The Plot for the day is...
Zuko Plot 253: Aquarium Hobbyist Zuko
After years being an aquarium hobbyist since moving out on his own, Zuko has finally found a listing for his dream fish. An extremely rare, south sea blue-finned betta. He's been researching this fish forever, and this is the first time he's seen it available anywhere! He doesn't hesitate to order it immediately, his heart in his throat when he sees there is only one left.
Now all he has to do is rush build the PERFECT setup for this fish! Zuko builds the entire tank from scratch and sets it to cycle while he waits, and before long his dream fish finally arrives! he's oh so excited! And then he opens the box and finds himself baffled.
Instead of his dream betta fish, he finds a tiny palm-sized mermaid with fins and tail matching the fish he'd desired. Baffled, Zuko isn't sure what to do now. Does he put the mermaid in the tank? Will it die if he doesn't? Is his water and setup right for a mermaid?
Zuko takes too long fretting over this unexpected turn of events, and the light from the room as roused the sleeping mermaid in the box.
Sokka and Katara were captured wild and sold into the aquarium hobby by a sleaze named Zhao for an exorbitant amount, listing them as some impossible fish. The same impossible fish he'd been listing other southern mermaids for sale. There were hardly any left in their school thanks to the poaching!
Now Sokka and Katara have been separated and shipped off to different homes, with no idea how to find each other again. Sokka ends up with Zuko as an owner, who has worked tirelessly to create a perfect home for him. Sokka can appreciate that, but he's still PISSED he was SOLD so he's not really nice to Zuko.
Once Zuko finally gets Sokka to talk to him, he finds out about the devastation of their family that was happening due to the seller, and Zuko hates he's contributed to their continued poaching without realizing.
Deciding to do right by Sokka, as the closest thing to a friend he has, Zuko digs into info on the seller and tracks him down to find out where Sokka's sister had been sent. Zhao keeps trying to pull customer anonymity, but Zuko KNOWS his bitchass must be saving all their data because he's literally selling people, that can't be legal!
Eventually he gets the information by breaking in while Zhao is out, and tracks down the buyer for Katara.
Sokka has a heartfelt reunion with his sister, who's owner, another fish fancier named Aang, had been working a little more legally to try and find her brother (instead of just breaking in like Zuko did).
Zuko is awkward with Aang because of how other the top nice he is, especially when Zuko reveals he brought Sokka with him to meet his sister. Aang pulls Zuko out of his shell by way of his many tank setups and the two begin to gush about technical aquarium nonsense, while Sokka and Katara watch the two in amusement.
Zuko and Aang continue to bond with each other and their tiny Mer friends. One day they'll get the two back home, but before that, Katara insists they figure out how to stop humans like Zhao hunting their people and selling them, and hopefully find any others of their family who had been taken.
The group form a small, dedicated fish rescue and with the help of others invested in their cause, manage to get the tiny mermaids listed as an endangered species, and tracked down all the living mers who had been sold through the years.
When they finally say Goodbye to Sokka and Katara, Zuko feels lost, but Aang is there, pulling him to his side. "We did a good thing."
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