmate they would forgive him for the unfortunate number and placement of flowers they would have. The burn across his face was likely to never heal completely meaning that not only had his father marked him for life, they marked his soulmate too.

_______________________

Zuko noticed that once he started in earnest to chase the Avatar more and more soul flowers would pop up on his hands, knees, and every once in a while across his cheek or on the back of his head. Most of them faded after a few weeks, but their appearance still made his heart lurch a little.

Why were they suddenly in so much danger? Why did all the flowers mean bravery and courage? Who were they fighting?

He had figured out a while ago that his soulmate must be a boy, because he never found any interest in the girls around him. Plus the scars had to come from someone who worked with their hands hunting, fishing, practising with blades. Only that could account for all the small nicks he saw over the years. So his soulmate was a warrior.

He secretly hoped that he wasn’t fighting against his soulmate, that would be awful.

______________________

When Aang burned Katara his hands were suddenly covered in burning lavender sprigs, he wept as Sokka yelled at him and Katara’s shriek repeated in his mind.

Eventually the burning stopped and he looked down at his hands, they were clear, not a lavender in sight.

But he knew what the appearance of the flowers meant, Katara was his soulmate and he had hurt her.

Before running from the camp he asked Jeong Jeong what lavender meant.

“It means distrust young Avatar.”

That night Aang vowed to never fire bend again, he couldn’t risk losing her faith.

_______________________

While at the Northern Air Temple Sokka scoured the mechanist’s library for a book on soul flowers, he couldn’t stand knowing who his idiot jerk of a soulmate was without knowing what the flowers meant. Probably evil or cruelty or something Jerk worthy.

"The Purple Hyacinth: Can be interpreted as your soulmates Sorrow, often the words “I am sorry. Please forgive me.” Were said when the soul flower appears.”

Sokka sat heavily on the floor, the new information swirling around his mind. Zuko was begging for forgiveness when someone burned his face. A child was asking for forgiveness and someone decided to burn him instead.

He swallowed a lump in his throat.

Okay yes Zuko was a jerk. A jerk who through him into the snow when they first met and has since chased them around the world throwing fire at them. So a bad guy, AND a jerk for not even mentioning the obvious flowers across Sokka’s face that matched his own scar.

But no deserved that. Especially if they were saying they were sorry, and it was obvious by the flowers on his own face that Zuko had truly meant his sorrow.

Still his enemy though, so he couldn’t think on it for too long. And he couldn’t tell his friends what they truly meant.

_____________________________

Only a week later Sokka woke up with a start thinking he had fallen off of Appa and hit the ground. His body ached and burned and for a moment he worried over the angry Prince.

In the morning the sharp pains had eased to be a dull ache and the snapdragons scattered across his body faded, the closer they got to the Northern Water Tribe.

Once they arrived one of the elders noted the snapdragon across his cheek and complimented him on his soulmates grace under pressure and inner strength in trying circumstances.

He wondered what Zuko could have done to earn those.

_____________________________

Sokka meeting Yue - falls into the canal hurts himself - Zuko gets a Daffodil - regard, respect, chivalry, unrequited love, symbolic for the power of inner beauty

When Sokka loses Yue he gets hurt in the same spot and so covering the Daffodil on Zuko is a White tulip - forgiveness, lost love

_______________________

Aang in the catacombs gets struck by lightning - White Lotus flower on Katara - purity, enlightenment, self regeneration and rebirth - he let go of Katara and reached the full avatar state

Maybe the one on his foot could be different? A secondary emotion

_______________________

Zuko final Agni Kai taking the lighting for Katara - Sokka gets a White rose - I am worthy of you OR Pink carnation - I will never forget you OR Purple columbine - resolution OR Edlweiss - courage devotion (lot’s to pick from)

______________________

One day when they get married they prick each others thumbs (like hand fasting) to show the whole world the true intent of their marriage.

On Zuko’s thumb (meaning Sokka’s intention) - Camellia blue - you are the flame in my heart

On Sokka’s thumb (meaning Zuko’s intention) - Violet purple - you occupy my thoughts, blue love

_________________________

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airiustide · 4 years

Text

Let’s Hope We Make It To Tomorrow

Zutara Month 2020 Part 2, Day 2: Winter

Summary: It's just like any other night when Katara brushes her hair. Not when Zuko visits her home come winter. There's a lot the young Fire Lord could handle but watching his beloved display a show of her beautiful hair in front of him was certainly not one of them.

Also posted on AO3

@zutaramonth

He can’t help but stare. She was just that good at getting his attention. Zuko laid out on his side, cheek rested on his closed fist. The snow had died down hours ago, leaving only the sound of the howling wind outside the hut they were put up for the night in. The fire crackled, adding mood to the silence in the hut with a relaxed ambiance. The single lit lantern by the bedside of their furs danced on the brown skin of her slim shoulders. Her blue robe was pulled to her shoulders. Katara's excuse? To prevent her hair from catching the edge of her collar.

The hut Katara resided in was adorned in tribal artifacts and animal skin. Trinkets made of bead and bone clinked from the small brush of wind that escaped from the opening of their closed window flap. Crafted bowls and utensils were gathered by the fire. Wicker baskets laid splayed out with fruit and nuts and dried meats.

Hakoda’s hospitality was often over the top when the young Fire Lord came to visit. It was rare, unfortunately. Zuko’s time was kept with other affairs. Making an appearance in the Earth Kingdom was more dire than visiting his girlfriend. Every chance he got resulted in him being pulled away by the chieftain and liquored up until the man was drunk, silly and pestering Zuko about when he planned to wed his daughter. That would last until Katara came to Zuko’s rescue, gently reprimanding her father for bothering the Fire Lord and guiding the chieftain to bed with a kiss to the forehead.

“My turn.” Katara would greet Zuko, interlacing their hands; him allowing her to lead him away.

Their night would usually end up with abrasive kisses and whispers about how much they missed each other before they drifted off buried in the warmth of Katara’s furs.

Not tonight. She invites him to make himself at home, waiting for Zuko to remove his armor and boots before he slid in the furs and sighed. Katara sat down next to him, undoing her waist length braid and entangling her fingers through her hair. She makes a hum, casually pulling her robe over her shoulders before proceeding to release her bun and remove the beads holding her hair loopies in place.

Whether she was aware of it or not, that wasn’t clear. Throwing her thick curly hair behind her shoulders, slipping long, delicate fingers through the tresses and massaging the scalp. Katara encloses her hand over the comb made of whale bone lying next to her lap, coming up to glide it through her long hair. Zuko shifts in his position, looking up casually with her back turned to him and her hair brushed over her shoulder to expose her fine neck. But inside, he’s burning hot; wrecked with how lovely the very woman in front of him was. That she was here with him. Him. And after a year it was still hard to believe she chose him.

“Do you do that every night?” He asked. A hand reached out, coming towards the nape of her neck, admiring the exquisite curve. Zuko stops inches from touching her skin, balling his fist and burying it in the furs.

Katara’s smile was mischievous in every way, “Yup.” Tossing it to the side, caressing her hands through chocolate locks before lifting her hair and hanging it over her forearms. Katara chuckled, lidding cool, blue eyes seductively at Zuko. “Do you like it?”

Zuko swore white smoke escaped his ears. A blush burned his cheeks and he was red from his neck to the tips of his ears. So much for keeping a cool face. “Y-yes. I like it.”

“You like it?” she repeated. Katara captured him, causing Zuko to fumble and stutter a ‘yes’. “How much do you like it?”

Her smile reaches her eyes. Zuko’s longing gaze warmed her. She was smitten. Despite acting all confident, she felt the intensity of his gaze all the way down to her toes. Making it hard not to want to kiss him. She twists her hair, allowing it to fall to her back but that only proves futile as she crawls to Zuko’s side and dips her head, awaiting for his answer.

He swallowed soundlessly, reaching up to cup her cheeks. Electric currents coursed through him, his thumb sweeping over the line of her cheekbone. “I l-like it very, very much.”

“Very much?” Katara comes in, resting her hands on his shoulders,

“Very, very much.” Zuko corrected with a slow grin. His hot breath knocked against her parted lips. He tilts her head, oh so slightly, bracing himself for what he had waited for since his arrival. Finally, both hands slid in her hair, gently cuffing the back of her head.

Without warning Katara falls into his chest, colliding her mouth with his; a delightful squeal escaping her. The two laugh, rolling on the furs and covering each other with kisses and warm embraces.

#zutara month 2020 #zutara month part 2 #day 2: winter #zutara fanfiction #fanfiction #alta #zuko x katara #zuko #katara #AO3

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hklnvgl · 4 years

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I loved your Zutara last time, so 49 + Katara and Zuko! Can be platonic or romantic, I don't mind.

so i kinda cheated, because i didn’t choose and you can actually read this as either platonic or romantic. it’s not so much zutara as zuko+his internal angst (and katara’s there being awesome), but anyway here you go! (the other one is here)

(the prompt list is here!)

49. “I don’t want to screw this up.”

“I don’t want to screw this up,” he confessed, taking a sip from his scalding-hot cup of tea, in case it’d magically acquired healing properties in the past three seconds and it’d help him calm his nerves.

Katara managed to transform her snort into a polite cough, but not before he noticed. He glared at her, which of course Katara ignored.

She picked a fire gummy—Zuko was glad his Head of Protocol wasn’t there to see her efforts gone to waste—and her face scrunched when she swallowed.

“As long as you don’t make my dad eat those, it’ll be perfectly fine,” Katara said, chasing the candy down with some tea. “Why is everything so very spicy here, again?”

Zuko sighed. It wouldn’t be fine. Chief Hakoda was a nice enough guy, and he had Katara literally by his side, but he wasn’t the only one attending the meeting—he’d bring other Water Tribe people, which was terrifying by itself, and there was also the Fire Nation nobility to consider. At least when he had meetings with admirals and generals he knew when he made a mistake—they told him when his suggestions were physically impossible or took too much of the assigned budget. And they all worked to adjust them so that when everybody left the meeting room, with full bladders and falling topknots, some advances had been made.

On the other hand, meeting with nobles—for once, no matter how many hours they were forced to sit in perfect form in a suffocating room, they were the kind of people who would never allow others to see one single hair outside of their topknots. Zuko couldn’t relate, and for all he tried—he suspected his Head of Protocol was slightly upset with him for this very reason—he couldn’t guess when he’d said or done something that didn’t appease the nobles. Because they didn’t say! They nodded and smiled and gracefully fanned themselves, and then they went outside and gossiped and criticized and Zuko only found out what they were really thinking when he heard the kitchen helpers whisper about it when he came for a quick snack in the early morning.

If the Water Tribe nobles—not that they called themselves that, but Zuko’d gathered they served the same function—were similar to Fire Nation ones, this was going to be an enormous disaster.

He sipped more tea.

“Zuko, you’ll be fine,” Katara repeated, more gently than before. “It can’t be the worst situation you’ve faced so far—”

“The Fire Nation’s future is in my hands, Katara,” he said, with that matter-of-fact tone he often heard from the Fire Sages. It sounded more ominous when they said it, though. Must be their hats.

“Still. You’ve fought me, Zuko. And you were fine. This is nothing.”

Zuko was very glad Katara was sitting where she was. He filled both their cups with more tea. She was probably right—after all, he was the Fire Lord. He just had to fool these people for a couple hours, and then he’d be able to take a bath and change into more comfortable clothes.

He took a deep breath. He sipped more tea.

“Let them in.”

#atla #zutara #zuko #katara #fire lord zuko #atla fic #atla fic rec #atla drabble #writing #ask #fic #d #ailec-12

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amixiifish · 4 years

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Heat- Chapter 45: Strategy

“We need to find the Fire Navy communication tower. All the navy's movements are coordinated by messenger hawk. And every tower has to be up to date on where everyone is deployed,” Zuko explains to Katara as they fly. She nods.

They see a communication tower. “So once we find the communication tower, we bust in and take the information we need,” Katara continues.

“Not exactly. We need to be stealthy and make sure no one spots us,” Zuko says as Katara pulls Appa down to find a place to land near the communication tower they spotted, “otherwise they'll warn the Southern Raiders long before we reach them.”

After they land, Katara bends them a raft of ice to continue their journey to the tower. They break into the building silently, and more importantly, unnoticed. They peek around the corner of the wall, and there sits a secretary. Katara bends the ink she’s writing with over her hands, and she walks away, unsuspecting.

‘Come on’ Katara mouths and gestures at Zuko once she’s sure the coast is clear. They rummage through the files until they find the one they need: The Southern Raiders.

“Got it!” Zuko whispers shouts. “They’re at Whale Tail Island.”

Katara looks up, closing the file and shoving it into the desk. “Whale Tail Island, here we come.”

***

Zuko sat up and looked up at Katara from his angle. She had dark circles underneath her eyes and was fighting to keep her eyes open.

“Katara, you need to sleep to keep up your strength.” Zuko said, attempting to reason with the sleep deprived bender.

Katara glares into the horizon. “Oh, don’t you worry about my strength. I’m not the helpless little girl I was when they came.

Day of the Raid

“I'm going to find Mom,” a young Katara says as the black snow starts falling.

She runs nervously past her brother. Several Water Tribe warriors are running about, trying to form a defense formation.

Katara goes to her igloo and throws open the curtains.

“Mom!” Katara yells.

She runs in to see her mother seated on the floor, a man towering over her.

“Just let her go and I'll give you the information you want,” Kya says, looking up with hatred at the man.

The man turns and glares at Katara. “You heard your mother. Get out of here!”

“Mommy, I'm scared,” Katara whispers in fear.

Kya smiles at Katara. “Go find your dad, sweetie. I'll handle this.”

Katara gazes into the menacing eyes of the Southern Raiders commander and runs off.

Katara sprints as fast as she can across the snowy wasteland.

Katara goes to where her dad is fighting a Fire Nation Soldier.

“Dad, Dad! Please, I think Mom's in trouble! There's a man in our house!” Katara pleads as Hakoda knocks the soldier out.

Hakoda looks to where their igloo is with alarm. “Kya!”

The two run to their house frantically. Hakoda pushes back the blue drapes and sees….

Current Day

“But we were too late. The man was gone. And so was mom,” Katara said, her voice wavering.

“Your mother was a brave woman,” Zuko says after a moment.

Katara clutches her necklace. “I know.”

Zuko gets up and sits on Appa’s head next to Katara.

He hugs her and Katara leans into the touch.

“Will you please sleep now? For me?” Zuko asks softly.

Katara looks up at Zuko.

She slowly nods. “For you.”

She goes and lays on the saddle, closing her eyes and slowly falls asleep.

“Appa, could you steer for a couple of minutes, please?” Zuko asks the bison.

Appa lets out a low rumble of approval and Zuko thanks him.

He goes and gingerly lays next to Katara, pulling her in close to him.

He rests her chin on her head and tangles his legs with hers.

He was a couple inches shorter than the water bender and being able her head let the tips of his feet barely graze her knee.

But he once more feels the beginnings of a Guardian Bond form.

It wasn’t complete but it was there.

For a second he was shocked.

Once broken, Guardian Bonds could never repair.

Yet here they were.

And Zuko smiled, kissing the top of Katara’s head.

No matter what the alpha did, Zuko couldn’t help but feel his heart swell with love every time he saw her.

He thought of her as a sister. Not like Toph where she would need advice or hit him for appreciation, but like the type of sister that would be there one call away and would support you when you stood alone against the world.

He gently leaves the waterbender but stifles a laugh when she blindly reaches out to try and bring the warmth of his body back.

Zuko makes his way to Appa’s head.

“Thank you, Appa,” Zuko whispers again.

Appa makes a face similar to a smile and Zuko couldn’t hold in his laughter anymore.

A couple hours later, Zuko can see a ship in the distance.

He pulls out his spyglass.

He gasps and Katara shoots us in alarm.

“Sea Ravens, 12 o’clock. Southern Raiders,” Zuko points out, handing the spyglass to Katara for her to look through it.

Once her gaze lifted from the tool, her eyes were determined.

“Let’s do this.

#jetokko #jetko #zukka #jet #zuko #sokka #katara #toph #suki #aang #atla #Omegaverse #heat (amixiifish)

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