Avatar is my fave animation because it has cool dynamic bending movement (I love martial art, although I can’t do any of them irl hehe) and deep wise story.
I make PO period same like Ghibli pins (see my previous post) so it will be easier for you to safe shipping fee
Summary: Reader is walking home when they are attacked by thugs, then a mysterious stranger in a blue mask saves her, leaving without a word.
A/N: This is my first Zuko fic so I hope you guys like it and don’t be afraid to show it some love, I appreciate every comment, like or reblog I get, hope you enjoy
You pulled your arms closer to your body as the wind blew stronger sending chills down your spine. It was nearing midnight and so the streets of Ba Sing Se were eerily empty, spare for the dim glow of lanterns that lined the walls.
You were walking home from the antique shop where you worked, closing up shop had taken a little longer than you anticipated. One particular customer simply needed to stay past closing time to pick the perfect antique table for their bedroom. You hoped their table was worth you walking home, in the dark, alone.
You were almost home when you heard footsteps coming from behind you. Your heartbeat began to thump in your ears, your breathing became more erratic.
You walked slightly faster, trying to assure yourself that they weren’t following you, you were making this up.
The footsteps sped up with your pace.
You glanced over your shoulder to see three guys following you, one of the guys was holding something that glinted slightly from the glow from the lanterns, it was a knife. That sent a jolt of fear rippling down your body and you quickened your pace even more, hoping that you could make it to your house before those guys made it to you.
You glanced back again and they were gaining on you, fast. Then, you ran. You only made it a few feet before one of the men grabbed your shirt and yanked you back.
You tumbled onto the hard cobblestone, your head colliding with the unforgiving ground. Your vision gathered black spots and your thoughts slowly became overtaken by a loud buzz. You could feel yourself being dragged backwards and as your vision slowly began to clear you realized you were being dragged into an alley.
Through the drone that clouded your thoughts you managed to realize that you needed to act now. You began to scream but were cut off by someone’s hand to your mouth and a knife to your throat.
“If you scream again, I will slit your throat” they hissed harshly.
You nodded and they took their hand and the knife away. They picked you up by your shirt and stood you up on the wall, the brick rubbing harshly against your exposed skin. A tear fell from your eye and one of the men wiped it away with their thumb.
“Now don’t cry, little girl” he said and the other two men laughed.
You squeezed your eyes shut, you wanted to be anywhere but here, anytime. Please, you begged to whatever higher power was listening. Your eyes flew open when you heard the sound of metal falling onto the pavement.
“Who’s there?” called one of the men, brandishing his knife. No one answered but the swirling of the wind.
“I’ll go and check, you two keep an eye on the girl.” He walked out of the alley and turned the corner. It was silent for a moment but then you heard a faint yell and what sounded like metal clanging on metal.
Then you watched as the man was thrown into the wall, screaming as he flew through the air. He crumpled onto the ground like a sack of potatoes.
One of the men gave a battle cry and began running down the alley and turned the corner sharply. All you could hear was the sound of repeated punching and the occasional grunt.
Your eyes widened as you saw a beaten and bloodied version of the man you just saw running down the alley trying to crawl away but was dragged back. There was a dull thunk that sounded like the hilt of a sword hitting someone’s head and then the sound of a body falling to the ground.
The last man left pulled out a knife, grabbing you off the wall and pulling you in front of him. He pressed the knife firmly to your neck but you could feel that his hand was shaking.
“Come out now and I won’t hurt her” the man said, his voice shaking more than his hand. From around the corner walked a man with a blue mask that grinned almost eerily. He was holding two swords, flecked with blood.
The blue-masked man moved forward but stopped when the man pressed the knife harder into your neck. You inhaled sharply through your nose and bit your lip to keep from crying out.
“Don’t move any closer, and drop those swords.” The masked man gently laid down his swords. Before you could even register anything the masked man threw a knife, hidden in his boot, and struck the man holding you right through his temple.
He toppled backwards and the knife he was holding clattered to the ground. You looked back at his body in shock and then back at the masked man.
“I- thank you” you said. The masked man simply bowed his head at you and then he ran off into the darkness and you were alone, again. You managed to stumble all the way back to your house and laid right down on your bed.
You stared at the ceiling as the night’s events replayed in your head over and over again. You tried to think of something else but it was like it was blocked off, you were stuck. You lay awake the whole night, every time you closed your eyes you saw their faces and their laughs echoed tauntingly in your ears.
The sun drifted through your curtains, the light shining onto your bleary eyes. Groaning you pulled yourself up into a sitting position on your bed, your head was pounding and your whole body ached. All that you wanted was a good cup of tea to settle you down but when you got up to look you had none left.
You decided that you would go to the place down the street which you heard had great tea. You got dressed and tried to make yourself look as presentable as possible before you made your way to the tea shop.
Even with the sun hanging in the sky the streets still appeared ominous to you. Each basket could hold an armed man and each alley reminded you of the night before. You shook your head, squeezing your eyes shut and breathing out to calm yourself down and then breathing in while opening your eyes again.
You just have to make it to the tea shop, you assured yourself. With more self-pep talking you were able to make it to the tea shop, The Pao Family Tea House.
Just breathing in the aroma made the tenseness in your body melt away. You stepped in the shop and were greeted by a nice old man who led you to your table.
“What kind of tea would you like?” he asked cheerfully.
“Ginseng, please."
He grinned and said, "Good choice, ginseng tea is my favorite, my nephew will be back with your tea soon."
"Thank you” you said and he left to go prepare the tea. Soon after a young man came out of the kitchen with a tray of tea in his hand. He handed out the tea to all of the other tables, the last cup of tea being you.
When he came up to your table he looked slightly surprised for a moment but then caught himself and his face went back to a relaxed position.
“Here’s your tea” he said, placing the tea on the table and then he quickly turned around and began walking the other way.
“You kind of seem familiar, do I know you from somewhere?” you asked, he did remind you of someone and you just couldn’t place it and, judging from his reaction of his surprise when he saw you, he probably knew you too. He turned around again to face you.
“What? No, I’ve never met you before, what are you talking about?” he said in a nervous voice that got suspiciously higher than it was before.
“No, I’m sure I recognize you from somewhere and you looked like you recognized me when you first saw me."
The young man smiled awkwardly and said, "Sorry, you must be mistaken, enjoy your tea!” Then he quickly walked away before you could even open your mouth to respond. You then shrugged and began to enjoy your tea, which was better than any tea you had ever tasted before.
Once you had finished your tea you were feeling much better than you had last night, in fact you were beginning to think going back to bed wasn’t such a bad idea. You paid your bill and then left the tea shop feeling much more relaxed than when you came in.
You were beginning to walk home when you heard the old man and the young man from the tea shop talking from the window that led down the alley. You would have ignored it but then you heard two words that piqued your interest, blue mask. You began walking closer so you could hear their conversation better.
“I’m telling you, uncle, the girl knows, she was in the tea shop, the one I saved last night from those thugs” the young man said in a worried voice.
“I wouldn’t worry about it, you were wearing your blue mask so she can’t have possibly actually known who you are” the old man reassured him.
“Do you really think so?"
"Yes, now go get that tea that table three ordered, that woman is not going to be very happy that it’s taking this long.” The young man sighed,
“Yes, uncle."
You were left stunned in an alley, again.
That man saved you and he wanted to hide it? Why? About a million thoughts were racing through your head. I need to go back into that tea shop and thank him, you rationalized. You walked back into the tea shop and were greeted by the old man again.
"Back for some more tea?” he asked.
“Actually, I’m here to see your nephew” you said and the man’s expression changed to a more sly look.
“Oh, I see” he said, winking at you. You’re face lit with realization at what this man thought you meant and you began to explain yourself when he cut you off.
“No need to explain yourself, he’s in the back organizing some shelves.”
You opened your mouth to tell him why you were actually here but you decided against it, closing your mouth and nodding your head at him thankfully and then you made your way to the back.
Iroh sighed and shook his head as walked away, “Young love."
You walked down the hallway to where a door was open, you walked inside to see rows of shelves and the young man on a ladder putting more boxes on a shelf.
"Hello?” you asked and the young man jumped, dropping the boxes he was holding and they came tumbling to the ground.
He turned to see you and said, “What are you doing back here, this is for employees only."
"Well, your uncle said that I could find you back here."
The young man muttered under his breath some choice words about his uncle. He then climbed down the ladder and started picking up the boxes, once he had them all in his arms again he turned to you and said, "Sorry, but I’m really busy, maybe you could come back later and ask me your question then."
He started to climb the ladder again when you asked, "Even if it’s about last night when you saved me in that blue mask?"
He dropped the boxes again and whipped his head around to face you, completely in shock.
"I- I didn’t save you last night, who told you that?” he said as he desperately tried to come up with an excuse, his face turned more serious, “whoever said that was lying."
You looked up at him dubiously, "Well, you need to get your facts straight because that’s not what you told your uncle just a couple minutes ago."
His shoulders fell and he looked defeated, "You heard that?” You nodded and he climbed down the ladder again.
“Why didn’t you tell me it was you?” He looked around the shelves as if looking for an answer.
“Well.. not everyone agrees with what I do and I don’t want to ruin the life me and my uncle have built for ourselves here. I’m sorry for not telling you."
Your look softened and suddenly you felt very guilty. "No, I’m the one who should be sorry, you saved my life and here I am trying to ruin it."
He smiled halfheartedly at you and picked the boxes up again, "Well, I guess I have to get to work again."
"Oh, right, um, of course, and don’t worry I won’t tell anyone about your secret.” He nodded and began climbing the ladder again. You began leaving the room when you turned on your heel to face him.
“Sorry, one last thing” you said and he turned around again, looking slightly exasperated.
“Thank you."
He smiled and nodded his head to say you’re welcome. You then walked away, a small smile tugging on your lips and you couldn’t see it but Zuko had one as well.
You were finally able to walk back to your house and you collapsed onto your bed, falling asleep almost immediately. It was going to take a lot of time and healing but you felt you were going to be alright, and you had almost all of it owed to one Blue Spirit.
Ok… kinda going out of my comfort zone here, but I made a fanart!! So here’s my contribution to day one of Zukka week :) /click for better quality/
(Apologies in advance for my inability to draw a decent profile face )
Ta-da!
[ID: a side view of Zuko in his blue spirit disguise and Sokka in Kyoshi warrior attire running along the top of a building at night. The lightened silhouette of several large buildings are seen behind them along the skyline. The Sky itself starts off a deep blue and fades to a lighter shade towards the center of the painting. End ID]
Zukka Week Day 1: Kyoshi Warrior Sokka and Blue Spirit
[ID: a digital drawing of Zuko and Sokka from Avatar: the Last Airbender. Sokka is wearing a Kyoshi Warrior uniform and Zuko is wearing his blue spirit outfit. they are facing left, with Sokka carrying Zuko on his back. Zuko is holding his blue spirit mask in his left hand. his left bicep has been wrapped with a strip of Kyoshi warrior fabric and there is blood by it. there is also blood on Zuko’s left knee. Zuko’s face is buried in Sokka’s neck. /End ID.]
~(Toxic, 2WEI version yes the version matters this one has a very different vibe than the original)
Experimenting with different coloring and lighting techniques. It’s not perfect, but I had fun with it. (I didn’t add my “after dark” label because they’re both fully clothed, but if anyone wants me to tag that just let me know!)
