Guys I’m rly brain dead on fan fictions ideas :’) do u guys have any requests to save me ass

I write for all the people I’ve tagged <3

Announcement!

Hey guys :D

I just wanted to apologize for not being as active these last few weeks/ months! I’m currently in the middle of passing all my exams as this was my last year of high school.

But! by mid-June, I will be super active again

I will continue all these series I have started and not finished lmao (Including the Zuko, Peter Parker, and Will Turner ones) PLUS I have new ideas for a Bruce Wayne series AND a bunch of other fics for other characters!

So please keep your requests going because they give me ideas! and I’m so happy that I will get all summer to write everything I haven’t been writing because of school!

So, thank you for all your patience ✨

Time Heals (Not Enough Part II); Prince Zuko

in which the reader has had to live with zuko training aang after breaking her heart. eventually emotions come to a head, leaving her vulnerable to his pleas.

warning: language, smut toward the end (18+. MINORS DO NOT INTERACT), fingering, oral (female receiving), unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it kids!) general pining and what not. bolded line will indicate the point of no return, if you aren’t comfortable with sexual content don’t read past that line!

my first smut outside of the one direction fanfic i wrote when i was twelve go easy on me besties. also i have no fucking clue what his ember island house looks like besides the fede sections they showed in the show so apologies for that. as explained in the first part, our beloved zuzu and the reader are aged up because i’m not comf writing anything sexual with minors!

part one

living with zuko hasn’t been easy. no matter how much you try to avoid him he always seems to be right behind you. in a short time he’s seemed to be able to win everyone over, well everyone but you.

it started with sokka. after their big adventure to boiling rock, zuko has been in sokka’s good graces. even katara has been able to tolerate him after he took her to avenge her mother. he hasn’t even attempted to mend what he broke between the two of you.

after his grand confession of love at the western air temple, you could no longer keep your past with zuko a secret from your friends. sokka was the first to ask you about it, cringing when you brought up any sort of intimate detail, but this was also when he wasn’t zuko’s biggest fan either.

“we can’t work as a team if you’re still mad at him,” aang was the second to talk to you about it. he was mostly concerned with the group dynamic going forward. he didn’t want to sacrifice his training with zuko, but he cares more about his relationship with you than keeping zuko as a teacher. “do you think you’ll ever be able to forgive him?”

everyone was asleep on the ride to ember island beside you and aang. you lied to toph and sokka, telling them time and time again that you weren’t still hurt from what zuko did to you, rather what he did to aang, but aang saw through it.

“he hurt me really bad, aang,” you say quietly. you’re sure everyone is asleep, zuko snoring only a few feet from you, but you were still nervous to say it out loud. “you can train with zuko without me liking him, it won’t affect you at all i promise.”

he doesn’t seem convinced but he lets it go for now. in his mind, there’s no use in the two of you fighting over something you’ve already seemed to make your mind up on.

zuko doesn’t make any attempts to speak to you, just makes his presence known to you at every second of the day. after watching the ember island players, how they paint zuko and katara in such a romantic light you feel sick. you wish you didn’t, that you could just move on from him but his constant being around makes it unimaginably harder.

that night you lay in the room of zuko’s childhood beach house and hold back tears. you feel so stupid, like some idiot teenage girl obsessed with the last boy who broke her heart. you didn’t want to sleep alone so you shared with katara and toph, their light snores almost comforting as you fight the insomnia that has overtaken you.

it takes you a minute to realize it isn’t just the trees outside tapping on the window, but a light knock on the door. you roll over on your cot and contemplate pretending you didn’t hear it. then again it could be aang or sokka in distress. you push off the makeshift bed and walk toward the sound.

zuko stands there, shirt gone, hands wringing in front of him. you can’t help but roll your eyes at his indecency and cross your arms over your chest, covering yourself as best as you can as you become painfully aware of your lack of clothing. when he doesn’t say anything you speak up.

“can i help you?” you ask, obviously annoyed at his interruption of your attempts to fall asleep. he stands there for another minute, mouth moving like he has something to say but no words come out. “guess not.”

before you can turn back around he reaches out to you, catching your elbow which makes you shiver.

“please talk to me, y/n,” he’s begging again. “i promise it won’t take long, i just can’t bear fighting.”

you think it over for a minute. his face is giving everything away, he looks visibly shaken to be speaking to you. you let out a sigh, shaking him off your arm lightly and cocking your eyebrow as if to say talk.

“not here, i don’t want to wake them,” he nods toward toph and katara’s sleeping bodies. he reaches out his hand for you to take to follow him but you don’t. “alright, follow me i guess.”

you follow him down the long hallways of his abandoned family beach house. you can’t help but feel bitter about the fact that he has enough homes for one to be abandoned while the southern water tribe was diminished due to his family’s rule. he leads to an empty room, what you can only assume to be his bedroom when this place was in use.

“will you sit?” he asks meekly as you stand leaning against the wall, the farthest you can possible be from him in this room. “please?”

you can’t bring yourself to hear another round of his begging and whining so you take a seat on the opposite side of his bed. his hands lay fidgeting in his lap and his eyes hardly ever meet yours.

“you’re wasting my time zuko we all need to sleep if we’re going to defeat your father,” you say which makes him immediately look up. any mention of his father elicits that kind of reaction. “if you have something to say get on with it.”

“i can’t keep being here if you won’t talk to me,” he finally replies.

“i’m talking now, aren’t i?”

“you know what i mean, y/n,” he snaps which shocks you. he hasn’t shown his, for lack of a better word, fiery attitude with you since he proposed teaching aang to fire bend. “sorry i didn’t mean it to come out like that, but you do know what i mean. i’ve tried so hard to fix this but i can’t do that when you won’t even look at me.”

the way he’s speaking to you like he deserves something makes you angry, but it makes you even angrier that you, in the tiniest bit, agree with him.

“what is there to fix zuko? it’s not like we were together,” you remind him.

“don’t give me that bullshit, we were,” he pushes. “by the end i wasn’t even sure if i was chasing the avatar or you, we were together and that’s why what i did is worse.”

you’re quiet, unsure of how to respond to such a thing.

“you have to know that i loved you then too. what i did was awful but it was because i loved you,” he continues to explain himself, but it sounded like excuses to you. “if i didn’t go with azula and she figured out it was because of you she wouldn’t hesitate to take you out of the equation. she’ll eliminate anyone that stands in her way and i couldn’t let her do that to you. i won’t lie and say it was the only reason that i left but it sure as hell was the biggest.”

your face stays stone cold, you aren’t sure if he’s making this up to save his own ass or if he’s telling the truth. the idea of letting him ramble on long enough to figure it out feels like a good enough idea to you.

“i know i should have told you why, but i was stupid and i was a coward,” he drops his head when he says this and your heart almost skips a beat. months ago in the desert, zuko finally talked about his mother, how she up and left him to be tortured and scrutinized by his father and sister. you noticed whenever he talked about something important to him, he couldn’t keep eye contact, just like he’s doing now. “i’ve been trying so hard to change, y/n, i don’t want what i did in ba sing se. i don’t want to be fire lord, i don’t want my fathers honor, i just want you.”

“what about mai?” you ask, honestly afraid of the answer. he lets out a pained sigh before lifting his gaze to meet yours.

“i never thought i’d be able to be with you again after what happened,” he replies. “i was trying so hard to move on but i realized i couldn’t just forget about you. no matter what i did, you were always there in the back of my mind.”

you’re quiet again. you can try to convince yourself you’re over the feelings you had for zuko as much as you want, but the jealously that rises in you when you think about him and mai, even him and katara, is undeniable.

“you hurt me really bad zuko,” you confess in a whisper, head dropping so he can’t see the pain in your face. “how am i supposed to believe this isn’t just for show.”

you know he’s itching to be close to you, reach out and grab your hand to assure you of his feelings but he stays in his place to respect your boundaries.

“i know, i was such an idiot then. i’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you if i have to,” his tone of clear and strong, no hesitation behind it. without lifting your head, your eyes turn to look at him, he’s almost shaking. “it’s always been you, only you. i’ll do anything to prove it to you.”

you’re finding it particularly hard to breathe. even with so much distance between the two of you, you feel suffocated. your heart is telling you one thing but your mind is saying another. the time that has passed between now and ba sing se has softened your anger toward him, one could even call the feeling indifference, but your brain is warning that you’ve been down this path with him before. something, however, feels different.

the glint of hope mixed with deep sorrow in his eye is something you’ve never seen in him before. the way he’s openly criticizing his own actions is wildly different from the zuko you knew even a few months ago. you haven’t ignored the fact that he’s given your friends so much closure since he’s tagged along. with your brain turning into mush trying to comprehend what the hell to do in this situation, you do the unthinkable.

“y/n-” before he can spit out more word vomit, you close the distance between you, pressing your lips against his after so many weeks apart. you can hear him suck in a breath through his nose before he realizes what’s happening. his hands hold your cheeks, afraid if he let go you would disappear and this would all be a twisted dream.

all the hurt he caused, the shattering of your heart, slips away for even just a moment. logically, you know this is a terrible idea, but every part of you wants to believe him.

when you pull away from him gasping for air, you rest your forehead against his. you don’t know where to go from here. on one hand, you could get up and leave, pretend like this never happened. on the other you can give into what your body is screaming at you to do.

“i believe you,” you finally whisper and you can feel the tension drain from his shoulders. he lets out a sigh of relief that sounds like it’s been held in his chest for weeks. your hand moves from his cheek bone to push a piece of his now shaggy hair behind his ear.

without another word, zuko cautiously tilts his chin toward yours, almost afraid that you’ll pull away this time. when you don’t, he closes the gap between the two of you again. his lips feel like fire against yours, burning into your skin but you never want to pull away. like your bodies are magnetic, you pull yourself closer into him, perching yourself on his thighs. before his hands can wander he pulls away from you again. your lips connect to the spot under his ear that used to drive him crazy.

“wait,” you immediately stop your actions to sit back and look at him. “i don’t want you to think i brought you in here just so we can fuck and move on like nothing happened. that’s not what this is for me, i need you to know that.”

his words pull at your heart. it was always a mutual decision that you two were never anything more than a body to lie next to on your intertwined journeys to your different goals, but this expression of the need for something different eases any sort of doubt you had before.

“i don’t think that,” you tell him and his face softens. you can’t help it when the corner of your lips pull up into a small smile. “but i need you, zu.”

the nickname makes him groan lightly. after the seemingly endless tap was shut off in ba sing se, you had been in a dry spell for weeks now. with the only other men in your life being sokka and aang, you were left empty handed and empty bedded.

“let me show you how much i love you,” he nudges his nose against your ear as he says it, attaching his lips to your neck for a brief moment. “god i missed you.”

he gently takes a hold of your back and adjusts the two of you so you’re lying beneath him. suddenly you’re back in the same place you’ve been countless times with zuko but you feel like you’re worlds away from the first time.

he returns his lips to yours, taking his time with you. one hand stays holding your head in place while the other trails down the side of your body, over the swell of your breast in your thin sleepwear. his hand eventually creeps under the hem of the cloth and rests on your hip. his cold fingers cause your lips to part, allowing zuko to slip him tongue into your mouth, exploring every inch like it’s the first time.

his lips began to move further down your body as he pushes the hem on your nightgown further up your abdomen. removing his body from yours for just a second, he pulls the fabric over your head and continues his ministrations.

“you’re perfect,” he mumbles against your collarbone as he continues south, taking your hardened nipple into his mouth. the warm sensation sends your head back into the pillow behind you. your hands run up his bare back and find their way into his hair, giving it a light tug which has him groaning against your chest. before you makes his way to where you need him most, he presses a kiss to your naval and meets your gaze. “you’re sure?”

“i’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” you say, breathless, which turns his lips into a crooked smile. nothing about this feels rushed or hypersexual like it has in the past, it’s evident that he’s taking his time but he’s not teasing. pressing his lips to every inch of your lower half, your hip bones, your thighs, he eventually makes his way to your dripping heat.

the second his mouth attaches itself to your clit, you’re done for. his left hand holds your hips in place as the other snakes between your legs to run under where his tongue is drawing figure eights. you can’t hold back the moans that are spilling from your lips.

“baby, you don’t want everyone hearing us, do you?” he asks, pulling away from your cunt which pulls a whine from your lips. you shake your head, unable to form a coherent sentence. “didn’t think so, better keep quiet for me.”

he continues his work on your clit when you feel his fingers push into you. the hand that isn’t trapped in his dark hair goes over your mouth to stifle your whimpering and moaning. this only seems to egg him on as he thrusts his fingers in and out of you at a mind blowing pace. his fingers curl to reach that certain spot inside of you that has your vision going white and the knot in your stomach tightening by the second.

“zuko—fuck—i’m gonna cum,” it comes out broken as you try to keep as quiet as possible. “don’t stop, please.”

he hums against your sensitive bud, his fingers continuing to rock in and out of you, and you’re sent over the edge. with your back arched and your hand muffling the screams that would have been coming out of you, zuko slows his pace to ride out the high. once you’re settled back down, he moves his tongue to catch your release that’s dripping from you.

“still as sweet as i remember,” zuko says, almost as if he’s not even talking to you. he lifts his body to be level with yours again, pressing your lips together again. the taste of yourself on his tongue forces a moan into his mouth.

with your lips still moving together, your hand trails down his toned chest and over the evident bulge in his pants. zuko has always gotten off on pleasuring you, tonight is no exception. giving him the hint that you need him, you attempt to push his bottoms as far down his thighs as you can.

quickly pulling his lips from yours, he steps out of the material and fits his body between yours once again. just the feeling of him hard against you makes your stomach flip. you wrap your legs around his waist to give yourself any sort of friction you can find and he catches the hint.

“fuck,” he grunts out, pushing your centers together. “you don’t know what you do to me.”

“show me,” you beg, tugging on his hair again. “please zuko, need you so bad.”

without another word, he leans onto one elbows and teases his tip up and down your sensitive cunt, making your writhe underneath him. slowly, he pushes himself into you. you both gasp at the feeling you’ve been missing for weeks. he bottoms out, stilling for a moment to let you adjust to his size after so much time apart from him.

“move, zu, please,” you whine. usually he’d snap at your for fussing but the sound of your sweet voice is music to his ears.

he starts slow, rolling his hips into yours but he eventually falls into the same quick pace he always has. he swallows all of your moans in a sloppy, open mouthed kiss as he rocks your body into the bed beneath you. when his lips can’t contain the flow of noise coming from yours, he brings his hand up to cover your mouth to keep this moment between the two of you.

“i need you to touch yourself, baby, can you do that?” he whispers, taking the skin of your neck between his lips, careful not to leave a mark that the others could see. you quickly nod your head and snake your fingers between the two of you, finding your clit. “such a good girl, you gonna come for me? want to feel you squeeze my cock with that tight little cunt.”

his filthy words send your brain into overdrive. without his hand over your mouth, you’re sure the entirety of ember island would hear you. between zuko’s harsh thrusts and your own fingers circling your clit, your release hits you like a train. your walls clench around zuko as he continues to push his hips against yours, chasing his own high.

“atta girl,” he groans as he feels you pulsing around him. he takes his hand off your mouth for a second to reach down and pull your leg over his shoulder before returning to keep your moans at bay. you’re seeing stars as zuko reaches a spot deeper inside you, so far you could feel him in your stomach. “look so perfect like this, just hang on a little longer baby i’m almost there.”

even if his hand wasn’t silencing your every sound, you still wouldn’t have been able to reply, your entire vocabulary seemingly stolen from you. his thrusts become sloppier and you can feel him twitch inside you. before he can pull out you start to shake your head, whining for him to take his hand off.

“c-cum in me zu, n-need to feel it,” you stutter out, earning a groan from him as his hips falter. you let out the softest moan you can when you feel his warm release pour into you.

“fuck—i love you,” he cusses as he slows his pace to extend his high as long as he can.

not even bothering to pull out, zuko collapses onto your chest as you both attempt to catch your breath. you run your fingernails up his heaving back as the two of you settle down. zuko presses a soft kiss onto your collar bone and the crook of your neck before rolling next to you. turning on your side, you find your way under his arm and curl yourself against him.

you can feel the mix of your releases dripping from your core but you can’t be bothered to get up and clean yourself just yet.

“i love you,” he repeats once his heart returns to its normal pace. you press your lips into his rib cage and wrap your arm over his torso as he speaks.

“i love you,” you reply, your tone quiet and completely content. after a few moments of blissful silence you speak up again. “i’m still mad at you for sleeping with mai.”

you feel the rumble of his chest as he chuckles at your words. somehow, you two have returned to exactly where you were a few weeks ago, but this time unafraid to say how you feel about each other.

“i know,” zuko replies once he composes himself. “only you though, remember?”

after what feels like an eternity of laying next to each other again, you reluctantly bid each other goodnight so you can slip into the rooms you fell asleep in to avoid any sort of suspicion in the morning. with one last kiss, you float back to your makeshift bed on the floor next to katara. before you’re lulled to sleep, there’s a tug on your nightgown.

“any particular reason you’re covered in sweat?” katara whispers as she nudges your side. even in the dark you can see a knowing smile form on her face. “and what’s this? you fall down the stairs?”

her finger pokes at your neck and you immediately go to cover it with your hand, face burning red. you can tell she’s holding back a laugh so she doesn’t wake toph.

“shut up!” you whisper shout, gently pushing you away from her. “i’m serious, you’re going to wake toph.”

“toph is already awake,” you hear the younger girl groan. you and katara can no longer contain your laughter. “i’m blind, not deaf. try and keep your activities to a minimum, these floors are stone.”

this sets katara off as she rolls back into a belly laugh, rotating between holding her stomach and smacking your arms. the feeling of being the stupid teenage girl, obsessed with the boy who last broke her heart is back but you aren’t embarrassed by it, it was exciting. with the three of you awake, without any sort of sleep on any of your agendas, you talk all night. not about you and zuko specifically, toph wasn’t too fond of that topic.

the air feels lighter on ember island, now maybe sozin’s comet won’t feel so daunting.

Not Enough (Prince Zuko)

a/n: I just started watching ATLA for the first time since I was 9 and needless to say i am hooked. been bouncing around ideas for this.

in which you are a part of the gaang. you grew up with sokka and katara and followed them along their journey with the avatar. during your run in’s with the fire nation, more specifically it’s banished prince, unbeknownst to your friends, you grow closer to zuko in the hopes that one day he’ll change.

warning: sexual allusions, cussing, idk what else

also this timeline is not going to make sense, sorry i wanted it to be before zuko and azula “killed” aang but there wasn’t a good place to put it. we can also pretend that zuzu isn’t a baby prince so he and the reader are freshly eighteen love you!

part two

“stay the night” zuko grumbles out a beg. he presses his lips to your temple in an attempt to seal in his pleas. “i just want to be with you a little while longer.”

you were wrapped in the sheets of whatever apartment zuko and iroh had in ba sing se this week. you stayed back with katara to help the earth king with the plans of the invasion of the fire nation. you knew you’d have to leave soon, but zukos tone made it seem like he wouldn’t be following you this time.

this back and forth has been going on for months. zuko and iroh are always hot on the trail of the avatar and his friends, you just happened to grow closer to the banished prince following his siege at the north pole. saving him that day made you feel…different about him.

so you met in secret, only after he figured out aang was in the city, you would never betray your friends and give up your whereabouts. the two of you never spoke about his plot to steal aang or your friends plans to defeat the fire nation. for those few hours you weren’t y/n y/l/n and he wasn’t prince zuko. you were simply who people who liked each other.

“why are you saying that like I won’t see you in the next city,” you chuckle, assuming you’ll hear the rumbling of his chest at the preposterous idea that you two could stay apart from each other. when he’s quiet you move away from him slightly to study his features. his face is like stone, no indication that he found what you said to be funny. “zuko…will i not see you again?”

he doesn’t answer, just lets out a sigh. instead of looking at you any longer, he drops his gaze and pulls you back into his bare chest.

“can we talk about this in the morning?” he pleads with you, not letting up on his tight embrace. you aren’t sure what exactly he’s planning on doing, but if he truly believes he won’t see you again after tonight, it must be bad. you can only assume it has something to do with aang.

your heart breaks a little at the thought. zuko has been so different these past few weeks. he’s not as angry, his actions don’t feel like they have ulterior motives, he seems like he finally began to enjoy this life he had in ba sing se. as much as you wanted to hold onto that image of the boy you adore, you can’t.

“no, we can’t talk about this in the morning,” you push back from him again. you pull on the sheets to cover your chest as you sit with your arms wrapped around your knees as far away on his bed that you could get from him. “what are you going to do zuko?”

he tries to move closer to you but you hold your arm out to keep him at a distance. tears begin to well in your eyes as your heart drops into your stomach. if he wasn’t going to do something truly terrible, he wouldn’t look so guilty.

“y/n, please,” his voice is calm and steady but his face suggests otherwise. the quiver of his top lip doesn’t go unnoticed. “we promised we wouldn’t talk about this stuff.”

“bullshit, we promised that when this was a stupid cat and mouse game not when you’re putting my friends and i in serious danger,” you say sternly, unsure of what to feel right now. his beautiful, sad face stares back at you while betrayal fills your heart. you so desperately wanted to believe he changed. that iroh broke through to him when he asked zuko what he wanted. “you don’t have to do this zuko, please think about this. what it will do to us.”

he shakes his head and drops his gaze once again. he doesn’t attempt to move closer to you before he speaks again.

“yes i do have to do this,” he retorts. “that’s why i have to say goodbye now, i know what it will do to us.”

you can’t believe what he’s saying. he hasn’t even really said what he has planned but you know too well what is on his mind. best case scenario he’s planning to capture aang again, you can’t even bring yourself to think about worse case scenario.

“i won’t let you do it to him.”

“y/n, you know how important my honor is.”

“that’s what this is all about? your stupid honor?” you scream at him, not even bothering to keep your voice down for iroh’s sake. he sounds like the zuko you were faced with that day he attacked the southern water tribe, the monster he portrayed before you knew him. “i can’t believe how selfish you’re being!”

you push yourself off his bed and rush to put your clothes on so you don’t give iroh any sort of show when you storm out of here and hopefully never return. zuko is quick to stand up as well, beginning to pace.

“honor is everything!”

you scoff at his lazy response. again your faced with remnants of the man zuko once was, at least you thought he was. maybe you were too naive to see someone like him wouldn’t change, but you hoped he was different.

“no you absolute imbecile!” you shout again, this time getting up in his face. “happiness is everything. friendship is everything. love is everything.”

this shuts him up. you two hadn’t said it yet, but you were both too magnetically drawn to each other for the feeling to not be there. you loved zuko and he loved you. he was too proud to say it and you too scared. he swallows thickly, not breaking your gaze. he nears dangerously close to you but you keep your place, unwavering even under his intimidation. he brings his lips to brush against your ear before uttering:

“love makes you foolish.”

the final straw. you shoved him back with every ounce of force you had in you and quickly gathered your things to escape this hell of a room and never see the sorry excuse for a man who couldn’t even admit his own feelings for you.

With a swift slam of his door, you’re suddenly wrapped in the cool air of the night. as fast as your feet can take you, you make your return to the home your friends have shared since your arrival in the city. you don’t know if zuko bothered to follow you, it wouldn’t make any sort of difference if he did. part of you always knew he was still the same banished prince you and met all those months ago, but you still hoped that all of this wasn’t just surface level for him. maybe he was right, maybe love had made you foolish.

as quietly as you could, you close the door behind you, catching your breath and attempting to keep any tears at bay. he doesn’t deserve to be cried over, he never has. while you’d never want to be caught in such a vulnerable state, you can’t help but feel some sort of relief when katara’s face appears in front of you, taking your cheek into her hand.

“it’s zuko isn’t it,” she says plainly which makes your eyes go wide. you had always been careful when it came to meeting with him, always returning before the sun rise. “you don’t have to hide it, y/n, i’ve known for a while.”

you let any wall you had built down and allow a tear spill onto your cheek. it’s no use masking your feelings, she already knows.

“why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“no point,” she replies with a shrug of her shoulders. “i know you well enough to know you’d never turn on us, on your family. you seemed happy and the bird brains in those boys never caught on so i thought it best to keep it that way.”

a half smile forms on your face at the thought of sokka and aang completely oblivious to all of this, but it fades in seconds. katara takes your hands and leads you to sit.

“what happened?” she asks cautiously, unsure if you’d actually divulge any details of your relationship with the enemy. “you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

you shake your head. katara is the closest thing you’ve ever had to a sister, you’ve wanted to tell her all about your rendezvous with the enemy for a while now, but you never thought you could.

“i thought maybe he would change, maybe i was getting through to him,” you say, wiping your nose with the sleeve of your shirt. “i can’t believe how stupid i was katara, i genuinely believed he loved me too. all he said was that love makes you foolish.”

she squeezes the hand she’s still holding out of sympathy, unsure of what she could possible say to make your pain a little more bearable. you cried with her all night, the heart that you worked so hard to keep guarded breaking more and more with each thought of him.

so you hated him, the only way to keep yourself from loving him was through bitter hatred, and he didn’t make it too hard to do so. maybe if you hadn’t fought that night he wouldn’t have sided with his sister, but it’s too late to ponder the what ifs.

in some ways it was a blessing, he thought aang was dead so he had no reason to follow you around anymore, you didn’t have to see his face and be reminded of the way he broke your heart into a million pieces. seeking shelter in the western air temple, you assume you’re safe from ever having to see his scarred face again.

you were painfully wrong.

“don’t you dare come in here,” you call after you hear a knock on the frame of the room you were staying in. you didn’t want zuko’s help, but you’d never want to inhibit aang’s journey. if zuko could help him, who were you to stand in the way? with the bitter cold shoulder he had been receiving from you and katara, he thought it best to speak to you for the first time since ba sing se. ignoring your request, he sheepishly steps into your room, making you turn your harsh gaze toward him. “are you deaf?”

“you have to talk to me eventually, y/n!” he pleads making you scoff.

“i don’t have to do anything,” your reply is pointed, dripping with the venom of your disdain for him. “get out, i’m not going to tell you again.”

with that, you turn over in your bed, back now toward him. when you thought he couldn’t invade your space anymore, you feel a dip in the bed and you’re sure that your head will explode. before you can turn over and give him a matching scar, he speaks up.

“i never meant for us to end that way,” he’s quiet, he sounds like he used to, not like the ego-maniac, obsessed with restoring his honor back in ba sing se. “you have to know that i never wanted to hurt you.”

“hurt me? you think that you of all people could hurt me?” you put on a brave face when you speak to him, he doesn’t deserve to know he had any impact on you whatsoever. “you tried to kill aang, you just expect me to trust you after that, to like you after that? you didn’t really believe this was all because of you and me did you?”

you expected him to switch over to the cocky demeanour he always wore, to scoff at your words and say they weren’t true. to be fair, they aren’t true, but he doesn’t need to know that. instead his face remains the same, somber and disappointed. it almost hurts to see him like that. It makes you want to reach out to him, say it wasn’t true but that’s how he roped you in the first time and you know how that turned out.

“i’m sorry i didn’t say it then…” he trails off as your chest continues to rise and fall at a rapid pace. you want him to say it, to hear him admit it so you could be just as cruel. “i love you, y/n, i have for so long. i didn’t want to hurt you then by saying those things and then tearing it all to shreds in front of you.”

he doesn’t get to do this, to make a grand statement of love and expect everything to return to the way it was.

“you do?” you ask, giving him the same false sense of hope he gave you that night. “is that why you fucked mai? because you loved me so much.”

he doesn’t reply, his lips are sealed shut because he can’t say anything to you. he can’t come up with an excuse or say it isn’t true.

“you can’t even deny it, zuko! don’t throw around that word like you’ll ever understand what it means.”

it was cruel to say, but not uncalled for. you push off your bed and go to storm out and find katara to calm yourself down, this whole situation giving you déjà vu. as expected he gets up to follow you but you don’t stop this time.

“i mean it y/n, i love you,” he calls to you, his words echoing through the temple. everyone is sure to know about what you kept secret for so long now.

“apparently, not enough,” you spit back as you come to katara’s room, you look to him one more time as he’s stopped ten or so paces behind you and he just looks defeated. with one last glare you slam katara’s door shut and let your legs give out.

you’re so tired of the lies, his and your own.

Aaand welcome to today’s episode of which Aang are you today?

(I am number 6 tbh)

123

456

789

Source of photos: Pinterest

& they were roommates

tim drake x reader

PART 3

college batfam/atla smau: you and the gaang are college students at Gotham University. when suki moves out of your apartment, you need a roommate to help you with rent. tim drake is desperate to get out of the manor, so when he hears of your predicament, he jumps at the chance to move in. you quickly discover that the ceo of wayne enterprises is actually a harmless big dork. so why does he keep coming home covered in bruises?

A/N: thank you for all of the love!! i’m so excited for this smau. quick thing you all should know; jason todd is still presumed dead. the public doesn’t know about him yet. also, here are the ages of everybody:

y/n: 20

aang: 18

zuko: 21

sokka: 20

katara: 20

suki: 19

toph: 18

azula: 19

ty lee: 19

mai: 20

dick: 26

jason: 23

cass: 24

tim: 20

stephanie: 20

duke: 17

damian: 15 (i aged him up due to tim being 20 instead of 17)

taglist:@snickerdoodleeee@gogo-is-cooler-than-you@cipheress-to-k-pop@random-fandom-girl-24@cece-lives-here@hotthotpen@fandoms84@gokm1023@394pitterpatterpotter394@annoylinglyaries

& they were roommates

tim drake x reader

PART 2

college batfam/atla smau: you and the gaang are college students at Gotham University. when suki moves out of your apartment, you need a roommate to help you with rent. tim drake is desperate to get out of the manor, so when he hears of your predicament, he jumps at the chance to move in. you quickly discover that the ceo of wayne enterprises is actually a harmless big dork. so why does he keep coming home covered in bruises?

taglist:@snickerdoodleeee@gogo-is-cooler-than-you@cipheress-to-k-pop

& they were roommates

tim drake x reader

PART 1

college batfam/atla smau: you and the gaang are college students at Gotham University. when suki moves out of your apartment, you need a roommate to help you with rent. tim drake is desperate to get out of the manor, so when he hears of your predicament, he jumps at the chance to move in. you quickly discover that the ceo of wayne enterprises is actually a harmless big dork. so why does he keep coming home covered in bruises?

PART 10

college!atla/batfam social media au: in which the gaang are broke nonbender college kids at Gotham City University. y/n wayne thinks the boy who works at the tea shop is cute. zuko thinks the girl who comes into the tea shop is cute. shenanigan ensue.

taglist (closed):@cipheress-to-k-pop@coldlilheart@thxnderclouds@loxbbg@vrthngiwnt@thanosismybitch@im-in-lokis-army@emmasjulixn@anime-simp​@professor-hibiscus​@rosetheshapeshifter​@cece-lives-here​@wickdtechnical​@5sos-wdw​@iknowrocknroll567​@silverreading​@gokm1023​@ela-ena​@394pitterpatterpotter394​

A/N: yo guys! so on top of this smau, i’m thinking of starting another one as well. same concept, but backwards. college au, and reader is a member of the gaang at gotham university. it’ll be a tim drake/reader, where tim and reader become roommates. i cant go to therapy rn due to corona so i’ll be doing these two smau’s instead i love u all very much and i’m praying for everyone reading this to stay safe and mentally alright during these scary times!

PART 9

college!atla/batfam social media au: in which the gaang are broke nonbender college kids at Gotham City University. y/n wayne thinks the boy who works at the tea shop is cute. zuko thinks the girl who comes into the tea shop is cute. shenanigan ensue.

taglist (closed):@cipheress-to-k-pop@coldlilheart@thxnderclouds@loxbbg@vrthngiwnt@thanosismybitch@im-in-lokis-army@emmasjulixn@anime-simp@professor-hibiscus@rosetheshapeshifter@cece-lives-here@wickdtechnical@5sos-wdw@iknowrocknroll567@silverreading@gokm1023@ela-ena@394pitterpatterpotter394

So I was doing my yearly ATLA binge watch and I’m up to episode 4 of season 2 & just realised after my TWELFTH WATCH OF THIS SHOW that Zuko got another blue spirit mask from THIS VENDOR

Pairing: Zuko x Reader

Word Count: 2,347

Warnings: Blood, stabbing

Request by @queenofmankind 

Summary: The reader is a skilled firebender despite her young age which allows her to become Zuko’s firebending teacher. When she feels an instant click between them, but Zuko keeps avoiding her until one day he gets into some trouble that threatens his life.

A/N: This was really fun to write, but it’s not as good as I’d like it to be, I still hope you like it nonetheless, as always feel free to leave feedback, I appreciate every like, comment and reblog

Your eyes widened as a ball of fire barreled towards your face. You leaned backwards watching the flames swirl above you, the heat slightly singing your eyebrows. Then the fire slammed into the wall behind you and dispersed. 

You came back up and smirked at Zuko, his eyes narrowed and more flames dancing between his fingers. “Come on, you can do better than that” you taunted and he yelled before rushing at you aiming a punch, his fist ablaze. You reached up with your left hand and knocked his hand to the right of you. He used this momentum to move his torso to the side so his right leg could come up to hit you in the face.

You ducked under his leg and then came up kicking your left leg to hit him in the chest, however he reacted faster than you thought he would and he was able to grab your leg in the air. He pushed your leg backwards and you stumbled back, able to keep yourself from toppling backwards but when you fully regained your balance a wave of fire came crashing towards you. You were just able to put up a wall of fire to block the wave but the force knocked you backwards onto the ground and you slid back a couple of feet. 

When the flames finally disappeared Zuko was standing above you, this time he was the one smirking, “How’s that for better?” You answered by swiping your legs into his making him fall to the ground, you then got up and assumed a defensive position over him, your fists aflame. 

“Your better could do with some work, first of all, never assume that your opponent will give up when they are on the ground.” Zuko rolled his eyes and you extinguished your flames, extending a hand down to him to help him up.

Zuko just grunted in annoyance and waved away your hand before pushing himself up off the ground. 

The sound of clapping came from behind you and you turned to see Iroh standing by the helm of the ship smiling and clapping. 

“Wonderful performance you two” he praised and you put your fist under your open palm, bowing to the man. 

“Thank you, General Iroh” you said. 

Iroh just shook his head, “I am not a General anymore, please just call me, Iroh.” You nodded your head and turned back to Zuko to commemorate him but he was already at the door that led to the downstairs of the ship, slamming it closed behind him.

“Pay no mind to my nephew, he just…has a lot to learn” Iroh said, walking up to stand beside you. 

You turned to face him, “I know, thank you Ge- I mean, Iroh,” you corrected yourself and Iroh smiled, “but I’m feeling a little tired and I think I’m going to retire to my room for a while." 

He nodded and you made your way to your room. You passed Zuko’s room on the way and you raised your fist to knock on his door but then let your hand fall, deciding it was better to leave him to himself for a bit. You then walked into your room, shutting the door and then collapsing on the bed.

You stared up at the ceiling and began thinking back to when you first met Zuko. You had excelled in your classes as a firebender and as a soldier, and, despite your young age you were able to rise in the ranks of the fire nation army. 

Although Iroh had been retired as a General by the time you met him, you still called him General Iroh out of respect, though he argued against it. He began mentoring you and helped you train to be one of the finest warriors Iroh had seen. 

That’s why, when Zuko was banished and Iroh planned to leave with him, he asked you to come with him. You declined at first, wanting to stay in your home nation, but when Iroh sent a letter a couple of years later that Zuko had found the avatar and would need a firebending teacher you decided to take him up on that offer. 

When you met Zuko for the first time you remembered looking into his fierce, golden eyes and it was like something inside of you clicked, like a piece of a puzzle. 

"Zuko, this is y/n, she is going to be your new firebending teacher” Iroh said, introducing you to Zuko. Zuko stared at you with a puzzled look on his face but then he caught himself and his face regained a more neutral expression. 

“Nice to meet you, y/n,” he said and then he turned to his uncle, “I have some avatar business to attend to.” He turned to you again, nodded and then he walked away. 

“Does he not like me or something?” you asked. 

“Of course not, my nephew just takes a bit to warm up to people, I’m sure in a couple of days you two will get along swimmingly." 

It had been a couple of weeks since then and Zuko still hadn’t warmed up to you, in fact you rarely ever saw him unless it was when you were training him, even then he still would barely look you in the eyes. You wondered if you had done something wrong and just wished Zuko would talk to you about it. 

You were brought out of your thoughts when you heard a knock on your door, you sat up in your bed, "Come in." 

Iroh opened the door, "We were going to stop soon and go to the market to get some more supplies, did you want to come with us?" 

"No, thank you, I think I’ll stay behind and get some more firebending practice." 

Iroh raised one of his eyebrows, "Are you sure? I hear they have delicious hotcakes there." 

You laughed, "I’m sure, Iroh, go, enjoy yourself.” Iroh then shrugged and left the room, closing the door behind him.

It had been a couple of hours and Zuko and Iroh still weren’t back, you were beginning to worry and you wondered if you should go out and look for them. You walked up from your room to the deck of the ship and were surprised to see two figures in the distance walking towards the ship. 

You squinted and realized that it was Iroh and Zuko, but Zuko has leaning against Iroh for support and as he got closer you saw his face was drained of any color and his hand attempted to cover his stomach which was steadily oozing crimson blood. 

“Shit” you muttered to yourself.

You ran down the ramp that was extended off the ship and raced towards the hobbling figures. 

“What happened?!” you exclaimed. 

“There was a fight, we were outmatched” Iroh explained, . You tried to loop your arm under Zuko’s other arm but he cried out in pain so you quickly let him go. 

“We won’t be able to make it to the ship, lay him down here.” You put your hand under his head and laid him gently down on the ground. You took off your over-shirt and balled it together removing his hand and quickly pressing it to his wound to stop the bleeding.

From the quick glance at Zuko’s wound it did not look good and he had lost a lot of blood. Zuko groaned, his eyes fluttering open and closed as if he were fighting to stay awake. 

“Come on, Zuko, you’re going to be okay, I promise” you said, trying to think of something, anything to do to help him. Zuko gave a small exhale, his breathing then stopping and his eyes stopped fluttering and completely closed. 

“No, no, no, no! You can’t leave, wake up!” you cried, grabbing Zuko’s limp body and holding him close to your body in a tight hug. You rocked back and forth, tears streaming down your face. 

Suddenly there was a painful burst of energy that erupted in your heart that began to spread down your arms and to your hands. A bright, yellow glow shined from your hands. You tried to pull your hands from Zuko’s back but it was like they were glued to him. 

Then the glow faded and the pain stopped. Zuko inhaled sharply, coughing hoarsely and he pulled away from your embrace, a puzzled look on his face.

“Zuko, you’re okay! But..how?” you said, looking at your now normal hands and then at Iroh who gave you a look that said, I’ll explain later. 

“What do you remember, Zuko?” his uncle asked. Zuko blinked, thinking for a moment before starting to answer. 

“We were at the market, there was this man.. he was getting robbed, I tried to help him, but there were too many of them and I got stabbed!” he said with revelation at the end. He immediately reached down and searched his abdomen for the wound. 

He looked up at you, his eyebrows furrowed, “What happened?" 

"I..I think I healed you” you said. 

Zuko opened his mouth to ask another question but Iroh interrupted him. 

“I think that’s enough questions for now, I’ll explain later, right now I’m just glad you’re okay.” Zuko looked gratefully at his uncle and went to stand up but his knees buckled and he almost fell backwards but you caught him. 

“Be careful, even though you’re wound is healed, you still lost a lot of blood and I don’t think I was able to heal you all of the way, you’ll need to take it easy.” You and Iroh helped Zuko onto the ship and you got the ship moving again, you wanted to be far away from that place.

It had been a couple of hours and you were able to clean the blood off of you and change, but you felt an immense amount of fatigue. Your curiosity of what happened earlier staved of your tiredness and you went to go find Iroh. 

“Ah, y/n, how are you feeling?” Iroh remarked when he saw you walking up to him. He was sitting at a table on the deck with a cup of tea. 

“I don’t know, I feel..drained. In fact that was what I was going to ask you about, what happened earlier?” You asked.

Iroh set his tea down and gestured for you to sit in the chair that was directly across from him. 

“The moment I saw that glowing light I knew exactly what had happened.” He paused, pouring you a cup of tea and setting it in front of you. 

“What do you know about soulmates?” he asked. 

“Not much really, do you think Zuko and I are soulmates?” you asked, your face gone practically slack with the incredulity of Iroh’s theory. 

He nodded at you solemnly, “Yes, I do. Soulmates are essentially two halves of a whole, they are two people that complete each other like puzzle pieces fitting together." 

Suddenly that feeling that you felt when you first laid eyes on Zuko made sense and you wondered if Zuko had felt it too, which would explain why he looked at you so weird the first time he saw you. 

"I had heard stories about people with a soulmate bond so strong that they are able to heal each other by giving each other some of their life force. Even I didn’t think it was true, until today. That’s why you were able to heal Zuko, that light was you transferring your life force to Zuko. That’s probably why you feel so drained" 

You sat there, in complete shock, you didn’t know what to say. "Well, uh…thank you, Iroh, I think I’m going to go talk to Zuko now." 

He gave a single nod and you went to go talk to Zuko. You had no idea what you were going to say, you had barely talked to Zuko and he had made sort of a habit to avoid you so you didn’t even know if he was going to listen. You sighed, finally deciding to just knock on his door. You raised your fist and knocked twice on his door. 

"Come in” you heard him say.

You walked in to see him sitting on his bed, the map of where the avatar was spotted was sitting in his lap. 

“Are you, um, feeling better?” you asked. 

He gave a half-smile, “Uh, yeah, thank you for healing me." 

You nodded, "You’re welcome." 

It was silent for a moment, awkwardness practically filling the room. "So, did Iroh tell you that we’re-" 

"Yeah, well, no, he didn’t tell me, but I knew from the moment I met you." 

"Oh,” you said, you didn’t know what to make of that statement, he knew and he didn’t tell you? What if you never found out, was he ever going to tell you? 

“Yeah, my uncle had talked about soulmates before and so I just put two and two together." 

You crossed your arms and glared at Zuko, "Were you ever going to tell me?" 

Zuko looked up at you sheepishly, "Well, I was eventually going to bring it up, but my number one priority is finding the avatar and I didn’t want the whole soulmate thing to get in the way." 

Your look softened slightly. You could understand where Zuko was coming from, his father had banished him and his only hope at getting his life back to how it was was to capture the avatar. 

"So that’s why you avoided me." 

"Yeah, uh, sorry about that, I promise I won’t do it anymore." 

You gave a small nose exhale and you smiled and shook your head slightly. 

"What’s so funny?” he asked. 

“Nothing, I just never thought that the Fire Lord’s son would be my soulmate." 

He smiled slightly before retorting, "Well, I never thought my soulmate would be my firebending teacher." 

You laughed and Zuko’s smile widened and his usually fierce eyes seemed to sparkle with a small hint of humor.

Pairing: Zuko x Reader

Word Count: 2,268

Warning: Assault

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.

ALOT of Zuko content today…I’m just gonna say I am living for it

Burning heart masterlist

Pairing: Zuko x reader, Zuko x y/n

Tags: Enemies to lovers, slow burn

Summary: Raised mostly by yourself, you made a living for your youth years as a maid in one of the richest families in Ba sing se, Beifongs. There Toph, a blind young rich girl, taught you earth bending and also became your new family. Not that you would admit that to her. Together you escape Ba sing se on the back of a flying bison with the Avatar, in a mission to take back the world from the fire nation. But on the journey you didn’t plan to team up with the Fire prince himself, and you definitely did not plan to get butterflies around him. But you couldn’t possibly catch feelings for a fire bender right? They ruined your life and took everything of value from you. But you couldn’t lie to your burning heart.

Warnings: swearing, Sexual tension

The next morning Zuko and Aang were up early, excited to fire bend. I took a lie in. I was exhausted after a full night of brooding. But now I had forgotten all about last night and wanted to have a lesson together with Toph. While the others were fire bending on the other side of the temple me and Toph was placed on a protective platform.  After months of complaining, toph finally agreed to teach me how to see without my eyes. 

(BUT I GOTTA KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR SELenEr.)- Authors note

With spread legs and deep breathing I tried the best I could. But I came to the conclusion that it was impossible. I was so used to the privilege of using my own eyes that the idea that I could create a vision from the sense around me was laughable. I kept myself busy the entire afternoon, sweat dripping down my forehead. Toph was laughing at me “wow! you suck”. I growled, annoyed at the lack of improvement “isn’t it your job to teach me? Is there not a way to make my feet open their eyes or whatever”. Toph threw a pebble at me “No. that’s the problem.  You’ve got to stop thinking like a moron with working vision.There’s no different angle, no clever solution, no trickery-trick that’s going to make you see. it’s not actually eyes you dumbstruck bison, its feet and it’s always going to be feet “. I was growing a temper “well it’s kind of hard to see with my feet when i have perfectly working eyes unlike your blind ass”. Toph jumped down from the pillar so she stood in front of me. Still lifted with a rock beneath her she was a head shorter than me. “I’m glad you said something Jerk! We don’t need them”, before I could protest she blindfolded me “This way, you’ll actually have to sense the vibration of the earth around you”. I rolled my eyes forgetting she can’t see them because of the blindfold. And yeah right,also  because she’s blind. “I still don’t actually have to sense my surroundings”, I muttered mostly to myself but somehow Toph caught it. “ You have to if you want to live”, I could hear the smirk in her voice. Finally catching up on words I struck my hands forward in a protective manner “No. No, Toph! We are not doing the bolder thing again”. She blatantly ignored me and laughed as an answer. I sighed, as I spread my feeting again. I tried to focus on how the ground felt under me. How hard the stone was, how my balance on the left foot was worse because a crack slit the ground open. I focused on the vibrations from Toph’s steps. Then with a deep sigh I let myself completely into my earth’s bending control. I imagined my surroundings, I could feel the wind move pebbles over my feet. And I could also feel the rumpling of something the doubled size of me. The boulder. And just then I understood what Toph meant. It wasn’t like looking with eyes at all. I couldn’t see colors or the direction of the sunlight. I couldn’t see details like leaves on the vines. But I still knew, I knew what was around me. I knew that the temple was on my left, Toph was on my right. And that the quick moving boulder was rushing in my direction from behind. So I threw myself to the side just when the vibration was next to me. I quickly eartbended a sharp piece of the cliff at the boulder so it broke into pieces. “Surprised that it took you that long!”Toph yelled at me in which I earth bended a pebble towards her in response.

“Okay..”, Toph began and I inhaled hopefully. “I’m getting a break?”, I interrupted her before she could continue her sentence. She snorted “as if you deserve a break, freak. What I was going to say was that I’m sending in someone you can spar with. Blindfold on of course”. Help? Since when did Toph need help. Before I could ask I felt the sudden vibration of a larger figure rushing towards me. I quickly moved out of the way. From the weight of the vibrations I was guessing Sokka since I knew Zuko was busy teaching Aang. “Missed me!”, I teased, as I felt the person rushing over to me again. With a smile I ducked what I guessed was the boomerang being thrown at me. But when I felt the familiar heat of fire above me my demeanor changed. “Toph I don’t even know how to feel fire with my feet!”I yelled, suddenly scared of what could happen if I hadn’t ducked. Toph shouted back happily without a care in the world “you just did!”. Angry that she was right, like usual, I quickly stood back in a defensive position. Zuko seemed to have changed his fighting technique since he wasn’t spurting at me anymore. He was waiting for me to attack. And I did. I moved gracefully as I raised my hands, feeling the good vibrations of my earth bending creating a rock to shoot at him. I could feel him jump to the side and I cursed myself for missing. And like that it continued, we spared in a circle like a prey and predator. Which one was which i didn’t know. I could feel his burning eyes on me the entire time. I tried not to think about how crazy I must look, hunting after him with a blind fold. My legs were exhausted from hours of training non stop. But instead of requesting a break like any sane person would, I used it in my advantage. I put on a fake show, dragging my feet a little extra or not attacking him as much. And when I felt him prepare a flame towards me I formed my plan. As it combusted towards me I made sure to jump just a tiny bit out of the way. I could feel the heat slicking up my arm, not close enough to burn my skin but close enough for me to react. I doubled over with a hiss, covering the skin with my hand so Zuko couldn’t see that it was completely unharmed. I immediately sensed his demeanor drop as he rushed over to me. His steps were no longer careful but rushed. ‘“I’m so sorry”, his voice was deep of guilt but i didn’t have time to feel bad.  The second his fingers touched my hand I went for attack. He didn’t even have time to react when I tackled him to the ground. I threw my legs across the side of his body and nailed him to the ground with my entire weight shuffled to my hands. It was not until i could feel him grunt out a pust of air towards me when i realized the position i put him in. My backside was arched toward his lap. My exposed cleavage was hanging right in front of his face. But i knew if i moved i would most definitely lose. So instead I waited. I waited for him to react, to make a move. But he did neither. He was still as a rock. Annoyed that I could sense him but not see his reaction I shook my head so my blindfold slipped off my face. Little did I know that lack of sight was the only thing keeping me winning. The second Zuko is exposed to my eyes beneath me I drop the defensive act. His eyes are soft, sweet as honey. His lips parted and i didnt miss his tongue swiping across them. His chest raised with short breaths brushes against my cleavage and I feel his pounding heart and I know he can feel mine. The two front pieces of my hair fall down, shielding our faces from the rest of the world. And there, right there, I forget about the war. I forget about the fire nation. Right there, there is only Zukos and our breaths tempo starts to match. There was only the smell of his manly musk and new poured rain. For the first time in what felt like forever, I was calm at heart. I didn’t worry about the outcome of the war, hell I didn’t even care. His eyes roam over me, as if it’s the first time he sees me. Uncomfortable from his intense gaze I shifted my position only to feel…

Both faces are immediately lit up in matching blushes as I feel something hard pressing against the inside of my thigh. My pounding heart didn’t know what to do. What was best, to move or to avoid it. Too caught up in the heat of the moment I didn’t notice how his fingers slipped up my hand. It’s not until he had fully grasped my wrists and rolled me over that I was brought back to reality. He had done a “Y/n” and attacked in a weak moment. Nice. But this position made his hard problem much more noticable. The entire length was pressed against my crotch and it made a yearn start to pound. One I desperately needed to hide. His hair hung down in my face next to my wrist he had nailed to the ground. I needed to immediately distract myself from the contact between us “Deja vu huh?”. I was referring to how he had me pinned to a tree the first day we met. He smirks as he leans down to my ear and whispers in my hair “i have exactly where i want you”. I knew he meant that he was winning but it didn’t fail to send a shiver down my spine. “Ummm, okay guys i think zuko won!”, We both push each other off at once  as we both remember Toph is there. Not only Toph but Sokka. They both look horrified.  “He cheated!”I burst out, anything to break the silence. Zuko tips his head towards me angry “You cheated first”. I rolled my eyes even though he was right “you should be happy I don’t know fire bending because I would beat you in Agni Kai”. Zuko snorted as he stood up and brushed off his pants “you have no near the amount of self control Agni Kai demands”. I smile with a raised eyebrow, god he makes it so easy. “And what?”, I look down to his crouch before meeting his eyes “you do?”. His face becomes more red than a tomato as I brush past Toph and leave the scene. The second I’m out of sight, I finally let go of the breath I didn’t know I was holding. I lost control today. I almost let the attraction I clearly have for Zuko show. The same one I need to hide, to dig down, do destroy. But more interesting, Zuko did the same thing. I cringed at the entire thing, praying to god that everybody would forget this by dinner.  

Neither Zuko or I spoke at dinner. We’re deeply concentrated on our food and both ignore the conversations playing out around us. That’s until Toph shoves an elbow into my side. I make a groan from the sharp pain “what was that for?”. I didn’t need to look at Top to know she was smirking “I was right”. I had no idea what she was referring to “yes you were,  now what exactly are you talking about”. Toph was very often right, it was like the blindness had given her a third eye so she just knew things. Toph nods to the other side of the circle and I follow her eyes to.. Zuko. Whatever was going to come out of her mouth was probably not good. “I’ve felt your pulse raise every time you’ve looked at Zuko so i knew i had to put it to the test”. I should’ve known Toph didn’t need help from Zuko. I shook my head “Whatever you think you’re right about, you’re wrong. End of conversation”. Toph fell quiet against her will but i knew that she was going to go off and mock me for having the hots for a fire bender. Zuko at that. Sokka, who had been eavesdropping the entire time, sneaked next to me “so what’s up between you and Sifu Hotman”. I wanted to punch that grin off his face. “I dont know”, I glanced threateningly at him “what was up between you and Azula when you fought at the eclipse?”. I was referring to how he pushed her up the wall and how she just let him. He was clearly done talking about me and Sifu hotman, because like the pull of a lever he shut up. That’s what I thought.

The next morning Zuko and Sokka were gone. They had apparently gone fishing, as if any of us was going to believe that. So there were multiple reasons I was grumpy that morning. First, I didn’t like how they kept me out of things like that. Second, once again I caught myself worrying for both of them. Worrying for Zuko. This was not going to end well.  

Taglist: @eridanuswave , @Whalerus, @keiko0, @emogril , @theblueslytherin , @bbecc-a , @riespage ,  @mochminnie , @mangoberry43, @riespage

Burning Heart: Pt 3

Burning heart masterlist

Pairing: Zuko x reader, Zuko x y/n

Tags: Enemies to lovers, slow burn

Summary: Raised mostly by yourself, you made a living for your youth years as a maid in one of the richest families in Ba sing se, Beifongs. There Toph, a blind young rich girl, taught you earth bending and also became your new family. Not that you would admit that to her. Together you escape Ba sing se on the back of a flying bison with the Avatar, in a mission to take back the world from the fire nation. But on the journey you didn’t plan to team up with the Fire prince himself, and you definitely did not plan to get butterflies around him. But you couldn’t possibly catch feelings for a fire bender right? They ruined your life and took everything of value from you. But you couldn’t lie to your burning heart.

Warnings: swearing

I thought that since Toph was actually blind now, feet burned beyond recognition, that she would go easy on me today. I was clearly wrong. She was quickly up on her feet again (pun intended). Toph had been teaching me earth bending in secret since i was a maid to her family so her tough teaching techniques were no surprise. She had me and Aang working to the bone before we finally, covered in sweat, got a break. Or more like I got a break while Aang had his next bending lesson. Fire. His first. I couldn’t help my curiosity as I stood leaned against the closest wall watching Zuko in his professor role.  The balcony of the upside down pagoda in the temple was hot. Sweat was climbing up my back as I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. Zuko seemed to catch Aang’s hyper demaoner “I know you’re nervous, but remember, firebending in it of itself is not something to fear.” Aang didn’t meet his eyes but sighed deeply instead “Okay. Not something to fear”.Zuko nodded as he closed his fists. “But if you don’t respect it”, he raised his voice so it echoed through the temple “it’ll chew you up and spit you out like an angry komodo rhino!”. I held back the laugh threatening at the picture of Zuko with tensed eyes and a yelping Aang. Zuko clearly picked the “bad cop” technique when it came to teaching, just like Toph. He crossed his arms over his strong chest and took a step backwards “Now show me what you’ve got. Any amount of fire you can make”. Aang inhales nervously as he hesitates and moves out his arms. I can see fear in his eyes as they focus on the palm of his hand. A small, almost impossible to catch, cloud of smoke appears. But as fast as it comes it dissipates to nothing. The look on Aang was a blend of disappointment and relief.

Aang looked up hopefully “Maybe i need a little more instruction. Perhaps a demonstration?”. Zuko raised an eyebrow “Good idea, You might wanna take a couple steps back”. Even if he wasn’t talking to me I obliged and moved further back. I hadn’t seen him in action up close yet. I was unsure what to expect but that was definitely not it.  With a grunt Zuko opens his tightly closed fist to let out…. a flame smaller than the palm of my hand. Aang, supportive as he was, applauded at this disappointing display. Me? i bursted out laughing, finally alerting them of my presence. They both sharply turned to me, who was doubled over in laughter. “You might wanna take a couple steps back?”I wiped away fake tears “What was that? That was the worst firebending I’ve ever seen!”. Zuko did not take that mockery ease as he pursed his lips hard enough to break his jaw.  Aang interrupted Zuko before he could yell at me “I thought it was…nice”. He smiled slightly and shrugged which made it even harder to hold back my smile.

Zuko, annoyed at my amused face, tried to prove me wrong. He let out a loud grunt, which made a wave of excitement go through my stomach. But I pretended I didn’t even notice it. His next three attempts resulted in very very small flames similar to the first. Defeated he glares frustrated down at his palms “what is happening”. Aang rubbed his head, trying to comfort Zuko “maybe it’s the altitude”.I left my safe spot to move my way to them “Or maybe you can’t firebend anymore, which is like the only reason we took you in”. Zuko’s burning eyes just lit my amusement more “oh oh! i call dibs on Zuko’s room when we throw him out”. Aang stretches his smaller hand out to stop me from upsetting anybody further. Zuko scrowls as he turns his back at me with clearly better self control than I thought he had. Time passes and Zuko keeps pushing himself with no improvement. Aang was sitting beside me on a broken pillar as we watched Zuko deliver a pointless blast after another. “that one kind of felt hot”, Aang bursted out as he got on his feet. I snickered at his comment, as I swung my legs against the pillar. But Zuko got angry, angrier than he had ever become after any of my comments. “Don’t patronize me! You know what it’s supposed to look like!”. He was right, I had seen many fire benders but no one was as worthless as Zuko at the moment. “He didn’t need to patronize you, you do that very well on your own”. Zuko aimed a flame at me that was even worse than his previous ones “Shut up!”. Aang held up his hands in defense “ Sorry, Sifu Hotman”. I bursted out laughing so hard it hurt the depths of my stomach.  Zuko raises his arms above his head and throws them back with a shout of frustration. Aang gringes at his sudden outburst. “And stop calling me that!”, Zuko yells which makes me laugh possibly even harder.

Night creeps up on us as everyone is getting settled for dinner. Even Appa has a mouthful of hay as he rests next to the fountain. Everyone is busy calming their rouring stomachs, everyone except Zuko. He’s leaning on a column with his arms crossed, looking down the cracked ground under him. He looks deep in thought with his wrinkled forehead, but no one seems to notice. No one except me of course. Suddenly he turns his head to the campfire as he makes his way over to where we’re sitting. “Listen everybody, I’ve got some pretty bad news. I’ve lost my stuff”, He looks below dejectedly. Toph, used to being accused of stealing by now, raises her hands above her head. “Don’t look at me!”, she folded her arms “i didn’t touch your stuff”. I giggle at her outburst and enjoy the view of Zuko’s ashamed face. He looks down again “I’m talking about my firebending. It’s gone”. I cross my arms and throw my legs up on a pillar “as if you even had it in the first place”. Everybody around the fireplace sits up, different emotions painted on their faces. Sokka is the only one giving me a reaction as he pretends to fire bends with an annoyed face like Zuko had been doing the entire day. It brought a quiet shaking laugh from me. But my laugh quieted down as a clearer brighter laughter took place. Katara had her head bent backwards as her body shook from the laugh. Was Katara… mocking Zuko. It was the only time Katara had done anything remotely funny, but it still deep down struck a nerve that she was making fun of  him. It was my job. But I couldn’t possibly be petty over such a small pointless thing. Everyone had turned their attention towards her, including Zuko, who had an annoyed expression twisting his handsome face. She held her hands up, hiding her face “I’m sorry. I’m just laughing at the irony. You know, how it would’ve been nice for us if you lost your firebending a long time ago”. Zuko gringed “Well, it’s not lost. It’s just … weaker for some reason”. Katara held up her bowl and glared at Zuko over the brim “Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are”. Both me and Toph, alike as we are, Made a hissing noise at the same time and met each other’s eyes “ouch”.  Zuko ignored Toph’s sarcastic smile as he brightened up with an idea “I bet it’s because I changed sides”. Katara gave him another glare as she brought the bowl to her lips “That’s ridiculous”. It was the first time I had seen Aang disagree with Katara “I don’t know. Maybe it isn’t. Maybe your firebending comes from rage and you just don’t have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to”.

“Zuko has not been angry? then what have i been doing all day”, i smirked over at Sokka who returned the facial expression. He leans towards zuko and points a finger above “Easy enough”. He pokes Zuko with his shining swords hilt in the head and waist several times. Toph and I cling onto each other to not fall over from laughing. Zuko growles behind closed teeth “okay cut it out!”. Sokka’s sword slips from his hands and is thrown above before falling on his head. Zuko sighs and rubs his nose “look, even if you’re right. I don’t want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way”.

Sokka rubs his head in pain from the burst with the sword but no one seems to pay him any care. Toph takes a big bite from her food “You’re gonna need to learn to draw your firebending from a different source. I recommend the original source”.I furrowed my eyebrows “I thought that fire bending’s original source was pain, rage and suffering”. I didn’t miss the way Zuko pursed his lips and looked down in something similar to shame. Sokka seemed to forget his head injury as he excitedly looked up “How’s he supposed to do that? By jumping into a volcano?”.Toph shook her head and wiggles her feet “No. Zuko needs to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is”. Sokka’s dreams of Zuko diving into a volcano is crushed “So, is it jumping into a volcano?”.

“I don’t know”,  Toph puts her bowl down beside her “For earthbending, the original benders were badgermoles’’. I remembered the many times Toph had brought me to the tunnels and showed me where she met the Badgermoles. That seemed like forever ago.  “Isn’t the original fire benders Dragons? Where the fuck are we going to find a dragon just chilling?”, I looked up at Zuko who sighed deeply. “we are not going to, Dragons are extinct”. Aang shook his head “What do you mean‌? Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid”. Zuko’s face twists up, as if he knows something we don’t. “Well, they aren’t around anymore, okay?”. I feel bad for Aang because he yelps at Zuko’s harsh tone. “Okay, okay!”,he moved his arms in an appeasing manner “I’m sorry”. Zuko moves on his long slender legs to the fountain. “But maybe there’s another way”, he looks away in deep thought “The first people to learn from the dragon were the ancient Sun warriors”.Aang who always seemed to think he knew the most since he was technically 100 years older than the rest walks towards Zuko. “Sun warriors? Well I know they weren’t around when i was a kid”, Aang stood beside Zuko now. “No, they died off thousands of years ago. But their civilization wasn’t too far from where we are now”, Zuko  tilts his head toward Aang “Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins’’. Sokka mirrors my suspicions “So what? Maybe you’ll pick up some super old sun warrior energy just by standing where they stood a thousand years ago?”. He backs up his question by flaring his hands around in a weird motion which makes me hit my forehead with my hand. Zuko shifted his weight forward. “More or less. Either I find a new way to firebend “, he turns his head towards Aang ”or the Avatar has to find a new teacher”.

When Zuko left with the Avatar, the temple seemed to become much more quiet. Haru, the Duke and Teo were on yet another exploration mission. Katara was worrying for Aang, while she cooked the same meal we had been eating for days. Toph, Sokka and I laid spread out, floating over the water in the fountain. The heat had been getting worse and it was the only way to cool down. Sokka threw a worried look at her sister.“What do you think Sifu hotman and smaller bald Kyoshi is doing right now?”, I asked as I sat up in the fountain. My soaked hair was dripping down my back. Sokka smiled half way “Zuko is probably pissed because his worthless Sun warrior plan is not working out and Aang is probably playing peacemaker and trying to calm him down”.  Toph smirked and splashed some water with her feet. Katara sneered at us and I wondered if it was because she didn’t like that we were talking about Aang or if she was jealous that we were bonding better then she had done with any of us. I was guessing on the latter. “If you could have any original animal from any bend type, which one would you have?”, Sokka asked to change the conversation subject. Toph didn’t even need to think  for a second “obviously the badgermoles”. Sokka looked offended “really? You would pick a blind disgusting rat over a flying bison?”. I inhaled dramatically “Blind disgusting rat?! That’s my best friend you’re talking about!”. Sokka burst out in laughter and Toph rolled her eyes ironically “ha ha ha”.  I looked forward, deep in thought “I hate the fire nation but honestly the dragon is the most badass”. Sokka lifted an eyebrow surprised “they’re extinct, remember?”. Katara moved a spoon through the home made meal as she mumbled “i wish that the entire fire nation was extinct”. We all fell silent, like we mostly did everytime Katara opened her mouth. I thought about how different my life would have been if the fire nation didn’t exist. I would still have my mom. I would have grown up with a present and loving father. If my mom had gotten good care while giving birth, instead of hiding in a barn from the fire nation, she wouldn’t have died in childbirth. And if my mom hadn’t died, my dad wouldn’t have blamed me for her death. He wouldn’t have been slaughtered by the fire nation when they invaded my home years later on the look for something we didn’t even have. But I would never have met Toph. I would never have gotten so good at earth bending. I wouldn’t have met the avatar gang. But I still closed my eyes and imagined a world without the fire nation for just another second.

by the look of Aangs and Zuos excited faces when they returned, I guessed it was a successful mission. I can’t help but feel relieved that they’re okay, and to my surprise I’m relieved for both of them. A sense of calm fills me when I see that they’re BOTH unharmed, but I would never admit that to anybody. They’re quick to get into positions to start demonstrating what the sun warriors taught them. They moved gracefully, every motion mirrored between them as yin and yan. Fire licked the sides of their bodys without hurting them, as if the fire and their bodies were one. I had grown up with the view of fire as a plot of destruction, a tool for suffering and power play. But now, in the upside-down pagodas in the Western Air Temple, the fire looked nothing like that. It wasn’t violent. It was beautiful, I could see shades of blue and green. I could see all the colors of the rainbow within the flames, similar to the reflection of water. Or the sharpened glass in the depths of the earth. Or how air bent sunlight on a hot day. I could see all elements moving from the palms of their hands in the shape of combustions of flames. Deep deep down within my bones I could feel a yearn for the fighting of flames. A longing for the feel of the heat against my hands, that I quickly pushed down. Fire was dangerous, it was not beautiful. It was difficult to convince myself when I left the hole of lament in my heart. The rest of the avatar gang interrupted my thoughts with applause as the two got into their final postures. “Yeah, that’s a great dance you two learned there”, Sokka bursted out playfully. Normally i would join him with a remark myself but i wasn’t in the mood. My feelings were conflicted and I couldn’t focus on anything else. Zuko seemed offended. “It’s not a dance. It’s a firebending form”. Sokka moves his fingers in a dancing manner “We’ll just tap-dance our way to victory over the Fire Lord”.

Zuko makes his way over to Sokka with a threatening glimpse in his eyes “It’s a sacred form that happens to be a thousand years old!”. Katara crosses her arms “Oh yeah? What is your little form called?”. Zuko’s eyes met the ground embarrassed “The dancing Dragon”. The gang erupted in loud laughter as Zujo gringes in embarrassment. I stand quiet, not paying attention to how Zuko turns to me. “You haven’t said any mocking remark about our form”, he bent down to my level to try to catch my attention. “You mean your dance?”I ask and raise an eyebrow. He mimics my expression “Really? is that it?”. I didn’t even catch his bait as I waved him away “I’m not in the mood”. As I moved away I felt Zuko’s burning eyes on the plate of my back. “Since when is she not in the mood”, Zuko mumbled to himself, confused. I was busy thinking about how I had longed to touch fire. The thing that destroyed my life.

Taglist: @eridanuswave , @Whalerus, @keiko0, @emogril , @theblueslytherin , @bbecc-a 

Burning heart masterlist

Pairing: Zuko x reader, Zuko x y/n

Tags: Enemies to lovers, slow burn

Summary: Raised mostly by yourself, you made a living for your youth years as a maid in one of the richest families in Ba sing se, Beifongs. There Toph, a blind young rich girl, taught you earth bending and also became your new family. Not that you would admit that to her. Together you escape Ba sing se on the back of a flying bison with the Avatar, in a mission to take back the world from the fire nation. But on the journey you didn’t plan to team up with the Fire prince himself, and you definitely did not plan to get butterflies around him. But you couldn’t possibly catch feelings for a fire bender right? They ruined your life and took everything of value from you. But you couldn’t lie to your burning heart.

Warnings: swearing

The Western Air temple

The forest was darker than I thought it be. At these hours I assumed that the sun would be swallowing the green moss but the trees prevented most streaks. I didn’t even realize I was running until the trees got more scattered, allowing the sun to peek through. I had no real plan how to find him, I hadn’t looked for footprints or broken branches. I was like an impulsive idiot. I just rushed into a forest alone. But I had to find him. I had to confront him. I had to kill him. He opposes a threat to the gang, to Toph. I had underestimated him before, I would not do it again. I gave myself a few seconds to take a breath. I had been running for a good while and was out of breath and covered in sweat. Stupid idiot. As I bent forward to allow air into my lungs I detected something. A sting of smoke sipped through my lungs and burned my throat. A fire. He was close. Now more collected and controlled I sneaked forward. With every step i took i made sure to bend the ground under me so moss swallowed any possible noise my shoe could make. The only thing hearable was the chirping of cardinal birds and the drilling of woodpeckers. The scent of burning wood got closer and closer and I quickened my steps in response. Finally it was so strong I suspected it must be in earth bending distance. I peeked behind the tree in front of me to find a camp. The bonfire was put out but still fervor and the ash was still warm. And Zuko.

He looked exactly the same as yesterday but it still made me halt in my steps. The streaks of suns fighting through the thick branches reached across his face glistening in sweat. His hair still had the morning ruff and his scar seemed even more red than yesterday. Every little killing method I imagined in my head on the way here was completely gone. Now when he stood in front of me, it was different. But I had to keep reminding myself of the image of Toph’s scorched feet. “Zuko”, I growled and he turned abruptly. He was startled by my presence, but scared of the look in my eyes. In a second of boiling blood and red vision I bend the earth around him to drag him towards me so we’re face to face. This close the details of his sharp features were prettier. He was pretty this close. The two or three freckles across the bridge of his nose. The pink tint of his lip. The softness of his hair. I shook the thought away as I lifted my hand to grasp his throat. Not to stop him breathing, but to make him feel threatened. He didn’t seem that threatened by his bored look but I could feel the lump he swallowed vibrate against my palm. “I didn’t believe the shit they said about you until what you did to Toph”, I clicked my tongue in denial “burning a little blind girl? that’s low, even for you Prince”. He strained against my grip with a scowl “Don’t call me that”. I raised an eyebrow “What? Prince? Oh right! I forgot. Banished huh? Why do you think the Avatar would want you when even your own family doesn't”. That seemed to be a soft spot since he somehow with pure body strength broke himself free from the stone cuffs around his feet to push me backwards. I lost my footing but luckily didn’t trip all too embarrassing.  But the shame made me furious as I attacked him. I was just about to bend the ground under him when he moved like a panther against me. I groaned loudly in pain when my back rasped against the rough bark of a tree. Both my wrists were locked in a hard grip by his much larger hands. His body heat radiated over to mine as he pushed up against me, preventing me from moving. “Calm down”, his voice was in my hair, forcing a shiver down my spine. I swallowed thickly, unsure what to do. “Look”, he leaned back to look into my eyes, which was somehow worse. Against my will I met his honey pool eyes. “It was an accident, she came in the middle of the night and startled me. It was self defense. I had no idea it was her”. I stayed quiet, trying my best to escape his grip. It was too much, his rough palms against my sensitive skin, his hot breath in my face. Just the knowledge that he was so close set my body on fire. If i stayed here any longer i would do something i would surely regret. “Get off me”, my voice came out chapped and raspy. Instead of it sounding like an order it came out like a plea. His thumb swiped across the side of my palm swiftly before letting go. It was a small motion, but I noticed. It made my heart pound furiously, I bet he could feel it. the rumpling deep in my chest. I licked my dry lips, finally taking a step away from his. It felt like the world lifted off my shoulder when I finally got out of his intoxicating aura. I was happy I didn’t faint. I pointed at him “If you ever, and i mean ever, touch Toph again. I will hunt you down, Prince”. I spit the last part and happily noticed he scrunched up his face. Then I turned around and left with my heart still beating twice the normal pace. 

Returning to the Air temples i was relieved that no one noticed i left. It would be too embarrassing and shameful to explain. Explain how Zuko, The fire prince, pushed me up against a tree and gave me butterflies. Butterflies! Ridiculous. I spent the next hour pounding, trying to understand why Zuko even affected me in the way he did. I mean yes, he was obviously attractive, but… he was a fire bender! A person I’ve been taught to hate since the moment of my birth. The thought about my childhood made anxiety grow like a rock in the depths of my stomach so I decided to make myself busy. I couldn’t keep puzzling about this. My thoughts got cut off by loud rumbling followed by ear crushing noises, so loud the ground vibrated. Someone shot something at the temple, and by the looks of it, it was aiming for the gang. On instinct I sprinted in their direction as I saw Aang and Sokka lifting up Toph from the fountain.”Stop!”,I froze at the familiar voice. 

I turned my head so fast it made my neck burn. Up on a cliff a bit away was a huge figure next to…. Zuko. “I don’t want you hurting the Avatar anymore!”. Aang groaned as he tried his best to carry Toph away from the scene. “The mission is off. I’m ordering you to stop”, Zuko struck his hands in front of the man. He was crazy, the much larger man could snap him in half. the Combustion Man. The man couldn’t care less as he with ease shoved zuko out of the way and charged his eye. Another explosion, now much closer, made the entire place threaten to fall apart. If it wasn’t for the small stone wall I bent over my friends, we would have been crushed by stone. 

“If you keep attacking, I won’t pay you!”,Zuko cupped his hands so fire was aiming against the large man. The combustion man was starting to get annoyed as he easily docked the fire and grabbed onto Zuko’s smaller body. “Okay i’ll pay you double to stop!”.

I looked over at Aang “we should move”. He nodded in agreement, peaking over the stone wall. “Okay”, he looked back with frightened eyes. “Zuko seems to be keeping him busy, move now”. My legs almost gave up under me as I stood up with Toph’s body over my shoulder. I gasped as I saw Zuko get thrown off the cliff. There were so many feelings in my body it confused me. There is no way he could survive a fall like that. Worry for his life was the feeling finally taking over as I swallowed down the lump rising. But in the last second it seemed, he grasped onto a vine hanging down the cliff. “Go”, Aang yelled and I nodded swiftly. I didn’t look back but I could hear the familiar woosh of Aangs air bending behind me. Before I even had time to move Toph we got thrown by a sudden explosion behind us. Lucky us, I bent the ground under us so we didn’t fall. “Stay here”, I mumbled to Toph as I placed her behind a wall. She crossed her arms annoyed and nodded to her brunt feet “it’s not like I have much of a choice”. As I turned around I saw the rest of our gang run towards me. They had just enough time to jump next to us before the next explosion ruined the temple. “he’s going to blast this whole place right off the cliff side!”, Toph yelled, eyes blown wide exposing her grey glazed irises. Katara took a deep breath before peeking behind the wall only to see another incoming blast. She looked back at us with pursed lips “I can’t step out to waterbend at him without being blown up and I can’t get a good enough angle on him from down here”. At the world angle Sokka’s entire face brightened up. I swore I could see a lightbulb over his head. “I know how to get an angle on him!”, he shouted. I looked him up and down “really? well do tell”. Sokka fumbles with his belt before taking out his boomerang. After another blast, he sneaks his head out, but has to hide from yet another shot. With his tongue out, clearly in deep concentration, he projects  Combustion Man’s angle with his boomerang. He takes a deep breath “all right buddy, don’t fail me now”. With a tensed arm he aims the boomerang and then uses his whole upper body strength to send it flying. In surprise the boomerang hits the assassin in the head where his third eye tattoo is, causing him to hit the ground. Sokka’s face is priceless as he catches the boomerang “yeah boomerang!”. But then the silence is broken by the assassin’s heavy body getting up, clearly a bit shaken. Sokka’s face fell “Awwww, boomerang…”. this is how we die huh? There was no way a few children could take on a trained assassin. But he seemed to take care of that job himself because his next aim is completely off. He misses, his next blast hits the ground around him. The ground shakes a few times under his feet before it gives up under him, causing him to fall.  As I help Toph up the best I can Zuko appears. Aang looks hesitant at him “i can’t believe i’m saying this, but….thanks, zuko”. Sokka clearly took it personally as he turned to Aang “hey! What about me? I did the boomerang thing.” I rolled my eyes at his child’s demeanor. 

Zuko looked down before meeting Aang’s eyes “Listen, I know I didn’t explain myself very well yesterday, I’ve been through a lot in the last few years, and it’s been hard. But I’m realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It’s something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what’s right. All I want to do now is play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world”. 

No one was ready for his speech, especially not me. This was a needed side of him I hadn’t seen. I recognized myself in his words and I had to turn my head to  clear my mind. 

Zuko turned to Toph with shame in his eyes. “ I’m sorry for what I did to you”, he bows in her direction “It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild, so as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending, so I don’t hurt people unintentionally”. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Everything he said made sense, felt sincere. But it went against everything I had been taught. Every word, scolding, from my father. Everything he had told me. I rarely agreed with my father but when it came to the fire nation we used to be on the same page.  Aang opened his mouth to speak but closed it almost immediately. He looks in thought as if he tries to be careful with his words. He finally collected himself “I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher. When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara, and after that, I never wanted to firebend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love. I’d like you to teach me”. He then slowly bent forward, bowing respectfully to Zuko. I could see how hard he tried to keep that smile back as he bowes back “Thank you. i’m so happy you’ve accepted me into your group”. Aang stopped him in his words “Not so fast. I still have to ask my friends if it’s okay with them.”. He turns to Toph with kind eyes “Toph, you’re the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?”. Toph shrugs her shoulders. “Go ahead and let him join”, She pounds her fist into her palm jokingly “it’ll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet”. I meet zuko’s eyes and mumbles under my breath “that makes two of us”. Aang turns to Sokka. Sokka shrugs in response “Hey, all I want is to defeat the fire lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then, I’m all for it”. A part of me was excited to see what Katara would say. She clearly loved Aang and trusted him with her life, but she also hated Zuko with all her spirit.  Aang slowly approached Katara. She looked Zuko up and down. Her glare is so hot I could feel Zuko’s nervousness. I swore I could see sweat climbing down his forehead.  Finally she drops her walls “ I’ll go along with whatever you think is right”. Relieved Aang smiles at her. He gives me a look but I understand the question. All my feelings are conflicted, but this was not my place to speak “Fine”. I look up my eyelashes “On one condition?”. Zuko noods with stiff movement. I smirk sideways “If i can joke about your scar”. The expression on Zuko’s face was hard to read. Either he was extremely offended or thought it was amusing. He gave me a sideways nod which I took as a yes. 

The gang for some reason gave me the job to show him to his room. Probably because they thought I had the least history with him. Little do they know. The walk towards the room was awkward, both of us trying to keep our distance. “Um here we are”, I nodded towards the door and he walked into the room. I glanced toward him “Um, I think it’s lunch soon. So, um unpack. um”. He looks up on me and gives me a weak smile. “And”, i weightened forwards and backwards on my feet “And well, keep an eye out. Either eye  works, but for you i guess the choice is pretty obvious”. He snorted “is that the best you can do?”. I was already down the hallway “trust me Prince pretty, i’m only getting started”.

Taglist: @eridanuswave , @Whalerus, @keiko0

NORMAL MASTERLIST

BURNING LOVE MASTERLIST- 

Raised mostly by yourself, you made a living for your youth years as a maid in one of the richest families in Ba sing se, Beifongs. There Toph, a blind young rich girl, taught you earth bending and also became your new family. Not that you would admit that to her. Together you escape Ba sing se on the back of a flying bison with the Avatar, in a mission to take back the world from the fire nation. But on the journey you didn’t plan to team up with the Fire prince himself, and you definitely did not plan to get butterflies around him. But you couldn’t possibly catch feelings for a fire bender right? They ruined your life and took everything of value from you. But you couldn’t lie to your burning heart.

NORMAL MASTERLIST

Pairing: Zuko x reader, Zuko x y/n

Tags: Enemies to lovers, slow burn

Summary: Raised mostly by yourself, you made a living for your youth years as a maid in one of the richest families in Ba sing se, Beifongs. There Toph, a blind young rich girl, taught you earth bending and also became your new family. Not that you would admit that to her. Together you escape Ba sing se on the back of a flying bison with the Avatar, in a mission to take back the world from the fire nation. But on the journey you didn’t plan to team up with the Fire prince himself, and you definitely did not plan to get butterflies around him. But you couldn’t possibly catch feelings for a fire bender right? They ruined your life and took everything of value from you. But you couldn’t lie to your burning heart.

Warnings: swearing, mention of violence, later nsfw/smut

PART ONE
PART TWO
PART THREE
PART FOUR
PART FIVE
PART SIX
PART SEVEN
PART EIGHT
PART NINE

Burning heart masterlist

Pairing: Zuko x reader, Zuko x y/n

Tags: Enemies to lovers, slow burn

Summary: Raised mostly by yourself, you made a living for your youth years as a maid in one of the richest families in Ba sing se, Beifongs. There Toph, a blind young rich girl, taught you earth bending and also became your new family. Not that you would admit that to her. Together you escape Ba sing se on the back of a flying bison with the Avatar, in a mission to take back the world from the fire nation. But on the journey you didn’t plan to team up with the Fire prince himself, and you definitely did not plan to get butterflies around him. But you couldn’t possibly catch feelings for a fire bender right? They ruined your life and took everything of value from you. But you couldn’t lie to your burning heart. 

Warnings: swearing

The Western Air temple

The sun’s streaks felt like fire licking our exposed arms. The heat evaporating  from the cracked surface under our feet  was almost as hot as the burning shame in returning empty handed on foot from the eclipse battle. “This is humiliating”, Katara mumbled with her head low. Her voice sparked a familiar annoyance within but I kept my mouth shut. Sokka looked up at her from under the wolf helmet “You mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?”. Katara looked him up and down before shame forced her head down again “Both”.  Aang let his hand slide through Appas fur, as if to reassure him that it was not his fault. His forever love for Appa didn’t fail to turn my frown. Aang mirrored my weak smile “Sorry guys, but appa gets tired carrying all these people”. “Or maybe it’s just Toph who’s heavy”, Not even one of my snarky playful remarks seemed to get the group in a good mood. But I did get a half smirk for Toph that was good enough. “I wonder how the rest of the troops are”, Teo pushed his wheelchair with sweaty hands as he looked up to Haru. I had never met Teo before the battle, but Aang had mentioned him before. He was hella smart and outshined an entire army. But it was clearly not enough to beat the fire nation. I let my eyes wander to Haru instead. I remember the stories of him and his father in prison. A deep weighting feeling decided to settle in my stomach. My father would have never risked everything for me like Haru did for his dad. I guess I was never a family person. I pushed the hurtful thoughts away the best I could by focusing on Haru. “They’re probably on their way to a prison. Seems like my dad just got out and now he’s going back in”. The group fell quiet, and I wanted to feel empathy for Haru. I wanted to understand how much it would hurt to lose a parent after just getting one. I wanted to hug him. Instead i just put a supportive hand on his back “He got out once, we will figure it out”. I didn’t know if my words made a difference but I dropped my hand anyways. “I miss Pipsqueak”, The duke, a small boy muttered. Sokka ignored his tiny friend’s words “I miss not having blisters on my feet”. I leaned down to Toph’s level “Question, when you get blisters, does it feel like if i got something in my eye?”. Toph grunted in response which I decided to take as a yes. Suddenly Toph made a halt stop which almost made the rest of the group fall over. She stamped down, similar to a rabbit, before her face cracked up in a smile. “Hey, We’re here! I can feel it!”, she raised both her hands forward showing us….. nothing. Ahead of us was the same ground  that we had walked on for hours on end. The only difference was a precipies splitting the ground open like a wound. “uhhhh….I think your feet need their eyes checked”, Katara stopped beside Toph with a wrinkled nose. “No! She’s right. We are here!”, Aang’s voice didn’t sound in defeat as before. Sokka took one look behind his shoulder as if he missed the “giant temple” Aang had described before shrugging his shoulders. “Wooow”, Toph placed her hands next to her feet, truly taking in her surroundings “It’s fantastic!”.

 The western Air temple was breathtaking. How we got down was a mystery, but well down. I had no words. It was everything Aang had described. Stone walls reached over our heads,  clinging for its life on the cliffs surrounding us. Ivy painted the entire place green. With tired feet and a heavy head I slumped down on the bench around the fountain. The comforting noise of water pooling swallowed my pouding head in ease. “It’s so different from the Northern Air Temple. I wonder if there are any secret rooms”, Teos eyes were glistening like a childs. Haru had clearly stopped worrying about his dad as he took a leap forward with a smile “Let’s go check it out!”. Teo and The Duke are quick on his feet as they sprint off to explore. Aang is about to catch up with them, excitement clear in his flaring arms, before he’s cut off my Kataras grip. “You guys go. I think we need to talk about some things”, she urges the boys to continue their exploring without Aang and they don’t need much convincing. “I’ll race you, Duke”, Teo is already taking off. The Duke whines as the kid he is “i told you, It’s The Duke!”. The three disappear behind the temple but their voice echoes for another couple of seconds. Aang’s looks after the boys with desperation in his grey eyes “Why can’t I go?”. I get up on shaky legs and make my way over to them. “We need to decide what we’re gonna do now, and since you’re the Avatar, maybe you should be a part of this”, Katara sits down on a fallen stone block. “Fair enough. So, what’s the new plan?”Anyone could easily detect the evidence of annoyance in Aang’s voice as he slumps down on another stone block. But Katara was right, no matter how much I hated to admit it. Sokka placed a hand under his chin, mimicking an old philosopher  “Well, if you ask me, the new plan is the old plan! You just need to master all four elements and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes.” They way Sokka phrased it was as if it was not that hard. As if it was just a cup of tea, which clearly struck a nerve with Aang.“Oh , yeah. That’s great. No problem. I’ll just do that”, Aang threw his words in irony. He started playing with a rock beside him with furrowed eyebrows. He had never looked more like a child. “Aang, no one said it’s going to be easy”, Katara’s voice clinged in empathy. It irritates me how she always complains about being the mom of the group as if she didn’t take on that role by herself. But I know a mother’s empathy is exactly what Aang needed right now. I easily earth bended a rock under me to lift me up on the high cliff Toph was sitting. The familiar vibrations of earth moving under me filled me with calm. I threw my legs over the edge and slumped down next to Toph’s much smaller frame. “Well I am hot but I can’t fire bend. Where are we supposed to get a firebending teacher?”, Sokka couldn’t help but smile at his own joke. I let out my low hanging bun, ignoring how my baby hairs are slicked down my face by sweat. “You hot? You’re hot when Bisons can fly”, I shot him a flirty smile which resulted in Sokka snorting playfully. Katara ignored our remarks “We could look for Jeong Jeong!”. Aang didn’t hesitate to shoot her idea down “Yeah…right”. He slumps down his body over the rock without care “like we’ll ever run into Jeong Jeong again”. Me and Toph look curiously at each other “Who’s… oh”. Toph, annoyed by how the group didn’t tell us anything crossed her arms “never mind. If it’s important I’ll find out”.

The further the sun moved down the horisont, the more Aang started to avoid talking about a plan. He flung forward Appa on his staff, gliding smoothly over the winds. Both me and Toph clung onto the Appa, not liking being this far above the ground. Sokka was always the comic relief but even him had taken on a mom role “Aang, i think we should be making some plans about our future!”. Aang bluntly ignored his words as he landed next to the fountain, the glider still in his hand. Aang watched us land Appa next to him “Okay, we can do that while i show you the giant Pai Sho table! Oh you’re gonna love the all-day echo chamber!”. He was about to sprint away from us again, away from his responsibilities when Toph trot after words. Her demeanor turned serious, which it rarely does “i think that’ll have to wait”.  Toph shrugs as she points behind herself. Everybody quizzically tries to see what she’s talking about as Appa’s huge frame moves to the side revealing a shadow. As the late day light falls upon him there is multiply gasps within the group. In front of us is a teenager, probably around my age, a head taller or so. What captures me first is his face. His scar to be exact. A scar the size of a palm extends from  his ear and over his eye. It leaves a nasty patch of skin the color of a bonfire. It looks as if he has tried to hide the scar with strands of hair but the hair has a life of its own. It’s long, uncombed and falls down his face only to reveal a couple of intense eyes. The color was the same as pooling honey dripping down a warm cup of tea. He was insanely attractive, making my heart skip a beat or two. But he was also screaming to be remembered in the back of my mind. His identity on the tip of my tongue. His honey eyes turn to me for a second but that’s enough to spark a part of my memory. Brown eyes mean fire nation. Which makes my eyes quickly take in the obvious fire nation clothing hanging over his long slender body. The previous shock within the group quickly turns into anger. The boy hesitantly raises his hand and gives us a wave, which would be adorable from anybody except a fire bender “Hello”. He tries on a careful weak smile “Zuko here”. That’s all it takes for me to take on a fighting position. My hand raised above my waist, fingers vibrating ready to bend the earth to swallow him up. Zuko, The fire prince himself. The gang had told me and Toph stories of his repeated attempts to kill them. His awful actions and how he took katara’s necklace. Well, maybe the necklace part doesn’t make me that angry. Toph copied my defense, but her motions seemed hesitant.  Zuko opens his mouth to reveal a smoother voice then i expected “Hey, i heard you guys flying around down there. So, i just thought i’d wait for you here”. Appa growled and whatever i thought the bison was going to do, it was definitely not that. He reached out his dark tongue just to lick the boy. The boy let out a eak as he protected his face from the saliva. I didn’t exactly recall the first time I met Appa that clearly, but I’m pretty sure he never did that. In the corner of my eye I see Aang’s conflicted eyes as he lowers his staff slightly. He trusted Appa with his life, so I understood his internalized battle. But I was unaffected, hand raised protectly. Appa’s tongue slicked up the prince’s face again, Messing up his hair even further. Zuko didn’t protest this time, he just wiped off the excess mucus. With one last wipe he looked up at us again “I know you must be surprised to see me here”. Sokka looked at him in rage with furrowed eyebrows “Not really, since you’ve followed us all over the world”. Zuko seemed embarrassed as he looked down his feet “Right. Well,uh….anyway…. What i wanted to tell you about is that i’ve changed, and i, uhhh, i’m good now, and well i think i should join your group, oh, and i can teach firebending to you”. I didn’t know what to say. The shock seemed to resemble the rest of the group. Zuko seemed to catch on as he opened his mouth again “see i, uhhhh”.Toph didn’t give him a second to explain himself further “you what now?”. I had never seen katara as angry as now “You can’t possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you? I mean, how stupid do you think we are?!”. Sokka continued her rant “Yeah, all you’ve ever done is hunt us down and try to capture Aang!”. All they were saying was true, but there was a sudden doubt consuming me. It rang warning bells in the back of my head for sure, but there was something I couldn’t put my finger on. This couldn’t possibly be the evil boy they had described? They told me he had an almost shaved head, just a ponytail. That he hated Aang with no shame. That he would do anything to destroy the gang. The boy in front of me was nothing like that. He was shy, hesitant. Ashamed. He was ashamed over everything he had done. But he couldn’t just turn good like that, that’s not how it works. This must be another fire nation trick, or so I had  to convince myself. Zuko seemed hurt, in desperate need to defend himself. “I’ve done some good things! I mean, I could have stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That’s something!”. His words seemed true since appa licked him again (much to his surprise). I remembered how hurt Aang was when he lost Appa, is it really possible that zuko saved him? No it couldn’t be, he was from the fire nation. Toph had already dropped her defense “Appa seems to like him”. The water tribe siblings turned to her in anger. “I can understand why you  wouldn’t trust me, and i know i’ve made some mistakes in the past”. The rest of the sparr is a blur to me. I could see lips moving but I couldn’t hear a thing. My eyes were stuck on Zuko as I blocked the rest of the world out. I tried to find any mistakes in his clearly made up character but he was spot free. either he was an amazing actor, or everything he said was true. Aang did need a firebender, but the thought of a member of the fire nation, the royal one at that, made my blood boil. What broke my focus was Zuko falling down on his knees. He made himself vulnerable, head bent downwards and hands raised in surrender. “If you won’t accept me as a friend, then maybe you’ll take me as a prisoner”. The words shocked me to the core. If he was really out to kill us he would never have let down his guard like that. Katara seemed to see right through his game “No, we won’t!”. Her little flask dangling by her leg burst open as she water bended a flood against him. It wasn’t hard enough to make him go flying off the cliff but it was hard enough to break his position. He fell over, protecting his face. “Get out of here, and don’t come back! And if we ever see you again, well, we’d better not see you again”. Defeated, wet from tip to toe, he moved away from us. As my friends around me started to yell to each other, about how much Zuko was lying. How they would never accept him into the gang. I followed his figure with my eyes. The slumped forward body, the dragging of the feet. I wonder which powerful fire nation person he was going to tell he failed his mission to get into our gang. Because of course it had to be a mission. He could never change… Right?

The next morning seemed slow. My head was pounding from a sleep fof worrying. It didn’t help that Toph had disappeared. I knew that Toph could defend herself better than anybody, but I also knew she wouldn’t go anywhere without telling me. Katara handed a bowl of breakfast to The duke “Has anyone seen Toph?”. I was surprised that she had even noticed Toph was gone. They weren’t exactly close. Sokka yawned and cracked his back from the morning sleep “I haven’t seen her since she stormed off yesterday”. Against my will I started to worry. Since yesterday? Had she been out the entire night? I had been grumbling so much over Zuko I hadn’t even noticed. I swallowed down the lump of guilt together with a spoon of rice. Katara actually seemed worried for real “I think we should go look for her”, Sokka slumped down next to his sister “Let her have her fun with rocks, i’m in no rush to have her yelling at us again”. I ignored the anger busting up with another spoon of rice. The silence was quickly replaced by the occurrence of a large rumble. Toph comes flying down onto the ground by a pile of rocks that she created from a wall. I rushed over to her, my breakfast thrown in pieces on the ground. “Toph, what the fuck happened?”. Toph slingered across the ground “My feet got burned!”. Katara rushed forward to inspect them “Oh no, how?”. Toph annoyance from Katara’s question quickly turned into shame “Well, I kind of went to see zuko last night”. It looked like Aang had been kicked in the gut “You what?”. Without another thought my legs carried me away from the scene. Their voices became a questionable noise as I took off. I only had one thing playing in my mind: Find Zuko and kill him.