I didn’t hear Aang’s footsteps. The sound of my heartbeat racing as blood rushed to my head triumphing. It was like thunder roaring from the very depths of my soul, my mind feeling numb.
Aang’s pink lips moved soundlessly, unable to make out or understand his words. My vision…it’s blurry? As if I was trying to see him from underwater. Image distorted, bloated, as my shoulders dropped.
My cheeks felt wet, chest crushing and struggling to take a single breath. I was trembling like a leaf. The shadow I cast from under the candlelight seemed so tiny - like a child. I felt small and helpless and weak.
A sense of dread, defeat, overcoming me.
I feel useless.
From the first time I heard the news, it was like it never hit me. The weight of the doctors’ words, even the conversation with the others, didn’t feel real. It was like knowing the truth, and while no one denied it, it was like no one acknowledged it.
But I swallowed hard, trying to contain whatever piece of sanity I had left because I was lying to myself. We were in complete and utter denial, no matter how you look at it. But tonight- fuck.
Tonight.
It was like I was reliving the moment. The truth that I always knew suddenly became real. I could feel my stomach twist, bile rising—a reality check.
No one entirely took in what was happening until now. All this time, it was being brushed under the rug. Mentioned in passing, known to be serious, but it felt like a lie for some odd reason.
Team Avatar. Untouchable, unbeatable…but not this time.
“She’s going to die…and I can’t imagine a life without her.” I finally broke.
I can’t remember the last time I sobbed like this. The last time I felt so drained as I wailed like a newborn, hunched into my frame because it hurt. It felt like someone had my heart in their hand, clenching to the point that I couldn’t open my eyes because it was too painful.
Yue went on every day with her cheery smile as if everything was okay. She spoke about the future like it was just a skip away. But that wasn’t true. She was slowly but surely slipping from my grasp, trying to hold onto her with the tips of my fingers.
I was losing her, and I knew it- I saw it.
Her fevers, her dizzy spells, ‘I’m just a bit tired, Zuko. I need a bit more rest; I promise~!’ I clenched my jaw, wanting to stop this stupid crying- but I couldn’t. My hands were stumbling over my face, my hair falling forward as I silently cried.
“I’m so sorry, Zuko.” a voice softly spoke in front of me, Aang’s tone low and pained.
I felt like a fool.
The great Fire Lord, broken.
A pair of arms fell over my shoulder, pulling me close, feeling his soft robes brush my skin. Aang’s embrace was tender, and I let my body slip into his. I couldn’t do it anymore.
I bawled into his shoulder.
All my fears emerged and turned into an uncontrollable wildfire. Dirtying Aang’s mustard-coloured robes as my tears freely dripped down my face. My cheeks hurt, my throat burned, and my eyes felt puffy.
“I’m so scared, Aang,” I confessed, my voice wavering. All this money, this power and it meant nothing if she wasn’t by my side, “I want her, Aang.”
I was a mess; I felt like it too.
Losing someone wasn’t a one-time thing, no. I saw the pained look on Axe’s face. And it was evident that the pain of losing the one you love was an experience that you go through every day.
The thought of waking up and not seeing Yue’s drooling figure. To have my tea without the smell of one of her cookies. Not being able to see her taking a stroll in the gardens during my breaks. To eat lunch and dinner alone. To go to sleep in an empty bed only to do that every day for the rest of my life.
Losing someone wasn’t a one-time deal. You lose them again…and again…and again.
“I can’t lose her, Aang.” I struggled, “I-If I lose her, it means losing the family we never got to have. It means losing a part of me.”
“W-we’re going to figure something out, Zuko.”
I hope so because I can’t lose Ying Yue. She’s home…she’s my home.
Genre: Romance, mainly fluff with future smut, and if you squint hard enough - you’ll find some angst.
Rating: SFW
Words: 15400+
Notes: It’s here! It’s been a while since I’ve updated, and I’m ready to get into the groove of things once again. Get ready for the next chapter, it’s the infamous bonus chapter many of you have asked for. I even teased a bit of it here muhaha~ I hope you enjoy, and it brings forth a ton of emotion. Tons of love and thanks for the support!
Please stay healthy and safe, take care~!
Masterlist ︳35 [M] ︳ Bonus pt. 3 [M]
❤ Buy me a coffee? ❤
Limerence: (English/n.) the state of being infatuated with another person.
The moment their eyes locked they knew - the flames within him twisted while the water within her turned. It was a connection, a connection that would lead to love, adventure, and drama.
Tartle
(Scottish/v.) to hesitate to recognize a person or thing; happens when you are introduced to someone whose name you cannot recall.
~ Fire Lord Zuko ~
Thunder.
It roared through the sky, causing the ground to tremble, the air around us buzzing with an electrical charge—the droplets striking against the windows, a desperate cry from nature itself - the thunder its screams.
But how?
How did the world always know? Matching and dancing with our emotions- was it mocking me? Mocking Yue?
The beams of light that lit up the study, the heated glow from the candlelight rippled from the outside’s growing rage. Shadows lurking, the bitter chill in the air ran down my spine and had my bones aching.
“Lord Zuko-” they voiced, and like that, I was brought back to reality, my eyes focusing. When did I even zone out? A numbness was slithering its way into my mind like the hazy fog that had begun to settle over the Fire Nation.
A leathered-gloved hand reached upwards, pulling the red scarf that always decorated his face under his stubbled chin. His expression, while simple, spoke a million words. I always respected Yue’s ability to study, to read people’s emotions, and at this moment in time; I finally realized what she saw.
Face stoned, yet his eyes never wavered. He was meeting my gaze with a heaviness that mimicked the depths of fire.
“Mihir-” I swallowed. A warning, a confirmation.
Axe.
The General, Axe.
One of the finest warriors the Fire Nation ever housed. A hero for many of the villages in the Earth Nation. A proclaimed traitor till recently, but most importantly, he’s Yue’s dad.
Omg smut pls 😭, i’ve been starved from yue zuko smut i keep reading pls chapters!
Here it is- I have to get back into the groove of smut writing, so here's my baby step 👀
Also, this was an ask I got a while back, in relation to Yue's heat smut I wrote. I was trying to find the original ask but I can't find it, but anon, this is for you 🥵
Love you babes, and take care~
AU: Limerence (A/B/O AU)
Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)
LINKS: 01
Masterlist
Heats weren't a foreign concept to Zuko.
More often than not, proving a nuisance.
A quick jerk, drowning himself in paperwork, often did the trick for the week. But this time? Zuko swore, his head dropping and hair cascading downwards like a curtain as his fist slammed against the wooden bed frame.
He was sweating despite wearing nothing more but loose-hanging slacks, the windows open and allowing a breeze to enter. But it wasn't enough. Nothing was enough.
It was like his skin was prickling, senses in over-drive as goosebumps rose along his skin. Heavy pants, Zuko's chest rising and falling like he just ran a marathon - fighting the urge to trail his hand down his torso, imagining how cool her fingertips would feel against his burning skin. Her nails tracing every divot of his skin as her touch sank lower, the shiver that ran up his spine.
Always so shy, so submissive; on her knees like the good girl she was, playing with the band of his pants with glossy lips, swollen from her eager nibbles. Her doe-like eyes were staring up at him with a lust that could challenge his before moaning his name with a hunger.
"Fuck." Zuko growled, his toes pressing onto the wooden floor.
A ticking time bomb, groaning as the mere sensation of his pants rubbing against his hard cock had him cracking. His eyes rolled, a temporary relief as his heavy palm fell over himself. A shaky jerk over the fabric, grabbing his length, and he could feel the thick drop of cum leaking from his tip.
He was throbbing, pulse rushing, and skin dewy as his testing jerks grew in intensity. The uncontrollable groans that tumbled from his lips, bucking into his touch to seek more pleasure. So fucking desperate to tip over that edge for the first time since his bloody heat started.
But it wasn't enough; it was never fucking enough.
No matter how fast his hand moved, his thumb brushing the crown of his dick as he teased himself. It was like a fucking wall, blocking him right before he could fall over the sweet edge. The coil that twisted deep in his gut, his cock growing as he so desperately wanted to cum as Zuko's groans grew in volume.
So close, so fucking close every time but-
The shout of frustration as Zuko's fists slammed against the bed frame for the nth time this day because he was losing it. His heat was testing his patience beyond belief because Zuko knew; that even if he jerked himself off, he wouldn't be able to get off.
His nails were intending the wood as defeat, rage coursed through his veins. He was in so much distress, sexual frustration at its fucking finest as his balls felt heavy, and his cock begged him to get off just once.
But he can't unless-
"I need, Yue," Zuko wheezed, a haze falling over his mind because the whole room smelt of her.
A drug, and Zuko was sure he was currently overdosing.
How beautiful she'll look.
Yue's body sprawled on the bed, littered with bites marks from the inside of her thighs to breasts. Zuko able to look down over her body, watching as his cock would so easily slip into her needy cunt. His thumb strumming her sensitive clit with heat, the uncontrollable twitches from Yue's body as he would draw orgasm after orgasm from her.
A beautiful breeding toy for his sick entertainment. Yue's cries of bliss music to his ears; fuel for his insatiable lust.
Yue's tight walls milking and driving him to ruin her, break her and claim her as his. She'll look so pretty, cum trickling from between her legs. A sticky mess as Zuko would push back whatever cum would slowly drip from her sweet pussy with his long fingers before bottoming, her belly swollen with nothing but him.
And as if the spirits were testing him, he could hear her.
It was like the call of a siren, Zuko's head snapping to their bedroom doors as a bead of sweat plopped down his temple, his lips parted as he growled.
This was dangerous; he wouldn't be able to control himself, to hold back but- the twitch from his cock, another sweet bead of pre-cum dribbling down his length and further dirtying his trousers. Envisioning Yue back on her knees and dragging her tongue along the underside of his dick before swallowing him down her throat.
"Zuko is in his heat, Princess-" Zuko heard someone whisper-shout, and he couldn't stop the twitching of his fingers listening to someone so close to his precious. A protectiveness, Zuko's body, inching itself closer to the door as his sanity slowly started slipping through his fingertips.
"But he needs me, Sokka! Let me in!" Yue cried.
Oh, those sweet cries of her squirting around his fingers as he fingerfucked on his lap. Maybe he could have sitting right up against the mirror so she can watch herself cum as his fingers curled inside of her.
No. Yue leave, Zuko begged mentally as he hissed under his breath, taking in that he was currently forcing himself not to rip open their bedroom door and draw her inside.
"Zuko said to keep you, out" Sokka reasoned, but Zuko could hear the determined pout on Yue's lips. Lips that would look so good around Zuko's length. Gagging as he seized her long locks and fucked her mouth, his hips snapping-
Zuko didn't even realize what he was doing until he saw Sokka and Yue before him. The both of them staring up at him like prey that had just been caught, each holding their breath.
"Zuko-" Sokka would blow, but it was fruitless.
Zuko's eyes locked with Yue; pupils blown as he stared at Yue with a wanting that even had Yue quivering in her spot. But despite the pregnant pause that fell over them, Zuko licked his lips because he could see.
The gulp Yue took as she nibbled on her lip, her fingers toying with the front of her dress as a flush painted over her skin. And Zuko swears he could taste Yue in the air. So luscious and delicate.
"Zuko?" Yue would rustle, her hands reaching out to caress his bare chest, but with a wince, Zuko rose his hands, stopping her. His mind was racing, but he knew the moment Yue's skin touched his, he would be far too gone to control. The hungry looks Yue sent him alone were close enough to make him lose it completely, her eyes studying his physique as Zuko combed his hair back.
"Yue, we need to go now," Sokka warned, fast to grab her, but the snarl Zuko unleashed at Sokka had everyone stilling.
It was a warning, the only indication Zuko would give to Sokka because the thought of Yue having another scent on her besides his had him boiling with fury. If only Zuko could have his way, mate her, maybe have her walk around the kingdom every day with his cum dripping from her core to make a damn point.
"I'll make this quick, love." Zuko finally spoke, voice rasped.
His throat felt dry as he fought with the last of his willpower not to pin Yue against the door and fuck her senseless in the hallway. The fact that he was sporting the most prominent hard-on, in view of everyone, didn't even bother him.
Zuko's mind was hyper-focused on Yue. Every time she breathed or blinked, it didn't go ignored by Zuko. And he took a dangerous step forward, his frame towering over her. In seconds, Yue found herself cornered against the door and him, Zuko placing his hands on either side of her face.
"Zuko." Yue questioned, and Zuko spoke, "This is your only warning, love. You run off and stay far, far, away from me. Or-"
"Or?" Yue perked with a curious simper.
"I claim you, no holding back cause I intend to break you." Zuko hushed, and Yue merely giggled.
Such a light-hearted giggle that despite the overwhelming hormones of his heat, Zuko found himself taken aback. It was so out of place, but the way Yue's eyes shined as she looked up at him, continuing to nibble on her lip and batting her eyelashes.
"Break me, Zuko," Yue whispered, and Zuko's eyes shut with a shaky breath as he felt her fingers run down his chest.
Every fantasy, dirty thought that ran through his mind was now coming to life as her soft lips pressed against his, "Claim me like how I claimed you."
ovbiously this person has done so much research and cares about their tortoise so much but.... the mf idea of having a live tortoise in a TUPPERWARE?! IN MY FRIDGE?? WITH ME FOOD? ahahahaha
Back in 2015, I went over to a classmate's house for group project work late in the fall, and in the middle of working on the presentation, offered to grab sodas for people but they were out of pepsi and Andrew whose house we were at said "Oh, there's more in the basement fridge."
So I go down to the basement, which is well-lit and finished and indeed there are more pepsi but also in the fridge is a massive tortise. This animal was the dimensions of a desktop computer and probably outweighed a labrador. It's not moving, and is set in the middle of a plastic tray so it's apparently supposed to be there. I go back upstairs.
"Hey Andrew." I say, nonchalantly. "So is the tortise in the fridge down there for soup or what?"
"The what?" says the other member of the group project. I don't remember her name, just that she always wore her hair in pigtails with butterfly clips that were based on real butterflies and she had at least a dozen species.
"Oh! No, that's Andrew Too." he says. "His species hibernates so he stays in the fridge for the holidays."
"You named your tortise after you?" I ask.
"No, uh- Well, my grandfather got him in Egypt or somewhere while he was on leave during the war and He was named Andrew, so he thought it would be funny to name him 'Andrew Too'.
...Then Mom named me after him so Gandpa left me Andrew Too in his will. He's pretty cool when he's awake. Lets us dress him up for summer holidays, doesn't bark."
"Oh!" Said Butterflies. "My dad served in the Gulf War too! What unit was he in?"
"Oh no, Grandpa was with the Royal Air Force in World War Two. Andrew Too is going to be 70 this year! We're going to make him a carrot cake!"
My mother did this to my father once. They got into an argument, my very pregnant and hormonal mother stormed off…except they lived in a tiny apartment so the only place to go was to shut herself into the closet for a good long sulk. And while she was sitting in there, fuming, she looked up and saw her sewing kit on the shelf, and all my father’s uniforms hanging right there.
So she picked one shirt and one pair of trousers, carefully, methodically ripped every third stitch out of every seam, and then hung them back up together so that he would be likely to pick them at the same time. This took her a couple hours, so by the time she was done, the anger had worn down. She came out, she and my father had a talk that ended in apologies, after which they were tired and went to bed. My mother swears up and down that she meant to warn my father about the sabotaged clothes in the morning, but he wore a different uniform set and they were both still feeling a little raw, so she didn’t want to bring up the fight again. She decided to tell him that night instead.
And then she forgot.
Anyway, about four days later, my father apparently came home roughly an hour after he left for work, his clothes slowly, gently shredding off his body, the most bewildered expression on his face. “Paula,” he said, his voice mildly shell-shocked. “Paula, my clothes are broken.”
My mother promptly burst out laughing so hard that she went into labor. And that’s the story of my birth, heralded by petty vengeance and utter confusion.
"Tea?" I soothed, letting the small cup slip from my fingertips and rest over the pile of papers before him.
I could tell from his posture already: forehead bunched in annoyance as he snapped his gaze at me, the small cup of tea interrupting his work. In his eyes, I stopped him from finishing his paperwork, but in my eyes, I saw a man exhausted beyond belief and needed a moment of peace.
His heated gaze brushed past me as I smiled down, letting my fingers feather over his cheek. It was like watching someone purposely walk into a trap, without a doubt, no one in their right mind would willingly enter his office. Let alone place a cup of tea in front of him and dare touch him.
Good thing it's not them but me.
The moment my cool touch rested over his cheekbone, my fingers swirling and dancing over his heated skin, his whole body eased.
The softness in his eyes, the weak exhale as his body leaned into my touch. It was the tale-tell signs of his tough resolve cracking, feeling the weight of his head in my palm.
"Zuko?" I whispered again, and Zuko groaned. Letting his eyes shut as he nestled his face into my hand with a rasp, "a minute longer."
HOLY SHIT I JUST FOUND THE BEST FUCKING HOUSE EVER. I NEED IT IMMEDIATELY SOMEONE GIVE ME $3.75million RIGHT NOW.
What even is this??? Why are there so many shapes? Why is there a fake mining tunnel with cars about to drop off a bridge like in a bad western?
There is just. So much going on here. And I love all of it. Supposedly that garage fits 11 cars and comes with a lift and a painting setup.
IMAGINE the DND games you could have right here.
Look at this fucking castle shit. Apparently there’s a huge dumbwaiter to bring up your firewood. And does that support pole have a tiny rock climbing wall???
OH MY GOD IT DOES. And there’s a piano with…rails? IDK.
I have 10% of an idea what’s happening here but is that…bench? covered in a string of heads??? With some kind of…prayer kneeling thingy at the end there? What is happening. What kind of weird religious bastard built this place?
I have so many questions about this random mining tunnel thing. So fucking many.
There’s even a 3D tour available: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/36570-Us-Highway-24-N-Buena-Vista-CO-81211/2076799379_zpid/?
My mom remarked recently that of all the things she failed to anticpate about living into the next millenium, the funniest and most confusing one is that neither my sister nor I have a single goddamn friend with a conventional name, and furthmore, she occasionally has to stop and ask “Which ‘Squid’ are we talking about again?”
fun alternative: cruise ships. cruise ships exploit workers and can pollute as much as a million cars on a daily basis while dumping endless shit into the ocean and endangering all passengers on board because the on board air quality rivals some of the most polluted cities in the world while being a breeding ground for disease. cruise ships deserve to have negativity associated with them
also all crimes commited aboard a cruise ship is under the juristiction of whichever country they’re registered to once they’re a certain distance away from land so you have the added bonus of the crimes being very unlikely to be properly investigated (due to usually being physically so very far from the actual police whose juristiction they’re under)
Azulon tells Ozai he would suffer the loss of a child, Ozai plans to kill Zuko, have Ursa assassinate his father to become fire lord but Azulon tells Ozai at noon, the next day, he would kill Zuko before his family and then dismissed him.
Azulon has a servant bring Zuko to his rooms late at night and tells him that tomorrow he will die because his father's arrogance and coldheartedness towards his own brother's loss of his son. Zuko is afraid, heartbroken and accepting.
He bows low to the fire lord and asks him if he would look after his mother who would now feel the pain his uncle was no doubt feeling. And to look after his sister who has begun to change after training with their father. He asks Azulon to keep Azula from losing anymore of her innocence and he begs for mercy for his father at having angered the fire lord.
Azulon is surprised by Zuko's selflessness.
He sends Zuko to his room, Zuko does not speak of what will come tomorrow to his mother or sister. Ozai does not tell Ursa, the fire sages had been alerted to attend a meeting with the fire lord and it would be suspicious if he died before it.
He was ambitious not stupid, so he kept silent.
The next morning Zuko spends time with his mother and sister, not complaining about her being harsh or anything. She doesn't like it. He even gives her his dao blades, telling her it could be a decoration for her room if she wanted.
He gave his mother a flower crown that he asked some servants to help him make.
And wrote a letter to iroh, leaving the knife iroh had given him behind on the letter.
For his father he simply kept away from him since that was what his father wanted.
The moment of reckoning comes, Zuko and his family are summoned. Orders of Zuko's execution are read, his mother stifles a cry and Azula grins, then smothers it while father is impassive.
Zuko stands before Azulon, who holds a hand full of fire and pointedly does not look at his family. Azulon grants him one last request before his death, Zuko barely hesitates and moves to hug Azula even though he wants to hug mother, he knows that this is something that he needs to do.
Because father was strict and wanted perfection and while Azula was already perfect, she was capable of making mistakes and without Zuko around to always look bad, father might get angry at her. He didn't want azula to face their father's disappointment or anger.
"I'm sorry i was a bad brother, but i will look after you better from the spirit world." He whispers softly, he feels her hand tug on his shirt even as she remains blank faced.
Zuko stands before Azulon and thanks him before kneeling as Azulon lowers his hand.
Ursa prostrates herself on the floor and begs for mercy, it stays Azulon's hand.
Ozai says nothing, at least he says nothing until Azula steps forward and hesitantly kneels, her forehead touches the floor as she too, begs for mercy.
Azulon stares at him, Zuko glances behind him at his mother and sister, and finally starts crying. The shock is gone and now he's feeling all the fear and grief he's been holding back. He apologizes to the fire lord, he tells his mother and sister that it's okay, and that they didn't need to lower themselves for his life.
Azulon releases his fire and tells Ozai that he failed.
That this was a test and his wife had shown more love for her son than he did. That his daughter had shown more humility than he had for his son's life. And that his son had shown more backbone than his own father by pleading for his family, mercy for his father's transgressions, a softer hand for his mother who was to lose a son, and for his sister a longer childhood.
Ozai is stripped of his title as prince and banished from the fire nation for his actions. Ozai flies into a rage and attempts to fight but the fire sages take control of his fire, he shoots lightning at his father and Ursa throws herself between the attack. She saves the life of the man who spared her son and dies a hero. Azulon takes his son down and has him sent in chains to the palace dungeons where he will sit until there have been arrangements made to send him out of the fire nation.
Azula and Zuko become orphans in a matter of minutes. Azulon tells them that they will be given to Iroh to raise when he returns from the war, but in the mean time he would raise them until his son was home. He holds a funeral for ursa, and life moves on.
Azulon's way of raising them is far different form Ozai's and Zuko thrives while Azula naturally flounders for a while. She finds her equilibrium when Azulon treats them equally no matter what. Both get punished and rewarded, none favored over the other and he spends equal time with them whether they are together as a small family traveling through the capitol, smaller colonies or alone for one on one training when they are ready to advance to the next set of katas.
Iroh does not come home, he goes on a spirit journey, Ozai has long since been shipped off with a nonmilitary ship and a crew that have orders to see to it that Ozai reaches land outside of the fire nation. They are not to follow his orders or remain by his side, they are on loan to him.
Iroh does not come back from his spirit journey.
(Stumbles across the order of the White Lotus and joins them. He defects from the fire nation when news of Ursa's death and Ozai's banishment hit. He thinks his father will train Azula and Zuko to be just as ruthless as him and simple cuts his losses to avoid anymore pain. Finds out how wring he is later on).
No one has heard from him since and Azulon formally adopts Azula and Zuko making them crown princess and crown prince. He begins to teach them how to rule, and because of Zuko's soft heart, and Azula no longer having to compete with him, the two prove to be a solid team.
Azulon drafts a will that the siblings will be fire lord and fire lady with equal power should he pass. That they would not have reagents unless they wanted to. That should Iroh return, he would not be eligible for the thrown until he proved his loyalty to the crown.
(Some assassination attempts fouled by Azulon. Assigned body guards for both Azula and Zuko)
Azulon passes a few weeks later due to heartbreak.
Zuko and Azula become fire lord and fire lady at eleven and nine, but Zuko holds off on actually crowning them until Azula has turned ten which is another week away. Azula does not fight it as they would be holding a funeral for the fire lord and would need to spend a week mourning anyway. No point in getting crowned as soon as the fire lord died, it would be suspicious.
They get crowned and their first act as rulers is to stop the enlistment of young soldiers. They have plenty of soldiers now, no need to create subpar firebenders by rushing them out into the field when they have plenty of good firebenders out there right now.
Slowly the siblings work at slowing the war, they see no need for it. They work at it from two angles. Azula from the soldiers and Zuko's from the people's view.
(Lots of assassination attempts and attempts at rebellions throughout the next few years.)
They begin an era of peace and prosperity even while the rest of the world still views them with scorn.
They both value life, something that they learned from when Zuko was almost executed, so they stumble across war prisoners and begin to make reparations. They free several of the southern water tribe water benders, see to it that they are healed. Personally apologize to them, not introducing themselves as rulers but simply obeying the orders of the fire lord and fire lady. (Zuko's still a terrible liar so…)
They send them home, and due to this they find out about Hama, they take in the reports from around the area and instantly suspect the rogue water bender, unlike the prison guards who had let it be. They set out to put down the water bender with one of the water benders to take the body because they were not going to leave behind some mad bender near their citizens.
Hama nearly kills the siblings but the waterbender they brought along, (Uki, friend of Kya and Bato's cousin), who is able to save them because she has healed while Hama is barely surviving. She gets put down, and then the waterbenders are sent away.
Same thing happens with the earth bending prisons, they release the prisoners.
And its as they are returning home that they come across the issues of how colony benders are being treated. They opt to take the benders that are not accepted back to the capitol to be raised as imperial fire benders or earth benders. Soldiers are soldiers, no point in wasting resources.
With reparations done to the water and earth nations they plan to visit the air nation temples but not for another few years.
They go when Zuko is fifteen and Azula is thirteen.
It does not go well. At all.
They are faced with the genocide of a peaceful nation. Everything else paled in comparison to this.
The earth benders that they brought along helped them restore the ruins. And together with other fire benders and earth benders they laid all of the fire benders and air benders to rest.
For each temple they visited, they laid countless people to rest.
And they learned even more atrocities committed. Earth armies chase after them. As do the southern water tribe fleet, though none are water benders.
Little by little they prove to the world that they are trying for peace. Sending out invitations for ambassadors to sign treaties.
They get rebuffed a lot.
When that doesn't work they take turns to go meet with the other nations. Agni blesses them in their journeys. Yue receives a spirit vision and tells her father about the arrival of Fire Lady Azula coming to sign a peace treaty. (The two siblings planned that on purpose. Azula would go to the north and Zuko the south.(
It does not go well of course, but Azula and Yue keep in touch. Zuko's introduced via letters and still proves to be an awkward turtleduck.
(Together they would go to the earth nation. They needed to present a united front.)
When Zuko's 16th birthday comes, Aang finally wakes up.
Water benders teaching Katara, and following Sokka's lead for fishing stumble across him.
Aang gets told about the war, about the genocide, and about the recent six years where two young rulers of the fire nation have been trying to put an end to the hundred year war and were family because no one would listen. Aside from the southern water tribe who had good faith with them.
I had a dream that the king and the queen of a small country had a daughter. They needed a son, a first-born son, so in secret, without telling anyone of their child’s gender, they travelled to the nearby woods that were rumoured to house a witch.
They made a deal with that witch. They wanted a son, and they got one. A son, one made out of clay and wood, flexible enough to grow but sturdy enough to withstand its destined path, enchanted to look like a human child. The witch asked for only one thing, and that was for their daughter.
They left the girl readily.
The witch raised her as her own, and called her Thyme. The princess grew up unknowing of her heritage, grew up calling the witch Mama, and the witch did her very best to earn that title.
She was taught magic, and how to forage in the woods, how to build sturdy wooden structures and how to make the most delicious stews. The girl had a good life, and the witch was pleased.
The girl grew into a woman, and learned more and more powerful magics, grew stronger from hauling wood and stones and animals to cook, grew smarter as the witch taught her more.
She learned to deal with the people in the villages nearby, learned how to brew remedies and medicines and how to treat illness and injury, and learned how to tell when someone was lying.
Every time the pair went into town, the people would remark at just how similar Thyme was to her mother.
(Thyme does not know who and what she is. She does not know that she was born a princess, that she was sold. She only knows that one night after her mother read her a story about princesses and dragons, her mother had asked her if she ever wanted to be a princess.)
((Thyme only knows that she very quickly answered no. She likes being a witch, thank you very much, she likes the power that comes with it and the way that she can look at things and know their true nature.))
The witch starts preparing the ritual early, starts collecting the necessities in the winter so they can be ready by the fall equinox. Her daughter helps, and does not ask what this is for, just knows that it is important.
The witch looks at Thyme, both their hands raised into the air over a complicated array of plants, tended carefully to grow into a circle, and says, sorry.
A professor gave us an extra credit option: take a picture of yourself outside, doing something that you would not usually do. We were told not to take it too seriously. Here is my entry:
I maintain that sticking my head in the mailbox is not something I do on a regular basis.
The professor has said that he will put all submitted pictures into a powerpoint to be shown in class tomorrow (Tuesday, March 9th). I am very much looking forward to seeing the reaction from him and from the rest of the class. I promise to keep you informed.
Update: the professor saved my picture for last. I was told that I had "truly embodied the spirit of the assignment" and that I had gone "above and beyond."
Also, to everyone who is worrying about whether or not I got my head out, I was gifted with a very small head, and while I got out just fine I would NOT recommend this if you have a large head or even a normal sized head.
Like... i have to make sure my meals are nutritionally balanced... i have to make sure that the space i occupy is big enough, and interesting enough, and provide enrichment to make up for the lack of novelty... i have to make sure i get exercise... i'm not qualified for this
Lol I never expected to see my dad’s research on tumblr. I must tell him that his bog body theories have over 40,000 notes. It will make him so happy. He posts all his articles free on academia.edu because he despises paywalls for academic stuff. If any of you want to learn more: https://museum.academia.edu/EamonnKelly
She weaponises her white womanhood, A LOT! “uwu, I’m a soft delicate and fragile white woman, everyone ALWAYS attacks me. I’m ALWAYS the victim! woe is me!” Which 100% of the time will set off her racist, psychotic fans onto the people she’s in a dispute with.
Like I understood her point in her situation with Scooter Braun but her fans doxxed his wife and threatened to kill him and his family. It got so bad that people where showing up at his house and they had to move. 
In this recent situation with the bad joke on Ginny and Georgia, her butt hurt tweet has sent her fans to attack the two main women of the show, especially the black girl in her comments. And for why? Because THE WRITERS made a bad joke? I thought Taylor was all about women and feminism 🙃.
Let’s face it, she only speaks up with it’s about her her specifically. Because where was the outrage when the same writers of G&G talked about Lady Gaga and Lana Del Rey? — it’s giving very much hypocritical.
